CHAPTER XVI
THE FOOLHARDY CAMERAMAN
chet stood in the hotel lobby, whistling softly. His chums had gone to their room following his excuse that he wanted to read the newspaper before turning in. However, the stout lad had another intention. He realized that the Hardys thought that he lacked courage; that he was afraid of Kuntz and the latter 'a confederates, Bock and Simon.
"I guess Frank and Joe can't help but feel that way about me after all I've said concerning going home," he admitted to himself. "But I'll show them! I'll show them that I'm just as brave as they are!"
He sat down and watched the great clock over the hotel desk tick away the minutes. At length he arose. "They ought to be asleep by now," he decided, "and probably have forgotten all about that prowler who came in last night. Well, I haven't forgotten. He'll probably come back tonight, and I'll catch him!"
It was nearly eleven o'clock when he tiptoed up the stairway. He paused to catch his breath on the third floor, then quietly crept along the dimly-lighted corridor to their room
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He stopped at the door and listened, but could hear nothing save the faint sounds of breathing. Then he heard a floor-board creak inside the room!
There followed a moment of silence, after which came a loud clash and a dull thud on the other side of the door. A second later a shrouded figure burst from the room.
For an instant the form was only a few inches from Chet, then it was gone. With a scream of anger and disappointment the stout boy realized that he was too late. He had lost his courage, and with it his chance to reach out and grab the fugitive.
At that moment another figure burst from the room and crashed into him. "Chet!" shouted Frank, back on his feet in a twinkling. "Did you see-which way did he go?"
Without waiting for an answer, the older Hardy lad dashed toward an open window at the end of the corridor. Joe ran behind him.
"Gone again!" muttered the latter. "These fire-escapes are certainly convenient for him, whoever he is."
Frank turned disappointedly from the window. '' No use trying to catch him now. Chet! What on earth------"
The fat boy was picking himself up from the floor. "I'm-I'm sorry," he moaned. "I was standing guard out here and-well, I guess I must have been too scared to catch the fellow.''
"Never mind, Chet, don't worry about it,'*
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Frank soothed his chum, who was on the verge of tears over his failure. "We'll find out who he is before long."
''Yes, and we'll catch him next time," Joe eaid tersely. "This has gone far enough."
His brother, who had entered their room ahead of the others, suddenly uttered an exclamation.
"Look, here's a note!" He held out a torn scrap of cheap tablet paper. On it, in an almost illegible scrawl, were the words, "FRANK HARDY'S DOOM IS NEAR." There was no signature attached.
For a moment the boys were silent. Then Joe spoke. "Frank," he said grimly. "Whatever else we do, you're not going diving I"
"Why not?" queried his brother.
"Because-you're not. It isn't worth the risk. Kuntz and his gang will go to any length to make sure you never come up again. I kno\r it!"
The older Hardy boy laughed. "Shucka, Joe, how can they do anything like that? Why, Perry's men are guarding the diving apparatus day and night. Nobody who isn't known to them can get within a mile of it. How could Kuntz or any of his gang damage anything now?"
The lad refused to take his brother's well-meant warning seriously, so Joe finally gave in. The following morning the chums returned to the dock, Frank assuring the others that
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everything would be perfectly all right if he should go ahead with his prospective dive.
"What's all the crowd doing here?" Chet wondered as he waited for Perry on the pier.
The clubhouse grounds and the waterfront were alive with buzzing villagers watching the workmen trundle heavy pieces of equipment to and fro in preparation for the day's diving. Suddenly Joe, who had been gazing at the onlookers, caught his brother's arm.
"Say, Frank, isn't that somebody we know?" He nodded toward a white-haired man.
"By Jove, he's Mr. Roy, isn't he I" replied Frank. '' The grandfather of the boy we pulled out of the water."
"You mean you pulled him out," laughed Joe. "Here he comes now."
The man apparently had recognized them, for he walked over to the boys and smiled pleasantly.
'' Aren 't you the Hardy lads ? Why, of course you are! Fine morning, isn't it?" He chatted agreeably for a few moments, then paused and gazed around at the scurrying workmen.
"Well, I see you're still determined to go after the Katawa's treasure!" he observed smilingly.
"We certainly are, Mr. Boy," Joe replied.
The older man shook his head. "I'm afraid you're on a wild goose chase," he remarked. "There isn't a chance in a million that you'll find anything of value."
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"You said that was only a rumor about the officers stealing the money," Frank cut in.
A portly, middle-aged man standing unobserved near the group cocked an ear intently.
"It's more than a rumor," Roy persisted. "It's the truth, I'm convinced of that. I-----"
He was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.
"Pardon the intrusion," said the portly stranger, stepping up, "but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. Do you mind my asking what officers stole what money ?''
"Why, the Katawa's officers stole the Kata-wa's money," returned Boy a trifle impatiently. "I can prove-----"
Again the stranger interrupted. " I 'm afraid you're wrong, sir," he contradicted. "I happen to be the brother of First Officer Shelley, and I know that no such thing ever happened."
"I can prove that it did!" snapped Roy. "Clark Hornblow says-----"
The other interrupted with a scornful laugh. 'Hornblow 'a insane! What proof is he!"
Boy was obviously annoyed. '' Hornblow has his lucid intervals," he spluttered, "and he tells the same story then. What would he gain by making it all up?"
The argument threatened to last indefinitely with neither side scoring. The Hardys were glad when Perry stepped up and motioned to them.
"We're all ready," he announced, slipping through the crowd which had congregated
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around Hoy and the stranger. The chums quickly followed the diver to the edge of the wharf.
"Wait," said Frank suddenly. "I've an idea, Mr. Perry. Why not get a list of just what valuables the Katawa had on board and find out whether this rumor could possibly be correct?"
The diver pondered a moment. "We've already attempted to get such a list," he said at length, "but we haven't succeeded. The company that operated the ship for the government during the war went bankrupt later and a lot of records were lost. That list was apparently one of them. So I'm afraid-----"
"What good would the list be, anyhow?" Chet cut in. "If the stuff on the ship was stolen, having a list won't do any good."
"No, here's Frank's idea," Joe interrupted. "If the bulk of the money were in gold bars, as it usually is, not much of it could have been loaded into a flimsy lifeboat. The stuff would be too heavy even if the men weren't caught moving it."
"Eight," Frank agreed. "And I've an idea that Dad might be able to locate the list. There must be one somewhere. A duplicate at some bank."
Perry remained skeptical but at length agreed that it might be worth a try. Accordingly, Frank postponed his dive for the day and the chums hurried back to the hotel. A wire
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was sent immediately to Fenton Hardy, giving complete details and urging the detective to act quickly.
Shortly after supper, when the boys had given up hope of receiving an answer that day, a messenger arrived at the hotel and handed Frank a telegram. The lad's face broke into a broad grin as he scanned the message.
"We have it!" he whooped. "Here's the whole answer. Good old Dad! Listen! 'WASHINGTON BANKERS INFORM ME KATAWA HAD DIAMONDS IN HIDDEN THEFTPROOF SAFE WHEREABOUTS NOW UNKNOWN ALL OTHER MONEY-CARGO IN GOLD SILVER BARS WEIGHING FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS EACH LOVE DAD.'"
"Hurray for Dad!" Joe yelled. "Let's get in touch with Mr. Perry right away. There's no doubt now that the Katawa is worth the fortune we've hoped!"
Frank hurried to the phone booth in the lobby and rang up the clubhouse. Perry was highly enthusiastic over the news.
"I'll admit that I was more worried over that rumor than I let on," the diver said when his first excitement had died down. "And so were the Cruxes. Fine fix we'd have been in if we'd done all our diving for nothing! Well, I '11 tell John about it right away. We '11 see you in the morning."
This time the chums took no chances on again
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being endangered that night by the mysterious prowler of the previous evenings, so each of them took a three-hour shift on guard. Dawn broke without a sign of the intruder, much to Chet's relief.
John Crux was waiting with a broad grin on his face when the boys drove up to the dock.
"Good work!" he exclaimed. "As I've said before, I don't know what we older fellows would do without you! Tell me, how did you get the list? Come on into the clubhouse. We've lots to talk over."
Frank explained the source of his information concerning the Katawa's treasure, and added that he expected further word from his father regarding the location of the diamond safe. When the older Hardy lad had finished, John Crux gazed at the boys earnestly.
"My brother Henry and I have decided to make you young men a present of a thousand dollars apiece for your splendid help, not only in our present problem, but also with the Corona. I have the checks ready."
"Mr. Crux!" Frank stood up. "We'd rather wait until the Katawa's money has been brought up safely. We-we'd rather not take anything before."
The older man smiled admiringly.
"Very well, I see that your minds are made up. Whatever happens, whether we raise the Katawa treasure or not, I shall insist that you accept our reward before you return home."
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The chums thanked their host and hurried down to the dock, where Perry was conversing with a stranger.
"Boys!" he called as they approached. "Here's somebody I want you to meet."
The diver advanced toward them with a short, pleasant-faced chap dressed flashily in loud tweeds and a bright green tie.
"Frank and Joe, this is Mr. Earl Chipsley. The Hardy boys, Earl, and this is Chet Morton, '' Perry introduced. '' Chipsley is a cameraman specializing in undersea pictures."
"Glad to know you all," the cameraman chattered shrilly. "Hardy boys, eh? I've heard of you and your father. Detectives, ehT Fine! Ever do any diving? Ever see an underwater camera? No? Say, wait till you see mine! It's------"
"Excuse me, Chipsley," Perry interrupted, "but we've a lot of work to do. If you'd care to come out on the barge we'd------"
"Care to! Try to stop me, Perry, old fellow! I want to show you how my new camera works. It's------"
The momentary confusion of boarding the tender interrupted the talkative newcomer for the time being. On the trip out, however, he fairly bubbled over with enthusiasm concerning his camera, which he told the boys he had invented himself specifically for undersea photography.
"It's wonderful!" he exclaimed. "I came
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all the way down here from New York to try it out when I heard some divers were going after the Katawa treasure! Say, Perry, I wonder if I could borrow one of your diving suits and take my camera down?"
"Let him go down with Frank, Mr. Perry," Joe suggested.
Though the lad hesitated to express his fears about his brother making the descent alone, Joe felt that Frank would be safer with someone else along. There was no indication of possible danger from Kuntz or his friends at the moment, but if something should go wrong at sea-bottom, a second person's help would be valuable.
Finally Perry got consent from John Crux and ordered another new diving suit to be brought out on deck. With a grateful smile Chipsley began to dress and showed two members of the crew how to fasten the camera to the front of his helmet.
"There!" he announced proudly. "How do you like that! Quite a camera, isn't it? I designed it especially to fit on these new diving helmets.''
'' Certainly is a funny looking gadget,'' Chet drawled. "What's it supposed to do?"
"Look, it swings down on a hinge and snaps in place right in front of my helmet window, like this," Chipsley demonstrated. "I can see exactly what pictures I am getting. Moving pictures they are, too!"
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Perry smiled dubiously. "Well, I hope it works. Pretty heavy water-pressure down then^ you know."
The fellow was unquenchable. "I realize that," he said confidently, "but water pressure won't hurt my camera. You'll see!"
As the crew members screwed down the diving helmets, Perry gave a few last-minute instructions.
"Be careful, Frank, and you too, Chipsley. Don't try to get into the liner," he warned. "She's full of rotten wood and if you fall through you're done for! You can walk on the ihip later after we've inspected it and found out which parts are safe and those that aren't."
Chipsley nodded, climbed quickly down the metal ladder alongside the barge rail, and sank from sight. At a signal from Perry, Frank followed. Instinctively the lad drew a deep breath just before the waters closed over his · head.