Stumbling in the gloom, Joe and Jerry were dragged far back into the cave. The place smelled
musty and damp.
Stark threw them to the ground and walked away.
The boys waited in silence until their eyes became more accustomed to the darkness. Then Joe
felt a chill up and down his spine as he discerned the shape of someone lying beside him! Could it be Chet or Biff?
Wriggling over, Joe nudged the unknown prisoner. He moaned, as though dazed, and turned his
face upward.
'Jumping catfish!' Joe whispered hoarsely. 'It's Mr. French!'
CHAPTER XX
Ambushing the Enemy
'MR. FRENCH, what happened?' Joe asked in amazement.
Painfully the costume dealer drew himself to a sitting position. 'It was terrible,' he answered shakily.
'Where am I? I was blindfolded by the men who brought me here.'
'You're in a cave on Hermit Island,' Joe told him. 'How are you mixed up in this, Mr. French? I wondered once if you belonged to the gang.'
'No!' the man protested. 'You must believe me, boy. The mental anguish I've gone through since I sold those men the masks for the robbery I I neglected my business entirely-didn't even check my stock.
'Fritz Stark and Nick Glaser were in the shop when you stopped in for your costumes that
afternoon.
They had come to pick up the masks they'd ordered. I asked if they were going to a party.
Glaser laughed and said, 'Yes-a big surprise party!' When I went in the back to get the masks, I heard them laugh again and mention the bank.'
'So you put two and two together,' Jerry said.
'That's right. I guessed they were crooks.'
'You should have tipped us off,' Joe said. 'Why didn't you go to the police?'
Mr. French said brokenly, 'I had made the mistake of telling them my suspicions and who you were.
They said they'd kill me and harm my family if I talked. I sent my family away for safety.'
'Why did you come to our house that night?' Joe asked sympathetically.
'The other morning they began to use my store as one of their meeting places and told me to give my assistant a short vacation. I heard them bragging they were going to kidnap you and
your brother. Later something snapped inside me. Robbery is bad enough, but I couldn't let
them get away with kidnaping no matter what they did to me. So I went to tell your father
everything.'
'But Frank and I answered the door,' Joe prompted.
'Yes,' French agreed. 'When I saw you were safe, it confused me. Besides, I had a strange feeling I was being followed. I didn't know what to do, so I came away without telling my story.'
'What happened then?' Joe asked.
'Well, when Fritz Stark and Nick Glaser came to the shop early yesterday afternoon, I got my nerve back and told them I'd spill everything if they didn't let me alone.'
'What did they do?' Jerry asked.
'Stark said they'd let me alone if I'd do two things for them. First he made me put the gorilla and the magician suits in the window. They were a signal to the rest of the thieves to knock
three times at the back door. The gang was going to have a meeting about something.'
Joe laughed grimly. 'Yes, to plan to kidnap Frank and me. I guess that's why they used our costumes in the window.'
'There was only one costume-a skeleton suit -on display this morning,' Jerry remembered.
'Fritz Stark put it there last night. He took my key. I overheard him say a single costume meant
'Danger.
Stay away,'' French explained.
'Stark put up the warning signal too late. He didn't know then that half the gang was in jail.'
'That's right,' the man said. 'It was after he left the skeleton warning that he found out Ben and the others were captured.'
'I'll bet the second thing they wanted you to do, Mr. French, was to sell three radios to the hi-fi shop,'
Joe guessed.
'Yes,' said the man, surprised, 'and immediately. Glaser walked down to the shop with me and waited on the sidewalk. As I came out, Stark drove up in their car, forced me to get in, and
blindfolded me. The last thing I remember before I came to in this cave was trying to break
loose and jump out.'
'They must have slugged you,' Joe said. 'But what good will it do you to know all this?' Mr.
French said despairingly. 'We'll never get out of here alive. These men mean business!'
'So do we,' Joe promised grimly. In rapid whispers he told the despondent man how he and Frank, by offering themselves as bait, had trapped Ben Stark and his two henchmen. 'But we haven't been able to find Chet and Biff. Do you know where they are?'
The costume dealer shook his head helplessly. 'No. You can see for yourself they're not in here.
I wanted to look for the stolen money, but naturally I didn't dare. This is the end for us, I'm afraid.'
Joe tried to reassure him. 'My brother is free. When Jerry and I fail to show up, he'll bring help.'
'I only hope he's in time,' said Mr. French. 'I heard these men planning to leave here in a little while.
They said they'd dispose of me before they push off.'
Jerry looked grimly at Joe. 'That goes for us too, I guess!'
As dusk fell, the prisoners waited anxiously. While Joe tried to keep Mr. French's spirits up, Jerry watched Stark and Pops passing and repassing before the entrance.
'Joe,' he said after a while, 'I haven't seen those two guys outside for the last ten minutes. Do you think something's up?'
The three prisoners stiffened, all senses alert.
'Sh!' Joe hissed suddenly. 'Listen!' In the distance they heard a motorboat.
'That's a big one,' Jerry whispered excitedly. 'Sounds like a cutter.'
'It's coming here!' Joe said as the sound grew louder. Suddenly it ceased and they heard shouts in the distance, then closer.
'It's Frank!' Joe exclaimed. 'Sing out, everybody!'
'Halloo! Frank! Help! In here!'
Their voices rang and echoed hollowly against the rock walls. Before long, the beam of a
flashlight pierced the cave opening.
'Joe! Jerry!' came an anxious, familiar voice. 'You okay?'
'Back here, Frank!' Joe called eagerly to his brother.
Seconds later, Frank and two young Coast Guardmen were cutting the ropes that bound the
prisoners.
'Mr. French!' cried Frank in recognition. 'So the gang had you, too! Are Chet and Biff here?'
'No!' his brother replied worriedly. 'And neither are the bank robbers.'
Already the cave was filled with men. Flashlight beams flickered up and down the damp walls.
Seamen and policemen stood by with guns ready. Chief Collig and Lieutenant Parker hurried
into the cave.
'You boys all right?' he demanded.
'We're okay,' Joe answered, 'but we must go after the robbers. Two of them-Fritz Stark and Pops-were here twenty minutes ago. And Nick Glaser, who drove the getaway car, was here
too.'
'They probably spotted the cutter and headed for their boat or the Napoli,' said Joe.
