"Help!" Chet shouted, as he saw the ground rushing towards him. But it was too late. He came crashing down hard on the dusty terrain, landing in an old washed out furrow. It was a trench that had been made by the constant flow of water over the ground whenever it rained. Fortunately though, it hadn't rained in over a week, so the ground was pretty well dry.

"Chet!" Jerry called out. "Are you all right?"

The plump youth managed to crawl out of the deep trench completely uninjured, except for his pride. "Yeah, I'm all right," he replied.

As soon as Jerry realized that his friend was not seriously injured, he turned and chased after the runaway horse. As Chet stood watching Jerry ride off, the other boys came riding up behind him.

"What happened, Chet?" asked Frank, as he climbed down from his horse.

"I think the sinch broke," frowned Chet, as he glanced down at the dusty saddle that was still lying in the ditch. "Jerry took off after my horse," He added.

"He might need help," Joe spoke up. "Come on, Biff." He motioned towards the muscular youth. In a flash, both boys galloped off. While they were ridding off to aid Jerry, Frank decided to examine Chet's saddle.

"I believe I can see the problem," He remarked. "The leather strap that holds the saddle in place has long since been worn out. That explains why it broke so easily."

Frank then reached into his saddlebag and produced a piece of rawhide. "This should fix it!" He remarked, as he took his pocketknife and began working on the saddle. Just as the oldest Hardy boy was finishing up, the others came riding back.

Taking one glance at Joe, who was leading the runaway, Frank asked, "What happened? Why are you soaking wet? Did you run into some kind of trouble?"

"We didn't run into any trouble," Biff and Jerry exchanged glances and started laughing. "We found Chet's horse not far from here. When we caught up with it, it was having a drink of water on the opposite side of the creek."

"What happened to Joe?" asked Frank, curiously.

"Joe's horse refused to cross the stream," Jerry explained. "But Joe tried to make it anyway and at a full gallop! At the last possible moment his horse came to a sudden stop and Joe was sent flying over the horse’s head straight into the drink!"

"I guess the horse figured Joe needed a bath. Even horses have standards!" Chet couldn't resist teasing his friend.

After Chet had re-saddled his horse, they started back on their way. They rode a few more hours before they decided to stop and make camp. Chet volunteered to cook dinner the first night, a meal consisting of canned foods that they had packed on the mules. While the plump youth was tending to that chore, the others began to set up camp. By the time the tent was fully assembled, Chet had the "grub" waiting for them.

After the dinner dishes had been washed in the nearby stream, Chet pulled his new book out of his hip pocket.

"Now," Jerry Gilroy began to plead with the plump lad, "Will you please tell us what’s in that mysterious book of yours?"

"Sure thing, chum!" Chet Morton replied. "It’s called Science and Scientific Experiments for the Scientifically Minded."

"And that’s you?" Jerry grinned.

"Who else?" Chet boasted. "Let me tell you, there are a lot of great experiments in this book. It has everything. Before long, you‘ll be calling me Chet Morton - Boy Genius!"

"All right, Mr. Science," Joe spoke up. "Just what kinds of experiments are in there?"

"Everything!" Chet boasted. "From starting a fire with only two rocks, to making a smoke bomb!"

Shortly after dark, the boys decided to turn in. Just as they were settling down into their sleeping bags, the sound of a strange animal was heard howling in the distance.

"What was that?" Chet jumped straight up in his sleeping bag.

"I think," Biff nonchalantly rolled over on his side, "it was a wolf."

"Oh well, if that's all. I..." Chet started to lie back down then, he suddenly leaped to his feet. "A wolf!" he shouted. "What are we going to do? I mean, don’t you think we should do something?"

"Like what?" asked Frank, sleepily.

"I don't know," the plump youth replied, as he lay back down and pulled his sleeping bag over his head. "But we can't just lie here and wait to be eaten!"

"Joe and I have run into wolves before," Frank stated calmly. "The time we went to Montana, looking for hidden gold. Say, did I ever tell you about that?"

"Frank!" Chet interrupted, as the wolf howled again. "This is no time for a trip down Memory Lane!"

"We could build a camp fire," suggested Jerry Gilroy, who was just as scared as Chet, but didn't want to admit it. "I've heard they won't come near a blazing fire."

"But one of us would have to stay awake all night to keep the fire from going out!" Biff protested.

"I volunteer Chet!" Joe laughed.

"What!" Chet pulled his sleeping bag further over his head.

"We'll all take turns," Frank spoke up. "And don't worry Chet, Jerry's right. Normally wolves won't come anywhere near a fire."

"Are you sure?" Chet slowly climbed out of his sleeping bag. "Then I'll take the first watch!"

The others stared at Chet. Was the chubby youth suddenly becoming brave?

"I just mean," he explained, "If I've got to take a turn anyway, I'd rather take it now, because I couldn't possibly get to sleep anyway."

So it was decided. The boys divided the night into five shifts, with Chet taking the first watch.

In the mean time, as the boys were enjoying their first night at camp, the Hardy boys’ Aunt Gertrude and their mother, Laura Hardy, were also preparing for bed.

"Mildred!" Gertrude shouted from the second floor of the Hardy home. "Did you remember to lock the back door? I don't want a prowler sneaking around in here in the middle of the night. Especially with Fenton away and the boys out in the middle of who knows where!"

"Yes, Gertrude," Laura, who was standing in the kitchen, replied sweetly. "I've just double checked it. It's locked."

"Are you sure?" asked Gertrude Hardy, unconvinced. "I better come and make sure!"

Laura smiled and replied, "All right, if it makes you feel better."

Just as Miss Hardy was descending the stairs, the front doorbell began to ring. "Ugh!" she gasped. "Laura! Who could that be? Do you know anyone that would be ringing the bell at this time of night?" Before Laura could respond, the bell rang again. "I have a good mind to call the authorities! A body ought to know better than to go around ringing other people's door bells in the middle of the night!"

Exasperated, Aunt Gertrude raced down the stairs and threw the front door open. Standing in the opening was Pretzel Pete.

Pretzel Pete, an older man, was one of Fenton Hardy's informants. Pete dressed in old, ragged clothes and wore dark glasses. Around his neck he carried a box filled with pencils.

"I’m sorry," shouted Aunt Gertrude, "We don't give hand outs!" Then she slammed the door in his face.

About this time, Laura walked up. "Who was that?" she asked.

"It was some tramp selling pencils," Aunt Gertrude replied. "Don't worry. I sent him on his way!"

Just then, the doorbell began to ring again.

"He's got some nerve!" Aunt Gertrude raved, as she started for the door.

"Wait a minute!" Laura dashed ahead of the rather snobbish woman. She opened the door and quickly apologized to the old man. "Pete! I’m terribly sorry about that." She paused to glance at Miss Hardy. "Is something wrong?"

"It's all right," he replied. "I only came here to deliver a message to Mr. Hardy." Then he glanced at Aunt Gertrude. "Mr. Hardy's sister, I presume?"

Laura nodded.

"Oh well," he continued. "Where is Mr. Hardy?"

"He's away again!" Aunt Gertrude spoke up. "And since he's not here, I think you should be on your way!"

"All right," replied Pretzel Pete. "I’m leaving. Mrs. Hardy would you please give Mr. Hardy a message for me?" He handed the boys’ mother a small piece of paper. "Thanks!" He turned and started to walk away. As he trotted down the driveway, he glanced back at Aunt Gertrude. "It was a pleasure, honey!"

"Well... I never!" Gertrude muttered, as she slammed the door.

"Oh Gertrude," Laura frowned, "You shouldn't have spoken that way to Pete. He's been a loyal friend to Fenton."

"Well," she replied, "I don't see why you don't discourage him in making the acquaintance of lowlife like that!"

Laura didn't want to continue the discussion. She knew when it came to Gertrude Hardy, there was no point arguing.

"Laura, aren't you going to read that note?" Gertrude stared furiously at the paper in other woman’s hand.

"No," Laura replied. "It's Fenton's letter. I’ll call him later. If he wants me to read it, I will."

"That's a lot of stuff and nonsense!" Gertrude huffed. "You know how hard it is to get in contact with him, especially when he's on a case." Before Laura could respond, Gertrude had yanked the paper from her grasp. "I knew it!" she shouted as she read the note. "I just knew it!"

"What!" Laura replied. "What is it?" she asked, in a worried tone.

"That criminal, that fiend and scoundrel, Black Jack Pepper, has escaped from prison!" Gertrude handed the note back to Laura.

"It says here, he was last seen headed towards the Advantage Falls wilderness area!"

*****

"Advantage Falls," Laura Hardy read the note again. "Black Jack Pepper was last seen headed for the Advantage Falls wilderness area." It was now the next morning, and she was sitting in the kitchen with Aunt Gertrude pondering over the message from the previous night.

"You see, I told you!" Gertrude huffed. "It's all your doing. You let them run around playing detective, and now they've got a dangerous criminal chasing after them. And Fenton is no peach either, gallivanting around the way he does! He flits from one mystery to the next. We can't even get in touch with him to let him know what's happened!"

Laura glanced at Gertrude and smiled. "We're probably making too much out of this. That Black Pepper character probably doesn't even know that the boys are out there. Besides, Frank and Joe know how to take care of themselves. Only…" She paused to frown, "They should at least know he's in the area. If only there was some way to contact them." Her frown then changed to a look of determination.

"I've been thinking about this all night," She stated. "We are going to drive out there and warn them!"

"In what?" Gertrude peered over the rim of her glasses. "Fenton drove off in your car. And the boys went out in theirs!"

Laura stood up and walked over towards the window. She then gazed out behind the barn where Chet Morton's jalopy had been parked.

"Oh no!" Gertrude gasped. "You can't expect me to go gallivanting around the country side in that contraption!"

Laura tossed her head back and walked out the back door. "You can stay here if you want!" She announced.

"Wait a minute!" Gertrude called after her. "They're my nephews you know!" She then trotted along behind in the direction of the barn.

In the meantime, the Hardys and their friends were already up and enjoying a hearty breakfast.

"What are we going to do today?" asked Chet, as he finished off his fourth pancake.

"Well, we thought about taking a hike up Monstrous Mountain," replied Frank, "But it looks like we'll have to postpone it." He glanced up at the gloomy horizon. It had suddenly become dark and overcast. "It looks like a storm is brewing."

Because of the threatening weather, the boys all agreed it would be best to stay close to camp. To pass the time, Frank and Jerry decided to go fishing in the nearby stream. As Biff and Joe engaged in an impromptu boxing match, Chet stretched out under an old elm tree to start reading his book. Within minutes, he was fast asleep. When lunchtime came, the plump youth, who was usually the first in line, was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Chet?" asked Frank, puzzled.

"I saw him head off towards the east," replied Biff. "He said that he was going to take a nap and rest up for lunch."

"Maybe we should go look for him," suggested Jerry, who began to have a worried look on his face. "You know he can smell a meal cooking from a mile away. Something must be wrong, or else he would be here by now!"

Immediately, all the boys started off in the direction that the rotund youth was last seen heading. "Chet!" they shouted in unison. "Chet Morton! Where are you?"

They didn’t have to go very far before they heard a familiar voice calling out in a faint whisper, "Hey, guys!"

The boys looked around but they couldn't see Chet anywhere, so they called to him again. "Chet! Where are you?"

"For the love of Mike!" they heard him reply. "Would you fellows be quite?"

This time they recognized the direction that the voice was coming from. It was coming from directly above their heads. Chet was sitting in one of the top branches of an old Oak tree.

"What are you doing up there - bird watching?" Joe laughed.

"Joe!" Chet replied seriously. "If I were you, I wouldn't make any loud noises."

"Why?" asked Frank.

Chet replied by pointing down towards the bottom of the tree. At the base sat a small animal. It was mostly black, with a bit of white that ran down his back.

"A skunk!" the boys gasped.

And indeed it was! The polecat, as it sometimes called, was busily eating a candy bar that Chet had apparently dropped. Without making another noise, the boys started backing away very slowly.

"Wait a minute, fellows!" Chet called out. "What about me?"

"Don't worry Chet," Biff spoke up. "You'll be safe up there. I'm sure the skunk will go away after it's finished."

As soon as the boys were a safe distance away, they took off at a full run back to camp.

"Wait a minute!" Jerry stated, after they were out of harm's way. "We're not going to leave him up there, are we?"

"Well, it’s like Biff said," replied Frank, as he glanced behind himself. "That skunk will go away after its run out of food."

"But we could hurry it along," Joe remarked, as he grabbed up a loaf of bread. "We can go deep into the woods and drop a trail of bread crumbs leading back to that oak tree," he explained.

"Then the skunk should follow it," Frank jumped in. "That's a great idea!"

Tearing the bread into pieces, the boys hiked just over a quarter of a mile before they started dropping the breadcrumbs.

"We better hurry up!" Jerry remarked as he glanced up at the sky. "The weather is getting worse." As he said this, there was a brilliant flash of lighting followed by a mighty clap of thunder.

"You're right," agreed Frank. "It's not safe for Chet to be in that tree in this kind of weather."

When they finally made it back to the old oak, the skunk was just finishing with the candy bar. But it didn’t appear to be going anywhere. It was still hunting for more food. From a safe distance, Joe tossed a crust of bread in its general direction. It took the skunk a moment to find it. After it did, Joe tossed another piece, and then another. He kept tossing them closer to the trail they had made. The skunk, at long last, took the bait. As soon as the polecat was a good distance away, the boys helped Chet climb down out of the tree.

"Thanks, fellows!" Chet shouted, as they headed back to the campsite. "You really saved my life." Then he smiled. "But next time, don't take so long!"

"Just be glad we didn't leave you up there!" Jerry teased.

After the boys had hearty laugh, they managed to finish their lunch just before the heavy rain set in.

"Boy, I sure am glad we thought to bring this tent along," Joe remarked, after they were settled in.

As the thundered roared again, Frank smiled. "Aren't you glad Aunt Gertrude's not with us? We would never hear the end of it. She’d be saying that we were going to catch pneumonia."

"I know," Joe agreed. "But I imagine that, about now, she’s at home with mother enjoying their evening tea.

"That’s a safe bet!" Frank laughed.

However, the boys were far from right, because their mother and Aunt Gertrude were certainly not having a tea party. At that very moment, they were traveling down the road in Chet's open jalopy.

"Mildred!" Miss Hardy shouted. "I can't get this top to come up."

"Wait a minute," Mrs. Hardy replied, as she drove the car to a stop on the side of the road. She then tried in vain to help Aunt Gertrude raise the top on the ancient convertible.

"It's no use," Laura stated, after they had been struggling in the rain for about ten minutes.

"I'm not giving up!" Gertrude replied with a look of determination. "I’m going to give it one last try!"

She then braced herself and started pulling with all her might on the car's top. Just as she was beginning, Laura noticed a lever under the car’s instrument panel. "I wonder…" she thought to herself. She then reached down and tugged on it. The result ended in the car's top being released. Unfortunately, when the car's top was released, Gertrude, who was struggling with it, was thrown backwards out of the car and into a big mud puddle!

"Gertrude!" Laura gasped. "Are you all right?"

"Yes… I'm fine," She replied with a look of violent anger in her eyes. She climbed back inside the car completely covered in mud.

Laura glanced down at the mess they had made in Chet's car.

"Don't worry," Aunt Gertrude assured her. "I’ll pay to have his car reupholstered," She then half smiled. "It will probably improve the value by one hundred percent!"

The two ladies didn't have to drive much further before they found a place to stay for the night. The next morning, after Aunt Gertrude and Mrs. Hardy had both freshened up, they started back on their journey to Advantage Falls. The storm and the rain had both stopped during the night, but the roads were still very damp.

"Laura, turn left!" Gertrude barked at Mrs. Hardy about an hour into their trip.

"Are you sure?" asked Laura. "I thought we were supposed to take Route 29?"

"Who's got the map?" asked Miss Hardy, bluntly. She gazed over the rim of her glasses. "This is a short-cut!"

Laura didn't argue. She just did as Miss Hardy instructed her.

"Laura, you're going too fast!" Gertrude complained. "Laura, you're driving too close to the side of the road."

Mrs. Hardy listened to the old woman’s constant complaints and bickering as long as she could. About thirty miles down the road, she brought the car to a screeching halt.

"Gertrude," she said as politely as she possibly could. "Would you like to drive?"

"I would indeed!" Gertrude huffed. "I'll show you how ladies drove automobiles in my day."

"I didn't know there were automobiles in your day!" Laura thought to herself, but she was far too polite to actually say it.

As Gertrude opened the passenger door to get out, she gasped in horror. There was no ground beside the car. They were sitting on the very edge of Cedar Ravine, overlooking a five thousand foot drop-off!