CHAPTER XXIV

STRANGE GHOSTS

“Did you see that!” cried Bob.

“They’re drowned!” gasped Ned.

“What was it, an accident?” asked Professor Snodgrass.

“It would be hard to say,” remarked Jerry. “Certainly the boat looked as if it was going to overturn in the rapids, but I can’t really say that it did. The fog rolled up just then and hid everything from sight. I hope those in the boat weren’t lost, but their chances were slim.”

“Can we do anything for them?” asked Bob.

“Nothing, I’m afraid,” answered the tall lad. “We can’t even see them, and it would be useless to descend into that canyon of fog now. Besides, the current is so swift that the boat must be a good way from here by this time.”

The airship was slowly floating along over the Grand Canyon, which, at this point, wound in and out among the many colored cliffs, like some great serpent. Jerry had shut down the machinery until it was barely turning the propellers, and, had not the gas bag sustained the craft, she would have settled down, for the motion was not enough to keep her afloat as an aeroplane.

“Well, what are we going to do?” Ned wanted to know. “We must be nearly at Snake Island, if there is any such place, and if we’re going to get that radium fortune it’s time we got busy.”

“And I haven’t seen anything of that two-tailed toad, either,” spoke Professor Snodgrass. “I had hopes of finding a specimen--even if a small one--before now, but fate seems against me.”

“Wait until we get on the island,” suggested Bob. “There may be toads there, as well as snakes.”

“What makes you think there are snakes there?” asked Ned. “Didn’t the old guide say he thought it got its name because the tall cliff in the middle seemed to wiggle like a serpent when there was a fog?”

“Yes, he did, and if we put on a little more steam, Jerry, we may get to Snake Island now, in time to see that same thing. I say let’s move faster,” went on the stout lad. “We ought to be nearly there.”

“But we might pass right over the island in this fog,” objected Jerry. “It’s better to go a bit slow, I think.”

However, the problem was soon solved for them, as, when they had proceeded a little farther the mist lifted and they had a clear view of the stream as it foamed along below.

“But I don’t see anything of the boat, and the three men who were in it,” observed Bob, peering downward through the window in the cabin floor.

“No. Either by this time they have been carried many miles down the river, or they are--drowned,” spoke Jerry softly.

“Well, then let’s keep a lookout for Snake Island,” suggested Ned, and, knowing that they must be within a comparatively short distance of the place, if it was there at all, they all watched eagerly, even Professor Snodgrass laying aside his note-books.

Bob served dinner and the watch was resumed. It was about two o’clock when the stout lad, who had just finished getting the galley in order, looked over the port rail on the bow of the air craft. No sooner had he glimpsed the river below him than he called out:

“Here we are, fellows! There she is! We’re here at last! Now for the radium! There’s Snake Island. We’re right over it!”

“Say, you’re as bad as Andy Rush!” cried Jerry as he hurried out of the pilot house, to join his chum.

“Well, if it’s true, we’ll forgive him for making such a fuss,” suggested Ned. “But say, I believe he’s right, after all!”

“And if it is the island, oh! how I hope my two-tailed toad may be there!” cried the professor.

There could be little doubt but that they were looking at Snake island. Down below them, in a comparatively calm stretch of the river, was a long and rather narrow strip of land, low on the edges, and rising abruptly in the middle. There was a big mound, like a great hill, covered with trees and bushes, and, in the center of this was the tall, curiously shaped tower of rock about which the guide had spoken.

“That’s Snake Island all right,” agreed Jerry, “though I can’t say that the rocky tower in the center looks much like a serpent.”

“Maybe it does from some other view,” suggested Ned. “Then, too, there is no mist now. I’d rather believe the place got its name from that, than because there were snakes there. Well, are we going down, Jerry?”

“I guess so. I was just looking for a good place to make a landing. Let’s drop down to the lower end, and we can take our choice.”

As they sailed slowly down the length of the curious island they noted that it was about four miles long, and about half a mile in width. The river here was quite broad, contrary to the usual character of the Colorado, and a glimpse over the surrounding territory showed it to be so wild and desolate that it is doubtful if it had ever been visited by a white man.

The cliffs, too, at either side of the stream, where the island divided it, were so high, so rugged and precipitous, that it was positive that no one had ever descended them. And, had even the most daring explorer managed to get down, he never could have gotten up without a balloon. For that reason it was plain why the existence of the island was practically unknown.

“Well, I don’t see but what the upper end of the place is the best to land on,” remarked Ned, after a circuit had been made.

“Guess you’re right,” agreed Jerry. “We’ll go down there.”

The _Comet_ was sent about, and, a little later, she began settling slowly down in the great chasm, at the bottom of which flowed the river.

It was getting well on in the afternoon, and the sun, sinking in the west, no longer cast its beams into the great gulf. There was a twilight darkness hovering over it, a stillness broken only by the murmur of the foaming river, that cast a spell of gloominess over our friends. For a time no one spoke, and then, as the airship was about to settle down on a smooth strip of sand, near the upper end of the river, Jerry exclaimed:

“Say, what’s the matter with us all, anyhow? Anyone would think this was a funeral. Wake up, you fellows!”

“All right! Wow! Let’s be jolly!” cried Ned in a loud voice.

There was a sound like thunder, and then, from that vast gorge came a mighty voice, repeating in solemn tones:

“Let’s be jolly!”

“Bless my soul!” gasped Mr. Snodgrass. “It’s an echo.”

“Echo!” came back in a voice like a bull’s bellow.

After that they spoke in whispers, but even then their words were flung back at them from the sides of the cliffs in murmurs and trills that produced an uncanny feeling.

“This sure is a strange place,” remarked Jerry, as he brought the airship to a stop.

“Strange place!” howled the echo. Jerry had spoken louder than he thought. He laughed, and a giant’s chuckle was tossed back to him. The boys looked at each other, startled, until Bob said:

“Oh, don’t let’s mind this. It’s only an echo. Let’s get busy, have a supper and to-morrow we’ll get the radium.”

“Radium,” mocked the echo, but now they were beginning to get used to it.

“Say, it looks as if there was a tide in this river,” remarked Ned, as he noted a sort of high-water mark, where sticks and driftwood were piled up on shore.

“No, that shows where the river rises when there’s a flood, or too much rain,” explained the professor. “The Colorado rises rapidly at times, because the cliffs are so steep that the water from the clouds is almost instantly all poured into the stream. We had better get the ship above flood mark, Jerry, as there may be rain in the night, and we don’t want to go floating down.”

Accordingly the _Comet_ was wheeled farther from shore. Night came on early, in the depths of that gloomy chasm, for they were over a mile below the upper rim of the steep cliffs. But when the big gas lamps had been set aglow, making the circle about the airship one of radiance, and when they were gathered in the cozy cabin, they were all more cheerful.

“Well, we’ll start on a radium hunt the first thing in the morning,” suggested Jerry. And, being inside now, the echo was not so noticeable.

“And I will seek the two-tailed toad,” said the professor. “I wonder if I could not have a look now? Toads come out at night, and if I take a light I may succeed in finding one.”

Supplying himself with an electric torch, the scientist let himself out of the airship. The boys heard him walking about outside, and then they began talking of their trip so far, and speculating as to how it would end.

Suddenly, in the midst of the discussion, there came a cry from outside.

“Hark!” exclaimed Bob.

“It’s the Professor,” said Jerry.

“Maybe he’s found his toad, and it’s bitten him,” was Ned’s contribution.

“Boys! Boys, come here!” called the professor, and the three lads rushed from the cabin.

“What is it?” asked Jerry. “Where are you?”

“In front of the ship,” came the answer. Then they saw the gleam of his light, and hurried toward him.

“Look!” exclaimed the scientist in a whisper, and, as he pointed toward the middle of the island, whence arose that curious pinnacle of rock, the three chums saw several tall and ghostly shapes swirling slowly at them. Curious shapes they were, like tall beings wrapped in trailing clothes, with their long, thin arms raised as if in warning, and about them seemed to cling, like an enveloping haze, a weird, purplish light. The strange shapes seemed blown onward by the night wind.

“What--what are they?” gasped Bob in a whisper.

“Ghosts, I guess,” answered Jerry, with a half-hearted laugh. “The ghosts of Snake Island.”

“Ghosts of Snake Island,” came back the echo. And then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the “ghosts” vanished, leaving the boys and the professor staring into the darkness.