  Knowing that he had been recognized, Pat grinned sheepishly at Dan. “I’m here with a friend of mine,” he muttered. “These birds haven’t got anything on me—no sir!” Dan had his own idea of why Pat might be in court, but he pretended to accept the explanation. He had heard at school that a group of boys had been loitering near the railroad tracks, boarding freight trains, and otherwise making a nuisance of themselves. Undoubtedly, Pat and some of his cronies had been brought in by police for questioning. This was confirmed a moment later as one of the court referees came out of his private office and motioned to Pat. “I’ll talk to you next,” he said. “Come in.” Pat cast a quick look at Dan, and ducked into the conference room. The tour of the big courthouse continued. Dan could not fail to note that Chub seemed rather familiar with the Juvenile Court section of the building. More than ever he was convinced that the new Cub member was known to some of the referees as well as the court director. Chub, however, maintained his usual shy silence and offered no explanation. The boy’s familiarity with the building did not escape the attention of the other Cubs. As they were leaving after the tour, Red sidled over to Dan. “What do you think about Chub?” he whispered. “Nothing, why?” “Did you notice how the court director knew him?” “Sure, but what of it?” “Well—” Red was rather ashamed of his own suspicions. “I just wonder if maybe he hasn’t been in some trouble—” “I wouldn’t do too much speculating,” Dan said to end the talk. “Don’t you like Chub?” “Sure, but—” “No buts then, Red. Mr. Hatfield told us Chub was okay, and that’s enough for me.” “Same here,” Red shrugged. “I was just thinking, that’s all.” During the next few days the Cubs devoted many hours to basketball practice. When not otherwise occupied they worked on the cardboard fort in the meeting room and perfected plans for the coming Friday night party. The problem of finding an ice cream freezer still confronted the Cubs. On Thursday, only a day before the scheduled affair to honor parents, the boys admitted that they were up against it. “We’ll have to buy our ice cream,” Brad said to the Den members as they sat discussing the matter in their clubroom. “Mr. Hatfield has been too busy to do anything about finding a freezer, and the rest of us have had no luck.” “The party won’t be any good without homemade ice cream,” Midge said gloomily. “I wanted to turn the freezer too!” “No use moaning about it,” Brad replied. “We’ll have a good party just the same. At any rate we’ll have the big fort on display. Fred and his helpers did a fine job building it.” “Thanks,” Fred said, warming to the praise. “It was a lot of work making the thing.” The fort, constructed of cut and painted sheets of cardboard, was a replica of an old pioneer historical building which the boys had visited several months before. Fred had spent weeks on the task, working out every detail with care. Now the structure was finished, ready for display at the Friday party. “By the way, there’s one business matter to come before the group,” Brad resumed. “We have a request to consider from Pat Oswald.” “He wants to cancel the game!” Chips guessed. “Quite the contrary. He and his boys are taking the tournament very seriously. Pat demands a chance to practice in our gymnasium before the game.” A silence fell upon the room. Then Red said grumpily: “Maybe he’d like to have us turn over the whole place to him!” “The request seemed like a reasonable one.” Dan spoke up. “I think we should agree to let them use the gym. That is, if Mr. Hatfield says it is all right. The church gym wasn’t built for our special use.” “Pat doesn’t go to this church,” Red growled. “He doesn’t attend any church. Do him good if he did!” “Cubs are supposed to be FAIR,” Dan reminded him. “We agreed to a series of three games. Now do we want it to be an honest test of athletic skill, or do we want to win at any cost?” “Oh, let ’em use the gym,” Red gave in, knowing all the other Cubs favored Brad’s viewpoint. “Someone ought to keep watch though, while they’re here. They might decide to wreck the place, the way they did the old church.” “That hasn’t been proven,” Brad said. “Anyway, you may be sure adults will supervise the practice closely.” Chub, who had been seated nearest the door, suddenly jumped up. “What’s wrong?” Midge asked him. “You’re as nervous as a cat.” “I—I thought I heard someone in the hall.” “Maybe it’s Mr. Hatfield coming,” Brad said, glancing at the wall clock. “He’s a tiny bit late again. Probably another meeting with Mr. Maxwell’s lawyer.” The Cubs waited a moment, listening. Mr. Hatfield did not appear, but Dan thought he heard an outside door softly close. “Maybe Pat and his gang have been eavesdropping again!” he cried. The Cubs ran out into the shadowy corridor. It was quite deserted. But there against the wall, neatly positioned like twin sentinels, were two large ice cream freezers. “Whoopee!” chortled Midge. “See what Santa Claus brought us!” “Freezers!” Chips laughed, cavorting around them. “Just when we had given up hope too.” While the other Cubs were examining the mysterious gifts, Dan and Brad hastened on to the outer door. They reached it in time to catch a fleeting glimpse of someone vanishing into a clump of bushes to the left of the churchyard. “That wasn’t Mr. Hatfield, was it?” Dan demanded. “Too tall,” Brad replied. “Anyway, he wouldn’t have left the freezers in the hallway.” “Maybe it was one of the Den Dads. Odd though, that whoever it was, didn’t rap on the clubroom door and wait to be thanked. Anyway, I’m sure glad to get those freezers!” Brad kept frowning thoughtfully as he walked back to rejoin the other Cubs. “Anything to show who left the freezers?” he asked Midge. “Any card?” “Not a thing. They’re big ones though. Just what we need for our party tomorrow night.” Dan too had been inspecting the freezers. He remarked that they were the same size as the ones he had noticed in the old Christian Church basement. “Do you suppose they came from there?” he speculated. “I doubt it,” Midge answered carelessly. “Those old trustees haven’t relented one bit. And Terry wouldn’t bring them to us—you know that.” “Well, we have ’em and that’s what counts,” Chips cheerfully declared. “Now we can go ahead with our plans. Let’s make the ice cream first thing after school tomorrow night. It should keep if we pack it in ice.” Jubilantly, the Cubs carried the two freezers into the clubroom. They were still discussing the strange manner of delivery when Mr. Hatfield arrived. He had nothing new to report regarding the threatened damage suit, but expressed amazement that the Den had acquired the cream freezers. “I had nothing to do with it,” he assured the Cubs. “To be sure, I’ve asked a number of people if they knew where we could get some freezers. Perhaps one of our inquiries paid off.” Brad told the Cubmaster of the request Pat Oswald had made with reference to use of the gymnasium for a basketball practice session. “No reason why they can’t use it for an hour tomorrow night after school, is there?” Mr. Hatfield inquired. “The Cubs will be making ice cream and won’t want the floor themselves.” “Do you think they should be allowed the run of the place?” Red protested. “You know how Pat and his gang are.” “The practice will be a supervised one. I promise you that,” Mr. Hatfield said. “I see no reason why the boys shouldn’t be allowed privileges here, providing they don’t abuse them.” “You’re forgetting how they got us into trouble,” Red asserted. “No, Red. I just believe in fair play, that’s all. We agreed to the series of games, so it’s only right that we give the Purple Five a chance to practice. Right?” “Oh, I guess so,” Red submitted. “I don’t trust Pat, that’s all.” Word was carried to Pat that his team might use the gymnasium the following afternoon from three-thirty until four-thirty. “You mean it?” The boy demanded in surprise when Dan gave him the information. “Well, thanks!” “Say, by the way, you weren’t at the church a while ago, were you?” Dan asked in an offhand way. The moment he had asked the question, he regretted it. Once the words had been spoken it was too late to retract them. “Why, no, why?” Pat demanded. “Oh, a couple of ice cream freezers were delivered to the Cubs,” Dan explained reluctantly. “I thought you might know something about it.” Pat’s blank expression convinced Dan that he knew nothing of the matter. More than ever, he was sorry he had brought up the subject. “What are the Cubs doing with ice cream freezers?” Pat demanded, his curiosity aroused. “For that party you’re giving tomorrow night, I bet!” Dan had not suspected that the other knew of the planned social affair. “How’d you find out about it?” he asked. Pat grinned provokingly. “That’s for me to know and you to find out!” he retorted. Thrusting hands deep into the pockets of his patched jeans, he sauntered off. |
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