He turned to Joe Hardy.
"You said you learned where they were sending the cars?" he inquired.
"They spoke of a man named Clancy in Atlantic City. They drove the stolen cars out through the gully, across the Shore Road onto one of those old private roads, and then down the coast."
"That's all we want to know. We'll wire the Atlantic City police as soon as we get back to headquarters."
"We might as well bring back as much of this stuff as we can," said the trooper. "Make a triumphal procession of it."
Some of the loot they found already loaded into the small truck, in preparation for the get-away, and in a short time they had cleared the cave and the passage of the other packing boxes. One of the officers was assigned to the wheel of the truck and another was detailed to drive the other car. Frank and Joe announced their intention of driving their own roadster back to Bayport.
Before long, the little cavalcade was in readiness to start.
In the lead was the touring car, with four sullen and defeated auto thieves huddled in the back seat, a trooper and a constable in front.
Next came the truck, loaded with stolen goods. It was followed by the other pleasure car, with the sergeant and the other officers sitting at their ease. Behind it came the roadster, with the Hardy boys.
The foremost car followed the gully road without difficulty. The headlights illuminated the way clearly, and the automobiles lumbered up toward the Shore Road. They had no trouble in the muddy section where Dan had come to grief, for the thieves had covered the spot with branches and the cars crossed without becoming stalled.