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21 - Hardy Boys The Shore Road Mystery by Franklin W Dixon · Hardy Boys: The Shore Road Mystery

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: At the farmhouse. In a few moments, the hardy boys
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: had emerged from the passage and stood in a heavy
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: clump of bushes that obscured the entrance to the tunnel.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: In the bluff. Brushing aside the trees, they stepped out
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: onto the beach. The light they had seen was from
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: a ship steaming into Bayport Harbor, and in the distance
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: they could see a dim yellow haze. The lights of
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the city above them towered the rocky bluff. Farther down
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: the beach, they saw the break in the cliffs where
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the gully ran back toward the shore road. We can't
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: go that way, Frank decided quickly. The thieves are up
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: in the gully helping get that car out of the mud.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Joe looked up at the steep cliff. We certainly can't
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: climb up here. We can go out the way we
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: came in the Roadstir came down the beach. You remember,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: we may find the trail back. The storm had spent
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: its force and a fine drizzle of rain was now falling.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: The boys went back down the beach, the flashlight illuminating
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the way. By the smoothness of the beach, they knew
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: that This was the route the car had followed on
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: the way in. Later on, they came to an open
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: stretch of sand. Beyond that lay rocks. There was a
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: break in the cliff, and by the flashlight, the boys
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: picked out an automobile track in a patch of sand
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: leading toward the low bushes that masked the entrance to
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: a gully. This is the place we're looking for, said Frank.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: I'll bet the roadster came down through here. He pushed
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: aside the wet bushes. In the damp grass, the track
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: was still plainly visible. The gully was dank with undergrowth,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: but there were evidences of a wide trail. We're getting
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: there anyway. From the direction this ought to take us
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: up to the shore road. What shall we do, then,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: asked Joe, walk to Bayport. We shouldn't have to. There
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: are farms along the road. We ought to be able
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: to telephone to town to the police. Sure, police and
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: state troopers. We can't round up this gang by ourselves,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and we haven't got any too much time to get
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: help as it is. Well, at least we know where
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: they can trace the stolen cars. That's one consolation, you mean,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Clancy in Atlantic City, the police ought to be able
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: to catch him without any trouble. The boys struggled on
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: up the gully along the trail that led through the
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: wet woods toward the shore road. The underbrush had been
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: cleared away for the passage of the stolen cars, and
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: they found no difficulty following this strange road. Finally, Frank
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: gave a cry of delight. Were at the road. He
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: emerged from the bushes, raced across a grassy stretch, and
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: scrambled up onto the highway. It was indeed the shore road.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: At last, the boys looked about them. Some distance away,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: they saw a gleam of light. A farmhouse. Will try it.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: They hurried down the road, and at length the flashlight
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: revealed the entrance to a lane. Splashing through the water
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: filled ruts, the boys made their way between the crooked
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: fences toward the dim mass of farm buildings. This place
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: seems sort of familiar, remarked Joe. I was thinking the
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: same thing. I know now. It's the dog farm. Joe
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: was right. When the boys entered the barn yard, in
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: spite of the fact that darkness obscured their surroundings, they
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: knew from the size and position of the buildings that
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: they had reached the dog place. This makes it easier.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: They have a telephone, said Frank, and that light in
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: the window shows that some one is up. They hurried
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: to the door of the farm house and knocked in
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: a little while. The door was flung open, and Jack
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Dodd confronted them. Who's there, he asked, peering out into
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: the darkness. Then he exclaimed, with astonishment, the hardy boys,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: what on earth are you doing here at this hour?
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Come in. Frank and Joe entered. They were wet and bedraggled,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: and Jack Dawd looked at them curiously. I was working
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: late at my studies, he explained. What happened? Did your
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: car get stalled? We've found the auto thieves and the
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: stolen cars, Frank told him quickly. They're not far from
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: here either. We want to use your telephone, added Joe.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Auto thieves, gasped Jack incredulously. You've found them, the whole gang,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and if we move fast we'll be able to land
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: the outfit, answered Frank. Jack quickly realized the situation. There
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: was no time to be lost. He led the way
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: into a hallway and pointed to the telephone. There you are,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: as it was a rural telephone line. He had to
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: explain to the hardy boys the proper number of rings
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: necessary to arouse Central. It took Frank some little time
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: to get Central, as calls at that hour were infrequent
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: out the shore road. The boys waited impatiently, but at
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: last a sleepy voice answered the ring, and Frank hurriedly
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: demanded the Bayport Police headquarters. He was soon in touch
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: with the desk sergeant. He outlined the situation quickly. The
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: gang were all up in the gully hauling a car
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: out of the mud when we left. They'll be clearing
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: out as soon as they discovered their man in the cave,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: so you'll have to hurry, said Frank. I'll put every
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: man available on it right away. The sergeant promised. I'll
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: call up Chief Collic at his house and tell him too, fine,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: will you notify the state troopers it's outside the city limits,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: you know, I'll call em up. You'll need a strong
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: force of men for this crowd are armed, and they'll
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: have a hundred hiding places in the woods and along
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: that beach. We'll keep a watch on the gully roads
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: until you get here, and we'll wait for you good work.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Are you sure it's the gang we've been after? Certain
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: we've found most of the Sulden cars. The sergeant was astonished.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Found em where. We'll tell you about it late in
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: the meantime, Get as many men out here as you can.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: The sergeant disconnected abruptly. Frank had a mental picture of
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: the activity that would follow in Bayport police circles. On
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: receipt of the news, Jack Dodd was eagerly waiting for information.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: You mean to say you've actually found the thieves, he
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: exclaimed joyfully. Then that means dead and I will be cleared,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: I hope, so Frank told his chum. Briefly, the hardy
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: lads explained how they had hidden in the locker of
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: the roadster, how the car had been driven away by
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: one of the thieves, how they had overheard the conversation
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: of the gang in the cave, how they had been captured,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: and how they had escaped. The dog household had been aroused,
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: and mister Dodd came hurrying downstairs half dressed. When he
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: learned what had happened, he hustled into the rest of
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: his clothes and produced an ancient rifle from the back shed.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: I want to be in on this, he said grimly.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Those thieves have caused us more troubled then enough, and
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I'd like to get some of my own back. Jack
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: snatched up a flashlight. We'd better go out and watch
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: the gully roads, Frank said, I know the road they
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: drive out, exclaimed Jack. It's just a little below the
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: end of our lane. There's an abandoned road that used
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: to lead back to that old right of way, but
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: I don't see how they reach it for this offense
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: to cross. Probably they take down the bars and drive
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: through the field, said mister Dodd, Now that you mention it,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: I almost did think part of that fence looked pretty rickety.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: They left the house and hurried down the lane toward
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: the main road. We'd better split up, Frank suggested. I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: have a revolver, it's Joe's by the way, and mister
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Dot has a rifle. Jack has a flashlight and so
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: has Joe. Two of us can watch the first gully.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: You and Joe know the place where you came out
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: onto the shore road, said Jack. You'd better watch there.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Dad and I will take the upper gully. Good. We'll
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: just keep watch until the police arrive. They separated at
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: the end of the lane. Frank and Joe hurried off
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: down the road, while the dogs went in the opposite direction.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: When the boys reached the gully that led down to
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: the beach, they settled down to wait because they were impatient,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: and because they realized the gang would doubtless scatter to
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: points of safety as soon as their escape was discovered.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: It seemed to them that the police were a long
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: time in coming. In reality, it was not long because
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: the desk sergeant had lost no time in sending out
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: the alarm. The roar of approaching motorcycles and the drone
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: of a speeding motor car were the first intimations of
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the arrival of the police and the state troopers. Even
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: before the machines came into view, their clamor could be heard.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Then dazzling headlights flashed over the rise. Frank ran out
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: into the road, waving the flashlight, and in a few
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: moments the first motorcycle skidded to a stop. Where are they,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: shouted a trooper. There are two ways in. We have
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: two men watching the other gully. If you'll put some
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: of your men up there on guard, we can take
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: you down to the beach. From here. The other motorcycles
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: came up, and finally an automobile, which was crowded with
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: police officers. Everybody talked at once. The first trooper, however,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: quickly took charge of the impending raid, and in decisive tones,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: he gave his orders, Johnson, take three policemen and go
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: on up to the other gully. These lads, say, you'll
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: find a farmer and his son on guard. They have
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: a flashlight so you can't miss them. Watch that gully
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: and grab any one who comes out. One of the
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: troopers got back onto his motorcycle. All but three of
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: the policemen scrambled out of their car. The motorcycle leaped
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: forward with a roar, and the automobile followed close behind.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: All Right, said the trooper. We'll leave one man here
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: to watch the road in case any of them slipped
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: through our fingers. The rest will go on down this gully. Callahan,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: stay on duty here, ordered the sergeant in charge of
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: the police officers. Callahan, a burly policeman, saluted. His face,
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: revealed for a moment in the glare of a flashlight,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: showed that he did not relish the assignment, evidently preferring
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: to go where there was promise of some excitement. All right, boys,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: lead the way. Frank and Joe went across the grass
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: beside the road and plunged into the undergrowth at the
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: entrance of the gully. Their hearts were pounding with excitement.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: The moment of success was at hand. Behind them trooped
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: nine stalwart officers, heavily armed. Down the sloping gully they went.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: The trooper in charge fell in step beside Frank, and
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: the boy explained the situation that lay ahead. Two openings
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: to the caves, eh, said the trooper. Well, we have
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: them cornered, that is, if the birds haven't flown. They
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: came to the beach. Their boots clattered on the rocks
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: as the men hurried forward at length, the bushes that
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: concealed the entrance to the first tunnel were in sight.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: And of Chapter twenty one,