"We'll get rid of him in a hurry," Joe determined.
The boys turned around and climbed back up the embankment. By this time
Oscar Smuff had stepped from his car and was walking down to meet the
boys.
"Well, I found you," he said.
"You mean you've been looking for us?" Frank asked in astonishment.
The detective grinned. With an ingratiating air he explained to the boys that
he had trailed them for miles. He had seen them leave home on their
motorcycles, and almost caught up with them at the Bayport station, only to
lose them. But the stationmaster had revealed the Hardys' next destination,
and the aspiring sleuth had hastened to talk to the flagman, Mike Halley.
"He told me I'd find you here," Smuff said, self-satisfaction evident in his
tone.
"But why do you want us?" Joe demanded.
"I've come to make a proposition," Smuff announced. "I've got a swell clue
about Jackley and that loot he hid, but I need somebody to help me in the
search. How about it, fellows? If old Smuff lets you in on his secret, will you
help him?"
Frank and Joe were astounded at this turn of events. Did the man really
know something important? Or was he suddenly becoming clever and trying
to trick the Hardys into divulging what they knew? One thing the brothers
were sure of: they wanted nothing to do with Oscar Smuff until they had
searched the old water tower.
"Thanks for the compliment," Frank said. He grinned. "Joe and I think
we're pretty good ourselves. We're glad you do."
"Then you'll work with me?" Smuff asked, his eyes lighting up in
anticipation.
"I didn't say yes and I didn't say no," Frank countered. He glanced at Joe,
who was standing in back of the detective. Joe shook his head vigorously.
"Tell you what, Smuff," Frank went on. "When Joe and I get back to
Bayport, we'll look you up. We came out here to have a picnic lunch and
relax."
Smuff's face fell. But he was not giving up so easily. "When I drove up, I saw
you running like mad down the bank. Do you call that relaxing?"
"Oh, when you sit around awhile eating, your legs feel kind of cramped," Joe
told him. "Anyway, we have to keep in practice for the Bayport High baseball
team."
Smuff looked as if he did not know whether or not he was being kidded. But
finally he said, "Okay, fellows. If you'll get in touch with me the first of the
week, I can promise you a big surprise. You've proved you can't win the
thousand-dollar reward alone, so we may as well each get a share of it. I've
already admitted I need help to solve this mystery."
He turned and slowly ambled up the embankment to his car. The boys waved
good-by to the detective and waited until he was far out of sight and they
were sure he would not return. Then Frank and Joe hurried down to the
tracks, vaulted the fence, and ran pell-mell toward the old water tower.
"If only we have stumbled on the secret!" Frank said enthusiastically.
"It'll clear Mr. Robinson-"
"We will earn the reward by ourselves-"
"Best of all, Dad will be proud of us."
The old water tower reared forlornly alongside the tracks. At close quarters
it seemed even more decrepit than from a distance. When the boys glanced at
the ladder with its many rungs missing, they wondered if they would be able
to ascend to the top on it.
"If Jackley climbed this ladder we can too," said Frank as he stopped,
panting, at the bottom. "Let's go!"
He began to scramble up the rotted wood rungs. He had ascended only four
of them when there came an alarming crack!
"Careful!" Joe cried out from below.
Frank clung to the rung above just as the one beneath him snapped under his
weight. He drew himself up and cautiously put his foot on the next rung. This
one was firmer and held his weight.
"Hey!" Joe called up. "Don't break all the rungs! I want to come up too!"
Frank continued to climb the ladder as his brother began the ascent. When
they came to any place where a rung had broken off, the boys were obliged to
haul themselves up by main force. But finally Frank reached the top and
waited until Joe was just beneath him.
"There's a trap door up here leading down into the tank," Frank called.
"Well, for Pete's sake, be careful," Joe warned. "We don't want any more
accidents with trap doors."
The boys climbed onto the roof of the tower, which swayed under their
weight. Both fully realized their peril.
"We can't give up now!" said Frank, and scrambled over the surface of the
roof until he reached the trap door. Joe followed. They unlatched and raised
the door, then peered down into the recesses of the abandoned water tank. It
was about seven feet in depth and twelve in diameter.
Frank lowered himself through the opening, but clung to the rim until he was
sure, from feeling around with his feet, that the floor would not break
through. "It's okay," he told Joe, who followed his brother inside.
Eagerly the boys peered about the dim interior. The place seemed to be partly
filled with rubbish. There was a quantity of old lumber, miscellaneous bits of
steel rails, battered tin pails, and crowbars, all piled in helter-skelter fashion.
At first glance there was no sign of the Applegates' stolen possessions.
"The jewels and bonds must be here somewhere," Joe declared. "But if
Jackley did put the stuff here, he wouldn't have left it right out in the open.
It's probably hidden under some of this junk."
Frank pulled out a flashlight and swung it around. In its glow Joe began to
hunt frantically, casting aside the old pails and pieces of lumber. One entire
half of the tower was searched without result. Frank turned the flashlight to
the far side and noted that a number of boards had been piled up in a rather
orderly crisscrossed manner. "Joe," said Frank, "I'd say these boards hadn't
been thrown here accidentally. It sure looks as if somebody had placed them
deliberately to hide something underneath." "You're right."
Like a terrier after a bone, Joe dived toward the pile. Hastily he pulled away
the boards.
Revealed in the neat little hiding place lay a bag. It was an ordinary gunny
sack, but as Joe dragged it out he felt sure that the search for the Applegate
property had come to an end. "This must be it!" he exulted. "The Tower
treasure!" Frank smothered a whoop of joy.
Joe carried the sack into the light beneath the trap door.
"Hurry up! Open it!" Frank urged.
With trembling fingers Joe began to untie the cord around the sack. There
were many knots, and as Joe worked at them, Frank fidgeted nervously.
"Let me try," he said impatiently.
At last, with both Hardys working on the stubborn knots, the cord was untied
and the bag gaped open. Joe plunged one hand into it and withdrew an
old-fashioned bracelet of precious stones.
"Jewelry!"
"How about the securities?"
Again Joe groped into the sack. His fingers encountered a bulky packet.
When he pulled it out, the boys exclaimed in unison:
"The bonds!"
The bundle of p
apers, held together by an elastic band, proved to be the
securities. The first of the documents was a negotiable bond for one thousand
dollars issued by the city of Bayport.
"Mr. Applegate's property!" Frank cried out triumphantly. "Joe, do you
realize what this means? We've solved the mystery!"
The brothers looked at each other almost unbelievingly, then each slapped
the other on the back. "We did it! We did it!" Joe cried out jubilantly.
Frank grinned. "And without old Smuff," he said.
"Now Mr. Robinson's cleared for sure!" Joe exclaimed. "That's the best part
of solving this mystery."
"You're right!"
The boys rejoiced over their discovery for another full minute, then decided
to hurry back to Bayport with the precious sack.
"You go down first, Frank," said Joe. "I'll toss the sack to you and then
come myself."
He picked up the bag and was about to hoist it to his shoulders when both
boys heard a sound on the roof of the tower. They looked up to see an
evil-looking, unshaven man peering down at them.
"Halt!" he ordered.
"Who are you?" Frank asked.
"They call me Hobo Johnny," the man replied. "This here is my quarters and
anything in it belongs to me. You got no right in my room. You can't take
anything away. And t'anks for finding the wad. I never thought to look
around."
Joe, taken aback a moment, now said, "You may sleep here, but this is
railroad property. You don't own what's in this tower. Now go on down the
ladder, so we can leave."
"So you're going to fight, eh?" Hobo Johnny said in an ugly tone. "I'll see
about that!"
Without warning the trap door was slammed shut and locked from the
outside!
CHAPTER XX
The Escape
"LET us out of here!" Frank shouted at Hobo Johnny.
"You can't get away with this!" Joe yelled.
The man on the water tower roof gave a loud guffaw. "You think I ain't got
no brains. Well, I got enough to know when I'm well off. I ain't in no hurry to
collect that treasure you found in the tower. A few days from now will be all
right for me to sell it."
"A few days from now?" Joe exclaimed, horrified. "By that time we'll be
suffocated or die of starvation."
Frank put an arm around his impulsive brother's shoulder. In a low tone he
said, "We won't do either, Joe. I don't think it's going to be too hard to get
out of here. If not by the trap door, we'll hack our way out through one side
of the tank."
Joe calmed down and both boys became silent. This seemed to worry Hobo
Johnny, who called down, "What're you guys up to?"
No answer.
"Okay. I'm leaving you now, but I'll be back for that treasure. Don't try any
funny stuff or you'll get hurt!"
The man on the roof waited a few moments for an answer. Receiving none,
he shuffled across the tower to the ladder.
"I hope he doesn't break all the rungs," said Joe worriedly. "We won't be
able to get down."
Again Frank patted his brother on the shoulder. "I noticed an iron pipe
running from the top of this tower to the bottom," he said. "If necessary, we
can slide down the pipe."
"How long do you think we should wait before trying to break out of here?"
Joe asked.
Before replying, Frank pondered the situation. Not knowing anything about
Hobo Johnny's habits, he wondered how far away from the tower the man
would go. If not far, the boys might find him waiting below and a tough
person to handle. Finally, Frank decided that since the tramp had said he
would return in an hour, he must be planning to go some distance away,
perhaps to get a couple of his hobo friends to come back and help him.
"I'd say that if we leave in fifteen minutes we'll be safe," was Frank's
conclusion.
Every second seemed like an hour, but finally when the fifteen minutes were
up, the boys lifted a plank and tried to push up the trap door. It would not
budge.
"Where do we try next?" Joe questioned.
Frank was examining the seams around the trap door with the flashlight.
Presently he pointed out a section where the wood looked completely dried
out.
"It shouldn't be too hard to ram a hole here, Joe. Then you can boost me up,
so I can reach through and turn the handle on the lock."
Joe picked up a crowbar and jabbed the sharp end between the edge of the
trap door and the board next to it. There was a splintering sound. He gave
the tool another tremendous push. The seam widened. Now he and Frank
together wedged the end of the crowbar up through the opening.
In a few moments they had sprung the two boards far enough apart so that
Frank, by standing on Joe's shoulders, could reach his arm through the
opening. He found the handle which locked the trap door and turned it. Joe
pushed up the door with the plank.
The boys were free!
Frank pulled himself up through the opening and hurried to the edge of the
roof. He looked all around below. Hobo Johnny was not in sight; in fact, there
was no one to be seen anywhere.
"Clear field ahead I" he announced.
Now the boys began to carry out their original intention of removing the
stolen property from the old water tower. Frank went back to the trap door
and Joe handed up the sack, then joined his brother on the roof. The older
boy went down the ladder quickly and his brother tossed the treasure to him.
Joe lost no time in following.
"We'd better get away from here in a hurry!" Frank advised, and both boys
sprinted to their motorcycles.
"Let's divide this stuff. It'll be easier to carry," Frank suggested.
He opened the sack and handed Joe the bundle of securities, which the boy
jammed into his pocket. Frank stuffed the sack containing the jewelry into
his own side pocket. Then they hopped onto their motorcycles, stepped on the
starters, and roared down the road toward Bay-port. It was not until they
were several miles from the old water tower that the Hardys relaxed. Grins
spread over their faces.
"I don't know who's going to be the most surprised-Hurd or Adelia
Applegate, or Chief Collig or-"
"I have another guess-Dad!" said Frank.
"I guess you're right," Joe agreed. "And the most disappointed person is
going to be one Oscar Smuff!"
"What clue do you suppose he wanted us to follow?"
"It's my idea he didn't have any. He just wanted to hook on to us and then
claim the glory if we found the treasure, so Collig would give him a job on the
force."
"Where do you think we ought to take these valuables?" Joe asked
presently.
The boys discussed this as they covered nearly a mile of ground and finally
came to the conclusion that since Hurd Applegate had given their father the
job of finding the stolen property, the detective should be the one to return it
to the owners.
Half an hour later the brothers pulled into the Hardy driveway and soon were
overwhelming their parents with the good news.
"It's wonderful! Simply wonderful!" Mrs. Hardy cried out,
hugging each of
her sons.
Their father's face wore a broad grin. "I'm certainly proud of you," he said,
and slapped Frank and Joe on the back. "You boys shall have the honor of
making the announcement to the Apple-gates."
"How about Chief Collig?" Frank asked. "And we'll report Hobo Johnny to
him."
"And we'll invite the Robinsons to hear the announcement," Joe added.
The detective said he thought there should be a grand meeting at the
Applegates' home of everyone involved with the tower mystery. He suggested
that when the boys called up, they try to arrange such a meeting for that very
evening.
Frank was selected to make the report to Hurd Applegate; the others could
hear the elderly man exclaim in amazement. "I didn't think you'd do it!" he
said over and over again.
Shouting for his sister, he relayed the message, then said, "Adelia wants me
to tell you she's the most relieved woman in all of Bayport. She never did like
any of this business."
The Applegates readily agreed to a meeting at their home early that evening
and insisted that Mr. Robinson be there. Mr. Hardy was to see to it that Chief
Collig released the man at once.
"This is going to be a lot of fun," Frank declared at supper. "Mother, I think
you should come along? Will you?"
"I'd love to," Mrs. Hardy replied. "I'd like to hear what the Applegates and
Mr. Robinson and Chief Collig are going to say."
"And Chet should be there too," Joe said. "After all, it was his stolen car
that gave us the clue to Red Jackley." Chet was called and gave a whoop of
delight. He agreed to meet the Hardy family at the Tower Mansion.
"There's one more person who ought to attend," said Frank with a twinkle in
his eye. "Oscar Smuff. I'd like to watch his face, too."
"At least we should tell him that the mystery has been solved," Joe spoke up.
Frank waited until his father had phoned Chief Collig, who promised to
release Mr. Robinson at once and bring him out to the Applegates' home.
Then Frank called Detective Smuff. He could not resist the temptation to
keep Smuff guessing a little longer, and merely invited him to join the
conference for a big surprise.
At eight o'clock one car after another arrived at the Tower Mansion. When
the Hardy family walked in they found all the Robinsons there. The twins
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