Franklin W. Dixon

“ The car skidded wildly, and the faulty brakes did not readily respond. Once, the nose of the roadster appeared to be heading directly toward the steep bluff, where only a narrow ledge separated the boys from a terrible plunge onto the rocks of the beach below. Joe gave a gasp of apprehension, but Frank bore down on the wheel and managed to swing the car back onto the road again in the nick of time. ”

“ Aunt Gertrude was frankly indignant and at mealtimes made many veiled references to the luxury-loving tendencies of modern youth.
"It's not enough for them to have motorcycles and a motorboat, but now they must have an automobile!" she sniffed. "And it's not enough for them to buy an ordinary flivver—they must have a car that a millionaire would be proud to own."
Secretly, the boys considered this a compliment. They felt that their aunt would be vastly surprised if she knew the low price they had paid.
"Wait till she sees it when we have it painted," said Frank. ”

“ Then followed a wild scrambling, as the man who had pursued them into the tunnel hustled back to safety.
Frank pressed himself against the rocky wall, in case any of the gang should enter and open fire on them. But the thieves had been frightened by his shot.
"That'll hold them for a while!"
"How long?" Joe reminded him. "They have us trapped, Frank. We can't go back. They'll starve us out."
"We won't give up without a fight."
There was a tremendous uproar out in the cave. The men were talking loudly and their voices were intensified by the tumultuous echoes of the place. ”

“ Dodd. "I've never seen it before and I never want to see it again—"
"I guess you don't," growled one of the detectives.
"How it got here, I can't tell. I certainly had nothing to do with stealing it."
"People don't leave perfectly good cars hidden behind other people's barns," said the other detective. "You'd better tell us a straight story, Dodd. It'll be easier for you."
"I've told you all I know about it."
"Well, then, if you don't know any more about it, perhaps your son does."
"I don't know any more than Dad," declared Jack stoutly. "I've never seen the car before." ”

“ Mrs. Hardy seldom scolded, but the boys had vivid recollections of Aunt Gertrude's acid remarks on similar occasions.
They emerged on an open stretch of road where a sand embankment sloped steeply down to Barmet Bay. The beach lay beneath them at the foot of the sheer declivity and the waters of the bay sparkled in the rays of the late afternoon sun.
A movement on the beach caught Frank's eye and he brought his motorcycle to a sudden stop.
"What's the matter?" asked Joe, swerving wildly to avoid piling headlong into Frank's machine.
"Run out of gas?" inquired Chet, putting on the brakes. ”

“ Frank led the way down the path. In a few minutes they heard a snapping of twigs that indicated that the two men were not far ahead. The path dipped sharply, down a rocky slope, sparsely covered with underbrush. Then the brook came into view.
They could see the pair clearly now. One of the men was carrying a lantern; the other bore the long poles and the bag. Drawn up on the side of the brook, below the rocks and just above its mouth, the boys distinguished a small boat. ”

“ The new roadster became famous in Bayport as the car that had lured the auto thieves to their downfall. Motorists in general were able to breathe easier when they learned that the gang had been rounded up. A little to their embarrassment and much to their delight, at a banquet of the Automobile Club, Frank and Joe were the guests of honor. ”

“ The roadster remained where it was, parked by the road, in solitary magnificence.
A few minutes later an automobile passed by. It belonged to a Bayport merchant, out for an evening drive. He saw the splendid car by the roadside and said to his wife:
"Somebody is taking an awful chance. I wouldn't leave a fine-looking automobile like that out here without some one to watch it. I guess the owner is down on the beach. If one of those auto thieves happens along there'll be another good car listed among the missing." ”

“ The Hardy boys and Chet Morton dropped in to see Jack Dodd and found him sitting disconsolately on top of the barnyard fence.
"It's bad enough to have detectives and troopers coming around and asking us to account for every minute of our time since we were let out on bail," said Jack; "but when nosey people come prying and prowling around, it's a little too much."
"You're not the only ones," consoled Frank. "Every farmer around Bayport has been chasing sleuths off the grounds all day." ”

“ Frank asked his brother.
"A peach."
"Boys, I hate to see you buy this car," the manager protested. "Take the money and put it into a good, standard car that you can depend on. You'll have more trouble running this automobile than the looks are worth. If you weren't friends of mine I wouldn't waste my time telling you this, for I'm anxious to get this mass of junk off my hands. But your father would never forgive me if he thought I'd stung you boys with a cement mixer like this one."
"It's the looks that count with us," said Frank. ”

“ In the road, the driver of the hay wagon was trying to calm his startled horses, who were rearing and plunging in fright.
"Any bones broken?" asked Frank of his two companions.
Chet carefully counted his ribs.
"Guess not," he announced, cheerfully. "I think I'm all here, safe and sound. Wow! What a spill that was!"
Joe got to his feet.
"Good thing this is a soft ditch," he said. "It's lucky somebody didn't get a broken neck." ”

“ He was one of the first students in the classroom and he watched his opportunity, putting the parcel in Frank Hardy's desk. Then, before the Hardy boys arrived, he put in the time acquainting his chums with the events of the previous night, so that by the time Frank and Joe came in sight there was scarcely a student in the school who did not know of their blunder.
"It sure is one on the Hardy boys," remarked Tony Prito.
"I'll say it is," returned Biff Hooper. "They don't usually trip up like that."
"Trip up? They never do—that is, hardly ever," put in another pupil. ”

“ One evening toward the latter part of the week, the Hardy boys mounted their motorcycles and rode down High Street in the direction of the Shore Road. This was in accordance with a plan made earlier in the day.
"It stands to reason that if any of the cars ever got out into the state, at least one or two of them would be found," said Frank. "I have a mighty strong hunch that the whole mystery begins and ends right along that road."
"Perhaps those tramps we saw in the woods might have something to do with it." ”

“ CHAPTER XVIII The Auto Thieves
The cave-in had imprisoned the Hardy boys.
The flashlight revealed not a single opening. The tunnel was blocked up, and for all the boys knew the barrier continued right to the outer cave.
"Now we're in for it," remarked Joe dubiously.
The boys realized that there was nothing to be gained by shouting for help. Even if their cries were heard, which would be unlikely with that solid mass of rock before them, it would only bring the auto thieves upon them.
"We'll have to work fast," said Frank. ”

“ He pushed aside the wet bushes. In the damp grass, the track was still plainly visible. The gully was dank with undergrowth, but there were evidences of a wide trail.
"We're getting there, anyway. From the direction, this ought to take us up to the Shore Road."
"What shall we do then?" asked Joe. "Walk to Bayport?"
"We shouldn't have to. There are farms along the road. We ought to be able to telephone to town."
"To the police?"
"Sure! Police and state troopers. We can't round up this gang by ourselves, and we haven't any too much time to get help, as it is." ”

“ Their chums, too, were unable to imagine what had possessed the Hardy boys to purchase a so large and expensive-looking car. Frank and Joe did not enlighten them. They had bought the car for a certain purpose and they were afraid that if they confided in any one, their plans might leak out. So they busied themselves with painting the new car, and said nothing of their intentions to any one, not even to Chet Morton. ”

“ You would be wasting your money."
"We want a good-looking car, cheap," insisted Frank. "I don't care so much about the engine. It's the looks that count this time."
The manager shook his head.
"Well," he said, "I suppose you lads like to have a car that'll knock everybody's eye out, and I'm not denying this is a dandy-looking boat. But I won't guarantee its performance."
"We don't care, if the price is right. Where is it?"
The manager led the boys to the back of the showrooms, where they found a luxurious-looking auto. It looked, so Joe afterward said, "like a million dollars." ”

“ The whole countryside is stirred up, and the farther we go the more chances we're taking."
"That's true. Just the same, we're about as safe here as any one can be. Nobody knows about these caves."
"Lucky break for us that they don't. If I didn't know about them I could walk up and down that beach for a month of Sundays and never spot an opening."
"That's a nice-lookin' roadster you landed to-night."
"It's been parked out on the Shore Road for two nights past. It seemed a shame to neglect a nice boat that way, so I took it in."
"What would anybody park a car out there for on a night like this? ”

“ Luck and Frank's quick work at the unreliable wheel saved them from disaster.
The car gained the level ground, settled into the ruts, and went speeding on at a more reasonable rate. The lads now breathed more easily.
"Looked like our finish, that time," observed Joe.
"I'll say it did! I wouldn't have given a nickel for our chances when we were about half way down the hill."
"Well, a miss is as good as a mile. We're still alive."
"And the old boat is still rolling along. When we get back I'm going to have that steering wheel fixed. It very nearly cost us our lives." ”

“ The chums glanced questioningly at Jack Dodd.
"These men are detectives," he said, in a low voice. "They came out from the city with the trooper a little while ago."
"Did they really find a stolen car here?" asked Chet.
Jack nodded.
"They found one all right, but how on earth it got here, I don't know. It's a Packard and somebody must have driven it in and left it among the bushes behind the barn. We never noticed it."
"Well," the state trooper was saying, "I'm going to drive the car back to Bayport and return it to the owner. You don't claim it's yours, do you?" ”

“ He lived on a farm about a mile outside Bayport and, like the Hardy boys, was the proud owner of a motorcycle. Frank and Joe also owned a motorboat, the Sleuth, which they had bought from the proceeds of a reward they had earned by their work in solving a mystery. Tony Prito, an Italian-American lad, and Biff Hooper, two other high school chums of the Hardy boys, also owned motorboats, in which the boys spent many happy hours on Barmet Bay and in which they had, incidentally, experienced a number of thrilling adventures. ”

“ But Frank was gazing down the steep, sandy slope.
"There's something queer about this," he said slowly. "There are two men down there, lying on the sand."
Joe and Chet, immediately interested, came running over. The three boys looked down at the two figures on the beach far below.
"They're not asleep," said Joe. "One of them seems to be rolling around."
"They're tied!" shouted Frank. "Look! You can see the ropes! I was wondering what was so queer about them. Those men are tied hand and foot!"
Joe was examining the embankment at their feet. ”

“ It's bad for 'em. By the way," continued Chet airily, "I'm going out fishing to-night. I wonder if you'd like to come and sit on the shore and watch me."
Frank took careful aim with an algebra and hurled it at the jester, but Chet dodged and took to flight, chuckling heartily.
"Fish!" shrieked Jerry Gilroy, from a point of vantage on the steps.
"Fresh fish!" roared Phil Cohen.
"Whales for sale—ten cents a pound," chimed in Biff Hooper.
"How on earth did they hear about it?" gasped Joe. "We're in for it now."
"Just have to grin and bear it. Let's get into the classroom." ”

“ Frank pointed out. "It was also the state troopers and detectives."
"But Jack is innocent," came from several of the lads in unison.
"Of course he is—and so is his father," answered Joe.
"Gee, if only they round up the real thieves!" sighed one of the other boys. "Why, my dad won't let me park our car anywhere near the Shore Road any more!"
"My dad is getting so he won't hardly park anywhere," added another lad, and at this there was a general laugh.
"Those thieves are getting on everybody's nerves—they ought to be rounded up." ”