"You don"t know how to run the yacht!" Tad cried frantically.
"Oh, stop your chatter!" Hanleigh shouted. "I won"t wreck it! Do you think I"d take a chance with my own skin?"
Again the two prisoners pounded and kicked at the door. "You got no right to hold us!" Ike yelled.
Hanleigh paid no attention.
Joe came to a sudden decision. "I must hold Hanleigh here until the others get back!"
The young sleuth stood up resolutely and called out, "So you"re trespa.s.sing again, Mr Hanleigh!"
The man gave a start. Upon seeing Joe, his face contorted in rage. "You meddling spy!" he shouted. "I"m not trespa.s.sing. I came after my own property! Get out of my way!"
Joe walked up to Hanleigh and asked calmly, "Did you lose a notebook? One that has John Sparewell"s name inside?"
Again Hanleigh started guiltily. "I don"t know anything about a notebook," he replied sullenly. "I came for my wallet. I lost it last time I was here. You probably found it, and you"d better turn it over or I"ll have the law on you!"
"Did the message in code tell you to come looking for something valuable on Cabin Island?" Joe persisted.
Hanleigh swung his fist. Joe ducked and b.u.t.ted the man hard in the chest. With a grunt Hanleigh staggered back against the cabin.
"You"re a sc.r.a.pper, eh?" he panted.
"Anything you start, I"ll finish," Joe said. He watched the man warily, but Hanleigh only gave an ugly smile. "I"ll fix you later," he said softly. "No use hanging around now."
He turned and plunged down the hill. Joe followed, keeping an eye on him. At the dock Hanleigh untied the Hawk and sped for the inlet.
"Too bad I couldn"t hold him here," Joe thought. Then he remembered Ike and Tad in the woodshed, and grinned. "But I still have his buddies!"
He headed quickly up the hill towards the cliff. At the top Joe looked down, but could see no sign of the Hawk. "Hanleigh made good time," he said to himself, then the young detective"s thoughts returned to the cl.u.s.ter of stones he wanted to investigate.
When Joe reached the spot, he quickly circled the tall rocks and spotted a narrow opening between two of them. He stepped through and found himself on a small patch of rocky ground, damp with melted snow. He knelt and felt the stones. They were warm! From several crevices arose wisps of smoke.
"Somebody has built a fire below," he murmured. "Clever! n.o.body"d ever notice the smoke."
The thin streams drifting to the top disappeared in the wind.
The next moment Joe heard a noise and a soft laugh behind him. For an instant he froze. Hanleigh! Too late the boy flung himself sideways. A hard blow landed on the back of his head. He sank into darkness!
When Joe regained consciousness, he was first aware of the intense cold and of a throbbing sensation in the back of his head. His aching eyes saw a low roof of snow above him. Then he realized his wrists and ankles were tightly bound.
"Hanleigh!" Joe thought. "Where is he?"
The big man was nowhere in sight. Joe struggled to free himself, but every movements tightened the stout cords.
"Boy, what a mess!" Joe muttered in disgust. "I"ll just have to wait until Frank and the others come back."
He noticed that his feet and hands were growing numb, but managed to wiggle his toes and fingers. "I"ll have a swell case of frostbite if they don"t show up soon."
At that moment Frank, Chet, and Biff were streaking towards the inlet in the Seagull. Suddenly Chet pointed. "Look!"
Out of the narrow channel sped an ice-yacht with a lone occupant at the tiller.
"Hanleigh!" Frank exclaimed. "I wonder what happened to Ike and Tad!" A chill went through him. "And what about Joe?"
"Let"s go after Hanleigh!" Biff cried out.
Frank shook his head. "We should get to the island p.r.o.nto. Something"s fishy about this whole business.
Joe may be in danger."
In a short time their craft was tied up, and the three boys hurried straight up the slope to the cabin.
Frank threw open the door. "Joe!" he called anxiously. "Hey, Joe!"
There was no answer.
"Listen!" Chet exclaimed. Loud bangings and scufflings could be heard.
"Joe might be locked in the attic!" Biff said. They all rushed into the kitchen, then paused in confusion.
"Not the attic," Frank said. "Those sounds are coming from the woodshed!"
The others followed as he dashed outside and unbolted the door of the lean-to. "Joe-" he began, then stopped abruptly as Ike and Tad half stumbled into the open.
"What are you two doing here?" Biff demanded in amazement.
"Where"s Joe?" Chet asked.
"Joe?" Tad snapped. "Where"s Hanleigh? And the Hawk?"
"Yeah!" Ike put in. "That guy"s a dirty doublecrosser. He tricked us into this icebox and locked us up.
"Right now Hanleigh"s taking off in your boat," Frank told them, then added sternly, "Never mind about him. What happened to my brother?"
"Don"t look at us - we never saw him!" Tad replied. "We thought you were all away from the island."
"After Hanleigh trapped us in that shed, we don"t know what he did," Ike added, whining. "We just kept banging and yelling."
"Maybe you"ll be more careful what kind of people you take up with after this," Chet said. "And think twice about causing boat accidents, too."
"Aw, cut the lecture, fatso," Ike sneered.
Frank turned to Biff and Chet. "I"m going to find Joe. Something"s happened to him. You take those two inside, and don"t let them go. I want to question them later."
"You think Joe is in danger?" Chet asked fearfully.
Frank looked worried. "I"m afraid so. It"s a big island," he added grimly. "I hope we"re not too late."
CHAPTER XVII.
The Dangerous Climb "JOE!" Frank called repeatedly as he slowly circled the island searching for his brother. The young sleuth had nearly reached the cliff when his shouts were answered by a faint cry.
"Here! Over here!" Then silence.
Frank thought the sounds had come from a clump of tangled underbrush and hastened to it. Pulling aside the snowy branches, he saw Joe. The blond boy was so numb that he could barely move his lips. Quickly Frank untied the cords on his brother"s ankles and wrists.
"Think you can walk?"
"I"ll try," came the faint reply.
Joe leaned heavily on his brother and the pair made their way haltingly towards the cabin. When they drew near, Frank shouted, "Biff! Hurry!"
The muscular youth came sprinting outside and together he and Frank carried Joe into the living-room and placed him on the sofa. Chet, heaving a sigh of relief, rushed to get a blanket.
After a few minutes, Joe felt stronger. Presently he drank a cup of hot cocoa, then said, "I"m okay."
Just then he noticed Ike and Tad, standing glumly next to the fireplace. Joe grinned. "Did you have a nice warm wait in the woodshed, fellows?" As they scowled, Joe told his story without mentioning why he had gone to the cliff or what he had found there.
When Joe had finished, Biff strode over angrily to Ike and Tad. "What"s Hanleigh after on Cabin Island?"
"That"s what we wanted to find out," Ike answered. ""Say, won"t you guys give us a lift to Bayport so we can find the Hawk?"
"Are you kidding?" Chet retorted scornfully. "You expect a ride in the Hardys" ice-bus after you tried twice to wreck it?"
"How did Hanleigh find out we were going to stay on Cabin Island?" Joe queried.
"We were picking him up down the road when he spotted you packing the Seagull," Tad explained.
"Hanleigh eavesdropped on you near the boathouse and heard your plans."
"We"ve just been doing his dirty work," Ike said sourly.
"You could have injured someone seriously throwing that log at the Seagull," Frank said. "Mr Jefferson was knocked out."
"Don"t blame me. I wasn"t there!" Ike whined.
"It"s true," Tad admitted. "Hanleigh and I wore masks. It was his idea to disable your boat."
"But how could you be sure we would be coming out in the Seagull at that time?" Joe asked.
"We were on our way to the island when we saw you," Tad replied. "Hanleigh changed his mind about the trip and decided to ram you. He made me take him ash.o.r.e to pick up a log. Then we lay in wait near the inlet. We didn"t realize you had the old man until too late."
Despite further intensive questioning, Ike and Tad stuck to their statement that they knew nothing of Hanleigh"s quest on Cabin Island, nor had they seen a boy answering Johnny Jefferson"s description.
Finally the troublemakers departed, grumbling, to walk home.
As soon as the door had closed behind them, Joe swung off the couch. "Fellows," he said, "I"ve something to tell you."
"And about time!" exclaimed Frank. "I"ve been burning with curiosity. Why did you ask Mr Jefferson about the hot springs?"
"And what were you doing on the cliff?" Chet put in.
Joe interrupted. "Take it easy. Let me explain. I think I know where Johnny Jefferson is."
"Where?" chorused the others.
"In a cave in the cliff."
"How do you figure that?" Biff asked.
Joe told about spotting the patch of dark ground from the cabin roof. "At first I figured there was a hot spring melting the snow. Later it occurred to me that, instead, there might be a cave under the spot. If someone built a fire in it and there were crevices in the roof leading to the surface, the smoke would come up and the heat would melt the snow."
Frank"s eyes flashed with excitement. "Great deduction, Joe!"
"I got only as far as the circle of stones," Joe went on. "Smoke was coming up, so I"m sure somebody was in the cave-probably Johnny. But Hanleigh knocked me out even before I could look for the entrance."
"Then he dragged you to a place where you could freeze waiting to be rescued," Biff put in grimly.
"The mouth of the cave is probably in the cliff face!" Frank declared. He jumped up and started pulling on his parka. "Come on! We"ll surprise Johnny and bring him back here!"
"Wait!" exclaimed Chet. "First lunch!"
After a quick snack, the boys headed for the cliff. On the way, Frank told his brother about the meeting with Yussef.
Joe whistled. "Hanleigh"s a sharp operator, all right. I wish I could"ve made him admit he was after the medals. He was plenty upset when he found out we had the book and the coded message. I"m sure he hasn"t solved the cipher yet," Joe added.
When the boys reached open ground at the top of the cliff, they were met by an icy blast from the bay.
Frank glanced anxiously at the leaden sky.
"Storm coming," he muttered.
Joe showed them the sheltered spot in the circle of stones. No smoke was rising.
"The fire must have gone out," Frank commented.
"Since the cave is right under here," said Chet, "the way down may be nearby."
"Let"s look for footprints leading to the edge of the cliff," Biff suggested.
"It won"t be much use," Frank said, shaking his head. "This wind will have swept them away."