Oi t'ought Oi had kilt the
thramp and thot the officers wor watchin' for me! Thot ould divil hilped
me to believe thot hersilf! So whin Oi heard yez call, av coorse Oi
worn't goin' to sthop and be arristed. A ghost, is it? Oi'm thinkin'
thot yez'd be crapin' round, too, if yez t'ought thot a rope wor riddy
to toighten about the neck av yez!"
* * * * *
"Haw! haw! haw!"
The roars did not proceed from Joe Gamp, but from the landlord of the
hotel. Now that Barney was found to be real flesh and blood, and not a
spirit, the landlord had entered more heartily into the search for the
mysterious source of the strange footsteps. He had been willing that the
doors opening into the corridors should be closed--for only when the
corridor was darkened could the ghostly sounds be heard.
As soon as the "footsteps" came again he threw open the door and
chucklingly led the way out through a side room into a shedlike
structure that came up against the corridor wall.
"There is your ha'nt!" he roared, pointing down into a pen in the shed.
"There is your ha'nt! A gol-derned old sea-turtle! Haw! haw! haw! Ho!
ho! ho! He! he! he!"
The turtle was a monster in size.
"But--I don't see!" said Merriwell. "This doesn't explain."
The landlord hopped into the pen and flipped the huge turtle over on its
back against the wall.
Pages:
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295