The House on the Cliff

CHAPTER IX

Plan of Attack

"I'M very thirsty," Frank said quickly to the occupants of the Pollitt house. "May I have a drink?"

The red-haired man and the woman looked at each other. They obviously wished to get rid of their

visitors as soon as possible. But they could not refuse such a reasonable request.

"Come into the kitchen," said the man grudgingly.

Frank followed him through the door. As he passed the cap he took a good look at it. It was his father's,

and there were stains on it which looked like blood I

The redheaded man pointed to a sink on the other side of the room. On it stood a plastic cup. "Help

yourself," he said gruffly.

Frank went across the room and ran some water from the faucet. As he raised the cup to his lips, his

mind was racing. On his way out he glanced again at the peg.

The cap was gone!

Frank gave no sign that he had noticed anything amiss. He walked out into the yard and joined the other

five boys.

"I guess we may as well be going," he said nonchalantly.

"You might as well," snapped the woman. "There's no stranger around here, I tell you."

The boys started off down the lane. When they were out of sight of the house, Frank stopped and turned

to his companions.

"Do you know what I saw in that kitchen?" he asked tensely.

"What?"

"Dad's cap hanging on a peg!"

"Then he has been there!" cried Joe. "They were lying!"

"Yes," Frank continued, "and-and there were bloodstains on the cap!"

"Bloodstains!" Joe exclaimed. "That means he must be in trouble. Frank, we've got to go back!"

"We sure do!" his brother agreed. "But I wanted to tell you all about it first."

"What do you think we should do?" Chet asked.

"I'll ask those people in the house about the cap and force a showdown," Frank declared tersely. "We've

got to find out where Dad is!"

Resolutely the boys started back to the Pollitt house. When they reached the yard they found the two

men and the woman standing by the shed talking earnestly. The woman caught sight of them and spoke

warningly to the red-haired man.

"What do you want now?" he demanded, advancing toward the boys.

"We want to know about that sports cap in the kitchen," said Frank firmly.

"What cap? There's no cap in there."

"There isn't now-but there was. It was hanging on a peg when I went in for a drink."

"I don't know anythin' about no cap," persisted the man.

"Perhaps we'd better ask the police to look around," Joe suggested.

The redhead glanced meaningly at the woman. The other man stepped forward. "I know the cap this boy

means," he said. "It's mine. What about it?"

"It isn't yours and you know it," Frank declared. "That cap belongs to the man we're looking for."

"I tell you it is my cap!" snapped the swarthy man, showing his yellowed teeth in a snarl. "Don't tell me

I'm lyin'."

The red-haired man intervened. "You're mistaken, Klein," he said. "I know the cap they mean now. It's

the one I found on the road a few days ago."

"Guess you're right, Red," Klein conceded hastily.

"You found it?" asked Frank incredulously.

"Sure, I found it. A brown cap with bloodstains on it."

"That's the one. But why did you hide it when I went into the kitchen?"

"Well, to tell the truth, them bloodstains made me nervous. I didn't know but what there might be some

trouble come of it, so I thought I'd better keep that cap out of sight."

"Where did you find it?" Joe asked.

"About a mile from here."

"On the shore road?"

"Yes. It was lyin' right in the middle of the road."

"When was this?"

"A couple of days ago-just after we moved in here."

"Let's see the cap," Chet Morton suggested. "We want to make sure of this."

As Red moved reluctantly toward the kitchen, the woman sniffed. "I don't see why you're makin' all this

fuss about an old cap," she said. "Comin' around here disturbin' honest folks."

"We're sorry if we're bothering you," said Joe, "but this is a very serious matter."

Red came out of the house holding the cap. He tossed it to Frank.

The boy turned back the inside flap and there he found what he was looking for-the initials F. H. printed

in gold on the leather band.

"It's Dad's cap all right."

"I don't like the look of those bloodstains," said Joe in a low voice. "He must have been badly hurt."

"Are you sure you found this on the road?" Frank asked, still suspicious.

"You don't think I'd lie about it, do you?" Red answered belligerently.

"I can't contradict you, but I'm going to turn this over to the police," Frank told him. "If you know

anything more about it, you'd better speak up now."

"He doesn't know anything about it," shrilled the woman angrily. "Go away and don't bother us. Didn't he

tell you he found the cap on the road? I told him to burn up the dirty thing. But he wanted to have it

cleaned and wear it."

The boys turned away, Frank still holding the cap. "Come on, fellows," he said. "Let's get out of here."

As the boys started down the lane they cast a last glance back at the yard. The woman and the two men

were standing just where the" young sleuths had left them. The woman was motionless, her hands on her

hips. Red was standing with his arms folded, and Klein, the swarthy man, was leaning against a tree. All

three were gazing intently and silently after the departing boys.

"I'm sure that those people know more about Dad's cap than they're telling," Frank said grimly, as the

boys mounted their motorcycles and rode back toward Bayport.

"What are you planning to do next?" Phil asked as he pulled his machine alongside Frank's.

"I'm going right to Chief Collig and tell him the whole story."

"Okay, we're with you!"

The boys rode directly to police headquarters and left their motorcycles in the parking lot. Chief Collig

looked up as his six visitors were ushered into his office.

"Well," he said heartily, "this is quite a delegation! What can I do for you?"

As Frank and Joe took turns, with an occasional graphic illustration from one of the other boys, they told

the full story and showed him the bloodstained cap.

Chief Collig looked grave. "I don't like the sound of this at all," he said finally. "We must find your father

at once! This cap is a good clue." Then he went on, "Of course you realize that the area where the Pollitt

house is located is outside the limits of Bayport, so my men can't go there. But I'll get in touch with

Captain Ryder of the State Police at once, so he can assign men to the case."

The boys thanked the chief for his help and left. Chet, Tony, Biff, and Phil went their separate ways while

Frank and Joe turned toward home. They decided not to upset their mother about the bloodstained cap,

but merely tell her that the State Police would take over the search for her husband.

"I still think there's some connection between Dad's disappearance and the smuggling outfit and the house

on the cliff," Frank declared.

"What I've been wondering," said Joe, "is where those two motorboats came from that day Jones was

attacked. We didn't see them out in the ocean earlier-at least not both of them."

"That's right. They could have come right out from under the cliff."

"You mean, Frank, there might be a secret harbor in there?"

"Might be. Here's the way it could work. Dad suspects smugglers are operating in this territory from a

base that he has been unable to find." Frank spread his arms. "The base is the old Pollitt place! What

more do you want?"

"But the house is on top of a cliff."

"There could be a secret passage from the house to a hidden harbor at the foot of the cliff."

"Good night, Frank, it sure sounds reasonable!"

"And perhaps that explains why the kidnapers got away with Jones so quickly on Saturday. If they left

the Kane farmhouse just a little while before we did, we should have been able to get within sight of their

car. But we didn't."

"You mean they turned in at the Pollitt place?"

"Why not? Probably Jones is hidden there right now."

"And maybe Dad too," Joe cried out excitedly.

"That's right. I'm against just sitting and waiting for the state troopers to find him. How about asking Tony

if he will lend us his motorboat, so we can investigate the foot of that cliff?"

"I get you!" Joe agreed enthusiastically. "And if we pick up any information we can turn it over to the

State Police and they can raid the Pollitt place!"