In a daze, Frank turned on the water, filled the dipper and drank. At last he turned away, conscious that Redhead had been eyeing him carefully all the time.
"Thanks," he said, and again cast a glance at the peg.
The cap was gone!
Redhead had undoubtedly snatched it away and hidden it. Frank gave no sign that he noticed anything amiss, and walked out of the kitchen into the yard, where he rejoined the others.
"I guess we may as well be going," he said.
"You might as well," snapped the woman. "There's been no strangers around here."
"We're sorry we troubled you," said Joe. "Good-bye."
Redhead grunted a curt farewell. The woman and the other man said nothing as the boys turned away and retraced their steps out to the lane. For a while they walked on in silence and then, when they were out of sight of the house, Frank turned to the others.
"Do you know why I went into the kitchen?" he asked.
"Why?" they demanded eagerly, and Joe put in:
"I thought there was something fishy about the way you asked for that drink. What did you see!"
"I saw dad's cap hanging on a peg!"
This caused an immediate sensation. Phil Cohen whistled in amazement.
"Then he has been here! They were lying!"
"Are you sure it was dad's cap?" asked Joe.
"Positive. I'd recognize it anywhere. And more than that, there were bloodstains on it."
"Bloodstains!"
Frank nodded.
The boys looked at one another in silence.
"This is serious," declared Joe finally. "We can't let them get away with this."
"I'll say we can't,'' agreed Chet. '' Let's go back."
"I was going to argue it out right there and then, but I thought I'd better tell the rest of you first so that you'd know what it was all about," Frank explained.
"He may have been–" Joe left the sentence unfinished.
"He may have been murdered," said Frank firmly. "And we're going to find out about it."
"What do you think we'd better do?"
"I think we'd better go back and tell them we saw that cap and ask how it got there. That'll force a showdown. They don't like us any too well as it is, so we won't have to be over polite to them."
The boys held a council, and it was unanimously agreed that the matter should not be dropped. Each was of the opinion that the trio now occupying the house on the cliff were far from savory and that the fact of Fenton Hardy's cap being seen in the kitchen was a clue of first-rate importance.
"He snatched the cap away when my back was turned," went on Frank.
"That shows there is something wrong," Chet affirmed. "We'll go back and tackle him right away."
"No time like the present. Let's go."
The boys accordingly started back down the lane toward the house. When they emerged into the yard again they found the two men and the woman standing together by the shed» talking earnestly. The boys were almost up to them before the woman caught sight of them and spoke warningly to the red-headed man.
"What do you want now?" demanded Redhead, in a surly manner, as he advanced.
"We want to know about that cap in the kitchen," said Frank firmly.
"What cap? There's no cap in there."
"There isn't now-but there was. It's a grey cap and it was hanging in there when I went in for a drink."
"I don't know anythin' about no cap," persisted Redhead.
"Perhaps you want us to ask the police up to help us find out," put in Tony Prito cheerfully.
Redhead glanced meaningly at the woman. The other man stepped forward.
"I know the cap he means," he said. "It's mine. What about it?"
"It isn't yours, and you know it," declared Frank. "That cap belongs to the man we're looking for."
"I tell you it is my cap," snapped the swarthy man, showing his yellow teeth in a snarl. "Don't tell me I'm lying."
Redhead stepped forward diplomatically.
"You're mistaken, Klein,'' he said. '' I know the cap they mean. That's the one I found on the road a few days ago."
"You found it?" asked Frank incredulously.
"Sure, I found it. A grey 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 demanded.
"About a mile from here."
"On the shore road?"
"Yes. It was lying right in the middle of the road."
"When was this?"
"A couple of days ago-just after we moved inhere."
"Let's see the cap," suggested Chet Morton. "We want to make sure of this."
Redhead 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 at this hour of the day disturbin' honest folk."
"We're sorry to disturb you, ma'am," said Joe. "But this is a serious matter."
Redhead emerged from the house holding the cap in one hand. He tossed it over to the boys. They examined it eagerly.
Frank turned back the inside flap and there he found what he was looking for-the initials F.H. imprinted in indelible ink 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."
To tell the truth, the inside of the cap gave evidence that the wearer had been severely injured, for the bloodstains were of large extent. The boys examined them gravely.
"Are you sure you found this on the road!" Frank asked doubtfully.
"You don't think I'd lie about it, do you?"
"We can't very well contradict you. I don't mind telling you that we're going to turn this over to the police. This man has disappeared, and by the appearance of this cap he has met with foul play. If you know anything 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? Why should he know any-thin' more about it than that?"
"We're going to take the cap with us."
''Take it,'' snapped Redhead. ''I don't want it."
The boys turned away. Nothing further was to be gained by questioning the trio in the yard, and at any rate the lads had gained possession of the cap.
"We'd better go," said Frank in a low voice.
They went back toward the lane. As they entered it they cast a last glance back at the yard.
The woman and the two men were standing just where they had left them. The woman was motionless, her hands on her hips. Redhead was standing with his arms folded and the swarthy man was leaning on the axe.
All three were gazing intently and silently after the departing boys.
CHAPTER XIII
A Plan of Attack
Once in Bayport the boys discussed their visit to the house on the cliff from all angles.
None was satisfied with the explanation, the red-headed man had given about the presence of the bloodstained cap in the house.
"I'm sure he knows more about it than he cares to tell," declared Frank.
"The other chap started to claim it at first, and then he stepped in with his story," Chet pointed out.
"That's the most suspicious part of it. And then, when I went into the kitchen in the first place, why should he have hidden the cap?"
"It's a mighty mysterious thing," Joe said. "The fact that dad has disappeared and the fact that there are bloodstains on that cap–"
"We ought to turn it over to Chief Collig," suggested Phil.
The boys looked at one another doubtfully. Chief of Police Collig was a fat, pompous official who had never been blessed by a super abundance of brains. His chief satellite and aidede-camp was Oscar Smuff, a detective of the Bayport police force. As Chet was fond of remarking, "if you put both their brains together you'd have enough for a half-wit."
"I don't think it would do much good," said Frank. "But it wouldn't do any harm either. Collig might be able to throw a scare into them, anyway, if he went up to that house and began asking questions."
The boys, therefore, trooped down to the police station and, after stating their business to the desk sergeant, were admitted to the chief's private office. They found Chief Collig and Detective Smuff deep in a game of checkers.
"It's your move, Smuff," said the chief. "What is it, boys?" he demanded, looking up.
Frank, producing the bloodstained cap, explained how and where it had been found. Smuff, in the meantime, scratched his head diligently for a while, then captured one of his opponent's kings.
Chief Collig grunted, whether in disappointment at the loss of the king or in acknowledgment of the information about the cap, the boys could not say.
"So it's Fenton Hardy's cap, eh?" asked the chief.
"It's his, all right."
"And what do you think has happened to him?"
"We don't know. That's what we want you to help find out. But, by the look of this cap, we're afraid there's been foul play."
"Just a minute, Smuff - just a minute." The chief contemplated the checkerboard for a few minutes, then made a move. He settled back in his chair. "Now try and beat that!" he said, and looked up at the boys again. "What do you want me to do?" he inquired.
"Help us find him."
The chief regarded them benevolently.
"Mebbe he'll show up in a day or so."
"He's been missing long enough already," protested Joe. "We want you to go up to the Polucca place and question those people. They know more about the affair than they care to tell."
"The Polucca place!" exclaimed the chief, pursing his lips. "We'll, you see, it ain't in the city limits."
"But Fenton Hardy is a Bayport citizen."
"What d'you think about it, Smuff?"
"Just a minute-it's my move." Smuff meditated over the checkerboard for a while, made his move, then looked up judicially. "To tell you the truth, chief,'' he said,'' I think we'd be just as well stayin' away from that Place. There's been Queer stories about it."
"That's what I think," agreed the chief.
"Do you mean to say you won't help us look for him?" exclaimed Frank.
"Oh, we'll keep our eyes open," the chief promised. "But he'll show up all right. He'll show up. Don't worry."
"He'll never show up if we wait for the Bayport Police Department to get into action," declared Chet warmly.
"Is that so!" said Chief Collig, nettled.
"Of course, chief," said Frank smoothly, "if you're afraid to go up to the Polucca place just because it's supposed to be haunted, don't bother. "We can tell the newspapers that we believe our father has met with foul play and that you won't bother to look into the matter, but don't let us disturb you at all–"
"What's that about the newspapers?" demanded the chief, getting up from his chair so suddenly that he upset the checkerboard over Smuff's lap. "Don't let this get into the papers." The chief was constantly afraid of publicity unless it was of the most favorable nature.
"The taxpayers mightn't like it," suggested Joe. "They pay you to enforce the law and if they know you're afraid to go up to the Polucca place–"
"Now, now," said the chief nervously.
"Who said anythin' about being afraid of the Polucca place? Can't you take a joke! Of course I'll go up and investigate this-at least I'll send Smuff up–"
"Who, me?" demanded Smuff, in alarm.
"Smuff and me, we'll go up together."
"I'm doggone sure I won't go up alone," declared Smuff.
"Well, as long as we're sure you'll investigate, we won't say anything to the newspapers," said Frank, and Chief Collig breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's fine. That's fine," he said. "Smuff and me, we'll go up there first thing tomorrow morning and if we find out anything we'll let you know."
But although Chief Collig and Detective Smuff duly departed from Bayport the next morning in an exceptionally noisy and decrepit flivver, with Smuff perched nervously at the wheel, they returned before noon with the news that they had been able to discover nothing further regarding Fenton Hardy. They had, they said, called at the house, but the people there had given a reasonable explanation as to the finding of the cap.
"Real nice people, they were too," added Chief Collig. "The man said he found the cap on the road, and why should he tell a lie about it! So Smuff and me, we came away."
"Yes," agreed Smuff profoundly, "we came away."
"In a hurry," suggested Joe sarcastically.
Collig and Smuft looked uncomfortable. To tell the truth they had been so impressed by the fearful stories they had heard of the house on the cliff that they had stayed no longer than was necessary. They had merely asked a few perfunctory questions of Redhead, had received his explanation of the finding of the cap, and had then hastened from the farm as quickly as was consistent with dignity.
"We've done our duty," declared Chief Collig. "No man can do more."
And with that the boys had to be content.
But they were not satisfied
"There's some connection between this smuggling outfit and the house on the cliff," declared Frank. "This man Snackley is mixed up in all this, I'm sure."
"Didn't mother say he was related to Felix Polucca!"
"Yes-and isn't it likely that he inherited the Polucca farm after the old miser died? Perhaps that's what encouraged him to move his smuggling operations here."
"Perhaps Snackley was one of the two men we saw at the farm."
"I wouldn't be surprised," said Frank, "But what I'm thinking of is this-where did these two motorboats come from that day Jones was shot? We didn't see them out in the bay. They seemed to come right out from under the cliff."
"Do you mean you think there is a secret harbor in there?"
"There might be. Look at it this way. Snackley was the man who "got" Jones that day, as he said. Snackley was related to Polucca, and may now own the farm. Snackley has been smuggling in Barmet Bay from some base that the government men have been unable to find. Perhaps that base is the Polucca farm."
"But it's on top of the cliff!"
"There may be a secret passage from the house to some hidden harbor at the foot of the cliff."
"Gosh, Frank, it sounds reasonable!"
"And perhaps that explains why the kidnappers got away with Jones so quickly that day, If they left the Kane farmhouse just a little while before we did, we should have been able to get within sight of them, anyway. But we didn't."
"You mean they turned in at the Polucca place!"
"Why not? Probably Jones is hidden there right now. That is-if they haven't killed him." he added hesitatingly.
"But what could have happened to dad?"
"That's what we're going to find out. What do you say to asking Tony if his father will lend us his motorboat and let us investigate the foot of that cliff?"
"What do you expect to find?"
"We'll find out if there's any place where motorboats could be hidden. And if we get any information we can turn it over to the government officials and have the Polucca place raided. Then we'll get some satisfaction out of it, anyway, and perhaps find out what happened to dad."
CHAPTER XIV
Private Property
The Hardy boys explained their plan to Tony Prito, who promised to ask his father about the motorboat provided they allowed him to go with them.
"I wouldn't miss it for anything," he said. "You let me come along on this trip with you and I'll see that we get the boat."
"We wouldn't go without you, Tony," promised Frank.
"I'll have the boat tomorrow afternoon. Be at the boathouse."
Tony was as good as his word. When Frank and Joe appeared at the little boathouse, one of a long row of ramshackle buildings along the shore, next afternoon, they found Tony clad in a greasy suit of overalls, tinkering with the engine. He was of a mechanical turn of mind and could never see an engine of any kind without investigating its most intricate machinery.
"She'll run as smoothly as a sewing machine,'' he declared, looking up. "We can start any time."
"Your father let you have the boat, all right."
''You bet. I told him it was to help find your father, and he was almost going to quit work and come along with us."
The boys got into the motorboat, which was a rangy, powerful craft with graceful lines, and the engine was soon roaring. The boat, which was called the Napoli in honor of Mr. Prito's birthplace in Italy, moved slowly out into the waters of the bay and then gathered speed as it headed toward the gloomy cliffs at the northern extremity of Barmet Bay.
It was already late in the afternoon. The sky was overcast and the bay was rough. The salt spray dashed over the bows of the Napoli as it plunged on through the breakers. Bayport soon became a smoky haze on the hillside. The boys could see the white line of the shore road rising and falling on the coast to the north and at last they came within sight of the Kane farm, nestled among the trees.
The cliff upon which the Polucca place stood was stark and sheer against the background of ocean and sky, and at the top they could see the grove of trees and the roof and chimneys of the haunted house.
"Lonely looking place," remarked Joe.
"Pretty steep cliff," Tony observed. "I can't see how any one could make his way up and down that slope to get to the house."
"That's just why nobody has thought of the 'possibility of the place as a smuggling base," said Frank. "It doesn't look possible. But perhaps when we look around we'll find that things are different."
Tony steered the boat closer in toward the shore so that it would not be visible from the Polucca place. Then he slackened speed so that the roar of the engine would not be so noticeable, and the craft made its way along toward the bottom of the cliff.
There were currents here that demanded skillful navigation, but Tony brought the Napoli through them easily and at last the boat was surging along close to the face of the cliff. The boys scanned the formidable wall of rock eagerly.
It was scarred and seamed and at the base had been eaten away by the battering of the waves. Time passed, and there was no indication of a path and the lads were disappointed.'
The cliff jutted up out of very deep water and rose to a great height. From the boat they were unable to see the Polucca place, for it was set in a short distance from the edge of the cliff. The face of the steep rock was uncompromising. There seemed to be no foothold for man or beast. It was just an unscalable, craggy wall.
Suddenly Tony bore down on the wheel. The Napoli swerved swiftly to one side and at the same time the engine roared as the craft leaped ahead.
Frank and Joe looked quickly around.
"What's the matter?" they asked, in alarm.
But Tony was gazing fixedly ahead. He was tense and alert. Another shift of the wheel and the Napoli swerved again.
Then the Hardy boys saw the danger.
There were rocks at the base of the cliff. One of them, black and sharp, like an ugly tooth, jutted out of the water almost immediately at the side of the boat. Only Tony's quick eye had saved them from striking against it. They had blundered into a veritable maze of reefs which extended for several yards ahead.
They held their breath.
It seemed impossible that they could run the gauntlet of those rocks without tearing the bottom out of the craft. But Tony's steermanship was marvelous. The motorboat threaded it's way accurately among the jutting rocks. There was always the chance that a submerged reef might rip through the hull of the craft, but they had to take chances on that.
But luck was with them. The Napoli dodged the last ugly rock, and shot forward into open water.
Tony sank back with a sigh of relief.
"Whew, that was close!" he exclaimed. "I 'didn't see those rocks until we were right on top of them. If we'd ever struck one of them we would have been goners."
The Hardy boys believed him. Angry waves dashed against the base of the cliff. They would not have lived more than a few minutes if they had been wrecked in this place. They would have been battered to pieces against the rocks.
Suddenly, before them, they saw an opening in the side of the cliff. It was a long, narrow cove.
The entrance was like the neck of a bottle, widening as it led into the cliff, and it was overshadowed by jutting rocks. It had been quite invisible up to this time, and the boat had gone only a few yards further before it became invisible again, so well was the opening hidden by the rocks.
"Here's a find!" exclaimed Frank, in excitement. "Let's turn back and see where this goes to."
Tony swung the boat around and the craft slowly made its way back toward the hidden cove. Soon the opening in the cliff came into view again.
"It's just large enough for the boat to go through,'' said Tony. '' Want me to try it!"
Frank nodded.
"Go ahead."
The nose of the boat turned toward this strange bay and then the Napoli began to enter the cove.
"Maybe I won't be able to get out again," said Tony suddenly. He looked ahead. But the passage widened into a bay of considerable extent, quite sufficient in size to enable him to turn the craft around once he had entered. So he continued.
But the cove proved uninteresting. The sides were steep, although dense bushes grew about the base of the slopes, but there was no path, no trail, no indication that any human being had ever been in the place. Being protected from the wind, the water was calm. The echoes of the motorboat's engine were flung back from every side in a roaring volume.
Suddenly Frank gave a gasp of surprise!
Standing among the thickets at the base of the steepest slope, was a man.
He was very tall and he wore a black felt hat, the wide brim of which obscured the upper part of his face. His countenance was tanned and weatherbeaten, his lips were thin and cruel. He wore a short black jacket, and he stood with his hands plunged into the side-pockets and his feet spread wide apart, in the manner of a sea-mac.
He was standing there quietly, gazing at them without a shadow of expression on his sinister 'face, as motionless as a statue.
When he saw that he was observed he called out:
"Leave this place!"
Tony throttled down the engine. The three boys stared at the man in the black hat as though he were an apparition.
"Leave this place!" he repeated, in a curiously metallic voice.
"We aren't doing any harm," replied Frank.
"Not now," said the stranger. "But don't land here."
"Why?"
"You don't have to ask why. This is private property. You can't land here. You'd better leave at once."
The boys hesitated. As though to emphasize his commands, the man in the black hat reached suddenly into his pocket and whipped out a wicked-looking revolver. Then he folded his arms, tapping the barrel of the revolver against one shoulder very deliberately.
"Turn that boat around and get out of here!" he snapped. "Don't come back. Don't ever come back. Don't ever try to land here. This is private property. If you ever do land here you'll be shot."
The boys were unarmed. They realized that nothing would be gained by argument. Tony slowly brought the boat around.
"Good-bye," shouted Joe cheerfully.
The stranger did not reply. He stood there, gazing fixedly after them, his arms still folded, still tapping the revolver against his shoulder as the motorboat made its way out of the strange bay, out into open water.
"Looks as if he didn't want us around," remarked Tony, as soon as the Napoli was out of the cove.
"I'll say he didn't!" exclaimed Frank. "What a wicked looking customer he was! I expected to see him start popping at us with that gun of his before we got out."
"I don't want to run into him again," Joe declared. "He sure gave us our orders. And he meant 'em, too."
"I wonder who he is," said Tony.
"Do you think–Fellows! do you think it could have been Snackley!" shouted Frank.
CHAPTER XV
Smugglers
The thought struck Frank Hardy like a thunderbolt!
The appearance of the stranger had been so sinister, he was so evidently a lawless and desperate man who was accustomed to being obeyed, and his presence in this place indicated too clearly that he had some connection with the house on the cliff, that Frank's deduction seemed quite logical.
"Snackley!" exclaimed Joe. "It must be him."
"The head of the smugglers!"
"I've never seen a picture of Snackley and I've never heard him described," said Joe. "But that fellow looks just as I had pictured Snackley would look."
"He's a leader of some kind-you can tell that by his manner," put in Tony Prito.
"He's the fellow who chased Jones that day in the motorboat."
"And he'll chase us, too," declared Tony, "if we don't get away from here pretty quick."
"Why should we go now?" demanded Frank. "We've stumbled on something important. That may be the smugglers' cove."
"But how do they get to the house if you think they have anything to do with the Polucca place?'' asked Tony. ''Those cliffs in there are mighty steep."
"There must be some way that we don't know of. What do you say we hang around here for a while and see what we can do?"
Tony became infected with the enthusiasm of the Hardy boys and he readily agreed to keep the motorboat in the vicinity of the cliff, although it was decided that they should not remain too near, but cruise up and down the shore in case the sharp-eyed man should be watching them.
"It was a good thing we didn't put up an argument with that fellow," said Frank, at last.
"I'll say it was!" Tony agreed emphatically. "We didn't have much chance to argue with that revolver he had."
"I don't mean that. He may think we were just out for a cruise and accidentally wandered into that cove. If he knew we were hunting for dad he might have acted very differently."
"That's true, too," said Joe. "Well, we won't go home just yet."
It was late in the afternoon. The sky was overcast and twilight was falling. A cold wind blew in from the sea.
The motorboat went some distance down the shore and then they turned and, keeping well out in the bay, went on up past the cliff once again. They kept a sharp eye on the location of the cove, and in spite of the fact that they knew just where it was they were scarcely able to distinguish the narrow opening in the rocks.
"No wonder the place hasn't been heard of more often!" Frank said. "It looks like an unbroken wall of rock from this far out."
"You've got to be careful around here, Tony," cried Joe. "First thing you know we'll hit the rocks and be smashed."