They got right after the damaged
airship, and reached her just as the men were hiding the goods, and
preparing to dismantle the craft. We have them all, thanks to you,
Tom!"

"And to think that the Fogers were in it all the while!" remarked
Tom. "They certainly fooled us."

"I'm not done with them yet," said Mr. Whitford. "I'm going to have
another look at their house, and the gardener's home."

"The Fogers were in dire straits, that's why they went in with the
smugglers," explained Ned. "Though they gagged me, they didn't stop
up my ears, and when they hid me in a little room on the airship, I
could hear them talking together. It seems that the smugglers put up
the money to buy the airships, and just happened to stumble on Andy
to run the machinery for them. His father helped, too. They shared
in the proceeds, and they must have made considerable, for the
smuggling has been going on for some time."

"Well, they'll lose all they made," declared the agent. Later he,
Tom and Ned made another inspection of the Foger premises. Down in
the cellar of the gardener's house they found, behind a cunningly
concealed door, a tunnel leading into the old mansion. Later it was
learned that the smugglers had been in the habit of bringing goods
across the border in airships, landing them in a lonely stretch of
woods outside of Shopton, and later bringing them by wagon to the
mansion.

Inside there, in some secret rooms that had been constructed off of
the main apartments, the goods would be unpacked, put in different
boxes, carried through the tunnel to the gardener's house, and
thence shipped as "old furniture" to various unscrupulous agents who
disposed of them.

The hiring of Mr. Dillon had been only a blind. Later the smugglers,
in the guise of carpenters, made the desired changes. So cunningly
had the opening of the tunnel in the cellar of the gardener's house
been concealed, that it was only discovered after a most careful
search.

There is little more to tell. With the capture of the two airships,
an end was put to the smuggling operations, especially since nearly
all the gang was captured. A few, those who brought the goods up the
St. Lawrence, from the ocean steamers, managed to escape, but they
had to go into hiding.

The goods captured proved very valuable, and partly made up to Uncle
Sam's treasury the losses sustained. Tom was offered a big reward,
but would not take it, accepting only money for his expenses, an