It began to widen out. Stacked against the wall they came upon more packing boxes, some of which had been torn open.
"More loot," Joe commented, in a whisper.
Every few steps, Frank halted and switched out the light. Then they stood in the darkness, listening. They had no desire to stumble on the auto thieves or reveal their own presence.
However, the boys heard not a sound. There was not a glimmer of light in the impenetrable gloom that lay before them.
A few yards farther, the tunnel widened out into a veritable cave. Here, as Frank turned the flashlight to and fro, and the boys were confronted by a sight that made them gasp for the moment.
In the great rocky chamber, they saw three large pleasure cars and a small truck, parked close by the clammy walls.
"The stolen autos!" breathed Joe.
There stood four of the missing cars, undamaged, in this secret cavern in the bluffs. They had been driven in along the tunnel from the beach. It was an ideal hiding place and as the entrance to the tunnel was doubtless well masked, the cars were as safe from discovery as though they had been driven into the ocean. At least, so the thieves probably thought.
"We've found them!" Frank exclaimed.
All the missing cars were not hidden here, but the boys judged that the rest were probably stored farther on. For the flashlight revealed a dark opening in the rock at the other end of the cavern, an opening to a tunnel that no doubt led to other caves farther on.