The House on the Cliff

CHAPTER XII

The Secret Passage

CAUTIOUSLY Frank and Joe made their way across the slippery rocks. Suddenly there was a loud

splash as Joe lost his footing.

"Are you all right?" Frank whispered, as he came up to where his brother was standing in the shallow

water at the edge of the cliff.

"Yes. For a moment I sure thought I'd sprained my ankle," Joe replied tensely, "but it seems to be okay

now."

"Give me your hand," Frank whispered and quickly pulled Joe back onto the rocks.

The Hardys had landed at a point some twenty-five yards from the tunnel opening, but the climb over the

treacherous rocks was so difficult that the distance seemed much longer. It was very dark in the shadow

of the steep cliff. The waves breaking against the rocks had a lonely and foreboding sound.

"Good night!" Joe muttered. "Aren't we ever coming to that tunnel?"

"Take it easy," Frank advised. "It can't be much farther."

"I hope Tony and Chet will hurry back with help," Joe said. "This is a ticklish job."

"If anybody's on guard here, we'll certainly be at a disadvantage," Frank remarked in a barely audible

tone. "Watch out!"

By this time they had reached the entrance to the tunnel. After a few cautious steps they discovered that

the narrow piece of land between the water and the base of the cliff was covered by a thick growth of

bushes.

Frank turned to Joe. "If we try to walk through all that stuff," he whispered, "we're sure to be heard. That

is, if those men are in here some place."

Joe grunted in agreement. "What shall we do?" Tentatively, Frank put one foot into the water from the

rock on which he was standing.

"It isn't deep," he said. "I guess we can wade through."

The boys hugged the wall and started off. Fortunately, the water came only to their knees because there

was a shelf of rocks all the way along. The brothers' hearts beat wildly. What would they find ahead of

them? The boys had not heard a sound since entering the tunnel. It appeared that the men in the

row-boat had gone on to some secret hiding place.

"I think I'll risk my flashlight," Frank said in a low voice as they reached the pond. "We can't find out

anything without it."

He pulled one he always carried from its waterproof case and snapped it on. The yellow beam shone

over the pond. There was no sign of the rowboat.

"How do you think those men got out of here?" Joe asked. "Do you suppose there's another opening?"

Frank turned the flashlight onto the steep sides surrounding the water. "I don't see any. My guess is that

those men hid the boat some place. Let's make a thorough search."

Slowly the brothers began to walk around the edge of the pond, brushing aside the heavy growth and

peering among the bushes. They had about given up in despair as they reached the section by the far wall

of the tunnel. Then, as Frank beamed the flashlight over the thicket, he exclaimed hoarsely, "Look!"

"A door!" Joe whispered tensely.

The door had been so cleverly concealed that it would not have been seen in full daylight except at close

quarters. The glare of the flashlight, however, brought the artificial screen of branches and leaves into

sharp relief against the dark cliffside.

"This explains it," Joe said. "The men in the boat went through here. I wonder where it goes."

In order to avoid detection, Frank extinguished his light before trying to open the door. He swung it open

inch by inch, half expecting to find lights and people beyond. But there was only darkness. Luckily the

door had made no noise. Frank turned on his light again.

Ahead was a watery passageway some ten feet wide and twenty-five feet long, with a ledge running

along one side. At the end was a tiny wharf with a rowboat tied to a post.

"This is fantastic!" Joe whispered. "And it must have been here a long time. Do you suppose it's

connected with the Pollitt place?"

"If it is, it could mean old Mr. Pollitt was mixed up with the smugglers!" Frank answered. "Hey, do you

suppose Snattman is his nephew?"

Excited over this possible new angle to the case, Frank and Joe stepped onto the ledge. They dressed,

then quietly inched forward. Reaching the wharf, they looked about them as Frank beamed his flashlight

on the walls.

"Hold it!" Joe whispered.

Directly ahead was a crude arch in the rock. Beyond it, the boys could see a steep flight of stone steps.

Their hearts pounded with excitement.

"We've found it!" Frank whispered. "This must be the secret passageway!"

"Yes," Joe agreed, "and from the distance we've come I'd figure that we're right underneath the house on

the cliff." "Let's go up."

The light cast strange shadows in the passage through the rocks. Water dripped from the walls. The boys

tiptoed forward and stealthily began the ascent.

As they crept up the stairs, Frank flashed the light ahead of them. Shortly they could see that the steps

ended at a heavy door. Its framework was set into the wall of rock. Above them was only a rocky

ceiling.

When Frank and Joe reached the door, they hesitated. Both were thinking, "If we go through that door

and find the gang of smugglers, we'll never get out. But, on the other hand, we must find Dad!"

Frank stepped forward, pressed his ear against the door, and listened intently. There was not a sound

beyond.

He turned off his light and looked carefully around the sides of the door to see if he could catch a glimmer

of any illumination from the other side. There was only darkness.

"I guess there's no one inside," he said to Joe. "Let's see if we can open it."

Frank felt for the latch. The door did not move. "It must be locked," he whispered.

"Try it again. Maybe it's just stuck."

Frank put his hand on the latch, this time also pushing the door with his shoulder. Suddenly, with a noise

which echoed from wall to wall, the latch snapped and the door swung open.

Joe stepped forward, but Frank put out a restraining hand. "Wait!" he cautioned. "That noise may bring

someone."

Tensely, they stood alert for the slightest sound. But none came. Hopeful that there was no one in the

area beyond, Frank switched on the flashlight.

The vivid beam cut the darkness and revealed a gloomy cave hewn out of the rock in the very center of

the cliff. The boys wondered if it had been a natural cave. It was filled with boxes, bales, and packages

distributed about the floor and piled against the walls.

"Smuggled goods!" Frank and Joe thought.

The fact that the majority of the boxes bore labels of foreign countries seemed to verify their suspicions.

Convinced that the cave was unoccupied, the boys stepped through the doorway and looked about for

another door or opening. They saw none. Was this the end of the trail?

"But it couldn't be," the young sleuths thought. "Those men went some place."

Bolts of beautiful silk had been tossed on top

of some of the bales. Valuable tapestries were also lying carelessly around. In one corner four boxes

were piled on top of one another. Frank accidentally knocked the flashlight against one of these and it

gave forth a hollow sound.

"It's empty," he whispered.

An idea struck him that perhaps these boxes had been piled up to conceal some passage leading out of

the secret storeroom. He mentioned his suspicion to Joe.

"But how could the men pile the boxes up there after they went out?" his brother questioned.

"This gang is smart enough for anything. Let's move these boxes away and maybe we'll find out."

Frank seized the topmost box. It was very light and he removed it from the pile without difficulty.

"I thought so!" Frank said with satisfaction. The flashlight had revealed the top of a door which had been

hidden from view.

The boys lost no time in moving the other three boxes. Then Frank and Joe discovered how it was

possible for the boxes to be piled up in such a position, in spite of the fact that the smugglers had left the

cave and closed the door behind them.

Attached to the bottom of the door was a thin wooden platform that projected out over the floor of the

cave and on this the boxes had been piled.

"Very clever," Joe remarked. "Whenever any one leaves the cave and closes the door, the boxes swing

in with the platform and it looks as though they were piled up on the floor."

"Right. Well, let's see where the door leads," Frank proposed.

He snapped off his light and with utmost caution opened the door. It made no sound. Again there was

darkness ahead.

"What a maze!" Frank whispered as he turned on his flash and beamed the light ahead.

Another stone-lined passage with a flight of steps at the end!

Suddenly Frank stiffened and laid a warning hand on his brother's arm. "Voices!" he said in a low tone

and snapped off his light.

The boys listened intently. They could hear a man's voice in the distance. Neither could distinguish what

he was saying, for he was still too far away, but gradually the tones grew louder. Then, to the brothers'

alarm, they heard footsteps. Hastily they retreated into the secret cave.

"Quick! The door!" Frank urged.

They closed it quietly.

"Now the boxes. If those men come in here they'll notice that the boxes have been moved!" He turned on

the light but shielded it with his hand.

Swiftly Joe piled the empty boxes back onto the platform that projected from the bottom of the door. He

worked as silently and quickly as possible, but could hear the footsteps drawing closer and closer.

Finally the topmost box was in place.

"Out the other door!" Frank hissed into Joe's ear.

They sped across the floor of the cave toward the door opening onto the stairs they had recently

ascended. But hardly had they reached it before they heard a rattle at the latch of the door on the

opposite side of the cave.

"We haven't time," Frank whispered. "Hide!"

The beam of the flashlight revealed a number of boxes close to the door. On top of these someone had

thrown a heavy bolt of silk, the folds of which hung down to the floor. The brothers scrambled swiftly

behind the boxes, pressing themselves close against the wall. They had just enough time to hide and

switch out Frank's light before they heard the other door open.

"There's a bunch of drugs in that shipment that came in three weeks ago," they heard a husky voice say.

"We'll take it upstairs. Burke says he can get rid of it for us right away. No use leaving it down here. Got

to make room for the new shipment."

"Right," the Hardys heard someone else reply. "Anything else to go up?"

"No. I'll switch on the light."

There was a click, and suddenly the cave was flooded with light. It had been wired for electricity.

Frank and Joe crouched in their hiding place, holding their breaths in terror. Would they be discovered?

Footsteps slowly approached the boxes behind which they were concealed!