Snackley plunged forward and they lost their footing, rolling about in the mud. Suddenly, Fenton Hardy wrenched his arm free, sprawled over and managed to seize Snackley’s revolver. He pressed it against Snackley’s side. The smuggler gave in. He flung his arms above his head. “I’m licked,” he muttered sullenly. They got slowly to their feet, Fenton Hardy keeping a watchful eye on the captive. Upstairs they could hear the uproar continuing as the police still gave battle to the smugglers. “Upstairs!” snapped the detective curtly. Without taking his eyes off Snackley he said to the man on the cot. “We’ll come back for you later—Mr. Jones.” CHAPTER XXIV THE ROUND-UP The Hardy boys, in the meantime, were in the thick of the struggle. Frank fought desperately with the smuggler he had assailed in the living room of the house, while Joe raced across the yard toward the trapdoor leading to the underground caves. He found that although three of the smugglers had been captured by officers in the yard and that as many more were fighting to escape, none of the police had as yet learned of the trapdoor down which some of the men had disappeared. With a shout to a near-by officer who had just succeeded in clapping the handcuffs on one of the smugglers, Joe made his way down the stairs. He heard the officer running over to the edge of the trap and saw the gleam of the flashlight. “Some of them got out this way!” Joe shouted back to the officer. The man called to one of his companions and then footsteps clattered on the stairs as Joe went on. He reached the door that opened into the chamber where his father had been a prisoner, but on entering the room he found it empty. There were evidences of hasty flight and the door on the far side of the room was wide open. “Secret passages, eh!” exclaimed one of the officers, as he came into the room. He was a state trooper in uniform. Joe led the way out through the opposite door and down the stairs that led toward the bottom of the cliff. The trooper who had spoken illuminated the way with his flashlight and they clattered on down the stairs until they reached the storage room. Here, everything was in confusion. The escaping smugglers had evidently endeavored to take with them what goods they could, probably the smaller packages containing drugs, for boxes and parcels were overturned and strewn about the floor. “You seem to know this place pretty well,” said one of the troopers, as Joe led the way across to the opposite door and stepped out onto the landing. “I’ve been here before—got in this way,” he answered. “There’s a water cave below this passage. They’ve probably made their getaway in the boat.” They hastened down the passageway and came at last to the cave. As Joe expected, the boat was gone. “They got away,” he said, in disappointment, as the trooper turned the flashlight on to the channel between the rocks.