"Say, Dan," he said, "let me see that map Mr. Silverton marked for you."

"Sure."

Leaping down from the log, Dan fished the paper from his pocket. While the Cubs peered over his shoulder, Mr. Hatfield spread it out on the ground.

"We're very close to the area Mr. Silverton marked as restricted," the Cub leader declared. "Directly across the stream is an abandoned logging road which joins the main highway along the river. This map shows the old road fenced off-"

The Cubs waited, but Mr. Hatfield did not complete what he had started to say. Instead, he stared at the log jam, lost in deep thought.

"Anything wrong?" Dan asked, puzzled.

"I was just wondering about that road across the creek," the Cub leader said vaguely.

He pa.s.sed the matter off as of no consequence. Except for Dan, the Cubs forgot the matter entirely, because at that moment, Brad gave an excited shout. In poking about along the sandy sh.o.r.e, he had made a disconcerting discovery.

"Say, come here!" he called.

The Cubs quickly joined him along the rim of the racing stream.

"We've got to find Chips and Red right away!" he informed the group. "See where their tracks lead!"

The Den Chief pointed to a series of heel marks, leading directly away from the stream.

Clearly, Red and Chips after reaching the site of the log jam, had left the main trail.

Selecting another, they had continued on, walking into the forbidden area of Mr. Silverton's property!

CHAPTER 4 Useful Information

"For the love o' lemons!" exploded Dan as he saw for himself that the trail of footprints led into the restricted area of the Silverton property. "What got into Red and Chips?"

"They knew we gave our promise to Mr. Silverton," Brad said, deeply troubled. "And now, first crack, they go wandering off."

"Let's drag 'em back here before Saul Dobbs learns about it," advised Fred. "It would give him a good excuse for heaving us all off the place."

Mr. Hatfield and Midge's father were even more troubled than the Cubs over the actions of Chips and Red.

"We shouldn't all enter the restricted area," Mr. Holloway said. "I'll take Brad and Dan and go after them. The rest wait here with Sam."

With the Den Chief and Dan at his heels, Mr. Holloway rapidly followed the trail which, after leaving the creek, presently came out at a cleared area.

Directly ahead, they saw the two missing Cubs.

"Wahoo! Wahoo!" shouted Dan to attract their attention.

Red and Chips, who had their backs turned, whirled around to face the approaching trio. Seemingly unaware that they had committed any offense, they came trotting toward the group.

"See what we found!" Chips cried, extending his hands which were filled with gray pheasant tail feathers.

Red had a similar collection. "We're going to use these for an Indian headdress!" he announced. "We can enter it in the Pack's Indian craft exhibit at the end of the summer, and maybe win first prize!"

"You win first prize for being the Den's No. 1 Dodo," Brad said furiously. "Cripes! Can't a fellow trust you a minute?"

"Brad, let me handle this," said Mr. Holloway quietly.

Turning to the puzzled Chips and Red, he asked them if they knew what they had done.

"We haven't done anything," Chips insisted. "If all this fuss is about these feathers-we picked 'em up over there on the ground."

"That's right," Red said, made uncomfortable by the Den Dad's steady gaze. "You can bet we didn't pluck any birds. In fact, we didn't see a single pheasant."

"I wasn't referring to the feathers," replied Mr. Holloway. "Do you realize where you are?"

"Sure. On Mr. Silverton's land," Red answered, still failing to comprehend.

"You're in the forbidden area, Red. The Cubs pride themselves on keeping their word and being honest. You and Chips knew the rules."

The two culprits gazed at each other in consternation.

"Gosh!" Chips exclaimed. "We didn't know we had wandered into the out-of-bounds area. Did we, Red?"

"We sure didn't," the other returned earnestly. "We just started off looking for wood to make Indian bows. We didn't find what we wanted, so we kept walking."

"Then we found these feathers," Chips took up the tale. "About that time, we heard Dan call. We didn't do any harm."

"Perhaps not," admitted Mr. Holloway. "But that's neither here nor there.

The point is, through your carelessness, you've cast reflection on all the Cubs. Brad and Dan pledged the Den's honor to Mr. Silverton."

Chips hung his head. Red, twisting the gray feathers in his hands, avoided the level gaze of the Den Dad.

"We didn't know we were breaking the rules," Chips mumbled. "Dan only gave us one look at the map. How were we to tell-"

"Alibis don't go with me," said Mr. Holloway. "Well, the deed is done.

The next question is, what are we to do about it?"

"If we get away from here before Saul Dobbs catches on, no one will be the wiser," Chips said.

"And is that what you think we should do, Chips? Sneak out of here and keep quiet?"

"Well, I don't know," Chips said, hanging his head. "It was just a mistake."

"But you and Red broke the rules. While you may not have intended to disobey, you weren't careful."

"Why not go to Mr. Silverton and tell him exactly what happened?"