Just as the large man started to drag the Hardy boys outside, he glanced across the room and spotted the owner of the inn. He immediately turned them both lose. "I’ll deal with you later," he growled as he turned and stormed out of the room.

"I don’t like this!" Frank exchanged a knowing glance with his brother. "That man has got it in for us!"

"Yeah, he’s a real troublemaker," replied Joe.

"I wonder," the older hardy glanced towards the exit. "Could he have anything to do with Black Jack Pepper?"

"It’s a thought. After all, he certainly does act like a criminal!"

"I found out earlier that he works in the stables out back," remarked Frank. "I think we should go there tonight and investigate."

"Me too!" replied Joe.

Later that night, after finishing their last chores, they met back up with Chet Morton at the bunkhouse.

"How was I?" he asked. "How was the show?"

"It was all right," grinned Joe. "I’ve seen worse."

"You’ve seen… you’ve never seen better!" exploded Chet. "That was the best show that you’ve ever seen!"

"I don’t know," Joe winked at his brother. "Aunt Gertrude took us to a poetry festival once and the lecturer there was quite entertaining."

"Fine!" the plump lad raved. "Next time you need someone to help you with a mystery, just call up that lecturer!"

"All right," Joe couldn’t contain his himself any longer and suddenly burst out laughing. "You’re right. That was a good show. We both enjoyed it, and I must say that the poetry lecturer isn’t even worthy enough to shine your shoes!"

"That’s more like it!" Chet laughed as he walked over to the window of their room and glanced out. Car lights could be seen shining from around the front of the inn.

Frank glanced at his wristwatch as he said, "That must be Mom and Aunt Gertrude!"

"I wonder if they had any trouble," said Joe.

"I don’t know," replied Frank. "But remember we can’t act as though we recognize them. So don‘t go running up and start asking them a bunch of questions."

"You’re right," agreed Joe. "I just hope they can keep up the act as well as we do."

Just then, Chet plopped down on his bed and pulled out his scientific book. "I think that I’ll read some more. You never know when this stuff might come in handy." He pointed to one page in particular. "Like this for instance. It’s a blueprint for a reflectoscope."

"What’s a reflectoscope?" asked Joe.

"It’s sort of like a movie projector," explained Chet. "It’s a box with bright lights mounted inside and a magnifying glass attached to short tube on front. You place a photograph inside the box and the light shines through the tube, reflecting an image of the picture onto the wall or sheet or whatever. If the area is dark enough, you can project the picture on almost anything."

"Say, that’s a neat trick!" replied Joe.

"It’s not a trick," retorted Chet. "It’s science!"

Shortly after midnight, the Hardy boys decided to investigate the stables located just to the west of the bunkhouse. Expecting to find the place empty except for the horses, the boys were quite surprised to find a plump little man sitting just inside the entrance, whistling a tune.

"Howdy boys!" the man called out, after spotting the Hardys.

"Hi!" replied Joe, as he and Frank walked right on in as if they owned the place.

"What are you kids doing out here at this time of night?" The plump man leaned back in his chair and reached for the cup of coffee sitting on the wooden barrel next to him. "Planning on taking a midnight ride?"

"No," replied Frank. "We just couldn’t sleep and we thought we’d take a little walk."

"Not sleepy, eh?" The man laughed. "The way they ran you boys ragged today, I’m surprised you didn’t fall asleep hours ago."

"We didn’t mind," Joe exchanged a knowing glance with Frank. "Back home, we have an aunt who keeps us hopping like that all the time."

Suddenly an idea struck Frank and he said, "Did you enjoy your dinner tonight?"

"It was about like usual," the man replied with a puzzled look. "Why do you ask?"

"Because my cousin and I thought it needed a little more pepper," continued Frank. "Black Pepper."

Frank had obviously intended to see if the mention of Black Pepper caused a stir in the old man, but it didn’t.

"Really?" asked the man. "I thought it needed salt."

"What are you doing out here?" asked Joe.

"I‘ve got night duty tonight," he replied. "I’ll be here till six o’clock in the morning."

Realizing that they couldn’t do much with the plump man guarding the stables, the boys decided to head back to their room.

The next morning, the Bayport trio enjoyed an early breakfast in the kitchen, where Mrs. Hardy and Aunt Gertrude were receiving orders from the woman in charge. "You will do the cooking," she pointed to Mrs. Hardy. "And you’ll wait on tables," she pointed to Aunt Gertrude.

"I don’t know," replied Mrs. Hardy, reluctantly. She was remembering how Gertrude had treated the waitress at the hotel. "I think it might be better if I wait on the tables."

"Now Laura," replied the head woman. "I realize that you’re protective of your aging mother, but please trust me. She’ll be fine."

"Aging mother!" Gertrude huffed. "I’ll tell the world that I’m young enough to be her sister!"

"Yes, dear, you certainly are," the head woman replied as she glanced at Laura. "If her mind starts to wander, I’ll have to dismiss her."

"My mind!" Gertrude raved. "I’ll have you know that my mind is as fit as a fiddle. You just can’t stand there and talk to me like that. You…"

"I’ll keep an eye on her," Mrs. Hardy interrupted the older lady before she could finish her rant.

"See that you do!" the head woman huffed as she stormed out of the kitchen.

"Laura!" Gertrude blurted out. "How could you let that woman talk to me like that?"

Laura smiled sweetly and replied, "We have to do this for the boys… Mother."

Gertrude stared over the brim of her glasses for just a second and was about to really let the younger woman have it, when she suddenly trained her eyes on Frank and Joe, who were giggling uncontrollably at the small table next to the door. "You boys ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You just sat there and didn’t say a word while that woman talked to your poor old aunt the way she did. I think…" Her sentence was cut short as another woman walked into the room.

Joe glanced at the newcomer and then at his Aunt. "I’m sorry, Madam," he winked at Gertrude. "But we don’t get involved in family arguments." Then the three boys leaped to their feet and rushed out the side door.

They had no more stepped outside when Frank and Joe were ordered by one of the men over them to clean up a mess in one of the suites.

"I thought that was the maid’s job," Chet remarked, as his friends started to walk away.

"It is," replied Joe. "Unless they’re on their break, or out to lunch, or they just don’t want to fool with it."

"He’s right," agreed Frank. "Last night, one of the maids searched for us for twenty minutes, just to tell us that one of the guests had spilled something in the floor. She wanted us to mop it up, even though she could have already had it cleaned up in the time it took her to find us." The young sleuth then glanced around as if he was about to tell something really top secret. "If you ask me, I think some of the people around here are just plain lazy!"

A slight grin suddenly came across the face of the youngest Hardy as he said, "Say Chet. Why don’t you come help us? You could tell us a few of your jokes while you mop the floor."

"Would you expect a star like me to do such a menial task?" Chet reached into his pocket and produced a pair of dark glasses, which he casually cocked on his the edge of his nose.

"All right, Mr. Hollywood," Frank laughed as he slapped his friend on the back. "You just take it easy and we’ll see you later."

After cleaning up the mess that one of the sloppy guests had made, the boys headed back to the bunkhouse. On the way there, they unintentionally bumped into the fiendish Garth Buckle.

"Well, if it isn’t the two slicked up city dudes," growled the brute. Glancing at the mop in Joe’s hand, he said, "I see that you’re all prepared to do some cleaning." He turned his head from left to right then shrugged his shoulders. "But I don’t see anything around here for you to clean up."

He then walked over to a large garbage can that was standing next to the bunkhouse. Glancing back at Joe Hardy, the fiend remarked, "I can fix that." Without saying another word, he dropkicked the metal can fifteen feet in the air. Garbage was scattered everywhere. "Now you’ve got something to clean!"

"In a pig’s eye!" Joe shouted, as he started towards the large overbearing man. "You made the mess, so you clean it up!"

"You’re going to clean it up all right," Garth sneered. "It’s your job, not mine!" As he said this, he took one bite from the apple that he had been holding in his left hand. Tossing the half eaten core at their feet, he turned on his heel and walked away.

Frank and Joe both stared at each other in astonishment. For a few moments, neither of them knew what to say.

"You know something," Joe glanced at the mess and then at his brother.

"What’s that, Joe?" Frank asked.

"I could be wrong, but I don’t think he likes us!"

"I think you might have something there, Joseph," Frank nodded in agreement. "But do you know what?"

"What’s that?"

"I don’t think that I care too much for him either!" As Frank said this, they both burst out laughing. "Let’s clean this up. Biff and Jerry will be here soon, and we’ll want to fill them in on everything."

Just after lunch, the Hardys found Chet Morton lying under a maple tree, eating an apple and reading his science book. "Hey fellows!" Chet called out. "How are things going?"

After hearing about the event involving Garth Buckle, the plump youth exclaimed, "That man is a fiend!" He then jumped to his feet and started pacing around. "Imagine him wasting a perfectly good apple like that!"

Joe grinned and replied, "Yeah, that’s what we thought too."

"What have you been doing?" Frank asked, as he sat down in the lounge chair that the plump boy had just vacated.

"I’ve been preparing some more material for tonight and…" Chet paused long enough to puff out his chest, "I’ve got something extra special planned for tonight."

"What would that be?" asked Joe.

"I can’t tell you," Chet grinned.

"You can’t tell us?" Frank laughed as he exchanged a knowing glance with Joe. "You can’t tell your own cousins?"

Before anyone could say anything else, the shrill and desperate cries of a woman screaming for help suddenly broke the air!