CHAPTER XXVElroy Jefferson Is Pleased
Thestorm died down early that afternoon, and the chums left the island and set out for Bayport, with the injured Hanleigh wrapped in blankets on one of the ice-boats. Hanleigh was completely beaten. When he got back to Bayport he managed to make his way to the railway station, caught the first train, and was never seen in the city again. It was fortunate for him that he left when he did. The Hardy boys made no report to the police, so he had nothing to fear from that quarter, but Tad Carson and Ike Nash, wrathful at the loss of their boat, were anxious to find their erstwhile employer.
The four chums went up to the Jefferson home together. They found Mr. Jefferson in the library, reading. He greeted them kindly.
“Well, boys,” he said, “what brings you back from Cabin Island so soon? Haven’t you been enjoying yourselves!”
“We’ve had a fine time, sir,” said Frank, who acted as spokesman. “We came back because we found something there that might interest you.”
“Something that might interest me?” asked Mr. Jefferson, puzzled. “I can’t imagine what on earth it can be. Sit down and tell me all about it.”
Frank produced the rosewood box.
“Do you recognize this, sir?”
Elroy Jefferson gazed at the box incredulously.
“My stamps!” he exclaimed. “My precious stamp collection!”
With trembling hands, he seized the box and opened it. When he saw that the stamps were undamaged, and exactly as he had last seen them, his joy knew no bounds.
“Tell me!” he demanded, in excitement. “Tell me where you found them? On the island?”
“We found them on Cabin Island,” replied Frank, “hidden in the old chimney, among the stones. They have been there for years.”
Elroy Jefferson was amazed.
“But how did you learn they were there? I never suspected for a moment. Why, I had given them up for lost. You can’t imagine what this means to me, boys. That stamp collection is priceless. It was one of the tragedies of my life when the rosewood box was stolen.”
Then the boys told him the full story of their adventures on Cabin Island, beginning with their first encounter with Hanleigh and concluding with their discovery of the rosewood box after the chimney had been wrecked by the storm.
“I’m afraid the cabin is in a bit of a mess,” said Frank; “but I don’t think we’d have found the stamps at all if things had not happened the way they did.”
“I am of course sorry about the cabin,” said Mr. Jefferson. “But these stamps mean more to me than that. The cabin can be fixed up for a few dollars. So that was why Hanleigh was so anxious to buy the place! The rascal! John Sparewell’s nephew! I always knew Sparewell had stolen the rosewood box but I never dreamed he had hidden it so near at hand.”
The old gentleman’s gratification was inspiring. The boys had known that he would be pleased at the return of his treasured stamp collection but they had not expected that it would give him the degree of pleasure which it evidently did. He gazed at the stamps constantly, held them up to the light, admired them, patted the boys on the back, and finally sat down at his desk.
“I can’t do very much to express my appreciation,” he said, “but I want you boys to accept a little reward. I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to get my collection back. I even engaged professional detectives, who failed. If any one ever has need of a detective I’ll certainly recommend the Hardy boys to him.”
Frank laughed.
“We’re not professionals, sir,” he said. “We like tackling a good mystery, though.”
“And you tackle them successfully. First, my automobile. Now, my stamps. Very few lads would have made good use of the slim clues you had.”
He drew out his check book and wrote busily for a few minutes.
“As for a reward,” put in Joe, “we didn’t expect anything, Mr. Jefferson. It was fun. And, anyway, you’ve been awfully good to us, letting us have the cabin for our outing——”
“Nonsense!”
Mr. Jefferson swung around in his chair. He gave each of the Hardy boys a check. Then he wrote again for a few minutes and made a similar present to Biff and Chet.
“But this is for two hundred dollars!” exclaimed Frank, in amazement, as he looked at his check.
“And so is mine,” said Joe.
“What of it?” said Mr. Jefferson. “My stamp collection is worth much more than that.”
“But,” stammered Chet, “I didn’t do anything. The Hardy boys deserve any rewards you care to give them, but Biff and I didn’t do much. A hundred dollars, Mr. Jefferson—why, I can’t take it!”
“Neither can I,” added Biff, although he looked longingly at the check Mr. Jefferson had given him. “The Hardy boys deserve all the credit.”
Mr. Jefferson quietly waved their objections aside.
“I realize they deserve most of the credit,” he said, “because they did the detective work. But you lads helped a lot, too——”
“They certainly did!” Joe interpolated, with great earnestness.
“So you mustn’t spoil my pleasure in having my stamps back by refusing what little reward I can give you.”
“Gee!” said Chet, in delight. “I can do a lot of things with a hundred dollars! Isn’t it great!”
“Furthermore,” continued Elroy Jefferson, “I want you boys to understand that Cabin Island is at your disposal at any time. I’ll have the cabin fixed up immediately and if you care to go there at any other time during the winter, you are welcome. And I imagine it will be a pleasant place for a vacation outing next summer. From now on, you may consider the cabin as your own. I never use the place, and it will give me a great deal of pleasure if I know good use is being made of it.”
Biff forgot himself.
“Hurrah!” he yelled. “Hurrah! You’re a prince, Mr. Jefferson!”
The old gentleman beamed with pleasure.
“I can’t think of any one I would rather have as my guests on Cabin Island,” he said, “than the Hardy boys and their chums.”
The End
TRANSCRIBER NOTES
Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple spellings occur, majority use has been employed.
Punctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors occur.