Dan Carter and the Great Carved Face Part 3

"What's so frightening about that?" Brad demanded. "Was that all you saw?"

"I'm coming to the important part," Red went on breathlessly. "Near the fire-on the clay wall-I saw another face-a huge one."

"Sure you didn't imagine it?" asked Mr. Hatfield dryly.

"It was real as anything," Red insisted. "The face was as big as a house and it sort of leered out at me. Oh, it was weird with the firelight throwing crazy shadows over the cliff wall! I took one look and beat it back here!"

"You dreamed all that up!" Brad accused.

"I did not!" Red denied furiously. "I'll show you if you want me to!"

"It's late now," Mr. Hatfield said. "The Cubs are waiting at the house."

"I'd like to prove that I'm right. Honest, I didn't imagine it!"

"You can show us the face tomorrow-by daylight," the cubmaster replied.

"But it may be gone then."

"It will be all right," scoffed Brad. "And that man you saw by the fire too! I've explored every trail in the metropolitan park and never came upon any giants."

"The face didn't look human," Red described it nervously. "It sort of loomed out of the wall-huge eyes."

"As large as saucers?" teased Dan.

"Yes, they were, and you needn't rub it in! I saw the face, and I'm willing to prove it if anyone will give me a chance!"

"You'll have your chance tomorrow," Mr. Hatfield soothed him. "Odd though, about that fire."

"I seriously doubt the warden would grant anyone a permit in this section of the park," added Mr. Holloway. "The danger of starting a forest fire is great at this time of year."

Although Red insisted that his attention first had been attracted by a glimpse of a camp fire through the trees, the others could not now see the blaze. Despite the boy's insistence that the sight he had viewed was very real, they were inclined to think his eyes had played him false.

Decidedly crestfallen, Red accompanied his would-be rescuers back to the Holloway cottage. Immediately, the other Cubs fell upon him, demanding to know where he had been so long.

Brad and Dan would have spared their chum the tale, but Red himself told it. In fact, he expanded upon his original story, building up the face he had seen as an awe-inspiring apparition.

At first the Cubs were impressed, but as Red added more and more to the tale, they began to scoff. Soon they flatly informed him that he was "talking through his hat."

"You were scared, that's what!" accused Midge. "You thought you'd play a joke on us with that bear skin. Instead, the joke's on you!"

"Sure, Red got out there in the woods and began seeing things that weren't so," chuckled Mack.

The teasing so upset Red that he spilled a little of the hot chocolate in the mug Mrs. Holloway had served him.

"I'll show you," he retorted fiercely. "Just give me a chance! That's all I ask."

The Cubs, one and all, grinned provokingly. Red subsided into hurt silence.

Then unexpectedly, Mrs. Holloway, the Den Mother, sided with Red. As she pa.s.sed a plate of chicken sandwiches, she remarked quietly;

"About a half hour ago, while I was working in the kitchen, I noticed a light somewhere back in the woods. It looked for all the world like a bonfire."

"A fire!" cried Red triumphantly. "What'd I tell you?"

"It struck me as very strange," continued Mrs. Holloway. "With so many cottages nearby, a fire in the park could be serious unless carefully tended."

"Then you think Red may not have imagined that face on the cliff?"

inquired Mr. Hatfield thoughtfully.

"I'm wondering if an investigation might not be advisable."

Mrs. Holloway's observation was sufficient to completely change the att.i.tude of the Cubs. Instead of making fun of Red, they now began to ask Mr. Hatfield when they could visit the ravine.

"Tomorrow," he promised as the meeting broke up. "If anyone is camping in the woods without permission, we ought to find out about it. We'll gather here after school for canoe practice and a little trip of exploration.

Who knows, we may run into something interesting!"

CHAPTER 3 RED PROVES HIS POINT

The next night after school, all the Cubs except Mack, who had a paper route, gathered at the Holloway beach for canoe practice.

Dan, Brad, Chips and Fred had pa.s.sed their swimming tests with flying colors. Red, less skillful at water sports, was a.s.signed to painting paddles.

Mr. Hatfield provided him with a number of interesting Navajo designs, telling him to make his own selection.

"If you do a good job of painting, Red, we'll exhibit your paddle at the Indian pow-wow," he promised. "An award is to be made to the Den that turns in the most artistic one."

"I'll come up with a prize winner!" Red grinned. A talented art student in the Webster City elementary school, he was confident of his ability.

"Right now, though, I've got other things on my mind."

"Weird faces on the cliff?" the cubmaster prompted.

"My honor's at stake," Red declared. "If you'll just give me a chance to prove-"

"All in good time," promised Mr. Hatfield. "First, canoe practice, and then we'll hike to the ravine to satisfy our curiosity."

While Red busied himself on the beach, painting paddles, the other Cubs, took turns using the canoe Mr. Halloway had provided for their use. Brad and Dan already had mastered the knack of guiding the craft skillfully and were developing strong arm muscles.

After a hard paddle against the current, the two Cubs returned to sh.o.r.e to give up their places to Chips and Fred.

As they stepped out on the sand, they saw a newcomer talking to Red.

"Why, that's Ross Langdon!" Dan muttered under his breath. "What's he doing here?"