THE CAVE
In a moment the lid of the locker would have been raised.
Then came an interruption.
"The boss wants us," said one of the men.
The man approaching the back of the car halted.
"All right," he growled. "We'll leave this."
He turned away. The Hardy boys sighed with relief.
"I guess he's waitin' for a report," observed a voice, as the men began
to move off. Their footsteps sounded sharp and clear on the rocks.
The sounds died away.
Complete silence prevailed. Not even a murmur broke the stillness. The
lads remained quiet in the darkness of their hiding place.
Finally Frank stirred.
"They've gone," he whispered.
"What shall we do now?" asked Joe.
"Let's get out of here first. They may come back at any minute."
Frank raised the lid cautiously. The blackness without was as utter and
complete as the darkness within. He could see nothing.
He listened for a moment, thinking possibly some of the gang had
remained behind, but he heard nothing. Quickly, he got out of the
locker and leaped to the ground. Joe followed. They closed the lid.
"Boy! I thought it was all up with us," whispered Joe. "When he came
over to open the locker my heart was thumping so loudly I was sure he
could hear it."
"Me, too. Well, we can thank their boss--whoever he is. I wonder what
kind of place we're in, anyway."
Frank switched on his flashlight.
By its brilliant gleam, he saw that they were in a rocky passageway,
a large tunnel evidently in the bluffs along Barmet Bay. It was wide
enough to accommodate the roadster, but did not offer a great deal of
leeway on either side. It appeared to be a natural tunnel, although
there was evidence that human toil had been responsible for widening it
and clearing it out.
Frank stepped forward and cast the ray of light before him.
It revealed a blank wall of rock. Then, as he moved the flashlight to
one side he saw that the tunnel slanted toward the left.
"What'll we do?" asked Joe. "Follow it up along?"
He spoke in a whisper, but the walls magnified his voice and he
awakened uncanny echoes.
"Sure. We'll have to be careful, though, or we might meet them on the
way back."
Frank took the lead. He stepped forward very carefully, making no move
that might dislodge a loose fragment of rock and start a tumult of
echoes that would bring the gang upon them.
Cautiously, they advanced. Joe took his revolver from his pocket and
gripped it tightly.
They realized that they were dealing with a band of desperate men, who
would stop at nothing if they were discovered.
The Hardy boys rounded the corner of the passageway, and Frank's
flashlight revealed a number of large boxes, stacked up against the
side of the tunnel. They halted and Frank scrutinized some lettering on
the boxes.
"The Eastern Importing Company," he read.
"Why, that's the name of the company that lost the truck!" Joe
exclaimed. "Remember? The two men who were held up and rolled down the
bluff."
"It's the same name, all right. I'll bet this is some of the truck
cargo."
The boxes were seven in number, and on each was inscribed the name of
the Eastern Importing Company.
There was no doubt in the minds of the Hardy boys now that they had
made a momentous discovery. This was plainly the hiding place of the
auto thieves, and although none of the stolen cars were in evidence,
the big packing boxes spoke for themselves.
"We'll see what's farther on," Frank decided.
He went ahead. Joe tiptoed close behind. The flashlight illuminated the
rocky floor of the tunnel.
It began to widen out. Stacked against the wall they came upon more
packing boxes, some of which had been torn open.
"More loot," Joe commented, in a whisper.
Every few steps, Frank halted and switched out the light. Then they
stood in the darkness, listening. They had no desire to stumble on the
auto thieves or reveal their own presence.
However, the boys heard not a sound. There was not a glimmer of light
in the impenetrable gloom that lay before them.
A few yards farther, the tunnel widened out into a veritable cave.
Here, as Frank turned the flashlight to and fro, and the boys were
confronted by a sight that made them gasp for the moment.
In the great rocky chamber, they saw three large pleasure cars and a
small truck, parked close by the clammy walls.
"The stolen autos!" breathed Joe.
There stood four of the missing cars, undamaged, in this secret cavern
in the bluffs. They had been driven in along the tunnel from the beach.
It was an ideal hiding place and as the entrance to the tunnel was
doubtless well masked, the cars were as safe from discovery as though
they had been driven into the ocean. At least, so the thieves probably
thought.
"We've found them!" Frank exclaimed.
All the missing cars were not hidden here, but the boys judged that the
rest were probably stored farther on. For the flashlight revealed a
dark opening in the rock at the other end of the cavern, an opening to
a tunnel that no doubt led to other caves farther on.
The Hardy boys knew that the Shore Road bluffs, in certain places,
contained caves and passages, some of which had never been entered.
Although like most Bayport boys, they had done a certain amount of
exploring along the beach, they had never heard of the existence of
this underground labyrinth. It seemed strange to them that so elaborate
a series of caves had never been explored and their existence was
comparatively unknown.
"Wait until Bayport hears of this!" Joe said. "Let's get out of here
and hurry back to town."
"I suppose we should," Frank admitted. "I'd like to know where those
men went."
"If we go any farther they may catch us, and then we'd be out of luck."
"But if we start back to town we'll have to walk, and they might all
clear out in the meantime. It would be a few hours before we could get
back here with the police."
"We'd have the satisfaction of recovering the cars, anyway," Joe
pointed out. "I believe in playing safe."
"I'd like the satisfaction of rounding up this gang as well."
Frank advanced toward the opening at the far side of the cave.
"I think I'll just poke along in here a little way and see where it
leads," he said.
Joe was dubious. He was of a more cautious nature than his brother,
and was satisfied to let well enough alone. They had found the missing
cars. This alone was sufficient, he reasoned. Having come this far
without mishap he did not like to risk spoiling their success. However,
he followed Frank into the tunnel.
It was narrower than the one which had led them to the cave, and its
sides were rocky and uneven, while the roof was low. It was quite
evident that none of the cars could have been driven through this
narrow space, and as the boys went on they found that the roof was
lower and the walls even closer together.
Finally, the flashlight showed them that it was almost impossible to
continue, as projecting rocks jutted out and there was just enough
space to admit passage of one person. Beyond that, the tunnel seemed to
close altogether.
"Guess this is a blind alley," said Frank. "We may as well turn back."
He handed the flashlight to Joe, who led the way on the return trip
through the tunnel.
Suddenly there was an uproar immediately ahead, a clamorous, deafening
crash. The boys jumped with astonishment. In the darkness of the
subterranean cavern their nerves had been keyed up to a high pitch, and
this tremendous clatter was so unexpected in the dead silence that had
surrounded them that they were almost paralyzed with momentary fright.
There followed a rattling and bumping of rocks, and then silence once
more.
"What was that?" exclaimed Joe, recovering from his scare.
"Sounded to me like a fall of rock." Frank's voice was shaky, for he
had a suspicion of what had actually happened.
"It seemed mighty close."
"That's what I'm afraid of. It may have blocked up this tunnel."
Hastily, the boys went forward. In a few moments the flashlight
revealed a sight at which their hearts sank.
The passage before them was completely closed up!
Great boulders, ledges of rock, and a heavy downpouring of earth formed
an apparently impenetrable barrier ahead. A loose stone, no doubt
dislodged when they went by a short time before, had given way and had
brought down this miniature avalanche from the roof and sides of the
tunnel.
"We're trapped!" Frank exclaimed.