"What"s up?" the man asked.
"Randolph! The black bag! I"ve got to get home fast!"
Chet left the storekeeper staring openmouthed at his incoherent remarks. He had never moved faster than he did in the next few minutes. Burst::ig breathlessly into General Smith"s home, he was met by the officer who had just finished a telephone call with one of Mr. Hardy"s operatives.
"Chet, we must find Frank and Joe at once! Mr. Hardy has found out our enemies are wanted bank robbers. He will be here any moment. Bush Warned Fenton Hardy they mean to get the Smith treasure at any cost. If his sons don"t leave here today, he may never se^ them alive again!"
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Lost Tunnel.
between ten and twelve o"clock, Frank and Joe covered a lot of ground. They hid the car in a grove of trees, then started their search along the north bank of Rocky Run, the side which was nearest the plantation buildings.
"Suppose you look for signs of a tunnel along the sh.o.r.e, Joe," his brother suggested. "I"ll keep my eyes open for Franklin trees, or other clues a little distance from the water."
The boys started upstream, carrying a shovel and a spade. Every little crevice among the rocks, every depression in the ground was carefully probed. When an old stone fence indicated they had come to the end of the plantation, Frank and Joe crossed the shallow stream and started back along the opposite sh.o.r.e.
197.
198 Suddenly Joe became suspicious of a round stone near the water"s edge. He called his brother"s attention to it.
"I don"t believe that rock just happened to be so round," he said. "I"m going to take a look at it." He scanned the brown, pitted stone carefully, then cried out, "It"s carved! It says C S A! Maybe the tunnel"s underneath here!"
Joe dug deep into the soft ground beneath the stone. Suddenly he stopped.
"Frank, I"ve hit something!" He tapped the object. "It"s wooden."
He and Frank sc.r.a.ped the earth from around the obstacle. Then both halted and looked at each other.
"A soldier"s grave," Frank said solemnly.
"Bingham"s? The spy?" Joe suggested.
Frank shook his head. "I think not. This rock marked C S A is probably the headstone for an unknown soldier of the Confederate Army."
Joe reverently started to push the dirt back into the hole. "We won"t disturb him."
The brothers finished filling the ancient grave and tamped the ground with their feet.
Then Frank rolled the stone into place. The boys saluted and silently walked away.
They continued the search, looking at every tree and every inch of ground until their necks ached. Finally Frank called a halt. He went to the brink of the stream, bent down, and splashed his face with the cool water. The refreshing pause must have sharpened his senses, for, taking in a deep draught of woodland air, he remarked: "Smell that sweet honeysuckle?"
"Honeysuckle?" Joe repeated. Suddenly his eyes lighted with imagination. "Maybe it"s from the blossoms of the Franklin tree!"
"Joe, you"re a whiz. Only I didn"t find any Franklin trees."
"Let"s look on the other side of the stream," Joe suggested excitedly.
They crossed the rapidly swirling water and pressed several yards into the woods.
Suddenly Frank spotted a flowering tree.
"Follow me!" he cried, scrambling through the brush.
He and Joe gazed at the beautiful tree, whose fragrance scented the woodland. There were no others around like it.
"The only one left of Beauregard Smith"s favorite trees," Frank murmured in awe.
"Let"s not just stand gaping at it," Joe said. "We"ve got to find the tunnel!"
Starting at the base of the tree, the boys made ever200 widening circles, probing out every inch of ground as they went.
"Hey, look at this!" Frank said as he came upon a large mossy mound close to the stream. Opening his knife, the boy peeled off some of the thick green sod. Underneath a layer of dirt he found a brick.
The boys furiously continued to dig away the sod, uncovering a brick vaultlike enclosure.
They loosed the bricks in the side one by one. Finally they had made an opening large enough to allow entry. The daylight which penetrated the dark enclosure revealed old stone steps leading downward.
"The lost tunnel! The a.r.s.enal!" Joe exulted in a loud voice. "The hidden gold!"
Frank was just as excited as his brother, but he warned Joe not to tell the countryside of their discovery, and also not to be disappointed if they drew a blank again.
But Joe already was leaping down the steps, Frank close behind. They were in a musty cavern. Both boys whipped out their flashlights, then halted as if welded together.
"Cannon b.a.l.l.s!" Frank exclaimed. "A hundred of them. This is the a.r.s.enal all right!" The b.a.l.l.s were piled in a pyramid in the middle of the cave.
"I don"t see any gold," Joe said in disappointment, straining his eyes to catch every detail of the place.
201 The gloomy tunnel was a natural rock cavern which had been enlarged for a storehouse.
The brothers ran to the end, about fifty feet ahead. The exit was solidly blocked with stones, bricks, and dirt. There was no evidence the bank"s gold and the Smith fortune had been secreted here.
"Unless," Frank said. "Yes! I have it! You remember the message, "Find coin in iron"?"
He leaped back toward the entrance. At the same moment the sunlight was cut off.
There came the sound of men"s voices. Ominous words were projected into the tunnel.
"You"ve had your last chance! We warned you*" father! Smiley, light the fusel"
CHAPTER XXV.
The Plantation"s Secret.
the screeching of brakes sounded in front of General Smith"s house as a taxi raced to a sudden stop. Chet and the officer looked out the window in time to see Fenton Hardy step down, tell the driver to wait, and dash to the front door. Behind him hurried Sam Radley, his operative.
"My sons!" were the detective"s first words when General Smith opened the door.
"Where are they?"
When he heard they had driven out to the lonely plantation, a look of intense worry came into Mr. Hardy"s eyes.
"Their lives are in danger," he said. "I"m glad you"re not with them this time, Chet." The detective quickly introduced Radley, then said, "Come on, the cabby will drive us out there."
202.
203 They got in and slammed the door. The general and Chet in whispered tones brought the detectives up to date on the Bush case. At the end, Chet said: "I have a good clue to Dr. Bush, Mr. Hardy."
"What is it?"
"A picture I took from a blimp." The boy showed the photograph of a tall man carrying a black bag. "That"s Professor Randolph," he explained. "And I think he"s Dr. Bush in disguise.
Remember the half-picture of him I snapped in Bayport?"
"You"re right! Bush and Randolph-his right name"s Skagway-are one and the same! And that black bag contains safe-cracking tools. He"s a bank robber and a killer." Mr. Hardy leaned toward the cab driver. "Give her the gun, cabby. Speed may mean the matter of life or death!"
The speedometer shot to the limit as the taxi sped toward the plantation.
"There"s the coupe!" Chet announced when they reached the bridge.
As the cab halted, Mr. Hardy thrust a bill into the driver"s hand. The four occupants dashed toward Rocky Run, along whose banks Frank and Joe were searching.
Once within cover of the thick overhanging trees, Mr. Hardy called for silence. They pressed forward with barely a sound. The detective and Radley, 204 The Secret o the Lost Tunnel accustomed to the job at hand, noiselessly forged ahead of Chet and the general.
Suddenly Mr. Hardy raised his hand. Sam stopped. Voices sounded near them, barely audible above the gurgling of the stream. Through the foliage they could vaguely see three men, who were talking. The trio seemed to be leaning over a hole in the ground.
"Joe Hardy says the gold ain"t down there!" one of them whined.
A tall man said, "That settles it." Then he cried out into the yawning earth, "You"ve had your last chance. We warned your father! Smiley, light the fuse!"
Mr. Hardy and Radley leaped toward the trio simultaneously with a sharp explosion that shook the earth. Rocks and debris shot into the air. The opening into the tunnel was sealed up!
Chet and the general came running. Ahead of them stood Randolph, Baby Face, and Smiley!
The three men whirled when they heard their pursuers. Baby Face thrust his gun hand into his pocket. It got no farther. The crashing right fist of Fenton Hardy sent a chain reaction from Baby Face"s jaw to his brain. He sprawled full length.
Randolph took to his heels as Radley made a flying tackle. At the same time Smiley quickly leaned over and s.n.a.t.c.hed a hammer from an open black 205 bag. He swung at Mr. Hardy. The detective blocked the blow with his left hand. His right slammed against the criminal"s midriff. Smiley folded up.
"Get Randolph! Get Randolph!" Chet shouted as he saw the ringleader squirm from Radley"s shoestring tackle and break away.
He and General Smith were hard after the professor when Mr. Hardy called them back.
"We need you here. Quick! Tie these two up, Chet! We have to dig, men, and dig fast!"
Using their hands, pieces of flat stone, and Joe"s spade which they had found near by, they went to the job like demons to free the Hardy boys. Their father finally crashed through the barrier.
"Frank! Joe!" A moment of silence followed in the gloomy vault.
"Sam, Jack, help me carry these boys out!"
Radley flashed his light on Frank and Joe. They were lying face down. Blood trickled from Frank"s nose.
"Thank heaven they"re breathing," Mr. Hardy said in relief as he bent close to his sons.
They carried the boys up the steps. Chet paled. "They"re-they"re not-"
"No," Mr. Hardy said. "Just knocked out."
He and Radley applied artificial respiration. Joe opened his eyes. Then Frank stirred. In a few 206 minutes both boys were on their feet, telling of their experience.
"I thought we were dead ducks," Joe said. He shot a glance at the two prisoners who also had regained their senses, diet had them well trussed and had removed two pistols from Baby Face.
While diet was telling the brothers how his picture had identified Randolph as Dr. Bush, that Bush had been there but escaped, and that the gang were wanted West Coast bank robbers, Mr. Hardy was getting out a pocket two-way radio.
"I"m going to advise the state police to comb this area for Bush," he said.
Suddenly Frank called out, "I"ll bet his loot is hidden in the cellar of the museum! Bush may even go there himself!"
Mr. Hardy relayed the message to a mystified police sergeant, whom he finally convinced the story was true. The officer promised to send out men to find Bush and pick up the prisoners at Rocky Run. In the meantime Frank and Joe were hurling accusation after accusation at Smiley and Baby Face.
"You tried to break into our Bayport house and kidnap General Smith!" Joe shot at them.
"You made an attempt to steal our car in Philadelphia," Frank put in. "Later you tampered with the car and tried to wreck us on the road."
207 "After our rescue from the smokehouse, you nearly electrocuted us with the live wire."
The crooks remained silent. It was not long before three troopers crashed through the woodland to the tunnel. One said news had just come over his car radio that the notorious leader of the bank robbers, posing as Dr. Bush and Professor Randolph, had been found hiding in the cellar of the museum. Secreted in the walls was the West Coast loot. The crook had confessed, as well as the prisoner Hank. Hearing this, his henchmen groaned.
"The jig"s up," Smiley said. "If we tell "em every* thing, we may beat the rap, Baby Face."
The men related their part in the plot to get the Smith gold and keep the Hardys out of the case. Their boss, they said, was married to a woman who used to live in the Centerville area and had told him the story of the lost gold. She had not known about her husband"s activities until recently, thinking he was off on business trips.
When she had overheard his plans to help himself to the plantation treasure and even go to Bayport to stop General Smith and the Hardys from coming to Centerville she tried to stop him.
"But before she could get the d.i.c.ks, he run off," Smiley smirked.