A Neglected Duty
Surrounding the area from which the arrows had been shot, the Cubs closed
in.
But, after whipping through the bushes, they were unable to find the
mysterious archer.
“The fellow knew we would be after him,” Brad remarked, carefully looking
about on the ground for telltale clues. “He must have run off the moment
he shot the arrows.”
“He’s good too,” spoke up Ross. “Better than our champion, Dan Carter.”
From the Den 1 boy’s tone, it was evident that he still smarted under
loss of the star role in the play. Dan, however, refused to be annoyed.
“He’s a lot better shot than I am,” he agreed.
“We ought to find him and let him take the part,” Ross went on,
determined to make the Den 2 boy feel uncomfortable. “He’d show us some
real shooting.”
“I wish we could trail him,” Dan replied. “He’d be an asset to our play.”
“He must be a youngster too,” added Brad, pointing to several footprints
he had found beside a bush. “See, his shoe is shorter than mine.”
The cluster of footprints appeared in a tiny clearing which gave an
unobstructed view of the target.
“He must have stood here when he shot those three arrows,” Brad said.
“The question is, which way did he go?”
Some of the Cubs were for combing the entire wooded section. However, Mr.
Hatfield, who had followed the boys, advised against such action.
“The person easily could elude us, for apparently he knows the trails
well,” he declared. “Furthermore, we have work to do. Now that Dan
definitely has been chosen as Robin Hood, we must begin to whip our play
into shape.”
“How about the other roles?” asked Midge. “Who is to be the Sheriff of
Nottingham?”
“We’ve decided to give that role to Ross.”
“I knew it!” Ross muttered. “Why can’t I be Allan-a-Dale?”
“We’re not ready for the scenes in which that character appears,” the Cub
leader explained patiently. “You’ll make a fine sheriff. Besides, Mr.
Holloway tells me we’ll be able to refilm the banquet scene with no
change except the addition of costumes.”
“Oh, fine!” Ross grumbled.
Returning to the clearing, all the Cubs worked hard for the next hour and
a half. As the archery contest had been the main attraction, many of the
parents began to drift away.
By mid-afternoon, only the Cubs and a few of their fathers remained. The
boys were reacting a scene which had given them trouble, when Red called
attention to a car that had driven into the grounds from the main road.
“Why, that looks like Mr. Kain,” Dan remarked. “I guess he drove out to
see what we’re doing here.”
“He probably wants to make certain we aren’t doing any damage,” added
Red.
Mr. Kain alighted from his car and sauntered over to the group. After
speaking to several of the boys, he asked for Mr. Hatfield.
“He went off somewhere for a minute,” Brad replied. “Anything we can do?”
“Well, I merely drove out to see that everything was under control here,”
the bank employee answered. “I see you’ve cleared away this area in front
of the castle very efficiently.”
“Yes, sir,” agreed Brad, pleased by the praise. “A Cub always keeps a
promise.”
“I’ll look around a bit. Don’t mind me, boys. Go on with whatever you
were doing.”
Mr. Kain wandered off in the general direction of the castle and vanished
from view. Belatedly, it occurred to Brad that he had neglected to tell
the bank man about the broken window.
“I’ll do it before he leaves,” he thought.
The scene upon which the Cubs were working finally was finished.
Satisfied with the filming, Mr. Holloway told the boys to snatch a brief
rest.
Brad took advantage of this period to go in search of Mr. Kain. The man
had been gone so long that the boy wondered what had detained him.
As he rounded a corner of the vine-covered castle, he came upon the bank
employee. Mr. Kain was gazing at the broken window.
“Well!” he remarked, seeing Brad. “When we gave the Cub Scouts permission
to use this property, we assumed they would exercise care.”
“We did, too,” replied Brad, ready to defend the organization. “If you’re
referring to that broken window, we didn’t smash it.”
“No? I don’t recall seeing that it was broken when I inspected the
premises a few days ago.”
“It was though,” Brad assured him. “I meant to tell you about it, but
forgot.”
“Indeed?” Mr. Kain spoke coldly. “It seems the Cubs forget quite a few
things.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Brad said. “It’s the truth, we didn’t smash
the window. When we first came here, we found it broken. Vines covered
the panes, so it wasn’t noticed.”
“Since then, the Cubs have been going in and out whenever they felt like
it.”
“I guess we did roam around a bit inside,” Brad admitted. “But no harm
was done. I’m sure of that.”
“I’ll see that the window is repaired. However, there are other matters
that concern me. Your failure to keep a promise, for instance.”
Brad was dumbfounded. “My promise?” he echoed. “Why, I don’t know what
you mean, Mr. Kain.”
“A promise was given me that if I allowed the Cub Scouts to use this
property, all the dead brush would be cleared away.”
“We did the job too,” Brad said indignantly. “You said yourself we worked
very efficiently.”
“You did as far as clearing space for an archery range. I’ll admit that
the grounds look very well out front where they show. But the area behind
the castle hasn’t been touched. And the fire hazard is greater there than
elsewhere.”
“Why, I thought all the work had been done,” Brad said in dismay. “Show
me the place you mean.”
“Gladly.”
Mr. Kain led the Den Chief to the section of the estate which had been
assigned to Ross to clear.
“I don’t wonder you’re annoyed, Mr. Kain,” Brad said as he viewed the
untouched accumulation of brush. “This area was assigned to one of the
boys from Den 1. I thought the work had been done.”
“Unless the Cubs keep their promises, I can’t allow them to continue to
use the grounds.”
“The work will be done no later than tomorrow,” Brad promised grimly.
“I’ll give you my word.”
The Den Chief’s straightforward manner impressed the bank employee.
“Very well,” he said, satisfied by the promise. “The Cubs may continue to
use the grounds here, provided the work is done by tomorrow night. If
not, I’m afraid I’ll have to put my foot down. The truth is, some of the
bank officials aren’t much in favor of the Cubs roaming around here. If
any damage should be done, we’ll have to ask you to leave.”
“We’ll take precautions,” Brad promised again.
Mr. Kain did not wait to see Mr. Hatfield, but went directly to his car.
As he bade Brad good-bye, however, he warned once more that he would be
back within a day or two to make another inspection.
Scarcely had the car driven away than Dan sought his friend to learn what
was wrong.
“Plenty!” Brad snapped. “That lazy Ross Langdon really has fouled us up
this time! We’re apt to get bounced from here, and all because he didn’t
attend to the work assigned him.”
“Golly, if we had to leave here with only part of our play filmed, we’d
be sunk,” Dan murmured. “Let’s put the bee on Ross right now.”
The two boys sought the Den 1 Cub, who at the moment was being measured
for his sheriff’s costume. His paper route had provided a substantial sum
for the purchase of materials which Mrs. Holloway had offered to sew.
Ross, however, could not make up his mind whether he wanted a home-made
costume or one he might purchase.
“I think I could make you a very nice outfit,” Mrs. Holloway told the
boy.
“I want a jerkin and seagreen hose,” Ross declared. “Also a cap with a
feather.”
“Don’t you think we should omit the feather?” Mrs. Holloway suggested.
“After all, it won’t do for you to look too much like Robin Hood.”
“Yes, but I want a feather,” Ross argued. “Can’t I have it?”
Before Mrs. Holloway could answer, Brad and Dan came up.
“If the fitting is over, we want to see you a minute,” Brad said to the
boy.
“What for?” he demanded suspiciously.
“Oh, you’ll find out,” Brad said.
Mrs. Holloway, whose patience had been worn by Ross’ insistent demands,
declared that she had finished taking measurements. Rather reluctantly,
the Den 1 boy followed Brad and Dan across the clearing.
“Where you taking me?” he asked.
“Just come along,” Brad returned shortly.
As the boys rounded the castle, Ross began to catch on to what was in
store.
“Oh, you’re going to rag me about not getting the brush cleaned up,” he
guessed. “Well, I’ve been too busy with my paper route. Three customers
kicked yesterday because their papers were delivered late. I’ve no time
to be doing grubby work out here.”
“The rest of us have work too,” Brad retorted. “By not doing what you
were supposed to, you got us in bad with Mr. Kain.”
“Unless the brush is cleared away by tomorrow night, the Cubs stand to
lose the use of this property,” Dan added severely.
“Wouldn’t that be too bad?” Ross drawled. “Then you wouldn’t get the role
of Robin Hood!”
Brad whirled around to glare at the Den 1 boy.
“You’re acting like a spoiled brat, Ross!” he said curtly. “You promised
to clear your section of land and you’re going to do it or get out of the
Pack! We don’t want a Cub who doesn’t do his part or keep a promise.”
The words shocked Ross. “You wouldn’t kick me out—” he stammered, and
then with more confidence, he added: “You couldn’t anyhow! You haven’t
the authority.”
“Wait until Mr. Hatfield hears about this!”
“So you’re a tattler, Brad?”
“No, I’m not,” the Den Chief replied hotly. “I just want to bring you to
a realization of your responsibility to the organization.”
“Aw, you’re taking it too seriously.”
“It will be a serious matter if we lose this site after all the work
we’ve done here.”
“Oh, keep your shirt on!” Ross retorted. Angrily, he turned and started
away from the two boys.
“You’re refusing to do the work?” Brad called after him.
“Who said I was?” Ross flung over his shoulder. “It will be done. Just
don’t rush me.”