“This spook seems to be a collector of relics,” said Dick. “He has collected something wherever he has appeared. First he got away with Smart’s comb and brush, then Gorman’s watch; Savage lost a knife, and Wilson is also out a watch.” “Well, what do you think of it?” was the point-blank question put to Dick. “It’s very remarkable,” confessed Merriwell. “Oh, there’s nothing in the ghost-story, of course!” said a bullet-headed boy. “Perhaps there is,” said Dick. “What?” cried several, in surprise. “You don’t believe it?” said one. “You don’t take stock in spooks?” “I might not take stock in this one,” admitted Dick, “if it were not that he has taken stock wherever he had visited. In other words, the fact that he has carried off some valuable articles leads me to believe in him.” “But how——” “Why——” “You don’t——” “I can’t see——” “You mean——” “It seems likely that somebody, or something, has been prowling round this building,” said Dick, cutting them all short. “There goes the breakfast-bell.” There was a general movement to form into ranks to march to the dining-hall by classes, as was the custom, and the subject was dropped for the time being. CHAPTER XXVII—DICK MAKES A DISCOVERY The mystery of the “spook” that had so suddenly appeared at the academy grew with every night. Strange sounds were heard in the corridors, sentinels were frightened, and little articles and things of value continued to disappear from the rooms of the cadets. “I wonder if this yere spook has visited us, pard?” said Brad Buckhart, one morning. “Why?” asked Dick. “My knife is gone now. The critter seems to take to knives and such things as a duck takes to water, and so I thought maybe he had wandered in here and appropriated my sticker.” But Brad dismissed the matter with that, nothing more being said about it. The “spook” excitement continued to provide a topic of interest for the boys, but the approach of the football-game with the New Era A. A. finally surpassed it in interest. Various were the opinions expressed in regard to the probable outcome of the game with New Era. Some thought New Era would not be able to score, some thought she would make the game interesting, some even thought there was a chance for her to win; but the majority seemed inclined to the idea that Fardale, thus far undefeated, would not fall before this team. When the report came that the Trojan A. A., which had been defeated by Fardale, had not permitted New Era to score and had rolled up twenty-eight points, it seemed a settled thing that the cadets were to have an easy time of it. The members of the team grew overconfident, something Dick warned them against. “Oh, we’ll eat those galoots up!” declared Buckhart. “Perhaps so,” said Dick; “but we don’t want to be too sure of it. You know it is never possible to know just what to expect from one of these independent teams. They are full of tricks, and they are not over-particular about their methods.”