Hardy Boys Mysteries - 041 The Clue Of The Screeching Owl by Franklin W. Dixon

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

CHAPTER XII

Chefs Ruse

back, at the old car Chet was still asleep, but Mystery greeted Frank and Joe with excited yapping.

“What … ? Who … ?” grunted the fat boy, starting up and blinking. “Are we still in Forestburg?”

While he sat rubbing his eyes, Frank and Joe, grinning, climbed into the front seat of the car.

“Are we in Forestburg?” repeated Joe with mock disgust. “We’ve only been here two hours, that’s all. And listen to this!” He related what the brothers had learned.

Chet was astounded-and also disappointed not to have been there to hear his friends’ discoveries firsthand. Meanwhile, Frank had been poring over a road map. Now he started the car and headed out of town in a westerly direction.

“Say!” Chet exclaimed. “Where are we off to now?”

96

Chet’s Ruse 97

“Riverville,” Frank replied, and explained that Klatch’s Carnival was there. “This back road should get us to the place in half the time the highway would take.”

With an injured look on his broad face, the stout boy sat back and folded his arms. “So you walked out on me. You two just wait. I’ll show you who’s the detective around here!”

“We’ll wait!” Joe chuckled.

Captain Maguire’s old car seemed well suited to the narrow, badly rutted road. Maneuvering carefully to avoid holes, Frank drove past dense woods that lined both sides. Sometimes the road followed a stream, at others it ran along ridges. There were no buildings in this area.

“We must be getting close,” observed Frank, looking at the speedometer. “But what a place to run out of gas!”

No sooner had the youth spoken than the three friends, rounding a turn, came upon a station wagon parked on the left side of the road. The hood pointed skyward. Across each fender leaned a man in blue dungarees, his head almost invisible under the hood as both peered at the motor.

“Let’s see what we can do,” said Frank, pulling over. “We have plenty of time.”

As the boys stepped from their car a huge dog bounded swiftly toward them.

“Oh, oh!” said Chet hastily. “Better stay

98 The Clue of the Screeching Owl

inside, Mystery!” The big dog gave a curious but not unfriendly sniff at Frank’s outstretched hand.

At the same moment one of the men raised up. He was bony and had red hair. “Here, Blue!” he called and turned to greet the boys. “Don’t you fellows worry about Blue. He won’t bother nobody.”

“What’s the trouble?” Frank asked.

“She conked out, somehow,” the man answered with a perplexed grin. “Just won’t go!”

Joe was already peering at the engine. “Mind if we have a look? My brother and I have done a good bit of work on motors.”

“Help yourself,” invited the other man, who wore a loud print shirt. “Got to do something -can’t stay here all morning!”

Somewhat puzzled at the helplessness of the two men, Frank and Joe rolled up their sleeves.

“Got any tools?” Joe asked the man.

“Nope,” the red-haired one answered. “Wouldn’t you just know it?”

“Have much trouble with her?” Frank inquired.

The man scratched his head and grinned.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.