While the Clock Ticked facts for kids
Original edition cover
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| Author | Franklin W. Dixon |
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| Illustrator | J. Clemens Gretta |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Hardy Boys |
| Genre | Detective, mystery |
| Publisher | Grosset & Dunlap |
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Publication date
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January 1, 1932, revised edition 1962 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | original edition 192, revised edition 174 |
| ISBN | 0-448-08911-4 |
| OCLC | 26189365 |
| Preceded by | What Happened at Midnight |
| Followed by | Footprints Under the Window |
While The Clock Ticked is an exciting mystery book. It is the 11th story in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories series. The book was first published in 1932 by Grosset & Dunlap.
This book was written by Leslie McFarlane for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. This was a company that created many popular children's book series. Between 1959 and 1973, the first 38 books in the Hardy Boys series were updated. The original version of While The Clock Ticked was rewritten in 1962 by James Buechler. This means there are two different stories with the same title!
The Mystery of While the Clock Ticked
The Original Mystery Story
When a man named Raymond Dalrymple starts getting scary threats, he asks Fenton Hardy, a famous detective, for help. Mr. Hardy is away, so his sons, Frank and Joe Hardy, offer to take the case.
Mr. Dalrymple is not sure about letting the boys help. Instead, he tells them to check out the old Purdy house. While walking there, a large car almost hits them. They then meet a police officer on a motorcycle chasing the car. The officer thinks the car belongs to river thieves.
The next day, Mr. Dalrymple decides to let the Hardy boys investigate. He explains that he bought the Purdy house recently. He has been using a secret safe room there to be alone. But he has received death threats inside this locked room.
That night, the Hardy boys explore the Purdy house. They see a man who looks like Mr. Dalrymple go into the house. Then they hear screams! They also meet Hurd Applegate, a friend they met during The Tower Treasure mystery. He is running from the house.
Mr. Applegate is too upset to explain why he was there. So, the Hardy boys return another day to explore more. They find an unused part of the house with new locks on the doors. The police are called and find the locked rooms full of stolen goods. These goods were stolen by the river thieves.
The police think the case is solved, but the Hardy boys keep watching the Purdy house. They see a stranger come to the house. After another scream, the stranger runs away.
While investigating the house again, the Hardy boys are captured. They are held by an old man named Amos and another man who looks exactly like Mr. Dalrymple. Surprisingly, Mr. Applegate rescues them! A bomb attached to a ticking grandfather clock is safely stopped.
Mr. Dalrymple arrives with the police. Amos falls to his death while trying to escape. The Hardy boys examine a device Amos was using. They solve the mystery of how he sent threats to the secret room. They also find stamps that Mr. Dalrymple's look-alike had stolen from Mr. Applegate.
The Revised Mystery Story
A banker named Raymond Dalrymple from Lakeside gets death threats. He goes to the Hardy house, looking for Fenton Hardy's help. Frank and Joe offer to help, and he agrees, though he is not sure at first. Soon after, while hiking with friends, the Hardy boys are almost run over by a car. They then investigate the Purdy place.
Another stormy night, they explore the mansion. They see a man who looks like Dalrymple enter the house. Suddenly, a light turns on, followed by a man's scream. This man turns out to be Hurd Applegate, an old friend of the Hardy boys. He tells them his valuable jade collection has been stolen. The boys discover that the thefts are done using fast speedboats, like their own boat, the Sleuth.
Soon after, Dalrymple disappears. The Hardys worry for his safety and go to the Purdy place to look for him. There, they are held by a man named Arthur Jensen. Jensen looks very much like Dalrymple. He has been secretly living in Dalrymple's house. Jensen is a thief who steals small but valuable items from ships.
Frank and Joe are tied up and gagged, along with an inventor named Amos Wandy. A time bomb is set to go off at 3 a.m. With less than two minutes left, a window panel breaks. Chet Morton, a friend of the Hardys, appears! He unties Frank, who quickly stops the bomb just seconds before it explodes. Joe and Wandy are then untied.
Jensen is later caught on the Purdy mansion grounds, and the stolen valuables are found. The boys also discover how the death threats were sent to Raymond Dalrymple. They were lowered down the chimney into the hidden room using one of Amos Wandy's inventions. This device would roll to the middle of the room, drop the note, and then be pulled back up by a wire.
At the end of the story, Dalrymple throws a surprise party for the boys. He gives Mr. Wandy permission to stay in the hidden room and invent whenever he wants.
