"Only one?"
"Yes. The kids aren't armed."
"Wait till he uses up his ammunition. Then we'll get him."
There was another whispered colloquy and then the smugglers apparently withdrew toward the doorway leading into the kitchen. Then, in a moment, a perfect fusillade of shots broke out.
But Fenton Hardy and the boys had withdrawn past the turn in the staircase and were well protected. They could hear the uproar of gunfire as the smugglers riddled the staircase with bullets.
"That should have finished 'em!" they could hear Snackley saying. "If they're on the stairs at all they're as dead as mutton by now."
"Best be careful," muttered one of the men. "Hardy has a gun."
"Where did he get it?"
"From the guard. They tied him up."
"Lucky they didn't get away altogether. Wait till I talk to Malloy!"
"He was tied fast to the bed when we came back up the stairs. They had taken his gun and gagged him. He said they had just gone, so we made after them and came up through the trapdoor. They were just getting out of the shed when we saw 'em."
