“We didn’t have a chance to see him!” exclaimed Joe.
“What’s the matter? Did he clear out?”
“He was kidnapped!”
“Kidnapped!”
“Four men broke into the farmhouse and took him away,” said Frank hurriedly.
Then he proceeded to tell the story of the strange events of the morning at the Kane farm, prompted occasionally by Joe.
Mr. Hardy was deeply interested.
“There’s only one theory I can think of,” he said, at last. “This Jones, or whatever his name is, must have belonged to a gang and either squealed on them or threatened to do so. They tried to get rid of him and he escaped in the motorboat, but they thought they had finished him in the explosion. Then they found out that you had rescued him, so they went to the farmhouse and took him away before he had a chance to talk.”
“Do you think they are smugglers?”
“Probably. While you were away this morning I called up one of the government authorities in the city, and he told me that they believe smugglers are operating in Barmet Bay on a big scale.”