The House on the Cliff
Chapter 7: The Hidden Trail
As
soon as they are up the next day, Frank and Joe rush down to the waterfront to
find Pretzel Pete. When Pete hears the brothers are looking for their dad, he
soon has them hidden in a warehouse, eating pretzels. He passes them a tip
about Ali Singh, an East Indian sailor who is thought to be a smuggler! Pete
reports that Ali Singh has come ashore for a secret meeting with his gang,
supposedly in a deserted farmhouse on Hillcrest. Where Hillcrest is, Pete has
no idea.
With
many thanks, Frank and Joe rush off on their motorcycles to the shore road.
They pass many roads, but no Hillcrest, until they see a car emerge from the
woods. Sure enough, going into the woods is a road marked Hillcrest! Excitedly
they discover a farmhouse, but it is completely empty, from the tiny cellar to
the loft on top. At last the detectives discover a piece of torn cloth marked Polo!
Hoping that their father has escaped, Frank and Joe bike to the police station.
Their old friend Chief Collig examines the scrap of cloth and identifies it. It
is torn from a towel from the Marco Polo, a passenger ship that docks in
Bayport!
By
now, the whole town has heard that Fenton Hardy is missing, and Mrs. Hardy is
beside herself. The next morning, the whole family is surprised by a young man
who knocks on the door and announces that he may be able to help them find Mr.
Hardy!
