moved the flashlight to one side he saw that the tunnel slanted toward the left.
"What'll we do?" asked Joe. "Follow it up along?"
He spoke in a whisper, but the walls magnified his voice and he awakened uncanny echoes.
"Sure. We'll have to be careful, though, or we might meet them on the way back."
Frank took the lead. He stepped forward very carefully, making no move that might dislodge a loose fragment of rock and start a tumult of echoes that would bring the gang upon them.
Cautiously, they advanced. Joe took his revolver from his pocket and gripped it tightly.
They realized that they were dealing with a band of desperate men, who would stop at nothing if they were discovered.
The Hardy boys rounded the corner of the passageway, and Frank's flashlight revealed a number of large boxes, stacked up against the side of the tunnel. They halted and Frank scrutinized some lettering on the boxes.
"The Eastern Importing Company," he read.
"Why, that's the name of the company that lost the truck!" Joe exclaimed. "Remember? The two men who were held up and rolled down the bluff."
