“Say, it looks as if someone had a camp fire here!” he exclaimed. “Recently too, because rains haven’t disturbed any of the ashes.”
Brad turned to gaze at the area his companion indicated.
Immediately he noticed a snake-like black tail of burned ground leading toward another charred area.
“Dan, this must be where the fire started!” he cried.
“The wind was blowing toward the Castle all right.”
“It’s clear as day,” Brad declared, walking over to the dead ashes of the bonfire. “Someone built this, and didn’t put it out entirely. Then the person went off.”
“And it slowly spread,” Dan agreed. “First in this narrow tail, and then after it struck that section of dry leaves and grass it spread out rapidly through the woods.”
The boys carefully examined the dead embers. Beside them was a blackened tin can which had been used for cooking purposes. Dan also picked up a half-burned stick with the remains of a roasted weiner still attached.
“This fire must have been started by a boy,” he said slowly. “Or possibly by a tramp. Brad, do you suppose it could have been Ross?”
“He wouldn’t build a fire as carelessly as this,” the Den Chief pointed out. “He’s had Cub training in how to lay his sticks. No, I’m more than ever convinced, Dan, that the fire wasn’t his fault.”
Decidedly relieved to think that they had found evidence which tended to exonerate Ross, the two Cubs traced the start of the fire. Plainly they could see where it had leaped over a narrow ditch and then moved in several directions.
“If Ross didn’t start the fire, who did?” Dan speculated as the boys started down the road again. “Our mysterious Ghost of the Castle?”
“Could be. I’d like to catch that guy who keeps horning into our pictures. Maybe we will too!”
“Any ideas?” Dan asked.
Before Brad could reply, both boys were startled to hear a babble of voices ahead on the trail.
“Sounds like a delegation,” Brad murmured. “I wonder if the Cubs have arrived for rehearsals.”
Rounding a bend of the road, the two boys caught a glimpse of four Den 2 boys who had gathered in a huddle.
Their backs were to Dan and Brad. So earnestly were they talking, that they failed to observe the approach of the two Cubs.
“Mr. Hatfield can’t and won’t do anything,” Dan and Brad heard Red say distinctly. “We all know Ross is guilty. So it’s up to us to see that he’s punished.”
“Sure, and let’s think up a good one,” proposed Chips. “We’ve got to teach that little guy a lesson he won’t forget!”
As Dan and Brad walked up, the Cubs broke up their circle.
“Having a little conference?” the Den Chief inquired pointedly.
“Oh, just talking,” Midge Holloway replied uneasily.
The group was comprised of Red, Chips, Midge and Fred.
Brad fixed his gaze disapprovingly upon the four conspirators.
“I’m ashamed of you,” he said. “Plotting behind Mr. Hatfield’s back. You didn’t figure on letting Dan or me know what you were doing either!”
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Midge defended the group. “Furthermore, we haven’t had a chance to talk over this matter with anyone. My Dad brought us out here only ten minutes ago.”
“It seems you had to come back into the woods for your high-powered conference,” Brad said sternly. “I guess you didn’t want Mr. Holloway to hear you.”
“What if we didn’t?” Red demanded, glaring at the Den Chief. “You had your chance to do something about Ross and you let it slide. Now it’s our turn.”
“And just what do you have against him? Let’s hear your evidence.”
“We’ve got plenty,” Red announced grimly. “The lug bought himself a fancy costume and didn’t kick in a dime to pay for the fire damage.”
“He was lucky enough to have bought his costume before the trouble developed. Why be jealous?”
“We’re not jealous,” Chips broke in. “We believe in justice, that’s all. From the way Ross acted, we’re sure he never did his work here as he was supposed to. Either that, or he came out and started the fire.”
“You seem a bit hazy as to what you think he did do.”
“One way or the other, he was responsible for the fire,” Chips insisted.
“That’s wild talk, and Dan and I can prove it!” Brad replied. “We’ve learned how the fire did start.”
The two boys showed the other Cubs the dead bonfire ashes, the tin can and the charred weiner.
“Ross wouldn’t have built a fire this way,” Midge conceded. “You’re right, Brad. We’ve misjudged him.”
“If Ross didn’t start the fire, then who did?” demanded Red.
“That’s the question we’d all like to have answered,” Dan told him. “If we could find the answer, it might clear us at the bank.”
“We might try to keep watch of this road,” Brad suggested. “I have a hunch whoever started that fire will be using it again. By watching we might learn something.”
The other Cubs agreed that the proposal was a good one. They pointed out, however, that with Mr. Kain on hand to see that no one roved too far afield, any sleuthing must be carried on under difficulties.
“I admit we’re handicapped,” Brad acknowledged. “At any rate we know this road is the place to watch.”
The Cubs emerged from the woods just as Mr. Hatfield drove up with another car loaded with boys from Den 1. Ross was among them.
Seeing the group of Den 2 boys, he turned as if to walk in the opposite direction.
“Ross!” called Brad.
The boy turned reluctantly and waited for the Den Chief. Then before Brad could tell him about the discovery, he said:
“I know the fellows are sore at me, thinking I caused all the trouble with the bank. I’m quitting the Pack. You can have my costume if you want it. Or give it to Dan.”
“Ross, you can’t leave the outfit,” Brad protested. “We need you.”
“The Cubs will be glad to see me go. I’ve annoyed them from the start, and now they think I caused the fire.”
“They may have thought that at first, but they have the right slant now. Listen, Ross, you can be a big help in straightening this mess out if you will.”
The Den Chief then told him of the discovery made near the old road.
“You can help us try to learn the identity of the Castle ghost,” he urged. “If we find him, we may learn who caused the fire.”
Brad’s words encouraged Ross. “I’ll keep watch,” he promised. “I didn’t want to drop out of the Pack—but the fellows have made it plenty tough for me.”
“I know,” Brad admitted. “Just don’t act so know-it-all and their attitude will change.”
Rehearsals began presently. As yet Mr. Kain had not appeared on the scene, and the boys were hopeful that he would fail to come.
However, shortly after the actual filming began, his car drove up.
Obviously displeased, Mr. Kain watched the boys for a few minutes. Then he began a minute inspection of the Castle itself.
“He’s looking around to see if he can’t find where we’ve damaged something,” Chips muttered. “If he discovers a single thing he’ll use it as an excuse to bounce us for good.”
Made uncomfortable by Mr. Kain’s presence, the boys did not act their parts well. Repeatedly, Mr. Holloway had to take scenes over.
Mr. Kain completed his inspection of the inside of the Castle and returned to watch rehearsals.
As the sun rose higher, he became more and more impatient. He would wander to his car, sit there awhile, and then return.
From his scowl, no one questioned that he felt the Cubs were taking entirely too much time on the grounds.
“How soon do you expect to wind this up?” he finally asked Mr. Hatfield.
The Cub leader told him that the boys probably would not be ready to leave for another hour.
“I can’t wait that long,” the bank official protested. “I’ve wasted two hours here now.”
“It isn’t necessary for you to remain unless you feel you must, Mr. Kain. I can promise that the Cubs will do no damage.”
“Well, I have another errand,” the bank employee said. “I’ll attend to it and then drop back.”
He walked to his car. But as he started to open the door, his attention fastened upon an object lying in the dust.
The Cubs saw him pick it up and examine it carefully.
“Now what’s he found?” Dan muttered. “It must be something he’s going to hook onto us. Here he comes back!”
Carrying the object, Mr. Kain returned to the group.
“I found this lying on the grass beside my car,” he said. “Maybe one of you youngsters can explain it.”
Mr. Kain held up the shaft of an arrow. Attached to it was a scroll of paper.
“The mysterious archer again!” exclaimed Dan.
“What does the message say?” demanded Red impatiently.
Mr. Kain already had read it. He handed the paper to Brad. The words were written in a childish, nearly illegible scrawl. Brad read them aloud:
“Look in Robin Hood’s Strong Box. You will find something of interest.”
“Robin Hood’s strong box,” Dan repeated, recalling the Castle chimney niche which had been given that name. “Well, what do you know!”
“This message seems to make sense to you, if not to me,” Mr. Kain said testily. “Will someone kindly explain what is meant by Robin Hood’s strong box?”
The Cubs were reluctant to tell Mr. Kain their secret, lest he feel that they had overstepped themselves in investigating the Castle.
“Robin Hood’s Strong Box is just a name for a hiding place,” Dan explained vaguely.
“Then one of you boys shot this arrow.”
The Cubs looked from one to another. Each boy shook his head.
“A mysterious archer has been annoying us a bit by shooting arrows during our rehearsals,” Mr. Hatfield explained. “This shaft looks as if it may have come from his bow.”
“But how did he know about Robin Hood’s Strong Box?” Midge muttered. “The guy must be psychic. Either that, or he sneaks around listening to our conversation.”
“I am quite certain this arrow was not lying near my car when I drove into the grounds today,” Mr. Kain said. “It has been shot in the last hour or so.”
“It’s probably a joke,” Chips commented. He wished fervently that the bank employee would leave and be done with his prying questions. Once he was out of the way, the Cubs could organize an intensive search!
“You boys seem to know what is meant by Robin Hood’s Strong Box. I rather think you’re trying to keep something from me.”
“There’s nothing mysterious about it,” Brad said, reluctantly deciding to reveal the hiding place. “Robin Hood’s Strong Box is merely a name we gave to a niche in the fireplace.”
“Inside the Castle?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then you have been roving around inside again?”
“No, we haven’t,” Brad replied indignantly. “We found the hiding place long ago.”
“Show it to me,” the bank employee requested.
The Cubs would have preferred to do their investigating in his absence. But there was no escape.
Unwillingly, they walked with him back to the Castle. Dan noticed that the broken window had not yet been repaired and remarked about it.
“I’ve ordered new panes put in,” Mr. Kain said. “Workmen have been very slow. Rest assured though, the work will be done no later than tomorrow. I am quite annoyed to find so much activity hereabouts.”
The Cubs would have entered through the window, but the bank official would not permit it.
Instead, he unlocked the front door. A faint odor of smoke still lingered in the cool empty rooms, but this Mr. Kain did not notice.
“Now show me Robin Hood’s Strong Box,” he directed. “I can’t believe this message is anything but a joke. Nevertheless, I want to see the hiding place that is meant.”
As the Cubs led him toward the massive fireplace, Dan brought up the rear. Glancing from one Cub to another, he noticed that Ross was missing from the group.
“What became of Ross?” the boy whispered to Midge.
“Why, he was with us when we started for the Castle.”
“I thought so. He’s wandered off somewhere.”
Curious to learn what had become of the boy, Dan went to one of the grimy windows and looked out.
Ross was not to be seen anywhere on the grounds.
“Queer,” he reflected. “I’d have thought ordinary curiosity would have made him come with the other Cubs.”
“No one can tell what Ross will do, or where he’ll go,” Midge said with a shrug. “That lad is unpredictable.”
The Cubs gathered in a half circle about the fireplace. Brad explained to Mr. Kain how the chimney hiding place had been found.
Before he could search the niche, the bank employee crouched down and squinted up the dark hole.
“Nothing here,” he announced.
“You can’t see the niche,” Brad told him. “But if you run your hand up against the wall, you can feel it.”
Mr. Kain obeyed instructions.
“Still nothing here,” he declared. He withdrew his arm and brushed cobwebs from his coat sleeve. “Well, it’s no more than I expected.”
One and all, the Cubs were disappointed. They had hoped—indeed, had been confident that a surprise awaited them.
“Our Castle ghost has an unpleasant sense of humor,” Midge complained. “First he shoots arrows into the target just to show us how much better he is at archery than we are. And now this!”
Mr. Kain asked the boys several questions concerning the strange person who had appeared from time to time.
“We think he may have been the one who started the fire,” Brad said. “So far, we have no proof.”
“That might be somewhat difficult to obtain at this late date,” the bank employee replied.
Smiling in a more friendly way, he turned to leave.
“Come along, boys,” he said as they would have loitered. “I want to lock up the house.”
Mr. Holloway, Mr. Hatfield and the Cubs followed the bank man to the door.
Without being noticed, Dan and Brad held back. Both were unwilling to leave the Castle without investigating the chimney niche themselves.
Dan ran his hand up the wall, groping carefully about.
“Nothing there?” Brad demanded impatiently.
“Not a thing,” the younger boy replied in disgust. “Mr. Kain was right. Say—wait!”
As Dan spoke, his hand brushed against a tiny object far back in the niche.
In an attempt to grasp it, he succeeded in pushing it farther back, almost beyond reach.
“What have you found?” Brad asked eagerly.
“Don’t know yet,” Dan grunted. “My fingers touched something. Then whatever it was slipped away from me.”
At the outside door, Mr. Kain and the Cubs were waiting.
“Come on, Dan!” Midge called.
Paying no heed, the boy groped again in the chimney niche.
This time he was able to fasten his fingers about the object.
He could feel its soft covering, and something hard inside.
Aware that Dan had made a discovery, the other Cubs quickly returned to the living room.
As they gathered about the hearth, the boy brought the object to light.
Held tightly in his hand was a small leather pouch with a drawstring.
“It seems Robin Hood’s Strong Box does have something for us after all!” he declared triumphantly.
The leather bag evidently had not been long in the niche for it was only slightly soiled.
On either side were stamped strange red and black symbols.
“Gosh! What do you suppose it contains?” Fred demanded. “Treasure, I bet! Open it quick, Dan, and pour out the gold.”
Dan loosened the draw string of the leather bag.
As Mr. Kain, the Cubs and their leaders gathered close about, he spilled the contents out into his outstretched hand.
For a moment no one spoke.
The bag contained perhaps fifteen coins of foreign make. Nearly all were of silver and apparently quite old.
“Oh, shoot!” exclaimed Midge in disappointment. “I thought we might find a real treasure. Just a few old coins.”
“At least it’s better than nothing,” Dan said, fingering one of the coins. “Even if we can’t spend them, they’re worth saving.”
“Let me see that coin,” Mr. Kain requested suddenly.
Surprised by the bank employee’s tone, Dan handed it over.
Immediately the man became very excited.
“I should say these are worth saving!” he said emphatically.
“They’re valuable old coins?” inquired Mr. Hatfield.
“That would be my opinion. This one, I’m sure, is a very old carlino.”
“What’s that?” asked Red blankly.
“Weren’t carlinos minted in Italy?” Mr. Holloway inquired.
“Formerly they were used in Naples, Sicily and Rome,” Mr. Kain said. “The coin obtained its name from the emperor Charles VI in whose time the coin first was issued.”
“And is this coin a real old one?” Fred asked in awe.
“I’m not an expert on such matters,” Mr. Kain admitted. “This silver piece though, very much resembles a similar coin in the British Museum.”
“Then it should be worth a lot!” exclaimed Midge.
“Off hand, I should be inclined to agree. I can’t make out the date,” the bank employee said, studying the reverse side of the coin. “It looks as if it might be 1740 or 1730. I know the coins were made as early as 1730.”
“Gosh, we have found ourselves something!” Fred murmured in awe. “Pass those other coins around, Dan. Let’s see what they are.”
Before Dan could do so, Mr. Kain seized upon another battered coin in the collection.
“This is a very old gold coin!” he exclaimed. “If I’m not mistaken it’s one they call an ‘angel.’”
“What is an angel?” questioned Fred, who never had heard of a coin by such a name.
“It was an English gold coin, originally of the value of 6s. 8d. sterling. Such coins first were struck off by Edward IV in 1465 and I believe were made until 1634.”
“Then we’ve come upon a museum piece,” remarked Mr. Hatfield.
“These coins are priceless,” the bank man declared. “That is, if they are genuine. As I say, I am not an expert.”
Greatly impressed, the Cubs passed the coin around. Though it was badly worn they could faintly distinguish the figure of the archangel Michael defeating a dragon.
“A museum would pay a large sum to add such a coin to its collection. If my memory serves me, I’ve seen pictures of one of these angels on display at the British Museum.”
“Where do you suppose the coins came from?” Brad speculated. “We know they couldn’t have been in the chimney niche very long. The hiding place was empty when we looked there a few days ago.”
“This bag of coins must be a contribution from the Ghost of the Castle,” Dan said half in jest. “Say, you know he isn’t such a bad fellow after all!”
In addition to the two very old coins, the collection contained several half dollars of U. S. mintage. These, Mr. Kain said also were valuable to collectors, though far less in demand than the rare angel and carlino.
“Many of the coins I am unable to identify,” the bank employee admitted. “I do know enough about money though, to be certain you have a valuable collection here.”
“Say! Maybe we’ll be able to buy costumes for the play after all!” Midge declared jubilantly. “How much do you think these coins will bring, Mr. Kain?”
“That is impossible to say.” The bank man returned all of the coins to the leather bag. “We must have them appraised. And then, the question of ownership arises.”
To the Cubs the word had an ominous sound. They were certain the treasure had been intended for them.
Belatedly, they remembered that the Castle belonged to the bank. If he chose to do so, Mr. Kain could claim the property. From his expression, they were positive he meant to keep the collection.
“Ownership should be determined,” Mr. Hatfield agreed quietly. “It doesn’t seem reasonable to me that anyone in his right mind would give away such highly valuable coins.”
“If ever we find that mysterious archer, we’ll have the answer,” Dan declared.
Mr. Kain, in a far better mood now that the coins had been discovered, urged the Cubs to tell him what they knew of the trespasser.
“We don’t see him very often but we know he watches us when we rehearse for our play,” Dan answered. “Several times he’s shot arrows and he’s very good with a bow.”
“Have you ever had a good look at the man?”
“We’re inclined to think he may be a boy,” Mr. Holloway spoke up. “At least in one of the movie scenes, we caught a fleeting glimpse of him.”
“A boy, eh?” Mr. Kain repeated, fingering the bag of coins. “In that case, he might not have a right to this collection. It could have been stolen.”
“Gosh, that’s right!” exclaimed Red, rather alarmed. “We don’t want to get mixed up in anything shady.”
“You won’t be,” Mr. Kain assured the Cubs. “I’ll take charge of these coins—for the bank of course. I’ll make every effort to trace the owner.”
“And if you fail?” asked Brad significantly.
“Well, if the owner can’t be found after a reasonable length of time, the coins will become bank property.”
“Even when Dan found ’em?” Chips asked indignantly.
“I fear you are unfamiliar with the laws governing property,” Mr. Kain said. “Now the statutes of this state say—”
The Cubs were never to learn what the state laws set forth, for at that moment there came an interruption.
The Cubs were startled to hear a sharp rattle on a window pane.
“What was that?” Fred demanded.
Everyone turned to look. Someone stood at the living room, his face pressed against the window.
“The ghost!” exclaimed Chips.
“A ghost, my Adam’s apple!” Brad snorted. “That’s Ross Langdon. He only wants to see what we’re doing in here.”
On this latter point, however, the Den Chief was mistaken.
Instead of trying to learn what the Cubs were doing, the Den 1 boy frantically motioned for the group to join him.
“What ails Ross, anyhow?” Midge muttered.
As the boy’s strange antics continued, the Cubs became convinced that something actually was wrong.
“Let’s see what he wants,” Dan said, starting for the door.
Ross ran around the side of the house to meet him.
“Dan, come quick!” he urged breathlessly.
“What’s up, Ross?”
“I saw him!”
“Saw whom, Ross?”
“That little guy that shoots arrows!”
“Where, Ross?” Dan now became excited, for in view of the bag of coins that had been found, he knew it was vitally important to catch the intruder.
Before Ross could answer, the other Cubs, Mr. Kain, Mr. Holloway and Sam Hatfield gathered around him.
“When you all started here to see what was in Robin Hood’s Strong Box, I hid out,” Ross explained, talking rapidly. “I figured whoever shot that arrow must be hiding close by. I thought he’d probably show himself once everyone was inside the Castle.”
“Sound reasoning,” interposed Mr. Hatfield.
“I hid in the bushes. Sure enough. I hadn’t been lying low many minutes when out pops a kid no older than Dan here. He had a bow in his hand so I know he was the one we’re after.”
“What did he do?” Dan demanded impatiently.
“Well, he sneaked fairly close to the Castle and raised his bow as if to shoot. I thought he was going to send an arrow flying through the broken window.”
“Why didn’t you sneak up from behind and nab him?” Brad demanded. “That was your chance, Ross.”
“I got a little excited. I started after him all right, but I made too much noise.”
“He heard you coming and ran?” Mr. Hatfield inquired.
“That’s right, sir. See, he dropped his bow here by the window.”
Ross picked up the bow which was made of lemonwood and gave it to Mr. Hatfield. The Cub leader did not take time to examine it.
“Which way did the fellow go?” he asked.
“Into the woods.”
“You didn’t try to follow him, Ross?”
“No, but I saw him start down that winding road through the burned area.”
“That’s the way he always goes!” cried Dan. “He must live somewhere near here.”
“Maybe we can trail him if we hurry,” urged Brad. He gazed questioningly at the Cub leader, hopefully awaiting an order.
“Let’s take after him,” Mr. Hatfield proposed, hesitating only momentarily. “Our mysterious archer has many questions to answer! If we move fast, we may catch him this time.”
Led by Ross and Mr. Hatfield, the Cubs rapidly combed the woods in the immediate vicinity of the Castle.
The boy had completely vanished.
“We’re wasting time searching for him among the trees,” Dan offered his opinion. “I have a hunch he went straight down the road, maybe to the Brekenridge estate.”
“I think so too,” Ross supported the opinion. “I heard him running as if he expected to be followed.”
The Cubs set off at a fast pace through the burned area. Mr. Kain, in poor physical trim, found it difficult to keep pace.
“Incidentally, here is where the fire started,” Dan pointed out to the banker as they passed the remains of the small bonfire where the weiner had been roasted.
“Why, this isn’t on bank property,” Mr. Kain noted. “Possibly I have been unjust in blaming the Cubs.”
The boys reached the end of the road without seeing anyone.
Disappointed, they halted at the edge of the Brekenridge estate.
“The boy may have taken off in any direction from here,” Mr. Kain said doubtfully. “Who lives at that house with the pillars?”
“I believe the place is rented by a Colonel Brekenridge,” Mr. Holloway supplied. “I’ve never met him.”
“Any children?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Through the trees the Cubs could see someone seated on the veranda.
“That may be Mr. Brekenridge,” the bank man commented. “Let’s ask him if he’s seen anyone pass this way in the last ten or fifteen minutes.”
“We may not get a chance to talk to the estate owner,” Dan hinted. “The gardener there doesn’t care for visitors.”
Not to be deterred by this warning, the men pushed on, followed by the Cubs.
Scarcely had they started up the lane from the entrance gate than a dog began to bark.
“We’ll be announced all right,” Brad said. “This place is well guarded.”
As the Cubs expected, the barking of the dog brought the gardener to see what was amiss.
Immediately he recognized Dan and Brad, who walked somewhat in advance of the others in the group.
“I thought I told you to stay away from here,” he said angrily.
“It’s important that we see Mr. Brekenridge,” Brad insisted.
“Well, you can’t talk to him and that’s final,” the man snapped.
By this time the others in the group had come up. Seeing such a large delegation, the gardener did not know what to make of it. Nevertheless, he was determined that his authority should not be questioned.
“We should like to see the master of this estate,” requested Mr. Hatfield politely.
“Mr. Brekenridge’s orders are to keep everyone off the estate.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he likes privacy, the colonel does. Now move along and don’t be making me any more trouble.”
Some distance away an elderly man could be seen reclining on a porch chair. Mr. Hatfield was convinced that it must be Mr. Brekenridge himself.
“Will you please tell the colonel that visitors are here?” the Cub leader requested. “After all, we would not insist upon seeing him but the matter is important.”
“If it’s a business matter, you can tell me. I’ll report to Mr. Brekenridge.”
“What we have to say is for the colonel’s ears alone.”
“Well, the colonel’s ears ain’t going to hear it!” the gardener retorted. “I’m in charge here and I say you’re not to bother the master. He’s not well enough to talk to anyone.”
“In that case, we’ll not press the matter,” Mr. Hatfield accepted dismissal. “However, since Colonel Brekenridge is up and about, I thought—”
“Visitors worry him,” the gardener cut in. “I ain’t aiming to be unfriendly, but my orders are to see he’s not disturbed.”
“We’ll go,” the Cub leader said. “But first, tell us if you’ve seen a boy pass this way in the last ten minutes.”
“I’ve been trimming a hedge. I ain’t had time to be looking for anyone.”
“I see,” said Mr. Hatfield, aware that the man would give no information. “Thank you.”
All the Cubs started to leave. As they moved away, they heard a faint call from the veranda.
“Oh, Pete!”
The gardener became somewhat confused upon seeing that Colonel Brekenridge was beckoning to him.
“Tell those folks to come here,” the master of the estate called.
“You heard him,” the gardener muttered, annoyed that Colonel Brekenridge had interfered. “He’s willing to see you. Why, I wouldn’t know, after telling me to keep folks away.”
The Cubs and the three men went on to the pillared veranda.
Colonel Brekenridge, once a large man now wasted to a shadow of his former self, lay in a specially built reclining wheel chair. He wore glasses and had been reading, for several English magazines andThe Spectatorwere spread on a table beside him.
“You were sending these people away, Pete?” the master of the estate asked the gardener. “Did I not hear them ask to see me?”
“You know you’re not to over-tire yourself, Colonel Brekenridge,” the man replied. “I was only trying to look after your best interests.”
“I’m sure you were,” the colonel replied kindly. “Sometimes I fear you are inclined to be over-zealous in your duty. At any rate, I am feeling much better these days and welcome interesting visitors.”
“I trust we’ll prove interesting then,” said Mr. Hatfield with a smile. “In any case we will endeavor to be brief.”
Colonel Brekenridge waved the three men into porch chairs. The Cubs sat on the steps in front of them.
“I’m not as much of an invalid as my gardener would have you believe,” the colonel said with a smile. “When I first came here to live, I was seriously ill and required absolute quiet. Now, I’m happy to say, I appear well on the road to recovery.”
The three men introduced themselves and presented the Cubs. Mr. Hatfield then explained that the boys had been using the adjoining property in rehearsing for a play which they hoped soon to put on.
“You had a fire over there the other day, didn’t you?” the colonel inquired. “I saw smoke and was a little worried lest this property be in danger. Fortunately for my interests, the wind carried it in the other direction.”
“We’re still trying to learn how that fire started,” Mr. Hatfield said. “That is not our reason for coming here today though. We’re searching for someone who hid a small bag inside the Castle, and then ran off in this direction.”
“We thought you might have seen him come this way,” Mr. Kain added.
“No, I can’t say I have. I must admit I dozed off for fifteen or twenty minutes.”
The Cubs now felt that they were at a complete dead-end in their search for the elusive archer. Believing that Colonel Brekenridge was unable to provide any useful clues, they arose to leave.
At this point, however, Mr. Kain brought out the small leather bag.
Even before the bank employee explained anything about it, the colonel’s eyes fastened attentively upon the pouch.
“That little bag has a familiar look,” he remarked.
“It isn’t yours by chance?” inquired Mr. Kain in surprise.
“Those symbols remind me of a bag I once owned. May I see it please?”
“Certainly.” Mr. Kain offered the coin-filled leather pouch.
“This certainly looks like a bag I once bought from an Indian on one of my trips through the west,” Colonel Brekenridge said. “Come to think of it, I don’t know what ever became of it either.”
“You are a coin collector perhaps?” interposed Mr. Holloway.
“No, I have no hobbies. In my younger days I enjoyed travel and picked up a few curios. But in no sense of the word could you call me a collector.”
Curiously, Colonel Brekenridge felt of the coins inside the bag. Mr. Kain bade him open the pouch.
The colonel poured the coins out onto the robe which covered his wheel chair.
“Well!” he exclaimed. “These too have a somewhat familiar appearance.”
“Then the coins are yours?” asked Mr. Kain.
“No, but I think I recognize them. They belonged to my son.”
“Is the boy here now?”
Colonel Brekenridge smiled as he moved his wheel chair so that the sun would not shine directly into his eyes.
“Oh, my son is a grown man,” he replied. “At present he is abroad serving in the army.”
“This puzzle grows more confusing by the minute,” declared Mr. Holloway. “Suppose we tell you exactly how we came into possession of the bag of coins.”
The Den Dad then related how the arrow with a message attached had been shot near Mr. Kain’s car.
Colonel Brekenridge’s amazement increased as he learned that the bag had been hidden inside the chimney of the bank-owned dwelling.
“These coins are very valuable,” he assured the Cubs. “I am certain it was never my intention to give them away. As I said, they belonged to my son.”
“Can you explain how the bag came to be in the hiding place?” Dan questioned.
“When last I saw that bag it was reposing in a drawer of a desk upstairs,” Colonel Brekenridge replied. “But I might have a theory—yes, it amounts practically to a conviction.”
The invalid winked at the gardener. “We do have an archer in our family, I believe?”
“Aye, that we do,” the man admitted with a heavy sigh. “Many a time he’s nearly winged me with his arrows.”
Colonel Brekenridge requested the gardener to call his nurse.
A rustle of stiffly starched white uniform heralded her arrival a moment later. The young woman bore a glass of milk and two tablets on a tray.
“Oh, you have visitors, Colonel,” she observed somewhat disapprovingly. “Aren’t you afraid of over-exerting yourself?”
“Not in the least,” he rumbled. “Never felt better. I suspect I’ve been dying of boredom these last few months. What I need is more visitors.”
“Colonel, it is time for your medicine.”
“Medicine, be hanged! I’m sick of those ghastly concoctions the doctor has been forcing down me. And no more of that wretched milk!”
“You are feeling better, Colonel! Such spirit!”