"My brother and I could fill in until Dad comes home," offered Frank.
Mr. Prescott looked dubious.
"I appreciate your help, of course," he said politely, "but after all this case is one for a real detective such as Fenton Hardy. A great deal of money is involved, you realize."
Chet broke in at this moment. "I guess you don"t understand, Mr. Prescott," he said.
"The Hardy boys are real detectives. They aren"t professionals, perhaps, but they have solved plenty of mysteries that specialists have failed in."
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Chet loyally went on to tell the caller about some of the sensational cases which the Hardy boys had handled. The horse owner was surprised and interested. His manner altered at once.
"Well, then, until your father returns you may subst.i.tute for him," he said. It was evident, however, that Mr. Prescott hoped Fenton Hardy would soon be back and take the case into his own hands.
After the man had left the house the boys discussed the Topnotch Topnotch affair and agreed that affair and agreed that they should get busy as soon as possible. Bill and Chet were enthusiastic over the prospect of a.s.sisting, and agreed to be back at the Hardy home early next morning to spend the whole day searching for the stolen race-horse.
"Bring some lunch along and a couple of flashlights," advised Frank. "We may be away until dark."
"Where are we going?" asked Chet"s cousin.
"You"ll know when we get there," laughed Joe. "Be prepared to do plenty of walking."
It was the Hardy boys" intention to go back to the clearing where they had seen the van and make a thorough investigation, in the hope of picking up some further clue that might help them to trace the crooks.
Next morning, however, the boys were unable to start out as early as they had planned.
A telegram arrived from Fenton Hardy asking them to remain at the house to receive a message from a client who would be driving through Bayport during the afternoon. It was important that they receive the man personally, so the boys were obliged to wait. It was not until after three.o"clock that he called and left some papers for a case Mr. Hardy was handling.
94 Chet and Bill had been waiting out on the back porch for more than an hour before Joe and Frank were finally free. Then, with their sandwiches, flashlights and compa.s.ses they all piled into Chet"s car and set out in the direction of Spurtown.
At the cross-roads the stout lad was instructed to turn to the right. They proceeded along the abandoned road as far as they could, then got out of the car and went on foot. They pa.s.sed the sign that advised trespa.s.sers to "keep out," and followed the winding trail until they reached the place where the dog had chased Frank and Joe into the woods.
The animal did not appear. The four lads walked down the trail unmolested. At length Frank spied wheel marks in the ground.
"These must have been left by the van when they moved it," he said, as the boys made their way to the clearing.
This time they searched every inch of the ground very thoroughly, but without finding anything in the nature of a clue.
"Strikes me that this detective business is just a lot of plain, ordinary hard work,"
remarked Bill Morton.
"You asked for it," replied his cousin unsympa-thetically.
The boys left the clearing and picked up another trail that led still deeper into the woods.
This one was wide enough to permit pa.s.sage of a truck. Although they examined the ground carefully, they could find no wheel marks or any evidence that such a vehicle had pa.s.sed that way.
"The ground is hard and plenty of leaves have fallen 95.
during the past few days," said Joe. "Even though we can"t find any tracks, I have a hunch that the van came this way after it was driven out of the clearing."
Suddenly Frank stopped, a puzzled expression on his face.
"That tree, Joe!" he exclaimed, pointing to a bare, leafless oak some distance ahead. "I saw its branches move."
"What of it?" demanded Chet"s cousin.
"There isn"t any wind."
"Gosh, I never thought of that. Then what is it that makes the branches move?"
"That"s what puzzles me," returned Frank.
"It"s a queer-looking tree, too," remarked Joe. "All the boughs grow in the same direction."
Joe and Frank advanced carefully. The closer they came to the odd looking growth the more unnatural it appeared. Once again they were sure they saw a movement in the stiff, bare branches.
On close inspection they received a distinct surprise. The tree was artificial!
The branches were merely wired to the trunk, and the whole object appeared to be set in an iron base partly covered with dead leaves.
"Now what do you make of that?" exclaimed Joe, profoundly astonished.
"I guess those branches did move after all," Frank said. "They must be some sort of a signal. That"s why they all point in the same direction."
"If it"s a signal, how is it worked?"
"Mechanically, I suppose. It has certainly been put here for some purpose."
96 Chet and his cousin came up at this moment. When they learned about the artificial oak, Bill Morton began to look nervous.
"I-I don"t think we ought to fool around here any longer," he quavered. "Let"s go on home."
"Just when things are beginning to get interesting? Not me," rejoined Chet.
Frank and Joe were very curious about the strange tree. They did not doubt but that it was a signal of some kind. However, they could not discover what made it move. They walked back and forth and jumped on the ground near the strange growth, but nothing happened.
"Queer!" said Frank. "There may be other trees like it somewhere a little ways ahead.
Let"s go on."
They went forward through the woods, following the trail all the while, but found no more artificial trees. Before they had traversed more than a few hundred yards, however, their progress was suddenly thwarted. A high barrier of barbed wire rose before them.
"A fence in a forest!" exclaimed Joe. "I wonder what"s the reason for that?"
They could not go ahead, so they made their way along the barbed-wire enclosure in the belief that it did not extend very far. Soon they came to a sign hanging from the top strand. It emphatically warned trespa.s.sers away from the place.
PRIVATE KENNELS.
Vicious Dogs at Large KEEP OUT1.
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Frank and Joe looked at each other.
"I don"t believe it!" declared the latter.
"You don"t believe that sign?" exclaimed Bill Morton. "Why, it says in black and white that there are vicious dogs inside. You couldn"t get me to go in there for anything."
"I think it"s a hoax. What do you say, Frank? Are you game to climb that fence with me?"
"Sure. Chet and Bill can stay here and keep watch."
Frank made this suggestion because he knew that Chet"s cousin had no desire whatsoever to test the authenticity of the sign. Then, too, Chet himself was not very enthusiastic about climbing the fence.
"O.K.," said Joe Hardy without further delay, hunting out the nearest post.
He then began to scale the strands of wire, clambered over the fence without getting caught on the barbs and dropped to the ground. Frank followed, and in a few moments the two boys had disappeared into the gloom of the trees.
"If this is detective work," said Bill Morton, looking around apprehensively, "then I"d rather be back in school."
Chet waited with his cousin in the gathering twilight. He was restless, and suggested that they might as " OO / O.
well investigate the fence a little while the Hardy boys were absent. The two lads followed it for a short distance through the woods. Then the trees thinned out.
"Why, I see a gate!" exclaimed the fat boy.
The barbed wires were broken by a stout wooden gate, chained and padlocked. A road led up to it 90 through the woods and wound off among the trees inside. On the gate-post was a sign similar to the one the boys had seen on the fence.
Chet sauntered over to examine the padlock and chain. Timidly his cousin followed.
"Do you hear anything?" asked Bill, looking around.
Chet listened. In the distance the boys could hear a steady throbbing and humming.
"It"s a car of some kind," remarked Chet. Then, as the sound became steadily louder, he said, "By golly, it"s coming this way!"
"Oh, gosh!" quavered Bill. "We"ll both be captured!"
There was no doubt but that a truck was lumbering through the woods, raiding along the trail by which they had come at a good rate of speed. Chet wasted no time. He flung himself on the ground and began heaping dead leaves over himself.
"Hurry!" he urged his cousin. "Cover up and they"ll never see us."
Bill did not have to be coaxed. Frantically he began burrowing among the leaves, and in a few minutes there was nothing but a pair of mounds to indicate the presence of the two boys.
The truck lurched unsteadily and came to a halt at the gate. Chet and Bill heard someone unfasten the padlock. The chain rattled. The machine pa.s.sed through. A moment later the gate was closed and secured again. Then the lumbering contraption rumbled away inside the enclosure.
In a few minutes Chet sat up, brushing the leaves aside.
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"I hope Frank and Joe don"t run into any trouble-----"
he began.
Then his heart began to pound. From out of the depths of the woods on the other side of the fence he heard a long-drawn, heart-rending scream!
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS.
in the meantime Frank and Joe Hardy made a discovery. They had proceeded through the woods for about two hundred yards when they came upon an open place. In the middle of it stood a large cabin. Dusk had now descended, and the boys had t.i.ttle fear of being seen as they crouched beneath the trees on the outskirts of the tiny clearing.
"I think the cabin is empty," said Joe. "Let"s go and make sure."
Frank was more cautious, however. "We"ll wait a few minutes," he said.
The boys were glad that they delayed. A moment later a light sprang up in one of the cabin windows, and against the glare a figure suddenly appeared. They could see the man only in silhouette, but both boys gave an involuntary gasp of surprise.
"Vilnoff!" whispered Joe excitedly.
The black shadow against the window blind was very much like that of Vilnoff. As they watched, they saw the man"s arm raised. In his hand he held an object that resembled another hand.
"Just like the model we found beside Vilnoff"s house," Frank whispered.
The boys crept across the clearing until they got closer to the cabin. They could now hear voices from within the building. Crouching beneath the window, they listened closely but could hear no sound. They did, however, smell the odour of food cooking.
Suddenly a man"s voice said, "I"ll take their supper up to "em."
Then there came a clattering of dishes and the sound of footsteps as if someone were ascending a flight of stairs. The boys had noticed a window in the upper part of the cabin. A light suddenly appeared from it.
"How long is I got to stay heah, boss?" grumbled a plaintive voice. "Doggone if I wants to be cooped up in dis place much longer."
It was the voice of a Negro.
The Hardy boys immediately thought of the coloured man who had been with the horse van on the road to Spurtown. Was he being kept a prisoner in this remote place?
"I"m going to climb up there and have a look," whispered Frank.
"Careful," warned his brother. "If we"re caught now it will spoil everything."