The Mystery of the Chinese Junk (17 page)

The Hardys' chums began tying their captives with the ropes which had bound their friends a few minutes earlier. After gathering up the loot, they marched the men out of the cave and down the cliff. Dave Roberts could take charge of them until the Coast Guard sent over officers to look after the prisoners.

Meanwhile, Frank and Joe had raced after the Chameleon. Upon reaching the fork in the tunnel, the young sleuths noticed that the path they had not explored had wet footprints in it.

“That phony doctor went this way!” Joe exclaimed, and they sped through the zigzag opening.

The tunnel was fairly short and rose sharply to the top of the cliff. The exit was so narrow, Frank and Joe had to squeeze through it. Once outside they looked around for Dr. Montrose. They spotted him jumping from rock to rock down the far side of the cliff.

“I see a boat down there!” Frank cried out. “He'll escape in it!”

The Hardys descended the treacherous hillside as fast as they dared but felt that the chase was hopeless. But as Montrose reached the foot of the cliff, the brothers suddenly spied Clams Dagget on the shore.

“Clams!” Frank shouted. “Grab that man! He's a thief!”

The beachcomber-pilot looked up. Recognizing the Hardys, he did not hesitate. Before the fleeing Chameleon knew what was happening, he had been tripped and thrown face down to the sand. By the time Frank and Joe reached him, Clams was seated astride the doctor's shoulders, thwarting the man's efforts to rise. When Montrose saw the Hardys, he ceased to struggle and the beachcomber let him get up.

“Now s'pose you fellows tell me what this is all about,” Clams demanded.

The boys gave him an account of everything they knew, including the prime clue of the cuff links.

Clams frowned and said, “If we search this jerk, mebbe we can find out more.”

Montrose objected, but Frank and Joe held him as the beachcomber began going through the man's pockets. As he looked over the contents of the doctor's wallet, Clams exclaimed:

“Quite a bunch o' dough. Hm. A hundred-dollar bill! By crickey, if there ain't two of 'em!”

“Let me see them!” Joe cried out. As soon as they were removed from the wallet he said excitedly, “Frank, these bills belong to you and me! I remember the letters and numbers. Federal reserve notes from the eighth and the fifth districts. The first starts with H18 and ends with F. That's yours. And the other, starting E1015 and ending with A, is my bill!”

The Chameleon's face went white. “You kids are smart,” he growled, “but dumb sometimes. I saw you put the money in the envelope and lay it on the mantel while I was casing your house preparatory to opening the safe, so I came in and took it.”

“That was dumb of me,” Joe agreed. “Well, get marching. We're going to hand you over to the Coast Guard.”

As the group of four neared the bathing beach, they could see a Coast Guard cutter docking next to the
Hai Hau.
Officers jumped from the craft and hurried toward the boys and their prisoners. They got further confessions from the men, including the fact that Butler and Burns were the ones who had signaled to Montrose on shore to tell him and Chin Gok when it was safe for them to visit the island cave.

“We tried to scare you guys away that night you came snoopin' around in your boat,” Butler told the Hardys. “We hired two men to do it.”

The brothers learned, too, that Burns had acted as Montrose's “stockbroker” friend.

Clams had been quiet up to this point. Now he burst out, “If I'd knowed you two was such low-downs, I'd never ‘a' sold you one mouthful o' clams all those times you come pesterin' me for 'em. And you never did tell me what that job was you wanted me to do. Guess it was somethin' crooked and you found out I'm an honest guy!”

With the Coast Guard in charge of the prisoners and the loot, the Hardys and their pals said good-by to Clams and headed for the
Hai Hau.
Biff now revealed the news about the finding of the treasure map.

“Wow-ee” Joe cried out and hugged Tony exuberantly.

Frank followed, grinning from ear to ear. “Super!” he exclaimed. “Say, look who's coming!”

At this moment Ti-Ming, evidently waiting for the boys, walked forward to add his congratulations on the capture of the two slick thieves and their pals. He said he had come to the island in a private launch to tell the boys that Chief Collig and his men had caught the other Chinese who had escaped from jail with Chin Gok.

Upon hearing of the finding of the scroll, he remarked, “Very fine work! The whole gang in custody, and the mystery of the Chinese junk solved! I came prepared to search and help. Instead, all I can do is offer you a reward.”

“Reward?” the boys chorused.

Ti-Ming smiled. “The rightful owner of the
Hai Hau
instructed me to tell the finder of the clue to the fortune that he would receive a ten per cent interest in it.”

“Guess you're elected, Tony,” said Frank.

“Hope you make a million,” Joe added.

Tony Prito reddened, then said, “Anything that comes to Bayport from those mines of blue amber will be shared, and shared in equal amounts, among the six of us. We all bought the
Hai Hau
together, didn't we?”

Ti-Ming beamed in pleasure. “And you solved the mystery together. Now I must leave, but first I apologize for the telegram about the curse to keep you from selling the
Hai Hau.”

As they waved good-by to George Ti-Ming, Frank and Joe wondered what new mystery would rise up to challenge them. They had no way of knowing that very soon a most unusual case,
THE MYSTERY OF THE DESERT GIANT,
would test their sleuthing abilities to the limit.

Frank went aboard the
Hai Hau
and rang the junk's melodic bell, calling the picnickers aboard.

“It's a little early,” Frank confessed to his pals, “but I want to be at the airport when Mother and Dad arrive.”

“Yes,” said Joe. “And what a home-coming they're going to getl”