Franklin Dixon - The House on the Cliff

and sharp, like an ugly tooth, jutted out of the water almost at the boat's side. Only Tony's quick eye had

saved the Napoli from hitting it!

They had blundered into a veritable maze of reefs which extended for several yards ahead. Tony's

passengers held their breaths. It seemed impossible that they could run the gantlet of those rocks without

tearing out the bottom of the craft.

But luck was with them. The Napoli dodged the last dangerous 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'd have been goners."

Frank, Joe, and Chet nodded in solemn agreement. Then, suddenly, Frank cried out, "Turn back! I think

I saw an opening!"

Tony swung the boat around. The opening which Frank had spotted was a long, narrow tunnel. It led

right through the cliff!

"This might be the secret entrance!" Joe exclaimed.

"I think it's large enough for the boat to go through," said Tony. "Want me to try it?"

Frank nodded tensely. "Go ahead."

The Napoli slipped through the opening and in a few moments came out into a pond of considerable

extent. The boys looked about expectantly. Steep slopes covered with scraggly trees and bushes

reached to the water's edge. But there was no path or indication that any human being ever came down

to the pond.

Suddenly Frank gave a gasp of surprise and said, "Look to my right, fellows."

Among the thickets at the base of the steepest slope stood a man. He was very tall, his face was

weather-beaten, and his lips thin and cruel. He stood quietly, looking at the boys without a shadow of

expression on his sinister face.

Upon realizing he had been observed, the man shouted, "Get out of here!"

Tony throttled the engine and Frank called, "We aren't doing any harm."

"I said 'Get out!' This is private property."

The boys hesitated. Instantly the man, as though to back up his commands, reached significantly toward

the holster of a revolver.

"Turn that boat around and beat it!" he snapped. "And don't ever come back here! Not if you know

what's good for you."

The boys realized that nothing would be gained by argument. Tony slowly brought the boat around.

"Okay," Joe called cheerfully.

The stranger did not reply. He stood gazing fixedly after them, his left hand pointing to the exit, his right

tapping the gun holster, as the motorboat made its way out through the tunnel.

"Looks as if he didn't want us around," remarked Tony facetiously, as soon as the Napoli was in open

water again.

"He sure didn't!" Frank exclaimed. "I expected him to start popping that gun at any moment!"

"He must have an important reason. Who and what do you suppose he is?" Tony asked in

bewilderment.

"Fellows," Frank said thoughtfully, "I think that man might have been Snattman!"

CHAPTER XI

Cliff Watchers

"FRANK!" Joe exclaimed. "I think you've hit it! That man had no reason to act the way he did unless

he's covering up something."

"Something like smuggling, you mean," said Chet. "He must be Snattman or one of his gang."

"And," Frank went on, "the fact that he was in that cove must mean he has some connection with the

house on the cliff."

"Snattman, king of the smugglers!" Tony whistled. "You guys really get in some interesting situations!"

"I'll bet that he's one of the fellows who chased Jones that day in the motorboat," Joe cried.

"And tried to kill him," Frank continued the thought.

"Let's get away from here!" Chet urged.

"Why should we go now?" Frank demanded.

"We've stumbled on something important. That hidden pond may be the smugglers' base."

"But if they use the house how do they get to it?" Tony asked. "Those cliffs up from the pond were

mighty steep."

"There must be some other way that we couldn't see," Joe said. "What say we hang around here for a

while and find out what we can?"

Tony caught the Hardys' enthusiasm and agreed to keep the motorboat in the vicinity of the cliff.

"That fellow may be keeping his eye on us and we don't want him to know that we're watching the

place," Frank observed. "Let's run back to the bay and cruise up and down a while, then return."

Chet sighed. "I'm glad none of you argued with that armed man."

"Right," Joe replied. "As it is, he must think we were simply out for a cruise and wandered into that tunnel

by mistake."

"Yes," his brother agreed. "If he'd known we're hunting for Dad, he might have acted very differently."

In the late afternoon Tony took the Napoli back to the suspected shore spot. Keeping well out from the

breaking waves, he cruised along the cliff. The boys kept a sharp eye on the location of the tunnel. As the

boat passed it they were just able to distinguish the narrow opening in the rocks.

"I won't be able to go in there after a while," Tony remarked. "The tide's coming in. At high tide I'll bet

that tunnel is filled with water."

Suddenly Tony swung his craft so hard to the right that the other boys lost their balance.

"Sorry, fellows," he said. "Saw a log-oh!"

He shut off his engine in a flash and leaned over the gunwale. His companions picked themselves up and

asked what had happened.

"Propeller started to foul up with some wire on that log." Tony began to peel off his clothes. "Get me

some pliers, will you?"

Frank opened a locker and found a pair. Taking them, Tony dived overboard. A minute later he

reappeared and climbed in. "I'm lucky," he said. "Just plain lucky. Two seconds more and all that wire

would have been wound around the prop and the log would have knocked it off."

"Good night!" Chet exclaimed. "It would have been a long swim home."

Joe slapped Tony on the back. "Good work, boy. I'd hate to see the Napoli out of commission."

Chet and Frank hauled the log aboard, so it would not damage any other craft. "This is a fence post with

barbed wire!" Chet said. "Wowee! It's good you spotted that log, Tony."

Tony dressed, then started the engine. He cruised around for more than an hour, but the boys saw no

sign of life about the base of the cliff. They could see the Pollitt house, but to their amazement no lights

appeared in it as twilight came.

"How much longer do you think we should stay out here?" Chet asked. "I'm getting hungry."

"I have a few pretzels and a candy bar, but that's not much for four of us," Joe remarked.

"Aha!" crowed Tony. "I have a surprise for you! I stowed away a little food before we took off." With

that he pulled a paper bag from the locker and passed each boy a large sandwich, a piece of chocolate

cake, and a bottle of lemon soda.

"You deserve a medal," Chet remarked as he bit into a layer of ham and cheese.

"You sure do!" Frank agreed. "I think we should stay right here for a while and watch. It's my guess the

smugglers will be on the job tonight. Don't forget that the Marco Polo is docking tomorrow morning."

"I get it," said Chet. "If she lays offshore or steams in slowly, it'll give AH Singh a chance to drop the

stolen drugs overboard to Snattman."

"Correct," said Frank.

Tony looked intently at the Hardys. "Is it your idea to keep Snattman from meeting Ali Singh? But what

about your father? I thought we came out here to get a line on how to rescue him."

The brothers exchanged glances, then Joe said, "Of course that's our main purpose, but we hope that we

can do both."

Twilight deepened into darkness and lights could be seen here and there through the haze. The cliff was