“That was all he said. He became unconscious then and died in a few minutes. Just why he couldn’t get away with the loot and why he hid it in the tower, I don’t know. He didn’t have time to tell me. But he said it was hidden in the old tower.”
“Why, we’ll find it in no time!” exclaimed Frank. “Tower Mansion has two towers—the old and the new. We’ll search the old tower.”
“The story seems likely enough,” said Mr. Hardy. “Jackley would gain nothing by lying about it when he was on his deathbed. He probably became frightened after he committed the robbery and hid in the old tower until he saw the coast was clear and he was able to get away. Then no doubt he decided to hide the stuff there and take a chance on coming back for it sometime after the affair had blown over.”
“That was why he couldn’t be traced through the jewels and the bonds,” Joe said. “They were never disposed of at all. They’ve been lying in the old tower all this time.”
“I tried to get him to tell me in just what part of the tower the loot was hidden,” continued Fenton Hardy, “but he died before he could say any more. ‘I hid it in the old tower.’ He just managed to gasp that out before he became unconscious.”
“It shouldn’t be hard to find the stuff, now that we have a general idea of where it is,” Frank pointed out. “Probably he didn’t hide it very carefully. The old tower has been unoccupied for a long time and it is rarely entered. The stuff would be as safe there as if he had hidden it miles away.”
Joe got up from his chair.
“I think we ought to get busy and go search the old tower right away. Oh, boy! If we can only hand old Applegate his jewels and bonds this morning and clear Mr. Robinson. Let’s start.”
“I’ll leave it to you boys to make the search,” said Mr. Hardy, with a smile. “I’ve no doubt the stuff will be easily recovered, and you can have the satisfaction of turning it over to Mr. Applegate. I guess you can get along without me in this case from now on.”
“We wouldn’t have got very far if it hadn’t been for you.”
“And I wouldn’t have got very far if it hadn’t been for you, so we’re even,” smiled Mr. Hardy. “Be on your way, then, and good luck to you.”
“We’ll find it, never fear,” promised Frank, putting on his cap. “I hope the Applegates don’t throw us out when we ask to be allowed to look around in the old tower.”
“Just tell them you have a pretty good clue to where the bonds and jewels are hidden and they’ll let you search to your heart’s content,” Mr. Hardy advised.
“Come on then, Joe. We’ll have that thousand dollar reward before the morning is over.”
Their father glanced at them shrewdly.
“Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched,” he said. And then, as the boys hastened out of the den, he called after them: “Also, you might remember the old proverb that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip.”
But the Hardy boys scarcely heard him, so eager were they to begin searching the old tower and so confident were they that the mystery was about to be cleared up.
XVII
The Search of the Tower
When the Hardy boys reached Tower Mansion that morning the door was answered by Hurd Applegate himself. The tall, stooped gentleman peered at them through his thick-lensed glasses. In one hand he held a sheet of stamps, for it was his custom to devote the mornings to his collection.
“Yes?” he said testily, for he was annoyed at being disturbed. “What do you boys want here at this hour of day?”
“You remember us, don’t you?” asked Frank politely. “We’re Mr. Hardy’s sons.”
“Fenton Hardy, the detective? Are you his boys?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, what do you want?”
“We’d like to take a look through the old tower, if you don’t mind. We’ve got a new clue about the robbery you had here a while ago.”
“Want to look through the old tower? Of all the impudence! What do you want to look through the tower for? And what has that got to do with the robbery?”
“We have evidence that leads us to believe the jewels and bonds were hidden in the tower by the thief.”
“Oh! You have evidence, have you?” The old man peered at them very closely. “It’s that rascal Robinson, I’ll warrant. He hid the stuff there, and now he’s put you up to going and finding it, just to clear himself.”
The Hardy boys had not considered the affair in this light, and they gazed at Mr. Applegate in consternation. At last Joe found his tongue.
“Mr. Robinson isn’t mixed up in this at all,” he said. “The real thief was found. He said the stuff was hidden in the old tower. If you will just let us take a look around, we’ll find it for you.”
“Who was the real thief, then?”
“We can’t tell you just now, sir. Wait till we find the stolen goods and we’ll tell you the whole story.”
Mr. Applegate took off his glasses and wiped them with his handkerchief. He glared at the boys suspiciously for a few moments. Then he called out:
“Adelia!”
A high cracked voice from the dim regions of the hallway answered.
“What d’you want?”
“Come here a minute.”
There was a rustle of skirts, and then Adelia Applegate, maiden sister of the owner of Tower Mansion, appeared. She was a faded blonde woman, of thin features, and she was dressed in a gown of a fashion fifteen years back, in which every color of the spectrum fought for supremacy.
“What’s the matter now?” she demanded. “Can’t a body sit
