title="[19]"/>

“Listen!” he commanded.

The Cubs became quiet. Distinctly, they could hear a rattling noise.

“Sounds like someone trying to raise a window,” Brad said. “That box of money on the table—”

Mr. Hatfield started up the stairs, but without undue haste.

“Take it easy, boys,” he said. “It’s only the wind rattling a window. The money’s safe enough.”

Despite reassurance, the Cubs were uneasy as they followed their leader up the creaking stairs.

If the box were gone—

Mr. Hatfield opened the door of the study. Every eye focused upon the table.

The box of money was exactly where it had been left.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Mr. Hatfield admitted, chuckling at his own uneasiness. “I’ll acknowledge that hearing the window rattle gave me a most uncomfortable feeling.”

“How much do you suppose is here?” Dan speculated, fingering one of the packages. “Shall we count it?”

“Well—” the Cub leader hesitated. “I’m not too eager to stay here in an empty church with so much money. But then, go ahead. The job shouldn’t take long.”

The Cubs seated themselves at the table. Mr. Hatfield began to count, while the Cubs checked his work.

Since the onset of colder weather, Den 2 had made use of the church as a meeting place for both Den and Pack gatherings.

In warmer weather they usually assembled at The Cave, overlooking the river. As its name implied, the chamber had been carved by water action, and was reached by a flight of stairs built by the Cubs and their fathers.

During the previous summer, the boys had enjoyed many an adventure along the waterfront. The story of their difficulties with river pirates has been told in the Cub book entitled: “Dan Carter and the River Camp.”

In the first Cub Scout book, “Dan Carter, Cub Scout,” the boys tried a little back yard camping. Even so, they found themselves battling a flood at a pheasant farm, and incidentally, meeting several unpleasant persons.

Now, as the Cubs watched Mr. Hatfield count the money found in the tin box, they sensed that once again they were on the verge of adventure.

The Cub leader tallied eight hundred and forty dollars in twenty dollar denominations. Brad carefully set this amount down.

Next the Cub leader started to count the ten dollar bills. He was well into the third package, when Dan, a little weary of watching, raised his eyes to the window.

What he saw nearly caused him to rise off his chair.

A face was pressed against the windowpane.

In the fleeting instant that he saw it, Dan gained only a vague impression of a flattened nose and intent eyes.

Too startled to cry out, he kicked Brad’s foot under the table.

“Hey, cut it out!” the older boy exclaimed. “Be your age.”

“The window!” Dan muttered. “Look!”

Not only Brad, but Mr. Hatfield and all the Cubs turned to see what had attracted Dan’s attention.

But the face had vanished.

“What’s eating you, Dan?” Brad demanded. “Now you’ve mixed up the count. Has finding this money got you jittery?”

“It sure has,” Dan admitted. “But I know I didn’t dream up that face. I saw it plain as day!”

“What face?” asked Mr. Hatfield.

“I saw it only a minute ago at the window. Someone was looking in here—watching us count the money!”

“Dan has got a bad case of the jitters,” Midge chuckled.

“No, he hasn’t either!”

Dan’s unexpected defender was none other than Babe Bunning. The youngest member of Den 2 made his announcement in a shrill voice which quavered with excitement.

“I saw the f-face too,” he chattered. “Only I was so—so scared I couldn’t say anything.”

“You saw it too!” Brad echoed. “Say, this may add up to something!”

Mr. Hatfield already had darted to the window.

The rain had nearly ceased. Gazing out into the drenched churchyard, he could see no one.

“Turn off the light a minute,” he instructed.

Brad found the switch.

With the study dark, it was easier to distinguish objects in the church yard. The Cubs clustered at Mr. Hatfield’s shoulder, tense and uneasy.

“I don’t see anyone—” Mr. Hatfield began.

He broke off and Dan finished the sentence. “Over there by the bushes, to the right of the walk! See!”

“Someone sneaking off toward the street!” Brad added. “Let’s nab him!”

“The dirty old peeping Tom!” yelled Chips. “Come on! We’ll get him!”

“Wait, boys!” Mr. Hatfield advised. “We don’t know—”

Usually obedient, the Cubs now were too excited to listen.

Before Mr. Hatfield could stop them, they darted through the empty church and out into the yard.

“Surround the bushes and close in,” Brad instructed.

The Cubs circled the area where they last had seen the mysterious prowler. Soon it was apparent, however, that the man had eluded them.

He had slipped away in the brief time it had taken them to reach the church yard. Although they looked up and down the street, the man was nowhere to be seen.

“We’ve lost him!” Brad declared in deep disgust.

“Perhaps it’s just as well,” said Mr. Hatfield. The Cub leader, a little short of breath, had followed the Cubs into the yard.

“Just as well?” Brad echoed. “I don’t get it.”

“It’s no crime to look into the window of a church, Brad. Didn’t you act rather hastily?”

“I guess I did,” Brad admitted. “I was so anxious to catch that fellow I didn’t stop to think what the outcome might be if we did nail him.”

“Dan, did you recognize the person?” the Cub leader asked him.

“No, Mr. Hatfield, I didn’t. All I saw was a face flattened against the windowpane.”

“You think, though, that he was watching us count the money?”

“I’m sure of it.”

“It’s possible that the person—whoever he was—may have been the one who hid the money in the basement,” Mr. Hatfield said, thinking aloud. “On the other hand, it may have been a curious passerby attracted by our light in the study.”

“In any case, we were seen counting the money,” Brad pointed out.

“And that’s not good,” Mr. Hatfield completed, his face troubled. “I’d hate to have it noised around Webster City that we’ve found a box of money. It might make trouble.”

“What do you think we should do?” Brad asked anxiously.

Mr. Hatfield already had made up his mind. He spoke decisively:

“The most important thing now is to get the money box to a safe place. I’ll take it home for tonight.”

Well satisfied with the decision, the Cubs trooped back into the church to gather together their belongings.

With the exception of Brad and Dan, the other Cubs lived close by. The two boys were to ride with Mr. Hatfield and his son Fred.

“The storm has let up now, so I’ll trust the rest of you to shift for yourselves,” the Cub leader said. “Go straight to your homes and don’t stop along the way to pick any daisies. I’ll report to you in the morning as to what will be done with the money box.”

“We’ll be okay,” Red said cheerfully.

“Sure,” agreed Midge. “It’s only a couple of steps. Just take good care of that money box.”

“Dan, Brad and Fred will help me guard it,” Mr. Hatfield said. “I don’t mind admitting I’ll be relieved to turn it over to someone else for safe