CHAPTER XIV

A Real Sacrifice

FRANK HARDY had the hideous sensation that he was caught in a maelstrom at the bottom of Niagara Falls. Tons of water crushed the air from his lungs, and his chest was constricted by a band oŁ steel.

Then, as water swirled about his head, Frank regained consciousness. He was floating on his back, and the tightness around his chest was the strong arm of Biff Hooper.

“Easy, Frank. I got you.”

The boy felt himself being grabbed under both arms and pulled up on a stony bank. “You all right?” Biff asked.

At first Frank could hardly speak. His head throbbed and he was half choking from the water he had swallowed. “Joe- Where’s Joe?”

“I haven’t found him yet. Don’t worry. He’ll revive and make it to shore.”

Frank sat up groggily. “Man oh man, did those crooks ever double-cross us!” He rubbed his aching head and groaned. “They must’ve found out who we were! You saved my life, Biff. Thanks! Now we’ve got to find Joe!”

Frank struggled to his feet and staggered about, trying to gain his equilibrium. Finally his head cleared enough for him to walk without assistance. “We’ll follow the shore downstream, Biff.”

Pushing their way over jumbled rocks and through tangled brush which grew nearly to the water’s edge, the two boys followed the course of the surging stream. Frank stumbled once, but pressed on, his jaw set with determination.

It was half an hour later when the two came to a gentle bend in the river. Silt had washed ashore forming a sandy crescent, and near the middle of it the searchers saw two prone figures. Biff ran ahead, with Frank plodding behind him. Drawing closer, they noticed that the pair were half in, half out of the water.

“Joe!” called Frank. “Is that you, Joe?”

Biff was already kneeling beside one of the figures when Frank stumbled to his side. The ghostly moonlight revealed the faces of Joe Hardy and Tony Prito!

Tony moaned, stirred slightly, then blinked his eyes. Frank at once applied mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to his brother. Tony, meanwhile, slowly sat up, gasping from exhaustion.

Finally Joe sucked in a great breath of air. His eyelids fluttered and he smiled wanly at Frank.

“He’s okay!” Biff exulted, and set about briskly massaging Joe’s arms and legs.

It was not until fifteen minutes later that Joe and Tony felt equal to telling their story. Tony began. He had gone to the Hardys’ bunkhouse shortly after the two had left, and from the doorway, had seen Bond Deemer searching through the brothers’ belongings.

“Deemer didn’t notice me. He exploded when he found your heavy sweaters!” Tony said.. “They had your name labels.”

“Leapin’ lizards!” Joe said weakly. “I know how that happened, Frank.”

“So do I. We stuck ‘em in at the last second to please Aunt Gertrude and forgot to take the labels off. What goofs!”

Tony reported that he had trailed Deemer, who, furious at the deception, had passed the word along quickly to Mike and another man.

“I couldn’t stop them from going after you,” said Tony, “so I followed, figuring I could help later, and posted myself downstream a short way.”

When he saw the Hardys fall in, Tony had swum to the rescue and reached Joe first. “I spotted Biff grabbing you, Frank.”

The Hardys expressed gratitude to their buddies. “We would have been goners without you two,” said Joe.

“Which reminds me,” Biff said dryly, “the gang probably thinks the three of us are dead.”

“And I suppose they’ve got me pegged,” said Tony.

“That leaves Chet alone,” said Frank., “He’s the only connection we have left to Deemer and his mob.”

The four boys sat on the sand, discussing their next move. They all thought that Chet might have a chance to remain unsuspected of being one of the sleuthing team. Should they ask him to stay on the job as their only direct link with the ex-convicts?

“It’ll be pretty risky,” Joe said. “We’d better leave the decision up to Chet.”

Having agreed to this, the boys made their way farther downstream, crossed an old bridge, and edged stealthily back toward the construction camp. Joe had brought a waterproof flashlight, so the quartet had little trouble finding their way.

Tony, whose bunk was near Chet’s, volunteered to arouse him. While the Hardys and Biff waited in the woods, Tony slipped into the trailer. “Keep quiet and come with me,” he whispered. “Hurry!”

Befogged with sleep, Chet groped after Tony in the darkness. When they joined the others, Frank and Joe recounted the latest happenings.

The chunky boy was now fully awake. “Zowie, fellows! You sure had a close call!” He shifted uncomfortably. “Guess it’d be awfully dangerous to stay here alone.”

“Yes,” said Frank. “That’s what we were going to ask you about.”

“Hmm,” Chet drew a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

“Well?” Biff prompted.

“I’ll stay!”

“Good boy!” said Joe. “We knew you would.”

The plan was to have Chet contact Phil Cohen at the Eagle Hotel in Boonton if anything important developed. “We’ll check with him later,” said Frank and added, “Just keep on working as usual, and keep your ears and eyes open.”

After handshakes all around, Tony returned with Chet to retrieve the Hardys’ radio and binoculars and rope from the cinder block. Chet was about to re-enter his trailer, when Tony said, “Got any food around, Chet?”

“Well, I did stash some away-“

“As usual.” Tony chuckled.

Chet disappeared inside and emerged carrying a paper bag. “There’s bread and cheese in here,” he said. “A midnight snack I was saving. Don’t say I never gave you anything!”

“You mean take all of it?”

“Every bit,” said Chet. “I better get back.”

When Tony told the others of Chet’s sacrifice,

Joe whistled. “A real pal! Giving up his last bite!”

The four young sleuths pressed deeper and deeper into the woods. Finally they approached the area where the Hardys had seen the eerie rosy light in the sky. There the boys stopped and Frank contacted Radley by radio, giving him a full report.

The operative was stunned to hear what had happened to the Hardys and their friends.

“We’re okay now,” Frank said. He asked Sam to have the Boonton police keep tabs on Yancy and any visitors at the hospital.

“All right,” Radley said. “But from what you tell me, I think we should close in on the mob immediately.”

Frank explained that first he wanted to find out who the baron was. “He must be the ringleader,” Frank added. “Besides, we have to uncover what’s behind the bridge sabotage.”

Radley reluctantly agreed to wait, but warned the boys to be extremely careful in their search for the baron. Sam informed the Hardys that their father was improving, but his memory remained unclear. Also, the prisoner Monk Smith had not yet talked.

“We’ll keep in touch, Sam,” Frank said.

“Over and out.”

“What next?” asked Biff.

Joe replied promptly, “Get some rest and start out at dawn to find the baron. He had scarcely spoken when a muffled blast in the distance filled the air.

“Dynamite!” Tony cried out.