Dan Carter and the Great Carved Face

  CHAPTER 2 THE FACE ON THE CLIFF

  The Cubs bunched together, waiting for orders. Red's plight, they knew,easily might be a serious one. If he foolishly had wandered deep into thewoods, it might be necessary to organize searching parties in order tofind him.

  "Mr. Holloway, Dan, Brad and I will try to pick up his trail," thecubmaster said quietly. "The rest of you go to the house and wait there."

  Dan and Brad followed Mr. Holloway and the cubmaster to the fringe ofwoods, leaving the other Cubs to make their way up the hill. Mr. Hatfieldtook an optimistic view of the disappearance.

  "Red has good sense," he said. "Furthermore, unless he's forgotten Cubtraining, he'll eventually find his way back to camp or to the road. Theworst is, if he doesn't show up shortly, his parents will be scared."

  Ahead, the cool forest loomed dark and rather terrifying. By day, thetrails wound pleasantly through the preserve, skirting ravines andcrossing rustic bridges. But now, the entire area had a forbiddingappearance.

  "We all must stay close together," Mr. Hatfield instructed. "Now Dan,show us where it was that you last saw Red."

  Dan already had identified the spot, a narrow gap through two tall birchtrees. He had noted the place, for the white trunks had stood outdistinctly in the starlight.

  After he had pointed it out, Mr. Hatfield went ahead, flashing the brightbeam of his flashlight on the ground.

  "Red came this way, all right," he declared, elated at having picked upthe trail so easily. "See! Here's a deep heel mark in the mud."

  "What could have induced him to wander off?" Mr. Holloway speculated. "Ithought Red knew better. He evidently had no intention of gathering woodbecause he passed up plenty of it at the edge of the woods."

  In the dark forest, it became increasingly difficult to follow Red'strail. After moving deeper into the trees, the party halted to listen fora moment and then to shout Red's name.

  "He's wandered a long distance away, that's sure," the cubmaster said."Perhaps to the ravine. Our voices might not carry to him there."

  "But why would Red go that far?" Brad asked himself aloud. "I can'tunderstand it. He only intended to play a little joke on the Cubs."

  Mr. Hatfield, in advance of the others, halted so abruptly that Bradbumped into him.

  "Hello, here's something!" the cubmaster exclaimed.

  He stooped to pick up a paper sack lying in plain view on a log.

  "That's the one Red had!" Brad cried, instantly recognizing it.

  Inside the sack, Mr. Hatfield found a neatly folded bearskin rug.

  "Red intended to play a joke on the Cubs all right," he commented. "Butsomething caused him to change his mind."

  "For some reason he decided to go deeper into the woods," Mr. Hollowayadded thoughtfully. "Evidently, he wanted to travel fast, so he pitchedthis bulky sack. He left it on the log, where he could find it easily onhis way back."

  More than ever mystified by the boy's strange disappearance, the four nowhastened on. Soon however, Mr. Hatfield reported that he no longer couldfind any shoeprints on the trail.

  "Red must have turned off somewhere," he told the others. "That will makeit a lot harder to find him."

  The four paused, discouraged by the realization that it might take hoursto learn what had become of the missing boy. A cool wind whisperedthrough the pines, causing Dan to pull his sweater more tightly abouthim. Red, he recalled, had worn no jacket. Unless they found him soon, hemight actually suffer from cold.

  "Listen!" commanded Brad suddenly. "I thought I heard something!"

  The four stood perfectly still, listening. Overhead an owl hooted, butthere was no other unusual sound.

  "I was certain I heard something," Brad muttered, ashamed to have arousedfalse hope. "It sounded like someone running. Guess I imagined it."

  "We'll have to go back a ways and try to pick up Red's trail again," Mr.Hatfield said. "I only hope my flashlight holds out."

  The searchers turned around, but scarcely had they gone a dozen yards,than Brad exclaimed:

  "There! I heard it again! Someone _is_ running through the underbrush!"

  The other three had halted to listen.

  "You're right, Brad!" exclaimed Mr. Hatfield. "It must be Red!"

  Their hope revived, the four shouted the missing boy's name repeatedly.To their intense relief, an answering shout came from the left of thetrail.

  "That's Red!" cried Brad.

  "He's over by the ravine, just as I thought!" added Mr. Hatfield. "Keepshouting, so he can find us. We'll wait here on the trail."

  Five minutes later, Red struggled through the bushes and brambles toconfront his would-be rescuers with a sheepish grin.

  He was breathing heavily, having hastened as fast as he could.

  "Gosh, were you out looking for me?" he asked, sagging down on a log torest.

  "Were we looking for you!" Brad exclaimed furiously. "You and your crazyjokes!"

  "I intended to come right back--honest I did. But gosh, I had the scareof my life! I'm still shakey from the shock of it."

  "You didn't meet a live bear?" Dan asked.

  Red shook his head and took a deep breath. "I--I saw a fire through thetrees," he informed his listeners.

  "A fire?" Mr. Holloway repeated. "In the forest? That could be serious ifit spread. So many cabins and cottages are situated near the parkpreserve. Fires aren't permitted at night, and in daytime only withwritten permission of the warden."

  "That's why I started off to find out about it," Red said quickly. "Ithought if anyone had left a fire unwatched, the Cubs ought to know aboutit."

  "Where did you see the fires?" Mr. Hatfield cut in. "Near the ravine?"

  "Yes, but it wasn't unattended. When I got there--oh, gee!--it scared mehalf out of my wits. I was afraid to go very close."

  "Get to the point, Red," Mr. Holloway urged impatiently. "What did yousee?"

  "A fire had been built on a shelf of the ravine. It was blazing up highagainst the rocks, making the whole cliff wall illuminated. A man, whowas wrapped in a blanket, sat there. His back was to me so I didn't seehis face."

  "What's so frightening about that?" Brad demanded. "Was that all yousaw?"

  "I'm coming to the important part," Red went on breathlessly. "Near thefire--on the clay wall--I saw another face--a huge one."

  "Sure you didn't imagine it?" asked Mr. Hatfield dryly.

  "It was real as anything," Red insisted. "The face was as big as a houseand it sort of leered out at me. Oh, it was weird with the firelightthrowing crazy shadows over the cliff wall! I took one look and beat itback here!"

  "You dreamed all that up!" Brad accused.

  "I did not!" Red denied furiously. "I'll show you if you want me to!"

  "It's late now," Mr. Hatfield said. "The Cubs are waiting at the house."

  "I'd like to prove that I'm right. Honest, I didn't imagine it!"

  "You can show us the face tomorrow--by daylight," the cubmaster replied.

  "But it may be gone then."

  "It will be all right," scoffed Brad. "And that man you saw by the firetoo! I've explored every trail in the metropolitan park and never cameupon any giants."

  "The face didn't look human," Red described it nervously. "It sort ofloomed out of the wall--huge eyes."

  "As large as saucers?" teased Dan.

  "Yes, they were, and you needn't rub it in! I saw the face, and I'mwilling to prove it if anyone will give me a chance!"

  "You'll have your chance tomorrow," Mr. Hatfield soothed him. "Oddthough, about that fire."

  "I seriously doubt the warden would grant anyone a permit in this sectionof the park," added Mr. Holloway. "The danger of starting a forest fireis great at this time of year."

  Although Red insisted that his attention first had been attracted by aglimpse of a camp fire through the trees, the others could not now seethe blaze. Despite the boy's insistence that the sight he had viewed wasvery real, they were
inclined to think his eyes had played him false.

  Decidedly crestfallen, Red accompanied his would-be rescuers back to theHolloway cottage. Immediately, the other Cubs fell upon him, demanding toknow where he had been so long.

  Brad and Dan would have spared their chum the tale, but Red himself toldit. In fact, he expanded upon his original story, building up the face hehad seen as an awe-inspiring apparition.

  At first the Cubs were impressed, but as Red added more and more to thetale, they began to scoff. Soon they flatly informed him that he was"talking through his hat."

  "You were scared, that's what!" accused Midge. "You thought you'd play ajoke on us with that bear skin. Instead, the joke's on you!"

  "Sure, Red got out there in the woods and began seeing things thatweren't so," chuckled Mack.

  The teasing so upset Red that he spilled a little of the hot chocolate inthe mug Mrs. Holloway had served him.

  "I'll show you," he retorted fiercely. "Just give me a chance! That's allI ask."

  The Cubs, one and all, grinned provokingly. Red subsided into hurtsilence.

  Then unexpectedly, Mrs. Holloway, the Den Mother, sided with Red. As shepassed a plate of chicken sandwiches, she remarked quietly;

  "About a half hour ago, while I was working in the kitchen, I noticed alight somewhere back in the woods. It looked for all the world like abonfire."

  "A fire!" cried Red triumphantly. "What'd I tell you?"

  "It struck me as very strange," continued Mrs. Holloway. "With so manycottages nearby, a fire in the park could be serious unless carefullytended."

  "Then you think Red may not have imagined that face on the cliff?"inquired Mr. Hatfield thoughtfully.

  "I'm wondering if an investigation might not be advisable."

  Mrs. Holloway's observation was sufficient to completely change theattitude of the Cubs. Instead of making fun of Red, they now began to askMr. Hatfield when they could visit the ravine.

  "Tomorrow," he promised as the meeting broke up. "If anyone is camping inthe woods without permission, we ought to find out about it. We'll gatherhere after school for canoe practice and a little trip of exploration.Who knows, we may run into something interesting!"