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

The boys broke into a run across the lawn, but the man jumped up and tore into the woods.

"Fan out!" Frank yelled to Joe and Chet.

Separating, they crashed through the brush in pursuit. In the darkness ahead, they could hear pounding footsteps.

"This way!" Joe yelled, heading left toward the sound of a breaking twig.

"Where? I can't see a thing!" Chet stumbled into a fallen tree and groaned before following a shadow to his left. "F-Frank-is that you?"

"Yes. Come on! Over here!"

Darting quickly from one tree trunk to the next, Frank plunged forward through bushes, then paused. Hearing a branch snap, he rushed ahead to the left.

"He must have headed to the right!" Joe's voice rang out.

Squinting for a glimpse of the prowler, Frank jumped over some rocks and darted through a clearing. As he sprinted into an adjoining wooded patch, he collided with someone and went sprawling on the ground.

"Joe-it's you!"

"Frank!"

Presently they saw Chet's chunky shadow approach. "Where did he go?" Chet panted, exhausted.

Kneeling and breathing heavily, they listened for a sign of the fugitive. But there was only silence throughout the woods.

"That guy's a phantom," said Chet, mopping his forehead.

"One thing is certain," Frank remarked. "He knows the area well. Probably somebody local."

"Wonder who he was," Joe said as they hurried toward the gallery. "He was tall-definitely not the thief we've already seen."

The boys found that the gallery padlock had been tampered with, and hastily summoned Chet's uncle.

"We didn't get a good look at the man," Frank reported, "but this is definite proof there's more than one person after the fort treasure."

He phoned headquarters, and soon an officer arrived on the scene. He dusted the door for prints, and made a search of the grounds near the gallery.

"No footprints," he reported. "Check with us in the morning."

Afterward, the young sleuths and Uncle Jim got tools and worked by lantern light to reinforce the lock.

Frank and Joe also inserted a high-watt bulb into the unused socket over the door, then switched on the light. It was past midnight when they gathered up the tools.

Mr. Kenyon wiped his brow. "This bright light may discourage intruders. This gallery wasn't designed to hold off thieves!" Joe grinned. "I hope we are."

The next morning Chet was snoring contentedly when the Hardys finished dressing. Strong tugs at his legs awakened him.

"Come on," Joe urged. "Up and at 'em! You're four hours behind the birds!"