Frank Hardy

“ Frank found he could scarcely speak, he was so agitated.
“My husband!” murmured Mrs. Hardy, and ran forward with Frank at her side. “Oh, tell me, he is not—not dead?”
“No, ma’am, he isn’t dead,” came promptly from one of the men. “He got his foot crushed, and he’s fainted, that’s all.”
“Thank Heaven it is no worse!” murmured Mrs. Hardy, and when the men laid her husband on the grass above the cut, she knelt beside him, and sent Frank down to the creek for some water with which to wash Mr. Hardy’s face, for it was covered with dust and dirt. ”

“ The words were in a faltering tone of disappointment.
"How did you get here from Weatherbury?"
"I walked -- some part of the way -- the rest by the carriers."
"I am surprised."
"Yes -- so am I. And Frank, when will it be?"
"What?"
"That you promised."
"I don't quite recollect."
"O you do! Don't speak like that. It weighs me to the earth. It makes me say what ought to be said first by you." ”

“ Bathsheba put her hand upon his arm, and, with upturned pale face, said imploringly, “No—don’t give it to them—pray don’t, Frank! It will only do them harm: they have had enough of everything.”
“True—we don’t wish for no more, thank ye,” said one or two.
“Pooh!” said the sergeant contemptuously, and raised his voice as if lighted up by a new idea. “Friends,” he said, “we’ll send the women-folk home! ’Tis time they were in bed. Then we cockbirds will have a jolly carouse to ourselves! ”

“ He was one of the first students in the classroom and he watched his opportunity, putting the parcel in Frank Hardy's desk. Then, before the Hardy boys arrived, he put in the time acquainting his chums with the events of the previous night, so that by the time Frank and Joe came in sight there was scarcely a student in the school who did not know of their blunder.
"It sure is one on the Hardy boys," remarked Tony Prito.
"I'll say it is," returned Biff Hooper. "They don't usually trip up like that."
"Trip up? They never do—that is, hardly ever," put in another pupil. ”

“ Gabe Flecker was also brought to the bar of justice and sent to prison for two years. For the capture of Flecker, Sinclair Basswood paid Frank the reward of fifty dollars.
After a good deal of delay Mr. Hardy received from the benevolent society in Philadelphia the money he had had to pay when Garrison ran away. Frank’s father also received from the railroad company the sum of two thousand dollars for the accident on the road, and these combined sums gave him a sufficient capital with which to start life anew.
“I feel like a rich man,” said Mr. Hardy. ”

“ This person was so much like a mere shade upon the earth, and the other speaker so much a part of the building, that one would have said the wall was holding a conversation with the snow.
“Yes,” came suspiciously from the shadow. “What girl are you?”
“Oh, Frank—don’t you know me?” said the spot. “Your wife, Fanny Robin.”
“Fanny!” said the wall, in utter astonishment.
“Yes,” said the girl, with a half-suppressed gasp of emotion.
There was a tone in the woman which is not that of the wife, and there was a manner in the man which is rarely a husband’s. The dialogue went on. ”

“ Hardy.
“Oh, if I can’t go this winter I’ll go next,” he replied. “Wait till father gets into business again.”
It was not until the next day that he told his folks how well he had done by selling both new and old books, and of how he had obtained a hundred dollars from the Windhams. They were both astonished and gratified.
“Why, Frank, you are surely making a fortune!” cried his father. “I never dreamed you would do half so well.”
“It beats tending the feed store, doesn’t it, father?”
“Indeed it does. No feed store in Claster could make as much money as you’ve been making.” ”

“ We've got Hardy and we've got his sons—"
"By the way, how are they acting?" asked the newcomer.
"Oh, still kicking up a fuss—the young brats," growled the man called Pete. "They say they ain't the Hardy boys at all."
"Don't worry about that. Bring 'em out here."
One of the men got up from beside the fire and disappeared into the rear of the cave. His footsteps died away and the Hardy boys judged that there must be some sort of inner chamber to the place. In a short time he returned, pushing ahead of him two boys. Frank and Joe peered forward, striving to catch a glimpse of the lads' features. ”

“ Charles Hardy was sadly disappointed. He had given his money to the widow Weston in the fullest confidence that it would be refunded to him, and that he should be able to attend the celebration in Boston. When Frank had proposed the charitable plan, his heart told him how good and pleasant it would be to assist the poor woman. ”

“ When they reached the Hardy home the rival flour and feed man shook hands cordially with Mrs. Hardy and also with the sick man.
“So you are going to sell out,” said he to Frank’s father. “Well, I thought one of us would have to give up pretty soon. The town can’t support three dealers.”
The matter was talked over, and it soon developed that John Peterson was as shrewd as Andrew Benning. The best offer he would make was seventy per cent. of the wholesale value of the stock and a hundred dollars for the fixtures and good will.
“Seventy per cent. is not enough,” said Mr. Hardy. ”

“ This would keep him from home perhaps a few nights at a time, and he had his mother put some things in a valise for his personal use.
“You’ll be loaded down, with your books and your valise,” said Mrs. Hardy.
“Never mind, mother, I’ll get used to carrying them,” he answered, bravely.
Frank left home at nine o’clock the following morning. He took the stage for Fairport, which was fifteen miles away. Fairport was a center for villages and farms several miles around, and the young book agent felt he could find enough to do in that vicinity for at least a week, if not longer. ”

“ Hardy had a good chance to buy a flour and feed business in Philadelphia, and closed the deal after he and Frank and Mark had made a thorough investigation. He took Mark in with him, and the business proved to be highly successful from the start.
Frank continued to sell books until Christmas. After the holidays he entered high school and gave all his time to his studies.
“I am going to get a good education first, and then go into the publishing business,” he said.
“You are wise,” said Mr. Vincent, to whom he had made the speech. “An education is worth much to every man.” ”

“ They offer all sorts of inducements, and sometimes sell at less than the goods cost, just to get a customer.”
“Nobody in business can afford to do that very long.”
“They want to drive me out, and each wants to drive out the other. Then the one who is left will make prices to suit himself;” and here Mr. Hardy had to stop talking, for he felt very much exhausted.
In the meantime Frank had been sent down to the drug store for several articles which the doctor had said were needed for the injured man. ”

“ But Frank was too quick for him and was soon out of sight.
“He’s worse off for notions than Bobby Frost was,” thought Frank, as he wheeled along. “One wanted to make a fortune in Wall Street, and the other wants to become a famous actor. What notions some boys do get!”
Frank worked on a country road that was rather winding, and the next morning found him not over half a mile from where he had met the boy. A good-sized farmhouse was in sight and he rode up to this to see if the folks there would purchase any of his wares. ”

“ Vincent. “Keep at it by all means, and some day you may become a publisher yourself—provided you don’t come to the conclusion that you can make more money by selling alone.”
As soon as it cleared off, Frank set out with a large package of books which were to be delivered. He also carried his order case, and a small valise, for he expected this time to remain away from home for some time.
“You are pretty well loaded down,” said Mrs. Hardy, who was at the gate to see him off.
“He is a peddler with a pack,” said Ruth. “But don’t you mind that, Frank, so long as you are making money.” ”

“ Dave Shallock dropped it there the night he dumped a bag of fittings in the shed. His father put up the contract with Knippel as security for money he borrowed. The whole plot has been exposed, the Shallocks are disgraced, and your father’s name, Ben, comes out clear as crystal.”
“Oh, I am so glad and happy!” murmured Mrs. Hardy.
“There’s more, too,” announced Mr. Dunn.
“Tell it,” said Mr. Hardy.
“Saxton is all broken up, and he is going to sell out to the Diebold people. That means a new manager, Hardy, and you’re the man.” ”

“ CHAPTER XX Seizing the Boats
"What are you going to do, Frank?" shouted Joe Hardy.
"They're going after their boats. We know the cove they're in, and if we can get there first I'll tow them out to sea. Then they can't follow us!"
Thus Frank briefly outlined his daring scheme to his brother. He knew that the gangsters would not expect any such intention and he knew as well that only by some action of this kind could he avoid danger of capture. If the gangsters followed in their own boats there was every chance that they might overtake or outmaneuver the Sleuth. ”

“ Mark you, Ben Hardy, he’s after your father’s scalp, and he’s going to get it.”
“Fair play, and the best man wins,” answered our hero briefly.
“There’s more than that,” shouted Dave down the street after Ben. “My father could just set your father on his pegs. Will he do it? Nix! That’s going to be his revenge. Ha! ha! Old Saxton has bamboozled your father, and my father can produce the evidence——”
“Shut up, you chump!” growled the boy on the fence, jumping to the ground and rushing at Dave and silencing him. “Do you want to give the whole snap away?” ”

“ Hardy in great surprise, as Ben told about the money Bob Dallow had brought him. “That is a small fortune for a boy like you.”
“Father, what did Dave Shallock mean by the threat he made?” asked Ben, quite anxiously, when the conversation had taken a new turn.
“Oh, some boastful nonsense,” said Mr. Hardy indifferently. “I have no time to analyze such talk. Tom Shallock would be a fair workman if he would keep sober. It is certainly true that he has some influence with Mr. Saxton, but he cannot injure us. I shall keep right on doing my best, and honest labor will always command a fair market. ”

“ I’ve worked my last stroke for the meanest man I ever knew. You’ve lost a better man in Martin Hardy, but you’ll miss me just the same. Saxton, you are a thief. You stole poor Hardy’s automobile patents. You are now trying to rob him of his airship patents. You’ve sold your soul outright, and I predict that you’ll go down in failure and disgrace. ”

“ Ben realized that the bluff, outspoken foreman was a genuine friend of his father. He began a recital of most of the facts concerning his father’s present trouble.
A sort of a subdued growl issued from the lips of the foreman when he had concluded. His face was grim and angry.
“You come with me, Hardy,” he said promptly.
“Where, Mr. Dunn?”
“To the Saxton works.”
“I had rather not go there,” demurred Ben, holding back a trifle.
“Got to,” declared Dunn definitely, “if I have to lug you there bodily. You ain’t the one who will get hurt. It’s Saxton.” ”

“ I’m through with you, and in time every decent man in your employ will leave you in the lurch. You sent me out to-day to use my influence to get that big motor-cycle order from the Evans people. Well, I’ve got it, and I’m going to turn it over to the Diebold works. You unmitigated scoundrel! Come, Hardy.”
Ben saw Jasper Saxton, white and trembling, sink back into his chair in a heap, collapsed. As they got outside, his impetuous but determined companion left him summarily, with the words:
“Tell your father I shall be up to see him this evening.” ”

“ There is nothing in this world like education, and the best use I can put some of my money to is to enable you to rise in life.”
“Oh, Mr. Harrison. I never expected this!”
“Nor did I expect my legacy. It is good luck for both of us.”
And so it proved. Dan acquitted himself well [200] at school, and if you should go to Hayden now you would find it quite a thriving town, with a large machine shop, of which Dan Hardy, no longer a farm boy, is the head, having succeeded to all Mr. Harrison’s interests when that good soldier became too old to take an active part. ”

“ They were musicians in his employ—mostly hurdy-gurdy men. They all tried the whistle. Four of them got onto the knack at once. Then I made my star hit.”
“How was that?”
[Pg 40]
“I suggested that he send out a team—organ and whistle—and tab results. The thing went grandly. The next morning, after a lot of dickering, Vladimir gave me four hundred dollars for the outfit.”
“Bob, you are a genius,” remarked Mrs. Hardy.
“Does the price suit you, Mr. Inventor?” inquired the other, “or did I sell too cheap?”
“Cheap!” cried Ben. “Think of it! All that money mine! What will I ever do with it?” ”

“ Hardy.
“Why, he told me that just as soon as the constable reported to Saxton, he sent two of the airship parts by special messenger to his lawyer. You know who that is—that shrewd, tricky Mason, a man who ought to be disbarred from his unscrupulous methods. My informant said that Mason at once put his office force at work to make drawings of the new parts and get out specifications. They expect to get the papers by special mail to Washington on the two o’clock train.”
“It is too bad,” said Mr. Hardy gloomily.
“And it is now one o’clock. Is there no way to outwit them?” asked Ben. ”