Hardy Boys 05 Hunting For Hidden Gold

The Hardy Boys try to take down a criminal gang, but find themselves in great peril when they are lured to a Montana mining camp.

Timber wolves, a Rocky Mountain blizzard, and a mine cave-in are only a few of the perils Frank and Joe Hardy encounter during their search for the principal members of a notorious gang responsible for a payroll robbery. Clue by clue, Frank and Joe cleverly fit into place the scattered pieces of this dangerous puzzle and come up with the astonishing solution.

During an extended winter holiday, the Hardy boys are summoned to Montana by their father to help with a case: recovering stolen gold. The trip out West is anything but easy; the boys’ fame and success as amateur detectives has reached their father’s enemies, who are determined to undermine a reunion. Facing dangers from man, beast, and nature, the Hardy boys embark on a journey to recover the missing gold and bring justice to the small mining town of Lucky Bottom. This is the fifth book of the Hardy boys series, first published in 1928. While the author is credited to be Franklin W. Dixon, in reality, Leslie MacFarlane and Edward Stratemeyer are primarily responsible for the early volumes, including this one. This Standard Ebooks edition is based on the original 1928 text. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

A fortune in hidden gold! That certainly sounds mighty interesting. Frank Hardy folded up the letter he had just been reading aloud to his brother. "Dad has all the luck," replied Joe. "I'd give anything to be working with him on a case like that." "Me, too. This case is a bit out of the ordinary." "Where was the letter postmarked?" "Somewhere in Montana. A gold-mining camp called Lucky Bottom." "Montana! Gee, but I wish he could have taken us with him. We've never been more than two hundred miles from home." "And I've never seen a mine in my life, much less a real mining camp." The Hardy boys looked at one another regretfully. They had just received a letter from their father, Fenton Hardy, an internationally famous detective, who had been called West but a fortnight previous on a mysterious mission. The letter gave the boys their first inkling of the nature of the case that had summoned their father from Bayport, on the Atlantic coast, to the mining country of Montana. "A fortune in hidden gold," repeated Frank. "I hope he finds it all right." "It was stolen from one of the big companies, wasn't it?" "Yes. He says that an entire shipment of bullion was stolen before it left the camp, so they believe it must have been hidden somewhere in the neighborhood." "And his job is to find it." "If he can. And the thieves as well." Joe sighed. "I sure would like to be out there right now. We might be able to help him." "Well, we've helped him in other cases, but I guess we're out of luck this time. Montana is too far away." "Yes, and we have to keep on going to school. I'll be glad when we're through school and can be regular detectives like dad." Frank grinned. "No use grouching about it," he said cheerfully. "Our time will come some day." "Yes, but it seems a long time coming," replied Joe, smiling ruefully. "Oh, in a few more years we'll be going all over the country just like dad, solving robberies and murders and having all sorts of excitement. We haven't done too badly so far, anyway." "Yes, we had the fun of discovering the tower treasure." "And running down the counterfeiters." "Yes; and solving the mystery of the house on the cliff and finding out about Blacksnake Island." The boys were referring to previous cases in which they had been involved and in which their ability had been proved. But it had been several months since any adventure or excitement had come their way and they were feeling restless, the more so now that they knew their father was at that moment in the remote mining camp in the West engaged on a mystery that seized their imagination.

The Hardy boys must brave a blizzard, a mine cave-in, and hungry timber wolves in an effort to search for the gang responsible for a robbery.