Hiding in the brush they overhear Wash planning an attack on Dad Howlitt that evening. As the ride off Young Matt tells Sammy to ride home and tell her father and he takes off on a shortcut to beat Gibb's to Howlitt's cabin. Young Matt beats Gibbs to the cabin and convinces Howlitt that he is in danger. However before they can leave they are surrounded by Gibbs and his fellow night riders. Just as they prepare to do the deed a ghostly figure comes running from woods screaming a ghastly shriek and Gibbs and his fellows take off.
Summer comes on and moves into autumn.
As winter and spring come and goes Mutton Hollow begins to suffer under a disastrous drought. The Matthews and Lanes, as well as their neighbors, are in a great financial bind and it appears that many of the folks of Mutton Hollow will have to move. He prepares to write a letter, presumably to send for money from some of his friends in Chicago. The next morning Dad Howlitt prays with all his powers for intervention from God. Opening the sack Dad finds a small fortune in gold coins.