Boy Scout Explorers at Headless Hollow

His words were mystifying. Then the other three noticed that the rancher had turned his gaze toward the distant pass which guarded Headless Hollow. Far above them, on the high c...

“War” Washburn, a skinny, freckled youngster, rode with feet dangling out the car window. His question was shot at their driver, Hap Livingston, leader of Boy Scout Explorer Pos...

Then, in the privacy of the larger tent, they eagerly spread out the treasure map for a closer inspection. Jack got the Colorado road guide from the car, and they pored over it,...

It was impossible to determine how long Walz had been away from the ranch. However, Willie recalled that an hour or two before dawn he had heard an automobile motor.

“Yes, and his mind remains alert. He has been asking repeatedly for the Scouts. That’s why we sent for you. Sorry to bother you, but it seems to mean a lot to the old man. Somet...

The party wormed its way up Crazy Mountain, gingerly testing the crumbling rock lest it give beneath their feet. Tortuously, they made another five hundred feet. Then Warner, wh...

Cold night air seeped through the tent walls. Jack Hartwell stirred restlessly in his sleeping bag and sat up. What had awakened him? Beside him, Ken and Willie were dead to the...

The man dropped the rock. Startled, he whirled and ran for the trees. Jack took after him, but he did not have on his shoes. The rocks and stones slashed his feet and impeded him.

Paying off the driver, Jarrett Walz strode over to the group. He showed no surprise at seeing Mr. Livingston and the Explorers, nor did he make any apology for having followed t...

Walz began to feel hemmed in by his own conflicting statements. He hesitated, then said, “I want that map. Maybe I misled you at first because I didn’t know anything about you o...

Heartsick, Jack, Craig Warner, and Hap Livingston trudged back to the cabin. Ken, too, had seen the plane from the woods where he had been gathering a few edible berries. He rep...

War, Willie, and Ken were impatiently waiting in the hospital lobby. Eagerly, the trio plied Jack and their leader with questions. With deep interest, they listened to Hap’s rep...

Ken, who was riding in the center of the front seat, shoved past the motel owner and got out of the car. Jack, Willie and War, in the back seat, followed suit. The water was up...

Exhausted, they sank back against the rock wall to consider their desperate plight. Soon they would be missed at the cabin. That was certain. But it was doubtful Ken or Mr. Livi...

They used fir boughs for beds, but even so the hard rock shelf was so uncomfortable that Jack slept fitfully. His legs hurt from the long, hard climb. His back ached, too. No ma...

Despite the discussion, no one considered turning back. The climbers had suffered too intensely to think of giving up their objective now. At least the valley was attainable, an...

Jack rolled off the bed. Going restlessly to the window, he gazed down on the street below. It was nearly deserted, and there was no sign of either the Scout leader or the rancher.

“See that jagged peak with the patch of snow almost at its tip? Right below is stunted timber land. Well, that’s Crazy Mountain. I figure Headless Hollow is somewhere in there b...

The gaunt man who had crawled from the mine pit did not see them crouching in the dense thicket. He stood facing them, however, a revolver dangling carelessly at his belt. He wa...

As he reached the better air, he heard a hard thud on the ground at the rear of the wretched cabin. Then, in the semi-darkness, he saw a shadowy figure darting toward the dense...

The area on the map appeared to be in the most rugged section of the Colorado Rockies, west of Denver and toward the southwest portion of the state. So far as the Scouts could d...

At the doorway of Old Stony’s cabin, Mr. Livingston and the Scouts halted. Inside, crouching on the floor, a man was riffling through a box of papers, evidently pulled from bene...

The loss of so much food was a serious matter. Carefully, the Scouts searched every building in the old ghost town. They came upon no one. However, as they went from cabin to ca...

“We’ve made further inquiry,” Mr. Livingston resumed. “Cloud Crest is off the main road in a rather inaccessible place. In dry weather, however, it can be reached by car. Fortun...

As the great boulder bounded down the mountainside toward the Scouts, they stood frozen. It was impossible to guess the exact course the big stone would take, for it was careeni...