"Dixon, Franklin W - Hardy Boys 044 - The Haunted Fort (b)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dixon Franklin W)

In their basement room, Chet and the Hardys spent the evening mulling over books on painting borrowed from Mr. Kenyon. Later, they went upstairs for a conference with Chet's uncle. Using paints and a canvas, the instructor illustrated various art techniques.

"Want to try your hand, Chet?" Mr. Kenyon offered, holding out the brush to his nephew. He winked at Frank and Joe. "I think he has the makings of a painter, don't you?"

But before either Hardy could answer, the building shook with a deafening roar that reverberated up the stairwell!

Frank jumped to his feet. "That came from downstairs!" The smell of burnt powder reached them as they all charged down the narrow steps. When they entered their room, Chet gasped.

The wall near which their luggage lay was splattered with red dots!

"A shotgun!" Joe exclaimed, picking up a used cartridge under the window. He grimaced and held out the shell. "Look." Everyone gasped. It was covered with red.

"Bl-blood?" Chet quavered.

His uncle examined the cartridge. "No. Red paint-alizarin crimson!"

On the floor lay a small paintbrush. Wrapped around it was a piece of paper. Frank unfolded the sheet to disclose a typewritten message:

A mural for the Hardy Boys. Leave Millwood or my next painting will be a coffin-yours.

CHAPTER V.

Danger Alley.

CHET looked nervous. "Another threat!" he exclaimed. "I guess that scalp warning wasn't any joke."

Uncle Jim's face showed concern. "Whoever stuck a gun barrel through that window wants to scare you boys off-that's plain."

Joe said wryly, "Lucky we weren't on hand for the barrage."

Frank compared the note with that found earlier on the scalp. "Both were done on the same typewriter-and this red paint looks like that 'blood' on the papier-mвchй."

With flashlights the instructor and the three boys searched the ground outside the shattered window, but no clues were found.

While the boys swept up the broken glass and fallen plaster, they speculated on the identity of their mysterious enemy. The Hardys felt he might very well be the same person who had thrown the scalp and stolen the fort painting in Bayport.

Chet gulped. "You mean-that thief trailed us here?" Then he asked, "Do you think that snoopy Ronnie Rush could have had something to do with this?" He told his uncle of their encounters with the boy.

"Well," said Mr. Kenyon, "Ronnie's sometimes a little hard to work with, but I don't think he'd do something like this. Our annual outdoor exhibit is to be held on Senandaga Day-next Saturday. I'll be pretty busy getting ready for it, so I won't have much time to help you detectives."

Jim explained that Senandaga Day was celebrated every year. The town decreed that the fort be opened at this time to the public. "By having our art exhibit then, we attract more visitors."

The Hardys decided to track down if possible the source of the empty cartridge. Frank obtained from Uncle Jim the name of a Cedartown hunting equipment shop, the only one in the area.

"It's run by Myles Warren," the painter added. "He's one of our weekend painters, by the way."

Before retiring, the Hardys fastened some slats across the window. The rest of the night passed uneventfully. After breakfast the next morning, the three attended the quaint little church in town and located the shop of Myles Warren.

"We'll come here first thing tomorrow," Frank said.