As they sped along the narrow shore road, with the waves breaking on the rocks far below, they discussed their chances of winning over their parents to agreement with their ambition to follow in the footsteps of their father. Like most boys, they speculated frequently on the occupation they should follow when they grew up, and it had always seemed to them that nothing offered so many possibilities of adventure and excitement as the career of a detective.

“But whenever we mention it to Dad he just laughs at us,” said Joe Hardy. “Tells us to wait until we’re through school and then we can think about being detectives.”

“Well, at least he’s more encouraging than mother,” remarked Frank. “She comes out plump and plain and says she wants one of us to be a doctor and the other a lawyer.”

“What a fine lawyer either of us would make!” sniffed Joe. “Or a doctor, either! We were both cut out to be detectives and Dad knows it.”