“Could be,” Mr. Hatfield agreed thoughtfully. “It’s just as well we didn’t find him at home. We’ll turn the job of eviction over to the park authorities.”
“You mean we’re not going to have a chance to explore the cave?” Chips demanded. “I say! Dan and Brad have all the fun.”
“There will be plenty of time to inspect the cave later on,” Mr. Hatfield reassured him. “But routing out whoever is hiding in there isn’t our job.”
“Mr. Hatfield’s right,” Mr. Holloway backed him up. “Anyone who would chose to live in a cave must be either a fugitive or slightly demented. The fellow may be armed.”
The Cubs were disappointed that they were not to be given a chance to explore the cave for awhile. But they realized their leaders had made a wise decision.
“You spoke about having a scare while we were in the cave,” Mr. Hatfield reminded the Den Dad. “What happened?”
“Oh, nothing serious. As we waited, Mack thought he heard someone prowling about in the bushes above the cave entrance.”
“I did too,” Mack insisted.
“It took us awhile to scramble up there because the rocks are steep,” Mr. Holloway went on. “We didn’t find anyone. We had a feeling though, that we’d been watched.”
“You probably were right about it too,” Mr. Hatfield replied. “It’s almost certain someone is living in the cave.”