“Exactly as the cipher said. And I tried to figure it out at about nine feet from the floor. Just to be sure, I examined every inch of the chimney on that side. I was just going higher when I got stuck.”
Even the grime could not hide the disappointment expressed in the boys’ faces just then.
“I guess that message was just a fake,” said Biff finally.
But the Hardy boys would not agree with this.
“If it is a fake, why was Hanleigh so frightened lest we would be able to read it?” asked Frank.
“Well,” shrugged Biff, “if it isn’t a fake, why isn’t there something queer about that place in the chimney? We’ve examined it from the front, and Joe has examined it from the inside, and there is certainly nothing hidden there.”
“I can’t understand it,” Frank admitted. “Just the same, I believe that message means something. It is certainly disappointing to find ourselves up against a blank wall just when we thought we were going to solve the whole mystery.”
The boys lighted the fire again and after they had heated water they scrubbed themselves thoroughly and had a good cleaning-up. Within an hour they were presentable again, the soot had been swept up from the floor, and all evidences of their adventure in the chimney had been removed.
“I wonder,” suggested Joe, “if there is another Cabin Island.”
“Not in Barmet Bay,” said Frank.