lars, comprising the three separate rewards of five hundred dollars each."
Amid cheers, two checks for $750 were presented to Frank and Joe.
Mr. Hardy, who was present at the banquet, beamed with pleasure. But when he returned home with the lads he invited them into his study and closed the door.
Wondering what was coming, the boys faced their father.
"I think you've had enough congratulations for one week," he said to his sons. "Don't let it turn your heads."
"We won't, Dad," they promised.
"It was a good idea, hiding in that locker," their father remarked. "It was a good idea and it worked out very well. There was only one thing wrong with it."
"What was that?" asked Frank.
"It was too dangerous."
"Too dangerous?"
"You took too many chances, dealing with a gang like that. Don't try anything like that again or I may have to hunt up my old shaving strop."
But Fenton Hardy smiled indulgently as he spoke.
"He wasn't real mad," whispered Joe, as he and his brother left their father. "He was only a little bit provoked."
