CHAPTER XVIII

Chefs Big Assist

"we'll never break out of here!" Chet told the Hardys.

"It does look pretty hopeless," Joe admitted glumly.

"Think!" Frank commanded. "We have to come up with something!"

He and the others took the pencil flashlights from their pockets and played the beams around the small steel prison. They saw no chance of escape.

"Hexton was right," Frank conceded gloomily.

"Hey!" Chet burst out. "Turn your flashlights this way."

He began to explore the top and sides of their enclosure. Finally he said, "Hmm. There might be a way out of here-"

"No kidding," Joe declared. "In case you're 147

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thinking of a magic trick to make us fit through the keyhole, forget it."

"Nothing short of an acetylene torch can solve our problem," Frank put in. "These trunk walls must be an inch thick."

"I know," Chet said, "but look at those rivets."

"What about them?"

"The ones along the top," Chet explained, "are just a bit shinier than those along the sides."

The Hardys nodded in agreement.

"Do one of you have a pocketknife?" Chet asked. "Or did the UGLI's take it?"

"That's something they missed," Frank answered. "Here."

He and Joe looked on quizzically as Chet placed the point of the blade against the edge of a rivet at the top of the trunk. Clenching his fist, he hammered against the end of the knife. After several sharp blows, the rivet turned slightly.

"Eureka!" Chet shouted. "I was right!"

"How about letting us in on whatever you've found?" Joe pleaded impatiently.

"The top of this overgrown trunk," Chet explained, "is attached by false rivets."

"False rivets?" Frank queried.

"Yes," his chum replied. "Actually they're not solid rivets, but are cut through in the middle and threaded so the ends can be screwed together just like a regular nut and bolt."

The Hardys looked at Chet in amazement.

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"How did you happen to know about this?" Frank asked.

"When I began to study magic," Chet replied, "I read a book about famous magicians. A few, like Houdini, were also great escape artists. The book described false rivets as one of the tricks they used."

Chet continued to pound his fist against the knife. Soon the rivet head was loose enough to turn by hand. After several twists, it came apart.

"This is the hard way of doing it," Chet said. "The escape artist uses a special wrench which fits over the rivet head. That's why these are shinier than the others."

"Boy, your interest in magic really paid off," Frank remarked with a grin.

"But why would Hexton lock us up in something we could escape from?" Joe asked.

"He never expected any of us to figure it out," Frank surmised.

By this time Chet had loosened three of the rivet heads. Frank and Joe each took a turn working with the knife. The job was hard and tedious. Several hours passed before the last of the false rivets was unfastened.

Grinning in satisfaction, the boys pushed up against the metal top. It broke free and toppled to the floor with a loud bang. Elated, they quickly scrambled out of the trunk and stretched their aching bodies.

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"Great going, Chet," murmured Joe.

Frank echoed this, then beckoned the others to the door. The lock was, indeed, defective and the boys had no difficulty opening it. They stepped outside into a small vestibule. There they saw the entrances to several passageways.

"Leaping hyenas!" Joe exclaimed. "Which way do we go?"

"Golly!" Chet gasped. "Do you fellows remember which passage Hexton and his men brought us through?"

"I didn't realize there was more than one," Frank admitted. "It was too dark to see."

"This is like a maze." Joe shook his head in bewilderment.

Using his flashlight, Frank led the others through one of the passageways, up flights of stone steps, through places where the ceiling was so low that they almost had to crawl, then along several sharp turns that completely confused them.

"We're not getting anywhere," Chet complained.

"This castle must be honeycombed with secret corridors," Frank said.

He swept his flashlight beam ahead and saw that the passage branched off in three different directions. They went down the middle one for what seemed like an hour, but could only have been a few minutes. It came to an abrupt end. They were facing a blank wall.

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"Now what?" Joe sighed.

"What I wouldn't give for a road map of this place!" Chet mumbled.

The boys backtracked, then turned down the left passageway. More stone steps led them deeper and deeper inside the cellar of the castle.

Presently Frank stopped short. "Wait a minute," he ordered. "Do you fellows notice anything?"

"Not me," Chet said.

"I don't- Say!" Joe replied. "The air is getting real damp and clammy!"

"Right," his brother agreed. "Just like it was in the passage to Hexton's storeroom. Maybe we're on the right track."

The boys continued on and made several sharp turns. Frank pointed his flashlight ahead and uttered a cry of dismay. They stood before the iron door to the storeroom, the very same place from which they had started!

At that moment they heard muffled footsteps. Frank snapped off his flash. From a distance, beams of light played across the iron door. The trio flattened themselves against the wall where it angled away from a little alcove.

Frank leaned closer to Joe and Chet. "It must be a couple of UGLI's to check on us," he whispered. "Watch where they come from. It'll have to be the passageway that will lead us out of here."

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The men drew near. Would they see the escaped prisoners? Fortunately the men failed to notice the Hardys and Chet in the darkness and entered the storeroom.

"Hey!" came a shout almost immediately. "They're gone!"

By this time the boys had dashed down the corridor, along which the men had come.

"There they go!" one of Hexton's pals yelled. "After 'em!"

Frank, Joe, and Chet had a good head start. They ran as fast as the narrow, winding passageway would permit. Behind them swept the beams from the flashlights of their pursuers.

Ahead, the tunnel forked out into two flights of steps. "Oh no!" Joe cried despairingly. "Which way?"

Frank searched the steps with his flashlight. The ones on the left were more worn. "This way," he said as the sound of the pounding feet behind them grew louder.

The three boys raced up the long flight of steps and down another corridor, but soon realized that their choice was wrong. The passage ended in a blank wooden wall!

"There must be a way out!" Frank declared. He picked up a loose stone and hammered against the wall. "Listen!" he said. "This wall doesn't sound solid. It must have a secret panel. Quick! Help me get it open."

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Joe and Chet pushed against the wall with all their strength.

"It won't budge!" Joe gasped.

The sounds of their pursuers' approach pounded in their ears. As the trio braced themselves for the oncoming struggle, there was a sudden grinding noise in the wall. They turned to see a panel slowly opening. A man, holding a flashlight, poked his head from behind the secret door. The boys' eyes widened in astonishment.

Kenneth Dell!