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together."

    "I think it can be handled," said Hal decidedly. "It's only
a matter of learning how to do it - and sticking it out until
we do learn."
    "I agree," said Bob enthusiastically.
    Carrol was not to be outdone. "Me, too," he cried.
    I looked at Dorothy. I would be away much of the time
and she would be responsible for the welfare of the children
in my absence. It would be up to her to overcome an instinctive fear of the unknown and keep things calm.
    She looked back at me for several seconds and then
shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance while a little smile
tugged at her mouth.
    "I've been doing some mental arithmetic," she said, "and
I figure it won't be too bad. We have only one year, eleven
months, one day and one night to go."
    The conference broke up on that note of agreement. I
turned out the lights, locked up, and followed the family
upstairs to bed. As things turned out, it was an uneventful
night. Maybe our antagonists, defeated in their attempts
at intimidation, were regrouping their forces. We felt that
a challenge had been issued and accepted and the next day
Hal came home from the library laden with books by supposed experts on psychic phenomena.
    "I've found out one thing," he announced at dinner the
next night. "A lot of cases reported as being in the psychic
activity category are eventually explained by natural causes.
I don't think we've done enough investigating around here."
    I agreed. I hadn't forgotten Brooks' reminder that our
case would be a weak one in a court of law. "What do you
have in mind?" I asked.
    "I just feel that we haven't exhausted all possibilities and
that some perverted mind may be at the bottom of these
disturbances."

    "There may be a secret entrance to this place -a secret
tunnel. Someone in the area may have a private reason for
wanting the premises empty," Bob cried out. "It could even
be a dope smuggling headquarters or somethingl"
    "Hardly that," I demurred. "Otherwise we wouldn't be
forced to stay here under the lease. But I think you're right
and we'd better go to work."
    And go to work we did. We made a thorough search of
the mansion, inside and out. We tapped walls to find a
hollow echo that would indicate a secret room or hallway.
We paced over every foot of the grounds-even down by
the creek-in search of an old, forgotten tunnel entrance
to an underground passage.
    As an added precaution, I secured the house so that
entrance was impossible without the cooperation of someone inside. I put on new locks and added a hasp lock and
a barrel bolt to every door. Both back entrances locked
from the inside. There were bars across the library windows
and the door leading to the outside yard from the library
was locked and nailed shut with a twenty pound spike. I
also had a string of lights installed in the basement that
could be turned on from the kitchen to brighten every room
and crevice down there.
    After securing the house, I took one more precaution.
I bought Ching and Chang, two five-month-old chow
puppies. These dogs are fierce, but highly intelligent and
very easy to train and are phenomenally loyal to a family,
especially the children. I felt safe with these two massivejawed animals guarding the house.
    If the owners of the nightly footsteps were clever and
elusive enough to escape our detection, they certainly
wouldn't get past Ching and Chang!

     

Chapter 3

The Pact
    Thank heaven the smells, sounds, and steps weren't a daily
occurrence. Things would be quiet for a few days and
then the footsteps would resume-either inside the house
or out on the graveled path. We might sleep soundly for
four or five nights and then be awakened by the offensive
stench. When this happened we resignedly moved out of
the area and waited for the odor to dissipate. We set up a
daily routine and tried to live normally-if anything could
be called "normal" under the circumstances. Hal and Bob
were now in college and commuted daily in