The Secret of Wildcat Swamp

Table of Contents

 

 

An invitation from Cap Bailey, science teacher at Bayport High, to accompany him out West to Wildcat Swamp on an archaeological expedition triggers off a series of dangerous events for Frank and Toe Hardy.

Just before they leave, a ruthless criminal breaks out of prison. Their famous detective father, who is tracking down a gang of freight-train robbers, suspects the escapee is part of the gang. Investigation leads him to believe that the robbers might be hiding out in Wildcat Swamp!

On their way West the boys and Cap have a near-fatal accident in a private plane which has been sabotaged. When they start digging for fossils, a giant boulder comes hurtling straight toward them as if guided by an invisible hand. Though warned to leave the area, Frank, Joe, and Cap doggedly remain until they have caught the cunning ex-convicts they are up against in this swift-paced adventure.

Copyright © 1997,1969, 1952, by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., a member of The Putnam & Grosset
Group, New York. Published simultaneously in Canada. S.A.
THE HARDY BOYS® is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 69-14267

eISBN : 978-1-101-07645-3

2008 Printing

 

 

 

“IF SOMEBODY doesn't toss a mystery our way, fellows, we may actually be swimming in this pool one of these days.”

Frank and Joe Hardy stopped digging and leaned on their shovels. The boys grinned as they studied the perspiring, chubby face of Chet Morton.

“Shall we tell him, Joe?” Frank asked with an exaggerated lift of his eyebrows.

“Tell me what?” Chet demanded. “Aw, listen, fellows! Long before school closed for the summer you promised me you'd come out here to the farm and help me clean out this bog.”

Eighteen-year-old Frank Hardy, with a wink at his brother, who was only a year younger, gazed thoughtfully at their best friend.

“Well, aren't we helping?” he said. “But how would you like to help us catch a couple of train robbers, Chet?”

“No kidding!” Joe added. “Last night Dad was talking about one of his cases, and said maybe we could help him.”

The brothers, sons of Fenton Hardy, an internationally known private detective, frequently assisted their father. Their first mystery had been
The Tower Treasure,
and not long ago they had solved
The Wailing Siren Mystery.
Chet Morton had often shared their exciting adventures, but he preferred the enjoyment of a good meal to such strenuous activity.

“Tr-train robbers! I'd rather dig,” Chet retorted.

He sent his long-handled shovel deep into the mire. Then, with a heave, he hoisted a load of muck and shale to the high ground behind him.

“Say, look at that shale you just tossed up!” Joe exclaimed. “It cracked open, and there are funny-looking marks inside it!”

Curious, Frank picked up a piece of the shale and inspected it more closely.

“Looks like indentations from old clamshells, doesn't it?” he remarked.

“Oh, you find all sorts of queer marks on rocks and things which have been under water,” Chet answered. “That's nothing at all. Throw the silly thing away and let's get on with this job!”

Just then a voice sounded behind him. “Wait! Don't throw that away. It's valuable!”

Turning, the three boys discovered Thomas “Cap” Bailey, popular track coach and science teacher at Bayport High, standing on the rim of the excavation. He was not much older than his students, who held the twenty-five-year-old instructor in high regard.

“That's a brachiopod!” he exclaimed, examining the piece of shale.

“A w-who?” Chet stuttered.

“It's a valuable fossil—maybe millions of years old,” Cap said with a smile. “They turn up every now and then in different corners of the world, and scientists use them to trace the development of man and animals through the ages.”

Crouching down, he showed them what a perfect specimen the brachiopod was.

“You ought to take this to the Bayport Museum, Chet. I doubt that there's one like it in their collection.”

Then Cap spoke directly to the Hardys. “How would you fellows like to combine some detective work with fossils?”

“I knew it!” Chet moaned. “Here goes our pool. It'll never be finished now.”

Frank and Joe eagerly questioned the science teacher for more details.

“A week before school closed,” he said, “I received a letter from an aunt who lives out West. Her husband, Alexander Bailey, died recently, just when he was on the verge of an important discovery.”

“Was he a scientist, too?” Joe inquired.

“Yes, a geologist. It seems that about a year ago he uncovered part of what appeared to be the giant fossil of a prehistoric camel that once roamed the western United States. Soon after his discovery, one of those terrific western storms hit the spot and completely obliterated all of his work. Then he was taken ill and never recovered.”

“Too bad,” Frank murmured.

Chet asked how Cap's aunt expected him to find the camel since all trace of his uncle's work was lost in the storm.

“I haven't told you all the story,” Cap replied. “Before he died, my uncle scratched out a rough map of the section, with the location of his original discovery indicated on it. It's a place called Wildcat Swamp.”

That was all Chet needed. “Wildcats!” he exclaimed. “They're dangerous!”

“Probably it's called Wildcat Swamp,” Cap Bailey went on, “because not far from the site of his discovery he had found a sign reading: ‘Here lie the bodies of twenty wildcat.' ”

“That's strange,” Joe remarked. “Their killer must have been a mighty hunter.”

Bailey nodded, “I guess anyone going into the area would have to keep his eyes open. And, incidentally, I've already found out there is some danger to even starting for the spot.”

“What do you mean?” the boys chorused.

“Well, after school closed I started for Wildcat Swamp alone, in my car. Any number of people must have heard me talking about what I intended to do. I hadn't driven far when I was held up by two masked men and all my money was stolen. I was told to go back home and stay there.”

“You think they meant to discourage you from going after the fossil?” Frank asked.

“Of course I'm not positive, because they didn't mention the fossil, and didn't take the map. That might have been because another car came along and scared them away. But they seemed to know who I was, and mentioned that it would be healthier for me in the East than out West.”

“It does sound as if they wanted you to give up that trip,” Joe commented. “But why? They sound more like thugs than scientists.”

Cap Bailey nodded soberly. “The reason I came out to see you Hardys is this: How would you like to make the trip with me? I think you could be a big help. What do you say?”

“It sounds wonderful to me,” shouted impulsive Joe. “How soon do we leave?”

Frank was just as enthusiastic as his brother, but more realistic in his approach.

“Three of us together should certainly be able to handle more trouble than one man alone, but first we'll have to get Dad's and Mother's okay.”

As it turned out, that was no problem at all. When they reached home, their quiet, pretty mother said she would leave the decision to their father. After the situation had been explained to him that evening, the tall, well-built detective said:

“You mean the train robbers? How?” Frank asked.

“I had my operative Sam Radley tailing a fellow named Gerald Flint after he was released from Delmore Prison. Once Sam overheard Flint use a phrase that sounded like ‘twenty wildcat' in such a way that he's sure it has some special significance. And now Flint has disappeared.”

“Wow!” Joe cried out. “You don't mean he's in Wildcat Swamp?”

“I wouldn't go that far,” his father answered. “But a good detective never misses a clue. If you boys can find out more about the ‘twenty wildcat,' it may help me.”

Cap Bailey was pleased to hear that Frank and Joe could go with him.