“W-e-ll,” Ross hesitated, for he knew the story would make good telling. “Okay, I’ll keep mum if you will. The joke didn’t pan out quite as I expected. But why do you care?”
“I’ll tell you, Ross. What happened tonight convinces me someone has been spying on the Cave. I know Mr. Hatfield would just as soon the fact isn’t advertised.”
“You think a gang of boys—fellows who aren’t Cubs—are aiming to make trouble?”
“I don’t believe boys are mixed up in it, Ross.”
“Grownups?”
“That would be my guess.”
Ross was inclined to make light of Dan’s theory. “Oh, you’re building up too much out of nothing,” he insisted. “You’ll find that missing paper in the morning. Mark my words.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Dan said as the two boys started for home.
Actually, he had no hope whatsoever. A conviction had grown upon him that the paper left by Jacques never would be seen again.
And with its disappearance had vanished his last chance to solve the mysterious coded message.