"Come down!" called Frank. "Come down, Captain Royal, or you'll be killed."
"The battle is lost!" howled the madman. "My enemies are upon me! But they'll never capture me alive!"
He bent down and lifted a heavy stone, which he hurled down the path. It came rolling and bouncing down the slope, gathering momentum every second. It was headed directly for the Hardy boys and their chums.
"Scatter!" shouted Joe.
The boys had little protection. The path was so narrow that they could go neither to right nor left for more than a few inches.
On came the heavy stone.
The boys crouched, listening to the crash and clatter of the great missile as it bounded toward them. There was no use attempting to escape. If they ran back down the path they could never hope to reach the shore in time. The rock was plunging down the path at terrific speed. It seemed that the deadly object would crash among them in another moment.
Frank closed his eyes. Just then the rock bounded high in the air, shot forward in a wide arc, lit in the path just a few yards above the boys, and struck a projecting stone. It flew off at a tangent, the impact diverting it from its course so that it plunged wide of the boys who were crouched in the path. A moment later there was a tremendous crash as the heavy rock struck the beach.
Captain Royal, on the cliff above, was yelling with glee.
"You won't chase me now!" he shrieked. "That will teach you a lesson! That will teach you something!"