VII
The Other Iceboat
Chet Morton and Biff Hooper, it appeared, had not missed Christmas either. Their parents had surprised them just as Mr. and Mrs. Hardy had surprised Frank and Joe, and when the lads met at the boathouse half an hour later their preparations for an immediate departure were somewhat hindered by joyous discussion of the presents each boy had received. Among Biff’s gifts was an iceboat from his father, over which the lad was ecstatic.
“Well, let’s go!” shouted Chet finally. “We can talk it all over when we get to Cabin Island.”
They clambered into the iceboats, Chet getting into Biff’s new craft with the proud owner.
“Ready!” cried Frank.
“Ready!”
“We’re off!”
The boats glided out onto the ice of the bay. There was a stiff breeze blowing and the boys anticipated a quick run to the island. The wind was strong and the sky was clear. The two boats sped alongside one another, their sails billowing.
The city was swiftly left behind and the open bay lay ahead. The winter air brought the flush of health to the boys’ cheeks. Once in a while they waved to one another. The shores sped past.
Frank, at the tiller of the Hardy boys’ craft, swung the boat around so that it got the full benefit of the breeze, and it forged ahead, leaving the other behind. This meant a race, so Biff brought his boat around with the wind and soon managed to overhaul his rivals. A vagrant breeze gave him the advantage for a while and he gained steadily while the Hardy boys, to their chagrin, lagged behind, but the breeze soon changed. Biff found himself running against the wind before he realized it. The Hardy boys’ craft scudded swiftly across the ice, overtook him, then shot across his bows.
Frank and Joe maintained their lead from then on, taking advantage of every change in the wind, and in due time they came within sight of the dark bulk of Cabin Island, looming against the distant line of the shore.
Joe stood up and waved his arms in excitement. There was an answering wave from Chet, in the speeding craft to the rear.
Frank swung the boat toward the south, down into the cove. They drew closer to the island.
“Our friend Hanleigh can’t bother us now,” laughed Frank.
“We have full authority. It was a mighty lucky thing for us that we mentioned Cabin Island to Mr. Jefferson.”
“I wonder what Hanleigh was doing on the island, anyway.”
“I’ll bet he was up to no good,” said Joe. “Well, we won’t worry about him. He won’t trouble us.”
However, Joe was destined to be mistaken.
The iceboat sped across the glassy surface, drawing closer and closer to Cabin Island. Frank, peering ahead, suddenly gave an exclamation of surprise.
“Looks as if someone is here ahead of us.”
“Where?”
Frank pointed to the little bay where they had landed on their previous visit. A white-sailed object was clearly outlined against the dark background of trees.
“Another iceboat!”
Joe gazed at the strange craft in consternation.
“I wonder what that means.”
“We’ll soon find out. Somehow, that boat looks familiar to me,” said Frank, as he steered toward the bay.
As they came closer, they saw that the other boat was deserted. Frank could not escape the conviction that he had seen the boat before. Slowly, he veered around until they ran alongside, within a hundred yards of the bay. Then he nodded.
“I knew it,” he said quietly.
“That’s the boat Tad Carson and Ike Nash were in the other day!” exclaimed Joe.
“There’s something queer about this business. I wondered why they were so close to Cabin Island when we met them. I’ll bet they were coming here to get Hanleigh.”
“Perhaps you’re right. What shall we do now, Joe?”
“Scout around a bit. We may learn something.”
Frank did not go toward the bay. Instead, he guided the boat around the arm of the island. The boys signaled back to Biff and Chet, indicating that they were to follow.
“It beats me why Tad and Ike should be here, unless they have some connection with this fellow Hanleigh,” said Frank.
“And I don’t see why Hanleigh should be here at all. He hasn’t bought the island yet. According to Mr. Jefferson, he has no business here.”
“We’ll run around the island once, and see what’s what.”
The Hardy boys did not have long to wait. Circling the end of the island, they came to a sheltered nook where they decided to land.
“We can leave the boats here and go up toward the cabin on foot,” decided Frank. “If there is anybody here, we’ll have a better chance of taking them by surprise.”
They put in to the little bay and then waited until Chet and Biff, in the other boat, came up.
“What’s the matter?” asked Chet, when their craft came to rest. “Who owns that other boat?”
“That’s what we want to find out. We figured it would be best to lie low until we find what’s going on around here,” Frank told him.
“Good idea,” approved Biff.
“That boat belongs to Tad Carson and Ike Nash. I thought the best plan would be to land here on the quiet and then go up to the cabin. They have no right here, and I’d like to know what they’re up to.”
The boys alighted from the boats. There was a sloping hillside before them, leading to a clump of evergreens. The snow was unbroken.
Frank took the lead and advanced up the slope. The others followed. When Frank reached the evergreens he paused and looked about. To his right he could see another bay farther down the shore, and there he spied a small boathouse.
The boathouse itself would not have attracted his attention so greatly had it not been for the fact that he saw a distinct line of footprints in the snow leading toward the rear door. Frank had his wits about him sufficiently to notice that the footprints were those of two people and that they led toward the boathouse—not away
