MONTROSE AGAIN
The Hardy boys were not discouraged by this failure. They realized that
it was too much to hope for success in their venture at the first trial
and resolved to lay their trap again.
If their parents were curious as to why they had remained out so late,
they gave no sign of it, and the following night Frank and Joe again
drove out along the Shore Road in their new car. This time they went
to another parking place, not far from the spot where Isaac Fussy's
automobile had been stolen.
Again they turned out the lights, again they crawled into the locker at
the back, and again they remained in hiding, while car after car went
by on the Shore Road.
An hour passed.
"Looks as if we're out of luck again," whispered Joe.
"We'll stay with it a while longer."
Frank switched on his flashlight and glanced at his watch. It was
almost ten o'clock. They heard an automobile roar past at tremendous
speed, and a few moments later there was the heavy rumble of a truck.
"Funny time of night for a truck to be out," Frank remarked.
"That first car was sure breaking all speed laws."
After a long time, Frank again looked at his watch.
"Half-past ten."
"Another evening wasted."
"Are you getting tired?"
"My legs are so cramped I don't think I'll ever be able to walk
straight again."
Joe had inadvertently raised his voice. Suddenly Frank gripped his arm.
"Shh!"
They listened. They heard footsteps coming along the road. The steps
sounded clear and distinct on the hard highway. Then they became soft
and muffled as the pedestrian turned out onto the grassy slope.
"Coming this way," whispered Frank.
Some one approached the roadster cautiously. The boys could hear him
moving around the car. After a moment or so, one of the doors was
opened and some one clambered into the seat.
The boys were breathless with excitement. Was this one of the auto
thieves?
But the intruder made no move to drive the car away. Instead, when he
had snapped the lights on and off, he got out, closed the door behind
him and strode off through the grass.
The first impulse of the two brothers was to clamber out, but they
realized that this would be folly. They remained quiet, as the
footsteps receded into the distance. The man gained the road again and
walked slowly away. Finally, they heard the footsteps no more.
Frank sighed with disappointment.
"I thought sure we had a bite that time," he said.
"It was only a nibble."
When the lads were quite sure their unknown visitor had gone, Frank
raised the lid of the locker and the boys got out.
"I guess it was only some farmer on the way home. He probably just got
into the car out of curiosity."
"He wasn't an auto thief, that's certain, or he would have driven off
with it."
"Not much use staying around any longer."
They got back into the seat. Nothing had been disturbed. Beyond turning
the lights on and off, the stranger had tampered with nothing.
Frank started up the engine, and drove the car back onto the Shore
Road. There was not much room in which to turn around, so he drove on
down the road for about a quarter of a mile until he came to a lane
which offered sufficient space.
Just as he was bringing the car around to head back toward Bayport, the
headlights shone on two figures coming up the road. In the glare, the
men were clearly revealed.
"There's our friend Gus again," remarked Frank quietly.
He was right. There was no mistaking the surly visage of the
ex-farmhand. The man with him was unknown to the boys, but he was no
more prepossessing than his companion. Broad of build, unshaven of
face, he was not the sort of fellow one would care to meet alone on a
dark night.
"Handsome-looking pair," Joe commented.
The car swung out into the road and the two men stepped out into the
ditch, turning their faces away. Frank stepped on the accelerator, and
the roadster shot ahead.
"This seems to be Gus Montrose's beat," he said, when they had driven
beyond hearing distance.
"Wonder what takes him out along here every night."
"Perhaps he was the chap who got into the roadster."
But Frank shook his head.
"That fellow went away in the direction Montrose is coming from," he
pointed out. "And, besides, he was alone."
"That's true, too."
Wondering what brought Montrose and his villainous-looking companion
out the Shore Road on foot at that hour, the Hardy boys drove back into
Bayport.
"Better luck next time," said Frank, cheering up.
"We won't give up yet. Third time's luck, you know."
"Let's hope so. To-morrow night may tell."
They drove back into the city without incident, and when they reached
their home they saw that there was a light in their father's study.
Frank's face lengthened.
"I'll bet we're in for it now. He doesn't often stay up this late."
"He's likely sitting up to lecture us."
They put the car into the garage. The light in the study seemed ominous
just then.
"Well," said Joe, "I guess we might as well go in and face the music.
If the worst comes to the worst we'll tell him just what we were up
to."
They went into the house. It would have been easy for them to have
gained their room by the back stairs, but the boys had too much
principle to dodge any unpleasantness in this manner, so they made a
point of passing by their father's study. The door was open and they
saw Fenton Hardy sitting at his desk.
He was not writing, but was gazing in front of him with a fixed
expression on his face. A telephone was at his elbow.
To their relief, he smiled when he saw them.
"Come in," he invited.
Frank and Joe entered the study.
"Did you catch any auto thieves?" asked their father.
The boys were astonished.
"How did you know we were after auto thieves, Dad?" asked Frank.
"It doesn't take a great deal of perception to find that out," their
father answered. "All these mysterious doings can have only one reason."
"Well, we didn't catch any," Joe admitted.
"I didn't think so. They've been busy to-night."
"Again!"
Fenton Hardy nodded.
"I've just been talking to the secretary of the Automobile Club. He
telephoned me a short time ago. The thieves cut loose in earnest this
evening."
"Did they steal another car?"
"Two. They made off with a new Buick that was parked down on Oak
Street, and then they stole a truck from one of the wholesale
companies."
"Can you beat that!" breathed Joe. "Two more gone!"
"They were taken within a few minutes of each other, evidently. The
reports reached the police station almost at the same time. The truck
mightn't have been missed until morning, but one of the wholesale
company employees was coming home and he recognized it as it was driven
away. He thought it rather suspicious, so he went on up to the company
garage and found the truck had disappeared."
The brothers looked at one another.
"A truck and a pleasure car!" exclaimed Frank. "Why, that must have
been--"
The same thought had struck Joe.
"The two cars that passed us on the Shore Road! What time were they
stolen, Dad?"
"Some time between half-past nine and ten o'clock. Why? Did you see
them?"
"Two cars went out the Shore Road a little before ten o'clock. They
were both going at a fast clip. I remember we remarked at the time
that it was a funny hour of the night for a truck to be out."
"The Shore Road, eh? Did you get a good look at them?"
The boys were embarrassed.
"Well, to tell the truth," said Frank hesitatingly, "we didn't exactly
see them. We heard them."
"Hm! You didn't see them, but you heard them, and you were on the Shore
Road. That's a little mystery in itself," remarked their father, with a
smile.
He reached for the telephone and asked for a number. In a short time
his party answered.
"Hello, Chief. This is Fenton Hardy speaking.... Yes.... I've just had
information that the big car and the truck went out the Shore Road way
a few minutes before ten o'clock.... Yes.... You've made inquiries?...
I see.... That's strange, isn't it?... Yes, my information is quite
reliable.... All right.... Let me know if you hear anything.... Don't
mention it.... Thank you, Chief.... Good-bye."
He put down the telephone.
"I was talking to Chief Collig. He says the three towns at the other
end of the Shore Road were notified immediately after the thefts were
discovered and that they had officers watching the roads from ten
o'clock on."
"And they didn't see the cars?"
Fenton Hardy shook his head.
"Not the slightest trace of either of them."
Frank and Joe looked at one another blankly.
"Well, if that don't beat the Dutch!" Frank exclaimed.
"You're quite sure of the time?"
"Positive. I had just looked at my watch."
"Well," said Fenton Hardy, "since the cars haven't been seen in any of
the other towns and since there aren't any other roads, the Shore Road
must hold the solution. I think I'll do a little prospecting around the
farms out that way to-morrow."
"We've been doing a little prospecting ourselves," admitted Joe, "but
we haven't been very successful so far."
"Keep at it," their father said encouragingly. "And good luck to you
both!"