The Sinister Signpost Part 16

"No use!" Frank gasped. "We'll never make it. They'll catch up to us hi no time. We had better hide."

He grabbed Joe by the arm and sprang for a deep hollow among the thickets beside the road. They were not a moment too soon. Hardly had they concealed themselves among the dead leaves and bushes than the whole scene was revealed by a brilliant light.

The searchers, carrying a powerful flash, had just come around the bend in the road.

The glare of the beam revealed the bridge, the stream, and the trees beyond. It also showed them something else-something that gave the boys a thrill of astonishment.

Upon the bridge was an enormous sign post, which differed from any they had ever seen. It was in the shape of a huge hand that looked human. Had it not been for its size, it might have given the illusion of a real one mounted on top of the post.

From then-hiding place the Hardy boys gazed at the sinister sign in amazement. Why had it been placed there? What did it mean?

"They didn't cross the bridge," said a voice behind them suddenly. "They must be hidden here somewhere. Scatter around and search the bushes."

l6o Evidently there were several men in the pursuing party. Frank and Joe could hear them crashing about among the thickets.

"Maybe we had better run for it," Joe whispered.

"They'd be sure to see us and put an end to our sleuthing."

The gleams of no less than three flashlights could be discerned through the darkness.

Suddenly Frank saw to his horror that the strange sign post was moving! It turned! Then the fingers began twitching!

"Gosh! Do you see that?" whispered Joe.

The hand swung around and stopped. The index finger shot out. Then it turned downward until it pointed directly toward the hiding place of the boys.

For a moment they were almost paralyzed by fear. They could not understand the mechanism of the monstrous sign post, but they had seen enough to know that it would reveal their presence to the searchers.

The men were drawing closer and closer as they beat their way through the brush. Frank started to crawl out of the hollow, and Joe followed close behind him.

"When I give the word, get ready to run!" Frank whispered.

The two crouched at the edge of the ditch.

"O.K.," snapped Frank.

The Hardy boys sprang to their feet and leaped up onto the road. They raced swiftly toward the bridge. Luck was with them at first. They knew they were not being seen, for they could hear no outcry from behind them.

161.

The boys reached the bridge. Then something strange and terrifying happened.

The hand of the sinister sign post turned red! With the dreadful finger pointing straight at the boys, the hand changed swiftly from white to a deep crimson.

"Frank I Stop!" cried Joe. "Remember the message I heard over the telephone!"

Death beyond the red hand!

CHAPTER XXII.

THE MAD INVENTOR.

death in front of them-certain capture behind them!

The Hardy boys faced one of the worst dilemmas in their careers as amateur detectives. They halted indecisively beneath the sign post that glowed red above them.

"We don't dare go ahead!" gasped Joe. "The hand is a warning."

"If we go back, those men will catch us, and we'll lose everything we've already accomplished!"

The boys could see the gleaming flashlights in the thickets, swinging back and forth as their pursuers prowled about in search of them. Suddenly there came a yell from one of the men.

"Hey, look! The hand has turned red!" he cried.

"Someone on the bridge!" shouted another. "Yes-I can see them. There they are. After 'em, boys!"

One of the flashlights swung around and cast a long, narrow beam of white light which fell directly on the Hardys. There was a roar of exultation from the men.

"We'll have to take a chance," decided Frank. " The sign post warning may be only a bluff."

162.

163.

"We'll soon find out," panted Joe, as he and his brother came to a decision. "The men won't follow if they know there's death on the other side. Let's see what they do, before we give up to them."

Instantly the boys rushed under the red hand, their feet thudding on the planks of the bridge. As they reached the far side they hid near the water and got out of range of the brilliant searchlights. They waited breathlessly for their pursuers to follow.

But the men did not follow; in fact, they suddenly seemed to abandon the search.

For the first time in a long while, the Hardy boys became panic-stricken.

"I guess we've come too far."

"Grab my hand," urged Frank. "We don't want to become separated in the darkness.

And we're not going a step farther. We're going back!"

The two boys arose and started toward the bridge. Just then a dull light illuminated the area dimly. Through the haze Frank and Joe could discern a figure stalking toward them down a road.

"Let's run," gasped the younger Hardy.

Their first step was interrupted by a piercing howl and the most blood-curdling laughter they had ever heard. Then a high-pitched voice called out: "Stand where you are!"

Frank and Joe gasped, for they recognized the oncoming man. He was Vilnoff! But not Vilnoff as they had known him, suave, gentlemanly. Now he was wild-eyed, with the malign look of a trapped animal.

"Stand where you are!" he repeated, and now halted 164 in front of the boys. "I am master here!" he shouted, waving his arms. "My word is lawl"

Frank and Joe had recovered from their fright and now faced the man boldly.

"You can't bluff us," said Joe. "We've found you .out!"

"You're through, Vilnoff," added Frank quietly. "The game is up. We know where Topnotch, the race-horse, is hidden. We know where Ivan is being kept prisoner." the race-horse, is hidden. We know where Ivan is being kept prisoner."

Vilnoff laughed sardonically.

"Ach, Ivan, yes," he said. "A fine boy. An egcellent lad."

"Why did you kidnap him?" demanded Joe.

"For his own good," retorted Vilnoff. "But you-you ask questions. Dot vill gain you nodding. I haf you vhere I vant you now."

He burst into another peal of hideous and maniacal laughter. The boys knew now that Vilnoff was a madman-a dangerous lunatic.

"I tried to be nice to you," he said. "I did not vant you to be my enemies. But you have pursued me relentlessly."

"And why not?" said Frank sternly. "You have been inventing machines of warfare, probably to be used against our country."

Vilnoff glanced at them cunningly.

"I am not a bad man as you think," he said. "But I hate Bayport!"

He snapped out the words viciously.

"I hate your whole country!" he repeated with sinister emphasis.

165.

"Why do you live here, then?" asked Joe.

"I stay here only for the purpose of revenge," declared Vilnoff. "My vife-the best and finest woman who ever lived-she was an American. But an American killed her! Right in Bayport! She gave her life for a man who is in Washington now trying to urge your government to harm my country."

His voice rose to a shout.

"So I hate your land, and I have intended to make war on it!" he yelled, his eyes blazing as he shook both fists at the boys.

"Single-handed?" demanded Frank in outright astonishment.

The Hardy boys had felt, from hints their father had given, that perhaps Vilnoff was a secret agent for some foreign power. To learn that the mad inventor had conceived his diabolical schemes alone and for no reason save personal spite was something they had never considered.

"Ach! Single-handed! It vas clever, vas it not?" asked Vilnoff boastfully. "All my fine system of lights and signals. You have seen some of dem. I had a great scheme. I vas going to make hidden places like dis one in all parts of your country."

Frank, sparring for time until he might decide the best way to handle this insane man, concluded to ask a direct question.

"You have a lot of munitions stored here. Aren't you afraid they'll blow up before you are ready?"

Vilnoff sneered.

"Dey are veil hidden. Dey obey my my commands vhen to explode." commands vhen to explode."

l66 Then he shook his head regretfully.

"But you have ruined my big plan. My scheme-it can never be finished. You have broken it up."

"And we're mighty glad of it!" declared Frank. "Why don't you come along with us now?

We'll see that nothing dreadful happens to you," he added, knowing that the place for this strange individual was an asylum.

Vilnoff glared at the boys.

"I cannot do vhat I vant to," said the maniac softly, "but I can do a great deal. I can blow up this whole territory. I can cause great suffering in your beloved Bayport and that hateful Spurtown that have caused me such suffering. And what's more," he snarled, "/ am going to am going to do it I"

The man turned swiftly and sped away before the boys could stop him. Quickly they dashed after him, but in a few moments the strange light vanished and they were left in total darkness.

"What'll we do?" gasped Joe. "Do you think Vilnoff meant what he said?"

"He's mad enough to try," replied Frank. "We must stop Aim!" "We must stop Aim!"

"But how? We don't know which way to go."

The older Hardy came to a quick decision. "This is too big a job for us, Joe, to tackle alone. We must get help."

"We'll be captured by Vilnoff's men if we go back."

"We'll tell them the truth," suggested Frank. "They won't want to be blown to bits. It's our best bet."

As the boys spun around to retrace their steps they noticed a tiny red gleam just off the road they were on.

167.

Frank stepped into the thicket to take a look. Joe heard him murmur "Oh," and followed his brother. He, too, gurgled an involuntary "Uh."

The two Hardys had stepped into some kind of a very deep opening in the earth, and were falling down into an unknown abyss.

CHAPTER XXIII.