They went into the house. It would have been easy for them to have gained their room by the back stairs, but the boys had too much principle to dodge any unpleasantness in this manner, so they made a point of passing by their father's study. The door was open and they saw Fenton Hardy sitting at his desk.
He was not writing, but was gazing in front of him with a fixed expression on his face. A telephone was at his elbow.
To their relief, he smiled when he saw them.
"Come in," he invited.
Frank and Joe entered the study.
"Did you catch any auto thieves?" asked their father.
The boys were astonished.
"How did you know we were after auto thieves, Dad?" asked Frank.
"It doesn't take a great deal of perception to find that out," their father answered. "All these mysterious doings can have only one reason."
"Well, we didn't catch any," Joe admitted.
"I didn't think so. They've been busy to-night."
"Again!"
Fenton Hardy nodded.
"I've just been talking to the secretary of the Automobile Club. He telephoned me a
