Dan Carter and the Cub Honor Part 20

"So long's the door is unlocked, why not take the freezers down into the bas.e.m.e.nt where they belong?"

"We-ll," Brad hesitated. "Think we should?"

"It will only take a jiffy. They'll be a lot safer there than setting outside where anyone coming along could grab 'em."

"Okay," Brad consented. "Let's be quick about it though. I'd hate to have Terry or one of the trustees catch us here. Then they'd really have a complaint."

With dispatch, the Cubs unloaded the first freezer and carried it between them to the cellar. The main furnace room was damp and musty. A rat scurried past, nearly brushing Dan's leg.

"Woops!" he exclaimed, shivering. "I don't like this dark old hole, Brad."

"Weren't you the one who wanted to bring the freezers down here?" Brad reminded him with a chuckle. "That old rat won't hurt you. He was more scared than you are."

"Who says I'm scared? It just startled me, that's all."

The boys carried the freezer into the fruit closet. Nearly all of the long shelves which lined the wall were empty. A few cans of homemade fruit, evidently abandoned when the church was closed, remained. Dan noticed that a can of peaches and one of strawberries had been broken open.

"Come on, let's get that other freezer and be out of here," Brad urged.

"No time to start looking around."

In haste, they went upstairs again to fetch the second container. Brad breathed a relieved sigh when it was safely on the shelf.

"That's done," he declared. "I'd hate-"

"You'd hate what?" Dan demanded as the other suddenly broke off.

"Nothing. Let's get out of here."

Dan knew from Brad's odd manner that something had startled him. As for himself, he had heard no unusual sound.

"What was it?" he demanded, dropping his voice to a half-whisper.

"Don't start whispering or you'll give me the jitters," Brad scolded.

"You did hear something?"

"Just the creaking of a board." Brad forced himself to be indifferent.

"But what of it? This building has been closed up for a long while and the wood is dry. It wasn't anything."

"Let's go," Dan urged, leading the way up the dark stairs.

Though he wouldn't have admitted it, he too felt suddenly uneasy. In a way, it had been foolish of them to enter the empty building. If someone should find them there, it might be all but impossible to convince anyone of their true purpose.

The Cubs relaxed a bit as they reached the top of the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs.

Their fear of not being alone in the building began to ebb.

"Say, while we're here, I might take another quick look at those initials that were carved on the church bench," Brad proposed. "I'll probably never get another chance like this."

"Okay," Dan agreed reluctantly. "But make it snappy."

While Brad went into the main part of the church, the denner remained in the vestibule. He caught himself shivering. Nervousness? Or was it the chill wind which came in occasional drafts down the circular iron stairway leading to the belfry?

"I wish Brad would hurry," Dan kept thinking.

He was annoyed by his own uneasiness. What was it about this old church building that always gave him the same uncomfortable feeling? Why did he have that vague sensation-a sort of conviction that someone was watching him? Every crack and cranny of the vestibule seemed to have leering eyes.

Dan began to think of the first day he had visited the place. Chub too had been uneasy. Even then there had been strange sounds, a tapping bell, a shadowy figure in the church graveyard. And why had the church door been left unlocked?

A slight noise which he could not immediately localize, caused Dan to stiffen. Had the sound come from the belfry room? A bat, perhaps.

Dan listened intently. Distinctly, he could hear tiptoeing steps on the iron stairway! Someone was up there, stealthily descending!

Panic momentarily overcame the boy. "Brad!" he yelled. "Brad!"

It was rea.s.suring to hear the older Cub yell: "Coming!"

"What's wrong?" Brad demanded, popping into the vestibule. "You look as if you'd seen a ghost."

"I didn't see anything, but I have a bad case of the jitters," Dan admitted sheepishly.

"It's time we quit this place anyhow," Brad replied. "I'm sure those carved initials on the pew are the same as the ones we saw in the alley.

Pat Oswald must have carved them both."

Dan nodded scarcely listening. He cast an uneasy glance toward the iron stairway.

"Say, what's wrong with you anyhow?" Brad demanded.

Dan was ashamed to tell him of his fears. Now that Brad was with him again, he didn't feel as nervous as before. Like as not he'd allowed his imagination to play tricks on him again.

"Nothing's wrong," he muttered. "Let's go."

They left the vestibule. Dan reached for the k.n.o.b of the rear, outside door. When he twisted it, an empty feeling came into his stomach. He tugged, but the door refused to budge.

"Stuck?" Brad asked, moving close.

Dan's lips had drawn into a tight, white line. "Not stuck," he managed in a faint voice, "Locked!"

CHAPTER 12 RULES OF BASKETBALL

"Locked?" Brad repeated, stunned by Dan's disclosure. "Why, it couldn't be."

He went quickly to the door to test it for himself.

"We're trapped in here," Dan gasped, truly unnerved. "Someone must have come along and locked us in. What'll we do?"