'Quick!' Frank whispered, as he flung the ropes aside.
'I-I can't hurry!' Mr. Hardy gasped. 'I've been tied up so long my feet and legs are numb.'
'But we've got to hurry, Dad!' Frank said excitedly. 'See if you can stand up.'
'I'll-I'll do my best,' his father replied, as the boys rubbed his legs vigorously to restore full circulation.
'We must run before those crooks come!' Joe said tensely.
Fenton Hardy got to his feet as hastily as he could. But when he stood up, the detective staggered and
would have fallen if Frank had not taken his arm. He was so weak from hunger that a wave of dizziness
had come over him. He gave his head a quick shake and the feeling passed.
'All right. Let's go,' he said, clinging to both boys for support.
The three hastened out the door of the room and across the corridor to the cave. As they entered it, Mr.
Hardy's knees buckled. In desperation his sons picked him up.
'You go on,' he whispered. 'Leave me here.'
'I'm sure all of us can make it,' Joe said bravely.
They reached the far door, but the delay had been costly. Just as Frank opened it, clicking off his
flashlight, the corridor door was flung open and the ceiling light snapped on.
Frank and Joe had a confused glimpse of the dark man whom they had seen at the pond that afternoon.
Snattman! Two rough-looking companions crowded in behind him.
'What's going on here?' Snattman exclaimed, apparently not recognizing the group for a moment.
'It's the Hardys I' one of the other men cried out.
The fleeing trio started down the steps but got no farther than the landing when the smugglers appeared at
the stairway and rushed down after them.
'Stop!' cried Snattman, jumping down the last three steps and whipping an automatic from his hip
pocket. The place was flooded with light.
As Snattman drew closer, Frank crouched for a spring, then leaped directly at the smuggler. He struck at
the man's wrist and the revolver flew out of his grasp. It skidded across the landing and clattered down
the steps. Frank closed in on the man. Snattman had been taken completely by surprise. Before he could
defend himself, Frank forced him against the wall.
Joe, in the meantime, with a swift uppercut had kayoed one of the other men. And Mr. Hardy, whose
strength had partially returned, was battling the third as best he could.
But at this moment the boys saw their father's adversary dodge to the wall and press a button. In an
instant an alarm bell sounded in the corridor. Within seconds a new group of Snattman's gang appeared.
As some held drawn revolvers, others overpowered the three Hardys.
In the face of the guns, father and sons were forced to surrender and return to the room where Mr.
Hardy had been held captive before.
Within five minutes Fenton Hardy was bound again to the cot, while Frank and Joe, trussed up and
unable to move, were tied to two chairs.
CHAPTER XV
Dire Threats
SNATTMAN, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise at finding the Hardy boys
in the underground room, 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.
'What are we goin' to do with these guys?' asked one of the men.
The voice sounded familiar to the boys and they looked up. They were not surprised to see that the man
was the red-haired one they had met at the
Pollitt place when Frank had discovered his father's cap.
'Do with them?' Snattman mused. 'That's a problem. We've got three on our hands now instead of one.
Best thing is to leave them all here and lock the door.'
'And put gags in their traps,' suggested a burly companion.
Red objected. 'As long as the Hardys are around here, they're dangerous. They almost got away this
time.'
'Well, what do you suggest?'
'We ought to do what I wanted to do with the old man in the first place,' Red declared doggedly.
'You mean get rid of them?' Snattman asked thoughtfully.
'Sure. All of them!'
'Well-' Snattman gazed at Mr. Hardy with a sinister look.
'I should think you have enough on your conscience already, Snattman!' the detective exclaimed. 'I don't
expect you to let me go,' he added bitterly. 'But release my boys. They haven't done anything but try to
rescue their father. You'd do the same thing yourself.'
'Oh yeah?' Snattman sneered. 'Don't bother yourself about my conscience. Nobody-but nobody ever
stands in my way.
'As to letting these boys go, what kind of a fool do you take me for?' Snattman shouted. 'If you three
are such buddies, you ought to enjoy starving together.'
The smuggler laughed uproariously at what he considered a very funny remark.
Frank's and Joe's minds were racing with ideas. One thing stood out clearly. Snattman had said the
Hardys almost escaped. This meant that no one was guarding the secret entrance!
'If we can only hold out a while,' they thought, 'the Coast Guard will arrive. There'll be nobody to stop
them from coming up here.'
Then, suddenly, a shocking possibility occurred to the boys. Suppose the Coast Guard could not find the
camouflaged door opening from the pond!
During the conversation four of the smugglers had been whispering among themselves in the corridor.
One of them now stepped into the room and faced Snattman.
'I'd like a word with you, chief,' he began.
'What is it now?' The smuggler's voice was surly.
'It's about what's to be done with the Hardys, now that we've got 'em,' the man said hesitantly. 'It's your
business what you do to people who make it tough for you when you're on your own. But not in our
gang. We're in this for our take
out of the smugglin', and we won't stand for too much rough stuff.'
'That's right!' one of the other men spoke up.
'Is that so?' Snattman's upper lip curled. 'You guys are gettin' awful righteous all of a sudden, aren't you?
Look out or I'll dump the lot of you!'
'Oh, no, you won't,' replied the first man who had addressed him. 'We're partners in this deal and we're
goin' to have our full share of what comes in. We ain't riskin' our lives for love, you know.'
'We've got another idea about what to do with these three prisoners,' a third smuggler spoke up. 'I think
it's a good one.'
'What is it?' Snattman asked impatiently.
'We've been talkin' about Ali Singh.'
Frank and Joe started and listened intently.
