"Horatio, it's up to you now!" Hugh went on remorselessly, as K.K.
stopped the car at a signal from the other, and faint signs of what
had once been a road were to be distinguished just on the left.

"Majority rules, you know," said the wise Juggins boy, "and already
three have given their assent; so it's no back-out for little Horatio."

"Course I'll agree, Hugh," quickly added Julius, when he saw that the
other had turned toward him. "I'm just as curious as the next fellow
to see that old haunted quarry---in the daytime, of course. Besides,
everybody knows there isn't any such thing as a ghost. All such stories,
when they're sifted down, turn out to be humbugs. Sometimes the moving
spectre is a white donkey browsing alongside the road. Then again I've
heard of how it was a swing that had a white pillow left in it by the
children, and the night wind caused it to advance and retreat in a
_terrible_ way. Hugh, let's investigate this silly old business while
we're on the spot."

And by these wonderfully brave words Julius hoped to dissipate any
notion concerning his alleged timidity that may have lodged in the
brains of his chums.

So K.K. started up again, and by another minute the old car had passed
in among the trees, with the overgrown brush "swiping" against the
sides every foot of the way. It was necessary that they proceed
slowly and cautiously, because none of them had ever been over that
long disused road before, and all sorts of obstacles might confront the
bold invaders of the wilds.