night. 'With your permission, Mr. Applegate, my sons and I will return at
sunrise tomorrow morning and start work again.' As the owner reluctantly
nodded his assent, Mr. Hardy turned to Frank and Joe and smiled. 'We
ought to be able to prove our point before schooltime.'
The boys, who had had no time to prepare any homework, reminded their
father that a note from him to the principal would be a great help. The
detective smiled, and as soon as they reached home he wrote one out, then
said good night.
Frank and Joe felt as if their eyes had hardly closed when they opened them
again to see their father standing between their beds. 'Time to get up if you
want to be in on the search,' he announced.
The boys blinked sleepily, then sprang out of bed. Showers awakened them
fully and they dressed quickly. Mrs. Hardy was in the kitchen when they
entered it and breakfast was ready. The sun was just rising over a distant
hill.
'Everything hot this morning,' Mrs. Hardy said. 'It's chilly outside.'
The menu included hot applesauce, oatmeal, poached eggs on toast, and
cocoa. Breakfast was eaten almost in silence to avoid any delay, and within
twenty minutes the three Hardy sleuths were on their way.
'I see you put spades in the car, Dad,' Frank remarked. 'I take it we're
going to do some digging.'
'Yes, if we don't locate the loot hidden above ground some place.'
When the Hardys reached Tower Mansion they instituted their hunt without
notifying the Apple-gates, who, they were sure, were still asleep. Everything
in the vicinity of both towers was scrutinized. Boulders were overturned, the
space under the summerhouse examined by flashlight, every stone in the
masonry tested to see if it could be dislodged. Not a clue turned up.
'I guess we dig,' Frank stated finally.
He chose a bed of perennial bushes at the foot of the old tower where there
had been recent planting, and pushed one of the spades in deep with his foot.
The tool hit an obstruction. Excitedly Frank shoveled away the dirt around
the spot. In half a minute he gave a cry of delight. 'A chest! I've found a
buried chest!'
CHAPTER XVII
An Unexpected Find
THROWING out the dirt in great spadefuls, Frank uncovered the chest
completely. It was about two feet long, six inches wide, and a foot deep.
'The treasure!' Joe cried out, running up.
Mr. Hardy was at his son's heels and looked in amazement at Frank's
discovery. The boy lifted the chest out of the hole and instantly began to raise
the lid on which there was no lock.
Everyone held his breath. Had the Hardys really uncovered the jewels and
securities stolen from the Applegates? Frank flung back the lid.
The three sleuths stared at the contents. They had never been more surprised
in their lives. Finally Joe found his voice.
'Nothing but a lot of flower bulbs!'
The first shock of disappointment over, the detective and his sons burst into
laughter. The contents of the chest were such a far cry from what they had
expected that now the situation seemed ridiculous.
'Well, one thing is sure,' said Frank. 'Red Jack-ley never buried this chest.
I wonder who did?'
'I can answer that,' a voice behind them replied, and the Hardys turned to
see Hurd Apple-gate, clad in bathrobe and slippers, walking toward them.
'Good morning, Mr. Applegate,' the boys chorused, and their father added,
'You see we're on the job. For a couple of moments we thought we had
found your stolen property.'
Hurd Applegate's face took on a stern look. 'You didn't find my securities,'
he said, 'but maybe you have found a clue to the thief. Robinson buried that
chest full of bulbs. That's what he's done with Adelia's jewelry and my
securities! He's buried them some place, but I'd be willing to bet anything it
wasn't on the grounds here.'
Frank, realizing the man was not in a good humor this morning, tried to steer
the conversation away from the stolen valuables. 'Mr. Applegate,' he said,
'why did Mr. Robinson bury these flower bulbs here?'
The owner of Tower Mansion gave a little snort. 'That man's nutty about
unusual flowers. He sent to Europe for these bulbs. They have to be kept in a
cool, dark place for several months, so he decided to bury them. He's always
doing something queer like that. Why, do you know what he tried to get me to
do? Put up a greenhouse here on the property so he could raise all kinds of
rare flowers.'
'That sounds like a swell hobby,' Joe spoke up.
'Swell nothing!' Mr. Applegate replied. 'I guess you don't know how much
greenhouses cost. And besides, growing rare flowers takes a lot of time.
Robinson had enough to do without fiddling around with making great big
daisies out of little wild ones, or turning cowslips into orchids!'
Frank whistled. 'If Mr. Robinson can do that, he's a genius!'
'Genius-that's a joke!' said Mr. Applegate. 'Well, go on with your digging. I
want this mystery cleared up.'
It was decided that Mr. Hardy, with his superior powers of observation,
would scrutinize the ground near both towers. Wherever it looked as if the
ground had been turned over recently, the boys would dig at the spot. The
chest of flower bulbs was carefully replaced and the dirt shoveled over it.
'Here's a place where you might dig,' Mr. Hardy called presently from the
opposite side of the old tower. When the boys arrived with their spades, he
said, 'I have an idea a dog dug up this spot and probably all you'll find is a
beef bone. But we don't want to miss anything.'
This time Joe's spade hit the object which had been buried. As his father had
prophesied, it proved to be only a bone secreted by some dog.
The three Hardys transferred their work to the new tower. All this time Hurd
Applegate had been looking on in silence. From the corners of their eyes, the
Hardys could catch an expression of satisfaction on the elderly man's face.
Mr. Hardy glanced at his wrist watch, then said, 'Well, boys, I guess this is
our last try.' He indicated another spot a few feet away. 'You fellows must
get cleaned up and go to school.'
Undaunted by their failures so far, Frank and Joe dug in with a will. In a few
moments they had uncovered another small chest.
'Wow, this one is heavy!' Frank said as he lifted it from the hole.
