Latest / Hardy Boys: The Shore Road Mystery / 23 - Hardy Boys The Shore Road Mystery by Franklin W Dixon
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: The mystery solved. The capture and subsequent trial of the
- 0:07Speaker 1: automobile thieves provided Bayport with one of its biggest sensations
- 0:11Speaker 1: in many a day. Although some of the gangs stubbornly
- 0:14Speaker 1: insisted on their innocence, the evidence against them was so
- 0:17Speaker 1: complete that the state had no trouble in securing prosecutions
- 0:21Speaker 1: against them all, and they were sentenced to long terms
- 0:23Speaker 1: of imprisonment in the state penitentiary. The man Clancy was
- 0:29Speaker 1: arrested in Atlantic City and was convicted with the rest
- 0:32Speaker 1: of the gang on charges of receiving and disposing of
- 0:35Speaker 1: stolen property. The Bayport police notified Atlantic City detectives, and
- 0:41Speaker 1: Clancy's arrest was accomplished within an hour after the other
- 0:44Speaker 1: members of the gang were launched in the cells. Gus
- 0:48Speaker 1: mount Rose was questioned by detectives shortly after the triumphant
- 0:52Speaker 1: procession reached the city. This was done at the request
- 0:55Speaker 1: of mister Dodd, who was anxious that he and Jack
- 0:58Speaker 1: should be cleared of all suspicion in connection with the
- 1:00Speaker 1: thefts as quickly as possible. Montrose saw that the game
- 1:05Speaker 1: was up. He admitted that his former employer knew nothing
- 1:08Speaker 1: of the stolen cars. It was while I was working
- 1:12Speaker 1: for mister Dodd that I found the caves in the bluffs,
- 1:15Speaker 1: he confessed. I used to go down to the beach
- 1:17Speaker 1: a lot to fish, and one day I found the
- 1:20Speaker 1: opening into the tunnel and explored the big cave. I
- 1:23Speaker 1: thought at the time it would be a good place
- 1:25Speaker 1: to hide stolen goods. Then one day I met Sam.
- 1:29Speaker 1: He had just been released from the pen, and we
- 1:31Speaker 1: got talking together, and he said he thought there would
- 1:33Speaker 1: be good money to be picked up by stealing cars.
- 1:37Speaker 1: Where did you pick up the rest of the crowd
- 1:40Speaker 1: Sam's friends? Mostly? When I told Sam about the caves
- 1:44Speaker 1: and the bluffs, he said it was just what we needed.
- 1:47Speaker 1: And he asked me if there was any roads in.
- 1:49Speaker 1: I said there wasn't, but we could make roads in
- 1:52Speaker 1: and out through the gullies and cover them up. Then
- 1:54Speaker 1: I told him about the old private road through the
- 1:56Speaker 1: back townships. He come with me and we looked the
- 2:00Speaker 1: place over, and he said it was just right. He
- 2:03Speaker 1: wrote to some of his friends and they come here
- 2:05Speaker 1: and we started to work. That was when you quit
- 2:08Speaker 1: your job at the dog place. I didn't want to quit,
- 2:11Speaker 1: for I figured people wouldn't be so likely to think
- 2:13Speaker 1: I was mixed up with the car stealing if I
- 2:15Speaker 1: kept on working. But it took up so much of
- 2:18Speaker 1: my time that mister Dodd let me go. Who did
- 2:21Speaker 1: the actual car stealing the rest of the fellows. My
- 2:25Speaker 1: job is to keep my eyes open for good chances.
- 2:28Speaker 1: People would see me going along the shore road and
- 2:30Speaker 1: think nothing of it, But if any of the other
- 2:33Speaker 1: boys went out, somebody might see him and think it
- 2:35Speaker 1: queer because they were strangers. Mostly I stayed down on
- 2:39Speaker 1: the beach fishing and kept watching the road for places
- 2:42Speaker 1: people parked their cars. Then I signaled to Dan or
- 2:45Speaker 1: one of the others, and they'd come and drive the
- 2:46Speaker 1: car away fishing, exclaimed Jack Dodd. I'll bet that's how
- 2:52Speaker 1: my rod disappeared. I took it after your father fired me.
- 2:56Speaker 1: Montrose admitted. How did it come to get into the
- 2:59Speaker 1: car found behind Dodd's barn. One of the detectives demanded
- 3:03Speaker 1: that was the car Dan had stolen, but the car
- 3:06Speaker 1: owner chased him in another car and he couldn't get
- 3:08Speaker 1: down the gully without being seen. Dan had me picked
- 3:11Speaker 1: up and I had the rod with me. He drove
- 3:14Speaker 1: the car up behind the barn and hid it there
- 3:16Speaker 1: and we got back to the cave on foot. I
- 3:18Speaker 1: left the rod in the car well. That explains everything,
- 3:23Speaker 1: the detective remarked. He turned to mister Dodd, there shouldn't
- 3:27Speaker 1: be any difficulty withdrawing the charges against you and your son.
- 3:31Speaker 1: It takes a big load off my mind, declared the farmer.
- 3:36Speaker 1: It was a terrible worry to have that hanging over
- 3:38Speaker 1: our heads when we knew we were innocent. You must
- 3:42Speaker 1: admit that the circumstances looked bad. We only did what
- 3:45Speaker 1: we thought was our duty. I suppose so well, if
- 3:49Speaker 1: the charges are withdrawn, we won't say anything more about it.
- 3:53Speaker 1: Withdrawal of the charges was a formality that was soon executed.
- 3:58Speaker 1: In the week following, both mister Dodd and Jack were
- 4:02Speaker 1: congratulated by scores of people on having been cleared of
- 4:05Speaker 1: all suspicion in connection with the shore road mystery. The
- 4:08Speaker 1: bail money was returned to mister Hardy and the boys.
- 4:12Speaker 1: Frank and Joe Hardy were the real heroes of the case.
- 4:15Speaker 1: Their good work in discovering the hiding place of the
- 4:18Speaker 1: auto thieves and in notifying the police in time to
- 4:21Speaker 1: capture the gang earned them praise from all quarters. The
- 4:24Speaker 1: Bayport newspaper gave much space to the affair, and the
- 4:28Speaker 1: story of the lad's adventures in the cave provided thrilling reading.
- 4:32Speaker 1: Some detectives. Frank and Joe commented Biff, headliners right on
- 4:37Speaker 1: the front page, came from Chet. Well they deserve it,
- 4:41Speaker 1: don't they put in another high school student. They certainly do,
- 4:45Speaker 1: answered Chet. And to think Jack Dodd and his dad
- 4:49Speaker 1: are cleared, went on, Biff, that's the best yet Jack
- 4:53Speaker 1: smiling like a basket of chips, said Tony Mouth, all
- 4:57Speaker 1: on a broad grin. So the talk ran among the boys.
- 5:01Speaker 1: The girls were equally enthusiastic. Oh I think Frank and
- 5:06Speaker 1: Joe are too wonderful for anything, remarked Calli Shaw, who
- 5:09Speaker 1: had always been looked on with favor by Frank. I
- 5:13Speaker 1: never thought Joe could be so brave, breathed Iola Morton.
- 5:17Speaker 1: They are sure a pair of heroes, said Paula Robinson.
- 5:20Speaker 1: I really think they ought to be in a book,
- 5:23Speaker 1: added Tessy or Twin. Even the applegates, for whom the
- 5:27Speaker 1: Hardy Boys had solved the mystery of the Tower Treasure,
- 5:30Speaker 1: had their word of commendation. As brave as the Knights
- 5:33Speaker 1: of old, said Miss Adelia. If I had my say,
- 5:37Speaker 1: I'd print a stamp in their honor, said Herd Applegate,
- 5:40Speaker 1: who was an expert on stamp collecting. The new Roadster
- 5:45Speaker 1: became famous in Bayport as the car that had lured
- 5:48Speaker 1: the auto thieves to their downfall. Motorists in general were
- 5:51Speaker 1: able to breathe easier when they learned that the gang
- 5:54Speaker 1: had been rounded up a little to their embarrassment and
- 5:58Speaker 1: much to their delight. At a banquet of the Automobile Club,
- 6:01Speaker 1: Frank and Joe were the guests of honor. I am sure,
- 6:05Speaker 1: said the president of the club in a speech, that
- 6:08Speaker 1: the automobile owners of the city are grateful to these
- 6:10Speaker 1: two boys for the courage and ingenuity they displayed in
- 6:14Speaker 1: running down the gang when even the organized police had failed.
- 6:18Speaker 1: They ran grave risks, for they were dealing with desperate
- 6:21Speaker 1: and experienced criminals. If the hiding place had not been discovered,
- 6:25Speaker 1: it seems likely that the thefts might have continued for
- 6:28Speaker 1: some time, and it is certain that none of the
- 6:31Speaker 1: cars would have been recovered. As it is, all the
- 6:34Speaker 1: automobiles have been located and returned to their owners, as
- 6:37Speaker 1: well as all the stolen goods. As you all know,
- 6:41Speaker 1: various rewards were offered by this association and by a
- 6:44Speaker 1: number of the car owners, and to these rewards, the
- 6:47Speaker 1: Hardy boys are justly entitled. I have great pleasure then
- 6:52Speaker 1: in presenting them with a sum of fifteen hundred dollars,
- 6:55Speaker 1: comprising the three separate rewards of five hundred dollars each.
- 7:00Speaker 1: A maid cheers. Two checks for seven hundred fifty dollars
- 7:04Speaker 1: were presented to Frank and Joe. Mister Hardy, who was
- 7:09Speaker 1: present at the banquet, beamed with pleasure, but when he
- 7:12Speaker 1: returned home with the lads, he invited them into his
- 7:14Speaker 1: study and closed the door. Wondering what was coming, the
- 7:19Speaker 1: boys faced their father. I think you've had enough congratulations
- 7:23Speaker 1: for one week, he said to his sons. Don't let
- 7:26Speaker 1: it turn your heads. We won't, Dad. They promised it
- 7:31Speaker 1: was a good idea hiding in that locker. Their father remarked,
- 7:34Speaker 1: it was a good idea and it worked out very well.
- 7:37Speaker 1: There was only one thing wrong with it. What was that,
- 7:41Speaker 1: asked Frank. It was too dangerous. Too dangerous, you took
- 7:48Speaker 1: too many chances dealing with a gang like that. Don't
- 7:51Speaker 1: try anything like that again, or I may have to
- 7:54Speaker 1: hunt up my old shaving strop. But Fenton Hardy smiled
- 7:58Speaker 1: indulgently as he spoke. He wasn't real mad, whispered Joe
- 8:02Speaker 1: as he and his brother left their father. He was
- 8:05Speaker 1: only a little bit provoked. Well, it really was dangerous
- 8:10Speaker 1: hiding in that locker, admitted Frank. Those thieves might have
- 8:14Speaker 1: caught us like rats in her trap. I wonder if
- 8:17Speaker 1: we'll have any more such thrilling adventures, mused Joe. Additional
- 8:22Speaker 1: thrilling adventures were still in store for the brothers, and
- 8:26Speaker 1: what some of them were will be related in another
- 8:28Speaker 1: volume to be entitled The Hardy Boys The Secret of
- 8:32Speaker 1: the Caves. In that volume, we shall meet all our
- 8:36Speaker 1: old friends again and learn how a peculiar accident led
- 8:40Speaker 1: to a most unlooked for climax. The reception Frank and
- 8:44Speaker 1: Joe received at the Automobile Club was tame in comparison
- 8:48Speaker 1: to the way they were greeted by their chums. The
- 8:51Speaker 1: biggest little detectives in the world, was the way Chet
- 8:54Speaker 1: expressed himself. They can't be beat came from Tony Pritto.
- 8:59Speaker 1: But it's not nothing to what I expect them to
- 9:01Speaker 1: do in the future. Was if Hooper's comment, and of
- 9:07Speaker 1: the Hardy Boys. The Shore Road Mystery by Franklin W.
- 9:11Speaker 1: Dixon