Latest / Hardy Boys: The Shore Road Mystery / 22 - Hardy Boys The Shore Road Mystery by Franklin W Dixon

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

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: The round up. This is the place, Frank Hardy excitedly
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: told the officer in charge of the party. The tunnel
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: is right behind those bushes, mighty well hidden. The trooper commented,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Do you think you can find the other opening. It's
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: farther down the beach. I think I could find it,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: volunteered Joe. Take three of these men and watch that
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: part of the beach. At any rate, the trooper detailed
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: three men to accompany Joe. I'll wait until I see
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: your flashlight signal, he said. When you find the place
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: where they drive the cars out, turn the lights on
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and off, then wait for my whistle. Joe and the
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: men with him hurried on down the beach. The others
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: waited in silence near the entrance to the tunnel. Eventually
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: they saw the blinking light that plainly told them that
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the outer passage was guarded. Fine, said the trooper. He
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: raised the whistle to his lips. All ready, men, all set,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: answered one of the constables in a low voice. The
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: shrill blasts of the whistle sounded through the night. With
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: one accord. The men leaped forward, plunged into the bushes,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: and crowded into the tunnel. Their flashlights made the dark
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: passage as bright as day. As they entered, they could
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: hear a confused uproar ahead, the roar of an automobile.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: The sound magnified tenfold in the subterranean passages crashed out.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: There were shouts, cries of warning and alarm. We've got
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: them trapped, shouted the trooper. They stumbled down the rocky passage.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: A man came blundering around a corner, right into the
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: arms of the foremost officer. He was seized. There was
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: a gleam of metal, a click, and the auto thief
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: was handcuffed before he fully realized what had happened. One
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: counted the sergeant, Now for the others. They passed the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: hardy Boy's roadster and caught a glimpse of a man
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: fleeing before them into the main cave. The trooper drew
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: his revolver and sent a shot over the fellow's head.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: The man came to an abrupt stop and raised his
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: arm arms. He surrendered without a fight. Two yelled the sergeant,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: gleefully pouncing on his prisoner. Another pair of handcuffs was produced.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: The chain was slipped through the chain of the other thiefs. Shackles,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: and the pair were swiftly manacled together. The officers plunged
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: on into the main cave. In the glare of the flashlights,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: they saw the truck and one of the pleasure cars
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: standing by the wall. The two other cars that had
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: been in the cave had disappeared. No men were in sight.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: The raiding party heard the roar of a racing engine,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: a grinding of brakes, and a confusion of shouts. They're
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: getting out, Frank Hardy shouted. He pointed to the huge
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: opening in the wall through which the car had disappeared.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: With the police at his heels, he headed down the passage.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: It was wider than the one through which they had entered,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: and the rocky floor gave way to earth in which
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: ruts were clearly visible. Ahead of them, they heard a shot,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: then more yells. Joe and his manner on the job.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Frank reflected he was right. They reached the mouth of
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the passage, and there they came upon a large touring car.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Two men were standing up in the front seat, arms upraised,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: and in the glare of the headlights they could see
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Joe and the three officers pointing their weapons at the paar.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: The round up was soon over. One of the policemen
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: scrambled into the automobile and clapped handcuffs on the two men.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: The trooper, standing on the running board, turned a flashlight
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: upon them. The surly features of gusmunt Rose were revealed.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: The other man was his companion, Sam all Out, snapped
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the officer, urging the crestfallen thieves out of the car.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: They stepped out sullenly. Well here's four of them anyway,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: declared the trooper. He turned to Frank. Do you think
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: there are any more? There's still another. He was the
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: chap who got stuck in the mud up in the gully.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Perhaps he's up there yet, if the dogs haven't caught
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: him on the way out. The trooper dispatched two of
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: his men up the gully road at once to see
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: if they could locate the other member of the gang. Well, Matrose,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: he said, turning to the former hired man, So we've
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: landed you at last. Guss looked down at the handcuffs.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: I'd have been clearer away if it wasn't for them
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: brats of boys, he said, viciously. They were a little
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: too smart for you and your gang. The four otto
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: thieves were herded together, and an officer with drawn revolver
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: was put on guard. I guess we'll go back into
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: the cave and see what we can find, decided the trooper.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Leaving the prisoners under guard, he and some of his men,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: together with the Hardy boys, went back into the main cavern,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: where the officers inspected the remaining cars and the loot
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: that they had found stored there. The sergeant rubbed his
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: hands gleefully. Everything's here, he said, at least everything. We
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: need to make an air tight case against that gang,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: and we'll recover the rest of the stuff without much trouble,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: I imagine. He turned to Joe Hardy. You said you
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: learned where they were sending the cars, he inquired. They
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: spoke of a man named Clancy in Atlantic City. They
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: drove the stolen cars out through the gully, across the
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: shore road, onto one of those old private roads, and
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: then down the coast. That's all we want to know.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: We'll wire the Atlantic City Police as soon as we
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: get back to headquarters. We might as well bring as
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: much of this stuff as we can, said the trooper.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Make a triumphal procession of it. Some of the loot
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: they found already loaded into the small truck in preparation
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: for the getaway, and in a short time they had
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: cleared the cave and the passage of the other packing boxes.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: One of the officers was assigned to the wheel of
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: the truck and another was detailed to drive the other car.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Frank and Joe announced their intention of driving their own
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: roadster back to Bayport. Before long, the little cavalcade was
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: in readiness to start. In the lead was the touring
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: car with four sullen and de feeted auto thieves huddled
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: in the back seat, a trooper and a constable in front.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Next came the truck loaded with stolen goods. It was
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: followed by the other pleasure car, with the sergeant and
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: the other officers sitting at their ease. Behind it came
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the roadstir with the hardy boys. The foremost car followed
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: the gully road without difficulty. The headlights illuminated the wake clearly,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: and the automobiles lumbered up toward the shore road. They
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: had no trouble in the muddy section where Nan had
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: come to grief, for the thieves had covered the spot
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: with branches, and the cars crossed without becoming stalled. The
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: road led through the woods and finally ended in a
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: seemingly impenetrable screen of trees. Gus Matrose jeered, try and
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: get through there, he said. Puzzled, the driver got out
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: and advanced toward the heavy thickets. It seemed impossible to
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: go any farther, and yet the tire marks of other
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: cars were visible right up to the undergrowth. He gave
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: one of the trees a kick and it fell back.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: The secret was revealed. A cunningly contrived platform held the
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: trees in place, and it swung back in the manner
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: of a gate. When a car passed through, It was
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: drawn shut again and gave the appearance of an unbroken
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: mass of foliage. This explained why the secret road had
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: never been discovered, and why the thieves were able to
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: drive their cars out through the gully without great risk
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: of detection. The loose trees formed a perfect screen. At last,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the shore road was in sight. The foremost car lumbered
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: up onto the highway. In its headlights a strange group
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: stood revealed. There in front of a fine sedan stood
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: mister Dodd, rifle in hand, confronting the remaining auto thief.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: With him were Jack Dodd and the officer who had
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: been dispatched to their assistance. The thief, presumably the man
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: called Dan, was sitting disconsolately on the bumper of the car,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: handcuffs about his wrists. We got him, shouted Jack in excitement,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: as the cars lumbered out of the bush held him
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: up just as he came out onto the road. Fine work,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: applauded the sergeant, scrambling out, This just about cleans up
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: the gang, all except Clancy. Dan looked up sharply, how
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: do you know about Clancy? Never mind, we know all
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: about him, and he'll be behind bars with the rest
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: of you before long, if I'm not mistaken. The trooper
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: who had been in charge of the round up came
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: up at this juncture. Another eh, he said, cheerfully. Well
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: the little procession is growing better. Join the parade, boys.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: He assigned one of the men to replace Dan at
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: the wheel of the stolen car. We'll let you be
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: a passenger for a change, she said, motioning the thief
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: to the back seat. Guess of honor from Dan's expression
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: as he took his seat. He did not appreciate the compliment.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: You'd better come to town with us for the finish,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: called Frank to the Dodds. I wouldn't miss it for
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: a farm, Jack said, as he scrambled into the roadster
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: with them. So, with the police, auto thieves, troopers, the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: dogs and the Hardy Boys duly seated in the various cars,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: the procession started for Bayport. One of the officers drove
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: back the police car with the motorcycles securely lashed in
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: place on the running boards and one piled in the
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: back seat. In the Hardy Boys roadster, jubilation prevailed. Jack
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Dawd was loud in his praises of the work the
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: lads had done, and beneath it all was the undercurrent
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: of intense relief because he knew the capture of the
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: gang would clear himself and his father from suspicion. That's
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: the best part of it for us, said Joe Hardy
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: when their chum mentioned this end of chapter twenty two.