CHAPTER VMr. Hanleigh
The Hardyboys heard the door of the living room open and saw two figures pass out into the hall. A moment later the front door closed with a bang. There were footsteps, and then a small, kindly, gray-haired gentleman stood in the entrance of the reception room.
Frank and Joe, in the meantime, were looking at one another in astonishment. They had recognized the voice of Mr. Jefferson’s caller, and they had recognized the man himself as he passed in the hall. It was none other than the man who had ordered them away from Cabin Island!
Elroy Jefferson was advancing toward them, his hand outstretched.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, boys. You are Fenton Hardy’s sons, I presume. Well, well. I’m glad to make your acquaintance. I didn’t mean to make you wait, but my caller seemed insistent.” He seemed rather disturbed and glanced back toward the door, shaking his head. “That fool can’t take no for an answer,” he muttered.
Then, smiling, he turned toward the boys again.
“I asked you to call here this morning because I wanted to thank you for getting my Pierce-Arrow back for me. I was traveling in Europe at the time and I didn’t know anything about the affair until I came back. I’m afraid you must have thought me very ungrateful.”
“Not at all, sir,” said the boys politely.
“Well, if I had been here at the time you may be sure I would have expressed my appreciation at once. However, better late than never. I was away when the Automobile Club passed the hat for that reward.”
Elroy Jefferson referred to a reward which had been subscribed by various owners of cars which the Hardy boys had recovered from the Shore Road thieves.
“That’s all right, sir,” said Frank. “We weren’t looking for any reward.”
“I know. I know. But you deserved one. And, if you will allow me, I should like to give you a reward of my own.”
With that, he produced a wallet from his pocket and withdrew two crisp, new bills which he handed to the boys. The lads glanced at the money with surprise, for Elroy Jefferson had handed each a hundred-dollar bill.
“Oh, we can’t take this, Mr. Jefferson,” protested Joe. “We’ve been very handsomely rewarded already, much more than we deserved——”
“I want you to take this money. My car was not insured and was worth a great deal more than that to me, and if it hadn’t been for you two boys I would have lost it.”
The boys protested, but Elroy Jefferson insisted, and finally they were forced to accept the reward.
“Now,” said Mr. Jefferson, “if there is anything else I can do for you at any time, don’t hesitate to ask me.”
The boys looked at one another.
“There is something we’d like to ask you,” hesitated Frank. “That is, if we’re not intruding——”
“What is it?” asked the antique dealer agreeably.
“It’s about the man who just left here.”
“Hanleigh? What about him?”
“If you don’t object to the question—does Mr. Hanleigh own Cabin Island?”
Mr. Jefferson shook his head.
“Certainly not. Why do you ask?”
Frank then told him about the adventure of the previous day, and related how Hanleigh had driven the three boys away from the island.
“We thought it was strange at the time, for we didn’t think that the island had changed hands. Then, when we recognized Mr. Hanleigh as the chap who ordered us away, we thought we’d ask you about it.”
Elroy Jefferson was indignant.
“Why, I never heard the like!” he said testily. “He had no authority to order you away. None whatever. In fact, he had no right to be on the island himself. The whole place belongs to me.”
“He had no right to order us away, then?”
“No right at all. The island is mine. Mr. Hanleigh, it seems, is anxious to buy it, but he hasn’t bought it yet and he won’t buy it, as long as the matter is in my hands. He came to me a few weeks ago and offered me five thousand dollars for the place.”
“That is a large sum for an island, isn’t it?” said Frank.
“More than the place is worth. He came back this morning and raised his offer. Wanted to give me eight thousand dollars if I would sell. But I won’t sell. I won’t sell him the island at any price, and I told him so. You see, when my wife and son were alive they loved to go there in winter and summer, so Cabin Island has certain associations for me that cannot be estimated in terms of money. They are dead now, and I cannot bear to part with the place. The cabin was erected for the use of my family, and my wife and boy used to go there and watch the workmen building it. So I’m not at all inclined to turn the place over to strangers.”
“I see, sir,” remarked Frank sympathetically.
“I’m sorry if Mr. Hanleigh drove you away. He had no right to do that.”
“Of course, we had no right there, in the first place,” ventured Joe.
“Just as much right as Hanleigh. Now, boys, I have no objection to letting you visit the island from time to time, if the place appeals to you, providing you don’t disturb things.”
“We would be very careful.”
“I’m sure of that. Any time you want to visit Cabin Island, go right ahead. And if Mr. Hanleigh is there and has anything to say about it you can tell him he has no authority and no right to be on the property. I can’t imagine why he was prowling around there at all.”
“We were thinking of having an outing during the Christmas holidays,” said Frank. “Our big difficulty was in finding a good camping place. Why couldn’t we stay on Cabin Island, Mr. Jefferson? We could have our outing there, and at the same time we could look after your property.”
Elroy Jefferson nodded agreeably.
“An outing, eh? Just you two boys?”
“We have two or three of our chums along with us.”
“That would be fine. I envy you. A winter outing. I think Cabin Island would be ideal for that. And, if Mr. Hanleigh is busying himself ordering people away from there, I imagine it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some one on the ground to look after things. You have my permission, boys. Go ahead, and have your outing at Cabin Island.”
“That’s mighty good of you, Mr. Jefferson!” exclaimed Frank impulsively, and Joe echoed:
“You bet!”
“Not at all. I know you can be depended on to leave things as you find them. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll put the whole matter in your charge and I’ll turn over the keys of the cabin to you. I think you’ll find it a very comfortable place.”
That was how the Hardy boys and their chums received permission to hold their winter outing on Cabin Island.
CHAPTER VIPreparations
Whenthe Hardy boys returned home after their visit to Elroy Jefferson they hastened to tell their father about the munificent reward the antique dealer had given them for recovering his automobile. Then came the momentous matter of securing permission for the vacation outing.
Fenton Hardy listened with a smile.
“So you want to leave us during the Christmas holidays,” he said. “You don’t mind missing Christmas dinner, with the turkey and the pudding and the nuts and raisins and candy. You don’t mind going without your presents this Christmas. You’d rather go camping.”
“Would wehaveto miss our presents?” asked Joe anxiously.
“Well, you know that Christmas presents are usually given out on Christmas morning in this house. If you’re not here——”
“Couldn’t we get them before we go away?”
Mr. Hardy laughed. “You want presents and outing both, I see. Well, I suppose it can be arranged. I have no objections to letting you go camping, seeing Mr. Jefferson has been good enough to allow you the use of Cabin Island. If you take proper equipment with you, plenty of food and blankets, you should be comfortable enough. As a matter of fact,” he murmured, “I wouldn’t mind going with you myself.”
“Will you come, Dad?” shouted Frank.
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to get away. Go ahead with your outing—if your mother agrees.”
Mrs. Hardy, it appeared, had no objections, although at first she was reluctant in view of the fact that the boys would be absent from the family circle over Christmas Day. “It won’t seem like Christmas without my lads,” she said.
Aunt Gertrude, of course, insisted on contributing her “two cents’ worth,” as Joe expressed it.
“Camping in the winter time!” she sniffed. “I never heard the like of it. They’ll freeze to death.”
“We’ll be just as comfortable as if we were in town, Aunt Gertrude,” said Frank. “The cabin is well built and warm, and we’ll have plenty of heavy blankets with us.”
“You’ll need ’em. As for being comfortable, I’ll warrant you’ll be glad to come humping back home where everything is nice and cosy. You’ll find a big change, my fine young men, when you get away down in that rickety shack, with the wind blowing through the chinks and the snow drifting in on the floor. If you stay there longer than one night, it will be a big surprise to me.”
“Of course,” put in Joe, “if you think you will miss us so very much—if you really think it would spoil your Christmas not to have us here, why we won’t go.”
Aunt Gertrude laughed mirthlessly.
“Spoil my Christmas! The idea! It will be a real merry Christmas again, without two noisy boys making life a botheration to me.”
“In that case, then, we’ll go camping,” said Frank.
When they told Chet Morton of their interview with Elroy Jefferson, that youth was loud in his delight. He insisted promptly on being included in the proposed outing.
“The family is going to Boston for the holidays,” he said. “They were going to leave me at home alone. It looked like a fine Christmas! But now—oh, boy! When do we start?”
“Three days before Christmas.”
“Great! Who else is coming?”
“We promised Biff Hooper.”
“Sure! Biff’s a good scout. But don’t make the party too large. That cabin won’t hold very many.”
“We figured on just the four of us,” said Frank. “The ice-boat won’t hold any more, anyway.”
“Fine. We’d better get together to-morrow and decide how much grub we should take along. We’ve got to eat, you know.”
“Youwouldbring that up,” laughed Joe. “No fear of going short of supplies when you’re in the party. You’ll see that we take enough.”
“I must keep up my strength,” returned Chet, unabashed.
When the boys met Biff Hooper and told him that the outing was assured and that Cabin Island was available, the pugilistic lad turned several handsprings in the snow by way of expressing his delight.
“Yeah!” he shouted. “That let’s me out. My Uncle Oscar and his five kids are coming to spend Christmas at our place, and it would have been up to me to entertain the little pests. Now I’m out ofthat! Hurray!”
“This trip seems to be popular,” remarked Frank. “Well, you’d better start figuring out what you can contribute in the way of grub. We each carry our own blankets.”
“Suits me. I’ll takeallthe grub, if you want.”
Next day, the four gathered at Biff Hooper’s home and, in a very businesslike manner, drew up a list of requirements for the trip, and apportioned what would be required of each. Inasmuch as Frank and Joe had secured the privilege of Cabin Island and were also giving the use of the ice-boat, Chet and Biff insisted on looking after the matter of food. Each boy was to take along whatever cooking utensils he could beg or borrow from home.
In this manner, with conferences after school and during the noon hours, the boys made their preparations for the outing, and the last days of the autumn term slowly dragged past. They had decided to leave Bayport three days before Christmas, almost immediately after school closed, and the intervening time was occupied by putting the ice-boat in readiness and accumulating everything they would need.
“We don’t want to keep trotting back to the city every day for something we’ve forgotten,” Chet pointed out.
At last, everything was in readiness. The food supplies were packed, the blankets were stowed away, the ice-boat had been overhauled, the boys had loaded skates, skis, and snowshoes on their craft, and everything had been checked over so that nothing would be forgotten. News of the proposed outing had circulated among the other boys at the Bayport high school and the Hardy boys were besieged with requests from many of their chums who wanted to accompany them. But they were obliged to refuse. The cabin was large, but it would not accommodate everybody.
Finally, school closed. There were the usual closing exercises, which the lads sat through impatiently, and then they raced toward home, for the trip to Cabin Island was definitely scheduled for the morrow.
Mrs. Hardy had taken liberties with the calendar, and when the boys came home that night they found, to their unbounded delight and astonishment, that the Christmas dinner had been set ahead. There was a turkey in the oven and the kitchen was redolent with the savory odors of a Christmas feast.
“Whoopee!” cried Joe. “We shan’t miss our Christmas after all!”
The dinner, being in the nature of a surprise, surpassed all previous Christmas dinners. Somehow, the turkey was more succulent, the mince pie had a better flavor, simply because the boys had been resigning themselves to missing the good things that year. The mere fact that the calendar indicated Christmas Day as being actually four days off seemed to matter little.
Mr. Hardy had even ordered a Christmas tree and, after dinner, when the boys went into the library and found that even this crowning touch had not been omitted, they felt that life had little more to offer. The tree glittered with lights and there were certain mysterious packages in tissue paper that aroused speculations. Frank and Joe immediately dashed upstairs and returned with the presents they had bought for their parents and for Aunt Gertrude, which they distributed at the base of the tree.
“I think we’re lucky,” said Frank, when they went to bed that night.
“Lucky! I never expected to have Christmas and our outing too,” returned his brother.
“Christmas dinner, a tree, and our presents!”
“I hope Chet and Biff get off as well.”
They fell asleep, happy.
In the morning, the usual Christmas ceremony of opening the presents was observed. Frank and Joe were unusually fortunate. The usual gifts of clothing, which included neckties, scarfs, socks and shirts came first, then for each of the lads came a complete outing costume of breeches, mackinaw shirts and short coats. To top it all came two small calibre rifles, each with a box of ammunition.
“Don’t kill too many rabbits,” laughed their father.
Christmas was complete. Frank and Joe had given their parents one of the newest and finest radio sets and to Aunt Gertrude they gave several volumes of poems, as that lady was very fond of reading. For once in her life, their aunt did not sniff.
“Just what I wanted!” she beamed. “I have always adored Longfellow!”
At that moment the telephone rang. Chet was calling.
“All set!” he reported. “Biff and I are down here waiting.”
“We’ll be with you in a minute,” said Frank.
So the Hardy boys set out on their vacation outing to Cabin Island. Little did they dream of the many strange happenings in store for them.
CHAPTER VIIThe Other Ice-Boat
Chet Mortonand Biff Hooper, it appeared, had not missed Christmas either. Their parents had surprised them just as Mr. and Mrs. Hardy had surprised Frank and Joe, and when the lads met at the boathouse half an hour later their preparations for an immediate departure were somewhat hindered by joyous discussion of the presents each boy had received. Among Biff’s gifts was an ice-boat from his father, over which the lad was ecstatic.
“Well, let’s go!” shouted Chet finally. “We can talk it all over when we get to Cabin Island.”
They clambered into the ice-boats, Chet getting into Biff’s new craft with the proud owner.
“Ready!” cried Frank.
“Ready!”
“We’re off!”
The boats glided out onto the ice of the bay. There was a stiff breeze blowing and the boys anticipated a quick run to the island. The wind was strong and the sky was clear. The two boats sped alongside one another, their sails billowing.
The city was swiftly left behind and the open bay lay ahead. The winter air brought the flush of health to the boys’ cheeks. Once in a while they waved to one another. The shores sped past.
Frank, at the tiller of the Hardy boys’ craft, swung the boat around so that it got the full benefit of the breeze, and it forged ahead, leaving the other behind. This meant a race, so Biff brought his boat around with the wind and soon managed to overhaul his rivals. A vagrant breeze gave him the advantage for a while and he gained steadily while the Hardy boys, to their chagrin, lagged behind, but the breeze soon changed. Biff found himself running against the wind before he realized it. The Hardy boys’ craft scudded swiftly across the ice, overtook him, then shot across his bows.
Frank and Joe maintained their lead from then on, taking advantage of every change in the wind, and in due time they came within sight of the dark bulk of Cabin Island, looming against the distant line of the shore.
Joe stood up and waved his arms in excitement. There was an answering wave from Chet, in the speeding craft to the rear.
Frank swung the boat toward the south, down into the cove. They drew closer to the island.
“Our friend Hanleigh can’t bother us now,” laughed Frank.
“We have full authority. It was a mighty lucky thing for us that we mentioned Cabin Island to Mr. Jefferson.”
“I wonder what Hanleigh was doing on the island, anyway.”
“I’ll bet he was up to no good,” said Joe. “Well, we won’t worry about him. He won’t trouble us.”
However, Joe was destined to be mistaken.
The ice-boat sped across the glassy surface, drawing closer and closer to Cabin Island. Frank, peering ahead, suddenly gave an exclamation of surprise.
“Looks as if some one is here ahead of us.”
“Where?”
Frank pointed to the little bay where they had landed on their previous visit. A white-sailed object was clearly outlined against the dark background of trees.
“Another ice-boat!”
Joe gazed at the strange craft in consternation.
“I wonder what that means.”
“We’ll soon find out. Somehow, that boat looks familiar to me,” said Frank, as he steered toward the bay.
As they came closer, they saw that the other boat was deserted. Frank could not escape the conviction that he had seen the boat before. Slowly, he veered around until they ran alongside, within a hundred yards of the bay. Then he nodded.
“I knew it,” he said quietly.
“That’s the boat Tad Carson and Ike Nash were in the other day!” exclaimed Joe.
“There’s something queer about this business. I wondered why they were so close to Cabin Island when we met them. I’ll bet they were coming here to get Hanleigh.”
“Perhaps you’re right. What shall we do now, Joe?”
“Scout around a bit. We may learn something.”
Frank did not go toward the bay. Instead, he guided the boat around the arm of the island. The boys signaled back to Biff and Chet, indicating that they were to follow.
“It beats me why Tad and Ike should be here, unless they have some connection with this fellow Hanleigh,” said Frank.
“And I don’t see why Hanleigh should be here at all. He hasn’t bought the island yet. According to Mr. Jefferson, he has no business here.”
“We’ll run around the island once, and see what’s what.”
The Hardy boys did not have long to wait. Circling the end of the island, they came to a sheltered nook where they decided to land.
“We can leave the boats here and go up toward the cabin on foot,” decided Frank. “If there is anybody here, we’ll have a better chance of taking them by surprise.”
They put in to the little bay and then waited until Chet and Biff, in the other boat, came up.
“What’s the matter?” asked Chet, when their craft came to rest. “Who owns that other boat?”
“That’s what we want to find out. We figured it would be best to lie low until we find what’s going on around here,” Frank told him.
“Good idea,” approved Biff.
“That boat belongs to Tad Carson and Ike Nash. I thought the best plan would be to land here on the quiet and then go up to the cabin. They have no right here, and I’d like to know what they’re up to.”
The boys alighted from the boats. There was a sloping hillside before them, leading to a clump of evergreens. The snow was unbroken.
Frank took the lead and advanced up the slope. The others followed. When Frank reached the evergreens he paused and looked about. To his right he could see another bay farther down the shore, and there he spied a small boathouse.
The boathouse itself would not have attracted his attention so greatly had it not been for the fact that he saw a distinct line of footprints in the snow leading toward the rear door. Frank had his wits about him sufficiently to notice that the footprints were those of two people and that they led toward the boathouse—not away from it.
“Somebody there now,” he commented briefly.
He led the way toward the boathouse. The others trudged silently after him.
Near the little building, Frank suddenly stopped and raised his finger to his lips. He had heard voices. With renewed caution, the boys stole forward. In the lee of the boathouse, they halted. Frank listened. He had heard the murmur of voices from some distance back. He pressed close to the boards.
“Well,” he heard a voice saying, “it’s none of my business, so I’m not going to worry about it.”
Then there was a second voice.
“I’m not worrying. I’m just wondering.”
“We have our money. That’s all that should concern us.”
“Nothing wrong in wondering what he’s up to, is there?” said the other. “I think there must be something important around that old cabin.”
Frank turned to the others. “Tad Carson and Ike Nash!” he whispered.
He turned to the wall of the boathouse again.
“I tell you, he wouldn’t pay us for bringing him out to Cabin Island so often unless there was something behind it,” Ike Nash was saying.
“That’s all right. What if there is something behind it?” returned Carson. “It’s none of our affair. He pays us. That’s all we want. If Hanleigh cares to spend his time prowling around this island, why should we worry, as long as we get our money?”
The Hardy boys and their chums glanced at one another in surprise.
Hanleigh!
The man who had ordered them away from Cabin Island on their previous visit! The man whom Elroy Jefferson had said wanted to buy the place!
“I don’t see why he won’t let us go up to the cabin with him,” grumbled Nash. “What does he want to keep secret from us?”
“That’s his business,” snapped Tad Carson. “If you go asking questions, then you’ll just spoil everything. Leave well enough alone.”
“Well, what are we going to do now? That’s what I want to know.”
“Stay where we are. He told us to leave the ice-boat and wait here until he came down from the cabin. Those are his orders. We get paid for obeying orders.”
“Fine place to stay in!”
“What did you expect? A palace? We’ll stay where we are. He said he wouldn’t be long.”
“He’s been up in that cabin for half an hour already. What’s keeping him?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” snapped Tad Carson. “He’s paying us to wait here for him, and we’ll wait.”
Without a word, Frank Hardy turned away and motioned to the other boys. In the deep snow they moved silently from the boathouse.
“Hanleigh’s up at the cabin now,” said Frank, when they were beyond earshot. “I think we’d better go up and find out what he’s doing.”
“Right!” approved Chet.
In single file, the boys went back up the slope in the direction of the cabin at the north end of the island.
CHAPTER VIIISuspicious Actions
“Well, Iguess that explains why Tad Carson and Ike Nash were heading in this direction the day Hanleigh ordered us off the island,” Frank Hardy said, when the boys were out of earshot.
“They were on their way to bring Hanleigh back to town,” agreed Joe.
“He’s been using their ice-boat to get back and forth to Cabin Island.”
“Wonder what’s the big idea,” remarked Chet. “They don’t seem to know what he’s up to.”
“No, but we will—and mighty soon. We’re responsible for the cabin now, so it’s up to us to find out what Hanleigh is doing there.”
Biff looked dubious.
“He won’t tell us, you can depend on that. Probably he’ll tell us to clear out of here.”
“What if he does? We now know he hasn’t any authority. I’ll tell you what we ought to do, fellows,” said Frank. “We should try and catch our friend Hanleigh off his guard. If we detour around through the woods, we can come out at the back of the cabin. He’ll never hear us coming through the snow. We’ll take a peep through one of the windows and see what it’s all about.”
“That’s a long way around,” grumbled Chet.
“It won’t take us far out of our way. The snow isn’t very deep. We can make it easily enough. Come on.”
Under Frank’s leadership, the boys set out into the woods, trudging through the snow, detouring in order that they would not emerge at the front of the cabin. At last they were within sight of the little building. It seemed utterly deserted, but the boys were quite convinced, from what they had overheard at the boathouse, that Hanleigh was somewhere in the immediate neighborhood. They advanced cautiously.
At the rear of the cabin was a small window. They made this their objective. In the light snow their footfalls made no sound.
Frank took the lead. The others stood back for a moment while he went ahead, pressing close to the cabin wall. When he was at the window, he peeped in carefully. Frank gazed into the interior of the building for a short time. Then he turned and beckoned to his companions.
They came forward. Together, the boys looked into the cabin.
The interior design of the building was simple. One long room, with a huge stone fireplace, ran the length of the cabin. Bedrooms and a kitchen led off to the side. From the rear window the boys could see every detail of the main room, and as they now looked they could see a man standing before the fireplace.
Although the man had his back turned to them, they had little doubt but that he was Hanleigh. Frank and Joe nudged one another in excitement.
Hanleigh was quite unconscious that he was being watched. He stood before the fireplace, a long, slender stick in his hand. He stepped forward, measured a section of the stone chimney, stepped back and regarded the measured part, got down on his hands and knees and measured the base. Once in a while he shook his head in disgust and muttered something that the boys could not overhear.
The boys were puzzled. Why should Hanleigh be measuring the fireplace in this abandoned cabin?
In their eagerness, they forgot caution and gradually crowded closer and closer together until all four faces were pressed full against the windowpane. Had Hanleigh chanced to turn their way he would have seen them in a moment.
However, the man seemed too greatly occupied. He was concerned just then with the fireplace and evidently he considered himself quite safe from observation. Back and forth he went, examining the interior and exterior of the fireplace and the chimney, measuring it from every possible angle, even counting the number of stones. He took an envelope from his pocket and jotted down figures on the back of it.
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind.
The side door of the cabin, through which Hanleigh had evidently entered, blew wide open.
With a mutter of astonishment, the man swung around. He looked toward the door.
The Hardy boys and their chums ducked beneath the level of the window sill. But they were too late.
Hanleigh had seen them. They heard a shout of consternation. Then they heard heavy footsteps on the cabin floor. The door slammed. Hanleigh came running around the side of the building.
“Hold your ground!” advised Frank quietly to his companions. “Don’t let him bluff us.”
Hanleigh, red with wrath, confronted them. He recognized the Hardy boys at once.
“Spying on me, are you?” he shouted. “I thought I told you boys to stay away from this island.”
“You told us,” returned Frank coolly.
“Then what do you mean by this?” roared Hanleigh. “What do you mean by coming back here again? I’ve a good mind to horsewhip the whole crowd of you. A bunch of meddling youngsters! Now get out of here and stay away. If I catch you fellows on this island again, I’ll—I’ll——”
“You’ll do nothing, Mr. Hanleigh,” said Frank.
The man looked at them suspiciously.
“How do you know my name?” he demanded.
“It doesn’t matter how we come to know your name. But we’re here to tell you this, Mr. Hanleigh—you have no right to order us off the island. As a matter of fact, it works the other way.”
“What?”
“We’re not trespassing. You are. You have no right to be on this island at all. And you certainly have no right to be in this cabin.”
“Why, you young whippersnapper!” choked Hanleigh. “I’ll show you if I have any right to be here!”
“You can’t show us. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“None of your business!”
“Itisour business.” Frank reached in his pocket and produced the key to the cabin. “See this key. Mr. Jefferson gave it to us. We’re in charge of Cabin Island from now on. I’d advise you to clear out unless you want us to report the matter to Mr. Jefferson. He can very easily have you prosecuted for trespassing on the island. He told us you had been given no permission to come here.”
Hanleigh was at a loss for words. This development came as a complete surprise to him.
“It’s a—a lie!” he gasped finally.
“There’s the key!” piped Chet. “Laugh that off.”
“I don’t believe Jefferson gave you that key at all.”
“Oh, yes, he did. We know more about you than you think, Mr. Hanleigh. We know you’ve been trying to buy this place and we know Mr. Jefferson refused your offer. We were at his house the day you offered him eight thousand dollars for the place and he turned you down. Does that look as if we don’t know what we’re talking about?”
“What do you know about this place?” demanded Hanleigh.
“Nothing except what we’ve told you,” Frank continued. “We would like to know, though, just why it is so interesting to you.”
The shot went home. Hanleigh licked his lips nervously, then stared at the boys in silence for a while before replying:
“It isn’t interesting to me,” he said lamely. “That is—except as a cabin I’d like to buy.”
“Was that why you were measuring the fireplace so carefully?” put in Biff dryly.
“I’m not going to argue about it. I’m going back to town and take up this matter with Jefferson. He gave me to understand that he wanted to sell the island, but he wants too much money for it. That’s why I came out here to look the place over.”
“You seem to come out quite often,” remarked Frank. “Well, you’ll find us in charge here from now on. Any time you can bring us a note signed by Mr. Jefferson, stating that you have permission to visit the place, we’ll let you in. Just now, though, I think you’d better clear out.”
Hanleigh clenched his fists, glared at the boys for a moment, and then turned on his heel. Without another word, he went away. The boys followed him around the side of the cabin and watched him as he strode heavily down the slope, muttering to himself.
“We’ll see that he does go away,” declared Frank.
The boys followed.
Near the edge of the cliff they saw Hanleigh turn and look back. He seemed surprised to find that they had followed him. Then, evidently deciding that further opposition was useless, he went on down the path that led toward the boathouse at the base of the cliff.
The boys stood watching until he reached the boathouse, and they watched until he emerged again with Tad Carson and Ike Nash. The trio stood looking up for a moment, and Hanleigh shook his fist in their direction.
“Merry Christmas!” shouted Chet.
If Hanleigh heard the greeting, he did not return it in kind.
The interlopers went on down the shore toward the place where they had left their ice-boat. They vanished around the bend. After a while, the boys saw the ice-boat emerge into the open bay and recede swiftly in the direction of Bayport.
“That’s that!” exclaimed Biff cheerfully.
“He didn’t have a leg to stand on, did he?” added Chet.
“I don’t think we’re through with Hanleigh yet,” said Frank thoughtfully. “He isn’t the sort to back down so easily at the first sign of fight. I have an idea that we’ll see him on Cabin Island again before very long.”
“Let him come,” said Chet. “We have the authority. All he has is nerve. Let’s put the ice-boats up in the bay and get our stuff unloaded.”
The boys turned and went back toward their ice-boats.
“Just the same,” muttered Joe, “I’d like to know what he was up to, measuring that fireplace so carefully.”
Joe’s thought was echoed in the minds of all. There was some mystery about Hanleigh’s visits to Cabin Island.
CHAPTER IXNight on Cabin Island
Ittook the boys the greater part of the day installing themselves in the cabin on the island and “getting everything shipshape,” as Chet expressed it, by nightfall. After they had made the boats secure they were obliged to make numerous trips from the shore to the cabin, bringing up supplies, but by the time the early winter twilight fell they had managed to make the place very cosy and habitable.
They were too busy to discuss the strange affair of Hanleigh. Mid-afternoon had brought a rising wind that sent sheets of snow scurrying across the frozen surface of Barmet Bay and they saw that a storm was approaching, which made them more anxious to get settled by night.
They drew lots for the position of cook, the agreement being that each boy should alternate, a day at a time. Chet, to his relief, won the first appointment. As he did not relish the business of tramping back and forth to the ice-boats in the snow, the arrangement was to his entire satisfaction and he was soon busying himself at the warm stove endeavoring to prepare a savory stew for their evening meal.
“Looks like a dirty night,” commented Frank, as he gazed out over the bay. “I’m glad we’ll be all snug and settled.”
Blankets had been brought up, the beds had been made, the cupboard had been stocked and the main food supplies had been stored in a little room just off the kitchen. The lamps had been filled with oil, and Biff had even tacked a few highly colored pictures on the walls, “to take away the bare look of the place.”
By nightfall one would have thought the adventurers had been living in the cabin for months.
The rising wind soon became a storm. As darkness fell, the snow began beating against the cabin windows and the gale howled down the great chimney. The boys had decided against using the fireplace for cooking purposes, the kitchen stove being more adaptable, but a roaring fire had been built and it cast a ruddy glow throughout the main room of the cabin.
Chet, with an apron tied about his corpulent waist, emerged from the kitchen from time to time, reporting the supper as “nearly ready,” and each announcement was greeted with groans, for the fragrant odors were whetting the boys’ appetites. At last, however, the table was laid, the steaming plates of stew were brought forth, and the boys fell to. Second helpings were in order, for the stew was excellent and the lads were hungry. Bread and butter, canned peas and corn, an immense mince pie and tin cups of hot coffee went the way of the stew, and in due time the boys sat back, sighing that they could not manage another bite.
Chet beamed with satisfaction when the others complimented him on the meal. The boys sat about the table for a while, laying plans for the forthcoming week, and then they washed the dishes. After that, they explored the rambling old cabin and finally sprawled on rugs before the roaring fire.
“Listen to that wind!” exclaimed Joe. “It sure makes me glad to be indoors by a warm blaze.”
“With a full stomach,” amended Chet.
“Youwouldthink of that.”
“The place wouldn’t seem half as cosy without that fireplace,” said Biff.
Frank regarded the great stone chimney.
“It certainly is a whopper. I wonder what Hanleigh was so interested in it for.”
“Let’s forget about Hanleigh,” said Chet. “He won’t bother us any more.”
“Let’s hope not. But, just the same, I’d like to know why he was making all those measurements.”
“If he comes back, we’ll heave him into a snowdrift and teach him a lesson,” suggested Biff. “We won’t let him spoil our holiday.”
Outside, the storm had become a blizzard. Joe went to the window. He could see nothing but driving snow, and the wind was howling down upon the island. The cabin, staunchly built, scarcely trembled before the impact of the winter gale. The activities of the day had left the boys tired and they decided to go to bed early.
In due time, after much scuffling about and after Biff had chastised Chet for trying to hide his socks in the woodpile, the boys retired for the night and blew out the lamps. The fire glowed red and the night wind howled down the chimney. Under the heavy blankets, the lads were warm and comfortable.
Silence descended upon the cabin.
The boys were just snuggling down to sleep when a terrifying sound rose above the clamor of the wind.
“Owoooooo!”
It was like the wail of some anguished spirit.
With one accord, the boys felt their hair rising upon their scalps. No one said a word. The dreadful wail died away, then broke out again.
“Owoooooo!”
Then came Chet’s voice, from between chattering teeth.
“Wh—wh—what was that?”
“Some of you chaps playing a joke on us?” demanded Frank suspiciously.
“N-not m-me,” declared Chet.
“Me neither,” said Joe.
“It wasn’t me,” Biff clamored.
Just then the sound broke out afresh.
“Owoooooo!”
It was a long-drawn-out, moaning sound that rose in volume to a veritable shriek, indescribably terrifying.
“Ghosts!” clamored Chet.
“There aren’t any such things!” snorted Joe. “It must be the wind.”
“You n-never heard the w-wind make a n-noise like that before, d-did you?” stammered Chet.
The other boys were forced to admit that they never had. The sound had a quality that was almost human. Besides, they had been listening to the howling of the wind all evening and at no time had it approached that mournful wail they had just heard.
“Maybe somebody is lost out in the snow and crying for help,” suggested Biff.
“How could anybody get out to this island on a night like this?”
“Wait till we hear it again.”
They listened. For a long time they did not hear the mysterious sound. Then, with a suddenness that made them all jump convulsively, the wailing was resumed.
“Owoooooo!”
This time, the noise lasted a good ten seconds, rising to a shriek of terror, then dying away to a dismal moaning.
“It’s right in this cabin!” Chet said, in a muffled voice which indicated that he had hidden his head beneath the blankets. “It’s ghosts—I know it.”
“Ghosts, my foot!” exclaimed Frank, scrambling out of bed. “I’m going to find out what is making that racket.”
“Be careful,” warned Joe nervously.
“I’ll help you,” declared Biff. He, too, got out of bed, and then there was a yelp of pain, followed by a crash.
“Ow!” yelled Biff.
“What happened?” demanded the others in chorus.
“I barged into a chair. Stubbed my big toe. Ow!”
This relieved the tension a trifle. The others snickered at Biff’s predicament. Frank lit the lamp and in its glow the boys were revealed, shivering in their pajamas. Chet’s round face peeped out above a heap of blankets.
“Owoooooo!”
The dreadful sound broke out again. Chet dived beneath the blankets.
“That’s the queerest howl I ever heard,” declared Biff, rubbing his injured toe. “It certainly isn’t the wind.”
“It certainly isn’t a human being,” said Frank.
“It can’t be a dog,” volunteered Joe.
“Nor a cat.”
“Then what is it?”
“Ghosts!” bellowed Chet, from beneath the blankets. “Put out that lamp.”
Frank, however, raised the lamp on high and began to prowl about the cabin.
“The noise seemed to come from over this way,” he said, moving toward one of the big windows near the front.
Even as he spoke, the sound broke out afresh, immediately above his head.
Frank looked up. He could see nothing, yet that mournful wailing continued, and at last died away again.
“There’s certainly nothing up there,” he announced, peering into the shadows.
“There must be!” exclaimed Biff, close at his heels.
“Hold the lamp. I’ll soon find out.”
Biff took the lamp, and Frank dragged a chair over to the wall. He stood on the chair and began examining the surface of the logs. At last, just when the sound broke out again, he gave vent to a howl of laughter.
“I’ve found it!”
“What was it?”
Biff raised the lamp.
“Here’s your ghost. Come and see it, Chet. A glass ghost.”
Frank was pointing to an object embedded between two logs. Chet, his fears laid at rest, emerged from beneath the blankets and came over.
There was a small hole between the logs where the plaster had fallen away. Some one, for some unknown reason, had placed the neck of a bottle in this hole in order to plug it up. On the floor below lay the cork, which had somehow worked its way loose from the bottle neck. The wind, whistling through the glass tube, had created the doleful, fearful sounds the boys had heard.
“Ghosts!” said Frank significantly, as he stepped down, picked up the cork and replaced it in the neck of the bottle.
“I didn’treallythink it was a ghost,” murmured Chet lamely.
Then the boys began to laugh. Although they had refused to admit it, all had been puzzled and more or less frightened by the uncanny wailings, and their relief was now expended in shrieks of laughter at their own expense. But the brave Chet, who had even refused to search for the cause of the sound, came in for his full share of ridicule.
The ghost was not heard again that night. But it was another hour before the boys finally fell asleep, snickering to themselves.