Dan Carter and the Cub Honor Part 11

Chub and Dan both jumped up to see who had rapped.

Dan reached the door first. No one was there. He thought though, that he heard a m.u.f.fled snicker, and certainly he detected the sound of retreating footsteps. As he listened a moment, he noticed a folded piece of paper lying on the cement floor almost at his feet.

"What's that?" Chub cried, seeing the paper at the same instant.

Dan picked it up. He unfolded the coa.r.s.e, soiled sheet to discover a pencil-scrawled message.

"THE CUBS ARE SISSIES," it read. "WE CAN LICK YOU IN BASKETBALL ANY OLD DAY. HOW ABOUT A GAME? THIS IS A CHALLENGE. LEAVE YOUR ANSWER IN A BOTTLE IN HAGERMAN'S ALLEY."

The note was signed "Pat Oswald and the Purple Five."

CHAPTER 7 "KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD"

As Dan read the note from Pat, the Cubs' first reaction was one of annoyance.

"Why, the nerve of him!" Fred Hatfield explained. "He sneaks up here, listening to our sessions, and then leaves a cheap challenge!"

"Let's write a hot note back, telling that Purple Five to go jump in an ash can!" Red proposed.

Dan and Brad dashed down the corridor to see if they could intercept the intruders. However, Pat and his followers had slipped out a side door and were out of sight.

The two Cubs knew that it would be useless to search the church yard, so rejoined the other boys in the meeting room. By this time, argument over the note had attained a high pitch.

Red, Fred and Chips were in favor of rejecting the challenge in short order. Chub held no opinion whatsoever. Midge was talking in favor of giving the dare serious consideration.

"If we refuse to play, Pat will go all over town, saying we're afraid to do it because we'd be licked," he argued.

"We might at that," Brad interposed. "Our team isn't the smoothest on wheels."

"We haven't practiced much, that's why," Midge insisted. "Why, we could beat Pat and his hoodlums with our hands tied behind our backs!"

"I wouldn't be too sure of it myself," Brad said with an easy smile.

"From what I hear, Pat is a first-rate athlete."

"We saw a sample of his basket shooting the other day," Dan reminded the Cubs.

"You think that stupid Purple Five team could beat us?" Red demanded, leaping to his feet. "Why, that's downright disloyal."

Dan hesitated to make his position clear. "I'm not saying any such thing, and I'm not disloyal, Red. Maybe our Cub team, disorganized as it is, could beat the Purple Five. Then again, maybe we couldn't. It might be an interesting match."

"What if they should lick us?" Chips asked uneasily.

"That's a risk we'd have to take," Brad answered. "Naturally, if we decide to play, we'll have to get busy and practice."

Mr. Hatfield had taken no part in the discussion, and Dan now asked him what he thought of the challenge.

"First, let's hear your opinion, and then I'll speak my piece," the Cub leader replied.

"Well, I'm in favor of picking up the challenge," Dan replied after a moment of thought. "For two reasons. First, if we turn the game down, Pat and his gang will go around saying we're afraid of defeat. Then it hit me that if we really want to learn more about those kids and their habits, this would be a mighty good chance!"

"They're a bunch of hoodlums!" Red said resentfully. "It's probably their fault that the Scout organization is mixed up in a threatened lawsuit.

They slap us on one cheek and we hold up another for a big whallop!"

"We only suspect that Pat's outfit did the damage at Christian Church,"

Brad said, supporting Dan's position. "If we schedule a game, we may overhear talk that will give us a straight lead. What do you think, Mr.

Hatfield?"

"Cubs are supposed to give good will," he replied gravely. "Pat and his gang haven't had many advantages. Contact with a church, a worthwhile Cub organization and wholesome sportsmans.h.i.+p, might do the outfit a world of good."

"Sure, but what about us?" Red argued. "Won't they make more and more trouble?"

"That's a possibility, Red. But I think the Cubs can look after themselves."

"So do I," declared Dan. "Let's arrange a game and then get busy and practice."

An animated discussion followed as the boys made their plans. Mr.

Hatfield suggested that a series of three games be scheduled in the church gymnasium. He promised that they would be closely supervised and rules strictly enforced.

"How about charging admission?" Brad suggested. "If the Cub organization has to pay for the services of a lawyer, we should be getting some money in our treasury."

As a general rule, Mr. Hatfield did not favor selling tickets or charging admission for Cub affairs. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the Den's need for cash was urgent and that a few extra dollars might be of great help.

"We might charge a small amount," he agreed reluctantly. "Twenty-five cents perhaps."

Only the date for the first game remained to be settled. Mr. Hatfield said he thought it should be set for at least ten days ahead to give the Cubs time to practice and better organize their team.

"We can't devote all our time to athletics," he warned the boys.

"Remember, we have those 'Know Your Neighborhood' visits ahead, not to mention the party for parents. Speaking of the party, I'm ashamed to say I've been so busy with conferences, I've had no chance to try to look up ice cream freezers."

"No one can find any," Midge reported gloomily. "That party will be one big flop."

"Not at all," Mr. Hatfield cheered him. "I think that it might be well to postpone the affair one week. Another seven days will give us time enough to round up a freezer or two."

The Cubs were relieved by the change in plan, especially as everyone was in an uneasy mood regarding the outcome of the threatened lawsuit. After electing Dan captain of the basketball team, they a.s.signed him and Brad to notify Pat Oswald that the challenge had been accepted.

"It's too silly, leaving a note in a bottle in an alley," Brad objected.

"Why don't we just write an acceptance and mail it to his home."

The latter course was decided upon, and later that night the two boys composed the letter and sent it off. Two days later a message was returned to the church clubroom, accepting the first basketball game date and agreeing to the series of three contests.

"The deal is on, and now we've got to buckle down," Dan warned his teammates. "Gobs of practice!"

Determined not to be shown up by the Purple Five, the Cubs spent every spare hour in the church gymnasium.