There was a shout from the darkness of the cove. “Give us a light!” they heard. Joe gave a shout of joy. It was Tony Prito’s voice! Then Joe and the troopers with him heard the steady beat of a motorboat. Joe seized the flashlight and ran out along the path leading to the entrance of the cave. The motorboat was not many yards away. Tony had been searching for the channel. “Right this way!” Joe called out. “Head toward the right of the cave and you’ll be in deep water. A little further! Good!” As the motorboat drew nearer he saw that it was filled with men and that a rowboat was being towed behind. “We got ’em,” cried Tony exultantly. “They were just getting out of the cove in the boat when we came up.” “Who is with you?” asked Joe. “Police. The rest of them went up the shore road in a car.” “We’ve caught the whole gang then. They raided the house and got the rest of the smugglers. We thought these fellows had made a getaway.” “No chance. Although it was mighty close. They pretty nearly slipped out of the cove right under our noses.” The boat came to a stop beside the natural wharf of rock. One or two of the officers, revolvers in hand, clambered out. Three of the smugglers had been captured while trying to escape from the cove in the rowboat. “If they’d got out we would never have caught them,” said Joe. “They were heading out toward a ship.” “A ship!” exclaimed one of the officers, a burly man in plain clothes. He stepped forward. “Did they say anything about a ship?” “A man named Li Chang has a ship lying in wait outside the bay,” said Joe. “I heard them talking about it.” “Good!” exclaimed the burly man. “Now we’ll capture the whole outfit.” He turned to Tony. “I suppose your boat is good for another little run.” “I’ll say it is, sir!” “I want as many officers as we can spare,” said the burly man. “We’ll go out and find that ship. Li Chang, did you say?” he added, turning to Joe. “That was the name.” “I know his ship. We’ve been trying to catch that villain for years. Darst, go on up and see how the rest of the men made out at the house on the cliff and take as many officers as they can spare. There’s a passage up through the rocks, I take it?” “Regular staircase all the way, sir,” remarked Darst, one of the raiding officers. “Good! Don’t lose any time.” The three smugglers were taken out of the boat and handcuffed, then escorted up the stairs, while the burly man, who was the chief of a squad of federal agents undertaking a drive against the smugglers on that part of the coast, remained with the motorboat. Within a short time Darst returned with three more officers. He reported that a clean sweep had been made at the house. “They have ’em all handcuffed and sittin’ in the kitchen,” he said. “Mr. Hardy got Snackley—” “Snackley?” exclaimed the federal man. “Is it _his_ gang?”