The Mystery of the Chinese Junk (16 page)

The massive chunk of limestone plunged
toward Joe

“I guess so—thanks to you two!” Joe gulped. “Boy, if you hadn't yelled, Chet—”

“Now you know why I wear this miner's hat!” Chet replied.

Suddenly Frank said, “We certainly made a noisy entrance. If anyone's hiding, we probably alerted him.”

Joe nodded. “That gives him the advantage. We'd better proceed with the utmost caution and not get trapped.”

As they advanced, the boys beamed their flashlights in every direction. Presently they found themselves in an enormous room.

Pearly terraces rimmed the walls, extending far back into the cliff. Glittering calcite icicles hung from the ceiling.

“This is a
living
cave,” Chet whispered. “That means there's always water seepage going on. It builds these queer, shiny formations. When the seepage dries up, the rock gets dull and crumbly, and the cave becomes dead.”

Chet now lighted his helmet lamp and the boys proceeded deeper into the cave. The floor became more rugged, forcing them to pick their way along cautiously.

The path they were taking gradually sloped upward. Another branch of the cavern, opening on their right, seemed to lead down toward the base of the cliff. The boys hesitated, uncertain which way to go.

“In the daytime those men would be more likely to hide down below the top of the cliff,” Frank suggested.

The others nodded, and the boys pushed on into the right-hand cavern. Here, the “icicles” increased in size to huge spearlike stalactites. Here and there similar-shaped stalagmites reared upward from the floor. Sometimes the twin formations joined in glistening pillars or columns.

“Just think! This was all done by water dripping slowly for hundreds of years,” Chet marveled.

“What a spectacle!” Frank whispered. “This place ought to be opened up to the public.”

Most eye-stopping of all was a frozen cascade that had formed over a ledge, like a miniature Niagara of stone. It glistened with a fairylike brilliance in the glow of the flashlights and lamp.

“Chet, this is super. I'll never make fun of your spelunking again!” Joe declared in a low, awed voice.

To add to the beauty, some of the deposits were tinted orange, red, and brown. Chet explained that this was due to iron oxide and other minerals in the dripping water.

As the boys continued downward into the cliff, their body heat caused wispy fog to form in the cool, damp air. Suddenly Frank halted and listened.

“I thought I heard a voice.”

The boys tiptoed ahead and presently the twisting passageway opened into a larger cavern. In the middle lay a huge pool, its surface covered with a thick scum of green algae and slime. A slight movement of the water indicated that the pool was being fed from some underground source. The ocean?

“Look!” Frank whispered excitedly, pointing across the pool.

Joe and Chet swung their lights toward the spot. Revealed was a typewriter with the name Zeus on it. No doubt the stolen one! Next to it was a low table on which stood stacks of what looked like bonds or other financial certificates. On top of these was a foot-square bamboo box with Oriental characters on it.

“We've found it!” Joe gasped. “This is the thieves' and smugglers' hi—”

His words ended in a groan as a hard object crashed against his skull! Before Frank and Chet could turn around, they too were struck down from behind. All three sank into blackness.

When the Hardys and Chet regained consciousness, it was like waking to a flickering nightmare. The boys could feel ropes biting into their wrists and ankles. They were bound and propped against one wall of the cavern, now lighted by carbide lamps. Frank's watch revealed that three hours had gone by since the boys had left the dock.

Frank was first to collect his wits fully. Then Joe and Chet slowly brought their eyes to a focus on four figures leering down at them; Dr. Montrose, Chin Gok, and two rough-looking men in seamen's dungarees.

“The phony coastguardmen!” Frank said grimly.

“Yes,” one of them replied, “but you'll never live to report where we are.” He laughed scornfully.

Frank took a deep breath. “In that case, you won't mind clearing up the mystery first,” he said, sparring for time. “Dr. Montrose, we know you're Balarat, the Chameleon. You're wanted on various charges, including the display of a fake diploma. But what is your connection with Chin Gok?”

“I'll answer that,” the Chinese spoke up and gave a harsh, leering laugh. “Balarat and I are new in our acquaintance but already very good friends. He helped us slip out of jail. The doctor and I thank the Hardy boys for our first meeting. It was at your house.”

“Our house!” Frank and Joe gasped.

Chin Gok grew voluble. “It was quite by accident,” he confessed. “I entered your home one morning to search for any data you might have picked up regarding the
Hai Hau.
Incidentally, it was my esteemed self who spoke that warning over the radio. That was between the doctor's first and second visits that day. I followed him upstairs and watched him open your father's safe.” The Chinese smiled. “I might have blackmailed him, but when Montrose saw the unusual cuff links I was wearing, he recognized them as part of a smuggled shipment of amber. As payment for his silence, I gave them to him. Then we decided to join forces and outwit the Hardy family!”

“Chin Gok,” Joe said, “did you steal all six junks in Hong Kong and secrete smuggled goods aboard, part of it bluish amber tigers? And did you have the junks shipped to foreign ports where you picked up the loot and sold it?”

“True,” Chin Gok replied. “I have sold everything, except the valuable bluish ambers in the bamboo box, with the help of Dr. Montrose.” A self-satisfied smile played over the smuggler's face. “Friends took care of five junks. I came to New York because I was particularly interested in the boat I repainted and put the mandarin figurehead on, and gave the name
Hai Hau.”

Chin Gok spoke proudly. After a pause he went on, “I had some of my men ruin the junk's engine and later attack you boys in Chinatown. After that, they put a hole in the junk to discourage you from keeping the
Hai Hau.”

“Did they also slug the dock watchman and make a search aboard?” Joe asked.

Chin Gok nodded. “They almost got the
Hai Hau
away from you one night out on the Shore Road. And they did scare you with a warning note.”

Frank looked hard at the man. “You're the one who pretended to be stooped like Clams Daggett when we saw you leave Montrose's house.”

“Yes.”

Frank turned to Dr. Montrose. “And you lost one cuff link when you met Chin Gok at the cave and dropped the other in your basement.”

“You are right. It must have dropped out of my shirt pocket when I bent down to get something out of a toolbox. Incidentally, I was a prowler at your house twice.”

“Did you ever shoot at the
Hai Hau?”
Joe asked.

Butler said, “I took a practice shot once.”

Chin Gok broke in. “But our work is not finished. For my part, I haven't yet found the clue to the
Hai Hau's
treasure, but I will! You will not stop me!”

“What do you mean? What are you going to do to us?” Chet quavered.

“Butler and Burns,” Dr. Montrose spoke up, looking toward the two sham coastguardmen, “you tell them.”

The one named Butler burst into harsh, mocking laughter. “See that pool? Well, that's where you're headin'. We're goin' to throw all three o' you boys, tied up just like you are, into this bottomless hole!”

UNAWARE of the grim happenings under the cliff, two groups of the Hai
Hau's
passengers were thoroughly enjoying themselves. To pass the time, Biff, Tony, and Jim began searching the junk again for a clue to the treasure. After a dip in the surf, Iola and Callie strolled back to the wharf.

“Find anything?” Iola asked.

“No,” Biff replied.

“Let's all look,” Callie suggested. “Maybe we can surprise Frank and Joe with a clue!”

The five friends joined in the hunt. Tony perched himself in the bow, with one leg swung over the side. He scowled thoughtfully as his eyes roved the hull of the
Hai Hau.

Could the clue to the fortune be hidden somewhere on the
outside
of the junk? Absent-mindedly he pressed one of the glass eyes in the figurehead. To his surprise, it pushed inward! Tony gave a yell that brought the others running.

“I've found something!” Excitedly he reached into the small compartment and pulled out a bamboo tube. He peered inside it and, as everyone watched breathlessly, extracted a parchment scroll. When unrolled, it proved to be a faded, yellow map labeled with Cantonese characters.

“A treasure map!” Jim Foy exclaimed. “It tells where there are rich mines of bluish amber!”

A hasty conference followed. Both Tony and Biff felt that they should inform the Hardys and Chet at once. The girls agreed, but asked Jim to remain with them and help guard the treasure map.

Iola tucked the scroll into her swimming bag. “Let's radio the Coast Guard to come over here,” she said. “I'll feel much safer.”

“Okay! Let's go!” Tony urged Biff.

The two set off across the island, scrambled up the cliff, and made their way into the cave. In spite of the wonders revealed by their flashlights, both were too intent on finding their chums to appreciate the cavern's beauty.

Presently they came to the point where the passage branched. While trying to decide which path to follow, they heard angry voices coming from the right fork.

“Sounds like trouble ahead,” Biff whispered. “Come on!”

The boys hurried through the downgrade passage, which seemed endless.

Suddenly Tony grabbed Biff's arm. “Hold it!” he hissed. “Do you hear what I hear?”

Biff nodded grimly. Both recognized Chin Gok's voice. Switching off their flashlights, the two crept forward stealthily. Their jaws tightened in horror at the lamplit scene that met their eyes in the huge, subterranean chamber just ahead!

Frank, Joe, and Chet were propped against the wall, their arms and legs bound with ropes. Chin Gok, Dr. Montrose, and the two Coast Guard impostors were standing a short distance away.

“As Butler has just informed you,” Chin Gok was saying with evil relish, “all three of you will be tossed into this pool as soon as Dr. Montrose and I put these securities and jewels in our pockets.”

Biff and Tony clenched their fists. They must do something! There was no time to go for help. Conferring in tense whispers, they settled on a plan of action.

“It's a long shot,” Tony muttered, “but it may work. We'll have to chance it.” He took out his jackknife and switched open the blade to cut the prisoners' bonds.

“Okay—
now!”

Like sprinters taking off at a track meet, the two boys burst into the open! Dr. Montrose and Chin Gok, who had not yet picked up the loot, were standing by the green pool. Biff and Tony let out wild war whoops and charged!

Before the startled men knew what was happening, Biff's sudden assault pushed Chin Gok head-first into the pool! Tony's hard jab toppled Dr. Montrose after him.

Burns and Butler let out roars of rage. Biff, who was rangy and powerful, sent Burns sprawling and started to tackle the other.

Meanwhile, Tony had begun to slash the ropes that held the Hardys and Chet. Frank surged into action the instant he was free.

Just in time! His first punch made Butler's knees buckle as he was about to land a finishing blow on Biff. But the fight was far from over! Burns was up and now all four tangled in a fierce slugging match. Then Joe waded in and the tide of battle began to turn.

“Quick!” Chet gasped as Tony sawed frantically at his ropes. He had just spotted Chin Gok crawling out of the pool. The enraged Chinese was dripping from head to foot with greenish slime.

A knife flashed in his right hand just as the last strands of Chet's rope parted. The chunky boy moved with unexpected rapidity. Head down, he rammed into the huge Chinese, butting him in the solar plexus. With a gurgle, Chin Gok collapsed in a heap, moaning. Chet took his knife away and threw it into the pooL

By now Butler and Burns were reeling and giving ground swiftly. Minutes later they went down, begging for quarter.

“Where's Dr. Montrose?” Frank asked suddenly. “Still in the pool?”

“There he goes!” Joe cried, seeing a slimy green figure just disappearing from the cavern. “Tony! Biff! Chet! Take care of these prisoners!” he requested. “Come on, Frank! We'll get the Chameleon!”