“I wish you’d tell me one or two things that I don’t quite understand, Mr. Granger,” said Sleuth, as they retraced their steps through the woods. “For instance, there’s the mysterious ticking of the unseen clock in the hermit’s hut.” Granger chuckled a bit. “I’ve got a clock hidden there,” he said. “I took pains to hide it well, too.” “Very clever,” said Sleuth. “But how about the mysterious rappings?” “You observed that the old hut has fallen over until it touches one of those tall pines. When the wind blows, I fancy two of the limbs of that tree must knock together, and the sound, communicated along the trunk of the tree, is like that made by someone knocking.” “Um,” said Piper; “simple. But when we were in the old ranch the day of the thunder-shower, we heard a low moaning following those knocking sounds.” “I have heard that likewise when there was enough wind to move the door of the hut on its rusty hinges. It’s really a shame that you should catch me at this job, my boy, for it’s liable to deprive me of a steady remuneration, and my story writing scarcely provides a satisfactory income.” “The hotel people have been paying you,” declared Piper. “That’s it, eh?” “Sure. As I told you boys when I visited your camp, this hotel, being located some distance from a convenient railway station, didn’t succeed very well at first. Its methods of advertising were strictly conventional, and it was I who suggested something better in that line. Having heard the fable of Lovers’ Leap and the story of Old Lonely, I placed before the hotel proprietors a scheme through which I felt confident their place could be made very popular and attractive. It was I who advised them to place the white cross upon the cliff, and I wrote for them the story of the Indian lovers, which they are now using in their printed advertising. I urged them furthermore to make the most of the superstitious belief of some people that this island was haunted, and I agreed to do a few ghost stunts. You can see how easy it was for me, in collaboration with the hotel people, to carry this thing through. Two of the men from the hotel boathouse were rowing that boat, and, had the others insisted on landing upon the island, they would have pretended they were too frightened to do so. But it’s all over now. My lucrative profession as a spook is busted.” “Now, really, that’s too bad,” said Sleuth, feeling sorry for the man. “If I don’t tell——” “But you will. You can’t keep it to yourself. I never saw a boy who could keep such a secret.” “Is that so?” exclaimed Sleuth resentfully. “Perhaps, Mr. Granger, you haven’t got boys thoroughly sized up. There may be some who can’t keep their traps closed, but I want you to understand that I’m different.” The man stopped and grasped Piper by the shoulder.