Held for Trial

Chief Collig accompanied Fenton Hardy and the two boys out to the airport, taking them there in his own car. The road entering the grounds was under guard, and the big hangars were closely watched, the authorities evidently taking no chances on a repetition of the robbery. However, Chief Collig was readily admitted and the party proceeded to a hangar where a newspaper photographer was busy taking pictures.

" I'd like to see those footprints, Chief, if you don't mind, " said Mr. Hardy.

" They haven't been touched, " said Chief Collig. " I gave strict orders they weren't to be disturbed."

Close by the hangar wall a few boards covered the ground. The chief raised them, and in the ground beneath they could see the clear imprint of a foot. The marks of the rubber’s sole were identical with those made by Joe's shoes.

" Let's see how your foot fits that, " suggested the chief, turning to Joe.

Without hesitation, Joe stepped forward. He placed his right foot in the print. It fitted exactly. When he removed his foot there had been not the slightest change in the original print in the ground.

" Yet you said you were never here before! " exclaimed the chief.

" I still say it, " Joe insisted.

" Then how do you account for that footprint? Same size, same marks, same everything."

" Somebody must have had a shoe just like mine. That's all I can say."

The chief sniffed dubiously. Then Fenton Hardy, who had been examining the footprint, made a suggestion.

" Joe, " he said, " I want you to stand in the earth right beside that other footprint. Just walk across there, stand for a moment, and move away."

Wondering, Joe obeyed. When he had done as his father asked, there were several new footprints in the soft earth. Mr. Hardy looked at them closely.

" What do you think of that, Chief? " he asked.

Chief Collig looked down at the footprints.

" Not much difference, so far as I can see, " he grunted.

" Not much. But there is a difference, isn't there? "

" The footprints Joe just made don't seem as heavy as the other one, " admitted the chief.

" They certainly aren't. You can see how light the impressions are in the earth. That first footprint is pressed down quite heavily. You couldn't help but see it, and I think it was meant to be seen. Joe's natural footprints, on the other hand, are scarcely visible."

" What of it? " demanded the chief.

" I mean, " said Fenton Hardy, " that the footprint you found here is not Joe's natural footprint at all. It's all very well to say that the size and the sole markings are identical, but there is more to a footprint than that. The first footprint was made by a very heavy person, as you can see by comparing it with the footprints Joe made just now." He turned to his son. " How much do you weigh, Joe? "

" One hundred and twenty-five pounds, " Joe answered promptly.

" That's not very heavy. But that first footprint was certainly made by a person weighing considerably more than that. The earth here is no harder now than it was at the time of the robbery, because it has been covered over by the boards, so I think the test proves itself. Then, to go further, wasn't there another footprint, Chief? You have shown us only one, the conclusion being that the thief was a one-legged man."

" There's another footprint, '' declared Collig. " Here it is." He pointed to an impression in the earth a short distance away.

Fenton Hardy took a small folding measuring rule from his pocket and measured the distance between the two original prints. Then he measured Joe's footprints.

''More proof, '' he said finally. ''The distance between these first two prints is a good seven inches more than the distance between Joe's actual footprints. That proves that the man who wore those shoes was a good deal taller than Joe, with a longer stride. It also proves that when he made that heavy print in the mud he was not simply standing still, which might have caused the print to be heavier by reason 'of his weight. Otherwise his feet would have been close together. He was walking, just as Joe was walking a moment ago."

Chief Collig was puzzled. Fenton Hardy's deductions came as a rude shock, for the chief had already made up his mind that the Hardy boys were guilty and the evidence had seemed conclusive to him. He was not a man who admitted a mistake readily and lie clung obstinately to his original belief.

" I don't care how you figure it out, " he said roughly. " Your boys can't explain how that sweater and the knife got here. And they can't prove an alibi. I'm not going to let them go gust because one footprint is a little bit heavier than the other."

" You mean we're still under arrest? " asked Frank anxiously.

The chief nodded. " You're under arrest, " he said. " We'd better be starting back to the city."

Fenton Hardy patted Frank's shoulder.

" Never mind, Son, " he said. " I'm afraid I can't convince Chief Collig just now, but at any rate I'm sure of your innocence. And we'll prove it yet."

There was nothing more the detective could do. They left the airport and got back into the chief's car. Gloomily, they drove back to the city.

That afternoon, Frank and Joe Hardy were arraigned before a magistrate and, after the evidence had been presented, they were held for trial on the serious charge of robbing the air mail.

" Held for the robbery! " cried Joe, aghast.

" It's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of, " declared his brother. " What would we rob the mail for? "

" Gee, Frank, this will give us a black eye all right."

" Don't I know it? But I don't think our real friends will believe a word of it."

" Just wait till the newspapers come out. They won't do a thing but spill it all over the front page! "

" That's the worst of it. It will make mother feel pretty bad."

" Yes, and when Aunt Gertrude hears of it she'll say 'I told you so.' "

" It's a blamed shame, that's what it is. I'd like to get back at the Chief for this."

" So would I."

This development caused a sensation in Bayport. When the afternoon papers came out with headlines, " Noted Detective's Sons Held For Air Mail Theft, " friends of the boys and of Fenton Hardy could scarcely believe the news. On every hand people said, '' There must be some mistake. The Hardy boys would never do a thing like that." Scarcely anyone outside the police department could be found who actually believed the lads were guilty.

Nevertheless, this did not make the situation any easier for Frank and Joe Hardy. They were in jail, and the prospect of release seemed remote, because bail had been set in the heavy sum of fifty thousand dollars.

Fenton Hardy was not at all rich, and although he would have placed his entire fortune at the disposal of his sons, he was finding it difficult, if not impossible, to raise the big sum required for bail. He called on the boys late that afternoon and visited them in their cell, ruefully confessing that he had been unable to raise the money.

" I'm sorry, boys, " he said. " I hate to set you stay here in jail, particularly when I'm sure you're innocent. But you won't be here long. I'll do my best to borrow the money tomorrow.''

" Don't worry about us, Dad, " urged Frank. " Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money."

" Mighty slim evidence they're holding us on, " complained Joe. " If they would only bring us to trial right away, we'd be acquitted sure."

Just then they heard a disturbance in the corridor. Two men were arguing with one of the guards.

" But I tell you, we must see them right away! " demanded a familiar voice. " It's an outrage! A scandal! "

" You've got to have a permit from the chief, " expostulated the guard.

" Permit! Bah! Here's your permit! Now can we get past? "

" Kurd Applegate! " exclaimed Frank, in astonishment.

Two elderly men came hastening down the corridor toward the cell, a guard following close behind. One of them was indeed Hurd Applegate, the wealthy and eccentric man whose family treasure had been recovered by the Hardy boys, as related in the first volume of this series; " The Tower Treasure." The other man was none other than Elroy Jefferson, the owner of Cabin Island.

" This, " declared Elroy Jefferson, standing in front of the cell and brandishing a newspaper, " is a shame! Nothing less than a shame! "

" A scandal! " fumed Hurd Applegate.

" A shame and a scandal! "

" You're right, Elroy! " declared Mr. Apple-gate. " It is a shame and a scandal. I never heard of anything so disgraceful. The Hardy boys in jail! Impossible! And bail set at fifty thousand dollars! An outrage! "

" Idiotic! " raged Mr. Jefferson. He bowed to Mr. Hardy. " How do you do, Mr. Hardy? Mr. Applegate and I were just talking about our stamp collections when the boy came with the afternoon paper. We read it. We saw the deadlines. 'Hardy Boys in Jail.' And at once I said: 'This is an outrage! ' "

''You did, Elroy, " affirmed Hurd Applegate. 'And I said: 'This is a scandal.'"

" Yes, Hurd, you said it was a scandal. And it is a scandal. So we put on our hats and came down here immediately."

" It's mighty good of you to visit us. You are–" began Frank, when Elroy Jefferson interrupted him impatiently.

" Good of us to visit you! " he stormed. ''Do you think we came down here just to visit you! Do you think we're going to let the Hardy boys stay in jail? Are we going to let them stay in jail, Hurd? "

" We are not! " said Mr. Applegate firmly.

Elroy Jefferson drew two slips of paper from his pocket.

" When we read in the paper that bail had been set in the outrageous amount of fifty thousand dollars, what did I do, Hurd? "

" You wrote a check, " said Mr. Applegate.

" I wrote a check. For twenty-five thousand dollars. And what did you do, Hurd? "

" I wrote one too. I insisted on it."

" You insisted on it. You wouldn't let me go bail for the boys myself. The sentiment does you credit, Hurd, but I would gladly have gone bail for the full amount."

Frank and Joe sprang to their feet.

" We can't let you do that! " exclaimed Frank. " That is awfully good of you–"

" Good of us! " snorted Mr. Jefferson. " Do you hear that, Hurd? They say it's good of us. After what they've done for us! "

" It's a pleasure, " declared Hurd Applegate.

" And now, " concluded Mr. Jefferson grandly, ''if you will come with us we'll go upstairs and turn over these checks as bail. The idea! The Hardy boys in jail! Most senseless thing I ever heard of! Why didn't you call me up on the telephone! I would have been down here inside five minutes."

" Me too, " chimed in Hurd Applegate. " I would have made it in three minutes, because I live closer."

''Come along, '' said Elroy Jefferson. '' Let 'a all get out of here."

The two old gentlemen, fuming, led the way down the corridor, Elroy Jefferson waving the two checks that were to gain the Hardy boys their release.