The Tower Treasure Read Online Free Page A

take a look.”
    â€œI believe he was carrying something, but I couldn’t see what it was,” Frank revealed.
    The barn door had not been closed yet for the night and the boys walked in. Chet turned on the lights and the searchers gazed around.
    â€œLook!” Frank cried suddenly.
    He pointed to the floor below the telephone ex tension in the barn. There lay a man’s gray wig.
    â€œThe intruder’s!” Joe exclaimed.
    â€œIt sure looks so,” Frank agreed. “And something must have scared him. In his hurry to get away he must have dropped this.”
    Frank picked up the wig and examined it carefully for a clue. “No identifying mark in it. Say, I have an idea,” he burst out. “That man phoned you from here, Chet.”
    â€œYou mean he’s the one who threatened me?”
    â€œYes. If you know how, you can call your own telephone number from an extension.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    Chet was wagging his head. “You mean that guy bothered to come all the way here to use this phone to threaten me? Why?”
    Both Hardys said they felt the man had not come specifically for that reason. There was another more important one. “We must figure it out. Chet, you ought to be able to answer that better than anybody else. What is there, or was there, in this barn to interest such a person?”
    The stout boy scratched his head and let his eyes wander around the building. “It wouldn’t be any of the livestock,” he said slowly. “And it couldn’t be hay or feed.” Suddenly Chet snapped his fingers. “Maybe I have the answer. Wait a minute, fellows.”

    On the floor lay a man’s wig
    He disappeared from the barn and made a bee-line for the garage. Chet hurried inside but was back in a few seconds.
    â€œI have it!” he shouted. “That guy came here to get the spare tire for the jalopy.”
    â€œThe one you had is gone?” Frank asked.
    Chet nodded. He suggested that perhaps the man was not too far away. He might be on some side road changing the tire. “Let’s find out,” he urged.
    Although the Hardys felt that it would be a useless search, they agreed to go along. They got on their motorcycles, with Chet riding behind Joe. The boys went up one road and down another, covering the territory very thoroughly. They saw no parked car.
    â€œNot even any evidence that a driver pulled off the road and stayed to change a tire,” Frank remarked. “No footprints, no tool marks, no treads.”
    â€œThat guy must have had somebody around to pick him up,” Chet concluded with a sigh.
    â€œCheer up, Chet,” Frank said, as they walked back to the house. “That spare tire may turn out to be a clue in this case.”
    When the boys entered the kitchen again, they were met with anxious inquiries from Callie and Iola.
    â€œWhat in the world were you doing—dashing out of here without a word?” Callie asked in a shaking voice.
    â€œYes, what’s going on? You had us frightened silly,” Iola joined in. “First Chet gets a threatening phone call, and then suddenly all three of you run out of the house like madmen!”
    â€œCalm down, girls,” Frank said soothingly. “I saw a prowler, and we were looking for him, but all we found was this!” He tossed the gray wig onto a chair in the hall.
    Suddenly there was a loud wail from Chet. “My Welsh rabbit! It’s been standing so long it will be ruined!”
    Iola began to giggle. “Oh, you men!” she said. “Do you suppose Callie and I would let all that good cheese go to waste? We kept that Welsh rabbit at just the right temperature and it isn’t spoiled at all.”
    Chet looked relieved, as he and the others took their places at the table. Although there was a great deal of bantering during the meal, the conversation in the main revolved around Chet’s missing jalopy and the