the summer holidays were again at hand. before school closed, however, the head master, mr. meadows, intended to give a prize to the “student” who should write the best composition. each one was at liberty to choose his or her own subject; and the whole six—except, perhaps, steve and jim—were resolved to do their best to win.

of course this prize was to be given with due ceremony and parade. still, it was not thought that any thing specially noteworthy would take place, and the affair would not be brought up except to show the mournful blunder made by will.

a few days before this, the four most distinguished heroes—will, charles, stephen, and george—assembled at their favorite resort, a mossy bank bordering the river. here they hatched a horrible plot—a plot far exceeding in enormity and inhumanity the pitiful one contrived and executed by bob on this same river a week or so before.

in order to show that these boys had no notion to what lengths their unchecked fancy might lead them, their whole conversation on this memorable occasion is given.

“boys,” charles began, “i wish we could plan some amusement for the holidays—something that would make it lively.”

“i think we have had enough of playing tricks,” will said with disgust.

“we are older and wiser now than we used to be,” charles replied, “and we should have more sense than to get ourselves into trouble any more.”

“what about bob’s punishment?” asked george. “didn’t we get into trouble enough then, and is that so very long ago?”

“exceptions prove the rule!” charles triumphantly retorted.

“well, what is it that you mean to do?” steve inquired lazily.

[261]

“oh, i don’t know; nothing in particular;” charles answered. “but let us lay our heads together, and plan something startling.”

“very good; but who is the one to be startled?” the sage asked. “according to all accounts, we boys have startled the inhabitants of this village quite enough. only the other day i heard a good old lady say, in speaking of us, ‘those awful boys! they carry consternation with them!’”

“of course;” put in steve. “and now that we’ve got our reputation up, we must keep it up. it would be very wrong for us to let our talents dwindle and rust away; so, charley, if any new idea has come to you, let us know it.”

“you all know the old house away up this river?” charles asked.

“well, i guess we are acquainted with it,” will replied. “but what about it? what could we do there?”

“it seems to me that it would be a good thing to go there and inspect it. i never went through it, but i should like to do that now. and when we get there, we should feel so romantic that we might hit on something—we might even lay a plot!”

“what would the owner say to us for inspecting his house?” george asked.

“don’t you know that it has no owner?” charley asked, in some surprise. “i’ve heard my father say that there has been a sign with ‘for sale’ on it swinging there for twenty years. it’s such a crazy wreck that no person will rent it; and i guess by this time it is a heap of ruins, and not worth tearing down and carting away. there is only half an acre of ground belonging to it, and likely that is full of great weeds. the man who owns the place has more property, and he lets this go to ruin without remorse; but every year he comes along and picks the ten or twelve apples and pears off the old trees in the yard. he doesn’t care any more for it, and the house has been empty so long that it’s called ‘nobody’s house.’ no one cares to live in such a place, so lonesome and gloomy, and with those ghostly fruit-trees and the[262] neglected fence, all looking like spectres. in fact, there is a story that the place is haunted!”

“you seem to know all about it, charley,” said steve. “i’ve seen it a long way off, and i’ve heard that it is haunted, but that is all.”

“yes, i asked pa to tell me about it, for i want to go and explore the place some day,” charles replied. “and it seems to me that it would be fun for us all to go some day. what a hubbub there would be if we all got there together! and i’m certain the ‘owner’ wouldn’t care, if we tear the old ruin all to pieces.”

“that’s a good idea!” said steve, with sparkling eyes.

“don’t you see, we might even take up our quarters there, it’s so far out of the way,” charles continued. “no one would come to molest us; for more people than you suppose, believe the house is haunted, and never go near it.”

“i see what you’re thinking of,” said steve. “you mean to bring that old ghost back to life!”

“well, that might be done for a little by-play, but that isn’t what i meant,” charley returned. “i know that boys in stories try to raise a ghost or two sometimes, when everything else fails them, but it wouldn’t be a profitable business for us. we don’t want to copy after such vagabond heroes; let us strike out in another line.”

“well, if you have laid any plot, tell us what it is,” stephen said impatiently.

“boys, i want to hatch a plot, with that shell of a house for our head-quarters; but i want your help, for i don’t know how to go to work. as i said before, i haven’t thought of any thing yet.”

“don’t tell us what you ‘said before,’ charley;” said will. “it sounds too much like a lecturer reminding the people of what he has said, just as if he thought they didn’t pay attention enough to him to remember a word of his speech.”

“well, boys, i have an idea at last,” charles said slowly, after a long pause. “let us persuade some one to go there, thinking a great villain has a prisoner there.”

“pshaw! who would believe that!” said george, contemptuously.

[263]

“wait till we get everything arranged,” charles rejoined grimly. “this is a good idea, george, and i can prove it to you. and now that i have thought of it, i am going to work it out. we might even compose a letter, begging for help, and seeming to come from some lonely prisoner in that house, guarded by jailers and villains, and afraid of being put to death.”

“i don’t know who would be foolish enough to be caught by such a letter,” george replied laughingly.

“well, let us try it, anyway; and if we succeed it will be capital sport,” said stephen, interested already in the scheme. “but who will be the victim, the fellow to be imposed on?” he asked suddenly. “surely none of us, after what we have said, will be foolish enough to be trapped.”

“hardly,” said charles, with a smile. “but marmaduke isn’t with us; let us make him the dupe.”

“why single out marmaduke?” asked will.

“well, the victim must be one of ourselves, and marmaduke knows nothing about our plot, of course. and besides, he is so full of mysteries and romance that if he should get such a letter, he would believe every word in it, and be mad to plan a rescue. his notions about such things are so queer that it will do him good to be wakened up.”

“if marmaduke is the one to be awakened,” george said, “i think your plan may succeed very well; because, poor fellow, he is always expecting to light on some prodigious mystery. i must give in, charley, that it would be fun to drop such a letter some place where marmaduke would be sure to find it, and then we could hide ourselves and see the result. how he would rave at the thought of rescuing a captive!”

“doesn’t it seem to you, boys, that it would be rather a mean trick to play on anyone, especially on a schoolfellow?” will asked.

“certainly it seems mean,” charles replied, “but it is only for fun, and marmaduke would enjoy it at the time, and soon get over his anger when we explained everything. of course, we will be and careful not to do anything too wicked.”

[264]

“well, it is bad to stir up such a boys anger,” will persisted.

“let me improve on your plot,” steve ventured to say. “let us suppose that a beautiful french young lady was stolen by an enemy of her father’s and brought over to america, and imprisoned in ‘nobody’s house.’ let her write a wild appeal for help, which we will drop in marmaduke’s path.”

“that’s going a little too far,” charley said decidedly. “i shouldn’t like to meddle in such a desperate game as that.”

“wouldn’t a french captive be apt to write a letter in her own language?” will asked, as though he were overseeing that scheme.

“that would be the fun of it,” stephen answered. “a letter in genuine french would draw a less romantic boy than marmaduke.”

“very true,” said george. “but could you write such a letter?”

“of course not—mr. meadows himself couldn’t, perhaps. ten to one, marmaduke would think he could do it perfectly.”

“marmaduke may be rather foolish,” said charles, “but i doubt whether he would write such a letter, and then be imposed on by it!”

“do you take me for a fool?” cried stephen, with theatrical indignation. “now, will’s cousin henry can scribble french like a supercargo, will says—let us get him to do it.”

“the very thing!” cried charles and george in a breath. “come, will, we are going to do this, and you must help us,” the former requested.

“i don’t like your ideas at all, boys,” will replied, “but if you are bound to do it, why, i don’t want to be left out, and so i’ll write to henry, and get him to come here. he spoke of coming soon when he wrote to me last; and now i’ll ask him to hurry along as soon as the holidays begin.”

“you’re a jewel, will!” all three exclaimed in excitement.

[265]

“oh, we’ll hatch a famous plot, won’t we, boys?” and steve, the speaker, clawed the ground as though he were a demon or a hag.

“it’s my turn to suggest something now,” the sage observed. “when marmaduke sets out for the prison-house, we, of course must go with him. let henry and stephen, or whoever we may think best, slip on in advance, and represent the prisoner and the fiendish villain when we arrive.”

a shout of acclamation greeted this new proposal.

“the plot is getting pretty thick,” said steve. “and now, what about the ghost in the back-ground?”

“oh, we might manage to have a ghost appear to marmaduke, but we can attend to that afterwards,” charles returned. “now, will,” he added, “its your turn to improve on our plot—what do you suggest?”

“i shall leave that for my cousin to do,” will answered. “unless i’m out of my reckoning, he will make improvements on the original plan that will astonish us all; for it is as natural for henry to lay plots as it is for steve to play tricks.”

“yes, henry will make great improvements,” charles commented. “well, now that it is settled that the thing is really to be, we must all vow to keep it to ourselves, because if any more boys get hold of it they will spoil everything.”

“very true,” george observed. “now, if we want our plot to work well, we must go to this old building and explore it thoroughly, from the cellar floor to the rafters. but our plot can’t come off till holidays begin, nor till henry gets here and understands it, so there will be plenty of time.”

“if it is such a crazy old hulk,” will said gravely, “ten to one something will give way, and bury us all under the ruins.”

“we must take our chances,” steve said heroically.

“there is one great objection to all this,” will continued. “this building is so far from our homes in the village.”

“yes, that is too bad,” steve sighed. “but we won’t mind that when we consider all the fun in store for us.[266] why not go to the place now? eh? there’s lots of time, and we are so far on the way.”

“hurrah!” cried the conspiring four. “let us be off, as steve says.”

they arose, and turned their faces up the river. the untenanted house which was to be the field of operations was two miles farther up the river, which flowed past it, but which, at that place, was so narrow that it would require a very wide stretch of imagination to call it anything else than a brook, or creek.

stephen’s first proposal had been received, when fully explained, as so decided an improvement that he now suggested another addition to the plot. “boys,” he said, “let us make a man of straw, or something, to look like a scarecrow, and then stow it away in the house a day or two before we do the rescuing. then when marmaduke and the rest of us arrive, we can seize on it as the villain, and hang it to a fruit tree. marmaduke can be rescuing the prisoner at the time, and he’ll certainly think we are hanging the persecutor.”

“we will see about that afterwards,” said george.

“marmaduke has been more or less a frenchman in his ideas ever since the day he proudly wrote, ‘nous a deux chiens,’ or in english, ‘we has two dogs,’” charles observed, intending to be very sarcastic.

but he could not speak french well—in fact, he could not speak it at all. however, the others thought this must be a very weighty remark, and so they laughed approvingly.

then charles continued, as though he took a fatherly interest in the lad: “perhaps this great conspiracy of ours may induce him to become a good american again.”

will’s conscience was now at work, and he said as severely as he knew how: “it’s a shame to serve a boy of his notions such a boorish trick, and you boys needn’t flatter yourselves that such a performance will do him a bit of good. let us explore the house as much as we please; but let us give up the intention of preying on him.”

“no!” cried the others, with fixed determination, “we[267] have hit on this, and we’ll go through with it, if it makes our hair turn gray! will, if you want to leave us, after all, why, go ahead; but you would be a very foolish fellow to do it. come, now, give your reasons—what is there so very wicked and horrible in our plot?”

“i am not a moralist, boys, and so i can’t explain it. all that i know is, that it seems a mean thing to do. and, yes, i have a presentiment that something terrible will happen.”

“so have i, boys,” steve chimed in. “i have the worst kind of a presentiment. but just to prove that presentiments are superstitions and nonsense, i’m bound to help charley work out his plot.”

“well, then,” said will resignedly, “if you will do it, i promise to stick by you through thick and thin.”

“then it’s settled, boys,” said charles eagerly. “and whatever happens, we four will stick by each other, and hold on to our plot.”

“yes,” commented the sage, bringing his learning into requisition, “we four are a cabal, a faction, a junto, a party of intriguers, a band of—”

“—of good-for-nothing school-boys,” charles said quickly, not wishing to be ranked as a greater personage than he was.

in due time the house was reached. it was a forlorn-looking building, truly, and in a solitary place; but it was hardly so dilapidated as charles supposed. it was now old, uncared for, and weather beaten; but when new, had been a handsome and pleasant house, suitable for a small family. it was a story and a half in height, with four or five rooms on the first floor and as many on the second. if built in a less dreary, locality, it probably would never have been without a tenant. but the man who built this wayside dwelling must have had more means than brains.

even the rough boys of the village shunned this place; consequently, after all these years, there was still here and there a whole pane of glass in almost every window-sash. as for the doors, the best of them had been taken away, and the two or three that remained, were, as may be supposed, worthless and useless.

[268]

the floor of the first story was still sound. up the creaking stairs the plotters went recklessly, and found a state of even greater desolation than below. the rooms here had never been particularly elegant, and now they were filthy and horrible with accumulated dust, mould, and rubbish. the roof was full of holes, through which the water evidently streamed whenever it stormed. the roof was originally set off with two picturesque chimneys; but inexorable time had already demolished one, and was playing havoc with the other.

next they went to explore the cellar; but the earth had caved in and partially filled it up, and it was so dark and loathsome that even the hero stephen hesitated to descend. then, as the front door had been taken away and the entrance secured with boards, they crawled through a window, and once more gained the pure air.

all things considered, even a pirate would have shrunk from passing a night in this house. but a peaceable, home-keeping ghost, in search of a summer residence, could not have found a more suitable one than this. the parlor would have served him admirably for a bed-room, while the dining room could have been fitted up for a laboratory; and in case any chance comers should intrude on him, he could have buried himself in the cellar, where he would have been perfectly safe.

in fact, this was an excellent building for a ghost’s headquarters; but it would require unlimited faith in romance to believe it a likely place for a prison-house.

evidently the plotters were dissatisfied with it, and steve said disconsolately, “well, such a rum old bomb-shell of a hole i never saw! i guess our plot will have to find other quarters, or else be given up.”

“oh, we can come here and tinker it up,” charles said hopefully.

“yes, it’s bad enough; but it’s a good deal better than charley seemed to think,” will observed. “as steve says, or means, it isn’t exactly the place that a french villain would choose for a prison, when the whole world is before him.”

[269]

“did we decide how the frenchman was to bring his prisoner from france to our sea-coast, and then on to this place?” george asked, beginning to have a just appreciation of the difficulties that lay before them.

“it will be safe to leave all that for my cousin to arrange,” will said proudly. “he will make everything clear in the letter, i’m sure.”

“of course he will,” steve said promptly. “now, i say, boys, there is one thing that puzzles me: this place is worth exploring and i should like nothing better than to ransack it again; but why have we never been here before?”

“exactly;” chimed in the sage, as another doubt arose in his mind. “charley, if this place is really so worthless, and if it is free to all, why haven’t we been in the habit of coming here often, to fool away our time?”

charley reflected a moment, and then said, boldly, “well, if we look at it as a play-house, it’s too far gone for that; and if we look at it as a heap of romantic and interesting ruins, it isn’t gone far enough,—not destroyed or broken down enough, for that;—so why should we want to come here, except on account of our plot? there’s nothing else to draw us; and ten to one we should never have thought of coming here at all, if it hadn’t been for the plot. and as for being a place worth keeping up, i don’t know about that; but the man it belongs to doesn’t seem to think it is. why, boys, we can have it all to ourselves; it will be just the place for our prison.”

“well,” said steve, “by the time we get it cleaned, and scoured, and, tinkered, and made respectable and ship-shape, we shall all be good housekeepers, and housemaids, and masons, and carpenters, and tinkers, and—and—. boys,” suddenly, “we needn’t stand here staring in at this window, when we haven’t been through the garden yet.”

the yard, or garden, was then viewed, as suggested; and certainly it did not seem as though care or labor had been bestowed on it for many years. it was overrun with a growth of luxuriant weeds and thistles; and charles,—the head plotter till henry should arrive,—after[270] escaping, by a hair’s breadth, from being swallowed up in an out-of-the-way and only partially covered old well, concluded that they had had glory enough for one day, and proposed that they should go home.

so the heroic four turned their faces homewards, and jogged on, plotting and exultant.

that night one of them was troubled with fitful and uneasy dreams, in which he saw marmaduke struggle manfully with frightful monsters, fashioned of old clothes and villains; whilst hideous french whales soared overhead, winked their wicked eyes, and swore they would catch every boy and dismember him in the deserted and spectre-peopled house.

when the dreamer of this dream awoke, he muttered: “well, this is a presentiment; but, to prove that presentiments are humbugs, i’ll go through with this plot of ours, if—”

further comment is needless.

it is cruel in a romancer to anticipate, but sometimes it is necessary in order to make both ends meet. in this case, it is justifiable; therefore it may be said that as soon as the holidays began, frequent journeys were made to ‘nobody’s house,’ and the sound of the hammer and the saw, together with strains of popular airs, rang out in its deserted chambers. the plotters worked with a will, and with the utmost disregard for the noxious vermin which abounded in their midst, and which they did not attempt to exterminate. their efforts were rewarded; for the house was so transformed that the ghosts, who, in their heart of heart, they fancied inhabited it, would have failed to recognize it.

in the upper story a dangerous place was found, where a person might fall through the floor. this was marked out and avoided.

in this world everything proves useful one day or another; and this house, after lying idle all these years, after being a nuisance to its owner, a by-word in the community and a reproach to it, was at last to prove of the greatest usefulness to these boys and to the writer of this history.

[271]

it is now in order to return and chronicle the events that took place before the holidays opened.