The Adventures of
Cliff Hanger
And A Hitch in Crime
Mini-Mystery
By Jeff Fraker
“We’re chasing bank robbers Cliff!” Skip exclaimed. “We don’t have time to pick up hitchhikers!”
“It’s over ninety degrees, Kid!” Cliff replied. “There’s no shade and this road hardly ever has traffic.”
“Yeah—I guess it is the right thing to do.” The teenager conceded.
The hitchhiker smiled and flicked a half smoked cigarette away as he climbed into
Cliff’s car.
“I really appreciate this!” he said as he swabbed his face with his handkerchief. “I sure picked the wrong stretch of road to thumb on a hot day like today!”
The stranger took a chocolate bar from his faded green duffle bag, snapped off a piece and offered it to the two adventurers.
“You seem to be in a hurry” he noted, “What brings you this no-mans land?”
“We’re chasing bank robbers in a blue sedan!” Skip replied.
“In a—“ the hitchhiker gasped. “Hey! A blue sedan with three guys in it just about ran me over a few minutes ago! I ought to remember it—theirs was the first car I’ve seen on this road for two hours! But you’re going the wrong way!”
Cliff shot a glance in the rear view mirror. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“Those guys turned off at the intersection a little ways beyond where you picked me up!”
Cliff quickly stopped the car.
“Sure—“ the hitchhiker said. “They’re headed east, not north!”
Cliff turned the car around in the narrow road and launched into the opposite direction.
“We’ll never catch them now.” Skip sighed.
“Skip—have I ever told you about the Gibeonites?” Cliff asked, with a hint of a smile. “Back when Joshua was the leader of the Israelites, God told him to take control of the Promised Land by wiping out the wicked people who inhabited the land. One by one, Israel defeated the nations by God’s mighty power. One day, some travelers approached Joshua. ‘We are from a distant country and we have heard of your great victories and we wish to make a peace treaty with you.’ Joshua examined the strangers and noted that their clothes were worn and their bread was stale. By all appearances these men had indeed traveled many miles. So without praying about it, Joshua agreed to spare the nation of Gibeon.”
A wrinkle streaked Skip’s brow.
“I don’t get it. What does--?” he began.
Cliff continued: “It wasn’t until later that Joshua discovered the men had deceived him!
The men’s homeland was actually just over the hillside! They had dressed in
old clothes and used old food to appear as if they were not from the area that Israel was to conquer!
old clothes and used old food to appear as if they were not from the area that Israel was to conquer!
Their trick fooled Joshua into sparing them!”
“Say,” the hitchhiker blurted “you can let me out here since you are going another direction!”
“Sorry,” Cliff said seriously, “you’re coming back to town to tell us where the rest of your gang is really going!”
What made Cliff suspect that the hitchhiker was in on the robbery?
The answer is below-
Answer:
The hitchhiker had been left behind to misdirect anyone in pursuit of the band robbers. Cliff realized that, if the man had been on the road for two hours in the hot sun as he claimed, the chocolate bar would have been a melted mess and a piece could not have been snapped off. Unlike the Gibeonites, the robbers’ trick did not succeed! Read about the misleading deed of the Gibeonites in Joshua chapter 9! Read the Bible daily, it could start you on the greatest adventure of your life!
No comments:
Post a Comment