A Mysterious Arrow
Dan’s observation about seeing an extra person in the background of the
film greatly excited the other Cubs.
“Show the scene again,” they begged Mr. Holloway.
The Den Dad re-threaded the film into the projection machine and ran it
through at slow speed.
“There he is!” suddenly exclaimed Dan, catching the first glimpse of the
unfamiliar face in the scene.
Before he obtained a definite impression of the person, the figure had
ducked back into the bushes.
“Golly!” exclaimed Red in amazement. “Where did _he_ pop from?”
“Couldn’t it have been one of the Cubs from Den 1?” demanded Fred.
Dan reminded the boys that during the filming of the banquet scene all of
the Cubs had taken part.
“Someone was watching us from the bushes,” Brad confirmed the younger
boy’s opinion. “Too bad we didn’t get a clearer impression of him.”
At the request of the Cubs, Mr. Holloway ran through the film a third
time. However, it was impossible for anyone to identify the stranger in
the scene.
Mr. Holloway, Dan and Brad were of the opinion that the intruder was
another boy. The others thought he had looked older and might be a man.
“At any rate, we know there’s a little substance to our ‘ghost of the
castle,’” Dan laughed. “Maybe next time we’re out there, we can catch
him. I don’t like the idea of being spied on.”
Mr. Holloway and Mr. Hatfield devoted some time to discussing the various
scenes of the play with the boys, pointing out where improvement could be
made.
“For the movie we’ll need titles,” the Den Dad explained. “Also, it will
be necessary to do a great deal of editing and cutting in the final
version. We’ll need a committee.”
“Make Dan chairman,” suggested Brad. “He knows the Robin Hood story
better than anyone.”
“I’ll appoint Dan, Red and Chips,” Mr. Holloway said. “There will be
plenty of work to do because we must start the final filming by next
Saturday.”
“Which reminds me that we’ll have to speed up the archery contest,” added
Sam Hatfield. “To avoid argument, the winner of the match shall have the
role of Robin Hood.”
“Fair enough,” grinned Dan.
Aware that costumes for the play would be needed in a hurry, the boys
promised to turn their money in as quickly as possible so that materials
could be bought.
During the early part of the week, the Cubs of both Den 1 and 2 canvassed
the neighborhoods, seeking odd jobs.
As Dan already had observed, they were discouragingly scarce.
Except for Ross Langdon, not a single Cub was certain of earning the
amount needed within a short period of time.
“What we should have is a project all the boys can work on together,”
Brad declared one night as he and Dan discussed the problem.
“We might gather and sell papers.”
“The market has collapsed. I’ve already investigated that job
possibility.”
“At this time of year, all the odd jobs are taken,” Dan said gloomily.
“It’s so dry, even the lawns hardly need cutting.”
“I know,” Brad agreed. “City Council has warned folks to go easy on using
water. The pressure is low. Every vacant lot with so many dried weeds
presents a hazard.”
Dan stared at the older boy, as an idea suddenly came to him.
“Say, maybe that’s the ticket!” he exclaimed.
“What is, Dan? I don’t follow you.”
“Why, maybe the Cubs could get a job from the city cutting weeds!”
“The city has its own crew.”
“Sure, but not half of the outlying areas have been mowed. I read in the
paper yesterday, the city is having trouble finding workers.”
Brad thought the matter over. “We never could sell our services to the
city,” he said. “But we might get individual jobs for the Cubs—especially
from real estate men who have considerable vacant property.”
“There’s a lot of it near the castle,” Dan recalled. “We might be able to
round up a few jobs in that area.”
The two boys discussed the matter with the other Cubs. Very few of the
organization members had been successful in earning enough money.
Everyone except Ross Langdon immediately favored the project. Ross
declared that to cut weeds would inflame his nose and bring on an attack
of hay fever.
“Anyway, I have more than enough money now for my Robin Hood costume,” he
said smugly. “No weed cutting for me.”
“Okay,” Brad shrugged. “Suit yourself. Don’t forget though, that you have
a section of ground at the castle to clear before next Saturday. We gave
our promise to the bank that it would be done.”
The next morning, Brad and Dan set out to see how many jobs they could
obtain for the Cubs.
After trying four places, they were given the promise of one small one.
With all the Cubs working, Brad calculated it would not take an hour for
the boys to clean up the premises.
“We’ll need at least another sizeable job to make it worth while,” Dan
commented as the two boys paused for a moment on the highway. “But where
will we get it?”
Brad had noticed a well-kept property directly ahead on the right-hand
side of the road. Orchards were surrounded by an artistically built
wooden rail fence.
However, tall dried weeds had grown about the rails. Should a fire start
from a dropped match or cigarette, not only the fence, but the orchard as
well might be damaged.
“Let’s try that place ahead,” Brad proposed. “We could grub out those
weeds by hand in two or three hours. It would make the grounds look
better and eliminate a fire hazard.”
The boys could not see the house from the main road.
Seeking it, they followed a winding lane through attractively laid out
grounds. Presently, they came within view of a large white house with two
pillars supporting the veranda.
In their immediate path was a small one room shack which evidently served
as a gardener’s tool house.
“Well, I hope someone is home,” Dan remarked. “We’ve had a long, hard
walk.”
Even as he spoke, a short, wiry man in overalls came out of the
gardener’s house.
“You boys want something?” he asked, blocking their way.
“Why, yes,” said Brad. He explained that he and Dan were Cub Scouts in
search of odd jobs for their organization.
“Well, there’s nothing here for you,” the man answered briefly.
“We’d like to talk to the owner of the property, if you please.”
“You can’t see him. The master doesn’t like visitors.”
“Who is the owner?” inquired Dan curiously.
“Never mind. The point is, you’ll find no work here. I attend to all the
odd jobs.”
“You do fine at keeping the property in order,” declared Brad, his gaze
roving over the well-trimmed shrubs. “But we noticed one little thing you
overlooked.”
“Oh, you did, eh?” Despite Brad’s polite manner, the gardener was growing
more and more irritated.
Trying to be as diplomatic as possible, the boys told of their need to
earn money for costumes. They then mentioned the uncut weeds along the
front fence, stressing the danger of fire.
“I have enough to do around here without pulling those weeds!” the man
exclaimed. “What’s more, I won’t take it on.”
“That’s where we come in,” said Brad. “For a very moderate fee, the Cubs
will do a good job of cleaning them out.”
“Oh, no you won’t!” The gardener now was very angry. “You’re trying to
make me look bad with the boss. Well, you can’t see him! Now get out of
here before I let the dogs loose!”
“You have us all wrong,” Dan protested. “We’re not trying to get anyone
into trouble. But the work should be done and—”
“Get out!”
Dan would have stood his ground, but Brad pulled him away.
“Come on, Dan,” he said quietly. “We’ll find another place. No use
stirring up trouble.”
Feeling very annoyed at having been so rudely dismissed, the two boys
started away. They rounded a point in the road which blocked off their
view of the gardener and the tool house.
“That stupid lug!” Brad snorted. “He’s afraid we’ll make him look bad!”
As the boy spoke the words, an object whizzed through the air. Flying
high above his head, it lodged in a tree at the side of the lane.
“What was that?” Brad demanded, startled.
“An arrow!” Dan exclaimed. “Say! Someone is using us for a target! We’d
better take cover!”