Produced by David Garcia Juliet Sutherland Charles Franksand the Online Distributed Proofreading TeamTHE STRANGE CABIN ON CATAMOUNT ISLANDIllustration THE VOYAGE WAS RESUMEDTHE STRANGE CABIN ON CATAMOUNT ISLANDBY LAWRENCE J LESLIECONTENTSCHAPTERIHOW THE DARE WAS GIVENIIBANDYLEGS IN TROUBLEIIION THE ISLAND WITH THE BAD NAMEIVTHE SUDDEN AWAKENINGVEXPLORING THE ISLANDVIWHAT THE ASHES TOLD MAXVIITHE MYSTERY OF THE CABINVIIIAN UNWELCOME DISCOVERYIXWATCHED FROM THE SHOREXTHE BUILDER OF THE STRANGE CABINXIWHAT HAPPENED ON THE SECOND NIGHTXIIA BOLD PLANXIIIUNSEEN PERILS THAT HOVERED NEARXIVHOW THE SCHEME WORKEDXVUNEXPECTED ALLIESXVITHE LAST CAMP FIRE ON CATAMOUNT ISLANDTHE STRANGE CABIN ON CATAMOUNT ISLANDCHAPTER IHOW THE DARE WAS GIVENAnd so Herb Benson dared you Max you sayThats what he did SteveTo camp on Catamount IslandAnd stay there a full week He said that even if we did have nerveenough to make the _try_ hed give us just one solitary night to hangout thereHuh just because Herb and his old club got scared nearly to death awhile ago by some silly noise they thought was a ghost they reckonevery fellow is built on the same plan dont they MaxI guess thats what they do SteveSo they challenge us to make a camp and stick it out do they Whatdid you tell Herb Oh I hope you just took him up on the spotWell I said Id put it up to the rest of the chums my cousin OwenHastings Toby Jucklin Bandylegs Griffin and yourselfCount me in as ready to accept the dare Why Id start this blessedminute if I had my way MaxI know you would because youre always so quick to flare up Thatswhy they all call you Touchandgo Steve Dowdy But come along andlets get the other fellows We can go down to the boathouse and talk itover anyhowBut tell me first when _can_ we be ready to go Maxsome timetomorrowYou certainly are the most impatient fellow I ever knew replied Maxwith a laugh yes if the other boys are willing I guess we might getoff at noon tomorrow It wouldnt take long to lay in our supplies andyou know weve already got tents cooking things and all that stuff onhandOh shucks leave the grub part of the business to me remarked Steveinstantly Whats the use of having a chum whose daddy is the leadinggrocer in Carson if he cant look after the supplies But Im justtickled nearly to death at the chance of this little cruise up the BigSunflowerI can guess why Max observed as he kept pace with his nervouscompanions quick stridesThe new canoes exclaimed Steve it gives us the chance weve beenwanting to find out how they work in real harness Weve only triedlittle spins in them so far you know Max Gee I hated like everythingto let my motorcycle go but the folks put their foot down hard afterthat second accident to our chum Bandylegs and like the rest of thebunch I had to send it back to the shop for what it was worth It waslike going to the scrapheap with it because I lost so much moneyWell lets hope we can make it up in fun on the water with our boatswas the sensible way the other put it Heres Ordways drug store andwe can use his phone to get the rest of the crowd alongA minute later and inside the booth they were calling for M23 West Itwas not later than eighttwenty in the evening when the two boys metdown in front of the hardware store where a brilliant light burned allnight long so that the evening was young when Max caught the wellknownvoice of Toby Jucklin at the other end of the wireToby stuttered at times fearfully He kept trying to overcome thehabit and the result was that his affliction came and went in spasmsSometimes he could talk as well as any one of his four chums thenagain especially when excited he would have a serious lapse beingcompelled to resort to his old trick of giving a sharp whistle and thenstopping a couple of seconds to get a grasp on himself when he was ableto say what he wanted intelligentlyThat you Max asked Toby who had lived with an old crabbed uncleand been treated harshly despite the fact that his father had leftquite a little fortune for him when of age until Mr Hastings took holdof the case had the court depose Uncle Ambrose and place the boy incharge of a generous gentleman whose name was Mr Jackson with whom henow lived in comfortJust who it is Toby replied the other Say cant you hike down tothe boathouse and meet us thereNow demanded Toby his voice beginning to show signs of wabblingAs soon as you can get there was what Max answeredHey whats on the carpet now tell me Max demanded Toby quicklyKeep cool warned the boy in the booth Steve is here with me in thedrug store Weve got a scheme for a little outing in our canoes andwant to put it up to the rest of the bunch How about coming downTobySssure Ill bbbe there exclaimed the otherThen make a start soon and with that Max rang off because he knewToby would hold him indefinitely if once he got started asking questionsand stuttering at the same timeHe soon had another boy on the wire this time Bandylegs And theresponse was as rapid and favorable in this quarter as it had been withToby From the tone of the inquiries Max made the boys understood theremust be something out of the common on tap and their curiosity wastherefore excited They would have been at the place of meeting eventhough they found it necessary to crawl out of bedroom windows and slidedown the post of the front porch which in neither case was requiredfor both Toby and the other chum had plenty of freedomWhen Owen who being an orphan lived at his cousins house had beenbrought to the phone and asked to join the rest for a seriousconsultation Max shut up shop as he called itLets get a move on ourselves now Steve he remarked as