Discovery

Ken was saying, “It is rather strange that somebody should have been in that house when it is supposed to be empty and deserted.”

“But why?” demanded Paul. “Being empty and unoccupied, anybody might walk in and look around.”

“Very true,” commented Jack, “but why should he sock me, that’s something I can’t understand.” He put his hand behind his head and winced with pain. “Suppose,” he continued, “some person does stray into the house and while he is there I enter. Does that mean that he has to bang me on the head and run away? It is not logical. There must be something to it.”

“You may be right,” conceded Paul, “but somehow it doesn’t strike me so. By the way, did I tell you fellows how I ran into Captain Bob last night and almost scared him to death?”

“No,” cried Ken. “Tell us.”

Paul narrated his last night’s adventure. The boys laughed heartily at the thought of Captain Bob being scared out of his wits. He also told them that the captain had also had the same hunch as he. Then he asked, “What do you fellows think of it?”

[114]

Jack merely shrugged his shoulders, manifesting his lack of opinion. Ken, however, said, “It sounds quite logical to me.”

“Logic does not always prove anything,” remarked Paul.

Jack jumped out of his seat and snapped his fingers. “I have an idea,” he cried.

“Tell us,” said Ken.

“What is it?” asked Paul.

“It is something I couldn’t exactly explain; it’s just something I feel—a hunch. Come on, we’re going back to that empty house.”

“But what for?” demanded Paul. “We have been there several times and we have found no clues or anything.”

“Well, we’re going back and look again.”

Jack disappeared into the house and a minute later came out carrying his flashlight and as baseball bat. “What is the bat for?” asked Ken.

“Just in case of anything,” was the answer. “I’m not taking chances any more.”

The boys rocked with laughter, Jack joining in. “You think you’re going to hit somebody with that thing?” questioned Ken, still laughing.

“I suppose the fellow who hit you is waiting there for you to even things up,” commented Paul.

“You fellows can laugh all you want,” said Jack, “but I’m taking it along just the same. Come on.”

They were on their way. Jack said, “Paul, you[115] and I are going into the house, while you, Ken, are going to hide outside and give us the usual signal in case you see somebody suspicious coming up the street or about to enter the house.”

“And what are we going to do?” asked Paul.

“You and I are going into that first room and investigate. If there is anything to be found, somehow I feel convinced that it will be found in that room. I have only one reason for it. When I was hit on the head I had my back to that door. Therefore the person who hit me came out of that room.”

“That sounds reasonable,” remarked Paul. “But I, on the contrary, have no illusions about finding any clues there. It seems to me that we went over every inch of ground in that room.”

“You are wrong, Paul,” contradicted Jack. “All we did was merely look around. We did not make a real search of the room.”

The boys came to the house. All three of them made sure of a good location for Ken to hide and keep watch. When that was done, Paul and Jack entered the house and closed the door behind them. “Now,” whispered Jack, “Let’s open the door of this first room and examine it.” Jack did so and swung the door back and forth on its hinges. “Notice something?” he asked his chum.

“I most certainly do, Jack. This is very suspicious.”

“What is it you notice?” asked Jack.

[116]

“Why, the movement of the door swinging on its hinges; it’s noiseless. Isn’t that what you mean?”

“Yes. The hinges must be well oiled and that is why I did not hear when the door was opened and I was hit on the head. Under normal circumstances, the hinges should be rusty and there should be plenty of squeaking every time the door is swung open.”

“You are right, Jack. But I still don’t see what your hunch is.”

“Let’s just wait and see. I don’t know exactly what it is myself yet. I can only make a wild guess. Let’s go into the room.”

They entered and closed the door behind them. They had no use for their flashlights because the room had a window in each corner wall, and it was now early morning, about ten o’clock. “Notice another thing,” remarked Jack. “The windows—they are all in perfect shape.”

“That’s right, but that is nothing extraordinary. It is possible that the last tenant had moved out only recently.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter so much. Shall we first thoroughly go over the walls or the floor?”

Paul looked about for several seconds before he answered. “I think we had better do the floor first.” They looked down. “You know,” continued Paul, “I am somehow beginning to get a hunch like you have. I can’t exactly explain it, but—”

[117]

Jack interrupted, crying enthusiastically, “Do you really mean that? Because then—”

Paul held up a finger to his lips and cautioned, “Sh! Not so loud. Walls have ears, you know, and all that.&rdq............