reckon your grandfather, if he was alive, could tell you all about
what became of 'em and who was in the party that stood 'em up against
the back wall of the cave and shot 'em. There's another story that
goes back even farther than the horse thieves. The skeleton of
a woman was found up there, with the skull split wide open. That
was back in 1830 or 1840. So, you see, when all of them ghosts get
together and begin scrapping over property rights, it's enough to
scare the gizzard out of 'most anybody that happens to be in the
neighbourhood. But I guess old man Quill was the first white man
to shuffle off, so it's generally understood that his ghost rules
the roost. Come on now, let's be moving. It's gettin' hotter
every minute, and you oughtn't to be out in all this heat. For the
Lord's sake, you ain't going to light another one of them things,
are you?"

"Sure. It's the only vice I'm capable of enjoying at present. Being
gassed and shell-shocked, and then having the flu and pneumonia
and rheumatism,--and God knows what else,--sort of purifies a chap,
you see."

"Well, all I got to say is--I guess I'd better not say it, after
all."

"You can't hurt my feelings."

"I'm not so sure about that," said the old man gruffly.

"How do you get up to that cave?"

"You ain't thinking of trying it, are you?" apprehensively.