- Barney and Gomer try to retrieve a baseball from a supposedly haunted house and find some strange goings on inside.
- When Opie and his friend Arnold accidentally send a baseball crashing through the window of an old abandoned house, they're too afraid to go in and retrieve it. The house has a reputation for being haunted but Barney admonishes Andy for not making the boys retrieve the ball anyways. The cowardly Deputy balks however when Andy suggests that he get it for them. Even Otis the town drunk suggests that they stay away from the place. Soon, Andy and Barney - with Gomer in tow - are in the place. They hear strange sounds, see a painting with eyes that seem to follow you across the room and find a secret chamber. There's definitely an earthly explanation to everything however.—garykmcd
- Opie and Arnold are having an argument over whether Arnold's favorite pitcher could strike out Opie's favorite batter. Finally, to settle the matter, Arnold pretends to be his favorite pitcher and Opie pretends to be his favorite batter. Arnold throws the baseball and Opie hits it. Unfortunately, it smashes right through the window in the front door of the old Rimshaw house. The house has been empty for decades and is falling apart. There are rumors that it might be haunted as well. Opie and Arnold cautiously approach the front door, and turn the handle, but before they can go in, a ghostly moan sounds. Both boys freeze, then hear the ghostly moan again and take off running.
At the jail, Otis has once again been detained for public drunkenness. Barney watches Otis fumble with the door when it's time to leave, and tells Andy he's pretty sure Otis is still drunk. He wants to give Otis a sobriety test. Andy agrees to allow him to do so, but reminds Barney they don't have the sophisticated equipment needed. Barney decides to do a more practical test - if Otis can jump rope, he's coordinated enough to be sober. Otis, first afraid that Barney is approaching him with the rope to hang him, is unsure whether to be relieved or even more scared when Barney tells him what the rope is for. Andy tells Otis he isn't going to stop Barney, and Barney tells Otis he has two choices; tell them where he's been getting moonshine from, or do the sobriety test. Otis, not wanting to reveal his source of supply, complies. Barney demonstrates the sobriety test for him, then he and Andy twirl the rope, and Otis nervously prepares to jump in, telling Andy and Barney that they are going too fast.
Opie and Arnold burst in at that moment, saving Otis from having to jump rope, screaming for help. Andy calms the boys, and Opie and Arnold explain what happened. Andy tells the boys they aren't supposed to go into old abandoned houses, especially that one. He also dismisses the theory of ghosts. Barney backs him up, telling the boys that they spooked themselves and there's nothing to be worried about. They send the boys away and promise to get the baseball for them, since Andy doesn't want the boys in the dangerous house.
Andy, who is waiting on a phone call from Raleigh, tells Barney to go get the baseball. Barney immediately reveals his true feelings about the Rimshaw house, balking and coming up with different reasons not to go. Andy accuses him of being scared, and Barney, irritated, marches out to go to the house. Gomer arrives at that moment with a piece of machinery for Andy, and Barney seizes the chance to not have to go alone, asking Gomer to come along, on the pretext that two people going in and coming back out should settle the debate on whether it's haunted or not. Gomer is less than thrilled when he discovers where Barney is taking him, but agrees to help find the baseball. They go up to the front porch of the Rimshaw house, and find the hole where the ball went in. However, before they can open the door, the ghostly moan sounds again. Gomer and Barney flee in terror, and Barney comes back in the courthouse out of breath and shaking.
Andy reprimands Barney, but Barney reminds Andy that the last owner of the house had stated on his death-bead that he didn't want his house touched, and that whether it is haunted or not, they should respect his wishes. Andy refuses to believe that the house is all that scary, and Barney tells him what he and Gomer heard. Otis backs Barney up, telling Andy locals are saying that the paintings in the house are alive and that weapons float through the air by themselves inside the house. He warns them to stay away from the Rimshaw place, then leaves. Andy tells Barney that once his phone call comes through, he will take Barney and Gomer over to the Rimshaw place to get the baseball and settle this matter once and for all.
Later that day, the three men arrive at the Rimshaw house. Andy opens the door and they all go in to discover the place is falling apart and full of cobwebs. They find the baseball, and Gomer begs Andy to let them leave. However, Andy insists they should look around. They comply, but Barney and Gomer stick so close to Andy that he begins to feel claustrophobic and tells them to wait in the Living Room while he explores the house. Gomer and Barney, feeling exposed in the middle of the room, retreat to a corner. However, when he leans against the wall, Gomer falls into a hidden closet. Barney doesn't notice his disappearance at first, and when he does turn around and notice Gomer's gone, he panics. Andy hears Barney's desperate cries for Gomer and hurries back, and Barney, nearly in tears, tells Andy that the rumors are true about the place and something terrible must have happened. Andy reassures him that Gomer probably just walked off, and at that moment Gomer comes out of the hidden closet. Andy smugly smiles when Gomer tells Barney that he was just in a closet, and they continue exploring. Gomer confides in Barney, however, that a mysterious pair of hands pushed him out of the closet.
The men discover the wallpaper has been torn and the mantle is warm, suggesting someone was using wallpaper to light fires. Barney speculates an old tramp, and Andy looks around some more. They notice the painting of Old Man Rimshaw above the mantle, and Gomer reminds the other two of the legend that Old Man Rimshaw tied a hired man up with chains and killed him. Barney knows the legend too; supposedly the hired man was chopped up with an ax . The eyes of the painting creepily follow the men, looking very lifelike, but Andy insists it's just the light. He instructs Barney and Gomer to check for signs of squatters in the cellar, and he'll do the same in the attic.
Barney and Gomer open the cellar door, only to see an ax mounted on the back of it. Losing nerve completely, they refuse to go down the stairs and Barney contents himself with calling "Any old tramps down here?" down the stairs. When no one answers, they shut the door. Andy returns from upstairs and Barney, more relaxed, tells Andy nothing strange has happened since he left. He knocks on the wall ("Knock on wood") as he speaks. There are three ghostly thumps in response. Andy tries it, and the same thing happens. All three men look at the painting. This time, there is no doubt - a real pair of eyes is glaring at them in the painting. Andy finally is scared, and tells Barney and Gomer to make a run for it. They do, willingly, but Andy doesn't come out of the house with them.
Back inside, the secret closet opens, and Big Jack Anderson comes out, followed by Otis. It was Jack who was making the noises, and who has been, with Otis' help, spreading the rumors about the old house being haunted. Jack and Otis laugh about how the trio were scared off, and Jack gloats that as long as people believe the rumors, he'll be able to run the still he keeps in the closet for years. The pair start drinking to celebrate, when Old Man Rimshaw's ax comes floating through the air towards them. The painting has eyes glaring at them, and the baseball bumps down the stairs seemingly of its own accord. Jack remarks that the eyes aren't his, this time, and the terrified pair flee out the house. Upstairs, Andy, who was the one manipulating the ax with some string and who was looking through the painting, observes his handiwork happily.
Outside, Barney and Gomer realize Andy's still inside. Gomer tells Barney that he must be sheriff now, but Barney refuses to leave Andy for dead and musters his courage, drawing his gun and hurrying into the house through the back door. By now, Otis and Jack are gone. Barney sees the eyes in the painting and the ax floating towards him, and nearly faints. Andy, recognizing that it's Barney, comes down the stairs and tells Barney that it was just him, this time. Barney, now completely bewildered, demands an explanation. Andy unties the ax, and tells Barney that there is a still to smash. Barney, realizing the truth at last, is relieved, and follows Andy to smash the still.
Later that day, an ATF agent arrives to pick up Big Jack, who has many warrants going back a few years for his illegal moonshine operations. He congratulates Andy for having captured the elusive fugitive. Andy shares the credit with Gomer and Barney, and the ATF agent says they must be tough people to have taken down the notoriously mean Big Jack. Andy offers to let the agent meet Barney and Gomer, and brings him inside. However, much to Andy's embarrassment, Barney and Gomer are teaching Jack and Otis how to jump rope, and Barney is saying a silly nursery rhyme to help them keep time.
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