The Hardy Boys Look for Smugglers 
	Author:  Beowulf 
	Fandom:  Hardy Boys (as in the novels by Frank Dixon, not as in the television show) 
	Pairing:  Frank Hardy / Joe Hardy (but just barely) 
	Rating:   R to be on the safe side 
	Summary:   The boys have a who-can-shoot-the-furthest contest.  The story 
	happens during the novel "The House on the Cliff".  The boys are on the lookout 
	for smugglers, and they get an idea of how to pass the time. 
	Email:   cliff@icom.ca 

	Disclaimer:   The Hardy Boys characters belong to someone.  The copyright on my 
	book is 70+ years old, but I'm sure someone has renewed it by now.  This is a 
	little bit of fanfic fun.  Nothing terrible is implied.  Don't sue me.  I have 
	nothing but my viking horns and a keg of fermented grog.
 
	--- 

	Joe Hardy, seventeen-year-old fair-haired younger brother of the Hardy sons, 
	shut off his motorcycle and dismounted.  His brother Frank, older by a year, 
	dark-haired and taller, pulled his motorcycle up just in front of Joe's and shut 
	it off. 

	Now that the racket of the engines was silenced, Joe was able to say, "I've 
	never seen a powerful telescope in operation.  How far away can you see with 
	this thing?" 

	"It all depends on weather conditions," Frank said.  "Dad said that on a clear 
	day you can make out human figures at distances of twenty-four miles." 

	"Wow!" Joe exclaimed.  "We ought to be able to find those smugglers easily." 

	"I wouldn't say so," Frank said.  "Smugglers have the same kind of boats as 
	everybody else.  We'll have to watch carefully." 

	Their father, Fenton Hardy, a famous private investigator, had asked his sons to 
	keep a lookout for possible smuggling activity in Bayport Bay.  He'd lent them a 
	powerful telescope and suggested that the best place to set up would be at an 
	old, abandoned house once owned by a family called Pollitt.  The house had been 
	built on a tall cliff and overlooked the entire bay.  After a big lunch of 
	chicken salad sandwiches and apple pie, the Hardy brothers set out for the 
	house, the telescope in Frank's motorcycle bag, and a snack of more sandwiches 
	and pie in the bag on Joe's motorcycle.  The boys planned to look for smugglers 
	until it became too dark to see, a good stretch of eight or nine hours. 

	Mr. Hardy had warned his sons that stake-out work could be tedious, but Frank 
	and Joe wanted to do it anyway.  When they grew up, they wished to be detectives 
	like their father, and knew they had to 'pay their dues'. 

	Frank paused while setting up the telescope to glance at the old Pollitt house.  
	"This place sure looks neglected," he remarked. 

	The house was in need of repair.  Built of wood, it had several sagging shutters 
	and the paint was flaking badly.  Dank, tall grass grew beneath the towering 
	trees.  Weeds and bushes threatened to engulf the whole building. 

	"Creepy, if you ask me," Joe said as he helped his brother set the telescope on 
	its tripod.  Then he watched in fascination as Frank pulled out the eye sections 
	of the scope and began screwing balance weights a few inches away from the 
	eyepiece. 

	As Frank inserted the lenses, Joe felt a jolt of envy.  There was only a year 
	difference in the boys, but it seemed as though Frank got to do everything first 
	and everything fun.  He got to set up the telescope, he got the use of the 
	family car when he had a date, and he was called the man of the house by their 
	mother when their father was away on a business trip.  Joe didn't think he would 
	ever catch up.  Even this afternoon, when their father gave them this 
	assignment, he automatically handed the telescope to Frank, not even bothering 
	to ask if perhaps Joe might like to be the one to carry it. 

	And now that the telescope was set up, Frank was the one who got to use it 
	first. 

	Joe sighed as Frank slowly swung the scope from left to right as he looked 
	across the water. 

	"Not a boat in sight," Frank said, disappointed.  He was about to give Joe a 
	turn when he suddenly said, "Wait!  I see something!" 

	He now began a running account of the scene he had just picked up.  "It's not 
	very clear, but I see a boat.  Must be at least six miles out." 

	"What kind of boat?" Joe asked, squinting as he looked across the bay. 

	Frank sighed in disappointment.  "It's just a cruiser." 

	"How can you tell?" 

	"There are women on board.  I don't think the smugglers that dad is looking for 
	are women." 

	"Women can be smugglers too," Joe said, when he finally got his turn.  When he 
	caught sight of the women on the boat, he realized why Frank had made the 
	comment.  These women had no place in which to hide any sort of smuggled goods.  
	There were three of them, sunning themselves on the deck in two-piece bathing 
	suits (the kind of suit that their mother said was _not_ worn by nice girls.)  
	As Joe watched, one of the women began applying suntan lotion up and down her 
	long legs. 

	Flushing slightly, he turned the telescope out towards the water and began 
	diligently looking for other boats. 

	The afternoon waned on.  More boats appeared around the supper hour, fishermen 
	mostly, coming in from their day's work.  Cruisers, cutters, and a few yachts 
	also went by, going at a pleasant pace from the docks out towards the deeper 
	water.  Every so often, the boys would catch sight of women on the decks, women 
	in shorts and tee-shirts, or in one-piece bathing suits, occasionally fishing 
	over the side themselves.  Once Joe caught sight of a woman taking off a wet 
	suit after coming back on deck from a dive.  He found himself rather fascinated 
	by the sight, even though he knew, down deep, he shouldn't be watching. 
	Look for smugglers, he told himself firmly, focusing back out on the water, but 
	the telescope drifted back to the boat as if under its own power.  The woman was 
	shimmying out of the last of her diving suit.  She stood and Joe saw that she 
	wasn't wearing anything underneath. 

	"Gee whiz!" he exclaimed, giving a low whistle. 

	"A smuggler?"  Frank jumped up from where he'd been lounging on the grass. 

	"No.  Gosh, it's just a nice yacht," Joe tried, but Frank was at the telescope.  
	Joe saw his brother frown, then look curiously at him. 

	"A nice yacht, but not a nice girl," he said. 

	"Well, she wouldn't think anyone would be looking at her through a telescope.  
	She might think she's safe from prying eyes there," Joe said. 

	"We'd better not tell dad about this," Frank said as he bent back down to the 
	eyepiece. 

	Great! Joe thought.  Frank gets to have all the fun again. 

	As if reading his brother's thoughts, Frank gave Joe a somewhat sheepish look 
	and said, "Do you want to, um, look for smugglers too?  We can take turns and 
	all." 

	Joe blushed as he looked through the eyepiece. 

	"That's a swell boat, isn't it?" Frank said. 

	"Boy, is it ever!" Joe exclaimed.  The woman was stretched out on a deck chair 
	now, still completely nude.  One of her hands brushed lazily down her chest as 
	if brushing off some dust. 

	Frank nudged him and Joe obediently moved aside.  As his brother bent over the 
	eyepiece, Joe gave his trousers a discreet tug.  They were feeling tight in the 
	front. 

	"Someone's done a neat paint job on that boat," Frank said, his voice catching 
	slightly.  Joe noticed that he was shuffling his feet a bit. 

	"I'll bet Callie would like a ride on a swell boat like that," Joe commented.  

	Callie was a girl that Frank often dated.  Out of all the girls in his class, 
	Frank liked Callie best, but she was, as their mother would put it, a _nice_ 
	girl.  Joe doubted his brother enjoyed more than a chaste goodnight kiss on his 
	dates. 

	A chaste kiss was more than he was getting, however.  Joe didn't even have a 
	girlfriend yet. 

	"I don't know if Callie likes...boats," Frank mumbled.  He pulled away to let 
	Joe have a turn. 

	The woman was rubbing oil on herself now.  She squirted some out of a bottle, 
	then rubbed it up over her breasts.  Joe gulped as she put more oil in her palm 
	and stroked her nipples.  He didn't know if it was a play of the light or 
	something in the lens of the telescope, but it looked as if her nipples were 
	getting bigger as she touched them. 

	When Joe stood back to let Frank have a turn, the uncomfortable bulge in his 
	trousers was evident.  Frank gave Joe a sideways glance before bending to the 
	telescope. 

	A moment later, he said, "Good night!  She's going inside!" 

	"What?"  Joe glanced through the eyepiece as Frank stepped glumly away. 
	It was true.  The woman had gone down below. 

	"Maybe she put on too much suntan oil and needs a shower," Joe suggested. 
	His reply was a grunt. 

	"We should be looking for smugglers," he added. 

	"Of course," Frank said guiltily.  "And that's what we've been doing all 
	afternoon...if anyone should ask." 

	The boys tried to set themselves diligently at that task, but Joe's thoughts 
	kept wandering back to the woman.  He'd never seen a naked girl before.  The 
	most he'd seen had been a black and white postcard the boys had found in their 
	father's workshop one Saturday afternoon.  The postcard was in a dispatch box, 
	and the brothers found it accidentally while looking for something else.  The 
	woman was wearing a slip, but her breasts were uncovered.  The boys had stared 
	at the picture for quite a long time before a noise nearly caused them to wet 
	their pants in fright.  Sweating a torrent, they stuffed the postcard back in 
	the box and hurriedly set about putting the workshop back to rights, before 
	discovering that the noise had only been a neighbour's cat outside the window. 
	Frank interrupted Joe's reverie when he abruptly gave up on the telescope and 
	flopped onto the grass beside his brother.  He eyed Joe surreptitiously, his 
	eyes going down to the younger brother's trousers.  Then he cleared his throat. 
	"It's not going to be so easy getting home." 

	"Why?" Joe asked, fully aware of his brother's scrutiny, but trying to act as if 
	he hadn't noticed. 

	"Well, riding our motorcycles like this."  Frank shot a pointed look at Joe's 
	pants, then at his own.  "Then, too, to get home and know that mom's there." 

	Joe felt himself start to sweat, the way he had in his father's workshop. 

	"There's a way to fix the matter in a jiffy," Frank continued haltingly. 

	Joe knew where his brother was headed on this one.  "Gee whiz, Frank!  You're 
	not suggesting what I think you're suggesting!" 

	Frank managed a small shrug.  "Dad did say that we should be self-sufficient." 

	"Self-sufficient," Joe echoed uncertainly. 

	The next sentence came out a little more firmly.  "And I bet, being older and 
	all, that mine goes farther than yours." 

	Joe cocked an eyebrow.  His brother knew that he couldn't resist a challenge.  
	"It sounds like it could be scientific." 

	"Sure!  Like an experiment."  Frank got up and drew a line in the dirt with the 
	toe of his sneaker.  "We'll stand here and aim towards the garden wall.  I have 
	a ruler in my bag.  We'll be able to measure the distance accurately." 

	"Like a school project!" Joe agreed.  He stood at the line and his brother took 
	a spot beside him a moment later. 

	The brothers stood awkwardly for a moment, glancing around.  They were quite 
	alone, and hidden from the road by the deserted house.  Then, taking the lead as 
	he always did, Frank unfastened his trousers and lowered them. 

	Joe noticed that his brother's eyes were resolutely fixed at a neutral place 
	ahead of them.  He did the same, looking at a spot on the garden wall as he 
	undid his own pants. 

	The boys got down to work.  Joe rubbed himself slowly at first, starting at 
	every sound.  As remarkably hard as he was, it took a few moments before he was 
	able to relax enough to find the sensation of his palm pleasant. 

	"That was a whale of a boat, wasn't it?" Frank murmured. 

	"Oh boy!  Was it!" Joe agreed. 

	"Wouldn't it be grand to be on a cruiser like that?" 

	Joe had a sudden vision of himself standing on the deck beside that nude woman.  
	His organ jerked.  "It would be nifty," he whispered. 

	"What luck that we were able to see a boat like that!" Frank said. 

	Joe risked a glance at his brother.  Frank's face was red and his hand was going 
	at a furious pace. 

	Frank returned the look, ending it at where Joe's hand was moving in a blur.  
	"Aim towards the wall," he gasped. 

	Joe didn't need any encouragement.  After a final few strokes, he suddenly 
	thrust forward and moaned.  His organ jumped in his grip as he tried to point 
	accurately.  He dimly noted his brother in the midst of a similar performance 
	beside him. 

	After his breathing returned to normal, Joe pulled his trousers back up and 
	said, "Whew!" 

	"That sure was terrific!" Frank agreed.  He restored his own clothing, then 
	picked up the ruler and began measuring.  Joe saw his brother's expression 
	change as Frank measured a second time. 

	At last, Frank stood up, put his hands on his hips, and said, "Well, well!" 

	But Joe's swift eye had caught the second round of measurements.  "Wow!" he 
	said.  "I beat you!" 

	"You did!" Frank said in awe.  "By two and seven-sixteenth inches." 

	Joe felt a grin split his face.  He'd never felt so happy before. 
	Or so hungry. 

	"Say, Frank, I could just do with some of that apple pie in my bag." 

	"Well, we've earned it," Frank said. 

	The boys settled down on the grass to eat, then packed up the telescope and made 
	the trip back home.  It was just starting to get dark as they pulled into the 
	driveway.  Their mother was on the front porch with a broom, but paused in her 
	cleaning when the brothers shut off their motorcycles. 

	"There you boys are.  I was starting to get worried.  What were you up to?" 

	Frank and Joe exchanged smiles.  "Just sleuthing," Frank replied. 

	Their mother shook her head indulgently at them as they scampered by her and 
	into the house. 

	(end)