FRANK'S SECRET DISCLOSED
When Ned had finished reading the advertisement in the newspaper which
Frank dropped that afternoon as he was leaving camp, the three chums
looked at one another, vaguely wondering what it meant.
"Do you suppose he's gone to get that place?" asked Fenn.
"I think so," Ned replied.
"But why would he want to do that?" asked Bart.
"I have a theory that Frank is much interested in the subject of
insanity," Ned went on.
"You told us that before," interrupted Fenn. "What about it?"
"Well, I did think, at one time since all this queer business came up,
that Frank's mind might be affected. Now I think he may be interested in
someone who has gone insane. He certainly has some queer secret, and it's
getting more and more of a trouble to him. Why, this is the third time
he has run away from us!"
"It's only the second," interposed Bart.
"It's the third," insisted Ned, and he told of the time he suspected
Frank had taken the canoe and remained away all night.
"Do you suppose he went to the sanitarium each time?" asked Fenn.
"I believe so," Ned replied. "That's what makes me think that someone is
there in whom Frank is much interested. Now comes this advertisement. The
paper is only a few days old, as you can see by the date. I believe Frank
has gone to see if he can't get this position. Perhaps he wants to help
someone, and this is the only way he can do it."
"It looks reasonable," admitted Bart. "What can we do?"
"I don't see that we can do anything," spoke Ned, "If Frank is there he
certainly will not want us coming around, and, perhaps, give his plans
away. On the other hand we are not sure he is there. We don't even know
where the sanitarium is, but I suppose we could easily find out from Mr.
Armstrong. Frank got the paper there, I guess."
"Maybe the telephone line runs to the sanitarium," suggested Fenn.
"That's it! I believe you're right!" exclaimed Ned. "I never thought of
that. Why, it was by following the line that we met Frank before. Let's
follow it again, and perhaps we shall come to the insane asylum."
"And suppose we do?" asked Bart.
"Well, we'll know where it is," Ned went on. "That's something. We may
not see Frank, but perhaps we can find out if he is there. It's worth
trying. I can't sit still and do nothing."
They started to follow the telephone line the next day. They found it did
lead to the sanitarium but not wishing to show themselves near the
building, they did not approach closely. They remained hiding in the
woods, hoping they might catch a glimpse of their chum, but he did not
show himself.
"I guess the only thing for us to do is to return to camp," suggested
Bart. "We'll have to wait until Frank comes away and tells us what he has
been doing."
Rather sorrowfully, they went back to camp. The two days that followed
were lonesome ones. None of the three felt like doing anything. They did
not fish, and even the canoe had lost its charm. They sat around under
the trees, and, for the twentieth time, talked over the situation in
regard to their missing comrade.
"It looks as if the Darewell Chums would number three instead of four,
after this," said Fenn rather mournfully, on the morning of the third day
of Frank's absence.
"Don't be a calamity howler!" exclaimed Ned. "Frank will come back to us.
The chums can't be separated."
"I hope that's true," put in Bart, from where he was sitting under a
tree, smoothing one of the canoe paddles. "All our fun will be spoiled if
we have to break up the quartette.
"Hark! What's that?" asked Fenn, sitting up suddenly.
They all listened. There was the sound of someone approaching through
the bushes.
"Cow, I guess," said Bart.
"It's Frank!" cried Ned, jumping to his feet, and, the next instant Frank
was in the midst of his chums. He looked worn and tired, and his clothes
were covered with mud and water.
"Where in the world have you been? What has happened to you?" cried Bart.
"I got in the swamp trying to take a short cut," Frank explained. "I'm
clean beat out. Have you got any coffee?"
"Make you some in a jiffy," said Fenn, throwing some light wood on the
smouldering fire.
"I suppose you're surprised to see me?" asked Frank to his companions.
"There's no use saying we aren't," spoke Ned.
"And I guess you were surprised to find me gone?"
"Right again. But we guessed where you were."
"How?"
Ned showed the paper with the advertisement in it.
"I wondered where I had lost that," Frank said. "Well, boys, I'm going to
tell you my secret."
"Have some coffee before you begin," suggested Fenn, as he handed Frank a
steaming cupful. "It's only warmed up, but it's good."
The exhausted boy drank it, and ate some bread. Then having changed some
of his muddy clothes for garments loaned him by his chums, Frank began:
"You guessed rightly, I did go to the sanitarium, and I got the position.
But I don't believe any of you can guess why."
"Was it to get experience about crazy persons?" asked Ned.
"I went there to plan to rescue my father," said Frank, quietly.
The announcement was so startling that the three chums could only look at
one another. Then they glanced back at Frank to see if he was in earnest.
Ned, for a moment, had an idea that his original theory was right, and
that Frank's mind was affected. But one look at the boy showed that,
though he labored under the stress of excitement, he knew what he was
talking about.
"Your father!" exclaimed Bart. "I thought he was--"
"You thought he was dead; so did I," Frank broke in. "That is, until
recently. It's a long story, and I haven't got it all straight in my mind
yet. One thing I am sure of is that my father is detained in that asylum
against his will, and I am going to rescue him!"
"And we'll help you!" exclaimed Ned.
"That's what we will," chimed in Bart and Fenn.
"I may need your aid," Frank went on. "Now let me tell you what I know,
and how I found it out. Do you remember that special delivery letter I
got when we were in swimming that day? The one John Newton brought me?"
The chums had no difficulty in recollecting the scene. They recalled it
perfectly. It was from then that Frank's manner began to change.
"Well," Frank went on, "that letter gave me the first clue. It was from a
firm of lawyers, Wright & Johnson, of New York. They said they were
trustees for some property that was owned by a man named Roscoe and that
they could not find him or his heirs. They wrote to me, asking if, by any
chance, I might be interested in it. I did not want to say anything to
you boys, for I could not tell how it would turn out. I went to Judge
Benton with the letter, and he wrote me one to send to the lawyers. But I
did not hear from them again for a long time, and I felt that there had
been a mistake made.
"Later on I got another letter from them. They said they had been
investigating and had learned that James Roscoe, the name of the man who
owned the property, had been heard from, but that he was insane, and was
in the custody of some unscrupulous men, who were not treating him
properly. The law firm said they understood that Mr. Roscoe was not
altogether insane, but that his mind was affected by the treatment he
received at the hands of the men. With proper care he might recover,
they said.
"At that time I did not know he was my father, or that he was any near
relative of mine. I had always lived with my uncle and I never knew my
father or my mother."
For a little while Frank's emotion overcame him. Then he resumed:
"I had some correspondence with Wright & Johnson and they tried to locate
Mr. Roscoe. They found out where he was, but just as they were about to
aid him the asylum was moved away.
"They tried to get on the track of the man who was in charge of it. Then
they sent me a lot of papers and photographs connected with the case and
I learned that James Roscoe was my father. He was an explorer, and soon
after I was born he went on an expedition. He was captured and held
prisoner by some savage natives for a number of years. Word came that he
had been murdered and the shock of it killed my mother. I was taken to
the home of my uncle, Mr. Dent, where I have lived ever since."
"But why didn't you go to your uncle and get him to help you?" asked Ned.
"I didn't think of it until too late," Frank replied. "The day I found
out that James Roscoe was my father I went home to tell my uncle all
about it and to ask his help. When I got there I heard someone talking to
him. I listened and I found out they were conversing about my father.
From what they said I knew he was still in a sanitarium, and when I heard
my uncle agree with the man that he had better stay there I knew my uncle
was in league with the plotters."
"Are you sure of that?" asked Bart. "Mr. Dent doesn't seem like that kind
of a man."
"I am sure enough," replied Frank bitterly. "Well, I followed the man
until he heard me after him, and told me to go back. Then I went to
my uncle's house. I said nothing of my suspicions, but I resolved to
find out all I could. Finally I found the man who had been talking to
my uncle."
"Who was it?" asked Fenn.
"Hardman, the man you took to the woods. He is Dr. Hardman, in charge of
the sanitarium where my father is held a prisoner."
"Are you sure of this?" asked Ned.
"Positive. I have not finished yet. When I saw Dr. Hardman in the woods
that day you were with him, and noted that he ran away from me, I
thought I was on the right track. He recognized me, it seems, and that's
why he ran. Then I made inquiries and I learned there was an asylum, a
new one, somewhere in this direction. Few persons have heard anything
about it, as, though it is a legal institution, the proprietor does not
want too much known about it.
"When we came camping here I decided to keep on trying to solve the
mystery. I wanted to see my father and have a talk with him. I ran away
from you, as you know, and I saw the patients at the sanitarium taking
exercise. I recognized my father as one, for, though I had never seen him
since I had grown up, I knew it was him from the picture the lawyers
sent. He had not changed much, except that he was older. It appears he
escaped from the cannibals and came to this country. But a fever had
slightly affected his head, and he went to a sanitarium for treatment.
There he got under the control of some evil men, who used him for their
own ends. I do not yet understand it all, save there is some property
involved. But I am going to solve the secret. I know where my father is,
and the rest is comparatively easy."
Frank told how he had had several interviews with his father, who, after
some difficulty, recognized his son. The two had planned the escape from
the asylum.
"One thing I can't understand though," Frank went on, "is how he appears
sane at times, and again is like a violent maniac and does not know me. I
am afraid of this. I am sure my father's mind is sound and good, and the
only way I can account for it is that they must do something to him at
times, to make him violent. It is to their interest to make him
altogether insane, so they can control the property."
"How do you account for those men I heard talking in the building the
time I was captured by the Upside Down Club?" asked Ned.
"I don't know who they were," Frank admitted, "but I am sure they were in
the plot. They were probably planning some details or they may have been
in Darewell to see my uncle. I believe he's in the plot."
"There's where I don't agree with you," said Bart. "Mr. Dent may seem to
be playing into the hands of the men, but I think you will find he has
been fooled by them. In fact, they admitted as much, according to what
Ned overheard."
"I hope so, but I will not trust him until I have my father safe,"
Frank went on.
He then related how Mr. Roscoe had told of his detention in the asylum,
his despair at never seeing his son again, of how he had heard of his
wife's death, and of his desire to escape.
"And what are you going to do now?" asked Bart, when Frank had finished.
"I am going to rescue my father!"
"Then count us in!" exclaimed Ned.