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the desk for any messages. There were none. Then he and Joe went up to their room.
    â€œI’m really getting worried,” Frank said. “Joe, I think we ought to contact Dad and tell him what happened.” He unlimbered the radio and began to send out signals. As he did, someone pounded on the door.
    â€œGood night!” Joe jumped up. “What’s going on?” He opened the door.
    Chet Morton burst in, his face flushed with excitement. “Guess who we met?”
    â€œWe can’t guess!” Frank said.
    â€œCome with me—downstairs—now!”
    â€œChet, have you gone wacky?” Joe asked.
    Frank turned off the radio, and the Hardys followed their friend. When they stepped into the elevator, Frank tried to question his excited buddy. “Did you catch the phony Hallbjornsson?”
    â€œYou’ll see!”
    A few seconds later they arrived in the lobby. There was Biff Hooper chatting gaily with Steina the stewardess!

CHAPTER X
    The Arctic Patrol
    â€œHELLO, Steina. How are you?” Frank said, extending a hand to the smiling black-haired girl.
    Joe, meanwhile, glanced about the lobby. “Chet, I thought you found Hallbjornsson.”
    â€œNo, it was Steina we found, and guess where—at the swimming pool!”
    â€œI was glad to meet them on my day off,” said Steina. Then she turned to Chet with a wink. “Tell me, have you found any Eskimos yet?”
    â€œNo, but we’ve had our adventures,” the stout boy replied. But this time he kept his secrets to himself. They moved to the side of the lobby and took comfortable seats around a coffee table.
    Biff Hooper spoke to Frank in a low voice. “Do you think Steina might be able to help us? She probably knows lots of important people in Iceland.”
    â€œYes, she might,” Frank replied and looked at the stewardess. “Steina, we’d like to contact a man named Rex Mar on the fishing trawler Svartfugel. Do you know how we can get in touch with him?”
    â€œOf course,” the girl answered with a wave of her hand, as if the request were an easy one.
    Joe had his doubts. “You’re not kidding, are you?”
    â€œNo. My uncle Oscar will help you, I’m sure.”
    â€œYour uncle Oscar?” Chet raised his eyebrows. “Who’s he?”
    â€œHead of the Icelandic coast guard,” Steina replied, cocking her head coyly.
    â€œGreat!” Joe exclaimed. “Will you give us an introduction?”
    Without a word the girl rose, went to a wall telephone nearby, and dialed a number. After chatting in Icelandic, she hung up and returned to the boys. “Uncle Oscar Sigtryggsson is in his office. He’s expecting you.”
    â€œThanks a million, Steina,” Frank said. “Can we see him in half an hour?”
    â€œSure. I must be going along now,” the girl replied. Waving good-by, she left in her small car which she had parked in front of the hotel.
    The boys went directly to the Hardys’ room, where Frank and Joe clued their buddies in on the Mar information. Then Joe flicked on their radio and began sending signals. Fifteen minutes later they received an answer. The conversation was amiable and casual. Frank told his father that the only Hallbjornsson they had found so far proved to be the wrong one, but that they had had some trouble getting rid of him.
    Afterward, Joe rapidly figured out their father’s message. Mr. Hardy said that the high Icelandic officials now knew that his sons were working on the astronaut case. He also warned them to beware of a Felix Musselman.
    The description of this man fit the phony Hallbjornsson to a T. Originally a Rumanian, Musselman had fake passports for several countries. “He may be tied in with the astronaut case. Exercise extreme caution!” Mr. Hardy ended.
    Frank returned the radio to the hiding place in the closet.
    â€œWow!” Joe said. “So