to believe it or not!" He roared with laughter. "Wait till I tell the others about this. 'How about the other nine lives?' 'How did you escape?' Wow!" He sat in the bottom of the boat and laughed until the tears came to his eyes. Frank and Joe joined in the laugh against themselves, for they were accustomed to Chet by now. Biff and Tony steered their boats over toward the Sleuth to learn the cause of all this mirth, but the boys refused to enlighten them as Chet wanted to reserve the yarn for a more convenient occasion when he might have some fresh victims.
For over an hour, the three motorboats raced about the bay, until the boys were aware that it was time to go home. The Sleuth reached the boathouse first, with the Napoli close behind, Biff Hooper's craft bringing up the rear. The launches safely in the slips, the six boys went up the street toward their homes.
"Going to try for the rewards?" asked Jerry Gilroy of the Hardy boys.
Frank smiled. "We won't turn them down if we happen to run into the auto thieves," he said. "A thousand dollars is a lot of money."
"Not to you," said Biff. "What do you two want with money after landing a fat reward in that gold case out West?"
He was referring to a case centering about some missing gold, in which the boys had gone
