Hardy Boys Mystery Series by 23

Author:23 [23]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2010-08-22T23:30:37.907000+00:00

CHAPTER XV

THE HIDDEN PIT

fbank, Joe, and Mr. Morton crowded around Chet to see what had happened.

"Did you find the treasure?" his father asked eagerly.

"I've found something," puffed his stout eon, reaching into the hole he had dug.

Eed in the face, and with teeth clenched, the youth at last succeeded in unearthing what

he had been struggling for. At first glance one might have mistaken it for a box, but it proved

to be only a stone, rust in color and nearly square in shape.

"Aw gee, I thought I had the treasure," groaned Chet, wiping perspiration from his

forehead. "I guess we aren't digging in the right place."

"You mustn't get discouraged so easily," advised his father.

But after an hour of hard work under the hot sun, even Mr. Morton began to reconcile

himself to disappointment and defeat. They had discovered nothing.

"Maybe we're in the wrong field," suggested Frank hopefully. "Perhaps the boulder

mentioned in the letter is in another place."

117

118 The Melted Coins

"The course of the brook may have changed since the directions were written," added

Joe.

Mr. Morton rested wearily on the handle of his spade and looked around.

'' Maybe I was right the first time in thinking that the letter is a hoax," he said.

Chet held to the opinion that the letter was genuine, and that they merely were looking in

the wrong spot. Then, too, the intruder of a few evenings before might have found the

treasure and removed it.

"You boys will have to carry on alone," said Mr. Morton. "Treasure or no treasure, I have

to get back to my work.''

He took the two old coins from his pocket and handed them to Frank.

"Suppose you show these to your father," he said. Then he wagged a finger at Chet.

"No more secrets from me, young man. If you find anything that looks like a clue to buried

money, I want to know about it right away."

Chet promised faithfully to keep his father informed of everything that happened in the

treasure hunt from then on. After the man had gone up to the farmhouse, the boys began a

search of other fields, but found neither oak trees nor white boulders.

"We don't even know if that letter refers to this farm," said Joe. "It might have been

brought here from some distant place."

"But how about that guy who was digging here one night!" asked Chet. "He must have

The Hidden Pit 119

known about it. Otherwise why would he have knocked me out? He probably was afraid

that I would find the treasure."

"I still think," maintained Frank, "that the fellow who attacked you wasn't concerned with

treasure. He was trying to find some loot he had buried around here somewhere."

"You mean lately?"

"Yes. Something he probably stole in Bayport quite recently."

The Hardy boy had reached into his pocket, and now drew forth a map of Bayport and

its surrounding towns.

"What are you looking for?" asked Joe.

"I have an idea," said Frank. "Suppose that fellow who slugged Chet was the one who

attacked 'Mr. Spanish,' and took coins, paper money, even jewelry from him."

"Yes. What of it? "asked Joe. He did not follow his brother's reasoning.

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