As Fenton Hardy tiptoed toward his sons, the board floor squeaked loudly. The guard muttered again, as if dreaming, shook his head, then sat up.
"Oh, no!" Frank murmured, fearful of what would happen. He saw his father pick up a white rag someone had dropped.
A look of intense amazement crossed Malloy"s face. As he opened his mouth to yell for help, Fenton Hardy leaped across the intervening s.p.a.ce and flung himself on the smuggler.
"Keep quiet!" the detective ordered.
Malloy had time only to utter a m.u.f.fled gasp before the detective clapped a hand over the guard"s mouth, jammed the rag in it, and toppled him to the floor. The two rolled over and over in a desperate, silent struggle. The boys, helpless, looked on, their fears mounting. They knew their father had been weakened by his imprisonment and hunger, and the guard was strong and muscular. Nevertheless, the detective had the advantage of a surprise attack. Malloy had had no time to collect his wits.
Frank and Joe watched the battle in an agony of suspense. If only they could join the fight! Mr. Hardy still had the advantage, for he could breathe better than his opponent. But suddenly Malloy managed to raise himself to his knees. He reached for the revolver at his hip.
"Look out, Dad!" Frank hissed. "He"s got his gun!"
Quick as a flash the detective landed a blow on the guard"s jaw. Malloy blinked and raised both hands to defend himself as he fell to the ground. Mr. Hardy darted forward and pulled the revolver out of the man"s side pocket.
"No funny business!" the detective told him in a low voice.
Without being told, Malloy raised his hands in the air. He sat helplessly on the floor, beaten.
"He"s got a knife too, Dad," Joe said quietly. "Watch that."
"Thanks, Joe," his father replied. Then, motioning with the pistol, he said, "All right. Let"s have the knife!"
Sullenly the guard removed the knife from its leather sheath at his belt and handed it to Mr. Hardy.
Frank and Joe wanted to shout with joy, but merely grinned at their father.
Still watching Malloy, the detective walked slowly backward until he reached Joe"s side. Without taking his eyes from the smuggler, he bent down and with the knife sliced at the ropes that bound his son.
Fortunately, the knife was sharp and the ropes soon were cut.
"Boy, that feels good, Dad. Thanks," Joe whispered.
He sprang from the chair, took the knife, and while his father watched Malloy, he cut Frank"s bonds.
"Malloy," Mr. Hardy ordered, "come over here!"
He motioned toward the bed and indicated by gestures that the smuggler was to lie down on the cot.
Malloy shook his head vigorously, but was prodded over by Joe. The guard lay down on the cot.
The ropes which had held Mr. Hardy had not been cut. Quickly Frank and Joe trussed up Malloy just as their father had been tied, making certain that the knots were tight. As a final precaution they pushed in the gag which was slipping and with a piece of rope made it secure.
The whole procedure had taken scarcely five minutes. The Hardys were free!
"What now?" Frank asked his father out of earshot of Malloy. "Hide some place until the Coast Guard gets here?" Quickly he told about Tony and Chet going to bring the officers to the smugglers" hide-out.
"But they should have been here by now," Joe whispered. "They probably haven"t found the secret door.
Let"s go down and show them."
This plan was agreed upon, but the three Hardys got no farther than the top of the first stairway when they heard rough, arguing voices below them.
"They can"t be Coast Guard men," said Mr. Hardy. "We"ll listen a few seconds, then we"d better run in the other direction. I know the way out to the grounds."
From below came an ugly, "You double-crosser, you! This loot belongs to the whole gang and don"t you forget it!"
"Listen," said the second voice. "I don"t have to take orders from you. I thought we was pals. Now you don"t want to go through with the deal. Who"s to know if we got ten packages or five from that friend o"
Ali Singh"s?"
"Okay. And the stuff"ll be easier to get rid of than those drugs. They"re too hot for me. Snattman can burn for kidnapin" if he wants to-I don"t."
The voices had now become so loud that the Hardys did not dare wait another moment. "Come on!" the boys" father urged.
He led the way back to the corridor and along it to the door at the end. Suddenly Frank and Joe noticed him falter and were afraid he was going to faint. Joe recalled that his father had had no food except the candy bar. Ramming his hands into his pockets, he brought out another bar and some pieces of pretzel.
Quickly he filled both his father"s hands with them. Mr. Hardy ate them hungrily as his sons supported him under his arms and a.s.sisted him to the door.
As Frank quietly opened it, and they saw a stairway beyond, the detective said, "These steps will bring us up into a shed near the Pollitt house. There"s a trap door. That"s the way Snattman brought me down.
Got your lights? We haven"t any time to lose." Mr. Hardy seemed stronger already. "I"ll take the lead."
As they ascended, Frank and Joe wondered if they would come out in the shed where they had seen the man named Klein picking up small logs.
When the detective reached the top of the stairs he ordered the lights out and pushed against the trap door. He could not budge it.
"You try," he urged the boys. "And hurry! Those men we heard may discover Malloy."
"And then things will start popping!" Frank murmured.
The boys heaved their shoulders against the trap door. In a moment there came the rumble of rolling logs.
The door went up easily.
Frank peered out. No one seemed to be around.
He stepped up into the shed and the others followed.
The three stood in silence. The night was dark. The wind, blowing through the trees, made a moaning sound. Before the Hardys rose the gloomy ma.s.s of the house on the cliff. No lights could be seen.
From the direction of the lane came dull, thudding sounds. The boys and their father a.s.sumed the smugglers" truck was being loaded with the goods which were to be disposed of by the man named Burke.
Suddenly the Hardys heard voices from the corridor they had just left. Quickly Frank closed the trap door and Joe piled up the logs. Then, silently, the Hardys stole out into the yard.
CHAPTER XVII.
Hostages 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 the logs tumbling off the trap door!
An instant later came a hoa.r.s.e shout. "Chief! Red! The Hardys got away! Watch out for them!"
"He must be one of the men we heard coming up from the sh.o.r.e," Joe decided. "They must have found Malloy trussed up!"
Instantly the place became alive with smugglers flashing their lights. Some of the men ran from the truck toward the road, shouting. Others began to comb the woods. Another man emerged from the trap door.
He and his companion dashed to the ocean side of the house.
Two burly smugglers flung open the kitchen door and ran out. One shouted, "They ain"t in the house!"
"And they"re not down at the sh.o.r.e!" the other yelled. "I just talked to Klein on the phone down there."
"You guys better not let those Hardys get away!" Snattman"s voice cut through the night. "It"ll be the pen for all of you!"
"Fenton Hardy"s got a gun! He took Malloy"s!" came a warning voice from the far side of the house. The two men who had gone to the front now returned. "He never misses his mark!"
When the fracas had started, the detective had pulled his sons to the ground, told them to lie flat, face down, and not to move. Now they could hear the pounding steps of the smugglers as they dashed among the trees. The boys" hearts pounded wildly. It did not seem possible they could be missed!
Yet man after man ran within a few yards of the three p.r.o.ne figures and dashed on toward the road.
Presently Mr. Hardy raised his head and looked toward the Pollitt mansion.
"Boys," he said tensely, "we"ll make a run for the kitchen door. The men won"t expect us to go there."
The three arose. Swiftly and silently they crossed the dark lawn and slipped into the house. Apparently no one had seen them.
"When Snattman doesn"t find us outdoors," Joe whispered, "won"t he look here to make sure?"
"Yes," Mr. Hardy replied. "But by that time I hope the Coast Guard and State Police will arrive."
"Joe and I found a hidden stairway to the attic," Frank spoke up. "Snattman won"t think of looking in it.
Let"s hide up there."
"You forget the ghost," Joe reminded his brother. "He knows we found that stairway."
"Nevertheless, Frank"s suggestion is a good one," Mr. Hardy said. "Let"s go to the attic. Were any clothes hanging in the closet that might be used to conceal the door?"
"Yes, a man"s bathrobe on a rod."
The Hardys did not dare use a light and had to make their way along by feeling walls, and the stair banister, with Frank in the lead and Mr. Hardy between the boys. Reaching the second floor, Frank looked out the rear window of the hall.
"The smugglers are coming back!" he remarked in a low voice. "The lights are heading this way!"
The Hardys doubled their speed, but it was still slow going, for they banged into chairs and a wardrobe as Frank felt his way along the hall toward the bedroom where the hidden staircase was. Finally the trio reached it. Just as Frank was about to open the door to the attic, a door on the first floor swung open with a resounding bang. "Scatter and search every room!" Snattman"s crisp voice rang out. "We"re trapped!" Joe groaned. "Maybe not," Frank said hopefully. "I have a hunch Klein was the ghost. It"s possible that he"s the only one who knows about this stairway and he"s down at the sh.o.r.e."
"We"ll risk going up," Mr. Hardy decided. "But not a sound." He slid the bathrobe across the rod, so that it would hide the door.
"The stairs creak," Joe informed him. Mr. Hardy told his sons to push down the treads slowly but firmly with their hands and hold them there until they put one foot between them and then raised up to their full weight.
"And lean forward, so you won"t lose your balance," he warned.
Fearful that he could not accomplish this, Frank opened the door carefully and started up in the pitch blackness. But the dread thought of capture made him use extreme caution and he reached the attic without having made a sound.
After closing the door, Joe and his father quickly followed. The three moved noiselessly to a spot out of sight of the stairway behind a large trunk.
They sat down and waited, not daring even to whisper. From downstairs they could hear running footsteps, banging doors, and loud talk.
"Not here!"
"Not here!"
"Not here!"
The search seemed to come to an end, for the second-floor group had gathered right in the room where the secret stairway was.
"This is it! The end! They"re going to search up here!" Frank thought woefully.
His father reached over and grasped a hand of each of his sons in a rea.s.suring grip. Someone yanked open the closet door. The Hardys became tense. Would the robe over the entrance to the secret stairway fool him?
"Empty!" the man announced and shut the door. The smugglers went downstairs.
There were fervent handshakes among the detective and his sons. Other than this they did not move a muscle of their bodies, although they inwardly relaxed.
Now new worries a.s.sailed the Hardys. It was possible that Snattman and his gang, having been alerted, would move out and disappear before the police or Coast Guard could get to the house on the cliff.
Frank"s heart gave a jump. He suddenly realized that his father was hiding to protect his sons. Had he been alone, the intrepid detective would have been downstairs battling to get the better of Snattman and break up the smuggling ring.
"What a swell father he is!" Frank thought. Then another idea came to him. "Maybe being here isn"t such a bad plan after all. Dad might have been fatally shot if he"d been anywhere else on the property."
A moment later the Hardys again became aware of voices on the second floor. They recognized one as Snattman"s, the other as Klein"s.
"Yeah, there"s a secret stairway to the attic," Klein announced. "I found it when I was playin" ghost. And them Hardy boys-they found it too. I"ll bet my last take on those rare drugs we"re gettin" tonight that the d.i.c.k and his sons are up in that attic!"
The Hardys" spirits sank. They were going to be captured again after all I They heard the door at the foot of the stairway open. "Go up and look, Klein," ordered Snattman.
"Not me. Fenton Hardy has Malloy"s gun."
"I said go up!"