No Bones About It

After becoming lost near Trickle Lake, Dwayne and Julie discover a cave containing an enormous humanlike skeleton. Dwayne decides that the bones may belong to Bigfoot and removes a small toe bone as proof. He dreams that a museum will pay millions for the discovery and persuades Julie to keep it secret so they will not have to share their fortune.

Rodney Rathbone enters the cave while searching for a new hideout for the Bones of Wrath. He laughs at the idea of Bigfoot and tells Dwayne and Julie that only a fool would believe it. Nevertheless, he mentions the skeleton to Bart, whose interest changes immediately.

Bart claims that he saw Bigfoot in the same area as a child. The creature had a huge furry body but also wore a straw hat and rode a skateboard, details that never persuaded anyone else. Convinced that the skeleton proves his old account, Bart decides to turn the cave into a profitable attraction.

Rather than threaten Dwayne and Julie, Bart investigates who owns the land. Jeb Eckhart refuses to sell at first because the property has sentimental value, but Bart keeps increasing his offer. He borrows money at a high interest rate and pays ten thousand dollars, delighted by what he considers an incredible bargain.

Meanwhile, Dwayne and Julie show the toe bone to Whit and Eugene. Eugene takes it to the college laboratory for testing, while Whit cautions the kids against assuming they are already wealthy. Discovering something on another person’s property would not necessarily make its value theirs.

Bart arrives to announce that the land and everything inside the cave now belong to him. He refuses to let Whit or the children examine the remaining skeleton unless each pays ten dollars. He begins advertising a grand opening, and a large crowd gathers to see the supposed bones of Bigfoot.

Just before the attraction opens, Rodney falls from a ladder and breaks one of the bones. Its interior crumbles like plaster and reveals a wire framework. Bart realizes that the entire skeleton is artificial. Unable to face the crowd or admit his mistake, he later tells reporters that someone stole the bones during the night.

The laboratory reaches the same conclusion from Dwayne’s sample: the bone is made from plaster of Paris and probably came from a craft shop. Whit explains that Dwayne’s greed made him see what he wanted to see instead of asking careful questions. Bart had fallen into the same trap on an even more expensive scale.

Whit’s research uncovers an old film called The Legend of Bigfoot’s Cave, made in Odyssey about thirty years earlier. It features an actor in a Bigfoot costume riding a skateboard and wearing a straw hat - the exact figure young Bart had seen. The cave skeletons were movie props abandoned after filming.

When Whit confronts him, Bart accidentally reveals that he knew the bones were plaster before claiming they had been stolen. He also admits that Jeb later regretted the land sale, so Bart sold the property back for a small profit and escaped the ten-thousand-dollar loss.

Then a television report announces that Jeb has discovered oil bubbling from the same property. Experts consider it one of the state’s richest oil deposits, making Jeb a millionaire. Bart avoided one loss but surrendered a far greater fortune because he repeatedly acted on greed instead of truth.