CHAPTER 12 Following the Trail

Excitement swept the camp the next morning when Mr. Hatfield told the Cubs they were to play the trail game Dan had proposed.

Taking the boys partially into his confidence, the Cub leader explained that he wished to obtain as much information as possible about Jabowski or any other occupants of the island.

"What sort of information?" Mack asked, puzzled.

"It's a request that can't be explained," Mr. Hatfield replied. "Just keep your eyes open. If you notice anything unusual report it after the hunt is over. Dan will lay the trail."

"I'll need twenty minutes start of the gang," Dan announced, already making his plans.

Mr. Hatfield told the Cubs that he might be absent from camp upon their return. He had arranged for a yacht club boat to pick him up, as he wished to visit Tim Tyler to make certain the boy had suffered no ill effects from his previous night's ducking.

"I shan't be gone long," he told the Cubs. "During my absence, Brad will be in charge."

"And that means you all must do just as I say," Brad instructed the younger boys. "I'll lead the clue hunt, and I want you to stick close to me. No stragglers!"

The Cubs allowed Dan a full twenty minutes start and then set out in pursuit.

Midge found the first clue, a bit of bush broken off and weighted down with stones.

Farther on, Red spied a forked stick which pointed the direction. The trail avoided the marsh, skirting the sh.o.r.e much of the way. Finally it wound through a brushy hollow and came out within view of the old hotel where Jabowski lived.

"What's the idea of all this?" Red demanded, sinking down on a rock to rest. "Dan brought us to this old hotel on purpose, didn't he?"

"That's right," Brad agreed. "And here's a note from him." His keen eyes had sighted a slip of paper speared on a nearby tree branch.

Obtaining it, he read aloud: "Watch the windows of the hotel."

"The windows?" Red repeated. "What does he mean by that?"

"Don't know," Brad shrugged. "Just keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual."

"Such as what?" Midge demanded.

"I can't tell you that. I don't know myself. If you see Jabowski or anyone around, keep tab on 'em. Pick up any information you can, no matter how trivial it may seem."

"But why are we doing this?" Mack complained. "I don't get it."

"Mr. Hatfield will explain later."

"You and Dan seem to be on the inside," Chips grumbled.

"If you don't want to play the game, you can trot back to camp. And that goes for all of you!"

"Oh, don't get tough," Chips retorted. "We're willing to spy out the enemy camp, but it would be more to the point if you'd do a little explaining."

"All in good time, all in good time," Brad rejoined, restored to good humor.

Following the trail Dan had marked, the Cubs slowly circled the hotel building.

"I don't believe Jabowski lives there," Midge declared. "The place is deserted."

"No, it isn't," corrected Red. "I see smoke coming from the chimney at the rear."

Brad praised the boy for his observation and urged the others to be on the lookout for other signs.

A little farther on, the Den Chief paused to study the grimy windows of the ancient building.

"Jabowski doesn't hurt himself keeping the place clean or tidy," he remarked. "Look at those windows! And the weeds in the yard!"

"And the shutters," contributed Fred. "They're banging around at every angle."

Brad suddenly froze into alert attention. His gaze had focused hard upon one of the upstairs hotel windows. The glare of the sun was upon it, and for a moment the others could not see what had attracted his interest.

"Fellows, there's someone standing at the window!" he exclaimed. "Not Jabowski either!"

"It looks like a boy," Chips declared, shifting his position so that the reflected sunlight would not blind him.

Huddled together, the Cubs all fastened their gaze upon the window.

Plainly they could see a youth standing there, his face pressed close against the dirty pane.

"_Jeepers!_" Chips whispered in stunned recognition. "_It's Jacques!_"

Almost at the same instant, Brad and the other Cubs had made a similar observation. The boy who stood at the window was the same one who had vanished from the Cave only a few days earlier.

As the boys watched, a hand appeared from nowhere to jerk Jacques back from the window. They waited several minutes, but the boy did not reappear.

"You know what I think!" Midge cried, recovering from stunned surprise.

"Jacques is being held a prisoner in there!"

"Either Jabowski or someone else saw him trying to signal us, and pulled him back out of sight!" Fred added excitedly. "I say we ought to break in and rescue him!"

"Not so fast," Brad cautioned as the other Cubs were ready to back up the proposal. "Our orders were to report back to camp. Remember?"

"But this is an emergency," Chips argued. "If Jacques is being held a prisoner, we ought to get him out!"

"And maybe get ourselves into a peck of trouble. Nope! Dan must have seen that boy too or he wouldn't have left the note. We're hiking back to camp. It's up to Mr. Hatfield to decide what to do."

Turning deaf ears upon all protests, Brad led the Cubs back the way they had come. Suddenly, a figure loomed up ahead of the boys. It was Jabowski who confronted them. From where he had come or how long he had been secreted in the bushes, they could not guess.

The caretaker's voice was hard and unfriendly as he demanded:

"What d'you think you're doing here?"

"Why, we're playing 'follow the trail'," Brad said as the other Cubs were too abashed to reply.