SMUGGLERS CAVE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 224, 21 September 1932, Page 14

SMUGGLERS CAVE.

(See this week's Competition.) They say that smugglers do not exist in New Zealand, but this is not strictly correct. Tommy Dare found that out during his last Christmas holidays, which were spent at his grandfather's seaside bach. No place could be quite so interesting for a boy as the bay in which the little two-roomed cottage was situated; it was completely enclosed, and little frequented by picnickers, whilst around the shores were huge rocks, with here and there a cave running back into the cliffs. In the pools tiny fish lived among the seaweed, and crabs sidled sideways in search of a meal. Banger, the half-grown Alsatian, had a great dislike for crabs.. One would suspect that his inquisitive nose had been seized at some time or another by the powerful nippers of a crab on the defensive; certainly the dog was at war with the whole genus of crabs, and was always warily trying to get the better of some member of the enemy forces. These quests for crabs often took the dog far from his master.

On the day of which I write, Ranger was somewhere along. the beach pursuing his natural enemies, whilst TommyDare poked here and there among the pools, searching for specimens of sheik and seaweed to add to his collection. Behind a shoulder of rock the boy found much that interested him, and for half an hour he knelt with head bent studying life in the deep, water-filled hole in the stone. It was during this time that a launch dropped anchor in the bay, and a dinghy containing five men and a number of packages wrapped in water-proof silk, started for the shore. "All's clear on the beach," said one of the occupants of the boat. "We can land the stuff at the cave right away." Bare feet make little noise, and so Tommy Dare was not aware of the approach of the party from the boat until he heard voices. From behind the pillar of rock the boy could not see the men, and he was completely hidden from their sight. Thinking that no one was about, the five from the launch spoke unreservedly. "Parkins will pick up the stuff at midnight," one said. "I guess that we will clear a thousand pounds from this little haul." Dare was amazed at the words. Surely they were not spoken by picnickers. "There'll be another batch -arriving next Monday," another voice said. "It will be marked with a red buoy, and we shall pick it up at daybreak." At these words Tommy became on the alert. In a flash enlightenment dawned upon him.. He had heard his grandfather say that, according to the papers, there was a big illegal demand for drugs in the country, and'he did not doubt that the men to whom he was listening were engaged in smuggling narcotics irito the Dominion. Their means of operation was easily understood. A confederate would smuggle the goods on board a New Zealand-bound ship, and on the last night of the voyage he would attach the drugs to a buoy and throw it overboard, to be recovered shortly afterwards by the launch. The contraband would then be conveyed to the cave to be called for by'a car, which would carry it' to a market. Tommy Dare felt that he must learn more about the smugglers and their, plans. Perhaps he would be able to lead a police party to arrest these drug traffickers.. Cautiously he crept forward and peered round the column of rock. A loose stone, however, was his undoing, for, disturbed by the boy's foot, it rolled down the slope, attracting the attention of the smugglers. One, looking up sharply, saw the boy peeping from behind the rock and immediately gave the alarm. Before Tommy Dare had a chance to escape two 6trong arms had seized him and,held him fast. What could the boy do? The beach was deserted; he could expect no help from there. Parting hie lips, Tommy let a whistle loose before a hand was clapped over his mouth, stifling all sound.

With a brawny smuggler on each side of him Tommy Dare was led deep into the blackness of a large cave.