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

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: The cave in a moment, the lid of the locker
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: would have to be raised. Then came an interruption. The
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: boss wants us, said one of the men. The man
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: approaching the back of the car halted. All right, he growled,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: we'll leave this. He turned away. The hardy boys sighed
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: with relief. I guess he's waiting for a report, observed
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: a voice. As the men began to move off, their
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: footsteps sounded sharp and clear on the rocks. The sounds
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: died away. Complete silence prevailed. Not even a murmur broke
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: the stillness. The lads remained quiet in the darkness of
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: their hiding place. Finally, Frank stirred, they've gone. He whispered,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: What shall we do now, asked Joe. Let's get out
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: of here first. They may come back at any minute.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Frank raised the lid cautiously. The blackness without was as
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: utter and complete as the darkness within. He see nothing.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: He listened for a moment, thinking possibly some of the
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: gang had remained behind, but he heard nothing. Quickly he
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: got out of the locker and leaped to the ground.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Joe followed. They closed the lid. Boy, I thought it
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: was all up with us. Whispered Joe when he came
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: over to open the locker. My heart was thumping so
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: loudly I was sure he could hear it me too. Well,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: we can thank their boss, whoever he is. I wonder
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: what kind of place we're in, anyway, Frank switched on
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: his flashlight. By its brilliant gleam, he saw that they
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: were in a rocky passageway, a large tunnel, evidently in
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the bluffs along Barmut Bay. It was wide enough to
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: accommodate the roadster, but it did not offer a great
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: deal of leeway on either side. It appeared to be
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: a natural tunnel, although there was evidence that human toil
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: had been responsible for widening it and clearing it out.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Frank stepped forward and cast the ray of light before him.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: It revealed a blank wall of rock. Then, as he
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: moved the flashlight to one side, he saw that the
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: tunnel slanted toward the left. What'll we do, asked Joe.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Follow it up along. He spoke in a whisper, but
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: the walls magnified his voice, and he awakened uncanny echoes.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Sure we'll have to be careful, though, or we might
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: meet them on the way back. Frank took the lead.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: He stepped forward very carefully, making no move that might
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: dislodge a loose fragment of rock and start a tumult
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: of echoes that would bring the gang upon them. Cautiously
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: they advanced. Joe took his revolver from his pocket and
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: gripped it tightly. They realized that they were dealing with
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: a band of desperate men who would stop at nothing
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: if they were discovered. The Hardy Boys rounded the corner
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: of the passageway and Frank's flashlight revealed a number of
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: large boxes stacked up against the side of the tunnel.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: They halted and Frank screwedzed some lettering on the boxes,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the Eastern Importing Company, he read. Why that's the name
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: of the company that lost the truck, Joe exclaimed, Remember
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the two men who were held up and rolled down
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the bluff. It's the same name, all right, I'll bet
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: this is some of the truck cargo. The boxes were
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: seven in number, and on each was inscribed the name
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: of the Eastern Importing Company. There was no doubt in
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: the minds of the Hardy Boys now that they had
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: made a momentous discovery. This was plainly the hiding place
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: of the auto thieves, and although none of the stolen
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: cars were in evidence, the big packing boxes spoke for themselves.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: We'll see what's farther on. Frank decided he went ahead.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Joe tiptoed close behind. The flashlight illuminated the rocky floor
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: of the tunnel. It began to widen out. Stacked against
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: the wall, they came upon more packing boxes, some of
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: which had been torn open moor loot. Joe commented in
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: a whisper. Every few steps, Frank halted and switched out
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: the light. Then they stood in the darkness listening. They
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: had no desire to stumble on the auto thieves or
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: reveal their own presence. However, the boys heard not a sound.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: There was not a glimmer of light in the impenetrable
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: gloom that lay before them. A few yards farther, the
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: tunnel widened out into a veritable cave. Here, as Frank
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: turned the flashlight to and fro, the boys were confronted
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: by a sight that made them gasp for the moment.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: In the great rocky chamber, they saw three large pleasure
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: cars and a small truck parked close by the clammy walls.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: The stolen autos breathed Joe. There stood four of the
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: missing cars, undamaged, in this secret cavern in the bluffs.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: They had been driven in along the tunnel from the beach.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: It was an ideal hiding place, and as the entrance
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: to the tunnel was doubtless well masked, the cars were
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: as safe from discovery as though they had been driven
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: into the the ocean. At least so the thieves probably
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: thought we found them. Frank exclaimed all the missing cars
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: were not hidden here, but the boys judged that the
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: rest were probably stored farther on, for the flashlight revealed
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: a dark opening in the rock at the other end
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: of the cavern, and opening to a tunnel that no
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: doubt led to caves farther on. The hardy boys knew
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: that the shore road bluffs in certain places contained caves
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: and passages, some of which had never been entered. Although
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: like most Bayport boys, they had done a certain amount
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: of exploring along the beach, they had never heard of
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: the existence of this underground labyrinth. It seemed strange to
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: them that so elaborate a series of caves had never
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: been explored and their existence was comparatively unknown. Wait until
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Bayport hears of this. Joe said, let's get out of
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: here and hurry back to town. I suppose we should,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Frank admitted, I'd like to know where those men went.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: If we go any farther, they may catch us and
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: then we'd be out of luck. But if we start
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: back to town, we'll have to walk and they might
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: all clear out. In the meantime, it would be a
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: few hours before we could get back here with the police.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: We'd have the satisfaction of recovering the cars anyway, Joe
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: pointed out, I believe him playing safe. I'd like the
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: satisfaction of rounding up this gang as well. Frank advanced
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: toward the opening at the far side of the cave.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: I think I'll just poke along here a little way
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: and see where it leads, he said. Joe was dubious.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: He was of a more cautious nature than his brother,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: and was satisfied to let well enough alone they had
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: found the missing cars. This alone was sufficient, he reasoned,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: having come this far without mishap, he did not like
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: to risk spoiling their success. However, he followed Frank into
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: the tunnel. It was narrower than the one that had
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: led them to the cave, and its sides were rocky
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: and uneven. While the roof was low, It was quite
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: evident that none of the cars could have been driven
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: through this narrow space, and as the boys went on
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: they found that the roof was lower and the walls
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: even closer together. Finally, the flashlight showed them that it
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: was almost impossible to continue, as projecting rocks jutted out
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: and there was just enough space to admit passage of
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: one person. Beyond that, the tunnel seemed to close altogether.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Guess this is a blind alley, said Frank. We may
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: as well turn back. He handed the flashlight to Joe,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: who led the way on the return trip through the tunnel. Suddenly,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: there was an uproar immediately ahead, a clamorous, deafening crash.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: The boys jumped with astonishment in the darkness of the
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: subterranean cavern. Their nerves had been keyed up to a
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: high pitch, and this tremendous clatter was so unexpected in
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: the dead silence that it surrounded them that they were
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: almost paralyzed with momentary fright. There followed a rattling and
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: bumping of rocks, and then silence. Once more, what was that,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: exclaimed Joe, recovering from his scare, sounded to me like
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: a fall of rock. Frank's voice was shaky, for he
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: had a suspicion of what had actually happened. It seemed
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: mighty close. That's what I'm afraid of. It may have
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: blocked up this tunnel hastily. The boys went forward. In
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: a few moments. The flashlight revealed a sight at which
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: their hearts sank. The passage before them was completely closed up.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Great boulders, ledges of rock, and a heavy downpouring of
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: earth formed an apparently impenetrable barrier ahead. A loose stone,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: no doubt dislodged when they went by a short time before,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: had given way and brought down this miniature avalanche. From
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: the roof and the sides of the tunnel were trapped,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Frank exclaimed, end of Chapter seventeen,