The trail of footprints led the Cubs on to a paved road paralleling the river front. There it abruptly ended.
“Well, we’ve lost them,” Mr. Hatfield said, gazing up and down the deserted highway.
“And now we’ll never know who Jacques was or where he came from,” Dan said. “About all he told us was that he’s a Cub.”
“Even that seems odd,” Mr. Hatfield commented. “I’ve checked, and Jacques never was a member of any Webster City Den. I only hope that whoever took the boy away treats him right. Those bruises the doctor mentioned, rather trouble me.”
Failure to learn what had become of Jacques disturbed not only Mr. Hatfield but all of the Cubs. During the next three days, the topic was a major one discussed at the Cave.
The Cub leader reported Jacques’ disappearance to police, but was informed that no boy of his description had been reported missing.
At first, the Cubs spent many hours trying to decipher the coded message which Dan and Brad had removed from Jacques’ clothing.
Failing to figure it out or to hear more of the boy, the matter began to fade into the background. Only Dan remained determined to work out the code.
Meanwhile, the Cubs turned their attention to an important swimming meet which had been scheduled with the boys of Den 1.
In a meet held the month before, the rival Den had captured top honors by a score of 20 to 16. Defeat rankled in the hearts of the Den 2 Cubs who were determined to make a better showing in the second contest.