Franklin W. Dixon

“ Feeling highly important at being referred to as "gentlemen" and at having a bedroom actually reserved for them in a hotel of such grandeur, the Hardy boys followed a military-looking bellboy to the elevators, whence followed a swift ascent to the eighth floor. Then down wide, silent corridors to their room, a substantial, bright and airy room with bath. It was all a revelation to the lads, who had never been in a big hotel before, and when they looked out the big windows down on the thronging life of the city streets below they were excited beyond measure. ”

“ They left the hotel early and found a shop near by where Frank was fitted with a pair of horn-rimmed glasses that gave him a studious and benevolent expression. Joe bought a pair of cheap spectacles with plain rims. The transformation was remarkable. Instead of a pair of merry, bright-eyed lads, one saw two solemn, near-sighted boys who looked for all the world as though they had never had an unrestrained boyish impulse in all their lives.
"By all rights we ought to carry some books under our arms, too," Joe suggested. ”

“ Joe was almost stupefied by horror. He realized to the full the peril of the situation.
"The shaft has caved in," he thought. "We're trapped in the mine! We'll never get out alive!"
He turned his flashlight on the place where the shaft had been. The light revealed only a high, sloping hill of rocks and shattered timbers. The shaft was completely blocked. It would take an army of men to clear away the débris.
Joe realized that he and Frank would never be able to accomplish the task. And he knew there was no hope of assistance from outside, for no one knew where they were. ”

“ Frank fired at the animal. The shot went wide and the brute slunk back, but still remained in the passageway. Two or three of the other animals came rushing out of the darkness and pounced on the body of the dead wolf, tearing at the flesh with savage jaws. For a while the cave echoed with growls and snarls as the animals set about their hideous meal, and then the revolver crashed forth again and another wolf toppled over dead. ”

“ Even the food of the dining car on the train, exquisitely cooked and served though it had been, seemed somehow to lack the flavor of this meal in Hank Shale's mountain cabin.
Hank, like most men who have lived a solitary existence, was a silent man. He said nothing throughout the meal, but as he watched the boys eat and as he responded to their request for second helpings, a slow smile crept over his wrinkled face.
"That's the best meal I ever ate!" declared Frank emphatically, when he had cleared his plate for the second time.
"Me too," agreed Joe. ”

“ Frank remarked.
"You don't say! And whereabouts in Montana is he?"
"He's at a mining camp. It's a queer-sounding place called Lucky Bottom."
Jad Wilson's eyes widened.
"Lucky Bottom!" he exclaimed. "Can you beat that?"
"Why?"
"Lucky Bottom is right near the place where Bart Dawson run away with all our gold."
"Isn't that a strange coincidence!" ejaculated Mrs. Hardy.
"It shore is," agreed Jad Wilson. "Mighty strange. To think that he should be in the very place where we lost our fortune. It's a small world, ain't it?"
"What kind of place is Lucky Bottom?" asked Frank. ”

“ The old boards, long since rotting away, suddenly gave beneath the pressure of rocks and earth. An avalanche of stones descended into the shaft on top of the first downfall of rock. More followed, showers of earth came rushing down and a cloud of dust pervaded the cavern.
Joe leaped back.
Then, with a roar like thunder, the entire shaft caved in. Rocks and timbers came tumbling down with a terrific crash. The air was filled with the noise of smashing timbers and falling rock. The faint light from the shaft that had given some vague illumination to the cave, was blotted out. ”

“ High above them they could see a patch of snow-white sky, sharply outlined by the rectangular shaft-head. A crude ladder ascended the side of the shaft. They could see the black patch that marked the entrance to the drift from which they had fallen, and from it emanated growls and snarls of rage and pain.
"That beast won't follow us any farther. I guess that was why the wolves were so doubtful about chasing us in there. They steer clear of that tunnel," ventured Frank.
"Lucky for us we hit the shaft when we did. That wolf would have been all over us in two more seconds. ”

“ Jadbury Wilson was disconsolate.
"Troubles never seem to come one at a time," he groaned, lying on the cot. "This is the finishin' touch."
"Have you been having bad luck, Mr. Wilson?" asked Frank, sympathetically.
"I've had nothin' but bad luck for more'n a year past now. This is the worst blow yet. I'll never be able to put this house back on the cliff again."
"Oh, perhaps it isn't as bad as that," said Joe cheerfully. "You might have been badly hurt. There's that to be thankful for."
"I suppose you're right, lad. I suppose you're right. I ought to be glad I'm still alive. ”

“ The animals were beginning to pace about the cave in long strides, drawing in toward the boys as the circumference of the circle grew smaller.
"Keep the flashlight on," said Joe. "They're afraid of the light."
Frank kept turning slowly about, keeping the glare of the flash full on the circling wolves, and every time its radiance illuminated a gaunt grey form the animal would leap back, snarling, into the shadows. ”

“ Armed with the flashlight and two sacks of gold, Joe went to the entrance of the blue room. Frank picked up the other two sacks and, still keeping Black Pepper covered with a revolver, urged him ahead.
"Forward, march!" he ordered.
Reluctantly, the outlaw strode ahead, following Joe, who was silhouetted against the circle of light cast by the flash.
"My men will see that you pay up for this!" he growled savagely.
"Your men will be scattered so far you'll never be able to find them when they hear you've been taken in," replied Frank. "If they don't, they'll land in jail with you. ”

“ Their Aunt Gertrude, an elderly, crotchety maiden lady of certain temper and uncertain years, eyed them suspiciously as they came into the hallway with their skates and began donning sweaters and warm gloves.
"Skating, hey?" she sniffed. "You'll go through the ice, I'll be bound."
The boys knew from experience that it was always best to placate Aunt Gertrude.
"We'll try not to, Aunt Gertrude," Frank assured her.
"You'll try not to! A lot of good that will do. If the ice isn't strong, all the trying in the world won't keep you from going through it. And the ice isn't strong. ”

“ Frank could not help thinking that life had evidently paid back Bart Dawson in his own coin. He had stolen a fortune from Jadbury Wilson after Wilson had endured hard luck for years. Now he was getting a taste of his own medicine. Still, it seemed strange that Fenton Hardy should be so convinced of Dawson's honesty if he were the type of man who would rob his own partners.
"Come and get it!" piped Hank Shale, from the next room.
"That's the supper call," laughed Mr. Hardy. "You must be hungry after your journey. Better go and eat. ”

“ But it had been several months since any adventure or excitement had come their way and they were feeling restless, the more so now that they knew their father was at that moment in the remote mining camp in the West engaged on a mystery that seized their imagination.
"Hidden gold!" said Joe, half to himself, "That would be a case worth working on."
"Forget it," laughed his brother. "There's no use making yourself miserable wishing we were out there, because we're not and it doesn't look as if there's much chance that we shall be. ”

“ Frank turned the light swiftly on the dark passage again. "You try it first. They may try to rush us when they see us getting away."
They backed up as close to the opening in the rocks as they could. The wolves were very near now. Three of them had thrust their cruel heads directly into the circle of light from the flash. Their vicious snarling echoed throughout the cave. Frank sensed that they were preparing to spring.
"Quick!" he urged his brother.
Joe leaped and scrambled into the opening.
At the same instant the foremost wolf crouched for a spring. There was not a second to lose. ”

“ He met the thin-faced man, who led the other pair of pursuers, with a slashing blow in the face that knocked the man off his balance so that he tumbled backward into the snow with a grunt of pain and amazement. The short, stocky man came on with a growl. Frank swung and missed; then his attacker closed with him and they struggled to and fro in the snowbank.
His assailant twined one foot about Frank's leg and they toppled over into the snow. By that time the thin man had scrambled to his feet and again launched himself into the struggle. Frank Hardy was completely overpowered. ”

“ The fact that there were no trolley tracks near this particular hill mattered nothing to Officer Riley.
Majestically he stood at the bottom of the hill and held up his hand. Sled after sled pulled to a stop and Officer Riley, the personification of the majesty of the law, ordered the fun to cease.
There was nothing to be done. Officer Riley had the authority, and he knew it.
"Well," said Chet Morton grimly, "we'll just have to have our fun some other way. Let's have a snowball fight."
Officer Riley looked dubious and produced a little notebook which he perused earnestly. ”

“ If we wait until to-morrow it may be too late."
The storm grew rapidly worse. The snowfall was so heavy that it obscured even the tops of the great masses of rock and it quickly drifted over the trail so that the boys were forced to follow the path by memory. This was difficult, as in some places the trail had wound about through tumbled masses of boulders and when it was hidden by snow they had to guess at its intricate windings. Several times Frank lost it altogether, but he was always able to pick up the trail again in some place that was sheltered from the storm. ”

“ The boys made their way up into the mountains again and, after about an hour of steady traveling, found themselves on the trail that led into the defile where they had trapped Slim so neatly. On the way they discussed their meeting with Bart Dawson.
"I can't imagine that old fellow being the kind of man who would desert his partners and steal their gold, the way Jadbury Wilson described," said Frank, for the tenth time. "I just can't figure it out at all! You can tell with half an eye that he isn't a crook." ”

“ The tunnel had heavy timbers at either side, to support the roof and to prevent a cave-in. They entered it and stumbled along across the uneven floor. Water dripped from the ceiling and from the rocky walls. The dampness and cold made them shiver.
The tunnel led into a second and smaller chamber.
"Now for the last passageway. Then to the blue room!"
They explored the little chamber. But of a tunnel leading from it there was no sign. A sloping heap of gravel and boulders lay in one corner, a broken pickax lay on the floor, and a rusty shovel stood against the wall. ”