Hunting for Hidden Gold

A fortune in hidden gold! That certainly sounds mighty interesting. Frank Hardy folded up the letter he had just been reading aloud to his brother. "Dad has all the luck," replied Joe. "I'd give anything to be working with him on a case like that." "Me, too. This case is a bit out of the ordinary." "Where was the letter postmarked?" "Somewhere in Montana. A gold-mining camp called Lucky Bottom." "Montana! Gee, but I wish he could have taken us with him. We've never been more than two hundred miles from home." "And I've never seen a mine in my life, much less a real mining camp." The Hardy boys looked at one another regretfully. They had just received a letter from their father, Fenton Hardy, an internationally famous detective, who had been called West but a fortnight previous on a mysterious mission. The letter gave the boys their first inkling of the nature of the case that had summoned their father from Bayport, on the Atlantic coast, to the mining country of Montana. "A fortune in hidden gold," repeated Frank. "I hope he finds it all right." "It was stolen from one of the big companies, wasn't it?" "Yes. He says that an entire shipment of bullion was stolen before it left the camp, so they believe it must have been hidden somewhere in the neighborhood." "And his job is to find it." "If he can. And the thieves as well." Joe sighed. "I sure would like to be out there right now. We might be able to help him." "Well, we've helped him in other cases, but I guess we're out of luck this time. Montana is too far away." "Yes, and we have to keep on going to school. I'll be glad when we're through school and can be regular detectives like dad." Frank grinned. "No use grouching about it," he said cheerfully. "Our time will come some day." "Yes, but it seems a long time coming," replied Joe, smiling ruefully. "Oh, in a few more years we'll be going all over the country just like dad, solving robberies and murders and having all sorts of excitement. We haven't done too badly so far, anyway." "Yes, we had the fun of discovering the tower treasure." "And running down the counterfeiters." "Yes; and solving the mystery of the house on the cliff and finding out about Blacksnake Island." The boys were referring to previous cases in which they had been involved and in which their ability had been proved. But it had been several months since any adventure or excitement had come their way and they were feeling restless, the more so now that they knew their father was at that moment in the remote mining camp in the West engaged on a mystery that seized their imagination.

Dettagli