Free Thick as Thieves by Franklin W. Dixon

sneer.
    "No go," Jolly told the radio. "Now can I cut?"
    "By all means," the radio said. "Be my guest."
    Jolly lifted the candle and ran the knife blade up and down the flame. "You know," he told Frank as he approached, "if a knife is hot enough, any wound that it opens will burn shut." Jolly spat on the end of the blade, and Frank heard a quick sizzle. "Unfortunately for you, my young friend, a mere candle will never make a blade that hot."
    He stabbed the knife at Frank's bare chest.
    As the blade moved, Brady and Everest flinched, and for just an instant Frank felt their grips loosen. Before they could react, he kicked out, catching Jolly in the elbow.
    Jolly howled, and the knife flew out of his hand. At the same time, Frank threw his arms straight up in the air, and dropped, using his weight to pull himself out of the grip of Brady and Everest. As he dropped, he grabbed their collars, and they jerked forward. Their heads smacked together with a loud thud.
    Frank let go and rolled, knocking Jolly's feet out from under him. The heavy set man, still smarting from the kick in the elbow, collapsed to the floor of the hold.
    Then Chavo hurled himself backward, dragging his captors off balance. He rolled into a backward somersault and was free. He sprang to his feet, driving an uppercut into the jaw of the man closest to him.
    Frank drove a right hook into the other—and both men fell.
    Brady and Everest were already scrambling to their feet, murder in their eyes. Jolly crawled along the floor, frantically trying to find his blade.
    Frank rushed forward, head down, and caught Brady in a football tackle, shoving him back against the wall. As they broke apart, Frank clamped his hands together and drove a two-fisted smash into Brady's jaw. The criminal sagged and slid down the wall. He was too dazed to react to anything.
    In the meantime Chavo had grabbed Everest around the leg and shoulder and, as the man sputtered in disbelief, lifted him up in the air. Then Chavo lurched forward, body-slamming Everest to the floor. Everest flattened out.
    "Pretty impressive," Frank said.
    "I watch a lot of wrestling on television," Chavo replied.
    Jolly shook the fog from his eyes and lurched to his feet. He waved his knife in front of him as he faced Chavo and Frank. But the heavy set man's confidence was gone.
    "Should we flip a coin to see who gets to take the knife away from him?" Frank asked.
    With a feeble grin, Jolly flipped the knife around and handed it to Frank hilt - first. "I believe I'm outnumbered."
    Chavo tapped his knuckles against Jolly's jaw, and the heavy set man gave out a soft cry, more of surprise than of pain, before he fainted. Frank folded the knife and put it in his pocket.
    From above there was a sudden banging sound, as the hold hatch was slammed down.
    "They're locking us in," Frank said. He raced up the ladder and started pounding on the hatch cover, but it was no use. Someone had bolted it in place.
    "Who?" Chavo asked. "Everyone's down here except Chrome, and he's steering the ship. Who could have put that hatch cover in place?"
    "Beats me," Frank said. He eyed the men sprawled unconscious throughout the hold. "I'm more worried about them. When they wake up, they're going to want our hides. We sort of took them by surprise, and I don't think that's going to happen again.
    "Si," Chavo agreed. He began to tear open crates. "We must get that hatch open or find something to tie them with. Help me."
    Feverishly Frank and Chavo pulled open crates. There was nothing in them that would help their situation. "What'd you find?" Frank asked.
    "One of the crates is filled with guns, another with gas masks." Chavo paused, stroking his chin and staring thoughtfully at nothing. "Gas masks. I begin to understand."
    As Chavo grabbed two masks from the crate, Frank pulled out a pouch-size plastic wad. "Look at this. Inflatable life raft." He lifted two small plastic oars from the same crate. "If we ever get out of here, we can use