But Danny drew back, aghast at the proposition--go alone to a spot like that, and at night! "Go to it, kid," was suddenly spoken quietly in his ear. Danny turned to see whose was the kindly voice that advised, and looked into Biddie Burton's eyes. "Don't let 'em make you take a dare," came in another whisper. "_Go._" Biddie was not smiling now, and there was a note of serious friendliness in his voice. It suddenly came to Danny that he would give more to merit that new confidence on Biddie's part than to break down the taunts of the others. And yet he could not. He could no more command his shaking nerves to carry him to that unhallowed, ghostly spot than he could command the unwilling nerves of another. His will-power had deserted him. "I _dare_ you to go!" badgered L. C. Danny's spirit flamed for one brief moment. But in the very next his head dropped, and he turned away. "This is going too far," the wretched little fellow heard Biddie Burton exclaim sharply. "What is 'going too far'?" a new voice asked out of the darkness, and Willard McKenzie advanced into the group. "What is 'going too far'?" he repeated, glancing from one to another. No answer being volunteered, his keen glance quickly singled out the shamed tenderfoot. "What have they been up to, Danny?" he asked. Danny turned and faced him. "Nothing that makes any difference," he said. It was generous in him not to "peach," and so Biddie Burton's friendly glance assured him. The incident passed with that, for McKenzie was full of something repressed, and, seeing it, the boys gathered close about him in eager questioning--all except Danny. All except Danny! His brief career--his career that only an hour ago had promised so much--had ended, and in disgrace. He had taken a dare! Nothing would ever matter to him again--Danny told his aching heart--the boys despised him, all except Biddie Burton, and, somehow, Biddie's pity was harder to bear than despite. "I went to the gap and wired Mr. Gordon," McKenzie was saying now, "and he told me I could put you to it at once. He's had an accident to his car and may not get here for some time." "What's up?" It was Roger who asked the question. "Something serious," answered McKenzie, "but Mr. Gordon didn't say what. Have you had supper?" They replied in concert, eager to receive orders. "Well," continued McKenzie, "we've got to cover the mountain here, for signs of--anything unusual. You'll have to be careful not to run into trouble yourselves, but you must know your ground. There'll be a good moon if the clouds break." "Glory be!" Danny heard Elsie Whitman breathe in expectant ecstasy, and he would have given the world to have felt with him that eager joy. But Danny had taken a dare! The others were chattering now, as eager as Whitman to be off on the trail of adventure. McKenzie was giving orders: