"Yes, sir?" said Jupe. "You wanted something?"
"I am looking for Hilltop House," said the man. "I seem to have
taken the wrong turn off the highway."
"Any luck?" asked Jupiter Jones.
"No. There not biting today." The man opened the trunk of the
dusty Ford and began to stow his gear. "Maybe I'm not using
the right bait. I'm new at this."
"What is it?" Aunt Mathilda and Tom thundered down the stairs. Hans came
behind them.
Jupiter and Mrs. Dobson were frozen, staring at those tongues of
ghostly green fire.
Gracious to heavens!" gasped Aunt Mathilda. The flames sputtered and
sank, then died, leaving not a whisp of smoke.
"At this precise moment," [Jupiter] said, "I was endeavoured to get my friend out of this hole. Please assist me, so that we can ascertain as quickly as possible whether he is injured."
Jupiter tried to lift the top off the urn. It did not budge. He tried
to unscrew it, and it did not unscrew. He examined the sides of the piece,
and the pedestal, which was cemented in place on the steps. He
presse on the single-headed eagle, as he had pressed on the eye embedded
in the plague. Nothing gave way.
"Really a decoy," he murmured. "It was never intended to be opened."
Chief Reynolds came out onto the porch. "If I didn't know better," he announced to anyone who cared to listen, "I'd say the place was haunted.
