THE HANGMAN'S GHOST TRICK

Toward Hangman's Knob at the end of mysterious Bald Mountain Road (it appears on no city map) scramble Kerby and Fenton and their old friend Mrs. Graymalkin--the boys in search of a neighbor's missing cat, Xerxes, the crafty old lady seeking the rare frightweed essential for her entry in a crucial ""secret ingredient"" cookie contest. Before the night is over Mrs. G. has her frightweed, the neighbor has her cat, Kerby's dog Waldo (like Xerxes before him) has a glowing red nose from tasting the weed, and the boys have a couple of good scares. With more arbitrary complications than sustained emergency, it's one of Corbett's shabbier tricks--but don't expect his insatiable followers to notice.