Latest / Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Cabin Island / 22 - Hardy Boys The Mystery of Cabin Island by Franklin W Dixon
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two. The letter just like a clam that fellow. Hanley,
- 0:08Speaker 1: exclaimed Biff Hooper, he sure doesn't want to talk. Frank
- 0:12Speaker 1: Hardy agreed. I thought we could scare him, but I
- 0:15Speaker 1: guess there's nothing doing. He didn't come back here to
- 0:18Speaker 1: make friends with us. He was making another try at
- 0:21Speaker 1: that notebook. That's what he was doing. It must be
- 0:25Speaker 1: mighty important to him. Joe was eyeing the coat Hanley
- 0:28Speaker 1: had folded so carefully and put under his head. Wonder
- 0:32Speaker 1: why he wouldn't take a pillow. He wasn't taking any
- 0:35Speaker 1: chances on letting that coat get away from him. The
- 0:38Speaker 1: boys looked at one another significantly. Perhaps he has some
- 0:43Speaker 1: important papers in the pocket, whispered Chet. Fine chance we
- 0:46Speaker 1: have of getting at them. I don't know about that,
- 0:50Speaker 1: said Frank. Where there's a will, there's a way. Let
- 0:53Speaker 1: him sleep a little longer and we'll see if we
- 0:56Speaker 1: can't get at them. The storm rayed fiercely outside the cabin.
- 1:01Speaker 1: The blizzard had grown in fury. The trees bowed before
- 1:05Speaker 1: the bitter wind. The boys idled about, waiting for the
- 1:09Speaker 1: moment when they could attempt to secure the coat from
- 1:12Speaker 1: beneath the head of their sleeping enemy. At last, Frank nodded.
- 1:17Speaker 1: Hannley was snoring. Frank went over to the wall and
- 1:20Speaker 1: took down his own coat. He folded it carefully, then
- 1:24Speaker 1: beckoned to Joe. Together the boy's tiptoed over to the
- 1:28Speaker 1: head of the bed, while Joe held Frank's coat. Frank
- 1:32Speaker 1: gently grasped the coat under Hanley's head and began to
- 1:36Speaker 1: withdraw it. The man stirred uneasily, his snoring ceased. The
- 1:41Speaker 1: boys stepped back. Hannley turned over on his side. The
- 1:45Speaker 1: coat was almost entirely free. The boys waited a few moments,
- 1:49Speaker 1: then went toward the man again. With a quick movement,
- 1:53Speaker 1: Frank drew the coat from beneath his head, while at
- 1:55Speaker 1: the same instant Joe slipped the other in its place.
- 1:59Speaker 1: They stepped back. Hanley groaned in his sleep, stirred again.
- 2:04Speaker 1: His groping hand reached for the coat, and he drew
- 2:07Speaker 1: it closer to him. In a few moments, his snoring
- 2:11Speaker 1: again resounded through the cabin. The boys retreated to the kitchen.
- 2:16Speaker 1: I don't like the idea of going through a man's
- 2:18Speaker 1: private papers, said Frank reluctantly, but in this case I
- 2:22Speaker 1: think there is some excuse. Hanley is up to some
- 2:25Speaker 1: crooked business here, and it's our duty to find out
- 2:28Speaker 1: what it is. That's right, agreed the others. Frank felt
- 2:33Speaker 1: the inside pocket of the coat. He encountered a bulky
- 2:36Speaker 1: sheaf of papers, and these he removed. Most of them
- 2:40Speaker 1: were letters, but one in particular appeared to be a
- 2:43Speaker 1: legal document. He unfolded this document and brought it over
- 2:47Speaker 1: to the window. The others crowded about him. Better keep
- 2:51Speaker 1: an eye on Hanley in case he awakes, Frank suggested,
- 2:54Speaker 1: watch him, will you, Biff. Biff went over to the door.
- 2:57Speaker 1: He's still asleep, he whispered. Good. Frank read the document
- 3:02Speaker 1: over to himself. Then he gave a low whistle of amazement.
- 3:06Speaker 1: This clears up a lot of things, he said. Read it,
- 3:09Speaker 1: whispered Joe anxiously. Frank read the document. It was a
- 3:13Speaker 1: letter addressed to Hanley and was from a lawyer in
- 3:17Speaker 1: New York City. It was as follows, Dear sir, this
- 3:22Speaker 1: is to advise you that your late uncle John Sparewell
- 3:26Speaker 1: named you as sole heir in his will, which has
- 3:29Speaker 1: just been probated. Under the provisions of the will, you
- 3:33Speaker 1: will benefit to the extent of all mister Sparewell's property,
- 3:37Speaker 1: consisting of two lots of ground on the outskirts of Bayport,
- 3:42Speaker 1: cash in the bank amounting to three hundred and fifty dollars,
- 3:46Speaker 1: and all personal papers and belongings. In his will, mister
- 3:50Speaker 1: Sparewell made particular mention of a notebook which was to
- 3:54Speaker 1: be given into your hands after his death, stressing its
- 3:58Speaker 1: importance as container information of great value. He also gave
- 4:03Speaker 1: these instructions. My nephew is to take this notebook with
- 4:08Speaker 1: the accompanying key to the cipher, which I shall leave
- 4:11Speaker 1: in a sealed envelope, And when he has made himself
- 4:14Speaker 1: aware of the contents of the message, I wish him
- 4:17Speaker 1: to go to the place mentioned and procure the object
- 4:21Speaker 1: referred to. This is to be returned to its rightful owner.
- 4:27Speaker 1: In return for this favor, I name my nephew, George Hanley,
- 4:31Speaker 1: as my sole heir. We thereby take pleasure in forwarding
- 4:36Speaker 1: to you the notebook and the sealed envelope mentioned by
- 4:40Speaker 1: our deceased client, and trust you will carry out his
- 4:43Speaker 1: instructions to the letter Yours very truly, Flint and Flint,
- 4:49Speaker 1: Attorneys at Law. When Frank had concluded the reading of
- 4:53Speaker 1: this document. There were expressions of amazement from the other boys.
- 4:58Speaker 1: So that's how he came to get the notebook, said chet.
- 5:02Speaker 1: John Sparewell was Hanley's uncle, and Sparewell observed Frank is dead. Well.
- 5:10Speaker 1: That clears up so much of the mystery, said Joe.
- 5:13Speaker 1: But it looks as if Hanley is up against it
- 5:17Speaker 1: just as much as we were. We know the secret
- 5:20Speaker 1: of the cipher message and it didn't do us any good.
- 5:24Speaker 1: Perhaps he knows something else. Sparewell may have given him
- 5:28Speaker 1: further instructions in that sealed envelope. Frank looked through the
- 5:34Speaker 1: other papers he had taken from Hanley's pocket. He was
- 5:37Speaker 1: interrupted by a sudden whisper from Biff. Be careful, what's
- 5:41Speaker 1: the matter. He's waking up. Frank thrust the papers back
- 5:45Speaker 1: into the coat pocket. There would be trouble when Hanley
- 5:48Speaker 1: learned how he had been tricked. Then Biff sighed with relief,
- 5:52Speaker 1: false alarm. He turned over again. He's still asleep. Frank
- 5:57Speaker 1: went back to the papers, relieved. He searched through them carefully,
- 6:01Speaker 1: but he did not find what he sought. There were
- 6:05Speaker 1: no further references to the cipher to the sealed envelope
- 6:08Speaker 1: or to John Sparewell. Nothing else here, he reported. Finally,
- 6:13Speaker 1: we'd better put the coat back under his head, Joe suggested.
- 6:17Speaker 1: Frank returned the papers to the pocket in which he
- 6:20Speaker 1: had found them. We're liable to wake him up if
- 6:22Speaker 1: we try to put the coat back now, he said.
- 6:25Speaker 1: I think we ought to wait until he has had
- 6:27Speaker 1: his sleep. Then the rest of you can keep him
- 6:31Speaker 1: occupied while I slipped the coat back where it belongs,
- 6:35Speaker 1: and we'll ask him what he knows about Sparewell, said chet. Oh,
- 6:40Speaker 1: we'll have questions to ask him. Never fear he won't
- 6:44Speaker 1: want us to go to Elroy Jefferson with the news
- 6:46Speaker 1: about Sparewell. Outside, the storm was at its height. They
- 6:51Speaker 1: heard a distant crash. One of the trees at the
- 6:54Speaker 1: edge of the cliff had fallen before the force of
- 6:56Speaker 1: the gale. The wind was sweeping across the island at
- 7:00Speaker 1: terrific speed. If this keeps up, we'd better watch ourselves,
- 7:04Speaker 1: remarked Biff. There are a couple of big trees right
- 7:07Speaker 1: near the place. If they blow over, they're liable to
- 7:10Speaker 1: wreck the cabin. Certainly is a wicked wind, Frank agreed,
- 7:15Speaker 1: And it doesn't seem to be dying down either hardly
- 7:18Speaker 1: with the words out of his mouth. Than there was
- 7:20Speaker 1: a rending crackling sound immediately above the cabin. Then with
- 7:25Speaker 1: a rush and a roar, something went sweeping past the window.
- 7:30Speaker 1: At the same instant there came a grinding noise, followed
- 7:33Speaker 1: by a thud and a crash on the roof. One
- 7:37Speaker 1: of the trees blew down, shouted Biff in alarm. The
- 7:40Speaker 1: chimney is going, warned Joe. Crash another impact on the roof.
- 7:45Speaker 1: There was a shower of mortar and fragments of stone
- 7:49Speaker 1: in the fireplace. Back to the kitchen Fellows, yelled Frank,
- 7:52Speaker 1: the chimney is falling. In end of chapter twenty two,