The Secret of the Old Mill · Chapter
The Hardy Boys at School explained
Frank and Joe Hardy face good-natured teasing at school after news of their counterfeit bill incident spreads.
What happens
Frank and Joe Hardy face good-natured teasing at school after news of their counterfeit bill incident spreads. Their friend Chet Morton mocks them with a fake hundred-dollar bill, and the boys discuss their plans to buy a motorboat with reward money. The chapter also highlights their baseball commitments and a playful prank involving Jerry Gilroy and Tony Prito.
Themes in this chapter
Friendship and Loyalty
The Hardy boys' friends tease them but also show camaraderie, discussing shared interests like baseball and the new motorboat.
Counterfeiting and Crime
The chapter opens with Chet mocking the counterfeit bill incident, keeping the theme of counterfeiting alive through school gossip.
Characters to notice
- Frank Hardy
Takes the teasing in good part, discusses the motorboat purchase, and promises to play on Jerry's baseball team.
- Joe Hardy
Blushes at the teasing but joins Frank in good-natured responses; mentions the motorboat like Tony Prito's.
- Chet Morton
Leads the teasing with a fake hundred-dollar bill and a magnifying glass; later orchestrates a prank on Jerry Gilroy.
- Jerry Gilroy
Expresses concern that the Hardy boys' new motorboat will disrupt the summer baseball league; falls for Chet's prank.
- Tony Prito
Mentions his father's motorboat as a model for the Hardy boys; helps Chet with the prank on Jerry.
- Phil Cohen
A diminutive, black-haired Jewish boy who jokes about the Hardy boys' reward money and the counterfeit incident.
Key passages
“Scarcely had Frank and Joe ascended the concrete steps of Bayport High than Chet Morton, a stout chubby boy of about sixteen, one of their closest friends, a lad with a passion for practical jokes, came solemnly toward them with a green tobacco coupon in his hand.”
As soon as Frank and Joe reached the school steps, their friend Chet Morton approached them seriously, holding a green tobacco coupon.
Introduces Chet's teasing and the school setting.
“The news had leaked out through Mr. Moss, who had told Jerry Gilroy, one of the Hardy boys' chums, about the affair just a short while after they had left the store the previous afternoon.”
Mr. Moss had spread the story of the counterfeit bill to Jerry Gilroy shortly after the Hardy boys left the store.
Explains how the school learned about the counterfeit incident.
“Dad told us last night we could get one as long as we stayed in the bay and along the coast with it. He was afraid we might get ambitious and try crossing the Atlantic.”
Their father agreed to let them buy a motorboat on the condition they only use it in the bay and coastal waters, joking they might otherwise attempt to cross the Atlantic.
Reveals Fenton Hardy's cautious permission for the motorboat.