Dan Carter and the Cub Honor Part 14

"That wasn't Mr. Hatfield, was it?" Dan demanded.

"Too tall," Brad replied. "Anyway, he wouldn't have left the freezers in the hallway."

"Maybe it was one of the Den Dads. Odd though, that whoever it was, didn't rap on the clubroom door and wait to be thanked. Anyway, I'm sure glad to get those freezers!"

Brad kept frowning thoughtfully as he walked back to rejoin the other Cubs.

"Anything to show who left the freezers?" he asked Midge. "Any card?"

"Not a thing. They're big ones though. Just what we need for our party tomorrow night."

Dan too had been inspecting the freezers. He remarked that they were the same size as the ones he had noticed in the old Christian Church bas.e.m.e.nt. "Do you suppose they came from there?" he speculated.

"I doubt it," Midge answered carelessly. "Those old trustees haven't relented one bit. And Terry wouldn't bring them to us-you know that."

"Well, we have 'em and that's what counts," Chips cheerfully declared.

"Now we can go ahead with our plans. Let's make the ice cream first thing after school tomorrow night. It should keep if we pack it in ice."

Jubilantly, the Cubs carried the two freezers into the clubroom. They were still discussing the strange manner of delivery when Mr. Hatfield arrived. He had nothing new to report regarding the threatened damage suit, but expressed amazement that the Den had acquired the cream freezers.

"I had nothing to do with it," he a.s.sured the Cubs. "To be sure, I've asked a number of people if they knew where we could get some freezers.

Perhaps one of our inquiries paid off."

Brad told the Cubmaster of the request Pat Oswald had made with reference to use of the gymnasium for a basketball practice session.

"No reason why they can't use it for an hour tomorrow night after school, is there?" Mr. Hatfield inquired. "The Cubs will be making ice cream and won't want the floor themselves."

"Do you think they should be allowed the run of the place?" Red protested. "You know how Pat and his gang are."

"The practice will be a supervised one. I promise you that," Mr. Hatfield said. "I see no reason why the boys shouldn't be allowed privileges here, providing they don't abuse them."

"You're forgetting how they got us into trouble," Red a.s.serted.

"No, Red. I just believe in fair play, that's all. We agreed to the series of games, so it's only right that we give the Purple Five a chance to practice. Right?"

"Oh, I guess so," Red submitted. "I don't trust Pat, that's all."

Word was carried to Pat that his team might use the gymnasium the following afternoon from three-thirty until four-thirty.

"You mean it?" The boy demanded in surprise when Dan gave him the information. "Well, thanks!"

"Say, by the way, you weren't at the church a while ago, were you?" Dan asked in an offhand way.

The moment he had asked the question, he regretted it. Once the words had been spoken it was too late to retract them.

"Why, no, why?" Pat demanded.

"Oh, a couple of ice cream freezers were delivered to the Cubs," Dan explained reluctantly. "I thought you might know something about it."

Pat's blank expression convinced Dan that he knew nothing of the matter.

More than ever, he was sorry he had brought up the subject.

"What are the Cubs doing with ice cream freezers?" Pat demanded, his curiosity aroused. "For that party you're giving tomorrow night, I bet!"

Dan had not suspected that the other knew of the planned social affair.

"How'd you find out about it?" he asked.

Pat grinned provokingly. "That's for me to know and you to find out!" he retorted.

Thrusting hands deep into the pockets of his patched jeans, he sauntered off.

CHAPTER 9 STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM

"Keep turning that crank! Do you want the paddles to stick?"

The irate command was directed by Red Suell at Chips who had rested a moment as he cranked one of the big ice cream freezers.

All of the Cubs except Brad were making ice cream in the church bas.e.m.e.nt.

Mrs. Holloway and Red's mother had volunteered to direct the work. The two mothers had been kept busy offering suggestions, for none of the boys ever before had made ice cream except in the tray of a refrigerator.

Dan and Midge had cracked the ice in a gunny sack, hammering the stubborn chunks until they were of tiny, uniform size. The metal containers, with their wooden paddles, had been set into the packed freezers, and now the cranking had begun. Red was a.s.signed to one, while Chub and Chips took turns at the other.

"My arm is getting tired," Red complained. "Someone else take over!"

"You've hardly been at it two minutes," Dan teased. Nevertheless, he seized the crank, turning it steadily and smoothly.

"Say, it's going harder and harder," he presently admitted. "Do you suppose the cream could be frozen?"

"Very nearly so," declared Mrs. Holloway, packing more ice into the freezer.

Dan kept cranking. Melted salt water spilled faster and faster out of the little round hole in the freezer.

"This is getting awfully hard!" he gasped, exerting all of his strength to keep the crank moving.

"And this old freezer is stuck!" cried Chips, who was taking his turn at the other freezer. "It won't budge an inch!"

"Shall we take a look?" asked Mrs. Holloway, relieving him.

She unfastened the top of the freezer, carefully opening the metal cylinder packed deep in ice. The Cubs cl.u.s.tered around, eager to see what their labors had produced.

Mrs. Holloway lifted the paddle slightly. The Cubs uttered squeals of delight. The wooden paddle was simply loaded with rich looking, delicately pink strawberry ice cream.

"It looks lovely, doesn't it?" Mrs. Holloway laughed. "Now you boys must draw straws to see who gets to lick the paddle!"