He disappeared feet first down the chute.
“The belfry bell!” Dan whispered in alarm. “This is the worst yet! If Pat gets by with it, the Cubs are almost sure to be blamed. What are we going to do, Brad? How can we stop ’em?”
CHAPTER 14
THE BELFRY BELL
Brad could not provide a ready answer to Dan’s demand for a means of stopping the Bay Shore boys in their Halloween prank.
The boy called Pete had been left on guard at the entrance to the coal chute. Pat and at least five others now were inside the empty building.
“We’re two against six,” Brad muttered. “We can’t stop ’em, Dan.”
“But to let them take the bell! The trustees are almost certain to blame the Cubs. If they’d only come here now and learn the truth!”
Brad had been thinking fast. “Our best bet is to telephone Mr. Hatfield and have him call the police,” he whispered. “It will take ’em a few minutes to get that bell down. They aren’t going to unfasten it half as easy as they think!”
“It will weigh a ton too! Say, maybe we will have time enough to nab ’em!”
“You dash for a ’phone, Dan,” Brad advised in a whisper. “Sneak around behind the hedge and don’t let that kid, Pete, see you. I’ll keep watch until you get back.”