Frank stepped forward, pressed his ear against the door, and listened intently. There was not a sound
beyond.
He turned off his light and looked carefully around the sides of the door to see if he could catch a glimmer
of any illumination from the other side. There was only darkness.
'I guess there's no one inside,' he said to Joe. 'Let's see if we can open it.'
Frank felt for the latch. The door did not move. 'It must be locked,' he whispered.
'Try it again. Maybe it's just stuck.'
Frank put his hand on the latch, this time also pushing the door with his shoulder. Suddenly, with a noise
which echoed from wall to wall, the latch snapped and the door swung open.
Joe stepped forward, but Frank put out a restraining hand. 'Wait!' he cautioned. 'That noise may bring
someone.'
Tensely, they stood alert for the slightest sound. But none came. Hopeful that there was no one in the
area beyond, Frank switched on the flashlight.
The vivid beam cut the darkness and revealed a gloomy cave hewn out of the rock in the very center of
the cliff. The boys wondered if it had been a natural cave. It was filled with boxes, bales, and packages
distributed about the floor and piled against the walls.
'Smuggled goods!' Frank and Joe thought.
The fact that the majority of the boxes bore labels of foreign countries seemed to verify their suspicions.
Convinced that the cave was unoccupied, the boys stepped through the doorway and looked about for
another door or opening. They saw none. Was this the end of the trail?
'But it couldn't be,' the young sleuths thought. 'Those men went some place.'
Bolts of beautiful silk had been tossed on top
of some of the bales. Valuable tapestries were also lying carelessly around. In one corner four boxes
were piled on top of one another. Frank accidentally knocked the flashlight against one of these and it
gave forth a hollow sound.
'It's empty,' he whispered.
An idea struck him that perhaps these boxes had been piled up to conceal some passage leading out of
the secret storeroom. He mentioned his suspicion to Joe.
'But how could the men pile the boxes up there after they went out?' his brother questioned.
'This gang is smart enough for anything. Let's move these boxes away and maybe we'll find out.'
Frank seized the topmost box. It was very light and he removed it from the pile without difficulty.
'I thought so!' Frank said with satisfaction. The flashlight had revealed the top of a door which had been
hidden from view.
The boys lost no time in moving the other three boxes. Then Frank and Joe discovered how it was
possible for the boxes to be piled up in such a position, in spite of the fact that the smugglers had left the
cave and closed the door behind them.
Attached to the bottom of the door was a thin wooden platform that projected out over the floor of the
cave and on this the boxes had been piled.
'Very clever,' Joe remarked. 'Whenever any one leaves the cave and closes the door, the boxes swing
in with the platform and it looks as though they were piled up on the floor.'
'Right. Well, let's see where the door leads,' Frank proposed.
He snapped off his light and with utmost caution opened the door. It made no sound. Again there was
darkness ahead.
'What a maze!' Frank whispered as he turned on his flash and beamed the light ahead.
Another stone-lined passage with a flight of steps at the end!
Suddenly Frank stiffened and laid a warning hand on his brother's arm. 'Voices!' he said in a low tone
and snapped off his light.
The boys listened intently. They could hear a man's voice in the distance. Neither could distinguish what
he was saying, for he was still too far away, but gradually the tones grew louder. Then, to the brothers'
alarm, they heard footsteps. Hastily they retreated into the secret cave.
'Quick! The door!' Frank urged.
They closed it quietly.
'Now the boxes. If those men come in here they'll notice that the boxes have been moved!' He turned on
the light but shielded it with his hand.
Swiftly Joe piled the empty boxes back onto the platform that projected from the bottom of the door. He
worked as silently and quickly as possible, but could hear the footsteps drawing closer and closer.
Finally the topmost box was in place.
'Out the other door!' Frank hissed into Joe's ear.
They sped across the floor of the cave toward the door opening onto the stairs they had recently
ascended. But hardly had they reached it before they heard a rattle at the latch of the door on the
opposite side of the cave.
'We haven't time,' Frank whispered. 'Hide!'
The beam of the flashlight revealed a number of boxes close to the door. On top of these someone had
thrown a heavy bolt of silk, the folds of which hung down to the floor. The brothers scrambled swiftly
behind the boxes, pressing themselves close against the wall. They had just enough time to hide and
switch out Frank's light before they heard the other door open.
'There's a bunch of drugs in that shipment that came in three weeks ago,' they heard a husky voice say.
'We'll take it upstairs. Burke says he can get rid of it for us right away. No use leaving it down here. Got
to make room for the new shipment.'
'Right,' the Hardys heard someone else reply. 'Anything else to go up?'
'No. I'll switch on the light.'
There was a click, and suddenly the cave was flooded with light. It had been wired for electricity.
Frank and Joe crouched in their hiding place, holding their breaths in terror. Would they be discovered?
Footsteps slowly approached the boxes behind which they were concealed!
CHAPTER XIII
A Startling Discovery
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.
'Here's some o' that Japanese silk,' the boys heard one of the men say. 'I'd better take a bolt of that up
too. Burke said he could place some more of it.'
Instantly the same thought ran through both the brothers' minds. If the man picked up the silk, they would
surely be found!
'Don't be crazy!' the other man objected. 'You know you won't get any credit for pushin' a sale. Why
break your arm luggin' all that stuff upstairs?'
'Well,' the first man explained in a whining tone, 'I thought maybe we could get rid of some more of this
swag and make ourselves a little extra dough.'
'Naw,' his companion snarled. 'I can tell you ain't been with this gang long. You never get any thanks
around here for thinkin'. If Burke don't take the extra stuff, the boss'll make you bring it all the way
