"Cave in!" shouted Joe Hardy. He glanced at Frank and Biff, who, like him, were lying helplessly on the floor of the cavern. All three were still bound hand and foot by heavy ropes. Suddenly, everyone around them began coughing uncontrollably as they all began to gasp for air.

"Get those boys out of here!" the police sergeant shouted. Without taking time to untie the three young sleuths, several officers rushed over, scooped them up in their arms and carried them up the stairs into the fresh air, moments before the tunnel leading out of the cavern collapsed.

"Leaping lizards!" exclaimed Jerry. "Are you all right?"

"We’re fine," Frank managed to stop coughing long enough to reply. "But Buckle and Pepper are getting away!"

As Frank said this, the police sergeant walked over to him with a solemn look upon his face. "I’m afraid it’s all over for them. They never made it out of there."

"Sir!" Frank tried to speak up, but the sergeant wouldn’t allow him. The officer removed his hat and motioned for his men to do the same. "Let’s have a moment of silence for the two that didn’t make it."

"They’re acting as though they’re honoring a couple of heroes!" Biff leaned over and remarked in a whisper.

"And it’s not necessary!" replied Frank. "While they’re just standing around, Garth Buckle and Black Pepper are getting away!"

"But," Chet spoke up, "They never made it out of the cave in."

"The entire cavern collapsed," added Jerry. "Just as you were dragged out of the opening."

"We’re aware of that," retorted Joe. "But the passage that they slipped down led to another flight of stairs."

"What?" asked the police sergeant, who was eavesdropping on the conversation. "Another exit!" He then turned to the remaining officers who weren't escorting the prisoners back to jail in their squad cars. "Scour the woods and don’t leave a stone unturned!" The police then rushed off, leaving the young sleuths behind.

"Hey," Jerry turned to Chet. "Let’s not miss out on the chase!"

"I’m for that!" replied the plump lad as they took off behind the police officers, leaving Frank, Joe and Biff behind.

"They won’t get away now!" Joe Hardy shouted in triumph.

"It does look as though this adventure is about to come to an end," Frank replied, less enthusiastically.

"Garth Buckle and Black Pepper have reached the end of their ropes," added Biff, with the same look of despair as the older Hardy boy.

Suddenly noticing the expressions of gloom on the faces of his comrades, Joe asked, "What gives? I thought you guys would be more excited than this!"

"Can’t you guess?" retorted Biff.

Frank shook his head in disgust as he said, "Joseph, Buckle and Pepper may have reached the end of their ropes, but we haven’t!"

The younger Hardy sat confused for a moment until he glanced down at his hands and feet. They were still tied up! Then, in spite of himself, he howled with laughter. "In all of the excitement, I forgot all about that!"

"Apparently you weren’t the only one," retorted Biff. "Because no one else made any attempt to turn us loose."

With no other choice, the three young sleuths had to wait for someone to return and free them. So they waited and waited, until finally, when it seemed that no one was ever coming, two familiar figures came running up beside them.

"Sorry about that!" Chet Morton replied with a look of slight embarrassment.

"It was all of the excitement!" added Jerry Gilroy.

"What’s been going on?" inquired Frank, as the newcomers began working on their bonds. "You’ve been gone for almost two hours!"

"The police have been searching the woods from top to bottom," replied Jerry. "But they haven’t found a trace of Buckle or Pepper."

"That’s better!" Joe rubbed his newly freed wrists. He then stood up and walked around, trying to get the stiffness out of his legs.

"I don’t think that I could have sat there another minute!" Biff Hooper remarked as he performed a couple of deep knee bends.

"Same here!" added Frank Hardy.

"I wonder where those scoundrels could have gone," wondered Biff. "They couldn’t have just disappeared."

"I’ve got an idea," Frank stated, as he began walking over the area directly above the underground cavern. "That passage seemed to head in this direction." He pointed his finger in the direction of the old inn.

"That’s right!" Joe was quick to agree. "That means…" Before he could finish his sentence, he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a woman screaming. It sounded as though it was coming from the kitchen of the old inn.

Without saying a word, the young sleuths made a mad dash towards The Thirty Year Porch. When the kitchen door was swung open, the boys beheld the spectacle of both Mrs. Laura Hardy and Miss Gertrude Hardy standing over the prone figures of Black Jack Pepper and Garth Buckle. Each lady held an iron skillet in her hand.

"Mom! Aunt Gertrude!" exclaimed Frank, as Joe let out a whoop.

Just then, three police officers came rushing into room. "Can you beat that?" the sergeant laughed, as he pointed towards the sink. "Somebody throw some water on them!"

As the two notorious outlaws began to revive, Buckle suddenly began shouting like a mad man as he pointed towards Gertrude Hardy. "Get me away from her! She’s dangerous!"

"Glad to!" the sergeant laughed, as he ordered his officers to take the two brutes away.

After the police had gone, the two ladies related the story of how they had come to capture the two culprits. "We were preparing lunch and I had to get something out of the pantry," said Laura.

"When she opened the door, there stood those two scoundrels!" Gertrude took up the story. "We grabbed the first thing that we could find." She proudly held up her iron skillet and waved it above her head. "And we really let them have it!"

Later on it was discovered that the underground cavern was once been a root cellar with a tunnel that connected it to the pantry in the kitchen. It had been many years since it was last used, so no one knew about it being there. Not even the old couple that owned the place remembered it being there.

After receiving their reward money, which amounted to a very large sum, the Hardy Boys divided it seven ways with their friends and family. Even after the split, Frank and Joe still ended up receiving more money on that one case than on any of their previous ones.

Even though they were only a few hundred miles from home, the two Hardys ladies took a small part of their money and chartered a plane to fly them home.

Frank and Joe, along with their friends, decided to stay at the inn for one more night and give the anxious crowd a farewell performance. The next day, they drove their cars back to the Advantage Falls Livery Stables. They rented the same horses as before and rode back to camp, where they able to enjoy seven uninterrupted days of camping, hiking and fishing.

A couple of days after the Hardys ladies had returned home, Fenton Hardy also returned from his latest mission.

"It’s about time!" Gertrude Hardy peered at the senior detective over the rim of her glasses.

"I’m sorry," he smiled at his sister. "I’ll try to see to it that it never happens again."

"I’ll believe that when pigs fly!" she huffed.

Turning towards his wife, he asked, "Did I get any messages?"

Laura exchanged a knowing glance with Gertrude and handed Fenton the message from Pretzel Pete.

"What!" Fenton exclaimed as he jumped out of his chair. "Black Pepper! Advantage Falls! I’ve got to get out there!" As Fenton tried to rush towards the front door, Laura and Gertrude each grabbed hold of his shirt collar and held him back.

"Don’t worry about it," Laura smiled, sweetly.

"But," Fenton protested, "The boys!"

As Mr. Hardy began expressing his great concern for the safety of his sons, Gertrude reached over and picked up a newspaper lying on a table next to his chair. Then, in a gruff manner, she told Fenton to read it.

"I don’t have time for that!" He protested. "I…"

He cut his sentence short as he spotted the picture of Gertrude and Laura Hardy, both still holding their iron skillets, as the police were taking Buckle and Pepper away.

"How?" Fenton muttered, as he suddenly dropped back down in his chair. He was at a loss of words from being surprised, shocked and proud all at the same time.