“I’m going to see what’s wrong,” he announced. “Help me up there, will you?”
“You may crash through the roof,” Ken warned. “One good puff of wind and this whole place will fall down like a cardboard box.”
He and Craig Warner gave Jack a boost onto the sloping roof. In a moment they heard his shout of discovery.
“No wonder we were smoked out!”
“What’s wrong?” Ken demanded.
“A hunk of wood has been jammed down the chimney! The smoke couldn’t escape, so it went out into the cabin.”
Jack tugged and pulled, but the piece of wood had been wedged tightly into the chimney. Ken climbed up with a hatchet. Together they chopped the chunk to splinters, then dropped back down onto the ground.
“Who did it?” Walz demanded in a shaky voice.
“The ghost of Old Stony,” Jack replied in jest. “Maybe he’s upset to find us in his valley.”
At mention of the old prospector, Walz seemed to go to pieces.