Suspicious Actions
“Well, I guess that explains why Tad Carson and Ike Nash were heading in
this direction the day Hanleigh ordered us off the island,” Frank Hardy
said, when the boys were out of earshot.
“They were on their way to bring Hanleigh back to town,” agreed Joe.
“He’s been using their ice-boat to get back and forth to Cabin Island.”
“Wonder what’s the big idea,” remarked Chet. “They don’t seem to know
what he’s up to.”
“No, but we will—and mighty soon. We’re responsible for the cabin now,
so it’s up to us to find out what Hanleigh is doing there.”
Biff looked dubious.
“He won’t tell us, you can depend on that. Probably he’ll tell us to
clear out of here.”
“What if he does? We now know he hasn’t any authority. I’ll tell you
what we ought to do, fellows,” said Frank. “We should try and catch our
friend Hanleigh off his guard. If we detour around through the woods, we
can come out at the back of the cabin. He’ll never hear us coming
through the snow. We’ll take a peep through one of the windows and see
what it’s all about.”
“That’s a long way around,” grumbled Chet.
“It won’t take us far out of our way. The snow isn’t very deep. We can
make it easily enough. Come on.”
Under Frank’s leadership, the boys set out into the woods, trudging
through the snow, detouring in order that they would not emerge at the
front of the cabin. At last they were within sight of the little
building. It seemed utterly deserted, but the boys were quite convinced,
from what they had overheard at the boathouse, that Hanleigh was
somewhere in the immediate neighborhood. They advanced cautiously.
At the rear of the cabin was a small window. They made this their
objective. In the light snow their footfalls made no sound.
Frank took the lead. The others stood back for a moment while he went
ahead, pressing close to the cabin wall. When he was at the window, he
peeped in carefully. Frank gazed into the interior of the building for a
short time. Then he turned and beckoned to his companions.
They came forward. Together, the boys looked into the cabin.
The interior design of the building was simple. One long room, with a
huge stone fireplace, ran the length of the cabin. Bedrooms and a
kitchen led off to the side. From the rear window the boys could see
every detail of the main room, and as they now looked they could see a
man standing before the fireplace.
Although the man had his back turned to them, they had little doubt but
that he was Hanleigh. Frank and Joe nudged one another in excitement.
Hanleigh was quite unconscious that he was being watched. He stood
before the fireplace, a long, slender stick in his hand. He stepped
forward, measured a section of the stone chimney, stepped back and
regarded the measured part, got down on his hands and knees and measured
the base. Once in a while he shook his head in disgust and muttered
something that the boys could not overhear.
The boys were puzzled. Why should Hanleigh be measuring the fireplace in
this abandoned cabin?
In their eagerness, they forgot caution and gradually crowded closer and
closer together until all four faces were pressed full against the
windowpane. Had Hanleigh chanced to turn their way he would have seen
them in a moment.
However, the man seemed too greatly occupied. He was concerned just then
with the fireplace and evidently he considered himself quite safe from
observation. Back and forth he went, examining the interior and exterior
of the fireplace and the chimney, measuring it from every possible
angle, even counting the number of stones. He took an envelope from his
pocket and jotted down figures on the back of it.
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind.
The side door of the cabin, through which Hanleigh had evidently
entered, blew wide open.
With a mutter of astonishment, the man swung around. He looked toward
the door.
The Hardy boys and their chums ducked beneath the level of the window
sill. But they were too late.
Hanleigh had seen them. They heard a shout of consternation. Then they
heard heavy footsteps on the cabin floor. The door slammed. Hanleigh
came running around the side of the building.
“Hold your ground!” advised Frank quietly to his companions. “Don’t let
him bluff us.”
Hanleigh, red with wrath, confronted them. He recognized the Hardy boys
at once.
“Spying on me, are you?” he shouted. “I thought I told you boys to stay
away from this island.”
“You told us,” returned Frank coolly.
“Then what do you mean by this?” roared Hanleigh. “What do you mean by
coming back here again? I’ve a good mind to horsewhip the whole crowd of
you. A bunch of meddling youngsters! Now get out of here and stay away.
If I catch you fellows on this island again, I’ll—I’ll——”
“You’ll do nothing, Mr. Hanleigh,” said Frank.
The man looked at them suspiciously.
“How do you know my name?” he demanded.
“It doesn’t matter how we come to know your name. But we’re here to tell
you this, Mr. Hanleigh—you have no right to order us off the island. As
a matter of fact, it works the other way.”
“What?”
“We’re not trespassing. You are. You have no right to be on this island
at all. And you certainly have no right to be in this cabin.”
“Why, you young whippersnapper!” choked Hanleigh. “I’ll show you if I
have any right to be here!”
“You can’t show us. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“None of your business!”
“It _is_ our business.” Frank reached in his pocket and produced the key
to the cabin. “See this key. Mr. Jefferson gave it to us. We’re in
charge of Cabin Island from now on. I’d advise you to clear out unless
you want us to report the matter to Mr. Jefferson. He can very easily
have you prosecuted for trespassing on the island. He told us you had
been given no permission to come here.”
Hanleigh was at a loss for words. This development came as a complete
surprise to him.
“It’s a—a lie!” he gasped finally.
“There’s the key!” piped Chet. “Laugh that off.”
“I don’t believe Jefferson gave you that key at all.”
“Oh, yes, he did. We know more about you than you think, Mr. Hanleigh.
We know you’ve been trying to buy this place and we know Mr. Jefferson
refused your offer. We were at his house the day you offered him eight
thousand dollars for the place and he turned you down. Does that look as
if we don’t know what we’re talking about?”
“What do you know about this place?” demanded Hanleigh.
“Nothing except what we’ve told you,” Frank continued. “We would like to
know, though, just why it is so interesting to you.”
The shot went home. Hanleigh licked his lips nervously, then stared at
the boys in silence for a while before replying:
“It isn’t interesting to me,” he said lamely. “That is—except as a
cabin I’d like to buy.”
“Was that why you were measuring the fireplace so carefully?” put in
Biff dryly.
“I’m not going to argue about it. I’m going back to town and take up
this matter with Jefferson. He gave me to understand that he wanted to
sell the island, but he wants too much money for it. That’s why I came
out here to look the place over.”
“You seem to come out quite often,” remarked Frank. “Well, you’ll find
us in charge here from now on. Any time you can bring us a note signed
by Mr. Jefferson, stating that you have permission to visit the place,
we’ll let you in. Just now, though, I think you’d better clear out.”
Hanleigh clenched his fists, glared at the boys for a moment, and then
turned on his heel. Without another word, he went away. The boys
followed him around the side of the cabin and watched him as he strode
heavily down the slope, muttering to himself.
“We’ll see that he does go away,” declared Frank.
The boys followed.
Near the edge of the cliff they saw Hanleigh turn and look back. He
seemed surprised to find that they had followed him. Then, evidently
deciding that further opposition was useless, he went on down the path
that led toward the boathouse at the base of the cliff.
The boys stood watching until he reached the boathouse, and they watched
until he emerged again with Tad Carson and Ike Nash. The trio stood
looking up for a moment, and Hanleigh shook his fist in their direction.
“Merry Christmas!” shouted Chet.
If Hanleigh heard the greeting, he did not return it in kind.
The interlopers went on down the shore toward the place where they had
left their ice-boat. They vanished around the bend. After a while, the
boys saw the ice-boat emerge into the open bay and recede swiftly in the
direction of Bayport.
“That’s that!” exclaimed Biff cheerfully.
“He didn’t have a leg to stand on, did he?” added Chet.
“I don’t think we’re through with Hanleigh yet,” said Frank
thoughtfully. “He isn’t the sort to back down so easily at the first
sign of fight. I have an idea that we’ll see him on Cabin Island again
before very long.”
“Let him come,” said Chet. “We have the authority. All he has is nerve.
Let’s put the ice-boats up in the bay and get our stuff unloaded.”
The boys turned and went back toward their ice-boats.
“Just the same,” muttered Joe, “I’d like to know what he was up to,
measuring that fireplace so carefully.”
Joe’s thought was echoed in the minds of all. There was some mystery
about Hanleigh’s visits to Cabin Island.