Part 14 (1/2)
”Look at this hatchet,” Frank urged, ”then at the shape of any side of the fort!”
Joe looked at the eastern rampart on the map as his brother's hand covered one of the corner bastions.
”It's like a tomahawk!” he exclaimed. ”It must be the clue painted by General Davenport!”
The three boys were greatly excited. ”Which side of the fort is the right one, though?” Chet puzzled.
”In the painting the tomahawk was parallel to the west wall! And remember the notches on it near the end of the stock?” said Frank.
”The West Barracks!” Joe said. ”The notches must refer to one of the dungeon cells! But that hatchet-throwing ghost-could he know about this clue?”
”I doubt it,” Frank said. ”He was trying to scare us out of this fort, but the joke may be on him. If we're right, he gave us a swell lead. Maybe we can find Mr. Davenport and the treasure tool Come on!”
Grabbing their shovels, the three moved over to the West Barracks, at the entrance nearest the notches shown in the picture. Spurred by renewed hope, they worked furiously.
An hour later Frank managed to wriggle through a hole they had opened in the rubble. Joe and Chet watched tensely as he lowered himself into blackness.
”It's all right!” Frank called.
The others pa.s.sed the shovels down and joined Frank. Chet squeezed through with the Hardys' help.
The boys switched on their flashlights and found themselves in a long, dank corridor, partially filled with debris.
A row of cells extended along the left wall. The Hardys were eager to explore and started for the nearest cell. Together, the boys inspected one dungeon after another, their rotting wood doors sagging on rusty iron hinges.
Frank and Chet were playing their lights on the floor of the fourth cell when Joe shouted behind them.
”Look-on the back wall!”
His beam focused on faint scratch marks in the stone.
The boys hurried over. Now they saw the scratches formed a definite shape: a broad blade, notched handle, and an encircling chain-identical to the one in the Davenport painting!
”This must have been the Prisoner-Painter's cell!” Frank exclaimed.
They felt the wall with their fingers. Joe frowned. ”Solid as steel,” he commented. ”How about the floor?”
Frank kicked aside the remains of what had been the prisoner's cot. As his foot touched one of the floor stones, it rattled!
”Joe-a shovel!”
Prodding with the spade, Frank levered the large slab, and the others lifted it out. Their flashlights revealed a gaping hole!
CHAPTER XIX.
Dungeon Trap ”IT'S not very deep.” Frank crouched. ”I'll go first.”
The Hardys dropped down into the opening and beamed their lights around.
”It's a tunnel!” Joe hissed.
Behind them was a blank stone wall, but ahead stretched the low, dirt pa.s.sageway. Chet lowered shovels and all three moved forward, ducking their heads.
”Easy-this ceiling doesn't look safe,” Frank cautioned. ”I don't get it. We're going west, which means the chain must be hidden outside the fort. Why?”
”Beats me,” Joe replied.
There appeared to be no turns. Farther on, they were surprised to find the tunnel angling downhill, then realized this was because of the fort ditch above.
Suddenly the trio were brought up short by a wall of dirt. Joe whispered. ”Do you think it's the end, or a cave-in?”
Frank probed the sloping earth with his spade. ”It looks like a cave-in, and a big one.”
The three debated about digging through the dirt barrier.
”We'll be risking another cave-in,” Frank said. ”If only we knew whether or not this tunnel continues. And if it does, where to.”
”Let's chance it,” Joe urged.
The Bayport sleuths set their flashlights on the floor and began shoveling with utmost care.
Beneath its hard-packed outer layer, the dirt was loose. The boys dumped spadeful after spadeful to one side. Suddenly they stopped digging, and listened, motionless.
Stealthy footsteps were approaching!
Grabbing a flashlight, Joe swung the beam back down the pa.s.sage. It fell on the face of a tall, sullen-faced youth.
”Ronnie Rus.h.!.+”
”Well, I finally caught up to you three. I hitched a ride in a motorboat, and trailed you here at the fort. Did you find the gold chain?”
Ronnie, striding forward defiantly, forgot to duck. His head struck the low ceiling. A thunderous sound followed as the tunnel walls gave way.
”Look out!” Frank cried.
Ronnie leaped ahead. He and the boys went down beneath a barrage of falling earth. Choking dust filled the tunnel pocket. Joe staggered to his feet and thrust a shovel into the ma.s.s of earth. ”Frank! We're cut off!”
The Hardys dug furiously, but it was no use. They were sealed in!
”There's not enough air to last the four of us even a couple of hours!” Frank warned. ”So every move will have to count.”
Chet glowered at Rush, who lay stunned. ”If it weren't for you-”
”You really scored this time, Rush,” Frank agreed. ”But we can't waste air arguing about it.”