It took the others a moment or two to grasp the meaning of Jessie’s suggestion. The idea was too new to them.

Then Burd leaned over and shook her hand warmly.

“We come, brother,” he said gravely. “That idea is worthy even of my gigantic brain. When do we begin and where?”

“To-morrow at the forest ranger station,” replied Jessie, her eyes dancing. “We can broadcast the description of the criminals and the location of the hut—or rather, the rangers can.”

“By George, that is one great idea!” broke in Darry, admiringly. “Funny I never thought of radio in that connection.”

“You certainly do take the cake, Jess darling,” said Amy, generously, if slangily. “I would do a lot for a mind like that!”

The party broke up soon after that, for aching muscles required their due and the monotonous dripping of the rain made them all very sleepy.

In the morning they woke refreshed to find the sun shining gloriously on leaves and branches that still dripped moisture. Fatigue had miraculously disappeared and there remained only the pathetically blackened trunks of trees to remind them of the tragic happenings of the day before.

They breakfasted early, eager to enlist the help of the forest rangers as soon as possible in the matter of the mysterious hut in the swamp.

It was impossible for Burd to go, as his ankle was still swollen and very painful, so Amy volunteered to stay behind and read to the invalid. This suggestion was not wholly disinterested on her part, for Amy was still more lame than she cared to admit from the exertions of the day before.

The four young folks started off briskly, spurred on by a recognized need of haste but vaguely saddened by the signs of ruin and destruction that had followed in the wake of the fire.

Nearing the ranger station, Jessie and Darry found that they had gone too fast for Nell and Fol, and lingered to allow the other two to catch up to them.

It was while they were seated on a huge boulder idly talking over the events of the day before that Jessie voiced the thought uppermost in her mind.

“Darry, I have been wondering what you did about that poor girl, Link Mullen’s sister,” she said, a little hesitantly. “You never told us, you know.”

“Probably that is because I have not been able to do anything,” returned Darry. “Eileen Mullen is stubborn and she has enormous pride. She positively refuses to return to Link. She declares that when she left home after their quarrel she intended never to go back.”

“I do wish we could help her,” said Jessie, longingly, but as Nell and Fol reappeared at that moment, no more was said upon the subject.

“We have nearly come to the house in the woods where they hung out the wash in the living room,” Nell called, and Darry nodded.

“I intend to keep my eyes open,” he assured her.

But when they came to it the house appeared as dreary and deserted as though no one had lived there for years and the room in which the sheets had been hung was protected from critical inspection by tightly-drawn shades.

At the ranger station Mr. Halsey met them and listened with keen interest to their story of Darry’s misadventure in the swamp and of the people who inhabited the hut. They told him also of the ghostlike noises from the swamp and of the white figures they had seen flitting among the trees.

When Jessie explained their idea of soliciting the aid of the police by radio, he agreed to have the message sent out over the airways immediately.

“I wish we might have known of this before,” he said, gravely, as he accompanied them to the broadcasting room. “We have suspected for a long time that something illicit and mysterious was being carried on in this vicinity, but there has never been anything definite upon which to base our suspicions. We will investigate this matter thoroughly now, I can assure you.”

Messages were sent out for miles in all directions and, satisfied that they had done all in their power to further the ends of justice, the girls and boys said good-bye to Mr. Halsey, after thanking him, and started back toward the lodge.

Once more they passed the house in the woods, and this time Darry saw, or thought he saw, a face at one of the upper windows.

“That is what I call exasperating!” he exclaimed, as they continued on through the woods. “Another moment, and I could have sworn to that fellow’s identity.”

“If we knew what you were talking about we might follow you more intelligently,” suggested Fol, and Darry explained.

“That fellow at the window looked a lot like one of the men at the hut,” he said. “I am pretty positive now that my guess as to where Phrosy’s ghosts came from is correct.”

Upon reaching the lodge they found the three stay-at-homes looking the pictures of peace and contentment, and immediately set about trying to spoil things for them, as Amy languidly complained.

Having packed all their belongings the day before, it was necessary to reverse the process now that the safety of the lodge was assured. This occupied much of the afternoon, and as the shadows became longer they were oppressed by a strange uneasiness. In every rustle of a leaf, in every cracking of a twig outside the lodge, it seemed they could detect the furtive approach of some of the motley crowd who made their home in the swamp. The air seemed to be murmurous with whispers, the sighing of the wind through the trees took on a weird and wailing sound as though uneasy spirits roamed the woods.

“If radio doesn’t get in some fine work pretty soon,” grumbled Amy, “I can see where our last few days here are going to be spoiled. I can see a ghost in every shadow.”

As though to bear out her assertion there came from the direction of the swamp a faint wailing, growing steadily louder in volume—rising to a shriek and dying off into a frantic sobbing sound.

Again and again it came, and the girls crowded into the living room as though for mutual protection and stared at each other in growing perturbation.

At that moment Darry and Fol burst into the room with Burd limping manfully after them. Behind them came three men, who, despite the fact that they wore no uniform, bore the unmistakable stamp of police officers.

“We are just in time for the entertainment, I see,” said the t............