Hardy Boys Mysteries - 016 A Figure In Hiding by Franklin W. Dixon

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

CHAPTER XIV

A JOURNEY BY AIR

the battle was short and fierce. Grafton was a big, well-built man, but the Hardys were young and strong. The bogus doctor fought his way across the threshold and onto the walk; but Frank grabbed him by the waist and flung him to the ground. The two boys would have overwhelmed the man, had not Grafton suddenly wrenched a shiny object from his pocket.

“Look out, Frank!” yelled Joe. “He’s pulling a gun!”

Joe lunged at the weapon, but missed. At the same instant Grafton snapped the trigger.

But there was no spurt of flame, no loud report! Instead, a thin stream of pungent liquid shot from the nozzle of the weapon. The next moment Joe was gasping and choking for breath. His nostrils tingled and tears filled his smarting eyes. A strong odor of ammonia filled the air.

Frank got a whiff of the vapor, and he, too, began to cough and gag. The boys, struggling

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A Journey by Air 115

for breath, fell back, almost blinded by the irritating gas.

Grafton scrambled to his feet. Frank made a grab for the man’s leg but could scarcely see what he was doing. The next moment the doctor was running down the street.

Some time elapsed before Frank and Joe recovered from the effects of the ammonia. When they did so, Grafton was out of sight. Moreover, neither of the boys had noticed a slim lad dart out from between two houses and fall into step behind the man as he rounded the corner.

“A fine pair of detectives we are!” grumbled Frank, dabbing at his reddened eyes with a handkerchief. “We let that scoundrel get clear away.”

“I was prepared for almost anything but a gas attack,” coughed Joe. “I couldn’t see at all when that ammonia got in my eyes.”

“And Grafton has escaped with the five hundred dollars!”

“He won’t get far,” Joe said confidently. “Dad will make sure that he is picked up.”

The boys returned to the house and hurried to Mr. Zatta’s room. The old man was getting dressed. He seemed disappointed that Fenton Hardy had been right in branding Grafton a crook.

“I was hoping that your father might have

116 A Figure in Hiding

been wrong, and that the man could do something for my eyes after all,” he quavered, “but he didn’t even try to operate. He’s a crook, all right.”

“Just as well he didn’t touch you,” said Frank. “He might have destroyed what little eyesight you have.”

The Hardy boys told Mr. Zatta about their struggle with Grafton in the doorway and of the fake doctor’s escape after he had used the ammonia gun. While they were talking they heard a sharp knock at the door. Joe hastened to answer it.

Fenton Hardy stepped into the house. “What happened?” he asked quickly of his sons.

“He got away,” Joe confessed regretfully. “He didn’t try to operate at all, though he insisted on being paid before he saw Mr. Zatta. We had a fight with him but he pulled out an ammonia gun–—”

“Did he get away with the money?”

“Yes.

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