The Secret Of Skull Mountain Part 12

"You've put yourself in a fine fix," he told himself bitterly. "No oars, no food, no water to drink-and if 1 know anything about wind, a storm's coming up!"

It was true. Black clouds were billowing up in the sky, and the waves rose as the wind lashed the water.

Frank studied the water anxiously. Then, as his eyes fell upon the empty oarlocks, a plan formed in his mind.

He unrolled the tarpaulin, then twisted and squeezed a corner of the canvas into a short length of rope which he thrust through one of the locks. He tied the rope length into a tight knot, tugging it hard against the oarlock to make sure it could not slip through.

The youth went through the same procedure with the opposite corner of the canvas, knotting it outside the second oarlock. Then he stood on a seat of the boat, holding aloft the remaining two corners of the tarpaulin-and stretched his arms wide. The impact of the wind against the outstretched canvas almost knocked Frank overboard, but he gritted his lips and set his feet firmly.

121 "Sweeper didn't count on my rigging up a sail!" he said to himself, grinning despite the tremendous strain on his arms and the spray which was flung in his face.

Aided by the improvised sail, the boat plunged through the waves toward the island.

Suddenly a streak of lightning snaked across the sky. There wai a clap of thunder, and rain fell in torrents.

The waves, lashed to fury by the storm, leaped higher. Several times Frank almost lost his balance. But the boy was determined to return to the island.

Then it happened. A gust of wind tore one corner of the canvas from his hands. Frank reached quickly for the violently flapping tarpaulin, and lost his footing.

A huge wave sent the boat reeling and flung the youth forward. Frank grabbed frantically at the seat, missed-and plunged into the sea!

He struggled to the surface and shook the water from his eyes. The boat was fifteen feet away, and as he watched, the wind whipped it on.

He was alone in the stormy sea.

CHAPTER XIV.

Chet Morton, Detective.

desperately, Frank's eyes searched for the island. A wave lifted him, and he stared through the darkness seeking vainly for the sh.o.r.e. Suddenly he was conscious of the tinkling of a bell.

The buoy!

He turned his head and saw the light a few feet from him, bobbing and blinking as the buoy rolled with the waves.

With a thankful heart, he swam toward it and clung to the chain. He knew now that the island was only a hundred yards away, but his efforts with the canvas and his plunge into the sea had nearly exhausted him. He closed his eyes and waited for the storm to abate.

It was morning when the sky cleared and the waves subsided. The narrow, sandy beach of Merriam Island seemed to Frank to beckon invitingly, and he attempted to strike out for the sh.o.r.e. But his arms, 123 numb from clinging to the buoy, were too heavy to lift.

Suddenly a helicopter appeared out of a cloud, and Frank's heart quickened with hope.

The clumsy-looking machine's four-bladed propeller sparkled in the sun as the plane dipped toward the sea.

Frank shouted and waved his arm weakly. He saw an arm extend itself through the plane's window and wave back, and a few minutes later the helicopter hovered directly over him and started to descend.

The plane halted thirty feet above the water, and hung in the air. The cabin door was thrust open and a blond-haired youth looked down.

"Frank!" he called anxiously. "Can you hold out a moment longer?"

It was Joe!

Frank grinned happily. He had never been so glad to see anyone in his life!

"I'm all right, Joe!" he a.s.sured his brother. "Just get me out of this soup!"

Joe laughed with relief. "Okay!" he called. "Catch!"

He dropped a nylon rescue line toward the boy. It was equipped with a breeches buoy, which splashed a few yards away from Frank.

Frank swam to the buoy and thrust his legs through the trouserlike bottom.

The pilot of the helicopter held the plane's posi 124 tion as Joe turned a windla.s.s and drew the rescue line taut. Then the younger Hardy boy hoisted his brother into the plane.

"Boy, am I glad to see you!" he exclaimed, helping Frank to a seat and throwing his own jacket over his brother's shoulders.

Frank grinned at him. "That goes double!" he said, his teeth chattering.

Skip, the pilot, shook the youth's hand warmly and headed the helicopter toward Bayport. He knew the Hardy family well.

Joe wisely refrained from asking questions until the boys had arrived home. Then, fortified with one of Aunt Gertrude's meals, Frank described in detail what had happened.

Aunt Gertrude's eyes popped.

"My goodness!" she declared. "It's a wonder you didn't drown!"

"You must be exhausted, son," his mother said worriedly. "I think you should get right into bed."

Mr. Hardy promptly supported his wife's suggestion.

"I am am pretty tired," Frank confessed. "Maybe forty winks-or even twenty-would make a pretty tired," Frank confessed. "Maybe forty winks-or even twenty-would make a new man out of me."

Joe accompanied Frank to his room.

"I haven't been exactly idle, myself," he bragged with a grin.

He told Frank of his trip to Brookside-and his 125 conviction that Sweeper was Timothy Kimball, Jr.

"I always thought Sweeper was a phony name," Frank yawned, as he stretched luxuriously between clean sheets.

"Or a nickname," Joe added.

But his brother did not hear him. He was well on his way toward sleep. Joe tiptoed from the room and found his father waiting for him in the study.

"What Frank overheard last night, together with the facts we already knew about Klenger and Sweeper, is enough evidence for us to clinch the case," Mr. Hardy told the boy quietly. "But our first concern is Dr. Foster. If we force their hands now, we may never find out what happened to him."

Joe nodded.

"Our best bet," the detective went on, "is to try to locate, then follow, the three men. One of them is likely to lead us to Dr. Foster."

"What do you want me to do, Dad?" Joe asked eagerly.

Fenton Hardy paced the room thoughtfully for a moment.

"I want you to go to Klenger's house, son," he said at last. "Try to find out whether he returned there last night. If he didn't, try to learn when he will be home."

"Right," Joe said, putting his hand on the doork.n.o.b.

"Hold on a minute, Joe," his father said hastily.

The Secret of Skull Mountain He took a paper from his desk and glanced at it, "I've checked Klenger's fingerprints-he left his prints on the letterhead he gave Frank-with the FBI. He has a record-so don't take any unnecessary chances."

"I understand," Joe told him, smiling.

Mr. Hardy rubbed his chin.

"Klenger's plumbing shop is closed," he stated, "But Klenger and the other men may be using it as a meeting place. Do you suppose Chet could stand watch on it? The crooks would be less apt to notice a boy than a man."

"Chet!" Joe's first impulse was to laugh, then he reflected that this att.i.tude was unfair to Chet. "I think so, Dad," he said. "He can keep undercover."

"Good!" The tall detective put on his hat. "I'm going to Brookside to check on young Kimball, the man we've known as Sweeper. There's little doubt now that you were right about his real ident.i.ty."

Joe phoned Chet as his father went out the door. Young Morton was both flabbergasted and flattered by Fenton Hardy's suggestion.

"Me? A detective?" he exclaimed.

"Sure!" Joe said, grinning at his friend's, excitement. "That is, if you want the job."

"Want it!" Chet exploded. "I'll watch thai plumbing shop closer than a bug in a rug!"

Chet suddenly clapped his hand to his head.

"Hh-oh!" he said.

127 *'What's the matter?" asked Joe.

"I promised to meet Biff at the boat landing this morning. We planned to take a skiff out in the bay and look for that stuff you and Frank and I planted in the reservoir. Biff couldn't make it yesterday."

Joe debated for a moment.

"You'd better do it," he decided. "The stuff may have come through last night-but we couldn't have spotted it in the storm, anyway. You and Biff set up a watch," he concluded, "while I investigate Klenger's house. Then I'll take over while you train your eagle eye on the plumbing shop."

"Check," the other agreed. "Have you heard from Frank?" he asked.

"He's home," Joe informed his friend. "Tell you all about it later."

And the boys hung up.

The window shades were still drawn in Klenger's house when Joe drove up. He stared at the upstairs window where he had seen the woman's face, but the face did not reappear.

Joe mounted the steps to the porch and rang the doorbell.

To his surprise, the door was opened at once, and a middle-aged woman wearing a soiled dressing gown stood in the doorway.

It was the woman whose face he had seen in the window.

"What d'ya want?" she asked abruptly.

128 "Is your husband home?" Joe asked.

"Klenger? No." She regarded him suspiciously. "What d'ya want him for?"

"Our kitchen faucet is leaking," Joe told her. "Mr. Klenger promised to fix it for us."

The woman's mouth broke into a smirk. "It'll be a puddle if you wait for Klenger to take care of it," she said. "He's gone on a trip."

"Oh," said Joe, acting as if he knew something about it. "Did he go there by boat?"

"By boat?" the woman said, puzzled, caught oft guard. "You don't go to the hills by-"

She shut her mouth tightly and stared hostilely at the boy, then slammed the door in his face!

Joe grinned as he ran down the steps. If Klenger was in the hills, that meant Skull Mountain, and it was likely that Dr. Foster was with him!

He drove the roadster to the boat landing. Then, breaking the Sleuth Sleuth out of her slip, Joe out of her slip, Joe headed the speedboat out into the bay. A short distance from the sh.o.r.e, he recognized Chet sitting in a skiff. With him was Biff Hooper, another high school friend of the Hardy boys.

"Hi!" Joe called.

Chet waved to him, and Joe brought the Sleuth Sleuth alongside the boys' skiff. alongside the boys' skiff.

"See anything yet?" Joe asked eagerly, as Biff caught hold of the speedboat's gunwale.

Chet shook his head gloomily. "Maybe the stuff got stuck in a branch of the tunnel," he said.

129 "It might," Joe admitted. "But we planted enough articles for at least one to turn up in the bay."

Chet sighed. "How'd you make out at Klenger's house?" he asked.

Joe told him.

"Boy, you sure have a way with the women!" Chet kidded him.

Joe made a pa.s.s at him as Biff laughed.