The boys nodded.
"We found them on Blacksnake Island. That's how we rounded up the gang. They captured Chet and Biff in mistake for us. They had 'em in a cave."
Then, in the seclusion of the study, the Hardy boys told of their search for the missing chums, of their deduction that the boys might have gone to Blacksnake Island, of their arrival on the island and the finding of the gangsters and their cave.
Fenton Hardy listened to the recital with sparkling eyes, for he realized that his sons had played a part that made him proud of them, and when the tale was finished his approval was evident by the manner in which he pounded the desk with his fist.
"Fine!" he declared. "It was real detective work in the first place and real grit and courage from then on. I'm very proud of my boys."
"But all the time," added Frank, "we were worried about you. The men said you had been captured in the West."
"It was a false report," said their father. "They thought they had captured me, but it wasn't for long. I played into their hands once, just to find out where they were all hiding. But I had another detective to shadow me and when I found out where the gang were
