The Number File by Franklin W. Dixon

sitting. She probably took the gun."
    "Great. Now who's going to rescue who?" Joe muttered. "We've got to get out of here. I hope Alicia doesn't try anything foolish."
    "Maybe she can get the drop on them."
    "And maybe not." Joe's voice was grim.
    Frank hurried over to the door and tried the handle. "It's open!" He peered out, then stuck his head back in and closed the door. "There's no place to hide between here and the upper deck. If we get spotted, we're done for. Unless we get a gun."
    Joe shook his head. "I'm sure they're not going to send Alicia down here with hers! They didn't bring us anything to eat yesterday, so I doubt they'll come this morning—except to dispose of us."
    "Then we have to coax someone down here," Frank suggested. "If we make a commotion — "
    "And then one of us hides behind the door and bops them when they come in? I don't think so. That's a good way to get shot. No one's going to open that door more than an inch until they see us still tied up on the other side of the room."
    "I have an idea," Frank said. "Help me get that light bulb down." Frank clasped his hands together to give him a foot up. Joe unhooked a spool of wire that was hung over a nail in one of the beams.
    "What are you going to do with a light bulb?" Joe asked.
    "Not the bulb—the wire. The cord is long enough to stretch from the wall outlet to the door. If we remove the wires from the socket and attach them to the inside metal doorknob and plug it in, anyone touching the outside knob will get a shock."
    "But it won't be enough to knock anyone out," Joe pointed out.
    "The ship is two-twenty volts, and that should stun him long enough for us to make a move. We just have to hope that only one guy comes down."
    Joe was still not convinced. "And what'll we use to cut the wires?"
    "I still have my watch. I can smash the crystal, and use the broken glass." Frank unbuckled his watch strap and rammed the watch face against the deck until the glass cover cracked. He picked up a large piece and held it.
    "Sounds good'—except for one thing: once we start working on this, we'll have no light. It'll be pitch-black in here."
    "Can't have things too easy," Frank said. "Now get your bearings — remember where everything is. Ready?" He pulled the plug, and the room was plunged into darkness.
    A half hour later, at eight-thirty A.M., the men could hear a faint banging sound coming from the hold.
    "Gus, check our guests," Del ordered. "If they've gotten loose, knock them out! I've had enough of those two."
    "All right." Gus walked below to the room that held the two captives. He pulled his gun and started to turn the doorknob.
    "Now!" Joe whispered.
    Frank was ready. He pushed the wire into the socket, and the Hardys heard a muffled shriek followed by the sound of Gus hitting the deck.
    Gus had been prepared for what the brothers might have tried after he got into the room, but he never expected anything before he even got the door open. Joe sprang into action, jerking the cord free, swinging open the door, and throwing a fist into Gus's jaw almost in one move. The shot to the mouth kept the muscle-bound thug from shouting out.
    Frank was in the doorway now, and with one karate chop to the back of Gus's neck, Gus slumped to the floor.
    "We've got to work fast, before they decide he's been gone too long," Frank advised. He dragged the body into the darkened room while Joe picked up some of the rope that had been used to tie them. He fashioned a gag out of part of Gus's shirt, and in no time the thug was bound so securely it would take machetes to cut him free. "Now, those are sailor's knots!" Frank said to the still-unconscious Gus.
    Joe picked up Gus's gun from the passageway. "Let's do it," he said to Frank.
    The two brothers sneaked along the passageway and up the stairs onto the main deck. They tiptoed past the captain's cabin, checking to see if it was occupied.
    "They're probably all in the pilothouse," Frank whispered.
    "There's only two