The Monster in the Lake by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

5

Oh No! It’s after Joe!

The boys stood looking at three paper plates with buns on them, but no hot dogs.

“Did you play a trick on us, Iola?” Chet demanded. “Because if you did . . .”

Iola stared at the plates. “There were hot dogs on them a couple of minutes ago,” she said. “I don’t know where they went. Nobody’s been here except Mom and me.”

“Then it’s the monster again,” Joe said. “I bet it took the bacon off Chet’s plate at breakfast time. Now it’s come back for the hot dogs.”

“Yeah!” Chet said, looking cautiously at the lake. “A long, black tentacle could reach as far as this side of the table. And hot dogs would be easy to pick up.”

“What are you boys talking about?” Mrs. Morton chuckled. “There is no monster.”

“Then what happened to our hot dogs?” Chet said.

Mrs. Morton stared at the empty buns. “That’s odd. I put a hot dog on every bun. Where could they have gone? Iola and I were the only ones here. And there’s only one way into our campsite. We’d have seen anyone stealing your hot dogs.”

“Are you sure you didn’t take them, Iola?” Mr. Morton asked.

“No way,” Iola said. “Even if Chet is always mean to me.”

“This is very strange.” Mr. Morton shook his head. “A large bird, maybe?”

“Honey, we’d have seen a big bird landing on the table. We’d have heard the flapping. And it would have had to come back three times to get three hot dogs.”

“Well, don’t worry. We’ve got plenty more hot dogs,” Mr. Morton said. “And after lunch we’re going to enjoy ourselves and go swimming. No more talk about monsters.”

When they had cleared lunch away Mrs. Morton made everyone take a nap. Frank, Joe, and Chet found it hard to lie in their tent. They kept expecting to see a monster tentacle creeping in through the open door.

“Dad promised to take us to the ranger later,” Chet said. “If he lives here, he must know about the monster, right?”

“Maybe not,” Joe said. “It’s a big lake. Maybe the monster comes to the surface only when it thinks nobody is around.”

“Okay, get your swim things. We’re going to the swimming beach,” Mr. Morton called.

When they had changed, Mr. Morton had a rubber raft and rings ready for them. “Who wants to carry these?” he asked. Then he held up swim fins and masks. “These are great,” he said. “You can see clearly underwater.”

“I don’t want to see underwater,” Joe whispered to Frank. “I might spot the monster. In fact, I’d rather not swim at all.”

“We have to do what Mr. Morton says,” Frank reminded him. “Don’t worry. We’ll all stick together. The monster won’t come where there are a lot of people. And the swimming beach is shallow, too.”

But Joe didn’t feel much better. He didn’t want to go into that water. He knew he’d keep expecting to feel a tentacle grabbing his legs. Chet and Frank put on the fins and masks and started to wade into the lake.

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