“A rope?”
“I left our quarter-inch reserve rope coiled at the foot of that tree last night. It isn’t there now.”
“Stacy Brown, do you know anything about this?” demanded the Professor sternly.
“What’d I tell you, Tad? I knew you’d be accusing me for the whole business. I told Tad you would blame me.”
“Go put on some dry garments,” commanded the Professor.
Stacy lost no time in getting to the tent.
102“What do you make of it, Tad?” asked Professor Zepplin.
“I can make only one thing out of it. There has been an intruder in the camp while we slept. That intruder must have been a man. Bears do not carry away ropes. Bears do not untie knots and take the strings away with them,” replied Tad Butler in a convincing tone.
Stacy Brown poked his head through the tent opening.
“What we need in this camp is a watch dog,” he shouted.