Sergeant Preston of the Yukon #8 (August-October 1953) from Dell Comics gave us a haunted cabin in “The Ghost in the Window”. This ten-pager was written by Gaylord Du Bois and drawn by Alberto Giolitti. The comic was based on the popular television show (starring Richard Simmons — no, not that Richard Simmons) that had begun as a Radio program. The fake ghost is a classic Northern gimmick.
Hank Dribble the miner sees a haunting face in the window at Old Stebbins’ abandoned cabin. This is the place where Stebbins died. Hank lights out for Whitehorse in a hurry. Ten-year old Johnny Saybrook hears Hank ride off. The young man wishes he was a Mountie like Sergeant Preston and was having an adventure.
Meanwhile the real Sergeant Preston has arrived to help Constable Harris with a rash of robberies. Harris is stumped because the descriptions given by the victims are all different. We see Kels and his gang break in and blow a safe. They slip off in different directions with the takings. The noise lets the Mounties know that a safe has been blown. It is the mining company office. A lone witness sees the robbers leave, Hank Quibble.
Wellman of the mining company complains that the safe held the five thousand dollars for the pay roll. Preston isn’t hopeful without any clues. Hank confesses he saw one of the riders head out on the Old Cliff Trail. Meanwhile young Johnny overhears the outlaws at their rendezvous spot. They laugh about the ghost getting wet in the rain, then head for the haunted cabin. Preston visits the Saybrook home and hears from Johnny about the robbers. The Mountie promises Johnny a reward if his information proves correct.
Harris is skeptical of Johnny’s information. He says the haunted cabin is malarkey. He had checked it out a week ago and there was nothing.
They investigate the old cabin anyway. Yukon King smells something. There is no trap door under the carpets but removing a curtain discovers a door into the cliff that sits next to the cabin. The two Mounties draw their guns and enter.
The robbers are having a meeting. They plan to split their takings four ways and keep robbing all summer. Kels congratulates himself for discovering Old Stebbins cabin with its secret door. He killed the man and took all his gold. The Mounties move in to arrest the bandits. One man tries to shoot but Yukon King knocks him down. Preston shoots the gun out of another man’s hand. Once arrested, Kels wonders how Preston got wise. The Mountie says: “Through a “ghost” who talked too much–Kels!” Johnny will receive his reward. Case closed.
Gaylord Du Bois doesn’t spend much time on the supernatural aspects of this story. There is too much daring-do to do. It reminds me (only slightly) of the Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Yellow Face” but the comic doesn’t have time for such elaborate machinations. Though, you’d think with ten pages we could have had more than just one scare scene. Like the Doc Savage novels of old, the scares are for the opener. (Coincidentally, you can say the same for Hamlet, that opens with just one ghost.)
If you’d like more Sergeant Preston, listen here.