66 CHAPTER V ON THE WRECK ON THE WRECK Robin Hood and his band did not let the grass grow under their feet, after they had once decided to thoroughly investigate the mystery of the wrecked schooner. Ann, herself, felt much stronger and braver now that she had allies. She was quite willing to admit that she had been squeamish about going aboard and examining the ship alone or with no one but Ben and Helen. Although Mr. Seymour had reported the boat to be uninhabited and perfectly safe, Ann, nevertheless, had wondered whether perhaps the ghosts might not have been on a vacation the day her father went aboard with Mr. Bailey. Robin Hood The band chose to begin their undertaking early in the afternoon of the day following their discovery of the fire in the woods. The sun was bright and therefore the demon on the bow was quite unlifelike and battered. Jo bent his back, for a step, and Ann was the first to climb up to the sloping deck. After she had scrambled to safety she let down her hands to help Ben and then Helen, and then she lent a hand to Jo67 as he braced his feet against the wooden side and walked as a fly might until he could catch the gunwale and swing himself over the rail. 67 “It is a very big boat,” ventured Helen, whispering, as she looked over the wide deck with its shining weathered gray boards. “It is much bigger than it looks from the house.” “Now, right here,” Jo interposed, “let’s make up our minds to one thing. Nobody is to whisper and nobody is to scream, no matter what happens. A whisper will frighten a person even when there is nothing to be afraid of, and if anybody screams in my ear I know I shall jump right out of my skin.” “I don’t see how you have the courage to come back, Jo,” said Ben admiringly. “I’m not so terribly courageous,” admitted Jo candidly. “If it hadn’t been for Ann’s thinking that the fire had something to do with the ship I shouldn’t be here now, I know that much!” “Where shall we go first?” Ann asked, and then, because she thought she might have seemed unsympathetic, she added, “I don’t believe we shall find anything wrong to-day. If men are really hanging about the boat they couldn’t come here in the open daylight, for they’d be sure to be
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