HARDY BOYS: 17. THE SECRET WARNING

CHAPTER 10. ON THE BOTTOM

Meanwhile Joe kept his hand on the horn button of Kuntz's car, with Chet standing guard near by. At any moment now the younger Hardy lad expected that the diver and Bock would
burst out upon him. In the interim he prayed that Frank's plan to get their father's papers would work. Suddenly a snapping of underbrush joined the din of the horn.

"Joe! They're coming!" yelled Chet.

The words had hardly left the fat lad'8 mouth when the bushes parted, revealing a shadowy figure on the edge of the clearing where the car was parked.

Abruptly Joe removed his hand from the horn button and an eerie silence followed.The newcomer crouched and remained motionless. Joe was not certain whether he wasBock or Kuntz, or whether both of them were merged in that vaguely-outlined blotch.

Suddenly there was a muffled roar in the direction of the mill, followed by the faint tinkle of falling glass. An instant later there came a loud thrashing in the brush. Joe decided it must be now or never.

"Chet! Run!" he cried.

At the same instant lie bounded from the running-board of Kuntz's car and made for the thicket. The crouched figure at the edge of the clearing was too quick for him. Vaguely Joe saw something dark hurtling toward him.

An instant later he was felled by a violent impact with Bock, whose hand went around the Hardy lad's throat.

"So it's you!" snarled the ruffian as Joe writhed beneath him. "I thought so!"
The lad, still weak from the effects of the explosion at the tailor's shop, nevertheless struggled valiantly. He knew that unaided he would be no match for Bock, who seemed to be
singularly adept at shutting off a victim's windpipe.

He felt himself growing faint, then suddenly he saw a hand appear out of the darkness and encircle Bock's chin. Another twisted the ruffian's fingers loose from Joe's throat. In a twinkling Bock rose in the air and landed with a sickening thud and a yell of agony.
For an instant Joe could not figure out what had happened. Then he saw Bock
squirming on the ground with Chet on top of him.

''Good work, Chet!" he panted. "Hold him if you can. I'm afraid we have another problem
on our hands!''

As he spoke, the huge figure of Kuntz loomed up in the clearing. In the brief second that the eriant hesitated to take in his surroundings, Joe sprang at him. The diver bellowed with surprised rage as the Hardy lad's tackle brought him neatly to the ground.

Joe was well aware of his predicament now. It would be only a matter of moments before the powerful man would free himself. The Hardy boy had only one object in mind, and
that was to gain time so that his older brother might make a getaway with the precious papers.

Chet meanwhile had his hands full. Though the stout lad was strong, his opponent was lean and quick. The two rolled over and over, Bock fighting desperately, Chet doing his best
to pin the ruffian down.

Suddenly there came a wild roar from the adjacent thicket and a huge animal leaped into the clearing, its fangs bared. Kuntz and Bock screamed. The diver gave Joe a cuff over the ear that sent the lad sprawling a dozen feet away, and himself bounded toward a tree with the animal at his heels.

Miraculously his outstretched hands touched a projecting limb, and a second later he had swung himself out of danger.

Disappointed, the animal turned. Bock was running frantically toward the thicket. The creature barked frenziedly and lunged at the fugitive. Bock yowled as he felt a snap on his ankle. With a desperate jerk he tore himself free, collided with a tree-trunk, and disappeared in an overhanging tangle of foliage.

Joe instinctively lay motionless. The animal was a dog; there was no doubt about that. The lad knew that as long as he remained quiet he would be unmolested.