"And too weak to come to the door," Frank surmised. "But he could call out. I can't understand it."
The brothers returned to the back door and i reported to their father. Then, as Joe rapped several more
times without response, a sinking feeling came over the brothers.
"I guess Jones recovered fast and has gone," Joe said dejectedly. "We've goofed."
"Try the knob. The door may not be locked," Mr. Hardy ordered. From his tone the boys knew that he
shared their fears.
Frank turned the knob and the door swung open. Mr. Hardy felt around for a light switch on the wall.
"We'll go in," he murmured. "If Jones is here we'll talk to him."
By this time the detective had found the switch. As the kitchen became flooded with light, the boys
gasped, thunderstruck. On their previous visit they had been impressed by the neatness of the room.
Now the place looked as though an earthquake had shaken it.
Pots and pans were scattered about the floor. The table was overturned. A chair lay upside down in a
corner. Shattered bits of cups and saucers were strewn on the floor.
"What happened?" Frank exclaimed in bewilderment.
"There's been a fight-or a struggle of some kind," said Mr. Hardy. "Let's see what the rest of the house
looks like."
The boys opened the door to the adjoining living room. Frank snapped on the wall switch.
There a horrifying sight met the Hardys' eyes.
The farmer and his wife, bound and gagged, were tied to chairs in the middle of the room!
Swiftly Frank, Joe, and their father rushed over to Mr. and Mrs. Kane. They had been tied with strong
ropes and so well gagged that the couple had been unable to utter a sound. In a minute the Hardys had
loosened the bonds and removed the gags.
"Thank goodness!" Mrs. Kane exclaimed with a sigh of relief, stretching her arms.
Her husband, spluttering with rage, rose from his chair and hurled the ropes to one side. "Those
scoundrels!" he cried out.
Frank hastily introduced his father, then asked, "What happened?"
For several moments Mr. and Mrs. Kane were too upset to tell their story. But finally the farmer
staggered over to the window and pointed down the shore road.
"They went that way!" he roared. "Follow them!"
"Who?"
"Those thugs who tied us up! They took Jones!"
CHAPTER VI
The Strange Message
"How long ago did those kidnapers leave?" Frank asked the Kanes quickly.
"About ten minutes," replied the farmer. "Maybe you can catch them if you hurry!"
"Come on, Dad!" Frank cried. "Let's go after them!"
Mr. Hardy needed no further urging. He and his sons ran out of the house and jumped into the car.
"That's rough stuff," Joe said to his father as they turned onto the shore road, "barging into house, tying up
the owners, and kidnaping a guy!"
"Yes," Mr. Hardy agreed. "It looks as though 'your friend Jones is mixed up in some kind of racket.
Those men must have been pretty desperate to risk breaking into an occupied house."
The boys' father was able to follow the tracks of the car from the tread marks in the dusty road. But soon
there were signs that another car had turned onto the shore road from a side lane and the trail became
confused.
The Hardys passed the lane that led into the Pollitt place and continued on until they came to a hilltop.
Here they could get a clear view of the road winding along the coast for several miles. There was no sign
of a car.
"We've lost them, I guess," said Frank in disappointment, as Mr. Hardy brought the sedan to a stop.
"They had too much of a head start," Joe remarked. "If only we'd gotten to the farm sooner. Well, we
may as well go back."
Mr. Hardy agreed, turned the car around, and once more the Hardys headed for the farm. On the way
they discussed the mysterious kidnaping, and speculated on the identity of those responsible.
"I'll bet those men in the other motorboat saw us rescue Jones, or else they heard somehow that he'd
been taken to the farmhouse," Joe surmised.
"If they are the kidnapers, I wonder what will happen to Jones now," Frank said gravely. "They tried to
kill him once."
"Maybe they'll just hold him prisoner," Mr. Hardy stated thoughtfully. "They were probably afraid he'd
tell all he knew, and couldn't afford to leave him at the farmhouse."
When they got back to the Kanes', they found the farmer and his wife somewhat recovered from their
harrowing experience. Mrs. Kane was busy straightening up the kitchen.
"We couldn't catch them," Frank reported sadly.
"Well, those hoodlums had a high-powered car and they weren't wastin' any time. I could see 'em from
the window as they went down the lane," the farmer remarked, frowning angrily at the recollection.
"Please tell us exactly what happened, Mr. Kane," Joe urged.
"Well, Mabel and I were here in the kitchen," the man began. "Mabel was washin' the supper dishes
when this fellow came to the door. He was a tall chap with a long, thin face."
"He asked us if we were looking after the man that was almost drowned earlier," the farmer's wife took
up the tale. "When we said we were, the fellow told us that Mr. Jones was his brother and he had come
to take him away."
"I got suspicious," Mr. Kane broke in. "He didn't look nothin' like Jones. I asked him where he lived."
"At that," Mrs. Kane said, "he walked in the house with another fellow right at his heels.
They grabbed my husband. Henry put up an awful good fight but he was outnumbered. When I tried to
help, a third man appeared from nowhere and held me back."
"They dragged us into the livin' room, tied us to those chairs, and put the gags in our mouths," the farmer
continued. "Then we heard 'em goin' into Jones's room. Pretty soon they carried him out to a car where a
fourth fellow was sittin' at the wheel."
"Did Jones put up a fight when they took him away?" Frank asked.
"He tried to. He hollered for help, but of course I couldn't do anythin' and he was too weak to struggle
much."
"This whole affair is very peculiar," Mr. Hardy observed. "Perhaps Jones is mixed up in the smuggling
going on around here. But who were those four men, I wonder?"
Mrs. Kane shook her head. "All I know is, we're sure glad you and your sons came out tonight. There's
no telling how long we'd have been tied up before somebody found us!"
"We're glad, too, that we got here," Frank replied.
"You folks say your name's Hardy?" said the farmer. "Any relation to Fenton Hardy?"
"Right here." The detective smiled.
"Pleasure to know you!" exclaimed Kane heartily, putting out his hand. "If anyone can get to the bottom
of this business, you can."
"I'll certainly try," the boys' father promised.
The Hardys bade the farmer and his wife good-by. They promised to call again at the Kane farm as soon
as they had any further information, and Mr. Kane, in turn, said he would notify them if he found any
trace of Jones or his kidnapers.
When they returned home the boys followed their father into his study.
"What do you make of all this, Dad?" Joe asked.
Mr. Hardy sat down at his desk. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair a few moments without
speaking.
"I have only one theory," he said at last. "The kidnapers probably are Snattman's friends. That means you
boys may have uncovered the fact that there is a whole gang of smugglers around here."
The brothers were pleased with their progress. "What do we do next, Dad?" Joe asked eagerly.