Review of "The Secret of the Lost Tunnel," by Franklin W. Dixon

 Review of

The Secret of the Lost Tunnel, by Franklin W. Dixon

Four out of five stars

Secrets from the Confederacy and the war

 In this story, Frank and Joe are giving aid to a General friend of their father Fenton Hardy. The general is on the trail of some gold that disappeared around the time of a major battle between the Union and Confederate forces called the Battle of Rocky Run. Clues to the location of the gold were supposedly place in a bandoleer and that item is missing.

 Since Fenton is tied up doing other things, Frank, Joe, Chet Morton and General Smith go to the site of the southern plantation where the gold was supposedly lost. Their foes are a mysterious gang that appears to be willing to do anything to stop the Hardy forces and acquire the gold for themselves. The action moves forward at a modest pace, the Hardy’s get knocked unconscious once again and Chet proves to be a bit more cowardly than normal. His fad in this episode is photography, where he proves a bit inept, even though he does manage to capture a few helpful clues.

 As the title implies, there is a tunnel where the valuable items are. One of the interesting aspects of this story is the inclusion of black people. They are largely depicted as normal people with one man in particular showing great loyalty to General Smith. That was significant in 1950, when black people rarely appeared in juvenile fiction. In summary, this is one of the better Hardy Boys stories of the era.