"So you boys want to help me on another case", =FentonHardy,
internationally known detective, smiled at his sons?
"=Dad, you said you're working on a very mysterious can right
now," =Frank spoke up. "Isn't there some angle of it that =Joe and
I could tackle?"
Mr =Hardy looked out the window of this second floor study as
if searching for the answer somewhere in the town of =Bayport,
where the =Hardys lived. Finally he turned back and gazed steadfastly
at his sons.




"That's a shame, fellows," =ChetMorton said.
"This is sure your day of bad luck. First the eyepieces
from your telescope are taken and now the tools from
your motorcycles."
"And all by the same person, I'm sure," =Frank remarked grimly.
"Some slick operator, whoever he is," =Joe added gloomily.
=Chet put his hands into his trousers pockets and with a
grin pulled out a pair of pliers, a screw driver, and a wrench.
"I was working on the =Queen this morning," he explained. "Good thing
I happened to put these in my pocket."
"I'll say," =Frank declared gratefully, taking the tools which =Chet handed over.



"Just a minute," Mrs =Hardy said to her sons! "How about supper?"
"We can eat when we come back from our interview with =Jones," =Joe answered.
"Mother, he may decide to leave the farmhouse any time."
Despairingly Mrs =Hardy returned to her husband. "What do you think, =Fenton?"
The detective gave his wife an understanding smile, then turned to
=Frank and =Joe. "Didn't you say =Jones was in pretty bad shape?"
"Yes, =Dad," =Frank replied.
"Then I doubt very much that he'll try to leave the =Kanes' home before the
time he set -- tomorrow morning. I'm sure that it'll be safe for us to eat
=Mother's good supper and still see our man in time."



=Joe put an arm around his mother. "=Frank and I will start a search for =Dad
first thing tomorrow," her son said reassuringly.
Next morning, as the boys were dressing, Joe asked, "Where shall we start, =Frank?"
"Down at the waterfront. Let's try to find =PretzelPete and ask him if =Dad
talked to him on Monday. He may give us a lead."
"Good idea."
The brothers searched the =Bayport waterfront early. It was the scene of great
activity. A tanker was unloading barrels of oil, and longshoremen were trundling
them to waiting trucks.
At another dock a passenger ship was tied up.
Porters hurried about, carrying luggage and packages to a line of taxicabs.


"I'm very thirsty," =Frank said quickly to the occupants of the =Pollitt house.
"May I have a drink?"
The red-haired man and the woman looked at each other. They obviously wished to
get rid of their visitors as soon as possible. But they could not refuse such a
reasonable request.
"Come into the kitchen," said the man grudgingly.
Frank followed his through the door. As he passed the cap he took a good look at it.
It was his father's and there were stains on it which looked like blood.
The redheadeded man pointed to a sink on the other side of the room. On it stood a
plastic cup. "Help yourself," he said gruffly.



"=Frank," =Joe exclaimed! "I think you've hit it! That man had no reason to act the
way he did unless he's covering up something."
"Something like smuggling, you mean," said =Chet. "He must be =Snattman or one of his gang."
"And," =Frank went on, "the fact that he was in that cove must mean he has some connection
with the house on the cliff."
"=Snattman, king of the smugglers," =Tony whistled! "You guys really get in some interesting
situations!"
"I'll bet that he's one of the fellows who chased =Jones that day in the motorboat," =Joe cried.
"And tried to kill him," =Frank continued the thought.



=Frank and =Joe tried to crowd themselves into the smallest space possible as the men
came nearer to their hiding place. The electric light bulb hanging from the center of the
ceiling cast such a strong illumination over the cave that the boys felt certain they would
be discovered.
The boxes were placed a small distance apart, and only the fact that folds of silk hung down
over the open spaces between the boxes prevented the boys from being seen immediately.
However, through a crack in one of the crates, the =Hardys could just make out two
husky-looking figures.



=Snattman, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise at finding the
=Hardy boys in the underground rooms was in high good humor. He turned to his men.
"Just in time," he gloated, rubbing his hands together in satisfaction. "If we hadn't come
here when we did, they'd have all escaped!"
The =Hardy boys were silent, sick with despair. They had been sure they were going to
succeed in rescuing their father and now the three of them were prisoners of the smuggling gang.




Lithe as Indians the three =Hardys hurried across the lawn and disappeared among the trees.
They headed for the road, a good distance away.
"I hope a bus comes along," =Frank said to himself. "Then we can get to a phone and report --."
His thought was rudely interrupted as the boys and their father heard a sound that struck terror
to their hearts -- the clatter of logs tumbling off the trap door!
An instant later came a hoarse shout. "Chief! =Red! The =Hardys got away! Watch out for them!"
"He must be one of the me we heard coming up from the shore," Joe decided. "They must have found
Malloy trussed up!"


In a few minutes the =Henley's brilliant searchlight was turned
on. It picked up the speedboat which was racing toward shore at full
power. But gradually the Coast Guard boat lessened the distance
between them.
Chief Petty Officer =Brown picked up a megaphone and shouted for the fleeing
men to stop. They paid no attention.
"We'll have to show them we mean business," the officer told =Biff, =Phil,
and =Jerry. "We'll shoot across their bow."
He ordered the boys out of the line of fire, in case the smugglers should
attempt to retaliate. They obeyed, and though from their shelter the three
could not see the speedboat, they listened intently to what was going on.