CHAPTER V
Plans for a Trip
Vacation time came, as it always does, although the days dragged, and when the last examination was written and the Hardy boys and their chums faced the long summer holidays, the boys had more exciting concerns than the affair of Todham Todd.
Miss Todd had left the Hardy home, after profuse thanks for the hospitality the family had shown her, and had returned to the college town. Mr. Hardy, after spending a day or so there, had gone on to parts unknown and it was assumed that he was following clues that he hoped would lead to the discovery of the missing professor.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Chet, on the first day of the holidays, when a number of the boys were sitting in the barn back of the Hardy home.
"Joe and I were figuring on a motorboat trip," said Frank.
"Good idea," Tony Prito remarked. "Where are you going?"
Frank shrugged.
"No place in particular. We hadn't come to that."
"As long as you gosomewhere, it's all right with you, eh?" suggested Chet.
"That's about the size of it."
"I'd like to go on a motorboat trip myself," said Biff Hooper slowly. "As a matter of fact, I know of a place to go, but I don't know whether we can reach it in a boat."
"Where's that?"
"I was talking to an old sailor the other day in one of the villages down the shore and he was telling me a story about some caves that are said to be down on the main shore. We were talking about buried treasure, and that's how he brought the matter up. He said that there were old rumors of treasure in these caves."
"Treasure!" exclaimed Chet, brightening up. "That's our meat!"
"Of course, I'm not saying there is treasure in these caves. But the old chap said he had heard the story and he thought there might be something in it."
"In the caves, you mean," said the irrepressible Chet.
"Sure! These caves are out on the coast, south from the mouth of Barmet Bay."
"It wouldn't take us very long to go down and look the place over," Frank remarked.
"They're not easy to reach. I'm not sure that we can get to them by motorboat. But I believe there's a road that runs down the coast in that neighborhood and we might be able to get there by land."
"We have the motorbikes," said Joe promptly.
"I'll find out more about it from the old chap and let you know," Biff promised.
"Find out more about the treasure," advised Chet. "Find out if it is in gold or silver and if we have to dig for it, and if there's enough to divide up among the crowd of us."
"So far as treasure is concerned, I don't hold much stock in these stories usually," said Biff. "But this old chap said that a gang of wreckers at one time lived in these caves. They had a pleasant little habit of changing the lights on the buoys along the reefs and wrecking ships. Then they would rob the vessels and store the loot in the caves."
"Good night!" exclaimed Tony. "Regular pirates."
"I'll say they were. Of course, all this was years ago. The gang was wiped out eventually and some of the leaders were hanged, but this old chap I was talking to said that very little of the loot was recovered. Of course, it may have been sold or shipped away, but he believes a lot of it is still hidden in the caves!"
"Hasn't any one ever hunted for it?"
"Oh, yes. But they've never found anything."
"Why should we?" asked Chet.
"Why shouldn't we? And what does it matter if we don't? We might have some fun making the trip."
"I think it's a good idea!" approved Frank Hardy. "We can take the motorcycles, run down there and poke around, and then come back. Of course I don't think we'll find any treasure, but it'll give us some sort of an objective, anyway."
"Suits me," declared Chet. "My motorbike is hereby enlisted. I can take Biff along in the side car."
"And we have our machines," Joe said. "Tony can ride with one of us."
"We ought to have a mighty good trip," said Frank. "How long do you think we should be away, Biff?"
"It will take about a day and a half to reach that part of the coast, for the roads aren't very good, and then it will take another day or so finding these caves. If we want to do any exploring I guess we could stick around for the rest of the summer and still have lots left to do."
"Well, we won't stay for the rest of the summer. But about a week or ten days should give us a good outing."
"That suits me," said Chet. "I have other things to do in the holidays besides crawling around in caves."
It was decided that the lads should inform their parents of the projected trip and make ready immediately. They planned to leave Bayport in two days, as they wanted a day in which to overhaul their motorcycles and get everything in readiness. Tony Prito was dubious about getting permission, as his father had been talking of putting him to work in the wholesale fruit depot for a few weeks during the summer season.
When the Hardy boys went into the house to tell their mother about the trip to the caves, they found that their father had just returned. He was unpacking his bag as they entered the hall.
"Hello, Dad!" they greeted him. "What luck?"
Fenton Hardy shook hands with his sons and returned to the bag.
"What kind of luck do you mean?" he asked.
"In the Todd case? Did you find the professor?"
"No," said the detective, "I didn't find the professor."
"Didn't you get any trace of him at all?"
"I found traces of him, all right. He's still alive, which is the main thing I learned."
"And yet you couldn't find him?" asked Joe.
"I followed him through half a dozen towns and cities, but I must say he is mighty elusive. He was always about three jumps ahead of me."
"He knew you were looking for him?"
"I don't think so. He wasn't running away from me. But he keeps on the move and he jumps around from one place to another without any rhyme or reason, so he was hard to follow. I finally lost track of him."
"That's tough," said Frank. "Where did you lose the trail?"
"At a little place called Claymore, about fifty miles south of here. He had been seen there last week, but he went away and no one knew where I could find him. So I gave up the search and came home."
"Have you dropped the case?"
Fenton Hardy laughed.
"Did you ever hear of me dropping a case before it was cleared up in one way or another?"
"No," admitted Frank. "But I thought you may have considered it a waste of time."
"It was a waste of time to keep following him about and never catching up with him. I decided to try another angle. Oh, we'll pick up Todham Todd yet."
"Joe and I have some information for you. But perhaps you know it already. Miss Todd gave us a few facts about her brother's appearance—"
"I have all that. I have a pretty good description of him, and I managed to get hold of a photograph at the college."
"Did you hear about his shoelaces?" asked Joe, excitedly.
"His shoelaces?"
"Miss Todd said her brother was mighty absent-minded and that quite often he forgot to tie up his shoelaces."
Mr. Hardy was interested.
"I didn't hear that one," he said. "It might be valuable. I'll make a note of it. A clue like that might mean a great deal in a case like this."
"And about 'by jing?'" asked Frank.
"By jing?"
"It's an expression he used. He never swears, but once in a while he says 'by jing!' if he is excited."
"That's something new, too. In all the information I picked up about Todham Todd I didn't hear anything about that expression or about the shoelaces, and they are two of the most important clues I could ask."
The boys were gratified that they had gained this much information for their father's benefit. They knew that although Fenton Hardy had given up the direct search for the missing professor, he would never abandon the case until there was a definite solution one way or the other.
"Have you found why he disappeared from home?" asked Joe.
"I imagine he simply lost his memory," said Mr. Hardy. "At the present time, from what information I could pick up, he has no idea that his real name is Todham Todd. His memory is completely gone and he isn't able to remember anything of his past life. Probably if he met his sister again or some old acquaintance, it might all come back to him. He is wandering around, trying to find out who he is and where he comes from."
"Poor old chap!" said the boys sympathetically.
"He evidently had some money on his person when he disappeared, because he hasn't been in want, and the reason it was so hard to follow him was because he didn't stay in any one town more than a day or so. Just long enough to know that it wasn't his own town and that he could learn nothing about himself there. Then he would go on to the next place. But he'll turn up, I'm sure. I have a number of places being watched, where he's likely to put in an appearance some time, and I'll be notified at once."
"In the meantime," promised Frank, "we'll keep our eyes peeled for him. But we'll not be able to help much for a couple of weeks yet."
"Why?"
"We're going on a motorbike jaunt down the coast to look over some caves."
"Hidden treasure?" asked their father, his eyes twinkling.
"Perhaps."
"I hope you make a million," laughed Mr. Hardy. "I'll try to find Todham Todd before you come back."