Dan Carter and the Cub Honor Part 10

"Watched?" said Mr. Hatfield. "By whom?"

"I can't explain it. As I said, it was just a feeling. I-I felt as if everything we said and did inside that building was being noted."

"That was imagination, I'm afraid," Mr. Hatfield smiled. "I can understand the feeling though. The church interior was quiet and filled with strange echoes. Don't give it too much thought Dan."

Feeling slightly rebuked, Dan made no mention of the incident of the tapping bell. Nor did Chips speak of it. Neither of them believed that there were ghosts either at the old church or anywhere.

One by one the Club leader dropped the boys off at their separate homes.

He promised that the moment he had anything to report about the church matter, he would call a special meeting.

Meanwhile, the Cubs continued to make plans for the Friday night ice cream party. Search as they would, however, they could not locate even a single ice cream freezer.

"No hope of getting those two in the church bas.e.m.e.nt either," Dan gloomily remarked to Brad Tuesday night after school. The two boys stood at a street corner, books under their arms. "For that matter, I wouldn't even ask Old Terry to borrow 'em now."

"He'd just turn us down," Brad agreed.

Un.o.bserved by the two Cubs, Pat Oswald and a companion had come up behind them. As Dan turned he saw the pair and knew they deliberately had been listening.

"What's that about Old Terry?" Pat asked.

"Nothing," Dan replied shortly.

"Oh, I heard what you said. You want to borrow an old ice cream freezer from him, and he won't let you have it."

"Anything wrong in wanting a freezer?" Brad asked pleasantly. "Maybe you know where we can get one."

"Maybe I do," Pat grinned. "But I wouldn't tell, not in a million years.

I'd hate to be a Cub!"

"You'd hate to be one?" Dan demanded. Pat's manner irritated him. He disliked the older boy's smug smile and att.i.tude of knowing-it-all.

"Why?"

"Cubs are babies-little baby bears!"

"You don't know anything about the organization!"

"Don't I? Well, let me tell you a thing or two, Mr. Danny Boy Carter, everyone in Webster City has heard about the mess they're in now!"

Dan and Brad were chagrined by this thrust. So the story had spread that church authorities had threatened to sue!

"The Cubs are sunk!" Pat chortled. "By the time the court gets through, there won't be an organization left. It will serve you right, too, for wrecking the old church."

"We didn't do it, and you know it," Dan retorted. "Say, weren't you and your gang out that way last Sat.u.r.day?"

"Who says so?" Pat returned, instantly on the defensive.

"You know plenty about what happened."

"Only what I heard," Pat replied. His bl.u.s.ter had faded away.

Dan was elated to note that his sharp question had worried the other. He would have pursued the matter further, but Pat and his friend moved off.

"You scored that time, Dan," Brad said when they were alone again. "All the same, go easy in talking to him. If we're to learn anything, we mustn't give away what we suspect."

"I'll be more careful," Dan promised. "Did you notice how he acted when I suggested that he'd been around the church Sat.u.r.day?"

"I did, Dan. Tomorrow night I'm going out there again, and canva.s.s the neighborhood. It may be that we can dig up someone who saw the damage being done. In that case, the Cubs could be cleared."

"Pat and his gang were responsible, I'll bet on that."

"I think so myself," Brad agreed. "But don't forget, we must prove any charges we make."

Though the Webster City newspapers carried only brief stories on the damage which had been done at the Christian Church, word of it spread very rapidly.

No mention had been made of the Cub organization or the threatened law suit in either the Webster City Herald or the Journal. Nevertheless, rumors circulated that the boys of Den 2 were responsible for the damage.

The Cubs smarted under the humiliation.

"We'll never live this down," Midge said morosely the next afternoon as the Cubs waited in their clubroom.

Mr. Hatfield had called a special meeting and the boys were expecting him at any moment. He came in just then, so sober-faced that the Cubs instantly knew bad news awaited them.

"I've just come from talking to the church trustees," he reported after hanging up his hat on the wall rack. "Our meeting was to have been later, but our lawyer arranged an earlier conference."

"Our lawyer?" Brad asked, startled. "Do we have one?"

"The Scout organization has obtained the services of a very able attorney. We thought it best to employ counsel."

"Then this accusation against us is really serious?" Brad questioned. The other Cubs, deeply worried, had gathered about in a tight, tense little group.

"Yes, it's serious," Mr. Hatfield admitted drawing a deep breath. "As I started to tell you, our lawyer and some of the Scout officials talked to the trustees."

"Wouldn't they listen to reason?" Red inquired.

"No. Several of the board members were inclined to accept our word that the Cubs wouldn't and couldn't have destroyed church property. Maxwell wouldn't go along with the others. He's determined to sue unless we pay for the damage."

"Twenty thousand dollars," Chips muttered. "Why, that old wreck of a place isn't worth half that amount!"

"I'm afraid it is, Chips. However, a damage claim of twenty thousand is ridiculous. Mr. Maxwell himself recognizes that, for he has offered to settle for ten thousand if the organization pays within ten days."

"The old skinflint!" Red exclaimed.

"We've refused," Mr. Hatfield went on. "The next move is up to the trustees. All we can do is wait."

Now that the Cub leader's report had been made, the boys were in no mood for a long meeting. Brad took up a few matters concerning the Friday party, including the necessity for finding at least one ice cream freezer.

"Tomorrow is our last chance," he told the Cubs. "Everyone get busy. Ask friends and neighbors and let's see if we can't find one."

As Brad ended his little pep talk, the boys were startled to hear a loud pounding on the closed clubroom door.