Hunting for Hidden Gold by Franklin W. Dixon

rapidly toward the edge.
    Frank saw him clutch frantically for the gutter. The man caught it, hung suspended for a moment, then swung over to the drainpipe and slid down it to the ground.
    â€œFrank! Are you all right?” It was Joe!
    â€œI’m okay.” As quickly as possible, Frank wriggled toward the stairway side of the roof and dropped safely onto the balcony platform.
    The Hardys glanced over the railing. Below, the hooded figure was groping about hastily, trying to find his gun.
    â€œCome on, Joe! Let’s get him this time!” Frank urged, and the boys went bucketing down the stairs.
    Hearing them, the man gave up his search and dashed off into the darkness. Their quarry was some distance ahead when Frank and Joe approached the inhabited part of Lucky Lode. But the town was so dimly lighted it was hard to keep the figure in view, except for his white hood.
    The next moment the boys lost sight of him completely as he disappeared into the deep shadows around the general store. Nevertheless, Frank and Joe dashed in pursuit.
    Reaching the store, they saw no one in front, so they ran to the back. The area was hidden in almost total darkness.
    Suddenly Frank stiffened. “Did you hear something?” he muttered.
    â€œYes. Sounded like a door closing.”
    â€œCome on!”
    The boys ran around to the front of the store. There were no lights showing. Joe grabbed the doorknob and shook it. The door was locked.
    Frank knocked. The sound echoed loudly in the quiet of the deserted street. The boys waited for a few moments. When no one answered, Frank repeated his knock. He kept hammering on the door.
    At last there was a response. From inside came the call, “Just a minute! Hold your horses!”
    Presently a light showed, and a moment later Jim Burke came to the door, holding an oil lamp. He had pulled on a bathrobe over his long underwear.
    â€œWell? What’s all the excitement about?” From the look on his face, Burke was not pleased at being disturbed at so late an hour. Frank explained why they had roused him.
    â€œNope.” Burke’s expression was puzzled as he shook his head. “I haven’t seen or heard anyone —except you two.”
    â€œCould the fellow we’re after have slipped in your back door?” Joe asked.
    â€œNot a chance,” Burke replied. “I sleep right in the back room.”
    As Burke spoke, the front door suddenly burst open and Bob Dodge strode in out of the windy darkness.
    Frank and Joe stared at him. Dodge’s outer garments were wet with snow, and his coat sleeves and trouser legs were covered with burrs!

CHAPTER VIII
    Tommy-knockers!
    THE same thought struck the Hardy boys. Did the burrs on Dodge’s clothes mean he had been one of the people in the cemetery—perhaps even the man they had chased? Excited, Frank and Joe watched the big man’s face closely.
    But Dodge displayed no outward signs of guilt. “What’s all the shooting about?” he asked while brushing the snow off his coat.
    Burke raised his eyebrows. “You heard it?”
    â€œI sure did,” the big, white-haired man replied. “I couldn’t sleep tonight, so I went for a stroll up on the hillside. Then I heard two gunshots and I came down to investigate.”
    â€œDid you see anybody, Mr. Dodge?” Frank put in.
    â€œWell, not too clearly. I thought I glimpsed two people running in this direction. But when I got down to the street, there was no one in sight.”
    â€œMust’ve been these two lads,” the storekeeper said. “They woke me up and told me some gun-slinger had been chasin’ ’em through the ghost town. Didn’t hear anythin’ myself,” Burke added, “but I guess I was pretty sound asleep.”
    Frank repeated the story they had told Burke. “We were investigating what Ben Tinker had told us about the old dance hall being haunted,” Frank explained.