so weird and unearthly that they stopped still in 
their tracks, while a creepy feeling ran along the 
edge of their scalps and shot up and down their 
backs. Just then there were two or three sounds 
as if someone were breaking small twigs, and this 
wasfollowed by alow hiss. To their great horror, 
on the top of the landing just above them, there 
appeared a white object of an unusual shape. 
A face that was weirdly human looked down on 
them and swayed unsteadily from side to side. 
The president gasped, and seized his chum 
by the arm. For one awful instant they stood 
as if turned to stone. Then wheeling about 
they fled from the house, and did not stop until 
they had reached the car. 
They had come out from town for the purpose 
of scaring Willard Young and had been fright- 
ened almost to death themselves. The bundles 
they carried were sheets that they were to wrap 
around their bodies to make the poor lonely 
photographer think they were ghosts. They 
threw the sheets into the car and climbed in 
after them. Instead of starting home, however, 
they decided to wait and see what would happen 
184 
