“So far as treasure is concerned, I don’t hold much stock in these stories usually,” said Biff. “But this old chap said that a gang of wreckers at one time lived in these caves. They had a pleasant little habit of changing the lights on the buoys along the reefs and wrecking ships. Then they would rob the vessels and store the loot in the caves.”
“Good night!” exclaimed Tony. “Regular pirates.”
“I’ll say they were. Of course, all this was years ago. The gang was wiped out eventually and some of the leaders were hanged, but this old chap I was talking to said that very little of the loot was recovered. Of course, it may have been sold or shipped away, but he believes a lot of it is still hidden in the caves.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever hunted for it?”
“Oh, yes. But they’ve never found anything.”
“Why should we?” asked Chet.
“Why shouldn’t we? And what does it matter if we don’t? We might have some fun making the trip.”
“I think it’s a good idea!” approved Frank Hardy. “We can take the motorcycles, run down there and poke around, and then come back. Of course I don’t think we’ll find any treasure, but it’ll give us some sort of an objective, anyway.”
“Suits me,” declared Chet. “My motorbike is hereby enlisted. I can take Biff along in the side car.”
“And we have our machines,” Joe said. “Tony can ride with one of us.”
“We ought to have a mighty good trip,” said Frank. “How long do you think we should be away, Biff?”
“It will take about a day and a half to reach that part of the coast, for the roads aren’t very good, and then it will take another day or so finding these caves. If we want to do any exploring I guess we could stick around for the rest of the summer and still have lots left to do.”
“Well, we won’t stay for the rest of the summer. But about a week or ten days should give us a good outing.”
“That suits me,” said Chet. “I have other things to do in the holidays besides crawling around in caves.”
It was decided that the lads should inform their parents of the projected trip and make ready immediately. They planned to leave Bayport in two days, as they wanted a day in which to overhaul their motorcycles and get everything in readiness. Tony Prito was dubious about getting permission, as his father had been talking of putting him to work in the wholesale fruit depot for a few weeks during the summer season.
When the Hardy boys went into the house to tell their mother about the trip to the caves, they found that their father had just returned. He was unpacking his bag as they entered the hall.
“Hello, Dad!” they greeted him. “What luck?”
Fenton Hardy shook hands with his sons and returned to the bag.
“What kind of luck do you mean?” he asked.
“In the Todd case? Did you find the professor?”
“No,” said the detective, “I didn’t find the professor.”
“Didn’t you get any trace of him at all?”
“I found traces of him, all right. He’s still alive, which is the main thing I learned.”
“And yet you couldn’t find him?” asked Joe.
“I followed him through half a dozen towns and cities, but I must say he is mighty elusive. He was always about three jumps ahead of me.”
“He knew you were looking for him?”
“I don’t think so. He wasn’t running away from me. But he keeps on the move and he jumps around from one place to another without any rhyme or reason, so he was hard to follow. I finally lost track of him.”
“That’s tough,” said Frank. “Where did you lose the trail?”
“At a little place called Claymore, about fifty miles south of here. He had been seen there last week, but he went away and no one knew where I could find him. So I gave up the search and came home.”
“Have you dropped the case?”
Fenton Hardy laughed.
“Did you ever hear of me dropping a case before it was cleared up in one way or another?”
“No,” admitted Frank. “But I thought you may have considered it a waste of time.”
“It was a waste of time to keep following him about and never catching up with him. I decided to try another angle. Oh, we’ll pick up Todham Todd yet.”
“Joe and I have some information for you. But perhaps you know it already. Miss Todd gave us a few facts about her brother’s appearance—”
“I have all that. I have a pretty good description of him, and I managed to get hold of a photograph at the college.”
“Did you hear about his shoelaces?” asked Joe, excitedly.
“His shoelaces?”
“Miss Todd said her brother was mighty absentminded and that quite often he forgot to tie up his shoelaces.”
Mr. Hardy was interested.
“I didn’t hear that one,” he said. “It might be valuable. I’ll make a note of it. A clue like that might mean a great deal in a case like this.”
“And about ‘by jing?’ ” asked Frank.
“By jing?”
“It’s an expression he used. He never swears, but once in a while he says ‘by jing!’ if he is excited.”
“That’s something new, too. In all the information I picked up about Todham Todd I didn’t hear anything about that expression or about the shoelaces, and they are two of the most important clues I could ask.”
The boys were gratified that they had gained this much information for their father’s benefit. They knew that although Fenton Hardy had given up the direct search for the missing professor, he would never abandon the case until there was a definite solution one way or the other.
“Have you found why he disappeared from home?” asked Joe.
“I imagine he simply lost his memory,” said Mr. Hardy. “At the present time, from what information I could pick up, he has no
