Hardy Boys #8 Cabin Island and #9 Great Airport Mystery

In the original text of Hardy Boys #8, The Mystery of Cabin Island, the Hardy boys rent a cabin on Cabin Island.  They plan to spend the Christmas holidays in the cabin.  During their stay, prowlers show up on the island, and some of the boys' supplies are stolen.  Soon, the boys suspect that something valuable is hidden on the island.

This story has some coincidence but not the crazy unbelievable type.  The events are mainly cause and effect, which makes for a better story.

This book is good all the way through and is an excellent read.

In the original text of Hardy Boys #9, The Great Airport Mystery, the Hardy boys are nearly run off the road by Giles Ducroy, a drunk mail pilot.  Ducroy blames the boys for the mishap, and Ducroy later frames them for the theft of valuable mail.

I have never liked the scene where Ducroy nearly crashes into the Hardy boys' vehicle.  The plane flies up behind the boys, gaining on them as it attempts to land.  Frank speeds up to try to keep ahead of the plane, which is a losing proposition.  I have always felt that Frank should have run off the road into the ditch instead of trying to keep ahead of the plane.  

In The Secret of the Caves, Toddham Todd uses what is referred to as an unusual expression, "by jing."  If "by jing" is so unusual, then why does a farmer use it on page 18 of The Great Airport Mystery?

On page 38, the boys have graduated from high school and plan a picnic with their class.  They reflect that the picnic will be "their last opportunity of being all together."  That's what they think.  In a strange twist of fate, the boys get put right back in high school in the next book, and that's where they stay.

On age 121 we learn that Mr. Hardy "was not at all rich."  Gosh, the Hardys sure act like they have plenty of money.

On page 128, Frank remarks that it "was certainly mighty white" for the men to put up bail for them. I've always known of that expression and its meaning, but I decided to look it up.  Interestingly, many people nowadays think "mighty white" is not racist and is a sarcastic expression, apparently due to its usage in a movie from a few decades ago.  There is absolutely no doubt that in this book that Frank is not being sarcastic and is praising the men by saying that they are "mighty white" for doing the good deed.

This is an excellent and exciting story.

I can't remember exactly what I thought of each particular Hardy Boys book 20 years ago, but I feel like I am enjoying them more this time than I did back then.