Page:The Secret of the Old Mill.pdf/80

72 Joe. "But it's too nice a day to study. Anyway, I've been working hard all week."

"Perhaps if you went down to the boathouse you might find something there," suggested their father casually.

The boys stared incredulously. Then they gave a simultaneous whoop of delight.

"You don't mean to say the motorboat is here?" exclaimed Frank.

Their father had taken charge of the buying of the motorboat for them. They had not expected that the craft would arrive until the start of the summer holidays.

Fenton Hardy merely smiled and turned to the financial page.

"It mightn't be a bad idea to go down to the boathouse anyway," he said.

The boys needed no further urging. Within a few seconds they were scrambling for their caps, within the minute they were racing down the front steps, and soon they were hastening toward Barmet Bay.

In preparation for the arrival of the motorboat they had rented a boathouse on the southern shore of the bay, at the foot of the street on which they lived. During the week, Mr. Hardy had obtained the key from them on some pretext, but they had thought nothing of it. Now everything was clear.

"The boat must have arrived here during