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

"WE'VE got to get back!" Frank urged.

The brothers raced down the slope to the parked car and soon were streaking around the lake road leading to Millwood. The column of black smoke swirled higher and they heard sirens.

Reaching the school, Frank wheeled the limousine to the parking area and they jumped out.

"It's the boathouse!" Joe exclaimed.

Waves of intense heat rolled out from the flaming structure. The Hardys ran toward the lakeside, where a crowd watched the firemen fighting the holocaust.

The dock was already lost, and what had been canoes were smoking shells on the bank. Voices echoed as spumes of water played against the blazing boathouse. Suddenly Frank detected a strong oily smell in the air.

"Kerosene!" he said. "This fire must have been set!"

The Hardys spotted Uncle Jim and Chet among the spectators back of a cordoned area near a police car. Chet was glad to see his pals.

"Was anybody hurt?" Frank asked, worried.

"Fortunately, no," Mr. Kenyon replied. "But our boat area is a complete ruin."

In an hour the fire had been extinguished. According to a student, the conflagration had apparently broken out suddenly-on the lake itself.

"Which means somebody poured a kerosene slick on the water and ignited it," Frank said.

Chet nodded solemnly. "With the wind and floating pieces of burning wood, we're lucky it didn't spread along the whole shore front."

By now, most of the onlookers had dispersed and the fire trucks and police car were leaving.

The Bayporters surveyed the grim, charred skeleton of the boathouse, wondering who the arsonist could have been, and what his motive was. Another attempt to discourage the Hardys from investigating Fort Senandaga?"It wasn't Ronnie Rush who set it, anyway," Chet declared. "He was too busy making fun of my painting."

The three boys searched the burned wreckage for evidence. They found nothing but a fat, charred cork, smelling of kerosene, bobbing on the waterfront.

"A pretty slim clue," Joe muttered, stuffing the cork into his pocket. After supper they stopped in with Uncle Jim to see Mr. Davenport. He seemed inconsolable. The school's exhibit was only two days away, and the blackened ruins would detract greatly from the estate's appearance. Joe had an idea.

"We'll begin clearing away the debris first thing tomorrow, and have the lake front in good shape by Senandaga Day."

Mr. Davenport brightened, and Uncle Jim said, "That would be a big help. At least the lake residents will be able to beach their boats."

"There's one person I suspect," the art patron burst out angrily, "who would want to spoil our exhibit. A certain party down the lake."

The boys assumed he meant Chauncey Gilman, but somehow they could not picture the critic in the role of an arsonist.

The brothers then told the others about the mysterious French flag they had seen at the fort. Mr. Davenport expressed complete bewilderment.

"A flag over Senandaga!" he exclaimed incredulously. "It must be the work of some blamed tourist! A trespasser!"

Frank doubted this, saying that even a practical joker might not go to the trouble of climbing the fence.

"Don't tell me a ghost put up that flag," Chet gulped.