Read Online The Clue of the Screeching Owl by Franklin W. Dixon - Free Book Online

the deputies said emphatically, “I’ve got two boys at home, and I couldn’t have said it better to ’em than you just did.”
    â€œYep,” another agreed. “The woods is no place for kid stuff. You’ve got to be on the look-out.”
    â€œIt’s true,” Sheriff Ecker put in. “Most people who get in trouble in the woods just don’t know any better. They can’t tell directions, they’re not careful where they step, they forget to bring matches, and so on. Always somebody coming up from town and getting lost in these mountains.”
    â€œWell”—Donner’s voice became jovial again —“I’m sure these lads are going to be real careful after what happened today.” He turned to the Hardys. “Maybe you’d better stay out of Black Hollow entirely. It’s a dangerous place, especially with that Simon throwing rocks at people. Besides, it seems certain your friend isn’t here.”
    Thwarted and disappointed at finding no trace of the missing captain, Frank, Joe, and Chet thanked the search party and returned to their cabin. Frank washed and dressed the stone cut on his brother’s head.
    â€œHow’s it feel?” he asked.
    â€œTerrible—I have a corker of a headache.”
    While Joe lay down to rest, Frank again studied the calendar notations made by the captain. Chet Morton busied himself getting supper. When it was ready, the stout boy called out cheerily:
    â€œSoup’s on. Come and get it!”
    Although Chet had outdone himself to produce a meal of steak, fried potatoes, and hot vegetables, the brothers hardly seemed to notice the food. They ate in thoughtful silence. Chet watched his two friends uneasily.
    â€œStill feeling blue about it?” he asked at last.
    â€œAbout what, Chet?”
    â€œAbout that lecture Donner gave us. He sure made it sound as if we’re babes in the woods. Boy, did that get me mad for a minute there! Why, the three of us have been camping for years. I felt like telling him a thing or two!”
    â€œSo did I, Chet,” Joe admitted ruefully. “But I couldn’t, because he’d just saved our lives. It really looked as if we were babes in the woods.”
    â€œLet’s be fair, fellows,” Frank put in. “It’s true we’re not tenderfeet, but what happened was our own fault. We should have thought of the possibility of snakes. I know they’re apt to be in rocks as well as Donner does....”
    A new idea suddenly crossed Frank’s mind. “... as well as Donner does,” he repeated thoughtfully. “If he knows it, why didn’t he warn us before we went up? Besides, he knows more than that. He knows every rock and tree in Black Hollow, as Sheriff Ecker told us. We trusted Donner’s knowledge of the hollow—that’s why we weren’t careful. But who sent us up to that cave? Donner!”
    â€œThat’s right!” Joe chimed in excitedly. “And remember, he invited us to give up the search, and stay out of the hollow. There’s something fishy about that man and his hous . I know I heard a door open in the back. But there wasn’t any sign of one in the kitchen.”
    â€œWhat I can’t figure out,” Frank went on, “is why Donner would send us up to a den of rattlers and then save our lives. Because the only reason he climbed up along with us was to get within pistol range of the snakes. The sheriff and his men couldn’t shoot—we were in their line of fire.”
    â€œThere’s your answer,” Joe declared forcefully. “I believe it was Donner’s idea to establish us as woefully inexperienced in front of witnesses. Suppose some ‘accident’ does happen to us down there. The sheriff won’t be suspicious, because he thinks we don’t know how to take care of ourselves!”
    â€œYou mean Donner may be planning to kill us and make it