suddenly, taking the bull by the horns, so to speak.

"I don't think I would, on a dare," replied the other calmly, yet
deliberately, as he smiled at the speaker; "but if there was any
good and sufficient reason for my doing the same, I'd agree to come
alone, and spend a whole night in the deserted quarry. However, I'm
not particularly _hankering_ after the experience, so please don't
try to hatch up any wild scheme looking to that end. If you want to
come, Julius, you're welcome to the job."

Julius shuddered, and looked a bit pale at the very thought.

"Oh! I wasn't even dreaming of it, Hugh," he hastened to declare. "I'd
much prefer to being asleep in my own comfy bed at home when midnight
comes around, and the last thing on earth you'd catch me doing would be
out hunting spooks."

It was just as Julius finished saying this that they received a
sudden shock. A loud and thrilling sound, not unlike a human shriek,
came to their ears, filling each and every boy in the car with a
sense of unmitigated horror. It was so exceedingly dreadful that K.K.
involuntarily brought the auto to a full stop, and then turned a face
filled with mingled curiosity and awe upon his comrades.




CHAPTER III

TALKING OF GHOSTS