The Sign Of The Crooked Arrow Part 6

Frank quickly outlined what he wanted his friend to do. Chet did not sound too enthusiastic at the prospect.

"What's the matter?" Frank asked. "You aren't afraid, are you?"

"Those are pretty tough guys hanging around that part of town," Chet protested.

"You can handle 'em," Frank came back. "What about those judo lessons you're taking?"

"You bet," Chet burst out. "I'll throw 'em over my shoulder." Frank could imagine Chet swelling with pride on the other end of the line.

58 "Good," Frank replied. "See you tomorrow morning at ten at our house. We'd make it earlier, but we want to stop at the hospital to see Dad."

Chet arrived at the Hardy home a little late, and insisted upon a second breakfast before his visit to Al's Tobacco Shop.

"You're supposed to be reducing," Frank reminded him.

Chet grimaced. "I need energy if I have to fight any tough guys," he declared. "By the way, how's your father?"

"Much better," Frank replied. "He sure gave us a scare, though."

As the three boys started off a few minutes later, Frank outlined their plan of operation.

"Joe will keep an eye on the front door," he said. "I'll station myself in the delivery alley at the back of the place."

"What do I do?" Chet asked nervously.

"You go inside," Frank continued, "and see if you can spot anything resembling a crooked arrow; watch, tie clip, or other jewelry. Meanwhile, try to find out if Al sells anything to his regular customers besides tobacco."

"Maybe you'd better go in," Chet said, looking at Frank apprehensively, "while I stand at the back of the place."

"Why, Chet," Joe said, keeping a straight face, 59 "you know a lot more about judo than we do!"

"Oh, well, all right," Chet agreed finally. "But I've got a feeling I'm running right smack into trouble."

Frank parked the coupe a block from the scene, and the boys started work according to plan. Joe stood in the doorway of an old house almost directly across the street from the shop. Frank concealed himself behind three tall ash cans in the back of the store. Chet, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up his courage, entered the store. All had agreed to meet ten minutes later in a diner down the street.

But they did not have to wait that long. Frank heard the back screen door of Al's shop bang shut. Poking his head around one of the cans to get a better view, he saw a rough-looking man stop momentarily, look up and down, then quietly slip down the alley.

Hardly had the man departed when the sound of angry words and scuffling issued from the shop. Frank could hear Al growl in a low tone and Chet reply in a high-pitched voice.

"Leggo of me!" Chet cried. "If you don't, I'll-I'll-"

A crash followed and the screen door flew open. A blurred figure bounced into the alley, rolling nearly to the ash cans.

At first Frank had thought Chet, using his newly 60 learned judo, had tossed Al from the store. But the figure that struggled to its feet was not the shop owner!

"Chet!" Frank whispered, standing up from his hiding place. "What happened?"

"Tell you later," Chet puffed. "Let's get out of here!"

Frank led the way, with Chet limping behind. They made their way to the diner, where Joe was waiting. He told of having seen a man enter the store just before Chet did.

"That's right. Al was waiting on him when I stepped in. Called him Bearcat. They didn't notice me."

"Did you hear anything?" Frank asked quickly.

"The fellow said 'Got any arrows?' Chet related. "Al handed him something, but I didn't get a good look at what it was."

"Arrows!" Joe gasped. "Go on. What happened next?"

"Bearcat said, 'I'll be at Mike's,' and went out the back door," Chet replied. "Then Al saw me. When I said I wanted some cigars for my dad, he got mad and threw me out. Said I was a pest and a sneak and-well, I think he didn't like my coming in so suddenly. Guess I interrupted something that made Al sore."

6S "It's something to do with arrows, that's sure," Frank declared.

"Whatever arrows are, they're small," Chet said. "And where is Mike's?"

"I know!" Frank declared. "I saw it on the way here. It's a cheap restaurant two blocks down the water front; the place where Dad's recorder picked up the words 'crooked arrow.' "

"Let's go!" Joe exclaimed.

"No," Frank warned. "I'll go alone. Too many of us would arouse suspicion. But if I'm not back in fifteen minutes, come after me."

Joe and Chet agreed to stay at the diner until Frank completed his trip to Mike's. He strode down the street, determined to find the man he had seen in the alley behind Al's Tobacco Shop.

It was not long before the boy was standing in front of Mike's Place. Several rough-looking men walked in and out through the swinging doors.

"Guess I'd better act the part," Frank thought with a smile.

Taking off his necktie, he put it in his pocket and unb.u.t.toned his collar. Then, trying to look as tough as Mike's clientele, he mussed up his hair.

Frank walked boldly into the restaurant. At first he could see almost nothing in the place, which was dimly lighted and filled with cigarette smoke that 62 hung like a pall over the old-fas.h.i.+oned wooden tables.

As his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, Frank looked eagerly at the faces of the men in the place. None resembled the one he sought.

Disappointed, Frank worked his way toward the back of the restaurant. He spotted a booth at the extreme rear. In it sat Bearcat!

Frank slipped into the seat opposite him. The man hardly noticed the boy as he scanned the menu, written in pencil. When he finally glanced at Frank, the boy leaned forward.

"Say, Al ain't got no more arrows," he whispered. "How about lettin' me have one?"

The man's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You in the racket, too, eh?" he said. "Nuttin' like startin' when you're young."

He reached into his pocket and drew out a cigarette. Frank opened his wallet and laid a ten-dollar bill on the table. With no idea of its price, he was sure this would amply cover the cost. To his amazement the man gave him no change.

"Al sure is a gyp," whined Frank. "A guy can't get far with one Arrow."

"Ain't Al's fault," Bearcat replied.

"Thanks," Frank said, pocketing the cigarette and rising to leave.

Then he stopped short. Coming in the front door 63 was Al himself. As he headed for Frank's booth, the boy slipped out of it, concealing himself as best he could behind a barrellike waiter. Fortunately, Al's eyes took a few seconds to become accustomed to the dimness and he failed to notice Frank as he made for the door.

"Hey, you," the gruff voice of the cas.h.i.+er called. "Pay up!"

"I didn't eat anything," Frank objected.

"Oh, no? Say, kid, you pay or-"

Al had stopped to listen to the argument. Frank was fearful. He threw a dollar bill to the cas.h.i.+er, saying: "Okay, but I'll come back and eat it out later."

With that Frank hurried into the street, half running toward the diner where Joe and Chet were waiting. In his hand he held the Arrow cigarette.

At last he knew what the mysterious thing was-a cigarette!

As the boy neared the diner, Frank turned the cigarette over in his fingers to take a quick look at it.

Suddenly he saw black spots before his eyes. His head swam, then he slumped to the sidewalk!

CHAPTER VIII.

Arrow Charlie.

"frank, Frank! What's the matter?" Joe bent over his brother, his face tense and worried.

"I ... I ... wh ... where am I?" Frank asked, regaining consciousness.

"You're on the sidewalk," Joe replied. "When you didn't show up, we started looking for you and found you here."

With Joe's aid3 Frank struggled to his feet. As his brain cleared, he told what had happened at Mike's Place.

"I was on my way back to meet you fellows," he said, "when I took a look at the cigarette and then . . . Hey, where is it?"

Frank suddenly gazed about him.

"This it?" Joe inquired, picking up a cigarette that had rolled into the gutter.

"Yes," Frank said. "Let's look it over carefully-but not here."

"Where, then?" Chet asked.

"At the police station," Frank replied.

The three drove quickly to headquarters. On the way, Frank related in detail what had happened in the restaurant and how he had paid ten dollars for the Arrow cigarette.

"I'm sure this cigarette put me to sleep," Frank reasoned. "And if it did, we may have the key to the Bayport robberies."

Joe was so excited he could hardly wait to tell Chief Collig the story.

"This is top secret," Frank said as the police officer greeted the trio.

The boy motioned for the doors to be closed. The chief obliged, stationing a subordinate outside.

"Don't let anybody in," he instructed the policeman, "until I've finished this conference with the Hardy boys."

Then he turned to the trio. "Have you located the man who shot your father?" he asked with quickening interest.

"No," Frank replied as spokesman for the boys. "But we've uncovered a clue that may solve the mysterious robberies around Bayport."

With that he pulled the cigarette from his pocket and laid it on the chief's desk.

"What's this, a joke?" Collig asked.

66 "It's no joke," Frank insisted. "This is a cigarette that can put you to sleep!"

"What?"

"That's what happened to me."

Frank hastily related the story of the scene in Al's Tobacco Shop, and concluded with his own adventure in the restaurant.

"I'll have this Arrow a.n.a.lyzed at once," declared Chief Collig. "Don't touch it. I'll get the head of our crime lab."

He pressed a b.u.t.ton on his intercommunication system. A hollow voice answered.

"Send Creech in to see me," Collig ordered.

A few moments later a bald-headed man wearing tortoise-sh.e.l.l gla.s.ses entered the office.

"I want you to a.n.a.lyze a cigarette right away," the officer said.

"Okay, chief," he answered. "I'll have the report in a few minutes."

While Collig and the boys talked over the many aspects of the Bayport crime wave, in which one thief nicknamed Bearcat was involved, Creech went to work quickly in the laboratory. In ten minutes he returned holding a white sheet of cardboard in his hands. On it were the component parts of the Arrow cigarette.

"Here we are," he said. "This sure is a new67 fangled kind of cigarette. Where did you boys get it; in a toy novelty shop?"

"No, indeed."

The technician explained what he had found in the strange cigarette.

"There's genuine tobacco at both ends," he said, pointing to the shreds of tobacco leaf on the white cardboard. "But in the middle there's a queer gadget."