“Don’t be stupid!” Brad exclaimed impatiently. “You heard Mr. Hatfield say the part will go to the best archer.”
“Who will be chosen through an elimination contest,” Dan added.
“I’ll win too, if the competition is fair and square!”
“Say, you give me a pain!” Brad exploded. “You know very well it will be on the level. Maybe you think you were cheated when Dan beat you in the swimming meet last summer?”
Ross flushed and shifted the archery equipment to another hand. The lost swimming meet was a sore subject with him.
Dan had defeated him soundly in a fair race. Ross remembered too that after the contest the younger boy had been kidnapped by a crook who had previously tangled with the Cubs. This adventure has been recounted in the volume entitled, “Dan Carter and the River Camp.”
As a result of his experience with water front thieves, Dan had gained considerable attention in Webster City. Ross, who liked the limelight, had rather resented the younger boy’s gain in popularity.
Hence, he was more than ever determined that Dan should not win the leading role in the Robin Hood play.
The Cubs presently arrived at the old Lubell property.
“Mr. Holloway’s here,” Dan noted, observing the familiar car parked by the roadside. “He’s set up the target too.”