048-The Arctic Patrol Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T14:26:14+00:00

"So," he said, after shaking hands and offering the boys two chairs, "you are American detectives!"

"Yes," said Joe. "I know we're still young, but-"

"Not at all," the captain replied. "Our best men in the coast guard are young fellows like you. We start them at fifteen, and by the time they are eighteen or nineteen, believe me, they are excellent seamen. Your father is a world-famous detective and I gather he has trained you well in his profession."

Frank and Joe felt much at home in the presence of Captain Sigtryggsson. "You have a very fine niece in Steina," said Frank, returning the compliment.

"That's what the boys tell me," the captain 90 The Arctic Patrol Mystery said with a smile. "]a, ja. Now tell me, what is your question?"

"We wish to speak to a man named Rex Hallbjornsson," Frank began. "He may be Rex Mar, sailing on the trawler Svartfugel."

"I think I can help you," the captain said. He rose from his chair and went to a map hanging on the wall. "The Svartfugel is probably fishing in waters near Snaefellsjokull."

"The glacier?" asked Joe.

"Ja. Right here. Perhaps ten miles offshore. We will send you up there."

The boys were thunderstruck. "Really?" asked Joe. "How?"

"On the Thor. Are you good seamen?"

"Pretty good," Frank replied.

The Icelander walked over to the model of a ship sitting on a table beside the boys.

"This is the Thor," he explained. "You know, we don't have a large navy, but it is a good one." He said that the Thor was setting out the next day on a fourteen-day tour of duty in Icelandic waters.

"Your Arctic Patrol-isn't that what you call it?" Frank remarked.

The captain nodded and continued. "Naturally, I don't think it will take fourteen days to find the Svartfugel."

"Then how'll we get back?" Joe asked.

"We'll arrange that later. Perhaps on the The Arctic Patrol 91

Albert. It is a smaller boat on its way back to Keflavik from a two-week tour." The captain sat down at his desk again and looked straight at the boys. "You are working on the McGeorge case, too!"

Frank and Joe were startled. "Yes. It's top secret," Frank managed to reply.

"Of course. It is most unusual to have civilians involved. But perhaps you can be of help."

"We already have a clue," Frank said, and told about the leather glove. "It matches a similar one we got at the base in Keflavik." He explained how they had found it, and when.

"Excellent. But Major McGeorge disappeared earlier than that. We searched the area of the sulfur pit."

"Perhaps he came back," Frank offered. "Maybe his captors threatened to throw him in if he didn't tell his NASA secrets."

"A good possibility," the captain admitted. "We'll look into this."

The boys rose and thanked him, promising to be at his office at two o'clock the next afternoon.

"Captain Carl Magnusson, the skipper of the Thor, will be here to meet you," their host said as he ushered the Hardys to the door.

When they returned to their hotel, they found Chet and Biff brimming with excitement.

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