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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17756-0.txt b/17756-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..34c5408 --- /dev/null +++ b/17756-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6213 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Submarine Boys and the Middies by +Victor G. Durham + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Submarine Boys and the Middies + +Author: Victor G. Durham + +Release Date: 2006-02-12 [Ebook #17756] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES*** + + + + + +This ebook was produced by Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + [Illustration: "You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here."] + + “You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here.” + + + _ Frontispiece._ + + + + + + The Submarine Boys and the Middies + + OR + + The Prize Detail at Annapolis + + By Victor G. Durham + +Author of The Submarine Boys on Duty, The Submarine Boys’ Trial Trip, The + Submarine Boys and the Spies, Etc. + +_Illustrated_ + +THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +Akron, Ohio · New York +Made in U.S.A. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL +CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE +CHAPTER III: “YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!” +CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS +CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS +CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO +CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING “NEW,” ALL RIGHT +CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS +CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT +CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT +CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED! +CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER +CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE +CHAPTER XIV: THE “POLLARD” GOES LAME +CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK +CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK +CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT +CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES +CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER’S VERDICT +CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION + + + + + +LIST OF FIGURES + + +“You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here.” +Down Dropped the Bag. +Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him. + + + + + + + CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL + + +“The United States Government doesn’t appear very anxious to claim its +property, does it, sir?” asked Captain Jack Benson. + +The speaker was a boy of sixteen, attired in a uniform much after the +pattern commonly worn by yacht captains. The insignia of naval rank were +conspicuously absent. + +“Now, that I’ve had the good luck to sell the ’Pollard’ to the Navy,” +responded Jacob Farnum, principal owner of the shipbuilding yard, “I’m not +disposed to grumble if the Government prefers to store its property here +for a while.” + +Yet the young shipbuilder—he was a man in his early thirties, who had +inherited this shipbuilding business from his father—allowed his eyes to +twinkle in a way that suggested there was something else behind his words. + +Jack Benson saw that twinkle, but he did not ask questions. If the +shipbuilder knew more than he was prepared to tell, it was not for his +young captain to ask for information that was not volunteered. + +The second boy present, also in uniform, Hal Hastings by name, had not +spoken in five minutes. That was like Hal. _He_ was the engineer of the +submarine torpedo boat, “Pollard.” Jack was captain of the same craft, and +could do all the talking. + +Jacob Farnum sat back, sideways, at his rolltop desk. On top of the desk +lay stacked a voluminous though neat pile of papers, letters, telegrams +and memoranda that some rival builders of submarine torpedo boats might +have been willing to pay much for the privilege of examining. For, at the +present moment, there was fierce competition in the air between rival +American builders of submarine fighting craft designed for the United +States Navy. Even foreign builders and inventors were clamoring for +recognition. Yet just now the reorganized Pollard Submarine Boat Company +stood at the top of the line. It had made the last sale to the United +States Navy Department. + +At this moment, out in the little harbor that was a part of the shipyard, +the “Pollard” rode gently at anchor. She was the first submarine torpedo +boat built at this yard, after the designs of David Pollard, the inventor, +a close personal friend of Jacob Farnum. + +Moreover, the second boat, named the “Farnum,” had just been launched and +put in commission, ready at an hour’s notice to take the sea in search of +floating enemies of the United States. + +“The United States will take its boat one of these days, Captain,” Mr. +Farnum continued, after lighting a cigar. “By the way, did Dave tell you +the name we are thinking of for the third boat, now on the stocks?” + +“Dave” was Mr. Pollard, the inventor of the Pollard Submarine boat. + +“No, sir,” Captain Jack replied. + +“We have thought,” resumed Mr. Farnum, quietly, after blowing out a ring +of smoke, “of calling the third boat, now building, the ’Benson.’” + +“The—the—what, sir?” stammered Jack, flushing and rising. + +“Now, don’t get excited, lad,” laughed the shipbuilder. + +“But—but—naming a boat for the United States Navy after me, sir—” + +Captain Jack’s face flushed crimson. + +“Of course, if you object—” smiled Mr. Farnum, then paused. + +“Object? You know I don’t, sir. But I am afraid the idea is going to my +head,” laughed Jack, his face still flushed. “The very idea of there being +in the United States Navy a fine and capable craft named after me—” + +“Oh, if the Navy folks object,” laughed Farnum, “then they’ll change the +name quickly enough. You understand, lad, the names we give to our boats +last only until the craft are sold. The Navy people can change those names +if they please.” + +“It will be a handsome compliment to me, Mr. Farnum. More handsome than +deserved, I fear.” + +“Deserved, well enough,” retorted the shipbuilder. “Dave Pollard and I are +well enough satisfied that, if it hadn’t been for you youngsters, and the +superb way in which you handled our first boat, Dave and I would still be +sitting on the anxious bench in the ante-rooms of the Navy Department at +Washington.” + +“Well, I don’t deserve to have a boat named after me any more than Hal +does, or Eph Somers.” + +“Give us time, won’t you, Captain?” pleaded Jacob Farnum, his face +straight, but his eyes laughing. “We expect to build at least five boats. +If we didn’t, this yard never would have been fitted for the present work, +and you three boys, who’ve done so handsomely by us, wouldn’t each own, as +you now do, ten shares of stock in this company. Never fear; there’ll be a +’Hastings’ and a ’Somers’ added to our fleet one of these days—even though +some of our boats have to be sold to foreign governments.” + +“If a boat named the ’Hastings’ were sold to some foreign government,” +laughed Jack Benson, “Hal, here, wouldn’t say much about it. But call a +boat named the ’Somers,’ after Eph, and then sell it, say, to the Germans +or the Japanese, and all of Eph’s American gorge would come to the +surface. I’ll wager he’d scheme to sink any submarine torpedo boat, named +after him, that was sold to go under a foreign flag.” + +“I hope we’ll never have to sell any of our boats to foreign governments,” +replied Jacob Farnum, earnestly. “And we won’t either, if the United +States Government will give us half a show.” + +“That’s just the trouble,” grumbled Hal Hastings, breaking into the talk, +at last. “Confound it, why don’t the people of this country run their +government more than they do? Four-fifths of the inventors who get up +great things that would put the United States on top, and keep us there, +have to go abroad to find a market for their inventions! If I could invent +a cannon to-day that would give all the power on earth to the nation +owning it, would the American Government buy it from me? No, sir! I’d have +to sell the cannon to England, Germany or Japan—or else starve while +Congress was talking of doing something about it in the next session. Mr. +Farnum, you have the finest, and the only real submarine torpedo boat. +Yet, if you want to go on building and selling these craft, you’ll have to +dispose of most of them abroad.” + +“I hope not,” responded the shipbuilder, solemnly. + +Having said his say, Hal subsided. He was likely not to speak again for an +hour. As a class, engineers, having to listen much to noisy machinery, are +themselves silent. + +It was well along in the afternoon, a little past the middle of October. +For our three young friends, Jack, Hal and Eph, things were dull just at +the present moment. They were drawing their salaries from the Pollard +company, yet of late there had been little for them to do. + +Yet the three submarine boys knew that big things were in the air. David +Pollard was away, presumably on important business. Jacob Farnum was not +much given to speaking of plans until he had put them through to the +finish. Some big deal was at present “on” with the Government. That much +the submarine boys knew by intuition. They felt, therefore, that, at any +moment, they were likely to be called into action—to be called upon for +big things. + +As Jack and Hal sat in the office, silent, while Jacob Farnum turned to +his desk to scan one of the papers lying there, the door opened. A boy +burst in, waving a yellow envelope. + +“Operator said to hustle this wire to you,” shouted the boy, panting a +bit. “Said it might be big news for Farnum. So I ran all the way.” + +Jacob Farnum took the yellow envelope, opening it and glancing hastily +through the contents. + +“It _is_ pretty good news,” assented the shipbuilder, a smile wreathing +his face. “This is for you, messenger.” + +“This” proved to be a folded dollar bill. The messenger took the money +eagerly, then demanded, more respectfully: + +“Any answer, sir?” + +“Not at this moment, thank you,” replied Mr. Farnum. “That is all; you may +go, boy.” + +Plainly the boy who had brought the telegram was disappointed over not +getting some inkling of the secret. All Dunhaven, in fact, was wildly agog +over any news that affected the Farnum yard. For, though the torpedo boat +building industry was now known under the Pollard name, after the inventor +of these boats, the yard itself still went under the Farnum name that +young Farnum had inherited from his father. + +While Jacob Farnum is reading the despatch carefully, for a better +understanding, let us speak for a moment of Captain Jack Benson and his +youthful comrades and chums. + +Readers of the first volume in this series, “The Submarine Boys on Duty,” +remember how Jack Benson and Hal Hastings strayed into the little seaport +town of Dunhaven one hot summer day, and how they learned that it was here +that the then unknown but much-talked-about Pollard submarine was being +built. Both Jack and Hal had been well trained in machine shops; they had +spent much time aboard salt water power craft, and so felt a wild desire +to work at the Farnum yard, and to make a study of submarine craft in +general. + +How they succeeded in getting their start in the Farnum yard, every reader +of the preceding volumes knows; how, too, Eph Somers, a native of +Dunhaven, managed to “cheek” his way aboard the craft after she had been +launched, and how he had always since managed to remain there. + +Our same older readers will remember the thrilling experiences of this +boyish trio during the early trials of the new submarine torpedo boat, +both above and below the surface. These readers will remember, also, for +instance, the great prank played by the boys on the watch officer of one +of the stateliest battleships of the Navy. + +Readers of the second volume, “The Submarine Boys’ Trial Trip,” will +recall, among other things, the desperate efforts made by George Melville, +the capitalist, aided by the latter’s disagreeable son, Don, to acquire +stealthy control of the submarine building company, and their efforts to +oust Jack, Hal and Eph from their much-prized employment. These readers +will remember how Jack and his comrades spoiled the Melville plans, and +how Captain Jack and his friends handled the “Pollard” so splendidly, in +the presence of a board of Navy officers, that the United States +Government was induced to buy that first submarine craft. + +After that sale, each of the three boys received, in addition to his +regular pay, a bank account of a thousand dollars and ten shares of stock +in the new company. Moreover, Messrs. Farnum and Pollard had felt wholly +justified in promising these talented, daring, hustling submarine boys an +assured and successful future. + +Jacob Farnum at last looked up from the final reading of the telegram in +his hands. Captain Jack Benson’s gaze was fixed on his employer’s face. +Hal Hastings was looking out of a window, with almost a bored look in his +eyes. + +“You young men wanted action,” announced Mr. Farnum, quietly. “I think +you’ll get it.” + +“Soon?” questioned Jack, eagerly. + +“Immediately, or a minute or two later,” laughed the shipbuilder. + +“I’m ready,” declared Captain Jack, rising. + +“It’ll take you a little time to hear about it all and digest it, so you +may as well be seated again,” declared Farnum. + +Hal, too, wandered back to his chair. + +“You’ve been wondering how much longer the Government would leave the +’Pollard’ here,” went on Mr. Farnum. “I am informed that the gunboat +’Hudson’ is on her way here, to take over the ’Pollard.’” + +“What are the Navy folks going to do?” demanded Captain Jack, all but +wrathfully. “Do they propose to _tow_ that splendid little craft away?” + +“Hardly that, I imagine,” replied Farnum. “It’s the custom of the United +States Navy, you know, to send a gunboat along with every two or three +submarines. They call the larger craft the ’parent boat.’ The parent boat +looks out for any submarine craft that may become disabled.” + +“The cheek of it,” vented Jack, disgustedly. “Why, sir, I’d volunteer to +take the ’Pollard,’ unassisted, around the world, if she could carry fuel +enough for such a trip.” + +“But the Navy hasn’t been accustomed to such capable submarine boats as +ours, you know,” replied Mr. Farnum. “Hence the parent boat.” + +“Parent boat?” interjected Hal Hastings, with his quiet smile. “You might +call it the ’Dad’ boat, so to speak.” + +Mr. Farnum laughed, then continued: + +“A naval crew will take possession of the ’Pollard,’ and the craft will +proceed, under the care of the Dad boat”—with a side glance of amusement +at Hal—“to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.” + +“Annapolis—where they train the naval cadets, the midshipmen, into United +States Naval officers? Oh, how I’d like to go there!” breathed Captain +Jack Benson, eagerly. + +“As a cadet in the Navy, do you mean?” asked Mr. Farnum. + +“Why, that would have been well enough,” assented Jack, “before I had such +a chance in your submarine service. No; I mean I’d like to see Annapolis. +I’d like to watch the midshipmen at their training, and see the whole +naval life there.” + +“It’s too bad every fellow can’t have his wish gratified as easily,” +continued Jacob Farnum. + +“Do you mean we’re going to Annapolis, too?” asked Jack Benson, his eyes +glowing. Even Hal Hastings sat up straighter in his chair, watching the +shipbuilder’s face closely. + +“Yes,” nodded Jacob Farnum. “Permission has been granted for me to send +our second boat, the ’Farnum,’ along with the ’Pollard’—both under the +care of the—” + +“The Dad boat,” laughed Hastings. + +“Yes; that will give us a chance to have the ’Farnum’ studied most closely +by some of the most capable officers in the United States Navy. It ought +to mean, presently, the sale of the ’Farnum’ to the Government.” + +“That’s just what it will mean,” promised Captain Jack, “if any efforts of +ours can make the Navy men more interested in the boat.” + +“You three youngsters are likely to be at Annapolis for some time,” went +on Mr. Farnum. “In fact—but don’t let your heads become too enlarged by +the news, will you?” + +Hal, quiet young Hal, neatly hid a yawn behind one hand, while Benson +answered for both: + +“We’re already wearing the largest-sized caps manufactured, Mr. Farnum. +Don’t tempt us too far, please!” + +“Oh, you boys are safe from the ordinary perils of vanity, or your heads +would have burst long ago. Well, then, when you arrive at Annapolis, you +three are to act as civilian instructors to the middies. You three are to +teach the midshipmen of the United States Navy the principles on which the +Pollard type of boat is run. There; I’ve told you the whole news. What do +you think of it?” + +Mr. Farnum’s cigar having burned low, he tossed it away, then leaned back +as he lighted another weed. + +“What do we think, sir?” echoed Captain Jack, eagerly. “Why, we think +we’re in sight of the very time of our lives! Annapolis! And to teach the +middies how to run a ’Pollard’ submarine.” + +“How soon are we likely to have to start, sir!” asked Hal Hastings, after +a silence that lasted a few moments. + +“Whenever the ’Hudson’ shows up along this coast, and the officer in +command of her gives the word. That may be any hour, now.” + +“Then we’d better find Eph,” suggested Captain Jack, “and pass him the +word. Won’t Eph Somers dance a jig for delight, though?” + +“Yes; we’d better look both boats over at once,” replied Mr. Farnum, +picking up his hat. “And we’ll leave word for Grant Andrews and some of +his machinists to inspect both craft with us. There may be a few things +that will need to be done.” + +As they left the office, crossing the yard, Captain Jack Benson and Hal +Hastings felt exactly as though they were walking on air. Even Hal, quiet +as he was, had caught the joy-infection of these orders to proceed to +Annapolis. To be sent to the United States Naval Academy on a tour of +instruction is what officers of the Navy often call “the prize detail.” + +Farnum and his two youthful companions went, first of all, to the long, +shed-like building in which the third submarine craft to be turned out at +this yard was now being built. From inside came the noisy clang of hammers +against metal. The shipbuilder stepped inside alone, but soon came out, +nodding. The three now continued on their way down to the little harbor. +All of a sudden the three stopped short, almost with a jerk, in the same +second, as though pulled by a string. + +At exactly the same instant Jacob Farnum, Captain Jack Benson and Engineer +Hal Hastings put up their hands to rub their eyes. + +Their senses had told them truly, however. While the “Pollard” rode +serenely at her moorings, the “Farnum,” the second boat to be launched, +was nowhere to be seen! + +“What on earth has happened to the other submarine?” gasped the +shipbuilder, as soon as he could somewhat control his voice. + +What, indeed? + +There was not a sign of her. At least, she had not sunk at her moorings, +for the buoys floated in their respective places, with no manner of tackle +attached to them. + +“A submarine boat can’t slip its own cables and vanish without human +hands!” gasped the staggered Jack Benson. + +“There’s something uncanny about this,” muttered Hal Hastings. + +Jacob Farnum stood rooted to the spot, opening and closing his hands in a +way that testified plainly to the extent of his bewilderment. + + + + + + CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE + + +Jack Benson was the first of the trio to move. + +Without a word he broke into a run, heading for the narrow little shingle +of beach. + +“Got an idea, Captain?” shouted Jacob Farnum, darting after his young +submarine skipper. + +“Yes, sir!” floated back over Jack’s shoulder. + +“Then what’s at the bottom—” + +“Eph and the boat, both together, or I miss my guess,” Captain Jack +shouted back as he halted at the water’s edge, where a rowboat lay hauled +up on the shore. + +Jacob Farnum’s face showed suddenly pallid as he, also, reached the beach. +Hal, who was in the rear, did not seem so much startled. + +“Do you think Eph has gone off on a cruise all alone?—that he has come to +any harm?” gasped the shipbuilder. + +“I don’t know, but I’m not going to worry a mite about Eph Somers until I +have to,” retorted Jack Benson, easily. + +“Eph can generally take care of himself,” added Hal Hastings. “He rarely +falls into any kind of scrape that he can’t climb out of.” + +“But this is a bad time for him to take the ’Farnum’ and cruise away,” +objected the owner of the yard. “The ’Hudson’ may be here at any hour, you +know, and we ought to be ready for orders.” + +As he spoke, Mr. Farnum scanned the horizon away to the south, out over +the sea. + +“There’s a line of smoke, now, and not many miles away,” he announced. “It +may, as likely as not, be smoke from the ’Hudson’s’ pipe.” + +“Going out with us, sir?” inquired Captain Jack Benson, as Hal took his +place at a pair of oars. + +“Yes,” nodded the owner of the yard, dropping into a seat at the stern of +the boat, after which Benson pushed off at the bow. + +Down on the seashore, on this day just past the middle of October, the air +was keen and brisk. There had been frost for several nights past. +Sleighing might be looked for in another month. + +“Cable’s gone from this buoy,” declared Captain Jack, as Hal rowed close. +“Over to the other one, old fellow.” + +Here, too, the cable was missing. Evidently the “Farnum” had made a clean +get-away. If there had been any accident, it must have taken place after +the new submarine boat had slipped away from her moorings. + +“Humph!” grunted Jack, scanning the sea. “No sign of the boat anywhere. +Eph may be anywhere within twenty miles of here.” + +“Or within twenty feet, either,” grinned Hal, looking down into the waters +that were lead-colored under the dull autumn sky. + +“What are we going to do, Captain?” inquired Jacob Farnum. “There are +Grant Andrews and three of his machinists coming down to the water.” + +“I reckon, sir, we’d better put them aboard the ’Pollard’ first, sir,” +Benson suggested. + +Mr. Farnum nodding, the boat was rowed in to the shore and Andrews and his +men were put aboard the “Pollard” at the platform deck. Captain Jack +Benson unlocking the door to the conning tower, was himself the first to +disappear down below. When he came back he carried a line to which was +attached a heavy sounding-lead. + +“It won’t take us long to sound the deep spots in this little harbor,” +said the young skipper, as he dropped down once more into the bow of the +shore boat. “Row about, Hal, over the places where the submarine could go +below out of sight.” + +As Hal rowed, Skipper Jack industriously used the sounding-lead. + +For twenty minutes nothing resulted from this exploration. Then, all of a +sudden, Benson shouted: + +“Back water, Hal! Easy; rest on your oars. Steady!” + +Jack Benson raised the lead two or three feet, then let it down again, +playing it up and down very much as a cod fisherman uses his line and +hook. + +“I’m hitting something, and it is hardly a rock, either,” declared young +Benson. “Pull around about three points to starboard, Hal, then steal +barely forward.” + +Again Benson played see-saw with his sounding-line over the boat’s +gunwale. + +“If my lead isn’t hitting the ’Farnum,’” declared the young skipper, +positively, “then it’s the ’Farnum’s’ ghost. Hold steady, now, Hal.” + +Immediately afterward, Benson caused the lead fairly to dance a jig on +whatever it touched at bottom. + +“What’s the good of that, anyway?” demanded Jacob Farnum. + +“You don’t think I’m doing this just for fun, do you, sir?” asked Captain +Jack, with a smile. + +“No; I know you generally have an object when you do anything unusual,” +responded the shipbuilder, good-humoredly. + +“You know, of course, sir, that noises sound with a good deal of +exaggeration when you hear them under water?” + +“Yes; of course.” + +“You also know that all three of us have been practicing at telegraphy a +good deal during the past few weeks, because every man who follows the sea +ought to know how to send and receive wireless messages at need.” + +“Yes; I know that, Benson.” + +“Well, sir, I guess that the lead has been hitting the top of the +’Farnum’s’ hull, and I’ve been tapping out the signal—” + +“The signal, ’Come up—rush!’” broke in Hal, with an odd smile. + +“Right-o,” nodded Jack Benson. + +“How on earth did _you_ know what the signal was, Hastings?” demanded Mr. +Farnum. + +“Why, sir, I’ve been sitting so that I could see Jack’s arm. I’ve been +reading, from the motions of his right arm, the dots and dashes of the +Morse telegraph alphabet.” + +“You youngsters certainly get me, for the things you think of,” laughed +the shipyard’s owner. + +“And the ’Farnum,’ or whatever it is, is coming up,” called Captain Jack, +suddenly. “I just felt my lead slide down over the top of her hull. +Hard-a-starboard, Hal, and row hard,” shouted young Benson, breathlessly. + +Though Hastings obeyed immediately he was barely an instant too soon. To +his dismay, Mr. Farnum saw something dark, unwieldy, rising through the +water. It appeared to be coming up fairly under the stern of the shore +boat, threatening to overturn the little craft and plunge them all into +the icy water. + +Hal shot just out of the danger zone, though. Then a round little tower +bobbed up out of the water. Immediately afterward the upper third of a +long, cigar-shaped craft came up into view, water rolling from her +dripping sides, which glistened brightly as the sun came out briefly from +behind a fall cloud. + +In the conning tower, through the thick plate glass, the three people in +the shore boat made out the carroty-topped head and freckled, +good-humored, honest, homely face of Eph Somers. The boat lay on the +water, under no headway, drifting slightly with the wind-driven ripples. +Then Eph raised the man-hole cover of the top of the conning tower, +thrusting out his head to hail them. + +“Hey, you landsmen, do you know a buoy from an umbrella?” + +“Do _you_ know the difference between a Sunday-school text and petty +larceny?” retorted Jack Benson, sternly. “What do you mean by taking the +submarine without leave?” + +“I’ve been experimenting—flirting with science,” responded Eph, loftily. +“Say, if you landsmen know a buoy from a banana, get down to the bow +moorings of this steel mermaid, and I’ll pass you the bow cable. It’s a +heap easier to lead this submarine horse out of the stall, single-handed, +than it is to take him back and tie him.” + +Hal rowed easily to the buoy, while Eph, returning to the steering wheel +and the tower controls, ran the “Farnum,” with just bare headway, up to +where he could toss the bow cable to those waiting in the boat. A few +moments later the stern cable, also, was made fast, in such a way as to +allow a moderate swing to the bulky steel craft. + +“Now, you can take me ashore, if you feel like it,” proposed Eph, standing +on the platform deck. + +“Not quite yet,” returned Skipper Jack, though the small boat lay +alongside. “We’ve got some inspecting to do. But how did you get on board +in the first place?” + +“Why, the night watchman was in the yard for a few minutes, and I got him +to put me on board. I figured I could hail somebody else when I was ready +to go on shore.” + +“But what on earth made you do such a thing?” demanded Captain Jack, in a +low tone. “It’s really more than you had a right to do, Eph, without +getting Mr. Farnum’s permission.” + +“Why, I’ve known you to take the ’Pollard’ and try something when Mr. +Farnum wasn’t about,” retorted Somers, looking surprised. + +“You never knew me to do it when I could ask permission, although, as +captain, I have the right to handle the boat. But that leave doesn’t +extend to all the rest, Eph. What were you doing down there, anyway?” + +“Why, I came on board, and left the manhole open for ten minutes,” +answered Somers. “Then I found the cabin thermometer standing at 49 +degrees. I wondered how much warmth could be gained by going below the +surface. I had been down an hour and five minutes when you began to signal +with that sledge-hammer—” + +“Sounding-lead,” Jack corrected him. + +“Well, it sounded like a sledge-hammer, anyway,” grinned young Somers. +“While I was down below I found that the temperature rose four degrees.” + +“Part of that was likely due to the warmth of your body, and the heat of +the breath you gave off,” hinted Benson. + +“You could have gotten it up to eighty or ninety degrees by turning on the +electric heater far enough,” suggested Hal. + +“I wanted to see whether it would be warmer in the depths; wanted to find +out how low I could go and be able to do without heat in winter,” Somers +retorted. + +“I could have told you that, from my reading, without any experiment,” +retorted Skipper Jack. “Close your conning tower and go down a little way, +and the temperature would gradually rise a few degrees. That’s because of +the absence of wind and draft. But, if you could go down very, very deep +without smashing the boat under the water pressure, you’d find the +temperature falling quite a bit.” + +“Where did you read all that?” inquired Eph, looking both astonished and +sheepish. + +“Here,” replied Jack, going to a small wall book-case, taking down a book +and turning several pages before he stopped. + +“Just my luck,” muttered Eph, disconsolately. “Here I’ve been dull as +ditch-water for an hour, trying to find out something new, and it’s all +stated in a book printed—ten years ago,” he finished, after rapidly +consulting the title-page. + +Jacob Farnum had been no listener to this conversation. Taking the marine +glasses from the conning tower, the shipbuilder was now well forward on +the platform deck, scanning what was visible of the steam craft to the +southward. At last the yard’s owner turned around to say: + +“I don’t believe you young men can have things ship-shape a second too +soon. The craft heading this way has a military mast forward. She must be +the ’Hudson.’ If there’s anything to be done, hustle!” + +Jack and Hal sprang below, to scan their respective departments. Five +minutes later Grant Andrews hailed from the “Pollard,” and Eph rowed over +in the shore boat to ferry over the machinists. + +Half an hour later Andrews and his men had put in the few needed touches +aboard the newer submarine boat. The sun, meanwhile, had gone down, +showing the hull of a naval vessel some four miles off the harbor. + +Darkness came on quickly, with a clouded sky. As young Benson stepped on +deck Grant Andrews followed him. + +“All finished here, Grant?” queried the yard’s owner. + +“Yes, sir. There’s mighty little chance to do anything where Hal Hastings +has charge of the machinery.” + +“That’s our gunboat out there, I think,” went on Mr. Farnum, pointing to +where a white masthead light and a red port light were visible, about a +mile away. + +“Dunhaven must be on the map, all right, if a strange navigating officer +knows how to come so straight to the place,” laughed Jack Benson. + +“Oh, you trust a United States naval officer to find any place he has +sailing orders for,” returned Jacob Farnum. “I wonder if he’ll attempt to +come into this harbor?” + +“There’s safe anchorage, if he wants to do so,” replied Captain Jack. + +While Somers was busy putting the foreman and the machinists ashore, Mr. +Farnum, Jack and Hal remained on the platform deck, watching the approach +of the naval vessel, which was now plainly making for Dunhaven. + +Suddenly, a broad beam of glaring white light shot over the water, resting +across the deck of the “Farnum.” + +“I guess that fellow knows what he wants to know, now,” muttered Benson, +blinking after the strong glare had passed. + +“There, he has picked up the ’Pollard,’ too,” announced Hastings. “Now, +that commander must feel sure he has sighted the right place.” + +“There go the signal lights,” cried Captain Jack, suddenly. “Hal, hustle +below and turn on the electric current for the signaling apparatus.” + +Then Benson watched as, from the yards high up on the gunboat’s signaling +mast, colored electric lights glowed forth, twinkling briefly in turn. +This is the modern method of signaling by sea at night. + +“He wants to know,” said Benson, to Mr. Farnum, as he turned, “whether +there is safe anchorage for a twelve-hundred-ton gunboat of one hundred +and ninety-five feet length.” + +Reaching the inside of the conning tower at a bound, the young skipper +rapidly manipulated his own electric signaling control. There was a low +mast on the “Farnum’s” platform deck, a mast that could be unstepped +almost in an instant when going below surface. So Captain Jack’s +counter-query beamed out in colors through the night: + +“What’s your draught?” + +“Under present ballast, seventeen-eight,” came the answer from the +gunboat’s signal mast. + +“Safe anchorage,” Captain Jack signaled back. + +“Can you meet us with a pilot?” questioned the on-coming gunboat. + +“Yes,” Captain Jack responded. + +“Do so,” came the laconic request. + +“That’s all, Hal,” the young skipper called, through the engine room +speaking tube. “Want to row me out and put me aboard the gunboat?” + +In another jiffy the two young chums had put off in the boat, Hal at the +oars, Jack at the tiller ropes. The gunboat was now lying to, some seven +hundred yards off the mouth of the little harbor. Hastings bent lustily to +the oars, sending the boat over the rocking water until he was within a +hundred yards of the steam craft’s bridge. + +“Gun boat ahoy!” roared Hal, between his hands. Then, by a slip of the +tongue, and wholly innocent of any intentional offense, he bellowed: + +“Is that the ’Dad’ boat?” + +“What’s that?” came a sharp retort from the gunboat’s bridge. “Don’t try +to be funny, young man!” + +“Beg your pardon, sir. That was a slip of the tongue,” Hal replied, +meekly, as he colored. “Are you the gunboat ’Hudson?’” + +“No; I’m her commanding officer, young man! Who in blazes are you?” + +“I’m the goat, it seems,” muttered Hastings, under his breath. But, aloud, +he replied: + +“I have the pilot you requested.” + +“Then why don’t you bring him on board?” came the sharp question. “Did you +think I only wanted to look at a pilot?” + +“All right, sir. Shall I make fast to your starboard side gangway?” Hal +called. + +“In a hurry, young man!” + +“That’s the naval style, I guess,” murmured Jack to his chum. “No fooling +in the talk. I wonder if that fellow eats pie? Or is his temper due to +coffee?” + +Answering only with a quiet grin, Hal rowed alongside the starboard side +gangway. Jack, waiting, sprang quickly to the steps, ascending, waving his +hand to Hal as he went. Young Hastings quickly shoved off, then bent to +his oars. + +“Where’s the pilot?” came a stern voice, from the bridge, as Jack Benson’s +head showed above the starboard rail. + +“I am the pilot, sir,” Jack replied. + +“Why, you’re a boy.” + +“Guilty,” Jack responded. + +“What does this fooling mean? You’re not old enough to hold a pilot’s +license.” + +By this time Benson was on the deck, immediately under the bridge. A half +dozen sailors, forward, were eyeing him curiously. + +“I have no license, sir,” Jack admitted. “Neither has anyone else at +Dunhaven. For that matter, the harbor’s a private one, belonging to the +shipyard.” + +“Hasn’t Mr. Farnum a _man_ he can send out?” + +“No one who knows the harbor better than I do, sir.” + +“Who are you? What are you?” + +“Jack Benson, sir. Captain of the Pollard submarine boats.” + +“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” + +The question came sharply, almost raspingly. + +“Beg your pardon, sir, but you didn’t ask me,” Jack replied. + +“Come up here, Benson,” ordered the lieutenant commander, in a loud voice +intended to drown out the subdued titter of some of the sailors forward. + +Jack ascended to the bridge, to find himself facing a six-footer in his +early thirties. There was a younger officer at the far end of the bridge. + +“Does Mr. Farnum consider you capable of showing us the way into the +harbor?” demanded the commanding officer of the “Hudson.” + +“I think so, sir. He trusts me with his own boats.” + +“Then you are—” + +“Benson, Mr. Farnum’s captain of the submarine boats.” + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed in astonishment for a moment, then held +out his hand as he introduced himself, remarking: + +“I was told that I would find a very young submarine commander here, but—” + +“You didn’t expect to find one quite as young,” Jack finished, smiling. + +“No; I didn’t. Mr. Trahern, I want you to know Captain Jack Benson, of the +Pollard submarines.” + +Ensign Trahern also shook hands with young Benson. + +“And now,” went on the commander of the “Hudson,” “I think you may as well +show us the way into the harbor.” + +“You’ll want to go at little more than headway, sir,” Jack replied. “The +harbor is small, though there’s enough deep water for you. In parts there +are some sand ledges that the tide washes up.” + +“I can’t allow you to pilot us, exactly, but you’ll indicate the course to +me, won’t you, Mr. Benson?” + +The “mister” was noticeable, now. Naval officers are chary of their +bestowal of the title “captain” upon one who does not hold it in the Army +or Navy service. + +At Mr. Mayhew’s order the “Hudson” was started slowly forward, the +searchlight playing about the entrance to the harbor. + +“For your best anchorage, sir,” declared Captain Jack, after he had +brought the gunboat slowly into the harbor, “you will do well to anchor +with that main arc-light dead ahead, that shed over there on your +starboard beam, and the front end of the submarine shed about four points +off your port bow.” + +Mr. Mayhew slowly manœuvred his craft, while men stood on the deck below, +forward, prepared to heave the bow anchors. + +“Go four points over to port, Mr. Trahern,” instructed Mr. Mayhew. “Now, +back the engines—steady!” + +Jack Benson opened his mouth wide. Then, as he saw the way the “Hudson” +was backing, he suddenly called: + +“Slow speed ahead, quick, sir!” + +“You said—” began Mr. Mayhew. + +Gr-r-r-r! The stern of the gunboat dug its way into a sand ledge, lifting +the stern considerably. + +“Slow speed ahead!” rasped Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, sharply. + +But the gunboat could not be budged. She was stuck, stern on, fast in the +sand-ledge. + +“Benson!” uttered the lieutenant commander, bitterly, “I congratulate you. +You’ve succeeded in grounding a United States Naval vessel!” + + + + + + CHAPTER III: “YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!” + + +There was so much of overwhelming censure in the naval officer’s tone that +Jack’s spirit was stung to the quick. + +“It’s your mistake, sir,” he retorted. “You didn’t follow the course I +advised. You swung the ship around to port, and—” + +“Silence, now, if you please, while men are trying to get this vessel out +of a scrape a boy got her into,” commanded Mr. Mayhem, sternly. + +Jack flushed, then bit his tongue. In another moment a pallor had +succeeded the red in his face. + +He was blamed for the disaster, and he was not really at fault. + +Yet, under the rebuke he had just received, he did not feel it his place +to retort further for the present. + +Mr. Mayhew and Mr. Trahern conferred in low tones for a moment or two. + +“You may as well leave the bridge, young man,” resumed Mr. Mayhew, turning +upon the submarine boy. “You are not likely to be of any use here.” + +As Jack, burning inwardly with indignation, though managing to keep +outwardly calm, descended to the deck below, he caught sight of Hal +Hastings, hovering near in the rowboat. Hal signaled to learn whether he +should put in alongside to take off his chum, but Benson shook his head. + +Over on the “Farnum” the yard’s owner and Eph Somers watched wonderingly. +They understood, well enough, that the new, trim-looking gunboat was in +trouble, but they did not know that Jack Benson was held at fault. + +Down between decks the engines of the “Hudson” were toiling hard to run +the craft off out of the sand. Then the machinery stopped. An engineer +officer came up from below. He and Mr. Mayhew walked to the stern, while a +seaman, accompanying them, heaved the lead, reading the soundings. + +“We’re stuck good and fast,” remarked the engineer officer. “We can’t +drive off out of that sand for the reason that the propellers are buried +in the grit. They’ll hardly turn at all, and, when they do, they only +churn the sand without driving us off.” + +“Confound that ignoramus of a boy!” muttered Mr. Mayhew, walking slowly +forward. It was no pleasant situation for the lieutenant commander. Having +run his vessel ashore, he knew himself likely to be facing a naval board +of inquiry. + +Hal, finding that the shore boat was not wanted for the present, had rowed +over to the “Farnum’s” moorings. Now Jacob Farnum came alongside in the +shore boat. + +“May I speak with your watch officer?” he called. + +“I am the commanding officer,” Mr. Mayhew called down, in the cold, even, +dulled voice of a man in trouble. + +“I am Mr. Farnum, owner of the yard. May I come on board?” + +“Be glad to have you,” Lieutenant Commander Mayhew responded. + +So Mr. Farnum went nimbly up over the side. + +“May I ask what is the trouble here, sir?” asked the yard’s owner. + +“The trouble is,” replied Mr. Mayhew, “that your enterprising boy pilot +has run us aground—hard, tight and fast!” + +Jacob Farnum glanced swiftly at his young captain. Jack shook his head +briefly in dissent. Jacob Farnum, with full confidence in his young man, +at once understood that there was more yet to be learned. + +“Come up on the bridge, sir, if you will,” requested the commander of the +gunboat, who was a man of too good breeding to wish any dispute before the +men of the crew. “You may come, too, Benson.” + +Jack followed the others, including the engineer officer of the “Hudson.” +Yet Benson was clenching his hands, fighting a desperate battle to get +full command over himself. It was hard—worse than hard—to be unjustly +accused. + +Jacob Farnum wished to keep on the pleasantest terms with these officers +of the Navy. At the same time he was man enough to feel determined that +Jack, whether right or wrong, should have a full chance to defend himself. + +“I understand, sir,” began Mr. Farnum, “that you attach some blame in this +matter to young Benson?” + +“Perhaps he is not to be blamed too much, on account of his extreme +youth,” responded Mr. Mayhew. + +“Forget his youth altogether,” urged Mr. Farnum. “Let us treat him as a +man. I’ve always found him one, in judgment, knowledge and loyalty. Do you +mind telling me, sir, in what way he erred in bringing you in here?” + +“An error in giving his advice,” replied Mr. Mayhew. “Or else it was +ignorance of how to handle a craft as large as this gunboat. For my +anchorage he told me—” + +Here the lieutenant commander repeated the first part of Jack’s directions +correctly, but wound up with: + +“He advised me to throw my wheel over four points to port.” + +“Pardon me, sir,” Jack broke in, unable to keep still longer. “What I +said, or intended to say, was to bring your vessel so that the forward end +of the submarine shed over there would be four points off the port bow.” + +“What did you hear Mr. Benson say, Mr. Trahern?” demanded the gunboat’s +commander, turning to the ensign who had stood with him on the bridge. + +“Why, sir, I understood the lad to say what he states that he said.” + +“You are sure of that, Mr. Trahern?” + +“Unless my ears tricked me badly,” replied the ensign, “Mr. Benson said +just what he now states. I wondered, sir, at your calling for slow speed +astern.” + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed for some moments fixedly at the face of +Ensign Trahern. Then, of a sudden, the gunboat’s commander, who was both +an officer and a gentleman, broke forth, contritely: + +“As I think it over, I believe, myself, that Benson advised as he now +states he did. It was my own error—I am sure of it now.” + +Wheeling about, Mayhew held out his right hand. + +“Mr. Benson,” he said, in a deep voice full of regret, “I was the one in +error. I am glad to admit it, even if tardily. Will you pardon my too +hasty censure?” + +“Gladly, sir,” Benson replied, gripping the proffered hand. Jacob Farnum +stood back, wagging his head in a satisfied way. It had been difficult for +him to believe that his young captain had been at fault in so simple a +matter, or in a harbor with which he was so intimately acquainted. + +As for the young man himself, the thing that touched him most deeply was +the quick, complete and manly acknowledgment of this lieutenant commander. + +“Mr. Farnum,” inquired the gunboat’s commander, “have you any towboats +about here that can be used in helping me to get the ’Hudson’ off this +sand ledge?” + +“The only one in near waters, sir,” replied the yard’s owner, “is a craft, +not so very much larger than a launch, that ties up some three miles down +the coast. She’s the boat I use when I need any towing here. Of course, I +have the two torpedo boats, though their engines were not constructed for +towing work.” + +“May I offer a suggestion?” asked Jack, when the talk lagged. + +“I’ll be glad to have you, Mr. Benson,” replied Mr. Mayhew, turning toward +the submarine boy. + +“Flood tide will be in in about two hours and a half, sir,” Benson +followed up. “That ought to raise this vessel a good deal. Then, with the +towboat Mr. Farnum has mentioned, and with such help as the engines of the +submarines may give, together with your own engines, Mr. Mayhew, I think +there ought to be a good chance of getting the ’Hudson’ afloat with plenty +of water under her whole keel. We can even start some of the engines on +shore, and rig winches to haul on extra cables. Altogether, we can give +you a strong pull, sir.” + +“That sounds like the best plan to me,” nodded Jacob Farnum. “I’ll have a +message sent at once for that towboat.” + +A white-coated steward now appeared on deck, moving near the lieutenant +commander. + +“Is dinner ready, Greers?” called Mr. Mayhew. + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Lay two more plates, then. Mr. Farnum, I trust you and your young +submarine commander will sit as my guests to-night.” + +This invitation the yard’s owner accepted, asking only time enough to +arrange for keeping some of his workmen over-time, awaiting the coming of +flood-tide. + +So, presently, Jack and his employer found themselves seated at table in +the gunboat’s handsome wardroom. Besides the lieutenant commander there +were Lieutenant Halpin, two ensigns, two engineer officers and a young +medical officer. In the “Hudson’s” complement of officers there were also +four midshipmen, but these latter ate in their own mess. + +The time passed most pleasantly, Mr. Mayhew plainly doing all in his power +to atone for his late censure of the submarine boy. + +Before dinner was over the small towboat was in the harbor. At the coming +of flood tide this towing craft had a hawser made fast to the gunboat. +With the help of some of the naval machinists aboard the “Hudson,” both +submarine craft were also manned and hawsers made fast. Two cables were +passed ashore to winches to which power was supplied by the shipyard’s +engines. When all was ready a mighty pull was given, the gunboat’s own +propellers taking part in the struggle. For two or three minutes the +efforts continued. Then, at last, the “Hudson,” uninjured, ran off into +deep water and shortly afterwards anchored in safety. + +It was a moment of tremendous relief for Mr. Mayhew. + +“Call the tugboat captain aboard, and I’ll settle with him at my own +expense,” proposed the lieutenant commander. + +“I trust you will think of nothing of the sort,” replied Jacob Farnum, +quickly. “In this harbor I wish to consider you and your vessel as my +guests.” + +Again Mr. Mayhew expressed his thanks. Presently, glancing ashore through +the night, he asked: + +“What sort of country is it hereabouts?” + +“Mostly flat, as to the surface,” Mr. Farnum replied. “If your question +goes further, there are some fine roads and several handsome estates +within a few miles of here. Mr. Mayhew, won’t you and a couple of your +officers come on shore with me? I’ll telephone for my car and put you over +quite a few miles this evening.” + +“Delighted,” replied the commander of the gunboat. + +One of the “Hudson’s” cutters being now in the water alongside, the party +went ashore in this. Jack, after bidding the naval officers good-night, +found Hal and Eph, who had just come ashore from supper on board the +“Farnum.” + +“No sailing orders yet, I suppose?” Hal asked. + +“None,” Jack replied. “I reckon we’ll start, all right, some time +to-morrow morning.” + +“What’ll we do to-night?” Eph wondered. + +“I don’t know,” replied Jack. “We’ve few friends around here we need to +take the trouble to say good-bye to. We could call on Mrs. Farnum, but I +imagine we’d run into the naval party up at the Farnum house. We want to +keep a bit in the background with these naval officers, except when they +may ask for our company.” + +“Let’s take a walk about the old town, then,” Hal suggested. + +So the three submarine boys strolled across the shipyard. Just as they +were passing through the gate a man of middle height and seemingly about +thirty years of age quickened his pace to reach them. + +“Is this shipyard open nights?” he queried. + +“Only to some employees,” Jack answered. + +“I suppose Mr. Farnum isn’t about?” + +“No.” + +“Captain Benson?” + +“Benson is my name.” + +“This letter is addressed to Mr. Farnum,” went on the stranger, “but Mr. +Pollard told me I could hand it to you.” + +Captain Jack took the letter from the unsealed envelope. + +“My dear Farnum,” ran the enclosure, “since you’re short a good machinist +for the engine room of the ’Farnum,’ the bearer, Samuel Truax, seems to me +to be just the man you want. I’ve examined him, and he understands the +sort of machinery we use. Better give him a chance.” The note was signed +in David Pollard’s well-known, scrawly handwriting. + +“I’m sorry you can’t see Mr. Farnum to-night,” said Benson, pleasantly. +“He’ll be here early in the morning, though.” + +“When do you sail?” asked Truax, quickly. + +“That you would have to ask Mr. Farnum, too,” smiled Jack. + +“But, see here, Mr. Pollard engaged me to work aboard one of your +submarines.” + +“It looks that way, doesn’t it?” laughed the young skipper. + +“And you’re the captain?” + +“Yes; but I can’t undertake to handle Mr. Farnum’s business for him.” + +“You’ll let me go aboard the craft to sleep for to-night, anyway?” coaxed +Truax. + +“Why, that’s just what I’m not at liberty to do,” replied the young +submarine captain. “No; I couldn’t think of that, in the absence of Mr. +Farnum’s order.” + +“But that doesn’t seem hardly fair,” protested Truax. “See here, I have +spent all my money getting here. I haven’t even the price of a lodging +with me, and this isn’t a summer night.” + +“Why, I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” Benson went on, feeling in one of his +pockets. “Here’s a dollar. That’ll buy you a bed and a breakfast at the +hotel up the street. If you want to get aboard with us in time, you’d +better show up by eight in the morning.” + +“But—” + +“That’s really all I can do,” Jack Benson hastily assured the fellow. “I’m +not the owner of the boat, and I can’t take any liberties. Oh, wait just a +moment. I’ll see if there’s any chance of Mr. Farnum coming back +to-night.” + +Jack knew well enough that there wasn’t any chance of Mr. Farnum +returning, unless possibly at a very late hour with the naval officers, +but the boy had seen the night watchman peering out through the gateway. + +Retracing his steps, Jack drew the night watchman inside, whispering: + +“Just a pointer for you. You’ve seen that man on the street with us? He +has a letter from Mr. Pollard to Mr. Farnum, but I wouldn’t let him in the +yard to-night, unless Mr. Farnum appears and gives the order.” + +“I understand,” said the night watchman, nodding. + +“That’s all, then, and thank you.” + +Jack Benson hastily rejoined the others on the sidewalk. + +“I don’t believe, Mr. Truax, it will be worth your while to come here +earlier than eight in the morning. Better go to the hotel and tie up to a +good sleep. Good night.” + +“Say, why did you take such a dislike to the fellow?” queried Eph, as the +three submarine boys strolled on up the street, Truax following slowly at +some distance in the rear. + +“I didn’t take a dislike to him,” Jack replied, opening his eyes wide. + +“You choked him off mighty short, then.” + +“If it looked that way, then I’m sorry,” Benson protested, in a tone of +genuine regret. “All I wanted to make plain was that I couldn’t pass him +on to our precious old boat without Mr. Farnum’s order.” + +Truax plodded slowly along behind the submarine boys, a cunning look in +the man’s eyes as he stared after Jack Benson. + +“You’re a slick young man, or else a wise one,” muttered Truax. “But I +think I’m smart enough to take it out of you!” + +Nor did Sam Truax go to the hotel. He had his own plans for this +evening—plans that boded the submarine boys no good. + +The three boys strolled easily about town, getting a hot soda or two, and, +finally, drifting into a moving picture show that had opened recently in +Dunhaven. This place they did not leave until the show was over. They were +half-way home when Captain Jack remembered that he had left behind him a +book that he had bought earlier in the evening. + +“You fellows keep right on down to the yard. I’ll hurry back, get the book +and overtake you,” he proposed. + +Jack ran back, but already the little theatre was closed. + +“I’m out that book, then, if we sail in the morning,” he muttered, as he +trudged along after his friends. + +On the way toward the water front Benson had to pass a vacant lot +surrounded by a high board fence on a deserted street. He had passed about +half way along the length of the fence, when a head appeared over the top +followed by a pair of arms holding a small bag of sand. Down dropped the +bag, striking Jack Benson on the top of the head, sending him unconscious +to the ground. + + + + + + CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS + + +Close at hand there was a loose board in the fence. Through this Sam Truax +thrust his head, peering up and down the street. Not another soul was in +sight. + +With a chuckle Truax stepped through the hole in the fence. Swiftly he +gathered up the young submarine captain, bearing him through the aperture +and dropping him on the ground behind the fence. At the same time he took +with him the small bag of sand. + +“Knocked you out, but I don’t believe you’ll be unconscious long,” mused +Truax, standing over his young victim, regarding him critically. “There +wasn’t steam enough in the blow to hurt you for long. You’re sturdy, +following the sea all the time, as you do.” + +With a thoughtful air Sam Truax drew a small bottle from his pocket, +sprinkling some of the contents over Jack’s uniform coat. Immediately the +nauseating smell of liquor rose on the air. + +“Now, if someone finds you before you come to, you’ll look like a fellow +that has been drinking and fighting,” muttered Truax under his breath. “If +you come to and get back to the yard without help, you’ll walk unsteadily +and have that smell about your clothes. Usually, it needs only a breath of +suspicion to turn folks against a boy!” + + [Illustration: Down Dropped the Bag.] + + Down Dropped the Bag. + + +Pausing only long enough to learn that Jack’s pulses were beating, and +that the submarine boy was breathing, Truax stole off into the night, +carrying the bag of sand under his overcoat. At one point he paused long +enough to empty the sand from the bag over a fence. The bag itself he +afterwards burned in the open fireplace in the room assigned to him at +Holt’s Hotel. + +For twenty minutes Jack Benson lay as he had been left. Then he began to +stir, and groan. Then he opened his eyes; after a while he managed to sit +up. + +“Ugh!” he grunted. “What’s the odor? Liquor! How does that happen? Oh, my +head!” + +He got slowly to his feet, using the board fence as a means to help steady +himself. Then, though he found himself weak and tormented by the pain in +his head, Benson managed to feel his way along the fence until he came to +the opening made by the loose board. Holding himself here, he thrust his +head beyond. + +Now, Hal and Eph, having waited for some time at the shore boat, before +going out on board the “Farnum,” had at last made up their minds to go +back and look for their missing leader. They came along just at the moment +that the young captain’s head appeared through the opening in the fence. + +“There he is,” muttered Hal, stopping short. “Gracious! He acts queerly. I +wonder if anything can have happened to him? Come along, Eph!” + +The two raced across the street. + +“Jack, old fellow! What on earth’s the matter?” demanded Hal Hastings, +anxiously. + +“I wish you could tell me,” responded Jack Benson, speaking rather +thickly, for he was still somewhat dazed. “Oh, my head!” + +“There has been some queer work here,” muttered Hal in Eph’s ear. “Don’t +torment him with questions. Just help me to get him down to the yard.” + +While the two submarine boys were guiding their weak, dizzy comrade out to +the sidewalk a man came by with a swinging stride. Then he stopped short, +staring in amazement. + +“Hullo, boys! What on earth has happened?” + +It was Grant Andrews, foreman of the submarine work at the yard, and a +warm personal friend of Benson’s. + +“I don’t believe the old chap feels like telling us just now,” muttered +Hal, with a sour face. + +“Whiskey!” muttered Andrews, almost under his breath. “What does it mean? +Benson never touched a drop of that vile stuff, did he?” + +“He’d sooner drown himself,” retorted Hal, with spirit. + +“Of course he would,” agreed Grant Andrews. “But what is the meaning of +all this?” + +“Oh, there’s some queer, hocus-pocus business on foot,” muttered Hal, +bitterly. “But I don’t believe Jack feels much like telling us anything +about it at present.” + +In truth, Jack didn’t seem inclined to conversation. He was too sore and +dazed to feel like talking. He couldn’t collect his ideas clearly. The +most that he actually knew was that the pain in his head was tormenting. + +“I’ll pick him right up in my arms and carry him,” proposed Andrews. “I’ll +take him to Mr. Farnum’s office. Then I’ll get a doctor. We don’t want +much noise about this, or folks will be telling all sorts of yarns against +Jack Benson and his drinking habits, when the truth is he’s about the +finest, steadiest young fellow alive!” + +Just as Andrews was about to carry his purpose into action, however, an +automobile turned the nearest corner and came swiftly toward them. In +another instant it stopped alongside. It contained Mr. Farnum and his +chauffeur, besides three naval officers. + +“What’s wrong, Andrews?” called the yard’s owner. “Why, that’s Jack +Benson! What has happened to him?” + +Hal and Eph stood supporting their comrade, almost holding him, in fact. +Jacob Farnum leaped from his automobile. Lieutenant Commander Mayhew +followed him. + +“Liquor, eh?” exclaimed the naval officer, the odor reaching his nostrils. + +“No such thing,” retorted Farnum, turning upon the officer. “At least, +Jack Benson has been drinking no such stuff.” + +“It was only a guess,” murmured Mr. Mayhew, apologetically. “You know your +young man better than I do, Mr. Farnum.” + +“There is liquor on his clothing,” continued the shipbuilder. “It looks as +though someone had assaulted the lad, laid him out, and then sprinkled +him. It’s a wasted trick, though. I know him too well to be fooled by any +such clumsy bit of nonsense.” + +“A stupid trick, indeed,” agreed Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, but the +naval officer did not quite share the shipbuilder’s confidence in the +submarine boy’s innocence. Mr. Mayhew had known of too many cases of naval +apprentices ruined through weak indulgence in liquor. Indeed, he had even +known of rare instances in which cadets had been dismissed from the Naval +Academy for the same offense. The lieutenant commander’s present doubt of +Jack Benson was likely to work to that young man’s disadvantage later on. + +Others of the party left the auto. Hal and Mr. Farnum got into the +tonneau, supporting Jack there between them. Thus they carried him to Mr. +Farnum’s office at the yard, Grant Andrews then going in the car after a +doctor, while the others stretched Jack on the office sofa. The naval +officers returned to the “Hudson,” at anchor in the little harbor below. + +“The young man acts as though he had been struck on the head,” was the +physician’s verdict. “No bones of the skull are broken. The odor of liquor +is on his coat, but I can’t seem to detect any on the breath.” + +“Of course you can’t,” commented Jacob Farnum, crisply. “Will Benson be +fit to sail in the morning?” + +“I think so,” nodded the doctor. “But there ought to be a nurse with him +to-night.” + +“Take my car, Andrews, and get a man nurse at once,” directed Mr. Farnum. +“Doctor, can the young man be moved to his berth on the ’Farnum’?” + +“Safely enough,” nodded the medical man. They waited until the nurse +arrived, when Jack was put to bed on the newer submarine craft. + +Jack slept through the night, moaning once in a while. Mr. Farnum and the +Dunhaven doctor were aboard early to look at him. The surgeon from the +“Hudson” also came over. + +Under the effects of medicine Jack Benson was asleep when, at ten o’clock +that morning, the two submarine torpedo boats slipped their moorings, +following the “parent boat,” the “Hudson,” out of the harbor. + +Ten minutes later the motion of the sea awoke the young skipper. + + + + + + CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS + + +“Hullo!” muttered the young submarine skipper, staring curiously about the +little stateroom aft. He had it to himself, the nurse having been put on +shore. “Under way, eh? This is the queerest start I ever made on a +voyage.” + +Nor was it many moments later when Jack Benson stood on his feet. His +clothes were hung neatly on nails against the wall. One after another Jack +secured the garments, slowly donning them. + +“How my head throbs and buzzes!” he muttered, his voice sounding unsteady. +“Gracious! What could have happened? Let me see. The last I +remember—passing that high fence—” + +But it was all too great a puzzle. Benson finally decided to stop guessing +until some future time. He went on with his dressing. Finally, with his +blouse buttoned as exactly as ever, and his cap placed gingerly on his +aching head, he opened the stateroom door, stepping out into the cabin. + +Accustomed as he was to sea motion, the slight roll of the “Farnum” did +not bother the young skipper much. He soon reached the bottom of the short +spiral stairway leading up into the conning tower. Up there, in the +helmsman’s seat, he espied Hal Hastings with his hands employed at the +steering apparatus. Hal was looking out over the water, straight ahead. + +“Sailing these days without word from your captain, eh?” Jack called, in a +voice that carried, though it shook. + +“Gracious—you?” ejaculated Hal, looking down for an instant. Then Hastings +pressed a button connecting with a bell in the engine room. + +“I’m going up there with you,” Jack volunteered. + +“Right-o, if you insist,” clicked Eph Somers, appearing from the engine +room and darting to the young skipper’s side. True, Jack’s head swam a bit +dizzily as he climbed the stairs, but Eph’s strong support made the task +much easier. There was space to spare on the seat beside Hal, and into +this Jack Benson sank. + +“Say, you ought to sleep until afternoon,” was Hastings’s next greeting, +but Jack was looking out of the conning tower at the scene around him. + +The three craft were leaving the coast directly behind. About three +hundred yards away, abeam, steamed the “Hudson” at a nine-knot gait. + +“The ’Pollard’ is on the other side of the gunboat, isn’t she?” asked +Jack. + +“Yes,” Hal nodded. + +“Naval crew aboard her?” + +“Yes; Government has taken full possession of the ’Pollard.’” + +“Who’s running this boat? Just you and Eph?” + +“No; that new man, Truax, is on board, and at the last moment Mr. Farnum +put Williamson, one of the machinists, aboard, also. You can send +Williamson back from Annapolis whenever you’re through with him.” + +“Williamson is all right,” nodded Jack, slowly. “But how about Truax?” + +“I think he’s going to be a useful man,” Hal responded. “He seems familiar +with our type of engines. Of course, he knows nothing about the apparatus +for submerging the boat or making it dive. But he doesn’t need to. Now, +Jack, old fellow, we’re going along all right. Why not let Eph help you +back to your bunk, or one of the seats in the cabin, and have your sleep +out?” + +“I’ve had it out,” Benson declared, with a laugh. “I’m ready, now, to take +my trick at the wheel.” + +“Nonsense,” retorted Hal Hastings. “I’ve been here a bare quarter of an +hour, and I’m good for more work than that. Jack, you’re nothing but a +fifth wheel. You’re not needed; won’t be all day, and at night we anchor +in some harbor down the coast. Go and rest, like a good fellow.” + +“Can’t rest, when I know I’m doing nothing,” Benson retorted, stubbornly. +“Besides, this is the first time I’ve ever found myself moving along in +regular formation with the United States Navy. I feel almost as if I were +a Navy officer myself, and I mean to make the most of the sensation. Say, +Hal, wouldn’t it be fine if we really _did_ belong to the Navy?” + +“Gee-whiz!” murmured young Hastings, his cheeks glowing and his eyes +snapping. + +“If we only belonged to the old Flag for life, and knew that we were +practising on a boat like this as a part of the preparation for real war +when it came?” + +“_Don’t!_” begged Hal, tensely. “For you know, old fellow, it can’t come +true. Why, we haven’t even a residence anywhere, from which a Congressman +could appoint one of us to Annapolis!” + +“_One_ of us?” muttered Jack, scornfully. “Then it would have to be you. +_I_ wouldn’t go, even as a cadet at Annapolis, and leave you behind in +just plain, ordinary life, Hal Hastings!” + +“Well, it’s no use thinking about it,” sighed Hal, practically. “Neither +one of us is in any danger of getting appointed to Annapolis, so there’s +no chance that either one of us ever will become an officer in the Navy. +Let’s not talk about it, Jack. I’ve been contented enough, so far, but now +it makes me almost blue, to think that we can only go on testing and +handling submarine craft like these, while others will be their real +officers in the Navy, and command them in any war that may come.” + +Though his head throbbed, and though a dizzy spell came over him every few +minutes, Jack Benson stuck it out, up there beside his chum, for an hour. +Then, disdaining aid, he crept down the stairs, stretching himself out on +one of the cabin seats. Eph brought him a pillow and a blanket. Jack soon +slept, tossing uneasily whenever pain throbbed dully in his head. + +“Guess I’ll go out and have a little look at the young captain,” proposed +Sam Truax, an hour later. + +“Try another guess,” retorted Eph, curtly. “You’ll stay here in the engine +room. Jack Benson isn’t going to be bothered in any way.” + +“I’m not going to bother him; just going to take a look at him,” protested +Truax, moving toward the door that separated the engine room from the +cabin. + +But young Somers caught the stranger by the sleeve of the oily jumper that +Sam had donned on beginning his work. + +“Do you know what folks say about me?” demanded Eph, with a significant +glare. + +“What do they say?” + +“Folks have an idea that, at most times, I’m one of the best-natured +fellows on earth,” declared Eph, solemnly. “Yet they _do_ say that, when +I’m crossed in anything my mind’s made up to, I can be tarnation ugly. I +just told you I don’t want the captain disturbed. Do you know, Sam Truax, +I feel a queer notion coming over me? I’ve an idea that that feeling is +just plain ugliness coming to life!” + +Truax came back from the door, a grin on his face. Yet, when he turned his +head away, there was a queer, almost deadly flash in the fellow’s eyes. + +Jack slept, uneasily, until towards the middle of the afternoon. As soon +as Eph found him awake, that young man brought the captain a plate of +toast and a bowl of broth, both prepared at the little galley stove. + +“Sit up and get away with these,” urged Eph, placing the tray on the cabin +table. “Wait a minute. I’ll prop you up and put a pillow at your back.” + +“This boat isn’t a bad place for a fellow when he’s knocked out,” smiled +Jack. + +“Any place ought to be good, where your friends are,” came, curtly, from +young Somers. + +As Captain Jack ate the warm food he felt his strength coming back to him. + +“Poor old Hal has been up there in the conning tower all these hours,” +muttered Captain Jack, uneasily. “He must have that cramped feeling in his +hands.” + +“Humph!” retorted Eph. “Not so you could notice it much, I guess. It’s a +simpleton’s job up in the conning tower to-day. All he has to do is to +shift the wheel a little to port, or to starboard, just so as to keep the +proper interval from the ’Dad’ boat. Besides, I’ve been up there on +relief, for an hour while you slept, and Hal came down and sat with the +engines. Cheer up, Jack. No one misses you from the conning tower.” + +Benson laughed, though he said, warningly: + +“I reckon we’ll do as well to drop calling the gunboat the ’Dad boat’ +instead of the ’parent vessel.’” + +“Well, you needn’t bother at all about the conning tower to-day,” wound up +Eph, glancing at his watch. “It’s after half-past three at this moment and +I understand we’re to drop anchor about five o’clock.” + +So Skipper Jack settled back with a comfortable sigh. Truth to tell, it +was pleasant not to have any immediate duty, for his head throbbed, every +now and then, and he felt dizzy when he tried to walk. + +“Who could have hit me in that fashion, last night, and for what earthly +purpose?” wondered the boy. “I’ve had some enemies, in the past, but I +don’t know a single person about Dunhaven, now who has any reason for +wishing me harm.” + +Never a thought crossed his mind of suspecting Sam Truax. That worthy had +come with a note from David Pollard, the inventor of the boats. Sam, +therefore, must be all right, the boy reasoned. + +Jack lay back on the upholstered seat. He sat with his eyes closed most of +the time, though he did not doze. At last, however, he heard the engine +room bell sound for reduced speed. Getting up, the young captain made his +way to the foot of the conning tower stairs. + +“Making port, Hal?” he called. + +“Yep,” came the reply. “We’ll be at anchor in five minutes more.” + +Jack made his way slowly to the door of the engine room. + +“Eph,” he called, “as soon as you’ve shut off speed, take Truax above and +you two attend to the mooring.” + +“Take this other man up with you,” urged Sam Truax. “I don’t know anything +about tying a boat up to moorings.” + +“Time you learned, then,” returned Eph Somers, “if you’re to stay aboard a +submarine craft.” + +“Take this other man up with you,” again urged Truax. + +Eph Somers turned around to face him with a good deal of a glare. + +“What ails you, Truax? You heard the captain’s order. You’ll go with me.” + +“Don’t be too sure of that,” uttered Sam Truax, defiantly. + +“If you don’t go above with me, and if you don’t follow every order you +get aboard this boat, I know where you _will_ go,” muttered Eph, +decisively. + +“Where?” jeered Sam. + +“Ashore—in the first boat that can take you there.” + +“You seem to forget that I’m on board by David Pollard’s order,” sneered +Truax. + +“All I am sure of,” retorted Eph, “is that Jack Benson is captain on board +this craft. That means that he’s sole judge of everything here when this +boat is cruising. If you were here by the orders of both owners, Jack +Benson would fire you ashore for good, just the same, after you’ve balked +at the first order.” + +“Humph! I—” + +Clang! Jangle! The signal bell was sounding. + +“Shut up,” ordered Eph Somers, briskly. “I’ve got the engine to run on +signal from the watch officer.” + +There followed a series of signals, first of all for stopping speed, then +for a brief reversing of engines. A moment later headway speed ahead was +ordered. So on Eph went through the series of orders until the “Farnum” +had been manœuvred to her exact position. Then, from above, Captain Jack’s +voice was heard, roaring in almost his usual tones: + +“Turn out below, there, to help make fast!” + +“Take the lever, Williamson,” directed Eph. “Come along lively, Truax.” + +“Humph! Let Williamson go,” grumbled Truax. + +“You come along with me, my man!” roared Eph, his face blazing angrily. +“Hustle, too, or I’ll report you to the captain for disobedience of +orders. Then you’ll go ashore at express speed. Coming?” + +Sam Truax appeared to wage a very brief battle within himself. Then, +nodding sulkily, he followed. + +“Hustle up, there!” Jack shouted down. “We don’t want to drift.” + +Jack Benson stood out on the platform deck, holding to the conning tower +at the port side. A naval launch had just placed a buoy over an anchor +that had been lowered. + +“Get forward, you two,” Jack called briskly, “and make the bow cable fast +to that buoy.” + +Hal still sat at the wheel in the tower. As Eph and Truax crept forward +over the arched upper hull of the “Farnum,” Hal sounded the engine room +signals and steered until the boat had gotten close enough to make the bow +cable fast. Then the stern cable was made fast, with more line, to another +buoy. + +“A neat hitch, Mr. Benson,” came a voice from the bridge of the “Hudson,” +which lay a short distance away. Jack, looking up, saw Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew leaning over the bridge rail. + +“Thank you, sir,” Jack acknowledged, saluting the naval officer. + +The parent vessel and her two submarine charges now lay at anchor in the +harbor at Port Clovis, one of the towns down the coast from Dunhaven. This +mooring overnight was to be repeated each day until Annapolis should be +reached. + +Within fifteen minutes the craft were surrounded by small boats from +shore. Some of these contained merchandise that it was hoped sailors would +buy. Other boats “ran” for hotels, restaurants, drinking places, amusement +halls, and all the varied places on shore that hope to fatten on Jack +Tar’s money. + +“I’d like to go ashore, sir,” announced Sam Truax, approaching Captain +Jack. + +“When?” + +“Now.” + +“For how long?” + +“Until ten o’clock to-night.” + +“Be back by that hour, then,” Jack replied. “If you’re not, you’ll find +everything shut tight aboard here.” + +Truax quickly signaled one of the hovering boats, and put off in it. Eph +watched the boat for a few moments before he turned to Captain Jack to +mutter: + +“Somehow, I wouldn’t feel very badly about it if that fellow got lost on +shore!” + + + + + + CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO + + +On the second day of the cruise Jack Benson returned to full duty. + +For four nights, in all, the submarine squadron tied up at moorings in +harbors along the coast. On the fifth night, as darkness fell, the +squadron continued under way, in Chesapeake Bay, for Annapolis was but +three hours away. + +Immediately after supper Captain Jack took his place in the conning tower. +He concerned himself principally with the compass, his only other task +being to keep the course by the “Hudson’s” lights, for the parent boat +supplied in its own conduct all the navigation orders beyond the general +course. The “Farnum’s” searchlight was not used, the gunboat picking up +all the coast-marks as they neared land. + +“Annapolis is the place I’ve always wanted to see,” Jack declared, as Hal +joined him in the conning tower. + +“It’s the place where I’ve always wanted to be a cadet,” sighed Hal. “But +there’s no chance for me, I fear. Jack, I’d rather be an officer of the +Navy than a millionaire.” + +“Same here,” replied Jack, steadily. “It’s hard to have to feel that I’ll +never be either.” + +As she entered the mouth of the Severn River the “Hudson” signaled to the +submarines to follow, in file, the “Pollard” leading. A little later the +three craft entered the Basin at the Academy. While the gunboat anchored +off the Amphitheatre, the two submarine boats were ordered to anchorage +just off the Boat House. Then a cutter came alongside. + +“The lieutenant commander’s compliments to Mr. Benson. Will Mr. Benson go +aboard the ’Hudson’?” asked the young officer in command of the cutter. +Captain Jack lost no time in presenting himself before the lieutenant +commander. + +“Mr. Benson,” said Mr. Mayhew, after greeting the submarine boy, “your +craft will be under a marine guard to-night, and at all times while here +at the Naval Academy. If you and your crew would like to spend the night +ashore, in the quaint little old town of Annapolis, there’s no reason why +you shouldn’t. But you will all need to report back aboard, ready for +duty, by eight in the morning.” + +Jack thanked the naval commander, then hastened back to the “Farnum” to +communicate the news. + +“Me for the shore trip,” declared Eph, promptly. All the others agreed +with him. + +“I’ll come back by ten o’clock to-night, though,” volunteered Sam Truax. +“One of the crew ought to be aboard.” + +“We’ll stay ashore,” decided Jack, “and return in the morning.” + +“I’m coming back to-night,” retorted Truax. + +“Keep still, and follow orders,” muttered Eph, digging his elbow into +Truax’s ribs. “The captain gives the orders here.” + +Jack, however, had turned away. Within five minutes a boat put off from +shore, bringing two soldiers of the marine guard alongside. With them, in +the shore boat, was a corporal of the guard. + +“Any of your crew coming back to-night, sir?” asked the corporal. + +“None,” Benson answered. “Will you instruct the sentries to see that none +of the crew are allowed aboard during the night?” + +“Very good, sir.” + +The shore boat waited to convey them to the landing. Before going, young +Captain Benson closed and locked the manhole entrance to the conning +tower. A sullen silence had fallen over Truax. The instructions to the +corporal of the guard, and the prompt acceptance of those instructions, +told Sam, beyond any doubt, that he was _not_ coming back on board that +night. + +Truax followed the others as they passed through the Academy grounds. +Beyond the large, handsome buildings, there was not much to be seen at +night. Lights shone behind all the windows in Cadet Barracks. Nearly all +of the cadets of the United States Navy were in their quarters, hard at +study. Here and there a marine sentry paced. A few naval officers, in +uniform, passed along the walks. That was all, and the submarine party had +crossed the grounds to the gate through which they were to pass into the +town of Annapolis. + +“Coming with us, Truax?” asked Williamson, as the party passed out into a +dimly lighted street. + +“No,” replied the fellow, sullenly. “I’ll travel by myself.” + +“You’re welcome to,” muttered Eph, under his breath. + +The others climbed the steps to the State Capitol grounds, continuing +until they reached one of the principal streets of the little town. + +“Say, but this place must have gone to sleep before we got ashore,” +grumbled Eph. “Hanged if I don’t think Dunhaven is a livelier little +place!” + +“There isn’t much to do, except to wander about a bit, then go to the +Maryland House for a good sleep on shore,” Jack admitted. + +For more than an hour the submarine boys wandered about. The principal +streets contained some stores that had a bright, up-to-date look, and in +these principal streets the evening crowds much resembled those to be +found in any small town. There were other streets, however, on which there +was little traffic. In some of these quieter streets were quaint, +old-fashioned houses built in the Colonial days. + +“Annapolis is more of a place to see by daylight, I reckon,” suggested +Hal. “How about that sleep, Jack?” + +“The greatest fun, by night, I guess, consists in finding a drug-store and +spending some of our loose change on ice cream sodas,” laughed the young +submarine skipper. + +This done, they found their way to the Maryland House. Jack and Hal +engaged a room together, Eph and Williamson taking the adjoining one. + +“As for me, in an exciting place like this,” grimaced Eph, “I’m off for +bed.” + +Williamson followed him upstairs. For some minutes Hal sat with his chum +in the hotel office. Then Jack went over and talked with the night clerk +for a few moments. + +“There’s a place near here, Hal, where a fellow can get an oyster fry,” +Benson explained, returning to his chum. “With that information came the +discovery that I have an appetite. Come and join me?” + +“No,” gaped Hal. “I reckon I’ll go up and turn in.” + +“I’ll be along in half an hour, then.” + +Jack found the oyster house readily. As he entered the little, not +over-clean place, he found himself the only customer. He gave his order, +then picked up the local daily paper. As he ate, Jack found himself +yawning. The drowsiness of Annapolis by night was coming upon him. Little +did he dream how soon he was to discover that Annapolis, in some of its +parts, can be lively enough. + +As he paid his bill and stepped to the street, a young mulatto hurried up +to him. + +“Am Ah correct, sah, in supposin’ yo’ Cap’n Jack Benson?” + +“That’s my name,” Jack admitted. + +“Den Ah’s jes’ been ’roun’ to de hotel, lookin’ fo’ yo’, sah. One ob yo’ +men, Mistah Sam Truax, am done took sick, an’ he done sent me fo’ yo’.” + +“Truax ill? Why, I saw him a couple of hours ago, and he looked as healthy +as a man could look,” Jack replied, in astonishment. + +“I reckon, sah, he’s mighty po’ly now, sah,” replied the mulatto. “He done +gib me money fo’ to hiah a cab an’ take yo’ to him. Will yo’ please to +come, sah?” + +“Yes,” agreed Jack. “Lead the way.” + +“T’ank yo’, sah; t’ank yo’, sah. Follow me, sah.” + +Jack’s mulatto guide led him down the street a little way, then around a +corner. Here a rickety old cab with a single horse attached, waited. A +gray old darkey sat on the driver’s seat. + +“Step right inside, sah. We’ll be dere direckly. Marse Truax’ll be +powahful glad to see yo’, sah.” + +“See here,” demanded Jack, after they had driven several blocks at a good +speed, “Truax hasn’t been getting into any drinking scrapes, has he? +Hasn’t been getting himself arrested, has he?” + +For young Benson had learned, from the night clerk at the hotel, that, +quiet and “dead” as Annapolis appears to the stranger, there are “tough” +places into which a seafaring stranger may find his way. + +“No, sah; no, sah,” protested the mulatto. “Marse Truax done got sick +right and proper.” + +“Why, confound it, we’re leaving the town behind,” cried Jack, a few +moments later, after peering out through the cab window. + +“Dat’s all right, sah. Dere ain’ nuffin’ to be ’fraid ob, sah.” + +“Afraid?” uttered Jack, scornfully, with a side glance at the mulatto. The +submarine boy felt confident that, in a stretch of trouble, he could +thrash this guide of his in very short order. + +“Ah might jess well tell yo’ wheah we am gwine, sah,” volunteered the +mulatto, presently. + +“Yes,” Benson retorted, drily. “I think you may.” + +“Marse Truax, sah, he done hab er powah ob trouble, sah, las’ wintah, wid +rheumatiz, sah. He ’fraid he gwine cotch it again dis wintah, sah. Now, +sah, dere am some good voodoo doctahs ’roun’ Annapolis, so Marse Truax, he +done gwine to see, sah, what er voodoo can promise him fo’ his rheumatiz. +I’se a runnah, sah, for de smahtest ole voodoo doctah, sah, in de whole +state ob Maryland.” + +“Then you took Truax to a voodoo doctor to-night?” demanded Jack, almost +contemptuously. + +“Yes, sah; yes, sah.” + +“I thought Truax had more sense than to go in for such tomfoolery,” Jack +Benson retorted, bluntly. + +The mulatto launched into a prompt, energetic defense of the voodoo +doctors. Young Benson had heard a good deal about these clever old colored +frauds. In spite of his contempt, the submarine boy found himself +interested. He had heard about the charms, spells, incantations and other +humbugs practised on colored dupes and on some credulous whites by these +greatest of all quacks. The voodoo methods of “healing” are brought out of +the deepest jungles of darkest Africa, yet there are many ignorant people, +even among the whites, who believe steadfastly in the “cures” wrought by +the voodoo. + +While the mulatto guide was talking, or answering Jack’s half-amused +questions, the cab left Annapolis further and further behind. + +“Yo’ see, sah,” the guide went on, “Marse Truax wa’n’t in no fit +condition, sah, to try de strongest voodoo medicine dat he called fo’. So, +w’ile de voodoo was sayin’ his strongest chahms, Marse Truax done fall +down, frothin’ at de mouth. He am some bettah, now, sah, but he kain’t be +move’ from de voodoo’s house ’cept by a frien’.” + +“I’ll get a chance to see one of these old voodoo frauds, anyway,” Jack +told himself. “This new experience will be worth the time it keeps me out +of my bed. What a pity Hal missed a queer old treat like this!” + +When the cab at last stopped, Benson looked out to find that the place was +well down a lonely country road, well lined with trees on either side. The +house, utterly dark from the outside, was a ramshackle, roomy old affair. + +“Shall Ah wait fo’ yo’?” asked the old colored driver. + +“Yes, wait for me,” directed Jack, briefly. + +“Yeah; wait fo’ de gemmun. He’s all right,” volunteered the mulatto. + +“Mebbe yo’ kin see some voodoo wo’k, too, ef yo’s int’rested,” hinted the +guide, in a whisper, as he fitted a key to a lock, and swung a door open. +In a hallway stood a lighted lantern, which the guide picked up. + +“Now, go quiet-lak, on tip-toe. Sh!” cautioned the guide, himself moving +stealthily into the nearest room. Jack Benson began to feel secretly +awestruck and “creepy,” though he was too full of grit to betray the fact. + +At the further end of the room the guide, holding the lantern behind his +body as though by accident, threw open another door. + +“Pass right on through dis room, ahead ob me, sah,” begged the guide, +respectfully. + +But Jack drew back, instinctively, out of the darkness. + +“Don’ yo’, a w’ite man, be ’fraid ob ole voodoo house,” advised the +mulatto, still speaking respectfully. + +Afraid? Of course not. Relying on his muscle and his agility, Jack stepped +ahead. By a sudden jerk of his arm the mulatto guide shook out the flame +in the lantern. + +“Here, you! What are you about?” growled Jack Benson, wheeling like a +flash upon his escort. + +“Go ’long, yo’ w’ite trash!” jeered the mulatto. He gave the boy a sudden, +forceful shove. + +Jack Benson, under the impetus of that push, staggered ahead, seeking to +recover his balance. Without a doubt he would have done so, but, just +then, the floor under his feet ended. With a yell of dismay, the submarine +boy tottered, then plunged down, alighting on a bed of soft dirt many feet +below. + + + + + + CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING “NEW,” ALL RIGHT + + +Jack Benson was on his feet in an instant. An angrier boy it would have +been hard to find. + +From overhead came the sound of a loud guffaw. + +“Oh, you infernal scoundrel!” raged the submarine boy, shaking his fist in +the dark. + +“W’at am de matter wid yo’, w’ite trash?” came the jeering query. + +“Let me get my hands on you, and I’ll show you!” quivered Benson. + +“Yah! Listen to yo’! Yo’ wait er minute, an’ Ah’ll show yo’ a light.” + +Gr-r-r-r! Gr-r-r-r! That sound from overhead was not pleasant. Jack, in +the few seconds that were left to him, could only guess as to the cause of +the sounds. Then, some fifteen feet over his head, a tiny flame sputtered. +This match-end was carried to the wick of the lantern that the yellowish +guide had been carrying, and now the light illumined the place into which +Jack Benson had fallen. + +That place was a square-shaped pit, with boarded sides. Up above, on a +shelf of flooring, knelt the late guide, grinning down with a look of +infernal glee. On either side of the mulatto stood a heavy-jowled +bull-dog. Both brutes peered down, showing their teeth in a way to make a +timid man’s blood run cold. + +“Put those dogs back and come down here,” challenged Jack, shaking his +fist. “Come down, and I’ll teach you a few things, you rascal!” + +“Don’ yo’ shake yo’ fist at me, or dem dawgs will sure jump down and +tackle yo’,” grinned the guide, gripping at the collars of the brutes, +which, truly, showed signs of intending to spring below. + +Jack fell back, his hands dropping to his sides. Had there been but one +dog, the submarine boy, with all his grit forced to the surface, might +have chosen to face the brute, hoping to despatch it with a well-aimed +kick. But with two dogs, both intent on “getting” him, young Benson knew +that he would stand the fabled chance of a snow-flake on a red-hot stove. + +“Dat’s right, gemmun, yo’ keep cool,” observed the mulatto, mockingly. + +“You’ve decoyed me—trapped me here with a mess of lies,” flung back +Captain Jack, angrily. “What’s your game?” + +“Dis am a free lodgin’ house—ho, ho, ho!” chuckled the late guide. “Ah’s +gwine gib yo’ er place to sleep fo’ de night. Yo’ sho’ly must feel +’bleeged to me—ho, ho, ho!” + +“You lied to me about Sam Truax!” + +“Yeah! Ah done foun’ dat was de name ob a gemmun in yo’ pahty dat wasn’t +wid yo’. Truax do as well as any odder name—yah! Now, Ah’s gwine leab yo’ +heah t’ git a sleep. Ah’ll toss down some blankets. ’Pose yo’se’f and +gwine ter sleep, honey. Don’t try to clim’ up outer dat, or dem dawgs’ll +sho’ly jump down at yo’. Keep quiet, an’ go ter sleep, an’ de dawgs done +lay heah an’ jest watch. But don’ try nuffin’ funny, or de dawgs’ll sho’ly +bring trubble to yo’. Dem is trained dawgs—train’ fo’ dis business ob +mine. Ho, ho, ho!” + +Mulatto and light vanished, but enraged, baffled, helpless Captain Jack +could hear the two dogs moving about ere they settled down on the shelf of +flooring overhead. + +“No matter how much of a liar that rascal is, he didn’t lie to me about +the dogs,” reflected Jack, his temper cooling, but his bitterness +increasing. “They’re fighting dogs, and one wrong move would bring them +bounding down here on me—the two together. Ugh-gh!” + +After a few moments the mulatto reappeared with a light and tossed down +three heavy blankets. + +“Now, Ah’s gwine leave yo’ fo’ de night,” clacked the late guide. “Ef yo’ +done feel lonesome, yo’ jes’ whistle de dawgs down to yo’. Dey’ll come!” + +While the light was still there Benson, in raging silence, gathered the +blankets and arranged them. + +“Roll up one fo’ a pillow, under yo’ haid,” grinned the mulatto. “Dat’s +all right, sah. Now, good night, Marse Benson. Ef yo’ feel lonesome, Marse +Benson, jes’ whistle fo’ de dawgs. _Dey’ll come!_” + +The light vanished while the mulatto’s sinister words were ringing in the +boy’s ears. Would the dogs jump down? Jack knew they would, at the first +false move or sound on his part. He huddled softly, stealthily, on the +blankets, there in the darkness. + +As he lay there, thinking, Benson’s sense of admiration gradually got to +the surface. + +“Well, of all the slick man-traps!” he gasped. “I never heard of anything +more clever. Nor was there ever a bigger idiot than I, to walk stupidly +into this same trap! What’s the game, I wonder? Robbery, it must be. And I +have a watch, some other little valuables and nearly a hundred and fifty +dollars in money on me. Oh, I’m the sleek, fat goose for plucking!” + +Lying there, in enforced stillness, Jack Benson, after an hour or so, +actually fell asleep. A good, healthy sleeper at all times, he slumbered +on through the night. Once he awoke, just a trifle chilled. He heard one +of the dogs snoring overhead. Crawling under one of the blankets, Benson +went to sleep again. + +“Hey, yo’, Marse Benson. It am mawnin’. Time yo’ was wakin’ up an’ movin’ +erlong!” + +It was the voice of the same mulatto, calling down into the pit. Again the +rays of the lantern illumined the darkness. Both bull-dogs displayed their +ferocious muzzles over the edge of the pit. Jack sat up cautiously, not +caring to attract unfriendly interest from the dogs. + +“Ah want yo’ to take off all yo’ clothes ’cept yo’ undahclothes, an’ den +Ah’ll let down a string fo’ yo’ to tie ’em to,” declared the mulatto, +grinning. “Yo’ needn’t try ter slip yo’ wallet, nor nuffin’ outer mah +sight, cause Ah’ll be watchin’. Now, git a hurry on, Marse Benson, or +Ah’ll done push dem dawgs ober de aidge ob dis flooring.” + +Jack hesitated only a moment. Then, with a grunt of rage, he began +removing his outer garments. Down came a twine, to the lower end of which +the boy made fast his garments, one after another. His money and valuables +went up in the pockets, for the sharp eyes of the mulatto could not have +been eluded by any amateur slight-of-hand. + +“Now, yo’ cap an’ yo’ shoes,” directed the grinning monster above. + +These, too, Benson passed up at the end of the cord. The mulatto +disappeared, leaving the two dogs still on guard. At last, back came the +light and the yellowish man with it. + +“Yo’ sho’ is good picking, Marse Benson,” grinned the guide of the night +before. “Yo’ has good pin feathers. Ah hope Ah’ll suttinly meet yo’ +again.” + +“I hope we do meet at another time!” Jack Benson flared back, wrathily. +The cool insolence of the fellow cut him to the marrow, yet where was the +use of disobeying a rascal flanked by two such willing and capable dogs? + +“Now, yo’ jes’ put dese t’ings on, Marse Benson, ef yo’ please, sah,” +mocked the mulatto, tossing down some woefully tattered, nondescript +garments, and, after them, a battered, rimless Derby hat and a pair of +brogans out at the toes. + +“I’ll be hanged if I’ll put on such duds!” quivered Jack. + +“Jes’ as yo’ please, ob co’se, Marse Benson,” came the answer, from above. +“But, ef yo’ don’ put dem t’ings on, yo’ll sho’ly hab ter gwine back ter +’Napolis in yo’ undahclo’s. An’ yo’s gwine back right away, too, so, ef +yo’ wants ter gwine back weahin’ ernuff clo’es—” + +“Oh, well, then—!” ground out the submarine boy, savagely enough. + +He attired himself in these tattered ends of raiment. Had he not been so +angry he must have roared at sight of his comical self when the dressing +was completed. + + + + + + CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS + + +“Now, yo’ll do, Ah reckons.” + +With that, the mulatto guide of the night before threw down one end of an +inch rope. + +“Ah reckon yo’s sailor ernuff to clim’ dat. Come right erlong, ’less yo’ +wants de dawgs ter jump down dar.” + +“But they’ll tackle me if I come up,” objected Jack Benson. + +“No, dey won’t. Dem dawgs is train’ to dis wo’k. Ah done tole yo’ dat. +Come right erlong. Ah’ll keep my two eyes on dem dawgs.” + +It looked like a highly risky bit of business, but Jack told himself that, +now he had been deprived of his valuables, this yellow worthy must be +genuinely anxious to be rid of the victim. So he took hold of the rope and +began to climb. The mulatto and the dogs disappeared from the upper edge +of the pit. + +As his head came up above the level of the flooring Benson saw the mulatto +and the dogs in the next room, the connecting door of which had been taken +from its hinges. + +“Come right in, Marse Benson. Dere ain’ nuffin’ gwineter hu’t yo’,” came +the rascal’s voice reassuringly. Jack obeyed by stepping into the next +room, though he kept watch over the dogs out of the corners of his eyes. + +“Now, yo’ lie right down on de flo’, Marse Benson,” commanded the master +of the situation. “Ah’s gotter tie yo’ up, befo’ Ah can staht yo’ back ter +’Napolis, but dere ain’ no hahm gwine come ter yo’.” + +Making a virtue of necessity, Captain Jack lay down as directed, passing +his hands behind his back. These were deftly secured, after which his +ankles were treated in the same fashion. Immediately the mulatto, who was +strong and wiry, lifted the boy and the lantern together. The dogs +remaining behind, Jack was carried out into the yard, where he discovered +that daylight was coming on in the East. He was dumped on the ground long +enough to permit his captor to lock the door securely. Then the submarine +boy was lifted once more, carried around the corner of the house and +dumped in the bottom of a shabby old delivery wagon. A canvas was pulled +over him, concealing him from any chance passer. Then the mulatto ran +around to the seat, picking up the reins and starting the horse. + +It seemed like a long drive to the boy, though Benson was certainly in no +position to judge time accurately. At last the team was halted, along a +stretch of road in a deep woods. The mulatto lifted the submarine boy out +to the ground. + +“Now, w’en yo’s got yo’ se’f free, yo’ can take de road in dat +direckshun,” declared the fellow, pointing. “Bimeby yo’ come in sight ob +de town. Now, Marse Benson, w’at happen to yo’ las’ night am all in de +co’se ob a lifetime, an’ Ah hope you ain’t got no bad feelin’s. Yo’ +suttinly done learn somet’ing new in de way ob tricks. Good-bye, sah, an’ +mah compliments to yo’, Marse Benson.” + +With that the guide of the night before swiftly cut the cords at Jack’s +wrists, then as swiftly leaped to the seat of the wagon, whipping up the +horse and disappearing in a cloud of dust. + +Jack, having now no knife, and the bonds about his ankles being tied with +many hard knots, spent some precious minutes in freeing his feet. At last +he stood up, fire in his eyes. + +“Oh, pshaw! There’s no sense in trying to run after that rascal and his +wagon,” decided the young submarine skipper. “I haven’t the slightest idea +what direction he took after he got out of sight, and—oh, gracious! I’m +under orders to be aboard the ’Farnum’ at eight this morning. And on Mr. +Farnum’s business, at that!” + +Clenching his hands vengefully, Jack started along in the direction +pointed out by his late captor. Brisk walking wore some of the edge off +his great wrath. Catching a comprehensive glimpse of himself, Jack could +not keep back a grim laugh. + +“Well, I certainly am a dandy to spring myself on the trim and slick Naval +Academy!” he gritted. “What a treat I’ll be to the cadets! That is, if the +sentry ever lets me through the gate into the Academy grounds.” + +As he hurried along, Jack Benson decided that he simply could not go to +the Naval Academy presenting any such grotesque picture as he did now. Yet +he had no money about him with which to purchase more presentable clothes +in town. So he formed another plan. + +Within a few minutes he came in sight of Annapolis. Hurrying on faster, he +at last entered the town. The further he went the more painfully conscious +the boy became of the ludicrous appearance that he made. He saw men and +women turn their heads to look after him, and his cheeks burned to a deep +scarlet that glowed over the sea-bronze of his skin. + +“The single consolation I have is that not a solitary person in town knows +me, anyway,” he muttered. Then he caught sight of a clock on a church +steeple—twenty-five minutes of eight. + +“That means a fearful hustle,” he muttered, and went ahead under such +steam that he all but panted. At last he came to the Maryland House, +opposite the State Capitol grounds. Into the office of the hotel he +darted, going straight up to the desk. + +A clerk who had been on duty for hours, and who was growing more drowsy +every moment, stared at the boy in amazement. + +“See here, you ragamuffin, what—” + +“My name is Benson,” began the boy, breathlessly. “I’m a guest of the +house—arrived last night. I—” + +“You, a guest of _this_ house?” demanded the clerk of the most select +hotel in the town. “You—” + +That was as far as the disgust of the clerk would permit him to go in +words. A score of well-dressed gentlemen were staring in astonishment at +the scene. The clerk nodded to two stout porters who had suspended their +work nearby. + +It had been Jack Benson’s purpose to go to his room and keep out of sight, +while despatching one of the colored bell-boys of the hotel with a note to +Hal Hastings, asking that chum to send him up a uniform and other articles +of attire. However, before the young submarine captain fully realized what +was happening, the two porters had seized him. Firmly, even though gently, +they hustled him out through the entrance onto the street. + +“Scat!” advised one of the pair. + +Jack started to protest, then realized the hopelessness of such a course. +In truth, he did not blame the hotel folks in the least. + +“Oh, well,” he sighed, paling as soon as the new flush of mortification +had died out, “there’s nothing for it but to hurry to the Academy. I hope +the sentries won’t shoot when they see me,” he added, bitterly. + +Across the State Capitol grounds he hurried, then down through a side +street until he arrived at the gate of the Academy grounds. + +“Halt!” challenged a sentry, as soon as Jack showed his face through the +gateway. + +Young Benson stopped, bringing his heels together with a click. + +“What do you want? Where are you going?” demanded the marine. + +“I know I look pretty tough,” Jack admitted, shamefacedly. “But I belong +aboard the ’Farnum,’ one of the submarines that arrived last night. And +I’m due there at this minute. Please don’t delay me.” + +“All right,” replied the sentry, after surveying the boy from head to foot +once more. Then he added, in a lower tone, with just the suspicion of a +grin showing at the corners of his mouth: + +“Say, friend, for a stranger, you must have had a high old frolic in the +town last night.” + +Jack frowned. The sentry’s grin broadened a bit. As he did not offer to +detain the boy longer, Benson hurried on along one of the walks. He took +as short a course as he could making straight for the Basin, where he made +out the “Hudson” and the two submarines. + +“Hey! There’s the captain!” shouted Eph, wonderingly, for Somers’s eyes +were sharp at all times. + +Out of the conning tower sprang Hal Hastings, looking eagerly in the +direction in which Eph Somers pointed: + +“Eh?” muttered another person, lounging near the rail of the gunboat. Then +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, after a keen, wholly disapproving look at the +hard-looking figure of a young man at the landing, started, as he +muttered: + +“Benson, by all that’s horrible! How did he come to be in that fearful +shape? He must have been in one of the worst resorts within miles of +Annapolis!” + +“This isn’t the first time the young man has come back the worse for +wear,” the lieutenant commander continued, under his breath. “His friends +were loyal enough to him, that time. I wonder if they can be, to-day?” + +One of the shore boats, waiting about in the Basin, put young Benson +aboard the “Farnum” as soon as he explained who he was. Hal and Eph stood +awaiting the coming of their young commander, their faces full of concern +and anxiety. Both gripped Jack’s hand as soon as he gained the platform +deck of the submarine. + +“Come below,” whispered Hal. “We’ll talk there. You need a bath and to get +into a uniform as quickly as you can.” + +This need Jack Benson proceeded to realize without an instant’s delay. +While he washed himself off, in one of the staterooms aft, he talked +through the door, which had been left ajar. He continued his story while +he dressed. + +“We were fearfully anxious this morning,” Hal confessed. “I went to sleep +last night, and didn’t know of your absence until this morning. Then Eph +and I decided to come on down to the boat to see if you were here. We were +just planning to send quiet word to the Annapolis police when Eph spotted +you coming.” + +“And Truax?” inquired Captain Jack. + +“He and Williamson are forward in the engine-room, now, at breakfast.” + +“Oh, well, Truax wouldn’t know anything about the scrape, anyway,” +returned Jack. “His name was learned and used—that’s all.” + +“Are you going to try to find that place, catch the mulatto and force the +return of your money?” demanded Eph Somers. + +“I’ve got to think that over,” muttered Jack, as he drew on a +spick-and-span uniform blouse. “I don’t know whether there’ll be any use +in trying to find that mulatto. I haven’t the least idea where his place +is. Even if I found it, it’s ten to one I wouldn’t find the fellow there.” + +“’Farnum,’ ahoy!” roared a voice alongside, the voice coming down through +the open conning tower. + +Eph ran to answer. When he returned, he announced: + +“Compliments of Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, and will Mr. Benson wait on +the lieutenant commander on board the parent boat?” + +“I will,” assented Jack, with a wry face, “and here’s where I have to do +some tall but truthful explaining to a man who isn’t in the least likely +to believe a word I say. I can guess what Mr. Mayhew is thinking, and is +going to keep on thinking!” + + + + + + CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT + + +It was a tailor-made, clean, crisp and new-looking young submarine +commander who stepped into the naval cutter alongside. + +Jack Benson looked as natty as a young man could look, and his uniform was +that of a naval officer, save for the absence of the insignia of rank. + +Up the side gangway of the gunboat Jack mounted, carrying himself in the +best naval style. On deck stood a sentry, an orderly waiting beside him. + +“Lieutenant Commander Mayhew will see you in his cabin, sir,” announced +the orderly. “I will show you the way, sir.” + +Mr. Mayhew was seated before a desk in his cabin when the orderly piloted +the submarine boy in. The naval officer did not rise, nor did he ask the +boy to take a seat. Jack Benson was very well aware that he stood in Mr. +Mayhew’s presence in the light of a culprit. + +“Mr. Benson,” began Mr. Mayhew, eyeing him closely, “you are not in the +naval service, and are not therefore amenable to its discipline. At the +same time, however, your employers have furnished you to act, in some +respects, as a civilian instructor in submarine boating before the cadets. +While you are here on that duty it is to be expected, therefore, that you +will conform generally to the rules of conduct as laid down at the Naval +Academy.” + +“Yes, sir,” replied Jack. + +“As I am at present in charge of the submarine purchased by the United +States from your company, and at least in nominal charge of the ’Farnum,’ +as well, I am, in a measure, to be looked upon, for the present, as your +commanding officer.” + +“Yes, sir,” assented the boy. + +“You came aboard your craft, this morning, in a very questionable looking +condition.” + +“Yes, sir.” + +Jack Benson’s composure was perfect. His sense of discipline was also +exact. He did not propose to offer any explanations until such were asked +of him. + +“Have you anything to say, Mr. Benson, as to that condition, and how you +came to be in it?” + +“Shall I explain it to you, sir?” + +“I shall be glad to hear your explanation.” + +Thereupon, the submarine boy plunged into a concise description of what +had happened to him the night before. The lieutenant commander did not +once interrupt him, but, when Jack had finished, Mr. Mayhew observed: + +“That is a very remarkable story, Mr. Benson. Most remarkable.” + +“Yes, sir, it is. May I ask if you doubt my story?” + +Jack looked straight into the officer’s eyes as he put the question +bluntly. An officer of the Army or of the Navy _must not_ answer a +question untruthfully. Neither, as a rule, may he make an evasive answer. +So the lieutenant commander thought a moment, before he replied: + +“I don’t feel that I know you well enough, Mr. Benson, to express an +opinion that might be wholly fair to you. The most I can say, now, is that +I very sincerely hope such a thing will not happen again during your stay +at the Naval Academy.” + +“It won’t, sir,” promised Jack Benson, “if I have hereafter the amount of +good judgment that I ought to be expected to possess.” + +“I hope not, Mr. Benson, for it would destroy your usefulness here. A +civilian instructor here, as much as a naval instructor, must possess the +whole confidence and respect of the cadet battalion. I hope none of the +cadets who may have seen you this morning recognized you.” + +Then, taking on a different tone, Mr. Mayhew informed his young listener +that a section of cadets would board the “Farnum” at eleven that morning, +another section at three in the afternoon, and a third at four o’clock. + +“Of course you will have everything aboard your craft wholly shipshape, +Mr. Benson, and I trust I hardly need add that, in the Navy, we are +punctual to the minute.” + +“You will find me punctual to the minute before, sir.” + +“Very good, Mr. Benson. That is all. You may go.” + +Jack saluted, then turned away, finding his way to the deck. The cutter +was still alongside, and conveyed him back to the “Farnum.” + +“Mr. Mayhew demanded your story, of course?” propounded Hal Hastings. +“What did he think?” + +“He didn’t say so,” replied Jack Benson, with a wry smile, “but he let me +see that he thought I was out of my element on a submarine boat.” + +“How so?” + +“Why, it is very plain that Mr. Mayhew thinks I ought to employ my time +writing improbable fiction.” + +“Oh, Mayhew be bothered!” exploded Eph. + +“Hardly,” retorted Jack. “Mr. Mayhew is an officer and a gentleman. I +admit that my yarn _does_ sound fishy to a stranger. Besides, fellows, Mr. +Mayhew represents the naval officers through whose good opinion our +employers hope to sell a big fleet of submarine torpedo boats to the +United States Government.” + +“Then what are you going to do about it?” asked Hal, as the three boys +reached the cabin below. + +“First of all, I’m going to rummage about and get myself some breakfast.” + +“If you do, there’ll be a fight,” growled Eph Somers. “I’ll hash up a +breakfast for you.” + +“And, afterwards?” persisted Hal. + +“I’m going to try to win Mr. Mayhew’s good opinion, and that of every +other naval officer or cadet I may happen to meet.” + +“Why the cadets, particularly?” asked Eph Somers. + +“Because, for one business reason, the cadets are going to be the naval +officers of to-morrow, and the Pollard Submarine Boat Company hopes to be +building craft for the Navy for a good many years to come.” + +“Good enough!” nodded Hal, while Eph dodged away to get that breakfast +ready. + +Sam Truax lounged back in the engine room, smoking a short pipe. With him +stuck Williamson, for Eph had privately instructed the machinist from the +Farnum yard not to leave the stranger alone in the engine room. + +“Why don’t you go up on deck and get a few whiffs of fresh air?” asked +Truax. + +“Oh, I’m comfortable down here,” grunted the machinist, who was stretched +out on one of the leather-cushioned seats that ran along the side of the +engine room. + +“I should think you’d want to get out of here once in a while, though,” +returned Truax. + +“Why?” asked the machinist. “Anything you want to be left alone here for?” + +“Oh, of course not,” drawled Truax, blowing out a cloud of tobacco smoke. + +“Then I guess I’ll stay where I am,” nodded Williamson. + +“Sorry, but you’ll have to stop all smoking in here now,” announced Eph, +thrusting his head in at the doorway. “There’ll be a lot of cadets aboard +at eleven o’clock, and we want the air clear and sweet. You’d better go +all over the machinery and see that everything is in applepie order and +appearance. Mr. Hastings will be in here soon to inspect it.” + +“Just what rank does _that_ young turkey-cock hold on board?” sneered +Truax, when the door had closed. + +“Don’t know, I’m sure,” replied Williamson. “All I know is that the three +youngsters are aboard here to run the boat and show it off to the best +advantage. My pay is running right along, and I’ve no kick at taking +orders from any one of them.” + +“This is where I go on smoking, anyway,” declared Truax, insolently, +striking a match and lighting his pipe again. Williamson reached over, +snatching the pipe from between the other man’s teeth and dumping out the +coals, after which the machinist coolly dropped the pipe into one of his +own pockets. + +“If you go on this way,” warned Williamson, “Captain Benson will get it +into his head to put you on shore in a jiffy, and for good.” + +“I’d like to see him try it,” sneered Sam Truax. + +“You’ll get your wish, if you go on the way you’ve been going!” + +“Humph! I don’t believe the Benson boy carries the size or the weight to +put me ashore.” + +“He doesn’t need any size or weight,” retorted Williamson, crisply. “If +Captain Benson wants you off this boat, it’s only the matter of a moment +for him to get a squad of marines on board—and you’ll march off to the +’Rogues’ March.’” + +“So that’s the way he’d work it, eh?” demanded Sam Truax, turning green +and ugly around the lips. + +“You bet it is,” retorted the machinist. “We’re practically a part of the +United States Navy for these few days, and naval rules will govern any +game we may get into.” + +On that hint things went along better in the engine room. When Hal +Hastings came in to inspect he found nothing to criticise. + +At the minute of eleven o’clock a squad of some twenty cadets came +marching down to the landing in front of the boat house. There Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew and one of his engineer officers met them. Two cutters +manned by sailors brought the party out alongside, where Jack and Hal +stood ready to receive them. + +A very natty looking squad of future admirals came aboard, grouping +themselves about on the platform deck. It was rather a tight squeeze for +so many human beings in that space. + +After greeting the submarine boys, Mr. Mayhew turned to the cadets, +calling their attention to the lines and outer construction of the +“Farnum.” Then he turned to the three submarine boys, signing to them to +crowd forward. + +“These young gentlemen,” announced the lieutenant commander, “are Mr. +Benson, Mr. Hastings and Mr. Somers. All three are thoroughly familiar +with the Pollard type of boat. As the Navy has purchased one Pollard boat, +and may acquire others, it is well that you cadets should understand all +the working details of the Pollard Submarine Company’s crafts. A few of +you at a time will now step into the conning tower, and Mr. Benson will +explain to you the steering and control gear used there.” + +Half a dozen of the cadets managed to squeeze into the conning tower. Jack +experienced an odd feeling, half of embarrassment, as he explained before +so many attentive pairs of eyes. Then another squad of cadets took the +place of the first on-lookers. After a while all had been instructed in +the use of the conning tower appliances. + +“Mr. Benson,” continued the lieutenant commander, “will now lead the way +for all hands to the cabin. There he will explain the uses of the diving +controls, the compressed air apparatus, and other details usually worked +from the cabin.” + +Down below came the cadets, in orderly fashion, without either haste or +lagging. Having warmed up to his subject, Jack Benson lectured earnestly, +even if not with fine skill. At last he paused. + +“Any of the cadets may now ask questions,” announced Lieutenant Commander +Mayhew. + +There was a pause, then one of the older cadets turned to Jack to ask: + +“What volume of compressed air do you carry at your full capacity?” + +“Mr. Benson’s present status,” rapped Mr. Mayhew, quickly, “is that of a +civilian instructor. Any cadet who addresses Mr. Benson will therefore say +’sir,’ in all cases, just as in addressing an officer of the Navy.” + +The cadet so corrected, who was at least twenty-one years old, flushed as +he glanced swiftly at sixteen-year-old Jack. To say “sir” to such a +youngster seemed almost like a humiliation. Yet the cadet repeated his +question, adding the “sir.” Jack quickly answered the question. Then two +or three other questions were asked by other cadets. It was plain, +however, that to all of the cadets the use of “sir” to so young a boy +appealed, at least, to their sense of humor. + +Through the engine room door Sam Truax and Williamson stood taking it all +in. Sam saw a flash in the eye of one big cadet when the question of “sir” +came up. + +Presently the squad filed into the engine room. Here Hal Hastings had the +floor for instruction. He did his work coolly, admirably, though he asked +Jack Benson to explain a few of the points. + +Then the questions began, directed at Hal. This time none of the cadets, +under the watchful eyes of Mr. Mayhew, forgot to say “sir” when speaking +to Hastings. + +Sam Truax edged up behind the big cadet whose eyes he had seen flash a few +moments before. + +“Go after Benson, good and hard,” whispered Truax. + +The cadet looked keenly at Truax. + +“You can have a lot of fun with Benson,” whispered Truax, “if you fire a +lot of questions at him, hard and fast. Benson is a conceited fellow, who +knows a few things about the boat, but you can get him rattled and +red-faced in no time.” + + + + + + CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT + + +The big cadet wheeled upon Jack. + +“Mr. Benson, how long have you been engaged on submarine boats, sir?” + +“Since July,” Jack replied. + +“July of this year?” + +“Yes.” + +“And it is now October. Do you consider that enough time, sir, in which to +learn much about submarine boats?” + +“That depends,” Skipper Jack replied, “upon a man’s ability in such a +subject.” + +“Is it long enough time, sir, for a boy?” + +That was rather a hard dig. Instantly the other cadets became all +attention. + +“It depends upon the boy, as it would upon the man,” Jack answered. + +“Do you consider, Mr. Benson, that you know all about submarine boats, +sir?” + +“Oh, no.” + +“Who does, sir?” + +“No one that I ever heard of,” Jack answered. “Few men interested in +submarine boats know much beyond the peculiarities of their own boats.” + +“And that applies equally to boys, sir?” + +“Yes,” Jack smiled. + +“Do you consider yourself, sir, fully competent to handle this craft?” + +“I’d rather someone else would say it,” Jack replied. “My employers, +though, seem to consider me competent.” + +“What is this material, sir?” continued the cadet, resting a hand on a +piston rod. + +“Brass,” Benson replied, promptly. + +“Do you know the specific gravity and the tensile strength of this brass?” + +Before Jack could answer Mr. Mayhew broke in, crisply: + +“That will do, Mr. Merriam. Your questions appear to go beyond the limits +of ordinary instruction, and to partake more of the nature of a +cross-examination. Such questions take up the time of the instruction tour +unnecessarily.” + +Cadet Merriam flushed slightly, as he saluted the naval officer. Then the +cadet’s jaws settled squarely. He remained silent. + +A few more questions and the hour was up. + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gave the order for the cadets to pass above +and embark in the cutters. He remained behind long enough to say to the +three submarine boys: + +“You have done splendidly, gentlemen—far better than I expected you to do. +If you manage the sea instruction as well, in the days to come, our cadets +will have a first-class idea of the handling of the Pollard boats.” + +“I wish, sir,” Jack replied, after thanking the officer, “that the cadets +were not required to say ’sir’ to us. It sounds odd, and I am quite +certain that none of the young men like it.” + +“It is necessary, though,” replied Mr. Mayhew. “They are required to do it +with all civilian instructors, and it would never do to draw distinctions +on account of age. Yes; it is necessary.” + +When the second squad of cadets arrived, in the afternoon, the three +submarine boys found themselves ready for their task without misgivings. +Eph took more part in the explanations than he had done in the forenoon. +Then came a third squad of cadets, to be taken over the same ground. The +young men of both these squads used the “sir” at once, having been +previously warned by one of the naval officers. + +“That will be all for to-day, Mr. Benson, and thank you and your friends +for some excellent work,” said Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, when the third +squad had filed away. + +“Say, for hard work I’d like this job right along,” yawned Eph Somers, +when the three were alone in the cabin. “Just talking three times a +day—what an easy way of living!” + +“It’s all right for a while,” agreed Jack. “But it would grow tiresome +after a few weeks, anyway. Lying here in the Basin, and talking like a +salesman once in a while, isn’t like a life of adventure.” + +“Oh, you can sigh for adventure, if you wish,” yawned Eph. “As for me, +I’ve had enough hard work to appreciate a rest once in a while. Going into +the town to-night, Jack?” + +“Into town?” laughed the young skipper. “I went last night—and some of the +folks didn’t do a thing to me, did they?” + +“Aren’t you going to report the robbery to the police?” demanded Hal, +opening his eyes in surprise. + +“Not in a rush,” Jack answered. “If I do, the police may start at once, +and that mulatto and his friends, being on the watch, will take the alarm +and get away. If I wait two or three days, then the mulatto’s crowd will +think I’ve dropped the whole thing. I reckon the waiting game will fool +them more than any other.” + +“Yes, and all the money they got away from you will be spent,” muttered +Eph. + +Jack, none the less, decided to wait and think the matter over. + +Supper over, the submarine boys, for want of anything else to do, sat and +read until about nine o’clock. Then Jack looked up. + +“This is getting mighty tedious,” he complained. “What do you fellows say +to getting on shore and stretching our legs in a good walk?” + +“In town?” grinned Eph, slyly. + +Jack flushed, then grinned. + +“No!” he answered quietly; “about the Academy grounds.” + +“I wonder if it would be against the regulations for a lot of rank +outsiders like us to go through the grounds at this hour?” + +“’Rank outsiders’?” mimicked Jack Benson, laughing. “You forget, Hal, old +fellow, that we’re instruct—hem! civilian instructors—here.” + +“I wonder, though, if it would be in good taste for us to go prowling +through the grounds at this hour?” persisted Hal. + +“There’s one sure way to find out,” proposed Benson. “We can try it, and, +if no marine sentry chases us, we can conclude that we’re moving about +within our rights. Come along, fellows.” + +Putting on their caps, the three went up on the platform deck. The engine +room door was locked and Williamson and Truax had already turned in. There +was a shore boat at the landing. Jack sent a low-voiced hail that brought +the boat out alongside. + +“Will it be proper for us to go through the Academy grounds at this hour?” +Jack inquired of the petty officer in the stern. + +“Yes, sir; there’s no regulation against it. And, anyway, sir, you’re all +stationed here, just now.” + +“Thank you. Then please take us ashore.” + +At this hour the walks through the grounds were nearly deserted. A few +officers, and some of their ladies living at the naval station, were out. +The cadets were all in their quarters in barracks, hard at study, or +supposed to be. + +For some time the submarine boys strolled about, enjoying the air and the +views they obtained of buildings and grounds. Back at Dunhaven the air had +been frosty. Here, at this more southern port, the October night was +balmy, wholly pleasant. + +“I wonder if these cadets here ever have any real fun?” questioned Eph +Somers. + +“I’ve heard—or read—that they do,” laughed Hal. + +“What sort of fun?” + +“Well, for one thing, the cadets of the upper classes haze the plebe +cadets a good deal.” + +“Humph! That’s fun for all but the plebes. Who are the plebes, anyway?” + +“The new cadets; the youngest class at the Academy,” Hal replied. + +“What do they do to the plebe?” Eph wanted to know. + +“I guess the only way you could find that out, Eph, would be to join the +plebe class.” + +“Reckon, when I come to Annapolis, I’ll enter the class above the plebe,” +retorted Somers. + +The three submarine boys had again approached the cadet barracks building. + +“Here comes a cadet now, Eph,” whispered Jack. “If he has the time, I +don’t doubt he’d be glad to answer any questions you may have for him.” + +Young Benson offered this suggestion in a spirit of mischief, hoping the +approaching cadet, when questioned, would resent it stiffly. Then Eph +would be almost certain to flare up. + +The cadet, however, suddenly turned, coming straight toward them, smiling. + +“Good evening, gentlemen,” was the cadet’s greeting. + +“Good evening,” was Jack’s hearty reply. + +“You’ve never been here before, have you, sir?” + +“Never,” Jack confessed. + +“Then I take it you have never, sir, seen the camelroorelephant?” + +“The cam—” began Eph Somers. + +Then he stopped, clapping both hands to his right jaw. + +“Won’t you please hand that to us in pieces?” begged Eph, speaking as +though with difficulty. + +The cadet laughed heartily, then added: + +“Don’t try to pronounce it, gentlemen, until you’ve seen the +camelroorelephant. It’s a cadet joke, but it’s well worth seeing. Shall I +take you to it?” + +“Why, yes, if you’ll be good enough,” Jack assented, heartily. + +The cadet glanced quickly about him, then said in a low voice: + +“This way, please, gentlemen.” + +He led the strangers quickly around the end of barracks to an open space +in the rear. Here he halted. + +“Gentlemen, I must ask you to close your eyes, and keep them closed, on +honor, until I ask you to open them again. You won’t have to keep your +eyes closed more than sixty seconds before the camelroorelephant will be +ready for inspection. Now, eyes closed, please.” + +Lingering only long enough to make sure that his request had been met, the +cadet stole noiselessly away. + +Nor was it many seconds later when all three of the submarine boys began +to feel suddenly suspicious. + +“I’m going to open my eyes,” whispered Eph. + +“You’re on honor not to,” warned Jack Benson, also in a whisper. + +“I didn’t give my word,” retorted Eph, “and I’m going to—oh, great shades +of Santiago!” + +The very genuine note of concern in Eph’s voice caused Jack and Hal to +open their own eyes instantly. + +Nor could any of the three repress a quick start. + +From all quarters naval cadets were advancing stealthily upon them. +Something in the very attitude and poise of the young men told the +submarine boys that these naval cadets were out for mischief. + +“We’re in for it!” breathed Jack, in an undertone. “We’re in for something +real and startling, I reckon. Fellows, brace up and take your medicine, +whatever it is, like men!” + + + + + + CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED! + + +Nor was Jack’s guess in the least wrong. + +Even had the submarine boys attempted to bolt they would have found it +impossible. They were surrounded. + +The cadets closed quickly in upon them. There were more than thirty of +these budding young naval officers. + +It was Cadet Merriam who stepped straight up to Jack, giving him a +grotesque and exaggerated salute, as he rumbled out: + +“Good evening, SIR!” + +Like a flash Jack Benson comprehended. These cadets intended fully to even +up matters for having been obliged to say “sir” to these very youthful +“civilian instructors.” + +“Good evening,” Jack smiled. + +"You have come to see the camelroorelephant, SIR?" + +“We’ve been told that we might have that pleasure,” Jack responded, still +smiling. + +“Perhaps you may,” retorted Cadet Merriam, “though, first of all, it will +be necessary to prove yourselves worthy of the privilege, SIR.” + +“Anything within our power,” promised Jack. + +“Then, SIR, let me see you all three stand ’at attention.’” + +“At attention” is the rigid attitude taken by a United States soldier or +sailor when in the presence of his officers. Jack had already seen men in +that attitude, and did his best to imitate it in smart military manner. +Eph and Hal did likewise. + +“No, no, no, you dense blockheads!” uttered Cadet Midshipman Merriam. “’At +attention’ upside down—on your hands!” + +The other cadet midshipmen now hemmed in closely about the three. Jack +thought he caught the idea. He bent over, throwing his feet up in the air +and resting on his hands. Unable to keep his balance, he walked two or +three steps. + +“I didn’t tell you to walk your post, blockhead!” scowled Mr. Merriam. +“Stand still when at attention.” + +Jack tried, but of course made a ludicrous failure of standing still on +his hands. So did Hal and Eph. The latter, truth to tell, didn’t try very +hard, for his freckled temper was coming a bit to the surface. + +“You’re the rawest recruits, the worst landlubbers I’ve ever seen,” +declared Cadet Midshipman Merriam, with severe dignity. “Rest, before you +try it any further.” + +The smile had all but left Jack Benson’s lips, though he tried to keep it +there. Hal Hastings made the most successful attempt at looking wholly +unconcerned. Eph’s face was growing redder every minute. It is a +regrettable fact that Eph was really beginning to want to fight. + +“See here,” ordered Mr. Merriam, suddenly, taking Jack by the arm, “you’re +a horse, a full-blooded Arab steed—understand!” + +He gave young Benson a push that sent that youngster down to the ground on +all fours. + +“You’re General Washington, out to take a ride on your horse,” announced +Mr. Merriam, turning to Hal. “It’s a ride for your health. Do you +understand? It will be wholly for your health to take that ride!” + +Hal Hastings couldn’t help comprehending. With a sheepish grin he sat +astride of Jack Benson’s back as the latter stood on all fours. + +“Go ahead with your ride, General,” called Mr. Merriam. + +Jack pranced as best he could, on all fours, Hal making the load of his +own weight as light as he could. Over the ground the pair moved in this +nonsensical ride, the cadets following and grinning their appreciation of +the nonsense. + +Two of the young men followed, holding Eph by the arms between them. Mr. +Merriam now turned upon the unhappy freckled boy. + +“Down on all fours,” ordered Mr. Merriam. “You’re the measly dog that +barked at General Washington on that famous ride. Bark, you wretched +yellow cur—bark, bark, _bark_!” + +Though Eph Somers was madder than ever, he had just enough judgment +remaining to feel that the wisest thing would be to obey instructions. So, +on all fours, Eph raced after Jack, barking at him. + +“See how frightened the horse is,” muttered one of the midshipmen. + +Taking the hint, Jack shied as well as he could. + +“That’s all,” said Mr. Merriam, at last. “All of that, at least.” + +As the three submarine boys rose, each found himself gently held by a pair +of cadet midshipmen. It was a more or less polite hint that the ordeal was +not yet over. Mr. Merriam turned to whisper to one of the cadets, who +darted inside the barracks building. He was back, promptly, carrying a +folded blanket on his arm. + +A grin spread over the faces of the assembled cadet midshipmen. The bearer +of the blanket at once unfolded it. As many of the cadets as could got +hold of the edges, bending, holding the blanket spread out over the +ground. + +Jack Benson’s two captors suddenly hurled him across the length of the +blanket with no gentle force. Instantly the cadets holding the blankets +straightened up, jerking it taut. Up into the air a couple of feet bounded +Jack. As his body came down the cadets holding the blanket gave it a still +harder jerk. This time Jack shot up into the air at least four feet. It +was the same old blanket-tossing, long popular both in the Army and Navy. +Every time Jack landed the blanket was given a harder jerk by those +holding it. Benson began to go higher and higher. + + [Illustration: Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him.] + + Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him. + + +And now the cadets broke into a low, monotonous chant, in time to their +movements. It ran: + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + Sir, sir, circle! + Sir, sir, with a shingle— + Sir, sir, sir! + +As regular as drumbeats the cadets ripped out the syllables of the +refrain. At each word Jack Benson’s body shot higher and higher. These +young men were experts in the gentle art of blanket-tossing. Ere long the +submarine boy was going up into the air some eight or nine feet at every +tautening of the blanket. + +As for escape, that was out of the question. No sooner did the submarine +boy touch the blanket than he shot skyward again. Had he desired to he +could not have called out. The motion and the sudden jolts shook all the +breath out of him. + +“Ugh! Hm! Pleasant, isn’t it?” uttered Hal Hastings, grimly, under his +breath. + +“If they try to do that to me,” whispered Eph, hotly, under his breath, +“I’ll fight.” + +“More simpleton you, then!” Hal shot back at him in warning. “What chance +do you think you stand against a crowd like this?” + +Just as suddenly as it had begun the blanket-tossing stopped. Yet, hardly +had Jack been allowed to step out than Hal Hastings was unceremoniously +dropped athwart the blanket. The tossing began again, to the chant of: + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + Sir, sir, circle! + +Right plentifully were these cadet midshipmen avenging themselves for +having had to say “sir” to these young submarine boys that day. + +“Woof!” breathed Jack, as soon as breath entered his body again. Eph +clenched his fists tightly, as Hal continued to go higher and higher. But +at last Hastings’s ordeal was over. + +“I suppose they’ll try that on me!” gritted Eph Somers to himself. “If +they do—” + +That was far as he got, for Eph was suddenly flung upon the blanket. + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + +Then how Eph _did_ go up and down! It was as though these cadet midshipmen +knew that it would make Eph mad, madder, maddest! These budding young +naval officers fairly bent to their work, tautening and loosening on the +blanket until their muscles fairly ached. + +It was lofty aerial work that Eph Somers was doing. Up and up—higher and +higher! Without the need of any effort on his own part young Somers was +now traveling upward at the rate of ten or eleven feet at every punctuated +bound. + +Then, suddenly, there came a sound that chilled the blood of every young +cadet midshipman hazer present. + +“_Halt!_ Where you are!” + +Under the shadow of the barracks building a naval officer had appeared. He +now came forward, a frown on his face, eyeing the culprits. + +It is no merry jest for cadet midshipmen to be caught at hazing! And here +were some thirty of them—red-handed! + + + + + + CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER + + +At the first word of command from the officer several of the cadet +midshipmen who were near enough to an open doorway vanished through it. + +As the officer strode through the group of startled young men a few more, +left behind his back, made a silent disappearance. + +There were left, however, as the officer looked about him, sixteen of the +young men, all too plainly headed and led by Cadet Midshipman Merriam. + +“Young gentlemen,” said the officer, severely, “I regret to find so many +of you engaged in hazing. It is doubly bad when your victims are men +outside the corps. And, if I mistake not, these young gentlemen are here +as temporary civilian instructors in submarine work.” + +Mr. Merriam and his comrades made no reply in words. Nor did their faces +express much. They stood at attention, looking stolidly ahead of them, +though their faces were turned toward the officer. It was not the place of +any of them to speak unless the officer asked questions. + +Severe as the hazing had been, however, Jack and Hal, at least, had taken +it all in good part. Nor was Jack bound by any of the rules of etiquette +that prevented the cadets from speaking. + +“May I offer a word, sir?” asked Jack, wheeling upon the officer. + +“You were one of the victims of a hazing, were you not?” demanded the +officer, regarding Jack, keenly. + +“Why, could you call it that, sir?” asked Jack, a look of innocent +surprise settling on his face. “We called it a demonstration—an +explanation.” + +“Demonstration? Explanation?” repeated the officer, astonished in his +turn. “What do you mean, Mr.—er—?” + +“Benson,” Jack supplied, quietly. + +“I think you would better tell me a little more, Mr. Benson,” pursued the +unknown naval officer. + +“Why, it was like this, sir,” Jack continued. “My two friends—Hastings and +Somers—and myself were talking about the West Point and Annapolis hazings, +of which we had heard and read. We were talking about the subject when a +cadet came along. I suggested to Somers that we ask the cadet about +hazing. Well, sir, to make a long story short, some of the cadets +undertook to show us just how hazing is—or used to be—done at Annapolis.” + +“Oh! Then it was all thoroughly good-natured, all in the way of a joke, to +show you something you wanted to know?” asked the naval officer, slowly. + +“That’s the way I took it,” replied Jack. “So did Hastings and Somers. +We’ve enjoyed ourselves more than anyone else here has.” + +This was truth surely enough, for, in the last two minutes, not one of the +cadet midshipmen present could have been accused of _enjoying_ himself. + +“Then what took place here, Mr. Benson, really took place at your +request?” insisted the naval officer. + +“It all answered the questions that we had been asking,” Jack replied, +promptly, though, it must be admitted, rather evasively. + +“This is your understanding, too, Mr. Hastings?” demanded the officer. + +“Surely,” murmured Hal. + +“You, Mr. Somers?” + +“I—I haven’t had so much fun since the gasoline engine blew up,” protested +Eph. + +“We entered most heartily into the spirit of the thing,” Jack hastened on +to say, “and feel that we owe the deepest thanks to these young gentlemen +of the Navy. Yet, if our desire to know more about the life—that is, the +former life—of the Academy is to result in getting our entertainers into +any trouble, we shall never cease regretting our unfortunate curiosity.” + +For some moments the naval officer regarded the three submarine boys, +solemnly, in turn. From them he turned to look over the cadet midshipmen. +The latter looked as stolid, and stood as rigidly at attention, as ever. + +“Under this presentation of the matter,” said the officer, after a long +pause, “I am not prepared to say that there has been any violation of +discipline. At least, no grave infraction. However, some of these young +gentlemen are, I believe, absent from their quarters without leave. Mr. +Merriam?” + +“I have permission to be absent from my quarters between nine and ten, +sir.” + +“Mr. Caldwell?” + +“Absent from quarters without permission, sir.” + +So on down through the list the officer ran. Nine of the young men proved +to have leave to be away from their quarters. The other seven did not have +such permission. The names of these seven, therefore, were written down to +be reported. The seven, too, were ordered at once back to their quarters. + +Having issued his instructions, the naval officer turned and walked away. +Jack and his comrades, too, left the scene. + +Yet they had not gone far when they heard a low hail behind. Turning, they +saw Cadet Midshipmen Merriam hastening toward them. + +“Gentlemen,” he said, earnestly, as he reached them, “it may not be best +for me to be seen lingering here to talk with you. But my comrades wanted +me to come after you and to say that we think you bricks. You carried that +off finely, Mr. Benson. None of us will ever forget it.” + +“It wasn’t much to do,” smiled Jack, pleasantly. + +“It was quick-witted of you, and generous too, sir,” rejoined Mr. Merriam, +finding it now very easy to employ the “sir.” “Probably you agree with us +that no great crime was committed, anyway. But, just the same, hazing is +under a heavy ban these days. If you hadn’t saved the day as you did, sir, +all of our cadet party might have been dismissed the Service. Those absent +from quarters without leave will get only a few demerits apiece. We have +that much to thank you for, sir, and we do. All our thanks, remember. Good +night, sir.” + +“My courage was down in my boots for a while,” confessed Hal Hastings, as +the three chums continued their walk back to the Basin. + +“When?” demanded Eph, grimly. “When your boots—and the rest of you—were so +high up in the air over the blanket?” + +“No; when the cadets were caught at it,” replied Hal. + +“Say, Jack,” demanded Eph, “do you ever give much thought to the future +life?” + +“Meaning the life in the next world?” questioned Benson. + +“Yes.” + +“I sometimes give a good deal of thought to it,” Jack confessed. + +“Then where do you expect to go, when the time comes?” + +“Why?” + +“After the whoppers you told that officer?” + +“I didn’t tell him even a single tiny fib,” protested Jack, indignantly. + +“Oh, you George Washington!” choked Eph Somers. + +“Well, I didn’t,” insisted Jack. “Now, just stop and think. Weren’t we all +three discussing hazing?” + +“Yes.” + +“Then that part of what I told the officer was straight. Now, Eph, when we +saw that first cadet come along, didn’t I suggest to you to ask him about +hazing?” + +“Ye-es,” admitted Somers, thoughtfully. + +“Then, didn’t the cadet midshipmen offer to show us all about hazing +pranks, and didn’t they do it?” + +“Well, rather,” muttered Eph. + +“Now, young man, that’s all I told the officer, except that we enjoyed our +entertainment greatly.” + +“_Did_ we enjoy it, though?” demanded Eph Somers, bridling up. + +“I did,” replied Jack, “and I spoke for myself. I enjoyed it as I would +enjoy almost any new experience.” + +“So did I,” added Hal, warmly. “It was rough—mighty rough—but now I know +what an Annapolis hazing is like, and I’m glad I do.” + +“Well, I want to tell you I didn’t enjoy it,” blazed Eph. “It was a mighty +cheeky—” + +“Then why did you let the officer imagine you enjoyed it?” taunted Jack. + +While Hal put in, slyly: + +“Eph, you’re too quick to talk about others fibbing. From the evidence +just put in, it’s evident that you’re the only one of the three who fibbed +any. Won’t you please walk on the other side of the road? I never did like +to travel with liars.” + +“Oh, you go to Jericho!” flared Eph. But, as he walked along, he blinked a +good deal, and did some hard thinking. + +“I’ll tell you,” broke out Jack, suddenly, “who thanks us even more than +the cadets themselves do.” + +“Who?” queried Hal. + +“That officer who caught the crowd at it.” + +“Do you think he cared?” + +“Of course he did,” said Jack, positively. “He’d rather have gone hungry +for a couple of days than have to report that bunch for hazing.” + +“Then why was he so infernally stiff with the young men?” + +“He had to be; that’s the answer. That officer, like every other officer +of the Navy detailed here, is sworn to do his full duty. So he has to +enforce the regulations. But don’t you suppose, fellows, that officer was +hazed, and did some hazing on his own account, when he was a cadet +midshipman here years ago? Of course! And that’s why the officer didn’t +question us any more closely than he did. He was afraid he might stumble +on something that would oblige him to report the whole crowd for hazing. +_He_ didn’t want to do it. That officer, I’m certain, knew that, if he +questioned us too closely, he’d find a lot more beneath the surface that +he simply didn’t want to dig up.” + +“Would you have told the truth, if he had questioned you searchingly, and +pinned you right down?” demanded Eph Somers. + +“Of course I would,” Jack replied, soberly. “I’m no liar. But I feel +deeply grateful to that officer for not being keener.” + +Before nine o’clock the next morning news of the night’s doings back of +barracks had spread through the entire corps of cadet midshipmen. + +With these young men of the Navy there was but one opinion of the +submarine boys—that they were trumps, wholly of the right sort. + +As a result, Jack, Hal and Eph had hundreds of new friends among those who +will officer the Navy of the morrow. + +Not so bad, even just as a stroke of business! + + + + + + CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE + + +For the next ten days things moved along without much excitement for the +submarine boys. + +During that time they had an average of four sections a day of cadet +midshipmen to instruct in the workings of the Pollard type of submarine +torpedo boat. + +During the last few days short cruises were taken on the Severn River, in +order that the middies might practise at running the motors and handling +the craft. At such times one squad of midshipmen would be on duty in the +engine room, another in the conning tower and on the platform deck. + +Of course, when the midshipmen handled the “Farnum,” under command of a +Navy officer, the submarine boys had but little more to do than to be on +board. Certainly they were not overworked. Yet all three were doing fine +work for their employers in making the Navy officers of the future like +the Pollard type of craft. + +After waiting a few days Jack Benson reported to the Annapolis police his +experience with the mulatto “guide.” The police thought they recognized +the fellow, from the description, and did their best to find him. The +mulatto, however, seemed to have disappeared from that part of the +country. + +There came a Friday afternoon when, as the last detachment of middies +filed over the side into the waiting cutter, Lieutenant Commander Mayhew +announced: + +“This, Mr. Benson, completes the instruction desired in the Basin and in +the river. To-morrow and Sunday you will have for rest. On Monday, at 10 +A.M., a section will report aboard for the first trip out to sea. Then you +will show our young men how the boat dives, and how she is run under +water. As none of our cadet midshipmen have ever been below in a submarine +before, you will be sure of having eager students.” + +“And perhaps some nervous ones,” smiled Skipper Jack. + +“Possibly,” assented Mr. Mayhew. “I doubt it, though. Nervousness is not a +marked trait of any young man who has been long enrolled at the Naval +Academy.” + +“Can we have a slight favor done us, Mr. Mayhew?” Jack asked. + +“Any reasonable favor, of course.” + +“Then, sir, we’d like to spend a little time ashore, as we’ve been +confined so long aboard. If I lock up everything tight on the boat until +Sunday night, may we know that the ’Farnum’ will be under the protection +of the marine guard?” + +“I feel that there will not be the slightest difficulty in promising you +that,” replied Mr. Mayhew. “I will telephone the proper authorities about +it as soon as I go on shore.” + +All hands on board were pleased over the prospect of going ashore, with +the exception of Sam Truax. + +“You don’t need any guard on the boat,” he protested. “I don’t want to go +ashore. Leave me here and I’ll be all the guard necessary.” + +“We’re all going ashore,” Jack replied. + +“But I haven’t any money to spend ashore,” objected Truax. + +“I’ll let you have ten dollars on account, then,” replied Jack, who was +well supplied with money, thanks to a draft received from Jacob Farnum. + +“I don’t want to go ashore, anyway.” + +“I’m sorry, Truax, but it doesn’t really make any difference. The boat +will be closed up tight, and there wouldn’t be any place for you to stay, +except on the platform deck.” + +“You’re not treating me fairly,” protested Sam Truax, indignantly. + +“I’m sorry you think so. Still, if you’re not satisfied, all I can do is +to pay you off to date. Then you can go where you please.” + +“I’m here by David Pollard’s order. Do you forget that?” + +“He sent you along to us, true,” admitted Jack, “but I have instructions +from Mr. Farnum to dismiss anyone whose work on board I don’t like. Now, +Truax, you’re a competent enough man in the engine room, and there’s no +sense in having to let you go. You’re well paid, and can afford the time +on shore. I wouldn’t make any more fuss about this, but do as the rest of +us are going to do.” + +“Oh, I’ll have to, then, since you’re boss here,” grumbled Truax, sulkily. + +“I don’t want to make it felt too much that I _am_ boss here,” Jack +retorted, mildly. “At the same time, though, I’m held responsible, and so +I suppose I’ll have to have things done the way that seems best to me.” + +Sam Truax turned to get his satchel. The instant his back was turned on +the young commander Sam’s face was a study in ugliness. + +“Oh, I’ll take this all out of you,” muttered the fellow to himself. “I +don’t believe, Jack Benson, you’ll go on the cruising next week. If you +do, you won’t be much good, anyway!” + +Ten minutes later a shore boat landed the entire party from the submarine +craft. + +“Going with the rest of us, Truax?” inquired Jack, pleasantly. + +“No; I’m going to find a boarding-house. That will be cheaper than the +hotel.” + +So the other four kept straight on to the Maryland House, giving very +little more thought to the sulky one. + +It was not until after supper that Eph turned the talk back to Sam Truax. + +“I don’t like the fellow, at all,” declared young Somers. “He always wants +to be left alone in the engine room, for one thing.” + +“And I’ve made it my business, regular,” added Williamson, the machinist, +“to see that he doesn’t have his wish.” + +“He’s always sulky, and kicking about everything,” added Eph. “I may be +wrong, but I can’t get it out of my head that the fellow came aboard on +purpose to be a trouble-maker.” + +“Why, what object could he have in that?” asked Captain Jack. + +“Blessed if I know,” replied Eph. “But that’s the way I size the fellow +up. Now, take that time you were knocked senseless, back in Dunhaven. Who +could have done that? The more I think about Sam Truax, the more I suspect +him as the fellow who stretched you out.” + +“Again, what object could he have?” inquired Benson. + +“Blessed if I know. What object could anyone have in such a trick against +you? It was a state prison job, if the fellow had been caught at the +time.” + +“Well, there’s one thing Truax was innocent of, anyway,” laughed Captain +Jack. “He didn’t have any hand in the way I was tricked and robbed by the +mulatto.” + +“Blamed if I’m so sure he didn’t have a hand in that, too,” contended Eph +Somers, stubbornly. + +“Yet Mr. Pollard recommended him,” urged Jack. + +“Yes, and a fine fellow Dave Pollard is—true as steel,” put in Hal +Hastings, quietly. “Yet you know what a dreamer he is. Always has his head +in the air and his thoughts among the stars. He’d as like as not take a +fellow like Truax on the fellow’s own say-so, and never think of looking +him up.” + +“Oh, we’ve no reason to think Truax isn’t honest enough,” contended Jack +Benson. “He’s certainly a fine workman. As to his being sulky, you know +well enough that’s a common fault among men who spend their lives +listening to the noise of great engines. A man who can’t make himself +heard over the noise of a big engine hasn’t much encouragement to talk. +Now, a man who can’t find much chance to talk becomes sulky a good many +times out of ten.” + +“We’ll have trouble with that fellow, Truax, yet,” muttered Eph. + +“Oh, I hope not,” Jack answered, then added, significantly: + +“If he _does_ start any trouble he may find that he has been trifling with +the wrong crowd!” + +Very little more thought was given to the sulky one. The submarine boys +and their companion, Williamson, enjoyed Saturday and Sunday ashore. + +All of them might have felt disturbed, however, had they known of one +thing that happened. + +The naval machinists aboard the first submarine boat, the “Pollard,” now +owned by the United States Government, found something slightly out of +order with the “Pollard’s” engine that they did not know exactly how to +remedy. + +Sam Truax, hanging around the Basin that Sunday forenoon, was called upon. +He gladly responded to the call for help. For four hours he toiled along +in the “Pollard’s” engine room. Much of that time he spent there alone. + +The job done, at last, Truax quietly received the thanks of the naval +machinists and went ashore again. + +Yet, as he turned and walked toward the main gate of the grounds, there +was a smile on Sam Truax’s face that was little short of diabolical. + +“Now, if I can only get the same chance at the ’Farnum’s’ engines!” he +muttered, to himself. “If I can, I think Mr. Jack Benson will find himself +out of favor with his company, for his company will be out of favor with +the Navy Department at Washington!” + + + + + + CHAPTER XIV: THE “POLLARD” GOES LAME + + +“The submarine boats when out in the Bay will keep abreast of the +’Hudson,’ two hundred yards off on either beam. The speed will be fourteen +knots when the signal is given for full speed. The general course, after +leaving the mouth of the Bay will be East.” + +Such were the instructions called from the rail of the gunboat, through a +megaphone, Monday forenoon. + +On each of the submarine craft were sixteen cadet midshipmen, out for +actual practice in handling a submarine in diving and in running under +water. On board the gunboat were eighty more cadets. Thus a large class of +the young men were to receive instruction during the cruise, for the +detachments aboard the submarines could be changed at the pleasure of +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, who was in charge of the cruise. + +Captain Jack, his own hands on the conning tower wheel, ran the “Farnum” +out into the river, first of all. Then the “Pollard,” under command of a +naval officer, followed. Both backed water, then waited for the “Hudson” +to come out, for the gunboat was to lead the way until the Bay was +reached. Then the formation ordered would be followed. + +Though it was nearing the first of November, the day, near land, was +ideally soft and balmy. As many of the midshipmen as could sought the +platform deck of the “Farnum.” Those, however, who belonged to the +engineer division were obliged to spend the greater part of their time +below. + +By the time that the three craft were in the ordered formation, abreast, +and well started down Chesapeake Bay, the parent vessel signaled that the +designated cadets were to take charge of the handling of the submarine +boats. + +Jack Benson cheerfully relinquished the wheel to Cadet Midshipman Merriam, +and stepped out on to the platform deck. At need, as in case of accident +or misunderstanding of signals or orders, Benson was still in command. +While all ran smoothly, however, Mr. Merriam enjoyed command. + +Hal, being likewise relieved in the engine room, came also out on deck. + +“Where’s Eph?” inquired the young commander of the “Farnum.” + +“In the engine room,” smiled Hal. “He said I could leave, if I wanted, but +that he’d be hanged if he’d let Truax out of his sight while I was away.” + +“Eph seems to have Truax on the brain,” laughed Jack. + +“Well, Truax _is_ a queer and surly one,” Hal admitted. “This morning he +gives one the impression of peeking over his shoulder all the time to see +whether he’s being watched.” + +“So Eph means to humor him by watching him, eh?” asked Jack. + +Hal laughed quietly. + +Some of the cadets who were familiar with the landmarks of Chesapeake Bay +pointed out many of the localities and sights to the two submarine boys. + +At last, however, Eph was obliged to call for Hal. + +“You know, Hal, old fellow, I’ve got to look out for the feeding of a lot +of boarders to-day,” complained Eph, whimsically. + +This task of Eph’s took time, though it was not a hard one. The food for +the cadets had been sent aboard. Eph had to make coffee and heat soup. For +the rest, cold food had to do. The young men, on this trip, were required +to wait on themselves. + +Hal found Sam Truax sitting moodily in a corner of the engine room, though +there was something about the fellow’s appearance that suggested the +watchfulness of a cat. + +“Why don’t you go on deck a while, Truax?” asked Hal, kindly. + +“Don’t want to,” snapped the fellow, irritably. So Hal turned his back on +the man. + +“Doesn’t that part need loosening up a bit, sir?” asked the cadet in +charge of the engineer division. + +“Yes,” replied Hastings, after watching a moment; “it does.” + +“I’ll do it, then,” proposed Truax, roughly. He attempted to crowd his way +past Hal, but the latter refused to be crowded, and stood his ground until +the midshipman passed him a wrench. Then Hastings loosened up the part. + +“You might let me do a little something,” growled Sam Truax, in a tone +intentionally offensive. + +“Don’t forget, Truax, that I’m in command in this department,” retorted +Hal, in a quieter tone than usual, though with a direct, steady look that +made Sam Truax turn white with repressed wrath. + +“You won’t let me forget it, will you?” snarled the fellow. + +“No; for I don’t want you to forget it, and least of all on this cruise,” +responded Hal Hastings. + +“You don’t give me any chance to—” + +“Silence!” ordered Hal, taking a step toward him. + +Sam Truax opened his mouth to make some retort, then wisely changed his +mind, dropping back into his former seat. + +The noon meal was served to all hands. By the time it was well over the +mouth of the Bay was in sight, the broad Atlantic rolling in beyond. + +The sea, when reached, proved to be almost smooth. It was ideal weather +for such a cruise. + +Then straight East, for an hour they went, getting well out of the path of +coasting vessels. + +“Hullo! What in blazes does that mean?” suddenly demanded Hal, pointing +astern at starboard. + +The “Pollard” lay tossing gently on the water, making no headway. Hardly +ten seconds later the “Hudson” signaled a halt. + +Then followed some rapid signaling between the gunboat and the submarine +that had stopped. There was some break in the “Pollard’s” machinery, but +the cause had not yet been determined. + +“Blazes!” muttered Jack, uneasily. “It couldn’t have happened at a worse +time. This looks bad for our firm, Hal!” + +The “Farnum” now lay to, as did the “Hudson,” for the officer in command +of the “Pollard” signaled that his machinists were making a rapid but +thorough investigation of the unfortunate submarine’s engines. + +Finally, a cutter put off from the “Hudson,” with a cadet midshipman in +charge. The small boat came over alongside, and the midshipman called up: + +“The lieutenant commander’s compliments, and will Mr. Benson detail Mr. +Hastings to go over to the ’Pollard’ and assist?” + +“My compliments to the lieutenant commander,” Jack replied. “And be good +enough to report to him, please, that Mr. Hastings and I will both go.” + +“My orders, sir, are to convey you to the ’Pollard’ before reporting back +to the parent vessel,” replied the midshipman. + +The cutter came alongside, taking off the two submarine boys, while Eph +Somers devoted himself to watching Sam Truax as a bloodhound might have +hung to a trail. + +Arrived on board the good, old, familiar “Pollard,” Jack and Hal hurried +below. + +“The machinery is too hot to handle, now, sir,” reported one of the naval +machinists, “but it looks as though something was wrong right in +there”—pointing. + +“Put one of the electric fans at work there, at once,” directed Hal. “Then +things ought to be cool enough in half an hour, to make an examination +possible.” + +After seeing this done, the two submarine boys left for the platform deck, +for the engine room was both hot and crowded. + +“How long is it going to take you, Mr. Hastings?” asked the naval officer +in command of the “Pollard.” + +“Half an hour to get the parts cool enough to examine, but I can’t say, +sir, how long the examination and repairs will take.” + +So the officer in command signaled what proved to be vague and +unsatisfactory information to Lieutenant Commander Mayhew. + +“This is a bad time to have this sort of thing happen,” observed the naval +officer in charge. + +“A mighty bad time, sir,” Jack murmured. + +“And the engines of the ’Pollard’ were supposed to be in first-class +condition.” + +“They _were_ in A-1 condition, when the boat was turned over to the Navy,” +Jack responded. + +“Do you imagine, then, Mr. Benson, that some of the naval machinists have +been careless or incompetent?” + +“Why, that would be a wild guess to make, sir, when one remembers what +high rank your naval machinists take in their work,” Jack Benson replied. + +“And this boat was sold to the Navy with the strongest guarantee for the +engines,” pursued the officer in charge. + +Jack and Hal were both worried. The sudden break had a bad look for the +Pollard boats, in the success of which these submarine boys were most +vitally interested. + +At last, from below, the suspected parts of the engine were reported to be +cool enough for examination. The naval officer in charge followed Jack and +Hal below. + +Taking off his uniform blouse and rolling up his sleeves, Hal sailed in +vigorously to locate the fault. Machinists and cadets stood about, passing +him the tools he needed, and helping him when required. + +At last, after disconnecting some parts, Hal drew out a long, slender +brass piston. + +As he held it up young Hastings’s face went as white as chalk. + +“Do you see this?” he demanded, hoarsely. + +“Filed, crazily, and it also looks as though the inner end had been heated +and tampered with,” gasped Jack Benson. + +“This, sir,” complained Hal, turning around to face the naval officer in +charge, “looks like a direct attempt to tamper with and damage the engine. +Someone has done this deliberately, sir. It only remains to find the +culprit.” + +“Then we’ll find out,” retorted the naval officer, “if it takes a court of +inquiry and a court martial to do it. But are you sure of your charge, Mr. +Hastings?” + +“Am I sure?” repeated Hal, all the soul of the young engineer swelling to +the surface. “Take this piston, sir, and examine it. Could such a job have +been done, unless by sheer design and intent?” + +“Will the lieutenant permit me to speak?” asked the senior machinist, +taking a step forward and saluting. + +“Yes; go ahead.” + +“Yesterday morning, sir,” continued the senior machinist, “we thought the +engines needed some overhauling by someone more accustomed to them than we +were. We saw one of the machinists of the ’Farnum,’ sir, hanging about on +shore. So we invited him aboard and asked him to look the engines over.” + +“Describe the man,” begged Jack. + +The senior machinist gave a description that instantly denoted Sam Truax +as the man in question. + +“Did you leave him alone in here, at any time?” demanded Hal. + +“Let me see. Why, yes, sir. The man must have been alone in here some +three-quarters of an hour.” + +Jack and Hal exchanged swift glances. + +There seemed, now, very little need of carrying the investigation further. + + + + + + CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK + + +When he could trust himself to speak Hal Hastings addressed the naval +officer. + +“I think Mr. Benson and myself understand, sir, how it happened that this +damage was done. There are extra parts in the repair kit. In twenty +minutes, sir, I think we can have the engines running smoothly once more.” + +The naval officer was wise enough not to press the questioning further +just then. Instead, he went on deck. + +Working like beavers, and with the assistance of others standing about, +Jack and Hal had the piston replaced and all the other parts in place +within fifteen minutes. Then, once more, Hal turned on the gasoline, set +the ignition, and watched. + +The engine ran as smoothly as ever. + +“There won’t be any more trouble, unless someone is turned loose here with +files and a blast lamp,” pronounced Hal. Then he and his chum sought the +deck, to report to the officer in charge. + +“You think we’re in running order, now?” asked that officer. + +“If you give the speed-ahead signal, sir, I think you’ll feel as though +you had a live engine under your deck,” Hal assured him. + +The signal was given, the “Pollard” immediately responding. She cut a wide +circle, at good speed, returning to her former position, where the +propellers were stopped. + +“You suspect your own machinist, who was aboard?” asked the naval officer, +in a low tone, of the submarine boys. + +“If you’ll pardon our not answering directly, sir,” Captain Jack replied, +“we want to have more than suspicions before we make a very energetic +report on this strange accident. But we shall not be asleep, sir, in the +matter of finding out. Then we shall make a full report to Mr. Mayhew.” + +“Success to you—and vigilance!” muttered the naval officer. + +The gunboat’s cutter came alongside, transferring Jack and Hal back to the +“Farnum.” + +Hal went directly below to the engine room. + +“You fixed the trouble with the ’Pollard’?” demanded Eph Somers, eagerly. + +“Yes,” Hal admitted. + +“What was wrong?” + +“Why, I don’t know as I’d want to commit myself in too offhand a way,” +replied Hal, slowly, as though thinking. + +“What appeared to be at the bottom of the trouble?” + +“Why, it _may_ have been that one of the naval machinists, not +understanding our engines any too well, allowed one of the pistons to get +overheated, and then resorted to filing,” Hal replied. + +“What? Overheat a piston, and then try to correct it with a file?” cried +young Somers, disgustedly. “The crazy blacksmith! He ought to be set to +shoeing snails—that’s all he’s fit for.” + +“It looks that way,” Hal assented, smiling. + +Artful, clever Hal! He had carried it all off so coolly and naturally that +Sam Truax, who had been closely studying Hastings’s face from the +background, was wholly deceived. + +“This fellow, Hastings, isn’t as smart as I had thought him,” muttered +Truax, to himself. + +The interrupted cruise now proceeded, the parent vessel signaling for a +temporary speed of sixteen knots in order to make up for lost time. + +Twenty minutes later came the signal from the “Hudson:” + +“At the command, the submarines will dash ahead at full speed, each making +its best time. During this trial, which will end at the firing of a gun +from the parent vessel, all cadets will be on deck.” + +Word was immediately passed below, and all the cadets of the engineer +division came tumbling up. + +To these, who had been in the engine room constantly for hours, the cool +wind blowing across the deck was highly agreeable. + +For the speed dash Captain Jack Benson had again taken command. He passed +word below to Eph Somers to take the wheel in the conning tower. + +Eph, therefore, came up with the last of the cadets from below. In the +excitement of the pending race it had not been noticed by any of the +submarine boys that Williamson was already on deck, aft. That left Sam +Truax below in sole possession of the boat’s engine quarters. + +The gunboat now fell a little behind, leaving the two submarines some four +hundred yards apart, but as nearly as possible on a line. + +“Look at the crowd over on the ’Pollard’s’ decks,” muttered Hal. “They’re +all Navy folks over there.” + +“And they mean to beat such plain ’dubs’ as they must consider us,” +laughed Captain Jack, in an undertone. + +“Will they beat us, though?” grinned Hal Hastings. “You and I, Jack, +happen to know that the ’Farnum’ is a bit the faster boat by rights.” + +Suddenly the signal broke out from the gunboat. + +“Race her, Eph!” shouted Captain Jack. + +“Aye, aye, sir!” + +Eph Somers’s right hand caught at the speed signals beside the wheel. He +called for all speed, the bell jangling merrily in the engine room. + +A little cheer of excitement went up from the cadets aboard the “Farnum” +as that craft shot ahead over the waters. The cadets were catching the +thrill of what was virtually a race. At the same time, though, these +midshipmen could not help feeling a good deal of interest in the success +of the “Pollard,” which was manned wholly by representatives of the Navy. + +In the first three minutes the “Farnum” stole gradually, though slowly, +ahead of the “Pollard.” Then, to the disgust of all three of the submarine +boys, the other craft was seen to be gaining. Before long the “Pollard” +had the lead, and looked likely to increase it. Already gleeful cheers +were rising from the all-Navy crowd on the deck of the other submarine. + +Behind the racers sped the “Hudson,” keeping just far enough behind to be +able to observe everything without interfering with either torpedo craft. + +From looking at the “Pollard” Captain Jack glanced down at the water. His +own boat’s bows seemed to be cutting the water at a fast gait. The young +skipper, knowing what he knew about both boats, could not understand this +losing to the other craft. + +“The Navy men must know a few tricks with engines that we haven’t +guessed,” he observed, anxiously, to young Hastings. + +“I don’t know what it can be, then,” murmured Hal, uneasily. “There aren’t +so confusingly many parts to a six-cylinder gasoline motor. They aren’t +hard engines to run. More depends on the engine itself than on the +engineer.” + +“But look over there,” returned Captain Jack Benson. “You see the +’Pollard’ taking the wind out of our teeth, don’t you?” + +“Yes,” Hal admitted, looking more puzzled. + +“Do you think our engines are doing the top-notch of their best?” asked +Benson. + +“Yes; for Williamson is a crackerjack machinist. He knows our engines as +well as any man alive could do.” + +“Do you think it would do any good for you to go below, Hal?” + +“I will, if you say so,” offered Hastings. “Yet there’s another side to +it.” + +“What?” + +“Williamson might get it into his head that I went below because I thought +he was making a muddle of the speed. As a matter of fact, he knows every +blessed thing I do about our motors, and Williamson is loyal to the core.” + +“I know,” nodded Captain Jack. “I’d hate to hurt a fine fellow’s feelings. +Yet—confound it, I _do_ want to win this burst of speed. It means, +perhaps, the quick sale of this boat to the Navy. If we’re beaten it +means, to the Secretary of the Navy, that he already has our best boat, +and he might not see the need of buying the ’Farnum’ at all.” + +“Give Williamson two or three minutes more,” begged Hal. “You might tell +Eph, though, to repeat, and repeat, the signal for top speed. That’ll show +Williamson we’re losing.” + +Jack Benson walked to the conning tower, instructing Eph Somers in a low +tone. + +“I’ve signaled twice, since the first time,” Eph replied. “But here goes +some more.” + +“I wonder what’s going wrong with our engines, then,” muttered Captain +Jack, uneasily. + +“It ain’t in careless steering, anyway,” grumbled Eph. “I’m going as +straight as a chalk line.” + +“I noticed that,” Captain Jack admitted. + +He continued to look worried, for, by this time, the “Pollard” was at +least a good two hundred and fifty yards to the good in the lead. + +“I’m afraid,” muttered Hal, rejoining Benson, “that I’ll simply have to go +below.” + +“I’m afraid so,” nodded Jack. “We simply can’t afford to lose this or any +other race to the ’Pollard.’” + +“Williamson knows that fully as well as we do, though,” Hal Hastings went +on. “And Williamson—” + +Of a sudden Hal stopped short. He half staggered, clutching at a rail, +while his eyes stared and his lips twitched. + +“Why—why—there’s Williamson—aft on the deck!” muttered Hastings. + +“What!” + +Jack, too, wheeled like a flash. Back there in a crowd of cadets stood the +machinist upon whom the submarine boys were depending for the best showing +that the “Farnum” could make. + +“Williamson up here!” gasped Hal. “And—” + +“That fellow, Truax, all alone with the motors!” hissed Captain Jack. +Then, after a second or two of startled silence: + +“Come on, Hal!” + +The naval cadets were too much absorbed in watching the race to have +overheard anything. Williamson, too, standing at the rail, looking out +over the water, had not yet discovered that Hal Hastings was up from the +engine room. + +Jack Benson stole below on tip-toe, though with the machinery running so +much stealth was not necessary. Right behind him followed Hal. + +As the two gained the doorway of the engine room Sam Truax had his back +turned to them, and so did not note the sudden watchers. + +There was a smile of malicious triumph on Truax’s face as he turned a +lever a little way over, thus decreasing the ignition power of the motors. + +Both Jack and Hal could see that the gasoline flow had been turned on +nearly to the full capacity. It was the poor ignition work that was making +the motors respond so badly. A little less, and a little less, of the +electric spark that burned the gasoline and air mixture—that was the +secret of the gradually decreasing speed, while all the time it looked as +though the “Farnum” was doing her level best to win the race. + +Whistling, as he bent over, Sam Truax caught up a long, slender steel bar. +With this he stepped forward, intent upon his next wicked step. + +“Gracious! The scoundrel is going to run that bar in between the moving +parts of the engine and bring about a break-down!” quivered Hal. + +Sam Truax stood watching for his chance to thrust the steel bar in just +where it would inflict the most damage. Then raising the bar quickly, he +poised for the blow. + +“Stop that, you infernal sneak!” roared Jack Benson, bounding into the +engine room. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK + + +“You—here?” hissed Truax, wheeling about. + +He had not had time to make the thrust with the steel bar. + +Instead, as he wheeled, he raised it above his head, drawing back in an +attitude of guard. + +As he did so, a vile oath escaped Truax’s lips. + +“Put that bar down!” commanded Jack Benson, standing unflinchingly before +the angry rascal. + +“I’ll put it down on your head, if you don’t get out of here!” snarled the +wretch. + +“Put it down, and consider yourself off duty here, for good and all,” +insisted Jack. + +“Are you going to get out of here, or shall I brain you?” screamed Truax, +his face working in the height of his passion. + +“Neither,” retorted Captain Jack, coolly. “I command here, and you know +it. Put that bar down, and leave the engine room.” + +“Come and take the bar from me—if you dare!” taunted the fellow, a more +wicked gleam flashing in his eyes. + +“Hal!” called Jack, sharply. + +“Aye!” + +“Call two or three of the cadets down here. Don’t make any noise about +it.” + +This order was called without Benson’s turning his head. He still stood +facing the sneak while Hal sped away. + +“Now, I’ve got you alone!” gloated Truax. “I’ll finish you!” + +A scornful smile curled Jack’s lips as he gazed steadily back at his foe. + +“Truax, you’re a coward, as well as a sneak.” + +“I am—eh?” + +With another nasty oath Truax stepped quickly forward, the steel bar +upraised. + +He took but one step, however, for Captain Jack Benson had not retreated +an inch. + +Nor did Jack have his hands up in an attitude of guard. + +“Are you going to put that bar down, Truax?” the young skipper demanded, +in a voice that betrayed not a tremor. + +“No.” + +“Then you’ll have to make good in a moment, for we’re going to attack +you.” + +“Bah! I can stave in two or three heads before any number of you could +stop me,” sneered the fellow, in an ugly voice. + +“You could, but you won’t dare.” + +“I won’t?” + +“Not you!” + +At that instant rapid steps were heard. Hal Hastings returned with three +of the midshipmen, behind them Williamson trying to crowd his way into the +scene. + +“Just tell us what you want, Mr. Benson,” proposed Cadet Merriam, amiably. + +“This fellow has been ’doping’ our engines,” announced Captain Jack. “And +now he’s threatening to stand us off. We’ll close in on him from both +sides. If he tries to use that steel bar on any of us—” + +“If he does, he’ll curse his unlucky star,” declared Midshipman Merriam. +“Come on, gentlemen. We’ll show him some of the Navy football tactics!” + +The three midshipmen approached Truax steadily from the right. Jack, Hal +and Williamson stepped in on the left. + +With a yell like that of a maniac Sam Truax swung the bar. + +Having to watch both sides at once, however, he made a fizzle of it. The +bar came down, but struck the floor. + +Then, with a yell, the midshipmen leaped in on one side, Jack leading the +submarine forces on the other. Mr. Merriam’s trip and Jack’s smashing blow +with the fist brought Truax down to the floor in a heap. + +“Now, cart this human rubbish out of here!” ordered Jack Benson, sternly. +“Don’t hit him—he isn’t man enough to be worthy of a blow!” + +Swooping down upon the prostrate one, Hal and the midshipmen seized Sam +Truax by his arms and legs, carrying him bodily out of the engine room. + +“Williamson,” commanded Captain Jack, “stop the speed.” + +“In the race, sir. We—” + +“Stop the speed,” repeated Benson. + +“You’re the captain,” admitted Williamson. Grasping the twin levers of the +two motors he swung them backward. + +“Disregard any signal to go ahead until we’ve had a chance to inspect the +motors,” added Captain Jack. + +Then the submarine skipper darted out into the cabin. + +Sam Truax lay sprawling on the floor. Midshipman Merriam, a most cheerful +smile on his face, sat across the fellow, while Hal and the other two +midshipmen stood by, looking on. + +“Hold him please, until I can have the wretch taken care of,” requested +Captain Jack, making for the spiral stairway to the conning tower. + +Just as the young skipper stepped out on deck he heard the “Hudson’s” +bow-gun break out sharply in the halting signal. + +Taking a megaphone, Benson stood at the rail until the gunboat ranged up +alongside. + +“Have you broken down?” came the hail from the gunboat’s bridge. + +“I thought it best to stop speed, sir. We’ll have to look over our engines +before it will be safe to attempt any more speed work,” Captain Jack +answered. “I’ve caught a fellow tampering with our machinery. We hold him +a prisoner, now. Can you take him off our hands, sir?” + +“One of _your own_ men?” came back the question. + +“Of course, sir.” + +“We’ll send a marine guard to take him, on your complaint, Mr. Benson.” + +“Thank you, sir.” + +The gunboat’s engines slowed down. Ere long her port side gangway was +lowered. Jack saw not only two marines and a corporal come down over the +side, but Lieutenant Commander Mayhew appeared in person. That officer +came over in the cutter. + +“You’ve had treachery aboard, have you?” asked the lieutenant commander, +as he climbed up over the side. + +“Rather. A new machinist, taken aboard just before we sailed from +Dunhaven. The same fellow who must have played the trick on the +’Pollard’s’ engines yesterday,” Benson replied. + +“I’ll be glad to have a fellow like that in irons in the brig aboard the +’Hudson,’ then,” muttered Mr. Mayhew. “I couldn’t understand, Mr. Benson, +how you were doing so badly in the full speed ahead dash.” + +“The prisoner below is the answer, sir,” Captain Jack replied. He then led +the corporal and two marines below. The corporal produced a pair of +handcuffs, which he promptly snapped over Truax’s wrists. + +“You’ll be sorry for this, one of these days,” threatened Truax, with a +snarl that showed his teeth. + +“Some day, then, if you please, when I have more leisure than I have now,” +Jack retorted, dryly. “This man is all yours, corporal.” + +Truax was foolish enough to try to hang back on his conductors. A slight +jab through the clothing from one of the marines’ bayonets caused the +prisoner to stop that trick. He was taken on deck and over the side. + +“Coxswain, return for me after you’ve taken the prisoner to the ’Hudson,’” +directed Mr. Mayhew. “Now, Mr. Benson, I would like to see what has been +done to your engines.” + +“That’s just what I want to know, too,” responded Jack. + +They found Hal and Williamson hard at work, inspecting the motors. + +“The ignition power was lowered, and that may have been the most that the +fellow did,” said Hal. “Yet, at the same time, before putting these +engines to any severe test, I believe they ought to be cooled and looked +over.” + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew frowned. + +“These delays eat up our practice cruise time a whole lot,” he grumbled. + +“I’ll put the engines through their paces, and chance mischief having been +done to them, if you wish, sir.” + +“No; that won’t do either, Mr. Hastings,” replied the naval officer. “This +craft is private property, and I have no right to give orders that may +damage private property. I’ll hold the fleet until you’ve had time to +inspect your engines properly. By that time, however, we’ll have to put +back to the coast for the night, for our practice time will be gone.” + +“In the days to follow, sir,” put in Benson, earnestly, “I think we can +more than make up for this delay. We won’t have the traitor aboard after +this.” + +“What earthly object can the fellow have had for wanting to damage your +motors?” demanded the naval officer, looking hopelessly puzzled. + +“I can’t even make a sane guess, sir,” Jack Benson admitted. + +An hour and a half later the “Hudson” and the two submarines headed back +for a safe little bay on the coast. Here the three craft anchored for the +night. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT + + +It was nearly eight in the evening when the three craft were snug at +anchor. + +The bay was a small one, hardly worthy of the name. The only inhabited +part of the shore thereabouts consisted of the fishing village known as +Blair’s Cove, a settlement containing some forty houses. + +Hardly had all been made snug aboard the “Farnum” when Jack, standing on +the platform deck after the cadets had been transferred to the “Hudson” +for the night, saw a small boat heading out from shore. + +“Is that one of the new submarine crafts?” hailed a voice from the bow of +the boat. + +“Yes, sir,” Jack answered, courteously. + +No more was said until the boat had come up alongside. + +“I thought maybe you’d be willing to let me have a look over a craft of +this sort,” said the man in the bow. He appeared to be about forty years +of age, dark-haired and with a full, black beard. The man was plainly +though not roughly dressed; evidently he was a man of some education. + +“Why, I’m mighty sorry, sir,” Captain Jack Benson replied. “But I’m afraid +it will be impossible to allow any strangers on board during this cruise.” + +“Oh, I won’t steal anything from your craft,” answered the stranger, +laughingly. “I won’t be inquisitive, either, or go poking into forbidden +corners. Who’s your captain?” + +“I am, sir.” + +“Then you’ll let me come aboard, just for a look, won’t you?” pleaded the +stranger. + +Such curiosity was natural. The man seemed like a decent fellow. But Jack +shook his head. + +“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m positive our owners wouldn’t approve of our +allowing any strangers to come on board.” + +“Had any trouble, so far, with strangers?” asked the man. + +“I didn’t say that,” Jack replied, evasively. “But the construction of a +submarine torpedo boat is a secret. It is a general rule with our owners +that strangers shan’t be allowed on board, unless they’re very especially +vouched for. Now, I hate to appear disobliging; yet, if you’ve ever been +employed by anyone else, you will appreciate the need of obeying an +owner’s orders.” + +“You’re under the orders of the boss of that gunboat?” asked the stranger, +pointing to the “Hudson.” + +“On this cruise, yes, sir,” Jack nodded. + +“Maybe, if I saw the fellow in command of the gunboat, then he’d give me +an order allowing me to come on board.” + +“I’m very certain the lieutenant commander wouldn’t do anything of the +sort,” Benson responded. + +The stranger gave a comical sigh. + +“Then I’m afraid I don’t see a submarine boat to-night—that is, any more +than I can see of it now.” + +“That’s about the way it looks to me, also,” Jack answered, smiling. “Yet, +believe me, I hate awfully to seem discourteous about it.” + +“Oh, all right,” muttered the stranger, nodding to the two boatmen, who +had rowed him out alongside. + +“Good!” grunted Eph. “I’m glad you didn’t let him on board, Captain. On +this cruise our luck doesn’t seem to run with strangers.” + +“It doesn’t, for a fact,” laughed Jack Benson. + +“Hi, ho—ah, hum!” yawned young Somers, stretching. “It will be mine for +early bunk to-night, I reckon.” + +At this moment a boat was observed rounding the stern of the “Hudson.” It +came up alongside, landing a marine sentry. + +“Anybody on the ’Farnum’ want to go ashore to-night?” hailed a voice from +the gunboat’s rail. “The shore boat will be ready in five minutes.” + +“I believe I would like to take just a run through the village,” declared +Jack, turning to his chum. “Do you feel like a land-cruise with me, Hal?” + +“I think I’d better go,” laughed Hastings. “You seem to get into trouble +when you go alone.” + +“All right, then. And, Eph since you’re so sleepy, you can turn in as soon +as you want. The boat will be under sufficient protection,” Jack added, +nodding toward the marine slowly pacing the platform deck. + +Williamson was called too, but declared that he felt like turning in +early. So, when the shore boat came, it had but two passengers to take +from the submarine. There were a few shore-leave men, however, from the +gunboat. + +“This boat will return to the fleet, gentlemen, every hour up to +midnight,” stated the petty officer in charge, as Jack and Hal stepped +ashore at a rickety little wharf. + +“Judging from what we can see of the town from here, we’ll be ready to go +back long before midnight,” Jack Benson laughingly told his companion. + +“All I want is to shake some of the sea-roll out of my gait,” nodded +Hastings. “It surely doesn’t seem to be much of a town.” + +By way of public buildings there turned out to be a church, locked and +dark, a general store and also a drug-store that contained the local +post-office. But the drug-store carried no ice cream or soda, so the +submarine boys turned away. + +There was one other “public” place that the boys failed to discover at +once. That was a low groggery at the further end of the town. Here two of +the sailors who had come on shore leave turned in for a drink or two. They +found a suave, black-bearded man quite ready to buy liquor for Uncle Sam’s +tars. + +Three-quarters of an hour later Jack and Hal felt they had seen about as +much of the town as they cared for, when a hailing voice stopped them. + +“Finding it pretty dull, gentlemen?” + +“Oh, good evening,” replied Captain Jack, recognizing the bearded man whom +he had refused admittance to the “Farnum.” + +“Pretty stupid town, isn’t it, Captain?” asked the stranger, holding out +his hand, which Jack Benson took. + +“As lively as we thought it would be,” Hal rejoined. “We just came ashore +to stretch ourselves a bit. Thought we might lay a course to an ice-cream +soda, too, but failed.” + +“These fishermen don’t have such things,” smiled the stranger. “They are +content with the bare necessities of life, with a little grog and tobacco +added. Speaking of grog, would you care to try the best this town has, +gentlemen?” + +“Thank you,” Jack answered, politely. “We’ve never either of us tasted the +stuff, and we don’t care to begin.” + +“Drop into the drug-store and have a cigar, then?” + +“We don’t smoke, either, thank you,” came from Hal. + +“You young men are rather hard to entertain in a place like this,” sighed +the stranger, but his eyes twinkled. + +“We are just as grateful for the intention,” Jack assured him. + +“Tell you what I can do, gentlemen,” proposed the stranger, suddenly. “I +might invite you down to my shack for a little while, and show you my +books and some models of yachts and ships that I’ve been collecting. I’m +quite proud of my collection in that line. Won’t you come?” + +Anything in the line of yacht or ship-models interested both of these +sea-loving boys from the shipyard at Dunhaven. Jack graciously accepted +the invitation for them both. + +“And, though I have no soda fountain,” continued the bearded one, “I can +offer you some soft drinks. I always keep some about the place.” + +“How do you come to be living in a place like this, if I’m not too +inquisitive?” queried Benson, as the three strolled down the street. + +“Doctor’s orders,” replied the bearded one. “So I’ve rented the best old +shack I could get here, down by the water. I spend a good deal of my time +sailing a sloop that I have. Curtis is my name.” + +Jack and Hal introduced themselves in turn. + +Curtis’s shack proved to be well away from the village proper, and down +near the waterfront. A light shone from a window near the front door as +the three approached the small dwelling. + +“I think I can interest you for an hour, gentlemen,” declared the bearded +one, as he slipped a key in the lock of the door. + +He admitted them to a little room off the hallway, a room that contained +not much beyond a table and four chairs, a side-table and some of the +accessories of the smoker. + +“Just take a seat here,” proposed Curtis, “while I get some sarsaparilla +for you. I’ll be right back in a moment.” + +It was four or five minutes before Curtis came back, bearing a tray on +which were three tall glasses, each containing a brownish liquid. + +“The stuff isn’t iced, yet it’s fairly cold,” the bearded one explained. +“Well, gentlemen, here’s to a pleasant evening!” + +Hal, who was thirsty, took a long swallow of the sarsaparilla, finding the +flavor excellent. Jack drank more slowly, though he enjoyed the beverage. + +“If you don’t mind,” suggested Curtis, “I will light a cigar. And say, by +the way, gentlemen, what if we take a little walk down to my beach? Before +showing you the models I spoke of, I’d like to have your opinion of the +lines of my sloop.” + +“We’ll go down and take a look with great pleasure,” Jack Benson agreed, +rising. “And I’m glad, sir, that you’re able to show us more courtesy than +we were able to offer you to-night.” + +“Oh, that was all right,” declared their host, smiling good-humoredly. +“Rules are rules, and you have your owners to please. No hard feelings on +that score, I assure you.” + +Curtis led the way through a dark yard down to a pier. Moored there lay a +handsome white sloop, some forty-two feet in length—a boat of a good and +seaworthy knockabout type. + +“This is a sloop, all right,” Jack agreed, cordially. “Rather different +from the lumbering fishing craft hereabouts.” + +“Oh, hah, yum!” yawned Hal, at which Curtis shot a quick glance at him. + +“Come on board,” invited Curtis, stepping down to the deck of the craft. +“Let me show you what a comfortable cruising cabin I have.” + +“Hi, oh, yow!” yawned Hal, again. “Jack, I think I shall enjoy my rest +to-night.” + +“Same case here,” agreed Benson, stifling a yawn that came as though in +answer to Hal’s. + +“I won’t keep you long, gentlemen, if I am boring you,” agreed their host, +amiably. “Now, I’ll go below first and light up. So! Now, come down and +take a look. Do you find many yacht cabins more comfortable than this +one?” + +It was, indeed, a cozy place. Up forward stood a miniature sideboard, +complete in every respect with glass and silver. In the center of the +cabin was a folding table. There were locker seats and inviting looking +cushions. The trim was largely of mahogany. On either side was a broad, +comfortable-looking berth. + +“Just get into that berth and try it, Mr. Hastings,” urged the bearded +one. + +“I—I’m afraid to,” confessed Hal, stifling another yawn. + +“Afraid?” + +“Very sure thing!” + +“Why?” + +“I’m—hah-ho-hum!” yawned Hal Hastings. “I’m afraid I’d—yow!—abuse your +hospitality by going to sleep.” + +Jack Benson leaned against the edge of the opposite berth, feeling +unaccountably drowsy. + +“Oh, nonsense,” laughed Curtis. “Just pile into that berth for a moment, +Hastings, and see what a soft, restful place it is. I’ll agree to pull you +out, if necessary.” + +Not realizing much, in his approaching stupor, Hal Hastings allowed +himself to be coaxed to stretch himself at full length in the downy berth. + +Almost immediately he closed his eyes, drifting off into stupor. + +“Why, your friend _is_ drowsy, isn’t he?” laughed the bearded one, turning +to the submarine skipper. + +Jack Benson’s own eyelids were suspiciously close together. + +“Why—what—ails you?” + +Curtis spoke in a low, droning, far-away voice that caused Jack Benson’s +upper eyelids to sink. Curtis stood watching him, in malicious glee, for +some moments. Then, at last, he took hold of the young skipper. + +“Come, old fellow,” coaxed the bearded one, “you’ll do best to join your +friend in a good nap. Get up in the berth.” + +“Lemme alone,” protested the boy, thickly, feeling that he was being +lifted. Jack struggled, partly rousing himself. + +“Come, get up into the berth. You’ll be more comfortable there.” + +“Lemme alone. What are you trying to do?” demanded Jack, swinging an arm. + +Curtis dodged the light blow, then gripped Jack Benson resolutely. + +“Now, see here, young man,” hissed the bearded one, “I’m not going to have +any more nonsense out of you. Up into the berth you go! Do you want me to +hit you?” + +Another man thrust his head down the cabin hatchway, showing an evil, +grinning face. + +“Got ’em right?” demanded the one from the hatchway. + +“Yes,” snapped the bearded one, then turned to give his attention to Jack +Benson, who was putting up an ineffectual fight while Hal slumbered on. +“Now, see here, Benson, quit all your fooling!” + +“You lemme up,” insisted the submarine boy, in a low, dull voice, though +he swung both his arms in an effort to assert himself. “’M not goin’ t’ +stay here. Lemme up, I say! ’M goin’ back to—own boat.” + +“The submarine?” jeered the bearded man. + +“Yep.” + +“Guess again, son,” laughed Curtis, jeeringly. “You’re not going back +aboard the submarine to-night.” + +“Am so,” declared Benson, obstinately, though his tone was growing more +drowsy every instant, and his busy hands moved almost as weakly as an +infant’s. + +“Listen, if you’ve got enough of your senses left,” growled the bearded +men. “You’re not going back to the ’Farnum’—neither to-night, nor at any +other time during the next few months. You’re bound on a long cruise, but +not on a submarine boat. I am the captain here, and I’ll name the cruise!” + + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES + + +It was barely a minute afterward that Jack Benson lapsed into a very +distinct snore. + +“No more trouble from this pair,” laughed the bearded one to his companion +at the hatchway. “Now, I’ll douse the cabin light, and then we’ll cast +off. This thing has moved along very slickly.” + +Eph, after having made up his mind to turn in early, had found his sleepy +fit passing. He read for a while in the cabin, then pulled on a reefer and +went up on deck. Williamson was already in a berth, sound asleep. + +“It would be a fine night if there was a moon,” Eph remarked to the marine +sentry on deck. + +“Yes, sir.” + +The marine—“soldier, and sailor, too”—not being there for conversational +purposes, continued his slow pacing, his rifle resting over his right +shoulder. + +As Eph strolled about in the limited space of the platform deck he heard a +distant creaking. It was a sound that he well knew—the hoisting of sail. + +“I wonder if the local fishermen start out at this time of the night?” Eph +Somers remarked, musingly, to the sentry. + +“It may be so, sir; I don’t know,” replied the marine. + +Presently Eph made out the lines and the spread of canvas of a handsome +knockabout sloop standing on out of the harbor. + +The course being narrow, the sloop was obliged to sail rather close to the +fleet. + +“That’s no fisherman!” muttered Somers, watching, his hands thrust deep in +his pockets. + +Presently the sloop’s hull was lost to Eph’s sight beyond the gunboat. +Then the boy heard a voice from the “Hudson’s” deck roar out: + +“Look alive, you lubber! Do you want to foul our anchor chain?” + +“No, sir,” came from the sloop’s deck. “We’ll clear you all right.” + +“See that you do, then!” + +Then the sloop’s hull came into view again, as the craft headed out toward +the open water beyond. + +“That’s the kind of a craft Jack would give a heap to be on,” thought Eph. +“Queer that he should spend all his time on gasoline peanut-roasters when +he’s so fond of whistling for a breeze behind canvas.” + +As the sloop neared the mouth of the little bay, and her lines became +rather indistinct in the darkness, Eph Somers turned to resume his pacing +of the deck. + +“Hullo,” muttered the submarine boy, two or three minutes later. “Here’s +the shore boat coming on its regular trip. I wonder if Jack and Hal are in +it? It’s about time for them to be coming on board.” + +But the shore boat, instead of coming out to the submarine, lay in at the +side gangway of the gunboat opposite, and Eph discovered that his two +comrades were not in the boat. + +“I say,” hailed Eph, “have you seen Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings on shore!” + +“No, sir,” replied the petty officer in charge. + +Then one of the sailors in the boat spoke in an undertone. + +“This man says, sir,” continued the petty officer, “that he saw your +friends, sir, going aboard a white knockabout sloop.” + +“He did, eh?” demanded the astonished Eph. “How long ago was that?” + +“Only a few minutes ago, sir,” replied the sailor. + +“You’re sure you saw Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings?” + +“Yes, sir.” + +“That’s queer,” reflected Eph. “It wouldn’t be like them to go sailing at +this time of the night, and without notifying me, either. But, then, I +didn’t see anything of ’em aboard that sloop, either.” + +Eph was silent for a few moments, thinking. Then, suddenly, he leaped up +in the air, coming down flat-footed. + +“Crackey!” ejaculated Eph Somers. + +For a moment or two his face was a study in bewilderment. + +“Mighty strange things have been happening all through this cruise,” Eph +muttered, half-aloud. “Especially happening to Jack! Now, the two of them +go aboard that sloop, and immediately after the boat puts out to sea in +the dead of night. What if Jack and Hal have been shanghaied on that +infernal sloop?” + +Cold chills began to chase each other up and down the spine of Eph Somers. +He was not, ordinarily, an imaginative youth, but just now the gruesome +thought that had entered his mind persisted there. + +He began to pace the platform deck in deep agitation. + +“Anything wrong, sir?” questioned the marine sentry, halting and throwing +his rifle over to port arms. + +“That’s just what I’d give a million dollars and ten cents to know!” +exploded Eph. + +“Gunboat, ahoy!” he shouted, some twenty seconds later. + +“’Farnum,’ ahoy!” + +“I half believe, sir,” Eph rattled on, “that my two comrades, Mr. Benson +and Mr. Hastings have been tricked, in some way, and carried out to sea on +that knockabout. They’d have been back from shore by this time, if nothing +had happened.” + +“What do you want to do, Mr. Somers?” + +“Want to do, sir?” retorted Eph. “I know what I’m going to do. I’m going +to slip moorings and chase after that knockabout. What I wish to know from +you, sir, is whether you’ll send another marine or two on board, so that I +can back up my demand to find my friends?” + +“I’ll have to ask the lieutenant commander about that, Mr. Somers.” + +“Can you do it, now, sir?” asked Eph, energetically. + +“Instantly. I’ll let you know the decision as soon as it’s made.” + +Eph, hanging at the rail in the silence that followed, had no notion of +whether his request had been a correct one. All he knew was that his +suspicions had surged to the surface, and were threatening to boil over. +It was a huge relief to the boy when Mr. Mayhew’s voice sounded from the +rail of the gunboat. Somers swiftly answered all questions. + +“Your craft and crew are in a measure under our protection and orders,” +decided Mr. Mayhew. “I think we may properly extend you some help. I will +send some men to you, and a cadet midshipman who will have my +instructions.” + +“Will you send them quickly, sir?” begged Eph. + +“I’ll have men on board of you by the time that your engines are running,” +promised the lieutenant commander. + +“Engines?” That word came as a fortunate reminder to the submarine boy. He +darted below, almost yanking Williamson from his berth, nearly pulling the +machinist into his clothes. By the time that Williamson was really wide +awake he found himself standing by the motors forward. + +Then young Somers darted onto deck again, just in time to see the boat +coming alongside. It brought two more marines, one of them a corporal. +There were also two sailors. A cadet midshipman commanded them. + +“Mr. Somers,” reported the cadet midshipman, “I am not intended to +displace you from the command of this boat. I am here only with definite +instructions in case you succeed in overhauling that white sloop.” + +“What—” began Eph. Then he paused, with a half-grin. “Really,” he added, +“I ought to know better than to quiz you about your instructions from your +superior officer.” + +“Yes, sir,” assented the midshipman, simply. + +Eph turned on the current to the search-light, swinging the ray about the +bay. Then, too impatient to sit in the conning tower, the submarine boy +took his place by the deck wheel. + +“Will your seamen cast loose from the moorings?” Somers asked. + +“Yes, sir,” replied the midshipman. + +“If there’s anything wrong, good luck to you,” sounded the cool voice of +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, from the gunboat’s rail. + +“Thank you, sir.” + +No sooner had the moorings been cast loose from than Eph sounded the slow +speed ahead bell. Within sixty seconds the propellers of the “Farnum” were +doing a ten-knot stunt, which was soon increased to fourteen. + +One of the seamen now stood by to swing the searchlight under Eph’s +orders. + +By the time that the submarine reached the mouth of the bay the light +faintly picked up a spread of white sail, off to the East. + +“That’s the knockabout,” cried Eph, excitedly. “Now, see here, keep that +ray right across the boat as soon as we get half a mile nearer.” + +“It’ll show the boat that you’re chasing ’em, sir,” advised the +midshipman. + +“I know it,” admitted Eph. “But it will also keep the rascals from dumping +my friends overboard without our catching ’em at it.” + +“What do you think the men in charge of that boat are, sir—pirates?” + +“They’re mighty close to it, if they’ve shanghaied Mr. Benson and Mr. +Hastings and put to sea with ’em,” rejoined Eph. Then he rang for more +speed. Down below, Williamson almost instantly responded. The “Farnum” now +fairly leaped through the water. + +“Turn the light on the knockabout, now, and keep it there,” directed the +submarine boy. + +There was a seven-knot breeze blowing. At the speed at which the submarine +boat was traveling the distance was soon covered. + +And now the searchlight revealed two men in the standing-room of the +sloop, one of whom, a bearded man, was looking backward over his wake much +of the time. + +“Can one of the marines fire a shot to stop those fellows?” asked Eph +Somers. + +“In the air, do you mean, sir?” asked the midshipman. “Certainly.” + +“Then I wish he’d do it.” + +Bang! The discharge of the rifle sounded sharply on the night air. + +“It ain’t stopping ’em any,” muttered Eph, after a few seconds had gone +by. + +“Nothing would, unless fired into them,” volunteered Midshipman Terrell. + +It did not take long, however, to run the submarine up alongside of the +sloop, at a distance of about one hundred yards. + +“Now, we want you men to stop,” called Midshipman Terrell, between his +hands. “We are United States naval forces, from the gunboat, and you will +regard this as an order that you must obey. No!” thundered the midshipman, +suddenly, as the bearded one started to step down into the cabin. “You +will both keep on deck. Otherwise we shall be obliged to fire into you. We +mean business, remember!” + +“What do you want to board us for?” demanded Curtis, pausing. + +“We will explain when we come aboard.” + +“How are you coming, aboard? You’ve no small boat.” + +“We can land this submarine right up beside you,” responded the +midshipman, “if you keep straight to your present course.” + +“And scrape all the paint off our side,” objected Curtis. + +“That has no bearing on my instructions, sir. I direct you to keep +straight to your present course. We will come up alongside.” + +“What if we don’t do it?” demanded Curtis, with sudden bluster. + +“Then your danger will be divided between being shot where you stand and +having your craft cut in two by the bow of our craft,” retorted Mr. +Terrell. “You will realize, I think, that there can be no parleying with +our orders.” + +The bearded one swore, but the corporal and his two marines stood at the +rail with their rifles ready, waiting only the midshipman’s order to aim +and fire. + +Eph allowed the “Farnum” to fall back a little way. Then he exerted +himself to show his best in seamanship as he ran the submarine up to board +the sloop by the starboard quarter. The two boats barely touched. Mr. +Terrell, his three marines and two seamen leaped to the standing room of +the yacht. Eph, all aquiver, let the nose of the “Farnum” fall back +slightly. Then he trailed along, under bare headway. + +Then a shout came from the sloop, as the two seamen reappeared, bearing +the forms of Jack and Hal. + +“We’ve found them aboard, Mr. Somers,” shouted Terrell. “Drugged, I think, +sir. Will you come alongside, sir.” + +Eph quickly rang the signal, then did some careful manœuvring. As he +touched, one of the marines leaped back to the platform deck, then passed +a line to Mr. Terrell. The two craft were held together until Jack and Hal +had been passed, still unconscious, over the side. The naval party quickly +followed, then cast loose from the sloop. + +“This whole proceeding is high-handed,” growled Curtis, as soon as he saw +that he was not to be molested. + +“Oh, you shut up, and keep your tongue padlocked,” retorted Midshipman +Terrell, in high disgust. “You’re lucky as it is. Now, Mr. Somers, are you +going back to the bay, sir?” + +“Aren’t you going to take those two—body-snatchers?” demanded Eph, glaring +venomously at the pair on the sloop. + +“My instructions don’t cover that, sir,” replied the cadet midshipman. + +“Then hang your orders!” muttered young Somers, but he kept the words +behind his teeth. Eph veered off, next headed about, while the two seamen +bore Jack and Hal below to their berths. + +“Will you take the wheel, Mr. Terrell?” asked Eph, edging away, with one +hand on the spokes. + +“Yes, sir.” + +Eph hurried below to the port stateroom. Jack lay in the lower berth, Hal +in the upper. The two seamen, after feeling for pulse, stood by looking at +the unconscious submarine boys. + +“What’s been done to them?” demanded Eph. + +“The same old knockout drops, sir, that sailors in all parts of the world +know so well, sir, I think,” answered one of the men, with a quiet grin. + +“Humph!” gritted Eph, bending over Jack’s face. “Smell his breath.” + +“Yes, sir,” said the sailor, obeying. + +“There’s no smell of liquor, there, is there?” + +“No, sir,” admitted the sailor, looking up, rather puzzled. + +“There is some infernally mean trick in all this,” growled Eph. “I am +mighty sorry we didn’t bring those rascals back with us.” + +When he went on deck again the submarine boy relieved Mr. Terrell at the +wheel, completing the run in to moorings. + +“Did you find your comrades aboard the sloop, Mr. Somers?” hailed the +lieutenant commander, from the gunboat. + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Are they all right?” + +“Drugged, sir.” + +“Hm! Mr. Terrell and his detachment will return to this vessel.” + +The boat took them away. It was five minutes later when the boat returned, +bringing the lieutenant commander, Doctor McCrea, the surgeon, and a +sailor belonging to the hospital detachment aboard the “Hudson.” Eph +conducted them below. + +“Drugged,” announced the medical officer, after a brief examination. + +“Humph!” uttered Mr. Mayhew. “That sort of trick isn’t played on folks in +any decent resort on shore. I don’t understand Mr. Benson’s conduct. I +remember his mishap at Dunhaven. I remember the plight he got into at +Annapolis; and now he and Mr. Hastings are found in this questionable +shape. I am very much afraid these young men do not conduct themselves, on +shore, in the careful manner that must be expected of civilian instructors +to cadets.” + +Eph Somers felt something boiling up inside of him. + + + + + + CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER’S VERDICT + + +“Let me try to get at your meaning, sir, if you please,” begged Somers, +after standing for a few seconds with clenched fists. “Do you mean that my +friends have been going into tough resorts on shore?” + +“Where else do sailors usually get drugged?” inquired Mr. Mayhew. “What +kind of people usually feed sea-faring men with what are generally known +as knock-out drops?” + +“How should I know?” demanded Eph, solemnly. + +“You see your friends, and you see their condition.” + +“Smell their breaths, sir. There isn’t a trace of the odor of liquor.” + +The surgeon did so, confirming Eph’s claim. + +“But I remember that Mr. Benson came aboard, at Dunhaven, with a very +strong odor of liquor,” continued the lieutenant commander. + +“That had been sprinkled on his clothes, sir,” argued Somers. + +“Perhaps. But then there was the Annapolis affair.” + +“Mr. Benson explained that to you, sir.” + +“It’s very strange,” returned the lieutenant commander, “that such things +seem to happen generally to Mr. Benson when he gets on shore. I know I +have been ashore, in all parts of the world, without having such things +happen to me.” + +“There is something behind this, sir, that doesn’t spell bad conduct on +the part of either of my friends,” cried Eph, hotly. “There’s some plot, +some trick in the whole thing that we don’t understand. And we might +understand much more about it, sir, if your midshipman had arrested that +pair of blackguards on the sloop, and brought them back with us.” + +“Had Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings been members of the naval forces we could +have done that,” replied Mr. Mayhew. “Probably you don’t understand, Mr. +Somers, how very careful the Navy has to be about making arrests in times +of peace, when the civil authorities are all-supreme. We carried our right +as far as it could possibly be stretched when we boarded and searched that +sloop for you.” + +“I don’t care so much about that,” contended Eph, warmly. “But it does jar +on me, sir, to have you take such a view of my friends. You don’t know +them; you don’t understand them as Mr. Farnum and Mr. Pollard do.” + +“Perhaps you wouldn’t blame me as much for my opinions,” replied Mr. +Mayhew, “if you could look at the matter from my viewpoint, Mr. Somers. I +am in charge of this cruise, which is one of instruction to naval cadets, +and I am in a very large measure responsible for the conduct and good +behavior of young men who have been selected as instructors to the cadets. +If you were in my place, Mr. Somers, would you be patient over young men +who, when they get ashore, get into one unseemly scrape after another? Or +would you wonder, as I do, whether it will not be best for me to end this +practice cruise and sail back to Annapolis, there to make my report in the +matter?” + +“For heaven’s sake don’t do that,” begged Eph Somers, hoarsely. “At least, +not until you have talked with Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings. You’ll wait +until morning, sir?” + +“I’m afraid I shall have to, if I want to talk with your friends,” replied +the lieutenant commander, smiling coldly. “And now, Mr. Somers, you and I +had better leave here. The doctor and his nurse will want the room cleared +in order to look after their patients. I hope your friends will be all +right in the morning,” added the naval officer, as the pair gained the +deck. + +“Now, see here, sir,” began Eph, earnestly, all over again. “I hope you’ll +soon begin to understand that, whatever has happened, there are no two +straighter boys alive than Jack Benson and Hal Hastings.” + +“I trust you’re right,” replied Mr. Mayhew, less coldly. “Yet, what can +you expect me to think, now that Benson has been in such scrapes three +different times? And, in this last instance, he drags even the quiet Mr. +Hastings into the affair with him.” + +“I see that I’ll have to wait, sir,” sighed Eph, resignedly. + +“Yes; it will be better in every way to wait,” agreed the lieutenant +commander. “It is plain justice, at the least, to wait and give the young +men a chance to offer any defense that they can.” + +“Now, of course, from his way of looking at it, I can’t blame him so very +much,” admitted Eph Somers, as he leaned over the rail, watching Mr. +Mayhew going back through the darkness. “But Jack—great old Jack!—having +any liking at all for mixing up in saloons and such places on shore! Ha, +ha! Ho, ho!” + +Williamson, now able to leave his motors, came on deck, asking an account +of what had happened. The machinist listened in amazement, though, like +Eph, he needed no proof that the boys, whatever trouble they had +encountered, had met honestly and innocently. + +“Of course that naval officer is right, too, from his own limited point of +view,” urged Williamson. + +“Oh, yes, I suppose so,” nodded Somers, gloomily. “I’ve been trying to +tell myself that. But it would be fearful, wouldn’t it, if the ’Farnum’ +were ordered away from the fleet, and Jack disgraced, just because of +things he really didn’t do.” + +“It’s a queer old world,” mused the machinist, thoughtfully. “We hear a +lot about the consequences of wrong things we do. But how often people +seem to have to pay up for things they never did!” + +“Oh, well,” muttered Eph, philosophically, “let’s wait until morning. A +night’s sleep straightens out a lot of things.” + +Williamson, however, having had some sleep earlier in the night, was not +drowsy, now. He lighted a pipe, lingering on the platform deck. Eph, not +being a user of tobacco, went below to find that Doctor McCrea, from the +gunboat, was sitting in the cabin, reading a book he had chosen from the +book-case. + +“I’ve brought the young men around somewhat,” reported the physician. +“I’ve made them throw off the drug, and now I’ve left some stuff with the +nurse to help brace them up. They’ll have sour stomachs and aching heads +in the morning, though.” + +“But you noticed one thing, Doctor?” pressed Somers. + +“What was that?” + +“That there were no signs of liquor about them? Those boys never tasted a +drop of the vile stuff in their lives!” + +“I’m inclined to believe you,” nodded the surgeon. “They have splendid, +clear skins, eyes bright as diamonds, sound, sturdy heart-beats, and +they’re full of vitality. I’ve met boys from the slums, once in a +while—beer-drinkers and cigarette-smokers. But such boys never show the +splendid physical condition that your friends possess.” + +“You know, then, as well as I do, Doctor, that neither of my chums are +rowdies, and that, whatever happened to them to-night, they didn’t get to +it through any bad habits or conduct?” + +“I’m much inclined to agree with you, Mr. Somers.” + +“I hope, then, you’ll succeed in impressing all that on Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew in the morning.” + +With that the submarine boy passed on to the starboard stateroom. He would +have given much to have stepped into the room opposite, but felt, from the +doctor’s manner, that the latter did not wish his patients disturbed. + +Eph slept little that night. Though Jack and Hal fared better in that +single respect, Somers looked far the best of the three in the morning. + +Jack and Hal came out with bandages about their heads, which buzzed and +ached. + +The two, however, told their story to Somers and Williamson as soon as +possible. + +“Just as I supposed,” nodded Eph, vigorously. + +“Why, how did you guess it all?” asked Benson, in astonishment. + +“I mean, I knew you hadn’t been in any low sailor resorts.” + +“Who said we had?” demanded Jack, flaring in spite of his dizziness. + +“Some of the Navy folks didn’t know but you had,” replied Eph, then bit +his tongue for having let that much out of the bag. + +Doctor McCrea came aboard early. He looked the boys over. + +“Eat a little toast, if you want, and drink some weak tea,” he suggested. +“After that, eat nothing more until to-night.” + +“But the day’s work—?” hinted Jack. + +“I don’t know,” replied the doctor, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not a +line officer, and therefore know nothing about the fleet’s manœuvres.” + +That reply, however, was quite enough to send Jack Benson’s suspicions +aloft. + +“Eph,” he cried, wheeling upon his friend the moment Doctor McCrea was +gone, “there’s something you haven’t told us.” + +“Such as—what?” asked Somers, doing his best to look mighty innocent. + +“Doctor McCrea as good as admitted that we won’t have anything to do +to-day. What’s wrong?” Then, after a brief pause: “Good heavens, does Mr. +Mayhew believe we’ve been acting disgracefully? Are we barred out of the +instruction work?” + +Hal had been raising a glass of cold water to his lips. The glass fell, +with a crash. He wheeled about, then clutched at the edge of the cabin +table, most unsteadily. + +“We-e-ll,” admitted Somers, reluctantly, “Mr. Mayhew said he would want to +question you some, perhaps, this morning.” + +“What did he say? Out with it all, Eph!” + +A moment before Jack Benson had been pallid enough. Now, two bright, +furious spots burned in either cheek. + +The red-haired boy, however, was spared the pain of going any further, +for, at that moment, a heavy tread was heard on the spiral staircase. Then +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, holding himself very erect, one hand resting +against the scabbard of the sword that he wore at his side, came into view +below. + +Many were the questions that the naval officer put to the victims of the +night’s mishap. + +“Well, gentlemen,” Mr. Mayhew said at last, rising, “your story is +strange. Yet, I believe you are young men of honor. I’m sorry we have not +in custody the men who sailed that sloop.” + +“Pardon me, sir!” burst out Eph. + +“Well, Mr. Somers?” + +“Perhaps, sir, if you should question Truax you could learn something from +him. I tell you, sir, there’s a scheme to ruin Jack Benson; and that’s +only part of a bigger plot to discredit our company with the Navy!” + +Mr. Mayhew, looking thoughtful, replied: + +“I’ll find some way of questioning Truax. And now, Mr. Benson, since you +and Mr. Hastings are not fit to instruct the cadets to-day, I’ll send out +sections under Lieutenant Halpin on board the ’Pollard’ only. To-morrow +you should be in shape to resume your duties. Meanwhile, I must make one +condition.” + +“It will not be necessary, sir, to make any conditions with us,” Jack +replied. “Your instructions will be sufficient.” + +“While you are on this present tour of duty, I shall ask Mr. Benson and +Mr. Hastings not to leave the ’Farnum’ without my consent.” + +As soon as Mr. Mayhew had left the “Farnum” Eph Somers cried bitterly: + +“You heard the verdict in the case! A great verdict! Not guilty—but don’t +do it again!” + +At half past eight the next morning a section of cadets, under the command +of Ensign Trahern, came aboard the “Farnum.” + +“The lieutenant commander sends word, with his compliments,” reported +Trahern, “that after leaving the bay the formation will be as usual. The +signal to halt and be ready for the tour of instruction will be given when +we’re about ten miles off shore.” + +Six of the cadets, of the engineer division, went below to the engine +room. To one of the ten left on deck Jack turned and said: + +“You will take charge, Mr. Surles. Assume all the responsibilities of the +officer of the deck.” + +In all, five of the midshipmen had commanded briefly before the laying-to +signal was given. Hal Hastings then appeared on deck. + +“Captain Benson,” Hal stated, saluting, “I have inspected all the +submerging machinery, and I find everything in good order. We can go below +the surface at any time.” + +“Thank you, Mr. Hastings. All below!” ordered Jack crisply. + +After the cadets and the ensign had filed below, Jack, having seen that +all was in order, followed. He made all fast in the conning tower, then +called Midshipman Surles up the stairway to the tower wheel. + +“Do you think you can head due east and keep to that course under water, +Mr. Surles?” + +“Yes, sir.” + +Going down to the cabin floor, Jack ordered two more midshipmen to the +tower as observers. + +“The rest crowd about me and ask questions while I handle the submerging +machinery.” + +Under the impetus from the electric motors, the propeller shafts began to +throb. The next instant the submarine shot below, going down at so steep +an angle that many of the middies were forced to reach for new footing. + +“The gauge registers sixty feet below,” announced Jack. + +In another moment, by the quick flooding of some of the compartments +astern, the young skipper brought the boat to an even keel. + +Having finished the prescribed distance under water, Captain Jack turned +on the compressed air to expel the water from the compartments. The +conning tower soon rose above the water, and a moment later the “Pollard” +also emerged. + +Other cadets were transferred from the gunboat to the submarines, and the +instruction proceeded. The manœuvers for the day were ended with a +half-hour run under water. + +“By the way, sir, did you question Truax to see what you could learn about +his reasons for acting as he did on the ’Farnum’?” asked Jack Benson the +next day. Jack and Doctor McCrea were talking with Mr. Mayhew. + +“I had him before me last night, and again this morning,” replied Mr. +Mayhew. “He said he hadn’t an idea what I meant, and that is all I could +get out of him.” + +Jack looked thoughtfully at Doctor McCrea for a moment before he +exclaimed: + +“Doctor, if I had anything like your chance, I’d have Sam Truax talking!” + +“How?” Doctor McCrea looked interested. + +“Why, I’d—” Jack hesitated, glancing toward the gunboat’s commanding +officer. + +“I’d better go and see how the midshipmen are doing,” laughed Mr. Mayhew, +rising. + +For some minutes Jack talked with Doctor McCrea. As the medical officer +listened, he grinned, then laughed unrestrainedly. + +“Mr. Benson, you’re certainly ingenious!” + +“Will you do what I’ve suggested?” + +“Why, I—er—er—” Doctor McCrea hesitated. “I—well, I’ll think it over.” +Again Doctor McCrea roared with laughter. + + + + + + CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION + + +Sam Truax sat in the brig, between decks on the “Hudson,” his scowling +face turned toward the barred door, when the marine guard, taking a turn, +peered in. + +“Good heavens, man! What ails you?” demanded the marine. + +“I’m all right,” growled the prisoner. + +“I’ll be hanged if you look it.” + +“What are you talking about!” demanded the prisoner angrily. + +“Man alive, I wish you could see your face!” + +Three minutes later a sailor halted at the door, looked at Truax, then +wheeled about to the marine. + +“Say, what ails that man? What’s the matter with his face?” + +“Don’t know. Looks fearful, doesn’t he?” + +“Awful! Ought to have the doctor.” + +Sam shifted uneasily. + +Five minutes later a sailor wearing on one sleeve the Red Cross of the +hospital squad came along. + +“Say,” said the marine, “I wish you’d look at the feller in the brig.” + +The hospital man showed his face at the grating and looked at Truax +keenly. + +“Wow! The sawbones officer has got to look at this chap!” + +Sam Truax sprang to his feet, but his legs wobbled. He felt his +heart-beats racing and his face flushing. + +“I felt all right a little while ago, but I certainly feel queer now,” he +muttered. + +Doctor McCrea soon hurried below. + +“Sentry, unlock the door! Let me in there!” + +Doctor McCrea made a brief examination. + +“How long have you been feeling ill?” + +“N-not long,” faltered Truax. + +“Hospital man!” called Doctor McCrea. + +“Aye, aye, sir!” + +“Have the stretcher brought here at once.” + +“Aye, aye, sir!” + +The stretcher was brought, and the attendants put Truax on it. + +“I can walk, Doctor,” he protested feebly. + +“Can’t risk it! To the ’sick bay,’ men.” + +“What’s wrong, Doctor?” Truax asked, when he was lifted from the stretcher +and placed in one of the berths. + +“Don’t talk, my man. Just lie quietly and let us get you on your feet—if +we can,” he added under his breath, but not so softly but that Sam Truax +heard him. + +The attendant came with a glass of liquid. + +“Drink this,” ordered the surgeon, “and in a few minutes you’ll feel +better.” + +“I—I feel awful,” Truax groaned. + +The dose was repeated, but the patient continued to grow worse. His nausea +was overwhelming and he vomited over and over. In an interval of quiet the +doctor leaned over him. + +“Have you anything on your mind, man? Any wrong you’d like to set straight +before—before—” + +A look of fright came into Truax’s eyes. + +“Doctor, I—I wonder if Jack Benson would come to see me?” + +“I’ll see,” replied the doctor, rising and leaving the “sick bay.” + +Ten minutes later the naval surgeon returned with Benson. Hal Hastings, +Mr. Mayhew and Ensign Trahern followed Jack and the doctor. + +“Here’s Mr. Benson, Truax,” announced Doctor McCrea. “If there’s anything +you wish to confess, the rest of us can bear witness and help straighten +matters out if you’ve done any wrong that you now regret.” + +Sam Truax feebly stretched out a hand that was hot and dry. + +“Benson, will you give me your hand?” + +“Certainly.” + +“Can you ever forgive me?” moaned the man. + +“Why, what have you done?” asked Jack. + +“That assault back in Dunhaven—” + +“Was it you who knocked me out there?” demanded Benson sharply. + +“Yes.” In a shaking voice Truax confessed the details of the affair and +from that passed to Jack’s trip to the suburbs of Annapolis. + +“I found the mulatto in a low den. I told him you carried a lot of money +and that he could have it all if he’d decoy you somewhere, keep you all +night, and send you back to the Naval Academy looking like a tramp.” He +then added the name of the mulatto. + +“But why have you done this?” demanded Jack. “What have you against me?” + +“I didn’t do it on my own account. I did it for Tip Gaynor, a salesman for +Sidenham.” + +“The Sidenham Submarine Company?” cried Jack, deeply interested. “The +Sidenham people are our nearest competitors in the submarine business!” he +exclaimed. + +“Yes; and they wanted to get the business away from the Pollard Company. +They told Tip Gaynor it would be worth ten thousand dollars to him for +each Sidenham boat he could sell to the Government. Tip hired me—” + +“One moment, please,” interrupted Jack. “Did the Sidenham officials know +that Gaynor intended to use such methods?” + +“I don’t believe they did,” replied Truax. + +“Humph! So Gaynor hired you to do all you could to disgrace me in the eyes +of the naval authorities and to injure the machinery in the engine room of +the submarine!” + +“Yes. Tip said it was highly important that the Pollard boats should break +down while under the eyes of all Annapolis, so that it would seem that +they could not be depended upon.” + +Truax here became so ill that his audience had to wait until he could +proceed. Then Jack asked: + +“What sort of looking fellow is Gaynor?” + +“He was the black-bearded man who shanghaied you in the white knockabout. +He doesn’t usually wear a beard. He grew it for the occasion.” + +“So, acting for Tip Gaynor, you undertook to ruin us all and the good name +of our boats! You even met Dave Pollard and got him to take you on as a +machinist for our boats!” + +“Tip knew a man who was willing to introduce me to Mr. Pollard.” + +“It was like kindly, unsuspicious Dave Pollard to be taken in by a rascal +like that,” muttered Jack to himself. + +Sam Truax added a few more details to his confession, then said: + +“I couldn’t die without telling you this, Benson. I hope you forgive me.” + +Before Jack Benson could reply Lieutenant Commander Mayhew stepped +forward. + +“Truax, have you told us the exact truth?” + +“I have.” + +“You thought it would be easy to get the better of a boy like Benson, I +suppose.” + +“Easy enough,” admitted Sam. “So did Tip.” + +“You shot far below the mark in guessing at Benson’s ingenuity and +brains,” remarked Doctor McCrea, laughing. “It was he who suggested this +way of inducing you to make this confession after you had refused to +answer the lieutenant commander’s questions.” + +“What?” demanded Truax harshly. + +“When I was first called in to you, you were not sick, only scared by the +remarks of others. After we got you in here, we dosed you with ipecac. +That started your stomach to moving up and down.” + +“What? You poisoned me?” + +“The ipecac was my choice. It isn’t poison. The general idea was Captain +Benson’s. With a lad like him you haven’t a chance.” + +“Benson, you infernal cheat, you!” muttered Truax, and started to get out +of the berth. But he was weak, and the attendant had no difficulty in +thrusting him back. + +“In view of what you’ve been telling us, you’d better not sprinkle bad +names about,” said the surgeon, turning on his heel. He was followed by +the others, all chuckling. + +“Mr. Benson,” said Doctor McCrea, when the party was in the cabin, “are +you my friend?” + +“I certainly am, sir,” cried Jack warmly. + +“Thank you,” said the doctor, making a comical face. “With your head for +doing things, Mr. Benson, I feel safer with your friendship than I should +if I had your enmity.” + +While they were still chatting in the cabin of the gunboat a shot sounded +on deck. Then a corporal of marines rushed in, saluting. + +“The prisoner, Truax, sir, escaped while walking under guard on deck. He +dived headlong, sir. The marine guard fired after him through the +darkness, sir. The officer of the deck sends his compliments, sir, and +wants to know if Truax is to be pursued in a small boat.” + +“At once, and with all diligence,” ordered the lieutenant commander. + +Though a thorough search was made, Truax was not found. It was thought +that the fellow had been drowned. But months later it was learned that he +was skulking in Europe with Tip Gaynor, who had received word in time to +make his escape also. + +For two days more the instruction continued at sea. Then, the tour of +instruction over, the little flotilla returned to the Academy at +Annapolis. From there Captain Benson wired Mr. Farnum for further orders. +Without delay came back the dispatch: + +“Navy Department requests that for present ’Farnum’ be left at Annapolis. +You and crew return by rail when ready.” + +Soon after this Jack was informed that the Annapolis police had run down +the mulatto who had decoyed the young submarine skipper on that memorable +night. Jack’s money, watch and other valuables were later recovered and +returned to him. + +Just before Jack and his mates were to leave the “Farnum” for the last +time, Lieutenant Commander Mayhew came aboard, followed by Ensign Trahern +and three of the midshipmen who had been under submarine instruction. + +“Mr. Benson and gentlemen,” said Mr. Mayhew, “I shall not make a set +speech. What I have to say is that the cadet midshipmen who have been +under your capable and much-prized instruction of late wish each of you to +take away a slight memento of your stay here.” + +Machinist Williamson had not been omitted. Each of the four received from +the lieutenant commander a small box, each containing a small gold shield. +In the center was the coat of arms of the United States Naval Academy. At +the top of each pin was the name of the one to whom it was given. Across +the bottom were the words: + + FROM THE + BATTALION OF NAVAL CADETS + IN KEEN APPRECIATION + OF ADMIRABLE INSTRUCTION + +"I think," said Mr. Mayhew, "that none of you will hesitate to wear this +pin on vest or coat lapel. The gift is a simple one, but it practically +makes you honorary members of the United States Navy of the future, and I +am glad of it." + + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES*** + + + +CREDITS + + +December 2005 + + Project Gutenberg Edition + Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju + Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +June 2006 + + Added PGHeader/PGFooter. + Joshua Hutchinson + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 17756-0.txt or 17756-0.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/5/17756/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one — the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/17756-0.zip b/17756-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4465f8 --- /dev/null +++ b/17756-0.zip diff --git a/17756-8.txt b/17756-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1eab205 --- /dev/null +++ b/17756-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6213 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Submarine Boys and the Middies by +Victor G. Durham + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Submarine Boys and the Middies + +Author: Victor G. Durham + +Release Date: 2006-02-12 [Ebook #17756] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO 8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES*** + + + + + +This ebook was produced by Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + [Illustration: "You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here."] + + "You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here." + + + _ Frontispiece._ + + + + + + The Submarine Boys and the Middies + + OR + + The Prize Detail at Annapolis + + By Victor G. Durham + +Author of The Submarine Boys on Duty, The Submarine Boys' Trial Trip, The + Submarine Boys and the Spies, Etc. + +_Illustrated_ + +THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +Akron, Ohio New York +Made in U.S.A. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL +CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE +CHAPTER III: "YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!" +CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS +CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS +CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO +CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING "NEW," ALL RIGHT +CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS +CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT +CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT +CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED! +CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER +CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE +CHAPTER XIV: THE "POLLARD" GOES LAME +CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK +CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK +CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT +CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES +CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER'S VERDICT +CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION + + + + + +LIST OF FIGURES + + +"You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here." +Down Dropped the Bag. +Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him. + + + + + + + CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL + + +"The United States Government doesn't appear very anxious to claim its +property, does it, sir?" asked Captain Jack Benson. + +The speaker was a boy of sixteen, attired in a uniform much after the +pattern commonly worn by yacht captains. The insignia of naval rank were +conspicuously absent. + +"Now, that I've had the good luck to sell the 'Pollard' to the Navy," +responded Jacob Farnum, principal owner of the shipbuilding yard, "I'm not +disposed to grumble if the Government prefers to store its property here +for a while." + +Yet the young shipbuilder--he was a man in his early thirties, who had +inherited this shipbuilding business from his father--allowed his eyes to +twinkle in a way that suggested there was something else behind his words. + +Jack Benson saw that twinkle, but he did not ask questions. If the +shipbuilder knew more than he was prepared to tell, it was not for his +young captain to ask for information that was not volunteered. + +The second boy present, also in uniform, Hal Hastings by name, had not +spoken in five minutes. That was like Hal. _He_ was the engineer of the +submarine torpedo boat, "Pollard." Jack was captain of the same craft, and +could do all the talking. + +Jacob Farnum sat back, sideways, at his rolltop desk. On top of the desk +lay stacked a voluminous though neat pile of papers, letters, telegrams +and memoranda that some rival builders of submarine torpedo boats might +have been willing to pay much for the privilege of examining. For, at the +present moment, there was fierce competition in the air between rival +American builders of submarine fighting craft designed for the United +States Navy. Even foreign builders and inventors were clamoring for +recognition. Yet just now the reorganized Pollard Submarine Boat Company +stood at the top of the line. It had made the last sale to the United +States Navy Department. + +At this moment, out in the little harbor that was a part of the shipyard, +the "Pollard" rode gently at anchor. She was the first submarine torpedo +boat built at this yard, after the designs of David Pollard, the inventor, +a close personal friend of Jacob Farnum. + +Moreover, the second boat, named the "Farnum," had just been launched and +put in commission, ready at an hour's notice to take the sea in search of +floating enemies of the United States. + +"The United States will take its boat one of these days, Captain," Mr. +Farnum continued, after lighting a cigar. "By the way, did Dave tell you +the name we are thinking of for the third boat, now on the stocks?" + +"Dave" was Mr. Pollard, the inventor of the Pollard Submarine boat. + +"No, sir," Captain Jack replied. + +"We have thought," resumed Mr. Farnum, quietly, after blowing out a ring +of smoke, "of calling the third boat, now building, the 'Benson.'" + +"The--the--what, sir?" stammered Jack, flushing and rising. + +"Now, don't get excited, lad," laughed the shipbuilder. + +"But--but--naming a boat for the United States Navy after me, sir--" + +Captain Jack's face flushed crimson. + +"Of course, if you object--" smiled Mr. Farnum, then paused. + +"Object? You know I don't, sir. But I am afraid the idea is going to my +head," laughed Jack, his face still flushed. "The very idea of there being +in the United States Navy a fine and capable craft named after me--" + +"Oh, if the Navy folks object," laughed Farnum, "then they'll change the +name quickly enough. You understand, lad, the names we give to our boats +last only until the craft are sold. The Navy people can change those names +if they please." + +"It will be a handsome compliment to me, Mr. Farnum. More handsome than +deserved, I fear." + +"Deserved, well enough," retorted the shipbuilder. "Dave Pollard and I are +well enough satisfied that, if it hadn't been for you youngsters, and the +superb way in which you handled our first boat, Dave and I would still be +sitting on the anxious bench in the ante-rooms of the Navy Department at +Washington." + +"Well, I don't deserve to have a boat named after me any more than Hal +does, or Eph Somers." + +"Give us time, won't you, Captain?" pleaded Jacob Farnum, his face +straight, but his eyes laughing. "We expect to build at least five boats. +If we didn't, this yard never would have been fitted for the present work, +and you three boys, who've done so handsomely by us, wouldn't each own, as +you now do, ten shares of stock in this company. Never fear; there'll be a +'Hastings' and a 'Somers' added to our fleet one of these days--even though +some of our boats have to be sold to foreign governments." + +"If a boat named the 'Hastings' were sold to some foreign government," +laughed Jack Benson, "Hal, here, wouldn't say much about it. But call a +boat named the 'Somers,' after Eph, and then sell it, say, to the Germans +or the Japanese, and all of Eph's American gorge would come to the +surface. I'll wager he'd scheme to sink any submarine torpedo boat, named +after him, that was sold to go under a foreign flag." + +"I hope we'll never have to sell any of our boats to foreign governments," +replied Jacob Farnum, earnestly. "And we won't either, if the United +States Government will give us half a show." + +"That's just the trouble," grumbled Hal Hastings, breaking into the talk, +at last. "Confound it, why don't the people of this country run their +government more than they do? Four-fifths of the inventors who get up +great things that would put the United States on top, and keep us there, +have to go abroad to find a market for their inventions! If I could invent +a cannon to-day that would give all the power on earth to the nation +owning it, would the American Government buy it from me? No, sir! I'd have +to sell the cannon to England, Germany or Japan--or else starve while +Congress was talking of doing something about it in the next session. Mr. +Farnum, you have the finest, and the only real submarine torpedo boat. +Yet, if you want to go on building and selling these craft, you'll have to +dispose of most of them abroad." + +"I hope not," responded the shipbuilder, solemnly. + +Having said his say, Hal subsided. He was likely not to speak again for an +hour. As a class, engineers, having to listen much to noisy machinery, are +themselves silent. + +It was well along in the afternoon, a little past the middle of October. +For our three young friends, Jack, Hal and Eph, things were dull just at +the present moment. They were drawing their salaries from the Pollard +company, yet of late there had been little for them to do. + +Yet the three submarine boys knew that big things were in the air. David +Pollard was away, presumably on important business. Jacob Farnum was not +much given to speaking of plans until he had put them through to the +finish. Some big deal was at present "on" with the Government. That much +the submarine boys knew by intuition. They felt, therefore, that, at any +moment, they were likely to be called into action--to be called upon for +big things. + +As Jack and Hal sat in the office, silent, while Jacob Farnum turned to +his desk to scan one of the papers lying there, the door opened. A boy +burst in, waving a yellow envelope. + +"Operator said to hustle this wire to you," shouted the boy, panting a +bit. "Said it might be big news for Farnum. So I ran all the way." + +Jacob Farnum took the yellow envelope, opening it and glancing hastily +through the contents. + +"It _is_ pretty good news," assented the shipbuilder, a smile wreathing +his face. "This is for you, messenger." + +"This" proved to be a folded dollar bill. The messenger took the money +eagerly, then demanded, more respectfully: + +"Any answer, sir?" + +"Not at this moment, thank you," replied Mr. Farnum. "That is all; you may +go, boy." + +Plainly the boy who had brought the telegram was disappointed over not +getting some inkling of the secret. All Dunhaven, in fact, was wildly agog +over any news that affected the Farnum yard. For, though the torpedo boat +building industry was now known under the Pollard name, after the inventor +of these boats, the yard itself still went under the Farnum name that +young Farnum had inherited from his father. + +While Jacob Farnum is reading the despatch carefully, for a better +understanding, let us speak for a moment of Captain Jack Benson and his +youthful comrades and chums. + +Readers of the first volume in this series, "The Submarine Boys on Duty," +remember how Jack Benson and Hal Hastings strayed into the little seaport +town of Dunhaven one hot summer day, and how they learned that it was here +that the then unknown but much-talked-about Pollard submarine was being +built. Both Jack and Hal had been well trained in machine shops; they had +spent much time aboard salt water power craft, and so felt a wild desire +to work at the Farnum yard, and to make a study of submarine craft in +general. + +How they succeeded in getting their start in the Farnum yard, every reader +of the preceding volumes knows; how, too, Eph Somers, a native of +Dunhaven, managed to "cheek" his way aboard the craft after she had been +launched, and how he had always since managed to remain there. + +Our same older readers will remember the thrilling experiences of this +boyish trio during the early trials of the new submarine torpedo boat, +both above and below the surface. These readers will remember, also, for +instance, the great prank played by the boys on the watch officer of one +of the stateliest battleships of the Navy. + +Readers of the second volume, "The Submarine Boys' Trial Trip," will +recall, among other things, the desperate efforts made by George Melville, +the capitalist, aided by the latter's disagreeable son, Don, to acquire +stealthy control of the submarine building company, and their efforts to +oust Jack, Hal and Eph from their much-prized employment. These readers +will remember how Jack and his comrades spoiled the Melville plans, and +how Captain Jack and his friends handled the "Pollard" so splendidly, in +the presence of a board of Navy officers, that the United States +Government was induced to buy that first submarine craft. + +After that sale, each of the three boys received, in addition to his +regular pay, a bank account of a thousand dollars and ten shares of stock +in the new company. Moreover, Messrs. Farnum and Pollard had felt wholly +justified in promising these talented, daring, hustling submarine boys an +assured and successful future. + +Jacob Farnum at last looked up from the final reading of the telegram in +his hands. Captain Jack Benson's gaze was fixed on his employer's face. +Hal Hastings was looking out of a window, with almost a bored look in his +eyes. + +"You young men wanted action," announced Mr. Farnum, quietly. "I think +you'll get it." + +"Soon?" questioned Jack, eagerly. + +"Immediately, or a minute or two later," laughed the shipbuilder. + +"I'm ready," declared Captain Jack, rising. + +"It'll take you a little time to hear about it all and digest it, so you +may as well be seated again," declared Farnum. + +Hal, too, wandered back to his chair. + +"You've been wondering how much longer the Government would leave the +'Pollard' here," went on Mr. Farnum. "I am informed that the gunboat +'Hudson' is on her way here, to take over the 'Pollard.'" + +"What are the Navy folks going to do?" demanded Captain Jack, all but +wrathfully. "Do they propose to _tow_ that splendid little craft away?" + +"Hardly that, I imagine," replied Farnum. "It's the custom of the United +States Navy, you know, to send a gunboat along with every two or three +submarines. They call the larger craft the 'parent boat.' The parent boat +looks out for any submarine craft that may become disabled." + +"The cheek of it," vented Jack, disgustedly. "Why, sir, I'd volunteer to +take the 'Pollard,' unassisted, around the world, if she could carry fuel +enough for such a trip." + +"But the Navy hasn't been accustomed to such capable submarine boats as +ours, you know," replied Mr. Farnum. "Hence the parent boat." + +"Parent boat?" interjected Hal Hastings, with his quiet smile. "You might +call it the 'Dad' boat, so to speak." + +Mr. Farnum laughed, then continued: + +"A naval crew will take possession of the 'Pollard,' and the craft will +proceed, under the care of the Dad boat"--with a side glance of amusement +at Hal--"to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis." + +"Annapolis--where they train the naval cadets, the midshipmen, into United +States Naval officers? Oh, how I'd like to go there!" breathed Captain +Jack Benson, eagerly. + +"As a cadet in the Navy, do you mean?" asked Mr. Farnum. + +"Why, that would have been well enough," assented Jack, "before I had such +a chance in your submarine service. No; I mean I'd like to see Annapolis. +I'd like to watch the midshipmen at their training, and see the whole +naval life there." + +"It's too bad every fellow can't have his wish gratified as easily," +continued Jacob Farnum. + +"Do you mean we're going to Annapolis, too?" asked Jack Benson, his eyes +glowing. Even Hal Hastings sat up straighter in his chair, watching the +shipbuilder's face closely. + +"Yes," nodded Jacob Farnum. "Permission has been granted for me to send +our second boat, the 'Farnum,' along with the 'Pollard'--both under the +care of the--" + +"The Dad boat," laughed Hastings. + +"Yes; that will give us a chance to have the 'Farnum' studied most closely +by some of the most capable officers in the United States Navy. It ought +to mean, presently, the sale of the 'Farnum' to the Government." + +"That's just what it will mean," promised Captain Jack, "if any efforts of +ours can make the Navy men more interested in the boat." + +"You three youngsters are likely to be at Annapolis for some time," went +on Mr. Farnum. "In fact--but don't let your heads become too enlarged by +the news, will you?" + +Hal, quiet young Hal, neatly hid a yawn behind one hand, while Benson +answered for both: + +"We're already wearing the largest-sized caps manufactured, Mr. Farnum. +Don't tempt us too far, please!" + +"Oh, you boys are safe from the ordinary perils of vanity, or your heads +would have burst long ago. Well, then, when you arrive at Annapolis, you +three are to act as civilian instructors to the middies. You three are to +teach the midshipmen of the United States Navy the principles on which the +Pollard type of boat is run. There; I've told you the whole news. What do +you think of it?" + +Mr. Farnum's cigar having burned low, he tossed it away, then leaned back +as he lighted another weed. + +"What do we think, sir?" echoed Captain Jack, eagerly. "Why, we think +we're in sight of the very time of our lives! Annapolis! And to teach the +middies how to run a 'Pollard' submarine." + +"How soon are we likely to have to start, sir!" asked Hal Hastings, after +a silence that lasted a few moments. + +"Whenever the 'Hudson' shows up along this coast, and the officer in +command of her gives the word. That may be any hour, now." + +"Then we'd better find Eph," suggested Captain Jack, "and pass him the +word. Won't Eph Somers dance a jig for delight, though?" + +"Yes; we'd better look both boats over at once," replied Mr. Farnum, +picking up his hat. "And we'll leave word for Grant Andrews and some of +his machinists to inspect both craft with us. There may be a few things +that will need to be done." + +As they left the office, crossing the yard, Captain Jack Benson and Hal +Hastings felt exactly as though they were walking on air. Even Hal, quiet +as he was, had caught the joy-infection of these orders to proceed to +Annapolis. To be sent to the United States Naval Academy on a tour of +instruction is what officers of the Navy often call "the prize detail." + +Farnum and his two youthful companions went, first of all, to the long, +shed-like building in which the third submarine craft to be turned out at +this yard was now being built. From inside came the noisy clang of hammers +against metal. The shipbuilder stepped inside alone, but soon came out, +nodding. The three now continued on their way down to the little harbor. +All of a sudden the three stopped short, almost with a jerk, in the same +second, as though pulled by a string. + +At exactly the same instant Jacob Farnum, Captain Jack Benson and Engineer +Hal Hastings put up their hands to rub their eyes. + +Their senses had told them truly, however. While the "Pollard" rode +serenely at her moorings, the "Farnum," the second boat to be launched, +was nowhere to be seen! + +"What on earth has happened to the other submarine?" gasped the +shipbuilder, as soon as he could somewhat control his voice. + +What, indeed? + +There was not a sign of her. At least, she had not sunk at her moorings, +for the buoys floated in their respective places, with no manner of tackle +attached to them. + +"A submarine boat can't slip its own cables and vanish without human +hands!" gasped the staggered Jack Benson. + +"There's something uncanny about this," muttered Hal Hastings. + +Jacob Farnum stood rooted to the spot, opening and closing his hands in a +way that testified plainly to the extent of his bewilderment. + + + + + + CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE + + +Jack Benson was the first of the trio to move. + +Without a word he broke into a run, heading for the narrow little shingle +of beach. + +"Got an idea, Captain?" shouted Jacob Farnum, darting after his young +submarine skipper. + +"Yes, sir!" floated back over Jack's shoulder. + +"Then what's at the bottom--" + +"Eph and the boat, both together, or I miss my guess," Captain Jack +shouted back as he halted at the water's edge, where a rowboat lay hauled +up on the shore. + +Jacob Farnum's face showed suddenly pallid as he, also, reached the beach. +Hal, who was in the rear, did not seem so much startled. + +"Do you think Eph has gone off on a cruise all alone?--that he has come to +any harm?" gasped the shipbuilder. + +"I don't know, but I'm not going to worry a mite about Eph Somers until I +have to," retorted Jack Benson, easily. + +"Eph can generally take care of himself," added Hal Hastings. "He rarely +falls into any kind of scrape that he can't climb out of." + +"But this is a bad time for him to take the 'Farnum' and cruise away," +objected the owner of the yard. "The 'Hudson' may be here at any hour, you +know, and we ought to be ready for orders." + +As he spoke, Mr. Farnum scanned the horizon away to the south, out over +the sea. + +"There's a line of smoke, now, and not many miles away," he announced. "It +may, as likely as not, be smoke from the 'Hudson's' pipe." + +"Going out with us, sir?" inquired Captain Jack Benson, as Hal took his +place at a pair of oars. + +"Yes," nodded the owner of the yard, dropping into a seat at the stern of +the boat, after which Benson pushed off at the bow. + +Down on the seashore, on this day just past the middle of October, the air +was keen and brisk. There had been frost for several nights past. +Sleighing might be looked for in another month. + +"Cable's gone from this buoy," declared Captain Jack, as Hal rowed close. +"Over to the other one, old fellow." + +Here, too, the cable was missing. Evidently the "Farnum" had made a clean +get-away. If there had been any accident, it must have taken place after +the new submarine boat had slipped away from her moorings. + +"Humph!" grunted Jack, scanning the sea. "No sign of the boat anywhere. +Eph may be anywhere within twenty miles of here." + +"Or within twenty feet, either," grinned Hal, looking down into the waters +that were lead-colored under the dull autumn sky. + +"What are we going to do, Captain?" inquired Jacob Farnum. "There are +Grant Andrews and three of his machinists coming down to the water." + +"I reckon, sir, we'd better put them aboard the 'Pollard' first, sir," +Benson suggested. + +Mr. Farnum nodding, the boat was rowed in to the shore and Andrews and his +men were put aboard the "Pollard" at the platform deck. Captain Jack +Benson unlocking the door to the conning tower, was himself the first to +disappear down below. When he came back he carried a line to which was +attached a heavy sounding-lead. + +"It won't take us long to sound the deep spots in this little harbor," +said the young skipper, as he dropped down once more into the bow of the +shore boat. "Row about, Hal, over the places where the submarine could go +below out of sight." + +As Hal rowed, Skipper Jack industriously used the sounding-lead. + +For twenty minutes nothing resulted from this exploration. Then, all of a +sudden, Benson shouted: + +"Back water, Hal! Easy; rest on your oars. Steady!" + +Jack Benson raised the lead two or three feet, then let it down again, +playing it up and down very much as a cod fisherman uses his line and +hook. + +"I'm hitting something, and it is hardly a rock, either," declared young +Benson. "Pull around about three points to starboard, Hal, then steal +barely forward." + +Again Benson played see-saw with his sounding-line over the boat's +gunwale. + +"If my lead isn't hitting the 'Farnum,'" declared the young skipper, +positively, "then it's the 'Farnum's' ghost. Hold steady, now, Hal." + +Immediately afterward, Benson caused the lead fairly to dance a jig on +whatever it touched at bottom. + +"What's the good of that, anyway?" demanded Jacob Farnum. + +"You don't think I'm doing this just for fun, do you, sir?" asked Captain +Jack, with a smile. + +"No; I know you generally have an object when you do anything unusual," +responded the shipbuilder, good-humoredly. + +"You know, of course, sir, that noises sound with a good deal of +exaggeration when you hear them under water?" + +"Yes; of course." + +"You also know that all three of us have been practicing at telegraphy a +good deal during the past few weeks, because every man who follows the sea +ought to know how to send and receive wireless messages at need." + +"Yes; I know that, Benson." + +"Well, sir, I guess that the lead has been hitting the top of the +'Farnum's' hull, and I've been tapping out the signal--" + +"The signal, 'Come up--rush!'" broke in Hal, with an odd smile. + +"Right-o," nodded Jack Benson. + +"How on earth did _you_ know what the signal was, Hastings?" demanded Mr. +Farnum. + +"Why, sir, I've been sitting so that I could see Jack's arm. I've been +reading, from the motions of his right arm, the dots and dashes of the +Morse telegraph alphabet." + +"You youngsters certainly get me, for the things you think of," laughed +the shipyard's owner. + +"And the 'Farnum,' or whatever it is, is coming up," called Captain Jack, +suddenly. "I just felt my lead slide down over the top of her hull. +Hard-a-starboard, Hal, and row hard," shouted young Benson, breathlessly. + +Though Hastings obeyed immediately he was barely an instant too soon. To +his dismay, Mr. Farnum saw something dark, unwieldy, rising through the +water. It appeared to be coming up fairly under the stern of the shore +boat, threatening to overturn the little craft and plunge them all into +the icy water. + +Hal shot just out of the danger zone, though. Then a round little tower +bobbed up out of the water. Immediately afterward the upper third of a +long, cigar-shaped craft came up into view, water rolling from her +dripping sides, which glistened brightly as the sun came out briefly from +behind a fall cloud. + +In the conning tower, through the thick plate glass, the three people in +the shore boat made out the carroty-topped head and freckled, +good-humored, honest, homely face of Eph Somers. The boat lay on the +water, under no headway, drifting slightly with the wind-driven ripples. +Then Eph raised the man-hole cover of the top of the conning tower, +thrusting out his head to hail them. + +"Hey, you landsmen, do you know a buoy from an umbrella?" + +"Do _you_ know the difference between a Sunday-school text and petty +larceny?" retorted Jack Benson, sternly. "What do you mean by taking the +submarine without leave?" + +"I've been experimenting--flirting with science," responded Eph, loftily. +"Say, if you landsmen know a buoy from a banana, get down to the bow +moorings of this steel mermaid, and I'll pass you the bow cable. It's a +heap easier to lead this submarine horse out of the stall, single-handed, +than it is to take him back and tie him." + +Hal rowed easily to the buoy, while Eph, returning to the steering wheel +and the tower controls, ran the "Farnum," with just bare headway, up to +where he could toss the bow cable to those waiting in the boat. A few +moments later the stern cable, also, was made fast, in such a way as to +allow a moderate swing to the bulky steel craft. + +"Now, you can take me ashore, if you feel like it," proposed Eph, standing +on the platform deck. + +"Not quite yet," returned Skipper Jack, though the small boat lay +alongside. "We've got some inspecting to do. But how did you get on board +in the first place?" + +"Why, the night watchman was in the yard for a few minutes, and I got him +to put me on board. I figured I could hail somebody else when I was ready +to go on shore." + +"But what on earth made you do such a thing?" demanded Captain Jack, in a +low tone. "It's really more than you had a right to do, Eph, without +getting Mr. Farnum's permission." + +"Why, I've known you to take the 'Pollard' and try something when Mr. +Farnum wasn't about," retorted Somers, looking surprised. + +"You never knew me to do it when I could ask permission, although, as +captain, I have the right to handle the boat. But that leave doesn't +extend to all the rest, Eph. What were you doing down there, anyway?" + +"Why, I came on board, and left the manhole open for ten minutes," +answered Somers. "Then I found the cabin thermometer standing at 49 +degrees. I wondered how much warmth could be gained by going below the +surface. I had been down an hour and five minutes when you began to signal +with that sledge-hammer--" + +"Sounding-lead," Jack corrected him. + +"Well, it sounded like a sledge-hammer, anyway," grinned young Somers. +"While I was down below I found that the temperature rose four degrees." + +"Part of that was likely due to the warmth of your body, and the heat of +the breath you gave off," hinted Benson. + +"You could have gotten it up to eighty or ninety degrees by turning on the +electric heater far enough," suggested Hal. + +"I wanted to see whether it would be warmer in the depths; wanted to find +out how low I could go and be able to do without heat in winter," Somers +retorted. + +"I could have told you that, from my reading, without any experiment," +retorted Skipper Jack. "Close your conning tower and go down a little way, +and the temperature would gradually rise a few degrees. That's because of +the absence of wind and draft. But, if you could go down very, very deep +without smashing the boat under the water pressure, you'd find the +temperature falling quite a bit." + +"Where did you read all that?" inquired Eph, looking both astonished and +sheepish. + +"Here," replied Jack, going to a small wall book-case, taking down a book +and turning several pages before he stopped. + +"Just my luck," muttered Eph, disconsolately. "Here I've been dull as +ditch-water for an hour, trying to find out something new, and it's all +stated in a book printed--ten years ago," he finished, after rapidly +consulting the title-page. + +Jacob Farnum had been no listener to this conversation. Taking the marine +glasses from the conning tower, the shipbuilder was now well forward on +the platform deck, scanning what was visible of the steam craft to the +southward. At last the yard's owner turned around to say: + +"I don't believe you young men can have things ship-shape a second too +soon. The craft heading this way has a military mast forward. She must be +the 'Hudson.' If there's anything to be done, hustle!" + +Jack and Hal sprang below, to scan their respective departments. Five +minutes later Grant Andrews hailed from the "Pollard," and Eph rowed over +in the shore boat to ferry over the machinists. + +Half an hour later Andrews and his men had put in the few needed touches +aboard the newer submarine boat. The sun, meanwhile, had gone down, +showing the hull of a naval vessel some four miles off the harbor. + +Darkness came on quickly, with a clouded sky. As young Benson stepped on +deck Grant Andrews followed him. + +"All finished here, Grant?" queried the yard's owner. + +"Yes, sir. There's mighty little chance to do anything where Hal Hastings +has charge of the machinery." + +"That's our gunboat out there, I think," went on Mr. Farnum, pointing to +where a white masthead light and a red port light were visible, about a +mile away. + +"Dunhaven must be on the map, all right, if a strange navigating officer +knows how to come so straight to the place," laughed Jack Benson. + +"Oh, you trust a United States naval officer to find any place he has +sailing orders for," returned Jacob Farnum. "I wonder if he'll attempt to +come into this harbor?" + +"There's safe anchorage, if he wants to do so," replied Captain Jack. + +While Somers was busy putting the foreman and the machinists ashore, Mr. +Farnum, Jack and Hal remained on the platform deck, watching the approach +of the naval vessel, which was now plainly making for Dunhaven. + +Suddenly, a broad beam of glaring white light shot over the water, resting +across the deck of the "Farnum." + +"I guess that fellow knows what he wants to know, now," muttered Benson, +blinking after the strong glare had passed. + +"There, he has picked up the 'Pollard,' too," announced Hastings. "Now, +that commander must feel sure he has sighted the right place." + +"There go the signal lights," cried Captain Jack, suddenly. "Hal, hustle +below and turn on the electric current for the signaling apparatus." + +Then Benson watched as, from the yards high up on the gunboat's signaling +mast, colored electric lights glowed forth, twinkling briefly in turn. +This is the modern method of signaling by sea at night. + +"He wants to know," said Benson, to Mr. Farnum, as he turned, "whether +there is safe anchorage for a twelve-hundred-ton gunboat of one hundred +and ninety-five feet length." + +Reaching the inside of the conning tower at a bound, the young skipper +rapidly manipulated his own electric signaling control. There was a low +mast on the "Farnum's" platform deck, a mast that could be unstepped +almost in an instant when going below surface. So Captain Jack's +counter-query beamed out in colors through the night: + +"What's your draught?" + +"Under present ballast, seventeen-eight," came the answer from the +gunboat's signal mast. + +"Safe anchorage," Captain Jack signaled back. + +"Can you meet us with a pilot?" questioned the on-coming gunboat. + +"Yes," Captain Jack responded. + +"Do so," came the laconic request. + +"That's all, Hal," the young skipper called, through the engine room +speaking tube. "Want to row me out and put me aboard the gunboat?" + +In another jiffy the two young chums had put off in the boat, Hal at the +oars, Jack at the tiller ropes. The gunboat was now lying to, some seven +hundred yards off the mouth of the little harbor. Hastings bent lustily to +the oars, sending the boat over the rocking water until he was within a +hundred yards of the steam craft's bridge. + +"Gun boat ahoy!" roared Hal, between his hands. Then, by a slip of the +tongue, and wholly innocent of any intentional offense, he bellowed: + +"Is that the 'Dad' boat?" + +"What's that?" came a sharp retort from the gunboat's bridge. "Don't try +to be funny, young man!" + +"Beg your pardon, sir. That was a slip of the tongue," Hal replied, +meekly, as he colored. "Are you the gunboat 'Hudson?'" + +"No; I'm her commanding officer, young man! Who in blazes are you?" + +"I'm the goat, it seems," muttered Hastings, under his breath. But, aloud, +he replied: + +"I have the pilot you requested." + +"Then why don't you bring him on board?" came the sharp question. "Did you +think I only wanted to look at a pilot?" + +"All right, sir. Shall I make fast to your starboard side gangway?" Hal +called. + +"In a hurry, young man!" + +"That's the naval style, I guess," murmured Jack to his chum. "No fooling +in the talk. I wonder if that fellow eats pie? Or is his temper due to +coffee?" + +Answering only with a quiet grin, Hal rowed alongside the starboard side +gangway. Jack, waiting, sprang quickly to the steps, ascending, waving his +hand to Hal as he went. Young Hastings quickly shoved off, then bent to +his oars. + +"Where's the pilot?" came a stern voice, from the bridge, as Jack Benson's +head showed above the starboard rail. + +"I am the pilot, sir," Jack replied. + +"Why, you're a boy." + +"Guilty," Jack responded. + +"What does this fooling mean? You're not old enough to hold a pilot's +license." + +By this time Benson was on the deck, immediately under the bridge. A half +dozen sailors, forward, were eyeing him curiously. + +"I have no license, sir," Jack admitted. "Neither has anyone else at +Dunhaven. For that matter, the harbor's a private one, belonging to the +shipyard." + +"Hasn't Mr. Farnum a _man_ he can send out?" + +"No one who knows the harbor better than I do, sir." + +"Who are you? What are you?" + +"Jack Benson, sir. Captain of the Pollard submarine boats." + +"Why didn't you tell me that before?" + +The question came sharply, almost raspingly. + +"Beg your pardon, sir, but you didn't ask me," Jack replied. + +"Come up here, Benson," ordered the lieutenant commander, in a loud voice +intended to drown out the subdued titter of some of the sailors forward. + +Jack ascended to the bridge, to find himself facing a six-footer in his +early thirties. There was a younger officer at the far end of the bridge. + +"Does Mr. Farnum consider you capable of showing us the way into the +harbor?" demanded the commanding officer of the "Hudson." + +"I think so, sir. He trusts me with his own boats." + +"Then you are--" + +"Benson, Mr. Farnum's captain of the submarine boats." + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed in astonishment for a moment, then held +out his hand as he introduced himself, remarking: + +"I was told that I would find a very young submarine commander here, but--" + +"You didn't expect to find one quite as young," Jack finished, smiling. + +"No; I didn't. Mr. Trahern, I want you to know Captain Jack Benson, of the +Pollard submarines." + +Ensign Trahern also shook hands with young Benson. + +"And now," went on the commander of the "Hudson," "I think you may as well +show us the way into the harbor." + +"You'll want to go at little more than headway, sir," Jack replied. "The +harbor is small, though there's enough deep water for you. In parts there +are some sand ledges that the tide washes up." + +"I can't allow you to pilot us, exactly, but you'll indicate the course to +me, won't you, Mr. Benson?" + +The "mister" was noticeable, now. Naval officers are chary of their +bestowal of the title "captain" upon one who does not hold it in the Army +or Navy service. + +At Mr. Mayhew's order the "Hudson" was started slowly forward, the +searchlight playing about the entrance to the harbor. + +"For your best anchorage, sir," declared Captain Jack, after he had +brought the gunboat slowly into the harbor, "you will do well to anchor +with that main arc-light dead ahead, that shed over there on your +starboard beam, and the front end of the submarine shed about four points +off your port bow." + +Mr. Mayhew slowly manoeuvred his craft, while men stood on the deck below, +forward, prepared to heave the bow anchors. + +"Go four points over to port, Mr. Trahern," instructed Mr. Mayhew. "Now, +back the engines--steady!" + +Jack Benson opened his mouth wide. Then, as he saw the way the "Hudson" +was backing, he suddenly called: + +"Slow speed ahead, quick, sir!" + +"You said--" began Mr. Mayhew. + +Gr-r-r-r! The stern of the gunboat dug its way into a sand ledge, lifting +the stern considerably. + +"Slow speed ahead!" rasped Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, sharply. + +But the gunboat could not be budged. She was stuck, stern on, fast in the +sand-ledge. + +"Benson!" uttered the lieutenant commander, bitterly, "I congratulate you. +You've succeeded in grounding a United States Naval vessel!" + + + + + + CHAPTER III: "YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!" + + +There was so much of overwhelming censure in the naval officer's tone that +Jack's spirit was stung to the quick. + +"It's your mistake, sir," he retorted. "You didn't follow the course I +advised. You swung the ship around to port, and--" + +"Silence, now, if you please, while men are trying to get this vessel out +of a scrape a boy got her into," commanded Mr. Mayhem, sternly. + +Jack flushed, then bit his tongue. In another moment a pallor had +succeeded the red in his face. + +He was blamed for the disaster, and he was not really at fault. + +Yet, under the rebuke he had just received, he did not feel it his place +to retort further for the present. + +Mr. Mayhew and Mr. Trahern conferred in low tones for a moment or two. + +"You may as well leave the bridge, young man," resumed Mr. Mayhew, turning +upon the submarine boy. "You are not likely to be of any use here." + +As Jack, burning inwardly with indignation, though managing to keep +outwardly calm, descended to the deck below, he caught sight of Hal +Hastings, hovering near in the rowboat. Hal signaled to learn whether he +should put in alongside to take off his chum, but Benson shook his head. + +Over on the "Farnum" the yard's owner and Eph Somers watched wonderingly. +They understood, well enough, that the new, trim-looking gunboat was in +trouble, but they did not know that Jack Benson was held at fault. + +Down between decks the engines of the "Hudson" were toiling hard to run +the craft off out of the sand. Then the machinery stopped. An engineer +officer came up from below. He and Mr. Mayhew walked to the stern, while a +seaman, accompanying them, heaved the lead, reading the soundings. + +"We're stuck good and fast," remarked the engineer officer. "We can't +drive off out of that sand for the reason that the propellers are buried +in the grit. They'll hardly turn at all, and, when they do, they only +churn the sand without driving us off." + +"Confound that ignoramus of a boy!" muttered Mr. Mayhew, walking slowly +forward. It was no pleasant situation for the lieutenant commander. Having +run his vessel ashore, he knew himself likely to be facing a naval board +of inquiry. + +Hal, finding that the shore boat was not wanted for the present, had rowed +over to the "Farnum's" moorings. Now Jacob Farnum came alongside in the +shore boat. + +"May I speak with your watch officer?" he called. + +"I am the commanding officer," Mr. Mayhew called down, in the cold, even, +dulled voice of a man in trouble. + +"I am Mr. Farnum, owner of the yard. May I come on board?" + +"Be glad to have you," Lieutenant Commander Mayhew responded. + +So Mr. Farnum went nimbly up over the side. + +"May I ask what is the trouble here, sir?" asked the yard's owner. + +"The trouble is," replied Mr. Mayhew, "that your enterprising boy pilot +has run us aground--hard, tight and fast!" + +Jacob Farnum glanced swiftly at his young captain. Jack shook his head +briefly in dissent. Jacob Farnum, with full confidence in his young man, +at once understood that there was more yet to be learned. + +"Come up on the bridge, sir, if you will," requested the commander of the +gunboat, who was a man of too good breeding to wish any dispute before the +men of the crew. "You may come, too, Benson." + +Jack followed the others, including the engineer officer of the "Hudson." +Yet Benson was clenching his hands, fighting a desperate battle to get +full command over himself. It was hard--worse than hard--to be unjustly +accused. + +Jacob Farnum wished to keep on the pleasantest terms with these officers +of the Navy. At the same time he was man enough to feel determined that +Jack, whether right or wrong, should have a full chance to defend himself. + +"I understand, sir," began Mr. Farnum, "that you attach some blame in this +matter to young Benson?" + +"Perhaps he is not to be blamed too much, on account of his extreme +youth," responded Mr. Mayhew. + +"Forget his youth altogether," urged Mr. Farnum. "Let us treat him as a +man. I've always found him one, in judgment, knowledge and loyalty. Do you +mind telling me, sir, in what way he erred in bringing you in here?" + +"An error in giving his advice," replied Mr. Mayhew. "Or else it was +ignorance of how to handle a craft as large as this gunboat. For my +anchorage he told me--" + +Here the lieutenant commander repeated the first part of Jack's directions +correctly, but wound up with: + +"He advised me to throw my wheel over four points to port." + +"Pardon me, sir," Jack broke in, unable to keep still longer. "What I +said, or intended to say, was to bring your vessel so that the forward end +of the submarine shed over there would be four points off the port bow." + +"What did you hear Mr. Benson say, Mr. Trahern?" demanded the gunboat's +commander, turning to the ensign who had stood with him on the bridge. + +"Why, sir, I understood the lad to say what he states that he said." + +"You are sure of that, Mr. Trahern?" + +"Unless my ears tricked me badly," replied the ensign, "Mr. Benson said +just what he now states. I wondered, sir, at your calling for slow speed +astern." + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed for some moments fixedly at the face of +Ensign Trahern. Then, of a sudden, the gunboat's commander, who was both +an officer and a gentleman, broke forth, contritely: + +"As I think it over, I believe, myself, that Benson advised as he now +states he did. It was my own error--I am sure of it now." + +Wheeling about, Mayhew held out his right hand. + +"Mr. Benson," he said, in a deep voice full of regret, "I was the one in +error. I am glad to admit it, even if tardily. Will you pardon my too +hasty censure?" + +"Gladly, sir," Benson replied, gripping the proffered hand. Jacob Farnum +stood back, wagging his head in a satisfied way. It had been difficult for +him to believe that his young captain had been at fault in so simple a +matter, or in a harbor with which he was so intimately acquainted. + +As for the young man himself, the thing that touched him most deeply was +the quick, complete and manly acknowledgment of this lieutenant commander. + +"Mr. Farnum," inquired the gunboat's commander, "have you any towboats +about here that can be used in helping me to get the 'Hudson' off this +sand ledge?" + +"The only one in near waters, sir," replied the yard's owner, "is a craft, +not so very much larger than a launch, that ties up some three miles down +the coast. She's the boat I use when I need any towing here. Of course, I +have the two torpedo boats, though their engines were not constructed for +towing work." + +"May I offer a suggestion?" asked Jack, when the talk lagged. + +"I'll be glad to have you, Mr. Benson," replied Mr. Mayhew, turning toward +the submarine boy. + +"Flood tide will be in in about two hours and a half, sir," Benson +followed up. "That ought to raise this vessel a good deal. Then, with the +towboat Mr. Farnum has mentioned, and with such help as the engines of the +submarines may give, together with your own engines, Mr. Mayhew, I think +there ought to be a good chance of getting the 'Hudson' afloat with plenty +of water under her whole keel. We can even start some of the engines on +shore, and rig winches to haul on extra cables. Altogether, we can give +you a strong pull, sir." + +"That sounds like the best plan to me," nodded Jacob Farnum. "I'll have a +message sent at once for that towboat." + +A white-coated steward now appeared on deck, moving near the lieutenant +commander. + +"Is dinner ready, Greers?" called Mr. Mayhew. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Lay two more plates, then. Mr. Farnum, I trust you and your young +submarine commander will sit as my guests to-night." + +This invitation the yard's owner accepted, asking only time enough to +arrange for keeping some of his workmen over-time, awaiting the coming of +flood-tide. + +So, presently, Jack and his employer found themselves seated at table in +the gunboat's handsome wardroom. Besides the lieutenant commander there +were Lieutenant Halpin, two ensigns, two engineer officers and a young +medical officer. In the "Hudson's" complement of officers there were also +four midshipmen, but these latter ate in their own mess. + +The time passed most pleasantly, Mr. Mayhew plainly doing all in his power +to atone for his late censure of the submarine boy. + +Before dinner was over the small towboat was in the harbor. At the coming +of flood tide this towing craft had a hawser made fast to the gunboat. +With the help of some of the naval machinists aboard the "Hudson," both +submarine craft were also manned and hawsers made fast. Two cables were +passed ashore to winches to which power was supplied by the shipyard's +engines. When all was ready a mighty pull was given, the gunboat's own +propellers taking part in the struggle. For two or three minutes the +efforts continued. Then, at last, the "Hudson," uninjured, ran off into +deep water and shortly afterwards anchored in safety. + +It was a moment of tremendous relief for Mr. Mayhew. + +"Call the tugboat captain aboard, and I'll settle with him at my own +expense," proposed the lieutenant commander. + +"I trust you will think of nothing of the sort," replied Jacob Farnum, +quickly. "In this harbor I wish to consider you and your vessel as my +guests." + +Again Mr. Mayhew expressed his thanks. Presently, glancing ashore through +the night, he asked: + +"What sort of country is it hereabouts?" + +"Mostly flat, as to the surface," Mr. Farnum replied. "If your question +goes further, there are some fine roads and several handsome estates +within a few miles of here. Mr. Mayhew, won't you and a couple of your +officers come on shore with me? I'll telephone for my car and put you over +quite a few miles this evening." + +"Delighted," replied the commander of the gunboat. + +One of the "Hudson's" cutters being now in the water alongside, the party +went ashore in this. Jack, after bidding the naval officers good-night, +found Hal and Eph, who had just come ashore from supper on board the +"Farnum." + +"No sailing orders yet, I suppose?" Hal asked. + +"None," Jack replied. "I reckon we'll start, all right, some time +to-morrow morning." + +"What'll we do to-night?" Eph wondered. + +"I don't know," replied Jack. "We've few friends around here we need to +take the trouble to say good-bye to. We could call on Mrs. Farnum, but I +imagine we'd run into the naval party up at the Farnum house. We want to +keep a bit in the background with these naval officers, except when they +may ask for our company." + +"Let's take a walk about the old town, then," Hal suggested. + +So the three submarine boys strolled across the shipyard. Just as they +were passing through the gate a man of middle height and seemingly about +thirty years of age quickened his pace to reach them. + +"Is this shipyard open nights?" he queried. + +"Only to some employees," Jack answered. + +"I suppose Mr. Farnum isn't about?" + +"No." + +"Captain Benson?" + +"Benson is my name." + +"This letter is addressed to Mr. Farnum," went on the stranger, "but Mr. +Pollard told me I could hand it to you." + +Captain Jack took the letter from the unsealed envelope. + +"My dear Farnum," ran the enclosure, "since you're short a good machinist +for the engine room of the 'Farnum,' the bearer, Samuel Truax, seems to me +to be just the man you want. I've examined him, and he understands the +sort of machinery we use. Better give him a chance." The note was signed +in David Pollard's well-known, scrawly handwriting. + +"I'm sorry you can't see Mr. Farnum to-night," said Benson, pleasantly. +"He'll be here early in the morning, though." + +"When do you sail?" asked Truax, quickly. + +"That you would have to ask Mr. Farnum, too," smiled Jack. + +"But, see here, Mr. Pollard engaged me to work aboard one of your +submarines." + +"It looks that way, doesn't it?" laughed the young skipper. + +"And you're the captain?" + +"Yes; but I can't undertake to handle Mr. Farnum's business for him." + +"You'll let me go aboard the craft to sleep for to-night, anyway?" coaxed +Truax. + +"Why, that's just what I'm not at liberty to do," replied the young +submarine captain. "No; I couldn't think of that, in the absence of Mr. +Farnum's order." + +"But that doesn't seem hardly fair," protested Truax. "See here, I have +spent all my money getting here. I haven't even the price of a lodging +with me, and this isn't a summer night." + +"Why, I'll tell you what I'll do," Benson went on, feeling in one of his +pockets. "Here's a dollar. That'll buy you a bed and a breakfast at the +hotel up the street. If you want to get aboard with us in time, you'd +better show up by eight in the morning." + +"But--" + +"That's really all I can do," Jack Benson hastily assured the fellow. "I'm +not the owner of the boat, and I can't take any liberties. Oh, wait just a +moment. I'll see if there's any chance of Mr. Farnum coming back +to-night." + +Jack knew well enough that there wasn't any chance of Mr. Farnum +returning, unless possibly at a very late hour with the naval officers, +but the boy had seen the night watchman peering out through the gateway. + +Retracing his steps, Jack drew the night watchman inside, whispering: + +"Just a pointer for you. You've seen that man on the street with us? He +has a letter from Mr. Pollard to Mr. Farnum, but I wouldn't let him in the +yard to-night, unless Mr. Farnum appears and gives the order." + +"I understand," said the night watchman, nodding. + +"That's all, then, and thank you." + +Jack Benson hastily rejoined the others on the sidewalk. + +"I don't believe, Mr. Truax, it will be worth your while to come here +earlier than eight in the morning. Better go to the hotel and tie up to a +good sleep. Good night." + +"Say, why did you take such a dislike to the fellow?" queried Eph, as the +three submarine boys strolled on up the street, Truax following slowly at +some distance in the rear. + +"I didn't take a dislike to him," Jack replied, opening his eyes wide. + +"You choked him off mighty short, then." + +"If it looked that way, then I'm sorry," Benson protested, in a tone of +genuine regret. "All I wanted to make plain was that I couldn't pass him +on to our precious old boat without Mr. Farnum's order." + +Truax plodded slowly along behind the submarine boys, a cunning look in +the man's eyes as he stared after Jack Benson. + +"You're a slick young man, or else a wise one," muttered Truax. "But I +think I'm smart enough to take it out of you!" + +Nor did Sam Truax go to the hotel. He had his own plans for this +evening--plans that boded the submarine boys no good. + +The three boys strolled easily about town, getting a hot soda or two, and, +finally, drifting into a moving picture show that had opened recently in +Dunhaven. This place they did not leave until the show was over. They were +half-way home when Captain Jack remembered that he had left behind him a +book that he had bought earlier in the evening. + +"You fellows keep right on down to the yard. I'll hurry back, get the book +and overtake you," he proposed. + +Jack ran back, but already the little theatre was closed. + +"I'm out that book, then, if we sail in the morning," he muttered, as he +trudged along after his friends. + +On the way toward the water front Benson had to pass a vacant lot +surrounded by a high board fence on a deserted street. He had passed about +half way along the length of the fence, when a head appeared over the top +followed by a pair of arms holding a small bag of sand. Down dropped the +bag, striking Jack Benson on the top of the head, sending him unconscious +to the ground. + + + + + + CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS + + +Close at hand there was a loose board in the fence. Through this Sam Truax +thrust his head, peering up and down the street. Not another soul was in +sight. + +With a chuckle Truax stepped through the hole in the fence. Swiftly he +gathered up the young submarine captain, bearing him through the aperture +and dropping him on the ground behind the fence. At the same time he took +with him the small bag of sand. + +"Knocked you out, but I don't believe you'll be unconscious long," mused +Truax, standing over his young victim, regarding him critically. "There +wasn't steam enough in the blow to hurt you for long. You're sturdy, +following the sea all the time, as you do." + +With a thoughtful air Sam Truax drew a small bottle from his pocket, +sprinkling some of the contents over Jack's uniform coat. Immediately the +nauseating smell of liquor rose on the air. + +"Now, if someone finds you before you come to, you'll look like a fellow +that has been drinking and fighting," muttered Truax under his breath. "If +you come to and get back to the yard without help, you'll walk unsteadily +and have that smell about your clothes. Usually, it needs only a breath of +suspicion to turn folks against a boy!" + + [Illustration: Down Dropped the Bag.] + + Down Dropped the Bag. + + +Pausing only long enough to learn that Jack's pulses were beating, and +that the submarine boy was breathing, Truax stole off into the night, +carrying the bag of sand under his overcoat. At one point he paused long +enough to empty the sand from the bag over a fence. The bag itself he +afterwards burned in the open fireplace in the room assigned to him at +Holt's Hotel. + +For twenty minutes Jack Benson lay as he had been left. Then he began to +stir, and groan. Then he opened his eyes; after a while he managed to sit +up. + +"Ugh!" he grunted. "What's the odor? Liquor! How does that happen? Oh, my +head!" + +He got slowly to his feet, using the board fence as a means to help steady +himself. Then, though he found himself weak and tormented by the pain in +his head, Benson managed to feel his way along the fence until he came to +the opening made by the loose board. Holding himself here, he thrust his +head beyond. + +Now, Hal and Eph, having waited for some time at the shore boat, before +going out on board the "Farnum," had at last made up their minds to go +back and look for their missing leader. They came along just at the moment +that the young captain's head appeared through the opening in the fence. + +"There he is," muttered Hal, stopping short. "Gracious! He acts queerly. I +wonder if anything can have happened to him? Come along, Eph!" + +The two raced across the street. + +"Jack, old fellow! What on earth's the matter?" demanded Hal Hastings, +anxiously. + +"I wish you could tell me," responded Jack Benson, speaking rather +thickly, for he was still somewhat dazed. "Oh, my head!" + +"There has been some queer work here," muttered Hal in Eph's ear. "Don't +torment him with questions. Just help me to get him down to the yard." + +While the two submarine boys were guiding their weak, dizzy comrade out to +the sidewalk a man came by with a swinging stride. Then he stopped short, +staring in amazement. + +"Hullo, boys! What on earth has happened?" + +It was Grant Andrews, foreman of the submarine work at the yard, and a +warm personal friend of Benson's. + +"I don't believe the old chap feels like telling us just now," muttered +Hal, with a sour face. + +"Whiskey!" muttered Andrews, almost under his breath. "What does it mean? +Benson never touched a drop of that vile stuff, did he?" + +"He'd sooner drown himself," retorted Hal, with spirit. + +"Of course he would," agreed Grant Andrews. "But what is the meaning of +all this?" + +"Oh, there's some queer, hocus-pocus business on foot," muttered Hal, +bitterly. "But I don't believe Jack feels much like telling us anything +about it at present." + +In truth, Jack didn't seem inclined to conversation. He was too sore and +dazed to feel like talking. He couldn't collect his ideas clearly. The +most that he actually knew was that the pain in his head was tormenting. + +"I'll pick him right up in my arms and carry him," proposed Andrews. "I'll +take him to Mr. Farnum's office. Then I'll get a doctor. We don't want +much noise about this, or folks will be telling all sorts of yarns against +Jack Benson and his drinking habits, when the truth is he's about the +finest, steadiest young fellow alive!" + +Just as Andrews was about to carry his purpose into action, however, an +automobile turned the nearest corner and came swiftly toward them. In +another instant it stopped alongside. It contained Mr. Farnum and his +chauffeur, besides three naval officers. + +"What's wrong, Andrews?" called the yard's owner. "Why, that's Jack +Benson! What has happened to him?" + +Hal and Eph stood supporting their comrade, almost holding him, in fact. +Jacob Farnum leaped from his automobile. Lieutenant Commander Mayhew +followed him. + +"Liquor, eh?" exclaimed the naval officer, the odor reaching his nostrils. + +"No such thing," retorted Farnum, turning upon the officer. "At least, +Jack Benson has been drinking no such stuff." + +"It was only a guess," murmured Mr. Mayhew, apologetically. "You know your +young man better than I do, Mr. Farnum." + +"There is liquor on his clothing," continued the shipbuilder. "It looks as +though someone had assaulted the lad, laid him out, and then sprinkled +him. It's a wasted trick, though. I know him too well to be fooled by any +such clumsy bit of nonsense." + +"A stupid trick, indeed," agreed Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, but the +naval officer did not quite share the shipbuilder's confidence in the +submarine boy's innocence. Mr. Mayhew had known of too many cases of naval +apprentices ruined through weak indulgence in liquor. Indeed, he had even +known of rare instances in which cadets had been dismissed from the Naval +Academy for the same offense. The lieutenant commander's present doubt of +Jack Benson was likely to work to that young man's disadvantage later on. + +Others of the party left the auto. Hal and Mr. Farnum got into the +tonneau, supporting Jack there between them. Thus they carried him to Mr. +Farnum's office at the yard, Grant Andrews then going in the car after a +doctor, while the others stretched Jack on the office sofa. The naval +officers returned to the "Hudson," at anchor in the little harbor below. + +"The young man acts as though he had been struck on the head," was the +physician's verdict. "No bones of the skull are broken. The odor of liquor +is on his coat, but I can't seem to detect any on the breath." + +"Of course you can't," commented Jacob Farnum, crisply. "Will Benson be +fit to sail in the morning?" + +"I think so," nodded the doctor. "But there ought to be a nurse with him +to-night." + +"Take my car, Andrews, and get a man nurse at once," directed Mr. Farnum. +"Doctor, can the young man be moved to his berth on the 'Farnum'?" + +"Safely enough," nodded the medical man. They waited until the nurse +arrived, when Jack was put to bed on the newer submarine craft. + +Jack slept through the night, moaning once in a while. Mr. Farnum and the +Dunhaven doctor were aboard early to look at him. The surgeon from the +"Hudson" also came over. + +Under the effects of medicine Jack Benson was asleep when, at ten o'clock +that morning, the two submarine torpedo boats slipped their moorings, +following the "parent boat," the "Hudson," out of the harbor. + +Ten minutes later the motion of the sea awoke the young skipper. + + + + + + CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS + + +"Hullo!" muttered the young submarine skipper, staring curiously about the +little stateroom aft. He had it to himself, the nurse having been put on +shore. "Under way, eh? This is the queerest start I ever made on a +voyage." + +Nor was it many moments later when Jack Benson stood on his feet. His +clothes were hung neatly on nails against the wall. One after another Jack +secured the garments, slowly donning them. + +"How my head throbs and buzzes!" he muttered, his voice sounding unsteady. +"Gracious! What could have happened? Let me see. The last I +remember--passing that high fence--" + +But it was all too great a puzzle. Benson finally decided to stop guessing +until some future time. He went on with his dressing. Finally, with his +blouse buttoned as exactly as ever, and his cap placed gingerly on his +aching head, he opened the stateroom door, stepping out into the cabin. + +Accustomed as he was to sea motion, the slight roll of the "Farnum" did +not bother the young skipper much. He soon reached the bottom of the short +spiral stairway leading up into the conning tower. Up there, in the +helmsman's seat, he espied Hal Hastings with his hands employed at the +steering apparatus. Hal was looking out over the water, straight ahead. + +"Sailing these days without word from your captain, eh?" Jack called, in a +voice that carried, though it shook. + +"Gracious--you?" ejaculated Hal, looking down for an instant. Then Hastings +pressed a button connecting with a bell in the engine room. + +"I'm going up there with you," Jack volunteered. + +"Right-o, if you insist," clicked Eph Somers, appearing from the engine +room and darting to the young skipper's side. True, Jack's head swam a bit +dizzily as he climbed the stairs, but Eph's strong support made the task +much easier. There was space to spare on the seat beside Hal, and into +this Jack Benson sank. + +"Say, you ought to sleep until afternoon," was Hastings's next greeting, +but Jack was looking out of the conning tower at the scene around him. + +The three craft were leaving the coast directly behind. About three +hundred yards away, abeam, steamed the "Hudson" at a nine-knot gait. + +"The 'Pollard' is on the other side of the gunboat, isn't she?" asked +Jack. + +"Yes," Hal nodded. + +"Naval crew aboard her?" + +"Yes; Government has taken full possession of the 'Pollard.'" + +"Who's running this boat? Just you and Eph?" + +"No; that new man, Truax, is on board, and at the last moment Mr. Farnum +put Williamson, one of the machinists, aboard, also. You can send +Williamson back from Annapolis whenever you're through with him." + +"Williamson is all right," nodded Jack, slowly. "But how about Truax?" + +"I think he's going to be a useful man," Hal responded. "He seems familiar +with our type of engines. Of course, he knows nothing about the apparatus +for submerging the boat or making it dive. But he doesn't need to. Now, +Jack, old fellow, we're going along all right. Why not let Eph help you +back to your bunk, or one of the seats in the cabin, and have your sleep +out?" + +"I've had it out," Benson declared, with a laugh. "I'm ready, now, to take +my trick at the wheel." + +"Nonsense," retorted Hal Hastings. "I've been here a bare quarter of an +hour, and I'm good for more work than that. Jack, you're nothing but a +fifth wheel. You're not needed; won't be all day, and at night we anchor +in some harbor down the coast. Go and rest, like a good fellow." + +"Can't rest, when I know I'm doing nothing," Benson retorted, stubbornly. +"Besides, this is the first time I've ever found myself moving along in +regular formation with the United States Navy. I feel almost as if I were +a Navy officer myself, and I mean to make the most of the sensation. Say, +Hal, wouldn't it be fine if we really _did_ belong to the Navy?" + +"Gee-whiz!" murmured young Hastings, his cheeks glowing and his eyes +snapping. + +"If we only belonged to the old Flag for life, and knew that we were +practising on a boat like this as a part of the preparation for real war +when it came?" + +"_Don't!_" begged Hal, tensely. "For you know, old fellow, it can't come +true. Why, we haven't even a residence anywhere, from which a Congressman +could appoint one of us to Annapolis!" + +"_One_ of us?" muttered Jack, scornfully. "Then it would have to be you. +_I_ wouldn't go, even as a cadet at Annapolis, and leave you behind in +just plain, ordinary life, Hal Hastings!" + +"Well, it's no use thinking about it," sighed Hal, practically. "Neither +one of us is in any danger of getting appointed to Annapolis, so there's +no chance that either one of us ever will become an officer in the Navy. +Let's not talk about it, Jack. I've been contented enough, so far, but now +it makes me almost blue, to think that we can only go on testing and +handling submarine craft like these, while others will be their real +officers in the Navy, and command them in any war that may come." + +Though his head throbbed, and though a dizzy spell came over him every few +minutes, Jack Benson stuck it out, up there beside his chum, for an hour. +Then, disdaining aid, he crept down the stairs, stretching himself out on +one of the cabin seats. Eph brought him a pillow and a blanket. Jack soon +slept, tossing uneasily whenever pain throbbed dully in his head. + +"Guess I'll go out and have a little look at the young captain," proposed +Sam Truax, an hour later. + +"Try another guess," retorted Eph, curtly. "You'll stay here in the engine +room. Jack Benson isn't going to be bothered in any way." + +"I'm not going to bother him; just going to take a look at him," protested +Truax, moving toward the door that separated the engine room from the +cabin. + +But young Somers caught the stranger by the sleeve of the oily jumper that +Sam had donned on beginning his work. + +"Do you know what folks say about me?" demanded Eph, with a significant +glare. + +"What do they say?" + +"Folks have an idea that, at most times, I'm one of the best-natured +fellows on earth," declared Eph, solemnly. "Yet they _do_ say that, when +I'm crossed in anything my mind's made up to, I can be tarnation ugly. I +just told you I don't want the captain disturbed. Do you know, Sam Truax, +I feel a queer notion coming over me? I've an idea that that feeling is +just plain ugliness coming to life!" + +Truax came back from the door, a grin on his face. Yet, when he turned his +head away, there was a queer, almost deadly flash in the fellow's eyes. + +Jack slept, uneasily, until towards the middle of the afternoon. As soon +as Eph found him awake, that young man brought the captain a plate of +toast and a bowl of broth, both prepared at the little galley stove. + +"Sit up and get away with these," urged Eph, placing the tray on the cabin +table. "Wait a minute. I'll prop you up and put a pillow at your back." + +"This boat isn't a bad place for a fellow when he's knocked out," smiled +Jack. + +"Any place ought to be good, where your friends are," came, curtly, from +young Somers. + +As Captain Jack ate the warm food he felt his strength coming back to him. + +"Poor old Hal has been up there in the conning tower all these hours," +muttered Captain Jack, uneasily. "He must have that cramped feeling in his +hands." + +"Humph!" retorted Eph. "Not so you could notice it much, I guess. It's a +simpleton's job up in the conning tower to-day. All he has to do is to +shift the wheel a little to port, or to starboard, just so as to keep the +proper interval from the 'Dad' boat. Besides, I've been up there on +relief, for an hour while you slept, and Hal came down and sat with the +engines. Cheer up, Jack. No one misses you from the conning tower." + +Benson laughed, though he said, warningly: + +"I reckon we'll do as well to drop calling the gunboat the 'Dad boat' +instead of the 'parent vessel.'" + +"Well, you needn't bother at all about the conning tower to-day," wound up +Eph, glancing at his watch. "It's after half-past three at this moment and +I understand we're to drop anchor about five o'clock." + +So Skipper Jack settled back with a comfortable sigh. Truth to tell, it +was pleasant not to have any immediate duty, for his head throbbed, every +now and then, and he felt dizzy when he tried to walk. + +"Who could have hit me in that fashion, last night, and for what earthly +purpose?" wondered the boy. "I've had some enemies, in the past, but I +don't know a single person about Dunhaven, now who has any reason for +wishing me harm." + +Never a thought crossed his mind of suspecting Sam Truax. That worthy had +come with a note from David Pollard, the inventor of the boats. Sam, +therefore, must be all right, the boy reasoned. + +Jack lay back on the upholstered seat. He sat with his eyes closed most of +the time, though he did not doze. At last, however, he heard the engine +room bell sound for reduced speed. Getting up, the young captain made his +way to the foot of the conning tower stairs. + +"Making port, Hal?" he called. + +"Yep," came the reply. "We'll be at anchor in five minutes more." + +Jack made his way slowly to the door of the engine room. + +"Eph," he called, "as soon as you've shut off speed, take Truax above and +you two attend to the mooring." + +"Take this other man up with you," urged Sam Truax. "I don't know anything +about tying a boat up to moorings." + +"Time you learned, then," returned Eph Somers, "if you're to stay aboard a +submarine craft." + +"Take this other man up with you," again urged Truax. + +Eph Somers turned around to face him with a good deal of a glare. + +"What ails you, Truax? You heard the captain's order. You'll go with me." + +"Don't be too sure of that," uttered Sam Truax, defiantly. + +"If you don't go above with me, and if you don't follow every order you +get aboard this boat, I know where you _will_ go," muttered Eph, +decisively. + +"Where?" jeered Sam. + +"Ashore--in the first boat that can take you there." + +"You seem to forget that I'm on board by David Pollard's order," sneered +Truax. + +"All I am sure of," retorted Eph, "is that Jack Benson is captain on board +this craft. That means that he's sole judge of everything here when this +boat is cruising. If you were here by the orders of both owners, Jack +Benson would fire you ashore for good, just the same, after you've balked +at the first order." + +"Humph! I--" + +Clang! Jangle! The signal bell was sounding. + +"Shut up," ordered Eph Somers, briskly. "I've got the engine to run on +signal from the watch officer." + +There followed a series of signals, first of all for stopping speed, then +for a brief reversing of engines. A moment later headway speed ahead was +ordered. So on Eph went through the series of orders until the "Farnum" +had been manoeuvred to her exact position. Then, from above, Captain Jack's +voice was heard, roaring in almost his usual tones: + +"Turn out below, there, to help make fast!" + +"Take the lever, Williamson," directed Eph. "Come along lively, Truax." + +"Humph! Let Williamson go," grumbled Truax. + +"You come along with me, my man!" roared Eph, his face blazing angrily. +"Hustle, too, or I'll report you to the captain for disobedience of +orders. Then you'll go ashore at express speed. Coming?" + +Sam Truax appeared to wage a very brief battle within himself. Then, +nodding sulkily, he followed. + +"Hustle up, there!" Jack shouted down. "We don't want to drift." + +Jack Benson stood out on the platform deck, holding to the conning tower +at the port side. A naval launch had just placed a buoy over an anchor +that had been lowered. + +"Get forward, you two," Jack called briskly, "and make the bow cable fast +to that buoy." + +Hal still sat at the wheel in the tower. As Eph and Truax crept forward +over the arched upper hull of the "Farnum," Hal sounded the engine room +signals and steered until the boat had gotten close enough to make the bow +cable fast. Then the stern cable was made fast, with more line, to another +buoy. + +"A neat hitch, Mr. Benson," came a voice from the bridge of the "Hudson," +which lay a short distance away. Jack, looking up, saw Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew leaning over the bridge rail. + +"Thank you, sir," Jack acknowledged, saluting the naval officer. + +The parent vessel and her two submarine charges now lay at anchor in the +harbor at Port Clovis, one of the towns down the coast from Dunhaven. This +mooring overnight was to be repeated each day until Annapolis should be +reached. + +Within fifteen minutes the craft were surrounded by small boats from +shore. Some of these contained merchandise that it was hoped sailors would +buy. Other boats "ran" for hotels, restaurants, drinking places, amusement +halls, and all the varied places on shore that hope to fatten on Jack +Tar's money. + +"I'd like to go ashore, sir," announced Sam Truax, approaching Captain +Jack. + +"When?" + +"Now." + +"For how long?" + +"Until ten o'clock to-night." + +"Be back by that hour, then," Jack replied. "If you're not, you'll find +everything shut tight aboard here." + +Truax quickly signaled one of the hovering boats, and put off in it. Eph +watched the boat for a few moments before he turned to Captain Jack to +mutter: + +"Somehow, I wouldn't feel very badly about it if that fellow got lost on +shore!" + + + + + + CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO + + +On the second day of the cruise Jack Benson returned to full duty. + +For four nights, in all, the submarine squadron tied up at moorings in +harbors along the coast. On the fifth night, as darkness fell, the +squadron continued under way, in Chesapeake Bay, for Annapolis was but +three hours away. + +Immediately after supper Captain Jack took his place in the conning tower. +He concerned himself principally with the compass, his only other task +being to keep the course by the "Hudson's" lights, for the parent boat +supplied in its own conduct all the navigation orders beyond the general +course. The "Farnum's" searchlight was not used, the gunboat picking up +all the coast-marks as they neared land. + +"Annapolis is the place I've always wanted to see," Jack declared, as Hal +joined him in the conning tower. + +"It's the place where I've always wanted to be a cadet," sighed Hal. "But +there's no chance for me, I fear. Jack, I'd rather be an officer of the +Navy than a millionaire." + +"Same here," replied Jack, steadily. "It's hard to have to feel that I'll +never be either." + +As she entered the mouth of the Severn River the "Hudson" signaled to the +submarines to follow, in file, the "Pollard" leading. A little later the +three craft entered the Basin at the Academy. While the gunboat anchored +off the Amphitheatre, the two submarine boats were ordered to anchorage +just off the Boat House. Then a cutter came alongside. + +"The lieutenant commander's compliments to Mr. Benson. Will Mr. Benson go +aboard the 'Hudson'?" asked the young officer in command of the cutter. +Captain Jack lost no time in presenting himself before the lieutenant +commander. + +"Mr. Benson," said Mr. Mayhew, after greeting the submarine boy, "your +craft will be under a marine guard to-night, and at all times while here +at the Naval Academy. If you and your crew would like to spend the night +ashore, in the quaint little old town of Annapolis, there's no reason why +you shouldn't. But you will all need to report back aboard, ready for +duty, by eight in the morning." + +Jack thanked the naval commander, then hastened back to the "Farnum" to +communicate the news. + +"Me for the shore trip," declared Eph, promptly. All the others agreed +with him. + +"I'll come back by ten o'clock to-night, though," volunteered Sam Truax. +"One of the crew ought to be aboard." + +"We'll stay ashore," decided Jack, "and return in the morning." + +"I'm coming back to-night," retorted Truax. + +"Keep still, and follow orders," muttered Eph, digging his elbow into +Truax's ribs. "The captain gives the orders here." + +Jack, however, had turned away. Within five minutes a boat put off from +shore, bringing two soldiers of the marine guard alongside. With them, in +the shore boat, was a corporal of the guard. + +"Any of your crew coming back to-night, sir?" asked the corporal. + +"None," Benson answered. "Will you instruct the sentries to see that none +of the crew are allowed aboard during the night?" + +"Very good, sir." + +The shore boat waited to convey them to the landing. Before going, young +Captain Benson closed and locked the manhole entrance to the conning +tower. A sullen silence had fallen over Truax. The instructions to the +corporal of the guard, and the prompt acceptance of those instructions, +told Sam, beyond any doubt, that he was _not_ coming back on board that +night. + +Truax followed the others as they passed through the Academy grounds. +Beyond the large, handsome buildings, there was not much to be seen at +night. Lights shone behind all the windows in Cadet Barracks. Nearly all +of the cadets of the United States Navy were in their quarters, hard at +study. Here and there a marine sentry paced. A few naval officers, in +uniform, passed along the walks. That was all, and the submarine party had +crossed the grounds to the gate through which they were to pass into the +town of Annapolis. + +"Coming with us, Truax?" asked Williamson, as the party passed out into a +dimly lighted street. + +"No," replied the fellow, sullenly. "I'll travel by myself." + +"You're welcome to," muttered Eph, under his breath. + +The others climbed the steps to the State Capitol grounds, continuing +until they reached one of the principal streets of the little town. + +"Say, but this place must have gone to sleep before we got ashore," +grumbled Eph. "Hanged if I don't think Dunhaven is a livelier little +place!" + +"There isn't much to do, except to wander about a bit, then go to the +Maryland House for a good sleep on shore," Jack admitted. + +For more than an hour the submarine boys wandered about. The principal +streets contained some stores that had a bright, up-to-date look, and in +these principal streets the evening crowds much resembled those to be +found in any small town. There were other streets, however, on which there +was little traffic. In some of these quieter streets were quaint, +old-fashioned houses built in the Colonial days. + +"Annapolis is more of a place to see by daylight, I reckon," suggested +Hal. "How about that sleep, Jack?" + +"The greatest fun, by night, I guess, consists in finding a drug-store and +spending some of our loose change on ice cream sodas," laughed the young +submarine skipper. + +This done, they found their way to the Maryland House. Jack and Hal +engaged a room together, Eph and Williamson taking the adjoining one. + +"As for me, in an exciting place like this," grimaced Eph, "I'm off for +bed." + +Williamson followed him upstairs. For some minutes Hal sat with his chum +in the hotel office. Then Jack went over and talked with the night clerk +for a few moments. + +"There's a place near here, Hal, where a fellow can get an oyster fry," +Benson explained, returning to his chum. "With that information came the +discovery that I have an appetite. Come and join me?" + +"No," gaped Hal. "I reckon I'll go up and turn in." + +"I'll be along in half an hour, then." + +Jack found the oyster house readily. As he entered the little, not +over-clean place, he found himself the only customer. He gave his order, +then picked up the local daily paper. As he ate, Jack found himself +yawning. The drowsiness of Annapolis by night was coming upon him. Little +did he dream how soon he was to discover that Annapolis, in some of its +parts, can be lively enough. + +As he paid his bill and stepped to the street, a young mulatto hurried up +to him. + +"Am Ah correct, sah, in supposin' yo' Cap'n Jack Benson?" + +"That's my name," Jack admitted. + +"Den Ah's jes' been 'roun' to de hotel, lookin' fo' yo', sah. One ob yo' +men, Mistah Sam Truax, am done took sick, an' he done sent me fo' yo'." + +"Truax ill? Why, I saw him a couple of hours ago, and he looked as healthy +as a man could look," Jack replied, in astonishment. + +"I reckon, sah, he's mighty po'ly now, sah," replied the mulatto. "He done +gib me money fo' to hiah a cab an' take yo' to him. Will yo' please to +come, sah?" + +"Yes," agreed Jack. "Lead the way." + +"T'ank yo', sah; t'ank yo', sah. Follow me, sah." + +Jack's mulatto guide led him down the street a little way, then around a +corner. Here a rickety old cab with a single horse attached, waited. A +gray old darkey sat on the driver's seat. + +"Step right inside, sah. We'll be dere direckly. Marse Truax'll be +powahful glad to see yo', sah." + +"See here," demanded Jack, after they had driven several blocks at a good +speed, "Truax hasn't been getting into any drinking scrapes, has he? +Hasn't been getting himself arrested, has he?" + +For young Benson had learned, from the night clerk at the hotel, that, +quiet and "dead" as Annapolis appears to the stranger, there are "tough" +places into which a seafaring stranger may find his way. + +"No, sah; no, sah," protested the mulatto. "Marse Truax done got sick +right and proper." + +"Why, confound it, we're leaving the town behind," cried Jack, a few +moments later, after peering out through the cab window. + +"Dat's all right, sah. Dere ain' nuffin' to be 'fraid ob, sah." + +"Afraid?" uttered Jack, scornfully, with a side glance at the mulatto. The +submarine boy felt confident that, in a stretch of trouble, he could +thrash this guide of his in very short order. + +"Ah might jess well tell yo' wheah we am gwine, sah," volunteered the +mulatto, presently. + +"Yes," Benson retorted, drily. "I think you may." + +"Marse Truax, sah, he done hab er powah ob trouble, sah, las' wintah, wid +rheumatiz, sah. He 'fraid he gwine cotch it again dis wintah, sah. Now, +sah, dere am some good voodoo doctahs 'roun' Annapolis, so Marse Truax, he +done gwine to see, sah, what er voodoo can promise him fo' his rheumatiz. +I'se a runnah, sah, for de smahtest ole voodoo doctah, sah, in de whole +state ob Maryland." + +"Then you took Truax to a voodoo doctor to-night?" demanded Jack, almost +contemptuously. + +"Yes, sah; yes, sah." + +"I thought Truax had more sense than to go in for such tomfoolery," Jack +Benson retorted, bluntly. + +The mulatto launched into a prompt, energetic defense of the voodoo +doctors. Young Benson had heard a good deal about these clever old colored +frauds. In spite of his contempt, the submarine boy found himself +interested. He had heard about the charms, spells, incantations and other +humbugs practised on colored dupes and on some credulous whites by these +greatest of all quacks. The voodoo methods of "healing" are brought out of +the deepest jungles of darkest Africa, yet there are many ignorant people, +even among the whites, who believe steadfastly in the "cures" wrought by +the voodoo. + +While the mulatto guide was talking, or answering Jack's half-amused +questions, the cab left Annapolis further and further behind. + +"Yo' see, sah," the guide went on, "Marse Truax wa'n't in no fit +condition, sah, to try de strongest voodoo medicine dat he called fo'. So, +w'ile de voodoo was sayin' his strongest chahms, Marse Truax done fall +down, frothin' at de mouth. He am some bettah, now, sah, but he kain't be +move' from de voodoo's house 'cept by a frien'." + +"I'll get a chance to see one of these old voodoo frauds, anyway," Jack +told himself. "This new experience will be worth the time it keeps me out +of my bed. What a pity Hal missed a queer old treat like this!" + +When the cab at last stopped, Benson looked out to find that the place was +well down a lonely country road, well lined with trees on either side. The +house, utterly dark from the outside, was a ramshackle, roomy old affair. + +"Shall Ah wait fo' yo'?" asked the old colored driver. + +"Yes, wait for me," directed Jack, briefly. + +"Yeah; wait fo' de gemmun. He's all right," volunteered the mulatto. + +"Mebbe yo' kin see some voodoo wo'k, too, ef yo's int'rested," hinted the +guide, in a whisper, as he fitted a key to a lock, and swung a door open. +In a hallway stood a lighted lantern, which the guide picked up. + +"Now, go quiet-lak, on tip-toe. Sh!" cautioned the guide, himself moving +stealthily into the nearest room. Jack Benson began to feel secretly +awestruck and "creepy," though he was too full of grit to betray the fact. + +At the further end of the room the guide, holding the lantern behind his +body as though by accident, threw open another door. + +"Pass right on through dis room, ahead ob me, sah," begged the guide, +respectfully. + +But Jack drew back, instinctively, out of the darkness. + +"Don' yo', a w'ite man, be 'fraid ob ole voodoo house," advised the +mulatto, still speaking respectfully. + +Afraid? Of course not. Relying on his muscle and his agility, Jack stepped +ahead. By a sudden jerk of his arm the mulatto guide shook out the flame +in the lantern. + +"Here, you! What are you about?" growled Jack Benson, wheeling like a +flash upon his escort. + +"Go 'long, yo' w'ite trash!" jeered the mulatto. He gave the boy a sudden, +forceful shove. + +Jack Benson, under the impetus of that push, staggered ahead, seeking to +recover his balance. Without a doubt he would have done so, but, just +then, the floor under his feet ended. With a yell of dismay, the submarine +boy tottered, then plunged down, alighting on a bed of soft dirt many feet +below. + + + + + + CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING "NEW," ALL RIGHT + + +Jack Benson was on his feet in an instant. An angrier boy it would have +been hard to find. + +From overhead came the sound of a loud guffaw. + +"Oh, you infernal scoundrel!" raged the submarine boy, shaking his fist in +the dark. + +"W'at am de matter wid yo', w'ite trash?" came the jeering query. + +"Let me get my hands on you, and I'll show you!" quivered Benson. + +"Yah! Listen to yo'! Yo' wait er minute, an' Ah'll show yo' a light." + +Gr-r-r-r! Gr-r-r-r! That sound from overhead was not pleasant. Jack, in +the few seconds that were left to him, could only guess as to the cause of +the sounds. Then, some fifteen feet over his head, a tiny flame sputtered. +This match-end was carried to the wick of the lantern that the yellowish +guide had been carrying, and now the light illumined the place into which +Jack Benson had fallen. + +That place was a square-shaped pit, with boarded sides. Up above, on a +shelf of flooring, knelt the late guide, grinning down with a look of +infernal glee. On either side of the mulatto stood a heavy-jowled +bull-dog. Both brutes peered down, showing their teeth in a way to make a +timid man's blood run cold. + +"Put those dogs back and come down here," challenged Jack, shaking his +fist. "Come down, and I'll teach you a few things, you rascal!" + +"Don' yo' shake yo' fist at me, or dem dawgs will sure jump down and +tackle yo'," grinned the guide, gripping at the collars of the brutes, +which, truly, showed signs of intending to spring below. + +Jack fell back, his hands dropping to his sides. Had there been but one +dog, the submarine boy, with all his grit forced to the surface, might +have chosen to face the brute, hoping to despatch it with a well-aimed +kick. But with two dogs, both intent on "getting" him, young Benson knew +that he would stand the fabled chance of a snow-flake on a red-hot stove. + +"Dat's right, gemmun, yo' keep cool," observed the mulatto, mockingly. + +"You've decoyed me--trapped me here with a mess of lies," flung back +Captain Jack, angrily. "What's your game?" + +"Dis am a free lodgin' house--ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the late guide. "Ah's +gwine gib yo' er place to sleep fo' de night. Yo' sho'ly must feel +'bleeged to me--ho, ho, ho!" + +"You lied to me about Sam Truax!" + +"Yeah! Ah done foun' dat was de name ob a gemmun in yo' pahty dat wasn't +wid yo'. Truax do as well as any odder name--yah! Now, Ah's gwine leab yo' +heah t' git a sleep. Ah'll toss down some blankets. 'Pose yo'se'f and +gwine ter sleep, honey. Don't try to clim' up outer dat, or dem dawgs'll +sho'ly jump down at yo'. Keep quiet, an' go ter sleep, an' de dawgs done +lay heah an' jest watch. But don' try nuffin' funny, or de dawgs'll sho'ly +bring trubble to yo'. Dem is trained dawgs--train' fo' dis business ob +mine. Ho, ho, ho!" + +Mulatto and light vanished, but enraged, baffled, helpless Captain Jack +could hear the two dogs moving about ere they settled down on the shelf of +flooring overhead. + +"No matter how much of a liar that rascal is, he didn't lie to me about +the dogs," reflected Jack, his temper cooling, but his bitterness +increasing. "They're fighting dogs, and one wrong move would bring them +bounding down here on me--the two together. Ugh-gh!" + +After a few moments the mulatto reappeared with a light and tossed down +three heavy blankets. + +"Now, Ah's gwine leave yo' fo' de night," clacked the late guide. "Ef yo' +done feel lonesome, yo' jes' whistle de dawgs down to yo'. Dey'll come!" + +While the light was still there Benson, in raging silence, gathered the +blankets and arranged them. + +"Roll up one fo' a pillow, under yo' haid," grinned the mulatto. "Dat's +all right, sah. Now, good night, Marse Benson. Ef yo' feel lonesome, Marse +Benson, jes' whistle fo' de dawgs. _Dey'll come!_" + +The light vanished while the mulatto's sinister words were ringing in the +boy's ears. Would the dogs jump down? Jack knew they would, at the first +false move or sound on his part. He huddled softly, stealthily, on the +blankets, there in the darkness. + +As he lay there, thinking, Benson's sense of admiration gradually got to +the surface. + +"Well, of all the slick man-traps!" he gasped. "I never heard of anything +more clever. Nor was there ever a bigger idiot than I, to walk stupidly +into this same trap! What's the game, I wonder? Robbery, it must be. And I +have a watch, some other little valuables and nearly a hundred and fifty +dollars in money on me. Oh, I'm the sleek, fat goose for plucking!" + +Lying there, in enforced stillness, Jack Benson, after an hour or so, +actually fell asleep. A good, healthy sleeper at all times, he slumbered +on through the night. Once he awoke, just a trifle chilled. He heard one +of the dogs snoring overhead. Crawling under one of the blankets, Benson +went to sleep again. + +"Hey, yo', Marse Benson. It am mawnin'. Time yo' was wakin' up an' movin' +erlong!" + +It was the voice of the same mulatto, calling down into the pit. Again the +rays of the lantern illumined the darkness. Both bull-dogs displayed their +ferocious muzzles over the edge of the pit. Jack sat up cautiously, not +caring to attract unfriendly interest from the dogs. + +"Ah want yo' to take off all yo' clothes 'cept yo' undahclothes, an' den +Ah'll let down a string fo' yo' to tie 'em to," declared the mulatto, +grinning. "Yo' needn't try ter slip yo' wallet, nor nuffin' outer mah +sight, cause Ah'll be watchin'. Now, git a hurry on, Marse Benson, or +Ah'll done push dem dawgs ober de aidge ob dis flooring." + +Jack hesitated only a moment. Then, with a grunt of rage, he began +removing his outer garments. Down came a twine, to the lower end of which +the boy made fast his garments, one after another. His money and valuables +went up in the pockets, for the sharp eyes of the mulatto could not have +been eluded by any amateur slight-of-hand. + +"Now, yo' cap an' yo' shoes," directed the grinning monster above. + +These, too, Benson passed up at the end of the cord. The mulatto +disappeared, leaving the two dogs still on guard. At last, back came the +light and the yellowish man with it. + +"Yo' sho' is good picking, Marse Benson," grinned the guide of the night +before. "Yo' has good pin feathers. Ah hope Ah'll suttinly meet yo' +again." + +"I hope we do meet at another time!" Jack Benson flared back, wrathily. +The cool insolence of the fellow cut him to the marrow, yet where was the +use of disobeying a rascal flanked by two such willing and capable dogs? + +"Now, yo' jes' put dese t'ings on, Marse Benson, ef yo' please, sah," +mocked the mulatto, tossing down some woefully tattered, nondescript +garments, and, after them, a battered, rimless Derby hat and a pair of +brogans out at the toes. + +"I'll be hanged if I'll put on such duds!" quivered Jack. + +"Jes' as yo' please, ob co'se, Marse Benson," came the answer, from above. +"But, ef yo' don' put dem t'ings on, yo'll sho'ly hab ter gwine back ter +'Napolis in yo' undahclo's. An' yo's gwine back right away, too, so, ef +yo' wants ter gwine back weahin' ernuff clo'es--" + +"Oh, well, then--!" ground out the submarine boy, savagely enough. + +He attired himself in these tattered ends of raiment. Had he not been so +angry he must have roared at sight of his comical self when the dressing +was completed. + + + + + + CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS + + +"Now, yo'll do, Ah reckons." + +With that, the mulatto guide of the night before threw down one end of an +inch rope. + +"Ah reckon yo's sailor ernuff to clim' dat. Come right erlong, 'less yo' +wants de dawgs ter jump down dar." + +"But they'll tackle me if I come up," objected Jack Benson. + +"No, dey won't. Dem dawgs is train' to dis wo'k. Ah done tole yo' dat. +Come right erlong. Ah'll keep my two eyes on dem dawgs." + +It looked like a highly risky bit of business, but Jack told himself that, +now he had been deprived of his valuables, this yellow worthy must be +genuinely anxious to be rid of the victim. So he took hold of the rope and +began to climb. The mulatto and the dogs disappeared from the upper edge +of the pit. + +As his head came up above the level of the flooring Benson saw the mulatto +and the dogs in the next room, the connecting door of which had been taken +from its hinges. + +"Come right in, Marse Benson. Dere ain' nuffin' gwineter hu't yo'," came +the rascal's voice reassuringly. Jack obeyed by stepping into the next +room, though he kept watch over the dogs out of the corners of his eyes. + +"Now, yo' lie right down on de flo', Marse Benson," commanded the master +of the situation. "Ah's gotter tie yo' up, befo' Ah can staht yo' back ter +'Napolis, but dere ain' no hahm gwine come ter yo'." + +Making a virtue of necessity, Captain Jack lay down as directed, passing +his hands behind his back. These were deftly secured, after which his +ankles were treated in the same fashion. Immediately the mulatto, who was +strong and wiry, lifted the boy and the lantern together. The dogs +remaining behind, Jack was carried out into the yard, where he discovered +that daylight was coming on in the East. He was dumped on the ground long +enough to permit his captor to lock the door securely. Then the submarine +boy was lifted once more, carried around the corner of the house and +dumped in the bottom of a shabby old delivery wagon. A canvas was pulled +over him, concealing him from any chance passer. Then the mulatto ran +around to the seat, picking up the reins and starting the horse. + +It seemed like a long drive to the boy, though Benson was certainly in no +position to judge time accurately. At last the team was halted, along a +stretch of road in a deep woods. The mulatto lifted the submarine boy out +to the ground. + +"Now, w'en yo's got yo' se'f free, yo' can take de road in dat +direckshun," declared the fellow, pointing. "Bimeby yo' come in sight ob +de town. Now, Marse Benson, w'at happen to yo' las' night am all in de +co'se ob a lifetime, an' Ah hope you ain't got no bad feelin's. Yo' +suttinly done learn somet'ing new in de way ob tricks. Good-bye, sah, an' +mah compliments to yo', Marse Benson." + +With that the guide of the night before swiftly cut the cords at Jack's +wrists, then as swiftly leaped to the seat of the wagon, whipping up the +horse and disappearing in a cloud of dust. + +Jack, having now no knife, and the bonds about his ankles being tied with +many hard knots, spent some precious minutes in freeing his feet. At last +he stood up, fire in his eyes. + +"Oh, pshaw! There's no sense in trying to run after that rascal and his +wagon," decided the young submarine skipper. "I haven't the slightest idea +what direction he took after he got out of sight, and--oh, gracious! I'm +under orders to be aboard the 'Farnum' at eight this morning. And on Mr. +Farnum's business, at that!" + +Clenching his hands vengefully, Jack started along in the direction +pointed out by his late captor. Brisk walking wore some of the edge off +his great wrath. Catching a comprehensive glimpse of himself, Jack could +not keep back a grim laugh. + +"Well, I certainly am a dandy to spring myself on the trim and slick Naval +Academy!" he gritted. "What a treat I'll be to the cadets! That is, if the +sentry ever lets me through the gate into the Academy grounds." + +As he hurried along, Jack Benson decided that he simply could not go to +the Naval Academy presenting any such grotesque picture as he did now. Yet +he had no money about him with which to purchase more presentable clothes +in town. So he formed another plan. + +Within a few minutes he came in sight of Annapolis. Hurrying on faster, he +at last entered the town. The further he went the more painfully conscious +the boy became of the ludicrous appearance that he made. He saw men and +women turn their heads to look after him, and his cheeks burned to a deep +scarlet that glowed over the sea-bronze of his skin. + +"The single consolation I have is that not a solitary person in town knows +me, anyway," he muttered. Then he caught sight of a clock on a church +steeple--twenty-five minutes of eight. + +"That means a fearful hustle," he muttered, and went ahead under such +steam that he all but panted. At last he came to the Maryland House, +opposite the State Capitol grounds. Into the office of the hotel he +darted, going straight up to the desk. + +A clerk who had been on duty for hours, and who was growing more drowsy +every moment, stared at the boy in amazement. + +"See here, you ragamuffin, what--" + +"My name is Benson," began the boy, breathlessly. "I'm a guest of the +house--arrived last night. I--" + +"You, a guest of _this_ house?" demanded the clerk of the most select +hotel in the town. "You--" + +That was as far as the disgust of the clerk would permit him to go in +words. A score of well-dressed gentlemen were staring in astonishment at +the scene. The clerk nodded to two stout porters who had suspended their +work nearby. + +It had been Jack Benson's purpose to go to his room and keep out of sight, +while despatching one of the colored bell-boys of the hotel with a note to +Hal Hastings, asking that chum to send him up a uniform and other articles +of attire. However, before the young submarine captain fully realized what +was happening, the two porters had seized him. Firmly, even though gently, +they hustled him out through the entrance onto the street. + +"Scat!" advised one of the pair. + +Jack started to protest, then realized the hopelessness of such a course. +In truth, he did not blame the hotel folks in the least. + +"Oh, well," he sighed, paling as soon as the new flush of mortification +had died out, "there's nothing for it but to hurry to the Academy. I hope +the sentries won't shoot when they see me," he added, bitterly. + +Across the State Capitol grounds he hurried, then down through a side +street until he arrived at the gate of the Academy grounds. + +"Halt!" challenged a sentry, as soon as Jack showed his face through the +gateway. + +Young Benson stopped, bringing his heels together with a click. + +"What do you want? Where are you going?" demanded the marine. + +"I know I look pretty tough," Jack admitted, shamefacedly. "But I belong +aboard the 'Farnum,' one of the submarines that arrived last night. And +I'm due there at this minute. Please don't delay me." + +"All right," replied the sentry, after surveying the boy from head to foot +once more. Then he added, in a lower tone, with just the suspicion of a +grin showing at the corners of his mouth: + +"Say, friend, for a stranger, you must have had a high old frolic in the +town last night." + +Jack frowned. The sentry's grin broadened a bit. As he did not offer to +detain the boy longer, Benson hurried on along one of the walks. He took +as short a course as he could making straight for the Basin, where he made +out the "Hudson" and the two submarines. + +"Hey! There's the captain!" shouted Eph, wonderingly, for Somers's eyes +were sharp at all times. + +Out of the conning tower sprang Hal Hastings, looking eagerly in the +direction in which Eph Somers pointed: + +"Eh?" muttered another person, lounging near the rail of the gunboat. Then +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, after a keen, wholly disapproving look at the +hard-looking figure of a young man at the landing, started, as he +muttered: + +"Benson, by all that's horrible! How did he come to be in that fearful +shape? He must have been in one of the worst resorts within miles of +Annapolis!" + +"This isn't the first time the young man has come back the worse for +wear," the lieutenant commander continued, under his breath. "His friends +were loyal enough to him, that time. I wonder if they can be, to-day?" + +One of the shore boats, waiting about in the Basin, put young Benson +aboard the "Farnum" as soon as he explained who he was. Hal and Eph stood +awaiting the coming of their young commander, their faces full of concern +and anxiety. Both gripped Jack's hand as soon as he gained the platform +deck of the submarine. + +"Come below," whispered Hal. "We'll talk there. You need a bath and to get +into a uniform as quickly as you can." + +This need Jack Benson proceeded to realize without an instant's delay. +While he washed himself off, in one of the staterooms aft, he talked +through the door, which had been left ajar. He continued his story while +he dressed. + +"We were fearfully anxious this morning," Hal confessed. "I went to sleep +last night, and didn't know of your absence until this morning. Then Eph +and I decided to come on down to the boat to see if you were here. We were +just planning to send quiet word to the Annapolis police when Eph spotted +you coming." + +"And Truax?" inquired Captain Jack. + +"He and Williamson are forward in the engine-room, now, at breakfast." + +"Oh, well, Truax wouldn't know anything about the scrape, anyway," +returned Jack. "His name was learned and used--that's all." + +"Are you going to try to find that place, catch the mulatto and force the +return of your money?" demanded Eph Somers. + +"I've got to think that over," muttered Jack, as he drew on a +spick-and-span uniform blouse. "I don't know whether there'll be any use +in trying to find that mulatto. I haven't the least idea where his place +is. Even if I found it, it's ten to one I wouldn't find the fellow there." + +"'Farnum,' ahoy!" roared a voice alongside, the voice coming down through +the open conning tower. + +Eph ran to answer. When he returned, he announced: + +"Compliments of Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, and will Mr. Benson wait on +the lieutenant commander on board the parent boat?" + +"I will," assented Jack, with a wry face, "and here's where I have to do +some tall but truthful explaining to a man who isn't in the least likely +to believe a word I say. I can guess what Mr. Mayhew is thinking, and is +going to keep on thinking!" + + + + + + CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT + + +It was a tailor-made, clean, crisp and new-looking young submarine +commander who stepped into the naval cutter alongside. + +Jack Benson looked as natty as a young man could look, and his uniform was +that of a naval officer, save for the absence of the insignia of rank. + +Up the side gangway of the gunboat Jack mounted, carrying himself in the +best naval style. On deck stood a sentry, an orderly waiting beside him. + +"Lieutenant Commander Mayhew will see you in his cabin, sir," announced +the orderly. "I will show you the way, sir." + +Mr. Mayhew was seated before a desk in his cabin when the orderly piloted +the submarine boy in. The naval officer did not rise, nor did he ask the +boy to take a seat. Jack Benson was very well aware that he stood in Mr. +Mayhew's presence in the light of a culprit. + +"Mr. Benson," began Mr. Mayhew, eyeing him closely, "you are not in the +naval service, and are not therefore amenable to its discipline. At the +same time, however, your employers have furnished you to act, in some +respects, as a civilian instructor in submarine boating before the cadets. +While you are here on that duty it is to be expected, therefore, that you +will conform generally to the rules of conduct as laid down at the Naval +Academy." + +"Yes, sir," replied Jack. + +"As I am at present in charge of the submarine purchased by the United +States from your company, and at least in nominal charge of the 'Farnum,' +as well, I am, in a measure, to be looked upon, for the present, as your +commanding officer." + +"Yes, sir," assented the boy. + +"You came aboard your craft, this morning, in a very questionable looking +condition." + +"Yes, sir." + +Jack Benson's composure was perfect. His sense of discipline was also +exact. He did not propose to offer any explanations until such were asked +of him. + +"Have you anything to say, Mr. Benson, as to that condition, and how you +came to be in it?" + +"Shall I explain it to you, sir?" + +"I shall be glad to hear your explanation." + +Thereupon, the submarine boy plunged into a concise description of what +had happened to him the night before. The lieutenant commander did not +once interrupt him, but, when Jack had finished, Mr. Mayhew observed: + +"That is a very remarkable story, Mr. Benson. Most remarkable." + +"Yes, sir, it is. May I ask if you doubt my story?" + +Jack looked straight into the officer's eyes as he put the question +bluntly. An officer of the Army or of the Navy _must not_ answer a +question untruthfully. Neither, as a rule, may he make an evasive answer. +So the lieutenant commander thought a moment, before he replied: + +"I don't feel that I know you well enough, Mr. Benson, to express an +opinion that might be wholly fair to you. The most I can say, now, is that +I very sincerely hope such a thing will not happen again during your stay +at the Naval Academy." + +"It won't, sir," promised Jack Benson, "if I have hereafter the amount of +good judgment that I ought to be expected to possess." + +"I hope not, Mr. Benson, for it would destroy your usefulness here. A +civilian instructor here, as much as a naval instructor, must possess the +whole confidence and respect of the cadet battalion. I hope none of the +cadets who may have seen you this morning recognized you." + +Then, taking on a different tone, Mr. Mayhew informed his young listener +that a section of cadets would board the "Farnum" at eleven that morning, +another section at three in the afternoon, and a third at four o'clock. + +"Of course you will have everything aboard your craft wholly shipshape, +Mr. Benson, and I trust I hardly need add that, in the Navy, we are +punctual to the minute." + +"You will find me punctual to the minute before, sir." + +"Very good, Mr. Benson. That is all. You may go." + +Jack saluted, then turned away, finding his way to the deck. The cutter +was still alongside, and conveyed him back to the "Farnum." + +"Mr. Mayhew demanded your story, of course?" propounded Hal Hastings. +"What did he think?" + +"He didn't say so," replied Jack Benson, with a wry smile, "but he let me +see that he thought I was out of my element on a submarine boat." + +"How so?" + +"Why, it is very plain that Mr. Mayhew thinks I ought to employ my time +writing improbable fiction." + +"Oh, Mayhew be bothered!" exploded Eph. + +"Hardly," retorted Jack. "Mr. Mayhew is an officer and a gentleman. I +admit that my yarn _does_ sound fishy to a stranger. Besides, fellows, Mr. +Mayhew represents the naval officers through whose good opinion our +employers hope to sell a big fleet of submarine torpedo boats to the +United States Government." + +"Then what are you going to do about it?" asked Hal, as the three boys +reached the cabin below. + +"First of all, I'm going to rummage about and get myself some breakfast." + +"If you do, there'll be a fight," growled Eph Somers. "I'll hash up a +breakfast for you." + +"And, afterwards?" persisted Hal. + +"I'm going to try to win Mr. Mayhew's good opinion, and that of every +other naval officer or cadet I may happen to meet." + +"Why the cadets, particularly?" asked Eph Somers. + +"Because, for one business reason, the cadets are going to be the naval +officers of to-morrow, and the Pollard Submarine Boat Company hopes to be +building craft for the Navy for a good many years to come." + +"Good enough!" nodded Hal, while Eph dodged away to get that breakfast +ready. + +Sam Truax lounged back in the engine room, smoking a short pipe. With him +stuck Williamson, for Eph had privately instructed the machinist from the +Farnum yard not to leave the stranger alone in the engine room. + +"Why don't you go up on deck and get a few whiffs of fresh air?" asked +Truax. + +"Oh, I'm comfortable down here," grunted the machinist, who was stretched +out on one of the leather-cushioned seats that ran along the side of the +engine room. + +"I should think you'd want to get out of here once in a while, though," +returned Truax. + +"Why?" asked the machinist. "Anything you want to be left alone here for?" + +"Oh, of course not," drawled Truax, blowing out a cloud of tobacco smoke. + +"Then I guess I'll stay where I am," nodded Williamson. + +"Sorry, but you'll have to stop all smoking in here now," announced Eph, +thrusting his head in at the doorway. "There'll be a lot of cadets aboard +at eleven o'clock, and we want the air clear and sweet. You'd better go +all over the machinery and see that everything is in applepie order and +appearance. Mr. Hastings will be in here soon to inspect it." + +"Just what rank does _that_ young turkey-cock hold on board?" sneered +Truax, when the door had closed. + +"Don't know, I'm sure," replied Williamson. "All I know is that the three +youngsters are aboard here to run the boat and show it off to the best +advantage. My pay is running right along, and I've no kick at taking +orders from any one of them." + +"This is where I go on smoking, anyway," declared Truax, insolently, +striking a match and lighting his pipe again. Williamson reached over, +snatching the pipe from between the other man's teeth and dumping out the +coals, after which the machinist coolly dropped the pipe into one of his +own pockets. + +"If you go on this way," warned Williamson, "Captain Benson will get it +into his head to put you on shore in a jiffy, and for good." + +"I'd like to see him try it," sneered Sam Truax. + +"You'll get your wish, if you go on the way you've been going!" + +"Humph! I don't believe the Benson boy carries the size or the weight to +put me ashore." + +"He doesn't need any size or weight," retorted Williamson, crisply. "If +Captain Benson wants you off this boat, it's only the matter of a moment +for him to get a squad of marines on board--and you'll march off to the +'Rogues' March.'" + +"So that's the way he'd work it, eh?" demanded Sam Truax, turning green +and ugly around the lips. + +"You bet it is," retorted the machinist. "We're practically a part of the +United States Navy for these few days, and naval rules will govern any +game we may get into." + +On that hint things went along better in the engine room. When Hal +Hastings came in to inspect he found nothing to criticise. + +At the minute of eleven o'clock a squad of some twenty cadets came +marching down to the landing in front of the boat house. There Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew and one of his engineer officers met them. Two cutters +manned by sailors brought the party out alongside, where Jack and Hal +stood ready to receive them. + +A very natty looking squad of future admirals came aboard, grouping +themselves about on the platform deck. It was rather a tight squeeze for +so many human beings in that space. + +After greeting the submarine boys, Mr. Mayhew turned to the cadets, +calling their attention to the lines and outer construction of the +"Farnum." Then he turned to the three submarine boys, signing to them to +crowd forward. + +"These young gentlemen," announced the lieutenant commander, "are Mr. +Benson, Mr. Hastings and Mr. Somers. All three are thoroughly familiar +with the Pollard type of boat. As the Navy has purchased one Pollard boat, +and may acquire others, it is well that you cadets should understand all +the working details of the Pollard Submarine Company's crafts. A few of +you at a time will now step into the conning tower, and Mr. Benson will +explain to you the steering and control gear used there." + +Half a dozen of the cadets managed to squeeze into the conning tower. Jack +experienced an odd feeling, half of embarrassment, as he explained before +so many attentive pairs of eyes. Then another squad of cadets took the +place of the first on-lookers. After a while all had been instructed in +the use of the conning tower appliances. + +"Mr. Benson," continued the lieutenant commander, "will now lead the way +for all hands to the cabin. There he will explain the uses of the diving +controls, the compressed air apparatus, and other details usually worked +from the cabin." + +Down below came the cadets, in orderly fashion, without either haste or +lagging. Having warmed up to his subject, Jack Benson lectured earnestly, +even if not with fine skill. At last he paused. + +"Any of the cadets may now ask questions," announced Lieutenant Commander +Mayhew. + +There was a pause, then one of the older cadets turned to Jack to ask: + +"What volume of compressed air do you carry at your full capacity?" + +"Mr. Benson's present status," rapped Mr. Mayhew, quickly, "is that of a +civilian instructor. Any cadet who addresses Mr. Benson will therefore say +'sir,' in all cases, just as in addressing an officer of the Navy." + +The cadet so corrected, who was at least twenty-one years old, flushed as +he glanced swiftly at sixteen-year-old Jack. To say "sir" to such a +youngster seemed almost like a humiliation. Yet the cadet repeated his +question, adding the "sir." Jack quickly answered the question. Then two +or three other questions were asked by other cadets. It was plain, +however, that to all of the cadets the use of "sir" to so young a boy +appealed, at least, to their sense of humor. + +Through the engine room door Sam Truax and Williamson stood taking it all +in. Sam saw a flash in the eye of one big cadet when the question of "sir" +came up. + +Presently the squad filed into the engine room. Here Hal Hastings had the +floor for instruction. He did his work coolly, admirably, though he asked +Jack Benson to explain a few of the points. + +Then the questions began, directed at Hal. This time none of the cadets, +under the watchful eyes of Mr. Mayhew, forgot to say "sir" when speaking +to Hastings. + +Sam Truax edged up behind the big cadet whose eyes he had seen flash a few +moments before. + +"Go after Benson, good and hard," whispered Truax. + +The cadet looked keenly at Truax. + +"You can have a lot of fun with Benson," whispered Truax, "if you fire a +lot of questions at him, hard and fast. Benson is a conceited fellow, who +knows a few things about the boat, but you can get him rattled and +red-faced in no time." + + + + + + CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT + + +The big cadet wheeled upon Jack. + +"Mr. Benson, how long have you been engaged on submarine boats, sir?" + +"Since July," Jack replied. + +"July of this year?" + +"Yes." + +"And it is now October. Do you consider that enough time, sir, in which to +learn much about submarine boats?" + +"That depends," Skipper Jack replied, "upon a man's ability in such a +subject." + +"Is it long enough time, sir, for a boy?" + +That was rather a hard dig. Instantly the other cadets became all +attention. + +"It depends upon the boy, as it would upon the man," Jack answered. + +"Do you consider, Mr. Benson, that you know all about submarine boats, +sir?" + +"Oh, no." + +"Who does, sir?" + +"No one that I ever heard of," Jack answered. "Few men interested in +submarine boats know much beyond the peculiarities of their own boats." + +"And that applies equally to boys, sir?" + +"Yes," Jack smiled. + +"Do you consider yourself, sir, fully competent to handle this craft?" + +"I'd rather someone else would say it," Jack replied. "My employers, +though, seem to consider me competent." + +"What is this material, sir?" continued the cadet, resting a hand on a +piston rod. + +"Brass," Benson replied, promptly. + +"Do you know the specific gravity and the tensile strength of this brass?" + +Before Jack could answer Mr. Mayhew broke in, crisply: + +"That will do, Mr. Merriam. Your questions appear to go beyond the limits +of ordinary instruction, and to partake more of the nature of a +cross-examination. Such questions take up the time of the instruction tour +unnecessarily." + +Cadet Merriam flushed slightly, as he saluted the naval officer. Then the +cadet's jaws settled squarely. He remained silent. + +A few more questions and the hour was up. + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gave the order for the cadets to pass above +and embark in the cutters. He remained behind long enough to say to the +three submarine boys: + +"You have done splendidly, gentlemen--far better than I expected you to do. +If you manage the sea instruction as well, in the days to come, our cadets +will have a first-class idea of the handling of the Pollard boats." + +"I wish, sir," Jack replied, after thanking the officer, "that the cadets +were not required to say 'sir' to us. It sounds odd, and I am quite +certain that none of the young men like it." + +"It is necessary, though," replied Mr. Mayhew. "They are required to do it +with all civilian instructors, and it would never do to draw distinctions +on account of age. Yes; it is necessary." + +When the second squad of cadets arrived, in the afternoon, the three +submarine boys found themselves ready for their task without misgivings. +Eph took more part in the explanations than he had done in the forenoon. +Then came a third squad of cadets, to be taken over the same ground. The +young men of both these squads used the "sir" at once, having been +previously warned by one of the naval officers. + +"That will be all for to-day, Mr. Benson, and thank you and your friends +for some excellent work," said Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, when the third +squad had filed away. + +"Say, for hard work I'd like this job right along," yawned Eph Somers, +when the three were alone in the cabin. "Just talking three times a +day--what an easy way of living!" + +"It's all right for a while," agreed Jack. "But it would grow tiresome +after a few weeks, anyway. Lying here in the Basin, and talking like a +salesman once in a while, isn't like a life of adventure." + +"Oh, you can sigh for adventure, if you wish," yawned Eph. "As for me, +I've had enough hard work to appreciate a rest once in a while. Going into +the town to-night, Jack?" + +"Into town?" laughed the young skipper. "I went last night--and some of the +folks didn't do a thing to me, did they?" + +"Aren't you going to report the robbery to the police?" demanded Hal, +opening his eyes in surprise. + +"Not in a rush," Jack answered. "If I do, the police may start at once, +and that mulatto and his friends, being on the watch, will take the alarm +and get away. If I wait two or three days, then the mulatto's crowd will +think I've dropped the whole thing. I reckon the waiting game will fool +them more than any other." + +"Yes, and all the money they got away from you will be spent," muttered +Eph. + +Jack, none the less, decided to wait and think the matter over. + +Supper over, the submarine boys, for want of anything else to do, sat and +read until about nine o'clock. Then Jack looked up. + +"This is getting mighty tedious," he complained. "What do you fellows say +to getting on shore and stretching our legs in a good walk?" + +"In town?" grinned Eph, slyly. + +Jack flushed, then grinned. + +"No!" he answered quietly; "about the Academy grounds." + +"I wonder if it would be against the regulations for a lot of rank +outsiders like us to go through the grounds at this hour?" + +"'Rank outsiders'?" mimicked Jack Benson, laughing. "You forget, Hal, old +fellow, that we're instruct--hem! civilian instructors--here." + +"I wonder, though, if it would be in good taste for us to go prowling +through the grounds at this hour?" persisted Hal. + +"There's one sure way to find out," proposed Benson. "We can try it, and, +if no marine sentry chases us, we can conclude that we're moving about +within our rights. Come along, fellows." + +Putting on their caps, the three went up on the platform deck. The engine +room door was locked and Williamson and Truax had already turned in. There +was a shore boat at the landing. Jack sent a low-voiced hail that brought +the boat out alongside. + +"Will it be proper for us to go through the Academy grounds at this hour?" +Jack inquired of the petty officer in the stern. + +"Yes, sir; there's no regulation against it. And, anyway, sir, you're all +stationed here, just now." + +"Thank you. Then please take us ashore." + +At this hour the walks through the grounds were nearly deserted. A few +officers, and some of their ladies living at the naval station, were out. +The cadets were all in their quarters in barracks, hard at study, or +supposed to be. + +For some time the submarine boys strolled about, enjoying the air and the +views they obtained of buildings and grounds. Back at Dunhaven the air had +been frosty. Here, at this more southern port, the October night was +balmy, wholly pleasant. + +"I wonder if these cadets here ever have any real fun?" questioned Eph +Somers. + +"I've heard--or read--that they do," laughed Hal. + +"What sort of fun?" + +"Well, for one thing, the cadets of the upper classes haze the plebe +cadets a good deal." + +"Humph! That's fun for all but the plebes. Who are the plebes, anyway?" + +"The new cadets; the youngest class at the Academy," Hal replied. + +"What do they do to the plebe?" Eph wanted to know. + +"I guess the only way you could find that out, Eph, would be to join the +plebe class." + +"Reckon, when I come to Annapolis, I'll enter the class above the plebe," +retorted Somers. + +The three submarine boys had again approached the cadet barracks building. + +"Here comes a cadet now, Eph," whispered Jack. "If he has the time, I +don't doubt he'd be glad to answer any questions you may have for him." + +Young Benson offered this suggestion in a spirit of mischief, hoping the +approaching cadet, when questioned, would resent it stiffly. Then Eph +would be almost certain to flare up. + +The cadet, however, suddenly turned, coming straight toward them, smiling. + +"Good evening, gentlemen," was the cadet's greeting. + +"Good evening," was Jack's hearty reply. + +"You've never been here before, have you, sir?" + +"Never," Jack confessed. + +"Then I take it you have never, sir, seen the camelroorelephant?" + +"The cam--" began Eph Somers. + +Then he stopped, clapping both hands to his right jaw. + +"Won't you please hand that to us in pieces?" begged Eph, speaking as +though with difficulty. + +The cadet laughed heartily, then added: + +"Don't try to pronounce it, gentlemen, until you've seen the +camelroorelephant. It's a cadet joke, but it's well worth seeing. Shall I +take you to it?" + +"Why, yes, if you'll be good enough," Jack assented, heartily. + +The cadet glanced quickly about him, then said in a low voice: + +"This way, please, gentlemen." + +He led the strangers quickly around the end of barracks to an open space +in the rear. Here he halted. + +"Gentlemen, I must ask you to close your eyes, and keep them closed, on +honor, until I ask you to open them again. You won't have to keep your +eyes closed more than sixty seconds before the camelroorelephant will be +ready for inspection. Now, eyes closed, please." + +Lingering only long enough to make sure that his request had been met, the +cadet stole noiselessly away. + +Nor was it many seconds later when all three of the submarine boys began +to feel suddenly suspicious. + +"I'm going to open my eyes," whispered Eph. + +"You're on honor not to," warned Jack Benson, also in a whisper. + +"I didn't give my word," retorted Eph, "and I'm going to--oh, great shades +of Santiago!" + +The very genuine note of concern in Eph's voice caused Jack and Hal to +open their own eyes instantly. + +Nor could any of the three repress a quick start. + +From all quarters naval cadets were advancing stealthily upon them. +Something in the very attitude and poise of the young men told the +submarine boys that these naval cadets were out for mischief. + +"We're in for it!" breathed Jack, in an undertone. "We're in for something +real and startling, I reckon. Fellows, brace up and take your medicine, +whatever it is, like men!" + + + + + + CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED! + + +Nor was Jack's guess in the least wrong. + +Even had the submarine boys attempted to bolt they would have found it +impossible. They were surrounded. + +The cadets closed quickly in upon them. There were more than thirty of +these budding young naval officers. + +It was Cadet Merriam who stepped straight up to Jack, giving him a +grotesque and exaggerated salute, as he rumbled out: + +"Good evening, SIR!" + +Like a flash Jack Benson comprehended. These cadets intended fully to even +up matters for having been obliged to say "sir" to these very youthful +"civilian instructors." + +"Good evening," Jack smiled. + +"You have come to see the camelroorelephant, SIR?" + +"We've been told that we might have that pleasure," Jack responded, still +smiling. + +"Perhaps you may," retorted Cadet Merriam, "though, first of all, it will +be necessary to prove yourselves worthy of the privilege, SIR." + +"Anything within our power," promised Jack. + +"Then, SIR, let me see you all three stand 'at attention.'" + +"At attention" is the rigid attitude taken by a United States soldier or +sailor when in the presence of his officers. Jack had already seen men in +that attitude, and did his best to imitate it in smart military manner. +Eph and Hal did likewise. + +"No, no, no, you dense blockheads!" uttered Cadet Midshipman Merriam. "'At +attention' upside down--on your hands!" + +The other cadet midshipmen now hemmed in closely about the three. Jack +thought he caught the idea. He bent over, throwing his feet up in the air +and resting on his hands. Unable to keep his balance, he walked two or +three steps. + +"I didn't tell you to walk your post, blockhead!" scowled Mr. Merriam. +"Stand still when at attention." + +Jack tried, but of course made a ludicrous failure of standing still on +his hands. So did Hal and Eph. The latter, truth to tell, didn't try very +hard, for his freckled temper was coming a bit to the surface. + +"You're the rawest recruits, the worst landlubbers I've ever seen," +declared Cadet Midshipman Merriam, with severe dignity. "Rest, before you +try it any further." + +The smile had all but left Jack Benson's lips, though he tried to keep it +there. Hal Hastings made the most successful attempt at looking wholly +unconcerned. Eph's face was growing redder every minute. It is a +regrettable fact that Eph was really beginning to want to fight. + +"See here," ordered Mr. Merriam, suddenly, taking Jack by the arm, "you're +a horse, a full-blooded Arab steed--understand!" + +He gave young Benson a push that sent that youngster down to the ground on +all fours. + +"You're General Washington, out to take a ride on your horse," announced +Mr. Merriam, turning to Hal. "It's a ride for your health. Do you +understand? It will be wholly for your health to take that ride!" + +Hal Hastings couldn't help comprehending. With a sheepish grin he sat +astride of Jack Benson's back as the latter stood on all fours. + +"Go ahead with your ride, General," called Mr. Merriam. + +Jack pranced as best he could, on all fours, Hal making the load of his +own weight as light as he could. Over the ground the pair moved in this +nonsensical ride, the cadets following and grinning their appreciation of +the nonsense. + +Two of the young men followed, holding Eph by the arms between them. Mr. +Merriam now turned upon the unhappy freckled boy. + +"Down on all fours," ordered Mr. Merriam. "You're the measly dog that +barked at General Washington on that famous ride. Bark, you wretched +yellow cur--bark, bark, _bark_!" + +Though Eph Somers was madder than ever, he had just enough judgment +remaining to feel that the wisest thing would be to obey instructions. So, +on all fours, Eph raced after Jack, barking at him. + +"See how frightened the horse is," muttered one of the midshipmen. + +Taking the hint, Jack shied as well as he could. + +"That's all," said Mr. Merriam, at last. "All of that, at least." + +As the three submarine boys rose, each found himself gently held by a pair +of cadet midshipmen. It was a more or less polite hint that the ordeal was +not yet over. Mr. Merriam turned to whisper to one of the cadets, who +darted inside the barracks building. He was back, promptly, carrying a +folded blanket on his arm. + +A grin spread over the faces of the assembled cadet midshipmen. The bearer +of the blanket at once unfolded it. As many of the cadets as could got +hold of the edges, bending, holding the blanket spread out over the +ground. + +Jack Benson's two captors suddenly hurled him across the length of the +blanket with no gentle force. Instantly the cadets holding the blankets +straightened up, jerking it taut. Up into the air a couple of feet bounded +Jack. As his body came down the cadets holding the blanket gave it a still +harder jerk. This time Jack shot up into the air at least four feet. It +was the same old blanket-tossing, long popular both in the Army and Navy. +Every time Jack landed the blanket was given a harder jerk by those +holding it. Benson began to go higher and higher. + + [Illustration: Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him.] + + Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him. + + +And now the cadets broke into a low, monotonous chant, in time to their +movements. It ran: + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + Sir, sir, circle! + Sir, sir, with a shingle-- + Sir, sir, sir! + +As regular as drumbeats the cadets ripped out the syllables of the +refrain. At each word Jack Benson's body shot higher and higher. These +young men were experts in the gentle art of blanket-tossing. Ere long the +submarine boy was going up into the air some eight or nine feet at every +tautening of the blanket. + +As for escape, that was out of the question. No sooner did the submarine +boy touch the blanket than he shot skyward again. Had he desired to he +could not have called out. The motion and the sudden jolts shook all the +breath out of him. + +"Ugh! Hm! Pleasant, isn't it?" uttered Hal Hastings, grimly, under his +breath. + +"If they try to do that to me," whispered Eph, hotly, under his breath, +"I'll fight." + +"More simpleton you, then!" Hal shot back at him in warning. "What chance +do you think you stand against a crowd like this?" + +Just as suddenly as it had begun the blanket-tossing stopped. Yet, hardly +had Jack been allowed to step out than Hal Hastings was unceremoniously +dropped athwart the blanket. The tossing began again, to the chant of: + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + Sir, sir, circle! + +Right plentifully were these cadet midshipmen avenging themselves for +having had to say "sir" to these young submarine boys that day. + +"Woof!" breathed Jack, as soon as breath entered his body again. Eph +clenched his fists tightly, as Hal continued to go higher and higher. But +at last Hastings's ordeal was over. + +"I suppose they'll try that on me!" gritted Eph Somers to himself. "If +they do--" + +That was far as he got, for Eph was suddenly flung upon the blanket. + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + +Then how Eph _did_ go up and down! It was as though these cadet midshipmen +knew that it would make Eph mad, madder, maddest! These budding young +naval officers fairly bent to their work, tautening and loosening on the +blanket until their muscles fairly ached. + +It was lofty aerial work that Eph Somers was doing. Up and up--higher and +higher! Without the need of any effort on his own part young Somers was +now traveling upward at the rate of ten or eleven feet at every punctuated +bound. + +Then, suddenly, there came a sound that chilled the blood of every young +cadet midshipman hazer present. + +"_Halt!_ Where you are!" + +Under the shadow of the barracks building a naval officer had appeared. He +now came forward, a frown on his face, eyeing the culprits. + +It is no merry jest for cadet midshipmen to be caught at hazing! And here +were some thirty of them--red-handed! + + + + + + CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER + + +At the first word of command from the officer several of the cadet +midshipmen who were near enough to an open doorway vanished through it. + +As the officer strode through the group of startled young men a few more, +left behind his back, made a silent disappearance. + +There were left, however, as the officer looked about him, sixteen of the +young men, all too plainly headed and led by Cadet Midshipman Merriam. + +"Young gentlemen," said the officer, severely, "I regret to find so many +of you engaged in hazing. It is doubly bad when your victims are men +outside the corps. And, if I mistake not, these young gentlemen are here +as temporary civilian instructors in submarine work." + +Mr. Merriam and his comrades made no reply in words. Nor did their faces +express much. They stood at attention, looking stolidly ahead of them, +though their faces were turned toward the officer. It was not the place of +any of them to speak unless the officer asked questions. + +Severe as the hazing had been, however, Jack and Hal, at least, had taken +it all in good part. Nor was Jack bound by any of the rules of etiquette +that prevented the cadets from speaking. + +"May I offer a word, sir?" asked Jack, wheeling upon the officer. + +"You were one of the victims of a hazing, were you not?" demanded the +officer, regarding Jack, keenly. + +"Why, could you call it that, sir?" asked Jack, a look of innocent +surprise settling on his face. "We called it a demonstration--an +explanation." + +"Demonstration? Explanation?" repeated the officer, astonished in his +turn. "What do you mean, Mr.--er--?" + +"Benson," Jack supplied, quietly. + +"I think you would better tell me a little more, Mr. Benson," pursued the +unknown naval officer. + +"Why, it was like this, sir," Jack continued. "My two friends--Hastings and +Somers--and myself were talking about the West Point and Annapolis hazings, +of which we had heard and read. We were talking about the subject when a +cadet came along. I suggested to Somers that we ask the cadet about +hazing. Well, sir, to make a long story short, some of the cadets +undertook to show us just how hazing is--or used to be--done at Annapolis." + +"Oh! Then it was all thoroughly good-natured, all in the way of a joke, to +show you something you wanted to know?" asked the naval officer, slowly. + +"That's the way I took it," replied Jack. "So did Hastings and Somers. +We've enjoyed ourselves more than anyone else here has." + +This was truth surely enough, for, in the last two minutes, not one of the +cadet midshipmen present could have been accused of _enjoying_ himself. + +"Then what took place here, Mr. Benson, really took place at your +request?" insisted the naval officer. + +"It all answered the questions that we had been asking," Jack replied, +promptly, though, it must be admitted, rather evasively. + +"This is your understanding, too, Mr. Hastings?" demanded the officer. + +"Surely," murmured Hal. + +"You, Mr. Somers?" + +"I--I haven't had so much fun since the gasoline engine blew up," protested +Eph. + +"We entered most heartily into the spirit of the thing," Jack hastened on +to say, "and feel that we owe the deepest thanks to these young gentlemen +of the Navy. Yet, if our desire to know more about the life--that is, the +former life--of the Academy is to result in getting our entertainers into +any trouble, we shall never cease regretting our unfortunate curiosity." + +For some moments the naval officer regarded the three submarine boys, +solemnly, in turn. From them he turned to look over the cadet midshipmen. +The latter looked as stolid, and stood as rigidly at attention, as ever. + +"Under this presentation of the matter," said the officer, after a long +pause, "I am not prepared to say that there has been any violation of +discipline. At least, no grave infraction. However, some of these young +gentlemen are, I believe, absent from their quarters without leave. Mr. +Merriam?" + +"I have permission to be absent from my quarters between nine and ten, +sir." + +"Mr. Caldwell?" + +"Absent from quarters without permission, sir." + +So on down through the list the officer ran. Nine of the young men proved +to have leave to be away from their quarters. The other seven did not have +such permission. The names of these seven, therefore, were written down to +be reported. The seven, too, were ordered at once back to their quarters. + +Having issued his instructions, the naval officer turned and walked away. +Jack and his comrades, too, left the scene. + +Yet they had not gone far when they heard a low hail behind. Turning, they +saw Cadet Midshipmen Merriam hastening toward them. + +"Gentlemen," he said, earnestly, as he reached them, "it may not be best +for me to be seen lingering here to talk with you. But my comrades wanted +me to come after you and to say that we think you bricks. You carried that +off finely, Mr. Benson. None of us will ever forget it." + +"It wasn't much to do," smiled Jack, pleasantly. + +"It was quick-witted of you, and generous too, sir," rejoined Mr. Merriam, +finding it now very easy to employ the "sir." "Probably you agree with us +that no great crime was committed, anyway. But, just the same, hazing is +under a heavy ban these days. If you hadn't saved the day as you did, sir, +all of our cadet party might have been dismissed the Service. Those absent +from quarters without leave will get only a few demerits apiece. We have +that much to thank you for, sir, and we do. All our thanks, remember. Good +night, sir." + +"My courage was down in my boots for a while," confessed Hal Hastings, as +the three chums continued their walk back to the Basin. + +"When?" demanded Eph, grimly. "When your boots--and the rest of you--were so +high up in the air over the blanket?" + +"No; when the cadets were caught at it," replied Hal. + +"Say, Jack," demanded Eph, "do you ever give much thought to the future +life?" + +"Meaning the life in the next world?" questioned Benson. + +"Yes." + +"I sometimes give a good deal of thought to it," Jack confessed. + +"Then where do you expect to go, when the time comes?" + +"Why?" + +"After the whoppers you told that officer?" + +"I didn't tell him even a single tiny fib," protested Jack, indignantly. + +"Oh, you George Washington!" choked Eph Somers. + +"Well, I didn't," insisted Jack. "Now, just stop and think. Weren't we all +three discussing hazing?" + +"Yes." + +"Then that part of what I told the officer was straight. Now, Eph, when we +saw that first cadet come along, didn't I suggest to you to ask him about +hazing?" + +"Ye-es," admitted Somers, thoughtfully. + +"Then, didn't the cadet midshipmen offer to show us all about hazing +pranks, and didn't they do it?" + +"Well, rather," muttered Eph. + +"Now, young man, that's all I told the officer, except that we enjoyed our +entertainment greatly." + +"_Did_ we enjoy it, though?" demanded Eph Somers, bridling up. + +"I did," replied Jack, "and I spoke for myself. I enjoyed it as I would +enjoy almost any new experience." + +"So did I," added Hal, warmly. "It was rough--mighty rough--but now I know +what an Annapolis hazing is like, and I'm glad I do." + +"Well, I want to tell you I didn't enjoy it," blazed Eph. "It was a mighty +cheeky--" + +"Then why did you let the officer imagine you enjoyed it?" taunted Jack. + +While Hal put in, slyly: + +"Eph, you're too quick to talk about others fibbing. From the evidence +just put in, it's evident that you're the only one of the three who fibbed +any. Won't you please walk on the other side of the road? I never did like +to travel with liars." + +"Oh, you go to Jericho!" flared Eph. But, as he walked along, he blinked a +good deal, and did some hard thinking. + +"I'll tell you," broke out Jack, suddenly, "who thanks us even more than +the cadets themselves do." + +"Who?" queried Hal. + +"That officer who caught the crowd at it." + +"Do you think he cared?" + +"Of course he did," said Jack, positively. "He'd rather have gone hungry +for a couple of days than have to report that bunch for hazing." + +"Then why was he so infernally stiff with the young men?" + +"He had to be; that's the answer. That officer, like every other officer +of the Navy detailed here, is sworn to do his full duty. So he has to +enforce the regulations. But don't you suppose, fellows, that officer was +hazed, and did some hazing on his own account, when he was a cadet +midshipman here years ago? Of course! And that's why the officer didn't +question us any more closely than he did. He was afraid he might stumble +on something that would oblige him to report the whole crowd for hazing. +_He_ didn't want to do it. That officer, I'm certain, knew that, if he +questioned us too closely, he'd find a lot more beneath the surface that +he simply didn't want to dig up." + +"Would you have told the truth, if he had questioned you searchingly, and +pinned you right down?" demanded Eph Somers. + +"Of course I would," Jack replied, soberly. "I'm no liar. But I feel +deeply grateful to that officer for not being keener." + +Before nine o'clock the next morning news of the night's doings back of +barracks had spread through the entire corps of cadet midshipmen. + +With these young men of the Navy there was but one opinion of the +submarine boys--that they were trumps, wholly of the right sort. + +As a result, Jack, Hal and Eph had hundreds of new friends among those who +will officer the Navy of the morrow. + +Not so bad, even just as a stroke of business! + + + + + + CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE + + +For the next ten days things moved along without much excitement for the +submarine boys. + +During that time they had an average of four sections a day of cadet +midshipmen to instruct in the workings of the Pollard type of submarine +torpedo boat. + +During the last few days short cruises were taken on the Severn River, in +order that the middies might practise at running the motors and handling +the craft. At such times one squad of midshipmen would be on duty in the +engine room, another in the conning tower and on the platform deck. + +Of course, when the midshipmen handled the "Farnum," under command of a +Navy officer, the submarine boys had but little more to do than to be on +board. Certainly they were not overworked. Yet all three were doing fine +work for their employers in making the Navy officers of the future like +the Pollard type of craft. + +After waiting a few days Jack Benson reported to the Annapolis police his +experience with the mulatto "guide." The police thought they recognized +the fellow, from the description, and did their best to find him. The +mulatto, however, seemed to have disappeared from that part of the +country. + +There came a Friday afternoon when, as the last detachment of middies +filed over the side into the waiting cutter, Lieutenant Commander Mayhew +announced: + +"This, Mr. Benson, completes the instruction desired in the Basin and in +the river. To-morrow and Sunday you will have for rest. On Monday, at 10 +A.M., a section will report aboard for the first trip out to sea. Then you +will show our young men how the boat dives, and how she is run under +water. As none of our cadet midshipmen have ever been below in a submarine +before, you will be sure of having eager students." + +"And perhaps some nervous ones," smiled Skipper Jack. + +"Possibly," assented Mr. Mayhew. "I doubt it, though. Nervousness is not a +marked trait of any young man who has been long enrolled at the Naval +Academy." + +"Can we have a slight favor done us, Mr. Mayhew?" Jack asked. + +"Any reasonable favor, of course." + +"Then, sir, we'd like to spend a little time ashore, as we've been +confined so long aboard. If I lock up everything tight on the boat until +Sunday night, may we know that the 'Farnum' will be under the protection +of the marine guard?" + +"I feel that there will not be the slightest difficulty in promising you +that," replied Mr. Mayhew. "I will telephone the proper authorities about +it as soon as I go on shore." + +All hands on board were pleased over the prospect of going ashore, with +the exception of Sam Truax. + +"You don't need any guard on the boat," he protested. "I don't want to go +ashore. Leave me here and I'll be all the guard necessary." + +"We're all going ashore," Jack replied. + +"But I haven't any money to spend ashore," objected Truax. + +"I'll let you have ten dollars on account, then," replied Jack, who was +well supplied with money, thanks to a draft received from Jacob Farnum. + +"I don't want to go ashore, anyway." + +"I'm sorry, Truax, but it doesn't really make any difference. The boat +will be closed up tight, and there wouldn't be any place for you to stay, +except on the platform deck." + +"You're not treating me fairly," protested Sam Truax, indignantly. + +"I'm sorry you think so. Still, if you're not satisfied, all I can do is +to pay you off to date. Then you can go where you please." + +"I'm here by David Pollard's order. Do you forget that?" + +"He sent you along to us, true," admitted Jack, "but I have instructions +from Mr. Farnum to dismiss anyone whose work on board I don't like. Now, +Truax, you're a competent enough man in the engine room, and there's no +sense in having to let you go. You're well paid, and can afford the time +on shore. I wouldn't make any more fuss about this, but do as the rest of +us are going to do." + +"Oh, I'll have to, then, since you're boss here," grumbled Truax, sulkily. + +"I don't want to make it felt too much that I _am_ boss here," Jack +retorted, mildly. "At the same time, though, I'm held responsible, and so +I suppose I'll have to have things done the way that seems best to me." + +Sam Truax turned to get his satchel. The instant his back was turned on +the young commander Sam's face was a study in ugliness. + +"Oh, I'll take this all out of you," muttered the fellow to himself. "I +don't believe, Jack Benson, you'll go on the cruising next week. If you +do, you won't be much good, anyway!" + +Ten minutes later a shore boat landed the entire party from the submarine +craft. + +"Going with the rest of us, Truax?" inquired Jack, pleasantly. + +"No; I'm going to find a boarding-house. That will be cheaper than the +hotel." + +So the other four kept straight on to the Maryland House, giving very +little more thought to the sulky one. + +It was not until after supper that Eph turned the talk back to Sam Truax. + +"I don't like the fellow, at all," declared young Somers. "He always wants +to be left alone in the engine room, for one thing." + +"And I've made it my business, regular," added Williamson, the machinist, +"to see that he doesn't have his wish." + +"He's always sulky, and kicking about everything," added Eph. "I may be +wrong, but I can't get it out of my head that the fellow came aboard on +purpose to be a trouble-maker." + +"Why, what object could he have in that?" asked Captain Jack. + +"Blessed if I know," replied Eph. "But that's the way I size the fellow +up. Now, take that time you were knocked senseless, back in Dunhaven. Who +could have done that? The more I think about Sam Truax, the more I suspect +him as the fellow who stretched you out." + +"Again, what object could he have?" inquired Benson. + +"Blessed if I know. What object could anyone have in such a trick against +you? It was a state prison job, if the fellow had been caught at the +time." + +"Well, there's one thing Truax was innocent of, anyway," laughed Captain +Jack. "He didn't have any hand in the way I was tricked and robbed by the +mulatto." + +"Blamed if I'm so sure he didn't have a hand in that, too," contended Eph +Somers, stubbornly. + +"Yet Mr. Pollard recommended him," urged Jack. + +"Yes, and a fine fellow Dave Pollard is--true as steel," put in Hal +Hastings, quietly. "Yet you know what a dreamer he is. Always has his head +in the air and his thoughts among the stars. He'd as like as not take a +fellow like Truax on the fellow's own say-so, and never think of looking +him up." + +"Oh, we've no reason to think Truax isn't honest enough," contended Jack +Benson. "He's certainly a fine workman. As to his being sulky, you know +well enough that's a common fault among men who spend their lives +listening to the noise of great engines. A man who can't make himself +heard over the noise of a big engine hasn't much encouragement to talk. +Now, a man who can't find much chance to talk becomes sulky a good many +times out of ten." + +"We'll have trouble with that fellow, Truax, yet," muttered Eph. + +"Oh, I hope not," Jack answered, then added, significantly: + +"If he _does_ start any trouble he may find that he has been trifling with +the wrong crowd!" + +Very little more thought was given to the sulky one. The submarine boys +and their companion, Williamson, enjoyed Saturday and Sunday ashore. + +All of them might have felt disturbed, however, had they known of one +thing that happened. + +The naval machinists aboard the first submarine boat, the "Pollard," now +owned by the United States Government, found something slightly out of +order with the "Pollard's" engine that they did not know exactly how to +remedy. + +Sam Truax, hanging around the Basin that Sunday forenoon, was called upon. +He gladly responded to the call for help. For four hours he toiled along +in the "Pollard's" engine room. Much of that time he spent there alone. + +The job done, at last, Truax quietly received the thanks of the naval +machinists and went ashore again. + +Yet, as he turned and walked toward the main gate of the grounds, there +was a smile on Sam Truax's face that was little short of diabolical. + +"Now, if I can only get the same chance at the 'Farnum's' engines!" he +muttered, to himself. "If I can, I think Mr. Jack Benson will find himself +out of favor with his company, for his company will be out of favor with +the Navy Department at Washington!" + + + + + + CHAPTER XIV: THE "POLLARD" GOES LAME + + +"The submarine boats when out in the Bay will keep abreast of the +'Hudson,' two hundred yards off on either beam. The speed will be fourteen +knots when the signal is given for full speed. The general course, after +leaving the mouth of the Bay will be East." + +Such were the instructions called from the rail of the gunboat, through a +megaphone, Monday forenoon. + +On each of the submarine craft were sixteen cadet midshipmen, out for +actual practice in handling a submarine in diving and in running under +water. On board the gunboat were eighty more cadets. Thus a large class of +the young men were to receive instruction during the cruise, for the +detachments aboard the submarines could be changed at the pleasure of +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, who was in charge of the cruise. + +Captain Jack, his own hands on the conning tower wheel, ran the "Farnum" +out into the river, first of all. Then the "Pollard," under command of a +naval officer, followed. Both backed water, then waited for the "Hudson" +to come out, for the gunboat was to lead the way until the Bay was +reached. Then the formation ordered would be followed. + +Though it was nearing the first of November, the day, near land, was +ideally soft and balmy. As many of the midshipmen as could sought the +platform deck of the "Farnum." Those, however, who belonged to the +engineer division were obliged to spend the greater part of their time +below. + +By the time that the three craft were in the ordered formation, abreast, +and well started down Chesapeake Bay, the parent vessel signaled that the +designated cadets were to take charge of the handling of the submarine +boats. + +Jack Benson cheerfully relinquished the wheel to Cadet Midshipman Merriam, +and stepped out on to the platform deck. At need, as in case of accident +or misunderstanding of signals or orders, Benson was still in command. +While all ran smoothly, however, Mr. Merriam enjoyed command. + +Hal, being likewise relieved in the engine room, came also out on deck. + +"Where's Eph?" inquired the young commander of the "Farnum." + +"In the engine room," smiled Hal. "He said I could leave, if I wanted, but +that he'd be hanged if he'd let Truax out of his sight while I was away." + +"Eph seems to have Truax on the brain," laughed Jack. + +"Well, Truax _is_ a queer and surly one," Hal admitted. "This morning he +gives one the impression of peeking over his shoulder all the time to see +whether he's being watched." + +"So Eph means to humor him by watching him, eh?" asked Jack. + +Hal laughed quietly. + +Some of the cadets who were familiar with the landmarks of Chesapeake Bay +pointed out many of the localities and sights to the two submarine boys. + +At last, however, Eph was obliged to call for Hal. + +"You know, Hal, old fellow, I've got to look out for the feeding of a lot +of boarders to-day," complained Eph, whimsically. + +This task of Eph's took time, though it was not a hard one. The food for +the cadets had been sent aboard. Eph had to make coffee and heat soup. For +the rest, cold food had to do. The young men, on this trip, were required +to wait on themselves. + +Hal found Sam Truax sitting moodily in a corner of the engine room, though +there was something about the fellow's appearance that suggested the +watchfulness of a cat. + +"Why don't you go on deck a while, Truax?" asked Hal, kindly. + +"Don't want to," snapped the fellow, irritably. So Hal turned his back on +the man. + +"Doesn't that part need loosening up a bit, sir?" asked the cadet in +charge of the engineer division. + +"Yes," replied Hastings, after watching a moment; "it does." + +"I'll do it, then," proposed Truax, roughly. He attempted to crowd his way +past Hal, but the latter refused to be crowded, and stood his ground until +the midshipman passed him a wrench. Then Hastings loosened up the part. + +"You might let me do a little something," growled Sam Truax, in a tone +intentionally offensive. + +"Don't forget, Truax, that I'm in command in this department," retorted +Hal, in a quieter tone than usual, though with a direct, steady look that +made Sam Truax turn white with repressed wrath. + +"You won't let me forget it, will you?" snarled the fellow. + +"No; for I don't want you to forget it, and least of all on this cruise," +responded Hal Hastings. + +"You don't give me any chance to--" + +"Silence!" ordered Hal, taking a step toward him. + +Sam Truax opened his mouth to make some retort, then wisely changed his +mind, dropping back into his former seat. + +The noon meal was served to all hands. By the time it was well over the +mouth of the Bay was in sight, the broad Atlantic rolling in beyond. + +The sea, when reached, proved to be almost smooth. It was ideal weather +for such a cruise. + +Then straight East, for an hour they went, getting well out of the path of +coasting vessels. + +"Hullo! What in blazes does that mean?" suddenly demanded Hal, pointing +astern at starboard. + +The "Pollard" lay tossing gently on the water, making no headway. Hardly +ten seconds later the "Hudson" signaled a halt. + +Then followed some rapid signaling between the gunboat and the submarine +that had stopped. There was some break in the "Pollard's" machinery, but +the cause had not yet been determined. + +"Blazes!" muttered Jack, uneasily. "It couldn't have happened at a worse +time. This looks bad for our firm, Hal!" + +The "Farnum" now lay to, as did the "Hudson," for the officer in command +of the "Pollard" signaled that his machinists were making a rapid but +thorough investigation of the unfortunate submarine's engines. + +Finally, a cutter put off from the "Hudson," with a cadet midshipman in +charge. The small boat came over alongside, and the midshipman called up: + +"The lieutenant commander's compliments, and will Mr. Benson detail Mr. +Hastings to go over to the 'Pollard' and assist?" + +"My compliments to the lieutenant commander," Jack replied. "And be good +enough to report to him, please, that Mr. Hastings and I will both go." + +"My orders, sir, are to convey you to the 'Pollard' before reporting back +to the parent vessel," replied the midshipman. + +The cutter came alongside, taking off the two submarine boys, while Eph +Somers devoted himself to watching Sam Truax as a bloodhound might have +hung to a trail. + +Arrived on board the good, old, familiar "Pollard," Jack and Hal hurried +below. + +"The machinery is too hot to handle, now, sir," reported one of the naval +machinists, "but it looks as though something was wrong right in +there"--pointing. + +"Put one of the electric fans at work there, at once," directed Hal. "Then +things ought to be cool enough in half an hour, to make an examination +possible." + +After seeing this done, the two submarine boys left for the platform deck, +for the engine room was both hot and crowded. + +"How long is it going to take you, Mr. Hastings?" asked the naval officer +in command of the "Pollard." + +"Half an hour to get the parts cool enough to examine, but I can't say, +sir, how long the examination and repairs will take." + +So the officer in command signaled what proved to be vague and +unsatisfactory information to Lieutenant Commander Mayhew. + +"This is a bad time to have this sort of thing happen," observed the naval +officer in charge. + +"A mighty bad time, sir," Jack murmured. + +"And the engines of the 'Pollard' were supposed to be in first-class +condition." + +"They _were_ in A-1 condition, when the boat was turned over to the Navy," +Jack responded. + +"Do you imagine, then, Mr. Benson, that some of the naval machinists have +been careless or incompetent?" + +"Why, that would be a wild guess to make, sir, when one remembers what +high rank your naval machinists take in their work," Jack Benson replied. + +"And this boat was sold to the Navy with the strongest guarantee for the +engines," pursued the officer in charge. + +Jack and Hal were both worried. The sudden break had a bad look for the +Pollard boats, in the success of which these submarine boys were most +vitally interested. + +At last, from below, the suspected parts of the engine were reported to be +cool enough for examination. The naval officer in charge followed Jack and +Hal below. + +Taking off his uniform blouse and rolling up his sleeves, Hal sailed in +vigorously to locate the fault. Machinists and cadets stood about, passing +him the tools he needed, and helping him when required. + +At last, after disconnecting some parts, Hal drew out a long, slender +brass piston. + +As he held it up young Hastings's face went as white as chalk. + +"Do you see this?" he demanded, hoarsely. + +"Filed, crazily, and it also looks as though the inner end had been heated +and tampered with," gasped Jack Benson. + +"This, sir," complained Hal, turning around to face the naval officer in +charge, "looks like a direct attempt to tamper with and damage the engine. +Someone has done this deliberately, sir. It only remains to find the +culprit." + +"Then we'll find out," retorted the naval officer, "if it takes a court of +inquiry and a court martial to do it. But are you sure of your charge, Mr. +Hastings?" + +"Am I sure?" repeated Hal, all the soul of the young engineer swelling to +the surface. "Take this piston, sir, and examine it. Could such a job have +been done, unless by sheer design and intent?" + +"Will the lieutenant permit me to speak?" asked the senior machinist, +taking a step forward and saluting. + +"Yes; go ahead." + +"Yesterday morning, sir," continued the senior machinist, "we thought the +engines needed some overhauling by someone more accustomed to them than we +were. We saw one of the machinists of the 'Farnum,' sir, hanging about on +shore. So we invited him aboard and asked him to look the engines over." + +"Describe the man," begged Jack. + +The senior machinist gave a description that instantly denoted Sam Truax +as the man in question. + +"Did you leave him alone in here, at any time?" demanded Hal. + +"Let me see. Why, yes, sir. The man must have been alone in here some +three-quarters of an hour." + +Jack and Hal exchanged swift glances. + +There seemed, now, very little need of carrying the investigation further. + + + + + + CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK + + +When he could trust himself to speak Hal Hastings addressed the naval +officer. + +"I think Mr. Benson and myself understand, sir, how it happened that this +damage was done. There are extra parts in the repair kit. In twenty +minutes, sir, I think we can have the engines running smoothly once more." + +The naval officer was wise enough not to press the questioning further +just then. Instead, he went on deck. + +Working like beavers, and with the assistance of others standing about, +Jack and Hal had the piston replaced and all the other parts in place +within fifteen minutes. Then, once more, Hal turned on the gasoline, set +the ignition, and watched. + +The engine ran as smoothly as ever. + +"There won't be any more trouble, unless someone is turned loose here with +files and a blast lamp," pronounced Hal. Then he and his chum sought the +deck, to report to the officer in charge. + +"You think we're in running order, now?" asked that officer. + +"If you give the speed-ahead signal, sir, I think you'll feel as though +you had a live engine under your deck," Hal assured him. + +The signal was given, the "Pollard" immediately responding. She cut a wide +circle, at good speed, returning to her former position, where the +propellers were stopped. + +"You suspect your own machinist, who was aboard?" asked the naval officer, +in a low tone, of the submarine boys. + +"If you'll pardon our not answering directly, sir," Captain Jack replied, +"we want to have more than suspicions before we make a very energetic +report on this strange accident. But we shall not be asleep, sir, in the +matter of finding out. Then we shall make a full report to Mr. Mayhew." + +"Success to you--and vigilance!" muttered the naval officer. + +The gunboat's cutter came alongside, transferring Jack and Hal back to the +"Farnum." + +Hal went directly below to the engine room. + +"You fixed the trouble with the 'Pollard'?" demanded Eph Somers, eagerly. + +"Yes," Hal admitted. + +"What was wrong?" + +"Why, I don't know as I'd want to commit myself in too offhand a way," +replied Hal, slowly, as though thinking. + +"What appeared to be at the bottom of the trouble?" + +"Why, it _may_ have been that one of the naval machinists, not +understanding our engines any too well, allowed one of the pistons to get +overheated, and then resorted to filing," Hal replied. + +"What? Overheat a piston, and then try to correct it with a file?" cried +young Somers, disgustedly. "The crazy blacksmith! He ought to be set to +shoeing snails--that's all he's fit for." + +"It looks that way," Hal assented, smiling. + +Artful, clever Hal! He had carried it all off so coolly and naturally that +Sam Truax, who had been closely studying Hastings's face from the +background, was wholly deceived. + +"This fellow, Hastings, isn't as smart as I had thought him," muttered +Truax, to himself. + +The interrupted cruise now proceeded, the parent vessel signaling for a +temporary speed of sixteen knots in order to make up for lost time. + +Twenty minutes later came the signal from the "Hudson:" + +"At the command, the submarines will dash ahead at full speed, each making +its best time. During this trial, which will end at the firing of a gun +from the parent vessel, all cadets will be on deck." + +Word was immediately passed below, and all the cadets of the engineer +division came tumbling up. + +To these, who had been in the engine room constantly for hours, the cool +wind blowing across the deck was highly agreeable. + +For the speed dash Captain Jack Benson had again taken command. He passed +word below to Eph Somers to take the wheel in the conning tower. + +Eph, therefore, came up with the last of the cadets from below. In the +excitement of the pending race it had not been noticed by any of the +submarine boys that Williamson was already on deck, aft. That left Sam +Truax below in sole possession of the boat's engine quarters. + +The gunboat now fell a little behind, leaving the two submarines some four +hundred yards apart, but as nearly as possible on a line. + +"Look at the crowd over on the 'Pollard's' decks," muttered Hal. "They're +all Navy folks over there." + +"And they mean to beat such plain 'dubs' as they must consider us," +laughed Captain Jack, in an undertone. + +"Will they beat us, though?" grinned Hal Hastings. "You and I, Jack, +happen to know that the 'Farnum' is a bit the faster boat by rights." + +Suddenly the signal broke out from the gunboat. + +"Race her, Eph!" shouted Captain Jack. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +Eph Somers's right hand caught at the speed signals beside the wheel. He +called for all speed, the bell jangling merrily in the engine room. + +A little cheer of excitement went up from the cadets aboard the "Farnum" +as that craft shot ahead over the waters. The cadets were catching the +thrill of what was virtually a race. At the same time, though, these +midshipmen could not help feeling a good deal of interest in the success +of the "Pollard," which was manned wholly by representatives of the Navy. + +In the first three minutes the "Farnum" stole gradually, though slowly, +ahead of the "Pollard." Then, to the disgust of all three of the submarine +boys, the other craft was seen to be gaining. Before long the "Pollard" +had the lead, and looked likely to increase it. Already gleeful cheers +were rising from the all-Navy crowd on the deck of the other submarine. + +Behind the racers sped the "Hudson," keeping just far enough behind to be +able to observe everything without interfering with either torpedo craft. + +From looking at the "Pollard" Captain Jack glanced down at the water. His +own boat's bows seemed to be cutting the water at a fast gait. The young +skipper, knowing what he knew about both boats, could not understand this +losing to the other craft. + +"The Navy men must know a few tricks with engines that we haven't +guessed," he observed, anxiously, to young Hastings. + +"I don't know what it can be, then," murmured Hal, uneasily. "There aren't +so confusingly many parts to a six-cylinder gasoline motor. They aren't +hard engines to run. More depends on the engine itself than on the +engineer." + +"But look over there," returned Captain Jack Benson. "You see the +'Pollard' taking the wind out of our teeth, don't you?" + +"Yes," Hal admitted, looking more puzzled. + +"Do you think our engines are doing the top-notch of their best?" asked +Benson. + +"Yes; for Williamson is a crackerjack machinist. He knows our engines as +well as any man alive could do." + +"Do you think it would do any good for you to go below, Hal?" + +"I will, if you say so," offered Hastings. "Yet there's another side to +it." + +"What?" + +"Williamson might get it into his head that I went below because I thought +he was making a muddle of the speed. As a matter of fact, he knows every +blessed thing I do about our motors, and Williamson is loyal to the core." + +"I know," nodded Captain Jack. "I'd hate to hurt a fine fellow's feelings. +Yet--confound it, I _do_ want to win this burst of speed. It means, +perhaps, the quick sale of this boat to the Navy. If we're beaten it +means, to the Secretary of the Navy, that he already has our best boat, +and he might not see the need of buying the 'Farnum' at all." + +"Give Williamson two or three minutes more," begged Hal. "You might tell +Eph, though, to repeat, and repeat, the signal for top speed. That'll show +Williamson we're losing." + +Jack Benson walked to the conning tower, instructing Eph Somers in a low +tone. + +"I've signaled twice, since the first time," Eph replied. "But here goes +some more." + +"I wonder what's going wrong with our engines, then," muttered Captain +Jack, uneasily. + +"It ain't in careless steering, anyway," grumbled Eph. "I'm going as +straight as a chalk line." + +"I noticed that," Captain Jack admitted. + +He continued to look worried, for, by this time, the "Pollard" was at +least a good two hundred and fifty yards to the good in the lead. + +"I'm afraid," muttered Hal, rejoining Benson, "that I'll simply have to go +below." + +"I'm afraid so," nodded Jack. "We simply can't afford to lose this or any +other race to the 'Pollard.'" + +"Williamson knows that fully as well as we do, though," Hal Hastings went +on. "And Williamson--" + +Of a sudden Hal stopped short. He half staggered, clutching at a rail, +while his eyes stared and his lips twitched. + +"Why--why--there's Williamson--aft on the deck!" muttered Hastings. + +"What!" + +Jack, too, wheeled like a flash. Back there in a crowd of cadets stood the +machinist upon whom the submarine boys were depending for the best showing +that the "Farnum" could make. + +"Williamson up here!" gasped Hal. "And--" + +"That fellow, Truax, all alone with the motors!" hissed Captain Jack. +Then, after a second or two of startled silence: + +"Come on, Hal!" + +The naval cadets were too much absorbed in watching the race to have +overheard anything. Williamson, too, standing at the rail, looking out +over the water, had not yet discovered that Hal Hastings was up from the +engine room. + +Jack Benson stole below on tip-toe, though with the machinery running so +much stealth was not necessary. Right behind him followed Hal. + +As the two gained the doorway of the engine room Sam Truax had his back +turned to them, and so did not note the sudden watchers. + +There was a smile of malicious triumph on Truax's face as he turned a +lever a little way over, thus decreasing the ignition power of the motors. + +Both Jack and Hal could see that the gasoline flow had been turned on +nearly to the full capacity. It was the poor ignition work that was making +the motors respond so badly. A little less, and a little less, of the +electric spark that burned the gasoline and air mixture--that was the +secret of the gradually decreasing speed, while all the time it looked as +though the "Farnum" was doing her level best to win the race. + +Whistling, as he bent over, Sam Truax caught up a long, slender steel bar. +With this he stepped forward, intent upon his next wicked step. + +"Gracious! The scoundrel is going to run that bar in between the moving +parts of the engine and bring about a break-down!" quivered Hal. + +Sam Truax stood watching for his chance to thrust the steel bar in just +where it would inflict the most damage. Then raising the bar quickly, he +poised for the blow. + +"Stop that, you infernal sneak!" roared Jack Benson, bounding into the +engine room. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK + + +"You--here?" hissed Truax, wheeling about. + +He had not had time to make the thrust with the steel bar. + +Instead, as he wheeled, he raised it above his head, drawing back in an +attitude of guard. + +As he did so, a vile oath escaped Truax's lips. + +"Put that bar down!" commanded Jack Benson, standing unflinchingly before +the angry rascal. + +"I'll put it down on your head, if you don't get out of here!" snarled the +wretch. + +"Put it down, and consider yourself off duty here, for good and all," +insisted Jack. + +"Are you going to get out of here, or shall I brain you?" screamed Truax, +his face working in the height of his passion. + +"Neither," retorted Captain Jack, coolly. "I command here, and you know +it. Put that bar down, and leave the engine room." + +"Come and take the bar from me--if you dare!" taunted the fellow, a more +wicked gleam flashing in his eyes. + +"Hal!" called Jack, sharply. + +"Aye!" + +"Call two or three of the cadets down here. Don't make any noise about +it." + +This order was called without Benson's turning his head. He still stood +facing the sneak while Hal sped away. + +"Now, I've got you alone!" gloated Truax. "I'll finish you!" + +A scornful smile curled Jack's lips as he gazed steadily back at his foe. + +"Truax, you're a coward, as well as a sneak." + +"I am--eh?" + +With another nasty oath Truax stepped quickly forward, the steel bar +upraised. + +He took but one step, however, for Captain Jack Benson had not retreated +an inch. + +Nor did Jack have his hands up in an attitude of guard. + +"Are you going to put that bar down, Truax?" the young skipper demanded, +in a voice that betrayed not a tremor. + +"No." + +"Then you'll have to make good in a moment, for we're going to attack +you." + +"Bah! I can stave in two or three heads before any number of you could +stop me," sneered the fellow, in an ugly voice. + +"You could, but you won't dare." + +"I won't?" + +"Not you!" + +At that instant rapid steps were heard. Hal Hastings returned with three +of the midshipmen, behind them Williamson trying to crowd his way into the +scene. + +"Just tell us what you want, Mr. Benson," proposed Cadet Merriam, amiably. + +"This fellow has been 'doping' our engines," announced Captain Jack. "And +now he's threatening to stand us off. We'll close in on him from both +sides. If he tries to use that steel bar on any of us--" + +"If he does, he'll curse his unlucky star," declared Midshipman Merriam. +"Come on, gentlemen. We'll show him some of the Navy football tactics!" + +The three midshipmen approached Truax steadily from the right. Jack, Hal +and Williamson stepped in on the left. + +With a yell like that of a maniac Sam Truax swung the bar. + +Having to watch both sides at once, however, he made a fizzle of it. The +bar came down, but struck the floor. + +Then, with a yell, the midshipmen leaped in on one side, Jack leading the +submarine forces on the other. Mr. Merriam's trip and Jack's smashing blow +with the fist brought Truax down to the floor in a heap. + +"Now, cart this human rubbish out of here!" ordered Jack Benson, sternly. +"Don't hit him--he isn't man enough to be worthy of a blow!" + +Swooping down upon the prostrate one, Hal and the midshipmen seized Sam +Truax by his arms and legs, carrying him bodily out of the engine room. + +"Williamson," commanded Captain Jack, "stop the speed." + +"In the race, sir. We--" + +"Stop the speed," repeated Benson. + +"You're the captain," admitted Williamson. Grasping the twin levers of the +two motors he swung them backward. + +"Disregard any signal to go ahead until we've had a chance to inspect the +motors," added Captain Jack. + +Then the submarine skipper darted out into the cabin. + +Sam Truax lay sprawling on the floor. Midshipman Merriam, a most cheerful +smile on his face, sat across the fellow, while Hal and the other two +midshipmen stood by, looking on. + +"Hold him please, until I can have the wretch taken care of," requested +Captain Jack, making for the spiral stairway to the conning tower. + +Just as the young skipper stepped out on deck he heard the "Hudson's" +bow-gun break out sharply in the halting signal. + +Taking a megaphone, Benson stood at the rail until the gunboat ranged up +alongside. + +"Have you broken down?" came the hail from the gunboat's bridge. + +"I thought it best to stop speed, sir. We'll have to look over our engines +before it will be safe to attempt any more speed work," Captain Jack +answered. "I've caught a fellow tampering with our machinery. We hold him +a prisoner, now. Can you take him off our hands, sir?" + +"One of _your own_ men?" came back the question. + +"Of course, sir." + +"We'll send a marine guard to take him, on your complaint, Mr. Benson." + +"Thank you, sir." + +The gunboat's engines slowed down. Ere long her port side gangway was +lowered. Jack saw not only two marines and a corporal come down over the +side, but Lieutenant Commander Mayhew appeared in person. That officer +came over in the cutter. + +"You've had treachery aboard, have you?" asked the lieutenant commander, +as he climbed up over the side. + +"Rather. A new machinist, taken aboard just before we sailed from +Dunhaven. The same fellow who must have played the trick on the +'Pollard's' engines yesterday," Benson replied. + +"I'll be glad to have a fellow like that in irons in the brig aboard the +'Hudson,' then," muttered Mr. Mayhew. "I couldn't understand, Mr. Benson, +how you were doing so badly in the full speed ahead dash." + +"The prisoner below is the answer, sir," Captain Jack replied. He then led +the corporal and two marines below. The corporal produced a pair of +handcuffs, which he promptly snapped over Truax's wrists. + +"You'll be sorry for this, one of these days," threatened Truax, with a +snarl that showed his teeth. + +"Some day, then, if you please, when I have more leisure than I have now," +Jack retorted, dryly. "This man is all yours, corporal." + +Truax was foolish enough to try to hang back on his conductors. A slight +jab through the clothing from one of the marines' bayonets caused the +prisoner to stop that trick. He was taken on deck and over the side. + +"Coxswain, return for me after you've taken the prisoner to the 'Hudson,'" +directed Mr. Mayhew. "Now, Mr. Benson, I would like to see what has been +done to your engines." + +"That's just what I want to know, too," responded Jack. + +They found Hal and Williamson hard at work, inspecting the motors. + +"The ignition power was lowered, and that may have been the most that the +fellow did," said Hal. "Yet, at the same time, before putting these +engines to any severe test, I believe they ought to be cooled and looked +over." + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew frowned. + +"These delays eat up our practice cruise time a whole lot," he grumbled. + +"I'll put the engines through their paces, and chance mischief having been +done to them, if you wish, sir." + +"No; that won't do either, Mr. Hastings," replied the naval officer. "This +craft is private property, and I have no right to give orders that may +damage private property. I'll hold the fleet until you've had time to +inspect your engines properly. By that time, however, we'll have to put +back to the coast for the night, for our practice time will be gone." + +"In the days to follow, sir," put in Benson, earnestly, "I think we can +more than make up for this delay. We won't have the traitor aboard after +this." + +"What earthly object can the fellow have had for wanting to damage your +motors?" demanded the naval officer, looking hopelessly puzzled. + +"I can't even make a sane guess, sir," Jack Benson admitted. + +An hour and a half later the "Hudson" and the two submarines headed back +for a safe little bay on the coast. Here the three craft anchored for the +night. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT + + +It was nearly eight in the evening when the three craft were snug at +anchor. + +The bay was a small one, hardly worthy of the name. The only inhabited +part of the shore thereabouts consisted of the fishing village known as +Blair's Cove, a settlement containing some forty houses. + +Hardly had all been made snug aboard the "Farnum" when Jack, standing on +the platform deck after the cadets had been transferred to the "Hudson" +for the night, saw a small boat heading out from shore. + +"Is that one of the new submarine crafts?" hailed a voice from the bow of +the boat. + +"Yes, sir," Jack answered, courteously. + +No more was said until the boat had come up alongside. + +"I thought maybe you'd be willing to let me have a look over a craft of +this sort," said the man in the bow. He appeared to be about forty years +of age, dark-haired and with a full, black beard. The man was plainly +though not roughly dressed; evidently he was a man of some education. + +"Why, I'm mighty sorry, sir," Captain Jack Benson replied. "But I'm afraid +it will be impossible to allow any strangers on board during this cruise." + +"Oh, I won't steal anything from your craft," answered the stranger, +laughingly. "I won't be inquisitive, either, or go poking into forbidden +corners. Who's your captain?" + +"I am, sir." + +"Then you'll let me come aboard, just for a look, won't you?" pleaded the +stranger. + +Such curiosity was natural. The man seemed like a decent fellow. But Jack +shook his head. + +"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm positive our owners wouldn't approve of our +allowing any strangers to come on board." + +"Had any trouble, so far, with strangers?" asked the man. + +"I didn't say that," Jack replied, evasively. "But the construction of a +submarine torpedo boat is a secret. It is a general rule with our owners +that strangers shan't be allowed on board, unless they're very especially +vouched for. Now, I hate to appear disobliging; yet, if you've ever been +employed by anyone else, you will appreciate the need of obeying an +owner's orders." + +"You're under the orders of the boss of that gunboat?" asked the stranger, +pointing to the "Hudson." + +"On this cruise, yes, sir," Jack nodded. + +"Maybe, if I saw the fellow in command of the gunboat, then he'd give me +an order allowing me to come on board." + +"I'm very certain the lieutenant commander wouldn't do anything of the +sort," Benson responded. + +The stranger gave a comical sigh. + +"Then I'm afraid I don't see a submarine boat to-night--that is, any more +than I can see of it now." + +"That's about the way it looks to me, also," Jack answered, smiling. "Yet, +believe me, I hate awfully to seem discourteous about it." + +"Oh, all right," muttered the stranger, nodding to the two boatmen, who +had rowed him out alongside. + +"Good!" grunted Eph. "I'm glad you didn't let him on board, Captain. On +this cruise our luck doesn't seem to run with strangers." + +"It doesn't, for a fact," laughed Jack Benson. + +"Hi, ho--ah, hum!" yawned young Somers, stretching. "It will be mine for +early bunk to-night, I reckon." + +At this moment a boat was observed rounding the stern of the "Hudson." It +came up alongside, landing a marine sentry. + +"Anybody on the 'Farnum' want to go ashore to-night?" hailed a voice from +the gunboat's rail. "The shore boat will be ready in five minutes." + +"I believe I would like to take just a run through the village," declared +Jack, turning to his chum. "Do you feel like a land-cruise with me, Hal?" + +"I think I'd better go," laughed Hastings. "You seem to get into trouble +when you go alone." + +"All right, then. And, Eph since you're so sleepy, you can turn in as soon +as you want. The boat will be under sufficient protection," Jack added, +nodding toward the marine slowly pacing the platform deck. + +Williamson was called too, but declared that he felt like turning in +early. So, when the shore boat came, it had but two passengers to take +from the submarine. There were a few shore-leave men, however, from the +gunboat. + +"This boat will return to the fleet, gentlemen, every hour up to +midnight," stated the petty officer in charge, as Jack and Hal stepped +ashore at a rickety little wharf. + +"Judging from what we can see of the town from here, we'll be ready to go +back long before midnight," Jack Benson laughingly told his companion. + +"All I want is to shake some of the sea-roll out of my gait," nodded +Hastings. "It surely doesn't seem to be much of a town." + +By way of public buildings there turned out to be a church, locked and +dark, a general store and also a drug-store that contained the local +post-office. But the drug-store carried no ice cream or soda, so the +submarine boys turned away. + +There was one other "public" place that the boys failed to discover at +once. That was a low groggery at the further end of the town. Here two of +the sailors who had come on shore leave turned in for a drink or two. They +found a suave, black-bearded man quite ready to buy liquor for Uncle Sam's +tars. + +Three-quarters of an hour later Jack and Hal felt they had seen about as +much of the town as they cared for, when a hailing voice stopped them. + +"Finding it pretty dull, gentlemen?" + +"Oh, good evening," replied Captain Jack, recognizing the bearded man whom +he had refused admittance to the "Farnum." + +"Pretty stupid town, isn't it, Captain?" asked the stranger, holding out +his hand, which Jack Benson took. + +"As lively as we thought it would be," Hal rejoined. "We just came ashore +to stretch ourselves a bit. Thought we might lay a course to an ice-cream +soda, too, but failed." + +"These fishermen don't have such things," smiled the stranger. "They are +content with the bare necessities of life, with a little grog and tobacco +added. Speaking of grog, would you care to try the best this town has, +gentlemen?" + +"Thank you," Jack answered, politely. "We've never either of us tasted the +stuff, and we don't care to begin." + +"Drop into the drug-store and have a cigar, then?" + +"We don't smoke, either, thank you," came from Hal. + +"You young men are rather hard to entertain in a place like this," sighed +the stranger, but his eyes twinkled. + +"We are just as grateful for the intention," Jack assured him. + +"Tell you what I can do, gentlemen," proposed the stranger, suddenly. "I +might invite you down to my shack for a little while, and show you my +books and some models of yachts and ships that I've been collecting. I'm +quite proud of my collection in that line. Won't you come?" + +Anything in the line of yacht or ship-models interested both of these +sea-loving boys from the shipyard at Dunhaven. Jack graciously accepted +the invitation for them both. + +"And, though I have no soda fountain," continued the bearded one, "I can +offer you some soft drinks. I always keep some about the place." + +"How do you come to be living in a place like this, if I'm not too +inquisitive?" queried Benson, as the three strolled down the street. + +"Doctor's orders," replied the bearded one. "So I've rented the best old +shack I could get here, down by the water. I spend a good deal of my time +sailing a sloop that I have. Curtis is my name." + +Jack and Hal introduced themselves in turn. + +Curtis's shack proved to be well away from the village proper, and down +near the waterfront. A light shone from a window near the front door as +the three approached the small dwelling. + +"I think I can interest you for an hour, gentlemen," declared the bearded +one, as he slipped a key in the lock of the door. + +He admitted them to a little room off the hallway, a room that contained +not much beyond a table and four chairs, a side-table and some of the +accessories of the smoker. + +"Just take a seat here," proposed Curtis, "while I get some sarsaparilla +for you. I'll be right back in a moment." + +It was four or five minutes before Curtis came back, bearing a tray on +which were three tall glasses, each containing a brownish liquid. + +"The stuff isn't iced, yet it's fairly cold," the bearded one explained. +"Well, gentlemen, here's to a pleasant evening!" + +Hal, who was thirsty, took a long swallow of the sarsaparilla, finding the +flavor excellent. Jack drank more slowly, though he enjoyed the beverage. + +"If you don't mind," suggested Curtis, "I will light a cigar. And say, by +the way, gentlemen, what if we take a little walk down to my beach? Before +showing you the models I spoke of, I'd like to have your opinion of the +lines of my sloop." + +"We'll go down and take a look with great pleasure," Jack Benson agreed, +rising. "And I'm glad, sir, that you're able to show us more courtesy than +we were able to offer you to-night." + +"Oh, that was all right," declared their host, smiling good-humoredly. +"Rules are rules, and you have your owners to please. No hard feelings on +that score, I assure you." + +Curtis led the way through a dark yard down to a pier. Moored there lay a +handsome white sloop, some forty-two feet in length--a boat of a good and +seaworthy knockabout type. + +"This is a sloop, all right," Jack agreed, cordially. "Rather different +from the lumbering fishing craft hereabouts." + +"Oh, hah, yum!" yawned Hal, at which Curtis shot a quick glance at him. + +"Come on board," invited Curtis, stepping down to the deck of the craft. +"Let me show you what a comfortable cruising cabin I have." + +"Hi, oh, yow!" yawned Hal, again. "Jack, I think I shall enjoy my rest +to-night." + +"Same case here," agreed Benson, stifling a yawn that came as though in +answer to Hal's. + +"I won't keep you long, gentlemen, if I am boring you," agreed their host, +amiably. "Now, I'll go below first and light up. So! Now, come down and +take a look. Do you find many yacht cabins more comfortable than this +one?" + +It was, indeed, a cozy place. Up forward stood a miniature sideboard, +complete in every respect with glass and silver. In the center of the +cabin was a folding table. There were locker seats and inviting looking +cushions. The trim was largely of mahogany. On either side was a broad, +comfortable-looking berth. + +"Just get into that berth and try it, Mr. Hastings," urged the bearded +one. + +"I--I'm afraid to," confessed Hal, stifling another yawn. + +"Afraid?" + +"Very sure thing!" + +"Why?" + +"I'm--hah-ho-hum!" yawned Hal Hastings. "I'm afraid I'd--yow!--abuse your +hospitality by going to sleep." + +Jack Benson leaned against the edge of the opposite berth, feeling +unaccountably drowsy. + +"Oh, nonsense," laughed Curtis. "Just pile into that berth for a moment, +Hastings, and see what a soft, restful place it is. I'll agree to pull you +out, if necessary." + +Not realizing much, in his approaching stupor, Hal Hastings allowed +himself to be coaxed to stretch himself at full length in the downy berth. + +Almost immediately he closed his eyes, drifting off into stupor. + +"Why, your friend _is_ drowsy, isn't he?" laughed the bearded one, turning +to the submarine skipper. + +Jack Benson's own eyelids were suspiciously close together. + +"Why--what--ails you?" + +Curtis spoke in a low, droning, far-away voice that caused Jack Benson's +upper eyelids to sink. Curtis stood watching him, in malicious glee, for +some moments. Then, at last, he took hold of the young skipper. + +"Come, old fellow," coaxed the bearded one, "you'll do best to join your +friend in a good nap. Get up in the berth." + +"Lemme alone," protested the boy, thickly, feeling that he was being +lifted. Jack struggled, partly rousing himself. + +"Come, get up into the berth. You'll be more comfortable there." + +"Lemme alone. What are you trying to do?" demanded Jack, swinging an arm. + +Curtis dodged the light blow, then gripped Jack Benson resolutely. + +"Now, see here, young man," hissed the bearded one, "I'm not going to have +any more nonsense out of you. Up into the berth you go! Do you want me to +hit you?" + +Another man thrust his head down the cabin hatchway, showing an evil, +grinning face. + +"Got 'em right?" demanded the one from the hatchway. + +"Yes," snapped the bearded one, then turned to give his attention to Jack +Benson, who was putting up an ineffectual fight while Hal slumbered on. +"Now, see here, Benson, quit all your fooling!" + +"You lemme up," insisted the submarine boy, in a low, dull voice, though +he swung both his arms in an effort to assert himself. "'M not goin' t' +stay here. Lemme up, I say! 'M goin' back to--own boat." + +"The submarine?" jeered the bearded man. + +"Yep." + +"Guess again, son," laughed Curtis, jeeringly. "You're not going back +aboard the submarine to-night." + +"Am so," declared Benson, obstinately, though his tone was growing more +drowsy every instant, and his busy hands moved almost as weakly as an +infant's. + +"Listen, if you've got enough of your senses left," growled the bearded +men. "You're not going back to the 'Farnum'--neither to-night, nor at any +other time during the next few months. You're bound on a long cruise, but +not on a submarine boat. I am the captain here, and I'll name the cruise!" + + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES + + +It was barely a minute afterward that Jack Benson lapsed into a very +distinct snore. + +"No more trouble from this pair," laughed the bearded one to his companion +at the hatchway. "Now, I'll douse the cabin light, and then we'll cast +off. This thing has moved along very slickly." + +Eph, after having made up his mind to turn in early, had found his sleepy +fit passing. He read for a while in the cabin, then pulled on a reefer and +went up on deck. Williamson was already in a berth, sound asleep. + +"It would be a fine night if there was a moon," Eph remarked to the marine +sentry on deck. + +"Yes, sir." + +The marine--"soldier, and sailor, too"--not being there for conversational +purposes, continued his slow pacing, his rifle resting over his right +shoulder. + +As Eph strolled about in the limited space of the platform deck he heard a +distant creaking. It was a sound that he well knew--the hoisting of sail. + +"I wonder if the local fishermen start out at this time of the night?" Eph +Somers remarked, musingly, to the sentry. + +"It may be so, sir; I don't know," replied the marine. + +Presently Eph made out the lines and the spread of canvas of a handsome +knockabout sloop standing on out of the harbor. + +The course being narrow, the sloop was obliged to sail rather close to the +fleet. + +"That's no fisherman!" muttered Somers, watching, his hands thrust deep in +his pockets. + +Presently the sloop's hull was lost to Eph's sight beyond the gunboat. +Then the boy heard a voice from the "Hudson's" deck roar out: + +"Look alive, you lubber! Do you want to foul our anchor chain?" + +"No, sir," came from the sloop's deck. "We'll clear you all right." + +"See that you do, then!" + +Then the sloop's hull came into view again, as the craft headed out toward +the open water beyond. + +"That's the kind of a craft Jack would give a heap to be on," thought Eph. +"Queer that he should spend all his time on gasoline peanut-roasters when +he's so fond of whistling for a breeze behind canvas." + +As the sloop neared the mouth of the little bay, and her lines became +rather indistinct in the darkness, Eph Somers turned to resume his pacing +of the deck. + +"Hullo," muttered the submarine boy, two or three minutes later. "Here's +the shore boat coming on its regular trip. I wonder if Jack and Hal are in +it? It's about time for them to be coming on board." + +But the shore boat, instead of coming out to the submarine, lay in at the +side gangway of the gunboat opposite, and Eph discovered that his two +comrades were not in the boat. + +"I say," hailed Eph, "have you seen Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings on shore!" + +"No, sir," replied the petty officer in charge. + +Then one of the sailors in the boat spoke in an undertone. + +"This man says, sir," continued the petty officer, "that he saw your +friends, sir, going aboard a white knockabout sloop." + +"He did, eh?" demanded the astonished Eph. "How long ago was that?" + +"Only a few minutes ago, sir," replied the sailor. + +"You're sure you saw Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"That's queer," reflected Eph. "It wouldn't be like them to go sailing at +this time of the night, and without notifying me, either. But, then, I +didn't see anything of 'em aboard that sloop, either." + +Eph was silent for a few moments, thinking. Then, suddenly, he leaped up +in the air, coming down flat-footed. + +"Crackey!" ejaculated Eph Somers. + +For a moment or two his face was a study in bewilderment. + +"Mighty strange things have been happening all through this cruise," Eph +muttered, half-aloud. "Especially happening to Jack! Now, the two of them +go aboard that sloop, and immediately after the boat puts out to sea in +the dead of night. What if Jack and Hal have been shanghaied on that +infernal sloop?" + +Cold chills began to chase each other up and down the spine of Eph Somers. +He was not, ordinarily, an imaginative youth, but just now the gruesome +thought that had entered his mind persisted there. + +He began to pace the platform deck in deep agitation. + +"Anything wrong, sir?" questioned the marine sentry, halting and throwing +his rifle over to port arms. + +"That's just what I'd give a million dollars and ten cents to know!" +exploded Eph. + +"Gunboat, ahoy!" he shouted, some twenty seconds later. + +"'Farnum,' ahoy!" + +"I half believe, sir," Eph rattled on, "that my two comrades, Mr. Benson +and Mr. Hastings have been tricked, in some way, and carried out to sea on +that knockabout. They'd have been back from shore by this time, if nothing +had happened." + +"What do you want to do, Mr. Somers?" + +"Want to do, sir?" retorted Eph. "I know what I'm going to do. I'm going +to slip moorings and chase after that knockabout. What I wish to know from +you, sir, is whether you'll send another marine or two on board, so that I +can back up my demand to find my friends?" + +"I'll have to ask the lieutenant commander about that, Mr. Somers." + +"Can you do it, now, sir?" asked Eph, energetically. + +"Instantly. I'll let you know the decision as soon as it's made." + +Eph, hanging at the rail in the silence that followed, had no notion of +whether his request had been a correct one. All he knew was that his +suspicions had surged to the surface, and were threatening to boil over. +It was a huge relief to the boy when Mr. Mayhew's voice sounded from the +rail of the gunboat. Somers swiftly answered all questions. + +"Your craft and crew are in a measure under our protection and orders," +decided Mr. Mayhew. "I think we may properly extend you some help. I will +send some men to you, and a cadet midshipman who will have my +instructions." + +"Will you send them quickly, sir?" begged Eph. + +"I'll have men on board of you by the time that your engines are running," +promised the lieutenant commander. + +"Engines?" That word came as a fortunate reminder to the submarine boy. He +darted below, almost yanking Williamson from his berth, nearly pulling the +machinist into his clothes. By the time that Williamson was really wide +awake he found himself standing by the motors forward. + +Then young Somers darted onto deck again, just in time to see the boat +coming alongside. It brought two more marines, one of them a corporal. +There were also two sailors. A cadet midshipman commanded them. + +"Mr. Somers," reported the cadet midshipman, "I am not intended to +displace you from the command of this boat. I am here only with definite +instructions in case you succeed in overhauling that white sloop." + +"What--" began Eph. Then he paused, with a half-grin. "Really," he added, +"I ought to know better than to quiz you about your instructions from your +superior officer." + +"Yes, sir," assented the midshipman, simply. + +Eph turned on the current to the search-light, swinging the ray about the +bay. Then, too impatient to sit in the conning tower, the submarine boy +took his place by the deck wheel. + +"Will your seamen cast loose from the moorings?" Somers asked. + +"Yes, sir," replied the midshipman. + +"If there's anything wrong, good luck to you," sounded the cool voice of +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, from the gunboat's rail. + +"Thank you, sir." + +No sooner had the moorings been cast loose from than Eph sounded the slow +speed ahead bell. Within sixty seconds the propellers of the "Farnum" were +doing a ten-knot stunt, which was soon increased to fourteen. + +One of the seamen now stood by to swing the searchlight under Eph's +orders. + +By the time that the submarine reached the mouth of the bay the light +faintly picked up a spread of white sail, off to the East. + +"That's the knockabout," cried Eph, excitedly. "Now, see here, keep that +ray right across the boat as soon as we get half a mile nearer." + +"It'll show the boat that you're chasing 'em, sir," advised the +midshipman. + +"I know it," admitted Eph. "But it will also keep the rascals from dumping +my friends overboard without our catching 'em at it." + +"What do you think the men in charge of that boat are, sir--pirates?" + +"They're mighty close to it, if they've shanghaied Mr. Benson and Mr. +Hastings and put to sea with 'em," rejoined Eph. Then he rang for more +speed. Down below, Williamson almost instantly responded. The "Farnum" now +fairly leaped through the water. + +"Turn the light on the knockabout, now, and keep it there," directed the +submarine boy. + +There was a seven-knot breeze blowing. At the speed at which the submarine +boat was traveling the distance was soon covered. + +And now the searchlight revealed two men in the standing-room of the +sloop, one of whom, a bearded man, was looking backward over his wake much +of the time. + +"Can one of the marines fire a shot to stop those fellows?" asked Eph +Somers. + +"In the air, do you mean, sir?" asked the midshipman. "Certainly." + +"Then I wish he'd do it." + +Bang! The discharge of the rifle sounded sharply on the night air. + +"It ain't stopping 'em any," muttered Eph, after a few seconds had gone +by. + +"Nothing would, unless fired into them," volunteered Midshipman Terrell. + +It did not take long, however, to run the submarine up alongside of the +sloop, at a distance of about one hundred yards. + +"Now, we want you men to stop," called Midshipman Terrell, between his +hands. "We are United States naval forces, from the gunboat, and you will +regard this as an order that you must obey. No!" thundered the midshipman, +suddenly, as the bearded one started to step down into the cabin. "You +will both keep on deck. Otherwise we shall be obliged to fire into you. We +mean business, remember!" + +"What do you want to board us for?" demanded Curtis, pausing. + +"We will explain when we come aboard." + +"How are you coming, aboard? You've no small boat." + +"We can land this submarine right up beside you," responded the +midshipman, "if you keep straight to your present course." + +"And scrape all the paint off our side," objected Curtis. + +"That has no bearing on my instructions, sir. I direct you to keep +straight to your present course. We will come up alongside." + +"What if we don't do it?" demanded Curtis, with sudden bluster. + +"Then your danger will be divided between being shot where you stand and +having your craft cut in two by the bow of our craft," retorted Mr. +Terrell. "You will realize, I think, that there can be no parleying with +our orders." + +The bearded one swore, but the corporal and his two marines stood at the +rail with their rifles ready, waiting only the midshipman's order to aim +and fire. + +Eph allowed the "Farnum" to fall back a little way. Then he exerted +himself to show his best in seamanship as he ran the submarine up to board +the sloop by the starboard quarter. The two boats barely touched. Mr. +Terrell, his three marines and two seamen leaped to the standing room of +the yacht. Eph, all aquiver, let the nose of the "Farnum" fall back +slightly. Then he trailed along, under bare headway. + +Then a shout came from the sloop, as the two seamen reappeared, bearing +the forms of Jack and Hal. + +"We've found them aboard, Mr. Somers," shouted Terrell. "Drugged, I think, +sir. Will you come alongside, sir." + +Eph quickly rang the signal, then did some careful manoeuvring. As he +touched, one of the marines leaped back to the platform deck, then passed +a line to Mr. Terrell. The two craft were held together until Jack and Hal +had been passed, still unconscious, over the side. The naval party quickly +followed, then cast loose from the sloop. + +"This whole proceeding is high-handed," growled Curtis, as soon as he saw +that he was not to be molested. + +"Oh, you shut up, and keep your tongue padlocked," retorted Midshipman +Terrell, in high disgust. "You're lucky as it is. Now, Mr. Somers, are you +going back to the bay, sir?" + +"Aren't you going to take those two--body-snatchers?" demanded Eph, glaring +venomously at the pair on the sloop. + +"My instructions don't cover that, sir," replied the cadet midshipman. + +"Then hang your orders!" muttered young Somers, but he kept the words +behind his teeth. Eph veered off, next headed about, while the two seamen +bore Jack and Hal below to their berths. + +"Will you take the wheel, Mr. Terrell?" asked Eph, edging away, with one +hand on the spokes. + +"Yes, sir." + +Eph hurried below to the port stateroom. Jack lay in the lower berth, Hal +in the upper. The two seamen, after feeling for pulse, stood by looking at +the unconscious submarine boys. + +"What's been done to them?" demanded Eph. + +"The same old knockout drops, sir, that sailors in all parts of the world +know so well, sir, I think," answered one of the men, with a quiet grin. + +"Humph!" gritted Eph, bending over Jack's face. "Smell his breath." + +"Yes, sir," said the sailor, obeying. + +"There's no smell of liquor, there, is there?" + +"No, sir," admitted the sailor, looking up, rather puzzled. + +"There is some infernally mean trick in all this," growled Eph. "I am +mighty sorry we didn't bring those rascals back with us." + +When he went on deck again the submarine boy relieved Mr. Terrell at the +wheel, completing the run in to moorings. + +"Did you find your comrades aboard the sloop, Mr. Somers?" hailed the +lieutenant commander, from the gunboat. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Are they all right?" + +"Drugged, sir." + +"Hm! Mr. Terrell and his detachment will return to this vessel." + +The boat took them away. It was five minutes later when the boat returned, +bringing the lieutenant commander, Doctor McCrea, the surgeon, and a +sailor belonging to the hospital detachment aboard the "Hudson." Eph +conducted them below. + +"Drugged," announced the medical officer, after a brief examination. + +"Humph!" uttered Mr. Mayhew. "That sort of trick isn't played on folks in +any decent resort on shore. I don't understand Mr. Benson's conduct. I +remember his mishap at Dunhaven. I remember the plight he got into at +Annapolis; and now he and Mr. Hastings are found in this questionable +shape. I am very much afraid these young men do not conduct themselves, on +shore, in the careful manner that must be expected of civilian instructors +to cadets." + +Eph Somers felt something boiling up inside of him. + + + + + + CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER'S VERDICT + + +"Let me try to get at your meaning, sir, if you please," begged Somers, +after standing for a few seconds with clenched fists. "Do you mean that my +friends have been going into tough resorts on shore?" + +"Where else do sailors usually get drugged?" inquired Mr. Mayhew. "What +kind of people usually feed sea-faring men with what are generally known +as knock-out drops?" + +"How should I know?" demanded Eph, solemnly. + +"You see your friends, and you see their condition." + +"Smell their breaths, sir. There isn't a trace of the odor of liquor." + +The surgeon did so, confirming Eph's claim. + +"But I remember that Mr. Benson came aboard, at Dunhaven, with a very +strong odor of liquor," continued the lieutenant commander. + +"That had been sprinkled on his clothes, sir," argued Somers. + +"Perhaps. But then there was the Annapolis affair." + +"Mr. Benson explained that to you, sir." + +"It's very strange," returned the lieutenant commander, "that such things +seem to happen generally to Mr. Benson when he gets on shore. I know I +have been ashore, in all parts of the world, without having such things +happen to me." + +"There is something behind this, sir, that doesn't spell bad conduct on +the part of either of my friends," cried Eph, hotly. "There's some plot, +some trick in the whole thing that we don't understand. And we might +understand much more about it, sir, if your midshipman had arrested that +pair of blackguards on the sloop, and brought them back with us." + +"Had Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings been members of the naval forces we could +have done that," replied Mr. Mayhew. "Probably you don't understand, Mr. +Somers, how very careful the Navy has to be about making arrests in times +of peace, when the civil authorities are all-supreme. We carried our right +as far as it could possibly be stretched when we boarded and searched that +sloop for you." + +"I don't care so much about that," contended Eph, warmly. "But it does jar +on me, sir, to have you take such a view of my friends. You don't know +them; you don't understand them as Mr. Farnum and Mr. Pollard do." + +"Perhaps you wouldn't blame me as much for my opinions," replied Mr. +Mayhew, "if you could look at the matter from my viewpoint, Mr. Somers. I +am in charge of this cruise, which is one of instruction to naval cadets, +and I am in a very large measure responsible for the conduct and good +behavior of young men who have been selected as instructors to the cadets. +If you were in my place, Mr. Somers, would you be patient over young men +who, when they get ashore, get into one unseemly scrape after another? Or +would you wonder, as I do, whether it will not be best for me to end this +practice cruise and sail back to Annapolis, there to make my report in the +matter?" + +"For heaven's sake don't do that," begged Eph Somers, hoarsely. "At least, +not until you have talked with Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings. You'll wait +until morning, sir?" + +"I'm afraid I shall have to, if I want to talk with your friends," replied +the lieutenant commander, smiling coldly. "And now, Mr. Somers, you and I +had better leave here. The doctor and his nurse will want the room cleared +in order to look after their patients. I hope your friends will be all +right in the morning," added the naval officer, as the pair gained the +deck. + +"Now, see here, sir," began Eph, earnestly, all over again. "I hope you'll +soon begin to understand that, whatever has happened, there are no two +straighter boys alive than Jack Benson and Hal Hastings." + +"I trust you're right," replied Mr. Mayhew, less coldly. "Yet, what can +you expect me to think, now that Benson has been in such scrapes three +different times? And, in this last instance, he drags even the quiet Mr. +Hastings into the affair with him." + +"I see that I'll have to wait, sir," sighed Eph, resignedly. + +"Yes; it will be better in every way to wait," agreed the lieutenant +commander. "It is plain justice, at the least, to wait and give the young +men a chance to offer any defense that they can." + +"Now, of course, from his way of looking at it, I can't blame him so very +much," admitted Eph Somers, as he leaned over the rail, watching Mr. +Mayhew going back through the darkness. "But Jack--great old Jack!--having +any liking at all for mixing up in saloons and such places on shore! Ha, +ha! Ho, ho!" + +Williamson, now able to leave his motors, came on deck, asking an account +of what had happened. The machinist listened in amazement, though, like +Eph, he needed no proof that the boys, whatever trouble they had +encountered, had met honestly and innocently. + +"Of course that naval officer is right, too, from his own limited point of +view," urged Williamson. + +"Oh, yes, I suppose so," nodded Somers, gloomily. "I've been trying to +tell myself that. But it would be fearful, wouldn't it, if the 'Farnum' +were ordered away from the fleet, and Jack disgraced, just because of +things he really didn't do." + +"It's a queer old world," mused the machinist, thoughtfully. "We hear a +lot about the consequences of wrong things we do. But how often people +seem to have to pay up for things they never did!" + +"Oh, well," muttered Eph, philosophically, "let's wait until morning. A +night's sleep straightens out a lot of things." + +Williamson, however, having had some sleep earlier in the night, was not +drowsy, now. He lighted a pipe, lingering on the platform deck. Eph, not +being a user of tobacco, went below to find that Doctor McCrea, from the +gunboat, was sitting in the cabin, reading a book he had chosen from the +book-case. + +"I've brought the young men around somewhat," reported the physician. +"I've made them throw off the drug, and now I've left some stuff with the +nurse to help brace them up. They'll have sour stomachs and aching heads +in the morning, though." + +"But you noticed one thing, Doctor?" pressed Somers. + +"What was that?" + +"That there were no signs of liquor about them? Those boys never tasted a +drop of the vile stuff in their lives!" + +"I'm inclined to believe you," nodded the surgeon. "They have splendid, +clear skins, eyes bright as diamonds, sound, sturdy heart-beats, and +they're full of vitality. I've met boys from the slums, once in a +while--beer-drinkers and cigarette-smokers. But such boys never show the +splendid physical condition that your friends possess." + +"You know, then, as well as I do, Doctor, that neither of my chums are +rowdies, and that, whatever happened to them to-night, they didn't get to +it through any bad habits or conduct?" + +"I'm much inclined to agree with you, Mr. Somers." + +"I hope, then, you'll succeed in impressing all that on Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew in the morning." + +With that the submarine boy passed on to the starboard stateroom. He would +have given much to have stepped into the room opposite, but felt, from the +doctor's manner, that the latter did not wish his patients disturbed. + +Eph slept little that night. Though Jack and Hal fared better in that +single respect, Somers looked far the best of the three in the morning. + +Jack and Hal came out with bandages about their heads, which buzzed and +ached. + +The two, however, told their story to Somers and Williamson as soon as +possible. + +"Just as I supposed," nodded Eph, vigorously. + +"Why, how did you guess it all?" asked Benson, in astonishment. + +"I mean, I knew you hadn't been in any low sailor resorts." + +"Who said we had?" demanded Jack, flaring in spite of his dizziness. + +"Some of the Navy folks didn't know but you had," replied Eph, then bit +his tongue for having let that much out of the bag. + +Doctor McCrea came aboard early. He looked the boys over. + +"Eat a little toast, if you want, and drink some weak tea," he suggested. +"After that, eat nothing more until to-night." + +"But the day's work--?" hinted Jack. + +"I don't know," replied the doctor, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not a +line officer, and therefore know nothing about the fleet's manoeuvres." + +That reply, however, was quite enough to send Jack Benson's suspicions +aloft. + +"Eph," he cried, wheeling upon his friend the moment Doctor McCrea was +gone, "there's something you haven't told us." + +"Such as--what?" asked Somers, doing his best to look mighty innocent. + +"Doctor McCrea as good as admitted that we won't have anything to do +to-day. What's wrong?" Then, after a brief pause: "Good heavens, does Mr. +Mayhew believe we've been acting disgracefully? Are we barred out of the +instruction work?" + +Hal had been raising a glass of cold water to his lips. The glass fell, +with a crash. He wheeled about, then clutched at the edge of the cabin +table, most unsteadily. + +"We-e-ll," admitted Somers, reluctantly, "Mr. Mayhew said he would want to +question you some, perhaps, this morning." + +"What did he say? Out with it all, Eph!" + +A moment before Jack Benson had been pallid enough. Now, two bright, +furious spots burned in either cheek. + +The red-haired boy, however, was spared the pain of going any further, +for, at that moment, a heavy tread was heard on the spiral staircase. Then +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, holding himself very erect, one hand resting +against the scabbard of the sword that he wore at his side, came into view +below. + +Many were the questions that the naval officer put to the victims of the +night's mishap. + +"Well, gentlemen," Mr. Mayhew said at last, rising, "your story is +strange. Yet, I believe you are young men of honor. I'm sorry we have not +in custody the men who sailed that sloop." + +"Pardon me, sir!" burst out Eph. + +"Well, Mr. Somers?" + +"Perhaps, sir, if you should question Truax you could learn something from +him. I tell you, sir, there's a scheme to ruin Jack Benson; and that's +only part of a bigger plot to discredit our company with the Navy!" + +Mr. Mayhew, looking thoughtful, replied: + +"I'll find some way of questioning Truax. And now, Mr. Benson, since you +and Mr. Hastings are not fit to instruct the cadets to-day, I'll send out +sections under Lieutenant Halpin on board the 'Pollard' only. To-morrow +you should be in shape to resume your duties. Meanwhile, I must make one +condition." + +"It will not be necessary, sir, to make any conditions with us," Jack +replied. "Your instructions will be sufficient." + +"While you are on this present tour of duty, I shall ask Mr. Benson and +Mr. Hastings not to leave the 'Farnum' without my consent." + +As soon as Mr. Mayhew had left the "Farnum" Eph Somers cried bitterly: + +"You heard the verdict in the case! A great verdict! Not guilty--but don't +do it again!" + +At half past eight the next morning a section of cadets, under the command +of Ensign Trahern, came aboard the "Farnum." + +"The lieutenant commander sends word, with his compliments," reported +Trahern, "that after leaving the bay the formation will be as usual. The +signal to halt and be ready for the tour of instruction will be given when +we're about ten miles off shore." + +Six of the cadets, of the engineer division, went below to the engine +room. To one of the ten left on deck Jack turned and said: + +"You will take charge, Mr. Surles. Assume all the responsibilities of the +officer of the deck." + +In all, five of the midshipmen had commanded briefly before the laying-to +signal was given. Hal Hastings then appeared on deck. + +"Captain Benson," Hal stated, saluting, "I have inspected all the +submerging machinery, and I find everything in good order. We can go below +the surface at any time." + +"Thank you, Mr. Hastings. All below!" ordered Jack crisply. + +After the cadets and the ensign had filed below, Jack, having seen that +all was in order, followed. He made all fast in the conning tower, then +called Midshipman Surles up the stairway to the tower wheel. + +"Do you think you can head due east and keep to that course under water, +Mr. Surles?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Going down to the cabin floor, Jack ordered two more midshipmen to the +tower as observers. + +"The rest crowd about me and ask questions while I handle the submerging +machinery." + +Under the impetus from the electric motors, the propeller shafts began to +throb. The next instant the submarine shot below, going down at so steep +an angle that many of the middies were forced to reach for new footing. + +"The gauge registers sixty feet below," announced Jack. + +In another moment, by the quick flooding of some of the compartments +astern, the young skipper brought the boat to an even keel. + +Having finished the prescribed distance under water, Captain Jack turned +on the compressed air to expel the water from the compartments. The +conning tower soon rose above the water, and a moment later the "Pollard" +also emerged. + +Other cadets were transferred from the gunboat to the submarines, and the +instruction proceeded. The manoeuvers for the day were ended with a +half-hour run under water. + +"By the way, sir, did you question Truax to see what you could learn about +his reasons for acting as he did on the 'Farnum'?" asked Jack Benson the +next day. Jack and Doctor McCrea were talking with Mr. Mayhew. + +"I had him before me last night, and again this morning," replied Mr. +Mayhew. "He said he hadn't an idea what I meant, and that is all I could +get out of him." + +Jack looked thoughtfully at Doctor McCrea for a moment before he +exclaimed: + +"Doctor, if I had anything like your chance, I'd have Sam Truax talking!" + +"How?" Doctor McCrea looked interested. + +"Why, I'd--" Jack hesitated, glancing toward the gunboat's commanding +officer. + +"I'd better go and see how the midshipmen are doing," laughed Mr. Mayhew, +rising. + +For some minutes Jack talked with Doctor McCrea. As the medical officer +listened, he grinned, then laughed unrestrainedly. + +"Mr. Benson, you're certainly ingenious!" + +"Will you do what I've suggested?" + +"Why, I--er--er--" Doctor McCrea hesitated. "I--well, I'll think it over." +Again Doctor McCrea roared with laughter. + + + + + + CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION + + +Sam Truax sat in the brig, between decks on the "Hudson," his scowling +face turned toward the barred door, when the marine guard, taking a turn, +peered in. + +"Good heavens, man! What ails you?" demanded the marine. + +"I'm all right," growled the prisoner. + +"I'll be hanged if you look it." + +"What are you talking about!" demanded the prisoner angrily. + +"Man alive, I wish you could see your face!" + +Three minutes later a sailor halted at the door, looked at Truax, then +wheeled about to the marine. + +"Say, what ails that man? What's the matter with his face?" + +"Don't know. Looks fearful, doesn't he?" + +"Awful! Ought to have the doctor." + +Sam shifted uneasily. + +Five minutes later a sailor wearing on one sleeve the Red Cross of the +hospital squad came along. + +"Say," said the marine, "I wish you'd look at the feller in the brig." + +The hospital man showed his face at the grating and looked at Truax +keenly. + +"Wow! The sawbones officer has got to look at this chap!" + +Sam Truax sprang to his feet, but his legs wobbled. He felt his +heart-beats racing and his face flushing. + +"I felt all right a little while ago, but I certainly feel queer now," he +muttered. + +Doctor McCrea soon hurried below. + +"Sentry, unlock the door! Let me in there!" + +Doctor McCrea made a brief examination. + +"How long have you been feeling ill?" + +"N-not long," faltered Truax. + +"Hospital man!" called Doctor McCrea. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +"Have the stretcher brought here at once." + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +The stretcher was brought, and the attendants put Truax on it. + +"I can walk, Doctor," he protested feebly. + +"Can't risk it! To the 'sick bay,' men." + +"What's wrong, Doctor?" Truax asked, when he was lifted from the stretcher +and placed in one of the berths. + +"Don't talk, my man. Just lie quietly and let us get you on your feet--if +we can," he added under his breath, but not so softly but that Sam Truax +heard him. + +The attendant came with a glass of liquid. + +"Drink this," ordered the surgeon, "and in a few minutes you'll feel +better." + +"I--I feel awful," Truax groaned. + +The dose was repeated, but the patient continued to grow worse. His nausea +was overwhelming and he vomited over and over. In an interval of quiet the +doctor leaned over him. + +"Have you anything on your mind, man? Any wrong you'd like to set straight +before--before--" + +A look of fright came into Truax's eyes. + +"Doctor, I--I wonder if Jack Benson would come to see me?" + +"I'll see," replied the doctor, rising and leaving the "sick bay." + +Ten minutes later the naval surgeon returned with Benson. Hal Hastings, +Mr. Mayhew and Ensign Trahern followed Jack and the doctor. + +"Here's Mr. Benson, Truax," announced Doctor McCrea. "If there's anything +you wish to confess, the rest of us can bear witness and help straighten +matters out if you've done any wrong that you now regret." + +Sam Truax feebly stretched out a hand that was hot and dry. + +"Benson, will you give me your hand?" + +"Certainly." + +"Can you ever forgive me?" moaned the man. + +"Why, what have you done?" asked Jack. + +"That assault back in Dunhaven--" + +"Was it you who knocked me out there?" demanded Benson sharply. + +"Yes." In a shaking voice Truax confessed the details of the affair and +from that passed to Jack's trip to the suburbs of Annapolis. + +"I found the mulatto in a low den. I told him you carried a lot of money +and that he could have it all if he'd decoy you somewhere, keep you all +night, and send you back to the Naval Academy looking like a tramp." He +then added the name of the mulatto. + +"But why have you done this?" demanded Jack. "What have you against me?" + +"I didn't do it on my own account. I did it for Tip Gaynor, a salesman for +Sidenham." + +"The Sidenham Submarine Company?" cried Jack, deeply interested. "The +Sidenham people are our nearest competitors in the submarine business!" he +exclaimed. + +"Yes; and they wanted to get the business away from the Pollard Company. +They told Tip Gaynor it would be worth ten thousand dollars to him for +each Sidenham boat he could sell to the Government. Tip hired me--" + +"One moment, please," interrupted Jack. "Did the Sidenham officials know +that Gaynor intended to use such methods?" + +"I don't believe they did," replied Truax. + +"Humph! So Gaynor hired you to do all you could to disgrace me in the eyes +of the naval authorities and to injure the machinery in the engine room of +the submarine!" + +"Yes. Tip said it was highly important that the Pollard boats should break +down while under the eyes of all Annapolis, so that it would seem that +they could not be depended upon." + +Truax here became so ill that his audience had to wait until he could +proceed. Then Jack asked: + +"What sort of looking fellow is Gaynor?" + +"He was the black-bearded man who shanghaied you in the white knockabout. +He doesn't usually wear a beard. He grew it for the occasion." + +"So, acting for Tip Gaynor, you undertook to ruin us all and the good name +of our boats! You even met Dave Pollard and got him to take you on as a +machinist for our boats!" + +"Tip knew a man who was willing to introduce me to Mr. Pollard." + +"It was like kindly, unsuspicious Dave Pollard to be taken in by a rascal +like that," muttered Jack to himself. + +Sam Truax added a few more details to his confession, then said: + +"I couldn't die without telling you this, Benson. I hope you forgive me." + +Before Jack Benson could reply Lieutenant Commander Mayhew stepped +forward. + +"Truax, have you told us the exact truth?" + +"I have." + +"You thought it would be easy to get the better of a boy like Benson, I +suppose." + +"Easy enough," admitted Sam. "So did Tip." + +"You shot far below the mark in guessing at Benson's ingenuity and +brains," remarked Doctor McCrea, laughing. "It was he who suggested this +way of inducing you to make this confession after you had refused to +answer the lieutenant commander's questions." + +"What?" demanded Truax harshly. + +"When I was first called in to you, you were not sick, only scared by the +remarks of others. After we got you in here, we dosed you with ipecac. +That started your stomach to moving up and down." + +"What? You poisoned me?" + +"The ipecac was my choice. It isn't poison. The general idea was Captain +Benson's. With a lad like him you haven't a chance." + +"Benson, you infernal cheat, you!" muttered Truax, and started to get out +of the berth. But he was weak, and the attendant had no difficulty in +thrusting him back. + +"In view of what you've been telling us, you'd better not sprinkle bad +names about," said the surgeon, turning on his heel. He was followed by +the others, all chuckling. + +"Mr. Benson," said Doctor McCrea, when the party was in the cabin, "are +you my friend?" + +"I certainly am, sir," cried Jack warmly. + +"Thank you," said the doctor, making a comical face. "With your head for +doing things, Mr. Benson, I feel safer with your friendship than I should +if I had your enmity." + +While they were still chatting in the cabin of the gunboat a shot sounded +on deck. Then a corporal of marines rushed in, saluting. + +"The prisoner, Truax, sir, escaped while walking under guard on deck. He +dived headlong, sir. The marine guard fired after him through the +darkness, sir. The officer of the deck sends his compliments, sir, and +wants to know if Truax is to be pursued in a small boat." + +"At once, and with all diligence," ordered the lieutenant commander. + +Though a thorough search was made, Truax was not found. It was thought +that the fellow had been drowned. But months later it was learned that he +was skulking in Europe with Tip Gaynor, who had received word in time to +make his escape also. + +For two days more the instruction continued at sea. Then, the tour of +instruction over, the little flotilla returned to the Academy at +Annapolis. From there Captain Benson wired Mr. Farnum for further orders. +Without delay came back the dispatch: + +"Navy Department requests that for present 'Farnum' be left at Annapolis. +You and crew return by rail when ready." + +Soon after this Jack was informed that the Annapolis police had run down +the mulatto who had decoyed the young submarine skipper on that memorable +night. Jack's money, watch and other valuables were later recovered and +returned to him. + +Just before Jack and his mates were to leave the "Farnum" for the last +time, Lieutenant Commander Mayhew came aboard, followed by Ensign Trahern +and three of the midshipmen who had been under submarine instruction. + +"Mr. Benson and gentlemen," said Mr. Mayhew, "I shall not make a set +speech. What I have to say is that the cadet midshipmen who have been +under your capable and much-prized instruction of late wish each of you to +take away a slight memento of your stay here." + +Machinist Williamson had not been omitted. Each of the four received from +the lieutenant commander a small box, each containing a small gold shield. +In the center was the coat of arms of the United States Naval Academy. At +the top of each pin was the name of the one to whom it was given. Across +the bottom were the words: + + FROM THE + BATTALION OF NAVAL CADETS + IN KEEN APPRECIATION + OF ADMIRABLE INSTRUCTION + +"I think," said Mr. Mayhew, "that none of you will hesitate to wear this +pin on vest or coat lapel. The gift is a simple one, but it practically +makes you honorary members of the United States Navy of the future, and I +am glad of it." + + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES*** + + + +CREDITS + + +December 2005 + + Project Gutenberg Edition + Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju + Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +June 2006 + + Added PGHeader/PGFooter. + Joshua Hutchinson + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 17756-0.txt or 17756-0.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/5/17756/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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Durham" /><meta name="DC.Title" content="The Submarine Boys and the Middies" /><meta name="DC.Date" content="2006-02-12" /><meta name="DC.Language" content="English" /><meta name="DC.Publisher" content="Project Gutenberg" /><meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17756" /><meta name="DC.Rights" content="This text is in the public domain." /><title>The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Submarine Boys and the Middies by Victor G. 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Durham</p></div><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost + and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, + give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project + Gutenberg License <a href="#pglicense" class="tei tei-ref">included with this + eBook</a> or online at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license" class="tei tei-xref">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a></p></div><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">Title: The Submarine Boys and the Middies + +Author: Victor G. Durham + +Release Date: 2006-02-12 [Ebook #17756] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES*** +</pre></div> + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This ebook was produced by Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p> + </div> + + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + +<a name="image01" id="image01" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a><a name="fig1" id="fig1"></a><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/image01.jpg" width="394" height="600" alt="Illustration: "You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here."" title="“You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here.”" /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em; margin-top: 0.81em"><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 81%">“</span><span style="font-size: 81%">You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here.</span><span style="font-size: 81%">”</span></span></div></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-style: italic"> Frontispiece.</span></span> + </p> + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-titlePage" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-docTitle" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">The Submarine Boys and the Middies</span></span><br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%">OR</span></span><br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">The Prize Detail at Annapolis</span></span><br /><br /> + </span> + <div class="tei tei-byline" style="text-align: center"> + By <span class="tei tei-docAuthor" style="text-align: center">Victor G. Durham</span><br /><br /> + Author of The Submarine Boys on Duty, The Submarine + Boys' Trial Trip, The Submarine Boys + and the Spies, Etc.<br /><br /> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-docEdition" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-style: italic">Illustrated</span></span><br /><br /> + </span> + <span class="tei tei-docImprint" style="text-align: center"> + THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY<br /> + Akron, Ohio · New York<br /> + Made in U.S.A. + </span> + </div> + +<hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="pdf2" id="pdf2"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Contents</span></h1> + <ul class="tei tei-index tei-index-toc"><li><a href="#toc4">CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL</a></li><li><a href="#toc6">CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE</a></li><li><a href="#toc8">CHAPTER III: “YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!”</a></li><li><a href="#toc10">CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS</a></li><li><a href="#toc13">CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS</a></li><li><a href="#toc15">CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO</a></li><li><a href="#toc17">CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING “NEW,” ALL RIGHT</a></li><li><a href="#toc19">CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS</a></li><li><a href="#toc21">CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT</a></li><li><a href="#toc23">CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT</a></li><li><a href="#toc25">CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED!</a></li><li><a href="#toc28">CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER</a></li><li><a href="#toc30">CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE</a></li><li><a href="#toc32">CHAPTER XIV: THE “POLLARD” GOES LAME</a></li><li><a href="#toc34">CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK</a></li><li><a href="#toc36">CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK</a></li><li><a href="#toc38">CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT</a></li><li><a href="#toc40">CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES</a></li><li><a href="#toc42">CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER'S VERDICT</a></li><li><a href="#toc44">CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION</a></li></ul> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="pdf3" id="pdf3"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">List of Figures</span></h1> + <ul class="tei tei-index tei-index-fig"><li><a href="#fig1">“You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here.”</a></li><li><a href="#fig12">Down Dropped the Bag.</a></li><li><a href="#fig27">Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him.</a></li></ul> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-body" style="margin-bottom: 6.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page007">[pg 007]</span><a name="Pg007" id="Pg007" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc4" id="toc4"></a> +<a name="pdf5" id="pdf5"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The United States Government doesn't +appear very anxious to claim its property, +does it, sir?”</span> asked Captain Jack +Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The speaker was a boy of sixteen, attired in a +uniform much after the pattern commonly worn +by yacht captains. The insignia of naval rank +were conspicuously absent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, that I've had the good luck to sell the +'Pollard' to the Navy,”</span> responded Jacob Farnum, +principal owner of the shipbuilding yard, +<span class="tei tei-q">“I'm not disposed to grumble if the Government +prefers to store its property here for a while.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Yet the young shipbuilder—he was a man in +his early thirties, who had inherited this shipbuilding +business from his father—allowed his +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page008">[pg 008]</span><a name="Pg008" id="Pg008" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +eyes to twinkle in a way that suggested there +was something else behind his words.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson saw that twinkle, but he did not +ask questions. If the shipbuilder knew more +than he was prepared to tell, it was not for his +young captain to ask for information that was +not volunteered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The second boy present, also in uniform, Hal +Hastings by name, had not spoken in five minutes. +That was like Hal. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">He</span></span> was the engineer +of the submarine torpedo boat, <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard.”</span> +Jack was captain of the same craft, and could +do all the talking.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jacob Farnum sat back, sideways, at his rolltop +desk. On top of the desk lay stacked a +voluminous though neat pile of papers, letters, +telegrams and memoranda that some rival builders +of submarine torpedo boats might have been +willing to pay much for the privilege of examining. +For, at the present moment, there was +fierce competition in the air between rival +American builders of submarine fighting craft +designed for the United States Navy. Even +foreign builders and inventors were clamoring +for recognition. Yet just now the reorganized +Pollard Submarine Boat Company stood at the +top of the line. It had made the last sale to the +United States Navy Department.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At this moment, out in the little harbor that +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page009">[pg 009]</span><a name="Pg009" id="Pg009" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +was a part of the shipyard, the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> rode +gently at anchor. She was the first submarine +torpedo boat built at this yard, after the designs +of David Pollard, the inventor, a close personal +friend of Jacob Farnum.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Moreover, the second boat, named the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum,”</span> +had just been launched and put in commission, +ready at an hour's notice to take the sea +in search of floating enemies of the United +States.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The United States will take its boat one of +these days, Captain,”</span> Mr. Farnum continued, +after lighting a cigar. <span class="tei tei-q">“By the way, did Dave +tell you the name we are thinking of for the +third boat, now on the stocks?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dave”</span> was Mr. Pollard, the inventor of the +Pollard Submarine boat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, sir,”</span> Captain Jack replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We have thought,”</span> resumed Mr. Farnum, +quietly, after blowing out a ring of smoke, <span class="tei tei-q">“of +calling the third boat, now building, the 'Benson.'”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The—the—what, sir?”</span> stammered Jack, +flushing and rising.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, don't get excited, lad,”</span> laughed the +shipbuilder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But—but—naming a boat for the United +States Navy after me, sir—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Captain Jack's face flushed crimson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page010">[pg 010]</span><a name="Pg010" id="Pg010" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Of course, if you object—”</span> smiled Mr. Farnum, +then paused.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Object? You know I don't, sir. But I am +afraid the idea is going to my head,”</span> laughed +Jack, his face still flushed. <span class="tei tei-q">“The very idea of +there being in the United States Navy a fine and +capable craft named after me—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, if the Navy folks object,”</span> laughed Farnum, +<span class="tei tei-q">“then they'll change the name quickly +enough. You understand, lad, the names we +give to our boats last only until the craft are +sold. The Navy people can change those names +if they please.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It will be a handsome compliment to me, +Mr. Farnum. More handsome than deserved, I +fear.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Deserved, well enough,”</span> retorted the shipbuilder. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Dave Pollard and I are well enough +satisfied that, if it hadn't been for you youngsters, +and the superb way in which you handled +our first boat, Dave and I would still be sitting +on the anxious bench in the ante-rooms of the +Navy Department at Washington.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I don't deserve to have a boat named +after me any more than Hal does, or Eph +Somers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Give us time, won't you, Captain?”</span> pleaded +Jacob Farnum, his face straight, but his eyes +laughing. <span class="tei tei-q">“We expect to build at least five +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page011">[pg 011]</span><a name="Pg011" id="Pg011" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +boats. If we didn't, this yard never would have +been fitted for the present work, and you three +boys, who've done so handsomely by us, +wouldn't each own, as you now do, ten shares of +stock in this company. Never fear; there'll be +a 'Hastings' and a 'Somers' added to our fleet +one of these days—even though some of our +boats have to be sold to foreign governments.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If a boat named the 'Hastings' were sold to +some foreign government,”</span> laughed Jack Benson, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hal, here, wouldn't say much about it. +But call a boat named the 'Somers,' after Eph, +and then sell it, say, to the Germans or the +Japanese, and all of Eph's American gorge +would come to the surface. I'll wager he'd +scheme to sink any submarine torpedo boat, +named after him, that was sold to go under a +foreign flag.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I hope we'll never have to sell any of our +boats to foreign governments,”</span> replied Jacob +Farnum, earnestly. <span class="tei tei-q">“And we won't either, if +the United States Government will give us half +a show.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's just the trouble,”</span> grumbled Hal +Hastings, breaking into the talk, at last. <span class="tei tei-q">“Confound +it, why don't the people of this country +run their government more than they do? +Four-fifths of the inventors who get up great +things that would put the United States on top, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page012">[pg 012]</span><a name="Pg012" id="Pg012" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and keep us there, have to go abroad to find a +market for their inventions! If I could invent +a cannon to-day that would give all the power +on earth to the nation owning it, would the +American Government buy it from me? No, +sir! I'd have to sell the cannon to England, +Germany or Japan—or else starve while Congress +was talking of doing something about it +in the next session. Mr. Farnum, you have the +finest, and the only real submarine torpedo boat. +Yet, if you want to go on building and selling +these craft, you'll have to dispose of most of +them abroad.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I hope not,”</span> responded the shipbuilder, +solemnly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Having said his say, Hal subsided. He was +likely not to speak again for an hour. As a +class, engineers, having to listen much to noisy +machinery, are themselves silent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was well along in the afternoon, a little past +the middle of October. For our three young +friends, Jack, Hal and Eph, things were dull +just at the present moment. They were drawing +their salaries from the Pollard company, yet +of late there had been little for them to do.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Yet the three submarine boys knew that big +things were in the air. David Pollard was +away, presumably on important business. +Jacob Farnum was not much given to speaking +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page013">[pg 013]</span><a name="Pg013" id="Pg013" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of plans until he had put them through to the +finish. Some big deal was at present <span class="tei tei-q">“on”</span> +with the Government. That much the submarine +boys knew by intuition. They felt, +therefore, that, at any moment, they were likely +to be called into action—to be called upon for +big things.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As Jack and Hal sat in the office, silent, while +Jacob Farnum turned to his desk to scan one of +the papers lying there, the door opened. A boy +burst in, waving a yellow envelope.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Operator said to hustle this wire to you,”</span> +shouted the boy, panting a bit. <span class="tei tei-q">“Said it might +be big news for Farnum. So I ran all the +way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jacob Farnum took the yellow envelope, +opening it and glancing hastily through the +contents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> pretty good news,”</span> assented the shipbuilder, +a smile wreathing his face. <span class="tei tei-q">“This is +for you, messenger.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This”</span> proved to be a folded dollar bill. +The messenger took the money eagerly, then +demanded, more respectfully:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Any answer, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not at this moment, thank you,”</span> replied Mr. +Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“That is all; you may go, boy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Plainly the boy who had brought the telegram +was disappointed over not getting some +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page014">[pg 014]</span><a name="Pg014" id="Pg014" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +inkling of the secret. All Dunhaven, in fact, +was wildly agog over any news that affected the +Farnum yard. For, though the torpedo boat +building industry was now known under the +Pollard name, after the inventor of these boats, +the yard itself still went under the Farnum +name that young Farnum had inherited from +his father.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">While Jacob Farnum is reading the despatch +carefully, for a better understanding, let us +speak for a moment of Captain Jack Benson +and his youthful comrades and chums.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Readers of the first volume in this series, +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Submarine Boys on Duty,”</span> remember +how Jack Benson and Hal Hastings strayed into +the little seaport town of Dunhaven one hot +summer day, and how they learned that it was +here that the then unknown but much-talked-about +Pollard submarine was being built. Both +Jack and Hal had been well trained in machine +shops; they had spent much time aboard salt +water power craft, and so felt a wild desire to +work at the Farnum yard, and to make a study +of submarine craft in general.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">How they succeeded in getting their start in +the Farnum yard, every reader of the preceding +volumes knows; how, too, Eph Somers, a +native of Dunhaven, managed to <span class="tei tei-q">“cheek”</span> his +way aboard the craft after she had been +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page015">[pg 015]</span><a name="Pg015" id="Pg015" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +launched, and how he had always since managed +to remain there.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Our same older readers will remember the +thrilling experiences of this boyish trio during +the early trials of the new submarine torpedo +boat, both above and below the surface. These +readers will remember, also, for instance, the +great prank played by the boys on the watch +officer of one of the stateliest battleships of the +Navy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Readers of the second volume, <span class="tei tei-q">“The Submarine +Boys' Trial Trip,”</span> will recall, among +other things, the desperate efforts made by +George Melville, the capitalist, aided by the latter's +disagreeable son, Don, to acquire stealthy +control of the submarine building company, and +their efforts to oust Jack, Hal and Eph from +their much-prized employment. These readers +will remember how Jack and his comrades +spoiled the Melville plans, and how Captain +Jack and his friends handled the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> so +splendidly, in the presence of a board of Navy +officers, that the United States Government was +induced to buy that first submarine craft.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After that sale, each of the three boys received, +in addition to his regular pay, a bank +account of a thousand dollars and ten shares of +stock in the new company. Moreover, Messrs. +Farnum and Pollard had felt wholly justified in +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page016">[pg 016]</span><a name="Pg016" id="Pg016" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +promising these talented, daring, hustling submarine +boys an assured and successful future.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jacob Farnum at last looked up from the final +reading of the telegram in his hands. Captain +Jack Benson's gaze was fixed on his employer's +face. Hal Hastings was looking out of a window, +with almost a bored look in his eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You young men wanted action,”</span> announced +Mr. Farnum, quietly. <span class="tei tei-q">“I think you'll get it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Soon?”</span> questioned Jack, eagerly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Immediately, or a minute or two later,”</span> +laughed the shipbuilder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm ready,”</span> declared Captain Jack, rising.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It'll take you a little time to hear about it +all and digest it, so you may as well be seated +again,”</span> declared Farnum.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal, too, wandered back to his chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You've been wondering how much longer +the Government would leave the 'Pollard' +here,”</span> went on Mr. Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“I am informed +that the gunboat 'Hudson' is on her way here, +to take over the 'Pollard.'”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What are the Navy folks going to do?”</span> demanded +Captain Jack, all but wrathfully. <span class="tei tei-q">“Do +they propose to <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tow</span></span> that splendid little craft +away?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hardly that, I imagine,”</span> replied Farnum. +<span class="tei tei-q">“It's the custom of the United States Navy, you +know, to send a gunboat along with every two +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page017">[pg 017]</span><a name="Pg017" id="Pg017" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +or three submarines. They call the larger craft +the 'parent boat.' The parent boat looks out +for any submarine craft that may become disabled.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The cheek of it,”</span> vented Jack, disgustedly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why, sir, I'd volunteer to take the 'Pollard,' +unassisted, around the world, if she could carry +fuel enough for such a trip.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But the Navy hasn't been accustomed to +such capable submarine boats as ours, you +know,”</span> replied Mr. Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“Hence the +parent boat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Parent boat?”</span> interjected Hal Hastings, +with his quiet smile. <span class="tei tei-q">“You might call it the +'Dad' boat, so to speak.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mr. Farnum laughed, then continued:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A naval crew will take possession of the +'Pollard,' and the craft will proceed, under the +care of the Dad boat”</span>—with a side glance of +amusement at Hal—<span class="tei tei-q">“to the United States +Naval Academy at Annapolis.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Annapolis—where they train the naval +cadets, the midshipmen, into United States +Naval officers? Oh, how I'd like to go there!”</span> +breathed Captain Jack Benson, eagerly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“As a cadet in the Navy, do you mean?”</span> +asked Mr. Farnum.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, that would have been well enough,”</span> +assented Jack, <span class="tei tei-q">“before I had such a chance in +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page018">[pg 018]</span><a name="Pg018" id="Pg018" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +your submarine service. No; I mean I'd like +to see Annapolis. I'd like to watch the midshipmen +at their training, and see the whole +naval life there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It's too bad every fellow can't have his wish +gratified as easily,”</span> continued Jacob Farnum.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you mean we're going to Annapolis, +too?”</span> asked Jack Benson, his eyes glowing. +Even Hal Hastings sat up straighter in his +chair, watching the shipbuilder's face closely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> nodded Jacob Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“Permission +has been granted for me to send our second +boat, the 'Farnum,' along with the 'Pollard'—both +under the care of the—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The Dad boat,”</span> laughed Hastings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; that will give us a chance to have the +'Farnum' studied most closely by some of the +most capable officers in the United States Navy. +It ought to mean, presently, the sale of the +'Farnum' to the Government.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's just what it will mean,”</span> promised +Captain Jack, <span class="tei tei-q">“if any efforts of ours can make +the Navy men more interested in the boat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You three youngsters are likely to be at +Annapolis for some time,”</span> went on Mr. Farnum. +<span class="tei tei-q">“In fact—but don't let your heads become +too enlarged by the news, will you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal, quiet young Hal, neatly hid a yawn behind +one hand, while Benson answered for both:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page019">[pg 019]</span><a name="Pg019" id="Pg019" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“We're already wearing the largest-sized +caps manufactured, Mr. Farnum. Don't tempt +us too far, please!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, you boys are safe from the ordinary +perils of vanity, or your heads would have burst +long ago. Well, then, when you arrive at Annapolis, +you three are to act as civilian instructors +to the middies. You three are to teach the +midshipmen of the United States Navy the +principles on which the Pollard type of boat is +run. There; I've told you the whole news. +What do you think of it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mr. Farnum's cigar having burned low, he +tossed it away, then leaned back as he lighted +another weed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do we think, sir?”</span> echoed Captain +Jack, eagerly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why, we think we're in sight +of the very time of our lives! Annapolis! And +to teach the middies how to run a 'Pollard' submarine.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How soon are we likely to have to start, +sir!”</span> asked Hal Hastings, after a silence that +lasted a few moments.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Whenever the 'Hudson' shows up along this +coast, and the officer in command of her gives +the word. That may be any hour, now.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then we'd better find Eph,”</span> suggested +Captain Jack, <span class="tei tei-q">“and pass him the word. Won't +Eph Somers dance a jig for delight, though?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page020">[pg 020]</span><a name="Pg020" id="Pg020" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; we'd better look both boats over at +once,”</span> replied Mr. Farnum, picking up his hat. +<span class="tei tei-q">“And we'll leave word for Grant Andrews and +some of his machinists to inspect both craft +with us. There may be a few things that will +need to be done.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As they left the office, crossing the yard, Captain +Jack Benson and Hal Hastings felt exactly +as though they were walking on air. Even +Hal, quiet as he was, had caught the joy-infection +of these orders to proceed to Annapolis. +To be sent to the United States Naval Academy +on a tour of instruction is what officers of the +Navy often call <span class="tei tei-q">“the prize detail.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Farnum and his two youthful companions +went, first of all, to the long, shed-like building +in which the third submarine craft to be +turned out at this yard was now being built. +From inside came the noisy clang of hammers +against metal. The shipbuilder stepped inside +alone, but soon came out, nodding. The three +now continued on their way down to the little +harbor. All of a sudden the three stopped +short, almost with a jerk, in the same second, +as though pulled by a string.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At exactly the same instant Jacob Farnum, +Captain Jack Benson and Engineer Hal Hastings +put up their hands to rub their eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Their senses had told them truly, however. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page021">[pg 021]</span><a name="Pg021" id="Pg021" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +While the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> rode serenely at her moorings, +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum,”</span> the second boat to be +launched, was nowhere to be seen!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What on earth has happened to the other +submarine?”</span> gasped the shipbuilder, as soon +as he could somewhat control his voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">What, indeed?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was not a sign of her. At least, she +had not sunk at her moorings, for the buoys +floated in their respective places, with no manner +of tackle attached to them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A submarine boat can't slip its own cables +and vanish without human hands!”</span> gasped the +staggered Jack Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There's something uncanny about this,”</span> +muttered Hal Hastings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jacob Farnum stood rooted to the spot, opening +and closing his hands in a way that testified +plainly to the extent of his bewilderment.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc6" id="toc6"></a> +<a name="pdf7" id="pdf7"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Jack Benson was the first of the trio to +move.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Without a word he broke into a run, +heading for the narrow little shingle of beach.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Got an idea, Captain?”</span> shouted Jacob Farnum, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page022">[pg 022]</span><a name="Pg022" id="Pg022" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +darting after his young submarine +skipper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir!”</span> floated back over Jack's shoulder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then what's at the bottom—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eph and the boat, both together, or I miss +my guess,”</span> Captain Jack shouted back as he +halted at the water's edge, where a rowboat lay +hauled up on the shore.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jacob Farnum's face showed suddenly pallid +as he, also, reached the beach. Hal, who was +in the rear, did not seem so much startled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think Eph has gone off on a cruise +all alone?—that he has come to any harm?”</span> +gasped the shipbuilder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't know, but I'm not going to worry +a mite about Eph Somers until I have to,”</span> retorted +Jack Benson, easily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eph can generally take care of himself,”</span> +added Hal Hastings. <span class="tei tei-q">“He rarely falls into +any kind of scrape that he can't climb out +of.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But this is a bad time for him to take the +'Farnum' and cruise away,”</span> objected the owner +of the yard. <span class="tei tei-q">“The 'Hudson' may be here at +any hour, you know, and we ought to be ready +for orders.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As he spoke, Mr. Farnum scanned the horizon +away to the south, out over the sea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There's a line of smoke, now, and not many +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page023">[pg 023]</span><a name="Pg023" id="Pg023" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +miles away,”</span> he announced. <span class="tei tei-q">“It may, as likely +as not, be smoke from the 'Hudson's' pipe.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Going out with us, sir?”</span> inquired Captain +Jack Benson, as Hal took his place at a pair of +oars.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> nodded the owner of the yard, dropping +into a seat at the stern of the boat, after +which Benson pushed off at the bow.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Down on the seashore, on this day just past +the middle of October, the air was keen and +brisk. There had been frost for several nights +past. Sleighing might be looked for in another +month.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Cable's gone from this buoy,”</span> declared Captain +Jack, as Hal rowed close. <span class="tei tei-q">“Over to the +other one, old fellow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Here, too, the cable was missing. Evidently +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> had made a clean get-away. If +there had been any accident, it must have taken +place after the new submarine boat had slipped +away from her moorings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Humph!”</span> grunted Jack, scanning the sea. +<span class="tei tei-q">“No sign of the boat anywhere. Eph may be +anywhere within twenty miles of here.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or within twenty feet, either,”</span> grinned Hal, +looking down into the waters that were lead-colored +under the dull autumn sky.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What are we going to do, Captain?”</span> inquired +Jacob Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“There are Grant Andrews +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page024">[pg 024]</span><a name="Pg024" id="Pg024" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and three of his machinists coming down +to the water.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I reckon, sir, we'd better put them aboard +the 'Pollard' first, sir,”</span> Benson suggested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mr. Farnum nodding, the boat was rowed in +to the shore and Andrews and his men were +put aboard the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> at the platform deck. +Captain Jack Benson unlocking the door to the +conning tower, was himself the first to disappear +down below. When he came back he carried +a line to which was attached a heavy sounding-lead.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It won't take us long to sound the deep +spots in this little harbor,”</span> said the young skipper, +as he dropped down once more into the +bow of the shore boat. <span class="tei tei-q">“Row about, Hal, over +the places where the submarine could go below +out of sight.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As Hal rowed, Skipper Jack industriously +used the sounding-lead.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For twenty minutes nothing resulted from +this exploration. Then, all of a sudden, Benson +shouted:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Back water, Hal! Easy; rest on your oars. +Steady!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson raised the lead two or three +feet, then let it down again, playing it up and +down very much as a cod fisherman uses his +line and hook.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page025">[pg 025]</span><a name="Pg025" id="Pg025" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I'm hitting something, and it is hardly a +rock, either,”</span> declared young Benson. <span class="tei tei-q">“Pull +around about three points to starboard, Hal, +then steal barely forward.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Again Benson played see-saw with his sounding-line +over the boat's gunwale.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If my lead isn't hitting the 'Farnum,'”</span> +declared the young skipper, positively, <span class="tei tei-q">“then +it's the 'Farnum's' ghost. Hold steady, now, +Hal.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Immediately afterward, Benson caused the +lead fairly to dance a jig on whatever it touched +at bottom.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What's the good of that, anyway?”</span> demanded +Jacob Farnum.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You don't think I'm doing this just for fun, +do you, sir?”</span> asked Captain Jack, with a smile.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; I know you generally have an object +when you do anything unusual,”</span> responded the +shipbuilder, good-humoredly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You know, of course, sir, that noises sound +with a good deal of exaggeration when you hear +them under water?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; of course.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You also know that all three of us have +been practicing at telegraphy a good deal during +the past few weeks, because every man who +follows the sea ought to know how to send and +receive wireless messages at need.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page026">[pg 026]</span><a name="Pg026" id="Pg026" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; I know that, Benson.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, sir, I guess that the lead has been +hitting the top of the 'Farnum's' hull, and I've +been tapping out the signal—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The signal, 'Come up—rush!'”</span> broke in +Hal, with an odd smile.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Right-o,”</span> nodded Jack Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How on earth did <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">you</span></span> know what the signal +was, Hastings?”</span> demanded Mr. Farnum.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, sir, I've been sitting so that I could +see Jack's arm. I've been reading, from the +motions of his right arm, the dots and dashes of +the Morse telegraph alphabet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You youngsters certainly get me, for the +things you think of,”</span> laughed the shipyard's +owner.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And the 'Farnum,' or whatever it is, is coming +up,”</span> called Captain Jack, suddenly. <span class="tei tei-q">“I just +felt my lead slide down over the top of her hull. +Hard-a-starboard, Hal, and row hard,”</span> shouted +young Benson, breathlessly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though Hastings obeyed immediately he was +barely an instant too soon. To his dismay, Mr. +Farnum saw something dark, unwieldy, rising +through the water. It appeared to be coming +up fairly under the stern of the shore boat, +threatening to overturn the little craft and +plunge them all into the icy water.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal shot just out of the danger zone, though. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page027">[pg 027]</span><a name="Pg027" id="Pg027" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Then a round little tower bobbed up out of the +water. Immediately afterward the upper third +of a long, cigar-shaped craft came up into view, +water rolling from her dripping sides, which +glistened brightly as the sun came out briefly +from behind a fall cloud.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In the conning tower, through the thick plate +glass, the three people in the shore boat made +out the carroty-topped head and freckled, +good-humored, honest, homely face of Eph +Somers. The boat lay on the water, under no +headway, drifting slightly with the wind-driven +ripples. Then Eph raised the man-hole cover +of the top of the conning tower, thrusting out +his head to hail them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hey, you landsmen, do you know a buoy +from an umbrella?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">you</span></span> know the difference between a Sunday-school +text and petty larceny?”</span> retorted +Jack Benson, sternly. <span class="tei tei-q">“What do you mean by +taking the submarine without leave?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I've been experimenting—flirting with +science,”</span> responded Eph, loftily. <span class="tei tei-q">“Say, if you +landsmen know a buoy from a banana, get down +to the bow moorings of this steel mermaid, and +I'll pass you the bow cable. It's a heap easier +to lead this submarine horse out of the stall, +single-handed, than it is to take him back and +tie him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page028">[pg 028]</span><a name="Pg028" id="Pg028" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Hal rowed easily to the buoy, while Eph, returning +to the steering wheel and the tower controls, +ran the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum,”</span> with just bare headway, +up to where he could toss the bow cable to +those waiting in the boat. A few moments later +the stern cable, also, was made fast, in such a +way as to allow a moderate swing to the bulky +steel craft.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, you can take me ashore, if you feel +like it,”</span> proposed Eph, standing on the platform +deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not quite yet,”</span> returned Skipper Jack, +though the small boat lay alongside. <span class="tei tei-q">“We've +got some inspecting to do. But how did you get +on board in the first place?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, the night watchman was in the yard +for a few minutes, and I got him to put me on +board. I figured I could hail somebody else +when I was ready to go on shore.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But what on earth made you do such a +thing?”</span> demanded Captain Jack, in a low tone. +<span class="tei tei-q">“It's really more than you had a right to do, +Eph, without getting Mr. Farnum's permission.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, I've known you to take the 'Pollard' +and try something when Mr. Farnum wasn't +about,”</span> retorted Somers, looking surprised.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You never knew me to do it when I could +ask permission, although, as captain, I have the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page029">[pg 029]</span><a name="Pg029" id="Pg029" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +right to handle the boat. But that leave doesn't +extend to all the rest, Eph. What were you +doing down there, anyway?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, I came on board, and left the manhole +open for ten minutes,”</span> answered Somers. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Then I found the cabin thermometer standing +at 49 degrees. I wondered how much warmth +could be gained by going below the surface. +I had been down an hour and five minutes +when you began to signal with that sledge-hammer—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sounding-lead,”</span> Jack corrected him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, it sounded like a sledge-hammer, anyway,”</span> +grinned young Somers. <span class="tei tei-q">“While I was +down below I found that the temperature rose +four degrees.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Part of that was likely due to the warmth of +your body, and the heat of the breath you gave +off,”</span> hinted Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You could have gotten it up to eighty +or ninety degrees by turning on the electric +heater far enough,”</span> suggested Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wanted to see whether it would be warmer +in the depths; wanted to find out how low I could +go and be able to do without heat in winter,”</span> +Somers retorted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I could have told you that, from my reading, +without any experiment,”</span> retorted Skipper +Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“Close your conning tower and go down +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page030">[pg 030]</span><a name="Pg030" id="Pg030" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +a little way, and the temperature would gradually +rise a few degrees. That's because of the +absence of wind and draft. But, if you could +go down very, very deep without smashing the +boat under the water pressure, you'd find the +temperature falling quite a bit.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where did you read all that?”</span> inquired +Eph, looking both astonished and sheepish.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Here,”</span> replied Jack, going to a small wall +book-case, taking down a book and turning +several pages before he stopped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just my luck,”</span> muttered Eph, disconsolately. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Here I've been dull as ditch-water +for an hour, trying to find out something new, +and it's all stated in a book printed—ten years +ago,”</span> he finished, after rapidly consulting the +title-page.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jacob Farnum had been no listener to this +conversation. Taking the marine glasses from +the conning tower, the shipbuilder was now well +forward on the platform deck, scanning what +was visible of the steam craft to the southward. +At last the yard's owner turned around to say:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't believe you young men can have +things ship-shape a second too soon. The craft +heading this way has a military mast forward. +She must be the 'Hudson.' If there's anything +to be done, hustle!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack and Hal sprang below, to scan their respective +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page031">[pg 031]</span><a name="Pg031" id="Pg031" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +departments. Five minutes later Grant +Andrews hailed from the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard,”</span> and Eph +rowed over in the shore boat to ferry over the +machinists.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Half an hour later Andrews and his men had +put in the few needed touches aboard the newer +submarine boat. The sun, meanwhile, had gone +down, showing the hull of a naval vessel some +four miles off the harbor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Darkness came on quickly, with a clouded sky. +As young Benson stepped on deck Grant Andrews +followed him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All finished here, Grant?”</span> queried the +yard's owner.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir. There's mighty little chance to +do anything where Hal Hastings has charge of +the machinery.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's our gunboat out there, I think,”</span> went +on Mr. Farnum, pointing to where a white masthead +light and a red port light were visible, +about a mile away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dunhaven must be on the map, all right, +if a strange navigating officer knows how to +come so straight to the place,”</span> laughed Jack +Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, you trust a United States naval officer +to find any place he has sailing orders for,”</span> returned +Jacob Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“I wonder if he'll +attempt to come into this harbor?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page032">[pg 032]</span><a name="Pg032" id="Pg032" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There's safe anchorage, if he wants to do +so,”</span> replied Captain Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">While Somers was busy putting the foreman +and the machinists ashore, Mr. Farnum, Jack +and Hal remained on the platform deck, watching +the approach of the naval vessel, which was +now plainly making for Dunhaven.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Suddenly, a broad beam of glaring white light +shot over the water, resting across the deck of +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I guess that fellow knows what he wants to +know, now,”</span> muttered Benson, blinking after +the strong glare had passed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There, he has picked up the 'Pollard,' too,”</span> +announced Hastings. <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, that commander +must feel sure he has sighted the right place.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There go the signal lights,”</span> cried Captain +Jack, suddenly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Hal, hustle below and turn +on the electric current for the signaling +apparatus.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then Benson watched as, from the yards high +up on the gunboat's signaling mast, colored +electric lights glowed forth, twinkling briefly in +turn. This is the modern method of signaling +by sea at night.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He wants to know,”</span> said Benson, to Mr. +Farnum, as he turned, <span class="tei tei-q">“whether there is safe +anchorage for a twelve-hundred-ton gunboat of +one hundred and ninety-five feet length.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page033">[pg 033]</span><a name="Pg033" id="Pg033" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Reaching the inside of the conning tower at a +bound, the young skipper rapidly manipulated +his own electric signaling control. There was +a low mast on the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum's”</span> platform deck, +a mast that could be unstepped almost in an +instant when going below surface. So Captain +Jack's counter-query beamed out in colors +through the night:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What's your draught?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Under present ballast, seventeen-eight,”</span> +came the answer from the gunboat's signal +mast.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Safe anchorage,”</span> Captain Jack signaled +back.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can you meet us with a pilot?”</span> questioned +the on-coming gunboat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> Captain Jack responded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do so,”</span> came the laconic request.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's all, Hal,”</span> the young skipper called, +through the engine room speaking tube. <span class="tei tei-q">“Want +to row me out and put me aboard the gunboat?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In another jiffy the two young chums had +put off in the boat, Hal at the oars, Jack at the +tiller ropes. The gunboat was now lying to, +some seven hundred yards off the mouth of the +little harbor. Hastings bent lustily to the oars, +sending the boat over the rocking water until +he was within a hundred yards of the steam +craft's bridge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page034">[pg 034]</span><a name="Pg034" id="Pg034" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Gun boat ahoy!”</span> roared Hal, between his +hands. Then, by a slip of the tongue, and +wholly innocent of any intentional offense, he +bellowed:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is that the 'Dad' boat?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What's that?”</span> came a sharp retort from +the gunboat's bridge. <span class="tei tei-q">“Don't try to be funny, +young man!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Beg your pardon, sir. That was a slip of +the tongue,”</span> Hal replied, meekly, as he colored. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Are you the gunboat 'Hudson?'”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; I'm her commanding officer, young +man! Who in blazes are you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm the goat, it seems,”</span> muttered Hastings, +under his breath. But, aloud, he replied:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I have the pilot you requested.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then why don't you bring him on board?”</span> +came the sharp question. <span class="tei tei-q">“Did you think I +only wanted to look at a pilot?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right, sir. Shall I make fast to your +starboard side gangway?”</span> Hal called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In a hurry, young man!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's the naval style, I guess,”</span> murmured +Jack to his chum. <span class="tei tei-q">“No fooling in the talk. I +wonder if that fellow eats pie? Or is his temper +due to coffee?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Answering only with a quiet grin, Hal rowed +alongside the starboard side gangway. Jack, +waiting, sprang quickly to the steps, ascending, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page035">[pg 035]</span><a name="Pg035" id="Pg035" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +waving his hand to Hal as he went. Young +Hastings quickly shoved off, then bent to his +oars.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where's the pilot?”</span> came a stern voice, +from the bridge, as Jack Benson's head showed +above the starboard rail.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I am the pilot, sir,”</span> Jack replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, you're a boy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Guilty,”</span> Jack responded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What does this fooling mean? You're not +old enough to hold a pilot's license.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By this time Benson was on the deck, immediately +under the bridge. A half dozen sailors, +forward, were eyeing him curiously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I have no license, sir,”</span> Jack admitted. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Neither has anyone else at Dunhaven. For +that matter, the harbor's a private one, belonging +to the shipyard.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hasn't Mr. Farnum a <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">man</span></span> he can send +out?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No one who knows the harbor better than I +do, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who are you? What are you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jack Benson, sir. Captain of the Pollard +submarine boats.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why didn't you tell me that before?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The question came sharply, almost raspingly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Beg your pardon, sir, but you didn't ask +me,”</span> Jack replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page036">[pg 036]</span><a name="Pg036" id="Pg036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Come up here, Benson,”</span> ordered the lieutenant +commander, in a loud voice intended to +drown out the subdued titter of some of the +sailors forward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack ascended to the bridge, to find himself +facing a six-footer in his early thirties. There +was a younger officer at the far end of the +bridge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Does Mr. Farnum consider you capable of +showing us the way into the harbor?”</span> demanded +the commanding officer of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think so, sir. He trusts me with his own +boats.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then you are—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Benson, Mr. Farnum's captain of the submarine +boats.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed in astonishment +for a moment, then held out his +hand as he introduced himself, remarking:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I was told that I would find a very young +submarine commander here, but—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You didn't expect to find one quite as +young,”</span> Jack finished, smiling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; I didn't. Mr. Trahern, I want you to +know Captain Jack Benson, of the Pollard +submarines.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Ensign Trahern also shook hands with young +Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page037">[pg 037]</span><a name="Pg037" id="Pg037" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And now,”</span> went on the commander of the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“I think you may as well show us +the way into the harbor.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You'll want to go at little more than headway, +sir,”</span> Jack replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“The harbor is small, +though there's enough deep water for you. In +parts there are some sand ledges that the tide +washes up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I can't allow you to pilot us, exactly, but +you'll indicate the course to me, won't you, Mr. +Benson?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The <span class="tei tei-q">“mister”</span> was noticeable, now. Naval +officers are chary of their bestowal of the title +<span class="tei tei-q">“captain”</span> upon one who does not hold it in +the Army or Navy service.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At Mr. Mayhew's order the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> was +started slowly forward, the searchlight playing +about the entrance to the harbor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“For your best anchorage, sir,”</span> declared +Captain Jack, after he had brought the gunboat +slowly into the harbor, <span class="tei tei-q">“you will do well +to anchor with that main arc-light dead ahead, +that shed over there on your starboard beam, +and the front end of the submarine shed about +four points off your port bow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mr. Mayhew slowly manœuvred his craft, +while men stood on the deck below, forward, +prepared to heave the bow anchors.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go four points over to port, Mr. Trahern,”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page038">[pg 038]</span><a name="Pg038" id="Pg038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +instructed Mr. Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, back the engines—steady!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson opened his mouth wide. Then, +as he saw the way the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> was backing, +he suddenly called:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Slow speed ahead, quick, sir!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You said—”</span> began Mr. Mayhew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Gr-r-r-r! The stern of the gunboat dug its +way into a sand ledge, lifting the stern considerably.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Slow speed ahead!”</span> rasped Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew, sharply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But the gunboat could not be budged. She +was stuck, stern on, fast in the sand-ledge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Benson!”</span> uttered the lieutenant commander, +bitterly, <span class="tei tei-q">“I congratulate you. You've succeeded +in grounding a United States Naval +vessel!”</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc8" id="toc8"></a> +<a name="pdf9" id="pdf9"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER III: </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%">“</span><span style="font-size: 173%">YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!</span><span style="font-size: 173%">”</span></span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There was so much of overwhelming +censure in the naval officer's tone that +Jack's spirit was stung to the quick.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It's your mistake, sir,”</span> he retorted. <span class="tei tei-q">“You +didn't follow the course I advised. You swung +the ship around to port, and—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Silence, now, if you please, while men are +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page039">[pg 039]</span><a name="Pg039" id="Pg039" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +trying to get this vessel out of a scrape a boy +got her into,”</span> commanded Mr. Mayhem, sternly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack flushed, then bit his tongue. In another +moment a pallor had succeeded the red in his +face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He was blamed for the disaster, and he was +not really at fault.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Yet, under the rebuke he had just received, +he did not feel it his place to retort further for +the present.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mr. Mayhew and Mr. Trahern conferred in +low tones for a moment or two.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You may as well leave the bridge, young +man,”</span> resumed Mr. Mayhew, turning upon the +submarine boy. <span class="tei tei-q">“You are not likely to be of +any use here.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As Jack, burning inwardly with indignation, +though managing to keep outwardly calm, descended +to the deck below, he caught sight of +Hal Hastings, hovering near in the rowboat. +Hal signaled to learn whether he should put in +alongside to take off his chum, but Benson +shook his head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Over on the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> the yard's owner and +Eph Somers watched wonderingly. They understood, +well enough, that the new, trim-looking +gunboat was in trouble, but they did not +know that Jack Benson was held at fault.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Down between decks the engines of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page040">[pg 040]</span><a name="Pg040" id="Pg040" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +were toiling hard to run the craft off out +of the sand. Then the machinery stopped. An +engineer officer came up from below. He and +Mr. Mayhew walked to the stern, while a seaman, +accompanying them, heaved the lead, +reading the soundings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We're stuck good and fast,”</span> remarked the +engineer officer. <span class="tei tei-q">“We can't drive off out of +that sand for the reason that the propellers are +buried in the grit. They'll hardly turn at all, +and, when they do, they only churn the sand +without driving us off.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Confound that ignoramus of a boy!”</span> muttered +Mr. Mayhew, walking slowly forward. It +was no pleasant situation for the lieutenant commander. +Having run his vessel ashore, he +knew himself likely to be facing a naval board +of inquiry.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal, finding that the shore boat was not +wanted for the present, had rowed over to the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum's”</span> moorings. Now Jacob Farnum +came alongside in the shore boat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“May I speak with your watch officer?”</span> he +called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I am the commanding officer,”</span> Mr. Mayhew +called down, in the cold, even, dulled voice +of a man in trouble.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I am Mr. Farnum, owner of the yard. May +I come on board?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page041">[pg 041]</span><a name="Pg041" id="Pg041" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Be glad to have you,”</span> Lieutenant Commander +Mayhew responded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So Mr. Farnum went nimbly up over the side.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“May I ask what is the trouble here, sir?”</span> +asked the yard's owner.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The trouble is,”</span> replied Mr. Mayhew, <span class="tei tei-q">“that +your enterprising boy pilot has run us aground—hard, +tight and fast!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jacob Farnum glanced swiftly at his young +captain. Jack shook his head briefly in dissent. +Jacob Farnum, with full confidence in his young +man, at once understood that there was more yet +to be learned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Come up on the bridge, sir, if you will,”</span> requested +the commander of the gunboat, who was +a man of too good breeding to wish any dispute +before the men of the crew. <span class="tei tei-q">“You may come, +too, Benson.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack followed the others, including the +engineer officer of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson.”</span> Yet Benson +was clenching his hands, fighting a desperate +battle to get full command over himself. It +was hard—worse than hard—to be unjustly +accused.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jacob Farnum wished to keep on the pleasantest +terms with these officers of the Navy. At +the same time he was man enough to feel determined +that Jack, whether right or wrong, should +have a full chance to defend himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page042">[pg 042]</span><a name="Pg042" id="Pg042" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I understand, sir,”</span> began Mr. Farnum, +<span class="tei tei-q">“that you attach some blame in this matter to +young Benson?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps he is not to be blamed too much, on +account of his extreme youth,”</span> responded Mr. +Mayhew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Forget his youth altogether,”</span> urged Mr. +Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“Let us treat him as a man. I've +always found him one, in judgment, knowledge +and loyalty. Do you mind telling me, sir, in +what way he erred in bringing you in here?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“An error in giving his advice,”</span> replied +Mr. Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“Or else it was ignorance of how +to handle a craft as large as this gunboat. For +my anchorage he told me—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Here the lieutenant commander repeated the +first part of Jack's directions correctly, but +wound up with:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He advised me to throw my wheel over four +points to port.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Pardon me, sir,”</span> Jack broke in, unable to +keep still longer. <span class="tei tei-q">“What I said, or intended to +say, was to bring your vessel so that the forward +end of the submarine shed over there would be +four points off the port bow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What did you hear Mr. Benson say, Mr. +Trahern?”</span> demanded the gunboat's commander, +turning to the ensign who had stood +with him on the bridge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page043">[pg 043]</span><a name="Pg043" id="Pg043" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why, sir, I understood the lad to say what +he states that he said.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You are sure of that, Mr. Trahern?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Unless my ears tricked me badly,”</span> replied +the ensign, <span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson said just what he now +states. I wondered, sir, at your calling for slow +speed astern.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed for +some moments fixedly at the face of Ensign +Trahern. Then, of a sudden, the gunboat's +commander, who was both an officer and a gentleman, +broke forth, contritely:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“As I think it over, I believe, myself, that +Benson advised as he now states he did. It was +my own error—I am sure of it now.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Wheeling about, Mayhew held out his right +hand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson,”</span> he said, in a deep voice full of +regret, <span class="tei tei-q">“I was the one in error. I am glad to +admit it, even if tardily. Will you pardon my +too hasty censure?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Gladly, sir,”</span> Benson replied, gripping the +proffered hand. Jacob Farnum stood back, +wagging his head in a satisfied way. It had +been difficult for him to believe that his young +captain had been at fault in so simple a matter, +or in a harbor with which he was so intimately +acquainted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As for the young man himself, the thing that +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page044">[pg 044]</span><a name="Pg044" id="Pg044" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +touched him most deeply was the quick, complete +and manly acknowledgment of this lieutenant +commander.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Farnum,”</span> inquired the gunboat's commander, +<span class="tei tei-q">“have you any towboats about here +that can be used in helping me to get the 'Hudson' +off this sand ledge?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The only one in near waters, sir,”</span> replied +the yard's owner, <span class="tei tei-q">“is a craft, not so very much +larger than a launch, that ties up some three +miles down the coast. She's the boat I use when +I need any towing here. Of course, I have the +two torpedo boats, though their engines were +not constructed for towing work.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“May I offer a suggestion?”</span> asked Jack, +when the talk lagged.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll be glad to have you, Mr. Benson,”</span> replied +Mr. Mayhew, turning toward the submarine +boy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Flood tide will be in in about two hours and +a half, sir,”</span> Benson followed up. <span class="tei tei-q">“That ought +to raise this vessel a good deal. Then, with the +towboat Mr. Farnum has mentioned, and with +such help as the engines of the submarines may +give, together with your own engines, Mr. Mayhew, +I think there ought to be a good chance of +getting the 'Hudson' afloat with plenty of water +under her whole keel. We can even start some +of the engines on shore, and rig winches to haul +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page045">[pg 045]</span><a name="Pg045" id="Pg045" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +on extra cables. Altogether, we can give you a +strong pull, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That sounds like the best plan to me,”</span> +nodded Jacob Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'll have a message +sent at once for that towboat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A white-coated steward now appeared on +deck, moving near the lieutenant commander.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is dinner ready, Greers?”</span> called Mr. Mayhew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Lay two more plates, then. Mr. Farnum, I +trust you and your young submarine commander +will sit as my guests to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This invitation the yard's owner accepted, +asking only time enough to arrange for keeping +some of his workmen over-time, awaiting the +coming of flood-tide.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So, presently, Jack and his employer found +themselves seated at table in the gunboat's +handsome wardroom. Besides the lieutenant +commander there were Lieutenant Halpin, two +ensigns, two engineer officers and a young medical +officer. In the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson's”</span> complement of +officers there were also four midshipmen, but +these latter ate in their own mess.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The time passed most pleasantly, Mr. Mayhew +plainly doing all in his power to atone for +his late censure of the submarine boy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Before dinner was over the small towboat was +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page046">[pg 046]</span><a name="Pg046" id="Pg046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +in the harbor. At the coming of flood tide this +towing craft had a hawser made fast to the gunboat. +With the help of some of the naval +machinists aboard the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> both submarine +craft were also manned and hawsers +made fast. Two cables were passed ashore to +winches to which power was supplied by the +shipyard's engines. When all was ready a +mighty pull was given, the gunboat's own propellers +taking part in the struggle. For two or +three minutes the efforts continued. Then, at +last, the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> uninjured, ran off into deep +water and shortly afterwards anchored in +safety.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was a moment of tremendous relief for +Mr. Mayhew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Call the tugboat captain aboard, and I'll +settle with him at my own expense,”</span> proposed +the lieutenant commander.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I trust you will think of nothing of the sort,”</span> +replied Jacob Farnum, quickly. <span class="tei tei-q">“In this harbor +I wish to consider you and your vessel as +my guests.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Again Mr. Mayhew expressed his thanks. +Presently, glancing ashore through the night, he +asked:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What sort of country is it hereabouts?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mostly flat, as to the surface,”</span> Mr. Farnum +replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“If your question goes further, there +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page047">[pg 047]</span><a name="Pg047" id="Pg047" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +are some fine roads and several handsome +estates within a few miles of here. Mr. Mayhew, +won't you and a couple of your officers +come on shore with me? I'll telephone for my +car and put you over quite a few miles this +evening.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Delighted,”</span> replied the commander of the +gunboat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson's”</span> cutters being now in +the water alongside, the party went ashore in +this. Jack, after bidding the naval officers +good-night, found Hal and Eph, who had just +come ashore from supper on board the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No sailing orders yet, I suppose?”</span> Hal +asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“None,”</span> Jack replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“I reckon we'll start, +all right, some time to-morrow morning.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What'll we do to-night?”</span> Eph wondered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't know,”</span> replied Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“We've few +friends around here we need to take the trouble +to say good-bye to. We could call on Mrs. Farnum, +but I imagine we'd run into the naval party +up at the Farnum house. We want to keep a bit +in the background with these naval officers, +except when they may ask for our company.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let's take a walk about the old town, then,”</span> +Hal suggested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So the three submarine boys strolled across +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page048">[pg 048]</span><a name="Pg048" id="Pg048" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the shipyard. Just as they were passing +through the gate a man of middle height and +seemingly about thirty years of age quickened +his pace to reach them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is this shipyard open nights?”</span> he queried.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Only to some employees,”</span> Jack answered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I suppose Mr. Farnum isn't about?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Captain Benson?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Benson is my name.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This letter is addressed to Mr. Farnum,”</span> +went on the stranger, <span class="tei tei-q">“but Mr. Pollard told me +I could hand it to you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Captain Jack took the letter from the unsealed +envelope.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My dear Farnum,”</span> ran the enclosure, +<span class="tei tei-q">“since you're short a good machinist for the +engine room of the 'Farnum,' the bearer, Samuel +Truax, seems to me to be just the man you +want. I've examined him, and he understands +the sort of machinery we use. Better give him +a chance.”</span> The note was signed in David Pollard's +well-known, scrawly handwriting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm sorry you can't see Mr. Farnum to-night,”</span> +said Benson, pleasantly. <span class="tei tei-q">“He'll be +here early in the morning, though.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When do you sail?”</span> asked Truax, quickly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That you would have to ask Mr. Farnum, +too,”</span> smiled Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page049">[pg 049]</span><a name="Pg049" id="Pg049" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But, see here, Mr. Pollard engaged me to +work aboard one of your submarines.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It looks that way, doesn't it?”</span> laughed the +young skipper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And you're the captain?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; but I can't undertake to handle Mr. +Farnum's business for him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You'll let me go aboard the craft to sleep +for to-night, anyway?”</span> coaxed Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, that's just what I'm not at liberty to +do,”</span> replied the young submarine captain. +<span class="tei tei-q">“No; I couldn't think of that, in the absence +of Mr. Farnum's order.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But that doesn't seem hardly fair,”</span> protested +Truax. <span class="tei tei-q">“See here, I have spent all my +money getting here. I haven't even the price +of a lodging with me, and this isn't a summer +night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, I'll tell you what I'll do,”</span> Benson +went on, feeling in one of his pockets. <span class="tei tei-q">“Here's +a dollar. That'll buy you a bed and a breakfast +at the hotel up the street. If you want to get +aboard with us in time, you'd better show up +by eight in the morning.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's really all I can do,”</span> Jack Benson +hastily assured the fellow. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'm not the +owner of the boat, and I can't take any liberties. +Oh, wait just a moment. I'll see if there's +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page050">[pg 050]</span><a name="Pg050" id="Pg050" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +any chance of Mr. Farnum coming back to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack knew well enough that there wasn't any +chance of Mr. Farnum returning, unless possibly +at a very late hour with the naval officers, but +the boy had seen the night watchman peering +out through the gateway.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Retracing his steps, Jack drew the night +watchman inside, whispering:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just a pointer for you. You've seen that +man on the street with us? He has a letter +from Mr. Pollard to Mr. Farnum, but I wouldn't +let him in the yard to-night, unless Mr. Farnum +appears and gives the order.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I understand,”</span> said the night watchman, +nodding.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's all, then, and thank you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson hastily rejoined the others on +the sidewalk.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't believe, Mr. Truax, it will be worth +your while to come here earlier than eight in +the morning. Better go to the hotel and tie +up to a good sleep. Good night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, why did you take such a dislike to the +fellow?”</span> queried Eph, as the three submarine +boys strolled on up the street, Truax following +slowly at some distance in the rear.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn't take a dislike to him,”</span> Jack replied, +opening his eyes wide.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page051">[pg 051]</span><a name="Pg051" id="Pg051" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You choked him off mighty short, then.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If it looked that way, then I'm sorry,”</span> Benson +protested, in a tone of genuine regret. <span class="tei tei-q">“All +I wanted to make plain was that I couldn't pass +him on to our precious old boat without Mr. +Farnum's order.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Truax plodded slowly along behind the submarine +boys, a cunning look in the man's eyes +as he stared after Jack Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're a slick young man, or else a wise +one,”</span> muttered Truax. <span class="tei tei-q">“But I think I'm smart +enough to take it out of you!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Nor did Sam Truax go to the hotel. He had +his own plans for this evening—plans that +boded the submarine boys no good.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The three boys strolled easily about town, +getting a hot soda or two, and, finally, drifting +into a moving picture show that had opened +recently in Dunhaven. This place they did not +leave until the show was over. They were half-way +home when Captain Jack remembered that +he had left behind him a book that he had +bought earlier in the evening.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You fellows keep right on down to the yard. +I'll hurry back, get the book and overtake +you,”</span> he proposed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack ran back, but already the little theatre +was closed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm out that book, then, if we sail in the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page052">[pg 052]</span><a name="Pg052" id="Pg052" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +morning,”</span> he muttered, as he trudged along +after his friends.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On the way toward the water front Benson +had to pass a vacant lot surrounded by a high +board fence on a deserted street. He had +passed about half way along the length of the +fence, when a head appeared over the top followed +by a pair of arms holding a small bag +of sand. Down dropped the bag, striking Jack +Benson on the top of the head, sending him unconscious +to the ground.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc10" id="toc10"></a> +<a name="pdf11" id="pdf11"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Close at hand there was a loose board in +the fence. Through this Sam Truax +thrust his head, peering up and down +the street. Not another soul was in sight.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With a chuckle Truax stepped through the +hole in the fence. Swiftly he gathered up the +young submarine captain, bearing him through +the aperture and dropping him on the ground +behind the fence. At the same time he took +with him the small bag of sand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Knocked you out, but I don't believe you'll +be unconscious long,”</span> mused Truax, standing +over his young victim, regarding him critically. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page055">[pg 055]</span><a name="Pg055" id="Pg055" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There wasn't steam enough in the blow to +hurt you for long. You're sturdy, following +the sea all the time, as you do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With a thoughtful air Sam Truax drew a +small bottle from his pocket, sprinkling some +of the contents over Jack's uniform coat. Immediately +the nauseating smell of liquor rose +on the air.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, if someone finds you before you come +to, you'll look like a fellow that has been drinking +and fighting,”</span> muttered Truax under his +breath. <span class="tei tei-q">“If you come to and get back to the +yard without help, you'll walk unsteadily and +have that smell about your clothes. Usually, +it needs only a breath of suspicion to turn folks +against a boy!”</span></p> + +<a name="image02" id="image02" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a><a name="fig12" id="fig12"></a><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/image02.jpg" width="390" height="600" alt="Illustration: Down Dropped the Bag." title="Down Dropped the Bag." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em; margin-top: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">Down Dropped the Bag.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Pausing only long enough to learn that Jack's +pulses were beating, and that the submarine +boy was breathing, Truax stole off into the +night, carrying the bag of sand under his overcoat. +At one point he paused long enough to +empty the sand from the bag over a fence. The +bag itself he afterwards burned in the open fireplace +in the room assigned to him at Holt's +Hotel.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For twenty minutes Jack Benson lay as he +had been left. Then he began to stir, and groan. +Then he opened his eyes; after a while he managed +to sit up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page056">[pg 056]</span><a name="Pg056" id="Pg056" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ugh!”</span> he grunted. <span class="tei tei-q">“What's the odor? +Liquor! How does that happen? Oh, my +head!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He got slowly to his feet, using the board +fence as a means to help steady himself. Then, +though he found himself weak and tormented +by the pain in his head, Benson managed to feel +his way along the fence until he came to the +opening made by the loose board. Holding +himself here, he thrust his head beyond.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Now, Hal and Eph, having waited for some +time at the shore boat, before going out on board +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum,”</span> had at last made up their minds +to go back and look for their missing leader. +They came along just at the moment that the +young captain's head appeared through the +opening in the fence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There he is,”</span> muttered Hal, stopping short. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Gracious! He acts queerly. I wonder if +anything can have happened to him? Come +along, Eph!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The two raced across the street.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jack, old fellow! What on earth's the matter?”</span> +demanded Hal Hastings, anxiously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wish you could tell me,”</span> responded Jack +Benson, speaking rather thickly, for he was still +somewhat dazed. <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, my head!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There has been some queer work here,”</span> muttered +Hal in Eph's ear. <span class="tei tei-q">“Don't torment him +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page057">[pg 057]</span><a name="Pg057" id="Pg057" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +with questions. Just help me to get him down +to the yard.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">While the two submarine boys were guiding +their weak, dizzy comrade out to the sidewalk +a man came by with a swinging stride. Then +he stopped short, staring in amazement.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hullo, boys! What on earth has happened?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was Grant Andrews, foreman of the submarine +work at the yard, and a warm personal +friend of Benson's.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't believe the old chap feels like telling +us just now,”</span> muttered Hal, with a sour +face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Whiskey!”</span> muttered Andrews, almost under +his breath. <span class="tei tei-q">“What does it mean? Benson +never touched a drop of that vile stuff, did +he?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He'd sooner drown himself,”</span> retorted Hal, +with spirit.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course he would,”</span> agreed Grant Andrews. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But what is the meaning of all this?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, there's some queer, hocus-pocus business +on foot,”</span> muttered Hal, bitterly. <span class="tei tei-q">“But I +don't believe Jack feels much like telling us +anything about it at present.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In truth, Jack didn't seem inclined to conversation. +He was too sore and dazed to feel +like talking. He couldn't collect his ideas +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page058">[pg 058]</span><a name="Pg058" id="Pg058" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +clearly. The most that he actually knew was +that the pain in his head was tormenting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll pick him right up in my arms and carry +him,”</span> proposed Andrews. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'll take him to +Mr. Farnum's office. Then I'll get a doctor. +We don't want much noise about this, or folks +will be telling all sorts of yarns against Jack +Benson and his drinking habits, when the truth +is he's about the finest, steadiest young fellow +alive!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Just as Andrews was about to carry his purpose +into action, however, an automobile turned +the nearest corner and came swiftly toward +them. In another instant it stopped alongside. +It contained Mr. Farnum and his chauffeur, besides +three naval officers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What's wrong, Andrews?”</span> called the +yard's owner. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why, that's Jack Benson! +What has happened to him?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal and Eph stood supporting their comrade, +almost holding him, in fact. Jacob Farnum +leaped from his automobile. Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew followed him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Liquor, eh?”</span> exclaimed the naval officer, the +odor reaching his nostrils.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No such thing,”</span> retorted Farnum, turning +upon the officer. <span class="tei tei-q">“At least, Jack Benson has +been drinking no such stuff.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was only a guess,”</span> murmured Mr. Mayhew, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page059">[pg 059]</span><a name="Pg059" id="Pg059" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +apologetically. <span class="tei tei-q">“You know your young +man better than I do, Mr. Farnum.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There is liquor on his clothing,”</span> continued +the shipbuilder. <span class="tei tei-q">“It looks as though someone +had assaulted the lad, laid him out, and then +sprinkled him. It's a wasted trick, though. I +know him too well to be fooled by any such +clumsy bit of nonsense.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A stupid trick, indeed,”</span> agreed Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew, but the naval officer did +not quite share the shipbuilder's confidence in +the submarine boy's innocence. Mr. Mayhew +had known of too many cases of naval apprentices +ruined through weak indulgence in liquor. +Indeed, he had even known of rare instances in +which cadets had been dismissed from the Naval +Academy for the same offense. The lieutenant +commander's present doubt of Jack Benson was +likely to work to that young man's disadvantage +later on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Others of the party left the auto. Hal and +Mr. Farnum got into the tonneau, supporting +Jack there between them. Thus they carried +him to Mr. Farnum's office at the yard, Grant +Andrews then going in the car after a doctor, +while the others stretched Jack on the office sofa. +The naval officers returned to the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> at +anchor in the little harbor below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The young man acts as though he had been +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page060">[pg 060]</span><a name="Pg060" id="Pg060" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +struck on the head,”</span> was the physician's verdict. +<span class="tei tei-q">“No bones of the skull are broken. The +odor of liquor is on his coat, but I can't seem to +detect any on the breath.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course you can't,”</span> commented Jacob +Farnum, crisply. <span class="tei tei-q">“Will Benson be fit to sail in +the morning?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think so,”</span> nodded the doctor. <span class="tei tei-q">“But there +ought to be a nurse with him to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Take my car, Andrews, and get a man nurse +at once,”</span> directed Mr. Farnum. <span class="tei tei-q">“Doctor, can +the young man be moved to his berth on the +'Farnum'?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Safely enough,”</span> nodded the medical man. +They waited until the nurse arrived, when Jack +was put to bed on the newer submarine craft.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack slept through the night, moaning once +in a while. Mr. Farnum and the Dunhaven +doctor were aboard early to look at him. The +surgeon from the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> also came over.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Under the effects of medicine Jack Benson +was asleep when, at ten o'clock that morning, the +two submarine torpedo boats slipped their +moorings, following the <span class="tei tei-q">“parent boat,”</span> the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> out of the harbor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Ten minutes later the motion of the sea awoke +the young skipper.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page061">[pg 061]</span><a name="Pg061" id="Pg061" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc13" id="toc13"></a> +<a name="pdf14" id="pdf14"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hullo!”</span> muttered the young submarine +skipper, staring curiously +about the little stateroom aft. He +had it to himself, the nurse having been put on +shore. <span class="tei tei-q">“Under way, eh? This is the queerest +start I ever made on a voyage.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Nor was it many moments later when Jack +Benson stood on his feet. His clothes were +hung neatly on nails against the wall. One after +another Jack secured the garments, slowly donning +them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How my head throbs and buzzes!”</span> he muttered, +his voice sounding unsteady. <span class="tei tei-q">“Gracious! +What could have happened? Let me see. The +last I remember—passing that high fence—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But it was all too great a puzzle. Benson +finally decided to stop guessing until some +future time. He went on with his dressing. +Finally, with his blouse buttoned as exactly as +ever, and his cap placed gingerly on his aching +head, he opened the stateroom door, stepping +out into the cabin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Accustomed as he was to sea motion, the slight +roll of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> did not bother the young +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page062">[pg 062]</span><a name="Pg062" id="Pg062" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +skipper much. He soon reached the bottom of +the short spiral stairway leading up into the conning +tower. Up there, in the helmsman's seat, +he espied Hal Hastings with his hands employed +at the steering apparatus. Hal was looking out +over the water, straight ahead.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sailing these days without word from your +captain, eh?”</span> Jack called, in a voice that carried, +though it shook.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Gracious—you?”</span> ejaculated Hal, looking +down for an instant. Then Hastings pressed a +button connecting with a bell in the engine room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm going up there with you,”</span> Jack volunteered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Right-o, if you insist,”</span> clicked Eph Somers, +appearing from the engine room and darting to +the young skipper's side. True, Jack's head +swam a bit dizzily as he climbed the stairs, but +Eph's strong support made the task much +easier. There was space to spare on the seat +beside Hal, and into this Jack Benson sank.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, you ought to sleep until afternoon,”</span> +was Hastings's next greeting, but Jack was +looking out of the conning tower at the scene +around him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The three craft were leaving the coast directly +behind. About three hundred yards away, +abeam, steamed the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> at a nine-knot +gait.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page063">[pg 063]</span><a name="Pg063" id="Pg063" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The 'Pollard' is on the other side of the gunboat, +isn't she?”</span> asked Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> Hal nodded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Naval crew aboard her?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; Government has taken full possession +of the 'Pollard.'”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who's running this boat? Just you and +Eph?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; that new man, Truax, is on board, and +at the last moment Mr. Farnum put Williamson, +one of the machinists, aboard, also. You can +send Williamson back from Annapolis whenever +you're through with him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Williamson is all right,”</span> nodded Jack, +slowly. <span class="tei tei-q">“But how about Truax?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think he's going to be a useful man,”</span> Hal +responded. <span class="tei tei-q">“He seems familiar with our type +of engines. Of course, he knows nothing about +the apparatus for submerging the boat or making +it dive. But he doesn't need to. Now, +Jack, old fellow, we're going along all right. +Why not let Eph help you back to your bunk, or +one of the seats in the cabin, and have your sleep +out?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I've had it out,”</span> Benson declared, with a +laugh. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'm ready, now, to take my trick at the +wheel.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nonsense,”</span> retorted Hal Hastings. <span class="tei tei-q">“I've +been here a bare quarter of an hour, and I'm +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page064">[pg 064]</span><a name="Pg064" id="Pg064" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +good for more work than that. Jack, you're +nothing but a fifth wheel. You're not needed; +won't be all day, and at night we anchor in some +harbor down the coast. Go and rest, like a good +fellow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can't rest, when I know I'm doing nothing,”</span> +Benson retorted, stubbornly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Besides, this is +the first time I've ever found myself moving +along in regular formation with the United +States Navy. I feel almost as if I were a Navy +officer myself, and I mean to make the most of +the sensation. Say, Hal, wouldn't it be fine if +we really <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">did</span></span> belong to the Navy?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Gee-whiz!”</span> murmured young Hastings, his +cheeks glowing and his eyes snapping.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If we only belonged to the old Flag for life, +and knew that we were practising on a boat like +this as a part of the preparation for real war +when it came?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Don't!</span></span>”</span> begged Hal, tensely. <span class="tei tei-q">“For you +know, old fellow, it can't come true. Why, we +haven't even a residence anywhere, from which +a Congressman could appoint one of us to +Annapolis!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">One</span></span> of us?”</span> muttered Jack, scornfully. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Then it would have to be you. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> wouldn't go, +even as a cadet at Annapolis, and leave you behind +in just plain, ordinary life, Hal Hastings!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, it's no use thinking about it,”</span> sighed +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page065">[pg 065]</span><a name="Pg065" id="Pg065" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Hal, practically. <span class="tei tei-q">“Neither one of us is in any +danger of getting appointed to Annapolis, so +there's no chance that either one of us ever will +become an officer in the Navy. Let's not talk +about it, Jack. I've been contented enough, so +far, but now it makes me almost blue, to think +that we can only go on testing and handling submarine +craft like these, while others will be their +real officers in the Navy, and command them in +any war that may come.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though his head throbbed, and though a dizzy +spell came over him every few minutes, Jack +Benson stuck it out, up there beside his chum, +for an hour. Then, disdaining aid, he crept +down the stairs, stretching himself out on one of +the cabin seats. Eph brought him a pillow and +a blanket. Jack soon slept, tossing uneasily +whenever pain throbbed dully in his head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Guess I'll go out and have a little look at the +young captain,”</span> proposed Sam Truax, an hour +later.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Try another guess,”</span> retorted Eph, curtly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You'll stay here in the engine room. Jack +Benson isn't going to be bothered in any way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm not going to bother him; just going to +take a look at him,”</span> protested Truax, moving +toward the door that separated the engine room +from the cabin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But young Somers caught the stranger by the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page066">[pg 066]</span><a name="Pg066" id="Pg066" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +sleeve of the oily jumper that Sam had donned +on beginning his work.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you know what folks say about me?”</span> demanded +Eph, with a significant glare.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do they say?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Folks have an idea that, at most times, I'm +one of the best-natured fellows on earth,”</span> declared +Eph, solemnly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yet they <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">do</span></span> say that, +when I'm crossed in anything my mind's made +up to, I can be tarnation ugly. I just told you +I don't want the captain disturbed. Do you +know, Sam Truax, I feel a queer notion coming +over me? I've an idea that that feeling is just +plain ugliness coming to life!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Truax came back from the door, a grin on his +face. Yet, when he turned his head away, there +was a queer, almost deadly flash in the fellow's +eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack slept, uneasily, until towards the middle +of the afternoon. As soon as Eph found him +awake, that young man brought the captain a +plate of toast and a bowl of broth, both prepared +at the little galley stove.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sit up and get away with these,”</span> urged Eph, +placing the tray on the cabin table. <span class="tei tei-q">“Wait a +minute. I'll prop you up and put a pillow at +your back.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This boat isn't a bad place for a fellow +when he's knocked out,”</span> smiled Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page067">[pg 067]</span><a name="Pg067" id="Pg067" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Any place ought to be good, where your +friends are,”</span> came, curtly, from young Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As Captain Jack ate the warm food he felt his +strength coming back to him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Poor old Hal has been up there in the conning +tower all these hours,”</span> muttered Captain +Jack, uneasily. <span class="tei tei-q">“He must have that cramped +feeling in his hands.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Humph!”</span> retorted Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“Not so you could +notice it much, I guess. It's a simpleton's job +up in the conning tower to-day. All he has to +do is to shift the wheel a little to port, or to starboard, +just so as to keep the proper interval +from the 'Dad' boat. Besides, I've been up +there on relief, for an hour while you slept, and +Hal came down and sat with the engines. Cheer +up, Jack. No one misses you from the conning +tower.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Benson laughed, though he said, warningly:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I reckon we'll do as well to drop calling the +gunboat the 'Dad boat' instead of the 'parent +vessel.'”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, you needn't bother at all about the +conning tower to-day,”</span> wound up Eph, glancing +at his watch. <span class="tei tei-q">“It's after half-past three at this +moment and I understand we're to drop anchor +about five o'clock.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So Skipper Jack settled back with a comfortable +sigh. Truth to tell, it was pleasant not to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page068">[pg 068]</span><a name="Pg068" id="Pg068" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +have any immediate duty, for his head throbbed, +every now and then, and he felt dizzy when he +tried to walk.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who could have hit me in that fashion, last +night, and for what earthly purpose?”</span> wondered +the boy. <span class="tei tei-q">“I've had some enemies, in the +past, but I don't know a single person about +Dunhaven, now who has any reason for wishing +me harm.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Never a thought crossed his mind of suspecting +Sam Truax. That worthy had come with a +note from David Pollard, the inventor of the +boats. Sam, therefore, must be all right, the +boy reasoned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack lay back on the upholstered seat. He +sat with his eyes closed most of the time, though +he did not doze. At last, however, he heard the +engine room bell sound for reduced speed. Getting +up, the young captain made his way to the +foot of the conning tower stairs.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Making port, Hal?”</span> he called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yep,”</span> came the reply. <span class="tei tei-q">“We'll be at anchor +in five minutes more.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack made his way slowly to the door of the +engine room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eph,”</span> he called, <span class="tei tei-q">“as soon as you've shut +off speed, take Truax above and you two attend +to the mooring.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Take this other man up with you,”</span> urged +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page069">[pg 069]</span><a name="Pg069" id="Pg069" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Sam Truax. <span class="tei tei-q">“I don't know anything about tying +a boat up to moorings.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Time you learned, then,”</span> returned Eph +Somers, <span class="tei tei-q">“if you're to stay aboard a submarine +craft.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Take this other man up with you,”</span> again +urged Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph Somers turned around to face him with +a good deal of a glare.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What ails you, Truax? You heard the captain's +order. You'll go with me.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don't be too sure of that,”</span> uttered Sam +Truax, defiantly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If you don't go above with me, and if you +don't follow every order you get aboard this +boat, I know where you <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">will</span></span> go,”</span> muttered +Eph, decisively.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where?”</span> jeered Sam.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ashore—in the first boat that can take you +there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You seem to forget that I'm on board by +David Pollard's order,”</span> sneered Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All I am sure of,”</span> retorted Eph, <span class="tei tei-q">“is that +Jack Benson is captain on board this craft. +That means that he's sole judge of everything +here when this boat is cruising. If you were +here by the orders of both owners, Jack Benson +would fire you ashore for good, just the +same, after you've balked at the first order.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page070">[pg 070]</span><a name="Pg070" id="Pg070" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Humph! I—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Clang! Jangle! The signal bell was sounding.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shut up,”</span> ordered Eph Somers, briskly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I've got the engine to run on signal from the +watch officer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There followed a series of signals, first of all +for stopping speed, then for a brief reversing of +engines. A moment later headway speed ahead +was ordered. So on Eph went through the +series of orders until the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> had been +manœuvred to her exact position. Then, from +above, Captain Jack's voice was heard, roaring +in almost his usual tones:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Turn out below, there, to help make fast!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Take the lever, Williamson,”</span> directed Eph. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Come along lively, Truax.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Humph! Let Williamson go,”</span> grumbled +Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You come along with me, my man!”</span> roared +Eph, his face blazing angrily. <span class="tei tei-q">“Hustle, too, or +I'll report you to the captain for disobedience of +orders. Then you'll go ashore at express speed. +Coming?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax appeared to wage a very brief +battle within himself. Then, nodding sulkily, +he followed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hustle up, there!”</span> Jack shouted down. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We don't want to drift.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page071">[pg 071]</span><a name="Pg071" id="Pg071" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jack Benson stood out on the platform deck, +holding to the conning tower at the port side. +A naval launch had just placed a buoy over an +anchor that had been lowered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Get forward, you two,”</span> Jack called briskly, +<span class="tei tei-q">“and make the bow cable fast to that buoy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal still sat at the wheel in the tower. As +Eph and Truax crept forward over the arched +upper hull of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum,”</span> Hal sounded the +engine room signals and steered until the boat +had gotten close enough to make the bow cable +fast. Then the stern cable was made fast, with +more line, to another buoy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A neat hitch, Mr. Benson,”</span> came a voice +from the bridge of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> which lay a +short distance away. Jack, looking up, saw +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew leaning over +the bridge rail.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you, sir,”</span> Jack acknowledged, saluting +the naval officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The parent vessel and her two submarine +charges now lay at anchor in the harbor at Port +Clovis, one of the towns down the coast from +Dunhaven. This mooring overnight was to be +repeated each day until Annapolis should be +reached.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Within fifteen minutes the craft were surrounded +by small boats from shore. Some of +these contained merchandise that it was hoped +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page072">[pg 072]</span><a name="Pg072" id="Pg072" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +sailors would buy. Other boats <span class="tei tei-q">“ran”</span> for +hotels, restaurants, drinking places, amusement +halls, and all the varied places on shore that +hope to fatten on Jack Tar's money.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'd like to go ashore, sir,”</span> announced Sam +Truax, approaching Captain Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“For how long?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Until ten o'clock to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Be back by that hour, then,”</span> Jack replied. +<span class="tei tei-q">“If you're not, you'll find everything shut tight +aboard here.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Truax quickly signaled one of the hovering +boats, and put off in it. Eph watched the boat +for a few moments before he turned to Captain +Jack to mutter:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Somehow, I wouldn't feel very badly about +it if that fellow got lost on shore!”</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc15" id="toc15"></a> +<a name="pdf16" id="pdf16"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On the second day of the cruise Jack +Benson returned to full duty.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For four nights, in all, the submarine +squadron tied up at moorings in harbors +along the coast. On the fifth night, as +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page073">[pg 073]</span><a name="Pg073" id="Pg073" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +darkness fell, the squadron continued under +way, in Chesapeake Bay, for Annapolis was but +three hours away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Immediately after supper Captain Jack took +his place in the conning tower. He concerned +himself principally with the compass, his only +other task being to keep the course by the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson's”</span> +lights, for the parent boat supplied in +its own conduct all the navigation orders beyond +the general course. The <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum's”</span> searchlight +was not used, the gunboat picking up all +the coast-marks as they neared land.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Annapolis is the place I've always wanted to +see,”</span> Jack declared, as Hal joined him in the +conning tower.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It's the place where I've always wanted to +be a cadet,”</span> sighed Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“But there's no +chance for me, I fear. Jack, I'd rather be an +officer of the Navy than a millionaire.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Same here,”</span> replied Jack, steadily. <span class="tei tei-q">“It's +hard to have to feel that I'll never be either.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As she entered the mouth of the Severn River +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> signaled to the submarines to +follow, in file, the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> leading. A little +later the three craft entered the Basin at the +Academy. While the gunboat anchored off the +Amphitheatre, the two submarine boats were +ordered to anchorage just off the Boat House. +Then a cutter came alongside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page074">[pg 074]</span><a name="Pg074" id="Pg074" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The lieutenant commander's compliments +to Mr. Benson. Will Mr. Benson go aboard the +'Hudson'?”</span> asked the young officer in command +of the cutter. Captain Jack lost no time +in presenting himself before the lieutenant +commander.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson,”</span> said Mr. Mayhew, after greeting +the submarine boy, <span class="tei tei-q">“your craft will be under +a marine guard to-night, and at all times while +here at the Naval Academy. If you and your +crew would like to spend the night ashore, in +the quaint little old town of Annapolis, there's +no reason why you shouldn't. But you will all +need to report back aboard, ready for duty, by +eight in the morning.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack thanked the naval commander, then hastened +back to the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> to communicate +the news.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Me for the shore trip,”</span> declared Eph, +promptly. All the others agreed with him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll come back by ten o'clock to-night, +though,”</span> volunteered Sam Truax. <span class="tei tei-q">“One of the +crew ought to be aboard.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We'll stay ashore,”</span> decided Jack, <span class="tei tei-q">“and return +in the morning.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm coming back to-night,”</span> retorted Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Keep still, and follow orders,”</span> muttered +Eph, digging his elbow into Truax's ribs. <span class="tei tei-q">“The +captain gives the orders here.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page075">[pg 075]</span><a name="Pg075" id="Pg075" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jack, however, had turned away. Within +five minutes a boat put off from shore, bringing +two soldiers of the marine guard alongside. +With them, in the shore boat, was a corporal of +the guard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Any of your crew coming back to-night, +sir?”</span> asked the corporal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“None,”</span> Benson answered. <span class="tei tei-q">“Will you instruct +the sentries to see that none of the crew +are allowed aboard during the night?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Very good, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The shore boat waited to convey them to the +landing. Before going, young Captain Benson +closed and locked the manhole entrance to the +conning tower. A sullen silence had fallen over +Truax. The instructions to the corporal of the +guard, and the prompt acceptance of those instructions, +told Sam, beyond any doubt, that he +was <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">not</span></span> coming back on board that night.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Truax followed the others as they passed +through the Academy grounds. Beyond the +large, handsome buildings, there was not much +to be seen at night. Lights shone behind all the +windows in Cadet Barracks. Nearly all of the +cadets of the United States Navy were in their +quarters, hard at study. Here and there a +marine sentry paced. A few naval officers, in +uniform, passed along the walks. That was all, +and the submarine party had crossed the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page076">[pg 076]</span><a name="Pg076" id="Pg076" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +grounds to the gate through which they were to +pass into the town of Annapolis.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Coming with us, Truax?”</span> asked Williamson, +as the party passed out into a dimly lighted +street.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> replied the fellow, sullenly. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'll +travel by myself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're welcome to,”</span> muttered Eph, under +his breath.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The others climbed the steps to the State Capitol +grounds, continuing until they reached one +of the principal streets of the little town.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, but this place must have gone to sleep +before we got ashore,”</span> grumbled Eph. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hanged if I don't think Dunhaven is a livelier +little place!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There isn't much to do, except to wander +about a bit, then go to the Maryland House for a +good sleep on shore,”</span> Jack admitted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For more than an hour the submarine boys +wandered about. The principal streets contained +some stores that had a bright, up-to-date +look, and in these principal streets the evening +crowds much resembled those to be found in any +small town. There were other streets, however, +on which there was little traffic. In some of these +quieter streets were quaint, old-fashioned houses +built in the Colonial days.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Annapolis is more of a place to see by daylight, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page077">[pg 077]</span><a name="Pg077" id="Pg077" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I reckon,”</span> suggested Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“How about +that sleep, Jack?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The greatest fun, by night, I guess, consists +in finding a drug-store and spending some of our +loose change on ice cream sodas,”</span> laughed the +young submarine skipper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This done, they found their way to the Maryland +House. Jack and Hal engaged a room together, +Eph and Williamson taking the adjoining +one.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“As for me, in an exciting place like this,”</span> +grimaced Eph, <span class="tei tei-q">“I'm off for bed.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Williamson followed him upstairs. For some +minutes Hal sat with his chum in the hotel office. +Then Jack went over and talked with the night +clerk for a few moments.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There's a place near here, Hal, where a fellow +can get an oyster fry,”</span> Benson explained, +returning to his chum. <span class="tei tei-q">“With that information +came the discovery that I have an appetite. +Come and join me?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> gaped Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“I reckon I'll go up and +turn in.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll be along in half an hour, then.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack found the oyster house readily. As he +entered the little, not over-clean place, he found +himself the only customer. He gave his order, +then picked up the local daily paper. As he ate, +Jack found himself yawning. The drowsiness +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page078">[pg 078]</span><a name="Pg078" id="Pg078" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of Annapolis by night was coming upon him. +Little did he dream how soon he was to discover +that Annapolis, in some of its parts, can be +lively enough.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As he paid his bill and stepped to the street, a +young mulatto hurried up to him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Am Ah correct, sah, in supposin' yo' Cap'n +Jack Benson?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's my name,”</span> Jack admitted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Den Ah's jes' been 'roun' to de hotel, lookin' +fo' yo', sah. One ob yo' men, Mistah Sam +Truax, am done took sick, an' he done sent me +fo' yo'.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Truax ill? Why, I saw him a couple of +hours ago, and he looked as healthy as a man +could look,”</span> Jack replied, in astonishment.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I reckon, sah, he's mighty po'ly now, sah,”</span> +replied the mulatto. <span class="tei tei-q">“He done gib me money +fo' to hiah a cab an' take yo' to him. Will yo' +please to come, sah?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> agreed Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“Lead the way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“T'ank yo', sah; t'ank yo', sah. Follow me, +sah.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack's mulatto guide led him down the street +a little way, then around a corner. Here a +rickety old cab with a single horse attached, +waited. A gray old darkey sat on the driver's +seat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Step right inside, sah. We'll be dere +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page079">[pg 079]</span><a name="Pg079" id="Pg079" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +direckly. Marse Truax'll be powahful glad to +see yo', sah.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“See here,”</span> demanded Jack, after they had +driven several blocks at a good speed, <span class="tei tei-q">“Truax +hasn't been getting into any drinking scrapes, +has he? Hasn't been getting himself arrested, +has he?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For young Benson had learned, from the night +clerk at the hotel, that, quiet and <span class="tei tei-q">“dead”</span> as +Annapolis appears to the stranger, there are +<span class="tei tei-q">“tough”</span> places into which a seafaring stranger +may find his way.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, sah; no, sah,”</span> protested the mulatto. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Marse Truax done got sick right and proper.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, confound it, we're leaving the town +behind,”</span> cried Jack, a few moments later, after +peering out through the cab window.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dat's all right, sah. Dere ain' nuffin' to be +'fraid ob, sah.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Afraid?”</span> uttered Jack, scornfully, with a +side glance at the mulatto. The submarine boy +felt confident that, in a stretch of trouble, he +could thrash this guide of his in very short +order.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ah might jess well tell yo' wheah we am +gwine, sah,”</span> volunteered the mulatto, presently.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> Benson retorted, drily. <span class="tei tei-q">“I think you +may.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Marse Truax, sah, he done hab er powah ob +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page080">[pg 080]</span><a name="Pg080" id="Pg080" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +trouble, sah, las' wintah, wid rheumatiz, sah. +He 'fraid he gwine cotch it again dis wintah, +sah. Now, sah, dere am some good voodoo +doctahs 'roun' Annapolis, so Marse Truax, he +done gwine to see, sah, what er voodoo can +promise him fo' his rheumatiz. I'se a runnah, +sah, for de smahtest ole voodoo doctah, sah, in +de whole state ob Maryland.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then you took Truax to a voodoo doctor to-night?”</span> +demanded Jack, almost contemptuously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sah; yes, sah.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I thought Truax had more sense than to go +in for such tomfoolery,”</span> Jack Benson retorted, +bluntly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The mulatto launched into a prompt, energetic +defense of the voodoo doctors. Young +Benson had heard a good deal about these clever +old colored frauds. In spite of his contempt, +the submarine boy found himself interested. +He had heard about the charms, spells, incantations +and other humbugs practised on colored +dupes and on some credulous whites by these +greatest of all quacks. The voodoo methods of +<span class="tei tei-q">“healing”</span> are brought out of the deepest jungles +of darkest Africa, yet there are many +ignorant people, even among the whites, who +believe steadfastly in the <span class="tei tei-q">“cures”</span> wrought by +the voodoo.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page081">[pg 081]</span><a name="Pg081" id="Pg081" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +While the mulatto guide was talking, or answering +Jack's half-amused questions, the cab +left Annapolis further and further behind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yo' see, sah,”</span> the guide went on, <span class="tei tei-q">“Marse +Truax wa'n't in no fit condition, sah, to try de +strongest voodoo medicine dat he called fo'. So, +w'ile de voodoo was sayin' his strongest chahms, +Marse Truax done fall down, frothin' at de +mouth. He am some bettah, now, sah, but he +kain't be move' from de voodoo's house 'cept +by a frien'.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll get a chance to see one of these old voodoo +frauds, anyway,”</span> Jack told himself. <span class="tei tei-q">“This +new experience will be worth the time it keeps +me out of my bed. What a pity Hal missed a +queer old treat like this!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When the cab at last stopped, Benson looked +out to find that the place was well down a lonely +country road, well lined with trees on either +side. The house, utterly dark from the outside, +was a ramshackle, roomy old affair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shall Ah wait fo' yo'?”</span> asked the old colored +driver.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, wait for me,”</span> directed Jack, briefly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yeah; wait fo' de gemmun. He's all right,”</span> +volunteered the mulatto.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mebbe yo' kin see some voodoo wo'k, too, ef +yo's int'rested,”</span> hinted the guide, in a whisper, +as he fitted a key to a lock, and swung a door +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page082">[pg 082]</span><a name="Pg082" id="Pg082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +open. In a hallway stood a lighted lantern, +which the guide picked up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, go quiet-lak, on tip-toe. Sh!”</span> cautioned +the guide, himself moving stealthily into +the nearest room. Jack Benson began to feel +secretly awestruck and <span class="tei tei-q">“creepy,”</span> though he +was too full of grit to betray the fact.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At the further end of the room the guide, +holding the lantern behind his body as though by +accident, threw open another door.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Pass right on through dis room, ahead ob +me, sah,”</span> begged the guide, respectfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But Jack drew back, instinctively, out of the +darkness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don' yo', a w'ite man, be 'fraid ob ole voodoo +house,”</span> advised the mulatto, still speaking +respectfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Afraid? Of course not. Relying on his muscle +and his agility, Jack stepped ahead. By a +sudden jerk of his arm the mulatto guide shook +out the flame in the lantern.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Here, you! What are you about?”</span> growled +Jack Benson, wheeling like a flash upon his +escort.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go 'long, yo' w'ite trash!”</span> jeered the +mulatto. He gave the boy a sudden, forceful +shove.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson, under the impetus of that push, +staggered ahead, seeking to recover his balance. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page083">[pg 083]</span><a name="Pg083" id="Pg083" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Without a doubt he would have done so, but, +just then, the floor under his feet ended. With +a yell of dismay, the submarine boy tottered, +then plunged down, alighting on a bed of soft +dirt many feet below.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc17" id="toc17"></a> +<a name="pdf18" id="pdf18"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%">“</span><span style="font-size: 173%">NEW,</span><span style="font-size: 173%">”</span></span><span style="font-size: 173%"> ALL RIGHT</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Jack Benson was on his feet in an instant. +An angrier boy it would have +been hard to find.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">From overhead came the sound of a loud +guffaw.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, you infernal scoundrel!”</span> raged the submarine +boy, shaking his fist in the dark.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“W'at am de matter wid yo', w'ite trash?”</span> +came the jeering query.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let me get my hands on you, and I'll show +you!”</span> quivered Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yah! Listen to yo'! Yo' wait er minute, +an' Ah'll show yo' a light.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Gr-r-r-r! Gr-r-r-r! That sound from overhead +was not pleasant. Jack, in the few +seconds that were left to him, could only guess +as to the cause of the sounds. Then, some fifteen +feet over his head, a tiny flame sputtered. +This match-end was carried to the wick of the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page084">[pg 084]</span><a name="Pg084" id="Pg084" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +lantern that the yellowish guide had been carrying, +and now the light illumined the place into +which Jack Benson had fallen.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">That place was a square-shaped pit, with +boarded sides. Up above, on a shelf of flooring, +knelt the late guide, grinning down with a +look of infernal glee. On either side of the +mulatto stood a heavy-jowled bull-dog. Both +brutes peered down, showing their teeth in a +way to make a timid man's blood run cold.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Put those dogs back and come down here,”</span> +challenged Jack, shaking his fist. <span class="tei tei-q">“Come down, +and I'll teach you a few things, you rascal!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don' yo' shake yo' fist at me, or dem dawgs +will sure jump down and tackle yo',”</span> grinned +the guide, gripping at the collars of the brutes, +which, truly, showed signs of intending to spring +below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack fell back, his hands dropping to his sides. +Had there been but one dog, the submarine boy, +with all his grit forced to the surface, might +have chosen to face the brute, hoping to despatch +it with a well-aimed kick. But with two dogs, +both intent on <span class="tei tei-q">“getting”</span> him, young Benson +knew that he would stand the fabled chance of +a snow-flake on a red-hot stove.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dat's right, gemmun, yo' keep cool,”</span> observed +the mulatto, mockingly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You've decoyed me—trapped me here with +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page085">[pg 085]</span><a name="Pg085" id="Pg085" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +a mess of lies,”</span> flung back Captain Jack, +angrily. <span class="tei tei-q">“What's your game?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dis am a free lodgin' house—ho, ho, ho!”</span> +chuckled the late guide. <span class="tei tei-q">“Ah's gwine gib yo' +er place to sleep fo' de night. Yo' sho'ly must +feel 'bleeged to me—ho, ho, ho!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You lied to me about Sam Truax!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yeah! Ah done foun' dat was de name ob a +gemmun in yo' pahty dat wasn't wid yo'. +Truax do as well as any odder name—yah! +Now, Ah's gwine leab yo' heah t' git a sleep. +Ah'll toss down some blankets. 'Pose yo'se'f +and gwine ter sleep, honey. Don't try to clim' +up outer dat, or dem dawgs'll sho'ly jump down +at yo'. Keep quiet, an' go ter sleep, an' de +dawgs done lay heah an' jest watch. But don' +try nuffin' funny, or de dawgs'll sho'ly bring +trubble to yo'. Dem is trained dawgs—train' +fo' dis business ob mine. Ho, ho, ho!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mulatto and light vanished, but enraged, +baffled, helpless Captain Jack could hear the +two dogs moving about ere they settled down on +the shelf of flooring overhead.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No matter how much of a liar that rascal is, +he didn't lie to me about the dogs,”</span> reflected +Jack, his temper cooling, but his bitterness increasing. +<span class="tei tei-q">“They're fighting dogs, and one +wrong move would bring them bounding down +here on me—the two together. Ugh-gh!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page086">[pg 086]</span><a name="Pg086" id="Pg086" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +After a few moments the mulatto reappeared +with a light and tossed down three heavy +blankets.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, Ah's gwine leave yo' fo' de night,”</span> +clacked the late guide. <span class="tei tei-q">“Ef yo' done feel lonesome, +yo' jes' whistle de dawgs down to yo'. +Dey'll come!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">While the light was still there Benson, in raging +silence, gathered the blankets and arranged +them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Roll up one fo' a pillow, under yo' haid,”</span> +grinned the mulatto. <span class="tei tei-q">“Dat's all right, sah. +Now, good night, Marse Benson. Ef yo' feel +lonesome, Marse Benson, jes' whistle fo' de +dawgs. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Dey'll come!</span></span>”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The light vanished while the mulatto's sinister +words were ringing in the boy's ears. Would +the dogs jump down? Jack knew they would, +at the first false move or sound on his part. He +huddled softly, stealthily, on the blankets, there +in the darkness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As he lay there, thinking, Benson's sense of +admiration gradually got to the surface.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, of all the slick man-traps!”</span> he gasped. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I never heard of anything more clever. Nor +was there ever a bigger idiot than I, to walk +stupidly into this same trap! What's the game, +I wonder? Robbery, it must be. And I have a +watch, some other little valuables and nearly a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page087">[pg 087]</span><a name="Pg087" id="Pg087" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +hundred and fifty dollars in money on me. Oh, +I'm the sleek, fat goose for plucking!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Lying there, in enforced stillness, Jack Benson, +after an hour or so, actually fell asleep. A +good, healthy sleeper at all times, he slumbered +on through the night. Once he awoke, just a +trifle chilled. He heard one of the dogs snoring +overhead. Crawling under one of the blankets, +Benson went to sleep again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hey, yo', Marse Benson. It am mawnin'. +Time yo' was wakin' up an' movin' erlong!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was the voice of the same mulatto, calling +down into the pit. Again the rays of the lantern +illumined the darkness. Both bull-dogs +displayed their ferocious muzzles over the edge +of the pit. Jack sat up cautiously, not caring to +attract unfriendly interest from the dogs.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ah want yo' to take off all yo' clothes 'cept +yo' undahclothes, an' den Ah'll let down a string +fo' yo' to tie 'em to,”</span> declared the mulatto, +grinning. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yo' needn't try ter slip yo' wallet, +nor nuffin' outer mah sight, cause Ah'll be +watchin'. Now, git a hurry on, Marse Benson, +or Ah'll done push dem dawgs ober de aidge +ob dis flooring.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack hesitated only a moment. Then, with a +grunt of rage, he began removing his outer garments. +Down came a twine, to the lower end of +which the boy made fast his garments, one after +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page088">[pg 088]</span><a name="Pg088" id="Pg088" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +another. His money and valuables went up in +the pockets, for the sharp eyes of the mulatto +could not have been eluded by any amateur +slight-of-hand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, yo' cap an' yo' shoes,”</span> directed the +grinning monster above.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">These, too, Benson passed up at the end of the +cord. The mulatto disappeared, leaving the +two dogs still on guard. At last, back came the +light and the yellowish man with it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yo' sho' is good picking, Marse Benson,”</span> +grinned the guide of the night before. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yo' +has good pin feathers. Ah hope Ah'll suttinly +meet yo' again.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I hope we do meet at another time!”</span> Jack +Benson flared back, wrathily. The cool insolence +of the fellow cut him to the marrow, yet +where was the use of disobeying a rascal flanked +by two such willing and capable dogs?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, yo' jes' put dese t'ings on, Marse Benson, +ef yo' please, sah,”</span> mocked the mulatto, +tossing down some woefully tattered, nondescript +garments, and, after them, a battered, +rimless Derby hat and a pair of brogans out at +the toes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll be hanged if I'll put on such duds!”</span> +quivered Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jes' as yo' please, ob co'se, Marse Benson,”</span> +came the answer, from above. <span class="tei tei-q">“But, ef yo' +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page089">[pg 089]</span><a name="Pg089" id="Pg089" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +don' put dem t'ings on, yo'll sho'ly hab ter +gwine back ter 'Napolis in yo' undahclo's. +An' yo's gwine back right away, too, so, ef yo' +wants ter gwine back weahin' ernuff clo'es—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, well, then—!”</span> ground out the submarine +boy, savagely enough.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He attired himself in these tattered ends of +raiment. Had he not been so angry he must +have roared at sight of his comical self when the +dressing was completed.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc19" id="toc19"></a> +<a name="pdf20" id="pdf20"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Now, yo'll do, Ah reckons.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With that, the mulatto guide of the +night before threw down one end of +an inch rope.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ah reckon yo's sailor ernuff to clim' dat. +Come right erlong, 'less yo' wants de dawgs ter +jump down dar.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But they'll tackle me if I come up,”</span> objected +Jack Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, dey won't. Dem dawgs is train' to dis +wo'k. Ah done tole yo' dat. Come right +erlong. Ah'll keep my two eyes on dem +dawgs.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It looked like a highly risky bit of business, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page090">[pg 090]</span><a name="Pg090" id="Pg090" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +but Jack told himself that, now he had been deprived +of his valuables, this yellow worthy must +be genuinely anxious to be rid of the victim. So +he took hold of the rope and began to climb. +The mulatto and the dogs disappeared from the +upper edge of the pit.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As his head came up above the level of the +flooring Benson saw the mulatto and the dogs +in the next room, the connecting door of which +had been taken from its hinges.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Come right in, Marse Benson. Dere ain' +nuffin' gwineter hu't yo',”</span> came the rascal's +voice reassuringly. Jack obeyed by stepping +into the next room, though he kept watch over +the dogs out of the corners of his eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, yo' lie right down on de flo', Marse +Benson,”</span> commanded the master of the situation. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ah's gotter tie yo' up, befo' Ah can +staht yo' back ter 'Napolis, but dere ain' no +hahm gwine come ter yo'.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Making a virtue of necessity, Captain Jack +lay down as directed, passing his hands behind +his back. These were deftly secured, after +which his ankles were treated in the same +fashion. Immediately the mulatto, who was +strong and wiry, lifted the boy and the lantern +together. The dogs remaining behind, Jack +was carried out into the yard, where he discovered +that daylight was coming on in the East. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page091">[pg 091]</span><a name="Pg091" id="Pg091" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +He was dumped on the ground long enough to +permit his captor to lock the door securely. +Then the submarine boy was lifted once more, +carried around the corner of the house and +dumped in the bottom of a shabby old delivery +wagon. A canvas was pulled over him, concealing +him from any chance passer. Then the +mulatto ran around to the seat, picking up the +reins and starting the horse.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It seemed like a long drive to the boy, though +Benson was certainly in no position to judge +time accurately. At last the team was halted, +along a stretch of road in a deep woods. The +mulatto lifted the submarine boy out to the +ground.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, w'en yo's got yo' se'f free, yo' can +take de road in dat direckshun,”</span> declared the +fellow, pointing. <span class="tei tei-q">“Bimeby yo' come in sight ob +de town. Now, Marse Benson, w'at happen to +yo' las' night am all in de co'se ob a lifetime, an' +Ah hope you ain't got no bad feelin's. Yo' suttinly +done learn somet'ing new in de way ob +tricks. Good-bye, sah, an' mah compliments to +yo', Marse Benson.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With that the guide of the night before swiftly +cut the cords at Jack's wrists, then as swiftly +leaped to the seat of the wagon, whipping up the +horse and disappearing in a cloud of dust.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack, having now no knife, and the bonds +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page092">[pg 092]</span><a name="Pg092" id="Pg092" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +about his ankles being tied with many hard +knots, spent some precious minutes in freeing +his feet. At last he stood up, fire in his eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, pshaw! There's no sense in trying to +run after that rascal and his wagon,”</span> decided +the young submarine skipper. <span class="tei tei-q">“I haven't the +slightest idea what direction he took after he +got out of sight, and—oh, gracious! I'm under +orders to be aboard the 'Farnum' at eight this +morning. And on Mr. Farnum's business, at +that!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Clenching his hands vengefully, Jack started +along in the direction pointed out by his late +captor. Brisk walking wore some of the edge +off his great wrath. Catching a comprehensive +glimpse of himself, Jack could not keep back a +grim laugh.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I certainly am a dandy to spring myself +on the trim and slick Naval Academy!”</span> he +gritted. <span class="tei tei-q">“What a treat I'll be to the cadets! +That is, if the sentry ever lets me through the +gate into the Academy grounds.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As he hurried along, Jack Benson decided +that he simply could not go to the Naval +Academy presenting any such grotesque picture +as he did now. Yet he had no money about him +with which to purchase more presentable clothes +in town. So he formed another plan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Within a few minutes he came in sight of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page093">[pg 093]</span><a name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Annapolis. Hurrying on faster, he at last entered +the town. The further he went the more +painfully conscious the boy became of the +ludicrous appearance that he made. He saw +men and women turn their heads to look after +him, and his cheeks burned to a deep scarlet that +glowed over the sea-bronze of his skin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The single consolation I have is that not a +solitary person in town knows me, anyway,”</span> +he muttered. Then he caught sight of a clock +on a church steeple—twenty-five minutes of +eight.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That means a fearful hustle,”</span> he muttered, +and went ahead under such steam that he all but +panted. At last he came to the Maryland +House, opposite the State Capitol grounds. +Into the office of the hotel he darted, going +straight up to the desk.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A clerk who had been on duty for hours, and +who was growing more drowsy every moment, +stared at the boy in amazement.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“See here, you ragamuffin, what—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My name is Benson,”</span> began the boy, breathlessly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I'm a guest of the house—arrived last +night. I—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You, a guest of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">this</span></span> house?”</span> demanded the +clerk of the most select hotel in the town. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">That was as far as the disgust of the clerk +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page094">[pg 094]</span><a name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +would permit him to go in words. A score of +well-dressed gentlemen were staring in astonishment +at the scene. The clerk nodded to two +stout porters who had suspended their work +nearby.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It had been Jack Benson's purpose to go to +his room and keep out of sight, while despatching +one of the colored bell-boys of the hotel with +a note to Hal Hastings, asking that chum to send +him up a uniform and other articles of attire. +However, before the young submarine captain +fully realized what was happening, the two porters +had seized him. Firmly, even though +gently, they hustled him out through the entrance +onto the street.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Scat!”</span> advised one of the pair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack started to protest, then realized the +hopelessness of such a course. In truth, he did +not blame the hotel folks in the least.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, well,”</span> he sighed, paling as soon as the +new flush of mortification had died out, <span class="tei tei-q">“there's +nothing for it but to hurry to the Academy. I +hope the sentries won't shoot when they see +me,”</span> he added, bitterly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Across the State Capitol grounds he hurried, +then down through a side street until he arrived +at the gate of the Academy grounds.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Halt!”</span> challenged a sentry, as soon as Jack +showed his face through the gateway.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page095">[pg 095]</span><a name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Young Benson stopped, bringing his heels together +with a click.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do you want? Where are you going?”</span> +demanded the marine.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know I look pretty tough,”</span> Jack admitted, +shamefacedly. <span class="tei tei-q">“But I belong aboard the 'Farnum,' +one of the submarines that arrived last +night. And I'm due there at this minute. +Please don't delay me.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right,”</span> replied the sentry, after surveying +the boy from head to foot once more. Then +he added, in a lower tone, with just the suspicion +of a grin showing at the corners of his mouth:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, friend, for a stranger, you must have +had a high old frolic in the town last night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack frowned. The sentry's grin broadened +a bit. As he did not offer to detain the boy +longer, Benson hurried on along one of the +walks. He took as short a course as he could +making straight for the Basin, where he made +out the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> and the two submarines.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hey! There's the captain!”</span> shouted Eph, +wonderingly, for Somers's eyes were sharp at +all times.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Out of the conning tower sprang Hal Hastings, +looking eagerly in the direction in which +Eph Somers pointed:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eh?”</span> muttered another person, lounging +near the rail of the gunboat. Then Lieutenant +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page096">[pg 096]</span><a name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Commander Mayhew, after a keen, wholly disapproving +look at the hard-looking figure of a +young man at the landing, started, as he muttered:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Benson, by all that's horrible! How did he +come to be in that fearful shape? He must have +been in one of the worst resorts within miles of +Annapolis!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This isn't the first time the young man has +come back the worse for wear,”</span> the lieutenant +commander continued, under his breath. <span class="tei tei-q">“His +friends were loyal enough to him, that time. I +wonder if they can be, to-day?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One of the shore boats, waiting about in the +Basin, put young Benson aboard the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> +as soon as he explained who he was. Hal +and Eph stood awaiting the coming of their +young commander, their faces full of concern +and anxiety. Both gripped Jack's hand as soon +as he gained the platform deck of the submarine.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Come below,”</span> whispered Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“We'll talk +there. You need a bath and to get into a uniform +as quickly as you can.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This need Jack Benson proceeded to realize +without an instant's delay. While he washed +himself off, in one of the staterooms aft, he +talked through the door, which had been left +ajar. He continued his story while he dressed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page097">[pg 097]</span><a name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“We were fearfully anxious this morning,”</span> +Hal confessed. <span class="tei tei-q">“I went to sleep last night, and +didn't know of your absence until this morning. +Then Eph and I decided to come on down to the +boat to see if you were here. We were just +planning to send quiet word to the Annapolis +police when Eph spotted you coming.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And Truax?”</span> inquired Captain Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He and Williamson are forward in the +engine-room, now, at breakfast.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, well, Truax wouldn't know anything +about the scrape, anyway,”</span> returned Jack. +<span class="tei tei-q">“His name was learned and used—that's all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Are you going to try to find that place, catch +the mulatto and force the return of your +money?”</span> demanded Eph Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I've got to think that over,”</span> muttered Jack, +as he drew on a spick-and-span uniform blouse. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I don't know whether there'll be any use in +trying to find that mulatto. I haven't the least +idea where his place is. Even if I found it, it's +ten to one I wouldn't find the fellow there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“'Farnum,' ahoy!”</span> roared a voice alongside, +the voice coming down through the open conning +tower.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph ran to answer. When he returned, he +announced:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Compliments of Lieutenant Commander +Mayhew, and will Mr. Benson wait on the lieutenant +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page098">[pg 098]</span><a name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +commander on board the parent boat?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I will,”</span> assented Jack, with a wry face, <span class="tei tei-q">“and +here's where I have to do some tall but truthful +explaining to a man who isn't in the least likely +to believe a word I say. I can guess what Mr. +Mayhew is thinking, and is going to keep on +thinking!”</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc21" id="toc21"></a> +<a name="pdf22" id="pdf22"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was a tailor-made, clean, crisp and new-looking +young submarine commander who +stepped into the naval cutter alongside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson looked as natty as a young man +could look, and his uniform was that of a naval +officer, save for the absence of the insignia of +rank.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Up the side gangway of the gunboat Jack +mounted, carrying himself in the best naval +style. On deck stood a sentry, an orderly waiting +beside him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Lieutenant Commander Mayhew will see +you in his cabin, sir,”</span> announced the orderly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I will show you the way, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mr. Mayhew was seated before a desk in his +cabin when the orderly piloted the submarine +boy in. The naval officer did not rise, nor did +he ask the boy to take a seat. Jack Benson was +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page099">[pg 099]</span><a name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +very well aware that he stood in Mr. Mayhew's +presence in the light of a culprit.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson,”</span> began Mr. Mayhew, eyeing +him closely, <span class="tei tei-q">“you are not in the naval service, +and are not therefore amenable to its discipline. +At the same time, however, your employers have +furnished you to act, in some respects, as a civilian +instructor in submarine boating before the +cadets. While you are here on that duty it is +to be expected, therefore, that you will conform +generally to the rules of conduct as laid down at +the Naval Academy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir,”</span> replied Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“As I am at present in charge of the submarine +purchased by the United States from +your company, and at least in nominal charge +of the 'Farnum,' as well, I am, in a measure, +to be looked upon, for the present, as your commanding +officer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir,”</span> assented the boy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You came aboard your craft, this morning, +in a very questionable looking condition.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson's composure was perfect. His +sense of discipline was also exact. He did not +propose to offer any explanations until such +were asked of him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Have you anything to say, Mr. Benson, as +to that condition, and how you came to be in it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page100">[pg 100]</span><a name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Shall I explain it to you, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I shall be glad to hear your explanation.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Thereupon, the submarine boy plunged into +a concise description of what had happened to +him the night before. The lieutenant commander +did not once interrupt him, but, when +Jack had finished, Mr. Mayhew observed:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That is a very remarkable story, Mr. Benson. +Most remarkable.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir, it is. May I ask if you doubt my +story?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack looked straight into the officer's eyes as +he put the question bluntly. An officer of the +Army or of the Navy <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">must not</span></span> answer a question +untruthfully. Neither, as a rule, may he +make an evasive answer. So the lieutenant +commander thought a moment, before he replied:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't feel that I know you well enough, +Mr. Benson, to express an opinion that might be +wholly fair to you. The most I can say, now, +is that I very sincerely hope such a thing will +not happen again during your stay at the Naval +Academy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It won't, sir,”</span> promised Jack Benson, <span class="tei tei-q">“if I +have hereafter the amount of good judgment +that I ought to be expected to possess.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I hope not, Mr. Benson, for it would destroy +your usefulness here. A civilian instructor +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page101">[pg 101]</span><a name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +here, as much as a naval instructor, must possess +the whole confidence and respect of the +cadet battalion. I hope none of the cadets who +may have seen you this morning recognized +you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, taking on a different tone, Mr. Mayhew +informed his young listener that a section of +cadets would board the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> at eleven +that morning, another section at three in the +afternoon, and a third at four o'clock.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course you will have everything aboard +your craft wholly shipshape, Mr. Benson, and I +trust I hardly need add that, in the Navy, we +are punctual to the minute.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You will find me punctual to the minute +before, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Very good, Mr. Benson. That is all. You +may go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack saluted, then turned away, finding his +way to the deck. The cutter was still alongside, +and conveyed him back to the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Mayhew demanded your story, of +course?”</span> propounded Hal Hastings. <span class="tei tei-q">“What +did he think?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He didn't say so,”</span> replied Jack Benson, +with a wry smile, <span class="tei tei-q">“but he let me see that he +thought I was out of my element on a submarine +boat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How so?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page102">[pg 102]</span><a name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why, it is very plain that Mr. Mayhew +thinks I ought to employ my time writing improbable +fiction.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, Mayhew be bothered!”</span> exploded Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hardly,”</span> retorted Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Mayhew is +an officer and a gentleman. I admit that my +yarn <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">does</span></span> sound fishy to a stranger. Besides, +fellows, Mr. Mayhew represents the naval officers +through whose good opinion our employers +hope to sell a big fleet of submarine torpedo +boats to the United States Government.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then what are you going to do about it?”</span> +asked Hal, as the three boys reached the cabin +below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“First of all, I'm going to rummage about and +get myself some breakfast.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If you do, there'll be a fight,”</span> growled Eph +Somers. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'll hash up a breakfast for you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And, afterwards?”</span> persisted Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm going to try to win Mr. Mayhew's good +opinion, and that of every other naval officer or +cadet I may happen to meet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why the cadets, particularly?”</span> asked Eph +Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Because, for one business reason, the cadets +are going to be the naval officers of to-morrow, +and the Pollard Submarine Boat Company +hopes to be building craft for the Navy for a +good many years to come.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page103">[pg 103]</span><a name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Good enough!”</span> nodded Hal, while Eph +dodged away to get that breakfast ready.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax lounged back in the engine room, +smoking a short pipe. With him stuck Williamson, +for Eph had privately instructed the +machinist from the Farnum yard not to leave +the stranger alone in the engine room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why don't you go up on deck and get a few +whiffs of fresh air?”</span> asked Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I'm comfortable down here,”</span> grunted +the machinist, who was stretched out on one of +the leather-cushioned seats that ran along the +side of the engine room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I should think you'd want to get out of here +once in a while, though,”</span> returned Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why?”</span> asked the machinist. <span class="tei tei-q">“Anything +you want to be left alone here for?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, of course not,”</span> drawled Truax, blowing +out a cloud of tobacco smoke.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then I guess I'll stay where I am,”</span> nodded +Williamson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sorry, but you'll have to stop all smoking in +here now,”</span> announced Eph, thrusting his head +in at the doorway. <span class="tei tei-q">“There'll be a lot of cadets +aboard at eleven o'clock, and we want the air +clear and sweet. You'd better go all over the +machinery and see that everything is in applepie +order and appearance. Mr. Hastings will +be in here soon to inspect it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page104">[pg 104]</span><a name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Just what rank does <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span> young turkey-cock +hold on board?”</span> sneered Truax, when the door +had closed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don't know, I'm sure,”</span> replied Williamson. +<span class="tei tei-q">“All I know is that the three youngsters are +aboard here to run the boat and show it off to +the best advantage. My pay is running right +along, and I've no kick at taking orders from +any one of them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This is where I go on smoking, anyway,”</span> +declared Truax, insolently, striking a match and +lighting his pipe again. Williamson reached +over, snatching the pipe from between the other +man's teeth and dumping out the coals, after +which the machinist coolly dropped the pipe into +one of his own pockets.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If you go on this way,”</span> warned Williamson, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Captain Benson will get it into his head to put +you on shore in a jiffy, and for good.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'd like to see him try it,”</span> sneered Sam +Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You'll get your wish, if you go on the way +you've been going!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Humph! I don't believe the Benson boy +carries the size or the weight to put me ashore.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He doesn't need any size or weight,”</span> retorted +Williamson, crisply. <span class="tei tei-q">“If Captain Benson +wants you off this boat, it's only the matter +of a moment for him to get a squad of marines +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page105">[pg 105]</span><a name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +on board—and you'll march off to the 'Rogues' +March.'”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So that's the way he'd work it, eh?”</span> demanded +Sam Truax, turning green and ugly +around the lips.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You bet it is,”</span> retorted the machinist. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We're practically a part of the United States +Navy for these few days, and naval rules will +govern any game we may get into.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On that hint things went along better in the +engine room. When Hal Hastings came in to +inspect he found nothing to criticise.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At the minute of eleven o'clock a squad of +some twenty cadets came marching down to the +landing in front of the boat house. There Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew and one of his +engineer officers met them. Two cutters manned +by sailors brought the party out alongside, +where Jack and Hal stood ready to receive them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A very natty looking squad of future admirals +came aboard, grouping themselves about on the +platform deck. It was rather a tight squeeze +for so many human beings in that space.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After greeting the submarine boys, Mr. Mayhew +turned to the cadets, calling their attention +to the lines and outer construction of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span> +Then he turned to the three submarine +boys, signing to them to crowd forward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“These young gentlemen,”</span> announced the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page106">[pg 106]</span><a name="Pg106" id="Pg106" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +lieutenant commander, <span class="tei tei-q">“are Mr. Benson, Mr. +Hastings and Mr. Somers. All three are thoroughly +familiar with the Pollard type of boat. +As the Navy has purchased one Pollard boat, +and may acquire others, it is well that you +cadets should understand all the working details +of the Pollard Submarine Company's crafts. A +few of you at a time will now step into the conning +tower, and Mr. Benson will explain to you +the steering and control gear used there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Half a dozen of the cadets managed to squeeze +into the conning tower. Jack experienced an +odd feeling, half of embarrassment, as he explained +before so many attentive pairs of eyes. +Then another squad of cadets took the place of +the first on-lookers. After a while all had been +instructed in the use of the conning tower +appliances.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson,”</span> continued the lieutenant commander, +<span class="tei tei-q">“will now lead the way for all hands to +the cabin. There he will explain the uses of the +diving controls, the compressed air apparatus, +and other details usually worked from the +cabin.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Down below came the cadets, in orderly fashion, +without either haste or lagging. Having +warmed up to his subject, Jack Benson lectured +earnestly, even if not with fine skill. At last he +paused.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page107">[pg 107]</span><a name="Pg107" id="Pg107" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Any of the cadets may now ask questions,”</span> +announced Lieutenant Commander Mayhew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was a pause, then one of the older +cadets turned to Jack to ask:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What volume of compressed air do you +carry at your full capacity?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson's present status,”</span> rapped Mr. +Mayhew, quickly, <span class="tei tei-q">“is that of a civilian instructor. +Any cadet who addresses Mr. Benson will +therefore say 'sir,' in all cases, just as in addressing +an officer of the Navy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The cadet so corrected, who was at least +twenty-one years old, flushed as he glanced +swiftly at sixteen-year-old Jack. To say <span class="tei tei-q">“sir”</span> +to such a youngster seemed almost like a +humiliation. Yet the cadet repeated his question, +adding the <span class="tei tei-q">“sir.”</span> Jack quickly answered +the question. Then two or three other questions +were asked by other cadets. It was plain, +however, that to all of the cadets the use of +<span class="tei tei-q">“sir”</span> to so young a boy appealed, at least, to +their sense of humor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Through the engine room door Sam Truax +and Williamson stood taking it all in. Sam saw +a flash in the eye of one big cadet when the question +of <span class="tei tei-q">“sir”</span> came up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Presently the squad filed into the engine room. +Here Hal Hastings had the floor for instruction. +He did his work coolly, admirably, though he +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page108">[pg 108]</span><a name="Pg108" id="Pg108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +asked Jack Benson to explain a few of the +points.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then the questions began, directed at Hal. +This time none of the cadets, under the watchful +eyes of Mr. Mayhew, forgot to say <span class="tei tei-q">“sir”</span> when +speaking to Hastings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax edged up behind the big cadet +whose eyes he had seen flash a few moments +before.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go after Benson, good and hard,”</span> whispered +Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The cadet looked keenly at Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You can have a lot of fun with Benson,”</span> +whispered Truax, <span class="tei tei-q">“if you fire a lot of questions +at him, hard and fast. Benson is a conceited fellow, +who knows a few things about the boat, but +you can get him rattled and red-faced in no +time.”</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc23" id="toc23"></a> +<a name="pdf24" id="pdf24"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The big cadet wheeled upon Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson, how long have you been +engaged on submarine boats, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Since July,”</span> Jack replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“July of this year?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And it is now October. Do you consider +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page109">[pg 109]</span><a name="Pg109" id="Pg109" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +that enough time, sir, in which to learn much +about submarine boats?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That depends,”</span> Skipper Jack replied, +<span class="tei tei-q">“upon a man's ability in such a subject.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is it long enough time, sir, for a boy?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">That was rather a hard dig. Instantly the +other cadets became all attention.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It depends upon the boy, as it would upon +the man,”</span> Jack answered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you consider, Mr. Benson, that you know +all about submarine boats, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, no.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who does, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No one that I ever heard of,”</span> Jack answered. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Few men interested in submarine +boats know much beyond the peculiarities of +their own boats.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And that applies equally to boys, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> Jack smiled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you consider yourself, sir, fully competent +to handle this craft?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'd rather someone else would say it,”</span> Jack +replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“My employers, though, seem to consider +me competent.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What is this material, sir?”</span> continued the +cadet, resting a hand on a piston rod.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Brass,”</span> Benson replied, promptly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you know the specific gravity and the +tensile strength of this brass?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page110">[pg 110]</span><a name="Pg110" id="Pg110" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Before Jack could answer Mr. Mayhew broke +in, crisply:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That will do, Mr. Merriam. Your questions +appear to go beyond the limits of ordinary instruction, +and to partake more of the nature of +a cross-examination. Such questions take up +the time of the instruction tour unnecessarily.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Cadet Merriam flushed slightly, as he saluted +the naval officer. Then the cadet's jaws settled +squarely. He remained silent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A few more questions and the hour was up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gave the +order for the cadets to pass above and embark +in the cutters. He remained behind long +enough to say to the three submarine boys:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You have done splendidly, gentlemen—far +better than I expected you to do. If you manage +the sea instruction as well, in the days to +come, our cadets will have a first-class idea of +the handling of the Pollard boats.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wish, sir,”</span> Jack replied, after thanking the +officer, <span class="tei tei-q">“that the cadets were not required to say +'sir' to us. It sounds odd, and I am quite certain +that none of the young men like it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It is necessary, though,”</span> replied Mr. Mayhew. +<span class="tei tei-q">“They are required to do it with all +civilian instructors, and it would never do to +draw distinctions on account of age. Yes; it is +necessary.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page111">[pg 111]</span><a name="Pg111" id="Pg111" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +When the second squad of cadets arrived, in +the afternoon, the three submarine boys found +themselves ready for their task without misgivings. +Eph took more part in the explanations +than he had done in the forenoon. Then came a +third squad of cadets, to be taken over the same +ground. The young men of both these squads +used the <span class="tei tei-q">“sir”</span> at once, having been previously +warned by one of the naval officers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That will be all for to-day, Mr. Benson, and +thank you and your friends for some excellent +work,”</span> said Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, +when the third squad had filed away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, for hard work I'd like this job right +along,”</span> yawned Eph Somers, when the three +were alone in the cabin. <span class="tei tei-q">“Just talking three +times a day—what an easy way of living!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It's all right for a while,”</span> agreed Jack. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But it would grow tiresome after a few weeks, +anyway. Lying here in the Basin, and talking +like a salesman once in a while, isn't like a life +of adventure.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, you can sigh for adventure, if you +wish,”</span> yawned Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“As for me, I've had +enough hard work to appreciate a rest once in a +while. Going into the town to-night, Jack?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Into town?”</span> laughed the young skipper. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I went last night—and some of the folks didn't +do a thing to me, did they?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page112">[pg 112]</span><a name="Pg112" id="Pg112" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Aren't you going to report the robbery to +the police?”</span> demanded Hal, opening his eyes in +surprise.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not in a rush,”</span> Jack answered. <span class="tei tei-q">“If I do, +the police may start at once, and that mulatto +and his friends, being on the watch, will take +the alarm and get away. If I wait two or three +days, then the mulatto's crowd will think I've +dropped the whole thing. I reckon the waiting +game will fool them more than any other.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, and all the money they got away from +you will be spent,”</span> muttered Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack, none the less, decided to wait and think +the matter over.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Supper over, the submarine boys, for want of +anything else to do, sat and read until about nine +o'clock. Then Jack looked up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This is getting mighty tedious,”</span> he complained. +<span class="tei tei-q">“What do you fellows say to getting +on shore and stretching our legs in a good +walk?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In town?”</span> grinned Eph, slyly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack flushed, then grinned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No!”</span> he answered quietly; <span class="tei tei-q">“about the +Academy grounds.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wonder if it would be against the regulations +for a lot of rank outsiders like us to go +through the grounds at this hour?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“'Rank outsiders'?”</span> mimicked Jack Benson, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page113">[pg 113]</span><a name="Pg113" id="Pg113" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +laughing. <span class="tei tei-q">“You forget, Hal, old fellow, that +we're instruct—hem! civilian instructors—here.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wonder, though, if it would be in good +taste for us to go prowling through the grounds +at this hour?”</span> persisted Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There's one sure way to find out,”</span> proposed +Benson. <span class="tei tei-q">“We can try it, and, if no marine sentry +chases us, we can conclude that we're moving +about within our rights. Come along, fellows.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Putting on their caps, the three went up on +the platform deck. The engine room door was +locked and Williamson and Truax had already +turned in. There was a shore boat at the landing. +Jack sent a low-voiced hail that brought +the boat out alongside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will it be proper for us to go through the +Academy grounds at this hour?”</span> Jack inquired +of the petty officer in the stern.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir; there's no regulation against it. +And, anyway, sir, you're all stationed here, just +now.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you. Then please take us ashore.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At this hour the walks through the grounds +were nearly deserted. A few officers, and some +of their ladies living at the naval station, were +out. The cadets were all in their quarters in +barracks, hard at study, or supposed to be.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For some time the submarine boys strolled +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page114">[pg 114]</span><a name="Pg114" id="Pg114" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +about, enjoying the air and the views they obtained +of buildings and grounds. Back at Dunhaven +the air had been frosty. Here, at this +more southern port, the October night was +balmy, wholly pleasant.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wonder if these cadets here ever have any +real fun?”</span> questioned Eph Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I've heard—or read—that they do,”</span> +laughed Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What sort of fun?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, for one thing, the cadets of the upper +classes haze the plebe cadets a good deal.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Humph! That's fun for all but the plebes. +Who are the plebes, anyway?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The new cadets; the youngest class at the +Academy,”</span> Hal replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do they do to the plebe?”</span> Eph wanted +to know.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I guess the only way you could find that out, +Eph, would be to join the plebe class.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Reckon, when I come to Annapolis, I'll enter +the class above the plebe,”</span> retorted Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The three submarine boys had again approached +the cadet barracks building.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Here comes a cadet now, Eph,”</span> whispered +Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“If he has the time, I don't doubt he'd +be glad to answer any questions you may have +for him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Young Benson offered this suggestion in a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page115">[pg 115]</span><a name="Pg115" id="Pg115" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +spirit of mischief, hoping the approaching cadet, +when questioned, would resent it stiffly. Then +Eph would be almost certain to flare up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The cadet, however, suddenly turned, coming +straight toward them, smiling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good evening, gentlemen,”</span> was the cadet's +greeting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good evening,”</span> was Jack's hearty reply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You've never been here before, have you, +sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Never,”</span> Jack confessed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then I take it you have never, sir, seen the +camelroorelephant?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The cam—”</span> began Eph Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then he stopped, clapping both hands to his +right jaw.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Won't you please hand that to us in +pieces?”</span> begged Eph, speaking as though with +difficulty.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The cadet laughed heartily, then added:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don't try to pronounce it, gentlemen, until +you've seen the camelroorelephant. It's a cadet +joke, but it's well worth seeing. Shall I take +you to it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, yes, if you'll be good enough,”</span> Jack +assented, heartily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The cadet glanced quickly about him, then +said in a low voice:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This way, please, gentlemen.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page116">[pg 116]</span><a name="Pg116" id="Pg116" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +He led the strangers quickly around the end +of barracks to an open space in the rear. Here +he halted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Gentlemen, I must ask you to close your +eyes, and keep them closed, on honor, until I ask +you to open them again. You won't have to +keep your eyes closed more than sixty seconds +before the camelroorelephant will be ready for +inspection. Now, eyes closed, please.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Lingering only long enough to make sure that +his request had been met, the cadet stole noiselessly +away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Nor was it many seconds later when all three +of the submarine boys began to feel suddenly +suspicious.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm going to open my eyes,”</span> whispered +Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're on honor not to,”</span> warned Jack Benson, +also in a whisper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn't give my word,”</span> retorted Eph, <span class="tei tei-q">“and +I'm going to—oh, great shades of Santiago!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The very genuine note of concern in Eph's +voice caused Jack and Hal to open their own +eyes instantly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Nor could any of the three repress a quick +start.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">From all quarters naval cadets were advancing +stealthily upon them. Something in the +very attitude and poise of the young men told +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page117">[pg 117]</span><a name="Pg117" id="Pg117" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the submarine boys that these naval cadets were +out for mischief.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We're in for it!”</span> breathed Jack, in an undertone. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We're in for something real and +startling, I reckon. Fellows, brace up and take +your medicine, whatever it is, like men!”</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc25" id="toc25"></a> +<a name="pdf26" id="pdf26"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED!</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Nor was Jack's guess in the least wrong.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Even had the submarine boys attempted +to bolt they would have found +it impossible. They were surrounded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The cadets closed quickly in upon them. +There were more than thirty of these budding +young naval officers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was Cadet Merriam who stepped straight +up to Jack, giving him a grotesque and exaggerated +salute, as he rumbled out:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good evening, SIR!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Like a flash Jack Benson comprehended. +These cadets intended fully to even up matters +for having been obliged to say <span class="tei tei-q">“sir”</span> to these +very youthful <span class="tei tei-q">“civilian instructors.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good evening,”</span> Jack smiled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">"You have come to see the camelroorelephant, +SIR?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page118">[pg 118]</span><a name="Pg118" id="Pg118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“We've been told that we might have that +pleasure,”</span> Jack responded, still smiling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps you may,”</span> retorted Cadet Merriam, +<span class="tei tei-q">“though, first of all, it will be necessary +to prove yourselves worthy of the privilege, +SIR.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Anything within our power,”</span> promised +Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then, SIR, let me see you all three stand 'at +attention.'”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“At attention”</span> is the rigid attitude taken by +a United States soldier or sailor when in the +presence of his officers. Jack had already seen +men in that attitude, and did his best to imitate +it in smart military manner. Eph and Hal did +likewise.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, no, no, you dense blockheads!”</span> uttered +Cadet Midshipman Merriam. <span class="tei tei-q">“'At attention' +upside down—on your hands!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The other cadet midshipmen now hemmed in +closely about the three. Jack thought he caught +the idea. He bent over, throwing his feet up in +the air and resting on his hands. Unable to +keep his balance, he walked two or three steps.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn't tell you to walk your post, blockhead!”</span> +scowled Mr. Merriam. <span class="tei tei-q">“Stand still +when at attention.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack tried, but of course made a ludicrous +failure of standing still on his hands. So did +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page119">[pg 119]</span><a name="Pg119" id="Pg119" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Hal and Eph. The latter, truth to tell, didn't +try very hard, for his freckled temper was coming +a bit to the surface.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're the rawest recruits, the worst landlubbers +I've ever seen,”</span> declared Cadet Midshipman +Merriam, with severe dignity. <span class="tei tei-q">“Rest, +before you try it any further.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The smile had all but left Jack Benson's lips, +though he tried to keep it there. Hal Hastings +made the most successful attempt at looking +wholly unconcerned. Eph's face was growing +redder every minute. It is a regrettable fact +that Eph was really beginning to want to fight.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“See here,”</span> ordered Mr. Merriam, suddenly, +taking Jack by the arm, <span class="tei tei-q">“you're a horse, a full-blooded +Arab steed—understand!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He gave young Benson a push that sent that +youngster down to the ground on all fours.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're General Washington, out to take a +ride on your horse,”</span> announced Mr. Merriam, +turning to Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“It's a ride for your health. +Do you understand? It will be wholly for your +health to take that ride!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal Hastings couldn't help comprehending. +With a sheepish grin he sat astride of Jack Benson's +back as the latter stood on all fours.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go ahead with your ride, General,”</span> called +Mr. Merriam.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack pranced as best he could, on all fours, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page120">[pg 120]</span><a name="Pg120" id="Pg120" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Hal making the load of his own weight as light +as he could. Over the ground the pair moved +in this nonsensical ride, the cadets following and +grinning their appreciation of the nonsense.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Two of the young men followed, holding Eph +by the arms between them. Mr. Merriam now +turned upon the unhappy freckled boy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Down on all fours,”</span> ordered Mr. Merriam. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You're the measly dog that barked at General +Washington on that famous ride. Bark, you +wretched yellow cur—bark, bark, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">bark</span></span>!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though Eph Somers was madder than ever, +he had just enough judgment remaining to feel +that the wisest thing would be to obey instructions. +So, on all fours, Eph raced after Jack, +barking at him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“See how frightened the horse is,”</span> muttered +one of the midshipmen.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Taking the hint, Jack shied as well as he +could.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's all,”</span> said Mr. Merriam, at last. +<span class="tei tei-q">“All of that, at least.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As the three submarine boys rose, each found +himself gently held by a pair of cadet midshipmen. +It was a more or less polite hint that the +ordeal was not yet over. Mr. Merriam turned to +whisper to one of the cadets, who darted inside +the barracks building. He was back, promptly, +carrying a folded blanket on his arm.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page123">[pg 123]</span><a name="Pg123" id="Pg123" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +A grin spread over the faces of the assembled +cadet midshipmen. The bearer of the blanket +at once unfolded it. As many of the cadets as +could got hold of the edges, bending, holding the +blanket spread out over the ground.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson's two captors suddenly hurled +him across the length of the blanket with no gentle +force. Instantly the cadets holding the +blankets straightened up, jerking it taut. Up +into the air a couple of feet bounded Jack. As +his body came down the cadets holding the +blanket gave it a still harder jerk. This time +Jack shot up into the air at least four feet. It +was the same old blanket-tossing, long popular +both in the Army and Navy. Every time Jack +landed the blanket was given a harder jerk by +those holding it. Benson began to go higher +and higher.</p> + +<a name="image03" id="image03" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a><a name="fig27" id="fig27"></a><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/image03.jpg" width="389" height="600" alt="Illustration: Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him." title="Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em; margin-top: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him.</span></div></div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And now the cadets broke into a low, monotonous +chant, in time to their movements. It +ran:</p> + +<div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> +<div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 2.00em">Sir, sir, surcingle!</div> +<div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 4.00em">Sir, sir, circle!</div> +<div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 2.00em">Sir, sir, with a shingle—</div> +<div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 4.00em">Sir, sir, sir!</div> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As regular as drumbeats the cadets ripped out +the syllables of the refrain. At each word Jack +Benson's body shot higher and higher. These +young men were experts in the gentle art of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page124">[pg 124]</span><a name="Pg124" id="Pg124" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +blanket-tossing. Ere long the submarine boy +was going up into the air some eight or nine feet +at every tautening of the blanket.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As for escape, that was out of the question. +No sooner did the submarine boy touch the +blanket than he shot skyward again. Had he +desired to he could not have called out. The +motion and the sudden jolts shook all the breath +out of him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ugh! Hm! Pleasant, isn't it?”</span> uttered +Hal Hastings, grimly, under his breath.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If they try to do that to me,”</span> whispered +Eph, hotly, under his breath, <span class="tei tei-q">“I'll fight.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“More simpleton you, then!”</span> Hal shot back +at him in warning. <span class="tei tei-q">“What chance do you think +you stand against a crowd like this?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Just as suddenly as it had begun the blanket-tossing +stopped. Yet, hardly had Jack been allowed +to step out than Hal Hastings was unceremoniously +dropped athwart the blanket. The +tossing began again, to the chant of:</p> + +<div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> +<div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 2.00em">Sir, sir, surcingle!</div> +<div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 4.00em">Sir, sir, circle!</div> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Right plentifully were these cadet midshipmen +avenging themselves for having had to say +<span class="tei tei-q">“sir”</span> to these young submarine boys that day.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Woof!”</span> breathed Jack, as soon as breath +entered his body again. Eph clenched his fists +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page125">[pg 125]</span><a name="Pg125" id="Pg125" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +tightly, as Hal continued to go higher and +higher. But at last Hastings's ordeal was over.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I suppose they'll try that on me!”</span> gritted +Eph Somers to himself. <span class="tei tei-q">“If they do—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">That was far as he got, for Eph was suddenly +flung upon the blanket.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> +<div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 2.00em">Sir, sir, surcingle!</div> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then how Eph <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">did</span></span> go up and down! It was +as though these cadet midshipmen knew that it +would make Eph mad, madder, maddest! These +budding young naval officers fairly bent to their +work, tautening and loosening on the blanket +until their muscles fairly ached.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was lofty aerial work that Eph Somers was +doing. Up and up—higher and higher! Without +the need of any effort on his own part young +Somers was now traveling upward at the rate of +ten or eleven feet at every punctuated bound.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, suddenly, there came a sound that +chilled the blood of every young cadet midshipman +hazer present.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Halt!</span></span> Where you are!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Under the shadow of the barracks building a +naval officer had appeared. He now came forward, +a frown on his face, eyeing the culprits.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is no merry jest for cadet midshipmen to +be caught at hazing! And here were some +thirty of them—red-handed!</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page126">[pg 126]</span><a name="Pg126" id="Pg126" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc28" id="toc28"></a> +<a name="pdf29" id="pdf29"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the first word of command from the +officer several of the cadet midshipmen +who were near enough to an open doorway +vanished through it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As the officer strode through the group of +startled young men a few more, left behind his +back, made a silent disappearance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There were left, however, as the officer looked +about him, sixteen of the young men, all too +plainly headed and led by Cadet Midshipman +Merriam.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Young gentlemen,”</span> said the officer, severely, +<span class="tei tei-q">“I regret to find so many of you engaged in +hazing. It is doubly bad when your victims are +men outside the corps. And, if I mistake not, +these young gentlemen are here as temporary +civilian instructors in submarine work.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mr. Merriam and his comrades made no reply +in words. Nor did their faces express much. +They stood at attention, looking stolidly ahead +of them, though their faces were turned toward +the officer. It was not the place of any of them +to speak unless the officer asked questions.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Severe as the hazing had been, however, Jack +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page127">[pg 127]</span><a name="Pg127" id="Pg127" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and Hal, at least, had taken it all in good part. +Nor was Jack bound by any of the rules of etiquette +that prevented the cadets from speaking.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“May I offer a word, sir?”</span> asked Jack, +wheeling upon the officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You were one of the victims of a hazing, +were you not?”</span> demanded the officer, regarding +Jack, keenly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, could you call it that, sir?”</span> asked +Jack, a look of innocent surprise settling on his +face. <span class="tei tei-q">“We called it a demonstration—an +explanation.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Demonstration? Explanation?”</span> repeated +the officer, astonished in his turn. <span class="tei tei-q">“What do +you mean, Mr.—er—?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Benson,”</span> Jack supplied, quietly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think you would better tell me a little more, +Mr. Benson,”</span> pursued the unknown naval +officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, it was like this, sir,”</span> Jack continued. +<span class="tei tei-q">“My two friends—Hastings and Somers—and +myself were talking about the West Point and +Annapolis hazings, of which we had heard and +read. We were talking about the subject when +a cadet came along. I suggested to Somers that +we ask the cadet about hazing. Well, sir, to +make a long story short, some of the cadets +undertook to show us just how hazing is—or +used to be—done at Annapolis.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page128">[pg 128]</span><a name="Pg128" id="Pg128" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! Then it was all thoroughly good-natured, +all in the way of a joke, to show you +something you wanted to know?”</span> asked the +naval officer, slowly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's the way I took it,”</span> replied Jack. +<span class="tei tei-q">“So did Hastings and Somers. We've enjoyed +ourselves more than anyone else here has.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This was truth surely enough, for, in the last +two minutes, not one of the cadet midshipmen +present could have been accused of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">enjoying</span></span> +himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then what took place here, Mr. Benson, +really took place at your request?”</span> insisted the +naval officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It all answered the questions that we had +been asking,”</span> Jack replied, promptly, though, +it must be admitted, rather evasively.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This is your understanding, too, Mr. Hastings?”</span> +demanded the officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Surely,”</span> murmured Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You, Mr. Somers?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I—I haven't had so much fun since the gasoline +engine blew up,”</span> protested Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We entered most heartily into the spirit of +the thing,”</span> Jack hastened on to say, <span class="tei tei-q">“and feel +that we owe the deepest thanks to these young +gentlemen of the Navy. Yet, if our desire to +know more about the life—that is, the former +life—of the Academy is to result in getting our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page129">[pg 129]</span><a name="Pg129" id="Pg129" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +entertainers into any trouble, we shall never +cease regretting our unfortunate curiosity.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For some moments the naval officer regarded +the three submarine boys, solemnly, in turn. +From them he turned to look over the cadet midshipmen. +The latter looked as stolid, and stood +as rigidly at attention, as ever.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Under this presentation of the matter,”</span> said +the officer, after a long pause, <span class="tei tei-q">“I am not prepared +to say that there has been any violation +of discipline. At least, no grave infraction. +However, some of these young gentlemen are, I +believe, absent from their quarters without +leave. Mr. Merriam?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I have permission to be absent from my +quarters between nine and ten, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Caldwell?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Absent from quarters without permission, +sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So on down through the list the officer ran. +Nine of the young men proved to have leave to +be away from their quarters. The other seven +did not have such permission. The names of +these seven, therefore, were written down to be +reported. The seven, too, were ordered at once +back to their quarters.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Having issued his instructions, the naval officer +turned and walked away. Jack and his +comrades, too, left the scene.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page130">[pg 130]</span><a name="Pg130" id="Pg130" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Yet they had not gone far when they heard +a low hail behind. Turning, they saw Cadet +Midshipmen Merriam hastening toward them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Gentlemen,”</span> he said, earnestly, as he +reached them, <span class="tei tei-q">“it may not be best for me to be +seen lingering here to talk with you. But my +comrades wanted me to come after you and to +say that we think you bricks. You carried that +off finely, Mr. Benson. None of us will ever +forget it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It wasn't much to do,”</span> smiled Jack, +pleasantly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was quick-witted of you, and generous +too, sir,”</span> rejoined Mr. Merriam, finding it now +very easy to employ the <span class="tei tei-q">“sir.”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“Probably you +agree with us that no great crime was committed, +anyway. But, just the same, hazing is +under a heavy ban these days. If you hadn't +saved the day as you did, sir, all of our cadet +party might have been dismissed the Service. +Those absent from quarters without leave +will get only a few demerits apiece. We +have that much to thank you for, sir, and we +do. All our thanks, remember. Good night, +sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My courage was down in my boots for a +while,”</span> confessed Hal Hastings, as the three +chums continued their walk back to the Basin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When?”</span> demanded Eph, grimly. <span class="tei tei-q">“When +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page131">[pg 131]</span><a name="Pg131" id="Pg131" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +your boots—and the rest of you—were so high +up in the air over the blanket?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; when the cadets were caught at it,”</span> +replied Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, Jack,”</span> demanded Eph, <span class="tei tei-q">“do you ever +give much thought to the future life?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Meaning the life in the next world?”</span> questioned +Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I sometimes give a good deal of thought to +it,”</span> Jack confessed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then where do you expect to go, when the +time comes?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“After the whoppers you told that officer?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn't tell him even a single tiny fib,”</span> protested +Jack, indignantly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, you George Washington!”</span> choked Eph +Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I didn't,”</span> insisted Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, just +stop and think. Weren't we all three discussing +hazing?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then that part of what I told the officer was +straight. Now, Eph, when we saw that first +cadet come along, didn't I suggest to you to ask +him about hazing?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ye-es,”</span> admitted Somers, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then, didn't the cadet midshipmen offer to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page132">[pg 132]</span><a name="Pg132" id="Pg132" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +show us all about hazing pranks, and didn't they +do it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, rather,”</span> muttered Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, young man, that's all I told the officer, +except that we enjoyed our entertainment +greatly.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Did</span></span> we enjoy it, though?”</span> demanded Eph +Somers, bridling up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I did,”</span> replied Jack, <span class="tei tei-q">“and I spoke for myself. +I enjoyed it as I would enjoy almost any +new experience.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So did I,”</span> added Hal, warmly. <span class="tei tei-q">“It was +rough—mighty rough—but now I know what an +Annapolis hazing is like, and I'm glad I do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I want to tell you I didn't enjoy it,”</span> +blazed Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“It was a mighty cheeky—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then why did you let the officer imagine you +enjoyed it?”</span> taunted Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">While Hal put in, slyly:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eph, you're too quick to talk about others +fibbing. From the evidence just put in, it's +evident that you're the only one of the three who +fibbed any. Won't you please walk on the +other side of the road? I never did like to +travel with liars.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, you go to Jericho!”</span> flared Eph. But, +as he walked along, he blinked a good deal, and +did some hard thinking.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll tell you,”</span> broke out Jack, suddenly, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page133">[pg 133]</span><a name="Pg133" id="Pg133" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“who thanks us even more than the cadets themselves +do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who?”</span> queried Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That officer who caught the crowd at it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think he cared?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course he did,”</span> said Jack, positively. +<span class="tei tei-q">“He'd rather have gone hungry for a couple of +days than have to report that bunch for +hazing.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then why was he so infernally stiff with +the young men?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He had to be; that's the answer. That officer, +like every other officer of the Navy detailed +here, is sworn to do his full duty. So he has to +enforce the regulations. But don't you suppose, +fellows, that officer was hazed, and did +some hazing on his own account, when he was +a cadet midshipman here years ago? Of course! +And that's why the officer didn't question us any +more closely than he did. He was afraid he +might stumble on something that would oblige +him to report the whole crowd for hazing. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">He</span></span> +didn't want to do it. That officer, I'm certain, +knew that, if he questioned us too closely, he'd +find a lot more beneath the surface that he +simply didn't want to dig up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Would you have told the truth, if he had +questioned you searchingly, and pinned you +right down?”</span> demanded Eph Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page134">[pg 134]</span><a name="Pg134" id="Pg134" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Of course I would,”</span> Jack replied, soberly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I'm no liar. But I feel deeply grateful to that +officer for not being keener.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Before nine o'clock the next morning news of +the night's doings back of barracks had spread +through the entire corps of cadet midshipmen.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With these young men of the Navy there was +but one opinion of the submarine boys—that +they were trumps, wholly of the right sort.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As a result, Jack, Hal and Eph had hundreds +of new friends among those who will officer the +Navy of the morrow.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Not so bad, even just as a stroke of business!</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc30" id="toc30"></a> +<a name="pdf31" id="pdf31"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +For the next ten days things moved along +without much excitement for the submarine +boys.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">During that time they had an average of four +sections a day of cadet midshipmen to instruct +in the workings of the Pollard type of submarine +torpedo boat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">During the last few days short cruises were +taken on the Severn River, in order that the +middies might practise at running the motors +and handling the craft. At such times one +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page135">[pg 135]</span><a name="Pg135" id="Pg135" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +squad of midshipmen would be on duty in the +engine room, another in the conning tower and +on the platform deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Of course, when the midshipmen handled the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum,”</span> under command of a Navy officer, +the submarine boys had but little more to do +than to be on board. Certainly they were not +overworked. Yet all three were doing fine +work for their employers in making the Navy +officers of the future like the Pollard type of +craft.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After waiting a few days Jack Benson reported +to the Annapolis police his experience +with the mulatto <span class="tei tei-q">“guide.”</span> The police thought +they recognized the fellow, from the description, +and did their best to find him. The mulatto, +however, seemed to have disappeared from that +part of the country.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There came a Friday afternoon when, as the +last detachment of middies filed over the side +into the waiting cutter, Lieutenant Commander +Mayhew announced:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This, Mr. Benson, completes the instruction +desired in the Basin and in the river. To-morrow +and Sunday you will have for rest. On +Monday, at 10 <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">a.m.</span></span>, a section will report aboard +for the first trip out to sea. Then you will show +our young men how the boat dives, and how she +is run under water. As none of our cadet midshipmen +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page136">[pg 136]</span><a name="Pg136" id="Pg136" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +have ever been below in a submarine +before, you will be sure of having eager +students.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And perhaps some nervous ones,”</span> smiled +Skipper Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Possibly,”</span> assented Mr. Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“I doubt +it, though. Nervousness is not a marked trait +of any young man who has been long enrolled at +the Naval Academy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can we have a slight favor done us, Mr. +Mayhew?”</span> Jack asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Any reasonable favor, of course.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then, sir, we'd like to spend a little time +ashore, as we've been confined so long aboard. +If I lock up everything tight on the boat until +Sunday night, may we know that the 'Farnum' +will be under the protection of the marine +guard?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I feel that there will not be the slightest difficulty +in promising you that,”</span> replied Mr. Mayhew. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I will telephone the proper authorities +about it as soon as I go on shore.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">All hands on board were pleased over the +prospect of going ashore, with the exception of +Sam Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You don't need any guard on the boat,”</span> he +protested. <span class="tei tei-q">“I don't want to go ashore. Leave +me here and I'll be all the guard necessary.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We're all going ashore,”</span> Jack replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page137">[pg 137]</span><a name="Pg137" id="Pg137" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But I haven't any money to spend ashore,”</span> +objected Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll let you have ten dollars on account, +then,”</span> replied Jack, who was well supplied with +money, thanks to a draft received from Jacob +Farnum.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't want to go ashore, anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm sorry, Truax, but it doesn't really make +any difference. The boat will be closed up +tight, and there wouldn't be any place for you +to stay, except on the platform deck.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're not treating me fairly,”</span> protested +Sam Truax, indignantly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm sorry you think so. Still, if you're not +satisfied, all I can do is to pay you off to date. +Then you can go where you please.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm here by David Pollard's order. Do you +forget that?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He sent you along to us, true,”</span> admitted +Jack, <span class="tei tei-q">“but I have instructions from Mr. Farnum +to dismiss anyone whose work on board I +don't like. Now, Truax, you're a competent +enough man in the engine room, and there's no +sense in having to let you go. You're well paid, +and can afford the time on shore. I wouldn't +make any more fuss about this, but do as the +rest of us are going to do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I'll have to, then, since you're boss +here,”</span> grumbled Truax, sulkily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page138">[pg 138]</span><a name="Pg138" id="Pg138" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I don't want to make it felt too much that I +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">am</span></span> boss here,”</span> Jack retorted, mildly. <span class="tei tei-q">“At the +same time, though, I'm held responsible, and +so I suppose I'll have to have things done the +way that seems best to me.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax turned to get his satchel. The +instant his back was turned on the young commander +Sam's face was a study in ugliness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I'll take this all out of you,”</span> muttered +the fellow to himself. <span class="tei tei-q">“I don't believe, Jack +Benson, you'll go on the cruising next week. +If you do, you won't be much good, anyway!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Ten minutes later a shore boat landed the +entire party from the submarine craft.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Going with the rest of us, Truax?”</span> inquired +Jack, pleasantly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; I'm going to find a boarding-house. +That will be cheaper than the hotel.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So the other four kept straight on to the +Maryland House, giving very little more thought +to the sulky one.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was not until after supper that Eph turned +the talk back to Sam Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't like the fellow, at all,”</span> declared +young Somers. <span class="tei tei-q">“He always wants to be left +alone in the engine room, for one thing.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And I've made it my business, regular,”</span> +added Williamson, the machinist, <span class="tei tei-q">“to see that +he doesn't have his wish.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page139">[pg 139]</span><a name="Pg139" id="Pg139" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He's always sulky, and kicking about everything,”</span> +added Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“I may be wrong, but I +can't get it out of my head that the fellow came +aboard on purpose to be a trouble-maker.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, what object could he have in that?”</span> +asked Captain Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Blessed if I know,”</span> replied Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“But +that's the way I size the fellow up. Now, take +that time you were knocked senseless, back in +Dunhaven. Who could have done that? The +more I think about Sam Truax, the more I suspect +him as the fellow who stretched you out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Again, what object could he have?”</span> inquired +Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Blessed if I know. What object could anyone +have in such a trick against you? It was a +state prison job, if the fellow had been caught +at the time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, there's one thing Truax was innocent +of, anyway,”</span> laughed Captain Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“He +didn't have any hand in the way I was tricked +and robbed by the mulatto.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Blamed if I'm so sure he didn't have a hand +in that, too,”</span> contended Eph Somers, stubbornly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yet Mr. Pollard recommended him,”</span> urged +Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, and a fine fellow Dave Pollard is—true +as steel,”</span> put in Hal Hastings, quietly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yet +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page140">[pg 140]</span><a name="Pg140" id="Pg140" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +you know what a dreamer he is. Always has his +head in the air and his thoughts among the stars. +He'd as like as not take a fellow like Truax on +the fellow's own say-so, and never think of looking +him up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, we've no reason to think Truax isn't +honest enough,”</span> contended Jack Benson. +<span class="tei tei-q">“He's certainly a fine workman. As to his +being sulky, you know well enough that's a common +fault among men who spend their lives listening +to the noise of great engines. A man +who can't make himself heard over the noise of +a big engine hasn't much encouragement to talk. +Now, a man who can't find much chance to talk +becomes sulky a good many times out of ten.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We'll have trouble with that fellow, Truax, +yet,”</span> muttered Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I hope not,”</span> Jack answered, then added, +significantly:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If he <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">does</span></span> start any trouble he may find that +he has been trifling with the wrong crowd!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Very little more thought was given to the +sulky one. The submarine boys and their companion, +Williamson, enjoyed Saturday and +Sunday ashore.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">All of them might have felt disturbed, however, +had they known of one thing that happened.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The naval machinists aboard the first submarine +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page141">[pg 141]</span><a name="Pg141" id="Pg141" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +boat, the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard,”</span> now owned by the +United States Government, found something +slightly out of order with the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard's”</span> +engine that they did not know exactly how to +remedy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax, hanging around the Basin that +Sunday forenoon, was called upon. He gladly +responded to the call for help. For four hours +he toiled along in the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard's”</span> engine room. +Much of that time he spent there alone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The job done, at last, Truax quietly received +the thanks of the naval machinists and went +ashore again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Yet, as he turned and walked toward the main +gate of the grounds, there was a smile on Sam +Truax's face that was little short of diabolical.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, if I can only get the same chance at the +'Farnum's' engines!”</span> he muttered, to himself. +<span class="tei tei-q">“If I can, I think Mr. Jack Benson will find himself +out of favor with his company, for his company +will be out of favor with the Navy Department +at Washington!”</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page142">[pg 142]</span><a name="Pg142" id="Pg142" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc32" id="toc32"></a> +<a name="pdf33" id="pdf33"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XIV: THE </span><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%">“</span><span style="font-size: 173%">POLLARD</span><span style="font-size: 173%">”</span></span><span style="font-size: 173%"> GOES LAME</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The submarine boats when out in the +Bay will keep abreast of the 'Hudson,' +two hundred yards off on either +beam. The speed will be fourteen knots when +the signal is given for full speed. The general +course, after leaving the mouth of the Bay will +be East.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Such were the instructions called from the +rail of the gunboat, through a megaphone, +Monday forenoon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On each of the submarine craft were sixteen +cadet midshipmen, out for actual practice in +handling a submarine in diving and in running +under water. On board the gunboat were eighty +more cadets. Thus a large class of the young +men were to receive instruction during the +cruise, for the detachments aboard the submarines +could be changed at the pleasure of +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, who was in +charge of the cruise.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Captain Jack, his own hands on the conning +tower wheel, ran the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> out into the +river, first of all. Then the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard,”</span> under +command of a naval officer, followed. Both +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page143">[pg 143]</span><a name="Pg143" id="Pg143" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +backed water, then waited for the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> to +come out, for the gunboat was to lead the way +until the Bay was reached. Then the formation +ordered would be followed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though it was nearing the first of November, +the day, near land, was ideally soft and balmy. +As many of the midshipmen as could sought the +platform deck of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span> Those, however, +who belonged to the engineer division were +obliged to spend the greater part of their time +below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By the time that the three craft were in the +ordered formation, abreast, and well started +down Chesapeake Bay, the parent vessel signaled +that the designated cadets were to take +charge of the handling of the submarine +boats.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson cheerfully relinquished the wheel +to Cadet Midshipman Merriam, and stepped out +on to the platform deck. At need, as in case of +accident or misunderstanding of signals or +orders, Benson was still in command. While all +ran smoothly, however, Mr. Merriam enjoyed +command.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal, being likewise relieved in the engine +room, came also out on deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where's Eph?”</span> inquired the young commander +of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In the engine room,”</span> smiled Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“He said +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page144">[pg 144]</span><a name="Pg144" id="Pg144" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I could leave, if I wanted, but that he'd be +hanged if he'd let Truax out of his sight while +I was away.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eph seems to have Truax on the brain,”</span> +laughed Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, Truax <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> a queer and surly one,”</span> Hal +admitted. <span class="tei tei-q">“This morning he gives one the impression +of peeking over his shoulder all the +time to see whether he's being watched.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So Eph means to humor him by watching +him, eh?”</span> asked Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal laughed quietly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Some of the cadets who were familiar with +the landmarks of Chesapeake Bay pointed out +many of the localities and sights to the two +submarine boys.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At last, however, Eph was obliged to call for +Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You know, Hal, old fellow, I've got to look +out for the feeding of a lot of boarders to-day,”</span> +complained Eph, whimsically.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This task of Eph's took time, though it was +not a hard one. The food for the cadets had +been sent aboard. Eph had to make coffee and +heat soup. For the rest, cold food had to do. +The young men, on this trip, were required to +wait on themselves.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal found Sam Truax sitting moodily in a +corner of the engine room, though there was +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page145">[pg 145]</span><a name="Pg145" id="Pg145" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +something about the fellow's appearance that +suggested the watchfulness of a cat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why don't you go on deck a while, Truax?”</span> +asked Hal, kindly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don't want to,”</span> snapped the fellow, irritably. +So Hal turned his back on the man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Doesn't that part need loosening up a bit, +sir?”</span> asked the cadet in charge of the engineer +division.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> replied Hastings, after watching a +moment; <span class="tei tei-q">“it does.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll do it, then,”</span> proposed Truax, roughly. +He attempted to crowd his way past Hal, but the +latter refused to be crowded, and stood his +ground until the midshipman passed him a +wrench. Then Hastings loosened up the part.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You might let me do a little something,”</span> +growled Sam Truax, in a tone intentionally +offensive.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don't forget, Truax, that I'm in command +in this department,”</span> retorted Hal, in a quieter +tone than usual, though with a direct, steady +look that made Sam Truax turn white with +repressed wrath.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You won't let me forget it, will you?”</span> +snarled the fellow.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; for I don't want you to forget it, and +least of all on this cruise,”</span> responded Hal Hastings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page146">[pg 146]</span><a name="Pg146" id="Pg146" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You don't give me any chance to—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Silence!”</span> ordered Hal, taking a step toward +him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax opened his mouth to make some +retort, then wisely changed his mind, dropping +back into his former seat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The noon meal was served to all hands. By +the time it was well over the mouth of the Bay +was in sight, the broad Atlantic rolling in +beyond.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The sea, when reached, proved to be almost +smooth. It was ideal weather for such a cruise.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then straight East, for an hour they went, +getting well out of the path of coasting vessels.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hullo! What in blazes does that mean?”</span> +suddenly demanded Hal, pointing astern at +starboard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> lay tossing gently on the +water, making no headway. Hardly ten seconds +later the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> signaled a halt.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then followed some rapid signaling between +the gunboat and the submarine that had +stopped. There was some break in the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard's”</span> +machinery, but the cause had not yet +been determined.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Blazes!”</span> muttered Jack, uneasily. <span class="tei tei-q">“It +couldn't have happened at a worse time. This +looks bad for our firm, Hal!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> now lay to, as did the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page147">[pg 147]</span><a name="Pg147" id="Pg147" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +for the officer in command of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> +signaled that his machinists were making +a rapid but thorough investigation of the unfortunate +submarine's engines.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Finally, a cutter put off from the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> +with a cadet midshipman in charge. The small +boat came over alongside, and the midshipman +called up:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The lieutenant commander's compliments, +and will Mr. Benson detail Mr. Hastings to go +over to the 'Pollard' and assist?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My compliments to the lieutenant commander,”</span> +Jack replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“And be good enough +to report to him, please, that Mr. Hastings and +I will both go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My orders, sir, are to convey you to the +'Pollard' before reporting back to the parent +vessel,”</span> replied the midshipman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The cutter came alongside, taking off the two +submarine boys, while Eph Somers devoted himself +to watching Sam Truax as a bloodhound +might have hung to a trail.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Arrived on board the good, old, familiar +<span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard,”</span> Jack and Hal hurried below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The machinery is too hot to handle, now, +sir,”</span> reported one of the naval machinists, <span class="tei tei-q">“but +it looks as though something was wrong right in +there”</span>—pointing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Put one of the electric fans at work there, at +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page148">[pg 148]</span><a name="Pg148" id="Pg148" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +once,”</span> directed Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“Then things ought to be +cool enough in half an hour, to make an examination +possible.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After seeing this done, the two submarine boys +left for the platform deck, for the engine room +was both hot and crowded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How long is it going to take you, Mr. Hastings?”</span> +asked the naval officer in command of the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Half an hour to get the parts cool enough +to examine, but I can't say, sir, how long the +examination and repairs will take.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So the officer in command signaled what +proved to be vague and unsatisfactory information +to Lieutenant Commander Mayhew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This is a bad time to have this sort of thing +happen,”</span> observed the naval officer in charge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A mighty bad time, sir,”</span> Jack murmured.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And the engines of the 'Pollard' were supposed +to be in first-class condition.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">were</span></span> in A-1 condition, when the boat +was turned over to the Navy,”</span> Jack responded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you imagine, then, Mr. Benson, that +some of the naval machinists have been careless +or incompetent?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, that would be a wild guess to make, +sir, when one remembers what high rank your +naval machinists take in their work,”</span> Jack +Benson replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page149">[pg 149]</span><a name="Pg149" id="Pg149" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And this boat was sold to the Navy with the +strongest guarantee for the engines,”</span> pursued +the officer in charge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack and Hal were both worried. The sudden +break had a bad look for the Pollard boats, +in the success of which these submarine boys +were most vitally interested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At last, from below, the suspected parts of +the engine were reported to be cool enough for +examination. The naval officer in charge followed +Jack and Hal below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Taking off his uniform blouse and rolling up +his sleeves, Hal sailed in vigorously to locate the +fault. Machinists and cadets stood about, passing +him the tools he needed, and helping him +when required.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At last, after disconnecting some parts, Hal +drew out a long, slender brass piston.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As he held it up young Hastings's face went +as white as chalk.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you see this?”</span> he demanded, hoarsely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Filed, crazily, and it also looks as though the +inner end had been heated and tampered with,”</span> +gasped Jack Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This, sir,”</span> complained Hal, turning around +to face the naval officer in charge, <span class="tei tei-q">“looks like a +direct attempt to tamper with and damage the +engine. Someone has done this deliberately, +sir. It only remains to find the culprit.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page150">[pg 150]</span><a name="Pg150" id="Pg150" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Then we'll find out,”</span> retorted the naval officer, +<span class="tei tei-q">“if it takes a court of inquiry and a court +martial to do it. But are you sure of your +charge, Mr. Hastings?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Am I sure?”</span> repeated Hal, all the soul of +the young engineer swelling to the surface. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Take this piston, sir, and examine it. Could +such a job have been done, unless by sheer +design and intent?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will the lieutenant permit me to speak?”</span> +asked the senior machinist, taking a step forward +and saluting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; go ahead.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yesterday morning, sir,”</span> continued the +senior machinist, <span class="tei tei-q">“we thought the engines +needed some overhauling by someone more accustomed +to them than we were. We saw one +of the machinists of the 'Farnum,' sir, hanging +about on shore. So we invited him aboard and +asked him to look the engines over.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Describe the man,”</span> begged Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The senior machinist gave a description that +instantly denoted Sam Truax as the man in +question.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Did you leave him alone in here, at any +time?”</span> demanded Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let me see. Why, yes, sir. The man must +have been alone in here some three-quarters of +an hour.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page151">[pg 151]</span><a name="Pg151" id="Pg151" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jack and Hal exchanged swift glances.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There seemed, now, very little need of carrying +the investigation further.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc34" id="toc34"></a> +<a name="pdf35" id="pdf35"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When he could trust himself to speak +Hal Hastings addressed the naval +officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think Mr. Benson and myself understand, +sir, how it happened that this damage was done. +There are extra parts in the repair kit. In +twenty minutes, sir, I think we can have the +engines running smoothly once more.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The naval officer was wise enough not to press +the questioning further just then. Instead, he +went on deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Working like beavers, and with the assistance +of others standing about, Jack and Hal had the +piston replaced and all the other parts in place +within fifteen minutes. Then, once more, Hal +turned on the gasoline, set the ignition, and +watched.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The engine ran as smoothly as ever.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There won't be any more trouble, unless +someone is turned loose here with files and a +blast lamp,”</span> pronounced Hal. Then he and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page152">[pg 152]</span><a name="Pg152" id="Pg152" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +his chum sought the deck, to report to the officer +in charge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You think we're in running order, now?”</span> +asked that officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If you give the speed-ahead signal, sir, I +think you'll feel as though you had a live engine +under your deck,”</span> Hal assured him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The signal was given, the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> immediately +responding. She cut a wide circle, at +good speed, returning to her former position, +where the propellers were stopped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You suspect your own machinist, who was +aboard?”</span> asked the naval officer, in a low tone, +of the submarine boys.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If you'll pardon our not answering directly, +sir,”</span> Captain Jack replied, <span class="tei tei-q">“we want to have +more than suspicions before we make a very +energetic report on this strange accident. But +we shall not be asleep, sir, in the matter of finding +out. Then we shall make a full report to +Mr. Mayhew.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Success to you—and vigilance!”</span> muttered +the naval officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The gunboat's cutter came alongside, transferring +Jack and Hal back to the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal went directly below to the engine room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You fixed the trouble with the 'Pollard'?”</span> +demanded Eph Somers, eagerly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> Hal admitted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page153">[pg 153]</span><a name="Pg153" id="Pg153" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“What was wrong?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, I don't know as I'd want to commit +myself in too offhand a way,”</span> replied Hal, +slowly, as though thinking.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What appeared to be at the bottom of the +trouble?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">may</span></span> have been that one of the naval +machinists, not understanding our engines any +too well, allowed one of the pistons to get overheated, +and then resorted to filing,”</span> Hal replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What? Overheat a piston, and then try to +correct it with a file?”</span> cried young Somers, disgustedly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“The crazy blacksmith! He ought +to be set to shoeing snails—that's all he's fit +for.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It looks that way,”</span> Hal assented, smiling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Artful, clever Hal! He had carried it all off +so coolly and naturally that Sam Truax, who +had been closely studying Hastings's face from +the background, was wholly deceived.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This fellow, Hastings, isn't as smart as I had +thought him,”</span> muttered Truax, to himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The interrupted cruise now proceeded, the +parent vessel signaling for a temporary speed +of sixteen knots in order to make up for lost +time.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Twenty minutes later came the signal from +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson:”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“At the command, the submarines will dash +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page154">[pg 154]</span><a name="Pg154" id="Pg154" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +ahead at full speed, each making its best time. +During this trial, which will end at the firing of +a gun from the parent vessel, all cadets will be +on deck.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Word was immediately passed below, and all +the cadets of the engineer division came +tumbling up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">To these, who had been in the engine room +constantly for hours, the cool wind blowing +across the deck was highly agreeable.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For the speed dash Captain Jack Benson had +again taken command. He passed word below +to Eph Somers to take the wheel in the conning +tower.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph, therefore, came up with the last of the +cadets from below. In the excitement of the +pending race it had not been noticed by any of +the submarine boys that Williamson was already +on deck, aft. That left Sam Truax below in sole +possession of the boat's engine quarters.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The gunboat now fell a little behind, leaving +the two submarines some four hundred yards +apart, but as nearly as possible on a line.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look at the crowd over on the 'Pollard's' +decks,”</span> muttered Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“They're all Navy +folks over there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And they mean to beat such plain 'dubs' as +they must consider us,”</span> laughed Captain Jack, +in an undertone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page155">[pg 155]</span><a name="Pg155" id="Pg155" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Will they beat us, though?”</span> grinned Hal +Hastings. <span class="tei tei-q">“You and I, Jack, happen to know +that the 'Farnum' is a bit the faster boat by +rights.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Suddenly the signal broke out from the gunboat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Race her, Eph!”</span> shouted Captain Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aye, aye, sir!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph Somers's right hand caught at the speed +signals beside the wheel. He called for all +speed, the bell jangling merrily in the engine +room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A little cheer of excitement went up from the +cadets aboard the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> as that craft shot +ahead over the waters. The cadets were catching +the thrill of what was virtually a race. At +the same time, though, these midshipmen could +not help feeling a good deal of interest in the +success of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard,”</span> which was manned +wholly by representatives of the Navy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In the first three minutes the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> stole +gradually, though slowly, ahead of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard.”</span> +Then, to the disgust of all three of the +submarine boys, the other craft was seen to be +gaining. Before long the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> had the +lead, and looked likely to increase it. Already +gleeful cheers were rising from the all-Navy +crowd on the deck of the other submarine.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Behind the racers sped the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> keeping +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page156">[pg 156]</span><a name="Pg156" id="Pg156" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +just far enough behind to be able to observe +everything without interfering with either +torpedo craft.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">From looking at the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> Captain Jack +glanced down at the water. His own boat's +bows seemed to be cutting the water at a fast +gait. The young skipper, knowing what he +knew about both boats, could not understand this +losing to the other craft.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The Navy men must know a few tricks with +engines that we haven't guessed,”</span> he observed, +anxiously, to young Hastings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't know what it can be, then,”</span> murmured +Hal, uneasily. <span class="tei tei-q">“There aren't so confusingly +many parts to a six-cylinder gasoline +motor. They aren't hard engines to run. More +depends on the engine itself than on the +engineer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But look over there,”</span> returned Captain +Jack Benson. <span class="tei tei-q">“You see the 'Pollard' taking +the wind out of our teeth, don't you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> Hal admitted, looking more puzzled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think our engines are doing the top-notch +of their best?”</span> asked Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; for Williamson is a crackerjack +machinist. He knows our engines as well as +any man alive could do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think it would do any good for you +to go below, Hal?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page157">[pg 157]</span><a name="Pg157" id="Pg157" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I will, if you say so,”</span> offered Hastings. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yet there's another side to it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Williamson might get it into his head that +I went below because I thought he was making +a muddle of the speed. As a matter of fact, he +knows every blessed thing I do about our motors, +and Williamson is loyal to the core.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know,”</span> nodded Captain Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'd hate to +hurt a fine fellow's feelings. Yet—confound it, +I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">do</span></span> want to win this burst of speed. It means, +perhaps, the quick sale of this boat to the Navy. +If we're beaten it means, to the Secretary of the +Navy, that he already has our best boat, and he +might not see the need of buying the 'Farnum' +at all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Give Williamson two or three minutes +more,”</span> begged Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“You might tell Eph, +though, to repeat, and repeat, the signal for top +speed. That'll show Williamson we're losing.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson walked to the conning tower, instructing +Eph Somers in a low tone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I've signaled twice, since the first time,”</span> +Eph replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“But here goes some more.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wonder what's going wrong with our engines, +then,”</span> muttered Captain Jack, uneasily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It ain't in careless steering, anyway,”</span> +grumbled Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'm going as straight as a +chalk line.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page158">[pg 158]</span><a name="Pg158" id="Pg158" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I noticed that,”</span> Captain Jack admitted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He continued to look worried, for, by this +time, the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> was at least a good two +hundred and fifty yards to the good in the lead.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm afraid,”</span> muttered Hal, rejoining Benson, +<span class="tei tei-q">“that I'll simply have to go below.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm afraid so,”</span> nodded Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“We simply +can't afford to lose this or any other race to the +'Pollard.'”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Williamson knows that fully as well as we +do, though,”</span> Hal Hastings went on. <span class="tei tei-q">“And +Williamson—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Of a sudden Hal stopped short. He half +staggered, clutching at a rail, while his eyes +stared and his lips twitched.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why—why—there's Williamson—aft on the +deck!”</span> muttered Hastings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack, too, wheeled like a flash. Back there +in a crowd of cadets stood the machinist upon +whom the submarine boys were depending for +the best showing that the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> could +make.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Williamson up here!”</span> gasped Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“And—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That fellow, Truax, all alone with the +motors!”</span> hissed Captain Jack. Then, after a +second or two of startled silence:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Come on, Hal!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page159">[pg 159]</span><a name="Pg159" id="Pg159" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +The naval cadets were too much absorbed in +watching the race to have overheard anything. +Williamson, too, standing at the rail, looking out +over the water, had not yet discovered that Hal +Hastings was up from the engine room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson stole below on tip-toe, though +with the machinery running so much stealth was +not necessary. Right behind him followed Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As the two gained the doorway of the engine +room Sam Truax had his back turned to them, +and so did not note the sudden watchers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was a smile of malicious triumph on +Truax's face as he turned a lever a little way +over, thus decreasing the ignition power of the +motors.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Both Jack and Hal could see that the gasoline +flow had been turned on nearly to the full +capacity. It was the poor ignition work that +was making the motors respond so badly. A +little less, and a little less, of the electric spark +that burned the gasoline and air mixture—that +was the secret of the gradually decreasing +speed, while all the time it looked as though the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> was doing her level best to win the +race.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Whistling, as he bent over, Sam Truax caught +up a long, slender steel bar. With this he +stepped forward, intent upon his next wicked +step.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page160">[pg 160]</span><a name="Pg160" id="Pg160" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Gracious! The scoundrel is going to run +that bar in between the moving parts of the +engine and bring about a break-down!”</span> +quivered Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax stood watching for his chance to +thrust the steel bar in just where it would inflict +the most damage. Then raising the bar +quickly, he poised for the blow.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Stop that, you infernal sneak!”</span> roared Jack +Benson, bounding into the engine room.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc36" id="toc36"></a> +<a name="pdf37" id="pdf37"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You—here?”</span> hissed Truax, wheeling +about.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He had not had time to make the +thrust with the steel bar.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Instead, as he wheeled, he raised it above his +head, drawing back in an attitude of guard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As he did so, a vile oath escaped Truax's lips.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Put that bar down!”</span> commanded Jack +Benson, standing unflinchingly before the angry +rascal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll put it down on your head, if you don't +get out of here!”</span> snarled the wretch.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Put it down, and consider yourself off duty +here, for good and all,”</span> insisted Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page161">[pg 161]</span><a name="Pg161" id="Pg161" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Are you going to get out of here, or shall +I brain you?”</span> screamed Truax, his face working +in the height of his passion.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Neither,”</span> retorted Captain Jack, coolly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I command here, and you know it. Put that +bar down, and leave the engine room.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Come and take the bar from me—if you +dare!”</span> taunted the fellow, a more wicked gleam +flashing in his eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hal!”</span> called Jack, sharply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aye!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Call two or three of the cadets down here. +Don't make any noise about it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This order was called without Benson's turning +his head. He still stood facing the sneak +while Hal sped away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, I've got you alone!”</span> gloated Truax. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I'll finish you!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A scornful smile curled Jack's lips as he gazed +steadily back at his foe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Truax, you're a coward, as well as a sneak.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I am—eh?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With another nasty oath Truax stepped +quickly forward, the steel bar upraised.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He took but one step, however, for Captain +Jack Benson had not retreated an inch.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Nor did Jack have his hands up in an attitude +of guard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Are you going to put that bar down, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page162">[pg 162]</span><a name="Pg162" id="Pg162" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Truax?”</span> the young skipper demanded, in a +voice that betrayed not a tremor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then you'll have to make good in a moment, +for we're going to attack you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bah! I can stave in two or three heads before +any number of you could stop me,”</span> sneered +the fellow, in an ugly voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You could, but you won't dare.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I won't?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not you!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At that instant rapid steps were heard. Hal +Hastings returned with three of the midshipmen, +behind them Williamson trying to crowd +his way into the scene.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just tell us what you want, Mr. Benson,”</span> +proposed Cadet Merriam, amiably.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This fellow has been 'doping' our engines,”</span> +announced Captain Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“And now he's +threatening to stand us off. We'll close in on +him from both sides. If he tries to use that +steel bar on any of us—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If he does, he'll curse his unlucky star,”</span> +declared Midshipman Merriam. <span class="tei tei-q">“Come on, +gentlemen. We'll show him some of the Navy +football tactics!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The three midshipmen approached Truax +steadily from the right. Jack, Hal and Williamson +stepped in on the left.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page163">[pg 163]</span><a name="Pg163" id="Pg163" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +With a yell like that of a maniac Sam Truax +swung the bar.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Having to watch both sides at once, however, +he made a fizzle of it. The bar came down, but +struck the floor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, with a yell, the midshipmen leaped in on +one side, Jack leading the submarine forces on +the other. Mr. Merriam's trip and Jack's +smashing blow with the fist brought Truax down +to the floor in a heap.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, cart this human rubbish out of here!”</span> +ordered Jack Benson, sternly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Don't hit him—he +isn't man enough to be worthy of a blow!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Swooping down upon the prostrate one, Hal +and the midshipmen seized Sam Truax by his +arms and legs, carrying him bodily out of the +engine room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Williamson,”</span> commanded Captain Jack, +<span class="tei tei-q">“stop the speed.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In the race, sir. We—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Stop the speed,”</span> repeated Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're the captain,”</span> admitted Williamson. +Grasping the twin levers of the two motors he +swung them backward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Disregard any signal to go ahead until +we've had a chance to inspect the motors,”</span> +added Captain Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then the submarine skipper darted out into +the cabin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page164">[pg 164]</span><a name="Pg164" id="Pg164" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Sam Truax lay sprawling on the floor. Midshipman +Merriam, a most cheerful smile on his +face, sat across the fellow, while Hal and the +other two midshipmen stood by, looking on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hold him please, until I can have the wretch +taken care of,”</span> requested Captain Jack, making +for the spiral stairway to the conning tower.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Just as the young skipper stepped out on deck +he heard the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson's”</span> bow-gun break out +sharply in the halting signal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Taking a megaphone, Benson stood at the rail +until the gunboat ranged up alongside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Have you broken down?”</span> came the hail +from the gunboat's bridge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I thought it best to stop speed, sir. We'll +have to look over our engines before it will be +safe to attempt any more speed work,”</span> Captain +Jack answered. <span class="tei tei-q">“I've caught a fellow tampering +with our machinery. We hold him a +prisoner, now. Can you take him off our +hands, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“One of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">your own</span></span> men?”</span> came back the +question.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We'll send a marine guard to take him, on +your complaint, Mr. Benson.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The gunboat's engines slowed down. Ere +long her port side gangway was lowered. Jack +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page165">[pg 165]</span><a name="Pg165" id="Pg165" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +saw not only two marines and a corporal come +down over the side, but Lieutenant Commander +Mayhew appeared in person. That officer came +over in the cutter.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You've had treachery aboard, have you?”</span> +asked the lieutenant commander, as he climbed +up over the side.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Rather. A new machinist, taken aboard +just before we sailed from Dunhaven. The +same fellow who must have played the trick on +the 'Pollard's' engines yesterday,”</span> Benson +replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll be glad to have a fellow like that in irons +in the brig aboard the 'Hudson,' then,”</span> muttered +Mr. Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“I couldn't understand, +Mr. Benson, how you were doing so badly in the +full speed ahead dash.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The prisoner below is the answer, sir,”</span> Captain +Jack replied. He then led the corporal and +two marines below. The corporal produced a +pair of handcuffs, which he promptly snapped +over Truax's wrists.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You'll be sorry for this, one of these days,”</span> +threatened Truax, with a snarl that showed his +teeth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Some day, then, if you please, when I have +more leisure than I have now,”</span> Jack retorted, +dryly. <span class="tei tei-q">“This man is all yours, corporal.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Truax was foolish enough to try to hang back +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page166">[pg 166]</span><a name="Pg166" id="Pg166" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +on his conductors. A slight jab through the +clothing from one of the marines' bayonets +caused the prisoner to stop that trick. He was +taken on deck and over the side.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Coxswain, return for me after you've taken +the prisoner to the 'Hudson,'”</span> directed Mr. +Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, Mr. Benson, I would like to +see what has been done to your engines.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's just what I want to know, too,”</span> +responded Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">They found Hal and Williamson hard at +work, inspecting the motors.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The ignition power was lowered, and that +may have been the most that the fellow did,”</span> +said Hal. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yet, at the same time, before putting +these engines to any severe test, I believe +they ought to be cooled and looked over.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Lieutenant Commander Mayhew frowned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“These delays eat up our practice cruise time +a whole lot,”</span> he grumbled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll put the engines through their paces, and +chance mischief having been done to them, if +you wish, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; that won't do either, Mr. Hastings,”</span> +replied the naval officer. <span class="tei tei-q">“This craft is private +property, and I have no right to give orders that +may damage private property. I'll hold the +fleet until you've had time to inspect your +engines properly. By that time, however, we'll +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page167">[pg 167]</span><a name="Pg167" id="Pg167" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +have to put back to the coast for the night, for +our practice time will be gone.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In the days to follow, sir,”</span> put in Benson, +earnestly, <span class="tei tei-q">“I think we can more than make up +for this delay. We won't have the traitor +aboard after this.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What earthly object can the fellow have had +for wanting to damage your motors?”</span> demanded +the naval officer, looking hopelessly +puzzled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I can't even make a sane guess, sir,”</span> Jack +Benson admitted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">An hour and a half later the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> and +the two submarines headed back for a safe little +bay on the coast. Here the three craft anchored +for the night.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc38" id="toc38"></a> +<a name="pdf39" id="pdf39"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was nearly eight in the evening when the +three craft were snug at anchor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The bay was a small one, hardly worthy +of the name. The only inhabited part of the +shore thereabouts consisted of the fishing village +known as Blair's Cove, a settlement containing +some forty houses.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hardly had all been made snug aboard the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page168">[pg 168]</span><a name="Pg168" id="Pg168" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> when Jack, standing on the platform +deck after the cadets had been transferred +to the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson”</span> for the night, saw a small boat +heading out from shore.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is that one of the new submarine crafts?”</span> +hailed a voice from the bow of the boat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir,”</span> Jack answered, courteously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">No more was said until the boat had come up +alongside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I thought maybe you'd be willing to let me +have a look over a craft of this sort,”</span> said the +man in the bow. He appeared to be about forty +years of age, dark-haired and with a full, black +beard. The man was plainly though not +roughly dressed; evidently he was a man of some +education.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, I'm mighty sorry, sir,”</span> Captain Jack +Benson replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“But I'm afraid it will be impossible +to allow any strangers on board during +this cruise.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I won't steal anything from your craft,”</span> +answered the stranger, laughingly. <span class="tei tei-q">“I won't +be inquisitive, either, or go poking into forbidden +corners. Who's your captain?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I am, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then you'll let me come aboard, just for a +look, won't you?”</span> pleaded the stranger.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Such curiosity was natural. The man seemed +like a decent fellow. But Jack shook his head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page169">[pg 169]</span><a name="Pg169" id="Pg169" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I'm sorry, sir, but I'm positive our owners +wouldn't approve of our allowing any strangers +to come on board.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Had any trouble, so far, with strangers?”</span> +asked the man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn't say that,”</span> Jack replied, evasively. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But the construction of a submarine torpedo +boat is a secret. It is a general rule with our +owners that strangers shan't be allowed on +board, unless they're very especially vouched +for. Now, I hate to appear disobliging; yet, if +you've ever been employed by anyone else, you +will appreciate the need of obeying an owner's +orders.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're under the orders of the boss of that +gunboat?”</span> asked the stranger, pointing to the +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“On this cruise, yes, sir,”</span> Jack nodded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe, if I saw the fellow in command of +the gunboat, then he'd give me an order allowing +me to come on board.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm very certain the lieutenant commander +wouldn't do anything of the sort,”</span> Benson +responded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The stranger gave a comical sigh.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then I'm afraid I don't see a submarine boat +to-night—that is, any more than I can see of it +now.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's about the way it looks to me, also,”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page170">[pg 170]</span><a name="Pg170" id="Pg170" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jack answered, smiling. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yet, believe me, I +hate awfully to seem discourteous about it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, all right,”</span> muttered the stranger, nodding +to the two boatmen, who had rowed him out +alongside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good!”</span> grunted Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'm glad you +didn't let him on board, Captain. On this cruise +our luck doesn't seem to run with strangers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It doesn't, for a fact,”</span> laughed Jack Benson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hi, ho—ah, hum!”</span> yawned young Somers, +stretching. <span class="tei tei-q">“It will be mine for early bunk +to-night, I reckon.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At this moment a boat was observed rounding +the stern of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson.”</span> It came up alongside, +landing a marine sentry.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Anybody on the 'Farnum' want to go ashore +to-night?”</span> hailed a voice from the gunboat's +rail. <span class="tei tei-q">“The shore boat will be ready in five +minutes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I believe I would like to take just a run +through the village,”</span> declared Jack, turning to +his chum. <span class="tei tei-q">“Do you feel like a land-cruise with +me, Hal?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think I'd better go,”</span> laughed Hastings. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You seem to get into trouble when you go +alone.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right, then. And, Eph since you're so +sleepy, you can turn in as soon as you want. +The boat will be under sufficient protection,”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page171">[pg 171]</span><a name="Pg171" id="Pg171" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jack added, nodding toward the marine slowly +pacing the platform deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Williamson was called too, but declared that +he felt like turning in early. So, when the shore +boat came, it had but two passengers to take +from the submarine. There were a few shore-leave +men, however, from the gunboat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This boat will return to the fleet, gentlemen, +every hour up to midnight,”</span> stated the petty +officer in charge, as Jack and Hal stepped ashore +at a rickety little wharf.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Judging from what we can see of the town +from here, we'll be ready to go back long before +midnight,”</span> Jack Benson laughingly told his +companion.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All I want is to shake some of the sea-roll +out of my gait,”</span> nodded Hastings. <span class="tei tei-q">“It surely +doesn't seem to be much of a town.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By way of public buildings there turned out +to be a church, locked and dark, a general store +and also a drug-store that contained the local +post-office. But the drug-store carried no ice +cream or soda, so the submarine boys turned +away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was one other <span class="tei tei-q">“public”</span> place that the +boys failed to discover at once. That was a low +groggery at the further end of the town. Here +two of the sailors who had come on shore leave +turned in for a drink or two. They found a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page172">[pg 172]</span><a name="Pg172" id="Pg172" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +suave, black-bearded man quite ready to buy +liquor for Uncle Sam's tars.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Three-quarters of an hour later Jack and Hal +felt they had seen about as much of the town as +they cared for, when a hailing voice stopped +them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Finding it pretty dull, gentlemen?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, good evening,”</span> replied Captain Jack, +recognizing the bearded man whom he had +refused admittance to the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Pretty stupid town, isn't it, Captain?”</span> +asked the stranger, holding out his hand, which +Jack Benson took.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“As lively as we thought it would be,”</span> Hal +rejoined. <span class="tei tei-q">“We just came ashore to stretch ourselves +a bit. Thought we might lay a course to +an ice-cream soda, too, but failed.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“These fishermen don't have such things,”</span> +smiled the stranger. <span class="tei tei-q">“They are content with +the bare necessities of life, with a little grog and +tobacco added. Speaking of grog, would you +care to try the best this town has, gentlemen?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you,”</span> Jack answered, politely. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We've never either of us tasted the stuff, and +we don't care to begin.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Drop into the drug-store and have a cigar, +then?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We don't smoke, either, thank you,”</span> came +from Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page173">[pg 173]</span><a name="Pg173" id="Pg173" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You young men are rather hard to entertain +in a place like this,”</span> sighed the stranger, but his +eyes twinkled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We are just as grateful for the intention,”</span> +Jack assured him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Tell you what I can do, gentlemen,”</span> proposed +the stranger, suddenly. <span class="tei tei-q">“I might invite +you down to my shack for a little while, and +show you my books and some models of yachts +and ships that I've been collecting. I'm quite +proud of my collection in that line. Won't you +come?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Anything in the line of yacht or ship-models +interested both of these sea-loving boys from the +shipyard at Dunhaven. Jack graciously accepted +the invitation for them both.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And, though I have no soda fountain,”</span> continued +the bearded one, <span class="tei tei-q">“I can offer you some +soft drinks. I always keep some about the +place.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How do you come to be living in a place like +this, if I'm not too inquisitive?”</span> queried Benson, +as the three strolled down the street.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Doctor's orders,”</span> replied the bearded one. +<span class="tei tei-q">“So I've rented the best old shack I could get +here, down by the water. I spend a good deal +of my time sailing a sloop that I have. Curtis +is my name.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack and Hal introduced themselves in turn.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page174">[pg 174]</span><a name="Pg174" id="Pg174" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Curtis's shack proved to be well away from +the village proper, and down near the waterfront. +A light shone from a window near the +front door as the three approached the small +dwelling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think I can interest you for an hour, gentlemen,”</span> +declared the bearded one, as he +slipped a key in the lock of the door.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He admitted them to a little room off the hallway, +a room that contained not much beyond a +table and four chairs, a side-table and some of +the accessories of the smoker.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just take a seat here,”</span> proposed Curtis, +<span class="tei tei-q">“while I get some sarsaparilla for you. I'll be +right back in a moment.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was four or five minutes before Curtis came +back, bearing a tray on which were three tall +glasses, each containing a brownish liquid.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The stuff isn't iced, yet it's fairly cold,”</span> the +bearded one explained. <span class="tei tei-q">“Well, gentlemen, +here's to a pleasant evening!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal, who was thirsty, took a long swallow of +the sarsaparilla, finding the flavor excellent. +Jack drank more slowly, though he enjoyed the +beverage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If you don't mind,”</span> suggested Curtis, <span class="tei tei-q">“I +will light a cigar. And say, by the way, gentlemen, +what if we take a little walk down to my +beach? Before showing you the models I spoke +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page175">[pg 175]</span><a name="Pg175" id="Pg175" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of, I'd like to have your opinion of the lines of +my sloop.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We'll go down and take a look with great +pleasure,”</span> Jack Benson agreed, rising. <span class="tei tei-q">“And +I'm glad, sir, that you're able to show us +more courtesy than we were able to offer you +to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, that was all right,”</span> declared their host, +smiling good-humoredly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Rules are rules, and +you have your owners to please. No hard feelings +on that score, I assure you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Curtis led the way through a dark yard down +to a pier. Moored there lay a handsome white +sloop, some forty-two feet in length—a boat of +a good and seaworthy knockabout type.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This is a sloop, all right,”</span> Jack agreed, cordially. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Rather different from the lumbering +fishing craft hereabouts.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, hah, yum!”</span> yawned Hal, at which Curtis +shot a quick glance at him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Come on board,”</span> invited Curtis, stepping +down to the deck of the craft. <span class="tei tei-q">“Let me show +you what a comfortable cruising cabin I have.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hi, oh, yow!”</span> yawned Hal, again. <span class="tei tei-q">“Jack, +I think I shall enjoy my rest to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Same case here,”</span> agreed Benson, stifling a +yawn that came as though in answer to Hal's.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I won't keep you long, gentlemen, if I am +boring you,”</span> agreed their host, amiably. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page176">[pg 176]</span><a name="Pg176" id="Pg176" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Now, I'll go below first and light up. So! +Now, come down and take a look. Do you find +many yacht cabins more comfortable than this +one?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was, indeed, a cozy place. Up forward +stood a miniature sideboard, complete in every +respect with glass and silver. In the center of +the cabin was a folding table. There were +locker seats and inviting looking cushions. The +trim was largely of mahogany. On either side +was a broad, comfortable-looking berth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just get into that berth and try it, Mr. Hastings,”</span> +urged the bearded one.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I—I'm afraid to,”</span> confessed Hal, stifling +another yawn.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Afraid?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Very sure thing!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm—hah-ho-hum!”</span> yawned Hal Hastings. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I'm afraid I'd—yow!—abuse your hospitality +by going to sleep.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson leaned against the edge of the +opposite berth, feeling unaccountably drowsy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, nonsense,”</span> laughed Curtis. <span class="tei tei-q">“Just pile +into that berth for a moment, Hastings, and see +what a soft, restful place it is. I'll agree to pull +you out, if necessary.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Not realizing much, in his approaching +stupor, Hal Hastings allowed himself to be +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page177">[pg 177]</span><a name="Pg177" id="Pg177" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +coaxed to stretch himself at full length in the +downy berth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Almost immediately he closed his eyes, drifting +off into stupor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, your friend <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> drowsy, isn't he?”</span> +laughed the bearded one, turning to the submarine +skipper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack Benson's own eyelids were suspiciously +close together.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why—what—ails you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Curtis spoke in a low, droning, far-away voice +that caused Jack Benson's upper eyelids to sink. +Curtis stood watching him, in malicious glee, for +some moments. Then, at last, he took hold of +the young skipper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Come, old fellow,”</span> coaxed the bearded one, +<span class="tei tei-q">“you'll do best to join your friend in a good +nap. Get up in the berth.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Lemme alone,”</span> protested the boy, thickly, +feeling that he was being lifted. Jack struggled, +partly rousing himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Come, get up into the berth. You'll be more +comfortable there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Lemme alone. What are you trying to do?”</span> +demanded Jack, swinging an arm.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Curtis dodged the light blow, then gripped +Jack Benson resolutely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, see here, young man,”</span> hissed the +bearded one, <span class="tei tei-q">“I'm not going to have any more +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page178">[pg 178]</span><a name="Pg178" id="Pg178" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +nonsense out of you. Up into the berth you go! +Do you want me to hit you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Another man thrust his head down the cabin +hatchway, showing an evil, grinning face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Got 'em right?”</span> demanded the one from the +hatchway.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> snapped the bearded one, then turned +to give his attention to Jack Benson, who was +putting up an ineffectual fight while Hal slumbered +on. <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, see here, Benson, quit all +your fooling!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You lemme up,”</span> insisted the submarine boy, +in a low, dull voice, though he swung both his +arms in an effort to assert himself. <span class="tei tei-q">“'M not +goin' t' stay here. Lemme up, I say! 'M goin' +back to—own boat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The submarine?”</span> jeered the bearded man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yep.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Guess again, son,”</span> laughed Curtis, jeeringly. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You're not going back aboard the submarine +to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Am so,”</span> declared Benson, obstinately, +though his tone was growing more drowsy every +instant, and his busy hands moved almost as +weakly as an infant's.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Listen, if you've got enough of your senses +left,”</span> growled the bearded men. <span class="tei tei-q">“You're not +going back to the 'Farnum'—neither to-night, +nor at any other time during the next few +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page179">[pg 179]</span><a name="Pg179" id="Pg179" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +months. You're bound on a long cruise, but not +on a submarine boat. I am the captain here, +and I'll name the cruise!”</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<a name="toc40" id="toc40"></a> +<a name="pdf41" id="pdf41"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was barely a minute afterward that Jack +Benson lapsed into a very distinct snore.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No more trouble from this pair,”</span> +laughed the bearded one to his companion at the +hatchway. <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, I'll douse the cabin light, +and then we'll cast off. This thing has moved +along very slickly.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph, after having made up his mind to turn +in early, had found his sleepy fit passing. He +read for a while in the cabin, then pulled on a +reefer and went up on deck. Williamson was +already in a berth, sound asleep.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It would be a fine night if there was a +moon,”</span> Eph remarked to the marine sentry on +deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The marine—<span class="tei tei-q">“soldier, and sailor, too”</span>—not +being there for conversational purposes, continued +his slow pacing, his rifle resting over his +right shoulder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As Eph strolled about in the limited space of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page180">[pg 180]</span><a name="Pg180" id="Pg180" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the platform deck he heard a distant creaking. +It was a sound that he well knew—the hoisting +of sail.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wonder if the local fishermen start out at +this time of the night?”</span> Eph Somers remarked, +musingly, to the sentry.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It may be so, sir; I don't know,”</span> replied the +marine.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Presently Eph made out the lines and the +spread of canvas of a handsome knockabout +sloop standing on out of the harbor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The course being narrow, the sloop was +obliged to sail rather close to the fleet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's no fisherman!”</span> muttered Somers, +watching, his hands thrust deep in his pockets.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Presently the sloop's hull was lost to Eph's +sight beyond the gunboat. Then the boy heard +a voice from the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson's”</span> deck roar out:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look alive, you lubber! Do you want to +foul our anchor chain?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, sir,”</span> came from the sloop's deck. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We'll clear you all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“See that you do, then!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then the sloop's hull came into view again, +as the craft headed out toward the open water +beyond.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's the kind of a craft Jack would give +a heap to be on,”</span> thought Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“Queer that +he should spend all his time on gasoline peanut-roasters +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page181">[pg 181]</span><a name="Pg181" id="Pg181" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +when he's so fond of whistling for a +breeze behind canvas.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As the sloop neared the mouth of the little +bay, and her lines became rather indistinct in +the darkness, Eph Somers turned to resume his +pacing of the deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hullo,”</span> muttered the submarine boy, two +or three minutes later. <span class="tei tei-q">“Here's the shore boat +coming on its regular trip. I wonder if Jack +and Hal are in it? It's about time for them to +be coming on board.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But the shore boat, instead of coming out to +the submarine, lay in at the side gangway of +the gunboat opposite, and Eph discovered that +his two comrades were not in the boat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I say,”</span> hailed Eph, <span class="tei tei-q">“have you seen Mr. Benson +and Mr. Hastings on shore!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, sir,”</span> replied the petty officer in charge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then one of the sailors in the boat spoke in +an undertone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This man says, sir,”</span> continued the petty +officer, <span class="tei tei-q">“that he saw your friends, sir, going +aboard a white knockabout sloop.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He did, eh?”</span> demanded the astonished Eph. +<span class="tei tei-q">“How long ago was that?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Only a few minutes ago, sir,”</span> replied the +sailor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You're sure you saw Mr. Benson and Mr. +Hastings?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page182">[pg 182]</span><a name="Pg182" id="Pg182" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's queer,”</span> reflected Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“It wouldn't +be like them to go sailing at this time of the +night, and without notifying me, either. But, +then, I didn't see anything of 'em aboard that +sloop, either.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph was silent for a few moments, thinking. +Then, suddenly, he leaped up in the air, coming +down flat-footed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Crackey!”</span> ejaculated Eph Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For a moment or two his face was a study in +bewilderment.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mighty strange things have been happening +all through this cruise,”</span> Eph muttered, half-aloud. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Especially happening to Jack! Now, +the two of them go aboard that sloop, and immediately +after the boat puts out to sea in the +dead of night. What if Jack and Hal have +been shanghaied on that infernal sloop?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Cold chills began to chase each other up and +down the spine of Eph Somers. He was not, +ordinarily, an imaginative youth, but just now +the gruesome thought that had entered his mind +persisted there.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He began to pace the platform deck in deep +agitation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Anything wrong, sir?”</span> questioned the marine +sentry, halting and throwing his rifle over +to port arms.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page183">[pg 183]</span><a name="Pg183" id="Pg183" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That's just what I'd give a million dollars +and ten cents to know!”</span> exploded Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Gunboat, ahoy!”</span> he shouted, some twenty +seconds later.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“'Farnum,' ahoy!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I half believe, sir,”</span> Eph rattled on, <span class="tei tei-q">“that +my two comrades, Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings +have been tricked, in some way, and carried +out to sea on that knockabout. They'd have +been back from shore by this time, if nothing +had happened.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do you want to do, Mr. Somers?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Want to do, sir?”</span> retorted Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“I know +what I'm going to do. I'm going to slip moorings +and chase after that knockabout. What +I wish to know from you, sir, is whether you'll +send another marine or two on board, so that I +can back up my demand to find my friends?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll have to ask the lieutenant commander +about that, Mr. Somers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can you do it, now, sir?”</span> asked Eph, energetically.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Instantly. I'll let you know the decision as +soon as it's made.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph, hanging at the rail in the silence that +followed, had no notion of whether his request +had been a correct one. All he knew was that +his suspicions had surged to the surface, and +were threatening to boil over. It was a huge +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page184">[pg 184]</span><a name="Pg184" id="Pg184" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +relief to the boy when Mr. Mayhew's voice +sounded from the rail of the gunboat. Somers +swiftly answered all questions.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Your craft and crew are in a measure under +our protection and orders,”</span> decided Mr. Mayhew. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I think we may properly extend you +some help. I will send some men to you, and a +cadet midshipman who will have my instructions.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will you send them quickly, sir?”</span> begged +Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll have men on board of you by the time +that your engines are running,”</span> promised the +lieutenant commander.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Engines?”</span> That word came as a fortunate +reminder to the submarine boy. He darted below, +almost yanking Williamson from his berth, +nearly pulling the machinist into his clothes. +By the time that Williamson was really wide +awake he found himself standing by the motors +forward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then young Somers darted onto deck again, +just in time to see the boat coming alongside. +It brought two more marines, one of them a corporal. +There were also two sailors. A cadet +midshipman commanded them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Somers,”</span> reported the cadet midshipman, +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am not intended to displace you from +the command of this boat. I am here only with +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page185">[pg 185]</span><a name="Pg185" id="Pg185" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +definite instructions in case you succeed in overhauling +that white sloop.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What—”</span> began Eph. Then he paused, +with a half-grin. <span class="tei tei-q">“Really,”</span> he added, <span class="tei tei-q">“I ought +to know better than to quiz you about your instructions +from your superior officer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir,”</span> assented the midshipman, simply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph turned on the current to the search-light, +swinging the ray about the bay. Then, too impatient +to sit in the conning tower, the submarine +boy took his place by the deck wheel.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will your seamen cast loose from the moorings?”</span> +Somers asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir,”</span> replied the midshipman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If there's anything wrong, good luck to +you,”</span> sounded the cool voice of Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew, from the gunboat's rail.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">No sooner had the moorings been cast loose +from than Eph sounded the slow speed ahead +bell. Within sixty seconds the propellers of +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> were doing a ten-knot stunt, +which was soon increased to fourteen.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One of the seamen now stood by to swing the +searchlight under Eph's orders.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By the time that the submarine reached the +mouth of the bay the light faintly picked up +a spread of white sail, off to the East.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That's the knockabout,”</span> cried Eph, excitedly. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page186">[pg 186]</span><a name="Pg186" id="Pg186" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Now, see here, keep that ray right +across the boat as soon as we get half a mile +nearer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It'll show the boat that you're chasing 'em, +sir,”</span> advised the midshipman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know it,”</span> admitted Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“But it will also +keep the rascals from dumping my friends overboard +without our catching 'em at it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do you think the men in charge of +that boat are, sir—pirates?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They're mighty close to it, if they've shanghaied +Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings and put to +sea with 'em,”</span> rejoined Eph. Then he rang for +more speed. Down below, Williamson almost +instantly responded. The <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> now +fairly leaped through the water.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Turn the light on the knockabout, now, and +keep it there,”</span> directed the submarine boy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was a seven-knot breeze blowing. At +the speed at which the submarine boat was traveling +the distance was soon covered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And now the searchlight revealed two men +in the standing-room of the sloop, one of whom, +a bearded man, was looking backward over his +wake much of the time.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can one of the marines fire a shot to stop +those fellows?”</span> asked Eph Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In the air, do you mean, sir?”</span> asked the +midshipman. <span class="tei tei-q">“Certainly.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page187">[pg 187]</span><a name="Pg187" id="Pg187" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Then I wish he'd do it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Bang! The discharge of the rifle sounded +sharply on the night air.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It ain't stopping 'em any,”</span> muttered Eph, +after a few seconds had gone by.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nothing would, unless fired into them,”</span> volunteered +Midshipman Terrell.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It did not take long, however, to run the submarine +up alongside of the sloop, at a distance +of about one hundred yards.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, we want you men to stop,”</span> called Midshipman +Terrell, between his hands. <span class="tei tei-q">“We are +United States naval forces, from the gunboat, +and you will regard this as an order that you +must obey. No!”</span> thundered the midshipman, +suddenly, as the bearded one started to step +down into the cabin. <span class="tei tei-q">“You will both keep on +deck. Otherwise we shall be obliged to fire into +you. We mean business, remember!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do you want to board us for?”</span> demanded +Curtis, pausing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We will explain when we come aboard.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How are you coming, aboard? You've no +small boat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We can land this submarine right up beside +you,”</span> responded the midshipman, <span class="tei tei-q">“if you keep +straight to your present course.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And scrape all the paint off our side,”</span> objected +Curtis.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page188">[pg 188]</span><a name="Pg188" id="Pg188" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That has no bearing on my instructions, sir. +I direct you to keep straight to your present +course. We will come up alongside.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What if we don't do it?”</span> demanded Curtis, +with sudden bluster.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then your danger will be divided between +being shot where you stand and having your +craft cut in two by the bow of our craft,”</span> retorted +Mr. Terrell. <span class="tei tei-q">“You will realize, I think, +that there can be no parleying with our orders.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The bearded one swore, but the corporal and +his two marines stood at the rail with their +rifles ready, waiting only the midshipman's +order to aim and fire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph allowed the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> to fall back a +little way. Then he exerted himself to show his +best in seamanship as he ran the submarine up +to board the sloop by the starboard quarter. +The two boats barely touched. Mr. Terrell, his +three marines and two seamen leaped to the +standing room of the yacht. Eph, all aquiver, +let the nose of the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> fall back slightly. +Then he trailed along, under bare headway.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then a shout came from the sloop, as the two +seamen reappeared, bearing the forms of Jack +and Hal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We've found them aboard, Mr. Somers,”</span> +shouted Terrell. <span class="tei tei-q">“Drugged, I think, sir. Will +you come alongside, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page189">[pg 189]</span><a name="Pg189" id="Pg189" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Eph quickly rang the signal, then did some +careful manœuvring. As he touched, one of the +marines leaped back to the platform deck, then +passed a line to Mr. Terrell. The two craft +were held together until Jack and Hal had been +passed, still unconscious, over the side. The +naval party quickly followed, then cast loose +from the sloop.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This whole proceeding is high-handed,”</span> +growled Curtis, as soon as he saw that he was +not to be molested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, you shut up, and keep your tongue padlocked,”</span> +retorted Midshipman Terrell, in high +disgust. <span class="tei tei-q">“You're lucky as it is. Now, Mr. +Somers, are you going back to the bay, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aren't you going to take those two—body-snatchers?”</span> +demanded Eph, glaring venomously +at the pair on the sloop.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My instructions don't cover that, sir,”</span> replied +the cadet midshipman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then hang your orders!”</span> muttered young +Somers, but he kept the words behind his teeth. +Eph veered off, next headed about, while the +two seamen bore Jack and Hal below to their +berths.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will you take the wheel, Mr. Terrell?”</span> +asked Eph, edging away, with one hand on the +spokes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page190">[pg 190]</span><a name="Pg190" id="Pg190" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Eph hurried below to the port stateroom. +Jack lay in the lower berth, Hal in the upper. +The two seamen, after feeling for pulse, stood +by looking at the unconscious submarine +boys.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What's been done to them?”</span> demanded +Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The same old knockout drops, sir, that sailors +in all parts of the world know so well, sir, I +think,”</span> answered one of the men, with a quiet +grin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Humph!”</span> gritted Eph, bending over Jack's +face. <span class="tei tei-q">“Smell his breath.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir,”</span> said the sailor, obeying.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There's no smell of liquor, there, is there?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, sir,”</span> admitted the sailor, looking up, +rather puzzled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There is some infernally mean trick in all +this,”</span> growled Eph. <span class="tei tei-q">“I am mighty sorry we +didn't bring those rascals back with us.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When he went on deck again the submarine +boy relieved Mr. Terrell at the wheel, completing +the run in to moorings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Did you find your comrades aboard the +sloop, Mr. Somers?”</span> hailed the lieutenant commander, +from the gunboat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Are they all right?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Drugged, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page191">[pg 191]</span><a name="Pg191" id="Pg191" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hm! Mr. Terrell and his detachment will +return to this vessel.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The boat took them away. It was five minutes +later when the boat returned, bringing the +lieutenant commander, Doctor McCrea, the surgeon, +and a sailor belonging to the hospital +detachment aboard the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson.”</span> Eph conducted +them below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Drugged,”</span> announced the medical officer, +after a brief examination.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Humph!”</span> uttered Mr. Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“That +sort of trick isn't played on folks in any decent +resort on shore. I don't understand Mr. Benson's +conduct. I remember his mishap at Dunhaven. +I remember the plight he got into at +Annapolis; and now he and Mr. Hastings are +found in this questionable shape. I am very +much afraid these young men do not conduct +themselves, on shore, in the careful manner that +must be expected of civilian instructors to +cadets.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph Somers felt something boiling up inside +of him.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page192">[pg 192]</span><a name="Pg192" id="Pg192" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc42" id="toc42"></a> +<a name="pdf43" id="pdf43"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER'S VERDICT</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Let me try to get at your meaning, sir, if +you please,”</span> begged Somers, after +standing for a few seconds with +clenched fists. <span class="tei tei-q">“Do you mean that my friends +have been going into tough resorts on shore?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where else do sailors usually get drugged?”</span> +inquired Mr. Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“What kind of people +usually feed sea-faring men with what are generally +known as knock-out drops?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How should I know?”</span> demanded Eph, +solemnly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You see your friends, and you see their +condition.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Smell their breaths, sir. There isn't a trace +of the odor of liquor.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The surgeon did so, confirming Eph's claim.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But I remember that Mr. Benson came +aboard, at Dunhaven, with a very strong odor of +liquor,”</span> continued the lieutenant commander.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That had been sprinkled on his clothes, sir,”</span> +argued Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps. But then there was the Annapolis +affair.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson explained that to you, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page193">[pg 193]</span><a name="Pg193" id="Pg193" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It's very strange,”</span> returned the lieutenant +commander, <span class="tei tei-q">“that such things seem to happen +generally to Mr. Benson when he gets on shore. +I know I have been ashore, in all parts of the +world, without having such things happen to +me.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There is something behind this, sir, that +doesn't spell bad conduct on the part of either +of my friends,”</span> cried Eph, hotly. <span class="tei tei-q">“There's +some plot, some trick in the whole thing that we +don't understand. And we might understand +much more about it, sir, if your midshipman had +arrested that pair of blackguards on the sloop, +and brought them back with us.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Had Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings been +members of the naval forces we could have done +that,”</span> replied Mr. Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“Probably you +don't understand, Mr. Somers, how very careful +the Navy has to be about making arrests in times +of peace, when the civil authorities are all-supreme. +We carried our right as far as it +could possibly be stretched when we boarded +and searched that sloop for you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't care so much about that,”</span> contended +Eph, warmly. <span class="tei tei-q">“But it does jar on me, sir, to +have you take such a view of my friends. You +don't know them; you don't understand them as +Mr. Farnum and Mr. Pollard do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps you wouldn't blame me as much for +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page194">[pg 194]</span><a name="Pg194" id="Pg194" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +my opinions,”</span> replied Mr. Mayhew, <span class="tei tei-q">“if you +could look at the matter from my viewpoint, Mr. +Somers. I am in charge of this cruise, which +is one of instruction to naval cadets, and I am +in a very large measure responsible for the conduct +and good behavior of young men who +have been selected as instructors to the +cadets. If you were in my place, Mr. Somers, +would you be patient over young men who, when +they get ashore, get into one unseemly scrape +after another? Or would you wonder, as I do, +whether it will not be best for me to end this +practice cruise and sail back to Annapolis, there +to make my report in the matter?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“For heaven's sake don't do that,”</span> begged +Eph Somers, hoarsely. <span class="tei tei-q">“At least, not until you +have talked with Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings. +You'll wait until morning, sir?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm afraid I shall have to, if I want to talk +with your friends,”</span> replied the lieutenant commander, +smiling coldly. <span class="tei tei-q">“And now, Mr. Somers, +you and I had better leave here. The doctor +and his nurse will want the room cleared in order +to look after their patients. I hope your friends +will be all right in the morning,”</span> added the +naval officer, as the pair gained the deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, see here, sir,”</span> began Eph, earnestly, +all over again. <span class="tei tei-q">“I hope you'll soon begin to +understand that, whatever has happened, there +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page195">[pg 195]</span><a name="Pg195" id="Pg195" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +are no two straighter boys alive than Jack Benson +and Hal Hastings.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I trust you're right,”</span> replied Mr. Mayhew, +less coldly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yet, what can you expect me to +think, now that Benson has been in such scrapes +three different times? And, in this last instance, +he drags even the quiet Mr. Hastings into +the affair with him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I see that I'll have to wait, sir,”</span> sighed Eph, +resignedly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; it will be better in every way to wait,”</span> +agreed the lieutenant commander. <span class="tei tei-q">“It is plain +justice, at the least, to wait and give the young +men a chance to offer any defense that they +can.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, of course, from his way of looking at +it, I can't blame him so very much,”</span> admitted +Eph Somers, as he leaned over the rail, watching +Mr. Mayhew going back through the darkness. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But Jack—great old Jack!—having any +liking at all for mixing up in saloons and such +places on shore! Ha, ha! Ho, ho!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Williamson, now able to leave his motors, +came on deck, asking an account of what had +happened. The machinist listened in amazement, +though, like Eph, he needed no proof that +the boys, whatever trouble they had encountered, +had met honestly and innocently.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course that naval officer is right, too, from +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page196">[pg 196]</span><a name="Pg196" id="Pg196" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +his own limited point of view,”</span> urged Williamson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, yes, I suppose so,”</span> nodded Somers, +gloomily. <span class="tei tei-q">“I've been trying to tell myself that. +But it would be fearful, wouldn't it, if the 'Farnum' +were ordered away from the fleet, and +Jack disgraced, just because of things he really +didn't do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It's a queer old world,”</span> mused the machinist, +thoughtfully. <span class="tei tei-q">“We hear a lot about the +consequences of wrong things we do. But how +often people seem to have to pay up for things +they never did!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, well,”</span> muttered Eph, philosophically, +<span class="tei tei-q">“let's wait until morning. A night's sleep +straightens out a lot of things.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Williamson, however, having had some sleep +earlier in the night, was not drowsy, now. He +lighted a pipe, lingering on the platform deck. +Eph, not being a user of tobacco, went below to +find that Doctor McCrea, from the gunboat, was +sitting in the cabin, reading a book he had +chosen from the book-case.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I've brought the young men around somewhat,”</span> +reported the physician. <span class="tei tei-q">“I've made +them throw off the drug, and now I've left some +stuff with the nurse to help brace them up. +They'll have sour stomachs and aching heads in +the morning, though.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page197">[pg 197]</span><a name="Pg197" id="Pg197" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But you noticed one thing, Doctor?”</span> +pressed Somers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What was that?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That there were no signs of liquor about +them? Those boys never tasted a drop of the +vile stuff in their lives!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm inclined to believe you,”</span> nodded the +surgeon. <span class="tei tei-q">“They have splendid, clear skins, +eyes bright as diamonds, sound, sturdy heart-beats, +and they're full of vitality. I've met +boys from the slums, once in a while—beer-drinkers +and cigarette-smokers. But such boys +never show the splendid physical condition that +your friends possess.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You know, then, as well as I do, Doctor, that +neither of my chums are rowdies, and that, +whatever happened to them to-night, they didn't +get to it through any bad habits or conduct?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm much inclined to agree with you, Mr. +Somers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I hope, then, you'll succeed in impressing all +that on Lieutenant Commander Mayhew in the +morning.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With that the submarine boy passed on to the +starboard stateroom. He would have given +much to have stepped into the room opposite, +but felt, from the doctor's manner, that the latter +did not wish his patients disturbed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Eph slept little that night. Though Jack and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page198">[pg 198]</span><a name="Pg198" id="Pg198" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Hal fared better in that single respect, Somers +looked far the best of the three in the morning.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack and Hal came out with bandages about +their heads, which buzzed and ached.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The two, however, told their story to Somers +and Williamson as soon as possible.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just as I supposed,”</span> nodded Eph, vigorously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, how did you guess it all?”</span> asked Benson, +in astonishment.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I mean, I knew you hadn't been in any low +sailor resorts.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who said we had?”</span> demanded Jack, flaring +in spite of his dizziness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Some of the Navy folks didn't know but you +had,”</span> replied Eph, then bit his tongue for having +let that much out of the bag.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Doctor McCrea came aboard early. He +looked the boys over.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eat a little toast, if you want, and drink +some weak tea,”</span> he suggested. <span class="tei tei-q">“After that, eat +nothing more until to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But the day's work—?”</span> hinted Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don't know,”</span> replied the doctor, shrugging +his shoulders. <span class="tei tei-q">“I'm not a line officer, and +therefore know nothing about the fleet's +manœuvres.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">That reply, however, was quite enough to send +Jack Benson's suspicions aloft.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page199">[pg 199]</span><a name="Pg199" id="Pg199" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Eph,”</span> he cried, wheeling upon his friend the +moment Doctor McCrea was gone, <span class="tei tei-q">“there's +something you haven't told us.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Such as—what?”</span> asked Somers, doing his +best to look mighty innocent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Doctor McCrea as good as admitted that we +won't have anything to do to-day. What's +wrong?”</span> Then, after a brief pause: <span class="tei tei-q">“Good +heavens, does Mr. Mayhew believe we've been +acting disgracefully? Are we barred out of the +instruction work?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hal had been raising a glass of cold water to +his lips. The glass fell, with a crash. He +wheeled about, then clutched at the edge of the +cabin table, most unsteadily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We-e-ll,”</span> admitted Somers, reluctantly, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Mayhew said he would want to question +you some, perhaps, this morning.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What did he say? Out with it all, Eph!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A moment before Jack Benson had been pallid +enough. Now, two bright, furious spots burned +in either cheek.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The red-haired boy, however, was spared the +pain of going any further, for, at that moment, +a heavy tread was heard on the spiral staircase. +Then Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, holding +himself very erect, one hand resting against the +scabbard of the sword that he wore at his side, +came into view below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page200">[pg 200]</span><a name="Pg200" id="Pg200" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Many were the questions that the naval officer +put to the victims of the night's mishap.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, gentlemen,”</span> Mr. Mayhew said at last, +rising, <span class="tei tei-q">“your story is strange. Yet, I believe +you are young men of honor. I'm sorry we +have not in custody the men who sailed that +sloop.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Pardon me, sir!”</span> burst out Eph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, Mr. Somers?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps, sir, if you should question Truax +you could learn something from him. I tell +you, sir, there's a scheme to ruin Jack Benson; +and that's only part of a bigger plot to discredit +our company with the Navy!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Mr. Mayhew, looking thoughtful, replied:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll find some way of questioning Truax. +And now, Mr. Benson, since you and Mr. Hastings +are not fit to instruct the cadets to-day, I'll +send out sections under Lieutenant Halpin on +board the 'Pollard' only. To-morrow you +should be in shape to resume your duties. +Meanwhile, I must make one condition.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It will not be necessary, sir, to make any +conditions with us,”</span> Jack replied. <span class="tei tei-q">“Your instructions +will be sufficient.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“While you are on this present tour of duty, +I shall ask Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings not to +leave the 'Farnum' without my consent.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As soon as Mr. Mayhew had left the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> +Eph Somers cried bitterly:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page201">[pg 201]</span><a name="Pg201" id="Pg201" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You heard the verdict in the case! A great +verdict! Not guilty—but don't do it again!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At half past eight the next morning a section +of cadets, under the command of Ensign Trahern, +came aboard the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The lieutenant commander sends word, with +his compliments,”</span> reported Trahern, <span class="tei tei-q">“that +after leaving the bay the formation will be as +usual. The signal to halt and be ready for the +tour of instruction will be given when we're +about ten miles off shore.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Six of the cadets, of the engineer division, +went below to the engine room. To one of the +ten left on deck Jack turned and said:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You will take charge, Mr. Surles. Assume +all the responsibilities of the officer of the +deck.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In all, five of the midshipmen had commanded +briefly before the laying-to signal was given. +Hal Hastings then appeared on deck.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Captain Benson,”</span> Hal stated, saluting, <span class="tei tei-q">“I +have inspected all the submerging machinery, +and I find everything in good order. We can +go below the surface at any time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you, Mr. Hastings. All below!”</span> +ordered Jack crisply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After the cadets and the ensign had filed below, +Jack, having seen that all was in order, +followed. He made all fast in the conning +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page202">[pg 202]</span><a name="Pg202" id="Pg202" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +tower, then called Midshipman Surles up the +stairway to the tower wheel.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think you can head due east and +keep to that course under water, Mr. Surles?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, sir.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Going down to the cabin floor, Jack ordered +two more midshipmen to the tower as observers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The rest crowd about me and ask questions +while I handle the submerging machinery.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Under the impetus from the electric motors, +the propeller shafts began to throb. The next +instant the submarine shot below, going down +at so steep an angle that many of the middies +were forced to reach for new footing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The gauge registers sixty feet below,”</span> announced +Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In another moment, by the quick flooding of +some of the compartments astern, the young +skipper brought the boat to an even keel.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Having finished the prescribed distance +under water, Captain Jack turned on the compressed +air to expel the water from the compartments. +The conning tower soon rose above +the water, and a moment later the <span class="tei tei-q">“Pollard”</span> +also emerged.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Other cadets were transferred from the gunboat +to the submarines, and the instruction proceeded. +The manœuvers for the day were ended +with a half-hour run under water.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page203">[pg 203]</span><a name="Pg203" id="Pg203" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“By the way, sir, did you question Truax to +see what you could learn about his reasons for +acting as he did on the 'Farnum'?”</span> asked Jack +Benson the next day. Jack and Doctor McCrea +were talking with Mr. Mayhew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I had him before me last night, and again +this morning,”</span> replied Mr. Mayhew. <span class="tei tei-q">“He said +he hadn't an idea what I meant, and that is all +I could get out of him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack looked thoughtfully at Doctor McCrea +for a moment before he exclaimed:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Doctor, if I had anything like your chance, +I'd have Sam Truax talking!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How?”</span> Doctor McCrea looked interested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, I'd—”</span> Jack hesitated, glancing toward +the gunboat's commanding officer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'd better go and see how the midshipmen +are doing,”</span> laughed Mr. Mayhew, rising.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For some minutes Jack talked with Doctor +McCrea. As the medical officer listened, he +grinned, then laughed unrestrainedly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson, you're certainly ingenious!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will you do what I've suggested?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, I—er—er—”</span> Doctor McCrea hesitated. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I—well, I'll think it over.”</span> Again +Doctor McCrea roared with laughter.</p> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page204">[pg 204]</span><a name="Pg204" id="Pg204" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc44" id="toc44"></a> +<a name="pdf45" id="pdf45"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Sam Truax sat in the brig, between decks +on the <span class="tei tei-q">“Hudson,”</span> his scowling face turned +toward the barred door, when the marine +guard, taking a turn, peered in.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good heavens, man! What ails you?”</span> demanded +the marine.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'm all right,”</span> growled the prisoner.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll be hanged if you look it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What are you talking about!”</span> demanded +the prisoner angrily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Man alive, I wish you could see your face!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Three minutes later a sailor halted at the +door, looked at Truax, then wheeled about to +the marine.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, what ails that man? What's the matter +with his face?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don't know. Looks fearful, doesn't he?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Awful! Ought to have the doctor.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam shifted uneasily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Five minutes later a sailor wearing on one +sleeve the Red Cross of the hospital squad came +along.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say,”</span> said the marine, <span class="tei tei-q">“I wish you'd look +at the feller in the brig.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page205">[pg 205]</span><a name="Pg205" id="Pg205" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +The hospital man showed his face at the grating +and looked at Truax keenly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Wow! The sawbones officer has got to look +at this chap!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax sprang to his feet, but his legs +wobbled. He felt his heart-beats racing and +his face flushing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I felt all right a little while ago, but I certainly +feel queer now,”</span> he muttered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Doctor McCrea soon hurried below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sentry, unlock the door! Let me in there!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Doctor McCrea made a brief examination.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How long have you been feeling ill?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“N-not long,”</span> faltered Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hospital man!”</span> called Doctor McCrea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aye, aye, sir!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Have the stretcher brought here at once.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aye, aye, sir!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The stretcher was brought, and the attendants +put Truax on it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I can walk, Doctor,”</span> he protested feebly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can't risk it! To the 'sick bay,' men.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What's wrong, Doctor?”</span> Truax asked, when +he was lifted from the stretcher and placed in +one of the berths.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don't talk, my man. Just lie quietly and +let us get you on your feet—if we can,”</span> he +added under his breath, but not so softly but +that Sam Truax heard him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page206">[pg 206]</span><a name="Pg206" id="Pg206" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +The attendant came with a glass of liquid.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Drink this,”</span> ordered the surgeon, <span class="tei tei-q">“and in +a few minutes you'll feel better.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I—I feel awful,”</span> Truax groaned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The dose was repeated, but the patient continued +to grow worse. His nausea was overwhelming +and he vomited over and over. In an +interval of quiet the doctor leaned over him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Have you anything on your mind, man? +Any wrong you'd like to set straight before—before—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A look of fright came into Truax's eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Doctor, I—I wonder if Jack Benson would +come to see me?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I'll see,”</span> replied the doctor, rising and leaving +the <span class="tei tei-q">“sick bay.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Ten minutes later the naval surgeon returned +with Benson. Hal Hastings, Mr. Mayhew and +Ensign Trahern followed Jack and the doctor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Here's Mr. Benson, Truax,”</span> announced +Doctor McCrea. <span class="tei tei-q">“If there's anything you wish +to confess, the rest of us can bear witness and +help straighten matters out if you've done any +wrong that you now regret.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax feebly stretched out a hand that +was hot and dry.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Benson, will you give me your hand?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Certainly.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can you ever forgive me?”</span> moaned the man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page207">[pg 207]</span><a name="Pg207" id="Pg207" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why, what have you done?”</span> asked Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That assault back in Dunhaven—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Was it you who knocked me out there?”</span> demanded +Benson sharply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes.”</span> In a shaking voice Truax confessed +the details of the affair and from that passed to +Jack's trip to the suburbs of Annapolis.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I found the mulatto in a low den. I told +him you carried a lot of money and that he +could have it all if he'd decoy you somewhere, +keep you all night, and send you back to the +Naval Academy looking like a tramp.”</span> He +then added the name of the mulatto.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But why have you done this?”</span> demanded +Jack. <span class="tei tei-q">“What have you against me?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn't do it on my own account. I did +it for Tip Gaynor, a salesman for Sidenham.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The Sidenham Submarine Company?”</span> +cried Jack, deeply interested. <span class="tei tei-q">“The Sidenham +people are our nearest competitors in the +submarine business!”</span> he exclaimed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; and they wanted to get the business +away from the Pollard Company. They told +Tip Gaynor it would be worth ten thousand +dollars to him for each Sidenham boat he could +sell to the Government. Tip hired me—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“One moment, please,”</span> interrupted Jack. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Did the Sidenham officials know that Gaynor +intended to use such methods?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page208">[pg 208]</span><a name="Pg208" id="Pg208" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I don't believe they did,”</span> replied Truax.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Humph! So Gaynor hired you to do all you +could to disgrace me in the eyes of the naval +authorities and to injure the machinery in the +engine room of the submarine!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. Tip said it was highly important that +the Pollard boats should break down while +under the eyes of all Annapolis, so that it would +seem that they could not be depended upon.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Truax here became so ill that his audience +had to wait until he could proceed. Then Jack +asked:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What sort of looking fellow is Gaynor?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He was the black-bearded man who shanghaied +you in the white knockabout. He doesn't +usually wear a beard. He grew it for the occasion.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So, acting for Tip Gaynor, you undertook to +ruin us all and the good name of our boats! +You even met Dave Pollard and got him to take +you on as a machinist for our boats!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Tip knew a man who was willing to introduce +me to Mr. Pollard.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was like kindly, unsuspicious Dave Pollard +to be taken in by a rascal like that,”</span> muttered +Jack to himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sam Truax added a few more details to his +confession, then said:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I couldn't die without telling you this, Benson. +I hope you forgive me.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page209">[pg 209]</span><a name="Pg209" id="Pg209" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Before Jack Benson could reply Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew stepped forward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Truax, have you told us the exact truth?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I have.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You thought it would be easy to get the +better of a boy like Benson, I suppose.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Easy enough,”</span> admitted Sam. <span class="tei tei-q">“So did +Tip.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You shot far below the mark in guessing at +Benson's ingenuity and brains,”</span> remarked +Doctor McCrea, laughing. <span class="tei tei-q">“It was he who suggested +this way of inducing you to make this +confession after you had refused to answer the +lieutenant commander's questions.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What?”</span> demanded Truax harshly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When I was first called in to you, you were +not sick, only scared by the remarks of others. +After we got you in here, we dosed you with +ipecac. That started your stomach to moving +up and down.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What? You poisoned me?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The ipecac was my choice. It isn't poison. +The general idea was Captain Benson's. With +a lad like him you haven't a chance.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Benson, you infernal cheat, you!”</span> muttered +Truax, and started to get out of the berth. But +he was weak, and the attendant had no difficulty +in thrusting him back.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In view of what you've been telling us, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page210">[pg 210]</span><a name="Pg210" id="Pg210" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +you'd better not sprinkle bad names about,”</span> +said the surgeon, turning on his heel. He was +followed by the others, all chuckling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson,”</span> said Doctor McCrea, when +the party was in the cabin, <span class="tei tei-q">“are you my +friend?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I certainly am, sir,”</span> cried Jack warmly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you,”</span> said the doctor, making a comical +face. <span class="tei tei-q">“With your head for doing things, +Mr. Benson, I feel safer with your friendship +than I should if I had your enmity.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">While they were still chatting in the cabin +of the gunboat a shot sounded on deck. Then +a corporal of marines rushed in, saluting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The prisoner, Truax, sir, escaped while +walking under guard on deck. He dived headlong, +sir. The marine guard fired after him +through the darkness, sir. The officer of the +deck sends his compliments, sir, and wants to +know if Truax is to be pursued in a small boat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“At once, and with all diligence,”</span> ordered the +lieutenant commander.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though a thorough search was made, Truax +was not found. It was thought that the fellow +had been drowned. But months later it was +learned that he was skulking in Europe with +Tip Gaynor, who had received word in time to +make his escape also.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For two days more the instruction continued +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page211">[pg 211]</span><a name="Pg211" id="Pg211" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +at sea. Then, the tour of instruction over, the +little flotilla returned to the Academy at Annapolis. +From there Captain Benson wired Mr. +Farnum for further orders. Without delay +came back the dispatch:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Navy Department requests that for present +'Farnum' be left at Annapolis. You and crew +return by rail when ready.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Soon after this Jack was informed that the +Annapolis police had run down the mulatto who +had decoyed the young submarine skipper on +that memorable night. Jack's money, watch +and other valuables were later recovered and +returned to him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Just before Jack and his mates were to leave +the <span class="tei tei-q">“Farnum”</span> for the last time, Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew came aboard, followed by +Ensign Trahern and three of the midshipmen +who had been under submarine instruction.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Mr. Benson and gentlemen,”</span> said Mr. Mayhew, +<span class="tei tei-q">“I shall not make a set speech. What I +have to say is that the cadet midshipmen who +have been under your capable and much-prized +instruction of late wish each of you to take +away a slight memento of your stay here.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Machinist Williamson had not been omitted. +Each of the four received from the lieutenant +commander a small box, each containing a small +gold shield. In the center was the coat of arms +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page212">[pg 212]</span><a name="Pg212" id="Pg212" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of the United States Naval Academy. At the +top of each pin was the name of the one to whom +it was given. Across the bottom were the +words:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +FROM THE<br /> +BATTALION OF NAVAL CADETS<br /> +IN KEEN APPRECIATION<br /> +OF ADMIRABLE INSTRUCTION<br /> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">"I think," said Mr. Mayhew, "that none of +you will hesitate to wear this pin on vest or +coat lapel. The gift is a simple one, but it +practically makes you honorary members of the +United States Navy of the future, and I am glad +of it."</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="tei tei-back" style="margin-bottom: 2.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> +<hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<div id="pgfooter" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES*** +</pre><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><a name="rightpageheader46" id="rightpageheader46"></a><a name="pgtoc47" id="pgtoc47"></a><a name="pdf48" id="pdf48"></a><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Credits</span></h1><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr><th class="tei tei-label tei-label-gloss">December 2005 </th></tr><tr><td class="tei tei-item tei-item-gloss"><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Project Gutenberg Edition</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-respStmt"> + <span class="tei tei-name">Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju<br /></span> + <span class="tei tei-name">Online Distributed Proofreading Team</span> + </span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr><th class="tei tei-label tei-label-gloss">June 2006 </th></tr><tr><td class="tei tei-item tei-item-gloss"><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Added PGHeader/PGFooter.</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-respStmt"> + <span class="tei tei-name">Joshua Hutchinson</span> + </span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><a name="rightpageheader49" id="rightpageheader49"></a><a name="pgtoc50" id="pgtoc50"></a><a name="pdf51" id="pdf51"></a><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">A Word from Project Gutenberg</span></h1><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This file should be named + 17756-h.html or + 17756-h.zip.</p><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This and all associated files of various formats will be found + in: + + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/5/17756/" class="block tei tei-xref" style="margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 3.60em; margin-top: 1.80em; margin-right: 3.60em"><span style="font-size: 90%">http://www.gutenberg.org</span><span style="font-size: 90%">/dirs/1/7/7/5/17756/</span></a></p><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Updated editions will replace the previous one — the old + editions will be renamed.</p><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Creating the works from public domain print editions means that + no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the + Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United + States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. + Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this + license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works + to protect the Project Gutenberg™ concept and trademark. 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+ +<!-- +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Submarine Boys and the Middies by
+Victor G. Durham
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+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no
+restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under
+the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or
+online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+
+Title: The Submarine Boys and the Middies
+
+Author: Victor G. Durham
+
+Release Date: 2006-02-12 [Ebook #17756]
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+ <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
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+ away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
+ License online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p>
+ </availability>
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+ <sourceDesc>
+ <bibl>
+ <title>The Submarine Boys and the Middies</title>
+ <author>Victor G. Durham</author>
+ <imprint>
+ <pubPlace>Akron, Ohio</pubPlace>
+ <publisher>The Saalfield Publishing Company</publisher>
+ <date>1909</date>
+ </imprint>
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+ <item>Project Gutenberg Edition</item>
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+ <date value="2006-6">June 2006</date>
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+ <p>This ebook was produced by Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p>
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+ <div>
+
+<figure url="images/image01.jpg" rend="w50">
+ <anchor id="image01" />
+ <index index="fig" />
+ <head rend="font-size: x-small"><q>You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here.</q></head>
+ <figDesc>Illustration: "You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here."</figDesc>
+</figure>
+
+ <p rend="text-align: center">
+ <hi rend="font-style: italic"> Frontispiece.</hi>
+ </p>
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+ <titlePart type="main" rend="font-size: large">The Submarine Boys and the Middies</titlePart><lb /><lb />
+ <titlePart type="sub" rend="font-size: small">OR</titlePart><lb /><lb />
+ <titlePart type="sub" rend="font-size: large">The Prize Detail at Annapolis</titlePart><lb /><lb />
+ </docTitle>
+ <byline>
+ By <docAuthor>Victor G. Durham</docAuthor><lb /><lb />
+ Author of The Submarine Boys on Duty, The Submarine
+ Boys' Trial Trip, The Submarine Boys
+ and the Spies, Etc.<lb /><lb />
+ </byline>
+ <docEdition>
+ <hi rend="font-style: italic">Illustrated</hi><lb /><lb />
+ </docEdition>
+ <docImprint>
+ THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY<lb />
+ Akron, Ohio · New York<lb />
+ Made in U.S.A.
+ </docImprint>
+ </titlePage>
+
+<div rend="page-break-before: always">
+ <index index="pdf" />
+ <head>Contents</head>
+ <divGen type="toc" />
+</div>
+
+<div rend="page-break-before: always">
+ <index index="pdf" />
+ <head>List of Figures</head>
+ <divGen type="fig" />
+</div>
+</front>
+
+<body>
+
+<div rend="page-break-before: right">
+<pb n="007" /><anchor id="Pg007" />
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL</head>
+
+<p>
+<q>The United States Government doesn't
+appear very anxious to claim its property,
+does it, sir?</q> asked Captain Jack
+Benson.</p>
+
+<p>The speaker was a boy of sixteen, attired in a
+uniform much after the pattern commonly worn
+by yacht captains. The insignia of naval rank
+were conspicuously absent.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, that I've had the good luck to sell the
+'Pollard' to the Navy,</q> responded Jacob Farnum,
+principal owner of the shipbuilding yard,
+<q>I'm not disposed to grumble if the Government
+prefers to store its property here for a while.</q></p>
+
+<p>Yet the young shipbuilder—he was a man in
+his early thirties, who had inherited this shipbuilding
+business from his father—allowed his
+<pb n="008" /><anchor id="Pg008" />
+eyes to twinkle in a way that suggested there
+was something else behind his words.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson saw that twinkle, but he did not
+ask questions. If the shipbuilder knew more
+than he was prepared to tell, it was not for his
+young captain to ask for information that was
+not volunteered.</p>
+
+<p>The second boy present, also in uniform, Hal
+Hastings by name, had not spoken in five minutes.
+That was like Hal. <hi rend="font-style: italic">He</hi> was the engineer
+of the submarine torpedo boat, <q>Pollard.</q>
+Jack was captain of the same craft, and could
+do all the talking.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Farnum sat back, sideways, at his rolltop
+desk. On top of the desk lay stacked a
+voluminous though neat pile of papers, letters,
+telegrams and memoranda that some rival builders
+of submarine torpedo boats might have been
+willing to pay much for the privilege of examining.
+For, at the present moment, there was
+fierce competition in the air between rival
+American builders of submarine fighting craft
+designed for the United States Navy. Even
+foreign builders and inventors were clamoring
+for recognition. Yet just now the reorganized
+Pollard Submarine Boat Company stood at the
+top of the line. It had made the last sale to the
+United States Navy Department.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment, out in the little harbor that
+<pb n="009" /><anchor id="Pg009" />
+was a part of the shipyard, the <q>Pollard</q> rode
+gently at anchor. She was the first submarine
+torpedo boat built at this yard, after the designs
+of David Pollard, the inventor, a close personal
+friend of Jacob Farnum.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, the second boat, named the <q>Farnum,</q>
+had just been launched and put in commission,
+ready at an hour's notice to take the sea
+in search of floating enemies of the United
+States.</p>
+
+<p><q>The United States will take its boat one of
+these days, Captain,</q> Mr. Farnum continued,
+after lighting a cigar. <q>By the way, did Dave
+tell you the name we are thinking of for the
+third boat, now on the stocks?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Dave</q> was Mr. Pollard, the inventor of the
+Pollard Submarine boat.</p>
+
+<p><q>No, sir,</q> Captain Jack replied.</p>
+
+<p><q>We have thought,</q> resumed Mr. Farnum,
+quietly, after blowing out a ring of smoke, <q>of
+calling the third boat, now building, the 'Benson.'</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The—the—what, sir?</q> stammered Jack,
+flushing and rising.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, don't get excited, lad,</q> laughed the
+shipbuilder.</p>
+
+<p><q>But—but—naming a boat for the United
+States Navy after me, sir—</q></p>
+
+<p>Captain Jack's face flushed crimson.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="010" /><anchor id="Pg010" />
+<q>Of course, if you object—</q> smiled Mr. Farnum,
+then paused.</p>
+
+<p><q>Object? You know I don't, sir. But I am
+afraid the idea is going to my head,</q> laughed
+Jack, his face still flushed. <q>The very idea of
+there being in the United States Navy a fine and
+capable craft named after me—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, if the Navy folks object,</q> laughed Farnum,
+<q>then they'll change the name quickly
+enough. You understand, lad, the names we
+give to our boats last only until the craft are
+sold. The Navy people can change those names
+if they please.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It will be a handsome compliment to me,
+Mr. Farnum. More handsome than deserved, I
+fear.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Deserved, well enough,</q> retorted the shipbuilder.
+<q>Dave Pollard and I are well enough
+satisfied that, if it hadn't been for you youngsters,
+and the superb way in which you handled
+our first boat, Dave and I would still be sitting
+on the anxious bench in the ante-rooms of the
+Navy Department at Washington.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Well, I don't deserve to have a boat named
+after me any more than Hal does, or Eph
+Somers.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Give us time, won't you, Captain?</q> pleaded
+Jacob Farnum, his face straight, but his eyes
+laughing. <q>We expect to build at least five
+<pb n="011" /><anchor id="Pg011" />
+boats. If we didn't, this yard never would have
+been fitted for the present work, and you three
+boys, who've done so handsomely by us,
+wouldn't each own, as you now do, ten shares of
+stock in this company. Never fear; there'll be
+a 'Hastings' and a 'Somers' added to our fleet
+one of these days—even though some of our
+boats have to be sold to foreign governments.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>If a boat named the 'Hastings' were sold to
+some foreign government,</q> laughed Jack Benson,
+<q>Hal, here, wouldn't say much about it.
+But call a boat named the 'Somers,' after Eph,
+and then sell it, say, to the Germans or the
+Japanese, and all of Eph's American gorge
+would come to the surface. I'll wager he'd
+scheme to sink any submarine torpedo boat,
+named after him, that was sold to go under a
+foreign flag.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I hope we'll never have to sell any of our
+boats to foreign governments,</q> replied Jacob
+Farnum, earnestly. <q>And we won't either, if
+the United States Government will give us half
+a show.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's just the trouble,</q> grumbled Hal
+Hastings, breaking into the talk, at last. <q>Confound
+it, why don't the people of this country
+run their government more than they do?
+Four-fifths of the inventors who get up great
+things that would put the United States on top,
+<pb n="012" /><anchor id="Pg012" />
+and keep us there, have to go abroad to find a
+market for their inventions! If I could invent
+a cannon to-day that would give all the power
+on earth to the nation owning it, would the
+American Government buy it from me? No,
+sir! I'd have to sell the cannon to England,
+Germany or Japan—or else starve while Congress
+was talking of doing something about it
+in the next session. Mr. Farnum, you have the
+finest, and the only real submarine torpedo boat.
+Yet, if you want to go on building and selling
+these craft, you'll have to dispose of most of
+them abroad.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I hope not,</q> responded the shipbuilder,
+solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>Having said his say, Hal subsided. He was
+likely not to speak again for an hour. As a
+class, engineers, having to listen much to noisy
+machinery, are themselves silent.</p>
+
+<p>It was well along in the afternoon, a little past
+the middle of October. For our three young
+friends, Jack, Hal and Eph, things were dull
+just at the present moment. They were drawing
+their salaries from the Pollard company, yet
+of late there had been little for them to do.</p>
+
+<p>Yet the three submarine boys knew that big
+things were in the air. David Pollard was
+away, presumably on important business.
+Jacob Farnum was not much given to speaking
+<pb n="013" /><anchor id="Pg013" />
+of plans until he had put them through to the
+finish. Some big deal was at present <q>on</q>
+with the Government. That much the submarine
+boys knew by intuition. They felt,
+therefore, that, at any moment, they were likely
+to be called into action—to be called upon for
+big things.</p>
+
+<p>As Jack and Hal sat in the office, silent, while
+Jacob Farnum turned to his desk to scan one of
+the papers lying there, the door opened. A boy
+burst in, waving a yellow envelope.</p>
+
+<p><q>Operator said to hustle this wire to you,</q>
+shouted the boy, panting a bit. <q>Said it might
+be big news for Farnum. So I ran all the
+way.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jacob Farnum took the yellow envelope,
+opening it and glancing hastily through the
+contents.</p>
+
+<p><q>It <hi rend="font-style: italic">is</hi> pretty good news,</q> assented the shipbuilder,
+a smile wreathing his face. <q>This is
+for you, messenger.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>This</q> proved to be a folded dollar bill.
+The messenger took the money eagerly, then
+demanded, more respectfully:</p>
+
+<p><q>Any answer, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Not at this moment, thank you,</q> replied Mr.
+Farnum. <q>That is all; you may go, boy.</q></p>
+
+<p>Plainly the boy who had brought the telegram
+was disappointed over not getting some
+<pb n="014" /><anchor id="Pg014" />
+inkling of the secret. All Dunhaven, in fact,
+was wildly agog over any news that affected the
+Farnum yard. For, though the torpedo boat
+building industry was now known under the
+Pollard name, after the inventor of these boats,
+the yard itself still went under the Farnum
+name that young Farnum had inherited from
+his father.</p>
+
+<p>While Jacob Farnum is reading the despatch
+carefully, for a better understanding, let us
+speak for a moment of Captain Jack Benson
+and his youthful comrades and chums.</p>
+
+<p>Readers of the first volume in this series,
+<q>The Submarine Boys on Duty,</q> remember
+how Jack Benson and Hal Hastings strayed into
+the little seaport town of Dunhaven one hot
+summer day, and how they learned that it was
+here that the then unknown but much-talked-about
+Pollard submarine was being built. Both
+Jack and Hal had been well trained in machine
+shops; they had spent much time aboard salt
+water power craft, and so felt a wild desire to
+work at the Farnum yard, and to make a study
+of submarine craft in general.</p>
+
+<p>How they succeeded in getting their start in
+the Farnum yard, every reader of the preceding
+volumes knows; how, too, Eph Somers, a
+native of Dunhaven, managed to <q>cheek</q> his
+way aboard the craft after she had been
+<pb n="015" /><anchor id="Pg015" />
+launched, and how he had always since managed
+to remain there.</p>
+
+<p>Our same older readers will remember the
+thrilling experiences of this boyish trio during
+the early trials of the new submarine torpedo
+boat, both above and below the surface. These
+readers will remember, also, for instance, the
+great prank played by the boys on the watch
+officer of one of the stateliest battleships of the
+Navy.</p>
+
+<p>Readers of the second volume, <q>The Submarine
+Boys' Trial Trip,</q> will recall, among
+other things, the desperate efforts made by
+George Melville, the capitalist, aided by the latter's
+disagreeable son, Don, to acquire stealthy
+control of the submarine building company, and
+their efforts to oust Jack, Hal and Eph from
+their much-prized employment. These readers
+will remember how Jack and his comrades
+spoiled the Melville plans, and how Captain
+Jack and his friends handled the <q>Pollard</q> so
+splendidly, in the presence of a board of Navy
+officers, that the United States Government was
+induced to buy that first submarine craft.</p>
+
+<p>After that sale, each of the three boys received,
+in addition to his regular pay, a bank
+account of a thousand dollars and ten shares of
+stock in the new company. Moreover, Messrs.
+Farnum and Pollard had felt wholly justified in
+<pb n="016" /><anchor id="Pg016" />
+promising these talented, daring, hustling submarine
+boys an assured and successful future.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Farnum at last looked up from the final
+reading of the telegram in his hands. Captain
+Jack Benson's gaze was fixed on his employer's
+face. Hal Hastings was looking out of a window,
+with almost a bored look in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p><q>You young men wanted action,</q> announced
+Mr. Farnum, quietly. <q>I think you'll get it.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Soon?</q> questioned Jack, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Immediately, or a minute or two later,</q>
+laughed the shipbuilder.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm ready,</q> declared Captain Jack, rising.</p>
+
+<p><q>It'll take you a little time to hear about it
+all and digest it, so you may as well be seated
+again,</q> declared Farnum.</p>
+
+<p>Hal, too, wandered back to his chair.</p>
+
+<p><q>You've been wondering how much longer
+the Government would leave the 'Pollard'
+here,</q> went on Mr. Farnum. <q>I am informed
+that the gunboat 'Hudson' is on her way here,
+to take over the 'Pollard.'</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What are the Navy folks going to do?</q> demanded
+Captain Jack, all but wrathfully. <q>Do
+they propose to <hi rend="font-style: italic">tow</hi> that splendid little craft
+away?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Hardly that, I imagine,</q> replied Farnum.
+<q>It's the custom of the United States Navy, you
+know, to send a gunboat along with every two
+<pb n="017" /><anchor id="Pg017" />
+or three submarines. They call the larger craft
+the 'parent boat.' The parent boat looks out
+for any submarine craft that may become disabled.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The cheek of it,</q> vented Jack, disgustedly.
+<q>Why, sir, I'd volunteer to take the 'Pollard,'
+unassisted, around the world, if she could carry
+fuel enough for such a trip.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>But the Navy hasn't been accustomed to
+such capable submarine boats as ours, you
+know,</q> replied Mr. Farnum. <q>Hence the
+parent boat.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Parent boat?</q> interjected Hal Hastings,
+with his quiet smile. <q>You might call it the
+'Dad' boat, so to speak.</q></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Farnum laughed, then continued:</p>
+
+<p><q>A naval crew will take possession of the
+'Pollard,' and the craft will proceed, under the
+care of the Dad boat</q>—with a side glance of
+amusement at Hal—<q>to the United States
+Naval Academy at Annapolis.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Annapolis—where they train the naval
+cadets, the midshipmen, into United States
+Naval officers? Oh, how I'd like to go there!</q>
+breathed Captain Jack Benson, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p><q>As a cadet in the Navy, do you mean?</q>
+asked Mr. Farnum.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, that would have been well enough,</q>
+assented Jack, <q>before I had such a chance in
+<pb n="018" /><anchor id="Pg018" />
+your submarine service. No; I mean I'd like
+to see Annapolis. I'd like to watch the midshipmen
+at their training, and see the whole
+naval life there.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It's too bad every fellow can't have his wish
+gratified as easily,</q> continued Jacob Farnum.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you mean we're going to Annapolis,
+too?</q> asked Jack Benson, his eyes glowing.
+Even Hal Hastings sat up straighter in his
+chair, watching the shipbuilder's face closely.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> nodded Jacob Farnum. <q>Permission
+has been granted for me to send our second
+boat, the 'Farnum,' along with the 'Pollard'—both
+under the care of the—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The Dad boat,</q> laughed Hastings.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes; that will give us a chance to have the
+'Farnum' studied most closely by some of the
+most capable officers in the United States Navy.
+It ought to mean, presently, the sale of the
+'Farnum' to the Government.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's just what it will mean,</q> promised
+Captain Jack, <q>if any efforts of ours can make
+the Navy men more interested in the boat.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You three youngsters are likely to be at
+Annapolis for some time,</q> went on Mr. Farnum.
+<q>In fact—but don't let your heads become
+too enlarged by the news, will you?</q></p>
+
+<p>Hal, quiet young Hal, neatly hid a yawn behind
+one hand, while Benson answered for both:</p>
+
+<p><pb n="019" /><anchor id="Pg019" />
+<q>We're already wearing the largest-sized
+caps manufactured, Mr. Farnum. Don't tempt
+us too far, please!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, you boys are safe from the ordinary
+perils of vanity, or your heads would have burst
+long ago. Well, then, when you arrive at Annapolis,
+you three are to act as civilian instructors
+to the middies. You three are to teach the
+midshipmen of the United States Navy the
+principles on which the Pollard type of boat is
+run. There; I've told you the whole news.
+What do you think of it?</q></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Farnum's cigar having burned low, he
+tossed it away, then leaned back as he lighted
+another weed.</p>
+
+<p><q>What do we think, sir?</q> echoed Captain
+Jack, eagerly. <q>Why, we think we're in sight
+of the very time of our lives! Annapolis! And
+to teach the middies how to run a 'Pollard' submarine.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>How soon are we likely to have to start,
+sir!</q> asked Hal Hastings, after a silence that
+lasted a few moments.</p>
+
+<p><q>Whenever the 'Hudson' shows up along this
+coast, and the officer in command of her gives
+the word. That may be any hour, now.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then we'd better find Eph,</q> suggested
+Captain Jack, <q>and pass him the word. Won't
+Eph Somers dance a jig for delight, though?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="020" /><anchor id="Pg020" />
+<q>Yes; we'd better look both boats over at
+once,</q> replied Mr. Farnum, picking up his hat.
+<q>And we'll leave word for Grant Andrews and
+some of his machinists to inspect both craft
+with us. There may be a few things that will
+need to be done.</q></p>
+
+<p>As they left the office, crossing the yard, Captain
+Jack Benson and Hal Hastings felt exactly
+as though they were walking on air. Even
+Hal, quiet as he was, had caught the joy-infection
+of these orders to proceed to Annapolis.
+To be sent to the United States Naval Academy
+on a tour of instruction is what officers of the
+Navy often call <q>the prize detail.</q></p>
+
+<p>Farnum and his two youthful companions
+went, first of all, to the long, shed-like building
+in which the third submarine craft to be
+turned out at this yard was now being built.
+From inside came the noisy clang of hammers
+against metal. The shipbuilder stepped inside
+alone, but soon came out, nodding. The three
+now continued on their way down to the little
+harbor. All of a sudden the three stopped
+short, almost with a jerk, in the same second,
+as though pulled by a string.</p>
+
+<p>At exactly the same instant Jacob Farnum,
+Captain Jack Benson and Engineer Hal Hastings
+put up their hands to rub their eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Their senses had told them truly, however.
+<pb n="021" /><anchor id="Pg021" />
+While the <q>Pollard</q> rode serenely at her moorings,
+the <q>Farnum,</q> the second boat to be
+launched, was nowhere to be seen!</p>
+
+<p><q>What on earth has happened to the other
+submarine?</q> gasped the shipbuilder, as soon
+as he could somewhat control his voice.</p>
+
+<p>What, indeed?</p>
+
+<p>There was not a sign of her. At least, she
+had not sunk at her moorings, for the buoys
+floated in their respective places, with no manner
+of tackle attached to them.</p>
+
+<p><q>A submarine boat can't slip its own cables
+and vanish without human hands!</q> gasped the
+staggered Jack Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>There's something uncanny about this,</q>
+muttered Hal Hastings.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Farnum stood rooted to the spot, opening
+and closing his hands in a way that testified
+plainly to the extent of his bewilderment.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE</head>
+
+<p>
+Jack Benson was the first of the trio to
+move.</p>
+
+<p>Without a word he broke into a run,
+heading for the narrow little shingle of beach.</p>
+
+<p><q>Got an idea, Captain?</q> shouted Jacob Farnum,
+<pb n="022" /><anchor id="Pg022" />
+darting after his young submarine
+skipper.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir!</q> floated back over Jack's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then what's at the bottom—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Eph and the boat, both together, or I miss
+my guess,</q> Captain Jack shouted back as he
+halted at the water's edge, where a rowboat lay
+hauled up on the shore.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Farnum's face showed suddenly pallid
+as he, also, reached the beach. Hal, who was
+in the rear, did not seem so much startled.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you think Eph has gone off on a cruise
+all alone?—that he has come to any harm?</q>
+gasped the shipbuilder.</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't know, but I'm not going to worry
+a mite about Eph Somers until I have to,</q> retorted
+Jack Benson, easily.</p>
+
+<p><q>Eph can generally take care of himself,</q>
+added Hal Hastings. <q>He rarely falls into
+any kind of scrape that he can't climb out
+of.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>But this is a bad time for him to take the
+'Farnum' and cruise away,</q> objected the owner
+of the yard. <q>The 'Hudson' may be here at
+any hour, you know, and we ought to be ready
+for orders.</q></p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, Mr. Farnum scanned the horizon
+away to the south, out over the sea.</p>
+
+<p><q>There's a line of smoke, now, and not many
+<pb n="023" /><anchor id="Pg023" />
+miles away,</q> he announced. <q>It may, as likely
+as not, be smoke from the 'Hudson's' pipe.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Going out with us, sir?</q> inquired Captain
+Jack Benson, as Hal took his place at a pair of
+oars.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> nodded the owner of the yard, dropping
+into a seat at the stern of the boat, after
+which Benson pushed off at the bow.</p>
+
+<p>Down on the seashore, on this day just past
+the middle of October, the air was keen and
+brisk. There had been frost for several nights
+past. Sleighing might be looked for in another
+month.</p>
+
+<p><q>Cable's gone from this buoy,</q> declared Captain
+Jack, as Hal rowed close. <q>Over to the
+other one, old fellow.</q></p>
+
+<p>Here, too, the cable was missing. Evidently
+the <q>Farnum</q> had made a clean get-away. If
+there had been any accident, it must have taken
+place after the new submarine boat had slipped
+away from her moorings.</p>
+
+<p><q>Humph!</q> grunted Jack, scanning the sea.
+<q>No sign of the boat anywhere. Eph may be
+anywhere within twenty miles of here.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Or within twenty feet, either,</q> grinned Hal,
+looking down into the waters that were lead-colored
+under the dull autumn sky.</p>
+
+<p><q>What are we going to do, Captain?</q> inquired
+Jacob Farnum. <q>There are Grant Andrews
+<pb n="024" /><anchor id="Pg024" />
+and three of his machinists coming down
+to the water.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I reckon, sir, we'd better put them aboard
+the 'Pollard' first, sir,</q> Benson suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Farnum nodding, the boat was rowed in
+to the shore and Andrews and his men were
+put aboard the <q>Pollard</q> at the platform deck.
+Captain Jack Benson unlocking the door to the
+conning tower, was himself the first to disappear
+down below. When he came back he carried
+a line to which was attached a heavy sounding-lead.</p>
+
+<p><q>It won't take us long to sound the deep
+spots in this little harbor,</q> said the young skipper,
+as he dropped down once more into the
+bow of the shore boat. <q>Row about, Hal, over
+the places where the submarine could go below
+out of sight.</q></p>
+
+<p>As Hal rowed, Skipper Jack industriously
+used the sounding-lead.</p>
+
+<p>For twenty minutes nothing resulted from
+this exploration. Then, all of a sudden, Benson
+shouted:</p>
+
+<p><q>Back water, Hal! Easy; rest on your oars.
+Steady!</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson raised the lead two or three
+feet, then let it down again, playing it up and
+down very much as a cod fisherman uses his
+line and hook.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="025" /><anchor id="Pg025" />
+<q>I'm hitting something, and it is hardly a
+rock, either,</q> declared young Benson. <q>Pull
+around about three points to starboard, Hal,
+then steal barely forward.</q></p>
+
+<p>Again Benson played see-saw with his sounding-line
+over the boat's gunwale.</p>
+
+<p><q>If my lead isn't hitting the 'Farnum,'</q>
+declared the young skipper, positively, <q>then
+it's the 'Farnum's' ghost. Hold steady, now,
+Hal.</q></p>
+
+<p>Immediately afterward, Benson caused the
+lead fairly to dance a jig on whatever it touched
+at bottom.</p>
+
+<p><q>What's the good of that, anyway?</q> demanded
+Jacob Farnum.</p>
+
+<p><q>You don't think I'm doing this just for fun,
+do you, sir?</q> asked Captain Jack, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p><q>No; I know you generally have an object
+when you do anything unusual,</q> responded the
+shipbuilder, good-humoredly.</p>
+
+<p><q>You know, of course, sir, that noises sound
+with a good deal of exaggeration when you hear
+them under water?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes; of course.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You also know that all three of us have
+been practicing at telegraphy a good deal during
+the past few weeks, because every man who
+follows the sea ought to know how to send and
+receive wireless messages at need.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="026" /><anchor id="Pg026" />
+<q>Yes; I know that, Benson.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Well, sir, I guess that the lead has been
+hitting the top of the 'Farnum's' hull, and I've
+been tapping out the signal—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The signal, 'Come up—rush!'</q> broke in
+Hal, with an odd smile.</p>
+
+<p><q>Right-o,</q> nodded Jack Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>How on earth did <hi rend="font-style: italic">you</hi> know what the signal
+was, Hastings?</q> demanded Mr. Farnum.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, sir, I've been sitting so that I could
+see Jack's arm. I've been reading, from the
+motions of his right arm, the dots and dashes of
+the Morse telegraph alphabet.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You youngsters certainly get me, for the
+things you think of,</q> laughed the shipyard's
+owner.</p>
+
+<p><q>And the 'Farnum,' or whatever it is, is coming
+up,</q> called Captain Jack, suddenly. <q>I just
+felt my lead slide down over the top of her hull.
+Hard-a-starboard, Hal, and row hard,</q> shouted
+young Benson, breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p>Though Hastings obeyed immediately he was
+barely an instant too soon. To his dismay, Mr.
+Farnum saw something dark, unwieldy, rising
+through the water. It appeared to be coming
+up fairly under the stern of the shore boat,
+threatening to overturn the little craft and
+plunge them all into the icy water.</p>
+
+<p>Hal shot just out of the danger zone, though.
+<pb n="027" /><anchor id="Pg027" />
+Then a round little tower bobbed up out of the
+water. Immediately afterward the upper third
+of a long, cigar-shaped craft came up into view,
+water rolling from her dripping sides, which
+glistened brightly as the sun came out briefly
+from behind a fall cloud.</p>
+
+<p>In the conning tower, through the thick plate
+glass, the three people in the shore boat made
+out the carroty-topped head and freckled,
+good-humored, honest, homely face of Eph
+Somers. The boat lay on the water, under no
+headway, drifting slightly with the wind-driven
+ripples. Then Eph raised the man-hole cover
+of the top of the conning tower, thrusting out
+his head to hail them.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hey, you landsmen, do you know a buoy
+from an umbrella?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Do <hi rend="font-style: italic">you</hi> know the difference between a Sunday-school
+text and petty larceny?</q> retorted
+Jack Benson, sternly. <q>What do you mean by
+taking the submarine without leave?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I've been experimenting—flirting with
+science,</q> responded Eph, loftily. <q>Say, if you
+landsmen know a buoy from a banana, get down
+to the bow moorings of this steel mermaid, and
+I'll pass you the bow cable. It's a heap easier
+to lead this submarine horse out of the stall,
+single-handed, than it is to take him back and
+tie him.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="028" /><anchor id="Pg028" />
+Hal rowed easily to the buoy, while Eph, returning
+to the steering wheel and the tower controls,
+ran the <q>Farnum,</q> with just bare headway,
+up to where he could toss the bow cable to
+those waiting in the boat. A few moments later
+the stern cable, also, was made fast, in such a
+way as to allow a moderate swing to the bulky
+steel craft.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, you can take me ashore, if you feel
+like it,</q> proposed Eph, standing on the platform
+deck.</p>
+
+<p><q>Not quite yet,</q> returned Skipper Jack,
+though the small boat lay alongside. <q>We've
+got some inspecting to do. But how did you get
+on board in the first place?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, the night watchman was in the yard
+for a few minutes, and I got him to put me on
+board. I figured I could hail somebody else
+when I was ready to go on shore.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>But what on earth made you do such a
+thing?</q> demanded Captain Jack, in a low tone.
+<q>It's really more than you had a right to do,
+Eph, without getting Mr. Farnum's permission.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, I've known you to take the 'Pollard'
+and try something when Mr. Farnum wasn't
+about,</q> retorted Somers, looking surprised.</p>
+
+<p><q>You never knew me to do it when I could
+ask permission, although, as captain, I have the
+<pb n="029" /><anchor id="Pg029" />
+right to handle the boat. But that leave doesn't
+extend to all the rest, Eph. What were you
+doing down there, anyway?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, I came on board, and left the manhole
+open for ten minutes,</q> answered Somers.
+<q>Then I found the cabin thermometer standing
+at 49 degrees. I wondered how much warmth
+could be gained by going below the surface.
+I had been down an hour and five minutes
+when you began to signal with that sledge-hammer—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Sounding-lead,</q> Jack corrected him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Well, it sounded like a sledge-hammer, anyway,</q>
+grinned young Somers. <q>While I was
+down below I found that the temperature rose
+four degrees.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Part of that was likely due to the warmth of
+your body, and the heat of the breath you gave
+off,</q> hinted Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>You could have gotten it up to eighty
+or ninety degrees by turning on the electric
+heater far enough,</q> suggested Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>I wanted to see whether it would be warmer
+in the depths; wanted to find out how low I could
+go and be able to do without heat in winter,</q>
+Somers retorted.</p>
+
+<p><q>I could have told you that, from my reading,
+without any experiment,</q> retorted Skipper
+Jack. <q>Close your conning tower and go down
+<pb n="030" /><anchor id="Pg030" />
+a little way, and the temperature would gradually
+rise a few degrees. That's because of the
+absence of wind and draft. But, if you could
+go down very, very deep without smashing the
+boat under the water pressure, you'd find the
+temperature falling quite a bit.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Where did you read all that?</q> inquired
+Eph, looking both astonished and sheepish.</p>
+
+<p><q>Here,</q> replied Jack, going to a small wall
+book-case, taking down a book and turning
+several pages before he stopped.</p>
+
+<p><q>Just my luck,</q> muttered Eph, disconsolately.
+<q>Here I've been dull as ditch-water
+for an hour, trying to find out something new,
+and it's all stated in a book printed—ten years
+ago,</q> he finished, after rapidly consulting the
+title-page.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Farnum had been no listener to this
+conversation. Taking the marine glasses from
+the conning tower, the shipbuilder was now well
+forward on the platform deck, scanning what
+was visible of the steam craft to the southward.
+At last the yard's owner turned around to say:</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't believe you young men can have
+things ship-shape a second too soon. The craft
+heading this way has a military mast forward.
+She must be the 'Hudson.' If there's anything
+to be done, hustle!</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack and Hal sprang below, to scan their respective
+<pb n="031" /><anchor id="Pg031" />
+departments. Five minutes later Grant
+Andrews hailed from the <q>Pollard,</q> and Eph
+rowed over in the shore boat to ferry over the
+machinists.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later Andrews and his men had
+put in the few needed touches aboard the newer
+submarine boat. The sun, meanwhile, had gone
+down, showing the hull of a naval vessel some
+four miles off the harbor.</p>
+
+<p>Darkness came on quickly, with a clouded sky.
+As young Benson stepped on deck Grant Andrews
+followed him.</p>
+
+<p><q>All finished here, Grant?</q> queried the
+yard's owner.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir. There's mighty little chance to
+do anything where Hal Hastings has charge of
+the machinery.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's our gunboat out there, I think,</q> went
+on Mr. Farnum, pointing to where a white masthead
+light and a red port light were visible,
+about a mile away.</p>
+
+<p><q>Dunhaven must be on the map, all right,
+if a strange navigating officer knows how to
+come so straight to the place,</q> laughed Jack
+Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, you trust a United States naval officer
+to find any place he has sailing orders for,</q> returned
+Jacob Farnum. <q>I wonder if he'll
+attempt to come into this harbor?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="032" /><anchor id="Pg032" />
+<q>There's safe anchorage, if he wants to do
+so,</q> replied Captain Jack.</p>
+
+<p>While Somers was busy putting the foreman
+and the machinists ashore, Mr. Farnum, Jack
+and Hal remained on the platform deck, watching
+the approach of the naval vessel, which was
+now plainly making for Dunhaven.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, a broad beam of glaring white light
+shot over the water, resting across the deck of
+the <q>Farnum.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I guess that fellow knows what he wants to
+know, now,</q> muttered Benson, blinking after
+the strong glare had passed.</p>
+
+<p><q>There, he has picked up the 'Pollard,' too,</q>
+announced Hastings. <q>Now, that commander
+must feel sure he has sighted the right place.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>There go the signal lights,</q> cried Captain
+Jack, suddenly. <q>Hal, hustle below and turn
+on the electric current for the signaling
+apparatus.</q></p>
+
+<p>Then Benson watched as, from the yards high
+up on the gunboat's signaling mast, colored
+electric lights glowed forth, twinkling briefly in
+turn. This is the modern method of signaling
+by sea at night.</p>
+
+<p><q>He wants to know,</q> said Benson, to Mr.
+Farnum, as he turned, <q>whether there is safe
+anchorage for a twelve-hundred-ton gunboat of
+one hundred and ninety-five feet length.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="033" /><anchor id="Pg033" />
+Reaching the inside of the conning tower at a
+bound, the young skipper rapidly manipulated
+his own electric signaling control. There was
+a low mast on the <q>Farnum's</q> platform deck,
+a mast that could be unstepped almost in an
+instant when going below surface. So Captain
+Jack's counter-query beamed out in colors
+through the night:</p>
+
+<p><q>What's your draught?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Under present ballast, seventeen-eight,</q>
+came the answer from the gunboat's signal
+mast.</p>
+
+<p><q>Safe anchorage,</q> Captain Jack signaled
+back.</p>
+
+<p><q>Can you meet us with a pilot?</q> questioned
+the on-coming gunboat.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> Captain Jack responded.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do so,</q> came the laconic request.</p>
+
+<p><q>That's all, Hal,</q> the young skipper called,
+through the engine room speaking tube. <q>Want
+to row me out and put me aboard the gunboat?</q></p>
+
+<p>In another jiffy the two young chums had
+put off in the boat, Hal at the oars, Jack at the
+tiller ropes. The gunboat was now lying to,
+some seven hundred yards off the mouth of the
+little harbor. Hastings bent lustily to the oars,
+sending the boat over the rocking water until
+he was within a hundred yards of the steam
+craft's bridge.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="034" /><anchor id="Pg034" />
+<q>Gun boat ahoy!</q> roared Hal, between his
+hands. Then, by a slip of the tongue, and
+wholly innocent of any intentional offense, he
+bellowed:</p>
+
+<p><q>Is that the 'Dad' boat?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What's that?</q> came a sharp retort from
+the gunboat's bridge. <q>Don't try to be funny,
+young man!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Beg your pardon, sir. That was a slip of
+the tongue,</q> Hal replied, meekly, as he colored.
+<q>Are you the gunboat 'Hudson?'</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No; I'm her commanding officer, young
+man! Who in blazes are you?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm the goat, it seems,</q> muttered Hastings,
+under his breath. But, aloud, he replied:</p>
+
+<p><q>I have the pilot you requested.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then why don't you bring him on board?</q>
+came the sharp question. <q>Did you think I
+only wanted to look at a pilot?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>All right, sir. Shall I make fast to your
+starboard side gangway?</q> Hal called.</p>
+
+<p><q>In a hurry, young man!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's the naval style, I guess,</q> murmured
+Jack to his chum. <q>No fooling in the talk. I
+wonder if that fellow eats pie? Or is his temper
+due to coffee?</q></p>
+
+<p>Answering only with a quiet grin, Hal rowed
+alongside the starboard side gangway. Jack,
+waiting, sprang quickly to the steps, ascending,
+<pb n="035" /><anchor id="Pg035" />
+waving his hand to Hal as he went. Young
+Hastings quickly shoved off, then bent to his
+oars.</p>
+
+<p><q>Where's the pilot?</q> came a stern voice,
+from the bridge, as Jack Benson's head showed
+above the starboard rail.</p>
+
+<p><q>I am the pilot, sir,</q> Jack replied.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, you're a boy.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Guilty,</q> Jack responded.</p>
+
+<p><q>What does this fooling mean? You're not
+old enough to hold a pilot's license.</q></p>
+
+<p>By this time Benson was on the deck, immediately
+under the bridge. A half dozen sailors,
+forward, were eyeing him curiously.</p>
+
+<p><q>I have no license, sir,</q> Jack admitted.
+<q>Neither has anyone else at Dunhaven. For
+that matter, the harbor's a private one, belonging
+to the shipyard.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Hasn't Mr. Farnum a <hi rend="font-style: italic">man</hi> he can send
+out?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No one who knows the harbor better than I
+do, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Who are you? What are you?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Jack Benson, sir. Captain of the Pollard
+submarine boats.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why didn't you tell me that before?</q></p>
+
+<p>The question came sharply, almost raspingly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Beg your pardon, sir, but you didn't ask
+me,</q> Jack replied.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="036" /><anchor id="Pg036" />
+<q>Come up here, Benson,</q> ordered the lieutenant
+commander, in a loud voice intended to
+drown out the subdued titter of some of the
+sailors forward.</p>
+
+<p>Jack ascended to the bridge, to find himself
+facing a six-footer in his early thirties. There
+was a younger officer at the far end of the
+bridge.</p>
+
+<p><q>Does Mr. Farnum consider you capable of
+showing us the way into the harbor?</q> demanded
+the commanding officer of the <q>Hudson.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I think so, sir. He trusts me with his own
+boats.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then you are—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Benson, Mr. Farnum's captain of the submarine
+boats.</q></p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed in astonishment
+for a moment, then held out his
+hand as he introduced himself, remarking:</p>
+
+<p><q>I was told that I would find a very young
+submarine commander here, but—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You didn't expect to find one quite as
+young,</q> Jack finished, smiling.</p>
+
+<p><q>No; I didn't. Mr. Trahern, I want you to
+know Captain Jack Benson, of the Pollard
+submarines.</q></p>
+
+<p>Ensign Trahern also shook hands with young
+Benson.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="037" /><anchor id="Pg037" />
+<q>And now,</q> went on the commander of the
+<q>Hudson,</q> <q>I think you may as well show us
+the way into the harbor.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You'll want to go at little more than headway,
+sir,</q> Jack replied. <q>The harbor is small,
+though there's enough deep water for you. In
+parts there are some sand ledges that the tide
+washes up.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I can't allow you to pilot us, exactly, but
+you'll indicate the course to me, won't you, Mr.
+Benson?</q></p>
+
+<p>The <q>mister</q> was noticeable, now. Naval
+officers are chary of their bestowal of the title
+<q>captain</q> upon one who does not hold it in
+the Army or Navy service.</p>
+
+<p>At Mr. Mayhew's order the <q>Hudson</q> was
+started slowly forward, the searchlight playing
+about the entrance to the harbor.</p>
+
+<p><q>For your best anchorage, sir,</q> declared
+Captain Jack, after he had brought the gunboat
+slowly into the harbor, <q>you will do well
+to anchor with that main arc-light dead ahead,
+that shed over there on your starboard beam,
+and the front end of the submarine shed about
+four points off your port bow.</q></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Mayhew slowly manœuvred his craft,
+while men stood on the deck below, forward,
+prepared to heave the bow anchors.</p>
+
+<p><q>Go four points over to port, Mr. Trahern,</q>
+<pb n="038" /><anchor id="Pg038" />
+instructed Mr. Mayhew. <q>Now, back the engines—steady!</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson opened his mouth wide. Then,
+as he saw the way the <q>Hudson</q> was backing,
+he suddenly called:</p>
+
+<p><q>Slow speed ahead, quick, sir!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You said—</q> began Mr. Mayhew.</p>
+
+<p>Gr-r-r-r! The stern of the gunboat dug its
+way into a sand ledge, lifting the stern considerably.</p>
+
+<p><q>Slow speed ahead!</q> rasped Lieutenant
+Commander Mayhew, sharply.</p>
+
+<p>But the gunboat could not be budged. She
+was stuck, stern on, fast in the sand-ledge.</p>
+
+<p><q>Benson!</q> uttered the lieutenant commander,
+bitterly, <q>I congratulate you. You've succeeded
+in grounding a United States Naval
+vessel!</q></p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER III: <q>YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!</q></head>
+
+<p>
+There was so much of overwhelming
+censure in the naval officer's tone that
+Jack's spirit was stung to the quick.</p>
+
+<p><q>It's your mistake, sir,</q> he retorted. <q>You
+didn't follow the course I advised. You swung
+the ship around to port, and—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Silence, now, if you please, while men are
+<pb n="039" /><anchor id="Pg039" />
+trying to get this vessel out of a scrape a boy
+got her into,</q> commanded Mr. Mayhem, sternly.</p>
+
+<p>Jack flushed, then bit his tongue. In another
+moment a pallor had succeeded the red in his
+face.</p>
+
+<p>He was blamed for the disaster, and he was
+not really at fault.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, under the rebuke he had just received,
+he did not feel it his place to retort further for
+the present.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Mayhew and Mr. Trahern conferred in
+low tones for a moment or two.</p>
+
+<p><q>You may as well leave the bridge, young
+man,</q> resumed Mr. Mayhew, turning upon the
+submarine boy. <q>You are not likely to be of
+any use here.</q></p>
+
+<p>As Jack, burning inwardly with indignation,
+though managing to keep outwardly calm, descended
+to the deck below, he caught sight of
+Hal Hastings, hovering near in the rowboat.
+Hal signaled to learn whether he should put in
+alongside to take off his chum, but Benson
+shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>Over on the <q>Farnum</q> the yard's owner and
+Eph Somers watched wonderingly. They understood,
+well enough, that the new, trim-looking
+gunboat was in trouble, but they did not
+know that Jack Benson was held at fault.</p>
+
+<p>Down between decks the engines of the <q>Hudson</q>
+<pb n="040" /><anchor id="Pg040" />
+were toiling hard to run the craft off out
+of the sand. Then the machinery stopped. An
+engineer officer came up from below. He and
+Mr. Mayhew walked to the stern, while a seaman,
+accompanying them, heaved the lead,
+reading the soundings.</p>
+
+<p><q>We're stuck good and fast,</q> remarked the
+engineer officer. <q>We can't drive off out of
+that sand for the reason that the propellers are
+buried in the grit. They'll hardly turn at all,
+and, when they do, they only churn the sand
+without driving us off.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Confound that ignoramus of a boy!</q> muttered
+Mr. Mayhew, walking slowly forward. It
+was no pleasant situation for the lieutenant commander.
+Having run his vessel ashore, he
+knew himself likely to be facing a naval board
+of inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>Hal, finding that the shore boat was not
+wanted for the present, had rowed over to the
+<q>Farnum's</q> moorings. Now Jacob Farnum
+came alongside in the shore boat.</p>
+
+<p><q>May I speak with your watch officer?</q> he
+called.</p>
+
+<p><q>I am the commanding officer,</q> Mr. Mayhew
+called down, in the cold, even, dulled voice
+of a man in trouble.</p>
+
+<p><q>I am Mr. Farnum, owner of the yard. May
+I come on board?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="041" /><anchor id="Pg041" />
+<q>Be glad to have you,</q> Lieutenant Commander
+Mayhew responded.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Farnum went nimbly up over the side.</p>
+
+<p><q>May I ask what is the trouble here, sir?</q>
+asked the yard's owner.</p>
+
+<p><q>The trouble is,</q> replied Mr. Mayhew, <q>that
+your enterprising boy pilot has run us aground—hard,
+tight and fast!</q></p>
+
+<p>Jacob Farnum glanced swiftly at his young
+captain. Jack shook his head briefly in dissent.
+Jacob Farnum, with full confidence in his young
+man, at once understood that there was more yet
+to be learned.</p>
+
+<p><q>Come up on the bridge, sir, if you will,</q> requested
+the commander of the gunboat, who was
+a man of too good breeding to wish any dispute
+before the men of the crew. <q>You may come,
+too, Benson.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack followed the others, including the
+engineer officer of the <q>Hudson.</q> Yet Benson
+was clenching his hands, fighting a desperate
+battle to get full command over himself. It
+was hard—worse than hard—to be unjustly
+accused.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Farnum wished to keep on the pleasantest
+terms with these officers of the Navy. At
+the same time he was man enough to feel determined
+that Jack, whether right or wrong, should
+have a full chance to defend himself.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="042" /><anchor id="Pg042" />
+<q>I understand, sir,</q> began Mr. Farnum,
+<q>that you attach some blame in this matter to
+young Benson?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Perhaps he is not to be blamed too much, on
+account of his extreme youth,</q> responded Mr.
+Mayhew.</p>
+
+<p><q>Forget his youth altogether,</q> urged Mr.
+Farnum. <q>Let us treat him as a man. I've
+always found him one, in judgment, knowledge
+and loyalty. Do you mind telling me, sir, in
+what way he erred in bringing you in here?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>An error in giving his advice,</q> replied
+Mr. Mayhew. <q>Or else it was ignorance of how
+to handle a craft as large as this gunboat. For
+my anchorage he told me—</q></p>
+
+<p>Here the lieutenant commander repeated the
+first part of Jack's directions correctly, but
+wound up with:</p>
+
+<p><q>He advised me to throw my wheel over four
+points to port.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Pardon me, sir,</q> Jack broke in, unable to
+keep still longer. <q>What I said, or intended to
+say, was to bring your vessel so that the forward
+end of the submarine shed over there would be
+four points off the port bow.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What did you hear Mr. Benson say, Mr.
+Trahern?</q> demanded the gunboat's commander,
+turning to the ensign who had stood
+with him on the bridge.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="043" /><anchor id="Pg043" />
+<q>Why, sir, I understood the lad to say what
+he states that he said.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You are sure of that, Mr. Trahern?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Unless my ears tricked me badly,</q> replied
+the ensign, <q>Mr. Benson said just what he now
+states. I wondered, sir, at your calling for slow
+speed astern.</q></p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed for
+some moments fixedly at the face of Ensign
+Trahern. Then, of a sudden, the gunboat's
+commander, who was both an officer and a gentleman,
+broke forth, contritely:</p>
+
+<p><q>As I think it over, I believe, myself, that
+Benson advised as he now states he did. It was
+my own error—I am sure of it now.</q></p>
+
+<p>Wheeling about, Mayhew held out his right
+hand.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson,</q> he said, in a deep voice full of
+regret, <q>I was the one in error. I am glad to
+admit it, even if tardily. Will you pardon my
+too hasty censure?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Gladly, sir,</q> Benson replied, gripping the
+proffered hand. Jacob Farnum stood back,
+wagging his head in a satisfied way. It had
+been difficult for him to believe that his young
+captain had been at fault in so simple a matter,
+or in a harbor with which he was so intimately
+acquainted.</p>
+
+<p>As for the young man himself, the thing that
+<pb n="044" /><anchor id="Pg044" />
+touched him most deeply was the quick, complete
+and manly acknowledgment of this lieutenant
+commander.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Farnum,</q> inquired the gunboat's commander,
+<q>have you any towboats about here
+that can be used in helping me to get the 'Hudson'
+off this sand ledge?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The only one in near waters, sir,</q> replied
+the yard's owner, <q>is a craft, not so very much
+larger than a launch, that ties up some three
+miles down the coast. She's the boat I use when
+I need any towing here. Of course, I have the
+two torpedo boats, though their engines were
+not constructed for towing work.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>May I offer a suggestion?</q> asked Jack,
+when the talk lagged.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll be glad to have you, Mr. Benson,</q> replied
+Mr. Mayhew, turning toward the submarine
+boy.</p>
+
+<p><q>Flood tide will be in in about two hours and
+a half, sir,</q> Benson followed up. <q>That ought
+to raise this vessel a good deal. Then, with the
+towboat Mr. Farnum has mentioned, and with
+such help as the engines of the submarines may
+give, together with your own engines, Mr. Mayhew,
+I think there ought to be a good chance of
+getting the 'Hudson' afloat with plenty of water
+under her whole keel. We can even start some
+of the engines on shore, and rig winches to haul
+<pb n="045" /><anchor id="Pg045" />
+on extra cables. Altogether, we can give you a
+strong pull, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That sounds like the best plan to me,</q>
+nodded Jacob Farnum. <q>I'll have a message
+sent at once for that towboat.</q></p>
+
+<p>A white-coated steward now appeared on
+deck, moving near the lieutenant commander.</p>
+
+<p><q>Is dinner ready, Greers?</q> called Mr. Mayhew.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Lay two more plates, then. Mr. Farnum, I
+trust you and your young submarine commander
+will sit as my guests to-night.</q></p>
+
+<p>This invitation the yard's owner accepted,
+asking only time enough to arrange for keeping
+some of his workmen over-time, awaiting the
+coming of flood-tide.</p>
+
+<p>So, presently, Jack and his employer found
+themselves seated at table in the gunboat's
+handsome wardroom. Besides the lieutenant
+commander there were Lieutenant Halpin, two
+ensigns, two engineer officers and a young medical
+officer. In the <q>Hudson's</q> complement of
+officers there were also four midshipmen, but
+these latter ate in their own mess.</p>
+
+<p>The time passed most pleasantly, Mr. Mayhew
+plainly doing all in his power to atone for
+his late censure of the submarine boy.</p>
+
+<p>Before dinner was over the small towboat was
+<pb n="046" /><anchor id="Pg046" />
+in the harbor. At the coming of flood tide this
+towing craft had a hawser made fast to the gunboat.
+With the help of some of the naval
+machinists aboard the <q>Hudson,</q> both submarine
+craft were also manned and hawsers
+made fast. Two cables were passed ashore to
+winches to which power was supplied by the
+shipyard's engines. When all was ready a
+mighty pull was given, the gunboat's own propellers
+taking part in the struggle. For two or
+three minutes the efforts continued. Then, at
+last, the <q>Hudson,</q> uninjured, ran off into deep
+water and shortly afterwards anchored in
+safety.</p>
+
+<p>It was a moment of tremendous relief for
+Mr. Mayhew.</p>
+
+<p><q>Call the tugboat captain aboard, and I'll
+settle with him at my own expense,</q> proposed
+the lieutenant commander.</p>
+
+<p><q>I trust you will think of nothing of the sort,</q>
+replied Jacob Farnum, quickly. <q>In this harbor
+I wish to consider you and your vessel as
+my guests.</q></p>
+
+<p>Again Mr. Mayhew expressed his thanks.
+Presently, glancing ashore through the night, he
+asked:</p>
+
+<p><q>What sort of country is it hereabouts?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Mostly flat, as to the surface,</q> Mr. Farnum
+replied. <q>If your question goes further, there
+<pb n="047" /><anchor id="Pg047" />
+are some fine roads and several handsome
+estates within a few miles of here. Mr. Mayhew,
+won't you and a couple of your officers
+come on shore with me? I'll telephone for my
+car and put you over quite a few miles this
+evening.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Delighted,</q> replied the commander of the
+gunboat.</p>
+
+<p>One of the <q>Hudson's</q> cutters being now in
+the water alongside, the party went ashore in
+this. Jack, after bidding the naval officers
+good-night, found Hal and Eph, who had just
+come ashore from supper on board the <q>Farnum.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No sailing orders yet, I suppose?</q> Hal
+asked.</p>
+
+<p><q>None,</q> Jack replied. <q>I reckon we'll start,
+all right, some time to-morrow morning.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What'll we do to-night?</q> Eph wondered.</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't know,</q> replied Jack. <q>We've few
+friends around here we need to take the trouble
+to say good-bye to. We could call on Mrs. Farnum,
+but I imagine we'd run into the naval party
+up at the Farnum house. We want to keep a bit
+in the background with these naval officers,
+except when they may ask for our company.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Let's take a walk about the old town, then,</q>
+Hal suggested.</p>
+
+<p>So the three submarine boys strolled across
+<pb n="048" /><anchor id="Pg048" />
+the shipyard. Just as they were passing
+through the gate a man of middle height and
+seemingly about thirty years of age quickened
+his pace to reach them.</p>
+
+<p><q>Is this shipyard open nights?</q> he queried.</p>
+
+<p><q>Only to some employees,</q> Jack answered.</p>
+
+<p><q>I suppose Mr. Farnum isn't about?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Captain Benson?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Benson is my name.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>This letter is addressed to Mr. Farnum,</q>
+went on the stranger, <q>but Mr. Pollard told me
+I could hand it to you.</q></p>
+
+<p>Captain Jack took the letter from the unsealed
+envelope.</p>
+
+<p><q>My dear Farnum,</q> ran the enclosure,
+<q>since you're short a good machinist for the
+engine room of the 'Farnum,' the bearer, Samuel
+Truax, seems to me to be just the man you
+want. I've examined him, and he understands
+the sort of machinery we use. Better give him
+a chance.</q> The note was signed in David Pollard's
+well-known, scrawly handwriting.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm sorry you can't see Mr. Farnum to-night,</q>
+said Benson, pleasantly. <q>He'll be
+here early in the morning, though.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>When do you sail?</q> asked Truax, quickly.</p>
+
+<p><q>That you would have to ask Mr. Farnum,
+too,</q> smiled Jack.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="049" /><anchor id="Pg049" />
+<q>But, see here, Mr. Pollard engaged me to
+work aboard one of your submarines.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It looks that way, doesn't it?</q> laughed the
+young skipper.</p>
+
+<p><q>And you're the captain?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes; but I can't undertake to handle Mr.
+Farnum's business for him.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You'll let me go aboard the craft to sleep
+for to-night, anyway?</q> coaxed Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, that's just what I'm not at liberty to
+do,</q> replied the young submarine captain.
+<q>No; I couldn't think of that, in the absence
+of Mr. Farnum's order.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>But that doesn't seem hardly fair,</q> protested
+Truax. <q>See here, I have spent all my
+money getting here. I haven't even the price
+of a lodging with me, and this isn't a summer
+night.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, I'll tell you what I'll do,</q> Benson
+went on, feeling in one of his pockets. <q>Here's
+a dollar. That'll buy you a bed and a breakfast
+at the hotel up the street. If you want to get
+aboard with us in time, you'd better show up
+by eight in the morning.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>But—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's really all I can do,</q> Jack Benson
+hastily assured the fellow. <q>I'm not the
+owner of the boat, and I can't take any liberties.
+Oh, wait just a moment. I'll see if there's
+<pb n="050" /><anchor id="Pg050" />
+any chance of Mr. Farnum coming back to-night.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack knew well enough that there wasn't any
+chance of Mr. Farnum returning, unless possibly
+at a very late hour with the naval officers, but
+the boy had seen the night watchman peering
+out through the gateway.</p>
+
+<p>Retracing his steps, Jack drew the night
+watchman inside, whispering:</p>
+
+<p><q>Just a pointer for you. You've seen that
+man on the street with us? He has a letter
+from Mr. Pollard to Mr. Farnum, but I wouldn't
+let him in the yard to-night, unless Mr. Farnum
+appears and gives the order.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I understand,</q> said the night watchman,
+nodding.</p>
+
+<p><q>That's all, then, and thank you.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson hastily rejoined the others on
+the sidewalk.</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't believe, Mr. Truax, it will be worth
+your while to come here earlier than eight in
+the morning. Better go to the hotel and tie
+up to a good sleep. Good night.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Say, why did you take such a dislike to the
+fellow?</q> queried Eph, as the three submarine
+boys strolled on up the street, Truax following
+slowly at some distance in the rear.</p>
+
+<p><q>I didn't take a dislike to him,</q> Jack replied,
+opening his eyes wide.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="051" /><anchor id="Pg051" />
+<q>You choked him off mighty short, then.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>If it looked that way, then I'm sorry,</q> Benson
+protested, in a tone of genuine regret. <q>All
+I wanted to make plain was that I couldn't pass
+him on to our precious old boat without Mr.
+Farnum's order.</q></p>
+
+<p>Truax plodded slowly along behind the submarine
+boys, a cunning look in the man's eyes
+as he stared after Jack Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>You're a slick young man, or else a wise
+one,</q> muttered Truax. <q>But I think I'm smart
+enough to take it out of you!</q></p>
+
+<p>Nor did Sam Truax go to the hotel. He had
+his own plans for this evening—plans that
+boded the submarine boys no good.</p>
+
+<p>The three boys strolled easily about town,
+getting a hot soda or two, and, finally, drifting
+into a moving picture show that had opened
+recently in Dunhaven. This place they did not
+leave until the show was over. They were half-way
+home when Captain Jack remembered that
+he had left behind him a book that he had
+bought earlier in the evening.</p>
+
+<p><q>You fellows keep right on down to the yard.
+I'll hurry back, get the book and overtake
+you,</q> he proposed.</p>
+
+<p>Jack ran back, but already the little theatre
+was closed.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm out that book, then, if we sail in the
+<pb n="052" /><anchor id="Pg052" />
+morning,</q> he muttered, as he trudged along
+after his friends.</p>
+
+<p>On the way toward the water front Benson
+had to pass a vacant lot surrounded by a high
+board fence on a deserted street. He had
+passed about half way along the length of the
+fence, when a head appeared over the top followed
+by a pair of arms holding a small bag
+of sand. Down dropped the bag, striking Jack
+Benson on the top of the head, sending him unconscious
+to the ground.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS</head>
+
+<p>
+Close at hand there was a loose board in
+the fence. Through this Sam Truax
+thrust his head, peering up and down
+the street. Not another soul was in sight.</p>
+
+<p>With a chuckle Truax stepped through the
+hole in the fence. Swiftly he gathered up the
+young submarine captain, bearing him through
+the aperture and dropping him on the ground
+behind the fence. At the same time he took
+with him the small bag of sand.</p>
+
+<p><q>Knocked you out, but I don't believe you'll
+be unconscious long,</q> mused Truax, standing
+over his young victim, regarding him critically.
+<pb n="055" /><anchor id="Pg055" />
+<q>There wasn't steam enough in the blow to
+hurt you for long. You're sturdy, following
+the sea all the time, as you do.</q></p>
+
+<p>With a thoughtful air Sam Truax drew a
+small bottle from his pocket, sprinkling some
+of the contents over Jack's uniform coat. Immediately
+the nauseating smell of liquor rose
+on the air.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, if someone finds you before you come
+to, you'll look like a fellow that has been drinking
+and fighting,</q> muttered Truax under his
+breath. <q>If you come to and get back to the
+yard without help, you'll walk unsteadily and
+have that smell about your clothes. Usually,
+it needs only a breath of suspicion to turn folks
+against a boy!</q></p>
+
+<figure url="images/image02.jpg" rend="w50">
+ <anchor id="image02" />
+ <index index="fig" />
+ <head rend="font-size: x-small">Down Dropped the Bag.</head>
+ <figDesc>Illustration: Down Dropped the Bag.</figDesc>
+</figure>
+
+<p>Pausing only long enough to learn that Jack's
+pulses were beating, and that the submarine
+boy was breathing, Truax stole off into the
+night, carrying the bag of sand under his overcoat.
+At one point he paused long enough to
+empty the sand from the bag over a fence. The
+bag itself he afterwards burned in the open fireplace
+in the room assigned to him at Holt's
+Hotel.</p>
+
+<p>For twenty minutes Jack Benson lay as he
+had been left. Then he began to stir, and groan.
+Then he opened his eyes; after a while he managed
+to sit up.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="056" /><anchor id="Pg056" />
+<q>Ugh!</q> he grunted. <q>What's the odor?
+Liquor! How does that happen? Oh, my
+head!</q></p>
+
+<p>He got slowly to his feet, using the board
+fence as a means to help steady himself. Then,
+though he found himself weak and tormented
+by the pain in his head, Benson managed to feel
+his way along the fence until he came to the
+opening made by the loose board. Holding
+himself here, he thrust his head beyond.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Hal and Eph, having waited for some
+time at the shore boat, before going out on board
+the <q>Farnum,</q> had at last made up their minds
+to go back and look for their missing leader.
+They came along just at the moment that the
+young captain's head appeared through the
+opening in the fence.</p>
+
+<p><q>There he is,</q> muttered Hal, stopping short.
+<q>Gracious! He acts queerly. I wonder if
+anything can have happened to him? Come
+along, Eph!</q></p>
+
+<p>The two raced across the street.</p>
+
+<p><q>Jack, old fellow! What on earth's the matter?</q>
+demanded Hal Hastings, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p><q>I wish you could tell me,</q> responded Jack
+Benson, speaking rather thickly, for he was still
+somewhat dazed. <q>Oh, my head!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>There has been some queer work here,</q> muttered
+Hal in Eph's ear. <q>Don't torment him
+<pb n="057" /><anchor id="Pg057" />
+with questions. Just help me to get him down
+to the yard.</q></p>
+
+<p>While the two submarine boys were guiding
+their weak, dizzy comrade out to the sidewalk
+a man came by with a swinging stride. Then
+he stopped short, staring in amazement.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hullo, boys! What on earth has happened?</q></p>
+
+<p>It was Grant Andrews, foreman of the submarine
+work at the yard, and a warm personal
+friend of Benson's.</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't believe the old chap feels like telling
+us just now,</q> muttered Hal, with a sour
+face.</p>
+
+<p><q>Whiskey!</q> muttered Andrews, almost under
+his breath. <q>What does it mean? Benson
+never touched a drop of that vile stuff, did
+he?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>He'd sooner drown himself,</q> retorted Hal,
+with spirit.</p>
+
+<p><q>Of course he would,</q> agreed Grant Andrews.
+<q>But what is the meaning of all this?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, there's some queer, hocus-pocus business
+on foot,</q> muttered Hal, bitterly. <q>But I
+don't believe Jack feels much like telling us
+anything about it at present.</q></p>
+
+<p>In truth, Jack didn't seem inclined to conversation.
+He was too sore and dazed to feel
+like talking. He couldn't collect his ideas
+<pb n="058" /><anchor id="Pg058" />
+clearly. The most that he actually knew was
+that the pain in his head was tormenting.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll pick him right up in my arms and carry
+him,</q> proposed Andrews. <q>I'll take him to
+Mr. Farnum's office. Then I'll get a doctor.
+We don't want much noise about this, or folks
+will be telling all sorts of yarns against Jack
+Benson and his drinking habits, when the truth
+is he's about the finest, steadiest young fellow
+alive!</q></p>
+
+<p>Just as Andrews was about to carry his purpose
+into action, however, an automobile turned
+the nearest corner and came swiftly toward
+them. In another instant it stopped alongside.
+It contained Mr. Farnum and his chauffeur, besides
+three naval officers.</p>
+
+<p><q>What's wrong, Andrews?</q> called the
+yard's owner. <q>Why, that's Jack Benson!
+What has happened to him?</q></p>
+
+<p>Hal and Eph stood supporting their comrade,
+almost holding him, in fact. Jacob Farnum
+leaped from his automobile. Lieutenant
+Commander Mayhew followed him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Liquor, eh?</q> exclaimed the naval officer, the
+odor reaching his nostrils.</p>
+
+<p><q>No such thing,</q> retorted Farnum, turning
+upon the officer. <q>At least, Jack Benson has
+been drinking no such stuff.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It was only a guess,</q> murmured Mr. Mayhew,
+<pb n="059" /><anchor id="Pg059" />
+apologetically. <q>You know your young
+man better than I do, Mr. Farnum.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>There is liquor on his clothing,</q> continued
+the shipbuilder. <q>It looks as though someone
+had assaulted the lad, laid him out, and then
+sprinkled him. It's a wasted trick, though. I
+know him too well to be fooled by any such
+clumsy bit of nonsense.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>A stupid trick, indeed,</q> agreed Lieutenant
+Commander Mayhew, but the naval officer did
+not quite share the shipbuilder's confidence in
+the submarine boy's innocence. Mr. Mayhew
+had known of too many cases of naval apprentices
+ruined through weak indulgence in liquor.
+Indeed, he had even known of rare instances in
+which cadets had been dismissed from the Naval
+Academy for the same offense. The lieutenant
+commander's present doubt of Jack Benson was
+likely to work to that young man's disadvantage
+later on.</p>
+
+<p>Others of the party left the auto. Hal and
+Mr. Farnum got into the tonneau, supporting
+Jack there between them. Thus they carried
+him to Mr. Farnum's office at the yard, Grant
+Andrews then going in the car after a doctor,
+while the others stretched Jack on the office sofa.
+The naval officers returned to the <q>Hudson,</q> at
+anchor in the little harbor below.</p>
+
+<p><q>The young man acts as though he had been
+<pb n="060" /><anchor id="Pg060" />
+struck on the head,</q> was the physician's verdict.
+<q>No bones of the skull are broken. The
+odor of liquor is on his coat, but I can't seem to
+detect any on the breath.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Of course you can't,</q> commented Jacob
+Farnum, crisply. <q>Will Benson be fit to sail in
+the morning?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I think so,</q> nodded the doctor. <q>But there
+ought to be a nurse with him to-night.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Take my car, Andrews, and get a man nurse
+at once,</q> directed Mr. Farnum. <q>Doctor, can
+the young man be moved to his berth on the
+'Farnum'?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Safely enough,</q> nodded the medical man.
+They waited until the nurse arrived, when Jack
+was put to bed on the newer submarine craft.</p>
+
+<p>Jack slept through the night, moaning once
+in a while. Mr. Farnum and the Dunhaven
+doctor were aboard early to look at him. The
+surgeon from the <q>Hudson</q> also came over.</p>
+
+<p>Under the effects of medicine Jack Benson
+was asleep when, at ten o'clock that morning, the
+two submarine torpedo boats slipped their
+moorings, following the <q>parent boat,</q> the
+<q>Hudson,</q> out of the harbor.</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes later the motion of the sea awoke
+the young skipper.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<pb n="061" /><anchor id="Pg061" />
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS</head>
+
+<p>
+<q>Hullo!</q> muttered the young submarine
+skipper, staring curiously
+about the little stateroom aft. He
+had it to himself, the nurse having been put on
+shore. <q>Under way, eh? This is the queerest
+start I ever made on a voyage.</q></p>
+
+<p>Nor was it many moments later when Jack
+Benson stood on his feet. His clothes were
+hung neatly on nails against the wall. One after
+another Jack secured the garments, slowly donning
+them.</p>
+
+<p><q>How my head throbs and buzzes!</q> he muttered,
+his voice sounding unsteady. <q>Gracious!
+What could have happened? Let me see. The
+last I remember—passing that high fence—</q></p>
+
+<p>But it was all too great a puzzle. Benson
+finally decided to stop guessing until some
+future time. He went on with his dressing.
+Finally, with his blouse buttoned as exactly as
+ever, and his cap placed gingerly on his aching
+head, he opened the stateroom door, stepping
+out into the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>Accustomed as he was to sea motion, the slight
+roll of the <q>Farnum</q> did not bother the young
+<pb n="062" /><anchor id="Pg062" />
+skipper much. He soon reached the bottom of
+the short spiral stairway leading up into the conning
+tower. Up there, in the helmsman's seat,
+he espied Hal Hastings with his hands employed
+at the steering apparatus. Hal was looking out
+over the water, straight ahead.</p>
+
+<p><q>Sailing these days without word from your
+captain, eh?</q> Jack called, in a voice that carried,
+though it shook.</p>
+
+<p><q>Gracious—you?</q> ejaculated Hal, looking
+down for an instant. Then Hastings pressed a
+button connecting with a bell in the engine room.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm going up there with you,</q> Jack volunteered.</p>
+
+<p><q>Right-o, if you insist,</q> clicked Eph Somers,
+appearing from the engine room and darting to
+the young skipper's side. True, Jack's head
+swam a bit dizzily as he climbed the stairs, but
+Eph's strong support made the task much
+easier. There was space to spare on the seat
+beside Hal, and into this Jack Benson sank.</p>
+
+<p><q>Say, you ought to sleep until afternoon,</q>
+was Hastings's next greeting, but Jack was
+looking out of the conning tower at the scene
+around him.</p>
+
+<p>The three craft were leaving the coast directly
+behind. About three hundred yards away,
+abeam, steamed the <q>Hudson</q> at a nine-knot
+gait.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="063" /><anchor id="Pg063" />
+<q>The 'Pollard' is on the other side of the gunboat,
+isn't she?</q> asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> Hal nodded.</p>
+
+<p><q>Naval crew aboard her?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes; Government has taken full possession
+of the 'Pollard.'</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Who's running this boat? Just you and
+Eph?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No; that new man, Truax, is on board, and
+at the last moment Mr. Farnum put Williamson,
+one of the machinists, aboard, also. You can
+send Williamson back from Annapolis whenever
+you're through with him.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Williamson is all right,</q> nodded Jack,
+slowly. <q>But how about Truax?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I think he's going to be a useful man,</q> Hal
+responded. <q>He seems familiar with our type
+of engines. Of course, he knows nothing about
+the apparatus for submerging the boat or making
+it dive. But he doesn't need to. Now,
+Jack, old fellow, we're going along all right.
+Why not let Eph help you back to your bunk, or
+one of the seats in the cabin, and have your sleep
+out?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I've had it out,</q> Benson declared, with a
+laugh. <q>I'm ready, now, to take my trick at the
+wheel.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Nonsense,</q> retorted Hal Hastings. <q>I've
+been here a bare quarter of an hour, and I'm
+<pb n="064" /><anchor id="Pg064" />
+good for more work than that. Jack, you're
+nothing but a fifth wheel. You're not needed;
+won't be all day, and at night we anchor in some
+harbor down the coast. Go and rest, like a good
+fellow.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Can't rest, when I know I'm doing nothing,</q>
+Benson retorted, stubbornly. <q>Besides, this is
+the first time I've ever found myself moving
+along in regular formation with the United
+States Navy. I feel almost as if I were a Navy
+officer myself, and I mean to make the most of
+the sensation. Say, Hal, wouldn't it be fine if
+we really <hi rend="font-style: italic">did</hi> belong to the Navy?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Gee-whiz!</q> murmured young Hastings, his
+cheeks glowing and his eyes snapping.</p>
+
+<p><q>If we only belonged to the old Flag for life,
+and knew that we were practising on a boat like
+this as a part of the preparation for real war
+when it came?</q></p>
+
+<p><q><hi rend="font-style: italic">Don't!</hi></q> begged Hal, tensely. <q>For you
+know, old fellow, it can't come true. Why, we
+haven't even a residence anywhere, from which
+a Congressman could appoint one of us to
+Annapolis!</q></p>
+
+<p><q><hi rend="font-style: italic">One</hi> of us?</q> muttered Jack, scornfully.
+<q>Then it would have to be you. <hi rend="font-style: italic">I</hi> wouldn't go,
+even as a cadet at Annapolis, and leave you behind
+in just plain, ordinary life, Hal Hastings!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Well, it's no use thinking about it,</q> sighed
+<pb n="065" /><anchor id="Pg065" />
+Hal, practically. <q>Neither one of us is in any
+danger of getting appointed to Annapolis, so
+there's no chance that either one of us ever will
+become an officer in the Navy. Let's not talk
+about it, Jack. I've been contented enough, so
+far, but now it makes me almost blue, to think
+that we can only go on testing and handling submarine
+craft like these, while others will be their
+real officers in the Navy, and command them in
+any war that may come.</q></p>
+
+<p>Though his head throbbed, and though a dizzy
+spell came over him every few minutes, Jack
+Benson stuck it out, up there beside his chum,
+for an hour. Then, disdaining aid, he crept
+down the stairs, stretching himself out on one of
+the cabin seats. Eph brought him a pillow and
+a blanket. Jack soon slept, tossing uneasily
+whenever pain throbbed dully in his head.</p>
+
+<p><q>Guess I'll go out and have a little look at the
+young captain,</q> proposed Sam Truax, an hour
+later.</p>
+
+<p><q>Try another guess,</q> retorted Eph, curtly.
+<q>You'll stay here in the engine room. Jack
+Benson isn't going to be bothered in any way.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm not going to bother him; just going to
+take a look at him,</q> protested Truax, moving
+toward the door that separated the engine room
+from the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>But young Somers caught the stranger by the
+<pb n="066" /><anchor id="Pg066" />
+sleeve of the oily jumper that Sam had donned
+on beginning his work.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you know what folks say about me?</q> demanded
+Eph, with a significant glare.</p>
+
+<p><q>What do they say?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Folks have an idea that, at most times, I'm
+one of the best-natured fellows on earth,</q> declared
+Eph, solemnly. <q>Yet they <hi rend="font-style: italic">do</hi> say that,
+when I'm crossed in anything my mind's made
+up to, I can be tarnation ugly. I just told you
+I don't want the captain disturbed. Do you
+know, Sam Truax, I feel a queer notion coming
+over me? I've an idea that that feeling is just
+plain ugliness coming to life!</q></p>
+
+<p>Truax came back from the door, a grin on his
+face. Yet, when he turned his head away, there
+was a queer, almost deadly flash in the fellow's
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Jack slept, uneasily, until towards the middle
+of the afternoon. As soon as Eph found him
+awake, that young man brought the captain a
+plate of toast and a bowl of broth, both prepared
+at the little galley stove.</p>
+
+<p><q>Sit up and get away with these,</q> urged Eph,
+placing the tray on the cabin table. <q>Wait a
+minute. I'll prop you up and put a pillow at
+your back.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>This boat isn't a bad place for a fellow
+when he's knocked out,</q> smiled Jack.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="067" /><anchor id="Pg067" />
+<q>Any place ought to be good, where your
+friends are,</q> came, curtly, from young Somers.</p>
+
+<p>As Captain Jack ate the warm food he felt his
+strength coming back to him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Poor old Hal has been up there in the conning
+tower all these hours,</q> muttered Captain
+Jack, uneasily. <q>He must have that cramped
+feeling in his hands.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Humph!</q> retorted Eph. <q>Not so you could
+notice it much, I guess. It's a simpleton's job
+up in the conning tower to-day. All he has to
+do is to shift the wheel a little to port, or to starboard,
+just so as to keep the proper interval
+from the 'Dad' boat. Besides, I've been up
+there on relief, for an hour while you slept, and
+Hal came down and sat with the engines. Cheer
+up, Jack. No one misses you from the conning
+tower.</q></p>
+
+<p>Benson laughed, though he said, warningly:</p>
+
+<p><q>I reckon we'll do as well to drop calling the
+gunboat the 'Dad boat' instead of the 'parent
+vessel.'</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Well, you needn't bother at all about the
+conning tower to-day,</q> wound up Eph, glancing
+at his watch. <q>It's after half-past three at this
+moment and I understand we're to drop anchor
+about five o'clock.</q></p>
+
+<p>So Skipper Jack settled back with a comfortable
+sigh. Truth to tell, it was pleasant not to
+<pb n="068" /><anchor id="Pg068" />
+have any immediate duty, for his head throbbed,
+every now and then, and he felt dizzy when he
+tried to walk.</p>
+
+<p><q>Who could have hit me in that fashion, last
+night, and for what earthly purpose?</q> wondered
+the boy. <q>I've had some enemies, in the
+past, but I don't know a single person about
+Dunhaven, now who has any reason for wishing
+me harm.</q></p>
+
+<p>Never a thought crossed his mind of suspecting
+Sam Truax. That worthy had come with a
+note from David Pollard, the inventor of the
+boats. Sam, therefore, must be all right, the
+boy reasoned.</p>
+
+<p>Jack lay back on the upholstered seat. He
+sat with his eyes closed most of the time, though
+he did not doze. At last, however, he heard the
+engine room bell sound for reduced speed. Getting
+up, the young captain made his way to the
+foot of the conning tower stairs.</p>
+
+<p><q>Making port, Hal?</q> he called.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yep,</q> came the reply. <q>We'll be at anchor
+in five minutes more.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack made his way slowly to the door of the
+engine room.</p>
+
+<p><q>Eph,</q> he called, <q>as soon as you've shut
+off speed, take Truax above and you two attend
+to the mooring.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Take this other man up with you,</q> urged
+<pb n="069" /><anchor id="Pg069" />
+Sam Truax. <q>I don't know anything about tying
+a boat up to moorings.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Time you learned, then,</q> returned Eph
+Somers, <q>if you're to stay aboard a submarine
+craft.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Take this other man up with you,</q> again
+urged Truax.</p>
+
+<p>Eph Somers turned around to face him with
+a good deal of a glare.</p>
+
+<p><q>What ails you, Truax? You heard the captain's
+order. You'll go with me.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Don't be too sure of that,</q> uttered Sam
+Truax, defiantly.</p>
+
+<p><q>If you don't go above with me, and if you
+don't follow every order you get aboard this
+boat, I know where you <hi rend="font-style: italic">will</hi> go,</q> muttered
+Eph, decisively.</p>
+
+<p><q>Where?</q> jeered Sam.</p>
+
+<p><q>Ashore—in the first boat that can take you
+there.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You seem to forget that I'm on board by
+David Pollard's order,</q> sneered Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>All I am sure of,</q> retorted Eph, <q>is that
+Jack Benson is captain on board this craft.
+That means that he's sole judge of everything
+here when this boat is cruising. If you were
+here by the orders of both owners, Jack Benson
+would fire you ashore for good, just the
+same, after you've balked at the first order.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="070" /><anchor id="Pg070" />
+<q>Humph! I—</q></p>
+
+<p>Clang! Jangle! The signal bell was sounding.</p>
+
+<p><q>Shut up,</q> ordered Eph Somers, briskly.
+<q>I've got the engine to run on signal from the
+watch officer.</q></p>
+
+<p>There followed a series of signals, first of all
+for stopping speed, then for a brief reversing of
+engines. A moment later headway speed ahead
+was ordered. So on Eph went through the
+series of orders until the <q>Farnum</q> had been
+manœuvred to her exact position. Then, from
+above, Captain Jack's voice was heard, roaring
+in almost his usual tones:</p>
+
+<p><q>Turn out below, there, to help make fast!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Take the lever, Williamson,</q> directed Eph.
+<q>Come along lively, Truax.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Humph! Let Williamson go,</q> grumbled
+Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>You come along with me, my man!</q> roared
+Eph, his face blazing angrily. <q>Hustle, too, or
+I'll report you to the captain for disobedience of
+orders. Then you'll go ashore at express speed.
+Coming?</q></p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax appeared to wage a very brief
+battle within himself. Then, nodding sulkily,
+he followed.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hustle up, there!</q> Jack shouted down.
+<q>We don't want to drift.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="071" /><anchor id="Pg071" />
+Jack Benson stood out on the platform deck,
+holding to the conning tower at the port side.
+A naval launch had just placed a buoy over an
+anchor that had been lowered.</p>
+
+<p><q>Get forward, you two,</q> Jack called briskly,
+<q>and make the bow cable fast to that buoy.</q></p>
+
+<p>Hal still sat at the wheel in the tower. As
+Eph and Truax crept forward over the arched
+upper hull of the <q>Farnum,</q> Hal sounded the
+engine room signals and steered until the boat
+had gotten close enough to make the bow cable
+fast. Then the stern cable was made fast, with
+more line, to another buoy.</p>
+
+<p><q>A neat hitch, Mr. Benson,</q> came a voice
+from the bridge of the <q>Hudson,</q> which lay a
+short distance away. Jack, looking up, saw
+Lieutenant Commander Mayhew leaning over
+the bridge rail.</p>
+
+<p><q>Thank you, sir,</q> Jack acknowledged, saluting
+the naval officer.</p>
+
+<p>The parent vessel and her two submarine
+charges now lay at anchor in the harbor at Port
+Clovis, one of the towns down the coast from
+Dunhaven. This mooring overnight was to be
+repeated each day until Annapolis should be
+reached.</p>
+
+<p>Within fifteen minutes the craft were surrounded
+by small boats from shore. Some of
+these contained merchandise that it was hoped
+<pb n="072" /><anchor id="Pg072" />
+sailors would buy. Other boats <q>ran</q> for
+hotels, restaurants, drinking places, amusement
+halls, and all the varied places on shore that
+hope to fatten on Jack Tar's money.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'd like to go ashore, sir,</q> announced Sam
+Truax, approaching Captain Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>When?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Now.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>For how long?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Until ten o'clock to-night.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Be back by that hour, then,</q> Jack replied.
+<q>If you're not, you'll find everything shut tight
+aboard here.</q></p>
+
+<p>Truax quickly signaled one of the hovering
+boats, and put off in it. Eph watched the boat
+for a few moments before he turned to Captain
+Jack to mutter:</p>
+
+<p><q>Somehow, I wouldn't feel very badly about
+it if that fellow got lost on shore!</q></p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO</head>
+
+<p>
+On the second day of the cruise Jack
+Benson returned to full duty.</p>
+
+<p>For four nights, in all, the submarine
+squadron tied up at moorings in harbors
+along the coast. On the fifth night, as
+<pb n="073" /><anchor id="Pg073" />
+darkness fell, the squadron continued under
+way, in Chesapeake Bay, for Annapolis was but
+three hours away.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately after supper Captain Jack took
+his place in the conning tower. He concerned
+himself principally with the compass, his only
+other task being to keep the course by the <q>Hudson's</q>
+lights, for the parent boat supplied in
+its own conduct all the navigation orders beyond
+the general course. The <q>Farnum's</q> searchlight
+was not used, the gunboat picking up all
+the coast-marks as they neared land.</p>
+
+<p><q>Annapolis is the place I've always wanted to
+see,</q> Jack declared, as Hal joined him in the
+conning tower.</p>
+
+<p><q>It's the place where I've always wanted to
+be a cadet,</q> sighed Hal. <q>But there's no
+chance for me, I fear. Jack, I'd rather be an
+officer of the Navy than a millionaire.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Same here,</q> replied Jack, steadily. <q>It's
+hard to have to feel that I'll never be either.</q></p>
+
+<p>As she entered the mouth of the Severn River
+the <q>Hudson</q> signaled to the submarines to
+follow, in file, the <q>Pollard</q> leading. A little
+later the three craft entered the Basin at the
+Academy. While the gunboat anchored off the
+Amphitheatre, the two submarine boats were
+ordered to anchorage just off the Boat House.
+Then a cutter came alongside.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="074" /><anchor id="Pg074" />
+<q>The lieutenant commander's compliments
+to Mr. Benson. Will Mr. Benson go aboard the
+'Hudson'?</q> asked the young officer in command
+of the cutter. Captain Jack lost no time
+in presenting himself before the lieutenant
+commander.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson,</q> said Mr. Mayhew, after greeting
+the submarine boy, <q>your craft will be under
+a marine guard to-night, and at all times while
+here at the Naval Academy. If you and your
+crew would like to spend the night ashore, in
+the quaint little old town of Annapolis, there's
+no reason why you shouldn't. But you will all
+need to report back aboard, ready for duty, by
+eight in the morning.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack thanked the naval commander, then hastened
+back to the <q>Farnum</q> to communicate
+the news.</p>
+
+<p><q>Me for the shore trip,</q> declared Eph,
+promptly. All the others agreed with him.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll come back by ten o'clock to-night,
+though,</q> volunteered Sam Truax. <q>One of the
+crew ought to be aboard.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>We'll stay ashore,</q> decided Jack, <q>and return
+in the morning.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm coming back to-night,</q> retorted Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>Keep still, and follow orders,</q> muttered
+Eph, digging his elbow into Truax's ribs. <q>The
+captain gives the orders here.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="075" /><anchor id="Pg075" />
+Jack, however, had turned away. Within
+five minutes a boat put off from shore, bringing
+two soldiers of the marine guard alongside.
+With them, in the shore boat, was a corporal of
+the guard.</p>
+
+<p><q>Any of your crew coming back to-night,
+sir?</q> asked the corporal.</p>
+
+<p><q>None,</q> Benson answered. <q>Will you instruct
+the sentries to see that none of the crew
+are allowed aboard during the night?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Very good, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p>The shore boat waited to convey them to the
+landing. Before going, young Captain Benson
+closed and locked the manhole entrance to the
+conning tower. A sullen silence had fallen over
+Truax. The instructions to the corporal of the
+guard, and the prompt acceptance of those instructions,
+told Sam, beyond any doubt, that he
+was <hi rend="font-style: italic">not</hi> coming back on board that night.</p>
+
+<p>Truax followed the others as they passed
+through the Academy grounds. Beyond the
+large, handsome buildings, there was not much
+to be seen at night. Lights shone behind all the
+windows in Cadet Barracks. Nearly all of the
+cadets of the United States Navy were in their
+quarters, hard at study. Here and there a
+marine sentry paced. A few naval officers, in
+uniform, passed along the walks. That was all,
+and the submarine party had crossed the
+<pb n="076" /><anchor id="Pg076" />
+grounds to the gate through which they were to
+pass into the town of Annapolis.</p>
+
+<p><q>Coming with us, Truax?</q> asked Williamson,
+as the party passed out into a dimly lighted
+street.</p>
+
+<p><q>No,</q> replied the fellow, sullenly. <q>I'll
+travel by myself.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You're welcome to,</q> muttered Eph, under
+his breath.</p>
+
+<p>The others climbed the steps to the State Capitol
+grounds, continuing until they reached one
+of the principal streets of the little town.</p>
+
+<p><q>Say, but this place must have gone to sleep
+before we got ashore,</q> grumbled Eph.
+<q>Hanged if I don't think Dunhaven is a livelier
+little place!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>There isn't much to do, except to wander
+about a bit, then go to the Maryland House for a
+good sleep on shore,</q> Jack admitted.</p>
+
+<p>For more than an hour the submarine boys
+wandered about. The principal streets contained
+some stores that had a bright, up-to-date
+look, and in these principal streets the evening
+crowds much resembled those to be found in any
+small town. There were other streets, however,
+on which there was little traffic. In some of these
+quieter streets were quaint, old-fashioned houses
+built in the Colonial days.</p>
+
+<p><q>Annapolis is more of a place to see by daylight,
+<pb n="077" /><anchor id="Pg077" />
+I reckon,</q> suggested Hal. <q>How about
+that sleep, Jack?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The greatest fun, by night, I guess, consists
+in finding a drug-store and spending some of our
+loose change on ice cream sodas,</q> laughed the
+young submarine skipper.</p>
+
+<p>This done, they found their way to the Maryland
+House. Jack and Hal engaged a room together,
+Eph and Williamson taking the adjoining
+one.</p>
+
+<p><q>As for me, in an exciting place like this,</q>
+grimaced Eph, <q>I'm off for bed.</q></p>
+
+<p>Williamson followed him upstairs. For some
+minutes Hal sat with his chum in the hotel office.
+Then Jack went over and talked with the night
+clerk for a few moments.</p>
+
+<p><q>There's a place near here, Hal, where a fellow
+can get an oyster fry,</q> Benson explained,
+returning to his chum. <q>With that information
+came the discovery that I have an appetite.
+Come and join me?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No,</q> gaped Hal. <q>I reckon I'll go up and
+turn in.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'll be along in half an hour, then.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack found the oyster house readily. As he
+entered the little, not over-clean place, he found
+himself the only customer. He gave his order,
+then picked up the local daily paper. As he ate,
+Jack found himself yawning. The drowsiness
+<pb n="078" /><anchor id="Pg078" />
+of Annapolis by night was coming upon him.
+Little did he dream how soon he was to discover
+that Annapolis, in some of its parts, can be
+lively enough.</p>
+
+<p>As he paid his bill and stepped to the street, a
+young mulatto hurried up to him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Am Ah correct, sah, in supposin' yo' Cap'n
+Jack Benson?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's my name,</q> Jack admitted.</p>
+
+<p><q>Den Ah's jes' been 'roun' to de hotel, lookin'
+fo' yo', sah. One ob yo' men, Mistah Sam
+Truax, am done took sick, an' he done sent me
+fo' yo'.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Truax ill? Why, I saw him a couple of
+hours ago, and he looked as healthy as a man
+could look,</q> Jack replied, in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p><q>I reckon, sah, he's mighty po'ly now, sah,</q>
+replied the mulatto. <q>He done gib me money
+fo' to hiah a cab an' take yo' to him. Will yo'
+please to come, sah?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> agreed Jack. <q>Lead the way.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>T'ank yo', sah; t'ank yo', sah. Follow me,
+sah.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack's mulatto guide led him down the street
+a little way, then around a corner. Here a
+rickety old cab with a single horse attached,
+waited. A gray old darkey sat on the driver's
+seat.</p>
+
+<p><q>Step right inside, sah. We'll be dere
+<pb n="079" /><anchor id="Pg079" />
+direckly. Marse Truax'll be powahful glad to
+see yo', sah.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>See here,</q> demanded Jack, after they had
+driven several blocks at a good speed, <q>Truax
+hasn't been getting into any drinking scrapes,
+has he? Hasn't been getting himself arrested,
+has he?</q></p>
+
+<p>For young Benson had learned, from the night
+clerk at the hotel, that, quiet and <q>dead</q> as
+Annapolis appears to the stranger, there are
+<q>tough</q> places into which a seafaring stranger
+may find his way.</p>
+
+<p><q>No, sah; no, sah,</q> protested the mulatto.
+<q>Marse Truax done got sick right and proper.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, confound it, we're leaving the town
+behind,</q> cried Jack, a few moments later, after
+peering out through the cab window.</p>
+
+<p><q>Dat's all right, sah. Dere ain' nuffin' to be
+'fraid ob, sah.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Afraid?</q> uttered Jack, scornfully, with a
+side glance at the mulatto. The submarine boy
+felt confident that, in a stretch of trouble, he
+could thrash this guide of his in very short
+order.</p>
+
+<p><q>Ah might jess well tell yo' wheah we am
+gwine, sah,</q> volunteered the mulatto, presently.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> Benson retorted, drily. <q>I think you
+may.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Marse Truax, sah, he done hab er powah ob
+<pb n="080" /><anchor id="Pg080" />
+trouble, sah, las' wintah, wid rheumatiz, sah.
+He 'fraid he gwine cotch it again dis wintah,
+sah. Now, sah, dere am some good voodoo
+doctahs 'roun' Annapolis, so Marse Truax, he
+done gwine to see, sah, what er voodoo can
+promise him fo' his rheumatiz. I'se a runnah,
+sah, for de smahtest ole voodoo doctah, sah, in
+de whole state ob Maryland.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then you took Truax to a voodoo doctor to-night?</q>
+demanded Jack, almost contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sah; yes, sah.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I thought Truax had more sense than to go
+in for such tomfoolery,</q> Jack Benson retorted,
+bluntly.</p>
+
+<p>The mulatto launched into a prompt, energetic
+defense of the voodoo doctors. Young
+Benson had heard a good deal about these clever
+old colored frauds. In spite of his contempt,
+the submarine boy found himself interested.
+He had heard about the charms, spells, incantations
+and other humbugs practised on colored
+dupes and on some credulous whites by these
+greatest of all quacks. The voodoo methods of
+<q>healing</q> are brought out of the deepest jungles
+of darkest Africa, yet there are many
+ignorant people, even among the whites, who
+believe steadfastly in the <q>cures</q> wrought by
+the voodoo.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="081" /><anchor id="Pg081" />
+While the mulatto guide was talking, or answering
+Jack's half-amused questions, the cab
+left Annapolis further and further behind.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yo' see, sah,</q> the guide went on, <q>Marse
+Truax wa'n't in no fit condition, sah, to try de
+strongest voodoo medicine dat he called fo'. So,
+w'ile de voodoo was sayin' his strongest chahms,
+Marse Truax done fall down, frothin' at de
+mouth. He am some bettah, now, sah, but he
+kain't be move' from de voodoo's house 'cept
+by a frien'.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'll get a chance to see one of these old voodoo
+frauds, anyway,</q> Jack told himself. <q>This
+new experience will be worth the time it keeps
+me out of my bed. What a pity Hal missed a
+queer old treat like this!</q></p>
+
+<p>When the cab at last stopped, Benson looked
+out to find that the place was well down a lonely
+country road, well lined with trees on either
+side. The house, utterly dark from the outside,
+was a ramshackle, roomy old affair.</p>
+
+<p><q>Shall Ah wait fo' yo'?</q> asked the old colored
+driver.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, wait for me,</q> directed Jack, briefly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yeah; wait fo' de gemmun. He's all right,</q>
+volunteered the mulatto.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mebbe yo' kin see some voodoo wo'k, too, ef
+yo's int'rested,</q> hinted the guide, in a whisper,
+as he fitted a key to a lock, and swung a door
+<pb n="082" /><anchor id="Pg082" />
+open. In a hallway stood a lighted lantern,
+which the guide picked up.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, go quiet-lak, on tip-toe. Sh!</q> cautioned
+the guide, himself moving stealthily into
+the nearest room. Jack Benson began to feel
+secretly awestruck and <q>creepy,</q> though he
+was too full of grit to betray the fact.</p>
+
+<p>At the further end of the room the guide,
+holding the lantern behind his body as though by
+accident, threw open another door.</p>
+
+<p><q>Pass right on through dis room, ahead ob
+me, sah,</q> begged the guide, respectfully.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack drew back, instinctively, out of the
+darkness.</p>
+
+<p><q>Don' yo', a w'ite man, be 'fraid ob ole voodoo
+house,</q> advised the mulatto, still speaking
+respectfully.</p>
+
+<p>Afraid? Of course not. Relying on his muscle
+and his agility, Jack stepped ahead. By a
+sudden jerk of his arm the mulatto guide shook
+out the flame in the lantern.</p>
+
+<p><q>Here, you! What are you about?</q> growled
+Jack Benson, wheeling like a flash upon his
+escort.</p>
+
+<p><q>Go 'long, yo' w'ite trash!</q> jeered the
+mulatto. He gave the boy a sudden, forceful
+shove.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson, under the impetus of that push,
+staggered ahead, seeking to recover his balance.
+<pb n="083" /><anchor id="Pg083" />
+Without a doubt he would have done so, but,
+just then, the floor under his feet ended. With
+a yell of dismay, the submarine boy tottered,
+then plunged down, alighting on a bed of soft
+dirt many feet below.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING <q>NEW,</q> ALL RIGHT</head>
+
+<p>
+Jack Benson was on his feet in an instant.
+An angrier boy it would have
+been hard to find.</p>
+
+<p>From overhead came the sound of a loud
+guffaw.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, you infernal scoundrel!</q> raged the submarine
+boy, shaking his fist in the dark.</p>
+
+<p><q>W'at am de matter wid yo', w'ite trash?</q>
+came the jeering query.</p>
+
+<p><q>Let me get my hands on you, and I'll show
+you!</q> quivered Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yah! Listen to yo'! Yo' wait er minute,
+an' Ah'll show yo' a light.</q></p>
+
+<p>Gr-r-r-r! Gr-r-r-r! That sound from overhead
+was not pleasant. Jack, in the few
+seconds that were left to him, could only guess
+as to the cause of the sounds. Then, some fifteen
+feet over his head, a tiny flame sputtered.
+This match-end was carried to the wick of the
+<pb n="084" /><anchor id="Pg084" />
+lantern that the yellowish guide had been carrying,
+and now the light illumined the place into
+which Jack Benson had fallen.</p>
+
+<p>That place was a square-shaped pit, with
+boarded sides. Up above, on a shelf of flooring,
+knelt the late guide, grinning down with a
+look of infernal glee. On either side of the
+mulatto stood a heavy-jowled bull-dog. Both
+brutes peered down, showing their teeth in a
+way to make a timid man's blood run cold.</p>
+
+<p><q>Put those dogs back and come down here,</q>
+challenged Jack, shaking his fist. <q>Come down,
+and I'll teach you a few things, you rascal!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Don' yo' shake yo' fist at me, or dem dawgs
+will sure jump down and tackle yo',</q> grinned
+the guide, gripping at the collars of the brutes,
+which, truly, showed signs of intending to spring
+below.</p>
+
+<p>Jack fell back, his hands dropping to his sides.
+Had there been but one dog, the submarine boy,
+with all his grit forced to the surface, might
+have chosen to face the brute, hoping to despatch
+it with a well-aimed kick. But with two dogs,
+both intent on <q>getting</q> him, young Benson
+knew that he would stand the fabled chance of
+a snow-flake on a red-hot stove.</p>
+
+<p><q>Dat's right, gemmun, yo' keep cool,</q> observed
+the mulatto, mockingly.</p>
+
+<p><q>You've decoyed me—trapped me here with
+<pb n="085" /><anchor id="Pg085" />
+a mess of lies,</q> flung back Captain Jack,
+angrily. <q>What's your game?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Dis am a free lodgin' house—ho, ho, ho!</q>
+chuckled the late guide. <q>Ah's gwine gib yo'
+er place to sleep fo' de night. Yo' sho'ly must
+feel 'bleeged to me—ho, ho, ho!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You lied to me about Sam Truax!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yeah! Ah done foun' dat was de name ob a
+gemmun in yo' pahty dat wasn't wid yo'.
+Truax do as well as any odder name—yah!
+Now, Ah's gwine leab yo' heah t' git a sleep.
+Ah'll toss down some blankets. 'Pose yo'se'f
+and gwine ter sleep, honey. Don't try to clim'
+up outer dat, or dem dawgs'll sho'ly jump down
+at yo'. Keep quiet, an' go ter sleep, an' de
+dawgs done lay heah an' jest watch. But don'
+try nuffin' funny, or de dawgs'll sho'ly bring
+trubble to yo'. Dem is trained dawgs—train'
+fo' dis business ob mine. Ho, ho, ho!</q></p>
+
+<p>Mulatto and light vanished, but enraged,
+baffled, helpless Captain Jack could hear the
+two dogs moving about ere they settled down on
+the shelf of flooring overhead.</p>
+
+<p><q>No matter how much of a liar that rascal is,
+he didn't lie to me about the dogs,</q> reflected
+Jack, his temper cooling, but his bitterness increasing.
+<q>They're fighting dogs, and one
+wrong move would bring them bounding down
+here on me—the two together. Ugh-gh!</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="086" /><anchor id="Pg086" />
+After a few moments the mulatto reappeared
+with a light and tossed down three heavy
+blankets.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, Ah's gwine leave yo' fo' de night,</q>
+clacked the late guide. <q>Ef yo' done feel lonesome,
+yo' jes' whistle de dawgs down to yo'.
+Dey'll come!</q></p>
+
+<p>While the light was still there Benson, in raging
+silence, gathered the blankets and arranged
+them.</p>
+
+<p><q>Roll up one fo' a pillow, under yo' haid,</q>
+grinned the mulatto. <q>Dat's all right, sah.
+Now, good night, Marse Benson. Ef yo' feel
+lonesome, Marse Benson, jes' whistle fo' de
+dawgs. <hi rend="font-style: italic">Dey'll come!</hi></q></p>
+
+<p>The light vanished while the mulatto's sinister
+words were ringing in the boy's ears. Would
+the dogs jump down? Jack knew they would,
+at the first false move or sound on his part. He
+huddled softly, stealthily, on the blankets, there
+in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>As he lay there, thinking, Benson's sense of
+admiration gradually got to the surface.</p>
+
+<p><q>Well, of all the slick man-traps!</q> he gasped.
+<q>I never heard of anything more clever. Nor
+was there ever a bigger idiot than I, to walk
+stupidly into this same trap! What's the game,
+I wonder? Robbery, it must be. And I have a
+watch, some other little valuables and nearly a
+<pb n="087" /><anchor id="Pg087" />
+hundred and fifty dollars in money on me. Oh,
+I'm the sleek, fat goose for plucking!</q></p>
+
+<p>Lying there, in enforced stillness, Jack Benson,
+after an hour or so, actually fell asleep. A
+good, healthy sleeper at all times, he slumbered
+on through the night. Once he awoke, just a
+trifle chilled. He heard one of the dogs snoring
+overhead. Crawling under one of the blankets,
+Benson went to sleep again.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hey, yo', Marse Benson. It am mawnin'.
+Time yo' was wakin' up an' movin' erlong!</q></p>
+
+<p>It was the voice of the same mulatto, calling
+down into the pit. Again the rays of the lantern
+illumined the darkness. Both bull-dogs
+displayed their ferocious muzzles over the edge
+of the pit. Jack sat up cautiously, not caring to
+attract unfriendly interest from the dogs.</p>
+
+<p><q>Ah want yo' to take off all yo' clothes 'cept
+yo' undahclothes, an' den Ah'll let down a string
+fo' yo' to tie 'em to,</q> declared the mulatto,
+grinning. <q>Yo' needn't try ter slip yo' wallet,
+nor nuffin' outer mah sight, cause Ah'll be
+watchin'. Now, git a hurry on, Marse Benson,
+or Ah'll done push dem dawgs ober de aidge
+ob dis flooring.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack hesitated only a moment. Then, with a
+grunt of rage, he began removing his outer garments.
+Down came a twine, to the lower end of
+which the boy made fast his garments, one after
+<pb n="088" /><anchor id="Pg088" />
+another. His money and valuables went up in
+the pockets, for the sharp eyes of the mulatto
+could not have been eluded by any amateur
+slight-of-hand.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, yo' cap an' yo' shoes,</q> directed the
+grinning monster above.</p>
+
+<p>These, too, Benson passed up at the end of the
+cord. The mulatto disappeared, leaving the
+two dogs still on guard. At last, back came the
+light and the yellowish man with it.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yo' sho' is good picking, Marse Benson,</q>
+grinned the guide of the night before. <q>Yo'
+has good pin feathers. Ah hope Ah'll suttinly
+meet yo' again.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I hope we do meet at another time!</q> Jack
+Benson flared back, wrathily. The cool insolence
+of the fellow cut him to the marrow, yet
+where was the use of disobeying a rascal flanked
+by two such willing and capable dogs?</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, yo' jes' put dese t'ings on, Marse Benson,
+ef yo' please, sah,</q> mocked the mulatto,
+tossing down some woefully tattered, nondescript
+garments, and, after them, a battered,
+rimless Derby hat and a pair of brogans out at
+the toes.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll be hanged if I'll put on such duds!</q>
+quivered Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Jes' as yo' please, ob co'se, Marse Benson,</q>
+came the answer, from above. <q>But, ef yo'
+<pb n="089" /><anchor id="Pg089" />
+don' put dem t'ings on, yo'll sho'ly hab ter
+gwine back ter 'Napolis in yo' undahclo's.
+An' yo's gwine back right away, too, so, ef yo'
+wants ter gwine back weahin' ernuff clo'es—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, well, then—!</q> ground out the submarine
+boy, savagely enough.</p>
+
+<p>He attired himself in these tattered ends of
+raiment. Had he not been so angry he must
+have roared at sight of his comical self when the
+dressing was completed.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS</head>
+
+<p>
+<q>Now, yo'll do, Ah reckons.</q></p>
+
+<p>With that, the mulatto guide of the
+night before threw down one end of
+an inch rope.</p>
+
+<p><q>Ah reckon yo's sailor ernuff to clim' dat.
+Come right erlong, 'less yo' wants de dawgs ter
+jump down dar.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>But they'll tackle me if I come up,</q> objected
+Jack Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>No, dey won't. Dem dawgs is train' to dis
+wo'k. Ah done tole yo' dat. Come right
+erlong. Ah'll keep my two eyes on dem
+dawgs.</q></p>
+
+<p>It looked like a highly risky bit of business,
+<pb n="090" /><anchor id="Pg090" />
+but Jack told himself that, now he had been deprived
+of his valuables, this yellow worthy must
+be genuinely anxious to be rid of the victim. So
+he took hold of the rope and began to climb.
+The mulatto and the dogs disappeared from the
+upper edge of the pit.</p>
+
+<p>As his head came up above the level of the
+flooring Benson saw the mulatto and the dogs
+in the next room, the connecting door of which
+had been taken from its hinges.</p>
+
+<p><q>Come right in, Marse Benson. Dere ain'
+nuffin' gwineter hu't yo',</q> came the rascal's
+voice reassuringly. Jack obeyed by stepping
+into the next room, though he kept watch over
+the dogs out of the corners of his eyes.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, yo' lie right down on de flo', Marse
+Benson,</q> commanded the master of the situation.
+<q>Ah's gotter tie yo' up, befo' Ah can
+staht yo' back ter 'Napolis, but dere ain' no
+hahm gwine come ter yo'.</q></p>
+
+<p>Making a virtue of necessity, Captain Jack
+lay down as directed, passing his hands behind
+his back. These were deftly secured, after
+which his ankles were treated in the same
+fashion. Immediately the mulatto, who was
+strong and wiry, lifted the boy and the lantern
+together. The dogs remaining behind, Jack
+was carried out into the yard, where he discovered
+that daylight was coming on in the East.
+<pb n="091" /><anchor id="Pg091" />
+He was dumped on the ground long enough to
+permit his captor to lock the door securely.
+Then the submarine boy was lifted once more,
+carried around the corner of the house and
+dumped in the bottom of a shabby old delivery
+wagon. A canvas was pulled over him, concealing
+him from any chance passer. Then the
+mulatto ran around to the seat, picking up the
+reins and starting the horse.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed like a long drive to the boy, though
+Benson was certainly in no position to judge
+time accurately. At last the team was halted,
+along a stretch of road in a deep woods. The
+mulatto lifted the submarine boy out to the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, w'en yo's got yo' se'f free, yo' can
+take de road in dat direckshun,</q> declared the
+fellow, pointing. <q>Bimeby yo' come in sight ob
+de town. Now, Marse Benson, w'at happen to
+yo' las' night am all in de co'se ob a lifetime, an'
+Ah hope you ain't got no bad feelin's. Yo' suttinly
+done learn somet'ing new in de way ob
+tricks. Good-bye, sah, an' mah compliments to
+yo', Marse Benson.</q></p>
+
+<p>With that the guide of the night before swiftly
+cut the cords at Jack's wrists, then as swiftly
+leaped to the seat of the wagon, whipping up the
+horse and disappearing in a cloud of dust.</p>
+
+<p>Jack, having now no knife, and the bonds
+<pb n="092" /><anchor id="Pg092" />
+about his ankles being tied with many hard
+knots, spent some precious minutes in freeing
+his feet. At last he stood up, fire in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, pshaw! There's no sense in trying to
+run after that rascal and his wagon,</q> decided
+the young submarine skipper. <q>I haven't the
+slightest idea what direction he took after he
+got out of sight, and—oh, gracious! I'm under
+orders to be aboard the 'Farnum' at eight this
+morning. And on Mr. Farnum's business, at
+that!</q></p>
+
+<p>Clenching his hands vengefully, Jack started
+along in the direction pointed out by his late
+captor. Brisk walking wore some of the edge
+off his great wrath. Catching a comprehensive
+glimpse of himself, Jack could not keep back a
+grim laugh.</p>
+
+<p><q>Well, I certainly am a dandy to spring myself
+on the trim and slick Naval Academy!</q> he
+gritted. <q>What a treat I'll be to the cadets!
+That is, if the sentry ever lets me through the
+gate into the Academy grounds.</q></p>
+
+<p>As he hurried along, Jack Benson decided
+that he simply could not go to the Naval
+Academy presenting any such grotesque picture
+as he did now. Yet he had no money about him
+with which to purchase more presentable clothes
+in town. So he formed another plan.</p>
+
+<p>Within a few minutes he came in sight of
+<pb n="093" /><anchor id="Pg093" />
+Annapolis. Hurrying on faster, he at last entered
+the town. The further he went the more
+painfully conscious the boy became of the
+ludicrous appearance that he made. He saw
+men and women turn their heads to look after
+him, and his cheeks burned to a deep scarlet that
+glowed over the sea-bronze of his skin.</p>
+
+<p><q>The single consolation I have is that not a
+solitary person in town knows me, anyway,</q>
+he muttered. Then he caught sight of a clock
+on a church steeple—twenty-five minutes of
+eight.</p>
+
+<p><q>That means a fearful hustle,</q> he muttered,
+and went ahead under such steam that he all but
+panted. At last he came to the Maryland
+House, opposite the State Capitol grounds.
+Into the office of the hotel he darted, going
+straight up to the desk.</p>
+
+<p>A clerk who had been on duty for hours, and
+who was growing more drowsy every moment,
+stared at the boy in amazement.</p>
+
+<p><q>See here, you ragamuffin, what—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>My name is Benson,</q> began the boy, breathlessly.
+<q>I'm a guest of the house—arrived last
+night. I—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You, a guest of <hi rend="font-style: italic">this</hi> house?</q> demanded the
+clerk of the most select hotel in the town.
+<q>You—</q></p>
+
+<p>That was as far as the disgust of the clerk
+<pb n="094" /><anchor id="Pg094" />
+would permit him to go in words. A score of
+well-dressed gentlemen were staring in astonishment
+at the scene. The clerk nodded to two
+stout porters who had suspended their work
+nearby.</p>
+
+<p>It had been Jack Benson's purpose to go to
+his room and keep out of sight, while despatching
+one of the colored bell-boys of the hotel with
+a note to Hal Hastings, asking that chum to send
+him up a uniform and other articles of attire.
+However, before the young submarine captain
+fully realized what was happening, the two porters
+had seized him. Firmly, even though
+gently, they hustled him out through the entrance
+onto the street.</p>
+
+<p><q>Scat!</q> advised one of the pair.</p>
+
+<p>Jack started to protest, then realized the
+hopelessness of such a course. In truth, he did
+not blame the hotel folks in the least.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, well,</q> he sighed, paling as soon as the
+new flush of mortification had died out, <q>there's
+nothing for it but to hurry to the Academy. I
+hope the sentries won't shoot when they see
+me,</q> he added, bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>Across the State Capitol grounds he hurried,
+then down through a side street until he arrived
+at the gate of the Academy grounds.</p>
+
+<p><q>Halt!</q> challenged a sentry, as soon as Jack
+showed his face through the gateway.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="095" /><anchor id="Pg095" />
+Young Benson stopped, bringing his heels together
+with a click.</p>
+
+<p><q>What do you want? Where are you going?</q>
+demanded the marine.</p>
+
+<p><q>I know I look pretty tough,</q> Jack admitted,
+shamefacedly. <q>But I belong aboard the 'Farnum,'
+one of the submarines that arrived last
+night. And I'm due there at this minute.
+Please don't delay me.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>All right,</q> replied the sentry, after surveying
+the boy from head to foot once more. Then
+he added, in a lower tone, with just the suspicion
+of a grin showing at the corners of his mouth:</p>
+
+<p><q>Say, friend, for a stranger, you must have
+had a high old frolic in the town last night.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack frowned. The sentry's grin broadened
+a bit. As he did not offer to detain the boy
+longer, Benson hurried on along one of the
+walks. He took as short a course as he could
+making straight for the Basin, where he made
+out the <q>Hudson</q> and the two submarines.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hey! There's the captain!</q> shouted Eph,
+wonderingly, for Somers's eyes were sharp at
+all times.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the conning tower sprang Hal Hastings,
+looking eagerly in the direction in which
+Eph Somers pointed:</p>
+
+<p><q>Eh?</q> muttered another person, lounging
+near the rail of the gunboat. Then Lieutenant
+<pb n="096" /><anchor id="Pg096" />
+Commander Mayhew, after a keen, wholly disapproving
+look at the hard-looking figure of a
+young man at the landing, started, as he muttered:</p>
+
+<p><q>Benson, by all that's horrible! How did he
+come to be in that fearful shape? He must have
+been in one of the worst resorts within miles of
+Annapolis!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>This isn't the first time the young man has
+come back the worse for wear,</q> the lieutenant
+commander continued, under his breath. <q>His
+friends were loyal enough to him, that time. I
+wonder if they can be, to-day?</q></p>
+
+<p>One of the shore boats, waiting about in the
+Basin, put young Benson aboard the <q>Farnum</q>
+as soon as he explained who he was. Hal
+and Eph stood awaiting the coming of their
+young commander, their faces full of concern
+and anxiety. Both gripped Jack's hand as soon
+as he gained the platform deck of the submarine.</p>
+
+<p><q>Come below,</q> whispered Hal. <q>We'll talk
+there. You need a bath and to get into a uniform
+as quickly as you can.</q></p>
+
+<p>This need Jack Benson proceeded to realize
+without an instant's delay. While he washed
+himself off, in one of the staterooms aft, he
+talked through the door, which had been left
+ajar. He continued his story while he dressed.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="097" /><anchor id="Pg097" />
+<q>We were fearfully anxious this morning,</q>
+Hal confessed. <q>I went to sleep last night, and
+didn't know of your absence until this morning.
+Then Eph and I decided to come on down to the
+boat to see if you were here. We were just
+planning to send quiet word to the Annapolis
+police when Eph spotted you coming.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>And Truax?</q> inquired Captain Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>He and Williamson are forward in the
+engine-room, now, at breakfast.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, well, Truax wouldn't know anything
+about the scrape, anyway,</q> returned Jack.
+<q>His name was learned and used—that's all.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Are you going to try to find that place, catch
+the mulatto and force the return of your
+money?</q> demanded Eph Somers.</p>
+
+<p><q>I've got to think that over,</q> muttered Jack,
+as he drew on a spick-and-span uniform blouse.
+<q>I don't know whether there'll be any use in
+trying to find that mulatto. I haven't the least
+idea where his place is. Even if I found it, it's
+ten to one I wouldn't find the fellow there.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>'Farnum,' ahoy!</q> roared a voice alongside,
+the voice coming down through the open conning
+tower.</p>
+
+<p>Eph ran to answer. When he returned, he
+announced:</p>
+
+<p><q>Compliments of Lieutenant Commander
+Mayhew, and will Mr. Benson wait on the lieutenant
+<pb n="098" /><anchor id="Pg098" />
+commander on board the parent boat?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I will,</q> assented Jack, with a wry face, <q>and
+here's where I have to do some tall but truthful
+explaining to a man who isn't in the least likely
+to believe a word I say. I can guess what Mr.
+Mayhew is thinking, and is going to keep on
+thinking!</q></p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT</head>
+
+<p>
+It was a tailor-made, clean, crisp and new-looking
+young submarine commander who
+stepped into the naval cutter alongside.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson looked as natty as a young man
+could look, and his uniform was that of a naval
+officer, save for the absence of the insignia of
+rank.</p>
+
+<p>Up the side gangway of the gunboat Jack
+mounted, carrying himself in the best naval
+style. On deck stood a sentry, an orderly waiting
+beside him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Lieutenant Commander Mayhew will see
+you in his cabin, sir,</q> announced the orderly.
+<q>I will show you the way, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Mayhew was seated before a desk in his
+cabin when the orderly piloted the submarine
+boy in. The naval officer did not rise, nor did
+he ask the boy to take a seat. Jack Benson was
+<pb n="099" /><anchor id="Pg099" />
+very well aware that he stood in Mr. Mayhew's
+presence in the light of a culprit.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson,</q> began Mr. Mayhew, eyeing
+him closely, <q>you are not in the naval service,
+and are not therefore amenable to its discipline.
+At the same time, however, your employers have
+furnished you to act, in some respects, as a civilian
+instructor in submarine boating before the
+cadets. While you are here on that duty it is
+to be expected, therefore, that you will conform
+generally to the rules of conduct as laid down at
+the Naval Academy.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir,</q> replied Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>As I am at present in charge of the submarine
+purchased by the United States from
+your company, and at least in nominal charge
+of the 'Farnum,' as well, I am, in a measure,
+to be looked upon, for the present, as your commanding
+officer.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir,</q> assented the boy.</p>
+
+<p><q>You came aboard your craft, this morning,
+in a very questionable looking condition.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson's composure was perfect. His
+sense of discipline was also exact. He did not
+propose to offer any explanations until such
+were asked of him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Have you anything to say, Mr. Benson, as
+to that condition, and how you came to be in it?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="100" /><anchor id="Pg100" />
+<q>Shall I explain it to you, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I shall be glad to hear your explanation.</q></p>
+
+<p>Thereupon, the submarine boy plunged into
+a concise description of what had happened to
+him the night before. The lieutenant commander
+did not once interrupt him, but, when
+Jack had finished, Mr. Mayhew observed:</p>
+
+<p><q>That is a very remarkable story, Mr. Benson.
+Most remarkable.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir, it is. May I ask if you doubt my
+story?</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack looked straight into the officer's eyes as
+he put the question bluntly. An officer of the
+Army or of the Navy <hi rend="font-style: italic">must not</hi> answer a question
+untruthfully. Neither, as a rule, may he
+make an evasive answer. So the lieutenant
+commander thought a moment, before he replied:</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't feel that I know you well enough,
+Mr. Benson, to express an opinion that might be
+wholly fair to you. The most I can say, now,
+is that I very sincerely hope such a thing will
+not happen again during your stay at the Naval
+Academy.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It won't, sir,</q> promised Jack Benson, <q>if I
+have hereafter the amount of good judgment
+that I ought to be expected to possess.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I hope not, Mr. Benson, for it would destroy
+your usefulness here. A civilian instructor
+<pb n="101" /><anchor id="Pg101" />
+here, as much as a naval instructor, must possess
+the whole confidence and respect of the
+cadet battalion. I hope none of the cadets who
+may have seen you this morning recognized
+you.</q></p>
+
+<p>Then, taking on a different tone, Mr. Mayhew
+informed his young listener that a section of
+cadets would board the <q>Farnum</q> at eleven
+that morning, another section at three in the
+afternoon, and a third at four o'clock.</p>
+
+<p><q>Of course you will have everything aboard
+your craft wholly shipshape, Mr. Benson, and I
+trust I hardly need add that, in the Navy, we
+are punctual to the minute.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You will find me punctual to the minute
+before, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Very good, Mr. Benson. That is all. You
+may go.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack saluted, then turned away, finding his
+way to the deck. The cutter was still alongside,
+and conveyed him back to the <q>Farnum.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Mayhew demanded your story, of
+course?</q> propounded Hal Hastings. <q>What
+did he think?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>He didn't say so,</q> replied Jack Benson,
+with a wry smile, <q>but he let me see that he
+thought I was out of my element on a submarine
+boat.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>How so?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="102" /><anchor id="Pg102" />
+<q>Why, it is very plain that Mr. Mayhew
+thinks I ought to employ my time writing improbable
+fiction.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, Mayhew be bothered!</q> exploded Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hardly,</q> retorted Jack. <q>Mr. Mayhew is
+an officer and a gentleman. I admit that my
+yarn <hi rend="font-style: italic">does</hi> sound fishy to a stranger. Besides,
+fellows, Mr. Mayhew represents the naval officers
+through whose good opinion our employers
+hope to sell a big fleet of submarine torpedo
+boats to the United States Government.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then what are you going to do about it?</q>
+asked Hal, as the three boys reached the cabin
+below.</p>
+
+<p><q>First of all, I'm going to rummage about and
+get myself some breakfast.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>If you do, there'll be a fight,</q> growled Eph
+Somers. <q>I'll hash up a breakfast for you.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>And, afterwards?</q> persisted Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm going to try to win Mr. Mayhew's good
+opinion, and that of every other naval officer or
+cadet I may happen to meet.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why the cadets, particularly?</q> asked Eph
+Somers.</p>
+
+<p><q>Because, for one business reason, the cadets
+are going to be the naval officers of to-morrow,
+and the Pollard Submarine Boat Company
+hopes to be building craft for the Navy for a
+good many years to come.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="103" /><anchor id="Pg103" />
+<q>Good enough!</q> nodded Hal, while Eph
+dodged away to get that breakfast ready.</p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax lounged back in the engine room,
+smoking a short pipe. With him stuck Williamson,
+for Eph had privately instructed the
+machinist from the Farnum yard not to leave
+the stranger alone in the engine room.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why don't you go up on deck and get a few
+whiffs of fresh air?</q> asked Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, I'm comfortable down here,</q> grunted
+the machinist, who was stretched out on one of
+the leather-cushioned seats that ran along the
+side of the engine room.</p>
+
+<p><q>I should think you'd want to get out of here
+once in a while, though,</q> returned Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why?</q> asked the machinist. <q>Anything
+you want to be left alone here for?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, of course not,</q> drawled Truax, blowing
+out a cloud of tobacco smoke.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then I guess I'll stay where I am,</q> nodded
+Williamson.</p>
+
+<p><q>Sorry, but you'll have to stop all smoking in
+here now,</q> announced Eph, thrusting his head
+in at the doorway. <q>There'll be a lot of cadets
+aboard at eleven o'clock, and we want the air
+clear and sweet. You'd better go all over the
+machinery and see that everything is in applepie
+order and appearance. Mr. Hastings will
+be in here soon to inspect it.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="104" /><anchor id="Pg104" />
+<q>Just what rank does <hi rend="font-style: italic">that</hi> young turkey-cock
+hold on board?</q> sneered Truax, when the door
+had closed.</p>
+
+<p><q>Don't know, I'm sure,</q> replied Williamson.
+<q>All I know is that the three youngsters are
+aboard here to run the boat and show it off to
+the best advantage. My pay is running right
+along, and I've no kick at taking orders from
+any one of them.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>This is where I go on smoking, anyway,</q>
+declared Truax, insolently, striking a match and
+lighting his pipe again. Williamson reached
+over, snatching the pipe from between the other
+man's teeth and dumping out the coals, after
+which the machinist coolly dropped the pipe into
+one of his own pockets.</p>
+
+<p><q>If you go on this way,</q> warned Williamson,
+<q>Captain Benson will get it into his head to put
+you on shore in a jiffy, and for good.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'd like to see him try it,</q> sneered Sam
+Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>You'll get your wish, if you go on the way
+you've been going!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Humph! I don't believe the Benson boy
+carries the size or the weight to put me ashore.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>He doesn't need any size or weight,</q> retorted
+Williamson, crisply. <q>If Captain Benson
+wants you off this boat, it's only the matter
+of a moment for him to get a squad of marines
+<pb n="105" /><anchor id="Pg105" />
+on board—and you'll march off to the 'Rogues'
+March.'</q></p>
+
+<p><q>So that's the way he'd work it, eh?</q> demanded
+Sam Truax, turning green and ugly
+around the lips.</p>
+
+<p><q>You bet it is,</q> retorted the machinist.
+<q>We're practically a part of the United States
+Navy for these few days, and naval rules will
+govern any game we may get into.</q></p>
+
+<p>On that hint things went along better in the
+engine room. When Hal Hastings came in to
+inspect he found nothing to criticise.</p>
+
+<p>At the minute of eleven o'clock a squad of
+some twenty cadets came marching down to the
+landing in front of the boat house. There Lieutenant
+Commander Mayhew and one of his
+engineer officers met them. Two cutters manned
+by sailors brought the party out alongside,
+where Jack and Hal stood ready to receive them.</p>
+
+<p>A very natty looking squad of future admirals
+came aboard, grouping themselves about on the
+platform deck. It was rather a tight squeeze
+for so many human beings in that space.</p>
+
+<p>After greeting the submarine boys, Mr. Mayhew
+turned to the cadets, calling their attention
+to the lines and outer construction of the <q>Farnum.</q>
+Then he turned to the three submarine
+boys, signing to them to crowd forward.</p>
+
+<p><q>These young gentlemen,</q> announced the
+<pb n="106" /><anchor id="Pg106" />
+lieutenant commander, <q>are Mr. Benson, Mr.
+Hastings and Mr. Somers. All three are thoroughly
+familiar with the Pollard type of boat.
+As the Navy has purchased one Pollard boat,
+and may acquire others, it is well that you
+cadets should understand all the working details
+of the Pollard Submarine Company's crafts. A
+few of you at a time will now step into the conning
+tower, and Mr. Benson will explain to you
+the steering and control gear used there.</q></p>
+
+<p>Half a dozen of the cadets managed to squeeze
+into the conning tower. Jack experienced an
+odd feeling, half of embarrassment, as he explained
+before so many attentive pairs of eyes.
+Then another squad of cadets took the place of
+the first on-lookers. After a while all had been
+instructed in the use of the conning tower
+appliances.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson,</q> continued the lieutenant commander,
+<q>will now lead the way for all hands to
+the cabin. There he will explain the uses of the
+diving controls, the compressed air apparatus,
+and other details usually worked from the
+cabin.</q></p>
+
+<p>Down below came the cadets, in orderly fashion,
+without either haste or lagging. Having
+warmed up to his subject, Jack Benson lectured
+earnestly, even if not with fine skill. At last he
+paused.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="107" /><anchor id="Pg107" />
+<q>Any of the cadets may now ask questions,</q>
+announced Lieutenant Commander Mayhew.</p>
+
+<p>There was a pause, then one of the older
+cadets turned to Jack to ask:</p>
+
+<p><q>What volume of compressed air do you
+carry at your full capacity?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson's present status,</q> rapped Mr.
+Mayhew, quickly, <q>is that of a civilian instructor.
+Any cadet who addresses Mr. Benson will
+therefore say 'sir,' in all cases, just as in addressing
+an officer of the Navy.</q></p>
+
+<p>The cadet so corrected, who was at least
+twenty-one years old, flushed as he glanced
+swiftly at sixteen-year-old Jack. To say <q>sir</q>
+to such a youngster seemed almost like a
+humiliation. Yet the cadet repeated his question,
+adding the <q>sir.</q> Jack quickly answered
+the question. Then two or three other questions
+were asked by other cadets. It was plain,
+however, that to all of the cadets the use of
+<q>sir</q> to so young a boy appealed, at least, to
+their sense of humor.</p>
+
+<p>Through the engine room door Sam Truax
+and Williamson stood taking it all in. Sam saw
+a flash in the eye of one big cadet when the question
+of <q>sir</q> came up.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the squad filed into the engine room.
+Here Hal Hastings had the floor for instruction.
+He did his work coolly, admirably, though he
+<pb n="108" /><anchor id="Pg108" />
+asked Jack Benson to explain a few of the
+points.</p>
+
+<p>Then the questions began, directed at Hal.
+This time none of the cadets, under the watchful
+eyes of Mr. Mayhew, forgot to say <q>sir</q> when
+speaking to Hastings.</p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax edged up behind the big cadet
+whose eyes he had seen flash a few moments
+before.</p>
+
+<p><q>Go after Benson, good and hard,</q> whispered
+Truax.</p>
+
+<p>The cadet looked keenly at Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>You can have a lot of fun with Benson,</q>
+whispered Truax, <q>if you fire a lot of questions
+at him, hard and fast. Benson is a conceited fellow,
+who knows a few things about the boat, but
+you can get him rattled and red-faced in no
+time.</q></p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT</head>
+
+<p>
+The big cadet wheeled upon Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson, how long have you been
+engaged on submarine boats, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Since July,</q> Jack replied.</p>
+
+<p><q>July of this year?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>And it is now October. Do you consider
+<pb n="109" /><anchor id="Pg109" />
+that enough time, sir, in which to learn much
+about submarine boats?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That depends,</q> Skipper Jack replied,
+<q>upon a man's ability in such a subject.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Is it long enough time, sir, for a boy?</q></p>
+
+<p>That was rather a hard dig. Instantly the
+other cadets became all attention.</p>
+
+<p><q>It depends upon the boy, as it would upon
+the man,</q> Jack answered.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you consider, Mr. Benson, that you know
+all about submarine boats, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, no.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Who does, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No one that I ever heard of,</q> Jack answered.
+<q>Few men interested in submarine
+boats know much beyond the peculiarities of
+their own boats.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>And that applies equally to boys, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> Jack smiled.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you consider yourself, sir, fully competent
+to handle this craft?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'd rather someone else would say it,</q> Jack
+replied. <q>My employers, though, seem to consider
+me competent.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What is this material, sir?</q> continued the
+cadet, resting a hand on a piston rod.</p>
+
+<p><q>Brass,</q> Benson replied, promptly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you know the specific gravity and the
+tensile strength of this brass?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="110" /><anchor id="Pg110" />
+Before Jack could answer Mr. Mayhew broke
+in, crisply:</p>
+
+<p><q>That will do, Mr. Merriam. Your questions
+appear to go beyond the limits of ordinary instruction,
+and to partake more of the nature of
+a cross-examination. Such questions take up
+the time of the instruction tour unnecessarily.</q></p>
+
+<p>Cadet Merriam flushed slightly, as he saluted
+the naval officer. Then the cadet's jaws settled
+squarely. He remained silent.</p>
+
+<p>A few more questions and the hour was up.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gave the
+order for the cadets to pass above and embark
+in the cutters. He remained behind long
+enough to say to the three submarine boys:</p>
+
+<p><q>You have done splendidly, gentlemen—far
+better than I expected you to do. If you manage
+the sea instruction as well, in the days to
+come, our cadets will have a first-class idea of
+the handling of the Pollard boats.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I wish, sir,</q> Jack replied, after thanking the
+officer, <q>that the cadets were not required to say
+'sir' to us. It sounds odd, and I am quite certain
+that none of the young men like it.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It is necessary, though,</q> replied Mr. Mayhew.
+<q>They are required to do it with all
+civilian instructors, and it would never do to
+draw distinctions on account of age. Yes; it is
+necessary.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="111" /><anchor id="Pg111" />
+When the second squad of cadets arrived, in
+the afternoon, the three submarine boys found
+themselves ready for their task without misgivings.
+Eph took more part in the explanations
+than he had done in the forenoon. Then came a
+third squad of cadets, to be taken over the same
+ground. The young men of both these squads
+used the <q>sir</q> at once, having been previously
+warned by one of the naval officers.</p>
+
+<p><q>That will be all for to-day, Mr. Benson, and
+thank you and your friends for some excellent
+work,</q> said Lieutenant Commander Mayhew,
+when the third squad had filed away.</p>
+
+<p><q>Say, for hard work I'd like this job right
+along,</q> yawned Eph Somers, when the three
+were alone in the cabin. <q>Just talking three
+times a day—what an easy way of living!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It's all right for a while,</q> agreed Jack.
+<q>But it would grow tiresome after a few weeks,
+anyway. Lying here in the Basin, and talking
+like a salesman once in a while, isn't like a life
+of adventure.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, you can sigh for adventure, if you
+wish,</q> yawned Eph. <q>As for me, I've had
+enough hard work to appreciate a rest once in a
+while. Going into the town to-night, Jack?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Into town?</q> laughed the young skipper.
+<q>I went last night—and some of the folks didn't
+do a thing to me, did they?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="112" /><anchor id="Pg112" />
+<q>Aren't you going to report the robbery to
+the police?</q> demanded Hal, opening his eyes in
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p><q>Not in a rush,</q> Jack answered. <q>If I do,
+the police may start at once, and that mulatto
+and his friends, being on the watch, will take
+the alarm and get away. If I wait two or three
+days, then the mulatto's crowd will think I've
+dropped the whole thing. I reckon the waiting
+game will fool them more than any other.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, and all the money they got away from
+you will be spent,</q> muttered Eph.</p>
+
+<p>Jack, none the less, decided to wait and think
+the matter over.</p>
+
+<p>Supper over, the submarine boys, for want of
+anything else to do, sat and read until about nine
+o'clock. Then Jack looked up.</p>
+
+<p><q>This is getting mighty tedious,</q> he complained.
+<q>What do you fellows say to getting
+on shore and stretching our legs in a good
+walk?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>In town?</q> grinned Eph, slyly.</p>
+
+<p>Jack flushed, then grinned.</p>
+
+<p><q>No!</q> he answered quietly; <q>about the
+Academy grounds.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I wonder if it would be against the regulations
+for a lot of rank outsiders like us to go
+through the grounds at this hour?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>'Rank outsiders'?</q> mimicked Jack Benson,
+<pb n="113" /><anchor id="Pg113" />
+laughing. <q>You forget, Hal, old fellow, that
+we're instruct—hem! civilian instructors—here.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I wonder, though, if it would be in good
+taste for us to go prowling through the grounds
+at this hour?</q> persisted Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>There's one sure way to find out,</q> proposed
+Benson. <q>We can try it, and, if no marine sentry
+chases us, we can conclude that we're moving
+about within our rights. Come along, fellows.</q></p>
+
+<p>Putting on their caps, the three went up on
+the platform deck. The engine room door was
+locked and Williamson and Truax had already
+turned in. There was a shore boat at the landing.
+Jack sent a low-voiced hail that brought
+the boat out alongside.</p>
+
+<p><q>Will it be proper for us to go through the
+Academy grounds at this hour?</q> Jack inquired
+of the petty officer in the stern.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir; there's no regulation against it.
+And, anyway, sir, you're all stationed here, just
+now.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Thank you. Then please take us ashore.</q></p>
+
+<p>At this hour the walks through the grounds
+were nearly deserted. A few officers, and some
+of their ladies living at the naval station, were
+out. The cadets were all in their quarters in
+barracks, hard at study, or supposed to be.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the submarine boys strolled
+<pb n="114" /><anchor id="Pg114" />
+about, enjoying the air and the views they obtained
+of buildings and grounds. Back at Dunhaven
+the air had been frosty. Here, at this
+more southern port, the October night was
+balmy, wholly pleasant.</p>
+
+<p><q>I wonder if these cadets here ever have any
+real fun?</q> questioned Eph Somers.</p>
+
+<p><q>I've heard—or read—that they do,</q>
+laughed Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>What sort of fun?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Well, for one thing, the cadets of the upper
+classes haze the plebe cadets a good deal.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Humph! That's fun for all but the plebes.
+Who are the plebes, anyway?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The new cadets; the youngest class at the
+Academy,</q> Hal replied.</p>
+
+<p><q>What do they do to the plebe?</q> Eph wanted
+to know.</p>
+
+<p><q>I guess the only way you could find that out,
+Eph, would be to join the plebe class.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Reckon, when I come to Annapolis, I'll enter
+the class above the plebe,</q> retorted Somers.</p>
+
+<p>The three submarine boys had again approached
+the cadet barracks building.</p>
+
+<p><q>Here comes a cadet now, Eph,</q> whispered
+Jack. <q>If he has the time, I don't doubt he'd
+be glad to answer any questions you may have
+for him.</q></p>
+
+<p>Young Benson offered this suggestion in a
+<pb n="115" /><anchor id="Pg115" />
+spirit of mischief, hoping the approaching cadet,
+when questioned, would resent it stiffly. Then
+Eph would be almost certain to flare up.</p>
+
+<p>The cadet, however, suddenly turned, coming
+straight toward them, smiling.</p>
+
+<p><q>Good evening, gentlemen,</q> was the cadet's
+greeting.</p>
+
+<p><q>Good evening,</q> was Jack's hearty reply.</p>
+
+<p><q>You've never been here before, have you,
+sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Never,</q> Jack confessed.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then I take it you have never, sir, seen the
+camelroorelephant?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The cam—</q> began Eph Somers.</p>
+
+<p>Then he stopped, clapping both hands to his
+right jaw.</p>
+
+<p><q>Won't you please hand that to us in
+pieces?</q> begged Eph, speaking as though with
+difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>The cadet laughed heartily, then added:</p>
+
+<p><q>Don't try to pronounce it, gentlemen, until
+you've seen the camelroorelephant. It's a cadet
+joke, but it's well worth seeing. Shall I take
+you to it?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, yes, if you'll be good enough,</q> Jack
+assented, heartily.</p>
+
+<p>The cadet glanced quickly about him, then
+said in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p><q>This way, please, gentlemen.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="116" /><anchor id="Pg116" />
+He led the strangers quickly around the end
+of barracks to an open space in the rear. Here
+he halted.</p>
+
+<p><q>Gentlemen, I must ask you to close your
+eyes, and keep them closed, on honor, until I ask
+you to open them again. You won't have to
+keep your eyes closed more than sixty seconds
+before the camelroorelephant will be ready for
+inspection. Now, eyes closed, please.</q></p>
+
+<p>Lingering only long enough to make sure that
+his request had been met, the cadet stole noiselessly
+away.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was it many seconds later when all three
+of the submarine boys began to feel suddenly
+suspicious.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm going to open my eyes,</q> whispered
+Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>You're on honor not to,</q> warned Jack Benson,
+also in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p><q>I didn't give my word,</q> retorted Eph, <q>and
+I'm going to—oh, great shades of Santiago!</q></p>
+
+<p>The very genuine note of concern in Eph's
+voice caused Jack and Hal to open their own
+eyes instantly.</p>
+
+<p>Nor could any of the three repress a quick
+start.</p>
+
+<p>From all quarters naval cadets were advancing
+stealthily upon them. Something in the
+very attitude and poise of the young men told
+<pb n="117" /><anchor id="Pg117" />
+the submarine boys that these naval cadets were
+out for mischief.</p>
+
+<p><q>We're in for it!</q> breathed Jack, in an undertone.
+<q>We're in for something real and
+startling, I reckon. Fellows, brace up and take
+your medicine, whatever it is, like men!</q></p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED!</head>
+
+<p>
+Nor was Jack's guess in the least wrong.</p>
+
+<p>Even had the submarine boys attempted
+to bolt they would have found
+it impossible. They were surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>The cadets closed quickly in upon them.
+There were more than thirty of these budding
+young naval officers.</p>
+
+<p>It was Cadet Merriam who stepped straight
+up to Jack, giving him a grotesque and exaggerated
+salute, as he rumbled out:</p>
+
+<p><q>Good evening, SIR!</q></p>
+
+<p>Like a flash Jack Benson comprehended.
+These cadets intended fully to even up matters
+for having been obliged to say <q>sir</q> to these
+very youthful <q>civilian instructors.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Good evening,</q> Jack smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"You have come to see the camelroorelephant,
+SIR?"</p>
+
+<p><pb n="118" /><anchor id="Pg118" />
+<q>We've been told that we might have that
+pleasure,</q> Jack responded, still smiling.</p>
+
+<p><q>Perhaps you may,</q> retorted Cadet Merriam,
+<q>though, first of all, it will be necessary
+to prove yourselves worthy of the privilege,
+SIR.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Anything within our power,</q> promised
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then, SIR, let me see you all three stand 'at
+attention.'</q></p>
+
+<p><q>At attention</q> is the rigid attitude taken by
+a United States soldier or sailor when in the
+presence of his officers. Jack had already seen
+men in that attitude, and did his best to imitate
+it in smart military manner. Eph and Hal did
+likewise.</p>
+
+<p><q>No, no, no, you dense blockheads!</q> uttered
+Cadet Midshipman Merriam. <q>'At attention'
+upside down—on your hands!</q></p>
+
+<p>The other cadet midshipmen now hemmed in
+closely about the three. Jack thought he caught
+the idea. He bent over, throwing his feet up in
+the air and resting on his hands. Unable to
+keep his balance, he walked two or three steps.</p>
+
+<p><q>I didn't tell you to walk your post, blockhead!</q>
+scowled Mr. Merriam. <q>Stand still
+when at attention.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack tried, but of course made a ludicrous
+failure of standing still on his hands. So did
+<pb n="119" /><anchor id="Pg119" />
+Hal and Eph. The latter, truth to tell, didn't
+try very hard, for his freckled temper was coming
+a bit to the surface.</p>
+
+<p><q>You're the rawest recruits, the worst landlubbers
+I've ever seen,</q> declared Cadet Midshipman
+Merriam, with severe dignity. <q>Rest,
+before you try it any further.</q></p>
+
+<p>The smile had all but left Jack Benson's lips,
+though he tried to keep it there. Hal Hastings
+made the most successful attempt at looking
+wholly unconcerned. Eph's face was growing
+redder every minute. It is a regrettable fact
+that Eph was really beginning to want to fight.</p>
+
+<p><q>See here,</q> ordered Mr. Merriam, suddenly,
+taking Jack by the arm, <q>you're a horse, a full-blooded
+Arab steed—understand!</q></p>
+
+<p>He gave young Benson a push that sent that
+youngster down to the ground on all fours.</p>
+
+<p><q>You're General Washington, out to take a
+ride on your horse,</q> announced Mr. Merriam,
+turning to Hal. <q>It's a ride for your health.
+Do you understand? It will be wholly for your
+health to take that ride!</q></p>
+
+<p>Hal Hastings couldn't help comprehending.
+With a sheepish grin he sat astride of Jack Benson's
+back as the latter stood on all fours.</p>
+
+<p><q>Go ahead with your ride, General,</q> called
+Mr. Merriam.</p>
+
+<p>Jack pranced as best he could, on all fours,
+<pb n="120" /><anchor id="Pg120" />
+Hal making the load of his own weight as light
+as he could. Over the ground the pair moved
+in this nonsensical ride, the cadets following and
+grinning their appreciation of the nonsense.</p>
+
+<p>Two of the young men followed, holding Eph
+by the arms between them. Mr. Merriam now
+turned upon the unhappy freckled boy.</p>
+
+<p><q>Down on all fours,</q> ordered Mr. Merriam.
+<q>You're the measly dog that barked at General
+Washington on that famous ride. Bark, you
+wretched yellow cur—bark, bark, <hi rend="font-style: italic">bark</hi>!</q></p>
+
+<p>Though Eph Somers was madder than ever,
+he had just enough judgment remaining to feel
+that the wisest thing would be to obey instructions.
+So, on all fours, Eph raced after Jack,
+barking at him.</p>
+
+<p><q>See how frightened the horse is,</q> muttered
+one of the midshipmen.</p>
+
+<p>Taking the hint, Jack shied as well as he
+could.</p>
+
+<p><q>That's all,</q> said Mr. Merriam, at last.
+<q>All of that, at least.</q></p>
+
+<p>As the three submarine boys rose, each found
+himself gently held by a pair of cadet midshipmen.
+It was a more or less polite hint that the
+ordeal was not yet over. Mr. Merriam turned to
+whisper to one of the cadets, who darted inside
+the barracks building. He was back, promptly,
+carrying a folded blanket on his arm.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="123" /><anchor id="Pg123" />
+A grin spread over the faces of the assembled
+cadet midshipmen. The bearer of the blanket
+at once unfolded it. As many of the cadets as
+could got hold of the edges, bending, holding the
+blanket spread out over the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson's two captors suddenly hurled
+him across the length of the blanket with no gentle
+force. Instantly the cadets holding the
+blankets straightened up, jerking it taut. Up
+into the air a couple of feet bounded Jack. As
+his body came down the cadets holding the
+blanket gave it a still harder jerk. This time
+Jack shot up into the air at least four feet. It
+was the same old blanket-tossing, long popular
+both in the Army and Navy. Every time Jack
+landed the blanket was given a harder jerk by
+those holding it. Benson began to go higher
+and higher.</p>
+
+<figure url="images/image03.jpg" rend="w50">
+ <anchor id="image03" />
+ <index index="fig" />
+ <head rend="font-size: x-small">Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him.</head>
+ <figDesc>Illustration: Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him.</figDesc>
+</figure>
+
+<p>And now the cadets broke into a low, monotonous
+chant, in time to their movements. It
+ran:</p>
+
+<lg type="limerick">
+<l rend="text-indent: 2">Sir, sir, surcingle!</l>
+<l rend="text-indent: 4">Sir, sir, circle!</l>
+<l rend="text-indent: 2">Sir, sir, with a shingle—</l>
+<l rend="text-indent: 4">Sir, sir, sir!</l>
+</lg>
+
+<p>As regular as drumbeats the cadets ripped out
+the syllables of the refrain. At each word Jack
+Benson's body shot higher and higher. These
+young men were experts in the gentle art of
+<pb n="124" /><anchor id="Pg124" />
+blanket-tossing. Ere long the submarine boy
+was going up into the air some eight or nine feet
+at every tautening of the blanket.</p>
+
+<p>As for escape, that was out of the question.
+No sooner did the submarine boy touch the
+blanket than he shot skyward again. Had he
+desired to he could not have called out. The
+motion and the sudden jolts shook all the breath
+out of him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Ugh! Hm! Pleasant, isn't it?</q> uttered
+Hal Hastings, grimly, under his breath.</p>
+
+<p><q>If they try to do that to me,</q> whispered
+Eph, hotly, under his breath, <q>I'll fight.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>More simpleton you, then!</q> Hal shot back
+at him in warning. <q>What chance do you think
+you stand against a crowd like this?</q></p>
+
+<p>Just as suddenly as it had begun the blanket-tossing
+stopped. Yet, hardly had Jack been allowed
+to step out than Hal Hastings was unceremoniously
+dropped athwart the blanket. The
+tossing began again, to the chant of:</p>
+
+<lg type="limerick">
+<l rend="text-indent: 2">Sir, sir, surcingle!</l>
+<l rend="text-indent: 4">Sir, sir, circle!</l>
+</lg>
+
+<p>Right plentifully were these cadet midshipmen
+avenging themselves for having had to say
+<q>sir</q> to these young submarine boys that day.</p>
+
+<p><q>Woof!</q> breathed Jack, as soon as breath
+entered his body again. Eph clenched his fists
+<pb n="125" /><anchor id="Pg125" />
+tightly, as Hal continued to go higher and
+higher. But at last Hastings's ordeal was over.</p>
+
+<p><q>I suppose they'll try that on me!</q> gritted
+Eph Somers to himself. <q>If they do—</q></p>
+
+<p>That was far as he got, for Eph was suddenly
+flung upon the blanket.</p>
+
+<lg type="limerick">
+<l rend="text-indent: 2">Sir, sir, surcingle!</l>
+</lg>
+
+<p>Then how Eph <hi rend="font-style: italic">did</hi> go up and down! It was
+as though these cadet midshipmen knew that it
+would make Eph mad, madder, maddest! These
+budding young naval officers fairly bent to their
+work, tautening and loosening on the blanket
+until their muscles fairly ached.</p>
+
+<p>It was lofty aerial work that Eph Somers was
+doing. Up and up—higher and higher! Without
+the need of any effort on his own part young
+Somers was now traveling upward at the rate of
+ten or eleven feet at every punctuated bound.</p>
+
+<p>Then, suddenly, there came a sound that
+chilled the blood of every young cadet midshipman
+hazer present.</p>
+
+<p><q><hi rend="font-style: italic">Halt!</hi> Where you are!</q></p>
+
+<p>Under the shadow of the barracks building a
+naval officer had appeared. He now came forward,
+a frown on his face, eyeing the culprits.</p>
+
+<p>It is no merry jest for cadet midshipmen to
+be caught at hazing! And here were some
+thirty of them—red-handed!</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<pb n="126" /><anchor id="Pg126" />
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER</head>
+
+<p>
+At the first word of command from the
+officer several of the cadet midshipmen
+who were near enough to an open doorway
+vanished through it.</p>
+
+<p>As the officer strode through the group of
+startled young men a few more, left behind his
+back, made a silent disappearance.</p>
+
+<p>There were left, however, as the officer looked
+about him, sixteen of the young men, all too
+plainly headed and led by Cadet Midshipman
+Merriam.</p>
+
+<p><q>Young gentlemen,</q> said the officer, severely,
+<q>I regret to find so many of you engaged in
+hazing. It is doubly bad when your victims are
+men outside the corps. And, if I mistake not,
+these young gentlemen are here as temporary
+civilian instructors in submarine work.</q></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Merriam and his comrades made no reply
+in words. Nor did their faces express much.
+They stood at attention, looking stolidly ahead
+of them, though their faces were turned toward
+the officer. It was not the place of any of them
+to speak unless the officer asked questions.</p>
+
+<p>Severe as the hazing had been, however, Jack
+<pb n="127" /><anchor id="Pg127" />
+and Hal, at least, had taken it all in good part.
+Nor was Jack bound by any of the rules of etiquette
+that prevented the cadets from speaking.</p>
+
+<p><q>May I offer a word, sir?</q> asked Jack,
+wheeling upon the officer.</p>
+
+<p><q>You were one of the victims of a hazing,
+were you not?</q> demanded the officer, regarding
+Jack, keenly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, could you call it that, sir?</q> asked
+Jack, a look of innocent surprise settling on his
+face. <q>We called it a demonstration—an
+explanation.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Demonstration? Explanation?</q> repeated
+the officer, astonished in his turn. <q>What do
+you mean, Mr.—er—?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Benson,</q> Jack supplied, quietly.</p>
+
+<p><q>I think you would better tell me a little more,
+Mr. Benson,</q> pursued the unknown naval
+officer.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, it was like this, sir,</q> Jack continued.
+<q>My two friends—Hastings and Somers—and
+myself were talking about the West Point and
+Annapolis hazings, of which we had heard and
+read. We were talking about the subject when
+a cadet came along. I suggested to Somers that
+we ask the cadet about hazing. Well, sir, to
+make a long story short, some of the cadets
+undertook to show us just how hazing is—or
+used to be—done at Annapolis.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="128" /><anchor id="Pg128" />
+<q>Oh! Then it was all thoroughly good-natured,
+all in the way of a joke, to show you
+something you wanted to know?</q> asked the
+naval officer, slowly.</p>
+
+<p><q>That's the way I took it,</q> replied Jack.
+<q>So did Hastings and Somers. We've enjoyed
+ourselves more than anyone else here has.</q></p>
+
+<p>This was truth surely enough, for, in the last
+two minutes, not one of the cadet midshipmen
+present could have been accused of <hi rend="font-style: italic">enjoying</hi>
+himself.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then what took place here, Mr. Benson,
+really took place at your request?</q> insisted the
+naval officer.</p>
+
+<p><q>It all answered the questions that we had
+been asking,</q> Jack replied, promptly, though,
+it must be admitted, rather evasively.</p>
+
+<p><q>This is your understanding, too, Mr. Hastings?</q>
+demanded the officer.</p>
+
+<p><q>Surely,</q> murmured Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>You, Mr. Somers?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I—I haven't had so much fun since the gasoline
+engine blew up,</q> protested Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>We entered most heartily into the spirit of
+the thing,</q> Jack hastened on to say, <q>and feel
+that we owe the deepest thanks to these young
+gentlemen of the Navy. Yet, if our desire to
+know more about the life—that is, the former
+life—of the Academy is to result in getting our
+<pb n="129" /><anchor id="Pg129" />
+entertainers into any trouble, we shall never
+cease regretting our unfortunate curiosity.</q></p>
+
+<p>For some moments the naval officer regarded
+the three submarine boys, solemnly, in turn.
+From them he turned to look over the cadet midshipmen.
+The latter looked as stolid, and stood
+as rigidly at attention, as ever.</p>
+
+<p><q>Under this presentation of the matter,</q> said
+the officer, after a long pause, <q>I am not prepared
+to say that there has been any violation
+of discipline. At least, no grave infraction.
+However, some of these young gentlemen are, I
+believe, absent from their quarters without
+leave. Mr. Merriam?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I have permission to be absent from my
+quarters between nine and ten, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Caldwell?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Absent from quarters without permission,
+sir.</q></p>
+
+<p>So on down through the list the officer ran.
+Nine of the young men proved to have leave to
+be away from their quarters. The other seven
+did not have such permission. The names of
+these seven, therefore, were written down to be
+reported. The seven, too, were ordered at once
+back to their quarters.</p>
+
+<p>Having issued his instructions, the naval officer
+turned and walked away. Jack and his
+comrades, too, left the scene.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="130" /><anchor id="Pg130" />
+Yet they had not gone far when they heard
+a low hail behind. Turning, they saw Cadet
+Midshipmen Merriam hastening toward them.</p>
+
+<p><q>Gentlemen,</q> he said, earnestly, as he
+reached them, <q>it may not be best for me to be
+seen lingering here to talk with you. But my
+comrades wanted me to come after you and to
+say that we think you bricks. You carried that
+off finely, Mr. Benson. None of us will ever
+forget it.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It wasn't much to do,</q> smiled Jack,
+pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p><q>It was quick-witted of you, and generous
+too, sir,</q> rejoined Mr. Merriam, finding it now
+very easy to employ the <q>sir.</q> <q>Probably you
+agree with us that no great crime was committed,
+anyway. But, just the same, hazing is
+under a heavy ban these days. If you hadn't
+saved the day as you did, sir, all of our cadet
+party might have been dismissed the Service.
+Those absent from quarters without leave
+will get only a few demerits apiece. We
+have that much to thank you for, sir, and we
+do. All our thanks, remember. Good night,
+sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>My courage was down in my boots for a
+while,</q> confessed Hal Hastings, as the three
+chums continued their walk back to the Basin.</p>
+
+<p><q>When?</q> demanded Eph, grimly. <q>When
+<pb n="131" /><anchor id="Pg131" />
+your boots—and the rest of you—were so high
+up in the air over the blanket?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No; when the cadets were caught at it,</q>
+replied Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>Say, Jack,</q> demanded Eph, <q>do you ever
+give much thought to the future life?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Meaning the life in the next world?</q> questioned
+Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I sometimes give a good deal of thought to
+it,</q> Jack confessed.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then where do you expect to go, when the
+time comes?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>After the whoppers you told that officer?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I didn't tell him even a single tiny fib,</q> protested
+Jack, indignantly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, you George Washington!</q> choked Eph
+Somers.</p>
+
+<p><q>Well, I didn't,</q> insisted Jack. <q>Now, just
+stop and think. Weren't we all three discussing
+hazing?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then that part of what I told the officer was
+straight. Now, Eph, when we saw that first
+cadet come along, didn't I suggest to you to ask
+him about hazing?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Ye-es,</q> admitted Somers, thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then, didn't the cadet midshipmen offer to
+<pb n="132" /><anchor id="Pg132" />
+show us all about hazing pranks, and didn't they
+do it?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Well, rather,</q> muttered Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, young man, that's all I told the officer,
+except that we enjoyed our entertainment
+greatly.</q></p>
+
+<p><q><hi rend="font-style: italic">Did</hi> we enjoy it, though?</q> demanded Eph
+Somers, bridling up.</p>
+
+<p><q>I did,</q> replied Jack, <q>and I spoke for myself.
+I enjoyed it as I would enjoy almost any
+new experience.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>So did I,</q> added Hal, warmly. <q>It was
+rough—mighty rough—but now I know what an
+Annapolis hazing is like, and I'm glad I do.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Well, I want to tell you I didn't enjoy it,</q>
+blazed Eph. <q>It was a mighty cheeky—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then why did you let the officer imagine you
+enjoyed it?</q> taunted Jack.</p>
+
+<p>While Hal put in, slyly:</p>
+
+<p><q>Eph, you're too quick to talk about others
+fibbing. From the evidence just put in, it's
+evident that you're the only one of the three who
+fibbed any. Won't you please walk on the
+other side of the road? I never did like to
+travel with liars.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, you go to Jericho!</q> flared Eph. But,
+as he walked along, he blinked a good deal, and
+did some hard thinking.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll tell you,</q> broke out Jack, suddenly,
+<pb n="133" /><anchor id="Pg133" />
+<q>who thanks us even more than the cadets themselves
+do.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Who?</q> queried Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>That officer who caught the crowd at it.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Do you think he cared?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Of course he did,</q> said Jack, positively.
+<q>He'd rather have gone hungry for a couple of
+days than have to report that bunch for
+hazing.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then why was he so infernally stiff with
+the young men?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>He had to be; that's the answer. That officer,
+like every other officer of the Navy detailed
+here, is sworn to do his full duty. So he has to
+enforce the regulations. But don't you suppose,
+fellows, that officer was hazed, and did
+some hazing on his own account, when he was
+a cadet midshipman here years ago? Of course!
+And that's why the officer didn't question us any
+more closely than he did. He was afraid he
+might stumble on something that would oblige
+him to report the whole crowd for hazing. <hi rend="font-style: italic">He</hi>
+didn't want to do it. That officer, I'm certain,
+knew that, if he questioned us too closely, he'd
+find a lot more beneath the surface that he
+simply didn't want to dig up.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Would you have told the truth, if he had
+questioned you searchingly, and pinned you
+right down?</q> demanded Eph Somers.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="134" /><anchor id="Pg134" />
+<q>Of course I would,</q> Jack replied, soberly.
+<q>I'm no liar. But I feel deeply grateful to that
+officer for not being keener.</q></p>
+
+<p>Before nine o'clock the next morning news of
+the night's doings back of barracks had spread
+through the entire corps of cadet midshipmen.</p>
+
+<p>With these young men of the Navy there was
+but one opinion of the submarine boys—that
+they were trumps, wholly of the right sort.</p>
+
+<p>As a result, Jack, Hal and Eph had hundreds
+of new friends among those who will officer the
+Navy of the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>Not so bad, even just as a stroke of business!</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE</head>
+
+<p>
+For the next ten days things moved along
+without much excitement for the submarine
+boys.</p>
+
+<p>During that time they had an average of four
+sections a day of cadet midshipmen to instruct
+in the workings of the Pollard type of submarine
+torpedo boat.</p>
+
+<p>During the last few days short cruises were
+taken on the Severn River, in order that the
+middies might practise at running the motors
+and handling the craft. At such times one
+<pb n="135" /><anchor id="Pg135" />
+squad of midshipmen would be on duty in the
+engine room, another in the conning tower and
+on the platform deck.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, when the midshipmen handled the
+<q>Farnum,</q> under command of a Navy officer,
+the submarine boys had but little more to do
+than to be on board. Certainly they were not
+overworked. Yet all three were doing fine
+work for their employers in making the Navy
+officers of the future like the Pollard type of
+craft.</p>
+
+<p>After waiting a few days Jack Benson reported
+to the Annapolis police his experience
+with the mulatto <q>guide.</q> The police thought
+they recognized the fellow, from the description,
+and did their best to find him. The mulatto,
+however, seemed to have disappeared from that
+part of the country.</p>
+
+<p>There came a Friday afternoon when, as the
+last detachment of middies filed over the side
+into the waiting cutter, Lieutenant Commander
+Mayhew announced:</p>
+
+<p><q>This, Mr. Benson, completes the instruction
+desired in the Basin and in the river. To-morrow
+and Sunday you will have for rest. On
+Monday, at 10 <hi rend="font-variant: small-caps">a.m.</hi>, a section will report aboard
+for the first trip out to sea. Then you will show
+our young men how the boat dives, and how she
+is run under water. As none of our cadet midshipmen
+<pb n="136" /><anchor id="Pg136" />
+have ever been below in a submarine
+before, you will be sure of having eager
+students.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>And perhaps some nervous ones,</q> smiled
+Skipper Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Possibly,</q> assented Mr. Mayhew. <q>I doubt
+it, though. Nervousness is not a marked trait
+of any young man who has been long enrolled at
+the Naval Academy.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Can we have a slight favor done us, Mr.
+Mayhew?</q> Jack asked.</p>
+
+<p><q>Any reasonable favor, of course.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then, sir, we'd like to spend a little time
+ashore, as we've been confined so long aboard.
+If I lock up everything tight on the boat until
+Sunday night, may we know that the 'Farnum'
+will be under the protection of the marine
+guard?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I feel that there will not be the slightest difficulty
+in promising you that,</q> replied Mr. Mayhew.
+<q>I will telephone the proper authorities
+about it as soon as I go on shore.</q></p>
+
+<p>All hands on board were pleased over the
+prospect of going ashore, with the exception of
+Sam Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>You don't need any guard on the boat,</q> he
+protested. <q>I don't want to go ashore. Leave
+me here and I'll be all the guard necessary.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>We're all going ashore,</q> Jack replied.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="137" /><anchor id="Pg137" />
+<q>But I haven't any money to spend ashore,</q>
+objected Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll let you have ten dollars on account,
+then,</q> replied Jack, who was well supplied with
+money, thanks to a draft received from Jacob
+Farnum.</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't want to go ashore, anyway.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm sorry, Truax, but it doesn't really make
+any difference. The boat will be closed up
+tight, and there wouldn't be any place for you
+to stay, except on the platform deck.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You're not treating me fairly,</q> protested
+Sam Truax, indignantly.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm sorry you think so. Still, if you're not
+satisfied, all I can do is to pay you off to date.
+Then you can go where you please.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm here by David Pollard's order. Do you
+forget that?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>He sent you along to us, true,</q> admitted
+Jack, <q>but I have instructions from Mr. Farnum
+to dismiss anyone whose work on board I
+don't like. Now, Truax, you're a competent
+enough man in the engine room, and there's no
+sense in having to let you go. You're well paid,
+and can afford the time on shore. I wouldn't
+make any more fuss about this, but do as the
+rest of us are going to do.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, I'll have to, then, since you're boss
+here,</q> grumbled Truax, sulkily.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="138" /><anchor id="Pg138" />
+<q>I don't want to make it felt too much that I
+<hi rend="font-style: italic">am</hi> boss here,</q> Jack retorted, mildly. <q>At the
+same time, though, I'm held responsible, and
+so I suppose I'll have to have things done the
+way that seems best to me.</q></p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax turned to get his satchel. The
+instant his back was turned on the young commander
+Sam's face was a study in ugliness.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, I'll take this all out of you,</q> muttered
+the fellow to himself. <q>I don't believe, Jack
+Benson, you'll go on the cruising next week.
+If you do, you won't be much good, anyway!</q></p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes later a shore boat landed the
+entire party from the submarine craft.</p>
+
+<p><q>Going with the rest of us, Truax?</q> inquired
+Jack, pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p><q>No; I'm going to find a boarding-house.
+That will be cheaper than the hotel.</q></p>
+
+<p>So the other four kept straight on to the
+Maryland House, giving very little more thought
+to the sulky one.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until after supper that Eph turned
+the talk back to Sam Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't like the fellow, at all,</q> declared
+young Somers. <q>He always wants to be left
+alone in the engine room, for one thing.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>And I've made it my business, regular,</q>
+added Williamson, the machinist, <q>to see that
+he doesn't have his wish.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="139" /><anchor id="Pg139" />
+<q>He's always sulky, and kicking about everything,</q>
+added Eph. <q>I may be wrong, but I
+can't get it out of my head that the fellow came
+aboard on purpose to be a trouble-maker.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, what object could he have in that?</q>
+asked Captain Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Blessed if I know,</q> replied Eph. <q>But
+that's the way I size the fellow up. Now, take
+that time you were knocked senseless, back in
+Dunhaven. Who could have done that? The
+more I think about Sam Truax, the more I suspect
+him as the fellow who stretched you out.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Again, what object could he have?</q> inquired
+Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>Blessed if I know. What object could anyone
+have in such a trick against you? It was a
+state prison job, if the fellow had been caught
+at the time.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Well, there's one thing Truax was innocent
+of, anyway,</q> laughed Captain Jack. <q>He
+didn't have any hand in the way I was tricked
+and robbed by the mulatto.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Blamed if I'm so sure he didn't have a hand
+in that, too,</q> contended Eph Somers, stubbornly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yet Mr. Pollard recommended him,</q> urged
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, and a fine fellow Dave Pollard is—true
+as steel,</q> put in Hal Hastings, quietly. <q>Yet
+<pb n="140" /><anchor id="Pg140" />
+you know what a dreamer he is. Always has his
+head in the air and his thoughts among the stars.
+He'd as like as not take a fellow like Truax on
+the fellow's own say-so, and never think of looking
+him up.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, we've no reason to think Truax isn't
+honest enough,</q> contended Jack Benson.
+<q>He's certainly a fine workman. As to his
+being sulky, you know well enough that's a common
+fault among men who spend their lives listening
+to the noise of great engines. A man
+who can't make himself heard over the noise of
+a big engine hasn't much encouragement to talk.
+Now, a man who can't find much chance to talk
+becomes sulky a good many times out of ten.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>We'll have trouble with that fellow, Truax,
+yet,</q> muttered Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, I hope not,</q> Jack answered, then added,
+significantly:</p>
+
+<p><q>If he <hi rend="font-style: italic">does</hi> start any trouble he may find that
+he has been trifling with the wrong crowd!</q></p>
+
+<p>Very little more thought was given to the
+sulky one. The submarine boys and their companion,
+Williamson, enjoyed Saturday and
+Sunday ashore.</p>
+
+<p>All of them might have felt disturbed, however,
+had they known of one thing that happened.</p>
+
+<p>The naval machinists aboard the first submarine
+<pb n="141" /><anchor id="Pg141" />
+boat, the <q>Pollard,</q> now owned by the
+United States Government, found something
+slightly out of order with the <q>Pollard's</q>
+engine that they did not know exactly how to
+remedy.</p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax, hanging around the Basin that
+Sunday forenoon, was called upon. He gladly
+responded to the call for help. For four hours
+he toiled along in the <q>Pollard's</q> engine room.
+Much of that time he spent there alone.</p>
+
+<p>The job done, at last, Truax quietly received
+the thanks of the naval machinists and went
+ashore again.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, as he turned and walked toward the main
+gate of the grounds, there was a smile on Sam
+Truax's face that was little short of diabolical.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, if I can only get the same chance at the
+'Farnum's' engines!</q> he muttered, to himself.
+<q>If I can, I think Mr. Jack Benson will find himself
+out of favor with his company, for his company
+will be out of favor with the Navy Department
+at Washington!</q></p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<pb n="142" /><anchor id="Pg142" />
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XIV: THE <q>POLLARD</q> GOES LAME</head>
+
+<p>
+<q>The submarine boats when out in the
+Bay will keep abreast of the 'Hudson,'
+two hundred yards off on either
+beam. The speed will be fourteen knots when
+the signal is given for full speed. The general
+course, after leaving the mouth of the Bay will
+be East.</q></p>
+
+<p>Such were the instructions called from the
+rail of the gunboat, through a megaphone,
+Monday forenoon.</p>
+
+<p>On each of the submarine craft were sixteen
+cadet midshipmen, out for actual practice in
+handling a submarine in diving and in running
+under water. On board the gunboat were eighty
+more cadets. Thus a large class of the young
+men were to receive instruction during the
+cruise, for the detachments aboard the submarines
+could be changed at the pleasure of
+Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, who was in
+charge of the cruise.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Jack, his own hands on the conning
+tower wheel, ran the <q>Farnum</q> out into the
+river, first of all. Then the <q>Pollard,</q> under
+command of a naval officer, followed. Both
+<pb n="143" /><anchor id="Pg143" />
+backed water, then waited for the <q>Hudson</q> to
+come out, for the gunboat was to lead the way
+until the Bay was reached. Then the formation
+ordered would be followed.</p>
+
+<p>Though it was nearing the first of November,
+the day, near land, was ideally soft and balmy.
+As many of the midshipmen as could sought the
+platform deck of the <q>Farnum.</q> Those, however,
+who belonged to the engineer division were
+obliged to spend the greater part of their time
+below.</p>
+
+<p>By the time that the three craft were in the
+ordered formation, abreast, and well started
+down Chesapeake Bay, the parent vessel signaled
+that the designated cadets were to take
+charge of the handling of the submarine
+boats.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson cheerfully relinquished the wheel
+to Cadet Midshipman Merriam, and stepped out
+on to the platform deck. At need, as in case of
+accident or misunderstanding of signals or
+orders, Benson was still in command. While all
+ran smoothly, however, Mr. Merriam enjoyed
+command.</p>
+
+<p>Hal, being likewise relieved in the engine
+room, came also out on deck.</p>
+
+<p><q>Where's Eph?</q> inquired the young commander
+of the <q>Farnum.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>In the engine room,</q> smiled Hal. <q>He said
+<pb n="144" /><anchor id="Pg144" />
+I could leave, if I wanted, but that he'd be
+hanged if he'd let Truax out of his sight while
+I was away.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Eph seems to have Truax on the brain,</q>
+laughed Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Well, Truax <hi rend="font-style: italic">is</hi> a queer and surly one,</q> Hal
+admitted. <q>This morning he gives one the impression
+of peeking over his shoulder all the
+time to see whether he's being watched.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>So Eph means to humor him by watching
+him, eh?</q> asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Hal laughed quietly.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the cadets who were familiar with
+the landmarks of Chesapeake Bay pointed out
+many of the localities and sights to the two
+submarine boys.</p>
+
+<p>At last, however, Eph was obliged to call for
+Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>You know, Hal, old fellow, I've got to look
+out for the feeding of a lot of boarders to-day,</q>
+complained Eph, whimsically.</p>
+
+<p>This task of Eph's took time, though it was
+not a hard one. The food for the cadets had
+been sent aboard. Eph had to make coffee and
+heat soup. For the rest, cold food had to do.
+The young men, on this trip, were required to
+wait on themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Hal found Sam Truax sitting moodily in a
+corner of the engine room, though there was
+<pb n="145" /><anchor id="Pg145" />
+something about the fellow's appearance that
+suggested the watchfulness of a cat.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why don't you go on deck a while, Truax?</q>
+asked Hal, kindly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Don't want to,</q> snapped the fellow, irritably.
+So Hal turned his back on the man.</p>
+
+<p><q>Doesn't that part need loosening up a bit,
+sir?</q> asked the cadet in charge of the engineer
+division.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> replied Hastings, after watching a
+moment; <q>it does.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'll do it, then,</q> proposed Truax, roughly.
+He attempted to crowd his way past Hal, but the
+latter refused to be crowded, and stood his
+ground until the midshipman passed him a
+wrench. Then Hastings loosened up the part.</p>
+
+<p><q>You might let me do a little something,</q>
+growled Sam Truax, in a tone intentionally
+offensive.</p>
+
+<p><q>Don't forget, Truax, that I'm in command
+in this department,</q> retorted Hal, in a quieter
+tone than usual, though with a direct, steady
+look that made Sam Truax turn white with
+repressed wrath.</p>
+
+<p><q>You won't let me forget it, will you?</q>
+snarled the fellow.</p>
+
+<p><q>No; for I don't want you to forget it, and
+least of all on this cruise,</q> responded Hal Hastings.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="146" /><anchor id="Pg146" />
+<q>You don't give me any chance to—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Silence!</q> ordered Hal, taking a step toward
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax opened his mouth to make some
+retort, then wisely changed his mind, dropping
+back into his former seat.</p>
+
+<p>The noon meal was served to all hands. By
+the time it was well over the mouth of the Bay
+was in sight, the broad Atlantic rolling in
+beyond.</p>
+
+<p>The sea, when reached, proved to be almost
+smooth. It was ideal weather for such a cruise.</p>
+
+<p>Then straight East, for an hour they went,
+getting well out of the path of coasting vessels.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hullo! What in blazes does that mean?</q>
+suddenly demanded Hal, pointing astern at
+starboard.</p>
+
+<p>The <q>Pollard</q> lay tossing gently on the
+water, making no headway. Hardly ten seconds
+later the <q>Hudson</q> signaled a halt.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed some rapid signaling between
+the gunboat and the submarine that had
+stopped. There was some break in the <q>Pollard's</q>
+machinery, but the cause had not yet
+been determined.</p>
+
+<p><q>Blazes!</q> muttered Jack, uneasily. <q>It
+couldn't have happened at a worse time. This
+looks bad for our firm, Hal!</q></p>
+
+<p>The <q>Farnum</q> now lay to, as did the <q>Hudson,</q>
+<pb n="147" /><anchor id="Pg147" />
+for the officer in command of the <q>Pollard</q>
+signaled that his machinists were making
+a rapid but thorough investigation of the unfortunate
+submarine's engines.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, a cutter put off from the <q>Hudson,</q>
+with a cadet midshipman in charge. The small
+boat came over alongside, and the midshipman
+called up:</p>
+
+<p><q>The lieutenant commander's compliments,
+and will Mr. Benson detail Mr. Hastings to go
+over to the 'Pollard' and assist?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>My compliments to the lieutenant commander,</q>
+Jack replied. <q>And be good enough
+to report to him, please, that Mr. Hastings and
+I will both go.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>My orders, sir, are to convey you to the
+'Pollard' before reporting back to the parent
+vessel,</q> replied the midshipman.</p>
+
+<p>The cutter came alongside, taking off the two
+submarine boys, while Eph Somers devoted himself
+to watching Sam Truax as a bloodhound
+might have hung to a trail.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived on board the good, old, familiar
+<q>Pollard,</q> Jack and Hal hurried below.</p>
+
+<p><q>The machinery is too hot to handle, now,
+sir,</q> reported one of the naval machinists, <q>but
+it looks as though something was wrong right in
+there</q>—pointing.</p>
+
+<p><q>Put one of the electric fans at work there, at
+<pb n="148" /><anchor id="Pg148" />
+once,</q> directed Hal. <q>Then things ought to be
+cool enough in half an hour, to make an examination
+possible.</q></p>
+
+<p>After seeing this done, the two submarine boys
+left for the platform deck, for the engine room
+was both hot and crowded.</p>
+
+<p><q>How long is it going to take you, Mr. Hastings?</q>
+asked the naval officer in command of the
+<q>Pollard.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Half an hour to get the parts cool enough
+to examine, but I can't say, sir, how long the
+examination and repairs will take.</q></p>
+
+<p>So the officer in command signaled what
+proved to be vague and unsatisfactory information
+to Lieutenant Commander Mayhew.</p>
+
+<p><q>This is a bad time to have this sort of thing
+happen,</q> observed the naval officer in charge.</p>
+
+<p><q>A mighty bad time, sir,</q> Jack murmured.</p>
+
+<p><q>And the engines of the 'Pollard' were supposed
+to be in first-class condition.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>They <hi rend="font-style: italic">were</hi> in A-1 condition, when the boat
+was turned over to the Navy,</q> Jack responded.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you imagine, then, Mr. Benson, that
+some of the naval machinists have been careless
+or incompetent?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, that would be a wild guess to make,
+sir, when one remembers what high rank your
+naval machinists take in their work,</q> Jack
+Benson replied.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="149" /><anchor id="Pg149" />
+<q>And this boat was sold to the Navy with the
+strongest guarantee for the engines,</q> pursued
+the officer in charge.</p>
+
+<p>Jack and Hal were both worried. The sudden
+break had a bad look for the Pollard boats,
+in the success of which these submarine boys
+were most vitally interested.</p>
+
+<p>At last, from below, the suspected parts of
+the engine were reported to be cool enough for
+examination. The naval officer in charge followed
+Jack and Hal below.</p>
+
+<p>Taking off his uniform blouse and rolling up
+his sleeves, Hal sailed in vigorously to locate the
+fault. Machinists and cadets stood about, passing
+him the tools he needed, and helping him
+when required.</p>
+
+<p>At last, after disconnecting some parts, Hal
+drew out a long, slender brass piston.</p>
+
+<p>As he held it up young Hastings's face went
+as white as chalk.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you see this?</q> he demanded, hoarsely.</p>
+
+<p><q>Filed, crazily, and it also looks as though the
+inner end had been heated and tampered with,</q>
+gasped Jack Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>This, sir,</q> complained Hal, turning around
+to face the naval officer in charge, <q>looks like a
+direct attempt to tamper with and damage the
+engine. Someone has done this deliberately,
+sir. It only remains to find the culprit.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="150" /><anchor id="Pg150" />
+<q>Then we'll find out,</q> retorted the naval officer,
+<q>if it takes a court of inquiry and a court
+martial to do it. But are you sure of your
+charge, Mr. Hastings?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Am I sure?</q> repeated Hal, all the soul of
+the young engineer swelling to the surface.
+<q>Take this piston, sir, and examine it. Could
+such a job have been done, unless by sheer
+design and intent?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Will the lieutenant permit me to speak?</q>
+asked the senior machinist, taking a step forward
+and saluting.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes; go ahead.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yesterday morning, sir,</q> continued the
+senior machinist, <q>we thought the engines
+needed some overhauling by someone more accustomed
+to them than we were. We saw one
+of the machinists of the 'Farnum,' sir, hanging
+about on shore. So we invited him aboard and
+asked him to look the engines over.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Describe the man,</q> begged Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The senior machinist gave a description that
+instantly denoted Sam Truax as the man in
+question.</p>
+
+<p><q>Did you leave him alone in here, at any
+time?</q> demanded Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>Let me see. Why, yes, sir. The man must
+have been alone in here some three-quarters of
+an hour.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="151" /><anchor id="Pg151" />
+Jack and Hal exchanged swift glances.</p>
+
+<p>There seemed, now, very little need of carrying
+the investigation further.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK</head>
+
+<p>
+When he could trust himself to speak
+Hal Hastings addressed the naval
+officer.</p>
+
+<p><q>I think Mr. Benson and myself understand,
+sir, how it happened that this damage was done.
+There are extra parts in the repair kit. In
+twenty minutes, sir, I think we can have the
+engines running smoothly once more.</q></p>
+
+<p>The naval officer was wise enough not to press
+the questioning further just then. Instead, he
+went on deck.</p>
+
+<p>Working like beavers, and with the assistance
+of others standing about, Jack and Hal had the
+piston replaced and all the other parts in place
+within fifteen minutes. Then, once more, Hal
+turned on the gasoline, set the ignition, and
+watched.</p>
+
+<p>The engine ran as smoothly as ever.</p>
+
+<p><q>There won't be any more trouble, unless
+someone is turned loose here with files and a
+blast lamp,</q> pronounced Hal. Then he and
+<pb n="152" /><anchor id="Pg152" />
+his chum sought the deck, to report to the officer
+in charge.</p>
+
+<p><q>You think we're in running order, now?</q>
+asked that officer.</p>
+
+<p><q>If you give the speed-ahead signal, sir, I
+think you'll feel as though you had a live engine
+under your deck,</q> Hal assured him.</p>
+
+<p>The signal was given, the <q>Pollard</q> immediately
+responding. She cut a wide circle, at
+good speed, returning to her former position,
+where the propellers were stopped.</p>
+
+<p><q>You suspect your own machinist, who was
+aboard?</q> asked the naval officer, in a low tone,
+of the submarine boys.</p>
+
+<p><q>If you'll pardon our not answering directly,
+sir,</q> Captain Jack replied, <q>we want to have
+more than suspicions before we make a very
+energetic report on this strange accident. But
+we shall not be asleep, sir, in the matter of finding
+out. Then we shall make a full report to
+Mr. Mayhew.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Success to you—and vigilance!</q> muttered
+the naval officer.</p>
+
+<p>The gunboat's cutter came alongside, transferring
+Jack and Hal back to the <q>Farnum.</q></p>
+
+<p>Hal went directly below to the engine room.</p>
+
+<p><q>You fixed the trouble with the 'Pollard'?</q>
+demanded Eph Somers, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> Hal admitted.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="153" /><anchor id="Pg153" />
+<q>What was wrong?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, I don't know as I'd want to commit
+myself in too offhand a way,</q> replied Hal,
+slowly, as though thinking.</p>
+
+<p><q>What appeared to be at the bottom of the
+trouble?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, it <hi rend="font-style: italic">may</hi> have been that one of the naval
+machinists, not understanding our engines any
+too well, allowed one of the pistons to get overheated,
+and then resorted to filing,</q> Hal replied.</p>
+
+<p><q>What? Overheat a piston, and then try to
+correct it with a file?</q> cried young Somers, disgustedly.
+<q>The crazy blacksmith! He ought
+to be set to shoeing snails—that's all he's fit
+for.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It looks that way,</q> Hal assented, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>Artful, clever Hal! He had carried it all off
+so coolly and naturally that Sam Truax, who
+had been closely studying Hastings's face from
+the background, was wholly deceived.</p>
+
+<p><q>This fellow, Hastings, isn't as smart as I had
+thought him,</q> muttered Truax, to himself.</p>
+
+<p>The interrupted cruise now proceeded, the
+parent vessel signaling for a temporary speed
+of sixteen knots in order to make up for lost
+time.</p>
+
+<p>Twenty minutes later came the signal from
+the <q>Hudson:</q></p>
+
+<p><q>At the command, the submarines will dash
+<pb n="154" /><anchor id="Pg154" />
+ahead at full speed, each making its best time.
+During this trial, which will end at the firing of
+a gun from the parent vessel, all cadets will be
+on deck.</q></p>
+
+<p>Word was immediately passed below, and all
+the cadets of the engineer division came
+tumbling up.</p>
+
+<p>To these, who had been in the engine room
+constantly for hours, the cool wind blowing
+across the deck was highly agreeable.</p>
+
+<p>For the speed dash Captain Jack Benson had
+again taken command. He passed word below
+to Eph Somers to take the wheel in the conning
+tower.</p>
+
+<p>Eph, therefore, came up with the last of the
+cadets from below. In the excitement of the
+pending race it had not been noticed by any of
+the submarine boys that Williamson was already
+on deck, aft. That left Sam Truax below in sole
+possession of the boat's engine quarters.</p>
+
+<p>The gunboat now fell a little behind, leaving
+the two submarines some four hundred yards
+apart, but as nearly as possible on a line.</p>
+
+<p><q>Look at the crowd over on the 'Pollard's'
+decks,</q> muttered Hal. <q>They're all Navy
+folks over there.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>And they mean to beat such plain 'dubs' as
+they must consider us,</q> laughed Captain Jack,
+in an undertone.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="155" /><anchor id="Pg155" />
+<q>Will they beat us, though?</q> grinned Hal
+Hastings. <q>You and I, Jack, happen to know
+that the 'Farnum' is a bit the faster boat by
+rights.</q></p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the signal broke out from the gunboat.</p>
+
+<p><q>Race her, Eph!</q> shouted Captain Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>Aye, aye, sir!</q></p>
+
+<p>Eph Somers's right hand caught at the speed
+signals beside the wheel. He called for all
+speed, the bell jangling merrily in the engine
+room.</p>
+
+<p>A little cheer of excitement went up from the
+cadets aboard the <q>Farnum</q> as that craft shot
+ahead over the waters. The cadets were catching
+the thrill of what was virtually a race. At
+the same time, though, these midshipmen could
+not help feeling a good deal of interest in the
+success of the <q>Pollard,</q> which was manned
+wholly by representatives of the Navy.</p>
+
+<p>In the first three minutes the <q>Farnum</q> stole
+gradually, though slowly, ahead of the <q>Pollard.</q>
+Then, to the disgust of all three of the
+submarine boys, the other craft was seen to be
+gaining. Before long the <q>Pollard</q> had the
+lead, and looked likely to increase it. Already
+gleeful cheers were rising from the all-Navy
+crowd on the deck of the other submarine.</p>
+
+<p>Behind the racers sped the <q>Hudson,</q> keeping
+<pb n="156" /><anchor id="Pg156" />
+just far enough behind to be able to observe
+everything without interfering with either
+torpedo craft.</p>
+
+<p>From looking at the <q>Pollard</q> Captain Jack
+glanced down at the water. His own boat's
+bows seemed to be cutting the water at a fast
+gait. The young skipper, knowing what he
+knew about both boats, could not understand this
+losing to the other craft.</p>
+
+<p><q>The Navy men must know a few tricks with
+engines that we haven't guessed,</q> he observed,
+anxiously, to young Hastings.</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't know what it can be, then,</q> murmured
+Hal, uneasily. <q>There aren't so confusingly
+many parts to a six-cylinder gasoline
+motor. They aren't hard engines to run. More
+depends on the engine itself than on the
+engineer.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>But look over there,</q> returned Captain
+Jack Benson. <q>You see the 'Pollard' taking
+the wind out of our teeth, don't you?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> Hal admitted, looking more puzzled.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you think our engines are doing the top-notch
+of their best?</q> asked Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes; for Williamson is a crackerjack
+machinist. He knows our engines as well as
+any man alive could do.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Do you think it would do any good for you
+to go below, Hal?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="157" /><anchor id="Pg157" />
+<q>I will, if you say so,</q> offered Hastings.
+<q>Yet there's another side to it.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Williamson might get it into his head that
+I went below because I thought he was making
+a muddle of the speed. As a matter of fact, he
+knows every blessed thing I do about our motors,
+and Williamson is loyal to the core.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I know,</q> nodded Captain Jack. <q>I'd hate to
+hurt a fine fellow's feelings. Yet—confound it,
+I <hi rend="font-style: italic">do</hi> want to win this burst of speed. It means,
+perhaps, the quick sale of this boat to the Navy.
+If we're beaten it means, to the Secretary of the
+Navy, that he already has our best boat, and he
+might not see the need of buying the 'Farnum'
+at all.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Give Williamson two or three minutes
+more,</q> begged Hal. <q>You might tell Eph,
+though, to repeat, and repeat, the signal for top
+speed. That'll show Williamson we're losing.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson walked to the conning tower, instructing
+Eph Somers in a low tone.</p>
+
+<p><q>I've signaled twice, since the first time,</q>
+Eph replied. <q>But here goes some more.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I wonder what's going wrong with our engines,
+then,</q> muttered Captain Jack, uneasily.</p>
+
+<p><q>It ain't in careless steering, anyway,</q>
+grumbled Eph. <q>I'm going as straight as a
+chalk line.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="158" /><anchor id="Pg158" />
+<q>I noticed that,</q> Captain Jack admitted.</p>
+
+<p>He continued to look worried, for, by this
+time, the <q>Pollard</q> was at least a good two
+hundred and fifty yards to the good in the lead.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm afraid,</q> muttered Hal, rejoining Benson,
+<q>that I'll simply have to go below.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm afraid so,</q> nodded Jack. <q>We simply
+can't afford to lose this or any other race to the
+'Pollard.'</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Williamson knows that fully as well as we
+do, though,</q> Hal Hastings went on. <q>And
+Williamson—</q></p>
+
+<p>Of a sudden Hal stopped short. He half
+staggered, clutching at a rail, while his eyes
+stared and his lips twitched.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why—why—there's Williamson—aft on the
+deck!</q> muttered Hastings.</p>
+
+<p><q>What!</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack, too, wheeled like a flash. Back there
+in a crowd of cadets stood the machinist upon
+whom the submarine boys were depending for
+the best showing that the <q>Farnum</q> could
+make.</p>
+
+<p><q>Williamson up here!</q> gasped Hal. <q>And—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That fellow, Truax, all alone with the
+motors!</q> hissed Captain Jack. Then, after a
+second or two of startled silence:</p>
+
+<p><q>Come on, Hal!</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="159" /><anchor id="Pg159" />
+The naval cadets were too much absorbed in
+watching the race to have overheard anything.
+Williamson, too, standing at the rail, looking out
+over the water, had not yet discovered that Hal
+Hastings was up from the engine room.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson stole below on tip-toe, though
+with the machinery running so much stealth was
+not necessary. Right behind him followed Hal.</p>
+
+<p>As the two gained the doorway of the engine
+room Sam Truax had his back turned to them,
+and so did not note the sudden watchers.</p>
+
+<p>There was a smile of malicious triumph on
+Truax's face as he turned a lever a little way
+over, thus decreasing the ignition power of the
+motors.</p>
+
+<p>Both Jack and Hal could see that the gasoline
+flow had been turned on nearly to the full
+capacity. It was the poor ignition work that
+was making the motors respond so badly. A
+little less, and a little less, of the electric spark
+that burned the gasoline and air mixture—that
+was the secret of the gradually decreasing
+speed, while all the time it looked as though the
+<q>Farnum</q> was doing her level best to win the
+race.</p>
+
+<p>Whistling, as he bent over, Sam Truax caught
+up a long, slender steel bar. With this he
+stepped forward, intent upon his next wicked
+step.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="160" /><anchor id="Pg160" />
+<q>Gracious! The scoundrel is going to run
+that bar in between the moving parts of the
+engine and bring about a break-down!</q>
+quivered Hal.</p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax stood watching for his chance to
+thrust the steel bar in just where it would inflict
+the most damage. Then raising the bar
+quickly, he poised for the blow.</p>
+
+<p><q>Stop that, you infernal sneak!</q> roared Jack
+Benson, bounding into the engine room.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK</head>
+
+<p>
+<q>You—here?</q> hissed Truax, wheeling
+about.</p>
+
+<p>He had not had time to make the
+thrust with the steel bar.</p>
+
+<p>Instead, as he wheeled, he raised it above his
+head, drawing back in an attitude of guard.</p>
+
+<p>As he did so, a vile oath escaped Truax's lips.</p>
+
+<p><q>Put that bar down!</q> commanded Jack
+Benson, standing unflinchingly before the angry
+rascal.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll put it down on your head, if you don't
+get out of here!</q> snarled the wretch.</p>
+
+<p><q>Put it down, and consider yourself off duty
+here, for good and all,</q> insisted Jack.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="161" /><anchor id="Pg161" />
+<q>Are you going to get out of here, or shall
+I brain you?</q> screamed Truax, his face working
+in the height of his passion.</p>
+
+<p><q>Neither,</q> retorted Captain Jack, coolly.
+<q>I command here, and you know it. Put that
+bar down, and leave the engine room.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Come and take the bar from me—if you
+dare!</q> taunted the fellow, a more wicked gleam
+flashing in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hal!</q> called Jack, sharply.</p>
+
+<p><q>Aye!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Call two or three of the cadets down here.
+Don't make any noise about it.</q></p>
+
+<p>This order was called without Benson's turning
+his head. He still stood facing the sneak
+while Hal sped away.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, I've got you alone!</q> gloated Truax.
+<q>I'll finish you!</q></p>
+
+<p>A scornful smile curled Jack's lips as he gazed
+steadily back at his foe.</p>
+
+<p><q>Truax, you're a coward, as well as a sneak.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I am—eh?</q></p>
+
+<p>With another nasty oath Truax stepped
+quickly forward, the steel bar upraised.</p>
+
+<p>He took but one step, however, for Captain
+Jack Benson had not retreated an inch.</p>
+
+<p>Nor did Jack have his hands up in an attitude
+of guard.</p>
+
+<p><q>Are you going to put that bar down,
+<pb n="162" /><anchor id="Pg162" />
+Truax?</q> the young skipper demanded, in a
+voice that betrayed not a tremor.</p>
+
+<p><q>No.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then you'll have to make good in a moment,
+for we're going to attack you.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Bah! I can stave in two or three heads before
+any number of you could stop me,</q> sneered
+the fellow, in an ugly voice.</p>
+
+<p><q>You could, but you won't dare.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I won't?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Not you!</q></p>
+
+<p>At that instant rapid steps were heard. Hal
+Hastings returned with three of the midshipmen,
+behind them Williamson trying to crowd
+his way into the scene.</p>
+
+<p><q>Just tell us what you want, Mr. Benson,</q>
+proposed Cadet Merriam, amiably.</p>
+
+<p><q>This fellow has been 'doping' our engines,</q>
+announced Captain Jack. <q>And now he's
+threatening to stand us off. We'll close in on
+him from both sides. If he tries to use that
+steel bar on any of us—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>If he does, he'll curse his unlucky star,</q>
+declared Midshipman Merriam. <q>Come on,
+gentlemen. We'll show him some of the Navy
+football tactics!</q></p>
+
+<p>The three midshipmen approached Truax
+steadily from the right. Jack, Hal and Williamson
+stepped in on the left.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="163" /><anchor id="Pg163" />
+With a yell like that of a maniac Sam Truax
+swung the bar.</p>
+
+<p>Having to watch both sides at once, however,
+he made a fizzle of it. The bar came down, but
+struck the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Then, with a yell, the midshipmen leaped in on
+one side, Jack leading the submarine forces on
+the other. Mr. Merriam's trip and Jack's
+smashing blow with the fist brought Truax down
+to the floor in a heap.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, cart this human rubbish out of here!</q>
+ordered Jack Benson, sternly. <q>Don't hit him—he
+isn't man enough to be worthy of a blow!</q></p>
+
+<p>Swooping down upon the prostrate one, Hal
+and the midshipmen seized Sam Truax by his
+arms and legs, carrying him bodily out of the
+engine room.</p>
+
+<p><q>Williamson,</q> commanded Captain Jack,
+<q>stop the speed.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>In the race, sir. We—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Stop the speed,</q> repeated Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>You're the captain,</q> admitted Williamson.
+Grasping the twin levers of the two motors he
+swung them backward.</p>
+
+<p><q>Disregard any signal to go ahead until
+we've had a chance to inspect the motors,</q>
+added Captain Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Then the submarine skipper darted out into
+the cabin.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="164" /><anchor id="Pg164" />
+Sam Truax lay sprawling on the floor. Midshipman
+Merriam, a most cheerful smile on his
+face, sat across the fellow, while Hal and the
+other two midshipmen stood by, looking on.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hold him please, until I can have the wretch
+taken care of,</q> requested Captain Jack, making
+for the spiral stairway to the conning tower.</p>
+
+<p>Just as the young skipper stepped out on deck
+he heard the <q>Hudson's</q> bow-gun break out
+sharply in the halting signal.</p>
+
+<p>Taking a megaphone, Benson stood at the rail
+until the gunboat ranged up alongside.</p>
+
+<p><q>Have you broken down?</q> came the hail
+from the gunboat's bridge.</p>
+
+<p><q>I thought it best to stop speed, sir. We'll
+have to look over our engines before it will be
+safe to attempt any more speed work,</q> Captain
+Jack answered. <q>I've caught a fellow tampering
+with our machinery. We hold him a
+prisoner, now. Can you take him off our
+hands, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>One of <hi rend="font-style: italic">your own</hi> men?</q> came back the
+question.</p>
+
+<p><q>Of course, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>We'll send a marine guard to take him, on
+your complaint, Mr. Benson.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Thank you, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p>The gunboat's engines slowed down. Ere
+long her port side gangway was lowered. Jack
+<pb n="165" /><anchor id="Pg165" />
+saw not only two marines and a corporal come
+down over the side, but Lieutenant Commander
+Mayhew appeared in person. That officer came
+over in the cutter.</p>
+
+<p><q>You've had treachery aboard, have you?</q>
+asked the lieutenant commander, as he climbed
+up over the side.</p>
+
+<p><q>Rather. A new machinist, taken aboard
+just before we sailed from Dunhaven. The
+same fellow who must have played the trick on
+the 'Pollard's' engines yesterday,</q> Benson
+replied.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll be glad to have a fellow like that in irons
+in the brig aboard the 'Hudson,' then,</q> muttered
+Mr. Mayhew. <q>I couldn't understand,
+Mr. Benson, how you were doing so badly in the
+full speed ahead dash.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The prisoner below is the answer, sir,</q> Captain
+Jack replied. He then led the corporal and
+two marines below. The corporal produced a
+pair of handcuffs, which he promptly snapped
+over Truax's wrists.</p>
+
+<p><q>You'll be sorry for this, one of these days,</q>
+threatened Truax, with a snarl that showed his
+teeth.</p>
+
+<p><q>Some day, then, if you please, when I have
+more leisure than I have now,</q> Jack retorted,
+dryly. <q>This man is all yours, corporal.</q></p>
+
+<p>Truax was foolish enough to try to hang back
+<pb n="166" /><anchor id="Pg166" />
+on his conductors. A slight jab through the
+clothing from one of the marines' bayonets
+caused the prisoner to stop that trick. He was
+taken on deck and over the side.</p>
+
+<p><q>Coxswain, return for me after you've taken
+the prisoner to the 'Hudson,'</q> directed Mr.
+Mayhew. <q>Now, Mr. Benson, I would like to
+see what has been done to your engines.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's just what I want to know, too,</q>
+responded Jack.</p>
+
+<p>They found Hal and Williamson hard at
+work, inspecting the motors.</p>
+
+<p><q>The ignition power was lowered, and that
+may have been the most that the fellow did,</q>
+said Hal. <q>Yet, at the same time, before putting
+these engines to any severe test, I believe
+they ought to be cooled and looked over.</q></p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Commander Mayhew frowned.</p>
+
+<p><q>These delays eat up our practice cruise time
+a whole lot,</q> he grumbled.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll put the engines through their paces, and
+chance mischief having been done to them, if
+you wish, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No; that won't do either, Mr. Hastings,</q>
+replied the naval officer. <q>This craft is private
+property, and I have no right to give orders that
+may damage private property. I'll hold the
+fleet until you've had time to inspect your
+engines properly. By that time, however, we'll
+<pb n="167" /><anchor id="Pg167" />
+have to put back to the coast for the night, for
+our practice time will be gone.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>In the days to follow, sir,</q> put in Benson,
+earnestly, <q>I think we can more than make up
+for this delay. We won't have the traitor
+aboard after this.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What earthly object can the fellow have had
+for wanting to damage your motors?</q> demanded
+the naval officer, looking hopelessly
+puzzled.</p>
+
+<p><q>I can't even make a sane guess, sir,</q> Jack
+Benson admitted.</p>
+
+<p>An hour and a half later the <q>Hudson</q> and
+the two submarines headed back for a safe little
+bay on the coast. Here the three craft anchored
+for the night.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT</head>
+
+<p>
+It was nearly eight in the evening when the
+three craft were snug at anchor.</p>
+
+<p>The bay was a small one, hardly worthy
+of the name. The only inhabited part of the
+shore thereabouts consisted of the fishing village
+known as Blair's Cove, a settlement containing
+some forty houses.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had all been made snug aboard the
+<pb n="168" /><anchor id="Pg168" />
+<q>Farnum</q> when Jack, standing on the platform
+deck after the cadets had been transferred
+to the <q>Hudson</q> for the night, saw a small boat
+heading out from shore.</p>
+
+<p><q>Is that one of the new submarine crafts?</q>
+hailed a voice from the bow of the boat.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir,</q> Jack answered, courteously.</p>
+
+<p>No more was said until the boat had come up
+alongside.</p>
+
+<p><q>I thought maybe you'd be willing to let me
+have a look over a craft of this sort,</q> said the
+man in the bow. He appeared to be about forty
+years of age, dark-haired and with a full, black
+beard. The man was plainly though not
+roughly dressed; evidently he was a man of some
+education.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, I'm mighty sorry, sir,</q> Captain Jack
+Benson replied. <q>But I'm afraid it will be impossible
+to allow any strangers on board during
+this cruise.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, I won't steal anything from your craft,</q>
+answered the stranger, laughingly. <q>I won't
+be inquisitive, either, or go poking into forbidden
+corners. Who's your captain?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I am, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Then you'll let me come aboard, just for a
+look, won't you?</q> pleaded the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>Such curiosity was natural. The man seemed
+like a decent fellow. But Jack shook his head.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="169" /><anchor id="Pg169" />
+<q>I'm sorry, sir, but I'm positive our owners
+wouldn't approve of our allowing any strangers
+to come on board.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Had any trouble, so far, with strangers?</q>
+asked the man.</p>
+
+<p><q>I didn't say that,</q> Jack replied, evasively.
+<q>But the construction of a submarine torpedo
+boat is a secret. It is a general rule with our
+owners that strangers shan't be allowed on
+board, unless they're very especially vouched
+for. Now, I hate to appear disobliging; yet, if
+you've ever been employed by anyone else, you
+will appreciate the need of obeying an owner's
+orders.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You're under the orders of the boss of that
+gunboat?</q> asked the stranger, pointing to the
+<q>Hudson.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>On this cruise, yes, sir,</q> Jack nodded.</p>
+
+<p><q>Maybe, if I saw the fellow in command of
+the gunboat, then he'd give me an order allowing
+me to come on board.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm very certain the lieutenant commander
+wouldn't do anything of the sort,</q> Benson
+responded.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger gave a comical sigh.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then I'm afraid I don't see a submarine boat
+to-night—that is, any more than I can see of it
+now.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's about the way it looks to me, also,</q>
+<pb n="170" /><anchor id="Pg170" />
+Jack answered, smiling. <q>Yet, believe me, I
+hate awfully to seem discourteous about it.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, all right,</q> muttered the stranger, nodding
+to the two boatmen, who had rowed him out
+alongside.</p>
+
+<p><q>Good!</q> grunted Eph. <q>I'm glad you
+didn't let him on board, Captain. On this cruise
+our luck doesn't seem to run with strangers.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It doesn't, for a fact,</q> laughed Jack Benson.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hi, ho—ah, hum!</q> yawned young Somers,
+stretching. <q>It will be mine for early bunk
+to-night, I reckon.</q></p>
+
+<p>At this moment a boat was observed rounding
+the stern of the <q>Hudson.</q> It came up alongside,
+landing a marine sentry.</p>
+
+<p><q>Anybody on the 'Farnum' want to go ashore
+to-night?</q> hailed a voice from the gunboat's
+rail. <q>The shore boat will be ready in five
+minutes.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I believe I would like to take just a run
+through the village,</q> declared Jack, turning to
+his chum. <q>Do you feel like a land-cruise with
+me, Hal?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I think I'd better go,</q> laughed Hastings.
+<q>You seem to get into trouble when you go
+alone.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>All right, then. And, Eph since you're so
+sleepy, you can turn in as soon as you want.
+The boat will be under sufficient protection,</q>
+<pb n="171" /><anchor id="Pg171" />
+Jack added, nodding toward the marine slowly
+pacing the platform deck.</p>
+
+<p>Williamson was called too, but declared that
+he felt like turning in early. So, when the shore
+boat came, it had but two passengers to take
+from the submarine. There were a few shore-leave
+men, however, from the gunboat.</p>
+
+<p><q>This boat will return to the fleet, gentlemen,
+every hour up to midnight,</q> stated the petty
+officer in charge, as Jack and Hal stepped ashore
+at a rickety little wharf.</p>
+
+<p><q>Judging from what we can see of the town
+from here, we'll be ready to go back long before
+midnight,</q> Jack Benson laughingly told his
+companion.</p>
+
+<p><q>All I want is to shake some of the sea-roll
+out of my gait,</q> nodded Hastings. <q>It surely
+doesn't seem to be much of a town.</q></p>
+
+<p>By way of public buildings there turned out
+to be a church, locked and dark, a general store
+and also a drug-store that contained the local
+post-office. But the drug-store carried no ice
+cream or soda, so the submarine boys turned
+away.</p>
+
+<p>There was one other <q>public</q> place that the
+boys failed to discover at once. That was a low
+groggery at the further end of the town. Here
+two of the sailors who had come on shore leave
+turned in for a drink or two. They found a
+<pb n="172" /><anchor id="Pg172" />
+suave, black-bearded man quite ready to buy
+liquor for Uncle Sam's tars.</p>
+
+<p>Three-quarters of an hour later Jack and Hal
+felt they had seen about as much of the town as
+they cared for, when a hailing voice stopped
+them.</p>
+
+<p><q>Finding it pretty dull, gentlemen?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, good evening,</q> replied Captain Jack,
+recognizing the bearded man whom he had
+refused admittance to the <q>Farnum.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Pretty stupid town, isn't it, Captain?</q>
+asked the stranger, holding out his hand, which
+Jack Benson took.</p>
+
+<p><q>As lively as we thought it would be,</q> Hal
+rejoined. <q>We just came ashore to stretch ourselves
+a bit. Thought we might lay a course to
+an ice-cream soda, too, but failed.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>These fishermen don't have such things,</q>
+smiled the stranger. <q>They are content with
+the bare necessities of life, with a little grog and
+tobacco added. Speaking of grog, would you
+care to try the best this town has, gentlemen?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Thank you,</q> Jack answered, politely.
+<q>We've never either of us tasted the stuff, and
+we don't care to begin.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Drop into the drug-store and have a cigar,
+then?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>We don't smoke, either, thank you,</q> came
+from Hal.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="173" /><anchor id="Pg173" />
+<q>You young men are rather hard to entertain
+in a place like this,</q> sighed the stranger, but his
+eyes twinkled.</p>
+
+<p><q>We are just as grateful for the intention,</q>
+Jack assured him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Tell you what I can do, gentlemen,</q> proposed
+the stranger, suddenly. <q>I might invite
+you down to my shack for a little while, and
+show you my books and some models of yachts
+and ships that I've been collecting. I'm quite
+proud of my collection in that line. Won't you
+come?</q></p>
+
+<p>Anything in the line of yacht or ship-models
+interested both of these sea-loving boys from the
+shipyard at Dunhaven. Jack graciously accepted
+the invitation for them both.</p>
+
+<p><q>And, though I have no soda fountain,</q> continued
+the bearded one, <q>I can offer you some
+soft drinks. I always keep some about the
+place.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>How do you come to be living in a place like
+this, if I'm not too inquisitive?</q> queried Benson,
+as the three strolled down the street.</p>
+
+<p><q>Doctor's orders,</q> replied the bearded one.
+<q>So I've rented the best old shack I could get
+here, down by the water. I spend a good deal
+of my time sailing a sloop that I have. Curtis
+is my name.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack and Hal introduced themselves in turn.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="174" /><anchor id="Pg174" />
+Curtis's shack proved to be well away from
+the village proper, and down near the waterfront.
+A light shone from a window near the
+front door as the three approached the small
+dwelling.</p>
+
+<p><q>I think I can interest you for an hour, gentlemen,</q>
+declared the bearded one, as he
+slipped a key in the lock of the door.</p>
+
+<p>He admitted them to a little room off the hallway,
+a room that contained not much beyond a
+table and four chairs, a side-table and some of
+the accessories of the smoker.</p>
+
+<p><q>Just take a seat here,</q> proposed Curtis,
+<q>while I get some sarsaparilla for you. I'll be
+right back in a moment.</q></p>
+
+<p>It was four or five minutes before Curtis came
+back, bearing a tray on which were three tall
+glasses, each containing a brownish liquid.</p>
+
+<p><q>The stuff isn't iced, yet it's fairly cold,</q> the
+bearded one explained. <q>Well, gentlemen,
+here's to a pleasant evening!</q></p>
+
+<p>Hal, who was thirsty, took a long swallow of
+the sarsaparilla, finding the flavor excellent.
+Jack drank more slowly, though he enjoyed the
+beverage.</p>
+
+<p><q>If you don't mind,</q> suggested Curtis, <q>I
+will light a cigar. And say, by the way, gentlemen,
+what if we take a little walk down to my
+beach? Before showing you the models I spoke
+<pb n="175" /><anchor id="Pg175" />
+of, I'd like to have your opinion of the lines of
+my sloop.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>We'll go down and take a look with great
+pleasure,</q> Jack Benson agreed, rising. <q>And
+I'm glad, sir, that you're able to show us
+more courtesy than we were able to offer you
+to-night.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, that was all right,</q> declared their host,
+smiling good-humoredly. <q>Rules are rules, and
+you have your owners to please. No hard feelings
+on that score, I assure you.</q></p>
+
+<p>Curtis led the way through a dark yard down
+to a pier. Moored there lay a handsome white
+sloop, some forty-two feet in length—a boat of
+a good and seaworthy knockabout type.</p>
+
+<p><q>This is a sloop, all right,</q> Jack agreed, cordially.
+<q>Rather different from the lumbering
+fishing craft hereabouts.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, hah, yum!</q> yawned Hal, at which Curtis
+shot a quick glance at him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Come on board,</q> invited Curtis, stepping
+down to the deck of the craft. <q>Let me show
+you what a comfortable cruising cabin I have.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Hi, oh, yow!</q> yawned Hal, again. <q>Jack,
+I think I shall enjoy my rest to-night.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Same case here,</q> agreed Benson, stifling a
+yawn that came as though in answer to Hal's.</p>
+
+<p><q>I won't keep you long, gentlemen, if I am
+boring you,</q> agreed their host, amiably.
+<pb n="176" /><anchor id="Pg176" />
+<q>Now, I'll go below first and light up. So!
+Now, come down and take a look. Do you find
+many yacht cabins more comfortable than this
+one?</q></p>
+
+<p>It was, indeed, a cozy place. Up forward
+stood a miniature sideboard, complete in every
+respect with glass and silver. In the center of
+the cabin was a folding table. There were
+locker seats and inviting looking cushions. The
+trim was largely of mahogany. On either side
+was a broad, comfortable-looking berth.</p>
+
+<p><q>Just get into that berth and try it, Mr. Hastings,</q>
+urged the bearded one.</p>
+
+<p><q>I—I'm afraid to,</q> confessed Hal, stifling
+another yawn.</p>
+
+<p><q>Afraid?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Very sure thing!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm—hah-ho-hum!</q> yawned Hal Hastings.
+<q>I'm afraid I'd—yow!—abuse your hospitality
+by going to sleep.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson leaned against the edge of the
+opposite berth, feeling unaccountably drowsy.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, nonsense,</q> laughed Curtis. <q>Just pile
+into that berth for a moment, Hastings, and see
+what a soft, restful place it is. I'll agree to pull
+you out, if necessary.</q></p>
+
+<p>Not realizing much, in his approaching
+stupor, Hal Hastings allowed himself to be
+<pb n="177" /><anchor id="Pg177" />
+coaxed to stretch himself at full length in the
+downy berth.</p>
+
+<p>Almost immediately he closed his eyes, drifting
+off into stupor.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, your friend <hi rend="font-style: italic">is</hi> drowsy, isn't he?</q>
+laughed the bearded one, turning to the submarine
+skipper.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Benson's own eyelids were suspiciously
+close together.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why—what—ails you?</q></p>
+
+<p>Curtis spoke in a low, droning, far-away voice
+that caused Jack Benson's upper eyelids to sink.
+Curtis stood watching him, in malicious glee, for
+some moments. Then, at last, he took hold of
+the young skipper.</p>
+
+<p><q>Come, old fellow,</q> coaxed the bearded one,
+<q>you'll do best to join your friend in a good
+nap. Get up in the berth.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Lemme alone,</q> protested the boy, thickly,
+feeling that he was being lifted. Jack struggled,
+partly rousing himself.</p>
+
+<p><q>Come, get up into the berth. You'll be more
+comfortable there.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Lemme alone. What are you trying to do?</q>
+demanded Jack, swinging an arm.</p>
+
+<p>Curtis dodged the light blow, then gripped
+Jack Benson resolutely.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, see here, young man,</q> hissed the
+bearded one, <q>I'm not going to have any more
+<pb n="178" /><anchor id="Pg178" />
+nonsense out of you. Up into the berth you go!
+Do you want me to hit you?</q></p>
+
+<p>Another man thrust his head down the cabin
+hatchway, showing an evil, grinning face.</p>
+
+<p><q>Got 'em right?</q> demanded the one from the
+hatchway.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes,</q> snapped the bearded one, then turned
+to give his attention to Jack Benson, who was
+putting up an ineffectual fight while Hal slumbered
+on. <q>Now, see here, Benson, quit all
+your fooling!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You lemme up,</q> insisted the submarine boy,
+in a low, dull voice, though he swung both his
+arms in an effort to assert himself. <q>'M not
+goin' t' stay here. Lemme up, I say! 'M goin'
+back to—own boat.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The submarine?</q> jeered the bearded man.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yep.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Guess again, son,</q> laughed Curtis, jeeringly.
+<q>You're not going back aboard the submarine
+to-night.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Am so,</q> declared Benson, obstinately,
+though his tone was growing more drowsy every
+instant, and his busy hands moved almost as
+weakly as an infant's.</p>
+
+<p><q>Listen, if you've got enough of your senses
+left,</q> growled the bearded men. <q>You're not
+going back to the 'Farnum'—neither to-night,
+nor at any other time during the next few
+<pb n="179" /><anchor id="Pg179" />
+months. You're bound on a long cruise, but not
+on a submarine boat. I am the captain here,
+and I'll name the cruise!</q></p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES</head>
+
+<p>
+It was barely a minute afterward that Jack
+Benson lapsed into a very distinct snore.</p>
+
+<p><q>No more trouble from this pair,</q>
+laughed the bearded one to his companion at the
+hatchway. <q>Now, I'll douse the cabin light,
+and then we'll cast off. This thing has moved
+along very slickly.</q></p>
+
+<p>Eph, after having made up his mind to turn
+in early, had found his sleepy fit passing. He
+read for a while in the cabin, then pulled on a
+reefer and went up on deck. Williamson was
+already in a berth, sound asleep.</p>
+
+<p><q>It would be a fine night if there was a
+moon,</q> Eph remarked to the marine sentry on
+deck.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p>The marine—<q>soldier, and sailor, too</q>—not
+being there for conversational purposes, continued
+his slow pacing, his rifle resting over his
+right shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>As Eph strolled about in the limited space of
+<pb n="180" /><anchor id="Pg180" />
+the platform deck he heard a distant creaking.
+It was a sound that he well knew—the hoisting
+of sail.</p>
+
+<p><q>I wonder if the local fishermen start out at
+this time of the night?</q> Eph Somers remarked,
+musingly, to the sentry.</p>
+
+<p><q>It may be so, sir; I don't know,</q> replied the
+marine.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Eph made out the lines and the
+spread of canvas of a handsome knockabout
+sloop standing on out of the harbor.</p>
+
+<p>The course being narrow, the sloop was
+obliged to sail rather close to the fleet.</p>
+
+<p><q>That's no fisherman!</q> muttered Somers,
+watching, his hands thrust deep in his pockets.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the sloop's hull was lost to Eph's
+sight beyond the gunboat. Then the boy heard
+a voice from the <q>Hudson's</q> deck roar out:</p>
+
+<p><q>Look alive, you lubber! Do you want to
+foul our anchor chain?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No, sir,</q> came from the sloop's deck.
+<q>We'll clear you all right.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>See that you do, then!</q></p>
+
+<p>Then the sloop's hull came into view again,
+as the craft headed out toward the open water
+beyond.</p>
+
+<p><q>That's the kind of a craft Jack would give
+a heap to be on,</q> thought Eph. <q>Queer that
+he should spend all his time on gasoline peanut-roasters
+<pb n="181" /><anchor id="Pg181" />
+when he's so fond of whistling for a
+breeze behind canvas.</q></p>
+
+<p>As the sloop neared the mouth of the little
+bay, and her lines became rather indistinct in
+the darkness, Eph Somers turned to resume his
+pacing of the deck.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hullo,</q> muttered the submarine boy, two
+or three minutes later. <q>Here's the shore boat
+coming on its regular trip. I wonder if Jack
+and Hal are in it? It's about time for them to
+be coming on board.</q></p>
+
+<p>But the shore boat, instead of coming out to
+the submarine, lay in at the side gangway of
+the gunboat opposite, and Eph discovered that
+his two comrades were not in the boat.</p>
+
+<p><q>I say,</q> hailed Eph, <q>have you seen Mr. Benson
+and Mr. Hastings on shore!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No, sir,</q> replied the petty officer in charge.</p>
+
+<p>Then one of the sailors in the boat spoke in
+an undertone.</p>
+
+<p><q>This man says, sir,</q> continued the petty
+officer, <q>that he saw your friends, sir, going
+aboard a white knockabout sloop.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>He did, eh?</q> demanded the astonished Eph.
+<q>How long ago was that?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Only a few minutes ago, sir,</q> replied the
+sailor.</p>
+
+<p><q>You're sure you saw Mr. Benson and Mr.
+Hastings?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="182" /><anchor id="Pg182" />
+<q>Yes, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That's queer,</q> reflected Eph. <q>It wouldn't
+be like them to go sailing at this time of the
+night, and without notifying me, either. But,
+then, I didn't see anything of 'em aboard that
+sloop, either.</q></p>
+
+<p>Eph was silent for a few moments, thinking.
+Then, suddenly, he leaped up in the air, coming
+down flat-footed.</p>
+
+<p><q>Crackey!</q> ejaculated Eph Somers.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment or two his face was a study in
+bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mighty strange things have been happening
+all through this cruise,</q> Eph muttered, half-aloud.
+<q>Especially happening to Jack! Now,
+the two of them go aboard that sloop, and immediately
+after the boat puts out to sea in the
+dead of night. What if Jack and Hal have
+been shanghaied on that infernal sloop?</q></p>
+
+<p>Cold chills began to chase each other up and
+down the spine of Eph Somers. He was not,
+ordinarily, an imaginative youth, but just now
+the gruesome thought that had entered his mind
+persisted there.</p>
+
+<p>He began to pace the platform deck in deep
+agitation.</p>
+
+<p><q>Anything wrong, sir?</q> questioned the marine
+sentry, halting and throwing his rifle over
+to port arms.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="183" /><anchor id="Pg183" />
+<q>That's just what I'd give a million dollars
+and ten cents to know!</q> exploded Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>Gunboat, ahoy!</q> he shouted, some twenty
+seconds later.</p>
+
+<p><q>'Farnum,' ahoy!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I half believe, sir,</q> Eph rattled on, <q>that
+my two comrades, Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings
+have been tricked, in some way, and carried
+out to sea on that knockabout. They'd have
+been back from shore by this time, if nothing
+had happened.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What do you want to do, Mr. Somers?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Want to do, sir?</q> retorted Eph. <q>I know
+what I'm going to do. I'm going to slip moorings
+and chase after that knockabout. What
+I wish to know from you, sir, is whether you'll
+send another marine or two on board, so that I
+can back up my demand to find my friends?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'll have to ask the lieutenant commander
+about that, Mr. Somers.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Can you do it, now, sir?</q> asked Eph, energetically.</p>
+
+<p><q>Instantly. I'll let you know the decision as
+soon as it's made.</q></p>
+
+<p>Eph, hanging at the rail in the silence that
+followed, had no notion of whether his request
+had been a correct one. All he knew was that
+his suspicions had surged to the surface, and
+were threatening to boil over. It was a huge
+<pb n="184" /><anchor id="Pg184" />
+relief to the boy when Mr. Mayhew's voice
+sounded from the rail of the gunboat. Somers
+swiftly answered all questions.</p>
+
+<p><q>Your craft and crew are in a measure under
+our protection and orders,</q> decided Mr. Mayhew.
+<q>I think we may properly extend you
+some help. I will send some men to you, and a
+cadet midshipman who will have my instructions.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Will you send them quickly, sir?</q> begged
+Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll have men on board of you by the time
+that your engines are running,</q> promised the
+lieutenant commander.</p>
+
+<p><q>Engines?</q> That word came as a fortunate
+reminder to the submarine boy. He darted below,
+almost yanking Williamson from his berth,
+nearly pulling the machinist into his clothes.
+By the time that Williamson was really wide
+awake he found himself standing by the motors
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>Then young Somers darted onto deck again,
+just in time to see the boat coming alongside.
+It brought two more marines, one of them a corporal.
+There were also two sailors. A cadet
+midshipman commanded them.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Somers,</q> reported the cadet midshipman,
+<q>I am not intended to displace you from
+the command of this boat. I am here only with
+<pb n="185" /><anchor id="Pg185" />
+definite instructions in case you succeed in overhauling
+that white sloop.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What—</q> began Eph. Then he paused,
+with a half-grin. <q>Really,</q> he added, <q>I ought
+to know better than to quiz you about your instructions
+from your superior officer.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir,</q> assented the midshipman, simply.</p>
+
+<p>Eph turned on the current to the search-light,
+swinging the ray about the bay. Then, too impatient
+to sit in the conning tower, the submarine
+boy took his place by the deck wheel.</p>
+
+<p><q>Will your seamen cast loose from the moorings?</q>
+Somers asked.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir,</q> replied the midshipman.</p>
+
+<p><q>If there's anything wrong, good luck to
+you,</q> sounded the cool voice of Lieutenant
+Commander Mayhew, from the gunboat's rail.</p>
+
+<p><q>Thank you, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p>No sooner had the moorings been cast loose
+from than Eph sounded the slow speed ahead
+bell. Within sixty seconds the propellers of
+the <q>Farnum</q> were doing a ten-knot stunt,
+which was soon increased to fourteen.</p>
+
+<p>One of the seamen now stood by to swing the
+searchlight under Eph's orders.</p>
+
+<p>By the time that the submarine reached the
+mouth of the bay the light faintly picked up
+a spread of white sail, off to the East.</p>
+
+<p><q>That's the knockabout,</q> cried Eph, excitedly.
+<pb n="186" /><anchor id="Pg186" />
+<q>Now, see here, keep that ray right
+across the boat as soon as we get half a mile
+nearer.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It'll show the boat that you're chasing 'em,
+sir,</q> advised the midshipman.</p>
+
+<p><q>I know it,</q> admitted Eph. <q>But it will also
+keep the rascals from dumping my friends overboard
+without our catching 'em at it.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What do you think the men in charge of
+that boat are, sir—pirates?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>They're mighty close to it, if they've shanghaied
+Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings and put to
+sea with 'em,</q> rejoined Eph. Then he rang for
+more speed. Down below, Williamson almost
+instantly responded. The <q>Farnum</q> now
+fairly leaped through the water.</p>
+
+<p><q>Turn the light on the knockabout, now, and
+keep it there,</q> directed the submarine boy.</p>
+
+<p>There was a seven-knot breeze blowing. At
+the speed at which the submarine boat was traveling
+the distance was soon covered.</p>
+
+<p>And now the searchlight revealed two men
+in the standing-room of the sloop, one of whom,
+a bearded man, was looking backward over his
+wake much of the time.</p>
+
+<p><q>Can one of the marines fire a shot to stop
+those fellows?</q> asked Eph Somers.</p>
+
+<p><q>In the air, do you mean, sir?</q> asked the
+midshipman. <q>Certainly.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="187" /><anchor id="Pg187" />
+<q>Then I wish he'd do it.</q></p>
+
+<p>Bang! The discharge of the rifle sounded
+sharply on the night air.</p>
+
+<p><q>It ain't stopping 'em any,</q> muttered Eph,
+after a few seconds had gone by.</p>
+
+<p><q>Nothing would, unless fired into them,</q> volunteered
+Midshipman Terrell.</p>
+
+<p>It did not take long, however, to run the submarine
+up alongside of the sloop, at a distance
+of about one hundred yards.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, we want you men to stop,</q> called Midshipman
+Terrell, between his hands. <q>We are
+United States naval forces, from the gunboat,
+and you will regard this as an order that you
+must obey. No!</q> thundered the midshipman,
+suddenly, as the bearded one started to step
+down into the cabin. <q>You will both keep on
+deck. Otherwise we shall be obliged to fire into
+you. We mean business, remember!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What do you want to board us for?</q> demanded
+Curtis, pausing.</p>
+
+<p><q>We will explain when we come aboard.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>How are you coming, aboard? You've no
+small boat.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>We can land this submarine right up beside
+you,</q> responded the midshipman, <q>if you keep
+straight to your present course.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>And scrape all the paint off our side,</q> objected
+Curtis.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="188" /><anchor id="Pg188" />
+<q>That has no bearing on my instructions, sir.
+I direct you to keep straight to your present
+course. We will come up alongside.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What if we don't do it?</q> demanded Curtis,
+with sudden bluster.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then your danger will be divided between
+being shot where you stand and having your
+craft cut in two by the bow of our craft,</q> retorted
+Mr. Terrell. <q>You will realize, I think,
+that there can be no parleying with our orders.</q></p>
+
+<p>The bearded one swore, but the corporal and
+his two marines stood at the rail with their
+rifles ready, waiting only the midshipman's
+order to aim and fire.</p>
+
+<p>Eph allowed the <q>Farnum</q> to fall back a
+little way. Then he exerted himself to show his
+best in seamanship as he ran the submarine up
+to board the sloop by the starboard quarter.
+The two boats barely touched. Mr. Terrell, his
+three marines and two seamen leaped to the
+standing room of the yacht. Eph, all aquiver,
+let the nose of the <q>Farnum</q> fall back slightly.
+Then he trailed along, under bare headway.</p>
+
+<p>Then a shout came from the sloop, as the two
+seamen reappeared, bearing the forms of Jack
+and Hal.</p>
+
+<p><q>We've found them aboard, Mr. Somers,</q>
+shouted Terrell. <q>Drugged, I think, sir. Will
+you come alongside, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="189" /><anchor id="Pg189" />
+Eph quickly rang the signal, then did some
+careful manœuvring. As he touched, one of the
+marines leaped back to the platform deck, then
+passed a line to Mr. Terrell. The two craft
+were held together until Jack and Hal had been
+passed, still unconscious, over the side. The
+naval party quickly followed, then cast loose
+from the sloop.</p>
+
+<p><q>This whole proceeding is high-handed,</q>
+growled Curtis, as soon as he saw that he was
+not to be molested.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, you shut up, and keep your tongue padlocked,</q>
+retorted Midshipman Terrell, in high
+disgust. <q>You're lucky as it is. Now, Mr.
+Somers, are you going back to the bay, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Aren't you going to take those two—body-snatchers?</q>
+demanded Eph, glaring venomously
+at the pair on the sloop.</p>
+
+<p><q>My instructions don't cover that, sir,</q> replied
+the cadet midshipman.</p>
+
+<p><q>Then hang your orders!</q> muttered young
+Somers, but he kept the words behind his teeth.
+Eph veered off, next headed about, while the
+two seamen bore Jack and Hal below to their
+berths.</p>
+
+<p><q>Will you take the wheel, Mr. Terrell?</q>
+asked Eph, edging away, with one hand on the
+spokes.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="190" /><anchor id="Pg190" />
+Eph hurried below to the port stateroom.
+Jack lay in the lower berth, Hal in the upper.
+The two seamen, after feeling for pulse, stood
+by looking at the unconscious submarine
+boys.</p>
+
+<p><q>What's been done to them?</q> demanded
+Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>The same old knockout drops, sir, that sailors
+in all parts of the world know so well, sir, I
+think,</q> answered one of the men, with a quiet
+grin.</p>
+
+<p><q>Humph!</q> gritted Eph, bending over Jack's
+face. <q>Smell his breath.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir,</q> said the sailor, obeying.</p>
+
+<p><q>There's no smell of liquor, there, is there?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>No, sir,</q> admitted the sailor, looking up,
+rather puzzled.</p>
+
+<p><q>There is some infernally mean trick in all
+this,</q> growled Eph. <q>I am mighty sorry we
+didn't bring those rascals back with us.</q></p>
+
+<p>When he went on deck again the submarine
+boy relieved Mr. Terrell at the wheel, completing
+the run in to moorings.</p>
+
+<p><q>Did you find your comrades aboard the
+sloop, Mr. Somers?</q> hailed the lieutenant commander,
+from the gunboat.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Are they all right?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Drugged, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="191" /><anchor id="Pg191" />
+<q>Hm! Mr. Terrell and his detachment will
+return to this vessel.</q></p>
+
+<p>The boat took them away. It was five minutes
+later when the boat returned, bringing the
+lieutenant commander, Doctor McCrea, the surgeon,
+and a sailor belonging to the hospital
+detachment aboard the <q>Hudson.</q> Eph conducted
+them below.</p>
+
+<p><q>Drugged,</q> announced the medical officer,
+after a brief examination.</p>
+
+<p><q>Humph!</q> uttered Mr. Mayhew. <q>That
+sort of trick isn't played on folks in any decent
+resort on shore. I don't understand Mr. Benson's
+conduct. I remember his mishap at Dunhaven.
+I remember the plight he got into at
+Annapolis; and now he and Mr. Hastings are
+found in this questionable shape. I am very
+much afraid these young men do not conduct
+themselves, on shore, in the careful manner that
+must be expected of civilian instructors to
+cadets.</q></p>
+
+<p>Eph Somers felt something boiling up inside
+of him.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<pb n="192" /><anchor id="Pg192" />
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER'S VERDICT</head>
+
+<p>
+<q>Let me try to get at your meaning, sir, if
+you please,</q> begged Somers, after
+standing for a few seconds with
+clenched fists. <q>Do you mean that my friends
+have been going into tough resorts on shore?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Where else do sailors usually get drugged?</q>
+inquired Mr. Mayhew. <q>What kind of people
+usually feed sea-faring men with what are generally
+known as knock-out drops?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>How should I know?</q> demanded Eph,
+solemnly.</p>
+
+<p><q>You see your friends, and you see their
+condition.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Smell their breaths, sir. There isn't a trace
+of the odor of liquor.</q></p>
+
+<p>The surgeon did so, confirming Eph's claim.</p>
+
+<p><q>But I remember that Mr. Benson came
+aboard, at Dunhaven, with a very strong odor of
+liquor,</q> continued the lieutenant commander.</p>
+
+<p><q>That had been sprinkled on his clothes, sir,</q>
+argued Somers.</p>
+
+<p><q>Perhaps. But then there was the Annapolis
+affair.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson explained that to you, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="193" /><anchor id="Pg193" />
+<q>It's very strange,</q> returned the lieutenant
+commander, <q>that such things seem to happen
+generally to Mr. Benson when he gets on shore.
+I know I have been ashore, in all parts of the
+world, without having such things happen to
+me.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>There is something behind this, sir, that
+doesn't spell bad conduct on the part of either
+of my friends,</q> cried Eph, hotly. <q>There's
+some plot, some trick in the whole thing that we
+don't understand. And we might understand
+much more about it, sir, if your midshipman had
+arrested that pair of blackguards on the sloop,
+and brought them back with us.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Had Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings been
+members of the naval forces we could have done
+that,</q> replied Mr. Mayhew. <q>Probably you
+don't understand, Mr. Somers, how very careful
+the Navy has to be about making arrests in times
+of peace, when the civil authorities are all-supreme.
+We carried our right as far as it
+could possibly be stretched when we boarded
+and searched that sloop for you.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I don't care so much about that,</q> contended
+Eph, warmly. <q>But it does jar on me, sir, to
+have you take such a view of my friends. You
+don't know them; you don't understand them as
+Mr. Farnum and Mr. Pollard do.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Perhaps you wouldn't blame me as much for
+<pb n="194" /><anchor id="Pg194" />
+my opinions,</q> replied Mr. Mayhew, <q>if you
+could look at the matter from my viewpoint, Mr.
+Somers. I am in charge of this cruise, which
+is one of instruction to naval cadets, and I am
+in a very large measure responsible for the conduct
+and good behavior of young men who
+have been selected as instructors to the
+cadets. If you were in my place, Mr. Somers,
+would you be patient over young men who, when
+they get ashore, get into one unseemly scrape
+after another? Or would you wonder, as I do,
+whether it will not be best for me to end this
+practice cruise and sail back to Annapolis, there
+to make my report in the matter?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>For heaven's sake don't do that,</q> begged
+Eph Somers, hoarsely. <q>At least, not until you
+have talked with Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings.
+You'll wait until morning, sir?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm afraid I shall have to, if I want to talk
+with your friends,</q> replied the lieutenant commander,
+smiling coldly. <q>And now, Mr. Somers,
+you and I had better leave here. The doctor
+and his nurse will want the room cleared in order
+to look after their patients. I hope your friends
+will be all right in the morning,</q> added the
+naval officer, as the pair gained the deck.</p>
+
+<p><q>Now, see here, sir,</q> began Eph, earnestly,
+all over again. <q>I hope you'll soon begin to
+understand that, whatever has happened, there
+<pb n="195" /><anchor id="Pg195" />
+are no two straighter boys alive than Jack Benson
+and Hal Hastings.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I trust you're right,</q> replied Mr. Mayhew,
+less coldly. <q>Yet, what can you expect me to
+think, now that Benson has been in such scrapes
+three different times? And, in this last instance,
+he drags even the quiet Mr. Hastings into
+the affair with him.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I see that I'll have to wait, sir,</q> sighed Eph,
+resignedly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes; it will be better in every way to wait,</q>
+agreed the lieutenant commander. <q>It is plain
+justice, at the least, to wait and give the young
+men a chance to offer any defense that they
+can.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Now, of course, from his way of looking at
+it, I can't blame him so very much,</q> admitted
+Eph Somers, as he leaned over the rail, watching
+Mr. Mayhew going back through the darkness.
+<q>But Jack—great old Jack!—having any
+liking at all for mixing up in saloons and such
+places on shore! Ha, ha! Ho, ho!</q></p>
+
+<p>Williamson, now able to leave his motors,
+came on deck, asking an account of what had
+happened. The machinist listened in amazement,
+though, like Eph, he needed no proof that
+the boys, whatever trouble they had encountered,
+had met honestly and innocently.</p>
+
+<p><q>Of course that naval officer is right, too, from
+<pb n="196" /><anchor id="Pg196" />
+his own limited point of view,</q> urged Williamson.</p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, yes, I suppose so,</q> nodded Somers,
+gloomily. <q>I've been trying to tell myself that.
+But it would be fearful, wouldn't it, if the 'Farnum'
+were ordered away from the fleet, and
+Jack disgraced, just because of things he really
+didn't do.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It's a queer old world,</q> mused the machinist,
+thoughtfully. <q>We hear a lot about the
+consequences of wrong things we do. But how
+often people seem to have to pay up for things
+they never did!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Oh, well,</q> muttered Eph, philosophically,
+<q>let's wait until morning. A night's sleep
+straightens out a lot of things.</q></p>
+
+<p>Williamson, however, having had some sleep
+earlier in the night, was not drowsy, now. He
+lighted a pipe, lingering on the platform deck.
+Eph, not being a user of tobacco, went below to
+find that Doctor McCrea, from the gunboat, was
+sitting in the cabin, reading a book he had
+chosen from the book-case.</p>
+
+<p><q>I've brought the young men around somewhat,</q>
+reported the physician. <q>I've made
+them throw off the drug, and now I've left some
+stuff with the nurse to help brace them up.
+They'll have sour stomachs and aching heads in
+the morning, though.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="197" /><anchor id="Pg197" />
+<q>But you noticed one thing, Doctor?</q>
+pressed Somers.</p>
+
+<p><q>What was that?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>That there were no signs of liquor about
+them? Those boys never tasted a drop of the
+vile stuff in their lives!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm inclined to believe you,</q> nodded the
+surgeon. <q>They have splendid, clear skins,
+eyes bright as diamonds, sound, sturdy heart-beats,
+and they're full of vitality. I've met
+boys from the slums, once in a while—beer-drinkers
+and cigarette-smokers. But such boys
+never show the splendid physical condition that
+your friends possess.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You know, then, as well as I do, Doctor, that
+neither of my chums are rowdies, and that,
+whatever happened to them to-night, they didn't
+get to it through any bad habits or conduct?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'm much inclined to agree with you, Mr.
+Somers.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I hope, then, you'll succeed in impressing all
+that on Lieutenant Commander Mayhew in the
+morning.</q></p>
+
+<p>With that the submarine boy passed on to the
+starboard stateroom. He would have given
+much to have stepped into the room opposite,
+but felt, from the doctor's manner, that the latter
+did not wish his patients disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>Eph slept little that night. Though Jack and
+<pb n="198" /><anchor id="Pg198" />
+Hal fared better in that single respect, Somers
+looked far the best of the three in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>Jack and Hal came out with bandages about
+their heads, which buzzed and ached.</p>
+
+<p>The two, however, told their story to Somers
+and Williamson as soon as possible.</p>
+
+<p><q>Just as I supposed,</q> nodded Eph, vigorously.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, how did you guess it all?</q> asked Benson,
+in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p><q>I mean, I knew you hadn't been in any low
+sailor resorts.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Who said we had?</q> demanded Jack, flaring
+in spite of his dizziness.</p>
+
+<p><q>Some of the Navy folks didn't know but you
+had,</q> replied Eph, then bit his tongue for having
+let that much out of the bag.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor McCrea came aboard early. He
+looked the boys over.</p>
+
+<p><q>Eat a little toast, if you want, and drink
+some weak tea,</q> he suggested. <q>After that, eat
+nothing more until to-night.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>But the day's work—?</q> hinted Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>I don't know,</q> replied the doctor, shrugging
+his shoulders. <q>I'm not a line officer, and
+therefore know nothing about the fleet's
+manœuvres.</q></p>
+
+<p>That reply, however, was quite enough to send
+Jack Benson's suspicions aloft.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="199" /><anchor id="Pg199" />
+<q>Eph,</q> he cried, wheeling upon his friend the
+moment Doctor McCrea was gone, <q>there's
+something you haven't told us.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Such as—what?</q> asked Somers, doing his
+best to look mighty innocent.</p>
+
+<p><q>Doctor McCrea as good as admitted that we
+won't have anything to do to-day. What's
+wrong?</q> Then, after a brief pause: <q>Good
+heavens, does Mr. Mayhew believe we've been
+acting disgracefully? Are we barred out of the
+instruction work?</q></p>
+
+<p>Hal had been raising a glass of cold water to
+his lips. The glass fell, with a crash. He
+wheeled about, then clutched at the edge of the
+cabin table, most unsteadily.</p>
+
+<p><q>We-e-ll,</q> admitted Somers, reluctantly,
+<q>Mr. Mayhew said he would want to question
+you some, perhaps, this morning.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What did he say? Out with it all, Eph!</q></p>
+
+<p>A moment before Jack Benson had been pallid
+enough. Now, two bright, furious spots burned
+in either cheek.</p>
+
+<p>The red-haired boy, however, was spared the
+pain of going any further, for, at that moment,
+a heavy tread was heard on the spiral staircase.
+Then Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, holding
+himself very erect, one hand resting against the
+scabbard of the sword that he wore at his side,
+came into view below.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="200" /><anchor id="Pg200" />
+Many were the questions that the naval officer
+put to the victims of the night's mishap.</p>
+
+<p><q>Well, gentlemen,</q> Mr. Mayhew said at last,
+rising, <q>your story is strange. Yet, I believe
+you are young men of honor. I'm sorry we
+have not in custody the men who sailed that
+sloop.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Pardon me, sir!</q> burst out Eph.</p>
+
+<p><q>Well, Mr. Somers?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Perhaps, sir, if you should question Truax
+you could learn something from him. I tell
+you, sir, there's a scheme to ruin Jack Benson;
+and that's only part of a bigger plot to discredit
+our company with the Navy!</q></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Mayhew, looking thoughtful, replied:</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll find some way of questioning Truax.
+And now, Mr. Benson, since you and Mr. Hastings
+are not fit to instruct the cadets to-day, I'll
+send out sections under Lieutenant Halpin on
+board the 'Pollard' only. To-morrow you
+should be in shape to resume your duties.
+Meanwhile, I must make one condition.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It will not be necessary, sir, to make any
+conditions with us,</q> Jack replied. <q>Your instructions
+will be sufficient.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>While you are on this present tour of duty,
+I shall ask Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings not to
+leave the 'Farnum' without my consent.</q></p>
+
+<p>As soon as Mr. Mayhew had left the <q>Farnum</q>
+Eph Somers cried bitterly:</p>
+
+<p><pb n="201" /><anchor id="Pg201" />
+<q>You heard the verdict in the case! A great
+verdict! Not guilty—but don't do it again!</q></p>
+
+<p>At half past eight the next morning a section
+of cadets, under the command of Ensign Trahern,
+came aboard the <q>Farnum.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The lieutenant commander sends word, with
+his compliments,</q> reported Trahern, <q>that
+after leaving the bay the formation will be as
+usual. The signal to halt and be ready for the
+tour of instruction will be given when we're
+about ten miles off shore.</q></p>
+
+<p>Six of the cadets, of the engineer division,
+went below to the engine room. To one of the
+ten left on deck Jack turned and said:</p>
+
+<p><q>You will take charge, Mr. Surles. Assume
+all the responsibilities of the officer of the
+deck.</q></p>
+
+<p>In all, five of the midshipmen had commanded
+briefly before the laying-to signal was given.
+Hal Hastings then appeared on deck.</p>
+
+<p><q>Captain Benson,</q> Hal stated, saluting, <q>I
+have inspected all the submerging machinery,
+and I find everything in good order. We can
+go below the surface at any time.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Thank you, Mr. Hastings. All below!</q>
+ordered Jack crisply.</p>
+
+<p>After the cadets and the ensign had filed below,
+Jack, having seen that all was in order,
+followed. He made all fast in the conning
+<pb n="202" /><anchor id="Pg202" />
+tower, then called Midshipman Surles up the
+stairway to the tower wheel.</p>
+
+<p><q>Do you think you can head due east and
+keep to that course under water, Mr. Surles?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes, sir.</q></p>
+
+<p>Going down to the cabin floor, Jack ordered
+two more midshipmen to the tower as observers.</p>
+
+<p><q>The rest crowd about me and ask questions
+while I handle the submerging machinery.</q></p>
+
+<p>Under the impetus from the electric motors,
+the propeller shafts began to throb. The next
+instant the submarine shot below, going down
+at so steep an angle that many of the middies
+were forced to reach for new footing.</p>
+
+<p><q>The gauge registers sixty feet below,</q> announced
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>In another moment, by the quick flooding of
+some of the compartments astern, the young
+skipper brought the boat to an even keel.</p>
+
+<p>Having finished the prescribed distance
+under water, Captain Jack turned on the compressed
+air to expel the water from the compartments.
+The conning tower soon rose above
+the water, and a moment later the <q>Pollard</q>
+also emerged.</p>
+
+<p>Other cadets were transferred from the gunboat
+to the submarines, and the instruction proceeded.
+The manœuvers for the day were ended
+with a half-hour run under water.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="203" /><anchor id="Pg203" />
+<q>By the way, sir, did you question Truax to
+see what you could learn about his reasons for
+acting as he did on the 'Farnum'?</q> asked Jack
+Benson the next day. Jack and Doctor McCrea
+were talking with Mr. Mayhew.</p>
+
+<p><q>I had him before me last night, and again
+this morning,</q> replied Mr. Mayhew. <q>He said
+he hadn't an idea what I meant, and that is all
+I could get out of him.</q></p>
+
+<p>Jack looked thoughtfully at Doctor McCrea
+for a moment before he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p><q>Doctor, if I had anything like your chance,
+I'd have Sam Truax talking!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>How?</q> Doctor McCrea looked interested.</p>
+
+<p><q>Why, I'd—</q> Jack hesitated, glancing toward
+the gunboat's commanding officer.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'd better go and see how the midshipmen
+are doing,</q> laughed Mr. Mayhew, rising.</p>
+
+<p>For some minutes Jack talked with Doctor
+McCrea. As the medical officer listened, he
+grinned, then laughed unrestrainedly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson, you're certainly ingenious!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Will you do what I've suggested?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Why, I—er—er—</q> Doctor McCrea hesitated.
+<q>I—well, I'll think it over.</q> Again
+Doctor McCrea roared with laughter.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div>
+<pb n="204" /><anchor id="Pg204" />
+<index index="toc" />
+<index index="pdf" />
+<head rend="text-align: center; font-size: large">CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION</head>
+
+<p>
+Sam Truax sat in the brig, between decks
+on the <q>Hudson,</q> his scowling face turned
+toward the barred door, when the marine
+guard, taking a turn, peered in.</p>
+
+<p><q>Good heavens, man! What ails you?</q> demanded
+the marine.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'm all right,</q> growled the prisoner.</p>
+
+<p><q>I'll be hanged if you look it.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What are you talking about!</q> demanded
+the prisoner angrily.</p>
+
+<p><q>Man alive, I wish you could see your face!</q></p>
+
+<p>Three minutes later a sailor halted at the
+door, looked at Truax, then wheeled about to
+the marine.</p>
+
+<p><q>Say, what ails that man? What's the matter
+with his face?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Don't know. Looks fearful, doesn't he?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Awful! Ought to have the doctor.</q></p>
+
+<p>Sam shifted uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>Five minutes later a sailor wearing on one
+sleeve the Red Cross of the hospital squad came
+along.</p>
+
+<p><q>Say,</q> said the marine, <q>I wish you'd look
+at the feller in the brig.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="205" /><anchor id="Pg205" />
+The hospital man showed his face at the grating
+and looked at Truax keenly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Wow! The sawbones officer has got to look
+at this chap!</q></p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax sprang to his feet, but his legs
+wobbled. He felt his heart-beats racing and
+his face flushing.</p>
+
+<p><q>I felt all right a little while ago, but I certainly
+feel queer now,</q> he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor McCrea soon hurried below.</p>
+
+<p><q>Sentry, unlock the door! Let me in there!</q></p>
+
+<p>Doctor McCrea made a brief examination.</p>
+
+<p><q>How long have you been feeling ill?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>N-not long,</q> faltered Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>Hospital man!</q> called Doctor McCrea.</p>
+
+<p><q>Aye, aye, sir!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Have the stretcher brought here at once.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Aye, aye, sir!</q></p>
+
+<p>The stretcher was brought, and the attendants
+put Truax on it.</p>
+
+<p><q>I can walk, Doctor,</q> he protested feebly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Can't risk it! To the 'sick bay,' men.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What's wrong, Doctor?</q> Truax asked, when
+he was lifted from the stretcher and placed in
+one of the berths.</p>
+
+<p><q>Don't talk, my man. Just lie quietly and
+let us get you on your feet—if we can,</q> he
+added under his breath, but not so softly but
+that Sam Truax heard him.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="206" /><anchor id="Pg206" />
+The attendant came with a glass of liquid.</p>
+
+<p><q>Drink this,</q> ordered the surgeon, <q>and in
+a few minutes you'll feel better.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I—I feel awful,</q> Truax groaned.</p>
+
+<p>The dose was repeated, but the patient continued
+to grow worse. His nausea was overwhelming
+and he vomited over and over. In an
+interval of quiet the doctor leaned over him.</p>
+
+<p><q>Have you anything on your mind, man?
+Any wrong you'd like to set straight before—before—</q></p>
+
+<p>A look of fright came into Truax's eyes.</p>
+
+<p><q>Doctor, I—I wonder if Jack Benson would
+come to see me?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I'll see,</q> replied the doctor, rising and leaving
+the <q>sick bay.</q></p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes later the naval surgeon returned
+with Benson. Hal Hastings, Mr. Mayhew and
+Ensign Trahern followed Jack and the doctor.</p>
+
+<p><q>Here's Mr. Benson, Truax,</q> announced
+Doctor McCrea. <q>If there's anything you wish
+to confess, the rest of us can bear witness and
+help straighten matters out if you've done any
+wrong that you now regret.</q></p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax feebly stretched out a hand that
+was hot and dry.</p>
+
+<p><q>Benson, will you give me your hand?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Certainly.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Can you ever forgive me?</q> moaned the man.</p>
+
+<p><pb n="207" /><anchor id="Pg207" />
+<q>Why, what have you done?</q> asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p><q>That assault back in Dunhaven—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Was it you who knocked me out there?</q> demanded
+Benson sharply.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes.</q> In a shaking voice Truax confessed
+the details of the affair and from that passed to
+Jack's trip to the suburbs of Annapolis.</p>
+
+<p><q>I found the mulatto in a low den. I told
+him you carried a lot of money and that he
+could have it all if he'd decoy you somewhere,
+keep you all night, and send you back to the
+Naval Academy looking like a tramp.</q> He
+then added the name of the mulatto.</p>
+
+<p><q>But why have you done this?</q> demanded
+Jack. <q>What have you against me?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I didn't do it on my own account. I did
+it for Tip Gaynor, a salesman for Sidenham.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The Sidenham Submarine Company?</q>
+cried Jack, deeply interested. <q>The Sidenham
+people are our nearest competitors in the
+submarine business!</q> he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p><q>Yes; and they wanted to get the business
+away from the Pollard Company. They told
+Tip Gaynor it would be worth ten thousand
+dollars to him for each Sidenham boat he could
+sell to the Government. Tip hired me—</q></p>
+
+<p><q>One moment, please,</q> interrupted Jack.
+<q>Did the Sidenham officials know that Gaynor
+intended to use such methods?</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="208" /><anchor id="Pg208" />
+<q>I don't believe they did,</q> replied Truax.</p>
+
+<p><q>Humph! So Gaynor hired you to do all you
+could to disgrace me in the eyes of the naval
+authorities and to injure the machinery in the
+engine room of the submarine!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Yes. Tip said it was highly important that
+the Pollard boats should break down while
+under the eyes of all Annapolis, so that it would
+seem that they could not be depended upon.</q></p>
+
+<p>Truax here became so ill that his audience
+had to wait until he could proceed. Then Jack
+asked:</p>
+
+<p><q>What sort of looking fellow is Gaynor?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>He was the black-bearded man who shanghaied
+you in the white knockabout. He doesn't
+usually wear a beard. He grew it for the occasion.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>So, acting for Tip Gaynor, you undertook to
+ruin us all and the good name of our boats!
+You even met Dave Pollard and got him to take
+you on as a machinist for our boats!</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Tip knew a man who was willing to introduce
+me to Mr. Pollard.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>It was like kindly, unsuspicious Dave Pollard
+to be taken in by a rascal like that,</q> muttered
+Jack to himself.</p>
+
+<p>Sam Truax added a few more details to his
+confession, then said:</p>
+
+<p><q>I couldn't die without telling you this, Benson.
+I hope you forgive me.</q></p>
+
+<p><pb n="209" /><anchor id="Pg209" />
+Before Jack Benson could reply Lieutenant
+Commander Mayhew stepped forward.</p>
+
+<p><q>Truax, have you told us the exact truth?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I have.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You thought it would be easy to get the
+better of a boy like Benson, I suppose.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Easy enough,</q> admitted Sam. <q>So did
+Tip.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>You shot far below the mark in guessing at
+Benson's ingenuity and brains,</q> remarked
+Doctor McCrea, laughing. <q>It was he who suggested
+this way of inducing you to make this
+confession after you had refused to answer the
+lieutenant commander's questions.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What?</q> demanded Truax harshly.</p>
+
+<p><q>When I was first called in to you, you were
+not sick, only scared by the remarks of others.
+After we got you in here, we dosed you with
+ipecac. That started your stomach to moving
+up and down.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>What? You poisoned me?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>The ipecac was my choice. It isn't poison.
+The general idea was Captain Benson's. With
+a lad like him you haven't a chance.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>Benson, you infernal cheat, you!</q> muttered
+Truax, and started to get out of the berth. But
+he was weak, and the attendant had no difficulty
+in thrusting him back.</p>
+
+<p><q>In view of what you've been telling us,
+<pb n="210" /><anchor id="Pg210" />
+you'd better not sprinkle bad names about,</q>
+said the surgeon, turning on his heel. He was
+followed by the others, all chuckling.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson,</q> said Doctor McCrea, when
+the party was in the cabin, <q>are you my
+friend?</q></p>
+
+<p><q>I certainly am, sir,</q> cried Jack warmly.</p>
+
+<p><q>Thank you,</q> said the doctor, making a comical
+face. <q>With your head for doing things,
+Mr. Benson, I feel safer with your friendship
+than I should if I had your enmity.</q></p>
+
+<p>While they were still chatting in the cabin
+of the gunboat a shot sounded on deck. Then
+a corporal of marines rushed in, saluting.</p>
+
+<p><q>The prisoner, Truax, sir, escaped while
+walking under guard on deck. He dived headlong,
+sir. The marine guard fired after him
+through the darkness, sir. The officer of the
+deck sends his compliments, sir, and wants to
+know if Truax is to be pursued in a small boat.</q></p>
+
+<p><q>At once, and with all diligence,</q> ordered the
+lieutenant commander.</p>
+
+<p>Though a thorough search was made, Truax
+was not found. It was thought that the fellow
+had been drowned. But months later it was
+learned that he was skulking in Europe with
+Tip Gaynor, who had received word in time to
+make his escape also.</p>
+
+<p>For two days more the instruction continued
+<pb n="211" /><anchor id="Pg211" />
+at sea. Then, the tour of instruction over, the
+little flotilla returned to the Academy at Annapolis.
+From there Captain Benson wired Mr.
+Farnum for further orders. Without delay
+came back the dispatch:</p>
+
+<p><q>Navy Department requests that for present
+'Farnum' be left at Annapolis. You and crew
+return by rail when ready.</q></p>
+
+<p>Soon after this Jack was informed that the
+Annapolis police had run down the mulatto who
+had decoyed the young submarine skipper on
+that memorable night. Jack's money, watch
+and other valuables were later recovered and
+returned to him.</p>
+
+<p>Just before Jack and his mates were to leave
+the <q>Farnum</q> for the last time, Lieutenant
+Commander Mayhew came aboard, followed by
+Ensign Trahern and three of the midshipmen
+who had been under submarine instruction.</p>
+
+<p><q>Mr. Benson and gentlemen,</q> said Mr. Mayhew,
+<q>I shall not make a set speech. What I
+have to say is that the cadet midshipmen who
+have been under your capable and much-prized
+instruction of late wish each of you to take
+away a slight memento of your stay here.</q></p>
+
+<p>Machinist Williamson had not been omitted.
+Each of the four received from the lieutenant
+commander a small box, each containing a small
+gold shield. In the center was the coat of arms
+<pb n="212" /><anchor id="Pg212" />
+of the United States Naval Academy. At the
+top of each pin was the name of the one to whom
+it was given. Across the bottom were the
+words:</p>
+
+<p rend="text-align: center">
+FROM THE<lb />
+BATTALION OF NAVAL CADETS<lb />
+IN KEEN APPRECIATION<lb />
+OF ADMIRABLE INSTRUCTION<lb />
+</p>
+
+<p>"I think," said Mr. Mayhew, "that none of
+you will hesitate to wear this pin on vest or
+coat lapel. The gift is a simple one, but it
+practically makes you honorary members of the
+United States Navy of the future, and I am glad
+of it."</p>
+</div>
+</body>
+<back>
+<div rend="page-break-before: always">
+<divGen type="pgfooter" />
+</div>
+</back>
+</text>
+</TEI.2>
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+--> diff --git a/17756-tei/images/image01.jpg b/17756-tei/images/image01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ded2236 --- /dev/null +++ b/17756-tei/images/image01.jpg diff --git a/17756-tei/images/image02.jpg b/17756-tei/images/image02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d974914 --- /dev/null +++ b/17756-tei/images/image02.jpg diff --git a/17756-tei/images/image03.jpg b/17756-tei/images/image03.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a95b959 --- /dev/null +++ b/17756-tei/images/image03.jpg diff --git a/17756.txt b/17756.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7cd9226 --- /dev/null +++ b/17756.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6213 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Submarine Boys and the Middies by +Victor G. Durham + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Submarine Boys and the Middies + +Author: Victor G. Durham + +Release Date: 2006-02-12 [Ebook #17756] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES*** + + + + + +This ebook was produced by Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + [Illustration: "You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here."] + + "You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here." + + + _ Frontispiece._ + + + + + + The Submarine Boys and the Middies + + OR + + The Prize Detail at Annapolis + + By Victor G. Durham + +Author of The Submarine Boys on Duty, The Submarine Boys' Trial Trip, The + Submarine Boys and the Spies, Etc. + +_Illustrated_ + +THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +Akron, Ohio . New York +Made in U.S.A. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL +CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE +CHAPTER III: "YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!" +CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS +CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS +CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO +CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING "NEW," ALL RIGHT +CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS +CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT +CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT +CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED! +CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER +CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE +CHAPTER XIV: THE "POLLARD" GOES LAME +CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK +CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK +CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT +CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES +CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER'S VERDICT +CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION + + + + + +LIST OF FIGURES + + +"You Are Not Likely to Be of Any Use Here." +Down Dropped the Bag. +Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him. + + + + + + + CHAPTER I: THE PRIZE DETAIL + + +"The United States Government doesn't appear very anxious to claim its +property, does it, sir?" asked Captain Jack Benson. + +The speaker was a boy of sixteen, attired in a uniform much after the +pattern commonly worn by yacht captains. The insignia of naval rank were +conspicuously absent. + +"Now, that I've had the good luck to sell the 'Pollard' to the Navy," +responded Jacob Farnum, principal owner of the shipbuilding yard, "I'm not +disposed to grumble if the Government prefers to store its property here +for a while." + +Yet the young shipbuilder--he was a man in his early thirties, who had +inherited this shipbuilding business from his father--allowed his eyes to +twinkle in a way that suggested there was something else behind his words. + +Jack Benson saw that twinkle, but he did not ask questions. If the +shipbuilder knew more than he was prepared to tell, it was not for his +young captain to ask for information that was not volunteered. + +The second boy present, also in uniform, Hal Hastings by name, had not +spoken in five minutes. That was like Hal. _He_ was the engineer of the +submarine torpedo boat, "Pollard." Jack was captain of the same craft, and +could do all the talking. + +Jacob Farnum sat back, sideways, at his rolltop desk. On top of the desk +lay stacked a voluminous though neat pile of papers, letters, telegrams +and memoranda that some rival builders of submarine torpedo boats might +have been willing to pay much for the privilege of examining. For, at the +present moment, there was fierce competition in the air between rival +American builders of submarine fighting craft designed for the United +States Navy. Even foreign builders and inventors were clamoring for +recognition. Yet just now the reorganized Pollard Submarine Boat Company +stood at the top of the line. It had made the last sale to the United +States Navy Department. + +At this moment, out in the little harbor that was a part of the shipyard, +the "Pollard" rode gently at anchor. She was the first submarine torpedo +boat built at this yard, after the designs of David Pollard, the inventor, +a close personal friend of Jacob Farnum. + +Moreover, the second boat, named the "Farnum," had just been launched and +put in commission, ready at an hour's notice to take the sea in search of +floating enemies of the United States. + +"The United States will take its boat one of these days, Captain," Mr. +Farnum continued, after lighting a cigar. "By the way, did Dave tell you +the name we are thinking of for the third boat, now on the stocks?" + +"Dave" was Mr. Pollard, the inventor of the Pollard Submarine boat. + +"No, sir," Captain Jack replied. + +"We have thought," resumed Mr. Farnum, quietly, after blowing out a ring +of smoke, "of calling the third boat, now building, the 'Benson.'" + +"The--the--what, sir?" stammered Jack, flushing and rising. + +"Now, don't get excited, lad," laughed the shipbuilder. + +"But--but--naming a boat for the United States Navy after me, sir--" + +Captain Jack's face flushed crimson. + +"Of course, if you object--" smiled Mr. Farnum, then paused. + +"Object? You know I don't, sir. But I am afraid the idea is going to my +head," laughed Jack, his face still flushed. "The very idea of there being +in the United States Navy a fine and capable craft named after me--" + +"Oh, if the Navy folks object," laughed Farnum, "then they'll change the +name quickly enough. You understand, lad, the names we give to our boats +last only until the craft are sold. The Navy people can change those names +if they please." + +"It will be a handsome compliment to me, Mr. Farnum. More handsome than +deserved, I fear." + +"Deserved, well enough," retorted the shipbuilder. "Dave Pollard and I are +well enough satisfied that, if it hadn't been for you youngsters, and the +superb way in which you handled our first boat, Dave and I would still be +sitting on the anxious bench in the ante-rooms of the Navy Department at +Washington." + +"Well, I don't deserve to have a boat named after me any more than Hal +does, or Eph Somers." + +"Give us time, won't you, Captain?" pleaded Jacob Farnum, his face +straight, but his eyes laughing. "We expect to build at least five boats. +If we didn't, this yard never would have been fitted for the present work, +and you three boys, who've done so handsomely by us, wouldn't each own, as +you now do, ten shares of stock in this company. Never fear; there'll be a +'Hastings' and a 'Somers' added to our fleet one of these days--even though +some of our boats have to be sold to foreign governments." + +"If a boat named the 'Hastings' were sold to some foreign government," +laughed Jack Benson, "Hal, here, wouldn't say much about it. But call a +boat named the 'Somers,' after Eph, and then sell it, say, to the Germans +or the Japanese, and all of Eph's American gorge would come to the +surface. I'll wager he'd scheme to sink any submarine torpedo boat, named +after him, that was sold to go under a foreign flag." + +"I hope we'll never have to sell any of our boats to foreign governments," +replied Jacob Farnum, earnestly. "And we won't either, if the United +States Government will give us half a show." + +"That's just the trouble," grumbled Hal Hastings, breaking into the talk, +at last. "Confound it, why don't the people of this country run their +government more than they do? Four-fifths of the inventors who get up +great things that would put the United States on top, and keep us there, +have to go abroad to find a market for their inventions! If I could invent +a cannon to-day that would give all the power on earth to the nation +owning it, would the American Government buy it from me? No, sir! I'd have +to sell the cannon to England, Germany or Japan--or else starve while +Congress was talking of doing something about it in the next session. Mr. +Farnum, you have the finest, and the only real submarine torpedo boat. +Yet, if you want to go on building and selling these craft, you'll have to +dispose of most of them abroad." + +"I hope not," responded the shipbuilder, solemnly. + +Having said his say, Hal subsided. He was likely not to speak again for an +hour. As a class, engineers, having to listen much to noisy machinery, are +themselves silent. + +It was well along in the afternoon, a little past the middle of October. +For our three young friends, Jack, Hal and Eph, things were dull just at +the present moment. They were drawing their salaries from the Pollard +company, yet of late there had been little for them to do. + +Yet the three submarine boys knew that big things were in the air. David +Pollard was away, presumably on important business. Jacob Farnum was not +much given to speaking of plans until he had put them through to the +finish. Some big deal was at present "on" with the Government. That much +the submarine boys knew by intuition. They felt, therefore, that, at any +moment, they were likely to be called into action--to be called upon for +big things. + +As Jack and Hal sat in the office, silent, while Jacob Farnum turned to +his desk to scan one of the papers lying there, the door opened. A boy +burst in, waving a yellow envelope. + +"Operator said to hustle this wire to you," shouted the boy, panting a +bit. "Said it might be big news for Farnum. So I ran all the way." + +Jacob Farnum took the yellow envelope, opening it and glancing hastily +through the contents. + +"It _is_ pretty good news," assented the shipbuilder, a smile wreathing +his face. "This is for you, messenger." + +"This" proved to be a folded dollar bill. The messenger took the money +eagerly, then demanded, more respectfully: + +"Any answer, sir?" + +"Not at this moment, thank you," replied Mr. Farnum. "That is all; you may +go, boy." + +Plainly the boy who had brought the telegram was disappointed over not +getting some inkling of the secret. All Dunhaven, in fact, was wildly agog +over any news that affected the Farnum yard. For, though the torpedo boat +building industry was now known under the Pollard name, after the inventor +of these boats, the yard itself still went under the Farnum name that +young Farnum had inherited from his father. + +While Jacob Farnum is reading the despatch carefully, for a better +understanding, let us speak for a moment of Captain Jack Benson and his +youthful comrades and chums. + +Readers of the first volume in this series, "The Submarine Boys on Duty," +remember how Jack Benson and Hal Hastings strayed into the little seaport +town of Dunhaven one hot summer day, and how they learned that it was here +that the then unknown but much-talked-about Pollard submarine was being +built. Both Jack and Hal had been well trained in machine shops; they had +spent much time aboard salt water power craft, and so felt a wild desire +to work at the Farnum yard, and to make a study of submarine craft in +general. + +How they succeeded in getting their start in the Farnum yard, every reader +of the preceding volumes knows; how, too, Eph Somers, a native of +Dunhaven, managed to "cheek" his way aboard the craft after she had been +launched, and how he had always since managed to remain there. + +Our same older readers will remember the thrilling experiences of this +boyish trio during the early trials of the new submarine torpedo boat, +both above and below the surface. These readers will remember, also, for +instance, the great prank played by the boys on the watch officer of one +of the stateliest battleships of the Navy. + +Readers of the second volume, "The Submarine Boys' Trial Trip," will +recall, among other things, the desperate efforts made by George Melville, +the capitalist, aided by the latter's disagreeable son, Don, to acquire +stealthy control of the submarine building company, and their efforts to +oust Jack, Hal and Eph from their much-prized employment. These readers +will remember how Jack and his comrades spoiled the Melville plans, and +how Captain Jack and his friends handled the "Pollard" so splendidly, in +the presence of a board of Navy officers, that the United States +Government was induced to buy that first submarine craft. + +After that sale, each of the three boys received, in addition to his +regular pay, a bank account of a thousand dollars and ten shares of stock +in the new company. Moreover, Messrs. Farnum and Pollard had felt wholly +justified in promising these talented, daring, hustling submarine boys an +assured and successful future. + +Jacob Farnum at last looked up from the final reading of the telegram in +his hands. Captain Jack Benson's gaze was fixed on his employer's face. +Hal Hastings was looking out of a window, with almost a bored look in his +eyes. + +"You young men wanted action," announced Mr. Farnum, quietly. "I think +you'll get it." + +"Soon?" questioned Jack, eagerly. + +"Immediately, or a minute or two later," laughed the shipbuilder. + +"I'm ready," declared Captain Jack, rising. + +"It'll take you a little time to hear about it all and digest it, so you +may as well be seated again," declared Farnum. + +Hal, too, wandered back to his chair. + +"You've been wondering how much longer the Government would leave the +'Pollard' here," went on Mr. Farnum. "I am informed that the gunboat +'Hudson' is on her way here, to take over the 'Pollard.'" + +"What are the Navy folks going to do?" demanded Captain Jack, all but +wrathfully. "Do they propose to _tow_ that splendid little craft away?" + +"Hardly that, I imagine," replied Farnum. "It's the custom of the United +States Navy, you know, to send a gunboat along with every two or three +submarines. They call the larger craft the 'parent boat.' The parent boat +looks out for any submarine craft that may become disabled." + +"The cheek of it," vented Jack, disgustedly. "Why, sir, I'd volunteer to +take the 'Pollard,' unassisted, around the world, if she could carry fuel +enough for such a trip." + +"But the Navy hasn't been accustomed to such capable submarine boats as +ours, you know," replied Mr. Farnum. "Hence the parent boat." + +"Parent boat?" interjected Hal Hastings, with his quiet smile. "You might +call it the 'Dad' boat, so to speak." + +Mr. Farnum laughed, then continued: + +"A naval crew will take possession of the 'Pollard,' and the craft will +proceed, under the care of the Dad boat"--with a side glance of amusement +at Hal--"to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis." + +"Annapolis--where they train the naval cadets, the midshipmen, into United +States Naval officers? Oh, how I'd like to go there!" breathed Captain +Jack Benson, eagerly. + +"As a cadet in the Navy, do you mean?" asked Mr. Farnum. + +"Why, that would have been well enough," assented Jack, "before I had such +a chance in your submarine service. No; I mean I'd like to see Annapolis. +I'd like to watch the midshipmen at their training, and see the whole +naval life there." + +"It's too bad every fellow can't have his wish gratified as easily," +continued Jacob Farnum. + +"Do you mean we're going to Annapolis, too?" asked Jack Benson, his eyes +glowing. Even Hal Hastings sat up straighter in his chair, watching the +shipbuilder's face closely. + +"Yes," nodded Jacob Farnum. "Permission has been granted for me to send +our second boat, the 'Farnum,' along with the 'Pollard'--both under the +care of the--" + +"The Dad boat," laughed Hastings. + +"Yes; that will give us a chance to have the 'Farnum' studied most closely +by some of the most capable officers in the United States Navy. It ought +to mean, presently, the sale of the 'Farnum' to the Government." + +"That's just what it will mean," promised Captain Jack, "if any efforts of +ours can make the Navy men more interested in the boat." + +"You three youngsters are likely to be at Annapolis for some time," went +on Mr. Farnum. "In fact--but don't let your heads become too enlarged by +the news, will you?" + +Hal, quiet young Hal, neatly hid a yawn behind one hand, while Benson +answered for both: + +"We're already wearing the largest-sized caps manufactured, Mr. Farnum. +Don't tempt us too far, please!" + +"Oh, you boys are safe from the ordinary perils of vanity, or your heads +would have burst long ago. Well, then, when you arrive at Annapolis, you +three are to act as civilian instructors to the middies. You three are to +teach the midshipmen of the United States Navy the principles on which the +Pollard type of boat is run. There; I've told you the whole news. What do +you think of it?" + +Mr. Farnum's cigar having burned low, he tossed it away, then leaned back +as he lighted another weed. + +"What do we think, sir?" echoed Captain Jack, eagerly. "Why, we think +we're in sight of the very time of our lives! Annapolis! And to teach the +middies how to run a 'Pollard' submarine." + +"How soon are we likely to have to start, sir!" asked Hal Hastings, after +a silence that lasted a few moments. + +"Whenever the 'Hudson' shows up along this coast, and the officer in +command of her gives the word. That may be any hour, now." + +"Then we'd better find Eph," suggested Captain Jack, "and pass him the +word. Won't Eph Somers dance a jig for delight, though?" + +"Yes; we'd better look both boats over at once," replied Mr. Farnum, +picking up his hat. "And we'll leave word for Grant Andrews and some of +his machinists to inspect both craft with us. There may be a few things +that will need to be done." + +As they left the office, crossing the yard, Captain Jack Benson and Hal +Hastings felt exactly as though they were walking on air. Even Hal, quiet +as he was, had caught the joy-infection of these orders to proceed to +Annapolis. To be sent to the United States Naval Academy on a tour of +instruction is what officers of the Navy often call "the prize detail." + +Farnum and his two youthful companions went, first of all, to the long, +shed-like building in which the third submarine craft to be turned out at +this yard was now being built. From inside came the noisy clang of hammers +against metal. The shipbuilder stepped inside alone, but soon came out, +nodding. The three now continued on their way down to the little harbor. +All of a sudden the three stopped short, almost with a jerk, in the same +second, as though pulled by a string. + +At exactly the same instant Jacob Farnum, Captain Jack Benson and Engineer +Hal Hastings put up their hands to rub their eyes. + +Their senses had told them truly, however. While the "Pollard" rode +serenely at her moorings, the "Farnum," the second boat to be launched, +was nowhere to be seen! + +"What on earth has happened to the other submarine?" gasped the +shipbuilder, as soon as he could somewhat control his voice. + +What, indeed? + +There was not a sign of her. At least, she had not sunk at her moorings, +for the buoys floated in their respective places, with no manner of tackle +attached to them. + +"A submarine boat can't slip its own cables and vanish without human +hands!" gasped the staggered Jack Benson. + +"There's something uncanny about this," muttered Hal Hastings. + +Jacob Farnum stood rooted to the spot, opening and closing his hands in a +way that testified plainly to the extent of his bewilderment. + + + + + + CHAPTER II: HOW EPH FLIRTED WITH SCIENCE + + +Jack Benson was the first of the trio to move. + +Without a word he broke into a run, heading for the narrow little shingle +of beach. + +"Got an idea, Captain?" shouted Jacob Farnum, darting after his young +submarine skipper. + +"Yes, sir!" floated back over Jack's shoulder. + +"Then what's at the bottom--" + +"Eph and the boat, both together, or I miss my guess," Captain Jack +shouted back as he halted at the water's edge, where a rowboat lay hauled +up on the shore. + +Jacob Farnum's face showed suddenly pallid as he, also, reached the beach. +Hal, who was in the rear, did not seem so much startled. + +"Do you think Eph has gone off on a cruise all alone?--that he has come to +any harm?" gasped the shipbuilder. + +"I don't know, but I'm not going to worry a mite about Eph Somers until I +have to," retorted Jack Benson, easily. + +"Eph can generally take care of himself," added Hal Hastings. "He rarely +falls into any kind of scrape that he can't climb out of." + +"But this is a bad time for him to take the 'Farnum' and cruise away," +objected the owner of the yard. "The 'Hudson' may be here at any hour, you +know, and we ought to be ready for orders." + +As he spoke, Mr. Farnum scanned the horizon away to the south, out over +the sea. + +"There's a line of smoke, now, and not many miles away," he announced. "It +may, as likely as not, be smoke from the 'Hudson's' pipe." + +"Going out with us, sir?" inquired Captain Jack Benson, as Hal took his +place at a pair of oars. + +"Yes," nodded the owner of the yard, dropping into a seat at the stern of +the boat, after which Benson pushed off at the bow. + +Down on the seashore, on this day just past the middle of October, the air +was keen and brisk. There had been frost for several nights past. +Sleighing might be looked for in another month. + +"Cable's gone from this buoy," declared Captain Jack, as Hal rowed close. +"Over to the other one, old fellow." + +Here, too, the cable was missing. Evidently the "Farnum" had made a clean +get-away. If there had been any accident, it must have taken place after +the new submarine boat had slipped away from her moorings. + +"Humph!" grunted Jack, scanning the sea. "No sign of the boat anywhere. +Eph may be anywhere within twenty miles of here." + +"Or within twenty feet, either," grinned Hal, looking down into the waters +that were lead-colored under the dull autumn sky. + +"What are we going to do, Captain?" inquired Jacob Farnum. "There are +Grant Andrews and three of his machinists coming down to the water." + +"I reckon, sir, we'd better put them aboard the 'Pollard' first, sir," +Benson suggested. + +Mr. Farnum nodding, the boat was rowed in to the shore and Andrews and his +men were put aboard the "Pollard" at the platform deck. Captain Jack +Benson unlocking the door to the conning tower, was himself the first to +disappear down below. When he came back he carried a line to which was +attached a heavy sounding-lead. + +"It won't take us long to sound the deep spots in this little harbor," +said the young skipper, as he dropped down once more into the bow of the +shore boat. "Row about, Hal, over the places where the submarine could go +below out of sight." + +As Hal rowed, Skipper Jack industriously used the sounding-lead. + +For twenty minutes nothing resulted from this exploration. Then, all of a +sudden, Benson shouted: + +"Back water, Hal! Easy; rest on your oars. Steady!" + +Jack Benson raised the lead two or three feet, then let it down again, +playing it up and down very much as a cod fisherman uses his line and +hook. + +"I'm hitting something, and it is hardly a rock, either," declared young +Benson. "Pull around about three points to starboard, Hal, then steal +barely forward." + +Again Benson played see-saw with his sounding-line over the boat's +gunwale. + +"If my lead isn't hitting the 'Farnum,'" declared the young skipper, +positively, "then it's the 'Farnum's' ghost. Hold steady, now, Hal." + +Immediately afterward, Benson caused the lead fairly to dance a jig on +whatever it touched at bottom. + +"What's the good of that, anyway?" demanded Jacob Farnum. + +"You don't think I'm doing this just for fun, do you, sir?" asked Captain +Jack, with a smile. + +"No; I know you generally have an object when you do anything unusual," +responded the shipbuilder, good-humoredly. + +"You know, of course, sir, that noises sound with a good deal of +exaggeration when you hear them under water?" + +"Yes; of course." + +"You also know that all three of us have been practicing at telegraphy a +good deal during the past few weeks, because every man who follows the sea +ought to know how to send and receive wireless messages at need." + +"Yes; I know that, Benson." + +"Well, sir, I guess that the lead has been hitting the top of the +'Farnum's' hull, and I've been tapping out the signal--" + +"The signal, 'Come up--rush!'" broke in Hal, with an odd smile. + +"Right-o," nodded Jack Benson. + +"How on earth did _you_ know what the signal was, Hastings?" demanded Mr. +Farnum. + +"Why, sir, I've been sitting so that I could see Jack's arm. I've been +reading, from the motions of his right arm, the dots and dashes of the +Morse telegraph alphabet." + +"You youngsters certainly get me, for the things you think of," laughed +the shipyard's owner. + +"And the 'Farnum,' or whatever it is, is coming up," called Captain Jack, +suddenly. "I just felt my lead slide down over the top of her hull. +Hard-a-starboard, Hal, and row hard," shouted young Benson, breathlessly. + +Though Hastings obeyed immediately he was barely an instant too soon. To +his dismay, Mr. Farnum saw something dark, unwieldy, rising through the +water. It appeared to be coming up fairly under the stern of the shore +boat, threatening to overturn the little craft and plunge them all into +the icy water. + +Hal shot just out of the danger zone, though. Then a round little tower +bobbed up out of the water. Immediately afterward the upper third of a +long, cigar-shaped craft came up into view, water rolling from her +dripping sides, which glistened brightly as the sun came out briefly from +behind a fall cloud. + +In the conning tower, through the thick plate glass, the three people in +the shore boat made out the carroty-topped head and freckled, +good-humored, honest, homely face of Eph Somers. The boat lay on the +water, under no headway, drifting slightly with the wind-driven ripples. +Then Eph raised the man-hole cover of the top of the conning tower, +thrusting out his head to hail them. + +"Hey, you landsmen, do you know a buoy from an umbrella?" + +"Do _you_ know the difference between a Sunday-school text and petty +larceny?" retorted Jack Benson, sternly. "What do you mean by taking the +submarine without leave?" + +"I've been experimenting--flirting with science," responded Eph, loftily. +"Say, if you landsmen know a buoy from a banana, get down to the bow +moorings of this steel mermaid, and I'll pass you the bow cable. It's a +heap easier to lead this submarine horse out of the stall, single-handed, +than it is to take him back and tie him." + +Hal rowed easily to the buoy, while Eph, returning to the steering wheel +and the tower controls, ran the "Farnum," with just bare headway, up to +where he could toss the bow cable to those waiting in the boat. A few +moments later the stern cable, also, was made fast, in such a way as to +allow a moderate swing to the bulky steel craft. + +"Now, you can take me ashore, if you feel like it," proposed Eph, standing +on the platform deck. + +"Not quite yet," returned Skipper Jack, though the small boat lay +alongside. "We've got some inspecting to do. But how did you get on board +in the first place?" + +"Why, the night watchman was in the yard for a few minutes, and I got him +to put me on board. I figured I could hail somebody else when I was ready +to go on shore." + +"But what on earth made you do such a thing?" demanded Captain Jack, in a +low tone. "It's really more than you had a right to do, Eph, without +getting Mr. Farnum's permission." + +"Why, I've known you to take the 'Pollard' and try something when Mr. +Farnum wasn't about," retorted Somers, looking surprised. + +"You never knew me to do it when I could ask permission, although, as +captain, I have the right to handle the boat. But that leave doesn't +extend to all the rest, Eph. What were you doing down there, anyway?" + +"Why, I came on board, and left the manhole open for ten minutes," +answered Somers. "Then I found the cabin thermometer standing at 49 +degrees. I wondered how much warmth could be gained by going below the +surface. I had been down an hour and five minutes when you began to signal +with that sledge-hammer--" + +"Sounding-lead," Jack corrected him. + +"Well, it sounded like a sledge-hammer, anyway," grinned young Somers. +"While I was down below I found that the temperature rose four degrees." + +"Part of that was likely due to the warmth of your body, and the heat of +the breath you gave off," hinted Benson. + +"You could have gotten it up to eighty or ninety degrees by turning on the +electric heater far enough," suggested Hal. + +"I wanted to see whether it would be warmer in the depths; wanted to find +out how low I could go and be able to do without heat in winter," Somers +retorted. + +"I could have told you that, from my reading, without any experiment," +retorted Skipper Jack. "Close your conning tower and go down a little way, +and the temperature would gradually rise a few degrees. That's because of +the absence of wind and draft. But, if you could go down very, very deep +without smashing the boat under the water pressure, you'd find the +temperature falling quite a bit." + +"Where did you read all that?" inquired Eph, looking both astonished and +sheepish. + +"Here," replied Jack, going to a small wall book-case, taking down a book +and turning several pages before he stopped. + +"Just my luck," muttered Eph, disconsolately. "Here I've been dull as +ditch-water for an hour, trying to find out something new, and it's all +stated in a book printed--ten years ago," he finished, after rapidly +consulting the title-page. + +Jacob Farnum had been no listener to this conversation. Taking the marine +glasses from the conning tower, the shipbuilder was now well forward on +the platform deck, scanning what was visible of the steam craft to the +southward. At last the yard's owner turned around to say: + +"I don't believe you young men can have things ship-shape a second too +soon. The craft heading this way has a military mast forward. She must be +the 'Hudson.' If there's anything to be done, hustle!" + +Jack and Hal sprang below, to scan their respective departments. Five +minutes later Grant Andrews hailed from the "Pollard," and Eph rowed over +in the shore boat to ferry over the machinists. + +Half an hour later Andrews and his men had put in the few needed touches +aboard the newer submarine boat. The sun, meanwhile, had gone down, +showing the hull of a naval vessel some four miles off the harbor. + +Darkness came on quickly, with a clouded sky. As young Benson stepped on +deck Grant Andrews followed him. + +"All finished here, Grant?" queried the yard's owner. + +"Yes, sir. There's mighty little chance to do anything where Hal Hastings +has charge of the machinery." + +"That's our gunboat out there, I think," went on Mr. Farnum, pointing to +where a white masthead light and a red port light were visible, about a +mile away. + +"Dunhaven must be on the map, all right, if a strange navigating officer +knows how to come so straight to the place," laughed Jack Benson. + +"Oh, you trust a United States naval officer to find any place he has +sailing orders for," returned Jacob Farnum. "I wonder if he'll attempt to +come into this harbor?" + +"There's safe anchorage, if he wants to do so," replied Captain Jack. + +While Somers was busy putting the foreman and the machinists ashore, Mr. +Farnum, Jack and Hal remained on the platform deck, watching the approach +of the naval vessel, which was now plainly making for Dunhaven. + +Suddenly, a broad beam of glaring white light shot over the water, resting +across the deck of the "Farnum." + +"I guess that fellow knows what he wants to know, now," muttered Benson, +blinking after the strong glare had passed. + +"There, he has picked up the 'Pollard,' too," announced Hastings. "Now, +that commander must feel sure he has sighted the right place." + +"There go the signal lights," cried Captain Jack, suddenly. "Hal, hustle +below and turn on the electric current for the signaling apparatus." + +Then Benson watched as, from the yards high up on the gunboat's signaling +mast, colored electric lights glowed forth, twinkling briefly in turn. +This is the modern method of signaling by sea at night. + +"He wants to know," said Benson, to Mr. Farnum, as he turned, "whether +there is safe anchorage for a twelve-hundred-ton gunboat of one hundred +and ninety-five feet length." + +Reaching the inside of the conning tower at a bound, the young skipper +rapidly manipulated his own electric signaling control. There was a low +mast on the "Farnum's" platform deck, a mast that could be unstepped +almost in an instant when going below surface. So Captain Jack's +counter-query beamed out in colors through the night: + +"What's your draught?" + +"Under present ballast, seventeen-eight," came the answer from the +gunboat's signal mast. + +"Safe anchorage," Captain Jack signaled back. + +"Can you meet us with a pilot?" questioned the on-coming gunboat. + +"Yes," Captain Jack responded. + +"Do so," came the laconic request. + +"That's all, Hal," the young skipper called, through the engine room +speaking tube. "Want to row me out and put me aboard the gunboat?" + +In another jiffy the two young chums had put off in the boat, Hal at the +oars, Jack at the tiller ropes. The gunboat was now lying to, some seven +hundred yards off the mouth of the little harbor. Hastings bent lustily to +the oars, sending the boat over the rocking water until he was within a +hundred yards of the steam craft's bridge. + +"Gun boat ahoy!" roared Hal, between his hands. Then, by a slip of the +tongue, and wholly innocent of any intentional offense, he bellowed: + +"Is that the 'Dad' boat?" + +"What's that?" came a sharp retort from the gunboat's bridge. "Don't try +to be funny, young man!" + +"Beg your pardon, sir. That was a slip of the tongue," Hal replied, +meekly, as he colored. "Are you the gunboat 'Hudson?'" + +"No; I'm her commanding officer, young man! Who in blazes are you?" + +"I'm the goat, it seems," muttered Hastings, under his breath. But, aloud, +he replied: + +"I have the pilot you requested." + +"Then why don't you bring him on board?" came the sharp question. "Did you +think I only wanted to look at a pilot?" + +"All right, sir. Shall I make fast to your starboard side gangway?" Hal +called. + +"In a hurry, young man!" + +"That's the naval style, I guess," murmured Jack to his chum. "No fooling +in the talk. I wonder if that fellow eats pie? Or is his temper due to +coffee?" + +Answering only with a quiet grin, Hal rowed alongside the starboard side +gangway. Jack, waiting, sprang quickly to the steps, ascending, waving his +hand to Hal as he went. Young Hastings quickly shoved off, then bent to +his oars. + +"Where's the pilot?" came a stern voice, from the bridge, as Jack Benson's +head showed above the starboard rail. + +"I am the pilot, sir," Jack replied. + +"Why, you're a boy." + +"Guilty," Jack responded. + +"What does this fooling mean? You're not old enough to hold a pilot's +license." + +By this time Benson was on the deck, immediately under the bridge. A half +dozen sailors, forward, were eyeing him curiously. + +"I have no license, sir," Jack admitted. "Neither has anyone else at +Dunhaven. For that matter, the harbor's a private one, belonging to the +shipyard." + +"Hasn't Mr. Farnum a _man_ he can send out?" + +"No one who knows the harbor better than I do, sir." + +"Who are you? What are you?" + +"Jack Benson, sir. Captain of the Pollard submarine boats." + +"Why didn't you tell me that before?" + +The question came sharply, almost raspingly. + +"Beg your pardon, sir, but you didn't ask me," Jack replied. + +"Come up here, Benson," ordered the lieutenant commander, in a loud voice +intended to drown out the subdued titter of some of the sailors forward. + +Jack ascended to the bridge, to find himself facing a six-footer in his +early thirties. There was a younger officer at the far end of the bridge. + +"Does Mr. Farnum consider you capable of showing us the way into the +harbor?" demanded the commanding officer of the "Hudson." + +"I think so, sir. He trusts me with his own boats." + +"Then you are--" + +"Benson, Mr. Farnum's captain of the submarine boats." + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed in astonishment for a moment, then held +out his hand as he introduced himself, remarking: + +"I was told that I would find a very young submarine commander here, but--" + +"You didn't expect to find one quite as young," Jack finished, smiling. + +"No; I didn't. Mr. Trahern, I want you to know Captain Jack Benson, of the +Pollard submarines." + +Ensign Trahern also shook hands with young Benson. + +"And now," went on the commander of the "Hudson," "I think you may as well +show us the way into the harbor." + +"You'll want to go at little more than headway, sir," Jack replied. "The +harbor is small, though there's enough deep water for you. In parts there +are some sand ledges that the tide washes up." + +"I can't allow you to pilot us, exactly, but you'll indicate the course to +me, won't you, Mr. Benson?" + +The "mister" was noticeable, now. Naval officers are chary of their +bestowal of the title "captain" upon one who does not hold it in the Army +or Navy service. + +At Mr. Mayhew's order the "Hudson" was started slowly forward, the +searchlight playing about the entrance to the harbor. + +"For your best anchorage, sir," declared Captain Jack, after he had +brought the gunboat slowly into the harbor, "you will do well to anchor +with that main arc-light dead ahead, that shed over there on your +starboard beam, and the front end of the submarine shed about four points +off your port bow." + +Mr. Mayhew slowly manoeuvred his craft, while men stood on the deck below, +forward, prepared to heave the bow anchors. + +"Go four points over to port, Mr. Trahern," instructed Mr. Mayhew. "Now, +back the engines--steady!" + +Jack Benson opened his mouth wide. Then, as he saw the way the "Hudson" +was backing, he suddenly called: + +"Slow speed ahead, quick, sir!" + +"You said--" began Mr. Mayhew. + +Gr-r-r-r! The stern of the gunboat dug its way into a sand ledge, lifting +the stern considerably. + +"Slow speed ahead!" rasped Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, sharply. + +But the gunboat could not be budged. She was stuck, stern on, fast in the +sand-ledge. + +"Benson!" uttered the lieutenant commander, bitterly, "I congratulate you. +You've succeeded in grounding a United States Naval vessel!" + + + + + + CHAPTER III: "YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE THE BRIDGE!" + + +There was so much of overwhelming censure in the naval officer's tone that +Jack's spirit was stung to the quick. + +"It's your mistake, sir," he retorted. "You didn't follow the course I +advised. You swung the ship around to port, and--" + +"Silence, now, if you please, while men are trying to get this vessel out +of a scrape a boy got her into," commanded Mr. Mayhem, sternly. + +Jack flushed, then bit his tongue. In another moment a pallor had +succeeded the red in his face. + +He was blamed for the disaster, and he was not really at fault. + +Yet, under the rebuke he had just received, he did not feel it his place +to retort further for the present. + +Mr. Mayhew and Mr. Trahern conferred in low tones for a moment or two. + +"You may as well leave the bridge, young man," resumed Mr. Mayhew, turning +upon the submarine boy. "You are not likely to be of any use here." + +As Jack, burning inwardly with indignation, though managing to keep +outwardly calm, descended to the deck below, he caught sight of Hal +Hastings, hovering near in the rowboat. Hal signaled to learn whether he +should put in alongside to take off his chum, but Benson shook his head. + +Over on the "Farnum" the yard's owner and Eph Somers watched wonderingly. +They understood, well enough, that the new, trim-looking gunboat was in +trouble, but they did not know that Jack Benson was held at fault. + +Down between decks the engines of the "Hudson" were toiling hard to run +the craft off out of the sand. Then the machinery stopped. An engineer +officer came up from below. He and Mr. Mayhew walked to the stern, while a +seaman, accompanying them, heaved the lead, reading the soundings. + +"We're stuck good and fast," remarked the engineer officer. "We can't +drive off out of that sand for the reason that the propellers are buried +in the grit. They'll hardly turn at all, and, when they do, they only +churn the sand without driving us off." + +"Confound that ignoramus of a boy!" muttered Mr. Mayhew, walking slowly +forward. It was no pleasant situation for the lieutenant commander. Having +run his vessel ashore, he knew himself likely to be facing a naval board +of inquiry. + +Hal, finding that the shore boat was not wanted for the present, had rowed +over to the "Farnum's" moorings. Now Jacob Farnum came alongside in the +shore boat. + +"May I speak with your watch officer?" he called. + +"I am the commanding officer," Mr. Mayhew called down, in the cold, even, +dulled voice of a man in trouble. + +"I am Mr. Farnum, owner of the yard. May I come on board?" + +"Be glad to have you," Lieutenant Commander Mayhew responded. + +So Mr. Farnum went nimbly up over the side. + +"May I ask what is the trouble here, sir?" asked the yard's owner. + +"The trouble is," replied Mr. Mayhew, "that your enterprising boy pilot +has run us aground--hard, tight and fast!" + +Jacob Farnum glanced swiftly at his young captain. Jack shook his head +briefly in dissent. Jacob Farnum, with full confidence in his young man, +at once understood that there was more yet to be learned. + +"Come up on the bridge, sir, if you will," requested the commander of the +gunboat, who was a man of too good breeding to wish any dispute before the +men of the crew. "You may come, too, Benson." + +Jack followed the others, including the engineer officer of the "Hudson." +Yet Benson was clenching his hands, fighting a desperate battle to get +full command over himself. It was hard--worse than hard--to be unjustly +accused. + +Jacob Farnum wished to keep on the pleasantest terms with these officers +of the Navy. At the same time he was man enough to feel determined that +Jack, whether right or wrong, should have a full chance to defend himself. + +"I understand, sir," began Mr. Farnum, "that you attach some blame in this +matter to young Benson?" + +"Perhaps he is not to be blamed too much, on account of his extreme +youth," responded Mr. Mayhew. + +"Forget his youth altogether," urged Mr. Farnum. "Let us treat him as a +man. I've always found him one, in judgment, knowledge and loyalty. Do you +mind telling me, sir, in what way he erred in bringing you in here?" + +"An error in giving his advice," replied Mr. Mayhew. "Or else it was +ignorance of how to handle a craft as large as this gunboat. For my +anchorage he told me--" + +Here the lieutenant commander repeated the first part of Jack's directions +correctly, but wound up with: + +"He advised me to throw my wheel over four points to port." + +"Pardon me, sir," Jack broke in, unable to keep still longer. "What I +said, or intended to say, was to bring your vessel so that the forward end +of the submarine shed over there would be four points off the port bow." + +"What did you hear Mr. Benson say, Mr. Trahern?" demanded the gunboat's +commander, turning to the ensign who had stood with him on the bridge. + +"Why, sir, I understood the lad to say what he states that he said." + +"You are sure of that, Mr. Trahern?" + +"Unless my ears tricked me badly," replied the ensign, "Mr. Benson said +just what he now states. I wondered, sir, at your calling for slow speed +astern." + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gazed for some moments fixedly at the face of +Ensign Trahern. Then, of a sudden, the gunboat's commander, who was both +an officer and a gentleman, broke forth, contritely: + +"As I think it over, I believe, myself, that Benson advised as he now +states he did. It was my own error--I am sure of it now." + +Wheeling about, Mayhew held out his right hand. + +"Mr. Benson," he said, in a deep voice full of regret, "I was the one in +error. I am glad to admit it, even if tardily. Will you pardon my too +hasty censure?" + +"Gladly, sir," Benson replied, gripping the proffered hand. Jacob Farnum +stood back, wagging his head in a satisfied way. It had been difficult for +him to believe that his young captain had been at fault in so simple a +matter, or in a harbor with which he was so intimately acquainted. + +As for the young man himself, the thing that touched him most deeply was +the quick, complete and manly acknowledgment of this lieutenant commander. + +"Mr. Farnum," inquired the gunboat's commander, "have you any towboats +about here that can be used in helping me to get the 'Hudson' off this +sand ledge?" + +"The only one in near waters, sir," replied the yard's owner, "is a craft, +not so very much larger than a launch, that ties up some three miles down +the coast. She's the boat I use when I need any towing here. Of course, I +have the two torpedo boats, though their engines were not constructed for +towing work." + +"May I offer a suggestion?" asked Jack, when the talk lagged. + +"I'll be glad to have you, Mr. Benson," replied Mr. Mayhew, turning toward +the submarine boy. + +"Flood tide will be in in about two hours and a half, sir," Benson +followed up. "That ought to raise this vessel a good deal. Then, with the +towboat Mr. Farnum has mentioned, and with such help as the engines of the +submarines may give, together with your own engines, Mr. Mayhew, I think +there ought to be a good chance of getting the 'Hudson' afloat with plenty +of water under her whole keel. We can even start some of the engines on +shore, and rig winches to haul on extra cables. Altogether, we can give +you a strong pull, sir." + +"That sounds like the best plan to me," nodded Jacob Farnum. "I'll have a +message sent at once for that towboat." + +A white-coated steward now appeared on deck, moving near the lieutenant +commander. + +"Is dinner ready, Greers?" called Mr. Mayhew. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Lay two more plates, then. Mr. Farnum, I trust you and your young +submarine commander will sit as my guests to-night." + +This invitation the yard's owner accepted, asking only time enough to +arrange for keeping some of his workmen over-time, awaiting the coming of +flood-tide. + +So, presently, Jack and his employer found themselves seated at table in +the gunboat's handsome wardroom. Besides the lieutenant commander there +were Lieutenant Halpin, two ensigns, two engineer officers and a young +medical officer. In the "Hudson's" complement of officers there were also +four midshipmen, but these latter ate in their own mess. + +The time passed most pleasantly, Mr. Mayhew plainly doing all in his power +to atone for his late censure of the submarine boy. + +Before dinner was over the small towboat was in the harbor. At the coming +of flood tide this towing craft had a hawser made fast to the gunboat. +With the help of some of the naval machinists aboard the "Hudson," both +submarine craft were also manned and hawsers made fast. Two cables were +passed ashore to winches to which power was supplied by the shipyard's +engines. When all was ready a mighty pull was given, the gunboat's own +propellers taking part in the struggle. For two or three minutes the +efforts continued. Then, at last, the "Hudson," uninjured, ran off into +deep water and shortly afterwards anchored in safety. + +It was a moment of tremendous relief for Mr. Mayhew. + +"Call the tugboat captain aboard, and I'll settle with him at my own +expense," proposed the lieutenant commander. + +"I trust you will think of nothing of the sort," replied Jacob Farnum, +quickly. "In this harbor I wish to consider you and your vessel as my +guests." + +Again Mr. Mayhew expressed his thanks. Presently, glancing ashore through +the night, he asked: + +"What sort of country is it hereabouts?" + +"Mostly flat, as to the surface," Mr. Farnum replied. "If your question +goes further, there are some fine roads and several handsome estates +within a few miles of here. Mr. Mayhew, won't you and a couple of your +officers come on shore with me? I'll telephone for my car and put you over +quite a few miles this evening." + +"Delighted," replied the commander of the gunboat. + +One of the "Hudson's" cutters being now in the water alongside, the party +went ashore in this. Jack, after bidding the naval officers good-night, +found Hal and Eph, who had just come ashore from supper on board the +"Farnum." + +"No sailing orders yet, I suppose?" Hal asked. + +"None," Jack replied. "I reckon we'll start, all right, some time +to-morrow morning." + +"What'll we do to-night?" Eph wondered. + +"I don't know," replied Jack. "We've few friends around here we need to +take the trouble to say good-bye to. We could call on Mrs. Farnum, but I +imagine we'd run into the naval party up at the Farnum house. We want to +keep a bit in the background with these naval officers, except when they +may ask for our company." + +"Let's take a walk about the old town, then," Hal suggested. + +So the three submarine boys strolled across the shipyard. Just as they +were passing through the gate a man of middle height and seemingly about +thirty years of age quickened his pace to reach them. + +"Is this shipyard open nights?" he queried. + +"Only to some employees," Jack answered. + +"I suppose Mr. Farnum isn't about?" + +"No." + +"Captain Benson?" + +"Benson is my name." + +"This letter is addressed to Mr. Farnum," went on the stranger, "but Mr. +Pollard told me I could hand it to you." + +Captain Jack took the letter from the unsealed envelope. + +"My dear Farnum," ran the enclosure, "since you're short a good machinist +for the engine room of the 'Farnum,' the bearer, Samuel Truax, seems to me +to be just the man you want. I've examined him, and he understands the +sort of machinery we use. Better give him a chance." The note was signed +in David Pollard's well-known, scrawly handwriting. + +"I'm sorry you can't see Mr. Farnum to-night," said Benson, pleasantly. +"He'll be here early in the morning, though." + +"When do you sail?" asked Truax, quickly. + +"That you would have to ask Mr. Farnum, too," smiled Jack. + +"But, see here, Mr. Pollard engaged me to work aboard one of your +submarines." + +"It looks that way, doesn't it?" laughed the young skipper. + +"And you're the captain?" + +"Yes; but I can't undertake to handle Mr. Farnum's business for him." + +"You'll let me go aboard the craft to sleep for to-night, anyway?" coaxed +Truax. + +"Why, that's just what I'm not at liberty to do," replied the young +submarine captain. "No; I couldn't think of that, in the absence of Mr. +Farnum's order." + +"But that doesn't seem hardly fair," protested Truax. "See here, I have +spent all my money getting here. I haven't even the price of a lodging +with me, and this isn't a summer night." + +"Why, I'll tell you what I'll do," Benson went on, feeling in one of his +pockets. "Here's a dollar. That'll buy you a bed and a breakfast at the +hotel up the street. If you want to get aboard with us in time, you'd +better show up by eight in the morning." + +"But--" + +"That's really all I can do," Jack Benson hastily assured the fellow. "I'm +not the owner of the boat, and I can't take any liberties. Oh, wait just a +moment. I'll see if there's any chance of Mr. Farnum coming back +to-night." + +Jack knew well enough that there wasn't any chance of Mr. Farnum +returning, unless possibly at a very late hour with the naval officers, +but the boy had seen the night watchman peering out through the gateway. + +Retracing his steps, Jack drew the night watchman inside, whispering: + +"Just a pointer for you. You've seen that man on the street with us? He +has a letter from Mr. Pollard to Mr. Farnum, but I wouldn't let him in the +yard to-night, unless Mr. Farnum appears and gives the order." + +"I understand," said the night watchman, nodding. + +"That's all, then, and thank you." + +Jack Benson hastily rejoined the others on the sidewalk. + +"I don't believe, Mr. Truax, it will be worth your while to come here +earlier than eight in the morning. Better go to the hotel and tie up to a +good sleep. Good night." + +"Say, why did you take such a dislike to the fellow?" queried Eph, as the +three submarine boys strolled on up the street, Truax following slowly at +some distance in the rear. + +"I didn't take a dislike to him," Jack replied, opening his eyes wide. + +"You choked him off mighty short, then." + +"If it looked that way, then I'm sorry," Benson protested, in a tone of +genuine regret. "All I wanted to make plain was that I couldn't pass him +on to our precious old boat without Mr. Farnum's order." + +Truax plodded slowly along behind the submarine boys, a cunning look in +the man's eyes as he stared after Jack Benson. + +"You're a slick young man, or else a wise one," muttered Truax. "But I +think I'm smart enough to take it out of you!" + +Nor did Sam Truax go to the hotel. He had his own plans for this +evening--plans that boded the submarine boys no good. + +The three boys strolled easily about town, getting a hot soda or two, and, +finally, drifting into a moving picture show that had opened recently in +Dunhaven. This place they did not leave until the show was over. They were +half-way home when Captain Jack remembered that he had left behind him a +book that he had bought earlier in the evening. + +"You fellows keep right on down to the yard. I'll hurry back, get the book +and overtake you," he proposed. + +Jack ran back, but already the little theatre was closed. + +"I'm out that book, then, if we sail in the morning," he muttered, as he +trudged along after his friends. + +On the way toward the water front Benson had to pass a vacant lot +surrounded by a high board fence on a deserted street. He had passed about +half way along the length of the fence, when a head appeared over the top +followed by a pair of arms holding a small bag of sand. Down dropped the +bag, striking Jack Benson on the top of the head, sending him unconscious +to the ground. + + + + + + CHAPTER IV: MR. FARNUM OFFERS ANOTHER GUESS + + +Close at hand there was a loose board in the fence. Through this Sam Truax +thrust his head, peering up and down the street. Not another soul was in +sight. + +With a chuckle Truax stepped through the hole in the fence. Swiftly he +gathered up the young submarine captain, bearing him through the aperture +and dropping him on the ground behind the fence. At the same time he took +with him the small bag of sand. + +"Knocked you out, but I don't believe you'll be unconscious long," mused +Truax, standing over his young victim, regarding him critically. "There +wasn't steam enough in the blow to hurt you for long. You're sturdy, +following the sea all the time, as you do." + +With a thoughtful air Sam Truax drew a small bottle from his pocket, +sprinkling some of the contents over Jack's uniform coat. Immediately the +nauseating smell of liquor rose on the air. + +"Now, if someone finds you before you come to, you'll look like a fellow +that has been drinking and fighting," muttered Truax under his breath. "If +you come to and get back to the yard without help, you'll walk unsteadily +and have that smell about your clothes. Usually, it needs only a breath of +suspicion to turn folks against a boy!" + + [Illustration: Down Dropped the Bag.] + + Down Dropped the Bag. + + +Pausing only long enough to learn that Jack's pulses were beating, and +that the submarine boy was breathing, Truax stole off into the night, +carrying the bag of sand under his overcoat. At one point he paused long +enough to empty the sand from the bag over a fence. The bag itself he +afterwards burned in the open fireplace in the room assigned to him at +Holt's Hotel. + +For twenty minutes Jack Benson lay as he had been left. Then he began to +stir, and groan. Then he opened his eyes; after a while he managed to sit +up. + +"Ugh!" he grunted. "What's the odor? Liquor! How does that happen? Oh, my +head!" + +He got slowly to his feet, using the board fence as a means to help steady +himself. Then, though he found himself weak and tormented by the pain in +his head, Benson managed to feel his way along the fence until he came to +the opening made by the loose board. Holding himself here, he thrust his +head beyond. + +Now, Hal and Eph, having waited for some time at the shore boat, before +going out on board the "Farnum," had at last made up their minds to go +back and look for their missing leader. They came along just at the moment +that the young captain's head appeared through the opening in the fence. + +"There he is," muttered Hal, stopping short. "Gracious! He acts queerly. I +wonder if anything can have happened to him? Come along, Eph!" + +The two raced across the street. + +"Jack, old fellow! What on earth's the matter?" demanded Hal Hastings, +anxiously. + +"I wish you could tell me," responded Jack Benson, speaking rather +thickly, for he was still somewhat dazed. "Oh, my head!" + +"There has been some queer work here," muttered Hal in Eph's ear. "Don't +torment him with questions. Just help me to get him down to the yard." + +While the two submarine boys were guiding their weak, dizzy comrade out to +the sidewalk a man came by with a swinging stride. Then he stopped short, +staring in amazement. + +"Hullo, boys! What on earth has happened?" + +It was Grant Andrews, foreman of the submarine work at the yard, and a +warm personal friend of Benson's. + +"I don't believe the old chap feels like telling us just now," muttered +Hal, with a sour face. + +"Whiskey!" muttered Andrews, almost under his breath. "What does it mean? +Benson never touched a drop of that vile stuff, did he?" + +"He'd sooner drown himself," retorted Hal, with spirit. + +"Of course he would," agreed Grant Andrews. "But what is the meaning of +all this?" + +"Oh, there's some queer, hocus-pocus business on foot," muttered Hal, +bitterly. "But I don't believe Jack feels much like telling us anything +about it at present." + +In truth, Jack didn't seem inclined to conversation. He was too sore and +dazed to feel like talking. He couldn't collect his ideas clearly. The +most that he actually knew was that the pain in his head was tormenting. + +"I'll pick him right up in my arms and carry him," proposed Andrews. "I'll +take him to Mr. Farnum's office. Then I'll get a doctor. We don't want +much noise about this, or folks will be telling all sorts of yarns against +Jack Benson and his drinking habits, when the truth is he's about the +finest, steadiest young fellow alive!" + +Just as Andrews was about to carry his purpose into action, however, an +automobile turned the nearest corner and came swiftly toward them. In +another instant it stopped alongside. It contained Mr. Farnum and his +chauffeur, besides three naval officers. + +"What's wrong, Andrews?" called the yard's owner. "Why, that's Jack +Benson! What has happened to him?" + +Hal and Eph stood supporting their comrade, almost holding him, in fact. +Jacob Farnum leaped from his automobile. Lieutenant Commander Mayhew +followed him. + +"Liquor, eh?" exclaimed the naval officer, the odor reaching his nostrils. + +"No such thing," retorted Farnum, turning upon the officer. "At least, +Jack Benson has been drinking no such stuff." + +"It was only a guess," murmured Mr. Mayhew, apologetically. "You know your +young man better than I do, Mr. Farnum." + +"There is liquor on his clothing," continued the shipbuilder. "It looks as +though someone had assaulted the lad, laid him out, and then sprinkled +him. It's a wasted trick, though. I know him too well to be fooled by any +such clumsy bit of nonsense." + +"A stupid trick, indeed," agreed Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, but the +naval officer did not quite share the shipbuilder's confidence in the +submarine boy's innocence. Mr. Mayhew had known of too many cases of naval +apprentices ruined through weak indulgence in liquor. Indeed, he had even +known of rare instances in which cadets had been dismissed from the Naval +Academy for the same offense. The lieutenant commander's present doubt of +Jack Benson was likely to work to that young man's disadvantage later on. + +Others of the party left the auto. Hal and Mr. Farnum got into the +tonneau, supporting Jack there between them. Thus they carried him to Mr. +Farnum's office at the yard, Grant Andrews then going in the car after a +doctor, while the others stretched Jack on the office sofa. The naval +officers returned to the "Hudson," at anchor in the little harbor below. + +"The young man acts as though he had been struck on the head," was the +physician's verdict. "No bones of the skull are broken. The odor of liquor +is on his coat, but I can't seem to detect any on the breath." + +"Of course you can't," commented Jacob Farnum, crisply. "Will Benson be +fit to sail in the morning?" + +"I think so," nodded the doctor. "But there ought to be a nurse with him +to-night." + +"Take my car, Andrews, and get a man nurse at once," directed Mr. Farnum. +"Doctor, can the young man be moved to his berth on the 'Farnum'?" + +"Safely enough," nodded the medical man. They waited until the nurse +arrived, when Jack was put to bed on the newer submarine craft. + +Jack slept through the night, moaning once in a while. Mr. Farnum and the +Dunhaven doctor were aboard early to look at him. The surgeon from the +"Hudson" also came over. + +Under the effects of medicine Jack Benson was asleep when, at ten o'clock +that morning, the two submarine torpedo boats slipped their moorings, +following the "parent boat," the "Hudson," out of the harbor. + +Ten minutes later the motion of the sea awoke the young skipper. + + + + + + CHAPTER V: TRUAX SHOWS THE SULKS + + +"Hullo!" muttered the young submarine skipper, staring curiously about the +little stateroom aft. He had it to himself, the nurse having been put on +shore. "Under way, eh? This is the queerest start I ever made on a +voyage." + +Nor was it many moments later when Jack Benson stood on his feet. His +clothes were hung neatly on nails against the wall. One after another Jack +secured the garments, slowly donning them. + +"How my head throbs and buzzes!" he muttered, his voice sounding unsteady. +"Gracious! What could have happened? Let me see. The last I +remember--passing that high fence--" + +But it was all too great a puzzle. Benson finally decided to stop guessing +until some future time. He went on with his dressing. Finally, with his +blouse buttoned as exactly as ever, and his cap placed gingerly on his +aching head, he opened the stateroom door, stepping out into the cabin. + +Accustomed as he was to sea motion, the slight roll of the "Farnum" did +not bother the young skipper much. He soon reached the bottom of the short +spiral stairway leading up into the conning tower. Up there, in the +helmsman's seat, he espied Hal Hastings with his hands employed at the +steering apparatus. Hal was looking out over the water, straight ahead. + +"Sailing these days without word from your captain, eh?" Jack called, in a +voice that carried, though it shook. + +"Gracious--you?" ejaculated Hal, looking down for an instant. Then Hastings +pressed a button connecting with a bell in the engine room. + +"I'm going up there with you," Jack volunteered. + +"Right-o, if you insist," clicked Eph Somers, appearing from the engine +room and darting to the young skipper's side. True, Jack's head swam a bit +dizzily as he climbed the stairs, but Eph's strong support made the task +much easier. There was space to spare on the seat beside Hal, and into +this Jack Benson sank. + +"Say, you ought to sleep until afternoon," was Hastings's next greeting, +but Jack was looking out of the conning tower at the scene around him. + +The three craft were leaving the coast directly behind. About three +hundred yards away, abeam, steamed the "Hudson" at a nine-knot gait. + +"The 'Pollard' is on the other side of the gunboat, isn't she?" asked +Jack. + +"Yes," Hal nodded. + +"Naval crew aboard her?" + +"Yes; Government has taken full possession of the 'Pollard.'" + +"Who's running this boat? Just you and Eph?" + +"No; that new man, Truax, is on board, and at the last moment Mr. Farnum +put Williamson, one of the machinists, aboard, also. You can send +Williamson back from Annapolis whenever you're through with him." + +"Williamson is all right," nodded Jack, slowly. "But how about Truax?" + +"I think he's going to be a useful man," Hal responded. "He seems familiar +with our type of engines. Of course, he knows nothing about the apparatus +for submerging the boat or making it dive. But he doesn't need to. Now, +Jack, old fellow, we're going along all right. Why not let Eph help you +back to your bunk, or one of the seats in the cabin, and have your sleep +out?" + +"I've had it out," Benson declared, with a laugh. "I'm ready, now, to take +my trick at the wheel." + +"Nonsense," retorted Hal Hastings. "I've been here a bare quarter of an +hour, and I'm good for more work than that. Jack, you're nothing but a +fifth wheel. You're not needed; won't be all day, and at night we anchor +in some harbor down the coast. Go and rest, like a good fellow." + +"Can't rest, when I know I'm doing nothing," Benson retorted, stubbornly. +"Besides, this is the first time I've ever found myself moving along in +regular formation with the United States Navy. I feel almost as if I were +a Navy officer myself, and I mean to make the most of the sensation. Say, +Hal, wouldn't it be fine if we really _did_ belong to the Navy?" + +"Gee-whiz!" murmured young Hastings, his cheeks glowing and his eyes +snapping. + +"If we only belonged to the old Flag for life, and knew that we were +practising on a boat like this as a part of the preparation for real war +when it came?" + +"_Don't!_" begged Hal, tensely. "For you know, old fellow, it can't come +true. Why, we haven't even a residence anywhere, from which a Congressman +could appoint one of us to Annapolis!" + +"_One_ of us?" muttered Jack, scornfully. "Then it would have to be you. +_I_ wouldn't go, even as a cadet at Annapolis, and leave you behind in +just plain, ordinary life, Hal Hastings!" + +"Well, it's no use thinking about it," sighed Hal, practically. "Neither +one of us is in any danger of getting appointed to Annapolis, so there's +no chance that either one of us ever will become an officer in the Navy. +Let's not talk about it, Jack. I've been contented enough, so far, but now +it makes me almost blue, to think that we can only go on testing and +handling submarine craft like these, while others will be their real +officers in the Navy, and command them in any war that may come." + +Though his head throbbed, and though a dizzy spell came over him every few +minutes, Jack Benson stuck it out, up there beside his chum, for an hour. +Then, disdaining aid, he crept down the stairs, stretching himself out on +one of the cabin seats. Eph brought him a pillow and a blanket. Jack soon +slept, tossing uneasily whenever pain throbbed dully in his head. + +"Guess I'll go out and have a little look at the young captain," proposed +Sam Truax, an hour later. + +"Try another guess," retorted Eph, curtly. "You'll stay here in the engine +room. Jack Benson isn't going to be bothered in any way." + +"I'm not going to bother him; just going to take a look at him," protested +Truax, moving toward the door that separated the engine room from the +cabin. + +But young Somers caught the stranger by the sleeve of the oily jumper that +Sam had donned on beginning his work. + +"Do you know what folks say about me?" demanded Eph, with a significant +glare. + +"What do they say?" + +"Folks have an idea that, at most times, I'm one of the best-natured +fellows on earth," declared Eph, solemnly. "Yet they _do_ say that, when +I'm crossed in anything my mind's made up to, I can be tarnation ugly. I +just told you I don't want the captain disturbed. Do you know, Sam Truax, +I feel a queer notion coming over me? I've an idea that that feeling is +just plain ugliness coming to life!" + +Truax came back from the door, a grin on his face. Yet, when he turned his +head away, there was a queer, almost deadly flash in the fellow's eyes. + +Jack slept, uneasily, until towards the middle of the afternoon. As soon +as Eph found him awake, that young man brought the captain a plate of +toast and a bowl of broth, both prepared at the little galley stove. + +"Sit up and get away with these," urged Eph, placing the tray on the cabin +table. "Wait a minute. I'll prop you up and put a pillow at your back." + +"This boat isn't a bad place for a fellow when he's knocked out," smiled +Jack. + +"Any place ought to be good, where your friends are," came, curtly, from +young Somers. + +As Captain Jack ate the warm food he felt his strength coming back to him. + +"Poor old Hal has been up there in the conning tower all these hours," +muttered Captain Jack, uneasily. "He must have that cramped feeling in his +hands." + +"Humph!" retorted Eph. "Not so you could notice it much, I guess. It's a +simpleton's job up in the conning tower to-day. All he has to do is to +shift the wheel a little to port, or to starboard, just so as to keep the +proper interval from the 'Dad' boat. Besides, I've been up there on +relief, for an hour while you slept, and Hal came down and sat with the +engines. Cheer up, Jack. No one misses you from the conning tower." + +Benson laughed, though he said, warningly: + +"I reckon we'll do as well to drop calling the gunboat the 'Dad boat' +instead of the 'parent vessel.'" + +"Well, you needn't bother at all about the conning tower to-day," wound up +Eph, glancing at his watch. "It's after half-past three at this moment and +I understand we're to drop anchor about five o'clock." + +So Skipper Jack settled back with a comfortable sigh. Truth to tell, it +was pleasant not to have any immediate duty, for his head throbbed, every +now and then, and he felt dizzy when he tried to walk. + +"Who could have hit me in that fashion, last night, and for what earthly +purpose?" wondered the boy. "I've had some enemies, in the past, but I +don't know a single person about Dunhaven, now who has any reason for +wishing me harm." + +Never a thought crossed his mind of suspecting Sam Truax. That worthy had +come with a note from David Pollard, the inventor of the boats. Sam, +therefore, must be all right, the boy reasoned. + +Jack lay back on the upholstered seat. He sat with his eyes closed most of +the time, though he did not doze. At last, however, he heard the engine +room bell sound for reduced speed. Getting up, the young captain made his +way to the foot of the conning tower stairs. + +"Making port, Hal?" he called. + +"Yep," came the reply. "We'll be at anchor in five minutes more." + +Jack made his way slowly to the door of the engine room. + +"Eph," he called, "as soon as you've shut off speed, take Truax above and +you two attend to the mooring." + +"Take this other man up with you," urged Sam Truax. "I don't know anything +about tying a boat up to moorings." + +"Time you learned, then," returned Eph Somers, "if you're to stay aboard a +submarine craft." + +"Take this other man up with you," again urged Truax. + +Eph Somers turned around to face him with a good deal of a glare. + +"What ails you, Truax? You heard the captain's order. You'll go with me." + +"Don't be too sure of that," uttered Sam Truax, defiantly. + +"If you don't go above with me, and if you don't follow every order you +get aboard this boat, I know where you _will_ go," muttered Eph, +decisively. + +"Where?" jeered Sam. + +"Ashore--in the first boat that can take you there." + +"You seem to forget that I'm on board by David Pollard's order," sneered +Truax. + +"All I am sure of," retorted Eph, "is that Jack Benson is captain on board +this craft. That means that he's sole judge of everything here when this +boat is cruising. If you were here by the orders of both owners, Jack +Benson would fire you ashore for good, just the same, after you've balked +at the first order." + +"Humph! I--" + +Clang! Jangle! The signal bell was sounding. + +"Shut up," ordered Eph Somers, briskly. "I've got the engine to run on +signal from the watch officer." + +There followed a series of signals, first of all for stopping speed, then +for a brief reversing of engines. A moment later headway speed ahead was +ordered. So on Eph went through the series of orders until the "Farnum" +had been manoeuvred to her exact position. Then, from above, Captain Jack's +voice was heard, roaring in almost his usual tones: + +"Turn out below, there, to help make fast!" + +"Take the lever, Williamson," directed Eph. "Come along lively, Truax." + +"Humph! Let Williamson go," grumbled Truax. + +"You come along with me, my man!" roared Eph, his face blazing angrily. +"Hustle, too, or I'll report you to the captain for disobedience of +orders. Then you'll go ashore at express speed. Coming?" + +Sam Truax appeared to wage a very brief battle within himself. Then, +nodding sulkily, he followed. + +"Hustle up, there!" Jack shouted down. "We don't want to drift." + +Jack Benson stood out on the platform deck, holding to the conning tower +at the port side. A naval launch had just placed a buoy over an anchor +that had been lowered. + +"Get forward, you two," Jack called briskly, "and make the bow cable fast +to that buoy." + +Hal still sat at the wheel in the tower. As Eph and Truax crept forward +over the arched upper hull of the "Farnum," Hal sounded the engine room +signals and steered until the boat had gotten close enough to make the bow +cable fast. Then the stern cable was made fast, with more line, to another +buoy. + +"A neat hitch, Mr. Benson," came a voice from the bridge of the "Hudson," +which lay a short distance away. Jack, looking up, saw Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew leaning over the bridge rail. + +"Thank you, sir," Jack acknowledged, saluting the naval officer. + +The parent vessel and her two submarine charges now lay at anchor in the +harbor at Port Clovis, one of the towns down the coast from Dunhaven. This +mooring overnight was to be repeated each day until Annapolis should be +reached. + +Within fifteen minutes the craft were surrounded by small boats from +shore. Some of these contained merchandise that it was hoped sailors would +buy. Other boats "ran" for hotels, restaurants, drinking places, amusement +halls, and all the varied places on shore that hope to fatten on Jack +Tar's money. + +"I'd like to go ashore, sir," announced Sam Truax, approaching Captain +Jack. + +"When?" + +"Now." + +"For how long?" + +"Until ten o'clock to-night." + +"Be back by that hour, then," Jack replied. "If you're not, you'll find +everything shut tight aboard here." + +Truax quickly signaled one of the hovering boats, and put off in it. Eph +watched the boat for a few moments before he turned to Captain Jack to +mutter: + +"Somehow, I wouldn't feel very badly about it if that fellow got lost on +shore!" + + + + + + CHAPTER VI: TWO KINDS OF VOODOO + + +On the second day of the cruise Jack Benson returned to full duty. + +For four nights, in all, the submarine squadron tied up at moorings in +harbors along the coast. On the fifth night, as darkness fell, the +squadron continued under way, in Chesapeake Bay, for Annapolis was but +three hours away. + +Immediately after supper Captain Jack took his place in the conning tower. +He concerned himself principally with the compass, his only other task +being to keep the course by the "Hudson's" lights, for the parent boat +supplied in its own conduct all the navigation orders beyond the general +course. The "Farnum's" searchlight was not used, the gunboat picking up +all the coast-marks as they neared land. + +"Annapolis is the place I've always wanted to see," Jack declared, as Hal +joined him in the conning tower. + +"It's the place where I've always wanted to be a cadet," sighed Hal. "But +there's no chance for me, I fear. Jack, I'd rather be an officer of the +Navy than a millionaire." + +"Same here," replied Jack, steadily. "It's hard to have to feel that I'll +never be either." + +As she entered the mouth of the Severn River the "Hudson" signaled to the +submarines to follow, in file, the "Pollard" leading. A little later the +three craft entered the Basin at the Academy. While the gunboat anchored +off the Amphitheatre, the two submarine boats were ordered to anchorage +just off the Boat House. Then a cutter came alongside. + +"The lieutenant commander's compliments to Mr. Benson. Will Mr. Benson go +aboard the 'Hudson'?" asked the young officer in command of the cutter. +Captain Jack lost no time in presenting himself before the lieutenant +commander. + +"Mr. Benson," said Mr. Mayhew, after greeting the submarine boy, "your +craft will be under a marine guard to-night, and at all times while here +at the Naval Academy. If you and your crew would like to spend the night +ashore, in the quaint little old town of Annapolis, there's no reason why +you shouldn't. But you will all need to report back aboard, ready for +duty, by eight in the morning." + +Jack thanked the naval commander, then hastened back to the "Farnum" to +communicate the news. + +"Me for the shore trip," declared Eph, promptly. All the others agreed +with him. + +"I'll come back by ten o'clock to-night, though," volunteered Sam Truax. +"One of the crew ought to be aboard." + +"We'll stay ashore," decided Jack, "and return in the morning." + +"I'm coming back to-night," retorted Truax. + +"Keep still, and follow orders," muttered Eph, digging his elbow into +Truax's ribs. "The captain gives the orders here." + +Jack, however, had turned away. Within five minutes a boat put off from +shore, bringing two soldiers of the marine guard alongside. With them, in +the shore boat, was a corporal of the guard. + +"Any of your crew coming back to-night, sir?" asked the corporal. + +"None," Benson answered. "Will you instruct the sentries to see that none +of the crew are allowed aboard during the night?" + +"Very good, sir." + +The shore boat waited to convey them to the landing. Before going, young +Captain Benson closed and locked the manhole entrance to the conning +tower. A sullen silence had fallen over Truax. The instructions to the +corporal of the guard, and the prompt acceptance of those instructions, +told Sam, beyond any doubt, that he was _not_ coming back on board that +night. + +Truax followed the others as they passed through the Academy grounds. +Beyond the large, handsome buildings, there was not much to be seen at +night. Lights shone behind all the windows in Cadet Barracks. Nearly all +of the cadets of the United States Navy were in their quarters, hard at +study. Here and there a marine sentry paced. A few naval officers, in +uniform, passed along the walks. That was all, and the submarine party had +crossed the grounds to the gate through which they were to pass into the +town of Annapolis. + +"Coming with us, Truax?" asked Williamson, as the party passed out into a +dimly lighted street. + +"No," replied the fellow, sullenly. "I'll travel by myself." + +"You're welcome to," muttered Eph, under his breath. + +The others climbed the steps to the State Capitol grounds, continuing +until they reached one of the principal streets of the little town. + +"Say, but this place must have gone to sleep before we got ashore," +grumbled Eph. "Hanged if I don't think Dunhaven is a livelier little +place!" + +"There isn't much to do, except to wander about a bit, then go to the +Maryland House for a good sleep on shore," Jack admitted. + +For more than an hour the submarine boys wandered about. The principal +streets contained some stores that had a bright, up-to-date look, and in +these principal streets the evening crowds much resembled those to be +found in any small town. There were other streets, however, on which there +was little traffic. In some of these quieter streets were quaint, +old-fashioned houses built in the Colonial days. + +"Annapolis is more of a place to see by daylight, I reckon," suggested +Hal. "How about that sleep, Jack?" + +"The greatest fun, by night, I guess, consists in finding a drug-store and +spending some of our loose change on ice cream sodas," laughed the young +submarine skipper. + +This done, they found their way to the Maryland House. Jack and Hal +engaged a room together, Eph and Williamson taking the adjoining one. + +"As for me, in an exciting place like this," grimaced Eph, "I'm off for +bed." + +Williamson followed him upstairs. For some minutes Hal sat with his chum +in the hotel office. Then Jack went over and talked with the night clerk +for a few moments. + +"There's a place near here, Hal, where a fellow can get an oyster fry," +Benson explained, returning to his chum. "With that information came the +discovery that I have an appetite. Come and join me?" + +"No," gaped Hal. "I reckon I'll go up and turn in." + +"I'll be along in half an hour, then." + +Jack found the oyster house readily. As he entered the little, not +over-clean place, he found himself the only customer. He gave his order, +then picked up the local daily paper. As he ate, Jack found himself +yawning. The drowsiness of Annapolis by night was coming upon him. Little +did he dream how soon he was to discover that Annapolis, in some of its +parts, can be lively enough. + +As he paid his bill and stepped to the street, a young mulatto hurried up +to him. + +"Am Ah correct, sah, in supposin' yo' Cap'n Jack Benson?" + +"That's my name," Jack admitted. + +"Den Ah's jes' been 'roun' to de hotel, lookin' fo' yo', sah. One ob yo' +men, Mistah Sam Truax, am done took sick, an' he done sent me fo' yo'." + +"Truax ill? Why, I saw him a couple of hours ago, and he looked as healthy +as a man could look," Jack replied, in astonishment. + +"I reckon, sah, he's mighty po'ly now, sah," replied the mulatto. "He done +gib me money fo' to hiah a cab an' take yo' to him. Will yo' please to +come, sah?" + +"Yes," agreed Jack. "Lead the way." + +"T'ank yo', sah; t'ank yo', sah. Follow me, sah." + +Jack's mulatto guide led him down the street a little way, then around a +corner. Here a rickety old cab with a single horse attached, waited. A +gray old darkey sat on the driver's seat. + +"Step right inside, sah. We'll be dere direckly. Marse Truax'll be +powahful glad to see yo', sah." + +"See here," demanded Jack, after they had driven several blocks at a good +speed, "Truax hasn't been getting into any drinking scrapes, has he? +Hasn't been getting himself arrested, has he?" + +For young Benson had learned, from the night clerk at the hotel, that, +quiet and "dead" as Annapolis appears to the stranger, there are "tough" +places into which a seafaring stranger may find his way. + +"No, sah; no, sah," protested the mulatto. "Marse Truax done got sick +right and proper." + +"Why, confound it, we're leaving the town behind," cried Jack, a few +moments later, after peering out through the cab window. + +"Dat's all right, sah. Dere ain' nuffin' to be 'fraid ob, sah." + +"Afraid?" uttered Jack, scornfully, with a side glance at the mulatto. The +submarine boy felt confident that, in a stretch of trouble, he could +thrash this guide of his in very short order. + +"Ah might jess well tell yo' wheah we am gwine, sah," volunteered the +mulatto, presently. + +"Yes," Benson retorted, drily. "I think you may." + +"Marse Truax, sah, he done hab er powah ob trouble, sah, las' wintah, wid +rheumatiz, sah. He 'fraid he gwine cotch it again dis wintah, sah. Now, +sah, dere am some good voodoo doctahs 'roun' Annapolis, so Marse Truax, he +done gwine to see, sah, what er voodoo can promise him fo' his rheumatiz. +I'se a runnah, sah, for de smahtest ole voodoo doctah, sah, in de whole +state ob Maryland." + +"Then you took Truax to a voodoo doctor to-night?" demanded Jack, almost +contemptuously. + +"Yes, sah; yes, sah." + +"I thought Truax had more sense than to go in for such tomfoolery," Jack +Benson retorted, bluntly. + +The mulatto launched into a prompt, energetic defense of the voodoo +doctors. Young Benson had heard a good deal about these clever old colored +frauds. In spite of his contempt, the submarine boy found himself +interested. He had heard about the charms, spells, incantations and other +humbugs practised on colored dupes and on some credulous whites by these +greatest of all quacks. The voodoo methods of "healing" are brought out of +the deepest jungles of darkest Africa, yet there are many ignorant people, +even among the whites, who believe steadfastly in the "cures" wrought by +the voodoo. + +While the mulatto guide was talking, or answering Jack's half-amused +questions, the cab left Annapolis further and further behind. + +"Yo' see, sah," the guide went on, "Marse Truax wa'n't in no fit +condition, sah, to try de strongest voodoo medicine dat he called fo'. So, +w'ile de voodoo was sayin' his strongest chahms, Marse Truax done fall +down, frothin' at de mouth. He am some bettah, now, sah, but he kain't be +move' from de voodoo's house 'cept by a frien'." + +"I'll get a chance to see one of these old voodoo frauds, anyway," Jack +told himself. "This new experience will be worth the time it keeps me out +of my bed. What a pity Hal missed a queer old treat like this!" + +When the cab at last stopped, Benson looked out to find that the place was +well down a lonely country road, well lined with trees on either side. The +house, utterly dark from the outside, was a ramshackle, roomy old affair. + +"Shall Ah wait fo' yo'?" asked the old colored driver. + +"Yes, wait for me," directed Jack, briefly. + +"Yeah; wait fo' de gemmun. He's all right," volunteered the mulatto. + +"Mebbe yo' kin see some voodoo wo'k, too, ef yo's int'rested," hinted the +guide, in a whisper, as he fitted a key to a lock, and swung a door open. +In a hallway stood a lighted lantern, which the guide picked up. + +"Now, go quiet-lak, on tip-toe. Sh!" cautioned the guide, himself moving +stealthily into the nearest room. Jack Benson began to feel secretly +awestruck and "creepy," though he was too full of grit to betray the fact. + +At the further end of the room the guide, holding the lantern behind his +body as though by accident, threw open another door. + +"Pass right on through dis room, ahead ob me, sah," begged the guide, +respectfully. + +But Jack drew back, instinctively, out of the darkness. + +"Don' yo', a w'ite man, be 'fraid ob ole voodoo house," advised the +mulatto, still speaking respectfully. + +Afraid? Of course not. Relying on his muscle and his agility, Jack stepped +ahead. By a sudden jerk of his arm the mulatto guide shook out the flame +in the lantern. + +"Here, you! What are you about?" growled Jack Benson, wheeling like a +flash upon his escort. + +"Go 'long, yo' w'ite trash!" jeered the mulatto. He gave the boy a sudden, +forceful shove. + +Jack Benson, under the impetus of that push, staggered ahead, seeking to +recover his balance. Without a doubt he would have done so, but, just +then, the floor under his feet ended. With a yell of dismay, the submarine +boy tottered, then plunged down, alighting on a bed of soft dirt many feet +below. + + + + + + CHAPTER VII: JACK FINDS SOMETHING "NEW," ALL RIGHT + + +Jack Benson was on his feet in an instant. An angrier boy it would have +been hard to find. + +From overhead came the sound of a loud guffaw. + +"Oh, you infernal scoundrel!" raged the submarine boy, shaking his fist in +the dark. + +"W'at am de matter wid yo', w'ite trash?" came the jeering query. + +"Let me get my hands on you, and I'll show you!" quivered Benson. + +"Yah! Listen to yo'! Yo' wait er minute, an' Ah'll show yo' a light." + +Gr-r-r-r! Gr-r-r-r! That sound from overhead was not pleasant. Jack, in +the few seconds that were left to him, could only guess as to the cause of +the sounds. Then, some fifteen feet over his head, a tiny flame sputtered. +This match-end was carried to the wick of the lantern that the yellowish +guide had been carrying, and now the light illumined the place into which +Jack Benson had fallen. + +That place was a square-shaped pit, with boarded sides. Up above, on a +shelf of flooring, knelt the late guide, grinning down with a look of +infernal glee. On either side of the mulatto stood a heavy-jowled +bull-dog. Both brutes peered down, showing their teeth in a way to make a +timid man's blood run cold. + +"Put those dogs back and come down here," challenged Jack, shaking his +fist. "Come down, and I'll teach you a few things, you rascal!" + +"Don' yo' shake yo' fist at me, or dem dawgs will sure jump down and +tackle yo'," grinned the guide, gripping at the collars of the brutes, +which, truly, showed signs of intending to spring below. + +Jack fell back, his hands dropping to his sides. Had there been but one +dog, the submarine boy, with all his grit forced to the surface, might +have chosen to face the brute, hoping to despatch it with a well-aimed +kick. But with two dogs, both intent on "getting" him, young Benson knew +that he would stand the fabled chance of a snow-flake on a red-hot stove. + +"Dat's right, gemmun, yo' keep cool," observed the mulatto, mockingly. + +"You've decoyed me--trapped me here with a mess of lies," flung back +Captain Jack, angrily. "What's your game?" + +"Dis am a free lodgin' house--ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the late guide. "Ah's +gwine gib yo' er place to sleep fo' de night. Yo' sho'ly must feel +'bleeged to me--ho, ho, ho!" + +"You lied to me about Sam Truax!" + +"Yeah! Ah done foun' dat was de name ob a gemmun in yo' pahty dat wasn't +wid yo'. Truax do as well as any odder name--yah! Now, Ah's gwine leab yo' +heah t' git a sleep. Ah'll toss down some blankets. 'Pose yo'se'f and +gwine ter sleep, honey. Don't try to clim' up outer dat, or dem dawgs'll +sho'ly jump down at yo'. Keep quiet, an' go ter sleep, an' de dawgs done +lay heah an' jest watch. But don' try nuffin' funny, or de dawgs'll sho'ly +bring trubble to yo'. Dem is trained dawgs--train' fo' dis business ob +mine. Ho, ho, ho!" + +Mulatto and light vanished, but enraged, baffled, helpless Captain Jack +could hear the two dogs moving about ere they settled down on the shelf of +flooring overhead. + +"No matter how much of a liar that rascal is, he didn't lie to me about +the dogs," reflected Jack, his temper cooling, but his bitterness +increasing. "They're fighting dogs, and one wrong move would bring them +bounding down here on me--the two together. Ugh-gh!" + +After a few moments the mulatto reappeared with a light and tossed down +three heavy blankets. + +"Now, Ah's gwine leave yo' fo' de night," clacked the late guide. "Ef yo' +done feel lonesome, yo' jes' whistle de dawgs down to yo'. Dey'll come!" + +While the light was still there Benson, in raging silence, gathered the +blankets and arranged them. + +"Roll up one fo' a pillow, under yo' haid," grinned the mulatto. "Dat's +all right, sah. Now, good night, Marse Benson. Ef yo' feel lonesome, Marse +Benson, jes' whistle fo' de dawgs. _Dey'll come!_" + +The light vanished while the mulatto's sinister words were ringing in the +boy's ears. Would the dogs jump down? Jack knew they would, at the first +false move or sound on his part. He huddled softly, stealthily, on the +blankets, there in the darkness. + +As he lay there, thinking, Benson's sense of admiration gradually got to +the surface. + +"Well, of all the slick man-traps!" he gasped. "I never heard of anything +more clever. Nor was there ever a bigger idiot than I, to walk stupidly +into this same trap! What's the game, I wonder? Robbery, it must be. And I +have a watch, some other little valuables and nearly a hundred and fifty +dollars in money on me. Oh, I'm the sleek, fat goose for plucking!" + +Lying there, in enforced stillness, Jack Benson, after an hour or so, +actually fell asleep. A good, healthy sleeper at all times, he slumbered +on through the night. Once he awoke, just a trifle chilled. He heard one +of the dogs snoring overhead. Crawling under one of the blankets, Benson +went to sleep again. + +"Hey, yo', Marse Benson. It am mawnin'. Time yo' was wakin' up an' movin' +erlong!" + +It was the voice of the same mulatto, calling down into the pit. Again the +rays of the lantern illumined the darkness. Both bull-dogs displayed their +ferocious muzzles over the edge of the pit. Jack sat up cautiously, not +caring to attract unfriendly interest from the dogs. + +"Ah want yo' to take off all yo' clothes 'cept yo' undahclothes, an' den +Ah'll let down a string fo' yo' to tie 'em to," declared the mulatto, +grinning. "Yo' needn't try ter slip yo' wallet, nor nuffin' outer mah +sight, cause Ah'll be watchin'. Now, git a hurry on, Marse Benson, or +Ah'll done push dem dawgs ober de aidge ob dis flooring." + +Jack hesitated only a moment. Then, with a grunt of rage, he began +removing his outer garments. Down came a twine, to the lower end of which +the boy made fast his garments, one after another. His money and valuables +went up in the pockets, for the sharp eyes of the mulatto could not have +been eluded by any amateur slight-of-hand. + +"Now, yo' cap an' yo' shoes," directed the grinning monster above. + +These, too, Benson passed up at the end of the cord. The mulatto +disappeared, leaving the two dogs still on guard. At last, back came the +light and the yellowish man with it. + +"Yo' sho' is good picking, Marse Benson," grinned the guide of the night +before. "Yo' has good pin feathers. Ah hope Ah'll suttinly meet yo' +again." + +"I hope we do meet at another time!" Jack Benson flared back, wrathily. +The cool insolence of the fellow cut him to the marrow, yet where was the +use of disobeying a rascal flanked by two such willing and capable dogs? + +"Now, yo' jes' put dese t'ings on, Marse Benson, ef yo' please, sah," +mocked the mulatto, tossing down some woefully tattered, nondescript +garments, and, after them, a battered, rimless Derby hat and a pair of +brogans out at the toes. + +"I'll be hanged if I'll put on such duds!" quivered Jack. + +"Jes' as yo' please, ob co'se, Marse Benson," came the answer, from above. +"But, ef yo' don' put dem t'ings on, yo'll sho'ly hab ter gwine back ter +'Napolis in yo' undahclo's. An' yo's gwine back right away, too, so, ef +yo' wants ter gwine back weahin' ernuff clo'es--" + +"Oh, well, then--!" ground out the submarine boy, savagely enough. + +He attired himself in these tattered ends of raiment. Had he not been so +angry he must have roared at sight of his comical self when the dressing +was completed. + + + + + + CHAPTER VIII: A YOUNG CAPTAIN IN TATTERS + + +"Now, yo'll do, Ah reckons." + +With that, the mulatto guide of the night before threw down one end of an +inch rope. + +"Ah reckon yo's sailor ernuff to clim' dat. Come right erlong, 'less yo' +wants de dawgs ter jump down dar." + +"But they'll tackle me if I come up," objected Jack Benson. + +"No, dey won't. Dem dawgs is train' to dis wo'k. Ah done tole yo' dat. +Come right erlong. Ah'll keep my two eyes on dem dawgs." + +It looked like a highly risky bit of business, but Jack told himself that, +now he had been deprived of his valuables, this yellow worthy must be +genuinely anxious to be rid of the victim. So he took hold of the rope and +began to climb. The mulatto and the dogs disappeared from the upper edge +of the pit. + +As his head came up above the level of the flooring Benson saw the mulatto +and the dogs in the next room, the connecting door of which had been taken +from its hinges. + +"Come right in, Marse Benson. Dere ain' nuffin' gwineter hu't yo'," came +the rascal's voice reassuringly. Jack obeyed by stepping into the next +room, though he kept watch over the dogs out of the corners of his eyes. + +"Now, yo' lie right down on de flo', Marse Benson," commanded the master +of the situation. "Ah's gotter tie yo' up, befo' Ah can staht yo' back ter +'Napolis, but dere ain' no hahm gwine come ter yo'." + +Making a virtue of necessity, Captain Jack lay down as directed, passing +his hands behind his back. These were deftly secured, after which his +ankles were treated in the same fashion. Immediately the mulatto, who was +strong and wiry, lifted the boy and the lantern together. The dogs +remaining behind, Jack was carried out into the yard, where he discovered +that daylight was coming on in the East. He was dumped on the ground long +enough to permit his captor to lock the door securely. Then the submarine +boy was lifted once more, carried around the corner of the house and +dumped in the bottom of a shabby old delivery wagon. A canvas was pulled +over him, concealing him from any chance passer. Then the mulatto ran +around to the seat, picking up the reins and starting the horse. + +It seemed like a long drive to the boy, though Benson was certainly in no +position to judge time accurately. At last the team was halted, along a +stretch of road in a deep woods. The mulatto lifted the submarine boy out +to the ground. + +"Now, w'en yo's got yo' se'f free, yo' can take de road in dat +direckshun," declared the fellow, pointing. "Bimeby yo' come in sight ob +de town. Now, Marse Benson, w'at happen to yo' las' night am all in de +co'se ob a lifetime, an' Ah hope you ain't got no bad feelin's. Yo' +suttinly done learn somet'ing new in de way ob tricks. Good-bye, sah, an' +mah compliments to yo', Marse Benson." + +With that the guide of the night before swiftly cut the cords at Jack's +wrists, then as swiftly leaped to the seat of the wagon, whipping up the +horse and disappearing in a cloud of dust. + +Jack, having now no knife, and the bonds about his ankles being tied with +many hard knots, spent some precious minutes in freeing his feet. At last +he stood up, fire in his eyes. + +"Oh, pshaw! There's no sense in trying to run after that rascal and his +wagon," decided the young submarine skipper. "I haven't the slightest idea +what direction he took after he got out of sight, and--oh, gracious! I'm +under orders to be aboard the 'Farnum' at eight this morning. And on Mr. +Farnum's business, at that!" + +Clenching his hands vengefully, Jack started along in the direction +pointed out by his late captor. Brisk walking wore some of the edge off +his great wrath. Catching a comprehensive glimpse of himself, Jack could +not keep back a grim laugh. + +"Well, I certainly am a dandy to spring myself on the trim and slick Naval +Academy!" he gritted. "What a treat I'll be to the cadets! That is, if the +sentry ever lets me through the gate into the Academy grounds." + +As he hurried along, Jack Benson decided that he simply could not go to +the Naval Academy presenting any such grotesque picture as he did now. Yet +he had no money about him with which to purchase more presentable clothes +in town. So he formed another plan. + +Within a few minutes he came in sight of Annapolis. Hurrying on faster, he +at last entered the town. The further he went the more painfully conscious +the boy became of the ludicrous appearance that he made. He saw men and +women turn their heads to look after him, and his cheeks burned to a deep +scarlet that glowed over the sea-bronze of his skin. + +"The single consolation I have is that not a solitary person in town knows +me, anyway," he muttered. Then he caught sight of a clock on a church +steeple--twenty-five minutes of eight. + +"That means a fearful hustle," he muttered, and went ahead under such +steam that he all but panted. At last he came to the Maryland House, +opposite the State Capitol grounds. Into the office of the hotel he +darted, going straight up to the desk. + +A clerk who had been on duty for hours, and who was growing more drowsy +every moment, stared at the boy in amazement. + +"See here, you ragamuffin, what--" + +"My name is Benson," began the boy, breathlessly. "I'm a guest of the +house--arrived last night. I--" + +"You, a guest of _this_ house?" demanded the clerk of the most select +hotel in the town. "You--" + +That was as far as the disgust of the clerk would permit him to go in +words. A score of well-dressed gentlemen were staring in astonishment at +the scene. The clerk nodded to two stout porters who had suspended their +work nearby. + +It had been Jack Benson's purpose to go to his room and keep out of sight, +while despatching one of the colored bell-boys of the hotel with a note to +Hal Hastings, asking that chum to send him up a uniform and other articles +of attire. However, before the young submarine captain fully realized what +was happening, the two porters had seized him. Firmly, even though gently, +they hustled him out through the entrance onto the street. + +"Scat!" advised one of the pair. + +Jack started to protest, then realized the hopelessness of such a course. +In truth, he did not blame the hotel folks in the least. + +"Oh, well," he sighed, paling as soon as the new flush of mortification +had died out, "there's nothing for it but to hurry to the Academy. I hope +the sentries won't shoot when they see me," he added, bitterly. + +Across the State Capitol grounds he hurried, then down through a side +street until he arrived at the gate of the Academy grounds. + +"Halt!" challenged a sentry, as soon as Jack showed his face through the +gateway. + +Young Benson stopped, bringing his heels together with a click. + +"What do you want? Where are you going?" demanded the marine. + +"I know I look pretty tough," Jack admitted, shamefacedly. "But I belong +aboard the 'Farnum,' one of the submarines that arrived last night. And +I'm due there at this minute. Please don't delay me." + +"All right," replied the sentry, after surveying the boy from head to foot +once more. Then he added, in a lower tone, with just the suspicion of a +grin showing at the corners of his mouth: + +"Say, friend, for a stranger, you must have had a high old frolic in the +town last night." + +Jack frowned. The sentry's grin broadened a bit. As he did not offer to +detain the boy longer, Benson hurried on along one of the walks. He took +as short a course as he could making straight for the Basin, where he made +out the "Hudson" and the two submarines. + +"Hey! There's the captain!" shouted Eph, wonderingly, for Somers's eyes +were sharp at all times. + +Out of the conning tower sprang Hal Hastings, looking eagerly in the +direction in which Eph Somers pointed: + +"Eh?" muttered another person, lounging near the rail of the gunboat. Then +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, after a keen, wholly disapproving look at the +hard-looking figure of a young man at the landing, started, as he +muttered: + +"Benson, by all that's horrible! How did he come to be in that fearful +shape? He must have been in one of the worst resorts within miles of +Annapolis!" + +"This isn't the first time the young man has come back the worse for +wear," the lieutenant commander continued, under his breath. "His friends +were loyal enough to him, that time. I wonder if they can be, to-day?" + +One of the shore boats, waiting about in the Basin, put young Benson +aboard the "Farnum" as soon as he explained who he was. Hal and Eph stood +awaiting the coming of their young commander, their faces full of concern +and anxiety. Both gripped Jack's hand as soon as he gained the platform +deck of the submarine. + +"Come below," whispered Hal. "We'll talk there. You need a bath and to get +into a uniform as quickly as you can." + +This need Jack Benson proceeded to realize without an instant's delay. +While he washed himself off, in one of the staterooms aft, he talked +through the door, which had been left ajar. He continued his story while +he dressed. + +"We were fearfully anxious this morning," Hal confessed. "I went to sleep +last night, and didn't know of your absence until this morning. Then Eph +and I decided to come on down to the boat to see if you were here. We were +just planning to send quiet word to the Annapolis police when Eph spotted +you coming." + +"And Truax?" inquired Captain Jack. + +"He and Williamson are forward in the engine-room, now, at breakfast." + +"Oh, well, Truax wouldn't know anything about the scrape, anyway," +returned Jack. "His name was learned and used--that's all." + +"Are you going to try to find that place, catch the mulatto and force the +return of your money?" demanded Eph Somers. + +"I've got to think that over," muttered Jack, as he drew on a +spick-and-span uniform blouse. "I don't know whether there'll be any use +in trying to find that mulatto. I haven't the least idea where his place +is. Even if I found it, it's ten to one I wouldn't find the fellow there." + +"'Farnum,' ahoy!" roared a voice alongside, the voice coming down through +the open conning tower. + +Eph ran to answer. When he returned, he announced: + +"Compliments of Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, and will Mr. Benson wait on +the lieutenant commander on board the parent boat?" + +"I will," assented Jack, with a wry face, "and here's where I have to do +some tall but truthful explaining to a man who isn't in the least likely +to believe a word I say. I can guess what Mr. Mayhew is thinking, and is +going to keep on thinking!" + + + + + + CHAPTER IX: TRUAX GIVES A HINT + + +It was a tailor-made, clean, crisp and new-looking young submarine +commander who stepped into the naval cutter alongside. + +Jack Benson looked as natty as a young man could look, and his uniform was +that of a naval officer, save for the absence of the insignia of rank. + +Up the side gangway of the gunboat Jack mounted, carrying himself in the +best naval style. On deck stood a sentry, an orderly waiting beside him. + +"Lieutenant Commander Mayhew will see you in his cabin, sir," announced +the orderly. "I will show you the way, sir." + +Mr. Mayhew was seated before a desk in his cabin when the orderly piloted +the submarine boy in. The naval officer did not rise, nor did he ask the +boy to take a seat. Jack Benson was very well aware that he stood in Mr. +Mayhew's presence in the light of a culprit. + +"Mr. Benson," began Mr. Mayhew, eyeing him closely, "you are not in the +naval service, and are not therefore amenable to its discipline. At the +same time, however, your employers have furnished you to act, in some +respects, as a civilian instructor in submarine boating before the cadets. +While you are here on that duty it is to be expected, therefore, that you +will conform generally to the rules of conduct as laid down at the Naval +Academy." + +"Yes, sir," replied Jack. + +"As I am at present in charge of the submarine purchased by the United +States from your company, and at least in nominal charge of the 'Farnum,' +as well, I am, in a measure, to be looked upon, for the present, as your +commanding officer." + +"Yes, sir," assented the boy. + +"You came aboard your craft, this morning, in a very questionable looking +condition." + +"Yes, sir." + +Jack Benson's composure was perfect. His sense of discipline was also +exact. He did not propose to offer any explanations until such were asked +of him. + +"Have you anything to say, Mr. Benson, as to that condition, and how you +came to be in it?" + +"Shall I explain it to you, sir?" + +"I shall be glad to hear your explanation." + +Thereupon, the submarine boy plunged into a concise description of what +had happened to him the night before. The lieutenant commander did not +once interrupt him, but, when Jack had finished, Mr. Mayhew observed: + +"That is a very remarkable story, Mr. Benson. Most remarkable." + +"Yes, sir, it is. May I ask if you doubt my story?" + +Jack looked straight into the officer's eyes as he put the question +bluntly. An officer of the Army or of the Navy _must not_ answer a +question untruthfully. Neither, as a rule, may he make an evasive answer. +So the lieutenant commander thought a moment, before he replied: + +"I don't feel that I know you well enough, Mr. Benson, to express an +opinion that might be wholly fair to you. The most I can say, now, is that +I very sincerely hope such a thing will not happen again during your stay +at the Naval Academy." + +"It won't, sir," promised Jack Benson, "if I have hereafter the amount of +good judgment that I ought to be expected to possess." + +"I hope not, Mr. Benson, for it would destroy your usefulness here. A +civilian instructor here, as much as a naval instructor, must possess the +whole confidence and respect of the cadet battalion. I hope none of the +cadets who may have seen you this morning recognized you." + +Then, taking on a different tone, Mr. Mayhew informed his young listener +that a section of cadets would board the "Farnum" at eleven that morning, +another section at three in the afternoon, and a third at four o'clock. + +"Of course you will have everything aboard your craft wholly shipshape, +Mr. Benson, and I trust I hardly need add that, in the Navy, we are +punctual to the minute." + +"You will find me punctual to the minute before, sir." + +"Very good, Mr. Benson. That is all. You may go." + +Jack saluted, then turned away, finding his way to the deck. The cutter +was still alongside, and conveyed him back to the "Farnum." + +"Mr. Mayhew demanded your story, of course?" propounded Hal Hastings. +"What did he think?" + +"He didn't say so," replied Jack Benson, with a wry smile, "but he let me +see that he thought I was out of my element on a submarine boat." + +"How so?" + +"Why, it is very plain that Mr. Mayhew thinks I ought to employ my time +writing improbable fiction." + +"Oh, Mayhew be bothered!" exploded Eph. + +"Hardly," retorted Jack. "Mr. Mayhew is an officer and a gentleman. I +admit that my yarn _does_ sound fishy to a stranger. Besides, fellows, Mr. +Mayhew represents the naval officers through whose good opinion our +employers hope to sell a big fleet of submarine torpedo boats to the +United States Government." + +"Then what are you going to do about it?" asked Hal, as the three boys +reached the cabin below. + +"First of all, I'm going to rummage about and get myself some breakfast." + +"If you do, there'll be a fight," growled Eph Somers. "I'll hash up a +breakfast for you." + +"And, afterwards?" persisted Hal. + +"I'm going to try to win Mr. Mayhew's good opinion, and that of every +other naval officer or cadet I may happen to meet." + +"Why the cadets, particularly?" asked Eph Somers. + +"Because, for one business reason, the cadets are going to be the naval +officers of to-morrow, and the Pollard Submarine Boat Company hopes to be +building craft for the Navy for a good many years to come." + +"Good enough!" nodded Hal, while Eph dodged away to get that breakfast +ready. + +Sam Truax lounged back in the engine room, smoking a short pipe. With him +stuck Williamson, for Eph had privately instructed the machinist from the +Farnum yard not to leave the stranger alone in the engine room. + +"Why don't you go up on deck and get a few whiffs of fresh air?" asked +Truax. + +"Oh, I'm comfortable down here," grunted the machinist, who was stretched +out on one of the leather-cushioned seats that ran along the side of the +engine room. + +"I should think you'd want to get out of here once in a while, though," +returned Truax. + +"Why?" asked the machinist. "Anything you want to be left alone here for?" + +"Oh, of course not," drawled Truax, blowing out a cloud of tobacco smoke. + +"Then I guess I'll stay where I am," nodded Williamson. + +"Sorry, but you'll have to stop all smoking in here now," announced Eph, +thrusting his head in at the doorway. "There'll be a lot of cadets aboard +at eleven o'clock, and we want the air clear and sweet. You'd better go +all over the machinery and see that everything is in applepie order and +appearance. Mr. Hastings will be in here soon to inspect it." + +"Just what rank does _that_ young turkey-cock hold on board?" sneered +Truax, when the door had closed. + +"Don't know, I'm sure," replied Williamson. "All I know is that the three +youngsters are aboard here to run the boat and show it off to the best +advantage. My pay is running right along, and I've no kick at taking +orders from any one of them." + +"This is where I go on smoking, anyway," declared Truax, insolently, +striking a match and lighting his pipe again. Williamson reached over, +snatching the pipe from between the other man's teeth and dumping out the +coals, after which the machinist coolly dropped the pipe into one of his +own pockets. + +"If you go on this way," warned Williamson, "Captain Benson will get it +into his head to put you on shore in a jiffy, and for good." + +"I'd like to see him try it," sneered Sam Truax. + +"You'll get your wish, if you go on the way you've been going!" + +"Humph! I don't believe the Benson boy carries the size or the weight to +put me ashore." + +"He doesn't need any size or weight," retorted Williamson, crisply. "If +Captain Benson wants you off this boat, it's only the matter of a moment +for him to get a squad of marines on board--and you'll march off to the +'Rogues' March.'" + +"So that's the way he'd work it, eh?" demanded Sam Truax, turning green +and ugly around the lips. + +"You bet it is," retorted the machinist. "We're practically a part of the +United States Navy for these few days, and naval rules will govern any +game we may get into." + +On that hint things went along better in the engine room. When Hal +Hastings came in to inspect he found nothing to criticise. + +At the minute of eleven o'clock a squad of some twenty cadets came +marching down to the landing in front of the boat house. There Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew and one of his engineer officers met them. Two cutters +manned by sailors brought the party out alongside, where Jack and Hal +stood ready to receive them. + +A very natty looking squad of future admirals came aboard, grouping +themselves about on the platform deck. It was rather a tight squeeze for +so many human beings in that space. + +After greeting the submarine boys, Mr. Mayhew turned to the cadets, +calling their attention to the lines and outer construction of the +"Farnum." Then he turned to the three submarine boys, signing to them to +crowd forward. + +"These young gentlemen," announced the lieutenant commander, "are Mr. +Benson, Mr. Hastings and Mr. Somers. All three are thoroughly familiar +with the Pollard type of boat. As the Navy has purchased one Pollard boat, +and may acquire others, it is well that you cadets should understand all +the working details of the Pollard Submarine Company's crafts. A few of +you at a time will now step into the conning tower, and Mr. Benson will +explain to you the steering and control gear used there." + +Half a dozen of the cadets managed to squeeze into the conning tower. Jack +experienced an odd feeling, half of embarrassment, as he explained before +so many attentive pairs of eyes. Then another squad of cadets took the +place of the first on-lookers. After a while all had been instructed in +the use of the conning tower appliances. + +"Mr. Benson," continued the lieutenant commander, "will now lead the way +for all hands to the cabin. There he will explain the uses of the diving +controls, the compressed air apparatus, and other details usually worked +from the cabin." + +Down below came the cadets, in orderly fashion, without either haste or +lagging. Having warmed up to his subject, Jack Benson lectured earnestly, +even if not with fine skill. At last he paused. + +"Any of the cadets may now ask questions," announced Lieutenant Commander +Mayhew. + +There was a pause, then one of the older cadets turned to Jack to ask: + +"What volume of compressed air do you carry at your full capacity?" + +"Mr. Benson's present status," rapped Mr. Mayhew, quickly, "is that of a +civilian instructor. Any cadet who addresses Mr. Benson will therefore say +'sir,' in all cases, just as in addressing an officer of the Navy." + +The cadet so corrected, who was at least twenty-one years old, flushed as +he glanced swiftly at sixteen-year-old Jack. To say "sir" to such a +youngster seemed almost like a humiliation. Yet the cadet repeated his +question, adding the "sir." Jack quickly answered the question. Then two +or three other questions were asked by other cadets. It was plain, +however, that to all of the cadets the use of "sir" to so young a boy +appealed, at least, to their sense of humor. + +Through the engine room door Sam Truax and Williamson stood taking it all +in. Sam saw a flash in the eye of one big cadet when the question of "sir" +came up. + +Presently the squad filed into the engine room. Here Hal Hastings had the +floor for instruction. He did his work coolly, admirably, though he asked +Jack Benson to explain a few of the points. + +Then the questions began, directed at Hal. This time none of the cadets, +under the watchful eyes of Mr. Mayhew, forgot to say "sir" when speaking +to Hastings. + +Sam Truax edged up behind the big cadet whose eyes he had seen flash a few +moments before. + +"Go after Benson, good and hard," whispered Truax. + +The cadet looked keenly at Truax. + +"You can have a lot of fun with Benson," whispered Truax, "if you fire a +lot of questions at him, hard and fast. Benson is a conceited fellow, who +knows a few things about the boat, but you can get him rattled and +red-faced in no time." + + + + + + CHAPTER X: A SQUINT AT THE CAMELROORELEPHANT + + +The big cadet wheeled upon Jack. + +"Mr. Benson, how long have you been engaged on submarine boats, sir?" + +"Since July," Jack replied. + +"July of this year?" + +"Yes." + +"And it is now October. Do you consider that enough time, sir, in which to +learn much about submarine boats?" + +"That depends," Skipper Jack replied, "upon a man's ability in such a +subject." + +"Is it long enough time, sir, for a boy?" + +That was rather a hard dig. Instantly the other cadets became all +attention. + +"It depends upon the boy, as it would upon the man," Jack answered. + +"Do you consider, Mr. Benson, that you know all about submarine boats, +sir?" + +"Oh, no." + +"Who does, sir?" + +"No one that I ever heard of," Jack answered. "Few men interested in +submarine boats know much beyond the peculiarities of their own boats." + +"And that applies equally to boys, sir?" + +"Yes," Jack smiled. + +"Do you consider yourself, sir, fully competent to handle this craft?" + +"I'd rather someone else would say it," Jack replied. "My employers, +though, seem to consider me competent." + +"What is this material, sir?" continued the cadet, resting a hand on a +piston rod. + +"Brass," Benson replied, promptly. + +"Do you know the specific gravity and the tensile strength of this brass?" + +Before Jack could answer Mr. Mayhew broke in, crisply: + +"That will do, Mr. Merriam. Your questions appear to go beyond the limits +of ordinary instruction, and to partake more of the nature of a +cross-examination. Such questions take up the time of the instruction tour +unnecessarily." + +Cadet Merriam flushed slightly, as he saluted the naval officer. Then the +cadet's jaws settled squarely. He remained silent. + +A few more questions and the hour was up. + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew gave the order for the cadets to pass above +and embark in the cutters. He remained behind long enough to say to the +three submarine boys: + +"You have done splendidly, gentlemen--far better than I expected you to do. +If you manage the sea instruction as well, in the days to come, our cadets +will have a first-class idea of the handling of the Pollard boats." + +"I wish, sir," Jack replied, after thanking the officer, "that the cadets +were not required to say 'sir' to us. It sounds odd, and I am quite +certain that none of the young men like it." + +"It is necessary, though," replied Mr. Mayhew. "They are required to do it +with all civilian instructors, and it would never do to draw distinctions +on account of age. Yes; it is necessary." + +When the second squad of cadets arrived, in the afternoon, the three +submarine boys found themselves ready for their task without misgivings. +Eph took more part in the explanations than he had done in the forenoon. +Then came a third squad of cadets, to be taken over the same ground. The +young men of both these squads used the "sir" at once, having been +previously warned by one of the naval officers. + +"That will be all for to-day, Mr. Benson, and thank you and your friends +for some excellent work," said Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, when the third +squad had filed away. + +"Say, for hard work I'd like this job right along," yawned Eph Somers, +when the three were alone in the cabin. "Just talking three times a +day--what an easy way of living!" + +"It's all right for a while," agreed Jack. "But it would grow tiresome +after a few weeks, anyway. Lying here in the Basin, and talking like a +salesman once in a while, isn't like a life of adventure." + +"Oh, you can sigh for adventure, if you wish," yawned Eph. "As for me, +I've had enough hard work to appreciate a rest once in a while. Going into +the town to-night, Jack?" + +"Into town?" laughed the young skipper. "I went last night--and some of the +folks didn't do a thing to me, did they?" + +"Aren't you going to report the robbery to the police?" demanded Hal, +opening his eyes in surprise. + +"Not in a rush," Jack answered. "If I do, the police may start at once, +and that mulatto and his friends, being on the watch, will take the alarm +and get away. If I wait two or three days, then the mulatto's crowd will +think I've dropped the whole thing. I reckon the waiting game will fool +them more than any other." + +"Yes, and all the money they got away from you will be spent," muttered +Eph. + +Jack, none the less, decided to wait and think the matter over. + +Supper over, the submarine boys, for want of anything else to do, sat and +read until about nine o'clock. Then Jack looked up. + +"This is getting mighty tedious," he complained. "What do you fellows say +to getting on shore and stretching our legs in a good walk?" + +"In town?" grinned Eph, slyly. + +Jack flushed, then grinned. + +"No!" he answered quietly; "about the Academy grounds." + +"I wonder if it would be against the regulations for a lot of rank +outsiders like us to go through the grounds at this hour?" + +"'Rank outsiders'?" mimicked Jack Benson, laughing. "You forget, Hal, old +fellow, that we're instruct--hem! civilian instructors--here." + +"I wonder, though, if it would be in good taste for us to go prowling +through the grounds at this hour?" persisted Hal. + +"There's one sure way to find out," proposed Benson. "We can try it, and, +if no marine sentry chases us, we can conclude that we're moving about +within our rights. Come along, fellows." + +Putting on their caps, the three went up on the platform deck. The engine +room door was locked and Williamson and Truax had already turned in. There +was a shore boat at the landing. Jack sent a low-voiced hail that brought +the boat out alongside. + +"Will it be proper for us to go through the Academy grounds at this hour?" +Jack inquired of the petty officer in the stern. + +"Yes, sir; there's no regulation against it. And, anyway, sir, you're all +stationed here, just now." + +"Thank you. Then please take us ashore." + +At this hour the walks through the grounds were nearly deserted. A few +officers, and some of their ladies living at the naval station, were out. +The cadets were all in their quarters in barracks, hard at study, or +supposed to be. + +For some time the submarine boys strolled about, enjoying the air and the +views they obtained of buildings and grounds. Back at Dunhaven the air had +been frosty. Here, at this more southern port, the October night was +balmy, wholly pleasant. + +"I wonder if these cadets here ever have any real fun?" questioned Eph +Somers. + +"I've heard--or read--that they do," laughed Hal. + +"What sort of fun?" + +"Well, for one thing, the cadets of the upper classes haze the plebe +cadets a good deal." + +"Humph! That's fun for all but the plebes. Who are the plebes, anyway?" + +"The new cadets; the youngest class at the Academy," Hal replied. + +"What do they do to the plebe?" Eph wanted to know. + +"I guess the only way you could find that out, Eph, would be to join the +plebe class." + +"Reckon, when I come to Annapolis, I'll enter the class above the plebe," +retorted Somers. + +The three submarine boys had again approached the cadet barracks building. + +"Here comes a cadet now, Eph," whispered Jack. "If he has the time, I +don't doubt he'd be glad to answer any questions you may have for him." + +Young Benson offered this suggestion in a spirit of mischief, hoping the +approaching cadet, when questioned, would resent it stiffly. Then Eph +would be almost certain to flare up. + +The cadet, however, suddenly turned, coming straight toward them, smiling. + +"Good evening, gentlemen," was the cadet's greeting. + +"Good evening," was Jack's hearty reply. + +"You've never been here before, have you, sir?" + +"Never," Jack confessed. + +"Then I take it you have never, sir, seen the camelroorelephant?" + +"The cam--" began Eph Somers. + +Then he stopped, clapping both hands to his right jaw. + +"Won't you please hand that to us in pieces?" begged Eph, speaking as +though with difficulty. + +The cadet laughed heartily, then added: + +"Don't try to pronounce it, gentlemen, until you've seen the +camelroorelephant. It's a cadet joke, but it's well worth seeing. Shall I +take you to it?" + +"Why, yes, if you'll be good enough," Jack assented, heartily. + +The cadet glanced quickly about him, then said in a low voice: + +"This way, please, gentlemen." + +He led the strangers quickly around the end of barracks to an open space +in the rear. Here he halted. + +"Gentlemen, I must ask you to close your eyes, and keep them closed, on +honor, until I ask you to open them again. You won't have to keep your +eyes closed more than sixty seconds before the camelroorelephant will be +ready for inspection. Now, eyes closed, please." + +Lingering only long enough to make sure that his request had been met, the +cadet stole noiselessly away. + +Nor was it many seconds later when all three of the submarine boys began +to feel suddenly suspicious. + +"I'm going to open my eyes," whispered Eph. + +"You're on honor not to," warned Jack Benson, also in a whisper. + +"I didn't give my word," retorted Eph, "and I'm going to--oh, great shades +of Santiago!" + +The very genuine note of concern in Eph's voice caused Jack and Hal to +open their own eyes instantly. + +Nor could any of the three repress a quick start. + +From all quarters naval cadets were advancing stealthily upon them. +Something in the very attitude and poise of the young men told the +submarine boys that these naval cadets were out for mischief. + +"We're in for it!" breathed Jack, in an undertone. "We're in for something +real and startling, I reckon. Fellows, brace up and take your medicine, +whatever it is, like men!" + + + + + + CHAPTER XI: BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED! + + +Nor was Jack's guess in the least wrong. + +Even had the submarine boys attempted to bolt they would have found it +impossible. They were surrounded. + +The cadets closed quickly in upon them. There were more than thirty of +these budding young naval officers. + +It was Cadet Merriam who stepped straight up to Jack, giving him a +grotesque and exaggerated salute, as he rumbled out: + +"Good evening, SIR!" + +Like a flash Jack Benson comprehended. These cadets intended fully to even +up matters for having been obliged to say "sir" to these very youthful +"civilian instructors." + +"Good evening," Jack smiled. + +"You have come to see the camelroorelephant, SIR?" + +"We've been told that we might have that pleasure," Jack responded, still +smiling. + +"Perhaps you may," retorted Cadet Merriam, "though, first of all, it will +be necessary to prove yourselves worthy of the privilege, SIR." + +"Anything within our power," promised Jack. + +"Then, SIR, let me see you all three stand 'at attention.'" + +"At attention" is the rigid attitude taken by a United States soldier or +sailor when in the presence of his officers. Jack had already seen men in +that attitude, and did his best to imitate it in smart military manner. +Eph and Hal did likewise. + +"No, no, no, you dense blockheads!" uttered Cadet Midshipman Merriam. "'At +attention' upside down--on your hands!" + +The other cadet midshipmen now hemmed in closely about the three. Jack +thought he caught the idea. He bent over, throwing his feet up in the air +and resting on his hands. Unable to keep his balance, he walked two or +three steps. + +"I didn't tell you to walk your post, blockhead!" scowled Mr. Merriam. +"Stand still when at attention." + +Jack tried, but of course made a ludicrous failure of standing still on +his hands. So did Hal and Eph. The latter, truth to tell, didn't try very +hard, for his freckled temper was coming a bit to the surface. + +"You're the rawest recruits, the worst landlubbers I've ever seen," +declared Cadet Midshipman Merriam, with severe dignity. "Rest, before you +try it any further." + +The smile had all but left Jack Benson's lips, though he tried to keep it +there. Hal Hastings made the most successful attempt at looking wholly +unconcerned. Eph's face was growing redder every minute. It is a +regrettable fact that Eph was really beginning to want to fight. + +"See here," ordered Mr. Merriam, suddenly, taking Jack by the arm, "you're +a horse, a full-blooded Arab steed--understand!" + +He gave young Benson a push that sent that youngster down to the ground on +all fours. + +"You're General Washington, out to take a ride on your horse," announced +Mr. Merriam, turning to Hal. "It's a ride for your health. Do you +understand? It will be wholly for your health to take that ride!" + +Hal Hastings couldn't help comprehending. With a sheepish grin he sat +astride of Jack Benson's back as the latter stood on all fours. + +"Go ahead with your ride, General," called Mr. Merriam. + +Jack pranced as best he could, on all fours, Hal making the load of his +own weight as light as he could. Over the ground the pair moved in this +nonsensical ride, the cadets following and grinning their appreciation of +the nonsense. + +Two of the young men followed, holding Eph by the arms between them. Mr. +Merriam now turned upon the unhappy freckled boy. + +"Down on all fours," ordered Mr. Merriam. "You're the measly dog that +barked at General Washington on that famous ride. Bark, you wretched +yellow cur--bark, bark, _bark_!" + +Though Eph Somers was madder than ever, he had just enough judgment +remaining to feel that the wisest thing would be to obey instructions. So, +on all fours, Eph raced after Jack, barking at him. + +"See how frightened the horse is," muttered one of the midshipmen. + +Taking the hint, Jack shied as well as he could. + +"That's all," said Mr. Merriam, at last. "All of that, at least." + +As the three submarine boys rose, each found himself gently held by a pair +of cadet midshipmen. It was a more or less polite hint that the ordeal was +not yet over. Mr. Merriam turned to whisper to one of the cadets, who +darted inside the barracks building. He was back, promptly, carrying a +folded blanket on his arm. + +A grin spread over the faces of the assembled cadet midshipmen. The bearer +of the blanket at once unfolded it. As many of the cadets as could got +hold of the edges, bending, holding the blanket spread out over the +ground. + +Jack Benson's two captors suddenly hurled him across the length of the +blanket with no gentle force. Instantly the cadets holding the blankets +straightened up, jerking it taut. Up into the air a couple of feet bounded +Jack. As his body came down the cadets holding the blanket gave it a still +harder jerk. This time Jack shot up into the air at least four feet. It +was the same old blanket-tossing, long popular both in the Army and Navy. +Every time Jack landed the blanket was given a harder jerk by those +holding it. Benson began to go higher and higher. + + [Illustration: Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him.] + + Eph Raced After Jack, Barking at Him. + + +And now the cadets broke into a low, monotonous chant, in time to their +movements. It ran: + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + Sir, sir, circle! + Sir, sir, with a shingle-- + Sir, sir, sir! + +As regular as drumbeats the cadets ripped out the syllables of the +refrain. At each word Jack Benson's body shot higher and higher. These +young men were experts in the gentle art of blanket-tossing. Ere long the +submarine boy was going up into the air some eight or nine feet at every +tautening of the blanket. + +As for escape, that was out of the question. No sooner did the submarine +boy touch the blanket than he shot skyward again. Had he desired to he +could not have called out. The motion and the sudden jolts shook all the +breath out of him. + +"Ugh! Hm! Pleasant, isn't it?" uttered Hal Hastings, grimly, under his +breath. + +"If they try to do that to me," whispered Eph, hotly, under his breath, +"I'll fight." + +"More simpleton you, then!" Hal shot back at him in warning. "What chance +do you think you stand against a crowd like this?" + +Just as suddenly as it had begun the blanket-tossing stopped. Yet, hardly +had Jack been allowed to step out than Hal Hastings was unceremoniously +dropped athwart the blanket. The tossing began again, to the chant of: + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + Sir, sir, circle! + +Right plentifully were these cadet midshipmen avenging themselves for +having had to say "sir" to these young submarine boys that day. + +"Woof!" breathed Jack, as soon as breath entered his body again. Eph +clenched his fists tightly, as Hal continued to go higher and higher. But +at last Hastings's ordeal was over. + +"I suppose they'll try that on me!" gritted Eph Somers to himself. "If +they do--" + +That was far as he got, for Eph was suddenly flung upon the blanket. + + Sir, sir, surcingle! + +Then how Eph _did_ go up and down! It was as though these cadet midshipmen +knew that it would make Eph mad, madder, maddest! These budding young +naval officers fairly bent to their work, tautening and loosening on the +blanket until their muscles fairly ached. + +It was lofty aerial work that Eph Somers was doing. Up and up--higher and +higher! Without the need of any effort on his own part young Somers was +now traveling upward at the rate of ten or eleven feet at every punctuated +bound. + +Then, suddenly, there came a sound that chilled the blood of every young +cadet midshipman hazer present. + +"_Halt!_ Where you are!" + +Under the shadow of the barracks building a naval officer had appeared. He +now came forward, a frown on his face, eyeing the culprits. + +It is no merry jest for cadet midshipmen to be caught at hazing! And here +were some thirty of them--red-handed! + + + + + + CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER + + +At the first word of command from the officer several of the cadet +midshipmen who were near enough to an open doorway vanished through it. + +As the officer strode through the group of startled young men a few more, +left behind his back, made a silent disappearance. + +There were left, however, as the officer looked about him, sixteen of the +young men, all too plainly headed and led by Cadet Midshipman Merriam. + +"Young gentlemen," said the officer, severely, "I regret to find so many +of you engaged in hazing. It is doubly bad when your victims are men +outside the corps. And, if I mistake not, these young gentlemen are here +as temporary civilian instructors in submarine work." + +Mr. Merriam and his comrades made no reply in words. Nor did their faces +express much. They stood at attention, looking stolidly ahead of them, +though their faces were turned toward the officer. It was not the place of +any of them to speak unless the officer asked questions. + +Severe as the hazing had been, however, Jack and Hal, at least, had taken +it all in good part. Nor was Jack bound by any of the rules of etiquette +that prevented the cadets from speaking. + +"May I offer a word, sir?" asked Jack, wheeling upon the officer. + +"You were one of the victims of a hazing, were you not?" demanded the +officer, regarding Jack, keenly. + +"Why, could you call it that, sir?" asked Jack, a look of innocent +surprise settling on his face. "We called it a demonstration--an +explanation." + +"Demonstration? Explanation?" repeated the officer, astonished in his +turn. "What do you mean, Mr.--er--?" + +"Benson," Jack supplied, quietly. + +"I think you would better tell me a little more, Mr. Benson," pursued the +unknown naval officer. + +"Why, it was like this, sir," Jack continued. "My two friends--Hastings and +Somers--and myself were talking about the West Point and Annapolis hazings, +of which we had heard and read. We were talking about the subject when a +cadet came along. I suggested to Somers that we ask the cadet about +hazing. Well, sir, to make a long story short, some of the cadets +undertook to show us just how hazing is--or used to be--done at Annapolis." + +"Oh! Then it was all thoroughly good-natured, all in the way of a joke, to +show you something you wanted to know?" asked the naval officer, slowly. + +"That's the way I took it," replied Jack. "So did Hastings and Somers. +We've enjoyed ourselves more than anyone else here has." + +This was truth surely enough, for, in the last two minutes, not one of the +cadet midshipmen present could have been accused of _enjoying_ himself. + +"Then what took place here, Mr. Benson, really took place at your +request?" insisted the naval officer. + +"It all answered the questions that we had been asking," Jack replied, +promptly, though, it must be admitted, rather evasively. + +"This is your understanding, too, Mr. Hastings?" demanded the officer. + +"Surely," murmured Hal. + +"You, Mr. Somers?" + +"I--I haven't had so much fun since the gasoline engine blew up," protested +Eph. + +"We entered most heartily into the spirit of the thing," Jack hastened on +to say, "and feel that we owe the deepest thanks to these young gentlemen +of the Navy. Yet, if our desire to know more about the life--that is, the +former life--of the Academy is to result in getting our entertainers into +any trouble, we shall never cease regretting our unfortunate curiosity." + +For some moments the naval officer regarded the three submarine boys, +solemnly, in turn. From them he turned to look over the cadet midshipmen. +The latter looked as stolid, and stood as rigidly at attention, as ever. + +"Under this presentation of the matter," said the officer, after a long +pause, "I am not prepared to say that there has been any violation of +discipline. At least, no grave infraction. However, some of these young +gentlemen are, I believe, absent from their quarters without leave. Mr. +Merriam?" + +"I have permission to be absent from my quarters between nine and ten, +sir." + +"Mr. Caldwell?" + +"Absent from quarters without permission, sir." + +So on down through the list the officer ran. Nine of the young men proved +to have leave to be away from their quarters. The other seven did not have +such permission. The names of these seven, therefore, were written down to +be reported. The seven, too, were ordered at once back to their quarters. + +Having issued his instructions, the naval officer turned and walked away. +Jack and his comrades, too, left the scene. + +Yet they had not gone far when they heard a low hail behind. Turning, they +saw Cadet Midshipmen Merriam hastening toward them. + +"Gentlemen," he said, earnestly, as he reached them, "it may not be best +for me to be seen lingering here to talk with you. But my comrades wanted +me to come after you and to say that we think you bricks. You carried that +off finely, Mr. Benson. None of us will ever forget it." + +"It wasn't much to do," smiled Jack, pleasantly. + +"It was quick-witted of you, and generous too, sir," rejoined Mr. Merriam, +finding it now very easy to employ the "sir." "Probably you agree with us +that no great crime was committed, anyway. But, just the same, hazing is +under a heavy ban these days. If you hadn't saved the day as you did, sir, +all of our cadet party might have been dismissed the Service. Those absent +from quarters without leave will get only a few demerits apiece. We have +that much to thank you for, sir, and we do. All our thanks, remember. Good +night, sir." + +"My courage was down in my boots for a while," confessed Hal Hastings, as +the three chums continued their walk back to the Basin. + +"When?" demanded Eph, grimly. "When your boots--and the rest of you--were so +high up in the air over the blanket?" + +"No; when the cadets were caught at it," replied Hal. + +"Say, Jack," demanded Eph, "do you ever give much thought to the future +life?" + +"Meaning the life in the next world?" questioned Benson. + +"Yes." + +"I sometimes give a good deal of thought to it," Jack confessed. + +"Then where do you expect to go, when the time comes?" + +"Why?" + +"After the whoppers you told that officer?" + +"I didn't tell him even a single tiny fib," protested Jack, indignantly. + +"Oh, you George Washington!" choked Eph Somers. + +"Well, I didn't," insisted Jack. "Now, just stop and think. Weren't we all +three discussing hazing?" + +"Yes." + +"Then that part of what I told the officer was straight. Now, Eph, when we +saw that first cadet come along, didn't I suggest to you to ask him about +hazing?" + +"Ye-es," admitted Somers, thoughtfully. + +"Then, didn't the cadet midshipmen offer to show us all about hazing +pranks, and didn't they do it?" + +"Well, rather," muttered Eph. + +"Now, young man, that's all I told the officer, except that we enjoyed our +entertainment greatly." + +"_Did_ we enjoy it, though?" demanded Eph Somers, bridling up. + +"I did," replied Jack, "and I spoke for myself. I enjoyed it as I would +enjoy almost any new experience." + +"So did I," added Hal, warmly. "It was rough--mighty rough--but now I know +what an Annapolis hazing is like, and I'm glad I do." + +"Well, I want to tell you I didn't enjoy it," blazed Eph. "It was a mighty +cheeky--" + +"Then why did you let the officer imagine you enjoyed it?" taunted Jack. + +While Hal put in, slyly: + +"Eph, you're too quick to talk about others fibbing. From the evidence +just put in, it's evident that you're the only one of the three who fibbed +any. Won't you please walk on the other side of the road? I never did like +to travel with liars." + +"Oh, you go to Jericho!" flared Eph. But, as he walked along, he blinked a +good deal, and did some hard thinking. + +"I'll tell you," broke out Jack, suddenly, "who thanks us even more than +the cadets themselves do." + +"Who?" queried Hal. + +"That officer who caught the crowd at it." + +"Do you think he cared?" + +"Of course he did," said Jack, positively. "He'd rather have gone hungry +for a couple of days than have to report that bunch for hazing." + +"Then why was he so infernally stiff with the young men?" + +"He had to be; that's the answer. That officer, like every other officer +of the Navy detailed here, is sworn to do his full duty. So he has to +enforce the regulations. But don't you suppose, fellows, that officer was +hazed, and did some hazing on his own account, when he was a cadet +midshipman here years ago? Of course! And that's why the officer didn't +question us any more closely than he did. He was afraid he might stumble +on something that would oblige him to report the whole crowd for hazing. +_He_ didn't want to do it. That officer, I'm certain, knew that, if he +questioned us too closely, he'd find a lot more beneath the surface that +he simply didn't want to dig up." + +"Would you have told the truth, if he had questioned you searchingly, and +pinned you right down?" demanded Eph Somers. + +"Of course I would," Jack replied, soberly. "I'm no liar. But I feel +deeply grateful to that officer for not being keener." + +Before nine o'clock the next morning news of the night's doings back of +barracks had spread through the entire corps of cadet midshipmen. + +With these young men of the Navy there was but one opinion of the +submarine boys--that they were trumps, wholly of the right sort. + +As a result, Jack, Hal and Eph had hundreds of new friends among those who +will officer the Navy of the morrow. + +Not so bad, even just as a stroke of business! + + + + + + CHAPTER XIII: READY FOR THE SEA CRUISE + + +For the next ten days things moved along without much excitement for the +submarine boys. + +During that time they had an average of four sections a day of cadet +midshipmen to instruct in the workings of the Pollard type of submarine +torpedo boat. + +During the last few days short cruises were taken on the Severn River, in +order that the middies might practise at running the motors and handling +the craft. At such times one squad of midshipmen would be on duty in the +engine room, another in the conning tower and on the platform deck. + +Of course, when the midshipmen handled the "Farnum," under command of a +Navy officer, the submarine boys had but little more to do than to be on +board. Certainly they were not overworked. Yet all three were doing fine +work for their employers in making the Navy officers of the future like +the Pollard type of craft. + +After waiting a few days Jack Benson reported to the Annapolis police his +experience with the mulatto "guide." The police thought they recognized +the fellow, from the description, and did their best to find him. The +mulatto, however, seemed to have disappeared from that part of the +country. + +There came a Friday afternoon when, as the last detachment of middies +filed over the side into the waiting cutter, Lieutenant Commander Mayhew +announced: + +"This, Mr. Benson, completes the instruction desired in the Basin and in +the river. To-morrow and Sunday you will have for rest. On Monday, at 10 +A.M., a section will report aboard for the first trip out to sea. Then you +will show our young men how the boat dives, and how she is run under +water. As none of our cadet midshipmen have ever been below in a submarine +before, you will be sure of having eager students." + +"And perhaps some nervous ones," smiled Skipper Jack. + +"Possibly," assented Mr. Mayhew. "I doubt it, though. Nervousness is not a +marked trait of any young man who has been long enrolled at the Naval +Academy." + +"Can we have a slight favor done us, Mr. Mayhew?" Jack asked. + +"Any reasonable favor, of course." + +"Then, sir, we'd like to spend a little time ashore, as we've been +confined so long aboard. If I lock up everything tight on the boat until +Sunday night, may we know that the 'Farnum' will be under the protection +of the marine guard?" + +"I feel that there will not be the slightest difficulty in promising you +that," replied Mr. Mayhew. "I will telephone the proper authorities about +it as soon as I go on shore." + +All hands on board were pleased over the prospect of going ashore, with +the exception of Sam Truax. + +"You don't need any guard on the boat," he protested. "I don't want to go +ashore. Leave me here and I'll be all the guard necessary." + +"We're all going ashore," Jack replied. + +"But I haven't any money to spend ashore," objected Truax. + +"I'll let you have ten dollars on account, then," replied Jack, who was +well supplied with money, thanks to a draft received from Jacob Farnum. + +"I don't want to go ashore, anyway." + +"I'm sorry, Truax, but it doesn't really make any difference. The boat +will be closed up tight, and there wouldn't be any place for you to stay, +except on the platform deck." + +"You're not treating me fairly," protested Sam Truax, indignantly. + +"I'm sorry you think so. Still, if you're not satisfied, all I can do is +to pay you off to date. Then you can go where you please." + +"I'm here by David Pollard's order. Do you forget that?" + +"He sent you along to us, true," admitted Jack, "but I have instructions +from Mr. Farnum to dismiss anyone whose work on board I don't like. Now, +Truax, you're a competent enough man in the engine room, and there's no +sense in having to let you go. You're well paid, and can afford the time +on shore. I wouldn't make any more fuss about this, but do as the rest of +us are going to do." + +"Oh, I'll have to, then, since you're boss here," grumbled Truax, sulkily. + +"I don't want to make it felt too much that I _am_ boss here," Jack +retorted, mildly. "At the same time, though, I'm held responsible, and so +I suppose I'll have to have things done the way that seems best to me." + +Sam Truax turned to get his satchel. The instant his back was turned on +the young commander Sam's face was a study in ugliness. + +"Oh, I'll take this all out of you," muttered the fellow to himself. "I +don't believe, Jack Benson, you'll go on the cruising next week. If you +do, you won't be much good, anyway!" + +Ten minutes later a shore boat landed the entire party from the submarine +craft. + +"Going with the rest of us, Truax?" inquired Jack, pleasantly. + +"No; I'm going to find a boarding-house. That will be cheaper than the +hotel." + +So the other four kept straight on to the Maryland House, giving very +little more thought to the sulky one. + +It was not until after supper that Eph turned the talk back to Sam Truax. + +"I don't like the fellow, at all," declared young Somers. "He always wants +to be left alone in the engine room, for one thing." + +"And I've made it my business, regular," added Williamson, the machinist, +"to see that he doesn't have his wish." + +"He's always sulky, and kicking about everything," added Eph. "I may be +wrong, but I can't get it out of my head that the fellow came aboard on +purpose to be a trouble-maker." + +"Why, what object could he have in that?" asked Captain Jack. + +"Blessed if I know," replied Eph. "But that's the way I size the fellow +up. Now, take that time you were knocked senseless, back in Dunhaven. Who +could have done that? The more I think about Sam Truax, the more I suspect +him as the fellow who stretched you out." + +"Again, what object could he have?" inquired Benson. + +"Blessed if I know. What object could anyone have in such a trick against +you? It was a state prison job, if the fellow had been caught at the +time." + +"Well, there's one thing Truax was innocent of, anyway," laughed Captain +Jack. "He didn't have any hand in the way I was tricked and robbed by the +mulatto." + +"Blamed if I'm so sure he didn't have a hand in that, too," contended Eph +Somers, stubbornly. + +"Yet Mr. Pollard recommended him," urged Jack. + +"Yes, and a fine fellow Dave Pollard is--true as steel," put in Hal +Hastings, quietly. "Yet you know what a dreamer he is. Always has his head +in the air and his thoughts among the stars. He'd as like as not take a +fellow like Truax on the fellow's own say-so, and never think of looking +him up." + +"Oh, we've no reason to think Truax isn't honest enough," contended Jack +Benson. "He's certainly a fine workman. As to his being sulky, you know +well enough that's a common fault among men who spend their lives +listening to the noise of great engines. A man who can't make himself +heard over the noise of a big engine hasn't much encouragement to talk. +Now, a man who can't find much chance to talk becomes sulky a good many +times out of ten." + +"We'll have trouble with that fellow, Truax, yet," muttered Eph. + +"Oh, I hope not," Jack answered, then added, significantly: + +"If he _does_ start any trouble he may find that he has been trifling with +the wrong crowd!" + +Very little more thought was given to the sulky one. The submarine boys +and their companion, Williamson, enjoyed Saturday and Sunday ashore. + +All of them might have felt disturbed, however, had they known of one +thing that happened. + +The naval machinists aboard the first submarine boat, the "Pollard," now +owned by the United States Government, found something slightly out of +order with the "Pollard's" engine that they did not know exactly how to +remedy. + +Sam Truax, hanging around the Basin that Sunday forenoon, was called upon. +He gladly responded to the call for help. For four hours he toiled along +in the "Pollard's" engine room. Much of that time he spent there alone. + +The job done, at last, Truax quietly received the thanks of the naval +machinists and went ashore again. + +Yet, as he turned and walked toward the main gate of the grounds, there +was a smile on Sam Truax's face that was little short of diabolical. + +"Now, if I can only get the same chance at the 'Farnum's' engines!" he +muttered, to himself. "If I can, I think Mr. Jack Benson will find himself +out of favor with his company, for his company will be out of favor with +the Navy Department at Washington!" + + + + + + CHAPTER XIV: THE "POLLARD" GOES LAME + + +"The submarine boats when out in the Bay will keep abreast of the +'Hudson,' two hundred yards off on either beam. The speed will be fourteen +knots when the signal is given for full speed. The general course, after +leaving the mouth of the Bay will be East." + +Such were the instructions called from the rail of the gunboat, through a +megaphone, Monday forenoon. + +On each of the submarine craft were sixteen cadet midshipmen, out for +actual practice in handling a submarine in diving and in running under +water. On board the gunboat were eighty more cadets. Thus a large class of +the young men were to receive instruction during the cruise, for the +detachments aboard the submarines could be changed at the pleasure of +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, who was in charge of the cruise. + +Captain Jack, his own hands on the conning tower wheel, ran the "Farnum" +out into the river, first of all. Then the "Pollard," under command of a +naval officer, followed. Both backed water, then waited for the "Hudson" +to come out, for the gunboat was to lead the way until the Bay was +reached. Then the formation ordered would be followed. + +Though it was nearing the first of November, the day, near land, was +ideally soft and balmy. As many of the midshipmen as could sought the +platform deck of the "Farnum." Those, however, who belonged to the +engineer division were obliged to spend the greater part of their time +below. + +By the time that the three craft were in the ordered formation, abreast, +and well started down Chesapeake Bay, the parent vessel signaled that the +designated cadets were to take charge of the handling of the submarine +boats. + +Jack Benson cheerfully relinquished the wheel to Cadet Midshipman Merriam, +and stepped out on to the platform deck. At need, as in case of accident +or misunderstanding of signals or orders, Benson was still in command. +While all ran smoothly, however, Mr. Merriam enjoyed command. + +Hal, being likewise relieved in the engine room, came also out on deck. + +"Where's Eph?" inquired the young commander of the "Farnum." + +"In the engine room," smiled Hal. "He said I could leave, if I wanted, but +that he'd be hanged if he'd let Truax out of his sight while I was away." + +"Eph seems to have Truax on the brain," laughed Jack. + +"Well, Truax _is_ a queer and surly one," Hal admitted. "This morning he +gives one the impression of peeking over his shoulder all the time to see +whether he's being watched." + +"So Eph means to humor him by watching him, eh?" asked Jack. + +Hal laughed quietly. + +Some of the cadets who were familiar with the landmarks of Chesapeake Bay +pointed out many of the localities and sights to the two submarine boys. + +At last, however, Eph was obliged to call for Hal. + +"You know, Hal, old fellow, I've got to look out for the feeding of a lot +of boarders to-day," complained Eph, whimsically. + +This task of Eph's took time, though it was not a hard one. The food for +the cadets had been sent aboard. Eph had to make coffee and heat soup. For +the rest, cold food had to do. The young men, on this trip, were required +to wait on themselves. + +Hal found Sam Truax sitting moodily in a corner of the engine room, though +there was something about the fellow's appearance that suggested the +watchfulness of a cat. + +"Why don't you go on deck a while, Truax?" asked Hal, kindly. + +"Don't want to," snapped the fellow, irritably. So Hal turned his back on +the man. + +"Doesn't that part need loosening up a bit, sir?" asked the cadet in +charge of the engineer division. + +"Yes," replied Hastings, after watching a moment; "it does." + +"I'll do it, then," proposed Truax, roughly. He attempted to crowd his way +past Hal, but the latter refused to be crowded, and stood his ground until +the midshipman passed him a wrench. Then Hastings loosened up the part. + +"You might let me do a little something," growled Sam Truax, in a tone +intentionally offensive. + +"Don't forget, Truax, that I'm in command in this department," retorted +Hal, in a quieter tone than usual, though with a direct, steady look that +made Sam Truax turn white with repressed wrath. + +"You won't let me forget it, will you?" snarled the fellow. + +"No; for I don't want you to forget it, and least of all on this cruise," +responded Hal Hastings. + +"You don't give me any chance to--" + +"Silence!" ordered Hal, taking a step toward him. + +Sam Truax opened his mouth to make some retort, then wisely changed his +mind, dropping back into his former seat. + +The noon meal was served to all hands. By the time it was well over the +mouth of the Bay was in sight, the broad Atlantic rolling in beyond. + +The sea, when reached, proved to be almost smooth. It was ideal weather +for such a cruise. + +Then straight East, for an hour they went, getting well out of the path of +coasting vessels. + +"Hullo! What in blazes does that mean?" suddenly demanded Hal, pointing +astern at starboard. + +The "Pollard" lay tossing gently on the water, making no headway. Hardly +ten seconds later the "Hudson" signaled a halt. + +Then followed some rapid signaling between the gunboat and the submarine +that had stopped. There was some break in the "Pollard's" machinery, but +the cause had not yet been determined. + +"Blazes!" muttered Jack, uneasily. "It couldn't have happened at a worse +time. This looks bad for our firm, Hal!" + +The "Farnum" now lay to, as did the "Hudson," for the officer in command +of the "Pollard" signaled that his machinists were making a rapid but +thorough investigation of the unfortunate submarine's engines. + +Finally, a cutter put off from the "Hudson," with a cadet midshipman in +charge. The small boat came over alongside, and the midshipman called up: + +"The lieutenant commander's compliments, and will Mr. Benson detail Mr. +Hastings to go over to the 'Pollard' and assist?" + +"My compliments to the lieutenant commander," Jack replied. "And be good +enough to report to him, please, that Mr. Hastings and I will both go." + +"My orders, sir, are to convey you to the 'Pollard' before reporting back +to the parent vessel," replied the midshipman. + +The cutter came alongside, taking off the two submarine boys, while Eph +Somers devoted himself to watching Sam Truax as a bloodhound might have +hung to a trail. + +Arrived on board the good, old, familiar "Pollard," Jack and Hal hurried +below. + +"The machinery is too hot to handle, now, sir," reported one of the naval +machinists, "but it looks as though something was wrong right in +there"--pointing. + +"Put one of the electric fans at work there, at once," directed Hal. "Then +things ought to be cool enough in half an hour, to make an examination +possible." + +After seeing this done, the two submarine boys left for the platform deck, +for the engine room was both hot and crowded. + +"How long is it going to take you, Mr. Hastings?" asked the naval officer +in command of the "Pollard." + +"Half an hour to get the parts cool enough to examine, but I can't say, +sir, how long the examination and repairs will take." + +So the officer in command signaled what proved to be vague and +unsatisfactory information to Lieutenant Commander Mayhew. + +"This is a bad time to have this sort of thing happen," observed the naval +officer in charge. + +"A mighty bad time, sir," Jack murmured. + +"And the engines of the 'Pollard' were supposed to be in first-class +condition." + +"They _were_ in A-1 condition, when the boat was turned over to the Navy," +Jack responded. + +"Do you imagine, then, Mr. Benson, that some of the naval machinists have +been careless or incompetent?" + +"Why, that would be a wild guess to make, sir, when one remembers what +high rank your naval machinists take in their work," Jack Benson replied. + +"And this boat was sold to the Navy with the strongest guarantee for the +engines," pursued the officer in charge. + +Jack and Hal were both worried. The sudden break had a bad look for the +Pollard boats, in the success of which these submarine boys were most +vitally interested. + +At last, from below, the suspected parts of the engine were reported to be +cool enough for examination. The naval officer in charge followed Jack and +Hal below. + +Taking off his uniform blouse and rolling up his sleeves, Hal sailed in +vigorously to locate the fault. Machinists and cadets stood about, passing +him the tools he needed, and helping him when required. + +At last, after disconnecting some parts, Hal drew out a long, slender +brass piston. + +As he held it up young Hastings's face went as white as chalk. + +"Do you see this?" he demanded, hoarsely. + +"Filed, crazily, and it also looks as though the inner end had been heated +and tampered with," gasped Jack Benson. + +"This, sir," complained Hal, turning around to face the naval officer in +charge, "looks like a direct attempt to tamper with and damage the engine. +Someone has done this deliberately, sir. It only remains to find the +culprit." + +"Then we'll find out," retorted the naval officer, "if it takes a court of +inquiry and a court martial to do it. But are you sure of your charge, Mr. +Hastings?" + +"Am I sure?" repeated Hal, all the soul of the young engineer swelling to +the surface. "Take this piston, sir, and examine it. Could such a job have +been done, unless by sheer design and intent?" + +"Will the lieutenant permit me to speak?" asked the senior machinist, +taking a step forward and saluting. + +"Yes; go ahead." + +"Yesterday morning, sir," continued the senior machinist, "we thought the +engines needed some overhauling by someone more accustomed to them than we +were. We saw one of the machinists of the 'Farnum,' sir, hanging about on +shore. So we invited him aboard and asked him to look the engines over." + +"Describe the man," begged Jack. + +The senior machinist gave a description that instantly denoted Sam Truax +as the man in question. + +"Did you leave him alone in here, at any time?" demanded Hal. + +"Let me see. Why, yes, sir. The man must have been alone in here some +three-quarters of an hour." + +Jack and Hal exchanged swift glances. + +There seemed, now, very little need of carrying the investigation further. + + + + + + CHAPTER XV: ANOTHER TURN AT HARD LUCK + + +When he could trust himself to speak Hal Hastings addressed the naval +officer. + +"I think Mr. Benson and myself understand, sir, how it happened that this +damage was done. There are extra parts in the repair kit. In twenty +minutes, sir, I think we can have the engines running smoothly once more." + +The naval officer was wise enough not to press the questioning further +just then. Instead, he went on deck. + +Working like beavers, and with the assistance of others standing about, +Jack and Hal had the piston replaced and all the other parts in place +within fifteen minutes. Then, once more, Hal turned on the gasoline, set +the ignition, and watched. + +The engine ran as smoothly as ever. + +"There won't be any more trouble, unless someone is turned loose here with +files and a blast lamp," pronounced Hal. Then he and his chum sought the +deck, to report to the officer in charge. + +"You think we're in running order, now?" asked that officer. + +"If you give the speed-ahead signal, sir, I think you'll feel as though +you had a live engine under your deck," Hal assured him. + +The signal was given, the "Pollard" immediately responding. She cut a wide +circle, at good speed, returning to her former position, where the +propellers were stopped. + +"You suspect your own machinist, who was aboard?" asked the naval officer, +in a low tone, of the submarine boys. + +"If you'll pardon our not answering directly, sir," Captain Jack replied, +"we want to have more than suspicions before we make a very energetic +report on this strange accident. But we shall not be asleep, sir, in the +matter of finding out. Then we shall make a full report to Mr. Mayhew." + +"Success to you--and vigilance!" muttered the naval officer. + +The gunboat's cutter came alongside, transferring Jack and Hal back to the +"Farnum." + +Hal went directly below to the engine room. + +"You fixed the trouble with the 'Pollard'?" demanded Eph Somers, eagerly. + +"Yes," Hal admitted. + +"What was wrong?" + +"Why, I don't know as I'd want to commit myself in too offhand a way," +replied Hal, slowly, as though thinking. + +"What appeared to be at the bottom of the trouble?" + +"Why, it _may_ have been that one of the naval machinists, not +understanding our engines any too well, allowed one of the pistons to get +overheated, and then resorted to filing," Hal replied. + +"What? Overheat a piston, and then try to correct it with a file?" cried +young Somers, disgustedly. "The crazy blacksmith! He ought to be set to +shoeing snails--that's all he's fit for." + +"It looks that way," Hal assented, smiling. + +Artful, clever Hal! He had carried it all off so coolly and naturally that +Sam Truax, who had been closely studying Hastings's face from the +background, was wholly deceived. + +"This fellow, Hastings, isn't as smart as I had thought him," muttered +Truax, to himself. + +The interrupted cruise now proceeded, the parent vessel signaling for a +temporary speed of sixteen knots in order to make up for lost time. + +Twenty minutes later came the signal from the "Hudson:" + +"At the command, the submarines will dash ahead at full speed, each making +its best time. During this trial, which will end at the firing of a gun +from the parent vessel, all cadets will be on deck." + +Word was immediately passed below, and all the cadets of the engineer +division came tumbling up. + +To these, who had been in the engine room constantly for hours, the cool +wind blowing across the deck was highly agreeable. + +For the speed dash Captain Jack Benson had again taken command. He passed +word below to Eph Somers to take the wheel in the conning tower. + +Eph, therefore, came up with the last of the cadets from below. In the +excitement of the pending race it had not been noticed by any of the +submarine boys that Williamson was already on deck, aft. That left Sam +Truax below in sole possession of the boat's engine quarters. + +The gunboat now fell a little behind, leaving the two submarines some four +hundred yards apart, but as nearly as possible on a line. + +"Look at the crowd over on the 'Pollard's' decks," muttered Hal. "They're +all Navy folks over there." + +"And they mean to beat such plain 'dubs' as they must consider us," +laughed Captain Jack, in an undertone. + +"Will they beat us, though?" grinned Hal Hastings. "You and I, Jack, +happen to know that the 'Farnum' is a bit the faster boat by rights." + +Suddenly the signal broke out from the gunboat. + +"Race her, Eph!" shouted Captain Jack. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +Eph Somers's right hand caught at the speed signals beside the wheel. He +called for all speed, the bell jangling merrily in the engine room. + +A little cheer of excitement went up from the cadets aboard the "Farnum" +as that craft shot ahead over the waters. The cadets were catching the +thrill of what was virtually a race. At the same time, though, these +midshipmen could not help feeling a good deal of interest in the success +of the "Pollard," which was manned wholly by representatives of the Navy. + +In the first three minutes the "Farnum" stole gradually, though slowly, +ahead of the "Pollard." Then, to the disgust of all three of the submarine +boys, the other craft was seen to be gaining. Before long the "Pollard" +had the lead, and looked likely to increase it. Already gleeful cheers +were rising from the all-Navy crowd on the deck of the other submarine. + +Behind the racers sped the "Hudson," keeping just far enough behind to be +able to observe everything without interfering with either torpedo craft. + +From looking at the "Pollard" Captain Jack glanced down at the water. His +own boat's bows seemed to be cutting the water at a fast gait. The young +skipper, knowing what he knew about both boats, could not understand this +losing to the other craft. + +"The Navy men must know a few tricks with engines that we haven't +guessed," he observed, anxiously, to young Hastings. + +"I don't know what it can be, then," murmured Hal, uneasily. "There aren't +so confusingly many parts to a six-cylinder gasoline motor. They aren't +hard engines to run. More depends on the engine itself than on the +engineer." + +"But look over there," returned Captain Jack Benson. "You see the +'Pollard' taking the wind out of our teeth, don't you?" + +"Yes," Hal admitted, looking more puzzled. + +"Do you think our engines are doing the top-notch of their best?" asked +Benson. + +"Yes; for Williamson is a crackerjack machinist. He knows our engines as +well as any man alive could do." + +"Do you think it would do any good for you to go below, Hal?" + +"I will, if you say so," offered Hastings. "Yet there's another side to +it." + +"What?" + +"Williamson might get it into his head that I went below because I thought +he was making a muddle of the speed. As a matter of fact, he knows every +blessed thing I do about our motors, and Williamson is loyal to the core." + +"I know," nodded Captain Jack. "I'd hate to hurt a fine fellow's feelings. +Yet--confound it, I _do_ want to win this burst of speed. It means, +perhaps, the quick sale of this boat to the Navy. If we're beaten it +means, to the Secretary of the Navy, that he already has our best boat, +and he might not see the need of buying the 'Farnum' at all." + +"Give Williamson two or three minutes more," begged Hal. "You might tell +Eph, though, to repeat, and repeat, the signal for top speed. That'll show +Williamson we're losing." + +Jack Benson walked to the conning tower, instructing Eph Somers in a low +tone. + +"I've signaled twice, since the first time," Eph replied. "But here goes +some more." + +"I wonder what's going wrong with our engines, then," muttered Captain +Jack, uneasily. + +"It ain't in careless steering, anyway," grumbled Eph. "I'm going as +straight as a chalk line." + +"I noticed that," Captain Jack admitted. + +He continued to look worried, for, by this time, the "Pollard" was at +least a good two hundred and fifty yards to the good in the lead. + +"I'm afraid," muttered Hal, rejoining Benson, "that I'll simply have to go +below." + +"I'm afraid so," nodded Jack. "We simply can't afford to lose this or any +other race to the 'Pollard.'" + +"Williamson knows that fully as well as we do, though," Hal Hastings went +on. "And Williamson--" + +Of a sudden Hal stopped short. He half staggered, clutching at a rail, +while his eyes stared and his lips twitched. + +"Why--why--there's Williamson--aft on the deck!" muttered Hastings. + +"What!" + +Jack, too, wheeled like a flash. Back there in a crowd of cadets stood the +machinist upon whom the submarine boys were depending for the best showing +that the "Farnum" could make. + +"Williamson up here!" gasped Hal. "And--" + +"That fellow, Truax, all alone with the motors!" hissed Captain Jack. +Then, after a second or two of startled silence: + +"Come on, Hal!" + +The naval cadets were too much absorbed in watching the race to have +overheard anything. Williamson, too, standing at the rail, looking out +over the water, had not yet discovered that Hal Hastings was up from the +engine room. + +Jack Benson stole below on tip-toe, though with the machinery running so +much stealth was not necessary. Right behind him followed Hal. + +As the two gained the doorway of the engine room Sam Truax had his back +turned to them, and so did not note the sudden watchers. + +There was a smile of malicious triumph on Truax's face as he turned a +lever a little way over, thus decreasing the ignition power of the motors. + +Both Jack and Hal could see that the gasoline flow had been turned on +nearly to the full capacity. It was the poor ignition work that was making +the motors respond so badly. A little less, and a little less, of the +electric spark that burned the gasoline and air mixture--that was the +secret of the gradually decreasing speed, while all the time it looked as +though the "Farnum" was doing her level best to win the race. + +Whistling, as he bent over, Sam Truax caught up a long, slender steel bar. +With this he stepped forward, intent upon his next wicked step. + +"Gracious! The scoundrel is going to run that bar in between the moving +parts of the engine and bring about a break-down!" quivered Hal. + +Sam Truax stood watching for his chance to thrust the steel bar in just +where it would inflict the most damage. Then raising the bar quickly, he +poised for the blow. + +"Stop that, you infernal sneak!" roared Jack Benson, bounding into the +engine room. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVI: BRAVING NOTHING BUT A SNEAK + + +"You--here?" hissed Truax, wheeling about. + +He had not had time to make the thrust with the steel bar. + +Instead, as he wheeled, he raised it above his head, drawing back in an +attitude of guard. + +As he did so, a vile oath escaped Truax's lips. + +"Put that bar down!" commanded Jack Benson, standing unflinchingly before +the angry rascal. + +"I'll put it down on your head, if you don't get out of here!" snarled the +wretch. + +"Put it down, and consider yourself off duty here, for good and all," +insisted Jack. + +"Are you going to get out of here, or shall I brain you?" screamed Truax, +his face working in the height of his passion. + +"Neither," retorted Captain Jack, coolly. "I command here, and you know +it. Put that bar down, and leave the engine room." + +"Come and take the bar from me--if you dare!" taunted the fellow, a more +wicked gleam flashing in his eyes. + +"Hal!" called Jack, sharply. + +"Aye!" + +"Call two or three of the cadets down here. Don't make any noise about +it." + +This order was called without Benson's turning his head. He still stood +facing the sneak while Hal sped away. + +"Now, I've got you alone!" gloated Truax. "I'll finish you!" + +A scornful smile curled Jack's lips as he gazed steadily back at his foe. + +"Truax, you're a coward, as well as a sneak." + +"I am--eh?" + +With another nasty oath Truax stepped quickly forward, the steel bar +upraised. + +He took but one step, however, for Captain Jack Benson had not retreated +an inch. + +Nor did Jack have his hands up in an attitude of guard. + +"Are you going to put that bar down, Truax?" the young skipper demanded, +in a voice that betrayed not a tremor. + +"No." + +"Then you'll have to make good in a moment, for we're going to attack +you." + +"Bah! I can stave in two or three heads before any number of you could +stop me," sneered the fellow, in an ugly voice. + +"You could, but you won't dare." + +"I won't?" + +"Not you!" + +At that instant rapid steps were heard. Hal Hastings returned with three +of the midshipmen, behind them Williamson trying to crowd his way into the +scene. + +"Just tell us what you want, Mr. Benson," proposed Cadet Merriam, amiably. + +"This fellow has been 'doping' our engines," announced Captain Jack. "And +now he's threatening to stand us off. We'll close in on him from both +sides. If he tries to use that steel bar on any of us--" + +"If he does, he'll curse his unlucky star," declared Midshipman Merriam. +"Come on, gentlemen. We'll show him some of the Navy football tactics!" + +The three midshipmen approached Truax steadily from the right. Jack, Hal +and Williamson stepped in on the left. + +With a yell like that of a maniac Sam Truax swung the bar. + +Having to watch both sides at once, however, he made a fizzle of it. The +bar came down, but struck the floor. + +Then, with a yell, the midshipmen leaped in on one side, Jack leading the +submarine forces on the other. Mr. Merriam's trip and Jack's smashing blow +with the fist brought Truax down to the floor in a heap. + +"Now, cart this human rubbish out of here!" ordered Jack Benson, sternly. +"Don't hit him--he isn't man enough to be worthy of a blow!" + +Swooping down upon the prostrate one, Hal and the midshipmen seized Sam +Truax by his arms and legs, carrying him bodily out of the engine room. + +"Williamson," commanded Captain Jack, "stop the speed." + +"In the race, sir. We--" + +"Stop the speed," repeated Benson. + +"You're the captain," admitted Williamson. Grasping the twin levers of the +two motors he swung them backward. + +"Disregard any signal to go ahead until we've had a chance to inspect the +motors," added Captain Jack. + +Then the submarine skipper darted out into the cabin. + +Sam Truax lay sprawling on the floor. Midshipman Merriam, a most cheerful +smile on his face, sat across the fellow, while Hal and the other two +midshipmen stood by, looking on. + +"Hold him please, until I can have the wretch taken care of," requested +Captain Jack, making for the spiral stairway to the conning tower. + +Just as the young skipper stepped out on deck he heard the "Hudson's" +bow-gun break out sharply in the halting signal. + +Taking a megaphone, Benson stood at the rail until the gunboat ranged up +alongside. + +"Have you broken down?" came the hail from the gunboat's bridge. + +"I thought it best to stop speed, sir. We'll have to look over our engines +before it will be safe to attempt any more speed work," Captain Jack +answered. "I've caught a fellow tampering with our machinery. We hold him +a prisoner, now. Can you take him off our hands, sir?" + +"One of _your own_ men?" came back the question. + +"Of course, sir." + +"We'll send a marine guard to take him, on your complaint, Mr. Benson." + +"Thank you, sir." + +The gunboat's engines slowed down. Ere long her port side gangway was +lowered. Jack saw not only two marines and a corporal come down over the +side, but Lieutenant Commander Mayhew appeared in person. That officer +came over in the cutter. + +"You've had treachery aboard, have you?" asked the lieutenant commander, +as he climbed up over the side. + +"Rather. A new machinist, taken aboard just before we sailed from +Dunhaven. The same fellow who must have played the trick on the +'Pollard's' engines yesterday," Benson replied. + +"I'll be glad to have a fellow like that in irons in the brig aboard the +'Hudson,' then," muttered Mr. Mayhew. "I couldn't understand, Mr. Benson, +how you were doing so badly in the full speed ahead dash." + +"The prisoner below is the answer, sir," Captain Jack replied. He then led +the corporal and two marines below. The corporal produced a pair of +handcuffs, which he promptly snapped over Truax's wrists. + +"You'll be sorry for this, one of these days," threatened Truax, with a +snarl that showed his teeth. + +"Some day, then, if you please, when I have more leisure than I have now," +Jack retorted, dryly. "This man is all yours, corporal." + +Truax was foolish enough to try to hang back on his conductors. A slight +jab through the clothing from one of the marines' bayonets caused the +prisoner to stop that trick. He was taken on deck and over the side. + +"Coxswain, return for me after you've taken the prisoner to the 'Hudson,'" +directed Mr. Mayhew. "Now, Mr. Benson, I would like to see what has been +done to your engines." + +"That's just what I want to know, too," responded Jack. + +They found Hal and Williamson hard at work, inspecting the motors. + +"The ignition power was lowered, and that may have been the most that the +fellow did," said Hal. "Yet, at the same time, before putting these +engines to any severe test, I believe they ought to be cooled and looked +over." + +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew frowned. + +"These delays eat up our practice cruise time a whole lot," he grumbled. + +"I'll put the engines through their paces, and chance mischief having been +done to them, if you wish, sir." + +"No; that won't do either, Mr. Hastings," replied the naval officer. "This +craft is private property, and I have no right to give orders that may +damage private property. I'll hold the fleet until you've had time to +inspect your engines properly. By that time, however, we'll have to put +back to the coast for the night, for our practice time will be gone." + +"In the days to follow, sir," put in Benson, earnestly, "I think we can +more than make up for this delay. We won't have the traitor aboard after +this." + +"What earthly object can the fellow have had for wanting to damage your +motors?" demanded the naval officer, looking hopelessly puzzled. + +"I can't even make a sane guess, sir," Jack Benson admitted. + +An hour and a half later the "Hudson" and the two submarines headed back +for a safe little bay on the coast. Here the three craft anchored for the +night. + + + + + + CHAPTER XVII: THE EVIL GENIUS OF THE WATER FRONT + + +It was nearly eight in the evening when the three craft were snug at +anchor. + +The bay was a small one, hardly worthy of the name. The only inhabited +part of the shore thereabouts consisted of the fishing village known as +Blair's Cove, a settlement containing some forty houses. + +Hardly had all been made snug aboard the "Farnum" when Jack, standing on +the platform deck after the cadets had been transferred to the "Hudson" +for the night, saw a small boat heading out from shore. + +"Is that one of the new submarine crafts?" hailed a voice from the bow of +the boat. + +"Yes, sir," Jack answered, courteously. + +No more was said until the boat had come up alongside. + +"I thought maybe you'd be willing to let me have a look over a craft of +this sort," said the man in the bow. He appeared to be about forty years +of age, dark-haired and with a full, black beard. The man was plainly +though not roughly dressed; evidently he was a man of some education. + +"Why, I'm mighty sorry, sir," Captain Jack Benson replied. "But I'm afraid +it will be impossible to allow any strangers on board during this cruise." + +"Oh, I won't steal anything from your craft," answered the stranger, +laughingly. "I won't be inquisitive, either, or go poking into forbidden +corners. Who's your captain?" + +"I am, sir." + +"Then you'll let me come aboard, just for a look, won't you?" pleaded the +stranger. + +Such curiosity was natural. The man seemed like a decent fellow. But Jack +shook his head. + +"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm positive our owners wouldn't approve of our +allowing any strangers to come on board." + +"Had any trouble, so far, with strangers?" asked the man. + +"I didn't say that," Jack replied, evasively. "But the construction of a +submarine torpedo boat is a secret. It is a general rule with our owners +that strangers shan't be allowed on board, unless they're very especially +vouched for. Now, I hate to appear disobliging; yet, if you've ever been +employed by anyone else, you will appreciate the need of obeying an +owner's orders." + +"You're under the orders of the boss of that gunboat?" asked the stranger, +pointing to the "Hudson." + +"On this cruise, yes, sir," Jack nodded. + +"Maybe, if I saw the fellow in command of the gunboat, then he'd give me +an order allowing me to come on board." + +"I'm very certain the lieutenant commander wouldn't do anything of the +sort," Benson responded. + +The stranger gave a comical sigh. + +"Then I'm afraid I don't see a submarine boat to-night--that is, any more +than I can see of it now." + +"That's about the way it looks to me, also," Jack answered, smiling. "Yet, +believe me, I hate awfully to seem discourteous about it." + +"Oh, all right," muttered the stranger, nodding to the two boatmen, who +had rowed him out alongside. + +"Good!" grunted Eph. "I'm glad you didn't let him on board, Captain. On +this cruise our luck doesn't seem to run with strangers." + +"It doesn't, for a fact," laughed Jack Benson. + +"Hi, ho--ah, hum!" yawned young Somers, stretching. "It will be mine for +early bunk to-night, I reckon." + +At this moment a boat was observed rounding the stern of the "Hudson." It +came up alongside, landing a marine sentry. + +"Anybody on the 'Farnum' want to go ashore to-night?" hailed a voice from +the gunboat's rail. "The shore boat will be ready in five minutes." + +"I believe I would like to take just a run through the village," declared +Jack, turning to his chum. "Do you feel like a land-cruise with me, Hal?" + +"I think I'd better go," laughed Hastings. "You seem to get into trouble +when you go alone." + +"All right, then. And, Eph since you're so sleepy, you can turn in as soon +as you want. The boat will be under sufficient protection," Jack added, +nodding toward the marine slowly pacing the platform deck. + +Williamson was called too, but declared that he felt like turning in +early. So, when the shore boat came, it had but two passengers to take +from the submarine. There were a few shore-leave men, however, from the +gunboat. + +"This boat will return to the fleet, gentlemen, every hour up to +midnight," stated the petty officer in charge, as Jack and Hal stepped +ashore at a rickety little wharf. + +"Judging from what we can see of the town from here, we'll be ready to go +back long before midnight," Jack Benson laughingly told his companion. + +"All I want is to shake some of the sea-roll out of my gait," nodded +Hastings. "It surely doesn't seem to be much of a town." + +By way of public buildings there turned out to be a church, locked and +dark, a general store and also a drug-store that contained the local +post-office. But the drug-store carried no ice cream or soda, so the +submarine boys turned away. + +There was one other "public" place that the boys failed to discover at +once. That was a low groggery at the further end of the town. Here two of +the sailors who had come on shore leave turned in for a drink or two. They +found a suave, black-bearded man quite ready to buy liquor for Uncle Sam's +tars. + +Three-quarters of an hour later Jack and Hal felt they had seen about as +much of the town as they cared for, when a hailing voice stopped them. + +"Finding it pretty dull, gentlemen?" + +"Oh, good evening," replied Captain Jack, recognizing the bearded man whom +he had refused admittance to the "Farnum." + +"Pretty stupid town, isn't it, Captain?" asked the stranger, holding out +his hand, which Jack Benson took. + +"As lively as we thought it would be," Hal rejoined. "We just came ashore +to stretch ourselves a bit. Thought we might lay a course to an ice-cream +soda, too, but failed." + +"These fishermen don't have such things," smiled the stranger. "They are +content with the bare necessities of life, with a little grog and tobacco +added. Speaking of grog, would you care to try the best this town has, +gentlemen?" + +"Thank you," Jack answered, politely. "We've never either of us tasted the +stuff, and we don't care to begin." + +"Drop into the drug-store and have a cigar, then?" + +"We don't smoke, either, thank you," came from Hal. + +"You young men are rather hard to entertain in a place like this," sighed +the stranger, but his eyes twinkled. + +"We are just as grateful for the intention," Jack assured him. + +"Tell you what I can do, gentlemen," proposed the stranger, suddenly. "I +might invite you down to my shack for a little while, and show you my +books and some models of yachts and ships that I've been collecting. I'm +quite proud of my collection in that line. Won't you come?" + +Anything in the line of yacht or ship-models interested both of these +sea-loving boys from the shipyard at Dunhaven. Jack graciously accepted +the invitation for them both. + +"And, though I have no soda fountain," continued the bearded one, "I can +offer you some soft drinks. I always keep some about the place." + +"How do you come to be living in a place like this, if I'm not too +inquisitive?" queried Benson, as the three strolled down the street. + +"Doctor's orders," replied the bearded one. "So I've rented the best old +shack I could get here, down by the water. I spend a good deal of my time +sailing a sloop that I have. Curtis is my name." + +Jack and Hal introduced themselves in turn. + +Curtis's shack proved to be well away from the village proper, and down +near the waterfront. A light shone from a window near the front door as +the three approached the small dwelling. + +"I think I can interest you for an hour, gentlemen," declared the bearded +one, as he slipped a key in the lock of the door. + +He admitted them to a little room off the hallway, a room that contained +not much beyond a table and four chairs, a side-table and some of the +accessories of the smoker. + +"Just take a seat here," proposed Curtis, "while I get some sarsaparilla +for you. I'll be right back in a moment." + +It was four or five minutes before Curtis came back, bearing a tray on +which were three tall glasses, each containing a brownish liquid. + +"The stuff isn't iced, yet it's fairly cold," the bearded one explained. +"Well, gentlemen, here's to a pleasant evening!" + +Hal, who was thirsty, took a long swallow of the sarsaparilla, finding the +flavor excellent. Jack drank more slowly, though he enjoyed the beverage. + +"If you don't mind," suggested Curtis, "I will light a cigar. And say, by +the way, gentlemen, what if we take a little walk down to my beach? Before +showing you the models I spoke of, I'd like to have your opinion of the +lines of my sloop." + +"We'll go down and take a look with great pleasure," Jack Benson agreed, +rising. "And I'm glad, sir, that you're able to show us more courtesy than +we were able to offer you to-night." + +"Oh, that was all right," declared their host, smiling good-humoredly. +"Rules are rules, and you have your owners to please. No hard feelings on +that score, I assure you." + +Curtis led the way through a dark yard down to a pier. Moored there lay a +handsome white sloop, some forty-two feet in length--a boat of a good and +seaworthy knockabout type. + +"This is a sloop, all right," Jack agreed, cordially. "Rather different +from the lumbering fishing craft hereabouts." + +"Oh, hah, yum!" yawned Hal, at which Curtis shot a quick glance at him. + +"Come on board," invited Curtis, stepping down to the deck of the craft. +"Let me show you what a comfortable cruising cabin I have." + +"Hi, oh, yow!" yawned Hal, again. "Jack, I think I shall enjoy my rest +to-night." + +"Same case here," agreed Benson, stifling a yawn that came as though in +answer to Hal's. + +"I won't keep you long, gentlemen, if I am boring you," agreed their host, +amiably. "Now, I'll go below first and light up. So! Now, come down and +take a look. Do you find many yacht cabins more comfortable than this +one?" + +It was, indeed, a cozy place. Up forward stood a miniature sideboard, +complete in every respect with glass and silver. In the center of the +cabin was a folding table. There were locker seats and inviting looking +cushions. The trim was largely of mahogany. On either side was a broad, +comfortable-looking berth. + +"Just get into that berth and try it, Mr. Hastings," urged the bearded +one. + +"I--I'm afraid to," confessed Hal, stifling another yawn. + +"Afraid?" + +"Very sure thing!" + +"Why?" + +"I'm--hah-ho-hum!" yawned Hal Hastings. "I'm afraid I'd--yow!--abuse your +hospitality by going to sleep." + +Jack Benson leaned against the edge of the opposite berth, feeling +unaccountably drowsy. + +"Oh, nonsense," laughed Curtis. "Just pile into that berth for a moment, +Hastings, and see what a soft, restful place it is. I'll agree to pull you +out, if necessary." + +Not realizing much, in his approaching stupor, Hal Hastings allowed +himself to be coaxed to stretch himself at full length in the downy berth. + +Almost immediately he closed his eyes, drifting off into stupor. + +"Why, your friend _is_ drowsy, isn't he?" laughed the bearded one, turning +to the submarine skipper. + +Jack Benson's own eyelids were suspiciously close together. + +"Why--what--ails you?" + +Curtis spoke in a low, droning, far-away voice that caused Jack Benson's +upper eyelids to sink. Curtis stood watching him, in malicious glee, for +some moments. Then, at last, he took hold of the young skipper. + +"Come, old fellow," coaxed the bearded one, "you'll do best to join your +friend in a good nap. Get up in the berth." + +"Lemme alone," protested the boy, thickly, feeling that he was being +lifted. Jack struggled, partly rousing himself. + +"Come, get up into the berth. You'll be more comfortable there." + +"Lemme alone. What are you trying to do?" demanded Jack, swinging an arm. + +Curtis dodged the light blow, then gripped Jack Benson resolutely. + +"Now, see here, young man," hissed the bearded one, "I'm not going to have +any more nonsense out of you. Up into the berth you go! Do you want me to +hit you?" + +Another man thrust his head down the cabin hatchway, showing an evil, +grinning face. + +"Got 'em right?" demanded the one from the hatchway. + +"Yes," snapped the bearded one, then turned to give his attention to Jack +Benson, who was putting up an ineffectual fight while Hal slumbered on. +"Now, see here, Benson, quit all your fooling!" + +"You lemme up," insisted the submarine boy, in a low, dull voice, though +he swung both his arms in an effort to assert himself. "'M not goin' t' +stay here. Lemme up, I say! 'M goin' back to--own boat." + +"The submarine?" jeered the bearded man. + +"Yep." + +"Guess again, son," laughed Curtis, jeeringly. "You're not going back +aboard the submarine to-night." + +"Am so," declared Benson, obstinately, though his tone was growing more +drowsy every instant, and his busy hands moved almost as weakly as an +infant's. + +"Listen, if you've got enough of your senses left," growled the bearded +men. "You're not going back to the 'Farnum'--neither to-night, nor at any +other time during the next few months. You're bound on a long cruise, but +not on a submarine boat. I am the captain here, and I'll name the cruise!" + + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII: HELD UP BY MARINES + + +It was barely a minute afterward that Jack Benson lapsed into a very +distinct snore. + +"No more trouble from this pair," laughed the bearded one to his companion +at the hatchway. "Now, I'll douse the cabin light, and then we'll cast +off. This thing has moved along very slickly." + +Eph, after having made up his mind to turn in early, had found his sleepy +fit passing. He read for a while in the cabin, then pulled on a reefer and +went up on deck. Williamson was already in a berth, sound asleep. + +"It would be a fine night if there was a moon," Eph remarked to the marine +sentry on deck. + +"Yes, sir." + +The marine--"soldier, and sailor, too"--not being there for conversational +purposes, continued his slow pacing, his rifle resting over his right +shoulder. + +As Eph strolled about in the limited space of the platform deck he heard a +distant creaking. It was a sound that he well knew--the hoisting of sail. + +"I wonder if the local fishermen start out at this time of the night?" Eph +Somers remarked, musingly, to the sentry. + +"It may be so, sir; I don't know," replied the marine. + +Presently Eph made out the lines and the spread of canvas of a handsome +knockabout sloop standing on out of the harbor. + +The course being narrow, the sloop was obliged to sail rather close to the +fleet. + +"That's no fisherman!" muttered Somers, watching, his hands thrust deep in +his pockets. + +Presently the sloop's hull was lost to Eph's sight beyond the gunboat. +Then the boy heard a voice from the "Hudson's" deck roar out: + +"Look alive, you lubber! Do you want to foul our anchor chain?" + +"No, sir," came from the sloop's deck. "We'll clear you all right." + +"See that you do, then!" + +Then the sloop's hull came into view again, as the craft headed out toward +the open water beyond. + +"That's the kind of a craft Jack would give a heap to be on," thought Eph. +"Queer that he should spend all his time on gasoline peanut-roasters when +he's so fond of whistling for a breeze behind canvas." + +As the sloop neared the mouth of the little bay, and her lines became +rather indistinct in the darkness, Eph Somers turned to resume his pacing +of the deck. + +"Hullo," muttered the submarine boy, two or three minutes later. "Here's +the shore boat coming on its regular trip. I wonder if Jack and Hal are in +it? It's about time for them to be coming on board." + +But the shore boat, instead of coming out to the submarine, lay in at the +side gangway of the gunboat opposite, and Eph discovered that his two +comrades were not in the boat. + +"I say," hailed Eph, "have you seen Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings on shore!" + +"No, sir," replied the petty officer in charge. + +Then one of the sailors in the boat spoke in an undertone. + +"This man says, sir," continued the petty officer, "that he saw your +friends, sir, going aboard a white knockabout sloop." + +"He did, eh?" demanded the astonished Eph. "How long ago was that?" + +"Only a few minutes ago, sir," replied the sailor. + +"You're sure you saw Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"That's queer," reflected Eph. "It wouldn't be like them to go sailing at +this time of the night, and without notifying me, either. But, then, I +didn't see anything of 'em aboard that sloop, either." + +Eph was silent for a few moments, thinking. Then, suddenly, he leaped up +in the air, coming down flat-footed. + +"Crackey!" ejaculated Eph Somers. + +For a moment or two his face was a study in bewilderment. + +"Mighty strange things have been happening all through this cruise," Eph +muttered, half-aloud. "Especially happening to Jack! Now, the two of them +go aboard that sloop, and immediately after the boat puts out to sea in +the dead of night. What if Jack and Hal have been shanghaied on that +infernal sloop?" + +Cold chills began to chase each other up and down the spine of Eph Somers. +He was not, ordinarily, an imaginative youth, but just now the gruesome +thought that had entered his mind persisted there. + +He began to pace the platform deck in deep agitation. + +"Anything wrong, sir?" questioned the marine sentry, halting and throwing +his rifle over to port arms. + +"That's just what I'd give a million dollars and ten cents to know!" +exploded Eph. + +"Gunboat, ahoy!" he shouted, some twenty seconds later. + +"'Farnum,' ahoy!" + +"I half believe, sir," Eph rattled on, "that my two comrades, Mr. Benson +and Mr. Hastings have been tricked, in some way, and carried out to sea on +that knockabout. They'd have been back from shore by this time, if nothing +had happened." + +"What do you want to do, Mr. Somers?" + +"Want to do, sir?" retorted Eph. "I know what I'm going to do. I'm going +to slip moorings and chase after that knockabout. What I wish to know from +you, sir, is whether you'll send another marine or two on board, so that I +can back up my demand to find my friends?" + +"I'll have to ask the lieutenant commander about that, Mr. Somers." + +"Can you do it, now, sir?" asked Eph, energetically. + +"Instantly. I'll let you know the decision as soon as it's made." + +Eph, hanging at the rail in the silence that followed, had no notion of +whether his request had been a correct one. All he knew was that his +suspicions had surged to the surface, and were threatening to boil over. +It was a huge relief to the boy when Mr. Mayhew's voice sounded from the +rail of the gunboat. Somers swiftly answered all questions. + +"Your craft and crew are in a measure under our protection and orders," +decided Mr. Mayhew. "I think we may properly extend you some help. I will +send some men to you, and a cadet midshipman who will have my +instructions." + +"Will you send them quickly, sir?" begged Eph. + +"I'll have men on board of you by the time that your engines are running," +promised the lieutenant commander. + +"Engines?" That word came as a fortunate reminder to the submarine boy. He +darted below, almost yanking Williamson from his berth, nearly pulling the +machinist into his clothes. By the time that Williamson was really wide +awake he found himself standing by the motors forward. + +Then young Somers darted onto deck again, just in time to see the boat +coming alongside. It brought two more marines, one of them a corporal. +There were also two sailors. A cadet midshipman commanded them. + +"Mr. Somers," reported the cadet midshipman, "I am not intended to +displace you from the command of this boat. I am here only with definite +instructions in case you succeed in overhauling that white sloop." + +"What--" began Eph. Then he paused, with a half-grin. "Really," he added, +"I ought to know better than to quiz you about your instructions from your +superior officer." + +"Yes, sir," assented the midshipman, simply. + +Eph turned on the current to the search-light, swinging the ray about the +bay. Then, too impatient to sit in the conning tower, the submarine boy +took his place by the deck wheel. + +"Will your seamen cast loose from the moorings?" Somers asked. + +"Yes, sir," replied the midshipman. + +"If there's anything wrong, good luck to you," sounded the cool voice of +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, from the gunboat's rail. + +"Thank you, sir." + +No sooner had the moorings been cast loose from than Eph sounded the slow +speed ahead bell. Within sixty seconds the propellers of the "Farnum" were +doing a ten-knot stunt, which was soon increased to fourteen. + +One of the seamen now stood by to swing the searchlight under Eph's +orders. + +By the time that the submarine reached the mouth of the bay the light +faintly picked up a spread of white sail, off to the East. + +"That's the knockabout," cried Eph, excitedly. "Now, see here, keep that +ray right across the boat as soon as we get half a mile nearer." + +"It'll show the boat that you're chasing 'em, sir," advised the +midshipman. + +"I know it," admitted Eph. "But it will also keep the rascals from dumping +my friends overboard without our catching 'em at it." + +"What do you think the men in charge of that boat are, sir--pirates?" + +"They're mighty close to it, if they've shanghaied Mr. Benson and Mr. +Hastings and put to sea with 'em," rejoined Eph. Then he rang for more +speed. Down below, Williamson almost instantly responded. The "Farnum" now +fairly leaped through the water. + +"Turn the light on the knockabout, now, and keep it there," directed the +submarine boy. + +There was a seven-knot breeze blowing. At the speed at which the submarine +boat was traveling the distance was soon covered. + +And now the searchlight revealed two men in the standing-room of the +sloop, one of whom, a bearded man, was looking backward over his wake much +of the time. + +"Can one of the marines fire a shot to stop those fellows?" asked Eph +Somers. + +"In the air, do you mean, sir?" asked the midshipman. "Certainly." + +"Then I wish he'd do it." + +Bang! The discharge of the rifle sounded sharply on the night air. + +"It ain't stopping 'em any," muttered Eph, after a few seconds had gone +by. + +"Nothing would, unless fired into them," volunteered Midshipman Terrell. + +It did not take long, however, to run the submarine up alongside of the +sloop, at a distance of about one hundred yards. + +"Now, we want you men to stop," called Midshipman Terrell, between his +hands. "We are United States naval forces, from the gunboat, and you will +regard this as an order that you must obey. No!" thundered the midshipman, +suddenly, as the bearded one started to step down into the cabin. "You +will both keep on deck. Otherwise we shall be obliged to fire into you. We +mean business, remember!" + +"What do you want to board us for?" demanded Curtis, pausing. + +"We will explain when we come aboard." + +"How are you coming, aboard? You've no small boat." + +"We can land this submarine right up beside you," responded the +midshipman, "if you keep straight to your present course." + +"And scrape all the paint off our side," objected Curtis. + +"That has no bearing on my instructions, sir. I direct you to keep +straight to your present course. We will come up alongside." + +"What if we don't do it?" demanded Curtis, with sudden bluster. + +"Then your danger will be divided between being shot where you stand and +having your craft cut in two by the bow of our craft," retorted Mr. +Terrell. "You will realize, I think, that there can be no parleying with +our orders." + +The bearded one swore, but the corporal and his two marines stood at the +rail with their rifles ready, waiting only the midshipman's order to aim +and fire. + +Eph allowed the "Farnum" to fall back a little way. Then he exerted +himself to show his best in seamanship as he ran the submarine up to board +the sloop by the starboard quarter. The two boats barely touched. Mr. +Terrell, his three marines and two seamen leaped to the standing room of +the yacht. Eph, all aquiver, let the nose of the "Farnum" fall back +slightly. Then he trailed along, under bare headway. + +Then a shout came from the sloop, as the two seamen reappeared, bearing +the forms of Jack and Hal. + +"We've found them aboard, Mr. Somers," shouted Terrell. "Drugged, I think, +sir. Will you come alongside, sir." + +Eph quickly rang the signal, then did some careful manoeuvring. As he +touched, one of the marines leaped back to the platform deck, then passed +a line to Mr. Terrell. The two craft were held together until Jack and Hal +had been passed, still unconscious, over the side. The naval party quickly +followed, then cast loose from the sloop. + +"This whole proceeding is high-handed," growled Curtis, as soon as he saw +that he was not to be molested. + +"Oh, you shut up, and keep your tongue padlocked," retorted Midshipman +Terrell, in high disgust. "You're lucky as it is. Now, Mr. Somers, are you +going back to the bay, sir?" + +"Aren't you going to take those two--body-snatchers?" demanded Eph, glaring +venomously at the pair on the sloop. + +"My instructions don't cover that, sir," replied the cadet midshipman. + +"Then hang your orders!" muttered young Somers, but he kept the words +behind his teeth. Eph veered off, next headed about, while the two seamen +bore Jack and Hal below to their berths. + +"Will you take the wheel, Mr. Terrell?" asked Eph, edging away, with one +hand on the spokes. + +"Yes, sir." + +Eph hurried below to the port stateroom. Jack lay in the lower berth, Hal +in the upper. The two seamen, after feeling for pulse, stood by looking at +the unconscious submarine boys. + +"What's been done to them?" demanded Eph. + +"The same old knockout drops, sir, that sailors in all parts of the world +know so well, sir, I think," answered one of the men, with a quiet grin. + +"Humph!" gritted Eph, bending over Jack's face. "Smell his breath." + +"Yes, sir," said the sailor, obeying. + +"There's no smell of liquor, there, is there?" + +"No, sir," admitted the sailor, looking up, rather puzzled. + +"There is some infernally mean trick in all this," growled Eph. "I am +mighty sorry we didn't bring those rascals back with us." + +When he went on deck again the submarine boy relieved Mr. Terrell at the +wheel, completing the run in to moorings. + +"Did you find your comrades aboard the sloop, Mr. Somers?" hailed the +lieutenant commander, from the gunboat. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Are they all right?" + +"Drugged, sir." + +"Hm! Mr. Terrell and his detachment will return to this vessel." + +The boat took them away. It was five minutes later when the boat returned, +bringing the lieutenant commander, Doctor McCrea, the surgeon, and a +sailor belonging to the hospital detachment aboard the "Hudson." Eph +conducted them below. + +"Drugged," announced the medical officer, after a brief examination. + +"Humph!" uttered Mr. Mayhew. "That sort of trick isn't played on folks in +any decent resort on shore. I don't understand Mr. Benson's conduct. I +remember his mishap at Dunhaven. I remember the plight he got into at +Annapolis; and now he and Mr. Hastings are found in this questionable +shape. I am very much afraid these young men do not conduct themselves, on +shore, in the careful manner that must be expected of civilian instructors +to cadets." + +Eph Somers felt something boiling up inside of him. + + + + + + CHAPTER XIX: THE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER'S VERDICT + + +"Let me try to get at your meaning, sir, if you please," begged Somers, +after standing for a few seconds with clenched fists. "Do you mean that my +friends have been going into tough resorts on shore?" + +"Where else do sailors usually get drugged?" inquired Mr. Mayhew. "What +kind of people usually feed sea-faring men with what are generally known +as knock-out drops?" + +"How should I know?" demanded Eph, solemnly. + +"You see your friends, and you see their condition." + +"Smell their breaths, sir. There isn't a trace of the odor of liquor." + +The surgeon did so, confirming Eph's claim. + +"But I remember that Mr. Benson came aboard, at Dunhaven, with a very +strong odor of liquor," continued the lieutenant commander. + +"That had been sprinkled on his clothes, sir," argued Somers. + +"Perhaps. But then there was the Annapolis affair." + +"Mr. Benson explained that to you, sir." + +"It's very strange," returned the lieutenant commander, "that such things +seem to happen generally to Mr. Benson when he gets on shore. I know I +have been ashore, in all parts of the world, without having such things +happen to me." + +"There is something behind this, sir, that doesn't spell bad conduct on +the part of either of my friends," cried Eph, hotly. "There's some plot, +some trick in the whole thing that we don't understand. And we might +understand much more about it, sir, if your midshipman had arrested that +pair of blackguards on the sloop, and brought them back with us." + +"Had Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings been members of the naval forces we could +have done that," replied Mr. Mayhew. "Probably you don't understand, Mr. +Somers, how very careful the Navy has to be about making arrests in times +of peace, when the civil authorities are all-supreme. We carried our right +as far as it could possibly be stretched when we boarded and searched that +sloop for you." + +"I don't care so much about that," contended Eph, warmly. "But it does jar +on me, sir, to have you take such a view of my friends. You don't know +them; you don't understand them as Mr. Farnum and Mr. Pollard do." + +"Perhaps you wouldn't blame me as much for my opinions," replied Mr. +Mayhew, "if you could look at the matter from my viewpoint, Mr. Somers. I +am in charge of this cruise, which is one of instruction to naval cadets, +and I am in a very large measure responsible for the conduct and good +behavior of young men who have been selected as instructors to the cadets. +If you were in my place, Mr. Somers, would you be patient over young men +who, when they get ashore, get into one unseemly scrape after another? Or +would you wonder, as I do, whether it will not be best for me to end this +practice cruise and sail back to Annapolis, there to make my report in the +matter?" + +"For heaven's sake don't do that," begged Eph Somers, hoarsely. "At least, +not until you have talked with Mr. Benson and Mr. Hastings. You'll wait +until morning, sir?" + +"I'm afraid I shall have to, if I want to talk with your friends," replied +the lieutenant commander, smiling coldly. "And now, Mr. Somers, you and I +had better leave here. The doctor and his nurse will want the room cleared +in order to look after their patients. I hope your friends will be all +right in the morning," added the naval officer, as the pair gained the +deck. + +"Now, see here, sir," began Eph, earnestly, all over again. "I hope you'll +soon begin to understand that, whatever has happened, there are no two +straighter boys alive than Jack Benson and Hal Hastings." + +"I trust you're right," replied Mr. Mayhew, less coldly. "Yet, what can +you expect me to think, now that Benson has been in such scrapes three +different times? And, in this last instance, he drags even the quiet Mr. +Hastings into the affair with him." + +"I see that I'll have to wait, sir," sighed Eph, resignedly. + +"Yes; it will be better in every way to wait," agreed the lieutenant +commander. "It is plain justice, at the least, to wait and give the young +men a chance to offer any defense that they can." + +"Now, of course, from his way of looking at it, I can't blame him so very +much," admitted Eph Somers, as he leaned over the rail, watching Mr. +Mayhew going back through the darkness. "But Jack--great old Jack!--having +any liking at all for mixing up in saloons and such places on shore! Ha, +ha! Ho, ho!" + +Williamson, now able to leave his motors, came on deck, asking an account +of what had happened. The machinist listened in amazement, though, like +Eph, he needed no proof that the boys, whatever trouble they had +encountered, had met honestly and innocently. + +"Of course that naval officer is right, too, from his own limited point of +view," urged Williamson. + +"Oh, yes, I suppose so," nodded Somers, gloomily. "I've been trying to +tell myself that. But it would be fearful, wouldn't it, if the 'Farnum' +were ordered away from the fleet, and Jack disgraced, just because of +things he really didn't do." + +"It's a queer old world," mused the machinist, thoughtfully. "We hear a +lot about the consequences of wrong things we do. But how often people +seem to have to pay up for things they never did!" + +"Oh, well," muttered Eph, philosophically, "let's wait until morning. A +night's sleep straightens out a lot of things." + +Williamson, however, having had some sleep earlier in the night, was not +drowsy, now. He lighted a pipe, lingering on the platform deck. Eph, not +being a user of tobacco, went below to find that Doctor McCrea, from the +gunboat, was sitting in the cabin, reading a book he had chosen from the +book-case. + +"I've brought the young men around somewhat," reported the physician. +"I've made them throw off the drug, and now I've left some stuff with the +nurse to help brace them up. They'll have sour stomachs and aching heads +in the morning, though." + +"But you noticed one thing, Doctor?" pressed Somers. + +"What was that?" + +"That there were no signs of liquor about them? Those boys never tasted a +drop of the vile stuff in their lives!" + +"I'm inclined to believe you," nodded the surgeon. "They have splendid, +clear skins, eyes bright as diamonds, sound, sturdy heart-beats, and +they're full of vitality. I've met boys from the slums, once in a +while--beer-drinkers and cigarette-smokers. But such boys never show the +splendid physical condition that your friends possess." + +"You know, then, as well as I do, Doctor, that neither of my chums are +rowdies, and that, whatever happened to them to-night, they didn't get to +it through any bad habits or conduct?" + +"I'm much inclined to agree with you, Mr. Somers." + +"I hope, then, you'll succeed in impressing all that on Lieutenant +Commander Mayhew in the morning." + +With that the submarine boy passed on to the starboard stateroom. He would +have given much to have stepped into the room opposite, but felt, from the +doctor's manner, that the latter did not wish his patients disturbed. + +Eph slept little that night. Though Jack and Hal fared better in that +single respect, Somers looked far the best of the three in the morning. + +Jack and Hal came out with bandages about their heads, which buzzed and +ached. + +The two, however, told their story to Somers and Williamson as soon as +possible. + +"Just as I supposed," nodded Eph, vigorously. + +"Why, how did you guess it all?" asked Benson, in astonishment. + +"I mean, I knew you hadn't been in any low sailor resorts." + +"Who said we had?" demanded Jack, flaring in spite of his dizziness. + +"Some of the Navy folks didn't know but you had," replied Eph, then bit +his tongue for having let that much out of the bag. + +Doctor McCrea came aboard early. He looked the boys over. + +"Eat a little toast, if you want, and drink some weak tea," he suggested. +"After that, eat nothing more until to-night." + +"But the day's work--?" hinted Jack. + +"I don't know," replied the doctor, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not a +line officer, and therefore know nothing about the fleet's manoeuvres." + +That reply, however, was quite enough to send Jack Benson's suspicions +aloft. + +"Eph," he cried, wheeling upon his friend the moment Doctor McCrea was +gone, "there's something you haven't told us." + +"Such as--what?" asked Somers, doing his best to look mighty innocent. + +"Doctor McCrea as good as admitted that we won't have anything to do +to-day. What's wrong?" Then, after a brief pause: "Good heavens, does Mr. +Mayhew believe we've been acting disgracefully? Are we barred out of the +instruction work?" + +Hal had been raising a glass of cold water to his lips. The glass fell, +with a crash. He wheeled about, then clutched at the edge of the cabin +table, most unsteadily. + +"We-e-ll," admitted Somers, reluctantly, "Mr. Mayhew said he would want to +question you some, perhaps, this morning." + +"What did he say? Out with it all, Eph!" + +A moment before Jack Benson had been pallid enough. Now, two bright, +furious spots burned in either cheek. + +The red-haired boy, however, was spared the pain of going any further, +for, at that moment, a heavy tread was heard on the spiral staircase. Then +Lieutenant Commander Mayhew, holding himself very erect, one hand resting +against the scabbard of the sword that he wore at his side, came into view +below. + +Many were the questions that the naval officer put to the victims of the +night's mishap. + +"Well, gentlemen," Mr. Mayhew said at last, rising, "your story is +strange. Yet, I believe you are young men of honor. I'm sorry we have not +in custody the men who sailed that sloop." + +"Pardon me, sir!" burst out Eph. + +"Well, Mr. Somers?" + +"Perhaps, sir, if you should question Truax you could learn something from +him. I tell you, sir, there's a scheme to ruin Jack Benson; and that's +only part of a bigger plot to discredit our company with the Navy!" + +Mr. Mayhew, looking thoughtful, replied: + +"I'll find some way of questioning Truax. And now, Mr. Benson, since you +and Mr. Hastings are not fit to instruct the cadets to-day, I'll send out +sections under Lieutenant Halpin on board the 'Pollard' only. To-morrow +you should be in shape to resume your duties. Meanwhile, I must make one +condition." + +"It will not be necessary, sir, to make any conditions with us," Jack +replied. "Your instructions will be sufficient." + +"While you are on this present tour of duty, I shall ask Mr. Benson and +Mr. Hastings not to leave the 'Farnum' without my consent." + +As soon as Mr. Mayhew had left the "Farnum" Eph Somers cried bitterly: + +"You heard the verdict in the case! A great verdict! Not guilty--but don't +do it again!" + +At half past eight the next morning a section of cadets, under the command +of Ensign Trahern, came aboard the "Farnum." + +"The lieutenant commander sends word, with his compliments," reported +Trahern, "that after leaving the bay the formation will be as usual. The +signal to halt and be ready for the tour of instruction will be given when +we're about ten miles off shore." + +Six of the cadets, of the engineer division, went below to the engine +room. To one of the ten left on deck Jack turned and said: + +"You will take charge, Mr. Surles. Assume all the responsibilities of the +officer of the deck." + +In all, five of the midshipmen had commanded briefly before the laying-to +signal was given. Hal Hastings then appeared on deck. + +"Captain Benson," Hal stated, saluting, "I have inspected all the +submerging machinery, and I find everything in good order. We can go below +the surface at any time." + +"Thank you, Mr. Hastings. All below!" ordered Jack crisply. + +After the cadets and the ensign had filed below, Jack, having seen that +all was in order, followed. He made all fast in the conning tower, then +called Midshipman Surles up the stairway to the tower wheel. + +"Do you think you can head due east and keep to that course under water, +Mr. Surles?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Going down to the cabin floor, Jack ordered two more midshipmen to the +tower as observers. + +"The rest crowd about me and ask questions while I handle the submerging +machinery." + +Under the impetus from the electric motors, the propeller shafts began to +throb. The next instant the submarine shot below, going down at so steep +an angle that many of the middies were forced to reach for new footing. + +"The gauge registers sixty feet below," announced Jack. + +In another moment, by the quick flooding of some of the compartments +astern, the young skipper brought the boat to an even keel. + +Having finished the prescribed distance under water, Captain Jack turned +on the compressed air to expel the water from the compartments. The +conning tower soon rose above the water, and a moment later the "Pollard" +also emerged. + +Other cadets were transferred from the gunboat to the submarines, and the +instruction proceeded. The manoeuvers for the day were ended with a +half-hour run under water. + +"By the way, sir, did you question Truax to see what you could learn about +his reasons for acting as he did on the 'Farnum'?" asked Jack Benson the +next day. Jack and Doctor McCrea were talking with Mr. Mayhew. + +"I had him before me last night, and again this morning," replied Mr. +Mayhew. "He said he hadn't an idea what I meant, and that is all I could +get out of him." + +Jack looked thoughtfully at Doctor McCrea for a moment before he +exclaimed: + +"Doctor, if I had anything like your chance, I'd have Sam Truax talking!" + +"How?" Doctor McCrea looked interested. + +"Why, I'd--" Jack hesitated, glancing toward the gunboat's commanding +officer. + +"I'd better go and see how the midshipmen are doing," laughed Mr. Mayhew, +rising. + +For some minutes Jack talked with Doctor McCrea. As the medical officer +listened, he grinned, then laughed unrestrainedly. + +"Mr. Benson, you're certainly ingenious!" + +"Will you do what I've suggested?" + +"Why, I--er--er--" Doctor McCrea hesitated. "I--well, I'll think it over." +Again Doctor McCrea roared with laughter. + + + + + + CHAPTER XX: CONCLUSION + + +Sam Truax sat in the brig, between decks on the "Hudson," his scowling +face turned toward the barred door, when the marine guard, taking a turn, +peered in. + +"Good heavens, man! What ails you?" demanded the marine. + +"I'm all right," growled the prisoner. + +"I'll be hanged if you look it." + +"What are you talking about!" demanded the prisoner angrily. + +"Man alive, I wish you could see your face!" + +Three minutes later a sailor halted at the door, looked at Truax, then +wheeled about to the marine. + +"Say, what ails that man? What's the matter with his face?" + +"Don't know. Looks fearful, doesn't he?" + +"Awful! Ought to have the doctor." + +Sam shifted uneasily. + +Five minutes later a sailor wearing on one sleeve the Red Cross of the +hospital squad came along. + +"Say," said the marine, "I wish you'd look at the feller in the brig." + +The hospital man showed his face at the grating and looked at Truax +keenly. + +"Wow! The sawbones officer has got to look at this chap!" + +Sam Truax sprang to his feet, but his legs wobbled. He felt his +heart-beats racing and his face flushing. + +"I felt all right a little while ago, but I certainly feel queer now," he +muttered. + +Doctor McCrea soon hurried below. + +"Sentry, unlock the door! Let me in there!" + +Doctor McCrea made a brief examination. + +"How long have you been feeling ill?" + +"N-not long," faltered Truax. + +"Hospital man!" called Doctor McCrea. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +"Have the stretcher brought here at once." + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +The stretcher was brought, and the attendants put Truax on it. + +"I can walk, Doctor," he protested feebly. + +"Can't risk it! To the 'sick bay,' men." + +"What's wrong, Doctor?" Truax asked, when he was lifted from the stretcher +and placed in one of the berths. + +"Don't talk, my man. Just lie quietly and let us get you on your feet--if +we can," he added under his breath, but not so softly but that Sam Truax +heard him. + +The attendant came with a glass of liquid. + +"Drink this," ordered the surgeon, "and in a few minutes you'll feel +better." + +"I--I feel awful," Truax groaned. + +The dose was repeated, but the patient continued to grow worse. His nausea +was overwhelming and he vomited over and over. In an interval of quiet the +doctor leaned over him. + +"Have you anything on your mind, man? Any wrong you'd like to set straight +before--before--" + +A look of fright came into Truax's eyes. + +"Doctor, I--I wonder if Jack Benson would come to see me?" + +"I'll see," replied the doctor, rising and leaving the "sick bay." + +Ten minutes later the naval surgeon returned with Benson. Hal Hastings, +Mr. Mayhew and Ensign Trahern followed Jack and the doctor. + +"Here's Mr. Benson, Truax," announced Doctor McCrea. "If there's anything +you wish to confess, the rest of us can bear witness and help straighten +matters out if you've done any wrong that you now regret." + +Sam Truax feebly stretched out a hand that was hot and dry. + +"Benson, will you give me your hand?" + +"Certainly." + +"Can you ever forgive me?" moaned the man. + +"Why, what have you done?" asked Jack. + +"That assault back in Dunhaven--" + +"Was it you who knocked me out there?" demanded Benson sharply. + +"Yes." In a shaking voice Truax confessed the details of the affair and +from that passed to Jack's trip to the suburbs of Annapolis. + +"I found the mulatto in a low den. I told him you carried a lot of money +and that he could have it all if he'd decoy you somewhere, keep you all +night, and send you back to the Naval Academy looking like a tramp." He +then added the name of the mulatto. + +"But why have you done this?" demanded Jack. "What have you against me?" + +"I didn't do it on my own account. I did it for Tip Gaynor, a salesman for +Sidenham." + +"The Sidenham Submarine Company?" cried Jack, deeply interested. "The +Sidenham people are our nearest competitors in the submarine business!" he +exclaimed. + +"Yes; and they wanted to get the business away from the Pollard Company. +They told Tip Gaynor it would be worth ten thousand dollars to him for +each Sidenham boat he could sell to the Government. Tip hired me--" + +"One moment, please," interrupted Jack. "Did the Sidenham officials know +that Gaynor intended to use such methods?" + +"I don't believe they did," replied Truax. + +"Humph! So Gaynor hired you to do all you could to disgrace me in the eyes +of the naval authorities and to injure the machinery in the engine room of +the submarine!" + +"Yes. Tip said it was highly important that the Pollard boats should break +down while under the eyes of all Annapolis, so that it would seem that +they could not be depended upon." + +Truax here became so ill that his audience had to wait until he could +proceed. Then Jack asked: + +"What sort of looking fellow is Gaynor?" + +"He was the black-bearded man who shanghaied you in the white knockabout. +He doesn't usually wear a beard. He grew it for the occasion." + +"So, acting for Tip Gaynor, you undertook to ruin us all and the good name +of our boats! You even met Dave Pollard and got him to take you on as a +machinist for our boats!" + +"Tip knew a man who was willing to introduce me to Mr. Pollard." + +"It was like kindly, unsuspicious Dave Pollard to be taken in by a rascal +like that," muttered Jack to himself. + +Sam Truax added a few more details to his confession, then said: + +"I couldn't die without telling you this, Benson. I hope you forgive me." + +Before Jack Benson could reply Lieutenant Commander Mayhew stepped +forward. + +"Truax, have you told us the exact truth?" + +"I have." + +"You thought it would be easy to get the better of a boy like Benson, I +suppose." + +"Easy enough," admitted Sam. "So did Tip." + +"You shot far below the mark in guessing at Benson's ingenuity and +brains," remarked Doctor McCrea, laughing. "It was he who suggested this +way of inducing you to make this confession after you had refused to +answer the lieutenant commander's questions." + +"What?" demanded Truax harshly. + +"When I was first called in to you, you were not sick, only scared by the +remarks of others. After we got you in here, we dosed you with ipecac. +That started your stomach to moving up and down." + +"What? You poisoned me?" + +"The ipecac was my choice. It isn't poison. The general idea was Captain +Benson's. With a lad like him you haven't a chance." + +"Benson, you infernal cheat, you!" muttered Truax, and started to get out +of the berth. But he was weak, and the attendant had no difficulty in +thrusting him back. + +"In view of what you've been telling us, you'd better not sprinkle bad +names about," said the surgeon, turning on his heel. He was followed by +the others, all chuckling. + +"Mr. Benson," said Doctor McCrea, when the party was in the cabin, "are +you my friend?" + +"I certainly am, sir," cried Jack warmly. + +"Thank you," said the doctor, making a comical face. "With your head for +doing things, Mr. Benson, I feel safer with your friendship than I should +if I had your enmity." + +While they were still chatting in the cabin of the gunboat a shot sounded +on deck. Then a corporal of marines rushed in, saluting. + +"The prisoner, Truax, sir, escaped while walking under guard on deck. He +dived headlong, sir. The marine guard fired after him through the +darkness, sir. The officer of the deck sends his compliments, sir, and +wants to know if Truax is to be pursued in a small boat." + +"At once, and with all diligence," ordered the lieutenant commander. + +Though a thorough search was made, Truax was not found. It was thought +that the fellow had been drowned. But months later it was learned that he +was skulking in Europe with Tip Gaynor, who had received word in time to +make his escape also. + +For two days more the instruction continued at sea. Then, the tour of +instruction over, the little flotilla returned to the Academy at +Annapolis. From there Captain Benson wired Mr. Farnum for further orders. +Without delay came back the dispatch: + +"Navy Department requests that for present 'Farnum' be left at Annapolis. +You and crew return by rail when ready." + +Soon after this Jack was informed that the Annapolis police had run down +the mulatto who had decoyed the young submarine skipper on that memorable +night. Jack's money, watch and other valuables were later recovered and +returned to him. + +Just before Jack and his mates were to leave the "Farnum" for the last +time, Lieutenant Commander Mayhew came aboard, followed by Ensign Trahern +and three of the midshipmen who had been under submarine instruction. + +"Mr. Benson and gentlemen," said Mr. Mayhew, "I shall not make a set +speech. What I have to say is that the cadet midshipmen who have been +under your capable and much-prized instruction of late wish each of you to +take away a slight memento of your stay here." + +Machinist Williamson had not been omitted. Each of the four received from +the lieutenant commander a small box, each containing a small gold shield. +In the center was the coat of arms of the United States Naval Academy. At +the top of each pin was the name of the one to whom it was given. Across +the bottom were the words: + + FROM THE + BATTALION OF NAVAL CADETS + IN KEEN APPRECIATION + OF ADMIRABLE INSTRUCTION + +"I think," said Mr. Mayhew, "that none of you will hesitate to wear this +pin on vest or coat lapel. The gift is a simple one, but it practically +makes you honorary members of the United States Navy of the future, and I +am glad of it." + + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES*** + + + +CREDITS + + +December 2005 + + Project Gutenberg Edition + Roger Frank, Taavi Kalju + Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +June 2006 + + Added PGHeader/PGFooter. + Joshua Hutchinson + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 17756-0.txt or 17756-0.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/5/17756/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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