“It certainly is a mystery how those autos disappeared,” said Frank Hardy. “I’ll say it is,” replied his brother Joe, raising his voice to be heard above the clatter of their motorcycles. “Just think ...

For a moment Frank Hardy lay in the thicket, stunned by the shock of his fall, with the breath knocked out of him. Gradually, he recovered himself and managed to scramble to his feet. His first though...

For a moment after the detective’s question there was dead silence. Jack Dodd stared at the fishing rod as though stupefied. Then, mechanically, he took it in his hands. “Yes, it’s mine, all right,” h...

On the following Monday, Frank and Joe Hardy noticed that Jack Dodd was not at school. They had heard no more about the case, although the disappearance of Isaac Fussy’s automobile had increased publi...

After school the following afternoon, the Hardy boys repaired to the boathouse at the end of the street, where they kept their fast motorboat, the Sleuth. They had bought this boat out of money they h...

The Hardy boys were not the only investigators on the Shore Road the next afternoon. The daring thefts of the two new cars from the very streets of Bayport had aroused public resentment to a high pitc...

Detective Smuff walked back as far as the road with the boys, and then clambered into his car, where another detective on the Bayport force was waiting for him. “You’re just wastin’ your time hunting ...

“Let’s tackle that fellow!” exclaimed Frank Hardy. “We can ask him about your fishing rod, Jack.” Frank scrambled into the bushes, where Gus Montrose had disappeared, and in a moment his companions we...

This new sensation soon had Bayport by the ears. Although the owners of private cars had been content to leave the matter of their stolen property in the hands of the police, the Eastern Importing Com...

“I’ll bet that light’s a signal light,” whispered Joe Hardy to his brother. The boys watched the yellow gleam among the trees. Then, slowly, the light began to move. It swung to and fro, as though it ...

One of the game wardens chanced to live near the Morton farm, and as he was on his way into Bayport next morning to give evidence against the two men arrested, he fell in with Chet and in the course o...

As days passed and the Shore Road mystery was no nearer solution, police activity was redoubled. Motorists became caustic in their comments and Chief Collig felt it as a reflection on his force that n...

The massive roadster rolled smoothly out of the garage that evening and the Hardy boys drove down High Street, greatly enjoying the attention their new car attracted. Freshly painted, the automobile h...

The Hardy boys were not discouraged by this failure. They realized that it was too much to hope for success in their venture at the first trial and resolved to lay their trap again. If their parents w...

It was late before the Hardy boys got to sleep that night. The events of the evening, culminating in the discovery that the auto thieves had been at work in Bayport while they were lying in wait for t...

Rain threatened throughout the afternoon, but although the sky darkened and there was an ominous calm, the storm held off. After supper the Hardy boys went outside and looked at the clouds. “It’s sure...

In a moment the lid of the locker would have been raised. Then came an interruption. “The boss wants us,” said one of the men. The man approaching the back of the car halted. “All right,” he growled. ...

The cave-in had imprisoned the Hardy boys. The flashlight revealed not a single opening. The tunnel was blocked up, and for all the boys knew the barrier continued right to the outer cave. “Now we’re ...

Tensely, the Hardy boys crouched in the tunnel, as they heard the voice of the Dodds’ former hired man. “It’s a dirty night out,” he was saying. “You’re welcome to the trip, Dan.” “Still raining?” “Po...

The dazzling glare of the big lamp was turned full in the faces of the Hardy boys. They heard a gasp of astonishment. “Why, it’s a couple of kids!” exclaimed one of the men. “Couple of kids!” rasped G...

In a few moments, the Hardy boys had emerged from the passage and stood in a heavy clump of bushes that obscured the entrance to the tunnel in the bluff. Brushing aside the trees, they stepped out ont...

“This is the place!” Frank Hardy excitedly told the officer in charge of the party. “The tunnel is right behind those bushes.” “Mighty well hidden,” the trooper commented. “Do you think you can find t...

The capture and subsequent trial of the automobile thieves provided Bayport with one of its biggest sensations in many a day. Although some of the gang stubbornly insisted on their innocence, the evid...