'I'll phone Mrs. Hardy right away,' Jerry offered. 'I'm afraid, though, that the news isn't going to make
her feel too good.'
While Jerry was gone, Chet told the chief warrant officer that the Hardys thought they knew the names of
two of the men who were involved in the smuggling racket. Chet revealed the Hardy suspicions about
Snattman being one and Ali Singh the other.
'We think Ali is a crewman on the Marco Polo that's going to dock early tomorrow morning in Bayport,'
Chet continued. 'Frank and Joe got a tip that makes them think this is the deal: While the ship is offshore,
Ali Singh pitches stolen drugs overboard and one of the smugglers picks the package up in a
speedboat.'
Robinson raised his eyebrows. 'Those Hardy boys certainly take after their father,' he remarked. 'They
have the makings of good detectives.'
Biff told the Coast Guard officer of the boys' adventure at the haunted house on their first visit to the
Pollitt place. 'Frank and Joe are sure there is some connection between the house and the smugglers.'
'And they are probably right,' the chief remarked. 'I'll call the State Police at once and tell them the latest
developments in this case.'
The boys waited while he made the report. Jerry, who had just finished telephoning Mrs. Hardy, said that
she seemed even more worried than before but relieved that the Coast Guard was going to take a hand.
The chief warrant officer then told the boys he would get in touch with the captain of the Marco Polo at
once by ship-to-shore telephone. The connection was made and the boys listened with great interest to
the conversation. The captain had a booming voice which they could hear plainly.
'Yes, I have a sailor named AH Singh,' he replied in answer to Chief Robinson's question. 'He's a
member of the kitchen crew.'
After he had been told that Ali Singh was suspected of stealing drug shipments and dropping them
overboard to a confederate, he said, 'That would be pretty easy for him to do. Singh probably throws
them out when he dumps garbage into the water, even though he's not supposed to do it. The drugs
could be in an inflated waterproof bag.'
'Captain, will you have someone keep an eye on this Ali Singh without his knowing he's being watched?'
Chief Robinson requested. 'I'll send a patrol boat out from here to watch for any of his gang who may be
in a small boat waiting to pick up something he dumps overboard. How far offshore are you?'
'About sixteen miles from your headquarters,' was the answer.
'Will you keep in touch with the patrol boat?' Robinson requested. 'It's the Henley, in charge of Chief
Petty Officer Brown.'
'I'll do that.'
'Ali Singh can be arrested when your ship docks.'
As the conversation was concluded, a uniformed coastguardman came in. He was introduced as Chief
Petty Officer Bertram in charge of the Alice, which would follow Tony and Chet to the smugglers'
hide-out.
'I'm ready, sir,' he told his chief, after a short briefing. He turned to the boys. 'All set?'
Chet and Tony nodded. As they turned to follow Bertram, Biff, Phil, and Jerry looked glum.
Noting the expressions on the three boys, Chief Robinson leaned across his desk and said, 'I guess you
fellows were hoping to be in on this too. How would you like to go on the Henley with Chief Petty
Officer Brown and watch the fun?'
The eyes of the three boys lighted up and Phil said, 'You mean it?'
'Do you want a formal invitation?' Chief Robinson asked with a laugh.
He rang for Chief Petty Officer Brown, and after introducing the boys, he explained what the mission of
the Henley was to be.
'I understand, sir,' Brown replied. 'We'll leave at once.'
The three boys followed him down to the dock and went aboard. They met the other Coast Guard men
and the fast patrol boat set off. It seemed to the boys as if the sixteen miles were covered in an incredibly
short time. The lights of the Marco Polo loomed up in the distance.
'She's moving very slowly, isn't she?' Biff asked their skipper.
'Yes, she's making only about four knots.'
'So it would be easy for a small boat to come alongside and take something from her?' Phil suggested.
'Yes, it would.' Quickly the officer picked up a telescope and trained it on the large craft. 'The galley
hatches are on the left and the tide is coming in,' he reported. 'Anything thrown overboard will float
toward shore.'
He ordered the wheelsman to go past the Marco Polo, come down the other side, and approach within
three hundred yards, then turn off the engine and lights.
When they reached the designated spot, Petty Officer Brown ordered everyone on board the Henley not
to talk or to move around. The Marco Polo's decks, as well as the water some distance from the craft,
was illuminated by light from some of the stateroom portholes. Biff, Phil, and Jerry crowded close to the
chief as he trained his powerful binoculars on the galley hatches, so he could give them a running account
of anything that might happen. The officer reported little activity aboard the Marco Polo and the boys
assumed that the passengers either were asleep or packing their luggage in anticipation of landing the next
morning.
Suddenly Petty Officer Brown saw one of the hatches open. A small man, with a swarthy complexion
and rather longish coal-black hair, appeared in the circular opening. He looked out, then raised a large
pail and dumped its contents into the water. Quickly he closed the hatch.
'Ali Singh!' the three boys thought as Brown reported what he had seen.
They watched excitedly to see what would happen now.
Suddenly Biff grabbed Phil's arm and pointed. Vaguely they could see a long pole with a scooping net
fastened to the end of it appear from outside the circle of light and fish among the debris. Petty Officer
Brown reported that apparently the person holding the pole had found what he wanted, for he scooped
something up and the pole vanished from sight.
The boys strained their ears for the sound of a small boat. It did not come and they were puzzled. They
also wondered why Petty Officer Brown seemed to be doing nothing about trying to apprehend the
person.
The tense skipper suddenly handed the binoculars to Phil. Without a word the puzzled boy looked
through them at the spot where Brown had been gazing. To his amazement he could make out the dim
shape of a speedboat with two figures in it. Each held an oar and was rowing the small boat away from
the Marco Polo as fast as possible.
'We've got the smugglers dead to rights!' Petty Officer Brown whispered to the boys.
'Aren't you going to arrest them?' Phil asked.
'Not yet,' the officer told him. 'I'm afraid we can't do it without some shooting. I don't want to scare the
passengers on the Marco Polo. We'll wait a few minutes.'
Suddenly the engine of the smugglers' speedboat was started. Tersely, Brown began issuing orders to his
men. The motors roared into action.
The chase was on!
CHAPTER XIX
