The Sinister Signpost Part 6

"Vilnoff said he would sail on the Atlantis Atlantis this morning." Mr. Hardy glanced at his watch. this morning." Mr. Hardy glanced at his watch.

"It's due to leave New York in an hour. I have an important conference with Mr. Howe and some other people just now so I'll have to leave this matter in your hands."

"How can we make sure that Vilnoff sailed?" Joe inquired.

"Get in touch by telephone with the Quickshot Photo Company in New York," said the detective guardedly. He groped in his pocket and handed them a card. "You'll find the address here. Instruct them, on my behalf, to rush a cameraman down to the dock and take moving pictures of all the pa.s.sengers that board the Atlantis Atlantis before she sails." before she sails."

"All right, Dad!" responded Frank. "Come on, Joe. Let's get busy."

The airplane company provided transportation for their pa.s.sengers between Bayport and the flying-field, so Chet and his cousin said they would go on to the Morton home at once. Fenton Hardy and Mr. Howe also hurried off, leaving Frank and Joe to their problem of conveying instructions immediately to the Quickshot people.

They hurried into the waiting room. There were only two telephone booths. One of them was occupied, and just as the lads were rus.h.i.+ng toward the other, an enormously fat man waddled into the compartment just ahead of them. He did not get inside without difficulty.

"I'll help you," cried Joe, and gave the obese person a push that got him safely through the small opening. Far from being appreciative of the a.s.sistance, the stout gentleman pulled the door shut with a bang and glared at the lad sourly through the gla.s.s.

In a moment the young man in the next compartment showed signs of finis.h.i.+ng his conversation. The boys took up their position outside so as to be next in line. The speaker put back the receiver, opened the door, and stepped from the booth.

"Go ahead," said Joe to his brother. "Got the number?"

Just as Frank was about to enter, a fussy old lady with an umbrella, and carrying several parcels and a large basket, suddenly appeared. She said, "Thank you, boys! Do you mind holding these for a moment?" and calmly handed Frank the basket and Joe her bundles.

Then she stepped into the compartment, closed the door, sat down, and leisurely began thumbing through the telephone book.

"Of all the colossal nerve!" exclaimed Joe indignantly. "Just when we are in a hurry, tool"

The fat man appeared to have settled down to an 65.

interminable stay in the next booth. Then the old lady, after finding her number, discovered she could not locate any change. She began a laborious search through her purse until she found the necessary coins.

"This is fierce!" said Frank, hopping about with impatience. Ten minutes had already pa.s.sed.

"We'll never get in touch with the Quickshot people in time," groaned Joe.

The fat man, however, eventually wedged himself out. Frank lost no time getting inside the booth, while Joe stood guard over the old lady's belongings. In less than a minute the Quickshot office was on the wire and had received the instructions.

"O.K.!" said the office manager. "We'll send a man down there right away and forward the films to Mr. Hardy."

Their mission accomplished, the boys breathed a sigh of relief and left the waiting room. They returned to the dock, got into their boat, and started for Bayport.

"Hope there won't be any slip-up about those movies," said Frank.

Halfway home the boys spied a launch drifting sluggishly in the ripples. There were two men in the craft, one of whom appeared to be toiling at a stalled engine. The other, standing by, waved his arms frantically as the boys came nearer.

"Help us," he called.

Frank brought the Sleuth Sleuth alongside. To the surprise of the Hardy boys they discovered alongside. To the surprise of the Hardy boys they discovered that the man signalling for help was none other than Gus, proprietor of the service station where they had waited for the bus the previous night.

66 "Will you take me to Bayport?" cried the burly fellow. "I hired this launch, but the engine has stalled and I'm in a hurry."

"It'll take me half an hour to fix this," grumbled the boatman.

"Hop in," Frank said, grasping the side of the craft.

Evidently Gus had not recognized the boys. He climbed into the Sleuth Sleuth, and in a moment they were pulling away from the disabled boat.

"How about letting her out to full speed?" suggested Gus. "I'm in a mighty big hurry."

Frank winked at his brother.

"I may," he answered, "on one condition."

Gus looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"What's the secret of that petrol station you manage? We stopped by there for something to eat last night and it seemed to us that you don't welcome customers very heartily."

Gus now recognized the boys, and became fl.u.s.tered.

"Why-why, I guess I must have been busy," he stammered.

"You didn't seem to be when we were there."

"Well-I'm sorry-I was expecting a man on business-it must have been on my mind," said Gus lamely, and the boys could see that the man would volunteer no information about his place of work.

Frank opened up the throttle, and the Sleuth Sleuth fairly leaped through the waves as it rushed fairly leaped through the waves as it rushed toward Bayport. When it reached the boat-house the man thanked the lads for their help and apologized again for his conduct on the previous night. Then he hurried off. Joe, watch67 ing him, saw him climb into a green truck that was waiting at the corner. "Doesn't that look like Pete's truck?" The big machine lumbered away from the corner and rumbled down the street.

"I'd like to know a little more about Gus and his friend Pete," observed Frank.

"I'll bet they're up to some shady business," commented Joe. "We'll look 'em up. Right now we'd better get home. You remember what's on for tonight."

The Hardy boys had been invited to a dance at a girls' school which was located on the Willow River, some distance beyond the airport. As the evening was clear they decided to make the journey in the Sleuth. Sleuth. They had a very good time at the party, and reluctantly said They had a very good time at the party, and reluctantly said good-bye to their friends about half-past eleven. They had not travelled half a mile toward home before their motor began to balk. A few kicks and splutters, and it died down altogether.

"Now what's wrong?" grumbled Frank, picking up the flashlight and examining the engine.

"I know," said Joe in a rueful voice. "It's my fault. I guess I'm getting absent-minded."

"Don't tell me you forgot to fill her up with petrol before wet set out." "That's exactly what happened." The boat drifted sluggishly in the current. "Now we're in a fine fix!" said Frank. "I suppose there's nothing else to do but let her drift ash.o.r.e, tie her up, and walk home by the airport road. My feet are sore enough from dancing, without walking a long stretch. I ought to make you carry me."

68 The Willow River was not very wide, and the current was propelling them toward a point of land which they could discern vaguely through the gloom. They waited patiently until at last the bow of the boat grated on the sh.o.r.e. As it did so, they heard the m.u.f.fled beat of a motor.

"Listen!" whispered Joe.

They saw a dark shape approaching them on the water. It proved to be a big launch moving swiftly and almost silently in their direction. There was something sinister about the rapid, stealthy progress of the other boat. The boys remained quiet as mice.

Apparently they had not been noticed. The other craft nosed in toward the sh.o.r.e about fifty yards away. Then the Hardys saw a light flash, followed by a murmur of voices.

"Maybe those fellows can lend us some petrol," said Frank. "I'm going over to talk to them."

He got out of the boat and began to make his way up the sh.o.r.e in the darkness. His footfalls made no noise in the soft sand. As he drew closer to the other launch he could see several men moving up the beach.

"Careful now!" he heard a voice say. "We've got to be mighty quiet about this job. Get those cases up into the woods as fast as you can."

Frank halted. As his eyes grew accustomed to the gloom he saw that several men were unloading a number of heavy boxes from the motorboat. They were carrying them up the beach toward the dark woods that lay about fifty feet from the edge of the water.

As the boy watched, a member of the group turned on a flashlight. Its glare fell full upon one of them who 69.

was depositing a large case in the sand. He straightened up, and shouted in a rasping voice": "Turn off that light, you fool! Do you want to have us all caught?"

Frank gasped. The beam of the flashlight had revealed the speaker as Pete, the truck-driver who had called on Gus at the service station. If the Hardy boy had any doubt about the man's ident.i.ty it was removed when the fellow with the flashlight said: "O.K., Pete. I didn't think."

"You'd better think!" growled the burly driver. "We don't want anybody coming down here to nose around and ask us what we're doing. Hurry up, now, and get that case on your shoulders. Carry it to the truck."

The other man hastily lifted up one of the boxes and trudged off into the woods. Frank waited no longer. Noiselessly he hurried back to the Sleuth. Sleuth.

"What's up?" asked Joe. "Didn't they give you any petrol?"

"s.h.!.+" his brother cautioned him. "We've stumbled onto something, Joe. Our friend Pete and a gang of men are unloading stuff secretly from that launch and taking it into the woods."

"Let's follow them," urged the younger Hardy without a moment's hesitation.

"Come on, then."

The boys stole down the sh.o.r.e, but by the time they got near the mysterious launch the workers had disappeared. Frank discovered a path which led into the woods. The boys struck off down this trail, confident that the men were not far ahead of them.

The Hardys proceeded cautiously into the heavy 70 gloom of the woods. At length they spied a gleam of red light some distance ahead.

They waited a while, but could hear no voices, and could see nothing of the men.

"That must be the tail-light of the truck Pete meant," Frank decided. "We'll move up a little closer."

Soon the big machine loomed just ahead of them. The red gloom illuminated the licence plate, and Frank stooped down to examine it. The number corresponded with that on the green truck Pete had left parked outside the service station.

"That's his machine, all right," said Frank.

As he spoke, he heard a m.u.f.fled cry from Joe. Frank wheeled around, just in time to catch a glimpse of his brother struggling in the grasp of two men. Another stranger plunged out from among the trees, hurled himself on Frank, and bore the lad to the ground.

CHAPTER IX.

MR. PRESCOTT.

the Hardy boys had been taken completely by surprise. They struggled valiantly, but were no match for their captors. Their eyes were quickly blindfolded, their arms and legs bound with rope.

"I guess they must have seen that light and it made them curious," growled Pete. "Dump 'em back of the bushes while we finish this job."

Frank and Joe were thrown unceremoniously on the ground beside the road. They could see nothing, but they judged that the men were completing their task of loading the truck. At length they heard Pete say: "That'll do. Now let's beat it out of here."

"How about those boys?"

"Leave 'em be. We'll be far enough away from here by the time they get loose. Serves 'em right for bein' so nosey."

The roar of the motor drowned out the men's voices, and a moment later the Hardys could hear the vehicle rumbling off down the road.

"A nice mess we got ourselves into!" Joe muttered in disgust as he struggled in his efforts to undo the ropes.

*'We're lucky it isn't worse," said Frank. "If Pete had recognized us we wouldn't have escaped so easily."

72 "I don't call this being let off easily, bound and blindfolded and thrown on the ground,"

said Joe.

Frank wriggled around until he was lying with his back to his brother. Then, as he groped about, his fingers found the knots of the rope that tied Joe's wrists. After a few minutes' tugging and pulling he managed to undo one of them. The others came easily, and it was not long before the boy's hands were free. He whipped off the blindfold, hastily untied the ropes from his ankles, and busied himself with freeing Frank, "We didn't distinguish ourselves that time," the older lad said. "Score one for Mr. Pete.

I'd certainly like to know what was in those cases."

"We're not likely to find out now. The best thing we can do is to get home."

"Without petrol?" Frank reminded him.

"I forgot. What shall we do? Walk?"

"Let's go back and see if their launch is still at the beach."

They retraced their steps down the road to the river. The boat in which Pete and his companions had arrived had left by this time, however. Apparently one man had remained to take charge of it while the others accompanied the cargo in the truck.

The Hardy boys made a welcome discovery just the same, in the form of a gallon can almost filled with petrol. Apparently it had been taken out of the launch and overlooked by the men when they had left.

"This is a break, anyway!" declared Frank gleefully, holding up the can. "We won't have to walk home after all."

73.

They lost no time replenis.h.i.+ng the fuel supply of the Sleuth, Sleuth, and soon were speeding and soon were speeding down the river and out into Barmet Bay. Their st.u.r.dy craft pulled swiftly toward the twinkling lights of Bayport. It was half-past two by Frank's watch when they reached the boat-house.

"We'll surely get a lecture if we waken Aunt Gertrude at this hour of the morning!" said Joe. "I hope the door isn't locked. We haven't a house key."

They hurried up High Street, and found their home in total darkness. Quietly the boys stole up onto the veranda and tried the door. It was locked.

"I dare you to ring the bell!" said Frank.

"Nothing doing. I'll sleep in the garage first," returned his brother.

"No need of that. Let's climb up to the roof of the porch and crawl through the window of our own room."

"That's an idea."