Bud turned off onto a dirt road which wound upward around the hill. Soon a house loomed ahead against the night sky. It was an old frame building with a high gabled roof. Lights shone through the unshuttered windows. Bud parked and the four teen-agers got out.
“Dr. Grimsey’s deaf and doesn’t always keep his hearing aid turned up,” Tom said, “so bear with him if he seems a bit vague at times.”
An elderly man answered their ring. He had a full bushy beard and a wild shock of iron-gray hair. His eyes twinkled at the young people through horn-rimmed eyeglasses. “Well, well, well! How delightful! Do come in!”
Tom introduced Sandy and Phyl. “This is Dr. Ethan Grimsey,” he told them, “one of America’s foremost electronic engineers.”
When they were seated, Sandy remarked, “We were told this house is haunted, Dr. Grimsey.”
THE PEG-LEGGED GHOST 3
“Rented?” The elderly man bent his head forward. “Yes, indeed. I leased the house when I came here to work on your brother’s project.”
Sandy repeated her question. The scientist’s left hand, which bore a large hairy mole, flew quickly up to his hearing aid.
“I beg your pardon, my dear,” he said with an embarrassed smile. “Er-yes-there have been some manifestations of a ghost here.”
“The ghost of the former owner?” Phyl asked.
“Mm-well, yes, so it would seem. He was an old sea captain-a suspected slaver and pirate. He finally drowned, but it’s said his spirit can’t find rest because of his evil deeds.”
Dr. Grimsey seemed oddly ill at ease talking about the ghost, so the girls began chatting about other subjects. Presently Dr. Grimsey asked Sandy and Phyl to excuse him and Tom.
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