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                   THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST

                                  OR

                    Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge

                       BY CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN

    AUTHOR OF "THE OUTDOOR CHUMS," "THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE," "THE
    OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME," ETC.

    _ILLUSTRATED_

    NEW YORK
    GROSSET & DUNLAP
    PUBLISHERS

    COPYRIGHT, 1911 BY
    GROSSET & DUNLAP




    THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES

    BY CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN


    THE OUTDOOR CHUMS
    Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club

    THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE
    Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island

    THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST
    Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge

    THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF
    Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists

    THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME
    Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness




[Illustration: "WOW! LOOK AT THE BUNCH, WILL YOU?"]




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                                    PAGE

        I A QUESTION OF NERVE                                   1

       II LAYING PLANS                                         12

      III THE CAMP BY THE WAYSIDE                              21

       IV THINGS BEGIN TO HAPPEN                               30

        V JED, THE RUNAWAY BOUND BOY                           38

       VI FARMER DOBSON CHANGES HIS MIND                       47

      VII THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS                               57

     VIII EVERYTHING SEEMS TO COME THEIR WAY                   66

       IX FRANK TRIES TO SOLVE THE RIDDLE                      75

        X THE "TOTE" ROAD IN THE FOREST                        84

       XI FARMER DOBSON AND HIS PRIZE BULL                     93

      XII THE NIGHT ALARM                                     101

     XIII A CHANGE OF BASE                                    110

      XIV FIGHTING THE QUICKSAND                              121

       XV JERRY MAKES A GUESS                                 129

      XVI A TIME FOR QUICK ACTION                             137

     XVII THE NEWS ADOLPHUS BROUGHT                           146

    XVIII THE DEN OF VIPERS                                   155

      XIX AN ORDER TO VACATE                                  164

       XX A MORNING WITH THE BLACK BASS                       172

      XXI THE SHERIFF DIPS INTO FAIRY STORIES                 183

     XXII PADDLING ACROSS LAKE SURPRISE                       192

    XXIII DOCTOR WILL TO THE FRONT                            200

     XXIV THE PROOF OF THE NEGATIVE                           208

      XXV CONCLUSION                                          217




THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST




CHAPTER I

A QUESTION OF NERVE


"That's a likely yarn, Sandy. I tell you I don't believe in ghosts."

"All right. You can say what you like, Bluff Masters, but Caleb declares
he saw it."

"Oh, shucks! He must have been dreaming."

"Guess you never had any experience with that sort of things."

"Only once, and that time it turned out to be a crazy man. Since then
I've got my opinion of any fellow who takes stock in ghost stories."

"Think you're mighty brave just because you've got that old gun of yours
along--been having it at the locksmith's again, I reckon. Seems like
it's there half the time, getting some tinkering done. I dare you to go
out to Oak Ridge and settle this ghost question once for all. There you
are, and it's either take me up, or back down off that high horse."

"Vacation's set in, and my chums don't seem to know just where to go.
Tell you what, I've got a good notion to put it up to the crowd right
away."

"Talk is cheap, Bluff. I'll believe it when I hear of you fellows going.
So long," and the speaker, a boy who attended the same school in
Centerville that Bluff did, walked down the main street of the little
town that lay on Lake Camalot.

Bluff looked after him for a minute, as though he might be turning the
daring project over in his mind. Then he fondled the repeating shotgun
he was carrying, as if he resented the slur the other had cast upon its
good qualities.

"Say, now, perhaps that would be a dandy idea, all right. Some people
take considerable stock in that