Hardy Boys Mysteries - 030 The Wailing Siren Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub

CHAPTER XII

A Strange Pet

THE man was a giant of a woodsman. His face was heavily bearded and his eyes fiercely sharp. Besides the gun, he carried a long whip.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Oh-uh-just looking around,” Frank replied, trying to look innocent. “I’m afraid we’re lost.”

The man eyed the boys sharply, as if he doubted this statement.

“You’re trespassing on private property,” he said sternly.

“Private?” Joe asked.

“Yes. I breed wolves here. This is a dangerous area.”

All the while the animal chained to the door growled and pulled at his leash.

“Quiet, Saber!” the man shouted.

He flicked his whip and the end of it snapped like a rifle shot a scant two inches from the wolfs jaws. The animal retreated and threw itself down across the doorway.

“Why do you keep wolves here?” Joe asked.

“I breed them for zoos. And now I want to give you kids some good advice,” he snapped. “Leave this forest pronto and don’t come back! Do you hear me? Don’t come back!”

Frank was not ready to go quite yet. This man might know some things the Hardys wanted to find out.

“Do you take care of these animals all alone?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh, by the way, we found a valuable rod and reel near our camp down near the river. Do you know who may have left it there?”

“No.”

“Did a plane crash around here recently?” Joe queried.

“No.”

“There’s an old shack off in the woods,” Frank said, pointing to the direction from which they had come.

“Anybody live there?”

“Listen, I ain’t answering any more of your nebby questions,” the woodsman said curtly. “Now clear out of here and don’t let me see you around these parts again!” He cracked his whip. “Get going!”

Joe thrust out his chin in determination. “We’ll go,” he said, “but we don’t intend to be ordered around like your animals!”

The man merely glared as the Hardys retreated into the woods, following the trail over which they had come. When they were out of earshot of the woodsman, they stopped to talk over the situation.

“I sure don’t care for that guy!” Joe said.

“Same here. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw a haystack,” Frank agreed.

“His story about breeding wolves for zoos sounded awfully fishy.”

“Of course. It’s obvious he’s training the wolves to attack people. But why?”

“Probably to scare them out of the woods. The critter that chased me just before I fell into the pit looked an awful lot like Saber,” Joe said.

Suddenly Frank stiffened. “Listen!”

In the distance he had detected the sound of something crashing through the brush.

“Saber!” Joe exclaimed. “The man let him loose!”

“Up a tree!” Frank urged.

The boys raced through the forest until they spotted a couple of fir trees they could climb readily. Leaping to the lowest branches, they pulled themselves up into the trees.

The Hardys were barely a safe distance off the ground when Saber reached them. Snarling and snapping, he pawed at one trunk and then the other. Joe broke off a branch and hurled it down, hitting the wolf on the nose.

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