Captured Culprits
Presently four boys swung into view on the trail.
Batting at the bushes with their sticks and whistling gay tunes, they
seemed in high good humor.
“It’s those same boys who pelted Mrs. Myles with walnuts!” Jane
whispered.
Veve pinched her as a warning to remain silent.
The boys now were so close that she was afraid they would hear even a
whisper.
“Let’s go up to the tree house, fellows,” proposed the eldest boy.
“Aw, we’ve been up there once today,” a companion rejoined. “We had to
beat it when we saw that Brownie Scout leader coming.”
“Sure, but she’s gone now. Didn’t we see ’em all leaving the park? They
won’t be back today.”
“Now that they’ve gone, we can have a lot of fun,” urged another boy.
“We’ll really make that tree house into a mess!”
“Afterwards, let’s mix up some more park signs,” his companion
proposed. “And then tear off tags from the trees.”
“Okay, only it will be too bad if old Karwhite catches us!”
“He won’t,” the older boy said confidently. “Not that fat old duck! He
can’t run worth a cent.”
The four passed very close to the clump of bushes where the Brownie
Scouts lay hidden. Veve was tempted to reach out and grasp one of the
boys by the leg, but instead she kept very quiet.
Never dreaming that they were being watched, the four boys climbed the
stairway to the tree house.
On the balcony they halted to stare in astonishment at the sign which
the Brownies had tacked on the door.
“Hey, what’s this!” exclaimed one of the boys.
He read the message aloud, and his companions all hooted.
They considered it a great joke that the Brownie Scouts would tack up a
sign requesting them not to trespass.
“Let’s do a good job tearing up the place!” proposed the leader of the
gang. Boldly he ripped the sign from the door. “How about it, fellows?”
“Sure!” the others agreed, following him into the tree house.
By this time Miss Gordon and the Brownies had emerged from their hiding
places. Several of the girls would have started up the steps after the
boys, but the teacher told them to wait.
“They would only dart away and elude us again,” she advised the girls.
“Veve, you and Jane run as fast as you can to the gate house. Bring Mr.
Karwhite here.”
“We certainly will,” Jane promised.
“Fast too,” added Veve. “Just don’t let those boys get away until we
return.”
Making no sound, the two girls slipped away. Once they were a few yards
away and knew they could not be heard, they broke into a run.
“What if Mr. Karwhite isn’t at the entrance gate?” Veve gasped, short
of breath. “That would be just our luck.”
“He _has_ to be there,” Jane replied. “This is our one chance to have
those boys arrested.”
The girls reached the gate house, and flung open the door.
Mr. Karwhite had been working at his accounts. Seeing the girls, he
regarded them in astonishment.
“Come quickly, Mr. Karwhite!” Veve urged, tugging at his hand.
“Why, what is wrong? Is anyone hurt?”
“Oh, no!” Jane assured him. “It’s those horrid boys. They’re wrecking
our tree house.”
“They are, eh?” demanded the park superintendent. Before leaving the
gate house, he equipped himself with a stout stick which he kept handy
behind the door.
“Hurry, Mr. Karwhite,” Veve urged, as she and Jane led the way.
The boys had been right in saying that the park superintendent could
not run very fast. The two girls had to slow their pace so as not to
outdistance him.
Upon reaching the oak tree, Veve and Jane found that Miss Gordon was
having difficulty in restraining the other Brownies. It had been very
hard for them to remain on the ground, knowing that the four boys were
inside the tree house.
“They tore down the curtains!” Rosemary informed the park
superintendent. “We saw them do it.”
“And they threw some of the wood over the balcony railing!” added
Eileen. “Get them quick, Mr. Karwhite.”
“I will,” he said grimly.
The park superintendent told Miss Gordon to stand at the foot of the
stairway. In that way she would block off any possible escape, should
the boys elude Mr. Karwhite.
All the Brownies gathered beside the teacher, ready to assist her if
their help was needed.
Armed with the stick, Mr. Karwhite started up the stairway.
He made no attempt to muffle his footsteps. As he reached the balcony,
the door suddenly flew open.
“Jeepers!” cried one of the boys, belatedly warning his companions.
“It’s Old Karwhite!”
The other boys poured out of the house like ants from a disturbed hill.
Their escape, however, was cut off.
“I’ve finally caught up with you,” the park superintendent said.
“You’re coming with me!”
“Aw, have a heart,” pleaded one of the boys. “We aren’t doing any
harm.”
“You’ve mixed up park signs, pulled valuable shrubs, not to mention the
damage you’ve done here.”
“We won’t do it again.”
“Let us off this time,” wheedled the eldest boy. “We’ll stay away from
the park after today.”
“You’ll stay away all right,” the superintendent agreed.
First he took the names and addresses of the four boys. Then he ordered
them to march ahead of him down the stairway to the base of the oak
tree where the Brownies waited.
“Now if you try to run away, it will be the worse for you,” he warned.
“I’m turning you over to the police.”
The boys were badly frightened. No longer arrogant and cocky, they
obeyed the superintendent’s order.
Mr. Karwhite made the boys walk in single file to the gate house.
There, while the Brownies and Miss Gordon listened, he gave them a
severe lecture on their misconduct.
“We know we did wrong,” one of the boys admitted. “Please don’t arrest
us, Mr. Karwhite. Let us off this time and we’ll never come to the park
again.”
“We’ll clean up everything in the tree house,” volunteered another of
the group. “Just give us a chance.”
Now Mr. Karwhite had not intended to call the police even though he had
threatened to do so. He only meant to frighten the boys so they never
again would come to the park.
“Very well,” he said. “Arm yourselves with brooms and scrub pails.
We’ll see to it that you give the tree house a thorough cleaning. If
you do a good job I may consider letting you off.”
Relieved that they were to have another chance, the boys accompanied
Mr. Karwhite to the oak tree. While the Brownies sat on the ground
watching from below, they cleaned every inch of the little house.
The park superintendent made them put up the curtain they had torn
down. He also ordered them to wash and polish the window, even though
they had not dirtied it.
When the playhouse was in perfect order, Mr. Karwhite told the boys
they were free to go.
“But never come here again,” he warned them. “Remember, I have your
names and addresses. If ever I set eyes on you in the park, I’ll turn
you over to the police.”
The boys were very glad to be let off so easily. Promising Mr. Karwhite
that they would stay away, they darted off.
“They’ll not be back,” the superintendent told Miss Gordon confidently.
“This time I really threw a scare into them they won’t forget.”
So much time had been consumed, that it was too late for the Brownies
to build a fire in their little stove.
Regretfully, they gathered together their wraps and notebooks and
prepared to leave the park area.
“From now on, you should not be annoyed here,” Mr. Karwhite assured
them. “The playhouse will be all yours until the snow flies.”
“I only wish we knew who built the house for us,” remarked Rosemary
wistfully. “It would be nice to thank the person.”
“Are you sure, Mr. Karwhite, that you don’t know who built the house?”
Veve asked him.
“Well, maybe I do, and maybe I don’t,” he said mysteriously.
“That means you do know!” accused Eileen.
Mr. Karwhite merely laughed. “Be patient,” he advised. “In good time,
I’m sure you’ll learn the answer for yourselves!”