The Phantom Freighter Read Online Free Page A

forward. What do you want him for?”
    â€œWe’d like to ship as passengers.”
    â€œNothing doing. We don’t carry passengers.”
    â€œBut we were told—”
    â€œYou heard me. No passengers.”
    â€œI think we’ll see the captain, anyway,” Frank said and the boys turned away. They walked down the narrow space between the rail and the open hatches toward the officers’ quarters.
    â€œHey! Stay away from the captain!” the seaman bellowed.
    â€œI wonder what’s eating him,” Joe said,
    â€œProbably just a grouch. Got up on the wrong side of the bunk this morning.”
    They passed by the gap of an open hatch. Then their way was barred by stacks of freight. Retracing their steps, Frank and Joe decided to go around the deckhouse. A huge net filled with boxes of cargo swung over from the dock toward the hatch.
    â€œHave to watch your way around here,” said Joe as a heavy steel boom swung in front of him. But Frank at that moment had turned to look for the unfriendly seaman.
    â€œDuck!” Joe yelled.

CHAPTER IV
    No Passengers
    FRANK did not dodge in time. The heavy boom struck him, carried the startled boy upward, and swept him overboard!
    Joe leaped to the railing. He saw Frank hurtle down past the steel side of the freighter, not three feet from the pier. His body, twisting and turning limply, hit the water with a resounding smack.
    Instantly Joe scrambled onto the rail, balanced a moment, then dived.
    It was nearly a thirty-foot drop, but he struck the water cleanly just a few yards from the place where Frank had disappeared. Under water, Joe opened his eyes. Catching sight of a dark object, he swam toward it, then shot to the surface, one arm around his unconscious brother.
    Joe towed him toward a ladder hanging from the pier, wondering how badly Frank was hurt. He was greatly relieved when his brother made a convulsive movement and began to struggle and thrash about.
    â€œIt’s okay. Take it easy,” Joe muttered.
    Two longshoremen, having seen Frank’s mishap, had rushed to the edge of the dock. They reached down and hoisted the two boys out of the murky water. The men carried Frank to a small office inside the loading shed. Joe followed, breathless and frightened.
    â€œGet a doctor!” the taller of the two longshoremen called out.
    But the other acted instantly and started giving Frank first aid. Presently the boy opened his eyes and looked around dully.
    â€œThank goodness you came to,” said Joe.
    â€œHe wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for you,” said the tall longshoreman. “I saw the whole thing. He’d have drowned if you hadn’t pulled him out.”
    Frank weakly smiled his thanks. “We’d better ... go... home,” he murmured.
    He was carried to the convertible and Joe took the wheel. The men offered to go along, but Joe declined their assistance, saying he was sure that his brother would be all right.
    At the Hardy house there was great consternation when the boys’ mother and Aunt Gertrude saw Joe helping Frank up the stairs. They scurried about, talking, advising, and getting Frank to bed as fast as possible.
    â€œI’m okay now,” he insisted. “Just got a whale of a headache. That’s all.”
    When the two women finally left the room, he said to Joe, who had showered and changed his clothes, “Listen. I think I was struck on purpose by that boom.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œYes. I saw that guy who tried to get us off the Hawk motioning to someone on the dock. I’ll bet he was signaling for him to swing the boom so it would hit us. But he won’t get away with it!”
    â€œYou bet he won‘t!” Joe said grimly. He started downstairs.
    â€œDon’t go alone!”Frank called after him.
    Before Joe had time to think about it, the front doorbell rang and he answered. Biff Hooper, a schoolmate and good friend of the