CHAPTER 7 “KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD”

As Dan read the note from Pat, the Cubs’ first reaction was one of annoyance.

“Why, the nerve of him!” Fred Hatfield explained. “He sneaks up here, listening to our sessions, and then leaves a cheap challenge!”

“Let’s write a hot note back, telling that Purple Five to go jump in an ash can!” Red proposed.

Dan and Brad dashed down the corridor to see if they could intercept the intruders. However, Pat and his followers had slipped out a side door and were out of sight.

The two Cubs knew that it would be useless to search the church yard, so rejoined the other boys in the meeting room. By this time, argument over the note had attained a high pitch.

Red, Fred and Chips were in favor of rejecting the challenge in short order. Chub held no opinion whatsoever. Midge was talking in favor of giving the dare serious consideration.

“If we refuse to play, Pat will go all over town, saying we’re afraid to do it because we’d be licked,” he argued.

“We might at that,” Brad interposed. “Our team isn’t the smoothest on wheels.”

“We haven’t practiced much, that’s why,” Midge insisted. “Why, we could beat Pat and his hoodlums with our hands tied behind our backs!”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of it myself,” Brad said with an easy smile. “From what I hear, Pat is a first-rate athlete.”

“We saw a sample of his basket shooting the other day,” Dan reminded the Cubs.

“You think that stupid Purple Five team could beat us?” Red demanded, leaping to his feet. “Why, that’s downright disloyal.”

Dan hesitated to make his position clear. “I’m not saying any such thing, and I’m not disloyal, Red. Maybe our Cub team, disorganized as it is, could beat the Purple Five. Then again, maybe we couldn’t. It might be an interesting match.”

“What if they should lick us?” Chips asked uneasily.

“That’s a risk we’d have to take,” Brad answered. “Naturally, if we decide to play, we’ll have to get busy and practice.”

Mr. Hatfield had taken no part in the discussion, and Dan now asked him what he thought of the challenge.

“First, let’s hear your opinion, and then I’ll speak my piece,” the Cub leader replied.

“Well, I’m in favor of picking up the challenge,” Dan replied after a moment of thought. “For two reasons. First, if we turn the game down, Pat and his gang will go around saying we’re afraid of defeat. Then it hit me that if we really want to learn more about those kids and their habits, this would be a mighty good chance!”

“They’re a bunch of hoodlums!” Red said resentfully. “It’s probably their fault that the Scout organization is mixed up in a threatened lawsuit. They slap us on one cheek and we hold up another for a big whallop!”

“We only suspect that Pat’s outfit did the damage at Christian Church,” Brad said, supporting Dan’s position. “If we schedule a game, we may overhear talk that will give us a straight lead. What do you think, Mr. Hatfield?”

“Cubs are supposed to give good will,” he replied gravely. “Pat and his gang haven’t had many advantages. Contact with a church, a worthwhile Cub organization and wholesome sportsmanship, might do the outfit a world of good.”

“Sure, but what about us?” Red argued. “Won’t they make more and more trouble?”

“That’s a possibility, Red. But I think the Cubs can look after themselves.”

“So do I,” declared Dan. “Let’s arrange a game and then get busy and practice.”

An animated discussion followed as the boys made their plans. Mr. Hatfield suggested that a series of three games be scheduled in the church gymnasium. He promised that they would be closely supervised and rules strictly enforced.

“How about charging admission?” Brad suggested. “If the Cub organization has to pay for the services of a lawyer, we should be getting some money in our treasury.”

As a general rule, Mr. Hatfield did not favor selling tickets or charging admission for Cub affairs. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the Den’s need for cash was urgent and that a few extra dollars might be of great help.

“We might charge a small amount,” he agreed reluctantly. “Twenty-five cents perhaps.”

Only the date for the first game remained to be settled. Mr. Hatfield said he thought it should be set for at least ten days ahead to give the Cubs time to practice and better organize their team.

“We can’t devote all our time to athletics,” he warned the boys. “Remember, we have those ‘Know Your Neighborhood’ visits ahead, not to mention the party for parents. Speaking of the party, I’m ashamed to say I’ve been so busy with conferences, I’ve had no chance to try to look up ice cream freezers.”

“No one can find any,” Midge reported gloomily. “That party will be one big flop.”

“Not at all,” Mr. Hatfield cheered him. “I think that it might be well to postpone the affair one week. Another seven days will give us time enough to round up a freezer or two.”

The Cubs were relieved by the change in plan, especially as everyone was in an uneasy mood regarding the outcome of the threatened lawsuit. After electing Dan captain of the basketball team, they assigned him and Brad to notify Pat Oswald that the challenge had been accepted.

“It’s too silly, leaving a note in a bottle in an alley,” Brad objected. “Why don’t we just write an acceptance and mail it to his home.”

The latter course was decided upon, and later that night the two boys composed the letter and sent it off. Two days later a message was returned to the church clubroom, accepting the first basketball game date and agreeing to the series of three contests.

“The deal is on, and now we’ve got to buckle down,” Dan warned his teammates. “Gobs of practice!”

Determined not to be shown up by the Purple Five, the Cubs spent every spare hour in the church gymnasium.

Gradually, under the coaching of Brad, the team began to shape up. Dan and Midge, having the best eye for basket shooting, were assigned as forwards. Red and Chips, both being sturdily built, were to guard. Brad would play center, as he had a long reach, and was taller than any of the younger boys.

Chub and Fred were assigned as substitutes. Neither was very adept at handling a basketball. Both attended practice sessions faithfully, but Fred in particular had no deep interest in the game, preferring to read.

Mr. Hatfield attended the work-outs whenever he could. He was very busy, however, and frequently was summoned to special meetings with Scout leaders, court officials and attorneys. That the Cubmaster was deeply worried over the pending lawsuit was obvious from his preoccupied manner.

Though basketball had become an absorbing interest, Brad and Dan did not neglect other Cub activities. They made plans for “Know Your Neighborhood” visits, and launched the building of a cardboard fort in the clubroom. Fred enthusiastically took charge of the work, gathering materials and supervising the construction.

“We’re pretty well set for our Mom’s and Dad’s party, if only we had an ice cream freezer,” Dan remarked one afternoon. “Mr. Hatfield intended to find one, but he’s been too busy to give it any thought.”

“Let’s try to rustle it ourselves,” Brad proposed. “How about a house to house canvas?”

“I’ve already tried almost every home in our block.”

“We could work a new neighborhood, Dan. How about the locality of Old Christian Church?”

“Why there, Brad?”

“Thought we could do a little investigating at the same time. On the pretext of asking for an ice cream freezer, we can question folks in the neighborhood about whether or not there were any witnesses to the damage that was done.”

“Not a bad idea,” Dan approved.

The boys hiked to within a block of the old church and then began ringing doorbells. At each house they voiced a double inquiry. First they asked if an old fashioned ice cream freezer could be borrowed, and then they inquired for information regarding the recent trouble at the deserted building.

After nearly twenty unfruitful calls, Dan and Brad began to grow discouraged. No one it seemed had an ice cream freezer, and the only comment they obtained relative to the church damage was that “a group of Boy Scouts did it.”

“No witnesses apparently,” Brad said, losing heart. “It begins to look mighty bad for Den 2, Dan.”

“Let’s try one more house,” Dan suggested.

The one he indicated stood directly across from the abandoned church. Purposely, the boys had left it to the last, so that their tour would end near a bus stop.

Going up the winding walk, Dan and Brad rapped on the door. A man in shirt-sleeves, a newspaper in his hand, came to the door. The two boys repeated their inquiries which by now had become a routine speech.

“I don’t know where you can find an ice cream freezer,” the man turned them down. He stared at the blue uniforms which the boys wore. “Say, you boys are Cub Scouts, aren’t you?”

“Yes, we are,” Dan replied proudly.

“Were you in the gang that was supposed to have ripped the church building apart?”

“We were not,” Dan returned. “Our organization has been falsely accused. We’re trying to prove we had nothing to do with it.”

“Can’t you?”

“It’s not so easy. You see, a few of us visited the grounds before the real damage was done. We accidentally smashed a window. After we left, the place was wrecked, and we were accused.”

“It happened just after dark,” the home owner said. “I know because I heard windows being smashed. A half dozen kids, more or less, were in the gang, running wild over the place. I called police, but they got away before the wagon arrived.”

“Did you see any of the boys?” Brad asked eagerly.

“Only at a distance.”

“You didn’t see anyone in Cub uniforms?”

“I was too far away to tell. The boys mostly were large fellows. Too old to be Cubs, I’d judge.”

Brad and Dan asked the man for his name and address, intending to give it to Mr. Hatfield. If their case actually came to trial it might be that he could be called to testify in behalf of the Cubs. His information, though, was meager.

After leaving the house, the two boys went across the street to peer at the church building again. Since their last visit, all the windows had been repaired.

“Not too much damage has been done.” Brad said, gazing about. “Those trustees are just trying to build up a big case without much to go on.”

Dan pressed his face against a basement window, peering down into the storage room.

“Those freezers are still there,” he announced. “I sure wish we could borrow ’em for the party.”

“Well, we can’t,” Brad returned. “I wouldn’t ask those trustees for a favor, even if we never find a freezer.”

“Here either,” Dan agreed. “Say, I see our bus coming. Let’s grab it.”

During the next two days, the Cubs were kept very busy at school. Each afternoon was spent in the gymnasium. On several occasions, they saw members of Pat’s crowd watching from the windows. The boys never would come inside, but plainly were studying the game and tactics of the Cubs.

“They’re trying to study out our plays,” Dan reported to his teammates. “Well, let ’em. We’ll beat them fair and square.”

On Saturday morning, Mr. Hatfield took all Den members to Juvenile Court on the first visit scheduled in the “Know Your Neighborhood” series of excursions.

The boys watched a hearing in progress, listened to a little talk on traffic safety, and then met a judge.

Later, they crossed a corridor to another cluster of offices. Mr. Hatfield explained that private hearings were conducted for boys and girls who had committed misdemeanors. He led the Cubs into the office of Harold Greene, court director.

“Boys, I want you to meet an old friend of mine,” he introduced them.

The Cubs were grateful that the Juvenile Court official made no reference whatsoever to the incident involving the old Christian Church. He knew about it, they were certain, but purposely was being tactful.

Mr. Greene shook hands which each Cub in turn. When he came to Chub, he nodded and smiled and said:

“Why, Chub, I’m glad to see you again. Getting along fine, aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” Chub mumbled nervously.

“You like the place where you are living now?”

“Y-yes, sir,” Chub muttered again. He seemed very ill at ease and acted relieved when Mr. Hatfield steered the boys on to another office.

The Cubs could not fail to note that Chub was well known to the Court director. Was it possible, they speculated, that at some time he had been before the court? Could that explain why Mr. Hatfield had warned them not to inquire into the boy’s past?

The Cubs moved on to a public reception room where juveniles sat while awaiting calls to the conference chambers. Glancing carelessly over the group of downcast boys slouched in the chairs, Dan received another shock.

There in one of the chairs by the door, sat Pat Oswald! Seeing the Cubs, he quickly lowered his head into a magazine and pretended to read.