'I guess you're right,' Frank concluded. 'If those smugglers are holding Dad, and find out that we've
tipped off the Coast Guard, they'll certainly harm him.'
'You have a point.'
When Frank and Joe reached the Prito boat-house at two o'clock, Tony and Chet were already there.
Tony was tuning up the motor, which purred evenly.
'No word from your dad yet?' Tony asked. The Hardys shook their heads as they stepped aboard.
The Napoli was a rangy, powerful craft with graceful lines and was the pride of Tony's life. The boat
moved slowly out into the waters of Barmet Bay and then gathered speed as it headed toward the
ocean.
'Rough water,' Frank remarked as breaking swells hit the hull. Salt spray dashed over the bow of the
Napoli as it plunged on through the white-caps. Bayport soon became a speck nestled at the curve of the
horseshoe-shaped body of water. Reaching the ocean, Tony turned north. The boys could see the white
line of the shore road rising and falling along the coast. Soon they passed the Kane farm. Two miles
farther on they came within sight of the cliff upon which the Pollitt house stood. It looked stark and
forbidding above the rocks, its roof and chimneys silhouetted against the sky.
'Pretty steep cliff,' Tony observed. 'I can't see how anyone could make his way up and down that slope
to get to the house.'
'That's probably why nobody has suspected the place of being a smuggling base,' Frank replied. 'But
perhaps when we look around we'll find an answer.'
Tony steered the boat closer toward the shore, so that it would not be visible from the Pollitt grounds.
Then he slackened speed in order that the sound of the engine would be less noticeable, and the craft
made its way toward the bottom of the cliff.
There were currents here that demanded skilful navigation, but Tony brought the Napoli through them
easily, and at last the boat was chugging along close to the face of the cliff.
The boys eagerly scanned the formidable wall of rock. It was scarred and seamed and the base had been
eaten away by the incessant battering of waves. There was no indication of a path.
Suddenly Tony turned the wheel sharply. The Napoli swerved swiftly to one side. He gave it power and
the craft leaped forward with a roar.
'What's the matter?' Frank asked in alarm.
Tony gazed straight ahead, tense and alert. Another shift of the wheel and the Napoli swerved again.
Then Chet and the Hardys saw the danger. There were rocks at the base of the cliff. One of them, black
and sharp, like an ugly tooth, jutted out of the water almost at the boat's side. Only Tony's quick eye had
saved the Napoli from hitting it!
They had blundered into a veritable maze of reefs which extended for several yards ahead. Tony's
passengers held their breaths. It seemed impossible that they could run the gantlet of those rocks without
tearing out the bottom of the craft.
But luck was with them. The Napoli dodged the last dangerous rock, and shot forward into open water.
Tony sank back with a sigh of relief. 'Whew, that was close!' he exclaimed. 'I didn't see those rocks
until we were right on top of them. If we'd ever struck one of them we'd have been goners.'
Frank, Joe, and Chet nodded in solemn agreement. Then, suddenly, Frank cried out, 'Turn back! I think
I saw an opening!'
Tony swung the boat around. The opening which Frank had spotted was a long, narrow tunnel. It led
right through the cliff!
'This might be the secret entrance!' Joe exclaimed.
'I think it's large enough for the boat to go through,' said Tony. 'Want me to try it?'
Frank nodded tensely. 'Go ahead.'
The Napoli slipped through the opening and in a few moments came out into a pond of considerable
extent. The boys looked about expectantly. Steep slopes covered with scraggly trees and bushes
reached to the water's edge. But there was no path or indication that any human being ever came down
to the pond.
Suddenly Frank gave a gasp of surprise and said, 'Look to my right, fellows.'
Among the thickets at the base of the steepest slope stood a man. He was very tall, his face was
weather-beaten, and his lips thin and cruel. He stood quietly, looking at the boys without a shadow of
expression on his sinister face.
Upon realizing he had been observed, the man shouted, 'Get out of here!'
Tony throttled the engine and Frank called, 'We aren't doing any harm.'
'I said 'Get out!' This is private property.'
The boys hesitated. Instantly the man, as though to back up his commands, reached significantly toward
the holster of a revolver.
'Turn that boat around and beat it!' he snapped. 'And don't ever come back here! Not if you know
what's good for you.'
The boys realized that nothing would be gained by argument. Tony slowly brought the boat around.
'Okay,' Joe called cheerfully.
The stranger did not reply. He stood gazing fixedly after them, his left hand pointing to the exit, his right
tapping the gun holster, as the motorboat made its way out through the tunnel.
'Looks as if he didn't want us around,' remarked Tony facetiously, as soon as the Napoli was in open
water again.
'He sure didn't!' Frank exclaimed. 'I expected him to start popping that gun at any moment!'
'He must have an important reason. Who and what do you suppose he is?' Tony asked in
bewilderment.
'Fellows,' Frank said thoughtfully, 'I think that man might have been Snattman!'
CHAPTER XI
Cliff Watchers
'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.
'Let's get away from here!' Chet urged.
'Why should we go now?' Frank demanded.
'We've stumbled on something important. That hidden pond may be the smugglers' base.'
'But if they use the house how do they get to it?' Tony asked. 'Those cliffs up from the pond were
mighty steep.'
'There must be some other way that we couldn't see,' Joe said. 'What say we hang around here for a
while and find out what we can?'
Tony caught the Hardys' enthusiasm and agreed to keep the motorboat in the vicinity of the cliff.
'That fellow may be keeping his eye on us and we don't want him to know that we're watching the
place,' Frank observed. 'Let's run back to the bay and cruise up and down a while, then return.'
Chet sighed. 'I'm glad none of you argued with that armed man.'
