Dan Carter and the River Camp.

by Mildred A. Wirt.

CHAPTER 1

Found in the Sand

"Unless a breeze springs up soon, we'll be late for the Cub Scout meeting in the Cave," Dan Carter complained.

Sprawled in the drifting dinghy, the sandy-haired boy raised his eyes to the limp sail which hung in discouraged folds from the tall mast.

"We've already missed the first part of it," remarked Midge Holloway.

A freckled youth of ten, he had draped himself pretzel-fashion over the boat's bow. His skinny legs dangled a bare inch above the placid surface of the wide river.

"What time is it anyhow?" he demanded.

At the tiller of the sailboat, Midge's father, Burton Holloway, snapped on his flashlight to see the dial of his wrist watch. An official "Den Dad" of Webster City Den No. 2, he frequently made river trips with the boys and allowed them to use his sailboat whenever they liked.

On this summer day, the three, after scrubbing the craft's fouled bottom, had set forth for a brief sail. The wind, however, had died suddenly, leaving them stranded far from their Yacht Club moorings.

"It's ten after eight," Mr. Holloway answered his son. "We'll have to work a little if we expect to get in tonight."

Reaching for a paddle, he plied it steadily. With snail-like speed the awkward-sized dinghy moved toward the twinkling lights visible on sh.o.r.e.

With the coming of darkness, a cold, penetrating fog had closed in over the water.

"Wish I'd brought a jacket," Dan said with a shiver. "Want me to take a turn at the paddle, Mr. Holloway?"

"No thanks, Dan, I'm good for awhile yet. I blame myself for being stranded out here. The wind was dying when we left the yacht club. So I guess we asked for trouble!"

For some time Mr. Holloway paddled in silence. Now and then a big fish would leap and plop into the water nearby. Otherwise, the river seemed unusually quiet.

Then unexpectedly from the direction of Skeleton Island came the m.u.f.fled roar of a powerful motor boat engine.

Dan twisted around to gaze upstream. He could hear the sound of the motor plainly but the running lights of the approaching craft were not yet visible through the mist.

"If that boat comes this way, we'll ask for a tow," Mr. Holloway remarked. "Maybe we're in luck."

Resting on the paddle for a moment, the Den Dad allowed the dinghy to drift with the current. The roar of the motorboat engine now had increased in volume. Yet strangely, no one in the sailboat had sighted the oncoming craft.

"Can it be running without lights?" Mr. Holloway remarked somewhat anxiously. "The pilot should know better than that."

Through the mist, Dan suddenly made out the dark, sleek outline of a speed craft which rode low in the water. Foam boiled from her prow as she split the waves.

"There she is!" the boy exclaimed. "Heading this way, and coming fast!"

Alarmed lest the craft run down the sailboat in the darkness, Mr.

Holloway turned the beam of his flashlight upon the limp sail overhead.

To make certain that they were seen, he flashed the light on and off several times.

No answering response came from the motorboat which drove directly toward the sailboat.

"Can't they see us?" Mr. Holloway demanded anxiously.

The motor craft now was so close that those in the stranded sailboat caught a fleeting glimpse of a stout man in dungarees who manned the wheel. Of square jaw, the upper part of his face was hidden by a billed sailor's cap.

"Hey, look out!" Dan yelled. "Turn on your running lights!"

The pilot evidently heard for he swerved the wheel slightly. And then deliberately, as if angered by the boy's remark, he spun the spokes again, bearing directly down upon the drifting sailboat.

Instinctively, Mr. Holloway and the two Cubs braced themselves for a crash.

The pilot of the speed boat laughed boisterously. Having accomplished his purpose-that of frightening the occupants of the sailing dinghy-he then swerved away.

But he had misjudged the distance. As the motorboat swung, its stern grazed the mid-section of the sailing craft. Though the blow was a glancing one, mahogany splintered with a grinding crash.

Choppy waves flung the sailboat far over on its beam. Water began to seep in through a break in the over-lap.

Instead of throttling down, the motorboat sped away into the darkness.

"Why, that dirty crook!" Midge exclaimed furiously. "He's wrecked our boat, and he doesn't even intend to stop! Hey, you!"

The man at the wheel turned slightly. In the moment before he raised his hand to cover the exposed lower part of his face, Dan obtained a fleeting but clear view of him. Two others in the boat crouched low and kept their backs turned.

Mr. Holloway leaped to his feet in the teetering sailboat. Flashing his light on the disappearing craft, he tried to discern the license number.

None was visible.

Despite the shouts of Mr. Holloway and the Cubs, the boat did not slacken speed. Soon it was nearly out of sight, still running without lights.

"Those men should be arrested!" Midge declared. "They struck us on purpose!"

Dan had noticed that his feet were resting in an inch of water.

"Say, we've sprung a leak!" he cried, scrambling for a bailing can which was kept under the seat. "Now we are in a jam!"

The latest emergency caused Mr. Holloway to divert his attention from the motorboat. Anxiously, he examined the jagged hole in the mahogany over-lap through which a trickle of water oozed.

"Midge, give me that rag under the seat!" he directed.

As his son handed it over, Mr. Holloway wedged it as tightly as he could into the larger hole, pressing it in with his knife blade.

"That should help some, but we're still shipping water," he said anxiously. "We'll have to bail."

Already Dan was at work dipping with the tin can which was kept for just such an emergency. While Mr. Holloway paddled hard for sh.o.r.e, he and Midge took turns dipping water from the bottom of the boat. By working steadily, they could keep ahead of it.

"I'd certainly like to know who those men were that struck us," Mr.

Holloway remarked. "Aside from the damage they've done to our boat, they're a menace on the river."