The Secret of the Old Mill (9 page)

When Frank had the
Sleuth
well away from shore and out of the path of other craft on the bay, he pushed the throttle for more speed and steered the boat toward the mouth of the river.

The
Sleuth
responded like a thoroughbred. The stern sat back in the water and in a second it was planing wide open across the bay.

“How do you like this?” Frank called from the cockpit.

“Terrific!” Chet yelled back enthusiastically.

Frank now swung the wheel back and forth to show his friend how stable the boat was. Then he said, “Joe, take the wheel and show Chet your stuff!”

The brothers changed places and Joe made a wide circle to port, with the
Sleuth
heeling beautifully. Then he headed for the river's narrow mouth.

“Better slow down!” Frank warned him.

Obediently Joe began to ease the throttle. The
Sleuth
did not respond! And there was no lessening of the roar of the engine.

Quickly Joe turned the throttle all the way back. Still there was no decrease in speed.

“Something's wrong!” he shouted. “I can't slow her down!”

CHAPTER XI

“WHAT do you mean you can't slow down?” Chet yelled. “Turn off the engine!”

“Joe can't,” Frank said grimly. “He has the throttle to
off
position and we're still traveling at full speed.”

There was no choice for Joe but to swing the
Sleuth
into another wide, sweeping turn. It would have been foolhardy to enter the river at such speed, and Joe knew that under the circumstances he needed lots of room to maneuver. The motorboat zoomed back into the middle of the bay. It seemed to the boys that suddenly there was far more traffic on the bay than there had been before.

“Look out!” Chet yelled. Joe just missed a high-speed runabout.

He turned and twisted to avoid the small pleasure boats. The young pilot was more worried about endangering these people than he was about colliding with the larger vessels, which were commercial craft.

“Keep her as straight as you can!” Frank shouted to Joe. “I'll take a look at the engine and see what I can do with it.”

Frank stood up and leaned forward to open the cowling in front of the dashboard, as the boat leaped across the waves in the bay.

“Watch out!” Chet yelled, as Frank almost lost his balance.

Joe had made a sharp turn to avoid cutting in front of a rowboat containing a man and several children. Joe realized that the wash of the speeding
Sleuth
might upset it.

“If those people are thrown overboard,” he thought, “we'll have to rescue them. But how?” Fortunately, the boat did not overturn.

Frank quickly lifted the cowling from the engine and stepped into the pit. He knew he could open the fuel intake and siphon off the gas into the bay, but this would take too long.

“I'll have to stop the boat-right now!” he decided.

Frank reached down beside the roaring engine and pulled three wires away from the distributor. Instantly the engine died, and Frank stood up just as Joe made another sharp turn to miss hitting a small outboard motorboat that had wandered across their path.

“Good night!” Chet cried out. “That was a close one!”

Even with the
Sleuth's
reduction in speed, the other boat rocked violently back and forth as it was caught in the wash. Frank grasped the gunwale, ready to leap over the side and rescue the man if his boat overturned.

But the smaller craft had been pulled around to face the wash. Though it bounced almost out of the water, the boat quickly resumed an even keel.

The lone man in it kept coming toward the
Sleuth.
As he drew alongside, he began to wave his arms and shout at the boys.

“What's the matter with you young fools?” he yelled. “You shouldn't be allowed to operate a boat until you learn how to run one.”

“We couldn't—” Joe started to say when the man interrupted.

“You should have more respect for other people's safety!”

Frank finally managed to explain. “It was an accident. The throttle was jammed open. I had to pull the wires out of the distributor to stop her.”

By this time the outboard was close enough for its pilot to look over the
Sleuth's
side and into the engine housing where Frank was pointing at the distributor.

The man quickly calmed down. “Sorry, boys,” he said. “There are so many fools running around in high-powered boats these days, without knowing anything about the rules of navigation, I just got good and mad at your performance.”

“I don't blame you, sir,” said Joe. Then he asked, “Do you think you could tow us into the municipal dock so that we can have repairs made?”

“Glad to,” said the man.

At the dock, the Hardys and Chet watched while the serviceman checked the
Sleuth
to find out the cause of the trouble. Presently he looked up at the boys with an odd expression.

“What's the trouble?” Frank asked. “Serious?”

The mechanic's reply startled them. “This is a new motorboat and no doubt was in tiptop shape. But somebody tampered with the throttle!”

“What!” Joe demanded. “Let's see!”

The serviceman pointed out where a cotter pin had been removed from the throttle group. And the tension spring which opened and closed the valve had been replaced with a bar to hold the throttle wide open, once it was pushed there.

The Hardys and Chet exchanged glances which meant: “The unknown enemy again?”

The boys, however, did not mention their suspicions to the mechanic. Frank merely requested him to make the necessary repairs on the
Sleuth.
Then the trio walked back to the Hardys' boathouse.

Several fishermen were standing at a nearby wharf. Frank and Joe asked them if they had seen anyone near the boathouse.

“No,” each one said.

The three boys inspected the boathouse. Frank scrutinized the hasp on the door. “The
Sleuth
must have been tampered with while it was inside. Unless it was done last night while we were unconscious.”

There was no sign of the lock having been forced open, but near the edge of the loose hasp there were faint scratches.

“Look!” Joe pointed. “Somebody tore the whole hasp off the door and then carefully put it back on.”

Frank looked grim. “I'm sure this was done by the same person who attacked us last night, and sent us the warnings.”

“You're right,” said Joe. “This is what Dad would call sinister tactics.”

Again both brothers wondered with which case their enemy was connected. There seemed to be no answer to this tantalizing question which kept coming up again and again.

Chet drove the Queen back to the Hardys', and the brothers rode their motorcycles. When they reached the house they went at once to the lab with the note Chet had found in his car.

They dusted it for fingerprints but were disappointed again. There was not one trace of a print. The boys found, however, that the paper was the same as that used for the previous warnings.

“Well,” said Joe, “I vote we go on out to the mill.”

The boys went in the Queen. Chet had just brought his car to a stop on the dirt road when Joe called out, “There's Ken Blake trimming the grass over by the millrace. Now's our chance to talk to him.”

The three jumped out. Ken looked up, stared for a second, then threw his clippers to the ground. To the boys' surprise, he turned and ran away from them, along the stream.

“Wait!” Frank yelled.

Ken looked over his shoulder, but kept on running. Suddenly he tripped and stumbled. For a moment the boy teetered on the bank of the rushing stream. The next instant he lost his balance and fell headlong into the water!

At once the Hardys and Chet dashed to the water's edge. Horrified, they saw that the force of the water was carrying the boy, obviously a poor swimmer, straight toward the plunging falls!

CHAPTER XII

FRANK, quick as lightning, dashed to the mill-stream and plunged in after Ken Blake. The boy was being pulled relentlessly toward the waterfall. In another moment he would be swept over the brink of the dam!

With strong strokes, Frank swam toward the struggling boy. Reaching out desperately, he managed to grasp Ken's shirt.

Joe jumped in to assist Frank. The two boys were buffeted by the rushing water but between them they managed to drag Ken back from the falls.

“Easy,” Frank cautioned the frightened youth. “Relax. We'll have you out in a jiffy.”

Despite the weight of their clothes, the Hardys, both proficient at lifesaving techniques, soon worked Ken close to the bank. Chet leaned over and helped haul him out of the water. Then Frank and Joe climbed out.

To their relief, Ken, though white-faced and panting from exhaustion, seemed to be all right. The Hardys flopped to the ground to catch their breath.

“That was a whale of a rescue!” Chet praised them.

“You bet!” Ken gasped weakly. “Thanks, fellows! You've saved my life!”

“In a way it was our fault,” Joe replied ruefully. “You wouldn't have fallen in if we hadn't come here. But why
did
you run away when you saw us?”

Ken hesitated before answering. “Mr. Markel —the guard at the gatehouse-said you wanted to talk to me. He warned me about talking to out. siders, because of the strict security at Elekton.”

Joe nodded. “We understand, Ken. But,” he added, “we have something important to ask you, and I don't think you will be going against company rules if you answer. Did anybody use your bike the night before last to deliver a message to our house?”

“Your house?” Ken sounded surprised. “No. At least, not that I know of.”

Joe went on, “Did you buy a pedal in Bridgeport to replace the one missing from your bike?”

Ken again looked surprised. “Yes. It was gone yesterday morning when I came to work. I suspected someone must have used my bike and lost the pedal. When I couldn't find it around here, Mr. Market sent me to Bridgeport to buy a new one.”

It was on the tip of Frank's tongue to ask the boy if he had seen any person in the area of the mill carrying a bow and arrow. But suddenly Mr. Markel and the maintenance man came dashing from the mill.

“What's going on here?” the guard demanded, staring at the Hardys and Ken, who were still dripping wet.

Briefly, Frank told the men what had happened. They thanked the brothers warmly for the rescue, and the maintenance man hustled Ken into the mill for dry clothes. He did not invite the Hardys inside.

Frank and Joe turned to Mr. Markel, intending to question him. But before they could, a horn sounded and a shabby green panel truck approached the plant gate.

The guard hurried over to admit the truck and it entered without stopping. Suddenly Joe grabbed Frank's arm. “Hey! That truck's unmarked—it looks like the one Tony described.”

The brothers peered after the vehicle, but by this time it was far into the grounds, and had turned out of sight behind one of the buildings.

“I wonder,” Joe said excitedly, “if the driver is the man who gave the Pritos the counterfeit bill!”

The boys had noticed only that the driver wore a cap pulled low and sat slouched over the wheel.

“If this truck's the same one, it may be connected with Elekton,” Frank said tersely.

Both Hardys, though uncomfortably wet, decided to stay and see what they could find out. They hailed Mr. Markel as he walked back from the Elekton gate.

“Does that truck belong to Elekton?” Frank asked him.

“No, it doesn't,” the guard answered.

“Do you know who does own it?” asked Joe.

Mr. Markel shook his head regretfully. “Sorry, boys. I'm afraid I'm not allowed to give out such information. Excuse me, I have work to do.” He turned and went back into the gatehouse.

“Come on, fellows,” Chet urged. “You'd better not hang around in those wet clothes.”

The Hardys, however, were determined to stay long enough to question Ken Blake further, if possible.

“He'll probably be coming outside soon,” said Joe. “Frank and I can dry out on the beach by the cave. It won't take long in this hot sun.”

Chet sighed. “Okay. And I know what I'm supposed to do—wait here and watch for Ken.”

Frank chuckled. “You're a mind reader.”

Chet took his post at the edge of the woods, and the Hardys hurried down to the river's edge.

They spread their slacks and shirts on the sun-warmed rocks. In a short while the clothing was dry enough to put on.

“Say, maybe we'll have time to investigate that tunnel before Chet calls us,” Joe suggested eagerly.

He and Frank started for the cave, but a second later Chet came running through the woods toward them.

“Ken came out, but he's gone on an errand,” he reported, and explained that the boy had rushed from the mill dressed in oversize dungarees and a red shirt. “He was riding off on his bike when I caught up to him. I told Ken you wanted to see him, but he said he had to make a fast trip downtown and deliver an envelope to the Parker Building.”

“We'll catch him there,” Frank decided.

The three boys ran up the wooded slope and jumped into the Queen. They kept on the main road to Bayport, hoping to overtake Ken, but they did not pass him.

“He must have taken another route,” Joe said.

At the Parker Building there were no parking spaces available, so Chet stopped his jalopy long enough to drop off Frank and Joe.