"They’re gone!" gasped Frank, after he and Joe had made a quick search of the grounds.

"I knew it!" Miss Gertrude Hardy raved. "Those scoundrels have kidnapped them and now there’s no telling where they’re at! Who knows, those beasts could be skulking around in these very woods right now, just waiting to jump out and take us all captive. Why did I come? I could be in Bayport right now, relaxing in the comfort of my brother’s lovely home. Instead, I’m in the middle of nowhere just standing around waiting to be kidnapped. As for those poor boys, mark my words, we’ll never see them again!"

"I’m sure it’s not that bad. Is it, boys?" replied Mrs. Hardy, soothingly.

"That’s right," Frank spoke up. "It’s not as bad as it seems. Biff and Jerry are both excellent athletes, and Chet can take care of himself when push comes to shove."

After saying this, Frank and Joe exchanged a worried glance. They both realized that they were dealing with desperate criminals who would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. However, neither boy said a word, as they didn’t want to alarm their mother or their aunt any more than they already were. Pulling Joe to the side, Frank began to whisper to his younger brother, "I think you should go into town, and take Mother and Aunt Gertrude with you. I’ve decided that I’m going to stay here."

Miss Hardy, who had quietly slipped up behind her nephews, suddenly leaned her face in between theirs. "And just what do you plan on doing while we’re gone, young man?"

"You heard me?" gasped Frank.

Aunt Gertrude peered over the rim of her glasses. "I’m old, I’m not deaf!" she huffed. "You’re planning on going after those escaped convicts, aren’t you?"

"I’m sure he wouldn’t do anything as foolhardy as that," Mrs. Hardy suddenly spoke up in defense of her eldest son. "Would you, Frank?" She starred directly into his eyes.

"Uh…." The youth tried to reply, but he was at a loss for words.

"You boys are just like your father," Gertrude huffed. "You’re always sticking you’re necks out asking for trouble!"

Frank glanced at his brother and pleaded for help with he his eyes.

"He only plans to find out where the gang’s hideout is," Joe spoke up. "He’ll wait until I return with the police before he does anything dangerous."

"Is that before or after he gets knocked unconscious?" Miss Hardy huffed. "By the time you could possibly get to town and back with the authorities, it will be well after dark. How do you plan on finding Frank?"

Without saying a word, Joe walked over to his horse and reached in the saddlebag tied on it’s back. He then held up a strange metal object shaped somewhat like a gun. "I knew this would come in handy," he grinned.

"It’s a flare gun," explained Frank. "It shoots a giant firework into the air. It should be able to be seen from miles away."

"Laura!" huffed Gertrude. "What are we going to do with these two?"

"Well I suppose they know what they’re doing." Mrs. Hardy smiled nervously. Even though she had faith in her sons, she couldn’t help but worry too. "This isn’t the first time they’ve done anything like this, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Like I said, they know what they’re doing." Then, she looked away and mumbled to herself, "At least, I hope they do."

After a little more discussion, Joe and the two Hardy ladies finally left camp and headed back for town. When they had gone, Frank gave the area a more thorough search. Down by the stream he found evidence of a violent struggle.

"It’s looks like there was quite a ruckus here," he remarked. Looking off towards the west, he spotted tracks leading into the woods. The earth was still soft from the recent rain, and the hoof prints made by the pack mules and Chet’s horse were clearly visible. There were also several prints made by human shoes. "That’s funny," he thought to himself. "That must have been them, but that’s not the way we went yesterday when Black Pepper and his gang tried to bury us alive in that avalanche."

Leaving his horse behind, Frank struck off through the woods. He made sure to stay well hidden behind as many trees and bushes that he could, in case those men were watching for him. Frank had been traveling down the path for about an hour, when he suddenly heard something moving in the brush ahead of him. Without making a noise, he dropped down on his hands and knees. He then started crawling towards the source of the noise. Moments later, he was directly behind the clump of bushes. Next, he positioned himself in a way so that he could leap out on the prowler and throw them to the ground in a flying tackle. Fortunately for Frank, the prowler crawled out of the bushes before he could attack.

"Hey there little buddy!" He gulped as he suddenly realized he was staring eye to eye with the same skunk that had Chet Morton up a tree earlier. Immediately the young lad backed slowly away, until he was well out of the skunk’s range. He then threw caution to the wind and took off at a full run down the beaten path. About a quarter of a mile later, he began to slow down and then eventually came to a stop. "I guess that’s far enough," he panted, as he looked around him. "I just hope no one heard me."

After resting a few minutes, he started walking back down the path, searching for his missing friends.

While Frank was on the trail, Chet was busy mulling over the events that lead up to how the Bayport trio had come to be kidnapped that morning. Although, as he put it when asked about their experience later, "We didn’t come to get kidnapped - we came here to fish!"

After the Hardys had left for town, Biff Hooper and Jerry Gilroy began to question the prisoner.

"What is your name?" asked Jerry.

"I don’t think we’re getting anywhere," Biff spoke up. "I think he’s afraid of Black Pepper."

"That’s silly!" replied Chet. "Black pepper is no more dangerous than red pepper or salt!"

Ignoring the plump youth, the prisoner once again glared his eyes at the mention of Black Pepper.

Suddenly Chet, whom had just been sent down to the stream to refill their canteens, started screaming in terror. The other two lads whirled around just in time to see their friend being attacked by two men. Chet was putting up a good fight, but it was plain to see that the two men were too much for him and he would soon be overpowered. Without saying a word, they both ran to his aid. Each boy grabbed a thug and jerking him off of Chet.

The man Biff had hold of suddenly swung around and threw at left jab at Biff’s face, but thinking fast, Biff blocked his punch and countered with a right cross. This was followed by a series of other punches. Jerry on the other hand was not fairing as well. He was being held in a headlock.

Chet, who had been a little stunned, suddenly rejoined the fight. He noticed that Biff had the situation under control, so he figured it was best that he help Jerry. Glancing around, he spotted a tree limb lying on the ground. He grabbed it up and swung it like a baseball bat. The limb struck the thug on the back of his head with a resounding crack! Releasing his hold on Jerry, he crumpled to the ground.

Just when it seemed the fight would soon be over and the boys would be declared the winners, Black Jack Pepper suddenly appeared from behind a large bush. He held a revolver in his hand. Aiming it towards the sky, he fired two shots. "That’s enough!" he shouted.

Everyone froze as soon as they heard the shots. "Tie them up!" Black Pepper ordered his two cronies.

"You can’t get away with this!" Biff shouted. "They’ll catch up with you, Pepper!"

Suddenly, a shocked looked came over the villainous face of the master criminal. Then he glanced towards the imprisoned gang member. "Did he tell you my name?" he asked Biff.

"Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t," retorted Biff, defiantly.

"Forget it!" Jack shouted. "I’ll find out everything you know soon enough."

"What about Louie?" The man with the splitting headache suddenly stood to his feet.

"I’ll untie him," replied Pepper. "Just make sure to blindfold these kids and gag them!" He then sneered as glanced at the lads. "It’s too bad you couldn’t have finished that fight." He paused to cackle manically. "I would have put good money on it. I dare to say you would have definitely been the victors!"

"Where do you plan on taking us?" asked Jerry, just before the gag was placed in his mouth.

The outlaw sneered fiendishly and replied, "You’ll find out!"

After untying Louie, Black Pepper ransacked the boys’ camp. He took most of their supplies and their animals. He then started them down the trail towards his gang’s hideout, pushing and prodding the boys the whole way.

*****

About two hours after their abduction, Biff, Chet, and Jerry found themselves in an old abandoned cabin, somewhere in the middle of the great wilderness area known as Advantage Falls.

"There’s no use in trying to struggle," Black Pepper snarled at the young prisoners. Each boy had been securely tied with large ropes to old-fashioned wooden straight chairs. He then glanced at the two men who had attacked Chet by the stream. "Where’s Louie?" He referred to the man that had once been the Hardys prisoner.

"He’s up at Eagle Rock keeping a look out," replied one of the men.

Black Pepper glanced suspiciously at Chet Morton, who had not said one word this whole time. "What’s the matter with you?" he asked. "Don’t you talk?"

Chet stared blankly into the cruel man’s face as if he didn’t understand a word that he had said.

"Hey!" Black Pepper shouted as leaned over the plump youth. "I’m talking to you!"

Chet continued to stare at the man with a puzzled expression on his face. Then in mock broken English he uttered, "I… am… sorry… But… I… dough… nut… speak… Eng…leash."

Biff and Jerry gave each other a quick glance. "What was Chet up to?" they thought to themselves.

"What!" shouted the irate outlaw. "Don’t give me that!"

"It’s true," Jerry spoke up, deciding to play along. "Isn’t that right, Biff?"

"Uh… yeah," Biff stuttered for a moment before saying, "He’s a foreign exchange student from…" He paused and looked at the other boy, because he didn’t know what to say next.

Chet then spoke up, providing them with an answer, "Parlez-vous français?" he barely managed to sputter. Chet had never studied French in his life and the way he pronounced it made it sound more like this "Pare liz vow us france is?"

"Paris!" Biff blurted out. "That’s it, he’s from Paris!"

"Is that right?" asked Black Pepper, in disbelief. He smiled at Chet as he shouted, "Hey fatso!"

Chet didn’t change his expression as Black Pepper continued to taunt him. "Hey kid. I wouldn’t say you were fat but when you sit around the house, you really sit around the house!" the unscrupulous man continued.

After a couple more minutes of this continued verbal abuse, Black Pepper finally gave up. "Come on," he spoke to one of the men. "We’ve got work to do." Looking at the other man he said, "Get our packs and come on."

The gang leader and the first man walked out the door, leaving the second man to gather their belongings which were stacked in a corner of the large room.

"I’ll be back in a minute," he remarked as he started towards the door. Leaning next to Chet he shouted, "I’ll be back in a minute!" The young lad immediately had a look of extreme pain on his face as his ears began to ring.

"He’s not deaf," Jerry spoke up. "There’s no need to shout."

"Oh all right," replied the slightly embarrassed man. He then turned walked on towards the door. "So long kids!"

"Adios amigo!" Chet called out.

Immediately the man whirled around, "I thought you said he was from Paris!"

"Uh… We did…. He is…" Biff began to fidget in his chair nervously.

"Then why did he just speak Spanish?" retorted the thug.

Jerry suddenly took on an air of confidence and began to blurt out the first thing that came into his mind. "That wasn’t Spanish. Most people make that mistake, but that was French."

Luckily the criminal was not very bright, and Jerry did look like he knew what he was talking about, so the dimwitted thief actually believed him. "I didn’t know that, I always thought it was Spanish," he remarked.

"Most people make that mistake," repeated Biff.

Suddenly the villain reached over pulled a chair and sat down next to the boys. He had obviously become interested in what they had to say. "How do you say mistake in French?"

Biff and Jerry both stared blankly at each other for a moment, they had both taken Spanish in school as a second language, but they had to admit that never of them knew much about the French language. Jerry leaned his face over next to Chet’s and mumbled something to him in a whisper.

Chet acted as though he could understand everything he was saying and blurted out, "Venezuela!" Jerry blinked his eyes a few times and gave the plump lad a rather shocked look.

"Venezuela, eh?" The crooked man stood up and walked out the door. As he pulled it closed behind himself, he was heard to say: "You learn something new everyday!"

As soon as they were sure the man was out of hearing range, Biff and Jerry bombarded Chet with questions. "What was that all about?"

"It just dawned on me," his round moon face began to beam with pride. "None of these men had heard me speak actual words, so I thought if they didn’t know I could speak English they might say something in front of me that we could use against them later."

Biff and Jerry both saw the logic in this. "You’ve been hanging around Frank and Joe so long that they’re starting to rub off on you!" remarked Jerry Gilroy.

"Although you almost blew it with that ‘adios amigos’ and the ‘Venezuela’ bit." Biff added with a slight grin. "Just what are you going to do if one of those men actually know French and start asking you questions?"

"Are you kidding me?" retorted Chet. "Those clowns can barely speak this language!"

Realizing they couldn’t do anything else, the three boys decided to sit and wait. A half of an hour passed and the men that imprisoned them there still hadn’t returned.

"Do you think they’re coming back?" asked Biff.

"I honestly don’t think they are," replied Jerry. "They wouldn’t have taken all of their stuff if they planned on coming back."

"That’s all I wanted to know," replied the muscular youth, as he started struggling with his ropes.

"What are you doing?" asked Chet.

"I’m playing dominos!" replied Biff, sarcastically. "I’m trying to get out of these ropes!"

The rotund youth glanced towards the window across the room. "Well you better hurry up, because there is a possibility that those men could still come back here. They could decide to come back and make sure they didn’t forget anything."

Biff struggled with the confining ropes for fifteen minutes, until he finally managed to get one hand free. After that, it didn’t take him long to undo the rest of his ropes and untie the others.

"Chet, you’re not the only one who’s learned from the Hardys," boasted Biff, as the others let out a whoop of joy. "I remember them talking about tensing the muscles and expanding the chest when being tied up. That way the ropes are easier to untie and they just about fall off of you when you exhale."

Just as the three boys were beginning to relax a bit, a strange noise was heard just outside the cabin door. It sounded as if someone was coming towards them at a rapid pace. "They’re coming back!" Chet gasped.

"Quick, everybody hide!" Biff shouted as they scrambled into various hiding places in the old dilapidated shack.

Meanwhile, as Biff and the others were preparing for the return of those unscrupulous men, Frank Hardy was just about reaching the point of exhaustion. He had kept up a steady pace the whole time, and there were many steep hills and hollows that he had to cross in his struggle to rescue his chums. Many times he lost the trail and to go back great distances until he found it again. Just when Frank was beginning to think he’d never see his friends again, he came across a small clearing in the woods. He had to blink his eyes several times, because sitting in the middle of nowhere was an old, dilapidated shack.

"That’s Chet’s horse!" he exclaimed, as he slowly began to move forwards. "I don’t think anyone’s here," he thought to himself after he had circled the woods surrounding the cabin three or four times.

"I might as well have a look inside." He increased his pace and headed towards the front door of the cabin. Once he was on the front porch, he gazed into the large room through the small window next to the door. All he could see were a few pieces of furniture. "I don’t see anyone at all," he remarked casually as he took hold of the doorknob and slowly turned it to the right.