"I'll flash back there and have another look-see," Chips offered. "Wait for me."

He was gone a long while. When finally he rejoined the group, he was without the paddle.

"It's gone," he announced, his face grim.

"Then someone must have picked it up," declared Dan. "Everyone check."

The Cubs could not find the missing canoe paddle among their belongings or anywhere nearby. Thinking that Mr. Holloway or Mr. Hatfield might have locked it into the cabin, Brad went there to look.

"No sign of it," he reported. "I'll bet a cent that paddle is still on the beach."

"You look then," Chips challenged. "I couldn't find it anywhere."

The Cubs dropped their knapsacks and trooped down to the beach. Chips'

footprints plainly were visible in the sand, showing where he had wandered in his fruitless search.

"See any paddle?" the boy demanded.

"Are you certain you left it here, Red?" Dan inquired dubiously.

"Certainly I'm certain! Right here by the river. I wanted it to dry so I left it turned up to the sun."

"Well, it couldn't have paddled itself away!" Chips wisecracked.

"Very funny!" Red glared at him. "I spent a long while painting that paddle. Now it's gone. Either one of you took it for a joke or-"

"On your honor, fellows, has anyone seen Red's paddle?" Brad soberly questioned the group.

All the Cubs rea.s.serted that they had not touched the missing item.

"When last I saw it, Red was laying it out in the sun just as he said,"

added Midge. "Maybe it floated away."

"Like fun!" Chips snorted. "This river doesn't have a tide. I know what became of that paddle!"

"What?" Dan demanded.

"Ross Langdon took it!"

For a moment after Chips had made his accusation, no one spoke.

Then Mack said thoughtfully: "He was around here making remarks. He looked at the paddle several times."

"He came here to snoop!" Chips accused angrily. "He was afraid Red's paddle would win a prize in the handicraft contest, so either he took it for meanness or he pitched it into the river."

"Ross didn't have anything in his hands when he left here," Dan said quietly.

"Then he shoved it into the river and it floated away! That's probably what it did!"

"Chips, don't go completely off your base," Brad interposed. "You're making some pretty rash accusations."

"Ross likes to win," added Dan. "He's boastful too. But I'd hate to think he's dishonest."

"One Cub never should make that accusation against another unless he's prepared to back it up with proof," resumed Brad severely. "You're only making wild guesses, Chips."

"Well, if Ross didn't take the paddle, who did? Answer me that!"

"I don't know what became of the paddle, Chips. Red was rather careless though, to leave it lying so close to the river's edge."

"Oh, so it's all my fault?" cried Red.

"Now don't get huffy. No one is blaming you. On the other hand, we've no right to put it on Ross."

"Just wait until I see that lad," Chips muttered. "I'll drag it out of him!"

Brad took Chips by the arm, giving him a little, impatient shake.

"Get hold of yourself," he advised. "Do you want to stir up bad feeling between Den 1 and Den 2? If you go to Ross and accuse him, you'll get all of his denmates sore at us."

"Our Indian pow-wow will turn into full scale war instead of a nice friendly compet.i.tion," warned Dan severely. "You can't do it, Chips."

"Oh, all right," the boy growled. "If you're going to make such a fuss about it, I'll keep quiet. I'm convinced though, that Ross got away with that paddle! I'll keep on thinking so too, unless it shows up."

CHAPTER 5 STRANGE INDIANS

After school for the next three days, the Cub Scouts spent much of their spare time either at the river or gathering clothing to be shipped to the Navajo reservation.

No more was said about the missing paddle. Though the Den 2 boys saw Ross Langdon in school, they avoided mention of their loss.

Red meanwhile, obtained another paddle, and went quietly to work on a more elaborate design. The finished job was so much better than the first that all the Cubs declared the Den might actually have been the gainer for having lost the paddle.

Not to be bested by Den 1, the boys set as one of their major projects, the making of an Indian hogan.

The house, they decided, would be made of best tree boughs and covered over with mud and clay. Brad pointed out that while it would be easier to use canvas or cloth for the slanting walls, the mud would be more in keeping with Navajo tradition.

Hogans were circular, six or eight-sided huts, with a roof-hole for the escape of smoke, he explained. The structure had only a single door which traditionally faced east toward the rising sun.

"The north side of the hogan always is the 'woman's side' of the house,"

Brad went on with a grin. "In our hut, we'll skip that. We want it to look like a real Navajo hogan though. So we'll need a lot of clay. When it hardens on the skeleton-pole structure, it should form a hard, rain-proof surface."

"We can get plenty of good clay over the cliff," Dan suggested. "I noticed the quality was especially good there at the ravine near the carved face."

"Grab buckets, fellows, and let's go after it," Brad urged.