When Ned had finished reading the advertisement in the newspaper which Frank dropped that afternoon as he was leaving camp, the three chums looked at one another, vaguely wondering what it meant.
"Do you suppose he's gone to get that place?" asked Fenn.
"I think so," Ned replied.
"But why would he want to do that?" asked Bart.
"I have a theory that Frank is much interested in the subject of insanity," Ned went on.
"You told us that before," interrupted Fenn. "What about it?"
"Well, I did think, at one time since all this queer business came up, that Frank's mind might be affected. Now I think he may be interested in someone who has gone insane. He certainly has some queer secret, and it's getting more and more of a trouble to him. Why, this is the third time he has run away from us!"
"It's only the second," interposed Bart.
"It's the third," insisted Ned, and he told of the time he suspected Frank had taken the canoe and remained away all night.
"Do you suppose he went to the sanitarium each time?" asked Fenn.
"I believe so," Ned replied. "That's what makes me think that someone is there in whom Frank is much interested. Now comes this advertisement. The paper is only a few days old, as you can see by the date. I believe Frank has gone to see if he can't get this position. Perhaps he wants to help someone, and this is the only way he can do it."
"It looks reasonable," admitted Bart. "What can we do?"
"I don't see that we can do anything," spoke Ned, "If Frank is there he certainly will not want us coming around, and, perhaps, give his plans away. On the other hand we are not sure he is there. We don't even know where the sanitarium is, but I suppose we could easily find out from Mr. Armstrong. Frank got the paper there, I guess."
"Maybe the telephone line runs to the sanitarium," suggested Fenn.
"That's it! I believe you're right!" exclaimed Ned. "I never thought of that. Why, it was by following the line that we met Frank before. Let's follow it again, and perhaps we shall come to the insane asylum."
"And suppose we do?" asked Bart.
"Well, we'll know where it is," Ned went on. "That's something. We may not see Frank, but perhaps we can find out if he is there. It's worth trying. I can't sit still and do nothing."
They started to follow the telephone line the next day. They found it did lead to the sanitarium but not wishing to show themselves near the building, they did not approach closely. They remained hiding in the woods, hoping they might catch a glimpse of their chum, but he did not show himself.
"I guess the only thing for us to do is to return to camp," suggested Bart. "We'll have to wait until Frank comes away and tells us what he has been doing."
Rather sorrowfully, they went back to camp. The two days that followed were lonesome ones. None of the three felt like doing anything. They did not fish, and even the canoe had lost its charm. They sat around under the trees, and, for the twentieth time, talked over the situation in regard to their missing comrade.
"It looks as if the Darewell Chums would number three instead of four, after this," said Fenn rather mournfully, on the morning of the third day of Frank's absence.
"Don't be a calamity howler!" exclaimed Ned. "Frank will come back to us. The chums can't be separated."
"I hope that's true," put in Bart, from where he was sitting under a tree, smoothing one of the canoe paddles. "All our fun will be spoiled if we have to break up the quartette.
"Hark! What's that?" asked Fenn, sitting up suddenly.
They all listened. There was the sound of someone approaching through the bushes.
"Cow, I guess," said Bart.
"It's Frank!" cried Ned, jumping to his feet, and, the next instant Frank was in the midst of his chums. He looked worn and tired, and his clothes were covered with mud and water.
"Where in the world have you been? What has happened to you?" cried Bart.
"I got in the swamp trying to take a short cut," Frank explained. "I'm clean beat out. Have you got any coffee?"
"Make you some in a jiffy," said Fenn, throwing some light wood on the smouldering fire.
"I suppose you're surprised to see me?" asked Frank to his companions.
"There's no use saying we aren't," spoke Ned.
"And I guess you were surprised to find me gone?"
"Right again. But we guessed where you were."
"How?"
Ned showed the paper with the advertisement in it.
"I wondered where I had lost that," Frank said. "Well, boys, I'm going to tell you my secret."
"Have some coffee before you begin," suggested Fenn, as he handed Frank a steaming cupful. "It's only warmed up, but it's good."
The exhausted boy drank it, and ate some bread. Then having changed some of his muddy clothes for garments loaned him by his chums, Frank began:
"You guessed rightly, I did go to the sanitarium, and I got the position. But I don't believe any of you can guess why."
"Was it to get experience about crazy persons?" asked Ned.
"I went there to plan to rescue my father," said Frank, quietly.
The announcement was so startling that the three chums could only look at one another. Then they glanced back at Frank to see if he was in earnest. Ned, for a moment, had an idea that his original theory was right, and that Frank's mind was affected. But one look at the boy showed that, though he labored under the stress of excitement, he knew what he was talking about.
"Your father!" exclaimed Bart. "I thought he was—"
"You thought he was dead; so did I," Frank broke in. "That is, until recently. It's a long story, and I haven't got it all straight in my mind yet. One thing I am sure of is that my father is detained in that asylum against his will, and I am going to rescue him!"
"And we'll help you!" exclaimed Ned.
"That's what we will," chimed in Bart and Fenn.
"I may need your aid," Frank went on. "Now let me tell you what I know, and how I found it out. Do you remember that special delivery letter I got when we were in swimming that day? The one John Newton brought me?"
The chums had no difficulty in recollecting the scene. They recalled it perfectly. It was from then that Frank's manner began to change.
"Well," Frank went on, "that letter gave me the first clue. It was from a firm of lawyers, Wright & Johnson, of New York. They said they were trustees for some property that was owned by a man named Roscoe and that they could not find him or his heirs. They wrote to me, asking if, by any chance, I might be interested in it. I did not want to say anything to you boys, for I could not tell how it would turn out. I went to Judge Benton with the letter, and he wrote me one to send to the lawyers. But I did not hear from them again for a long time, and I felt that there had been a mistake made.
"Later on I got another letter from them. They said they had been investigating and had learned that James Roscoe, the name of the man who owned the property, had been heard from, but that he was insane, and was in the custody of some unscrupulous men, who were not treating him properly. The law firm said they understood that Mr. Roscoe was not altogether insane, but that his mind was affected by the treatment he received at the hands of the men. With proper care he might recover, they said.
"At that time I did not know he was my father, or that he was any near relative of mine. I had always lived with my uncle and I never knew my father or my mother."
For a little while Frank's emotion overcame him. Then he resumed:
"I had some correspondence with Wright & Johnson and they tried to locate Mr. Roscoe. They found out where he was, but just as they were about to aid him the asylum was moved away.
"They tried to get on the track of the man who was in charge of it. Then they sent me a lot of papers and photographs connected with the case and I learned that James Roscoe was my father. He was an explorer, and soon after I was born he went on an expedition. He was captured and held prisoner by some savage natives for a number of years. Word came that he had been murdered and the shock of it killed my mother. I was taken to the home of my uncle, Mr. Dent, where I have lived ever since."
"But why didn't you go to your uncle and get him to help you?" asked Ned.
"I didn't think of it until too late," Frank replied. "The day I found out that James Roscoe was my father I went home to tell my uncle all about it and to ask his help. When I got there I heard someone talking to him. I listened and I found out they were conversing about my father. From what they said I knew he was still in a sanitarium, and when I heard my uncle agree with the man that he had better stay there I knew my uncle was in league with the plotters."
"Are you sure of that?" asked Bart. "Mr. Dent doesn't seem like that kind of a man."
"I am sure enough," replied Frank bitterly. "Well, I followed the man until he heard me after him, and told me to go back. Then I went to my uncle's house. I said nothing of my suspicions, but I resolved to find out all I could. Finally I found the man who had been talking to my uncle."
"Who was it?" asked Fenn.
"Hardman, the man you took to the woods. He is Dr. Hardman, in charge of the sanitarium where my father is held a prisoner."
"Are you sure of this?" asked Ned.
"Positive. I have not finished yet. When I saw Dr. Hardman in the woods that day you were with him, and noted that he ran away from me, I thought I was on the right track. He recognized me, it seems, and that's why he ran. Then I made inquiries and I learned there was an asylum, a new one, somewhere in this direction. Few persons have heard anything about it, as, though it is a legal institution, the proprietor does not want too much known about it.
"When we came camping here I decided to keep on trying to solve the mystery. I wanted to see my father and have a talk with him. I ran away from you, as you know, and I saw the patients at the sanitarium taking exercise. I recognized my father as one, for, though I had never seen him since I had grown up, I knew it was him from the picture the lawyers sent. He had not changed much, except that he was older. It appears he escaped from the cannibals and came to this country. But a fever had slightly affected his head, and he went to a sanitarium for treatment. There he got under the control of some evil men, who used him for their own ends. I do not yet understand it all, save there is some property involved. But I am going to solve the secret. I know where my father is, and the rest is comparatively easy."
Frank told how he had had several interviews with his father, who, after some difficulty, recognized his son. The two had planned the escape from the asylum.
"One thing I can't understand though," Frank went on, "is how he appears sane at times, and again is like a violent maniac and does not know me. I am afraid of this. I am sure my father's mind is sound and good, and the only way I can account for it is that they must do something to him at times, to make him violent. It is to their interest to make him altogether insane, so they can control the property."
"How do you account for those men I heard talking in the building the time I was captured by the Upside Down Club?" asked Ned.
"I don't know who they were," Frank admitted, "but I am sure they were in the plot. They were probably planning some details or they may have been in Darewell to see my uncle. I believe he's in the plot."
"There's where I don't agree with you," said Bart. "Mr. Dent may seem to be playing into the hands of the men, but I think you will find he has been fooled by them. In fact, they admitted as much, according to what Ned overheard."
"I hope so, but I will not trust him until I have my father safe," Frank went on.
He then related how Mr. Roscoe had told of his detention in the asylum, his despair at never seeing his son again, of how he had heard of his wife's death, and of his desire to escape.
"And what are you going to do now?" asked Bart, when Frank had finished.
"I am going to rescue my father!"
"Then count us in!" exclaimed Ned.
All books are sourced from Project Gutenberg