“You found that notebook!” shouted the man.
“Of course.”
“You had no right to read it. The notebook was mine. I’ll have the law on you for reading it.”
“The law will be interested in that notebook, Hanleigh. You’re none too anxious to let the police see it, or Mr. Jefferson either.”
The shot told. Hanleigh’s lips curved in a snarl.
“What if Jefferson does see the notebook? What do I care if you turn it over to him or to the police? It won’t do any of you any good. The only important thing in the whole book is written in cipher, and I defy you to solve it!”
He sat back, triumphantly.
“We have solved it,” Joe told him.
“What?”
Hanleigh started forward, his eyes staring.
“We solved the cipher.”
Consternation was written on Hanleigh’s face. He groaned.
“You didn’t—you haven’t found it?” he gasped.
“Found what?”
The man’s eyes became cunning.
“Don’t you know?”
Frank shook his head.
“We have found nothing, so far. I think you’d better tell us what you were looking for. What should we have found?”
Hanleigh sat back, sighing with relief.
“There is nothing,” he said. “Not now.”
“Why—have you found it already?”
He nodded.
“Yes. I found it several days ago. There is nothing for you boys to gain by looking further.”
“Then why,” asked Joe, “did you come back here today?”
Hanleigh licked his lips, and was silent.
“You’re bluffing again, Hanleigh,” said Frank. “If you had found what you were looking for, you wouldn’t have kept coming back to the cabin. You found yourself up against the same problem that we did. We searched that chimney, high and low—and found nothing. Neither did you.”
Hanleigh shrugged.
“I’ve talked too much. You won’t get any more out of me. I wish I had kept my mouth shut.”
“Just as you wish, Hanleigh,” remarked Frank casually. “I think we’re all in the same fix. You don’t know any more than we do. But I warn you that we will keep an eye on you. If you do learn the secret of the chimney, you won’t keep it.”
Hanleigh laughed sneeringly.
“Then you’ll wait a long time—”
He was interrupted by a startling sound.
The shrieking wind had proved too much for the second of the tall trees that towered above the cabin. It gave way before the gale. With an ominous crackling, with branches snapping like pistol shots, it began to fall. The boys could hear the gathering roar as the great tree plunged down toward the roof of the cabin.
Hanleigh leaped to his feet in fright, then sagged helplessly against the wall as his injured ankle refused to support his weight.
“We’re done for!” he shouted, in terror. “The cabin is falling in!”
Crash!
The tree had struck the chimney. There was a deluge of stones on the roof. The boys cowered in the kitchen. If the roof gave, they might be seriously injured. Hanleigh, a picture of abject fright, crouched in the corner.
With a hideous roar, the chimney collapsed.
At the same time, the great tree went sweeping down past the side of the cabin. When it struck the chimney its downward course had been diverted.
The falling stones broke great holes in the roof of the cabin and came crashing down into the living room. A cloud of dust rose from the fireplace. A stone crashed to the floor, rebounded and smashed a pane of glass. It seemed as though the din would never end.
“Let’s get out of here!” Hanleigh was babbling, white with fear. “Let’s get out. We’ll be killed! The whole place is coming down about our ears.”
“We’re all right!” snapped Frank. “Be quiet!”
Had any of them been in the living room they would probably have been seriously injured. The weight of the fallen chimney had broken in the roof and stones were still crashing through to the floor below. The fireplace was wrecked.
At last the uproar died away. Snow was sifting through the hole in the roof, and when Frank peeped through the doorway he could see the jagged fragments of the chimney rising above the gap.
“I guess it’s all over now,” he said calmly.
Chet restrained him.
“You’re not going in there?” he said. “Frank, don’t be foolish! You’ll be killed!”
“There won’t be any more falling stones. The rest of the chimney is pretty firm. I’m anxious to investigate. Where’s that flashlight?”
“I’m coming, too,” declared Joe, realizing Frank’s motive. “This may be a lucky thing for all of us.”
“Lucky?” groaned Biff. “Do you call it lucky to have the chimney fall in and wreck the place?”
“We’ll see.”
Frank picked up the flashlight. He looked out into the living room again. It was a scene of desolation. Great stones, and quantities of debris, dust, and mortar lay all about. Then, followed by Joe, he left the kitchen and picked his way among the rubbish over to the fireplace.
XXIV
The Discovery
“Do you think we’ll find it, Frank?” asked Joe Hardy.
“I shouldn’t be surprised. If there is anything hidden in that chimney, the banging-up it got just now should reveal it.”
They peered into the fireplace. It was choked with rubbish.
“Better clear some of this away.”
They began moving away the stones and rocks that blocked the entrance. Chet and Biff, after watching the Hardy boys for a few moments from the kitchen, came over to help. They forgot their fears in the eagerness of the search.
Once, while moving away a large stone, Frank dislodged some others that came down with a rush. He jumped back just in time.
“This business isn’t safe yet,” muttered Chet dubiously.
However, the boys went on with the work, and soon cleared out the fireplace, with no further mishap. Frank entered the opening and peered up.
“Clear daylight ahead!” he called.
The tall chimney having collapsed, he could see the white snow swirling just a few yards above. He switched on his flashlight and examined the interior.
Then he gave an exclamation of satisfaction.
“It’s all cracked and broken,” he reported. “I’m going up.”
“Be careful,” advised Biff nervously.
But Frank was already scrambling up into the fireplace. The others waited.
