“Even if he were tried and acquitted, it would be a stain on his reputation for the rest of his life, as long as the treasure isn’t recovered,” Frank summed up.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Joe said. “We’ve done all we could, and it hasn’t been enough.”

“And Dad has done the same. I’m sorry, on his account. He was so sure he had cleared the whole thing up when he got the confession from Jackley. But there was something lacking.”

“Well, we all helped too,” remarked Jerry. “We kept Collig and Smuff from catching that train. Jackley wouldn’t have talked at all if they had seen him.”

So, reluctantly enough, the boys were forced to admit that they were facing a stone wall. This also was the conclusion of Fenton Hardy, when they talked to him at lunch that day.