Chapter 20
THE PLANE
For a moment, Jack thought the cabin was on fire. But there were no flames. Groping his way through the blinding smoke, he flung open the door.
As he reached the better air, he heard a hard thud on the ground at the rear of the wretched cabin. Then, in the semi-darkness, he saw a shadowy figure darting toward the dense bush rimming the lake.
By this time, Ken too was awake, coughing and fighting the smoke. The others quickly rose and made their way out into the night air.
If Jack had cherished any thought that Walz was responsible for the condition of the cabin, it was dispelled. The motel owner staggered out, rubbing his eyes and whining that he had been asphyxiated.
“You closed the flue!” he accused them. “You wanted to get rid of me!”
The Scouts paid no attention to his mutterings. Instead, Jack and Ken checked the fireplace. Smoke from the half-burned-out fire was pouring into the room instead of rising up the flue.
“Must be a down draft,” Ken said, fighting the smoke. “The air’s heavy because of the rain.”
“Not that heavy, Ken.”
Jack recollected the strange thudding noise he had heard and the fleeting shadow he had seen. Someone, he was convinced, had been on the roof of the cabin.