Latest / Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Cabin Island / 16 - Hardy Boys The Mystery of Cabin Island by Franklin W Dixon

Transcript

16 - Hardy Boys The Mystery of Cabin Island by Franklin W Dixon · Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Cabin Island

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen, the Chimney. In spite of Joe Hardy's predictions
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: that the marauder would be back for his notebook, that
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: afternoon and the next day passed uneventfully on Cabin Island.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: No one had appeared in the vicinity of the rocks
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: for the boys examined the place carefully in search of footprints,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: and the snow was still unbroken. The mystery surrounding Hanley
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: John Sparewell and the Bender postage stamp collection was gradually
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: receding into the background, but to the Hardy boys it
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: still remained a matter of great concern, especially to Frank.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Each evening he sat down and puzzled over the strange cipher,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: vainly trying to solve the mystery it presented. Can't you
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: figure it out, asked Joe. It beats me, said Frank,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: flinging down his pencil. Once in a while, I think
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: I'm on the right track, then something always happens and
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I find I'm farther away than ever. Let the cipher
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: look after itself. Something will turn up, I'm sure, put
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: in Chet. But if we could only find the message
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: of the cipher, we wouldn't have to wait for something
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: to turn up. Chet looked at the message again. He
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: shook his head. It's too much for me. Don't let
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: it spoil your holiday. Frank, you know what I'm like
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: when there's a mystery in the wind, and this is
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: one of the most mysterious puzzles we've ever tackled. We'll
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: get to the bottom of it yet, I'm sure of that, Jost. Wait,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: something will turn up, said Joe. The next day, the
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: boys were outdoors from morning until night, skimming over the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: surface of the bay in their ice boats, skating on
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: an improvised drink down by the shore, and enjoying themselves
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: on the ski slide. Frank, for the time being, seemed
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to have dismissed the mystery of the notebook from his mind.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: That evening, as the boys sat in front of the fireplace,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: the sparewell case was not even mentioned. It was a windy,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: stormy night and the cabin creaked in the gale. Must
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: be a good, strong chimney to hold up in a
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: wind like that, remarked Chet. Why shouldn't it, said Biff.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: It's made of solid stone, I know, but the wind
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: gets a terrific sweep when it hits this island. That
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: chimney isn't so new either. Stone chimneys will last one
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: hundred years, scoffed Joe. Chet pointed to the big fireplace.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: This one won't look You can see where it is
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: cracked already. The boys inspected the chimney. They saw that
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Chet had noticed something that none of them had observed before.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: There was a distinct crack across the surface of the
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: stone near the ceiling. It doesn't look any to secure it, that,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: remarked Frank. A crack like that might easily cause a fire.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: It sure could, exclaimed Biff. I don't worry about fire
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: so much as the danger that the chimney might come
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: tumbling down in a high wind. And Chad said, if
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: there is one crack like that, there may be others
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: higher up. And if the chimney ever gave way, wow,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: we would certainly have a nice little shower of stone.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Biff said, well, why go looking for trouble, Wait until
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: it happens. Chad insisted that he was not looking for trouble,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: but that he was merely pointing out what might happen.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Just then, there was a particularly violent gust of wind.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: The cabin shook the chimney, was staunch. I think it's
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: good for a few years. Yet, Joe said, why worry.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Their conversation about the chimney, however, was to be recalled
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: to the boys very forcibly. Later. On the next day,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: it was Joe's turn to remain at the cabin as
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: chief cook and bottle washer. The others went out in
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: one of the ice boats and made a trip as
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: far as the village. They did not stop at the
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: little place, being in no mind to incur any of
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Amos Grice's long winded conversation and turnout sending the fleet
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: little boat swooping down into the wind. They were about
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: a quarter of a mile from the cabin and just
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: debating the advisability of making a trip down into the
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: cove when they heard a sound that aroused them to
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: a high pitch of excitement. Crack, sharp and clear, the
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: sound carried through the winter air. The rifle exclaimed Frank,
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: somebody down at the rocks. Frank swung the boat around
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: toward the island. The wind, however, was against them, and
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: he could make little speed. He was obliged to tack
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: about for some time, while the others speculated impatiently on
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: the reason for Joe's signal jaws when we need speed.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: The wind is against us, groaned Biff. Perhaps the fellow
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: will clear out before we can get back, not if
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I know it, said Frank grimly. We'll come around on
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: the other side of the island, and if he is
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: making a getaway, we can head him off. The boat
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: seemed to labor slowly forward at a snake el's pace. Anxiously,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: the boys peered toward the island. They could see no one.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Perhaps the shot didn't scare him away, said Chet hopefully.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: They circled around until at last they had a full
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: view of the side of the island on which the
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: stolen supplies had been hidden. The ice was bare, the
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: hillside was bleak. There was no sign of any human being.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: The boys brought their craft around until they were close
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: to the rocks. They could see footprints in the snow.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: There was somebody here, all right, said Frank in excitement.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: I wonder if it was Hanley. We'll mighty soon find out.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: They brought the boat inshore and took in the sails.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Then they scrambled out, made their way up over the
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: rocks and examined the footprints. They did not lead up
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: toward the cabin, but instead they led along the shore
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: around the bend follow him, said Chet, not yet, Frank advised,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I think we'd better go up to the cabin first
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: and find out what Joe knows about it. Perhaps he
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: recognized the fellow and saw where he went. They plowed
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: through the snow up to the top of the slope.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: They found Joe awaiting them in the door of the cabin.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Did you see him? Shouted Frank. Just caught a glimpse
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: of him, returned Joe. As the boys came running up
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: to him. I happened to look out the window and
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: caught sight of somebody down among the rocks. Who was he?
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: I don't know. His back was turned to me, and
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: he was crouching over. He was looking for that notebook,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: all right. I waited for a while, but I still
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: couldn't get a good look at him, so I went
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: and got the rifle. By the time I got back
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: to the window, he was gone. Before you fired the
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: signal shot. Yes, I could hardly believe my eyes. He
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: just seemed to disappear into thin air. Well, I didn't
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: lose any time firing the shot. I can tell you
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: I could see your boat away up the bay. The
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: wind was against us, said Frank. We tried to get
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: here quickly, but we didn't have any luck. He's still
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: on the island, said Joe quickly. I'm pretty sure of that.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Wonder how he got here, remarked Chet. There isn't any
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: other iceboat around that we saw. Probably walked over from
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: the mainland. Frank remarked, well, I guess we had better
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: explore a bit and see if we can't get a
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: sight of him. You're sure you didn't recognize him, Joe, No,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: I couldn't say if the man was handley or not.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: I didn't get a good look at him at all.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: We'll get a good look at him, growled Biff, and
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: mighty soon too. I suggest the two of us take
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: the north side of the island and the other two
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: take the south, said Joe. Frank shook his head. Someone
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: must stay here, he decided. We don't want to run
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: the risk of losing our supplies again. If this fellow
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: managed to draw us far enough away from the cabin,
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: there's no telling what damage he might do. Joe, I
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: think you had better stay here. If you see the
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: man coming this way, fire another shot. And we'll come
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: a runnin' good idea proved Chet. I think we all
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: ought to separate, each go in a different direction if
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: we catch sight of him whistle. Frank quickly directed the search.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Joe was to stay at the cabin, Chet was to
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: go to the northern side of the island. Biff was
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: to explore the south. Frank himself was to cut through
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: the trees in the center of the island, emerging on
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: the other side. They separated. Frank plowed through the snow,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: heading toward the heavy growth of trees at the top
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: of Cabin Island. He soon reached a point from where
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: he could get a good view of the entire island.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: He could see Biff and Chet industriously exploring the shorelines.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: A little distance away. In the snow, beneath the trees,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: he caught sight of a line of fresh footprints. He
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: picked up the trail at once and followed the marks
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: in the snow. They led him in and out among
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: the trees, then veered and seemed to be directed toward
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: the rocks. What am I thinking of, said Frank to himself.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: I'm not following the man's trail at all. I'm going
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: back on it, He turned and retraced his steps, after
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: a while, reaching the place where he had first found
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: the footprints. He went on from there deeper into the thicket,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: proceeding cautiously. At last, he stood still for a moment, listening.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Then he slipped in behind a tree. He heard a
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: crackle of branches. Someone was moving about among the trees.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Only a few yards ahead, Frank peeped out. He saw
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: a dark figure emerge from behind a clump of evergreens.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: The man stepped out, looked cautiously about, then moved up
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the slope in the direction of the cabin. Hanley, said
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Frank under his breath. Frank Hardy's first impulse was to whistle,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: in order to to bring the others to his assistance.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Then he paused, what did Hanley want? What did he
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: plan to do? End of Chapter sixteen.