“I reckon not,” Mr. Karwhite smiled. “At least not before spring. But it does annoy me.”
He told the Brownies then that he was in a rather bad mood that morning because in inspecting Trail No. 3 he had discovered that several of the trees were incorrectly marked.
“Then we were right about it!” exclaimed Connie.
“You certainly were,” the park superintendent assured her. “The tree you thought was a maple actually was one. Someone deliberately changed the tags on at least five trees.”
“What a stupid thing to do,” commented Miss Gordon.
“I’ve no proof, but I figure the trick was done by a group of boys who come through the park now and then. I’d like to catch them!”
Mr. Karwhite started to leave, and then thought of another matter.
“This tree house is almost like a lookout station,” he declared. “If any of you see those boys playing pranks, I wish you’d let me know right away.”
“We will!” promised Connie.
Mr. Karwhite unstrapped a black leather case which he wore over his shoulder.