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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ocean Wireless Boys And The Naval
+Code, by John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+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 www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Ocean Wireless Boys And The Naval Code
+
+Author: John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+Illustrator: Christopher L. Wren
+
+Release Date: October 5, 2008 [EBook #26778]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                    THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS AND THE NAVAL CODE
+
+                             BY CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE BOY AVIATORS' SERIES," "THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS' SERIES,"
+"THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS AND
+THE LOST LINER," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS OF THE ICE-BERG PATROL," ETC.
+
+                     _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLES L. WRENN_
+
+
+NEW YORK
+HURST & COMPANY
+PUBLISHERS
+
+Copyright, 1915,
+BY HURST & COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Huh, I don't think the idea's worth a cent," sniffed
+Thurman.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+        I. VACATION DAYS
+
+       II. "SPEEDWAY" VS. "CURLEW"
+
+      III. CAPTAIN SIMMS, OF THE "THESPIS"
+
+       IV. ON SECRET SERVICE
+
+        V. NIGHT SIGNALS
+
+       VI. IN THE DARK
+
+      VII. THE NAVAL CODE
+
+     VIII. A MONKEY INTERLUDE
+
+       IX. NODDY AND THE BEAR
+
+        X. "WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT?"
+
+       XI. A SWIM WITH A MEMORY
+
+      XII. A TALE FROM THE FROZEN LANDS
+
+     XIII. A NIGHT ALARM
+
+      XIV. JACK'S CURIOSITY AND ITS RESULTS
+
+       XV. BILLY TAKES THE TRAIL
+
+      XVI. A "GHOSTESS" ABROAD
+
+     XVII. ONE MYSTERY SOLVED
+
+    XVIII. BILL SNIGGERS DECIDES
+
+      XIX. WHAT A "HAYSEED" DID
+
+       XX. THE "CURLEW" IN TROUBLE
+
+      XXI. THE END OF JACK'S HOLIDAY
+
+     XXII. "THE GEM OF THE OCEAN"
+
+    XXIII. JACK'S BIG SECRET
+
+     XXIV. THE NAVY DEPARTMENT "SITS UP"
+
+      XXV. A MYSTERY ON BOARD
+
+     XXVI. A "FLASH" OF DISTRESS
+
+    XXVII. A STRANGE WRECK
+
+   XXVIII. CAST AWAY WITH A PYTHON
+
+     XXIX. CAPTURED BY RADIO
+
+      XXX. THURMAN PLOTS
+
+     XXXI. THE "SUITABLE REWARD"
+
+    XXXII. THE PLOTTER'S TRIUMPH
+
+   XXXIII. IN THE POWER OF THE ENEMY
+
+    XXXIV. THE SEARCH FOR JACK
+
+     XXXV. THE WIRELESS MAKES GOOD
+
+
+
+
+The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Naval Code.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+VACATION DAYS.
+
+
+"Up with your helm there, Noddy! Luff her up or you'll have the _Curlew_
+on the rocks!"
+
+"That's right, luff!" cried Billy Raynor, adding his voice to Jack
+Ready's command.
+
+"That's what I _luff_ to do," grinned the red-headed, former Bowery
+waif, Noddy Nipper, as, with a dexterous motion, he jerked over the
+tiller of the fine, speedy sloop in which the boys were enjoying a sail
+on Alexandria Bay, above the Thousand Islands.
+
+The mainsail and jib shivered, and the _Curlew_ spun round like a top
+just as it seemed inevitable that she must end her career on some jagged
+rocks that had suddenly loomed up ahead.
+
+"Neatly done, Noddy," applauded Jack. "We'll forgive you even that awful
+pun for that skillful bit of boat-handling."
+
+The freckled lad grinned in appreciation of the compliment paid him by
+the Wireless Boy.
+
+"Much obliged," he said. "Of course I haven't got sailing down as fine
+as you yet. How far do you reckon we are from home?"
+
+"From the Pine Island hotel, you mean?" rejoined Billy Raynor. "Oh, not
+more than ten miles."
+
+"Just about that," chimed in Jack. "If this wind holds we'll be home in
+time for supper."
+
+"Supper!" exclaimed Bill; "I could eat an octogenarian doughnut, I'm so
+hungry."
+
+A groan came from Noddy. Although the Bowery lad had polished up on his
+grammar and vocabulary considerably since Jack Ready first encountered
+him as second cook on the seal-poaching schooner _Polly Ann_, Captain
+"Terror" Carson commanding, still, a word like "Octogenarian" stumped
+him, as the saying is.
+
+"What's an octo-octo--what-you-may-call-'um doughnut, anyhow?" he
+demanded, for Noddy always liked to acquire a new word, and not
+infrequently astonished his friends by coming out with a "whopper"
+culled out of the dictionary. "Is it a doughnut with legs on it?"
+
+Jack and Billy broke into a roar of laughter.
+
+"A doughnut with legs on?" sputtered Billy. "Whatever put that idea into
+your head, Noddy?"
+
+"Well, don't octo-octo-thing-a-my-jigs have legs?" inquired Noddy.
+
+"Oh, you mean octopuses," cried Jack, with another laugh. "Billy meant
+an eighty-year-old doughnut."
+
+"I'll look it up when we get back," remarked Noddy gravely; "it's a good
+word."
+
+"Say, fellows, we are sure having a fine time out of this holiday,"
+remarked Billy presently, after an interval of silence.
+
+"Yes, but just the same I shan't be sorry when Mr. Juke's new liner is
+completed and we can go to sea again," said Jack, "but after our
+experiences up north, among the ice, I think we had a holiday coming to
+us."
+
+"That we did," agreed Noddy. "Some difference between skimming around
+here in a fine yacht and being cast away on that wretched island with
+nothing to eat and not much prospect of getting any."
+
+"Yes, but if it hadn't been for that experience, and the ancient
+treasure we found, we couldn't have taken such a jolly vacation," argued
+Jack. "It's made Uncle Toby a rich man and put all of us on Easy
+Street."
+
+"Yes, it was certainly worth all the hardships we went through," agreed
+Noddy.
+
+"I guess we are in for a long spell of quiet now, though," remarked
+Jack, after a pause, during which each boy thought of their recent
+adventures.
+
+"Not so sure of that," replied Noddy. "You're the sort of fellow,
+judging from what you've told us, who is always tumbling up against
+something exciting."
+
+"Yes, I feel it in my bones that we are not destined to lead an
+absolutely uneventful time----" began Billy Raynor. "I--hold hard there,
+Noddy; watch yourself. Here comes another yacht bearing down on us!"
+
+Jack and Billy leaped to their feet, steadying themselves by clutching a
+stay. Billy was right. Another yacht, a good deal larger than their own,
+was heading straight for them.
+
+"Hi! put your helm over! We've got the right of way!" shouted Jack,
+cupping his hands.
+
+"Look out where you're going!" cried Billy.
+
+But whoever was steering the other yacht made no motion to carry out the
+suggestions. Instead, under a press of canvas, she kept directly on her
+course.
+
+"She'll run us down," cried Noddy. "What'll I do, Jack?"
+
+"Throw her over to port lively now," sang out Jack Ready. "Hurry up or
+we'll have a bad smash-up!"
+
+He leaped toward the stern to Noddy's assistance, while Billy Raynor,
+the young engineer, did the same.
+
+In former volumes of this series the previous adventures of the lads
+have been described. In the first book, devoted to their doings and to
+describing the fascinating workings of sea-wireless aboard ocean-going
+craft, which was called "The Ocean Wireless Boys on the Atlantic," we
+learned how Jack became a prime favorite with the irascible Jacob Jukes,
+head of the great Transatlantic and Pacific shipping combine. Jack's
+daring rescue of Millionaire Jukes' little girl resulted in the lad's
+obtaining the position of wireless man on board a fine ship, after he
+had looked for such a job for months in vain. But because Jack would not
+become the well-paid companion of Mr. Jukes' son Tom, a rather sickly
+youth, the millionaire became angry with the young wireless man.
+However, Jack was able, subsequently, to rescue Mr. Jukes from a
+drifting boat after the magnate's yacht had burned in mid-ocean and,
+following that, to reunite the almost frantic millionaire with his
+missing son.
+
+Other exciting incidents were described, and Jack gained rapidly in his
+chosen profession, as did his chum, Billy Raynor, who was third
+assistant engineer of the big vessel. The next volume, which was called
+"The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Lost Liner," told of the loss of the
+splendid ship "Tropic Queen," on a volcanic island after she had become
+disabled and had drifted helplessly for days. By wireless Jack managed
+to secure aid from U. S. vessels, and it came in the nick of time, for
+the island was destroyed by an eruption just after the last of the
+rescued passengers had been taken off. Wireless, too, secured, as
+described in that book, the capture of a criminal much wanted by the
+government.
+
+The third volume related more of Jack's doings and was called "The Ocean
+Wireless Boys of the Ice-berg Patrol." This book told how Jack, while
+serving aboard one of the revenue cutters that send out wireless
+warnings of ice-bergs to transatlantic liners, fell into the hands of a
+band of seal poachers. Things looked black for the lad for a time, but
+he found two good friends among the rough crew in the persons of Noddy
+Nipper and Pompey, an eccentric old colored cook, full of superstitions
+about ghosts. The _Polly Ann_, as the schooner was called, was wrecked
+and Jack and his two friends cast away on a lonesome spot of land called
+Skull Island. They were rescued from this place by Jack's eccentric,
+wooden-legged Uncle, Captain Toby Ready, who, when at home, lived on a
+stranded wooden schooner where he made patent medicines out of herbs for
+sailors. Captain Toby had got wind of an ancient treasure hidden by a
+forgotten race on an Arctic island. After the strange reunion they all
+sailed north. But an unscrupulous financier (also on a hunt for the
+treasure) found a way to steal their schooner and left them destitute.
+For a time it appeared that they would leave their bones in the bleak
+northland. But the skillful resource and pluck of Jack and Noddy won the
+day. We now find them enjoying a holiday, with Captain Toby as host, at
+a fashionable hotel among the beautiful Thousand Islands. Having made
+this necessary digression, let us again turn our attention to the
+situation which had suddenly confronted the happy three, and which
+appeared to be fraught with imminent danger.
+
+Like their own craft, the other boat carried a single mast and was
+sloop-rigged. But the boat was larger in every respect than the
+_Curlew_. She carried a great spread of snowy canvas and heeled over
+under its press till the white water raced along her gunwale.
+
+As she drew nearer the boys saw that there were two occupants on board
+her. One was a tall, well-dressed lad in yachting clothes, whose face,
+rather handsome otherwise, was marred by a supercilious sneer, as if he
+considered himself a great deal better than anyone else. The other was a
+somewhat elderly man whose hair appeared to be tinged with gray. His
+features were coarse, but he resembled the lad with him enough to make
+it certain he was his father.
+
+"Sheer off there," roared Jack at the top of his lungs, to the occupants
+of the other boat; "do you want to run us down?"
+
+"Get out of the way then," cried the boy.
+
+"Yes, sheer off yourselves, whipper-snappers!" came from the man.
+
+"We've got the right of way!" cried Jack.
+
+"Go chase yourselves," yelled Noddy, reverting in this moment of
+excitement, as was his habit at such times, to his almost forgotten
+slang.
+
+"Keep her on her course, Donald; never mind those young jack-a-napes,"
+said the man in the other sloop, addressing the boy, who was steering.
+
+"All right, pop," was the reply; "they'll get the worst of the smash if
+they don't clear out."
+
+"Gracious, they really mean to run us down," cried Jack, in a voice of
+alarm. "Better sheer off, Noddy, though I hate to do it."
+
+"By jinks, do you see who they are?" cried Bill Raynor, who had been
+studying the pair in the other boat, which was now only a few yards off.
+"It's that millionaire Hiram Judson and his son Donald, the boy you had
+the run in with at the hotel the other day."
+
+But Jack made no reply. The two boats were now almost bowsprit to
+bowsprit. As for Noddy, the freckles stood out on his pale, frightened
+face like spots on the sun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+"SPEEDAWAY" VS. "CURLEW."
+
+
+But at the critical moment the lad at the helm of the other craft, which
+bore the name _Speedaway_, appeared to lose his nerve. He sheered off
+and merely grazed the _Curlew's_ side, scraping off a lot of paint.
+
+"Hi, there! What do you mean by doing such a thing?" demanded Jack,
+directly the danger of a head-on collision was seen to have been
+averted.
+
+The other lad broke into a laugh. It was echoed by the man with him,
+whom he had addressed as "pop."
+
+"Just thought I'd see how much you fellows knew about handling a boat,"
+he sneered. "It's just as I thought, you're a bunch of scare-cats. You
+needn't have been afraid that I couldn't keep the _Speedaway_ out of
+danger."
+
+"You risked the lives of us all by running so close," cried Billy
+indignantly.
+
+"Never attempt such a thing again," said Jack angrily, "or----"
+
+"Or what, my nervous young friend?" taunted the elderly man.
+
+"Yes," said the lad, with an unpleasant grin, "what will you do?"
+
+"I shall feel sorely tempted to come on board your boat and give you the
+same sort of a thrashing I gave you the other day when I found you
+tormenting that poor dog," said Jack, referring to the incident Billy
+Raynor had already hinted at when he first recognized the occupants of
+the _Speedaway_.
+
+"You'll never set foot on my boat," cried Donald Judson, with what he
+meant to be dangerous emphasis; but his face had suddenly become very
+pale. "You think you got the best of me the other day, but I'll fix you
+yet."
+
+The two craft were out of earshot almost by this time, and none of the
+three lads on the _Curlew_ thought it worth while to answer Donald
+Judson. The millionaire and his son occupied an island not far from the
+Pine Island Hotel. A few days before the incident we have just recorded,
+Jack, who hated cruelty in any form, had found Donald Judson, who often
+visited the hotel to display his extensive assortment of clothes,
+amusing himself by torturing a dog. When Jack told him to stop it the
+millionaire's son started to fight, and Jack, finding a quarrel forced
+upon him, ended it in the quickest way--by knocking the boy flat.
+
+Donald slunk off, swearing to be revenged. But Jack had only laughed at
+him and advised him to forget the incident except as a lesson in
+kindness to animals. It appeared, however, that, far from forgetting his
+humiliation, Donald Judson was determined to avenge it even at the risk
+of placing his own life in danger.
+
+"I wonder if he followed us up to-day on purpose to try to ram us or
+force us on a sandbar?" mused Noddy, as they sailed on.
+
+"Looks like it," said Billy.
+
+"I believe he is actually sore enough to sink our boat if he could, even
+if he damaged his own in doing it," said Jack.
+
+"To my mind his father is as bad he is," said Noddy; "he made no attempt
+to stop him. If I----Look, they've put their boat about and are
+following us."
+
+"There's no doubt that they are," said Jack, after a moment's scrutiny
+of the latest maneuver of the _Speedaway_. The Judsons' boat, which was
+larger, and carried more sail and was consequently faster than the
+_Curlew_, gained rapidly on the boys. Soon she was within hailing
+distance.
+
+"What are you following us for? Want to have another collision?" cried
+Jack.
+
+"Do you own the water hereabouts?" asked Donald. "I didn't know I was
+following you."
+
+"We've a right to sail where we please," shouted Judson.
+
+"Yes, if you don't imperil other folks' boats," agreed Jack. "If you've
+got any scheme in mind to injure us I'd advise you to forget it," he
+added.
+
+"Huh! What scheme would I have in mind? Think I'd bother with
+insignificant chaps like you and your little toy boat?"
+
+"You keep out of our way," added the man.
+
+"Yes, just do that little thing if you know what's healthy for you,"
+chimed in Donald Judson.
+
+His insulting tone aroused Jack's ire.
+
+"It'll be the worse for you if you try any of your tricks," he roared.
+
+"What tricks would I have, Ready?" demanded the other.
+
+"Some trick that may turn out badly for you!"
+
+"I guess I don't need you to tell me what I will or what I won't do."
+
+"All right, only keep clear of us. That's fair warning. You'll get the
+worst of it if you don't."
+
+"So, young man, you are going to play the part of bully, are you?"
+shouted Donald's father. "That fits in with what I've heard of you from
+him. You've been prying around our boat for several days. I don't like
+it."
+
+"Well, keep away from us," cried Billy.
+
+"Yes, your room's a lot better than your company," sputtered Noddy. "We
+don't care if you never come back."
+
+"Really, what nice language," sneered Donald. "I congratulate you on
+your gentlemanly friend, Ready. He----"
+
+"Look out there," warned Jack, for Noddy, in his indignation, had sprung
+to his feet, entirely forgetting the tiller. The _Curlew_ broached to
+and heeled over, losing "way." The _Speedaway_ came swiftly on. In an
+instant there was a ripping, tearing sound and a concerted shout of
+dismay from the boys as the sharp bow of Judson's larger, heavier craft
+cut deep into the _Curlew's_ quarter.
+
+"Now you've done it!" cried Billy Raynor.
+
+"I--er--it was an accident," cried Donald, as the two boats swung apart,
+and there was some justification for this plea, as the _Speedaway_ was
+also damaged, though not badly.
+
+"It was no accident," cried Jack, but he said no more just then. He was
+too busy examining the rent in the _Curlew's_ side.
+
+Still shivering, like a wounded creature, from the shock of the impact,
+the _Curlew_, with the water pouring into the jagged rip in her side,
+began slowly to sink!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+CAPTAIN SIMMS OF THE "THESPIS."
+
+
+Silence, except for the inrush of water into the damaged side of the
+_Curlew_, followed the collision. The three lads on the sinking craft
+gazed helplessly at each other for a few seconds.
+
+"Get away as quick as you can," whispered Donald's father to the boy who
+had wrought the damage, and now looked rather scared. The _Speedaway_
+swung out and her big mainsail began to fill.
+
+"We are going to the bottom," choked out Billy, the first of the party
+to recover the use of his vocal organs.
+
+"I'm afraid there's no doubt of that," said Jack. "Donald Judson," he
+shouted, raising his voice and throwing it across the appreciable
+distance that now separated the two craft, "you'll pay for this."
+
+"It was an accident, I tell you," yelled back the other lad, but in a
+rather shaky voice.
+
+"You'll do no good by abusing us," chimed in his father.
+
+"What'll we do, Jack?" demanded Noddy, tugging at Jack's sleeve.
+
+"Steer for the shore. There's just a chance we can make it, or at least
+shallow water," was the reply.
+
+"Doesn't look much as if we could make it," said Billy dubiously,
+shaking his head and regarding the big leak ruefully, "but I suppose we
+can try."
+
+The wounded _Curlew_ began to struggle along with a motion very unlike
+her usual swift, smooth glide. She staggered and reeled heavily.
+
+"Put her on the other tack," said Jack. Noddy followed his orders with
+the result that the _Curlew_ heeled over on the side opposite to that
+which had been injured, and thus raised her wound above the water line.
+Billy began bailing, frantically, with a bucket, at the water that had
+already come in.
+
+"Shall we help you?" cried Donald.
+
+"No, we don't want your help," answered Jack shortly. "We'll thresh all
+this out in court later on," he added.
+
+"I'm a witness that it was an accident," shouted the elder Judson.
+
+"You'll have a swell time proving I ran you down on purpose," added his
+son.
+
+Seeing that it was useless to prolong such a fruitless argument at long
+distance, Jack refrained from making a reply. Besides, the _Curlew_
+required his entire attention now. He took the tiller himself and kept
+the injured craft inclined at such an angle that but little water
+entered the hole the _Speedaway's_ sharp bow had punched in her.
+
+The shore, on which were a few small houses and a wharf hidden among
+trees and rocks, appeared to be a long distance off. But the _Curlew_
+staggered gamely onward with Jack anticipating every puff of wind
+skillfully.
+
+"I believe that we'll make it, after all," said Billy hopefully, as the
+water-logged craft was urged forward.
+
+"I wish that Donald, with his sissy-boy clothes, was ashore when we
+land," grumbled Noddy. "I'd give him what-for. I have not forgotten how
+to handle my dukes, and as for his old octo-octo----"
+
+"Octogenarian," chuckled Raynor.
+
+"Octogenarian of a father,--I knew I'd get a chance to use that
+word----" said Noddy triumphantly; "he's worse than his son. They're a
+fine pair,--I don't think."
+
+"Well, abusing them will do no good," said Jack. "We'll have to see what
+other steps can be taken. I'm afraid, though, that they were right;
+we'll have a hard time proving that it was not an accident, especially
+as Noddy had dropped our tiller."
+
+"Well, I just couldn't----" began Noddy, rather shamefacedly, when there
+came a mighty bump and the _Curlew_ came to a standstill.
+
+"Now what?" cried Raynor.
+
+"We've run on a shoal, fellows," declared Jack. "This cruise is over for
+a time."
+
+"Well, anyhow, we can't sink now," said Noddy philosophically, "but
+although the _Curlew's_ stuck on the shoal I'm not stuck on the
+situation."
+
+"Better quit that stuff," ordered Jack, "and help Billy lower the
+mainsail and jib. They are no good to us now. In fact a puff of wind
+might send us bowling over."
+
+His advice was soon carried out and the _Curlew_ lay under a bare pole
+on the muddy shoal. The boys began to express their disgust at their
+predicament. They had no tender, and would have to stay there till help
+came because of their lack of a small boat.
+
+"Better set up some sort of a signal to attract the attention of those
+folks on shore," suggested Billy.
+
+"That's a good idea," agreed Jack, "but hullo! Look yonder, there's a
+motor boat coming out from the shore. Let's hail that."
+
+"Hullo, there! Motor boat ahoy!" they all began to yell at the top of
+their lungs.
+
+But they might have saved their voices, for the motor boat swung about
+in a channel that existed among the shoals and began making straight for
+them. Its single occupant waved an encouraging hand as he drew closer.
+
+"In trouble, eh?" he hailed; "well, maybe I can get you off. I saw that
+other boat run you down. It was a rascally bit of business."
+
+"Gracious!" cried Jack suddenly, as the motor boat drew closer and they
+saw its occupant was a bronzed, middle-aged man with a pleasant face;
+"it's Captain Simms of the revenue cutter _Thespis_! What in the world
+is he doing up here?"
+
+"If it isn't Jack Ready!" came in hearty tones from the other, almost
+simultaneously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+ON SECRET SERVICE.
+
+
+There was no question about it. Astonishing as it appeared, the bluff,
+sunburned man in the motor boat which was winding its way toward the
+_Curlew_, in serpentine fashion, among the tortuous channels, was
+Captain Simms, the commander of the revenue cutter on which Jack Ready
+had served as "ice-patrol" operator. The greetings between his late
+commander and himself were, as might be imagined, cordial, but, owing to
+the circumstances under which they were exchanged, somewhat hurried.
+
+"So you've been in a smash-up," cried the captain, as he reduced speed
+on nearing the stern of the _Curlew_, which was still afloat. "Nobody
+hurt, I hope?"
+
+"Except the boat," smiled Jack with grim humor.
+
+"So I see. A nasty hole," was the captain's comment. "Lucky that I
+happen to be camping ashore or you might have stayed out here for some
+time. Rivermen hereabouts aren't over-obliging, unless they see big
+money in it for their services."
+
+"We'd have been content to pay a good salvage to get off here," Jack
+assured him.
+
+"Well, that other craft certainly sheered off in short order after she
+hit you," was Captain Simms' comment, as he shut off power and came in
+under the _Curlew's_ stern, which projected, as has been said, over
+fairly deep water, only the bow being in the mud.
+
+"Then you can tell who was to blame?" asked Billy eagerly.
+
+"I certainly can and will, if I am called upon to do so."
+
+"Thank you," said Jack. "I mean to make them settle for the damage, even
+if I have to go to court to do it."
+
+"That's right. It was a bad bit of business. She followed you right up.
+I'd be willing to swear to that in any tribunal in the land. I hope you
+bring them to justice. Who were the rascals?"
+
+"A millionaire named Judson, who owns an island near here, and his son,
+who is a fearful snob."
+
+The boys saw a look of surprise flit across the naval officer's face.
+But it was gone in an instant.
+
+"Surely not Hiram Judson?" he demanded.
+
+"The same man," replied Jack. "Why, do you know him, sir?"
+
+"I--er--that is, I think we had better change the subject," said Captain
+Simms with odd hesitation. Jack saw that there was something behind the
+sea officer's hesitancy, but of course he did not ask any more
+questions.
+
+"I can give you a tow to the shore where there is a man who makes a
+business of repairing boats," volunteered Captain Simms. "But will your
+craft keep afloat that long?"
+
+"I think so," said Jack. "We can all sit on one side and so raise the
+leak above water. But can you pull us off?"
+
+"We shall soon see that," was the rejoinder. "It looks as if it would be
+an easy task. Throw me a line and I'll make it fast to my stern bitts."
+
+This was soon done, and then the little launch set to work with might
+and main to tug off the injured yacht.
+
+"Hurray, she's moving!" cried Billy presently.
+
+This was followed by a joyous shout from all the boys.
+
+"She's off!"
+
+They moved down the channel with the boys hanging over one side in order
+to keep the _Curlew_ heeled over at an angle that would assure safety
+from the leak. They landed at a rickety old dock with a big gasoline
+tank perched at one end of it. Attached to it was a crudely painted
+sign:
+
+    "Charles Hansen, Boats Built and Repaired.
+    All work Promptly Exicutid."
+
+Hansen himself came toddling down the wharf. He was an old man with a
+rheumatic walk and a stubbly, unshaven chin stained with tobacco juice.
+A goodly sized "chaw" bulged in his withered cheek.
+
+"Can you repair our boat quickly?" asked Jack, pointing to the hole.
+
+Old Hansen shot a jet of tobacco juice in the direction of the injury.
+
+"Bustitupconsiderable," he remarked.
+
+"What's that?" demanded Billy. "Doesn't he talk English?" and he turned
+an inquiring glance at Captain Simms, who laughed.
+
+"That's just his way of talking when he's got a mouthful of what he
+calls 'eatin' tobacco.' He said, 'he is of the opinion that your boat is
+bust up considerable.'"
+
+"Well, we don't need an expert to tell us that," laughed Jack.
+
+"Doyouwantmetofixit?" inquired the eccentric old man, still running his
+words together in the same odd way.
+
+"Yes," replied Jack, "can we have her by to-morrow?"
+
+"Haveterseehowbadlyshesbusted," muttered the old man.
+
+"He'll have to see how badly she's busted," translated Jack. "Suppose
+you take a look at her," he added to the boatman.
+
+"Maybeagoodidee," agreed old Hansen, and he scrambled down into the
+boat.
+
+"I'llfixherbyto-morrow," he said at last.
+
+The charges, it appeared, would not be more than ten or twelve dollars,
+which the boys thought reasonable.
+
+"Especially as they won't come out of our pockets," commented Billy.
+
+"Not if I can help it," promised Jack decisively.
+
+"And now," said Captain Simms, "as I happen to have some business at the
+Pine Island Hotel, I'll run you down there in the _Skipjack_, as I call
+my boat."
+
+"That's awfully good of you," said Jack gratefully. "I began to think
+that we would have to stay ashore here all night."
+
+Before many minutes had passed they were off, leaving old Hansen, with
+working jaws, examining the hole in the _Curlew's_ side. The _Skipjack_
+proved speedy and they made the run back to the hotel in good time,
+arriving there before sundown. Captain Toby had met Captain Simms after
+the latter had found the treasure party at the spot where they had
+unearthed the rich trove. But he proved equally reticent as to the
+object of his presence at Alexandria as he had been with the boys. He
+was doing some "special work" for the government, was all that Captain
+Toby could ascertain.
+
+"There's considerable mystery to all this," said Captain Toby to the
+boys after Captain Simms had left them to write some letters which, he
+said, he wished to send ashore by the hotel motor boat that evening.
+
+"It's some sort of secret work for Uncle Sam, I guess," hazarded Jack,
+"but what it is I've no idea. Anyhow it's none of our business."
+
+The boys little guessed, when Jack made that remark, how very much their
+business Captain Simms' secret mission was to become in the near future.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+NIGHT SIGNALS.
+
+
+After supper Captain Simms suddenly announced that he wished to make a
+trip to the mainland to the town of Clayton. He wished to send an
+important telegram to Washington, he explained.
+
+"How are you going?" asked Jack. "The hotel boat has stopped running for
+the day."
+
+"I know that, but I'll go on the _Skipjack_. You lads want to come?"
+
+"Do we? I should say we do."
+
+"You lads must be full of springs from the way you're always jumping
+about," remarked Uncle Toby, with a smile, "but I suppose it's boy
+nature."
+
+The run to the shore was made quickly. It seemed almost no time at all
+before they made out the string of lights that marked the pier and the
+radiance of the brilliantly lit hotel behind them. But as they were
+landing an unforeseen accident occurred. Mistaking his distance in the
+darkness, the captain neglected to shut off power soon enough, and the
+nose of the _Skipjack_ bumped into the pier with great force. At the
+same time a splintering of wood was heard.
+
+"Gracious, another wreck," exclaimed Jack.
+
+"Wow! What a bump!" cried Noddy.
+
+"Is it a bad smash?" asked Billy anxiously.
+
+The captain was bending over the broken prow of the boat examining it by
+the white lantern.
+
+"Bad enough to keep us here all night, I'm afraid," he said. "Do you
+boys mind? It looks to me as if it could soon be repaired in the
+morning, and the boat will be safe here to-night at any rate."
+
+"It's too bad," exclaimed Jack. "We seem to be regular hoodoos on a
+boat."
+
+"It was my own fault," said the captain, "but the lights on the pier
+dazzled me so that I miscalculated my distance."
+
+"Well, it's a good thing no other harm was done," was Billy's comment.
+
+The boat was tied up and the watchman on the dock given some money to
+keep an eye on it. They engaged rooms at the hotel, and while Captain
+Simms composed his telegram, the boys took a stroll about the grounds of
+the hostelry, which sloped down to the bay. They had about passed beyond
+the radiance of the lights of the hotel when Jack suddenly drew his
+companions' attention to a figure that was stealing through the darkness
+hugging a grove of trees. There was something indescribably furtive in
+the way the man crept along, half crouched and glanced behind him from
+time to time.
+
+"A burglar?" questioned Billy.
+
+"Some sort of crook I'll bet," exclaimed Noddy.
+
+"He's up to some mischief or I'm much mistaken," said Jack, as he drew
+his companions back further into a patch of black shadow cast by some
+ornamental shrubs.
+
+"Let's trail him and see what he's up to," said Noddy.
+
+"Gracious, you're a regular Sherlock Holmes at the drop of the hat,"
+laughed Billy. "What do you think, Jack?"
+
+"I don't know. He's going toward the wharf and I don't see just what he
+could steal there."
+
+"Look at him stop and glance all around him as if he was afraid of being
+followed," whispered Billy.
+
+"That doesn't look like an honest man's action, certainly," agreed Jack.
+"Come on, boys; we'll see what's in the wind. Do you know, somehow I've
+got an idea that we've seen that fellow somewhere before."
+
+"What gives you that impression?" asked Billy.
+
+"I can't say--it's just a feeling I've got. An instinct I guess you
+might call it."
+
+The three boys moved forward as stealthily as did the man whose actions
+had aroused their suspicions. Presently they saw him cut across a small
+patch of lawn and strike into a narrow path which led among some trees.
+
+With every care to avoid making any noise, the three boys followed. The
+path led to the edge of a cliff, down the face of which a flight of
+stone steps ran down to the water's edge. The man descended these.
+
+"What can he be? A smuggler," suggested Billy.
+
+"I don't see any boat down there, if he is," rejoined Jack in low tones.
+
+Suddenly a sharp, low exclamation came from Noddy, who had been looking
+out over the lake.
+
+He caught Jack's arm and pointed.
+
+"Look, boys, a yacht!" he breathed.
+
+"Heading in this way, too," rejoined Jack. "It looks like--but no, it
+cannot be."
+
+"Cannot be what?" asked Billy, caught by something in his companion's
+voice.
+
+"Cannot be the _Speedaway_."
+
+"Judson's craft, the one that ran us down? Nonsense, you've got Judson
+on the brain, Jack."
+
+"Have I? Well, it's an odd coincidence, then, that the yacht yonder has
+a tear in her foresail exactly where our bowsprit tore the _Speedaway's_
+jib this afternoon."
+
+"By hookey, you're right, Jack!" cried Noddy. "There may be more to this
+than we think."
+
+Billy was peering from behind a bush over the edge of the cliff, which
+was not very high.
+
+He could see below, the dark figure of a man making a black patch in the
+gloom upon the white beach. He was moving about and pacing nervously to
+and fro on the shingle as if awaiting something or somebody.
+
+Suddenly he made a swift move.
+
+"He's waving his handkerchief," whispered Billy to the others, as he saw
+the man make a signal with a square of white linen.
+
+"To that yacht, I'll bet a cookie," exclaimed Noddy.
+
+As if in answer to his words there suddenly showed, on the yacht, a red
+lantern, as if a scarlet eye had suddenly opened across the dark water.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+IN THE DARK.
+
+
+"Something's in the wind sure enough," said Jack. "Hark, there's the
+plash of oars. They must be going to land here."
+
+From below there came a man's voice.
+
+"Right here, Judson; here's the landing place. Are you alone?"
+
+"No, my son is with me," came the reply, "but for heaven's sake, man,
+not so loud."
+
+"There's no one within half a mile of this place. I came down through
+the grounds and they were deserted."
+
+"Humph, but still it's as well to be careful. One never knows what spies
+are about," came the reply.
+
+The boys, nudging each other with excitement, heard the bow of the boat
+scrape on the shingly beach and then came the crunch of footsteps.
+
+"They are coming up the steps," whispered Jack in low, excited tones.
+
+"That's right, so they are," breathed Billy cautiously. "Let's get
+behind the trees and learn what is going on."
+
+"It's something crooked, that's sure," whispered Noddy.
+
+"I begin to think so myself," agreed Jack, "but that man's voice, as
+well as his figure, seemed familiar to me when he hailed Judson, but I
+can't, for the life of me, think where I heard his voice before."
+
+The three lads lost no time in concealing themselves behind some
+ornamental bushes in the immediate vicinity. They were none too soon,
+for hardly had they done so when the figures of two men and a boy
+appeared at the top of the steps.
+
+"Phew," panted Judson, "I'm not as young as I was. That climb has made
+me feel my age. Let's sit down here."
+
+"Very well, that bench yonder will be just the place," agreed the man
+the boys had followed, and who had seemed so oddly familiar to Jack.
+
+The seat they had selected could hardly have been a better one for the
+boys' purpose. It was placed right against the bush behind which they
+were hiding. The voices came to them clearly, although the speakers took
+pains to modify them.
+
+"Well, I've been waiting for you," came in the voice of the man the boys
+had instinctively followed.
+
+"We'd have got here sooner, but were delayed by an accident, or rather a
+sort of accident on purpose that occurred this afternoon. I was glad to
+see that you hadn't forgotten our night signal code," said Judson.
+
+"What was the accident?" asked the man, who was a stranger to the boys,
+who were listening intently.
+
+"Oh, just three brats who are summering here," scoffed Donald Judson.
+"They appeared to think they owned the bay, and I guess it was up to me
+to show them they didn't. I guess Jack Ready will be on the market for
+another boat before long and----"
+
+"Hold on, hold on," exclaimed the strange man. "What was that name?"
+
+"Ready, Jack Ready. He thinks he's a wizard at wireless. Why, do you
+know him, Jarrow?"
+
+Jarrow, at the sound of the name there, brought into Jack's mind the
+recollections of the rascally partner of Terrill & Co., who had financed
+his uncle's treasure hunt and had then tried to steal the hoard from
+him. It was Jack who had overthrown the rascal's schemes and made him
+seek refuge in the west to escape prosecution. Yet he had apparently
+returned and in some way become associated with Judson. Noddy, too, as
+had Bill, had started at the name. Both nudged Jack, who returned the
+gesture to show that he had heard and understood.
+
+"So Ready is here, eh?" growled Jarrow. "Confounded young milksop."
+
+"You appear not to be very fond of him," interjected the elder Judson.
+
+"Fond of him! I should think not! I hate him like poison."
+
+"What did he ever do to you?"
+
+"He--er--er--he upset an--er--er--business deal I was in with his
+uncle."
+
+"The one-legged old sea captain?"
+
+"That's the fellow. He trusted me in everything till Jack Ready came
+nosing in and spoilt his uncle's chance of becoming a rich man through
+his association in business with me."
+
+"I've no use for him either," exclaimed Donald vindictively. "I'll give
+him a good licking when I see him."
+
+"Well, well, let's get down to business," said the elder Judson
+decisively. "You have been to Washington, Jarrow?"
+
+"Yes, and found out something, but not much. The new naval wireless code
+is not yet completed. I found out that by bribing a clerk in the Navy
+Department and----"
+
+"This business is proving pretty expensive," grumbled Judson.
+
+"We're playing for a big stake," was the reply. "I found out that the
+code has been placed in the hands of a Captain Simms, recently attached
+to the revenue service, for revision. I believe that it is the same
+Captain Simms against whom I have a grudge, for it was on his ship that
+I was insulted by aspersions on my business honesty, and that, also, was
+the work of this Jack Ready."
+
+"Pity he didn't tell them that he was in irons at the time," thought
+Jack to himself.
+
+"Where is this Captain Simms?" asked Judson, not noticing, or appearing
+not to, his companion's outbreak.
+
+"That's just it," was the rejoinder. "Nobody knows. His whereabouts are
+being kept a profound secret. Since it has become rumored that the Navy
+wireless code was being revised, Washington fairly swarms with secret
+agents of different governments. Simms is either abroad or in some
+mighty safe place."
+
+"Our hands are tied without him," muttered Judson, "and if I don't get
+that code I don't stand a chance of landing that big steel contract with
+the foreign power I have been dealing with."
+
+"I'm afraid not," rejoined Jarrow. "I saw their representative in
+Washington and told him what I had learned. His answer was, 'no code, no
+contract.' I'm afraid you were foolish in using that promise as a means
+to try to land the deal."
+
+"I had my thumb on the man who would have stolen it for me at the time,"
+rejoined Judson, "but he was discharged for some minor dishonesty before
+I had a chance to use him."
+
+"The thing to do is to locate this Captain Simms."
+
+"Evidently, you must do your best. The wind has died down and I guess
+we'll stop at the hotel till to-morrow. Anyhow, it's too long a sail
+back to-night. Come on, Donald; come, Jarrow." The bench creaked as they
+rose and made off, turning their footsteps toward the hotel.
+
+Not till they had gone some distance did the boys dare to speak, and
+even then they did not say much for a minute or two. The first
+expression came from Jack. It was a long, drawn-out:
+
+"We-e-l!"
+
+"And so that is the work that Captain Simms has been doing in that
+isolated retreat of his," exclaimed Billy.
+
+"And these crooks have just had the blind luck to tumble over him,"
+exploded Noddy. "Just wait till they take a look at the hotel register."
+
+"Maybe by the time they enter their names the page will have turned,"
+suggested Billy.
+
+"No," rejoined Jack, "our names were at the top of the page and there
+would hardly have been enough new arrivals after us at this time of
+night to have filled it since."
+
+"We must find Captain Simms at once and tell what is in the wind,"
+decided the young wireless man a moment later. "I guess the instinct
+that made us follow Jarrow was a right one."
+
+"I wonder how the rascal became acquainted with Judson?" pondered Billy.
+
+"Mixed up with him in some crooked deal or other before this," said
+Noddy.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder," said Jack.
+
+They began to walk back to the hotel. They did not enter the lobby by
+the main entrance, for the path they followed had brought them to a side
+door. They were glad of this, for, screened by some palms, they saw,
+bending intently over the register, the forms of the three individuals
+whose conversation they had overheard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE NAVAL CODE.
+
+
+"Now that you boys know the nature of the work I have been engaged on, I
+may as well tell you that confidential reports from Washington have
+warned me to be on my guard," said Captain Simms. "It was in reply to
+one of these that I sent a code dispatch to-night."
+
+It was half an hour later, and they were all seated in the Captain's
+room, having told their story.
+
+"But I should have imagined making up a code was a very simple matter,"
+said Billy.
+
+"That is just where you are wrong, my boy," smiled Captain Simms. "A
+commercial code, perhaps, can be jumbled together in any sort of
+fashion, but a practical naval code is a different matter. Besides
+dealing in technicalities it must be absolutely invulnerable to even the
+cleverest reader of puzzles. The new code was necessitated by the fact
+that secret agents discovered that an expert in the employ of a foreign
+power had succeeded in solving a part of our old one. It was only a very
+small part, but in case of trouble with that country it might have meant
+defeat if the enemy knew even a fragment of the wireless code that was
+being flashed through the air."
+
+"Have you nearly completed your work?" asked Jack.
+
+"Almost," was the reply, "but the fact that these men are here rather
+complicates matters. At Musky Bay, the name of the little settlement
+where I am stopping, they think I am just a city man up for the fishing.
+I do not use my right name there. By an inadvertence, I suppose it was
+habit, I wrote it on the hotel register to-night. That was a sad
+blunder, for it is practically certain that these men will not rest till
+they have found out where I am working."
+
+"At any rate I'm mighty glad we followed that Jarrow," said Jack.
+
+"And caught enough of their plans to put you on guard," chimed in Billy.
+
+"Yes, and I am deeply grateful to you boys," was the rejoinder.
+"'Forewarned is forearmed.' If Judson and his crowd attempt any foul
+tactics they will find me ready for them."
+
+"Judson apparently wishes now that he had not been so anxious to secure
+that contract as to promise the naval code as a sort of bonus," said
+Jack.
+
+"I don't doubt it," answered Captain Simms. "Now that I recall it, I
+heard rumors that Judson, who once had a steel contract with our
+government, is not so sound financially as he seems. I judge he would go
+to great lengths to assure a large contract that would get him out of
+his difficulties."
+
+"I should imagine so," replied Jack. "What was the reason he never did
+any more work for the government?"
+
+"The inferior quality of his product, I heard. There were ugly rumors
+concerning graft at the time. Some of the newspapers even went so far as
+to urge his prosecution."
+
+"Then we are dealing with bad men?" commented Jack.
+
+"Unquestionably so. But I think we had better break up this council of
+war and get to bed. I want to get an early start in the morning."
+
+But when morning came, it was found that the repairs to the _Skipjack_
+would take longer than had been anticipated. While Captain Simms
+remained at the boat yard to superintend the work, the lads returned to
+the hotel and addressed some post cards. This done they sauntered out on
+the porch. Almost the first person they encountered chanced to be
+Jarrow. He started and turned a sickly yellow at the sight of them,
+although he knew, from an inspection of the register the night before,
+that they were there.
+
+"Why--er--ahem, so it is you once more. Where did you spring from?"
+
+"We came out of that door," murmured Jack, while Noddy snickered. "Where
+did you come from?"
+
+"I might say from the same place," was the rejoinder, with a look of
+malice at Noddy.
+
+"We thought you were in the west," said Billy. "Great place, the west.
+They say the climate out there is healthier than the east--for some
+folks."
+
+"Boy, you are impudent," snarled Jarrow.
+
+"Not at all. I was merely making a meteorological remark," smiled Billy.
+
+"Wait till I get that word," implored Noddy, pulling out a notebook and
+a stub of pencil.
+
+"Splendid grounds they have here for taking strolls at night," Jack
+could not help observing.
+
+From yellow Jarrow's face turned ashen pale. Muttering something about a
+telephone call, he hurried into the hotel.
+
+"Goodness, that shot brought down a bird, with a vengeance," chuckled
+Billy.
+
+Jarrow's head was suddenly thrust out of an open window. He glared at
+the boys balefully. His face was black as a thundercloud.
+
+"You boys have been playing the sneak on me," he cried angrily. "If you
+take my advice, you will not do so in the future."
+
+He withdrew his head as quickly as a turtle draws its headpiece into its
+shell.
+
+"He's a corker," cried Noddy. "I'll bet if he had a chance, he'd like to
+half kill us."
+
+"Shouldn't wonder," laughed Jack, "but he isn't going to get that
+chance. But hullo! What's all this coming up the driveway?"
+
+The others looked in the same direction and beheld a curious spectacle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A MONKEY INTERLUDE.
+
+
+"Well, here's something new, and no mistake," cried Billy.
+
+"Good, it will help pass our morning," declared Noddy, who was beginning
+to find time hang heavily on his hands now that he had nobody to play
+pranks on, like those he used to torment poor Pompey with.
+
+An Italian was coming up the road toward the hotel. Strapped across his
+shoulders was a small hand-organ. He led a trained bear, and two monkeys
+squatted on the big creature's back. He came to a halt near the grinning
+boys.
+
+"Hurray! This is going to be as good as a circus!" declared Noddy.
+"Start up your performance, professor."
+
+"They're off!" cried Billy.
+
+Summer residents of the hotel, anxious for any diversion out of the
+ordinary, came flocking to the scene as the strains of the barrel organ
+reached their ears, and the bear, in a clumsy fashion, began to dance to
+the music of the ear-piercing instrument.
+
+"Where are you going, Noddy?" asked Jack, as the red-headed lad tried to
+get quietly out of the crowd.
+
+"I just saw a chance for a little fun," rejoined Noddy innocently.
+
+"Well, be careful," warned Jack. "This is no place for such jokes as you
+used to play on Pompey."
+
+"Oh, nothing like that," Noddy assured him as he hurried off.
+
+"Just the same I'm afraid of Noddy when he starts getting humorous,"
+thought Jack.
+
+He would have been still more afraid if he could have seen Noddy make
+his way to the hotel kitchen and bribe a kitchen maid to get him three
+large sugar cakes. Then he made his way to the dining-room, and boring
+tiny holes in the buns filled each of them with red pepper from the
+casters.
+
+"Now for some fun," he chuckled.
+
+"I just know that boy is up to some mischief by the look on his face,"
+remarked an old lady as he hurried by.
+
+Quite a big crowd was round the Italian when Noddy got back. Almost as
+soon as he arrived the man began passing the hat, and taking advantage
+of this, Noddy proffered his buns to the animals. They accepted them
+greedily.
+
+"Peep! Peep!" chattered the monkeys.
+
+"You mean 'pep,' 'pep'," chuckled Noddy to himself.
+
+Both bear and monkeys tore into their buns as if they were half starved.
+In their hunger they got a few mouthfuls down without appearing to
+notice that anything was wrong. Then suddenly one of the monkeys hurled
+his bun at the bear and the other leaped on the big hairy creature's
+head. Apparently they thought the innocent bear had something to do with
+the trick that had been played on them.
+
+"Da monk! da monk!" howled the Italian, "da monk go a da craz'."
+
+"He says they are mad," exclaimed an old gentleman, and hurried away.
+
+Just as he did so, the bear discovered something was wrong. He set up a
+roar of rage and broke loose from his keeper. The monkeys leaped away
+from the angry beast and sought refuge. One jumped on the head of an
+elderly damsel who was very much excited. The other made a dive for a
+fashionably dressed youth who was none other than Donald Judson.
+
+"Help!" screamed the old maid. "Help! Will no one help me?"
+
+"I will, madam," volunteered an old gentleman, coming forward. He seized
+the monkey and tugged at its hind legs, but it only clung the tighter to
+the elderly damsel's hair.
+
+Suddenly there came a piercing scream.
+
+"Gracious, her hair's come off!" cried a woman.
+
+"She's been scalped, poor creature!" declared another.
+
+"Oh, you wretch, how dare you!" shrieked the monkey's victim, rushing at
+the gallant old gentleman. She raised her parasol and brought it down on
+his head with a resounding crack. In the meantime the Italian was
+howling to "Garibaldi," as he called the monkey, to come to him.
+
+But this the monkey had no intention of doing. Clutching the old maid's
+wig in its hands, it leaped away in bounds and joined its brother on the
+person of Donald Judson.
+
+"Ouch, take them off. They'll bite me!" Donald was yelling.
+
+The monkeys tore off his straw hat with its fancy ribbon and tore it to
+bits and flung them in the faces of the crowd. Then, suddenly, they both
+darted swiftly off and climbed a tree, where they sat chattering.
+
+It was at that moment that the confused throng recollected the bear,
+which had not remained in the vicinity but had gone charging off across
+the lawn looking for water to drown the burning sensation within him.
+Now, however, an angry roar reminded them of him. The beast was coming
+back across the lawn, roaring and showing his teeth.
+
+"Look out for the bear!"
+
+"Get a gun, quick."
+
+"Oh, he'll hug me," this last from the old maid, were some of the cries
+which the crowd sent up.
+
+"He's mad, shoot him!" cried somebody. The Italian set up a howl of
+protest.
+
+"No, no, no shoota heem. Mika da gooda da bear. No shoota heem."
+
+"If you don't want him shot, catch him and get out of here. You'll have
+my hotel turned into a sanitarium for nervous wrecks the first thing you
+know," cried the proprietor of the place.
+
+"Somebody playa da treeck," protested the Italian. "Mika da nica da
+bear, da gooda da bear."
+
+"I guess he's like an Indian, only good when he's dead," said the hotel
+man. "I'm off to get my gun."
+
+Noddy watched the results of his joke with mixed feelings. He had not
+meant it to go as far as this. He looked about him apprehensively, but
+everybody was too frightened to notice him.
+
+Suddenly the bear headed straight for Noddy. Perhaps his red head was a
+shining mark or perhaps the creature recollected the prank-playing youth
+as the one who had given him the peppered bun. At any rate he charged
+straight after the lad, who fled for his life.
+
+"Help!" he called as he ran. "Help, help!"
+
+"Noddy's getting a dose of his own medicine," cried Jack to Billy.
+
+"But we don't want to let the bear get him," protested Billy.
+
+"Of course not, but he'll beat the bear into the hotel, see if he
+doesn't."
+
+The hotel front door was evidently Noddy's objective point. It appeared
+he would reach it first, but suddenly he tripped on a croquet hoop and
+went sprawling. He was up in a minute, but the bear had gained on him.
+As he rushed up the steps it was only a few inches behind him.
+
+Noddy gave a wild yell and took the steps in three jumps. The next
+second he was at the door and swinging it shut with all his might. But
+just then an astonishing thing happened.
+
+Just as Noddy swung the door shut the bear made a leap. The result
+surprised Noddy as much as Bruin.
+
+The edge of the door caught the big creature's neck and held him as fast
+as if he had been caught in a dead-fall. He was gripped as in a vise
+between the door and the frame. But poor Noddy was in the position of
+the man who caught the wild cat.
+
+He didn't know how to let go!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+NODDY AND THE BEAR.
+
+
+"I've got him!" yelled Noddy. "Help me, somebody!"
+
+"Goodness, Noddy's caught the bear," cried Jack, as he and Billy
+streaked across the lawn, followed by the less timid of the guests.
+
+"Hold him tight," shouted some in the crowd.
+
+"Let him go," bawled others.
+
+Perspiring from his efforts, Noddy braced his feet and kept the door
+tightly closed on the bear's neck. But the creature's struggles made the
+portal groan and creak as if it would be shoved off its hinges.
+
+"Gracious, I can't hold it much longer. Can't somebody hit him on the
+head with a club?"
+
+The negro bell boys and clerk, together with several of the guests who
+had been in the lobby, began to come back, now that they saw there was
+no immediate chance of the bear rushing in.
+
+"Ah reckon ah knows a way ter fix dat b'ar widout hurting him," cried
+one of the negro boys.
+
+He snatched a fire extinguisher off the wall of the office and squirted
+its contents full in the bear's face. The animal gave one roar of dismay
+and a mighty struggle that burst the door open and threw Noddy off his
+feet. He set up a yell of fright. But he need not have been afraid. The
+ugliness had all gone out of the bear, and besides being half choked he
+was temporarily blinded by the contents of the fire extinguisher.
+
+The Italian came running up, carrying a chain and a muzzle.
+
+"Gooda da boy! Gooda da Mika!" he cried ingratiatingly.
+
+The bear was as mild as a kitten, but nevertheless the muzzle was
+buckled on and the Italian departed in search of his monkeys just as the
+manager appeared with his gun. It had taken him a long time to find, he
+explained, whereat Noddy, who had recovered his spirits, snickered.
+
+"I'm going to pay the bill and get out of here," whispered Jack in
+Noddy's ear. "You'd better get away as quietly as you can. Several
+people saw you give those buns to the animals. If they find you here,
+they'll mob you."
+
+"Being chased by a bear is quite enough excitement for one day,"
+rejoined Noddy, "but my! It was good fun while it lasted. Did you see
+that old maid's hair, did you see Donald Judson, did you----"
+
+"Get out of here quickly," warned Jack, and this time Noddy took his
+advice without waiting. It was just as well he did, for the elderly
+gentleman, whose shining bald head had been belabored by the old maid's
+parasol, came in, accompanied by the damsel. She had recovered her hair
+when the monkeys were caught and had tendered handsome apologies to the
+would-be gallant.
+
+"Where is that boy who started all this?" demanded the old gentleman.
+
+"It was one of that gang there," cried Donald Judson, who had followed
+them and whose face showed plenty of scratches where the monkeys had
+clambered up to demolish his hat.
+
+"Oh, what a terrible boy he must be," cried the old maid. "He ought to
+go to prison. Where is he?"
+
+"Ask them, they'll know," cried Donald, pointing to Jack and Billy.
+
+"No, it wasn't either of them. They were back in the crowd," cried the
+old maid; "it was another boy, a red-headed one."
+
+"I'm glad I told Noddy to get out," whispered Jack to his friends.
+
+"Look, they are whispering to each other. I told you they knew all about
+it," cried Donald, who saw a chance of avenging himself for his
+treatment by the monkeys.
+
+"Say, young man," said the manager, coming up to Jack, "I think your
+friend was responsible for this rumpus."
+
+"What rumpus?"
+
+"Why, that trouble with the bear, of course. You boys are at the bottom
+of it all."
+
+"Why, the bear chased my friend harder than anyone else," said Jack,
+with assumed indignation.
+
+"I guess we'll pay our bill and leave," struck in Billy.
+
+"Think you'd better, eh?" sneered the manager.
+
+"If you want your money you'd better be civil," said Jack.
+
+"Yes, but--your bill is eight dollars."
+
+"Here it is. Now don't bother us any more or I'll report you to the
+proprietor."
+
+"I know, but look here."
+
+"I can't see in that direction."
+
+"I don't know if that man has caught his monkeys yet."
+
+"No use of your worrying about that unless you're afraid one of them
+will get your job."
+
+There was a loud laugh at this and in the midst of it the boys passed
+out of the hotel, leaving the clerk very red about the ears.
+
+"I hope that will teach Noddy a lesson," said Jack, as they hurried down
+to the boat yard where Noddy had been instructed to precede them.
+
+"It ought to. Being chased by a bear is no joke."
+
+But when they reached the yard they were just in time to see the man who
+was working on the boat clap his hand to the back of his neck and yell:
+
+"Ouch! A bee stung me."
+
+Not far off, looking perfectly innocent, stood Noddy, but Jack detected
+him in the act of slipping into his pocket a magnifying glass, by which
+he focused the sun's rays on the workman's neck.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+"WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT?"
+
+
+The _Skipjack_ was all ready for them and no delay was had in making a
+start back to Musky Bay, where, it will be remembered, the boys had left
+their boat to be repaired. A brief stop was made at the Pine Island
+hotel and then the trip was resumed.
+
+"Wonder where Judson and his crowd have gone to?" pondered Jack, as they
+moved rapidly over the water.
+
+"One thing sure, they never started back home in the _Speedaway this_
+morning," said Billy. "The water is like glass, and there's not a breath
+of wind."
+
+"Look, there's a handsome motor boat off yonder," exclaimed Jack
+presently. He pointed to a low, black craft, some distance behind them
+and closer in to the shore.
+
+"She's making fast time," said Bill.
+
+"Maybe she wants to give us a race," suggested Noddy.
+
+"I'm afraid we wouldn't stand much chance with her," laughed Captain
+Simms.
+
+They watched the black boat for a time, but she appeared to slacken
+speed as she drew closer, as if those in charge of her had no desire to
+come any nearer to the _Skipjack_ than they were.
+
+"That's odd," remarked Jack. "There is evidently nothing the matter with
+her engine, but for all that they don't seem to want to pass us. That's
+the first fast boat I ever saw act that way."
+
+"It does seem queer," said Captain Simms, and suddenly his brow clouded.
+
+"Could it be possible----" he exclaimed, and stopped short.
+
+Jack looked at him in a questioning way.
+
+"Could what be possible, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Why, that Judson and the others are on board that black craft?"
+
+"Ginger! That never occurred to me!" cried Jack; "and yet, if they were
+following us to find out where you are located that would be just the
+sort of way in which they would behave."
+
+"So I was thinking," said Captain Simms thoughtfully. "However, we can
+soon find out."
+
+He opened a locker and took out his binoculars. Then he focused them on
+the black craft.
+
+"Well?" questioned Jack, as the captain laid them down again.
+
+"There's a man at the wheel, but he isn't the least like your
+descriptions of your men," said the captain.
+
+"What does he look like?" questioned Billy.
+
+"He's rather tall and has a full black beard," was the answer.
+
+"Then it's not one of Judson's crowd," said Jack with conviction.
+
+"I guess we are all the victims of nerves to-day," smiled the captain.
+
+They swung round a point and threaded the channel that led among the
+shoaly waters of Musky Bay. The point shut out any rearward view of the
+black motor boat and they saw no more of it. Captain Simms invited them
+up to the house he occupied, which was isolated from the half dozen or
+so small habitations that made up the settlement. It was plainly
+furnished and the living room was littered with papers and documents.
+
+"What made you select Musky Bay as a retreat?" asked Jack.
+
+"I come from up in this part of the country," rejoined Captain Simms,
+"and I thought this would be a good quiet place to hide myself till my
+work was complete. But it seems," he added, with a smile, "that I may
+have been mistaken."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," replied Jack. "Those fellows would never think of
+trailing you here. I guess they think you are still in Clayton."
+
+"Let us hope so, anyway," said the captain, and here the discussion
+ended.
+
+Soon after they said good-by, promising to run over again before long.
+Their boat was all ready for them. A good job had been done with it.
+
+"It looks as good as new," commented Jack.
+
+"She's a fine boat," said Billy.
+
+"A regular pippin," agreed Noddy.
+
+"Well, young men, your-craft-will-carry-you-through many a blow yet.
+She's as nice a little-ship-as-I-ever-saw."
+
+"I guess he says that of every boat that brings him a job," grinned
+Noddy, as Jack paid the man, and they got ready to get under way. A
+light breeze had risen, and they were soon skimming along, taking great
+care to avoid shoals and sand-banks. By standing up to steer, Jack was
+easily able to trace the deeper water by its darker color and they got
+out of the bay without trouble.
+
+As they glided round the point, which had shrouded the black motor boat
+from their view when they entered the bay, Billy, who was in the bow,
+uttered a sharp cry and pointed. The others looked in the direction he
+indicated, realizing that something unusual was up.
+
+"Well, look at that, will you?" exclaimed Jack.
+
+The black motor-boat was anchored close in to the shore. Her dinghy lay
+on the beach, showing that somebody had just landed. Clambering up the
+steep and rocky sides of the point were three figures. When the boys
+caught sight of them the trio had just gained the summit of the rocky
+escarpment.
+
+They crouched behind rocks, as if fearing that they would be seen, and
+one of them drew from his pocket a pair of field glasses. He gazed
+through these down at the settlement of Musky Bay, which lay below. Then
+he turned to his companions and made some remark and each in turn took
+up the glasses.
+
+"What do you make of it?" asked Billy, turning to Jack.
+
+The wireless boy shook his head dubiously.
+
+"I'll tell you what _I_ make of it," he said. "Just this. Those three
+figures up yonder are Judson, Donald and Jarrow. They trailed us here in
+that motor boat but were too foxy to round the point. When they saw us
+turn into the bay, they knew they could land and sneak over the point
+without being seen. They are spying on the settlement and watching for
+Captain Simms. At any rate, they will see his boat tied up there and
+realize that they have struck a home trail."
+
+"What will we do?" asked Billy, rather helplessly.
+
+"There's only one thing to do," said Jack with decision, "and that is to
+turn back and warn Captain Simms of what is going on."
+
+The _Curlew_ was headed about and a few moments later was in sight of
+Musky Bay again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A SWIM WITH A MEMORY.
+
+
+"So they did find me out, after all?" said Captain Simms grimly, after
+he had heard the boys' story. "Well, it will not do them much good. I am
+well armed and the government is at my back. If I get the chance I will
+deal with those rascals with no uncertain hand."
+
+"Why don't you have them arrested right now?" asked Noddy.
+
+"Because it would be premature to do so at the present moment. The
+agents of several nations are keen on getting a copy of the code. If
+these men were arrested, it would reveal, directly, the whereabouts of
+the code and its author."
+
+"It seems too bad such rascals can carry on their intrigues without
+being punished," said Jack.
+
+As it was noon by that time, and the appetites of all were sharp set,
+Captain Simms invited the boys to have lunch with him. It was a simple
+meal, consisting mainly of fish; but the boys did ample justice to it,
+and finished up with some pie, which the captain had brought from
+Clayton to replenish his larder.
+
+After dinner the capricious breeze died out entirely. The heat was
+intense, and the water glittered like a sheet of molten glass. The boys
+looked longingly at the bay, however. The idea of a cool swim seemed
+very attractive just then. Captain Simms had left them to their own
+devices while he took a nap.
+
+"Tell you what," said Billy, "let's take a swim, eh, fellows?"
+
+"Suits me down to the ground," said Jack.
+
+"Suits me down to the water," grinned Noddy.
+
+They had bathing trunks on their boat, and, having found what looked
+like a good spot, a little cove with a sandy beach, they disrobed and
+were soon sporting in the water.
+
+"Ouch! It's colder than I thought it was," cried Noddy.
+
+"You'll soon warm up," encouraged Jack. "I'll race you out to that
+anchored boat."
+
+"Bully for you," cried Billy.
+
+"You're on," echoed Noddy, not to be outdone. But, as a matter of fact,
+the red-headed lad, who had eaten far more than the others, wasn't
+feeling very well. However, he did not wish to spoil the fun, so he
+didn't say anything.
+
+Jack and Billy struck out with long, strong strokes.
+
+"Come on," cried Jack, looking back at Noddy, who was left behind, and
+who began to feel worse and worse. "What's the trouble--want a
+tow-rope?"
+
+"I'll beat you yet, Jack Ready," cried Noddy, fighting off a feeling of
+nausea.
+
+"I guess I went in the water too soon after eating," he thought. "It
+will wear off."
+
+"Help!"
+
+The single, half-choked cry for aid reached the ears of Jack and Billy
+when they were almost at the anchored boat, which was the objective
+point of the race.
+
+"Great Cæsar!" burst from Jack. "What's up now?"
+
+He turned round just in time to see Noddy's arms go up in the air. Then
+the red-headed lad sank out of sight like a stone.
+
+"He can't be fooling, can he?" exclaimed Billy nervously.
+
+"He wouldn't be so silly as to do that," rejoined Jack, who was already
+striking out for the spot where Noddy had vanished. Billy followed him
+closely.
+
+They were still some yards off when Noddy suddenly reappeared. He was
+struggling desperately, and his eyes seemed to be popping out of his
+head. His arms circled wildly, splashing the water helplessly. Then he
+disappeared once more.
+
+"Heavens, he is drowning," choked out Jack. "We must save him, Billy."
+
+"Of course we will, old boy," panted Billy, upon whom the pace was
+beginning to tell.
+
+Jack reached the spot where the disturbed water showed that Noddy had
+gone down for the second time. Just as he gained the place Noddy shot up
+again. He was totally unconscious and sank again almost instantly.
+
+Like a flash Jack was after him, diving down powerfully. He grasped
+Noddy round the chest under the arms.
+
+"Noddy! Noddy!" he exclaimed, as they shot to the surface. But the lad's
+eyes were closed, his face was deadly white, and his matted hair lay
+over his eyes. A terrible thought invaded Jack's mind. What if Noddy
+were dead and had been rescued too late?
+
+"Here, give me one of his arms. We must get him ashore as quickly as we
+can," cried Billy.
+
+"That's right; he's a dead weight. Oh, Billy, I hope that he isn't----"
+
+A moan came from Noddy. Suddenly he opened his eyes and grasped at Jack
+wildly, with five times his normal strength. The movement was so
+unexpected that Jack was dragged under water. But the next moment
+Noddy's drowning grip relaxed and they rose to the surface.
+
+"He's unconscious again," panted Jack. "He'll be all right, now. Take
+hold, Billy, and we'll make for the shore."
+
+It was an exhausting swim, but at last they reached shallow water, and,
+ceasing swimming, carried Noddy to the beach. They anxiously bent over
+him.
+
+"We must get that water out of his lungs," declared Jack, who knew
+something of how to treat the half-drowned.
+
+Luckily, an old barrel had drifted ashore not far off, and over this
+poor Noddy was rolled and pounded and then hoisted up by the ankles till
+most of the water was out of his lungs and he began to take deep,
+gasping breaths.
+
+But it was a long time before he was strong enough to get on his feet,
+and even then his two chums had to support him back to Captain Simms'
+house, where they received a severe lecture for going in the water so
+soon after eating.
+
+"It was an awful sensation," declared Noddy. "It just hit me like an
+electric shock. I couldn't move a limb. Then I don't remember much of
+anything more till I found myself on the beach."
+
+Noddy's deep gratitude to his friends may be imagined, but it was too
+painful a subject to be talked about. It was a long while, however,
+before any of them got over the recollection of Noddy's peril.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A TALE FROM THE FROZEN LANDS.
+
+
+Although Noddy had recovered remarkably quick, thanks to his rugged
+constitution, from the effects of his immersion, Captain Simms ordered
+him on the sick-list and he was, much against his will, sent to bed.
+
+"He'd better stay there all night," said the captain. "We don't want to
+run any risks of pneumonia. I don't suppose your uncle will worry about
+you?"
+
+"He's got over that long ago," laughed Jack; "besides, there's a
+professor stopping at the hotel who is on the lookout for funny plants
+and herbs. That's Uncle Toby's long suit, you know."
+
+"So I have heard," smiled the captain. "Well, you boys may as well make
+yourselves at home."
+
+"Thank you, we will," said Billy. Whereat there was a general laugh.
+
+There was a phonograph and a good selection of records in the cottage,
+so they managed to while away a pleasant afternoon. Jack cooked supper,
+"just by way of paying for our board," he said. After the meal they sat
+up for a time listening to Captain Simms' tales of seal poachers in the
+Arctic and the trouble they give the patrol assigned to see that they do
+not violate the international boundary, and other laws. Before he had
+taken command of the _Thespis_, of the Ice-berg Patrol, Captain Simms
+had been detailed to command of the _Bear_ revenue cutter, and had
+chased and captured many a sealer who was plying his trade illicitly.
+
+The boys listened attentively as he told them of the rough hardships of
+such a life, and how, sometimes, a whole fleet of sealers, if frozen in
+by an early formation of ice, must face hunger and sometimes death till
+the spring came to release them from their imprisonment.
+
+"It must take a lot of nerve and courage to be a sealer," said Jack.
+
+"It certainly does," agreed the captain. "Yet I heard from one sealing
+captain the story of a young fellow whom it turned from a weak coward
+into a brave man. This lad, who was regarded as a weakling, saved
+himself and two companions from a terrible death simply by an act of
+almost sublime courage. Would you like to hear the story?"
+
+"If you don't mind spinning the yarn," said Jack.
+
+"Well, then," began the captain, "to start with, the name of my hero is
+Shavings. Of course he had another name, but that's the one he was
+always known by, and I've forgotten the right one. He was a long-legged,
+lanky Vermont farmer, with dank strings of yellow hair hanging about his
+mild face. This hair gave him his nickname aboard the sealing schooner,
+_Janet Barry_, on which he signed as a boat man. How Shavings came to
+St. Johns, from which port the _Janet Barry_ sailed, or why he picked
+out such a job, nobody ever knew. He had, as sailors say, 'hayseed in
+his hair' and knew nothing about a ship.
+
+"But what he didn't know he soon learned under the rough method of
+tuition they employed on the _Barry_. A mate with a rope's end sent him
+aloft for the first time and kept sending him there till Shavings
+learned how to clamber up the ratlines with the best of them. He learned
+boat-work in much the same way, although he passed through a lot of
+experiences while chasing seals, that scared him badly. He told the
+captain long afterward that, although he was afraid of storms and gales,
+still he sometimes welcomed them, because he knew the boats would not
+have to go out.
+
+"One day, far to the north, they ran into an exceptionally fine school
+of seals. All the boats were sent away, and among them the one to which
+Shavings belonged. In command of this boat was Olaf Olsen, the mate who
+had taught Shavings the rudiments of his profession by means of hard
+knocks. Dark clouds were scurrying across the sky, and the sea looked
+angry, but that made no difference to the sealers. Lives or no lives,
+women in the States had to have their sealskin coats.
+
+"So the boats pursued the seals for a long distance, and in the
+excitement nobody noticed what the weather was doing. Nobody, that is,
+but Shavings, and he didn't dare to say that it was growing worse, for
+fear of angering the mate. The hunters harpooned a goodly catch before
+the gale was upon the little fleet almost without warning.
+
+"Then the storm broke with a screech and a massing of angry water. The
+boats had been under sail, and in a flash two of them were over-turned.
+Shavings saw all this with terror in his eyes and a cold clutch at his
+heart. He knew the men in those boats would never go sealing again.
+
+"Then his eyes fell on the mate, Olaf Olsen. The man appeared to be
+petrified with fright. He made no move to do anything. Then something in
+Shavings seemed to wake up.
+
+"Perhaps that yellow hair of his was a survival of some old Viking
+strain, or perhaps all those months of rough sea life had made him over
+without his knowing it. But he seized the mate and shook him by the
+shoulder:
+
+"'Give an order, man!' he shouted. 'Order the sail reefed.'
+
+"But the sight of the death of his shipmates had so unnerved the mate
+that he could no nothing. Shavings kicked him disgustedly, and went
+about the job himself. Clouds of spray burst over him. Time and again he
+was within an inch of being swept overboard, but at last he had the sail
+reefed down. Then he took the tiller and headed back for the schooner
+across the immense seas through the screeching gale.
+
+"He handled that boat skillfully, meeting the big seas and riding their
+summits, only to be buried the next instant in the watery valley between
+the giant combers. But always he rose. He had the cheering sight of the
+schooner before him and it grew closer. The boat sailed more on her beam
+than on her keel, but at last Shavings, more dead than alive, ran her in
+under the lee of the schooner's hull, and willing hands got the
+survivors out of the boat.
+
+"The skipper of that craft was a rough man. He drove Olaf Olsen forward
+with blows and curses and the strong Swede whimpered like a whipped cur.
+Then he came aft to where the cook was giving Shavings and the rest hot
+coffee.
+
+"'Shavings,' he said, 'after this you're mate in that coward Olsen's
+place. You're a man.'
+
+"'No, sirree,' rejoined Shavings, 'I'm a farmer. No mate's job for me.
+When we gets back ter home I'm goin' ter take my share uv ther catch and
+buy a farm.'
+
+"But he was finally persuaded to take the job of mate when his canny New
+England mind grasped the fact that the mate's share of the profits is
+much bigger than a foremast hand's. He was as good as his word, however,
+and, when the _Janet Barry_, with her flag at half mast but her hold
+full of fine skins, docked at St. Johns after the season was over,
+Shavings drew his money and vanished. I suppose he is farming it
+somewhere in Vermont now, but I agree with his captain, who told me the
+story, that there was a fine sailor lost in Shavings."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+A NIGHT ALARM.
+
+
+Jack sat bolt upright in bed and listened with all his might. Outside
+the window of the little room he occupied that night in the captain's
+cottage he was almost certain he had heard the sound of a furtive
+footfall and whisperings. His blood beat in his ear-drums as he sat
+tense and rigid, waiting a repetition of the noise.
+
+Suddenly, there came a low whisper from outside.
+
+"If only we knew if the captain was alone. For all we know those
+bothersome boys may be with him, and, if they are, we are likely to get
+the worst of it."
+
+"Donald Judson!" exclaimed Jack to himself. "What ought I to do?"
+
+He pondered a moment and then recollected that there was a door to his
+room which let directly out on a back porch without the occupant of the
+room having to traverse any other chamber. Jack at once formed a bold
+resolve. He did not wish to arouse the others unnecessarily, but he did
+want, with all his power, to find out what was going on.
+
+He rose from the bed as cautiously as he could, and made his way to the
+door. It was a ticklish task, in the dark, to accomplish without noise,
+but he succeeded in doing it. Outside it was very dark, with a velvety
+sort of blackness. The boy was glad of this, for it afforded him
+protection from the men he felt sure were reconnoitering the house for
+no good purpose.
+
+Suddenly he saw, not far off, the gleam of a light of some sort. If it
+belonged to the Judsons, they must have presumed that nobody was about,
+or not have realized that the place where they had left it was visible
+from the cottage.
+
+"Now I wonder what they've got up there?" mused Jack. "Maybe it would be
+a good scheme to go up and see."
+
+Anything that looked like an adventure aroused Jack's animation, and a
+few seconds after the idea had first taken hold of him he was making his
+way up a rather steep hillside, covered with rocks and bushes, toward
+the light. At last he reached a place where he could get a good look at
+the shining beacon. He hardly knew what he had expected to see, but
+somehow he felt a sort of sense of disappointment.
+
+The lantern stood by itself on a rock and the idea suggested itself to
+Jack that it might have been placed there as a beacon to guide the
+midnight visitors back when they had accomplished whatever they purposed
+doing.
+
+"I've a good mind to carry off their lantern," said Jack to himself; "if
+they put it there to guide them that would leave them in a fine fix and
+we could easily capture them."
+
+Once more, half involuntarily, his feet appeared to draw him toward the
+lantern. The next instant he had it in his grasp.
+
+"Now to turn it out," he muttered, when he felt himself seized from
+behind in a powerful grip and a harsh voice growled in his ear:
+
+"Yer would, would yer, you precious young scallywag."
+
+The lantern was wrested from his grasp, and Jack felt a noose slipped
+over his head.
+
+"Who are you?" he demanded indignantly of his unknown captor.
+
+"Bill Smiggers, of the motor boat _Black Beauty_," was the gruff reply.
+"They left me up here to watch by the light, and I guess they'll be glad
+they did when they see who I've caught. I reckon you're one of those
+snoopy kids I've heard them talking about."
+
+"I don't know what you mean," replied Jack, "but you'd better let me go
+at once."
+
+"Huh, I'd be a fine softy to do that, wouldn't I? No, young man, here
+you are, and here you stay. I'm getting well paid for this job, and I'm
+going to do a good one."
+
+Just then footsteps were heard coming up the hillside. Then a low,
+cautious voice whispered out of the darkness:
+
+"What's the matter, Bill? We saw the light waved, and came right back.
+Is there any danger?"
+
+"Not right now, I reckon," rejoined Bill, with grim humor. "Any of you
+gents know this young bantam I've got triced up here?"
+
+"Jack Ready, by all that's wonderful!" cried Judson, stepping forward.
+He was followed by young Judson and Jarrow.
+
+"Dear me, what an--er--what a pleasant encounter," grinned Jarrow.
+
+"So you thought you'd spy on us, did you?" snarled Donald, vindictively;
+"well, this is the time that we've got you and got you right."
+
+Jack's heart, stout as it was, sank like lead within him. He was in the
+hands of his enemies and that, largely, by his own foolishness.
+
+"So this is that Ready kid I hearn you talkin' about?" asked Bill.
+
+"That's the boy, confound him! He's always meddling in my schemes,"
+growled Jarrow.
+
+"Bright looking lad, ain't he?"
+
+"Too bright for his own good. He's so sharp he'll cut himself."
+
+"No, his brightness won't help him now," chuckled Donald maliciously.
+"I'll bet you're scared to death," he went on, coming close to Jack.
+
+"Not particularly. It takes more than a parcel of cowards and crooks to
+frighten me."
+
+"Don't you put on airs with me. You're in our power now," jeered Donald.
+"I'll make you suffer for the way you've treated me."
+
+"It would be like you to take advantage of the fact that my arms are
+tied," retorted Jack.
+
+Donald came a step closer and stuck his fist under Jack's nose.
+
+"You be careful, or I'll crack you one," he snarled.
+
+"You're a nice sort of an individual, I must say. Why don't you try fair
+dealing for a change?"
+
+"I do deal fair. It's you that don't. I----"
+
+"That will do," interrupted his father; "I've been talking with Bill and
+he says he knows a place where we can take this young bantam and leave
+him till he cools off."
+
+"You mean that you are going to imprison me?" demanded Jack indignantly.
+
+"You may call it that, if you like," said Judson imperturbably; "you are
+quite too clever a lad to have at large."
+
+"Where are you taking me to?"
+
+"You'll find that out soon enough. Now then, forward march and, if you
+attempt to make an outcry, you'll feel this on your head."
+
+Judson, with a wicked smile, flourished a stout club under the captive
+boy's nose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+JACK'S CURIOSITY AND ITS RESULTS.
+
+
+"What do you intend to do with me?" repeated Jack, as they hurried over
+the rough ground, following Bill, who trudged ahead with the lantern.
+
+"You'll find out quick enough, I told you before," said Donald.
+
+"Don't you know that my friends are in the neighborhood? They will
+invoke the law against you for this outrage."
+
+"We know all about that," was the elder Judson's reply, "but we're not
+worrying. We'll have them prisoners, too, before long."
+
+Jack made no reply to this, but he judged it was an empty threat made to
+scare him. He knew that nothing would have delighted Donald Judson more
+than to see him breaking down. So he kept up a brave front, which he was
+in reality far from feeling at heart.
+
+From the bold manner in which Bill displayed the lantern as he led the
+party on, Jack knew that the rascal must be familiar with the country,
+and know it to be sparsely inhabited. So far as Jack could judge they
+were retreating from the river and going up hill.
+
+About an hour after they had started, Bill paused in front of an ancient
+stone dwelling--or rather what had been a dwelling, for it was now
+dilapidated and deserted.
+
+"This is the place, boss," he grated, holding up his lantern so that its
+rays fell on the old place, which looked as grim as a fortress.
+
+"It's haunted, too, isn't it, Bill?" asked Donald meaningly.
+
+"Well, they do say there was a terrible murder done here some years ago
+and that's the reason it's been deserted ever since, but I really could
+not say as to the truth of that, Master Judson," rejoined Bill, falling
+into Donald's plan to tease Jack.
+
+Inside the place was one large room. A few broken bits of furniture
+stood about. Bill set the lantern down on a rickety table and then went
+to guard the door, while the others retreated to a corner and held a
+parley.
+
+At its conclusion Judson came over to Jack.
+
+"Well, Ready," he said, "you've caused us a lot of trouble, but still I
+might come to terms with you."
+
+"Are you ready to release me?" demanded Jack.
+
+"Yes, under certain conditions. First, you must tell us all you know
+about that naval code of Captain Simms."
+
+"And the truth, too," snarled Jarrow. "We'll find out quick enough if
+you're lying, and we'll make it hot for you."
+
+"You bet we will," chimed in Donald.
+
+"Donald, be quiet a minute," ordered his father. "Well, Ready, what have
+you to say?"
+
+"Suppose I tell you I know nothing about the naval code?" said Jack
+quietly.
+
+"Then I should say you were not telling the truth."
+
+"Nevertheless I am."
+
+"What, you know nothing about the code?"
+
+"Nothing except that Captain Simms was ordered to get up something of
+the sort."
+
+"You don't know if it's finished or not?"
+
+"I have no idea."
+
+"Is your life worth anything to you?" struck in Jarrow.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Jack.
+
+"Just what I say. If it is, you had better make terms to save it."
+
+"Impossible. You are fooling with me, Jarrow. Even a man as base as you
+wouldn't dare----"
+
+"I wouldn't, eh? Well, you'll find out before long if I'm in earnest or
+not."
+
+Jack was a brave lad, as we know, and carried himself well through many
+dangerous situations. But he was not the dauntless hero of a nickel
+novel whom nothing could scare. He knew Jarrow for a desperado and,
+although he could not bring himself to believe the man would actually
+carry out any such threat as he had made, still he realized to the full
+the peril of his situation.
+
+"Well, what do you say?" demanded Jarrow, after a pause.
+
+"I don't know just what to say," said Jack. "My head is all in a whirl.
+Give me time to think the thing over. I can hardly collect my thoughts
+at present."
+
+The men made some further attempts to get something out of him, but,
+finding him obdurate, they ordered Bill to see that his bonds were tight
+and then to put him in the "inner room" he had spoken of. Bill gave the
+ropes a savage yank, found they were tight and then led Jack to a green
+door at the farther end of the large room. Jack had a glimpse of a
+square room with a broad fireplace at one end and a small window. It
+appeared to be used as a storehouse of some kind, for it was half filled
+with bags, apparently containing potatoes. In one corner stood a
+grindstone operated by a treadle. Then the door was shut with a bang,
+and he was left to his own, none-too-pleasant reflections. Outside he
+could hear the buzz of voices. But he couldn't catch much of what was
+being said. Once he heard Jarrow say:
+
+"You're too soft with the boy. A good lashing with a black-snake would
+bring him to his senses quick enough."
+
+"I'd like to lay it on," he heard Donald chime in.
+
+At last they appeared to grow sleepy. Jack heard a key turned in the
+lock of the inner room that he occupied and not long thereafter came the
+sound of snores. Evidently nobody was on guard, the men who had captured
+him thinking that there was no chance of the boy's escape.
+
+"Now's my chance," thought Jack. "If only I could get my hands free, I
+might be able to do something. But, as it is, I'm helpless."
+
+His heart sank once more, as he thought bitterly of the predicament into
+which his own foolhardiness had drawn him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+BILLY TAKES THE TRAIL.
+
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+Just as Jack stole out of the house Billy Raynor sat bolt upright in bed
+and asked himself that question. He was on the other side of the
+cottage, and, like Jack a few minutes before, he too heard the cautious
+footsteps of the marauders, as they crept round the cottage,
+reconnoitering.
+
+"Somebody's up to mischief," thought the boy. "It may only be common
+thieves, or it may be that rascally outfit. I'll go and rouse Jack.
+Perhaps we can get after them."
+
+He tiptoed across the main room of the cottage to Jack's door. Inside
+the room he struck a match. He almost cried out aloud when he saw that
+the bed was empty and that there was no sign of his chum.
+
+"Where can he be?" thought the lad. "Surely he has not gone after that
+gang single-handed."
+
+Raynor hastened to his own room, slipped on some clothes, and went to
+the door. Far up on the hillside a lantern was twinkling like some
+fallen star.
+
+"That's mighty odd," reflected the lad. "I guess I'll take a look up
+there and see what's coming off."
+
+He picked his way cautiously up the rough hillside. But the lantern
+retreated as he went forward. As we know, Judson and his gang, led by
+Bill, were carrying off Jack. Without realizing how far he had gone,
+Raynor kept on and on. Some instinct told him that the dodging
+will-o'-the-wisp of light ahead of him had something to do with Jack,
+and he wanted to find out what that something was.
+
+But, not knowing the trail Bill was following, and having no light but
+the spark ahead of him, Raynor found it pretty hard traveling. At last
+he was so tired that he sat down to snatch a moment's rest, leaning his
+back against a bush.
+
+As his weight came against the bush, however, a strange thing happened.
+The shrub gave way altogether under the pressure. Raynor struggled for
+an instant to save himself, and then felt himself tumbling backward down
+an unknown height. He gave a shout of alarm, but his progress down what
+appeared to be a steep wall of rock, was over almost as soon as it had
+begun.
+
+"What happened?" gasped the lad, as, shaken by his adventure, he picked
+himself up and tried to collect his wits. "Oh, yes, I know, that bush
+gave way and I toppled over backward. I must be in some sort of hole in
+the ground. Well, the first thing to do is to get a light."
+
+Luckily Raynor's pockets held several matches, and he struck one of them
+and looked about him.
+
+His eyes fell on the bush which lay at his feet.
+
+"No wonder it gave way," he muttered. "The thing is dead and withered.
+But"--as a sudden thought struck him--"it will make a dandy torch and
+help save matches."
+
+He lit the dead bush, which blazed up bravely, illumining his
+surroundings with a ruddy glow. Above him was a dark hole, presumably
+the one through which he had fallen. But there was no way of escape in
+that direction. He turned his gaze another way. The cave appeared to
+recede beyond the light of the blazing branch.
+
+Looking down, he saw that the floor of the cave was thickly littered
+with leaves and small branches. This encouraged him a good deal.
+
+"They couldn't have been blown in by the hole I fell through," he mused,
+"for the dead bush covered that. Their being here must mean that there
+is another entrance to this place."
+
+Carrying his torch aloft, he struck off into the cave. Its floor sloped
+gently upward as he progressed and the walls began to grow narrower. The
+air, too, rapidly lost its musty odor, and blew fresh and sweet on his
+perspiring head.
+
+"This will be quite an adventure to tell about if I ever get out of
+here," muttered Raynor, and the thought of Jack, whom he had almost
+forgotten in his fright at his fall into the cave, occurred to him.
+
+What could have happened to his chum? Surely he had not been foolhardy
+enough to face the marauders alone? Raynor did not know what to make of
+it.
+
+"Somehow," he pondered, "I am sure that lantern had something to do with
+Jack. I wonder if they would have dared to carry him off? I wish to
+goodness I'd kept on, instead of leaning against that bush. Even if I do
+get out of here, the light must be far out of sight by this time, and
+I'll have to wait till daylight, anyhow, for I must have walked almost a
+mile from the other entrance to the cave by this time."
+
+His thoughts ran along in this strain as he walked. The thought of
+Captain Simms' alarm, too, when he found both boys missing, gave him a
+good deal of worry.
+
+He was thinking over this phase of the situation when he was startled by
+a low growl, coming from a pile of rocks just ahead of him. What could
+it be? Holding his breath painfully, while a cold chill ran down his
+spine, Raynor came to a dead pause and listened. His improvised torch
+had almost burned out and it was appalling to think that he faced the
+possibility of being in darkness ere long, with a wild beast close at
+hand.
+
+Again came the growl. It echoed and re-echoed hollowly in the cave till
+the frightened lad appeared to be menaced from all directions.
+
+"It must be a bear, or some wild beast just as bad," thought Raynor.
+
+The growling was repeated, but now it appeared to be retreating from
+him. Plucking up courage, after a while, Raynor, waving his torch,
+pushed forward again. He came to a place where it was necessary to
+scramble up to a sort of platform considerably higher than the path he
+had been traversing.
+
+As he gained this, he saw several tiny bright lights in front of him.
+
+"Hurrah! It's the stars!" he cried aloud.
+
+"The--s-t-a-r-s!" the echoes boomed back.
+
+At almost the same instant Raynor saw, in front of him, what looked like
+two balls of livid green flame.
+
+But the boy knew that they were the eyes of whatever beast it was that
+had sent its growls echoing fearfully through the cave.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+A "GHOSTESS" ABROAD.
+
+
+Suddenly, like an inspiration, Jack thought of a way in which he might
+free his captive hands. Naturally quick-witted, the emergency he found
+himself facing had made his mind more active than usual.
+
+"That grindstone," he thought. "I can work the treadle with my foot,
+while I stand backward to it. If I hold the rope against the sharp edge
+of the stone it ought to cut through in a very short time."
+
+It was quite a task to locate the grindstone in the darkness without
+making a noise. But at last Jack, by dint of feeling softly along the
+walls, located it. Then he turned his back to the machine and put his
+foot on the treadle. As the wheel began to turn he pressed the rope that
+bound his hands against the rough stone. In ten minutes he was free.
+
+"Now for the next move," counseled the boy. "I've got to do whatever I
+decide upon quickly. If I don't escape, and that gang finds how I've
+freed my wrists, they'll shackle me hand and foot, and I'll not get
+another chance to get away. If it was only daylight I'd stand a much
+better opportunity of getting out."
+
+There was the door, but to try that was out of the question. Jack had
+heard it locked and the key turned. The window? It was too small for a
+big, well-grown boy like Jack to creep through. He had noted that during
+the time the door was open and his prison was lighted by the rays of the
+lantern.
+
+"There's that fireplace," thought the boy, "that's about the last
+resort. I wonder----"
+
+He located the big, old-fashioned chimney, built of rough stones and
+full of nooks and crannies, without trouble. Getting inside it on the
+hearthstone he looked upward; it was open to the sky and at the top he
+could see a faint glow.
+
+"It's getting daylight," he exclaimed to himself.
+
+The next moment he noticed that right across the top of the chimney was
+the stout branch of a tree.
+
+"If I could get up the chimney that branch would afford me a way of
+getting to the ground," he thought.
+
+"By Jove! I believe I could do it," he muttered, as the light grew
+stronger and he saw how roughly the interior of the chimney was built.
+"It's not very high, and those rough stones make a regular ladder."
+
+As time was pressing, Jack began the ascent at once. For a lad as active
+as he was, it proved even more easy than he had anticipated. But long
+before he reached the top he was covered from head to foot with soot,
+although, oddly enough, that thought never occurred to him. At length,
+black as a negro in mourning, he reached the top of the chimney and
+grasped the tree branch he had noticed from below.
+
+He swung into it and made his way to the main trunk of the tree, an
+ancient elm. It was no trick at all then for him to slide to the ground.
+Then, silently as a cat, he tiptoed his way from the old stone house,
+with its occupants sleeping and snoring, blissfully unaware that Jack
+had stolen a march on them.
+
+"Well, things have gone finely so far," he mused. "Now, what shall be
+the next step?"
+
+He looked about him. The country was a wild one. There was no sign of a
+house, and, as far as he could see, there was nothing but an expanse of
+timber and rocks.
+
+"This is a tough problem," thought the boy. "I've no idea where I am, or
+the points of the compass. If I go one way, I might come out all right,
+but then again I might find myself lost in the forest. Hanged if I know
+what to do."
+
+But, realizing that it would not do to waste any time around the old
+house, Jack at length struck off down what appeared to have been, in
+bygone days, some sort of a wood road. It wound for quite a distance
+among the trees, but suddenly, to his huge delight, the boy beheld in
+front of him the broad white ribbon of a dusty highway.
+
+Suddenly, too, he heard the sound of wheels and the rattle of a horse's
+hoofs coming along at a smart rate.
+
+"Good; now I can soon find out where I am," thought the boy, and he
+hurried forward to meet the approaching vehicle. It contained a pretty
+young woman, wearing a sunbonnet.
+
+Jack had no hat to lift, but he made his best bow as the fair driver
+came abreast of him.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he began, "but could you tell me----"
+
+The young woman gave one piercing scream.
+
+"Oh-h-h-h-h-h!" she cried, and gave her horse a lash with the whip that
+made it leap forward like an arrow. In a flash she was out of sight in a
+cloud of dust.
+
+"Well, what do you know about that?" exclaimed Jack. "She must be crazy,
+or something, or else she's the most bashful girl I ever saw."
+
+He sat down on a rock at the side of the road to rest and waited for
+another rig or a foot passenger to come by. Before long he heard a
+sprightly whistle, and a barefooted boy, carrying a tin pail, and with a
+fish pole over his shoulder, appeared round a curve in the road.
+
+"Now, I'll get sailing directions," said Jack to himself, and then, as
+the boy drew near:
+
+"Hullo, sonny! Can you tell me----"
+
+The boy gave one look and then, dropping his can of bait, and his pole,
+fled with a howl of dismay.
+
+"Hi! Stop, can't you? What's the matter with you?" shouted Jack. He ran
+after the boy at top speed. But the faster he ran the faster the
+youngster sped along the road.
+
+"Oh-h-h-h-h! Help! Mum-muh!" he yelled, as he ran, in terrified tones.
+
+At length Jack gave up the chase. He leaned against a fence and gave way
+to his indignation.
+
+"Bother it all," he said. "What can be the matter with these people?
+Everyone I speak to runs away from me, as if I had the plague or
+something. Anyhow, that youngster can't be very far down this road. I
+guess I'll keep right on after him, and then I'm bound to come to some
+place where there are some sensible folks."
+
+As he assumed, it was not long before he came in sight of a neat little
+farm-house, standing back from the road in a grove of fine trees. He
+made his way toward it. In the front yard an old man was trimming
+rose-bushes.
+
+"Can you tell me----" began Jack.
+
+The old man looked up. Then uttering an appalling screech, he ran for
+his life into the house. "Mandy! Mandy! Thar be a ghostess in the yard!"
+he yelled, as he ran.
+
+Jack looked after him blankly. What could be the matter?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ONE MYSTERY SOLVED.
+
+
+"Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Jack. "What _can_ be the matter? It
+beats me. I----"
+
+"Hey you, git out of thar. I don't know what of critter ye be, but you
+scared my old man nigh ter death. Scat now, er I'll shoot!"
+
+Jack looked up toward an upper window of the farm-house, from which the
+voice, a high-pitched, feminine one, had proceeded. An old lady, with a
+determined face, stood framed in the embrasure. In her hands, and
+pointed straight at the mystified Jack, she held an ancient but
+murderous looking blunderbuss.
+
+"It's loaded with slugs an' screws, an' brass tacks," pleasantly
+observed the old lady. "Jerushiah!" this to someone within the room,
+"stop that whimperin'. I'm goin' ter send it on its way, ghost or no
+ghost."
+
+"But, madam----" stammered Jack.
+
+"Don't madam me," was the angry reply. "Git now, and git quick!"
+
+"This is like a bad dream," murmured Jack, but there was no choice for
+him but to turn and go; "maybe it is a dream. If it is I wish I could
+wake up."
+
+He turned into the hot, dusty road once more. He felt faint and hungry.
+His mouth was dry, and he suffered from thirst, too. Before long he
+found a chance to slake this latter. A cool, clear stream, spanned by a
+rustic bridge, appeared as he trudged round a bend in the road.
+
+"Ah, that looks good to me," thought Jack, and he hurried down the bank
+as fast as he could.
+
+He bent over the stream at a place where an eddy made an almost still
+pool, as clear as crystal. But no sooner did his face approach the water
+than he gave a violent start. A hideous black countenance gazed up at
+him. Then, suddenly, Jack broke into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Jerusalem! No wonder everybody was scared at me when I scare myself!"
+he exclaimed. "It's the soot from that chimney. Just think, it never
+occurred to me why they were all so alarmed at my appearance. Why, I'd
+make a locomotive shy off the track if it saw me coming along."
+
+It did not take Jack long to clean up, and, while his face was still
+grimy when he had finished, it was not, at least, such a startling
+looking countenance as he had presented to those from whom he sought to
+find his way back to Musky Bay.
+
+"Now that I look more presentable I guess I'll try and get some
+breakfast," thought the boy as, his thirst appeased, he scrambled up the
+bank again.
+
+About half a mile farther along the road was the queerest-looking house
+Jack had ever seen. It was circular in form, and looked like three giant
+cheese-boxes, perched one on the top of the other, with the smallest at
+the top.
+
+"Well, whoever lives there must be a crank," thought Jack; "but still,
+since I've money to pay for my breakfast, even a crank won't drive me
+away, I guess."
+
+A man was sawing wood in the back yard and to him Jack addressed
+himself.
+
+"I'd like to know if I can buy a meal here?" he said.
+
+"No, you can't fry no eel here," said the man, and went on sawing.
+
+"I didn't say anything about frying eels. I said 'Can I get a meal?'"
+shouted Jack, who now saw that the man was somewhat deaf.
+
+"Don't see it makes no difference to you how I feel," rejoined the man.
+
+"I'm hungry. I want to eat. I can pay," bellowed Jack.
+
+"What's that about yer feet?" asked the deaf man.
+
+"Not feet--eat--E-A-T. I want to eat," fairly yelled Jack.
+
+"What do you mean by calling me a beat?" angrily rejoined the deaf man.
+
+"I didn't. Oh, Great Scott, everything is going wrong to-day," cried
+Jack. Then he cupped his hands and fairly screeched in the man's ear.
+
+"Can I buy a meal here?"
+
+A light of understanding broke over the other's face.
+
+"Surely you can," he said. "Araminta--that's my wife--'ull fix up a bite
+fer yer. Why didn't you say what you wanted in the fust place?"
+
+"I did," howled Jack, crimson in the face by this time; "but you didn't
+hear me. You are deaf."
+
+"Wa'al, I may be a _little_ hard o' hearing, young feller," admitted the
+man, "but I hain't deef by a dum sight."
+
+Jack didn't argue the point, but followed him to the house, where a
+pleasant-faced woman soon prepared a piping hot breakfast. As he ate and
+drank, Jack inquired the way to Musky Bay.
+
+"It ain't far," the woman told him, "five miles or so."
+
+"Can I get anyone to drive me back there?" asked Jack, who was pretty
+well tired out by this time.
+
+"Oh, yes; Abner will drive you over fer a couple of dollars."
+
+She hurried out to tell her husband to hitch up. Jack could hear her
+shouting her directions in the yard.
+
+"All right. No need uv speaking so loud. I kin hear ye," Jack could hear
+the deaf man shouting back. "I kin hear ye."
+
+"Just think," said the woman when she came back into the kitchen, where
+Jack had eaten, "Abner won't admit he's deef one bit. At church on
+Sundays he listens to the sermon just as if he understood it. If anyone
+asks him what it was about, he'll tell 'um that he doesn't care to
+discuss the new minister, but he's not such a powerful exhorter as the
+old one. He's mighty artful, is Abner."
+
+The rig was soon ready and Jack was on his homeward way. To his
+annoyance, Abner proved very talkative and required answers to all his
+remarks.
+
+"Gracious, I'll have no lungs left if I have to shout this way all the
+way home," thought Jack. "It'll be Husky Bay. If ever I drive with Abner
+again, I'll bring along some cough lozenges."
+
+"Must be pretty tough to be really, down-right deef," remarked Abner,
+after Jack had roared out answers to him for a mile and a half.
+
+"It must be," yelled Jack.
+
+"Yes, sir-ee," rejoined Abner, wagging his head. "I'm just a trifle that
+er-way, and it bothers me quite a bit sometimes, 'specially in damp
+weather. Gid-ap!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+BILL SNIGGERS DECIDES.
+
+
+We left Billy Raynor in a most unpleasant position. With escape from the
+cave within his grasp the way was blocked, it will be recalled, by some
+wild beast, the nature of which Billy did not know. His torch, made from
+the withered bush that was responsible for his dilemma, was burning low.
+Just in front of him glowed two luminous green eyes.
+
+While Billy stood there hesitating, the creature gave another of its
+alarming growls. Hardly thinking what he was doing, Billy, startled by a
+shrill caterwaul, which followed the growl, flung his lighted torch full
+at the eyes, and heard a screech that sounded as if his blazing missile
+had struck its mark.
+
+[Illustration: While Billy stood there hesitating, the creature gave
+another of its alarming growls.]
+
+There was a swift patter of feet and the eyes vanished.
+
+"Great Christmas, I've scared the creature off," said Billy to himself,
+with a sigh of relief; "a lucky thing I had that torch."
+
+He walked forward more boldly. The evident alarm of the animal that had
+scared him, when the torch struck, convinced the boy that there was no
+more danger to be feared from it. In a few seconds more he was out in
+the open air and on a hillside.
+
+It was still pitch dark, but the stars seemed to be growing fainter.
+Billy drew out his watch and, striking a match, looked at it. The hands
+pointed to three-thirty.
+
+"It will be daylight before long," thought Billy. "If I start walking
+now I will only lose myself. I'll wait till it gets light and then try
+to get my bearings."
+
+Never had dawn come so slowly as did that one, in the opinion of the
+tired and impatient lad. But at last the eastern sky grew faintly gray
+and then flushed red, and another day was born. In the growing light,
+Billy stood up and looked about him. The bay or any familiar landmarks
+were not in sight. Billy was in a quandary. But before long he came to a
+decision.
+
+"I'll strike out for a main road," he decided; "if I can find one, that
+will bring me to where I can get some information, at any rate."
+
+With this end in view, he scrambled down the hillside and found himself
+in some fields. After a half-hour's walk across these, he saw, with
+delight, that he had not miscalculated his direction. A road lay just
+beyond a brush hedge.
+
+Billy made his way through a gap and struck off, in what he was
+tolerably sure was the way to Musky Bay. If he had but known it,
+however, he was proceeding in an exactly opposite direction. He had
+walked about a mile when another foot passenger hove in sight.
+
+The lad was glad of this at first, for, although he had walked some
+distance, he had not passed a house, nor had any vehicles come by. But a
+second glance at the man who was coming toward him made him by no means
+so pleased at his appearance. The other foot passenger was a heavily
+built man with a lowering brow. He wore clothes that savored of a
+nautical character.
+
+"Hullo, there, young feller," he said, as he halted to allow Billy to
+come up to him.
+
+"Good morning," said Billy. "I am trying to find my way to Musky Bay.
+Can you direct me?"
+
+The other looked at the boy with a glance of quick suspicion. "Livin'
+there?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, that is to say, I'm staying there with friends."
+
+"Umph! I know a crowd of folks there. Who you stopping with?"
+
+Before Billy realized what he was saying he had made a fatal slip.
+
+"With Captain Simms--that is," he hurried on, in an effort to correct
+his blunder, "I----"
+
+"Know a kid named Ready--Jack Ready?"
+
+"Why, yes, he's my best friend. He--here, what's the matter?"
+
+The other had suddenly drawn a pistol and held it pointed unwaveringly
+at Billy.
+
+"Jerk up yer hands, boy, and get 'em up quick!" he snarled.
+
+Billy had no recourse but to obey. The man facing him was a hard-looking
+enough character to commit any crime. With a sudden pang Billy recalled
+that he was wearing the handsome watch--one of which had been given both
+to Jack and himself for services they had performed for a high official
+in Holland, when they rescued the latter's wife and daughter from
+robbers who had held up the ladies' automobile.
+
+He saw the man's eyes fixed on the chain with a greedy glare. "Hand over
+that watch," he ordered.
+
+Billy did as he was told. Then came another order while the pistol was
+pointed unwaveringly at him.
+
+"Now come across with your cash."
+
+Billy handed over what money he possessed--about fifteen dollars. The
+rest was in a New York bank, and some in a safe at the hotel.
+
+The man looked at the inscription on the watch.
+
+"William Raynor, eh? Your friend was talking about you just before we
+had to----"
+
+All his fear was forgotten as the man spoke. His tones were sinister.
+Billy realized, like a flash, that this man was an ally of the Judsons,
+and must have had a hand in Jack's disappearance.
+
+"Had to what?" Billy demanded. "You don't mean that you committed any
+act of violence?"
+
+"Well, I'm not sayin' as to that," rejoined the other, who, as our
+readers will have guessed, was Bill Sniggers, "you'll find out soon
+enough."
+
+The man was deliberately torturing Billy.
+
+Soon after Jack's escape, Judson had awakened, and had been the first to
+discover that the boy had got away. A hasty and angry consultation
+followed, and it had been decided to send Bill, who was not known by
+sight in the vicinity, out to scout and see if the hunt for the missing
+boy was up. His astonishment at running into Billy was great. At first,
+till the boy spoke of Musky Bay, Bill, who was an all-around scoundrel,
+merely regarded him as a favorable object of robbery when he spied his
+gold watch chain. Now, however, the boy was a source of danger.
+
+"Come over here, and I'll tell you all about it," said Bill. "Oh, you
+needn't be scared. I won't hurt you. I got all I wanted off of you. You
+see your friend got a little uppish after we carried him off, and so we
+had--_to hit him this way_!"
+
+The last words were spoken quickly and were accompanied by a terrific
+blow aimed at Billy's chin. The boy sank in the roadway without a moan.
+He lay white and apparently lifeless, while Bill, with a satirical grin
+on his face, regarded him.
+
+"Well, you won't come to life this little while, young feller," he
+muttered. "I'll just put you over this hedge for safekeeping, so as you
+won't attract undue attention, and then be on my way."
+
+He picked the unconscious boy up as if he had been a feather and placed
+him behind the hedge. Then, with unconcern written on his brutal face,
+the rascal walked on. He was bound for a neighboring village to get
+provisions; for, till they knew how the land lay, none of the Judson
+gang dared to leave the deserted house. Bill, in his rough clothes,
+would attract little or no attention. But the others were smartly
+dressed and wore jewelry, and Donald had on yachting clothes. Had they
+been seen they could not have failed to be noticed in that simple
+community.
+
+"This must be my lucky day," muttered Bill, as he walked along. "I got
+my pay for that job last night, and now I've got a gold watch and chain
+and fifteen dollars beside. Tell you what, Bill, old-timer, I won't go
+back to that old house again. I'll just leave that bunch up there, and
+beat it out of these parts in my motor-boat. That's what I'll do--go,
+while the goin's good, because I kin smell trouble coming sure as next
+election."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+WHAT A "HAYSEED" DID.
+
+
+Billy opened his eyes. His head swam dizzily, and he felt sick and
+faint. The hot sun was beating down on him, but at first he thought he
+was at home and in bed. Then he began to remember. He sat up, and then,
+not without an effort, rose to his feet dizzily.
+
+"Where on earth am I?" he thought. "And what happened? Let's see what
+time it is."
+
+But his watch pocket was empty, and then full recollection of what had
+occurred came back to him. He was still rather painfully trying to
+regain the road when he heard the sound of a voice. It was a very loud
+voice, even though the owner of it was not yet in sight.
+
+"Looks like we might have rain. I said it looks like we might have a
+shower."
+
+Then another voice--a boyish one--shouted back:
+
+"YES--IT--DOES."
+
+"Gid-ap," came in the first voice, and then came hoof-beats and the
+rumble of wheels. The next minute a ramshackle, two-seated rig, with a
+man and a boy on the front seat, came into sight. Billy gave one long
+stare, as one who doubted the evidence of his own eyes. Then he broke
+into a glad shout:
+
+"Jack!"
+
+"Billy, old fellow, what in the world? Why, you're white as a sheet."
+
+With alarm on his face, Jack sprang out, as Abner stopped the rig, and
+rushed toward Billy.
+
+"How did you get here? What has happened?" demanded Jack.
+
+Billy told his story in as few words as possible.
+
+"Oh, the rascal," broke out Jack, when Billy described the hold-up.
+"That was Bill Sniggers. He's the man who led the way to the stone
+house--but get in and I'll tell you my story as we go along."
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"Back to Musky Bay; but a few hours ago I didn't think I'd ever see it
+again."
+
+Jack had to shout both his story and Billy's for Abner's benefit. But he
+gave them in highly condensed versions, as his sorely taxed vocal organs
+had almost reached the limit of their strength. He had just reached the
+conclusion, having been interrupted several times by Abner's
+exclamations, when, ahead of them, on the road, they spied a figure
+shuffling along in the dust. The two boys were on the rear seat of the
+rig, so that the man, when he saw the rig approaching, having turned his
+head at the sound of hoofs, did not see the boys.
+
+"Reckon that feller means ter ask fer a ride," remarked Abner, as a bend
+in the road ahead screened the man from view for a few minutes.
+
+A sudden idea had come into Jack's head.
+
+"Let him have it," he said; "and then drive to the nearest village and
+up to the police station. I'll pay you well for it."
+
+"But--but--who is he?" demanded Abner, stopping his horse.
+
+"Bill Sniggers, the rascal who is in league with Judson."
+
+"Great hemlock! You bet I'll pick him up right smart. But he'll see you
+boys and scare."
+
+"No, we'll hide in here," and Jack raised a leather flap that hung from
+the back seat. "It will be a tight fit, but there'll be room."
+
+"Wa'al, if that don't beat all," said Abner. "Git in thar, then, and
+then the show kin go on."
+
+As Jack had said, it was a "tight fit" in the recess under the seat,
+but, as Abner's rig had been made to take produce to market, there was a
+sort of extension at the back, which gave far more room than would
+ordinarily have been the case. Pretty soon the boys, in their
+hiding-place, felt the rig come to a stop. Then came a voice both
+recognized as Bill's.
+
+"Say, gimme a ride, will yer?"
+
+"Did ye say my harness was untied?"
+
+"No, I said gimme a ride," roared Bill, at the top of his powerful
+lungs.
+
+"Oh, all right. Git in. Whoa thar', consarn yer (this to the horse).
+Whar yer goin'?"
+
+"Nearest village. I'm campin' up the bay. I want to get some grub,"
+shouted Bill.
+
+"Yer a long ways frum ther river," remarked Abner.
+
+"Maybe; but I reckon that ain't your business," growled Bill.
+
+"Not ef you don't want ter tell it, 'tain't," said Abner apologetically.
+He had heard enough of Bill's character not to argue with him.
+
+"That's a nice-looking watch you've got there," the boys heard Abner say
+pleasantly.
+
+There was a pause and then Bill roared out:
+
+"What's that to you if it is?"
+
+"Oh, nothing, only I jest saw that printing on it, and calkilated it
+might have bin a present to yer."
+
+Jack could almost see Bill hurriedly thrusting the watch back into his
+pocket. Then, after a little while, he spoke again.
+
+"Didn't see nothing of a kid back there in the road, did yer?"
+
+"He means you, Billy," whispered Jack.
+
+"No, I didn't see nothing of nobody," was Abner's comprehensive
+rejoinder.
+
+There was a long silence, during which the boys sweltered in their close
+confinement. But they would have gone through more than that for the
+sake of what they hoped to bring about--the apprehension of at least one
+of Judson's aides.
+
+"Getting near a village?" asked Bill presently.
+
+"Yep; 'bout half a mile more," rejoined Abner.
+
+In a short time the rig began to slacken its pace. Then it stopped.
+
+"Here, what's this?" the boys heard Bill exclaim. "You're stopping in
+front of a police station."
+
+"Sure. The chief is Araminta's--that's my wife--cousin. I'm goin' in ter
+see him a minit. Hold the horse, will yer, he's a bit skittish."
+
+The boys heard Abner get out, and then an eternity seemed to elapse.
+Then a door banged and a sharp voice snapped out:
+
+"Throw up your hands, gol ding yer. I'm the chief uv perlice, an' I
+arrest ye fer ther robbery of one gold watch and assault and batt'ry."
+
+"Confound it, the old hayseed led me into a trap!" exclaimed Bill.
+
+He threw himself out of the rig and started to run. But, as he did so,
+Jack and Billy, who had crawled out from the back, suddenly appeared.
+Bill gave a wild shout, and the next instant he was sprawling headlong
+in the dusty street, while a crowd came rushing from all directions.
+
+Jack had tripped him by an old football trick. With an oath the
+desperado reached for his revolver. But, before he could reach it, he
+was pinioned by a dozen pairs of hands, and marched, struggling and
+swearing, into the police station.
+
+He was searched, and Billy's watch found on him, as well as the money.
+Then he was locked up. He refused to give any information about the
+Judsons, in which he showed his astuteness, for, if they had been
+caught, his plight would have been worse than it was, for they would
+have been certain to implicate him deeply. So he contented himself by
+saying that he knew nothing about them. They had hired him to help the
+elder Judson recover his nephew from another uncle, who had treated him
+badly. He knew nothing more about the case, he declared, except that,
+after Jack's escape, the Judsons had left for New York. (It may be said
+here that he was eventually found guilty of the theft and the assault
+and received a jail sentence.)
+
+Abner was well rewarded for the clever way he had brought about Bill's
+capture; and, well pleased with the way everything had come out, the
+boys resumed their journey.
+
+"I hope Abner will invest part of what I gave him in an ear-trumpet,"
+said Jack, as they entered Musky Bay.
+
+"I hope so," laughed Billy. He was going to add something, but a shout
+stopped him.
+
+"There's Captain Simms and Noddy," shouted Jack, as the two came running
+toward the vehicle. There is no need to go into the details of the
+reunion, or to relate what anxious hours the captain and Noddy had gone
+through after their discovery that the boys had vanished. If they had
+not reappeared when they did, Captain Simms was preparing to organize
+posses and make a wide search for them, as well as enlisting the aid of
+the authorities. In the vague hope that the Judsons and Jarrow might
+have remained in the stone house, waiting Bill's return, a party
+searched it next day, under the guidance of a native who knew the trail
+to it. But it was empty. A search for the black motor boat, too,
+resulted in nothing being found of her.
+
+As a matter of fact, not many minutes after Bill, from whom they wished
+to be separated, had left the house, the Judsons--father and son--and
+Jarrow, had made all speed to the point where the motor craft had been
+left and had hastily made off in her. They knew that the search for Jack
+would be hot and wished to get as far away from Bill as he treacherously
+wished to get from them. In their case there was certainly none of the
+proverbial honor among thieves.
+
+The black motor boat was left at Clayton and afterward claimed by a
+relative of Bill, who, by reason of "circumstances over which he had no
+control," was unable to claim her himself. As for the Judsons, they
+vanished, leaving no trace behind them. The same was the case with
+Jarrow.
+
+A message had been sent to Uncle Toby, telling him of the reason for the
+boys' delay at Musky Bay, _via_ a small mail steamer that plied those
+waters. His reply was characteristic:
+
+     "Them buoys is as hard to hurt as gotes, and as tuff as ship's
+     biskit on a Cape Horner. Best wishes to awl. Awl well here at eight
+     bells.
+
+     "Cap'n Toby Ready,
+
+     "_Inventor and Patentee of the Universal Herb Medicine, Guaranteed
+      to Cure All Ills, Both of Man and Quadruped._"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE "CURLEW" IN TROUBLE.
+
+
+"Looks as if we might have a blow, Jack."
+
+The _Curlew_ was lazily moving along, with all sail set, carrying the
+boys back to Pine Island from their adventurous visit to Musky Bay. But,
+although every bit of canvas was stretched on her spars, she hardly
+moved. Her form was reflected in the smooth water with almost
+mirror-like accuracy.
+
+"A blow? Pshaw," scoffed Noddy, "there isn't a breath of wind. I wish we
+could get a blow and cool off."
+
+"Well, your wish is likely to come true before very long," said Jack,
+who was at the tiller.
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"See that cloud bank over yonder, that ragged one?"
+
+"Yes, what's that got to do with it?"
+
+"Well, that's as full of wind as an auto tire," said Jack. "I've been
+watching it for some time. It'll be a nasty storm when it hits us."
+
+"Hadn't we better run in for shelter somewhere?" asked Billy.
+
+"There's so little wind now that I doubt if we could get inshore before
+the squall hits us," replied Jack. "I'll try to, though."
+
+He headed for the distant shore, where the outlines of some sort of a
+wooden structure could be seen.
+
+"If it gets very bad we can take refuge there," he said.
+
+"That's so. I've no great fancy for getting wet," said Billy.
+
+"Nor have I. We've had enough experiences of late to last us a long
+time," laughed Jack.
+
+"And I was left out of every one of them," grumbled Noddy.
+
+"For which you ought to be duly thankful," said Billy.
+
+"Yes, I didn't enjoy that stone house much, or the soot," declared Jack.
+
+"That cave didn't make much of a hit with me, either," said Billy. "My,
+those green eyes gave me a scare. I thought it was a bear or a mountain
+lion, sure; but they say there aren't any such animals in this part of
+the country."
+
+"Abner said it must have been a lynx," said Jack.
+
+"That being the case, you should have cuffed it," chuckled Noddy.
+
+For the time being he escaped punishment for perpetrating this alleged
+pun, for the wind began to freshen and the _Curlew_ slid through the
+water like a thing of life. The shore drew rapidly nearer.
+
+But the cloud curtain spread with astonishing rapidity, till the whole
+sky was covered. The water turned from green to a dull leaden hue. Puffs
+of wind came with great velocity, heeling over the _Curlew_ till the
+foam creamed in her lee scuppers.
+
+The wind moaned in a queer, eerie sort of way, that bespoke the coming
+of a storm of more than ordinary severity. Jack was a prey to some
+anxiety as he held the _Curlew_ on her course. If they could not make
+the dock he was aiming for before the storm struck, there might be
+serious consequences.
+
+But, to his great relief, they reached the wharf, a tumble-down affair,
+before the tempest broke. The _Curlew_ was made "snug," and this had
+hardly been done before a mighty gust of wind, followed by a blanket of
+rain, tore through the air.
+
+"Just in time, boys," said Jack, as they set out on the run for the
+structure which they had observed from the water. On closer view it
+turned out to be nothing more than a barn, not in any too good repair,
+but still it offered a shelter.
+
+The boys reached it just as a terrific blast of wind swept across the
+bay, roughening it with multitudinous whitecaps. A torrent of rain
+blotted out distances at the same time and turned all the world in their
+vicinity into a driving white cloud.
+
+The barn proved to be even more rickety than its outside had indicated.
+The door was gone and its windows were broken out. But at least it was
+pleasanter under a roof than it would have been out in the open. The
+rain, driven by the furious wind, penetrated the rotten, sun-dried
+shingles and pattered on the earthen floor, but the boys found a dry
+place in one corner, where there was a pile of hay.
+
+As the storm increased in fury the clouds began to blot out the
+daylight. It grew as dark as night almost. The roar of the rain was like
+the voice of a giant cataract.
+
+"We may have to stay here all night," said Billy, after a long silence.
+
+"That's true," rejoined Jack. "It would be foolhardy to take a boat like
+the _Curlew_ out in such a storm."
+
+Suddenly there came a terrific flash of lightning, followed by a sharp
+clap of thunder. It was succeeded by flash after flash, in blinding
+succession.
+
+"My, this is certainly a snorter," exclaimed Billy, and the others
+agreed with him.
+
+"We won't forget it in a hurry," said Jack. "I can't recall when I've
+heard the wind make such a noise."
+
+To add to their alarm, as the fury of the wind increased, the old barn
+visibly quavered. It seemed to rock back and forth on its foundations.
+The noise of the wind grew so loud that conversation was presently
+impossible.
+
+Suddenly there came a fiercer blast than any that had gone before. There
+was a ripping and rending sound.
+
+"Great Scott! Boys, run for your lives, the old shack is tumbling down,"
+cried Jack.
+
+He had scarcely spoken when what he had anticipated happened. Beams,
+boards and shingles flew in every direction. There was no time even to
+think. Acting instinctively, each boy threw himself flat upon the pile
+of moldy hay.
+
+Noddy, in his terror, burrowed deep into it. The noise that accompanied
+the dissolution of the old barn was terrific. Each boy felt as if at any
+moment a huge beam might fall on him and crush his life out. Above it
+all the wind howled with a note of triumph at its work of destruction.
+
+The boys felt as if the end of the world had come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE END OF JACK'S HOLIDAY.
+
+
+Fortunately, otherwise this story might have had a different ending, the
+barn was lifted almost entirely from its foundations and hurled over on
+its side. The roof was ripped off like an old hat and hurtled through
+the tempest to the water's edge.
+
+None of the wreckage and débris struck the crouching boys. But the mere
+sound was terrifying enough. Even Jack was cowed by the tremendous force
+of the elements. Each lad felt as if the next moment would be his last.
+
+But at last Jack mustered up courage and looked up. The beating rain,
+which had already soaked them all through, stung his face like
+hailstones.
+
+"Hullo, fellows," he exclaimed, "is--is anybody hurt?"
+
+"All right here," rejoined Billy. "But say, wasn't that the limit?"
+
+"It sure was," agreed Jack. "At one time I thought we were goners,
+and----"
+
+"Goo-oof-g-r-r-r-r-r!" An extraordinary sound, which can only be
+typographically rendered in this manner, suddenly interrupted him.
+
+"Heavens, what's that?" gasped Billy, looking about him in a rather
+alarmed manner.
+
+"Ugh-ugh-groof-f-f-f-f-f-f!"
+
+"It's Noddy!" cried Jack.
+
+"Gracious, he must be dying," gasped Billy.
+
+In his eagerness to escape the full fury of the storm and the flying
+wreckage of the barn, Noddy had plunged into the hay with his mouth
+open, and now his throat was full of the dry stuff. He was almost
+choked.
+
+"Pull him out," directed Jack, and he and Billy laid hold of Noddy's
+heels and dragged him out of the hay-pile. The lad was almost black in
+the face.
+
+"Ug-gug-groo-o-o-o-o-o!" he mumbled, making frantic gestures with his
+arms.
+
+"Goodness, this is as bad as the time he was almost drowned," cried
+Jack. "Clap him on the back good and hard. That's it."
+
+There were several gulps and struggles, and then Noddy began to cough.
+But all danger from strangulation had passed, thanks to the heroic
+efforts of Jack and Billy.
+
+"Phew! I thought I was choked," sputtered Noddy, as soon as he found his
+voice. "I'd hate to be a horse and have to eat that stuff."
+
+"You are a kind of a horse," said Billy slyly.
+
+"How do you make that out?" demanded Noddy, falling into the trap.
+
+"A donkey," laughed Billy teasingly, but poor Noddy felt too badly after
+his experience in the hay to retaliate in kind.
+
+After the restoration of Noddy, they began to survey the situation. All
+were soaked through, and the rain beat about them unmercifully. But they
+were thankful to have escaped with their lives. Through the white
+curtain of rain they could make out the outlines of the _Curlew_, riding
+at the dock.
+
+"I'm glad to see that," observed Jack. "I was half afraid that she might
+have broken away."
+
+"Then we _would_ have been in a fine fix," said Billy.
+
+"What will we do next?" asked Noddy, removing some fragments of hay from
+his ears.
+
+"Wait till the clouds roll by," laughed Billy. "I guess that's about the
+program, isn't it, Jack?"
+
+"Seems to be about all that there is to do," replied Jack; "but it seems
+to me that the storm is beginning to let up even now. Look in the
+northwest--it's beginning to get lighter."
+
+"So it is," agreed Billy. "Let's get under that clump of trees yonder
+till it blows over altogether."
+
+"Say, fellows, if we had a fire now, it would feel pretty good,"
+observed Noddy.
+
+"Well, what's the matter with having one?" asked Jack. "We can get some
+of those old shingles and tarred posts. They're pretty wet, but we can
+start the blaze going with dried hay from the bottom of the pile."
+
+"Good for you. Volunteer firemen, get to work," cried Billy.
+
+Soon the boys were carrying the dry hay and such wood as seemed suitable
+for their purpose to the clump of trees. Jack took some matches from his
+safe and struck a lucifer after the wood had been properly piled.
+
+It blazed up cheerily. Each lad stripped to his underclothes and their
+drenched garments were hung in front of the hot fire. The dripping
+clothes sent up clouds of steam, but it was not long before they were
+dry enough to put on. By the time this was done the storm had abated.
+Presently the rain, which did not bother the boys under the thick clump
+of trees, ceased altogether. Only in the distance a dull muttering of
+thunder still went on. A rainbow appeared, delighting them with its
+brilliant colors.
+
+"Well, that's over," observed Jack, as he dressed. "Now we'll go down
+and pump out the _Curlew_. I'll bet she's half full of water."
+
+His conjecture proved correct. On their return to their trim little
+craft they found a foot or more of water in her hull. But this was soon
+disposed of and, with a brisk breeze favoring them, they set out once
+more for Pine Island. On their return they found Captain Toby, who had
+spied them from a distance, awaiting them on the dock.
+
+In his hand he held a yellow envelope. It was a telegram for Jack. The
+boy eagerly tore it open, and for a moment, as he scanned its contents,
+his face fell. But almost instantly he brightened.
+
+"Well, what's the news?" demanded his uncle.
+
+"Good and bad," rejoined Jack. "I guess our holiday is over. Billy and I
+are ordered to join the _Columbia_ as soon as we can."
+
+"Hurrah! I was beginning to long for the sea again," declared Billy
+Raynor.
+
+"I must confess I was, too," said Jack.
+
+"It's a great life for lads--makes men out of them," said Captain Toby.
+"I must see if I've got two bottles of the Universal Remedy for you boys
+to take to sea with you," and he hurried off.
+
+Noddy looked rather blue.
+
+"You are lucky fellows--off for more adventures and fun," he said,
+"while I just stick around."
+
+"Nonsense, you've got your business in New York to attend to, and, as
+for adventures, I've had plenty of them for a time, haven't you, Billy?"
+
+"A jugful," declared Raynor. "Enough to last me for the rest of my
+life-time, and, anyhow, life at sea is mostly hard work."
+
+"That's what makes it worth living," said Jack. "I'll be glad to get
+down to work again after our long holiday."
+
+"And I really believe I will, too," said Billy; "and on a crack liner
+like the _Columbia_ we may be able to make our marks."
+
+"I hope we will. I mean to work mighty hard, anyhow," said the young
+wireless man, "but hark, there goes the bell for supper. Hurry up,
+fellows, I'll race you to the house."
+
+The next day was devoted to saying good-by to the scenes and the people
+who had helped make up a happy vacation for the lads. Noddy, it was
+decided, would stay on with Captain Toby for the present, as his
+presence was not required in New York.
+
+Of course the lads visited Captain Simms. He told them that his holiday
+also was almost over. The naval code was nearly completed, and he must
+get back to Washington within a week or so.
+
+"Well, here's to our next meeting," he said, as he heartily clasped the
+hands of both lads in farewell.
+
+Under what circumstances that meeting was to occur none of them just
+then guessed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+"THE GEM OF THE OCEAN."
+
+
+The _Columbia_, a magnificent and imposing vessel of more than 20,000
+tons burden, lay at her New York dock two weeks later. Within her steel
+sides, besides the usual cabin accommodations, she had swimming pools,
+Roman courts, palm gardens and even a theater. Elevators conveyed her
+passengers from deck to deck. The new vessel of the Jukes shipping
+interests was the last word in shipbuilding, and from her stern flew the
+Stars and Stripes.
+
+It was sailing day. From the three immense black funnels smoke was
+rolling. Steam issued, roaring from the escape pipes. The dock buzzed
+and fermented with a great crowd assembled to see their friends off on
+the first voyage of the great ship. Wagons, taxicabs and autos blocked
+the street in front of the docks. Photographers and reporters swarmed
+everywhere. The confusion was tremendous, yet, promptly at the hour set
+for sailing, the booming siren began to sound, last farewells were
+shouted, and the invariable late stayer on board made his wild leap for
+the gang-plank before it was drawn in.
+
+A perceptible vibration ran through the monster ship. Her propellers
+began to churn the water white. A small fleet of tugs helped to swing
+her against the tide as she slowly backed into the stream. Majestically
+her monster bulk swung round, her bow pointing seaward. Her maiden
+voyage had begun.
+
+It is doubtful if among her delighted passengers and proud officers,
+however, there were any more enthusiastic about the great vessel than
+two lads who were seated in the wireless operators' cabin on the topmost
+deck.
+
+"Well, Billy, this is different from the old _Ajax_, eh?"
+
+"Is it? Well, I should say so," responded Billy. "You ought to see the
+engine-room. You could have put the _Ajax_ in it, almost."
+
+"We ought to be proud of our jobs," continued Jack.
+
+"I know I am. It's a great thing to be part of the human machinery of a
+huge vessel like this, and the best part of it is that she flies the
+American flag," added Billy enthusiastically.
+
+"I heard that the _Gigantia_, of the London Line, sails to-day, too. By
+Jove, there she comes now."
+
+He pointed out of the open door back up the river. The great British
+steamer, till then the biggest thing on the ocean, was backing out. Her
+four red-and-black funnels loomed up imposingly above her black hull.
+
+"Then we'll have a race for certain," said Billy, his eyes dilating with
+excitement; "good for us, but my money goes on the _Columbia_."
+
+"That Britisher can travel, though," said Jack.
+
+"Oh, we won't have an easy time of it, but I'll bet my shirt we'll win
+the blue ribbon of the ocean."
+
+"I hope so," rejoined Jack with a smile at the other's enthusiasm. "But
+what do you think of my quarters, Billy?"
+
+"Why, they're fit for a king or a millionaire," laughed Raynor. "I'll
+bet you never thought, when you were in that little rabbit hutch of a
+wireless room on the old _Ajax_, that some day you'd be traveling in
+such style?"
+
+Raynor's eyes wandered to the instrument table, with its array of the
+most up-to-date wireless apparatus.
+
+"Hullo! What's that thing?" he asked suddenly, pointing to a device that
+looked unfamiliar. It was a box-shaped arrangement, metal, with
+complicated wires strung to it and had a "telephone" receiver attached
+to it with a band to hold it securely to the operator's head.
+
+"Oh, that's an invention of my own that I'm trying out," said Jack. "I
+don't just know what success I'll have with it. I haven't really put it
+to the test yet."
+
+"What do you call it?"
+
+"The Universal Detector," replied Jack.
+
+"Just what is that?"
+
+"Well, at present you know a ship can only receive wireless messages
+from a ship that is 'in tune' with her own radio apparatus. The
+Universal Detector should make it possible to catch every wireless
+sound. I am very anxious, if I perfect it, to get it adopted in the
+navy. It would be of great value in time of war, for by its use every
+message sent by an enemy, even if they were purposely put 'out of tune,'
+could be caught."
+
+"By the way, speaking of the navy, did you hear from Captain Simms?"
+
+"Yes; he is still up at Musky Bay. Some difficulties in the code have
+arisen, and he will not be through with his work for two weeks or more
+yet, he says."
+
+"No more attempts to steal his work, or to spy on him?"
+
+"He doesn't mention any. I guess we're through with the Judson crowd."
+
+"Looks that way. What a gang of thorough-paced rascals they were."
+
+"I guess Judson's business must be in a bad way to make him take such
+desperate chances to recoup by landing that contract."
+
+"I suppose that's it."
+
+Raynor lifted his eyes to the ship's clock above Jack's operating
+instruments.
+
+"By Jove, almost eight bells! I've got to go on watch. This is my first
+job as second engineer, and I mean to keep things on the jump. Well, so
+long, old fellow."
+
+"See you this evening," said Jack, as Raynor hurried off.
+
+Jack soon became very busy. The air was full of all sorts of messages.
+Besides that, his cabin was crowded with men and women who wished to
+file last messages to those they left behind them. He worked steadily
+through the afternoon, catching meteorological radios as well as
+information from other steamers scattered along the Atlantic lane.
+
+He knew that he might expect hard work and plenty of it all that day.
+There would be no chance for him to experiment with his Universal
+Detector. About dusk, Harvey Thurman, his assistant, came into the
+wireless room to relieve him while he went to dinner.
+
+Thurman was a short, thick-set young man, with a flabby, pallid face and
+shifty eyes. He had got his job on the new liner through a "pull" that
+he possessed through a distant relationship with Mr. Jukes. Jack had not
+met him before, and, since they had been on board, they had exchanged
+only a few words, but he instinctively felt that he and Thurman were not
+going to make very good shipmates.
+
+As Jack relinquished the head-receivers and the key to his "relief,"
+Thurman's gaze rested on the Universal Detector.
+
+"What's that?" he demanded.
+
+"Oh, just a little idea I'm working on," said Jack, "a new invention. If
+I can perfect it, it may be valuable."
+
+"Yes, but what is it? What's it for?" persisted Thurman.
+
+Jack explained what he hoped to accomplish with the instrument, and an
+instant later was sorry he had done so, for he noticed an expression of
+cupidity creep into Thurman's eyes. The youth persisted in asking a host
+of questions, and Jack, having started to explain, could not very well
+refuse to answer. Besides, inventors are notoriously garrulous about
+their brain children, and Jack, even though he did not like Thurman,
+soon found himself talking away at a great rate.
+
+"Huh, I don't think the idea's worth a cent," sniffed Thurman
+contemptuously, when Jack had finished.
+
+"I guess that's where you and I differ," said Jack, controlling his
+temper with some difficulty, for the sneer in Thurman's voice had been
+marked. "I'm going to make it a success, and then we shall see."
+
+He left the wireless room, and the instant he was gone Thurman, with a
+crafty look on his flabby face, eagerly began examining the detector. As
+he was doing so Jack, who had forgotten his cap, suddenly reëntered the
+wireless room. Thurman had been so intent on his scrutiny of the
+detector that he did not hear him.
+
+"You appear to be taking great interest in that useless invention," said
+Jack in a quiet voice.
+
+Thurman started and spun round. His face turned red and he had an almost
+guilty look.
+
+"I didn't think you were coming creeping back like that," he exclaimed,
+"a fellow would almost think you were spying on him."
+
+"Have you any reason to fear being spied upon?" asked Jack.
+
+"Me? No, not the least. That's a funny question."
+
+"I want to tell you, Thurman, that my invention is not yet completed and
+therefore, of course, is not patented. I was pretty free with you in
+describing it, and I shall trust to your honor not to talk about it to
+anyone."
+
+"Certainly not," blustered Thurman. "I'm not that sort of a chap."
+
+But, after Jack had gone out, he resumed his study of the detector a
+second time, desisting every time he heard a step outside.
+
+"So it's not patented, eh?" he muttered to himself. "That will help.
+It's an idea there that ought to be worth a pot of money."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+JACK'S BIG SECRET.
+
+
+The next day Jack found an opportunity to sandwich in some work on his
+invention between his regular work. The thing fascinated him, and he
+tried and tested it in a hundred different combinations. Suddenly, just
+after he had altered two important units of the device, a new note came
+to his ears through the "watch-case" receivers that were clamped to his
+head.
+
+"It's code--somebody sending code!" exclaimed Jack, and then the next
+instant, "it's some ship of the navy! Hurrah! The detector is working,
+for they use different wave lengths from the commercial workers, and, if
+it hadn't been for the Universal Detector, I'd never have been able to
+listen in at their little talk-fest."
+
+He waited till the code message, a long one from Washington to the
+_Idaho_, of the North Atlantic fleet at Guantanamo, Cuba, was finished,
+and then he could not refrain from "butting in."
+
+"Hello, navy," he chattered with the wireless key, "that was a nice
+little message you had. How's the weather up your way?"
+
+"Who is this?" demanded the navy wireless in imperious tones.
+
+"Oh, just a fellow who was listening," responded Jack.
+
+"Butting in, you mean. But say, how did you ever get on to our sending?
+We were using eccentric wave-lengths to keep our talk a secret."
+
+"I'll have to keep how I caught your talk a secret, too, for the
+present, old man."
+
+"Great Scott! It isn't possible that you've solved the problem of a
+universal detector. Why, that's a thing the navy sharps have been
+working on for years."
+
+"I can't say how I caught your message," shot back Jack's radio through
+space.
+
+"You'll have to tell if the government gets after you," was the reply.
+"Uncle Sam isn't going to have a fellow running round loose with
+anything like that."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"That you will be forbidden to use it."
+
+"Is that so?"
+
+"Yes, that's so. I'm going to make out a report for my superiors about
+it right now. You're pretty fresh."
+
+"Put that in the report, too," chuckled the _Columbia's_ wireless
+disdainfully.
+
+"You'll find it's no joke to monkey with the government," snapped back
+the naval man.
+
+Jack didn't answer. A message from the _Taurus_, of the Bull Line, was
+coming in. She had sighted an iceberg, something very unusual at that
+time of year. Jack hurried the message, which gave latitude and
+longitude of the menace, to Captain Turner.
+
+"Well, that won't bother us," said that dignitary. "We're far to the
+south of that. Those Bull fellows run to Quebec. Send a radio to Captain
+Spencer, of the _Taurus_, thanking him for his information."
+
+The great man, the captain of a liner, who has literally more power than
+a king, lit a cigar, and bent his head once more over the problem in
+navigation he was wrestling with. Jack saluted and hurried back to his
+quarters.
+
+He was highly elated over the success of his Universal Detector. The
+threats of the government man did not alarm him, for he did not propose
+to place his invention on the general market, but to sell it outright to
+the government, whose secret it would then remain.
+
+He resolved to test it again. A moment after he had put the receivers to
+his ears, a broad grin came over his face. The air was literally vibrant
+with the calls of the navy men, flinging their high-powered currents
+through space.
+
+"... he's a cheeky beggar, whoever he is, but he's got the goods," was
+the first he heard.
+
+"Hum, that's Mr. Washington," thought Jack. Then, from some other point
+came another message.
+
+"Great Scott! Uncle Sam won't let him get away with anything like that."
+
+"I should say not. The Secret Service department is already at work
+trying to find out who the dickens he is."
+
+"That will be a sweet job," came the naval station at Point Judith.
+
+"Talk about a needle in a haystack," sputtered the U. S. S. _Alabama_.
+
+"Not a patch on it," agreed the great dreadnought _Florida_.
+
+Then came Washington again.
+
+"I'll tell you it's stirred up a fuss here," he said. "I wonder who it
+can be."
+
+"Maybe that Italian fellow who invented the sliding sounder," suggested
+the _Florida_.
+
+"Or Pederson, out in Chicago," came from a land station. All the navy
+men appeared to be joining in the confab.
+
+"Gracious, what a fuss I've stirred up," thought Jack, with a quiet
+smile. "They'd never guess in a million years that it's a kid of an
+operator who's causing all the trouble."
+
+"No; both the men you mentioned are in Europe," declared Washington.
+"The department's been trailing them since they got my news."
+
+"Well, the wireless men are going to be a happy hunting ground for the
+Secret Service fellows for this one little while," chuckled the
+_Florida_.
+
+"Wonder if he's listening now?" struck in the _North Dakota_, which had
+not yet talked.
+
+"Shouldn't wonder," remarked the _Idaho_.
+
+Jack pressed down his key and the spark began to flash and crackle.
+
+"You fellows are having a grand old pow-wow," he said. "Sorry I can't
+give you any information. I know you're dying of curiosity."
+
+"You've got your nerve, I must say," sputtered Washington indignantly.
+"Have you been listening right along?"
+
+"Yes; that Secret Service hunt is going to be very interesting."
+
+"It won't be very interesting for you, whoever you are, when they get
+you," thundered the mighty _Florida_. "It's bad business monkeying with
+Uncle Sam."
+
+"Maybe they won't get me," suggested Jack's spark.
+
+"Oh, yes, they will," came from Washington, "and you'll find it doesn't
+pay to be as sassy as you've been."
+
+"M-M-M," sent out Jack mischievously.
+
+The three letters mean, in telegraphers' and wireless men's language,
+"laughter."
+
+Washington's dignity took fire at this gross insult. They must have
+sizzled as from the national capital an angry message shot out to the
+other ships to talk in code. Jack's fun was over, but he had thoroughly
+enjoyed all the excitement he had stirred up. As he laid down the
+receivers Raynor came in.
+
+"You look tickled to death over something," he exclaimed. "What's up?"
+
+Jack sprang to his feet. His eyes were shining. He clasped Raynor's hand
+and wrung it pump-handle fashion. Raynor looked at the usually quiet,
+rather self-contained lad, in blank astonishment.
+
+"What's happened--somebody wirelessed you that you're heir to a
+million?" he demanded.
+
+"No, better than that, Billy."
+
+"Great Scott! Tell me."
+
+"Billy, old boy, it works. It works like a charm. I've got half the navy
+all snarled up about it now. By to-morrow they'll be after me with
+Secret Service men."
+
+"Gee whillakers. You've done the trick! Good for you, old boy."
+
+A sudden shadow in the open door made them both look round. Thurman
+stood in the embrasure.
+
+"May I add my congratulations?" he said, holding out his hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE NAVY DEPARTMENT "SITS UP."
+
+
+Jack could not refuse the proffered hand. But he took it with an uneasy
+air. There was something not quite "straight" about Thurman, it seemed
+to Jack, but as the former offered his congratulations he appeared
+sincere enough.
+
+"After all, it may be just his misfortune that he can't look you in the
+eyes," Jack told himself.
+
+But if he had been in the wireless room that night he would have deemed
+his suspicions only too well founded. Thurman busied himself with
+routine matters till he was sure Jack was asleep. Then he began calling
+Washington with monotonous regularity.
+
+An irritable operator answered him. By the wave length the Washington
+man knew that it was not a naval station or vessel calling.
+
+"Yes--yes--what--is--it?" he snapped.
+
+"I know the fellow who has that Universal Detector."
+
+"What!" The other man, hundreds of miles away, almost fell out of his
+chair. Recovering himself, he shot out another message:
+
+"Who is this?"
+
+"Never mind that, just for the present."
+
+"Say, you're not that fresh fellow himself talking just to kid us, are
+you?"
+
+"No, I'm far from joking. I expect to make some money out of this."
+
+"A reward?"
+
+"That's the idea."
+
+"Well, there's no doubt but you would get it if you really have the
+information. The department's been all up in the air ever since that
+fellow butted in."
+
+"Are you going to report this conversation?"
+
+"Most assuredly."
+
+"Don't forget that I demand a substantial reward for the information."
+
+"I won't. When will you call me again?"
+
+"About this time to-morrow night."
+
+"All right, then. Good-by."
+
+Thurman took the receiver from his head with a slow smile of
+satisfaction.
+
+"I guess that will cook that fresh kid's goose," he said. "It's a mean
+thing to do, maybe, but I need the money, and I'm glad to get a chance
+to set him down a peg or two."
+
+Thurman could hardly wait for the next night to come. During the day
+Jack had been having some more fun with the navy men, driving them
+almost wild. When Thurman finally got Washington, therefore, everything
+in the government's big wireless station was at fever heat. A high
+official of the navy sat by the operator, waiting for Thurman's promised
+call to come out of space.
+
+Men of the Secret Service were scattered about the room as well as
+department officials. The air was tense with expectancy. At last
+Thurman's message came.
+
+His first question was about the reward.
+
+"Tell him he will be liberally rewarded," ordered the naval official.
+"Tell him to give us the information at once. That fellow has been
+playing with us all day, and we've been powerless to outwit the
+Universal Detector, or whatever device it is he uses. The man must be a
+wizard to have solved a problem that has baffled the keenest minds in
+the Navy Bureau."
+
+"Reward is assured you," flashed back the naval operator. "Now give us
+your information. Time is precious."
+
+But Thurman's answer proved disappointing to those in the room.
+
+"Impossible to do so now. Inventor is on the high seas. Will wireless
+you later when he will return."
+
+"Confound it," grumbled the naval official. "I thought we would have had
+our hands on the fellow before daylight. Now it seems we shall have to
+play a waiting game."
+
+"If the man is on the high seas, it is not unlikely that he is the
+wireless man on one of the liners," put in Burns, a spare, grizzled man
+and Chief of the Secret Service.
+
+"That's probable, Burns," rejoined the navy official.
+
+"More than likely, I think," put in another member of the group, "but
+it's impossible to find out which one."
+
+"Yes, we are at the mercy of our unknown informant," said Burns. "Why
+the deuce was he so mysterious about it?" He tugged at his gray mustache
+as a sudden thought struck him.
+
+"Jove!" he exclaimed. "You don't think it's a put-up job to get money
+out of the government? Put up, I mean, by an agent of the inventor
+himself."
+
+"I don't know, Burns," was the official's reply. "It's all mighty
+mysterious. I confess I can't hazard a guess as to the man's identity.
+We've looked up all the most prominent wireless sharps all over the
+country. I am satisfied this fellow is not one of their number."
+
+"Some obscure fellow, I guess," said a Secret Service man.
+
+"Well, he won't remain obscure long," remarked Burns, "if he has brains
+enough to turn the navy department topsy-turvy for forty-eight hours."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A MYSTERY ON BOARD.
+
+
+Two days later the monotony of the voyage, which was broken only by the
+radiograms which were posted daily concerning the race between the
+American and British liners--the _Columbia_ being in the lead--was
+rudely shattered by an incident in which Jack was destined to play an
+important part. Jack had been on a visit to Raynor during the young
+engineer's night watch in the engine-room. They had stayed chatting and
+talking over old times till Jack suddenly realized that it was long
+after midnight and time for him to be in his bunk.
+
+Hastily saying good-night, he made his way through the deserted
+corridors of the great ship, which stretched empty and dimly lit before
+him. As he traversed them the young wireless man could not but think of
+the contrast to the busy life of the day when stewards swarmed and
+passengers hurried to and fro. Now everything was silent and deserted,
+except for the still figures up on the bridge and below in the engine
+and fire rooms, guiding and powering the great vessel onward through the
+night at a twenty-four-knot clip.
+
+The lad had just reached the end of one corridor, and was about to turn
+into another which led to a companionway, which would bring him to his
+own domain, when he stopped short, startled by the sound of a single
+sharp outcry. It came from the corridor he was about to turn into. Jack
+darted round the corner and almost instantly stumbled over the huddled
+body of a man lying outside one of the cabin doors.
+
+A dark stain was under his head, and Jack saw at once that the man had
+been the victim of an attack. At almost the same moment, by the dim
+light, he recognized the unconscious form as being that of Joseph
+Rosenstein, a diamond merchant, so wealthy and famous that he had been
+pointed out to Jack by the purser as a celebrity.
+
+"Queer fellow," the purser had said. "Won't put his jewels in the safe,
+although I understand he is carrying three magnificent diamonds with
+him. Likely to get into trouble if anyone on board knows about it."
+
+"He's taking big chances," agreed Jack, and now here was the proof of
+his words lying at the boy's feet. Suddenly he recalled having received
+a message a few days before from New York for the injured man.
+
+"Be very careful. F. is on board," it had read, and Jack interpreted
+this to be meant as a warning to the diamond merchant. But he did not
+devote much attention to it just then, except to rouse the sleepy
+stewards. Within a few minutes the captain and the doctor were on the
+scene.
+
+"A nasty cut, done with a blackjack or a club," opined Dr. Browning, as
+he raised the man.
+
+"Is it a mortal wound?" asked the captain. "This is a terrible thing to
+have happen on my ship."
+
+"I think he'll pull through if no complications set in," said the
+doctor, and ordered the man removed to his cabin. Suddenly Jack
+recollected what the purser had said about the diamonds.
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," said he to the captain, "but I heard that this
+man carried about valuable diamonds with him. He was probably attacked
+for purposes of robbery."
+
+"That's right," answered the captain, with a quick look of approval at
+Jack. "Browning, we'd better examine the contents of his pockets." They
+did so, but no traces of precious stones could be found.
+
+"Whoever did this, robbed him," declared the captain, with a somber
+brow, "and the deuce of it is that, unless we can detect him, he will
+walk ashore at Southampton or Cherbourg a free man."
+
+The door of the stateroom opposite to which the injured man lay opened
+suddenly, and a little, wizen-faced man, wearing spectacles, looked out.
+He appeared startled and shocked as he saw the limp form.
+
+"Good gracious! This is terrible, terrible, captain," he sputtered.
+"Is--is the man dead?"
+
+"No, Professor Dusenberry, although that does not appear to be the fault
+of whoever attacked him," was the rejoinder.
+
+"He was attacked, then, for purposes of robbery, do you think?"
+
+"I suspect so."
+
+"Oh, dear, this has so upset me that I shan't sleep the rest of the
+night," protested the little man, and withdrew into his stateroom.
+
+The next day, naturally, the whole ship buzzed with the news of the
+night's happenings, and speculation ran rife as to who could have
+attacked the diamond merchant, who had recovered consciousness and was
+able to talk. He himself had not the slightest idea of his assailant. He
+had sat up till late in the smoking saloon, he said, and was coming
+along the corridor to his stateroom when he was struck down from behind.
+A black leather wallet, containing three diamonds, which were destined
+to be sold to the scion of a European royal house, was missing from his
+pocket, and the loss nearly drove the unfortunate diamond man frantic.
+He valued the stones at $150,000, so that perhaps his frenzy at losing
+them was not unnatural.
+
+In the afternoon, Professor Dusenberry, dressed in a frock coat and top
+hat, although he was at sea and the weather was warm, came into the
+wireless room. He wanted to send a message, he said, a wireless to
+London. He was very cautious about inquiring the price and all the
+details before he sat down to write out his dispatch. When it was
+completed he handed it to Jack with his thin fingers, and asked that it
+be dispatched at once. Then he retreated, or rather faded, from the
+wireless room. Jack scanned the message with thoughtful eyes. It seemed
+an odd radiogram for a college professor, such as he had heard Prof.
+Dusenberry was, to be sending. It read as follows:
+
+     "Meet me at three on the granite paving-stones. The weather is
+     fine, but got no specimens. There is no suspicion as you have
+     directed, but I'm afraid wrong."
+
+     F.
+
+"Well, that's a fine muddle for somebody to make out when they get it,"
+mused Jack, as he sent out a call for the Fowey Station.
+
+"Must be some sort of a cipher the old fellow is using. He's a dry sort
+of old stick. Goodness! How scared he was when he saw that man lying
+outside his door. I thought he was going to faint or something."
+
+"Wonder what sort of a cipher that is," mused Jack, as he waited for an
+answer to his call. "Looks to me as if it's one of those numerical
+ciphers where every second or third or fourth or fifth word is taken
+from the context and composes a message. Guess I'll try and work it out
+some time. It'll be something to do. And, hullo, he signs himself 'F'."
+
+Jack looked up at the printed passenger-list that hung before him.
+"Professor F. Dusenberry" was the last of the "D's"
+
+"His initial," thought Jack, "but it's a funny coincidence that it
+should be the same as that of the man the diamond merchant was warned to
+watch out for, and that it should have been the professor's door outside
+of which he was struck down."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+A "FLASH" OF DISTRESS.
+
+
+Having dispatched the message, Jack sat back in his chair and mused over
+the future of the Universal Detector. It was a fascinating subject to
+day-dream over, but his reverie was rudely interrupted by a sharp
+summons from space.
+
+"Yes--yes--yes," he shot back, "who--is--it?"
+
+"This is the _Oriana_," came back the reply, "Hamburg for New York. We
+are in distress."
+
+"What's the trouble?"
+
+The spark crackled and writhed, as Jack's rapid fingers spelled out the
+message.
+
+"We struck a half submerged derelict and our bow is stove in. We believe
+we are sinking. This is an S. O. S."
+
+Then followed the position of the craft and another earnest appeal to
+rush to her aid. Jack roughly figured out the distances that separated
+the two ships.
+
+"Will be there in about two hours," he flashed, and then hurried to
+Captain Turner's cabin with his message.
+
+The captain scanned the message with contracted brow.
+
+"The _Oriana_," he muttered, "I know her well. Rotten old tramp. We must
+have full speed ahead. Stand by your wireless, Ready, and tell them we
+are rushing at top speed to their aid. Confound it, though," he went on,
+half to himself, "this will lose us the race with the Britisher, but
+still if we can save the lives of those poor devils I shall be just as
+well satisfied."
+
+The captain hastened to the bridge to issue his orders and change the
+big ship's course. Jack went quickly back to his cabin and began
+flashing out messages of good cheer. About half an hour later Captain
+Turner came along.
+
+"Any more news, Ready?" he asked.
+
+"No, sir. Their current is getting weak. The last time I had them the
+operator said that the ship was slowly settling, but that they had the
+steam pumps going and would keep them working till the water reached the
+fires. The officers were keeping the firemen at their work with
+revolvers."
+
+"I've been through such scenes," remarked the captain. "It's part of a
+seaman's life, but it's an inferno while it lasts."
+
+"Notify me if you hear anything further," said Captain Turner a few
+moments later.
+
+"Yes, sir. Hullo, here's something coming now. It's the _Borovian_, of
+the Black Star line. She got that S. O. S. too, and is hurrying to the
+rescue. But she's far to the south of us."
+
+"Yes, we shall reach the _Oriana_ long before she does," said the
+captain. "By the way, Ready, I've heard that you have quite a reputation
+for loving adventure."
+
+Jack colored. He did not quite make out what the captain was "driving
+at," as the saying is.
+
+"I do like action, yes, sir," he replied.
+
+"Well, then," said Captain Turner, "you've got a little excitement due
+to you for your prompt action last night in the case of the assault on
+that diamond merchant. If you want to go on the boats to the _Oriana_,
+you may do so. Get Thurman to stand by the wireless while you're gone.
+You can make the time up to him on some other occasion."
+
+Jack's eyes danced. He could hardly express his thanks at the
+opportunity for a break in the rather monotonous life on shipboard. But
+the captain had turned on his heel as he finished his speech and left
+the grateful lad alone.
+
+Thurman was sleeping when Jack roused him. When he learned that Jack was
+to make one of the boat parties and that he (Thurman) was to remain on
+duty, the second wireless man's temper flared up.
+
+"That's a fine thing, I must say," he growled. "You're to go on a junket
+while I do your work. I won't stand for it."
+
+"Pshaw, Thurman," said Jack pacifically. "I'll do the same for you at
+any time you say. Besides, I heard you say once you wouldn't like to go
+in the small boats."
+
+"Think I'm afraid, eh?"
+
+"I said no such thing," retorted Jack, "I----"
+
+"I don't care, you thought it. I'll complain to Captain Turner."
+
+"I would not advise you to."
+
+"Keep your advice to yourself. I've got pull enough to have you fired."
+
+"This line treats its employees too fairly for any such claim as a
+'pull' to be advanced."
+
+"You think so, eh? Well, I'll show you. You've been acting like a
+swelled head all the way over, Ready," said Thurman, forgetting all
+bounds in his anger. "I'll find a way to fix you----"
+
+"Say, you talk like an angry kid who's been put out of a ball game,"
+said Jack. "I hope you get over it by the time you come on duty."
+
+An angry snarl was Thurman's only rejoinder as Jack left the wireless
+operator's sleeping quarters. But the next instant all thought of
+Thurman was put out of his mind. The lookout had reported from the
+crow's-nest. On the far horizon a mighty cloud of dark smoke was rising
+and spreading.
+
+Before many moments had passed it was known that fire--that greatest of
+sea perils--had been added to the sinking _Oriana's_ troubles.
+
+As the news spread through the ship the passengers thronged to the
+rails. Suppressed excitement ran wild among them. Even Jack found
+himself unable to stay still as he thought of the lives in peril under
+that far-off smoke pall. All communication with the stricken ship had
+ceased, and Jack knew that things must have reached a crisis for her
+crew.
+
+Then came an order to cast loose four boats, two on the port and two on
+the starboard side. Officers and men obeyed with a will. By the time
+they were ready to be dropped overside, the outlines of the burning
+steamer were plainly visible. She looked very low in the water. From her
+midships section smoke, in immense black clouds, was pouring.
+
+But to Jack's surprise no boats surrounded her, as he had expected would
+be the case. Instead, on her stern, an old-fashioned, high-raised one,
+he could make out, through his glasses, a huddled mass of human figures.
+Suddenly one figure detached itself from the rest and Jack saw a pistol
+raised and aimed at the lower deck. Spurts of smoke from the weapon
+followed. Thrilled, Jack was about to report what he had seen to the
+bridge when the third officer, a young man named Billings, came up to
+him.
+
+"You're in my boat," he said. "Cut along."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A STRANGE WRECK.
+
+
+"Well, boys, we got here just in time," observed Mr. Billings, as the
+boat cut through the water.
+
+"I'm not so sure that we have arrived in time to avert a tragedy," said
+Jack, and he told of the shooting that he had witnessed.
+
+"Probably a mutiny," said Mr. Billings, with the voice of experience.
+"The crews on those old tramps are the riff-raff of a hundred ports. Bad
+men to handle in an emergency."
+
+He had hardly finished speaking when, borne toward them on the wind,
+which was setting from the burning, sinking ship, came a most appalling
+uproar. It sounded like the shrieks of hundreds of passing souls mingled
+with deep roars and screeches.
+
+Even Mr. Billings turned a shade paler under his tan.
+
+"In the name of heaven what was that?" he exclaimed.
+
+As he spoke a huge tawny form was seen to climb upon the rail of the
+rusty old steamer and then launch itself into the sea with a mighty
+roar.
+
+"A lion!" exclaimed Jack, "by all that's wonderful, a lion."
+
+"That explains the mystery of those noises and the predicament of those
+poor fellows crowded on the stern away from the boats," said Mr.
+Billings, who had quite regained his self-possession.
+
+"But--but I don't understand," said Jack.
+
+"That ship has a cargo of wild animals on board," explained Mr.
+Billings. "Such shipments are regularly made from Hamburg, her hailing
+port, to America. Most probably she had lions, tigers, leopards, great
+serpents and other animals on board. When her bow was stove in a number
+of cages were smashed and the wild beasts escaped."
+
+"That accounts for the shooting I saw, then," exclaimed Jack; "they must
+have been firing from the raised stern at the animals which menaced them
+on the main deck."
+
+"Unquestionably. I am glad I brought my own shooting iron," said Mr.
+Billings. "I packed it along in case we had trouble with a mutinous
+crew."
+
+They were now close to the blazing ship. The heat and odor of the flames
+were clearly felt.
+
+"We'll have to pull around on the weather side," decided Mr. Brown. "If
+we come up under the wind, we'd all be scorched before we could effect
+any rescues.
+
+"Pull round the stern, my lads," he ordered.
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," came in a deep-throated chorus from the crew.
+
+As the four boats made under the stern, white, anxious faces looked down
+on them.
+
+"Thank heaven you've come!" exclaimed the captain, whose haggard
+countenance showed all that he had been through. "We're just about at
+our last ditch. The animals we were taking from Jamrachs, in Hamburg,
+for an American circus, broke loose after the collision with the
+derelict. They've killed two of my men and maimed another."
+
+"All right, my hearties, just hold on a minute and we'll have you out of
+that," exclaimed Mr. Billings cheerfully.
+
+More roars and screeches from the loosened animals checked him. Then
+came more shots, telling of an attack on the stern, the only cool part
+of the ship left, which had been repulsed. The flames shot up, seeming
+to reach to the sky, and the smoke blotted out the sun, enveloping
+everything in the burning ship's vicinity in a sort of twilight.
+
+"Do you think we'll be able to get all of them off?" asked Jack eagerly.
+
+"I'm in hopes that we will," said Mr. Billings, "if nothing untoward
+happens."
+
+There was, Jack noticed, a shade of anxiety in the young officer's tone.
+There was, then, some peril, of which he knew nothing as yet, attached
+to the enterprise, thought Jack. But of the nature of the danger he had
+no guess till later.
+
+As the first boat, Mr. Billings' craft, drew alongside the blistering
+side of the burning ship, a Jacob's ladder came snaking down from the
+stern. At almost the same moment Jack, who had been looking upward,
+uttered a shout of alarm.
+
+The fierce face of a wild beast had suddenly appeared above the rail of
+the blazing _Oriana_. The next instant a great lithe, striped body
+streaked through the air straight for the boat. Instinctively Jack, who
+saw the huge form of the tiger, for that was the desperate
+flame-maddened creature that had made the jump, sprang for the side of
+the boat and dived overboard.
+
+[Illustration: The next instant a great lithe, striped body streaked
+through the air.--]
+
+He was not a second too soon. The tiger struck the side of the boat in
+the stern just where Jack had been sitting a fragment of a minute
+before. The boat heeled over as the great beast, mad with terror, clawed
+at its sides with its fore-paws and endeavored to climb in. Mr.
+Billings, pale but firm, whipped out his revolver with an untrembling
+hand while the men, utterly unnerved, dropped their oars and shouted
+with alarm.
+
+Bang! The tiger gave a struggle that almost capsized the boat. Then,
+suddenly, its claws relaxed their hold and it slid into the water, limp
+and lifeless, shot between the eyes. But where was Jack? The question
+just occurred to Mr. Billings when, looking up suddenly, he saw
+something that made him yell a swift order at the top of his lungs.
+
+"Row for your lives, men, row. She's going to blow up!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+CAST AWAY WITH A PYTHON.
+
+
+When Jack dived overboard he was so unnerved by the sudden apparition of
+the fear-frenzied tiger that he rose some distance back of the boat. He
+came to the surface just in time to see the slaying of the animal and
+hear Mr. Billings' sharp cry of warning.
+
+Before he could attract attention the boats were all pulling at top
+speed from the burning ship.
+
+"She's going to blow up!" the words etched themselves on Jack's brain
+with the rapidity of a photographic plate.
+
+He saw a convulsive tremor shake the big steel fabric and the despairing
+shouts of the men in the stern rang in his ears. At the same moment he
+dived and began swimming with all his strength away from the doomed
+ship. Suddenly came a shock that even under water seemed to drive his
+ear-drums in.
+
+Then he felt himself seized as if in a giant's grip and dragged down,
+down, down. His vision grew scarlet. His heart beat as if it must burst
+from his frame and his entire body felt as if it was being cruelly
+compressed in a monster vise. Jack knew what had occurred: the boilers
+of the _Oriana_ had blown up and he was being carried down by the
+suction of the hull as it sank.
+
+Just as he felt that he could no longer endure the strain, the dragging
+sensation ceased. Like a stone from a catapult Jack was projected up
+again to the surface of the sea. The sky, the ocean, everything burned
+red as flame as he regained the blessed air and sucked it in in great
+lungfulls.
+
+For a moment or so he was actually unconscious. Then, as his normal
+functions returned, and his sight grew less blurred, he made out a hatch
+floating not far from him. He struck out for this and clambered upon it.
+The sea was strewn with the wreckage of the explosion. Beams, skylights,
+even charred and blistered metal liferafts floated all about him. But
+these did not engross Jack's attention for long after he had cast his
+gaze in the direction where the _Oriana_ last lay. There he encountered
+an extraordinary sight.
+
+On the surface of the ocean floated the stern section of the sunken
+steamer. To it still clung the occupants that he had last seen there.
+Jack rubbed his eyes and looked and looked again. Yes, there was no
+doubt about it, the after part of the _Oriana_ was still afloat,
+although how long it would remain so it was impossible to say.
+
+Jack guessed, and as it afterward transpired, guessed correctly, that
+the watertight bulkhead doors, which had automatically been closed all
+over the ship when the collision occurred, were sustaining the stern
+fragment of the ship on the surface. This part of the _Oriana_, unharmed
+by the explosion or the collision, was now floating much as a corked
+bottle might be expected to do, excepting, of course, that there was a
+marked list to the drifting fragment.[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: The after part of the ill-fated tank steamer _Oregon_, sunk
+100 miles off Sandy Hook, in 1913, when, during a severe storm, she
+broke in two, floated with the survivors in exactly the manner described
+in the _Oriana's_ case.--Author's Note.]
+
+Jack now saw the scattered boats returning to the scene. The man in
+command of each was urging the crews on with voice and gesture. Not one
+had been harmed, but it was a narrow escape. Jack set up a shout, but
+apparently, in the excitement of racing for the floating stern part of
+the _Oriana_, he was unnoticed. However, this did not alarm him, for he
+was sure of being able to attract attention before long.
+
+A sudden lurch of the hatchway on which he was drifting, and the sound
+of a slithering motion as of some heavy body being dragged along some
+rough surface, made him turn his head.
+
+What he saw made him almost lose his grip on the hatchway.
+
+[Illustration: What he saw made him almost lose his grip on the
+hatchway.]
+
+The hideous flat head and wicked eyes of a huge python faced him. The
+great snake, escaping somehow from the catastrophe to the menagerie
+ship, had swum for the same refuge Jack had chosen. Now it was dragging
+its brilliantly mottled body, as thick as a man's thigh, up upon the
+hatchway. The floating "raft" dipped under the great snake's weight,
+while Jack, literally petrified with horror, watched without motion or
+outcry.
+
+But apparently the snake was too badly stunned by the explosion to be
+inclined for mischief. It coiled its great body compactly in gay-colored
+folds on the hatch and lay still. But Jack noticed that its mottled eyes
+never left his figure.
+
+"Gracious, I can't stand this much longer," thought Jack.
+
+He looked about him for another bit of wreckage to which he might swim
+and be free of his unpleasant neighbor. But the débris had all drifted
+far apart by this time and his limbs felt too stiffened by his
+involuntary dive to the depths of the ocean for him to attempt a long
+swim.
+
+Not far off he could see the boats busily transferring the castaways of
+the _Oriana_ on board. Supposing they pulled away from the scene without
+seeing him? Undoubtedly, they deemed him lost and would not make a
+search for him. Warmly as the sun beat down, Jack felt a chill that
+turned his blood to ice-water run over him at the thought. Left to drift
+on the broad Atlantic with a serpent for a companion and without a
+weapon with which to defend himself. The thought was maddening and he
+resolutely put it from him.
+
+So far the great snake had lain somnolently, but now, as the sun began
+to warm its body, Jack saw the brilliantly colored folds begin to writhe
+and move. It suddenly appeared to become aware of him and raised its
+flat, spade-shaped head above its coils.
+
+Its tongue darted in and out of its red mouth viciously. Jack became
+conscious of a strong smell of musk, the characteristic odor of
+serpents.
+
+His mouth went dry with fear, although he was naturally a brave lad, as
+we know. A dreadful fascination seemed to hold him in thrall. He could
+not have moved a muscle if his life, as he believed it did, depended on
+his escape. The hideous head began to sway rhythmically in a sort of
+dance. Still Jack could not take his eyes from that swaying head and
+darting red tongue. A species of hypnotic spell fell over him. He heard
+nothing and saw nothing but the swaying snake.
+
+All at once the head shot forward. With a wild yell Jack, out of his
+trance at last, fell backward off the hatch into the water. At the same
+instant Mr. Billings' pistol spoke. Again and again he fired it till the
+great snake's threshing form lay still in death. Unwilling to give Jack
+up for lost, although he feared in his heart that this was the case, the
+third officer would not leave the scene till all hope was exhausted.
+Sweeping the vicinity with his glasses, he had spied the impending
+tragedy on the hatch.
+
+Full speed had been made to the rescue at once and, as we know, aid
+arrived in the nick of time. As Jack rose sputtering to the surface
+strong hands pulled him into the boat. He was told what had happened.
+
+"A narrow escape," said Mr. Billings, beside whom sat Captain Sanders of
+the lost steamer. He looked the picture of woe.
+
+"I owe my life to you, Mr. Billings," burst out Jack, holding out his
+hand.
+
+The seaman took it in his rough brown palm.
+
+"That's all right, my lad," he said. "Maybe you'll do as much for me
+some day."
+
+And then, as if ashamed even of this display of emotion, he bawled out
+in his roughest voice:
+
+"Give way there, bullies! Don't sit dreaming! Bend your backs!"
+
+As the boats flew back toward where the great bulk of the _Columbia_,
+her rails lined with eager passengers, rested immobile on the surface of
+the ocean, the castaway captain turned a glance backward to the stern of
+his ship, which was still floating but settling and sinking fast. It was
+easy to guess what his thoughts were.
+
+"That's one of the tragedies of the sea," thought Jack.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+CAPTURED BY RADIO.
+
+
+It was two days later and they were nearing Southampton, but the stop
+they had made to aid the _Oriana's_ crew had given the Britisher a big
+lead on them. The passengers eagerly clustered to read Jack's wireless
+bulletin from the other ship which was posted every day. Excitement ran
+high.
+
+Jack had seen no more of Professor Dusenberry, but he had spent a good
+deal of leisure time pondering over the code message the queer little
+dried up man had sent. Raynor, who had quite a genius for such things,
+and spent much time solving the puzzles in magazines and periodicals,
+helped him. But they did not make much progress.
+
+Suddenly, however, the night before they were due to reach Southampton,
+Jack was sitting staring at the message when, without warning, as such
+things sometimes will, the real sense of the message leaped at him from
+the page.
+
+"Meet me at _three_ on the paving _stones_, the weather is _fine_ but
+got no _specimens_, there is no _suspicion_ as you have _directed_ but
+I'm afraid _wrong_."
+
+Taking every fourth word from the dispatch then, it read as follows:
+
+     "Three stones. Fine specimens. Suspicion directed wrong."
+
+Jack sat staring like one bewitched as the amazingly simple cipher
+revealed itself in a flash after his hours of study. Granted he had
+struck the right solution, the message was illuminating enough.
+Professor Dusenberry was a dangerous crook, instead of the harmless old
+"crank" the passengers had taken him for, and his cipher message was to
+a confederate.
+
+But on second thought Jack was inclined to believe that it was merely a
+coincidence that placing together every fourth word of the jumbled
+message made a dispatch having a perfectly understandable bearing on the
+jewel theft. It was impossible to believe that Professor Dusenberry,
+mild and self-effacing, could have had a hand in the attack on the
+diamond merchant. Jack was sorely perplexed.
+
+He was still puzzling over the matter when the object of his thoughts
+appeared in his usual timid manner. He wished to send another dispatch,
+he said. While he wrote it out Jack studied the mild, almost benevolent
+features of the man known as Prof. Dusenberry.
+
+"But there's one test," he thought to himself. "If the 'fourth word'
+test applies to this dispatch also, the Professor is a criminal, of a
+dangerous type, in disguise. But he contrived to glance carelessly over
+the dispatch when the professor handed it to him and fumbled in his
+pocket for a wallet with which to pay for it. Not till the seemingly
+mild old man had shuffled out did Jack apply his test to it. The message
+read as follows:
+
+     "_Columbia_ fast as motor-boat, watch her in Southampton. Am well
+     and will no more time throw away on fake life-preserver."
+
+     F.
+
+With fingers that actually trembled, Jack wrote down every fourth word.
+Here is the result he obtained:
+
+     "Motorboat Southampton. Will throw life-preserver."
+
+"By the great horn-spoon," exclaimed Jack to himself, "it worked out
+like a charm. But still, what am I going to do? I can't go to the
+captain with no more evidence than this. He would not order the man
+detained. I have it!" he cried, after a moment of deep reflection. "The
+Southampton detectives have been already wirelessed about the crime and
+are going to board the ship. I'll flash them another message, telling
+them of the plan to drop the jewels overboard in a life-preserver so
+that they will float till the motor-boat picks them up."
+
+Jack first, however, sent the supposed Prof. Dusenberry's message
+through to London, with which he was now in touch. He noted it was to
+the same address as before, that of a Mr. Jeremy Pottler, 38 South
+Totting Road, W. Then he summoned the Southampton station, and, before
+long, a messenger brought to the police authorities there a dispatch
+that caused a great deal of excitement. He had just finished doing this
+when Jack's attention was attracted by the re-entrance of the professor.
+
+He wanted to look over the dispatch he had sent again, he said, but Jack
+noticed that his eyes, singularly keen behind his spectacles, swept the
+table swiftly as if in search of something. The abstract that Jack had
+made of the cipher dispatch lay in plain view. Jack hastily swept it out
+of sight by an apparently careless movement. But he felt the professor's
+eyes fixed on him keenly.
+
+But if Prof. Dusenberry had observed anything he said nothing. He merely
+remarked that the dispatch appeared to be all right and walked out again
+in his peculiar shambling way.
+
+"The old fox suspects something," thought Jack. "I wonder if he saw that
+little translation I took the liberty of making of his dispatch. If he
+did, he must have known that I smelled a rat."
+
+Just then Raynor dropped in on his way on watch.
+
+"Well, we're in to-morrow, Jack," he said, "but I'm afraid the Britisher
+will beat us out."
+
+"I'm afraid so, too," responded Jack. "Their operator has been crowing
+over me all day. But at any rate it was in a good cause."
+
+"Yes, and they're taking up a subscription for the shipwrecked men at
+the concert to-night, I hear, so that they won't land destitute."
+
+"That's good; but say, Bill, you're off watch to-morrow and I want you
+to do something for me."
+
+"Anything you say."
+
+"This may involve danger."
+
+"Great Scott, you talk like Sherlock Holmes or a dime novel. What's up?"
+
+"I've got the man who stole those diamonds."
+
+"What!"
+
+"Don't talk so loud. I mean what I say. Listen."
+
+And Jack related everything that had occurred.
+
+"Now, what I want you to do is to watch Prof. Dusenberry, as he calls
+himself, to-morrow when we get into the harbor. His is an inside
+stateroom so that he can't throw it out of a porthole from there. He'll
+most likely go to one at the end of a passage."
+
+"Yes, and then what?"
+
+"I'd do it myself but the old fox suspects me, I half fancy, and if he
+saw me in the vicinity he'd change his plans. You'd better take two of
+your huskiest firemen with you, Billy. He's an ugly customer, I fancy,
+and might put up a bad fight."
+
+"U-m-m-m, some job," mused Billy. "Why don't you put the whole thing up
+to the captain?"
+
+"It would do no good the way things are now, and he might get wind of it
+and hide the jewels so that they couldn't be found. Anyhow, we've no
+proof against him till he is actually caught throwing the jewels out in
+that life-preserver to his confederates in the motor-boat."
+
+"I see, you want to catch him red-handed, but what about those cipher
+radios?"
+
+"There's no way of proving that I read the cipher right," said Jack.
+"Our only way is to do as I suggested."
+
+"I hear that Rosenstein has offered a big reward for the recovery of the
+diamonds," said Billy. "He's up and about again, you know."
+
+"Well, Billy, I think he'll have his diamonds back by to-morrow noon if
+we follow out my plan."
+
+And so it was arranged. The next morning Jack received a message from
+Southampton:
+
+"All ready. Does our man suspect anything?"
+
+This was Jack's answer:
+
+"Not so far as I know. Have a plan to catch him red-handed. You watch
+the motor-boat."
+
+Saluted by the whistles of a hundred water craft, the _Columbia_ made
+stately progress into Southampton harbor. As her leviathan bulk moved
+majestically along under reduced speed, her whistles blowing and her
+flag dipping in acknowledgment of the greeting, Jack with a beating
+heart, stood on the upper deck watching earnestly for developments.
+
+He knew that Billy and the two firemen he had selected to help him, on
+what might prove a dangerous job, were below watching Prof. Dusenberry.
+They all wore stewards' uniforms so that the man who Jack believed
+struck down the diamond merchant and stole the stones might not get
+suspicious at seeing them about in the corridors.
+
+"I believe they must have changed their plans, after all," Jack was
+thinking when, from the shore, there shot out, at tremendous speed, a
+sharp-bowed, swift motor-boat. It headed straight for the _Columbia_. As
+it drew closer, Jack saw it held two men. Both were blowing a whistle,
+waving flags and pointing at the big ship as if they, like many other
+small water craft, were just out to get a glimpse of the triumph of
+American shipbuilders.
+
+They maneuvered close alongside, while Jack's fingers grasped the rail
+till the paint flaked off under the pressure he exerted in his
+excitement. What was happening below? he wondered. Could Billy and his
+companions carry out their part of the program? Not far from the boy the
+diamond merchant, unconscious of the drama being enacted on his account,
+stood, with bandaged head, explaining for the hundredth time the beauty
+and the value of the gems he had lost.
+
+"Five thousand thalers I give if I get them back," he declared.
+
+Suddenly Jack's heart gave a bound. From a port far down on the side of
+the ship, and almost directly under him, a white object was hurled. It
+struck the water with a splash and spread out, floating buoyantly.
+
+Instantly the black motor-boat darted forward, one of the men on board
+holding a boat hook extended to grasp the floating life-preserver,
+hidden in which was a king's fortune in gems.
+
+Jack stood still just one instant. Then, driven by an impulse he could
+not explain, he threw off his coat, kicked off the loose slippers he
+wore when at work, and the next moment he had mounted the rail and made
+a clean, swift dive for the life-preserver.
+
+Billy rushed on deck, excitement written on his face, just as Jack dived
+overboard.
+
+"Jack! Jack!" he shouted.
+
+But he was too late.
+
+"Great Neptune, has the boy gone mad?" exclaimed Captain Turner, who had
+passed along the deck just in time to see Jack's dive. Regardless of sea
+etiquette, Billy grasped the skipper's arm and rushed into a narrative
+of the plan he and Jack had hoped to carry out.
+
+"But Dusenberry was too quick for us, sir," he concluded.
+
+"Never mind that, now," cried the captain, "that boy may be in danger."
+
+He looked over the rail, which, owing to most of the passengers being
+busy below with their preparations for landing, was almost deserted.
+Billy was at his side. In the black motor-boat two men stood with their
+hands up. Alongside was a speedy-looking launch full of strapping big
+men with firm jaws and the unmistakable stamp of detectives the world
+over. Some of them were hauling on board the police launch Jack's
+dripping figure, which clung fast to the life-preserver. Others kept the
+men in the black launch covered with their pistols.
+
+Half an hour later, when the passengers--all that is but Mr.
+Rosenstein--had gone ashore (the diamond merchant had been asked by the
+captain to remain), a little group was assembled in Captain Turner's
+cabin. In the center of it stood Professor Dusenberry, alias Foxy Fred,
+looking ever more meek and mild than usual. He had been seized and bound
+by the two disguised firemen as he threw the life-preserver, but not in
+time to prevent his getting it out of the port. Beside him, also
+manacled, were the two men who had been in the motor-boat and who,
+according to the Southampton police, formed a trio of the most daring
+diamond thieves who ever operated.
+
+"I think we may send for Mr. Rosenstein now," said Captain Turner with a
+smile. "Only I hope that he is not subject to attacks of heart failure.
+Ready," he said, turning to Jack, who stood side by side with Billy,
+"take these and give them to Mr. Rosenstein with your compliments."
+
+Jack blushed and hesitated.
+
+"I'd,--I'd rather--sir--if you--don't mind----" he stammered.
+
+"You may regard what I just said as an order if you like," said Captain
+Turner, trying to look grim, while everybody else, but Jack and the
+prisoners, smiled.
+
+"You wanted to see me on important business, captain?" asked Mr.
+Rosenstein, as he entered. "You will keep me as short a time as
+possible, please. I must get to Scotland Yard, my diamonds----"
+
+"Are right here in this boy's hand," said the captain, pushing Jack
+forward.
+
+"What! This is the fellow who took them?" thundered the diamond
+merchant.
+
+"No; this is the lad you have to thank for recovering them for you from
+those three men yonder," said the captain.
+
+"Professor Dusenberry!" exclaimed the diamond expert, throwing up his
+hand.
+
+"Or Foxy Fred," grinned one of the English detectives.
+
+"Oh, my head, it goes round," exclaimed Mr. Rosenstein.
+
+"This lad, with wonderful ingenuity, and finally courage, when he leaped
+overboard to save your property, traced the guilty parties," went on the
+captain, "and by wireless arranged for their capture."
+
+"It's a bit of work to be proud of," said the head of the English
+contingent.
+
+"It is that," said the captain. "It has cleared away a cloud that might
+have hung over this ship till the mystery was dispelled, which probably
+would have been never."
+
+Mr. Rosenstein, who had taken the diamonds from Jack, stood apparently
+stupefied, holding them on his palm. Suddenly, however, to Jack's great
+embarrassment, he threw both arms round the boy's neck and saluted him
+on both cheeks. Then he rushed at Billy and finally the two firemen, who
+dodged out of the way. Then he drew out a check book and began writing
+rapidly. He handed a pink slip of paper to Jack. It was a check for
+$5,000.
+
+"A souvenir," he said.
+
+"But--but----" began Jack, "we didn't do it for money. It was our duty
+to the company and----"
+
+"It's your duty to the company to take that check, then," laughed
+Captain Turner, and in the end Jack did. The two firemen, who had helped
+the boys, received a good share of it and later were promoted by the
+company for their good work. As for Prof. Dusenberry and his companions,
+they vanish from our story when, in custody of the detectives, they went
+over the side a few minutes later. But Jack and Billy to-day have two
+very handsome diamond and emerald scarf-pins, the gifts of the grateful
+Mr. Rosenstein.
+
+"Looks as if we are always having adventures of some kind or another,"
+said Billy to Jack that evening as they strolled about the town, for the
+ship would not sail for Cherbourg, her last port before the homeward
+voyage, till the next day.
+
+"It certainly does look that way," agreed Jack and then, with a laugh,
+he added:
+
+"But they don't all turn out so profitably as this one."
+
+With which Billy agreed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+THURMAN PLOTS.
+
+
+It was two nights before the _Columbia_, on her homeward voyage, entered
+New York harbor. On the trip across she had once more had the big
+British greyhound of the seas for a rival. But this time there was a
+different tale to tell. The _Columbia_ was coming home, as Billy Raynor
+put it, "with a broom at the main-mast head."
+
+All day the wireless snapped out congratulations from the shore. Jack
+was kept busy transmitting shore greetings and messages from returning
+voyagers who had chosen the finest ship under the stars and stripes on
+which to return to the United States. Patriotism ran riot as every
+bulletin showed the _Columbia_ reeling over two or three knots more an
+hour than her rival. One enthusiastic millionaire offered a
+twenty-dollar gold piece to every fireman, and five dollars each to all
+the other members of the crew, if the _Columbia_ beat her fleet rival by
+a five-hour margin. The money was as good as won.
+
+Thurman sat in the wireless room. His head was in his hands and he was
+thinking deeply. Should he or should he not send that message to
+Washington which, he was sure, would cause Jack's arrest the instant the
+ship docked. He had struggled with his conscience for some time. But
+then the thought of the reward and the fancied grudge he owed Jack
+overtopped every other consideration. He seized the key and began
+calling the big naval station.
+
+It was not long before he got a reply, for when not talking to warships
+the land stations of the department use normal wave-lengths.
+
+"Who is this?" came the question from the government man.
+
+"It's X. Y. Z," rapped out Thurman.
+
+This was the signature he had appended to his other messages.
+
+"The thunder you say," spelled out the other; "we thought we'd never
+hear from you again."
+
+"Well, here I am."
+
+"So it appears. Well, are you ready to tell us who this chap is who's
+been mystifying us so?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"Great ginger, wait till I get Rear-admiral ---- and Secretary ---- on
+the 'phone. It's late but they'll get out of bed to hear this news."
+
+But it transpired that both the officials were at a reception and
+Thurman was asked to wait till they could be rushed at top speed to the
+wireless station in automobiles. At last everything was ready and
+Thurman, while drops of sweat rolled down his face, rapped out his
+treachery and sent it flashing from the antennæ across the sea.
+
+"Thank you," came the reply when he had finished, "the secretary also
+wishes me to thank you and assure you of your reward. Secret Service men
+will meet the ship at the pier."
+
+"And Jack Ready, what about him?"
+
+"He will be taken care of. You had better proceed to Washington as soon
+as possible after you land."
+
+"How much will the reward be?" greedily demanded Thurman.
+
+"The secretary directs me to say that it will be suitable," was the
+rejoinder.
+
+The next morning, when Jack came on duty, he sent a personal message to
+Uncle Toby via Siasconset. This was it:
+
+     "Universal detector a success. Will you wire Washington of my
+     intention to proceed there with all speed when I arrive?
+
+     "JACK."
+
+Late that day he got back an answer that appeared to astonish him a good
+deal, for he sat knitting his brows over it for some moments.
+
+     "Washington says some ding-gasted sneak has been cutting up funny
+     tricks. Looks like you have been talking.
+
+     "TOBY READY."
+
+This characteristic message occupied Jack for some moments till he
+thought of a reply to its rather vaguely worded contents. Then he got
+Siasconset and shot this through the air:
+
+     "Have talked to no one who could have seen Washington. My last
+     letter to the Secretary of the Navy was that I thought I was on the
+     road to success.
+
+     "JACK."
+
+No reply came to this and Jack went off watch with the matter as much of
+a mystery as ever. But as Thurman came in to relieve him a sudden
+suspicion shot across Jack's mind. Could Thurman have----?
+
+He recalled the night he had caught him examining the device with such
+care! Jack had since removed it, but in searching in the waste basket
+for a message discarded by mistake he had since come across what
+appeared to be crude sketches of the Universal Detector. If Thurman had
+not drawn them, Jack was at a loss to know who had. But for some
+mysterious reason he only smiled as he left the wireless room.
+
+"If you've been up to any hocus-pocus business, Mr. Thurman," he said to
+himself, as he descended to dinner, "you are going to get the surprise
+of your life within a very short time."
+
+After dinner he came back to the upper deck again, but as he gained it
+his attention was arrested by the scream of the wireless spark. It was a
+warm night and the door of the cabin was open. Jack stopped
+instinctively to listen to the roaring succession of dots and dashes.
+
+"He's calling Washington," said Jack to himself as he listened.
+
+"He's got them," he exclaimed a minute later.
+
+"Hullo! Hullo! I guess I was right in my guess, then, after all. Oh,
+Thurman, what a young rascal you are."
+
+He listened attentively as Thurman shot out his message to the National
+Capital. Jack repeated it in an undertone as the spark crackled and
+squealed.
+
+"Do--I--get--my--reward--right--away?"
+
+Jack actually burst, for some inexplicable reason, into a hearty laugh.
+
+"Oh, Thurman! Thurman!" he exploded to himself. "What a badly fooled
+young man you are going to be."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE "SUITABLE REWARD."
+
+
+The arrival of the _Columbia_ at her dock the next day was in the nature
+of an ovation. A band played "Hail Columbia," and a dense crowd blocked
+the docks and adjacent points of vantage to view the great liner which
+had taken the blue ribbon of the seas from England's crack ship. News of
+the dramatic rescue of the crew of the _Oriana_, wirelessed at the time
+of the occurrence to the newspapers, had inflamed public interest in the
+big ship too, and her subsequent doings had been eagerly followed in the
+dailies.
+
+"Great to be home again, isn't it, old fellow?" asked Raynor, coming up
+to Jack as a dozen puffing tugs nosed the towering _Columbia_ into her
+dock.
+
+"It is, indeed," said Jack, looking over the rail. "I'm going to----"
+
+He broke off suddenly and began waving frantically to two persons in the
+crowd. One was an old man, rather bent, but hale and hearty and
+sunburned. Beside him was a pretty girl. It was Helen Dennis and her
+father, Captain Dennis, who had been rescued from a sinking sailing ship
+during Jack's first voyage, as told in the "Ocean Wireless Boys on the
+Atlantic." Captain Dennis, since the disaster, had been unable to get
+another ship to command and had been forced to accept a position as
+watchman on one of the docks, but Jack had been working all he knew how
+to get the captain another craft, so far, however, without success.
+
+"There's one reason why you're glad to be home," said Raynor slyly,
+waving to Helen. "You're a lucky fellow."
+
+The gang-plank was down, but before any passengers were allowed ashore,
+way was made for four stalwart, clean-shaven men who hurried on board.
+
+"Wonder who those fellows are?" said Raynor; "must be some sort of
+big-wigs."
+
+"Yes, they certainly got the right of way," responded Jack without much
+interest.
+
+Thurman joined them.
+
+"I hear that the Secret Service men are on board," he said. "Must be
+looking for someone."
+
+"I suppose so," said Jack. "They usually are."
+
+Somebody tapped Jack on the shoulder. It was one of the men who had
+boarded the ship. An evil leer passed over Thurman's face as he saw
+this.
+
+"Are you Jack Ready?" asked the man.
+
+"That's my name," replied Jack.
+
+The man threw back his coat, displaying a gold badge. His three
+companions stood beside him.
+
+"I want you to come to Washington with us at once," said the man. "I am
+operative Thomas of the United States Secret Service."
+
+"Why what's the matter? What's he done?" demanded Raynor.
+
+"That's for the Navy Department to decide," said the man sternly.
+Thurman had slipped away after the man had displayed his badge. His
+envious mind was now sure of its revenge. He, too, meant to get the
+first train to Washington.
+
+"Don't worry, old fellow," said Jack. "Just slip ashore and make my
+excuses to Helen and her father, will you, and then meet me in
+Washington at the Willard. I think I shall have some news that will
+surprise you."
+
+Greatly mystified, Raynor obeyed, while Jack and the four men, two on
+each side of him, left the ship. Thurman followed them closely. His
+flabby face wore a look of satisfaction.
+
+"Two birds with one stone," he muttered to himself. "I've got even with
+Jack Ready and I get a reward for doing it. Slick work."
+
+The trip to Washington was uneventful. On their arrival there Jack and
+the Secret Service men went straight to the Navy Department. They passed
+through a room filled with waiting persons having business there, and
+were at once admitted to the office of the Secretary of the Navy, a
+dignified looking man with gray hair and mustache, who sat ensconced
+behind a large desk littered with papers and documents.
+
+There were several other gentlemen in the room. Some of them were in
+naval uniforms and all had an official appearance that was rather
+overawing.
+
+"So, this is our young man," said the Secretary, as Jack removed his
+hat. "Sit down, Mr. Ready, these gentlemen and myself wish to talk to
+you."
+
+Then, for an hour or more, Jack described the Universal Detector and
+answered scores of questions. After the first few minutes his sense of
+embarrassment wore off and he talked easily and naturally. When he had
+finished, and everybody's curiosity was satisfied, the Secretary turned
+to him.
+
+"And you are prepared to turn this instrument over to the United States
+navy?"
+
+"That was the main object I had in designing it," said Jack, "but I am
+at a loss to know how you discovered that I was on board the
+_Columbia_."
+
+"That will soon be explained," said the Secretary, with a smile that was
+rather enigmatic. "You recollect having a little fun with our navy
+operators?"
+
+Jack colored and stammered something while everybody in the room smiled.
+
+"Don't worry about that," laughed the Secretary. "It just upset the
+dignity of some of our navy operators. Well, following that somebody
+offered, for a consideration, to tell us who it was that had discovered
+the secret of a Universal Detector. It turned out, as I had expected
+from our previous correspondence, that it was you. But not till two
+nights ago, when our informant again wirelessed, did we know that you
+were at sea."
+
+"But--but, sir," stuttered Jack, greatly mystified, "who did this?"
+
+The Secretary pressed a button on his desk. A uniformed orderly
+instantly answered.
+
+"Tell Mr. Thurman to come in," said the Secretary.
+
+There was a brief silence, then the door opened and Thurman, with an
+expectant look and an assured manner, stepped into the room.
+
+"Mr. Thurman?" asked the Secretary.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Thurman in a loud, confident voice, "I thought I'd
+hurry over here as soon as the ship docked and talk to you about my work
+in discovering for you the fellow who invented the Universal Detector.
+I----"
+
+He suddenly caught sight of Jack and turned a sickly yellow. Jack looked
+steadily at the fellow who, he had guessed for some time, had been
+evilly interested in the detector.
+
+"Well, go on, Mr. Thurman," said the Secretary, encouragingly, but with
+a peculiar look at the corners of his mouth.
+
+Thurman shuffled miserably.
+
+"I'd prefer not to talk with--with him in the room," he said, nodding
+his head sideways at Jack.
+
+"Why not? Mr. Ready has just sold his invention to the United States
+government."
+
+"Sold it, sir----" began Jack, flushing, "why I----"
+
+The Secretary held up a hand to enjoin silence. Then he turned to the
+thoroughly uncomfortable Thurman.
+
+"We feel, Mr. Thurman," he said, "that you really tried to do us a great
+service."
+
+Thurman recovered some of his self-assurance. Could he have had the
+skill to read the faces about him, though, he must have known that a
+bomb was about to burst.
+
+"Thank you, sir," he said, "I did what I could, what I thought was my
+duty. And now, sir, about that reward."
+
+"'Suitable reward,' was what was said, I think, Mr. Thurman," said the
+Secretary.
+
+"Well, yes, sir, 'suitable reward,'" responded Thurman, his eyes
+glistening with cupidity.
+
+"Mr. Thurman," and the Secretary's voice was serious and impressive,
+"these gentlemen and I have decided that the most suitable reward for a
+young man as treacherous and mean as you have shown yourself to be,
+would be to be kicked downstairs. Instead I shall indicate to you the
+door and ask you to take your leave."
+
+"But--but--I told you who the fellow was that had discovered the
+detector. Why, I even made drawings of it for you."
+
+"I don't doubt that," said the Secretary dryly. "There was only one weak
+point in your whole scheme, Mr. Thurman, and that was that Mr. Ready
+wrote us some time ago when he first began his experiments about his
+work and asked some advice. At that time he informed us that if he
+succeeded in producing a Universal Detector that it would be at the
+service of this government. So you see that you were kind enough to
+inform us of something we knew already. But for a time we were at a loss
+to know whether it was not some other inventor working on similar lines
+who had discovered such a detector. To find out definitely we
+fine-combed the country."
+
+"And--and I get no reward?" stuttered Thurman.
+
+"Except the one I mentioned and the possible lesson you may have learned
+from your experience. Good-afternoon, Mr. Thurman."
+
+Thurman was so thunderstruck by the collapse of his hopes of reaping a
+fortune by his treachery that he appeared for a moment to be deprived of
+the power of locomotion. The Secretary nodded to the orderly, who came
+forward and took the wretched youth, for whom Jack could not help
+feeling sorry, by the arm and led him to the door. This was the last
+that was seen of Thurman for a long time, but Jack was destined to meet
+him again, thousands of miles away and under strange circumstances.
+
+When Jack left the Navy Department he felt as if he was walking on air.
+In his pocket was a check, intended as a sort of retaining fee by the
+government, till tests should have established beyond a doubt the value
+of his invention. His eyes were dancing and all he felt that he needed
+was a friend to share his pleasure with. This need was supplied on his
+return to the hotel, for there was a telegram from Billy Raynor, telling
+Jack to meet him on an evening train. It wound up with these words:
+
+     "Helen Dennis and myself badly worried. Hope everything is all
+     right."
+
+"All right," smiled Jack, "yes, all right, and then some."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+THE PLOTTER'S TRIUMPH.
+
+
+The face of one of the first of the passengers to disembark from the
+train as it rolled into the depot was a familiar one to Jack. With a
+thrill of pleasure he darted through the crowd to clasp the hand of his
+old friend, Captain Simms.
+
+"Here's a coincidence," he exclaimed. "I'm here to meet Billy Raynor. He
+must have come on the same train. But are you ill, sir? Is anything the
+matter?"
+
+"Jack, my boy," said the captain, who was pale and drawn, "a terrible
+thing has happened. The code has been stolen."
+
+"Stolen! By whom?"
+
+"Undoubtedly by Judson and his gang. I thought I saw them on the train
+between Clayton and New York. I was on my way here with the completed
+code. I had it under my pillow in my berth on the sleeper. When I
+awakened it had gone."
+
+"Didn't you have a hunt made for Judson when you reached New York?"
+
+"Yes, but we had made two stops in the night. Undoubtedly, they got off
+at one of them. Unless that code is found I'm a ruined and a disgraced
+man."
+
+At that moment Billy Raynor came hurrying up. But there was not much
+warmth in Jack's welcome to him. His mind was busy with other things.
+
+"What's the matter?" said Billy in a low voice, for he too had noticed
+Captain Simms' dejection.
+
+"Never mind now," whispered Jack, "I'll tell you later. If I may suggest
+it, sir," he said, addressing the captain, who appeared completely
+broken by the loss of the code, "hadn't we better get into a cab and
+drive to the Willard? You are not going to the department to-night?"
+
+"No, I couldn't face them to-night," said the captain. "We'll do as you
+say."
+
+"There may be a way of catching the rascals," said Jack as the taxicab
+bumped off.
+
+The captain shook his head.
+
+"The code is in the hands of the ambassador of the foreign power that
+wanted it as the price of a contract by this time," he said. "It is gone
+beyond recovery. I am disgraced."
+
+On their arrival at the hotel, the captain retired at once to his room.
+The boys had dinner without much appetite for the meal and then set out
+for a stroll to talk things over.
+
+"This is a terrible off-set to my good news," said Jack.
+
+"Don't you think there's a chance of getting the code back?" asked
+Billy.
+
+Jack shook his head.
+
+"I think it is as Captain Simms said, the code is in the hands of that
+ambassador by this time."
+
+"Jack Ready, by all that's good, and Billy too, shake!"
+
+The cry came from up the street and a tall, good-looking lad of their
+own age came hurrying toward them. It was Ned Rivers, a youth who was
+interested in wireless and in that way had become acquainted with Jack
+and Billy on board the _Tropic Queen_ while he was accompanying his
+father on a cruise on that ill-fated ship.
+
+"Ned!" cried Jack.
+
+"You're a sight for sore eyes," exclaimed Billy, and a general
+handshaking followed.
+
+"What are you doing here, Ned?" asked Jack, after a few more words had
+been exchanged.
+
+"Yes, I thought you lived in Nebraska," said Billy.
+
+"So we did, but we've moved here. Father's in the Senate now. I thought
+you knew."
+
+"Congratulations," said Jack. "I guess we'll have to call you Mr.
+Senator, Jr., now and tip our hats to you."
+
+"Avast with that nonsense, as they don't say at sea," laughed Ned.
+"There's our house yonder," and he pointed to a handsome stone
+residence.
+
+"Hullo, what's that I see on the roof?" asked Jack.
+
+"That's my wireless outfit. Mother made an awful kick about having it
+there, but at last she gave in."
+
+"So you're still a wireless boy?" said Billy.
+
+"Yes, and I've got a dandy outfit too. Come on over. I want to introduce
+you to the folks."
+
+"Thanks, we will some other time, but not to-night. We don't feel fit
+for company. You see quite a disaster has happened to a friend of ours,"
+and under a pledge of secrecy from Ned, who he knew he could rely on,
+Jack told the lad part of the story of the theft of the code.
+
+"By jove, that is a loss," said Ned sympathetically. "I've heard dad
+talking about the new code. It was a very important matter."
+
+"We were going for a walk to discuss the whole question," said Billy.
+
+"Can I join you?" asked Ned.
+
+"Glad to have you," was the rejoinder. Talking and laughing merrily over
+old times on the _Tropic Queen_, the boys walked on, not noticing much
+where they were going till they found themselves on an ill-lighted
+street of rather shabby-looking dwellings.
+
+"Hullo," said Ned, "I don't think much of this part of town. Let's get
+back to a main street."
+
+"It's a regular slum," said Billy, and the three boys started to retrace
+their steps. But suddenly Jack stopped and jerked his companions into a
+doorway. Two figures had just come in sight round the corner. They were
+headed down the street on the opposite sidewalk.
+
+"It's Judson and his son," whispered Jack. "What can they be doing
+here?"
+
+"Hiding, most probably," returned Billy.
+
+"Yes, they--hullo! Look, they're going into that alley-way."
+
+The boys darted across the street. Looking down the alley-way, they saw
+the figures of Judson and his son, by the light of a sickly gas lamp,
+ascending the steps of a rickety-looking tenement house.
+
+"Jove, this is worth knowing," exclaimed Jack. "If they are really
+hiding here we can get the police on their track. How lucky that we just
+let ourselves roam into this part of town."
+
+"We ought to have them arrested at once," said Billy.
+
+"Yes, that's a good idea. But they may have just sneaked through the
+hallway and out by a rear way. You fellows wait here till I go and see."
+
+"Oh, Jack, you may get in trouble."
+
+"Yes, we'll go with you," said Ned.
+
+"No, you stay here," Jack insisted. "One of us won't be noticed. Three
+would. Besides, that house is full of other tenants. Nothing much could
+happen to me."
+
+In spite of their further protests he walked rapidly, but cautiously,
+down the alley-way. Noiselessly he entered the hallway and walked to the
+door of a rear room, where he heard voices. But it was a laboring man
+and his wife quarreling over something. Jack heard a door open on an
+upper floor. Then came a voice that thrilled him. It was Jarrow's.
+
+"Hullo, Judson, back again? Well, how did things go?"
+
+Then Jack heard the door closed and locked.
+
+"So, they are really here," he muttered. "What a piece of luck. But the
+question is, have they got the code? If it is out of their hands it will
+be well nigh impossible to recover it, for it is a serious matter to
+charge an ambassador with wrong-doing."
+
+Jack began to ascend the rickety stairs with great caution. They creaked
+dismally under his tread. At a door on the second floor he caught the
+sound of Judson's voice. With a beating heart he crept as close as he
+dared and listened.
+
+"The plans have all been changed," he heard Judson saying. "We are to
+take the code to Crotona (the capital of the power represented by the
+ambassador) ourselves. There's a steamer that leaves Baltimore for
+Naples to-morrow. We are to take that and proceed from Naples to our
+destination."
+
+"What a bother," came in Donald's voice. "I don't see why the ambassador
+didn't take them."
+
+"He said it was too dangerous. He was being watched by the Secret
+Service men."
+
+"Well, it's just as dangerous for us, if it comes to that," grumbled
+Jarrow.
+
+"I've got another piece of news for you," said Judson. "As I was passing
+the Willard to-night I saw Simms, and who do you think was with him?"
+
+"I don't know, I'm sure."
+
+"Those two brats who made trouble for us at Alexandria Bay. It was a
+good thing I was disguised, for I passed close to them before I
+recognized them."
+
+"Confound it all," burst out Jarrow, "do you think they know we are
+here?"
+
+"Not a ghost of a chance of it," said Judson confidently; "anyhow, we've
+picked a hiding place where no one would ever dream of looking for us."
+
+"That's so. I'll be glad when we get out of the horrid hole," grumbled
+Donald.
+
+A footstep sounded behind Jack on the creaking boards. It startled him.
+He had not heard a door open. But now he was confronted by a portly
+Italian. The man grabbed him by the shoulder.
+
+"Whadda you do-a here?" demanded the man, "me thinka you one-a da
+sneak-a da tief."
+
+"Let me go," demanded Jack, striving to wrench himself free.
+
+"I no leta you go justa yet. I tinka you here steala da tings," cried
+the man in a loud voice.
+
+The talk inside Judson's room broke off suddenly.
+
+"Hullo, what's up outside?" exclaimed Donald. "Somebody's collared a
+thief. Let's see what it's all about."
+
+He flung the door open and the lamplight streamed out full on Jack's
+face.
+
+Donald fell back a pace with astonishment.
+
+"Great Scott! It's Jack Ready," he exclaimed. "What in the world are you
+doing here?"
+
+"You knowa desa boy?" asked the Italian, still holding Jack fast.
+
+"Yes, I do. He's no good," replied Donald.
+
+"Dena I throwa him out or calla da police."
+
+"Yes--no, for goodness' sake, not the police," exclaimed Donald. "Dad,
+Jarrow, here's that Ready kid spying on us. He was caught in the hall by
+that Italian next door, who thought he was a sneak thief."
+
+"Ha! Ready, you are the most unlucky lad I know," cried Judson, coming
+to the door, "we've got you just where we want you this time. There are
+no chimneys here. Bring him inside."
+
+"Not much! Help!" Jack began to shout, but Jarrow clapped a hand over
+his mouth.
+
+"Help us run him in here," he ordered the Italian, "I'll pay you for
+it."
+
+"Whatsa da mat'?" asked the Italian suspiciously. "He no lika you."
+
+"No wonder. He robbed us once. I guess he was here to do it again. We
+want to settle accounts with him."
+
+"Oh-ho, datsa eet ees it?" said the Italian. "All righta, I no make da
+troub'."
+
+He gave Jack a forward shove into the room of the wireless boy's
+enemies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+IN THE POWER OF THE ENEMY.
+
+
+As soon as the door was shut and locked, Judson faced Jack.
+
+"Now you keep quiet if you don't want a rap over the head with this," he
+said, exhibiting a heavy bludgeon.
+
+"Don't dare touch me," spoke Jack boldly.
+
+"That will depend. I want to ask you some questions. Will you answer
+them?"
+
+"I shall see."
+
+"You followed Donald and me here and were spying on us when that Italian
+caught you."
+
+"A good thing he did," interjected Donald.
+
+"You heard us planning--er--er something?"
+
+"Possibly I did."
+
+"Boy, I know you did."
+
+"Then what's the sense of asking me?"
+
+"None of your impudence, young man! You've always been too much of a
+busy-body for your own good," snarled Jarrow.
+
+"What's the use of questioning him, dad?" said Donald. "He'll only lie."
+
+"That's probably correct. I guess he heard everything. What shall we do
+with him?"
+
+"Make him a prisoner," said Jarrow.
+
+"But we can't stay here to guard him and he'd be out of this room in a
+jiffy."
+
+"I'll tell you where we'll take him," said Donald. He whispered in his
+father's ear. Judson's face brightened and he nodded approvingly.
+
+"Just the place. It will serve him right. He got himself into this
+mess."
+
+"Are you going to let me go?" demanded Jack.
+
+"Certainly not. You've made your bed--you can lie on it."
+
+Jack made a leap for the door. The key was in the lock, but he didn't
+have a chance to turn it before all three threw themselves on him. A
+scuffle followed which Judson brought to a quick stop by striking Jack a
+stunning blow on the head with his bludgeon. With a million stars
+dancing before him in a void of blackness, Jack went down.
+
+"Now come on quick before anyone spots us," said Jarrow.
+
+Jack's limp form was rolled up in a dirty old blanket so as to look like
+some kind of a bundle. Then Jarrow and Judson lifted him by the head and
+feet, while Donald preceded them with the lamp.
+
+The younger Judson led the way out of a rear door to a side hallway.
+From here two flights of stairs led down to an ill-ventilated, low
+cellar which was seldom visited and was used mostly for old rubbish and
+rags. Jack was carried to a high-sided wooden coal bin and his form
+dropped on a pile of dirty old newspapers and decaying straw. There was
+a heavy door with an iron bolt on the outside leading into the place. As
+Judson closed this, leaving Jack to his fate, he muttered:
+
+"This is the time we don't need to bother about his getting out. He'll
+stay there till to-morrow, anyhow, and by that time we'll be at sea."
+
+"What time will that auto be at the corner?" asked Donald.
+
+"It should be there in a few minutes. We must get ready right away,"
+replied his father. "Come on, we've no time to lose."
+
+In the meantime Billy and Ned waited on the corner. As the minutes flew
+by they began to get worried.
+
+"Jack is certainly taking his time," said Ned.
+
+"Perhaps he is scouting about," suggested Billy.
+
+"Perhaps he has fallen into a trap," exclaimed Ned. "I've a good mind to
+go for the police."
+
+"Well, we'll wait a little longer," said Billy.
+
+Almost an hour passed and there was no sign of Jack.
+
+"I won't wait any longer," declared Ned, when suddenly three figures
+emerged from the house. Their hats were pulled over their eyes and they
+glanced about suspiciously.
+
+"It's the two Judsons and Jarrow," exclaimed Billy.
+
+As he spoke a big touring car came down the street and stopped at the
+mouth of the alley-way. The three persons who had just emerged from the
+tenement house began to hasten to it, but Billy intercepted them.
+
+"What have you done with Jack?" he demanded.
+
+"Yes, where is he?" cried Ned.
+
+"Out of our way," said Jarrow, giving Billy a shove.
+
+"We don't know any Jack," growled Judson.
+
+Before the boys could stop them they had reached the car and sprung in.
+
+"Drive off at full speed," Judson ordered the chauffeur, and, leaving
+the boys standing rooted to the spot, the car dashed off with a roar.
+Borne back to them they could hear the mocking laughter of its
+occupants.
+
+"Those rascals have played some trick on Jack and they've got away
+scot-free," groaned Billy.
+
+"We must hunt for him at once," exclaimed Ned.
+
+The two boys set out for the tenement. It was pitch dark in the hallway.
+Ned struck a match.
+
+"Jack! Jack! where are you?" he called softly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+THE SEARCH FOR JACK.
+
+
+The two boys, with their hearts heavy as lead, ascended the stairs
+calling for Jack. On the second floor, as they reached it, a door was
+suddenly flung open.
+
+"Be jabers, stop that racket. Can't yez be lettin' a dacent family slape
+in pace?"
+
+Another door flew open and a black, woolly head was poked out.
+
+"What fo' you alls come makin' such a cumsturbance at dis yar hour ob de
+night?"
+
+"We're looking for a boy who we think has been trapped in this building.
+Have you seen anything of him?" asked Ned.
+
+"Sure and I haven't. This is a dacent house and dacent folks. Go along
+wid yer now and let us slape."
+
+"By gollys we don't kidsnap no boys," came from the negro.
+
+Another door was opened and the Italian who had caught Jack in the hall
+came out.
+
+"Whatsa da mat'?" he asked.
+
+"We're looking for a boy, our chum. He came into this house two hours
+ago. We're afraid he----" burst out Billy desperately.
+
+"I see-a da boy in deesa hall," said the Italian. "I teenka heem sneaka
+teef. I catcha heem but two men and a boy in data rooma dere dey taka
+heem. Dey say dat he robba heem and they getta even."
+
+"Did they take him into the room?" burst out Ned.
+
+The Italian nodded.
+
+"Yes, dey takea heem in. I geeva heem to them," said the man
+indifferently.
+
+"Great heavens, they invented that story about his robbing them," cried
+Billy. "They've made him a prisoner. We must get him out. Jack! Jack!"
+
+No answer came and then Billy, regardless of consequences, flung himself
+against the door of the room the Italian had indicated. By this time
+quite a crowd of tenement dwellers had assembled, attracted by the loud
+voices. At first the door stood firm, but when Ned joined Billy it gave
+way with a bang, precipitating them into the room.
+
+But now a new voice was added to the uproar. Hans Pumpernickel, a sour
+old German who owned the tenements and lived there to save rent in a
+better quarter, put in an appearance.
+
+"Vos is los?" he demanded, "ach himmel, de door vos busted py der
+outside. Who did dis?"
+
+"We did," said Billy boldly. "My chum was decoyed into this house by
+some bad characters. This was the room they occupied. But he isn't
+here."
+
+"Ach du liebe! Vos iss idt I care aboupt your droubles? I haf mein own."
+
+"We'll find Jack if we go through this house from cellar to attic,"
+declared Ned.
+
+"I dond pelief dot boy vos harmed by der men dot hadt idt dis room,"
+declared the crabbed old man. "Dey vos very respectable. Now you pay me
+for dot door undt den go aboudt your pusiness."
+
+"If you interfere with us we'll call in the police," said Billy.
+
+"Yes, if you want to keep out of trouble, you'll help us," said Ned
+boldly.
+
+"Is dot so? Undt who iss you?"
+
+"I'm the son of Senator Rivers of Nebraska."
+
+The landlord's jaw dropped. He grew more respectful.
+
+"Vell, vot am I to do?" he asked.
+
+"Don't interfere with us. We'll pay for this door. Hullo, what's that on
+the floor?" exclaimed Billy. "Why, it's Jack's knife. But where is he?"
+
+"Den dose nice mens, Mr. Jenkins undt Mister Thompson are kidsnabbers,"
+exclaimed the landlord.
+
+"Are those the names they gave?" asked Billy.
+
+"Ches. Dey pay idt me a month in advance. Dey vost nice gentlemen."
+
+"Yes, very nice," exclaimed Billy bitterly. "However, knowing those
+names may give a clew later on."
+
+They searched for several hours but found no further trace of Jack. At
+last, tired out and sick at heart, they returned home. Billy accepted
+Ned's invitation to stay at the latter's house that night and to lay the
+matter before the Senator in the morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Half stunned, Jack lay still for some time on the moldy straw and the
+old newspapers in the coal bin in the cellar. But at length he mustered
+his strength and rose, rather giddily, to his feet.
+
+"Well, this is the limit of tough luck," he complained. "If I don't get
+out of here before to-morrow, when that steamer sails, the code will
+have gone for good. If only I'd cut away sooner. Confound that Italian.
+He spoiled it all with his stupidity."
+
+Besides being pitch dark, the place was full of cobwebs. To add to
+Jack's discomfort, a spider occasionally dropped on him. Suddenly
+overhead sounded footsteps and voices.
+
+"Somebody lives up there," he thought. "If I could only attract their
+attention."
+
+He shouted but nobody answered, although he tried it at intervals for
+some hours. At last he gave up and sat down on the pile of straw to
+think. He was very thirsty and his mouth and eyes were full of coal dust
+and dirt. The roof of the cellar was so low, too, that in moving about
+he bumped his head-against the beams.
+
+Suddenly he remembered that he had some matches. To strike a light was
+the work of a moment. Then he located the door. But all his efforts
+failed to make it budge. He struck another light and this time he made a
+discovery.
+
+"Gee whiz, that looks like a trap-door just above me," he decided.
+
+He raised his hands and the cut-out square in the flooring came up with
+ease. Jack scrambled up into a kitchen. In one corner was a ladder, no
+doubt used when the occupants wished to enter the cellar. Through one of
+the windows daylight was streaming, the gray light of early dawn.
+
+"Great Scott! I've been down there all night," ejaculated the boy.
+
+He was considering his next step when a large woman, with stout red
+arms, came into the kitchen. Her husband had to be at work early and she
+was about to prepare his breakfast. She had a florid, disagreeable face.
+
+"What are you after doing here?" she demanded, picking up a heavy
+rolling pin.
+
+"I'm trying to get out of this house. Will you show me the way?"
+
+"Indade and I will not. I'll hand yez over ter the perlice." She raised
+her voice.
+
+"Pat! Pat! come here at onct."
+
+"Phwat's the mather?" came from another room.
+
+"Thare's a thafe forninst the kitchen. Get ther perlice. I'll hold
+him--he's only a gossoon."
+
+"Are you crazy?" demanded Jack. "I was locked in that cellar by some
+rascals and got out through your trap-door."
+
+"Tell that to the marines," sneered the woman, as she made a grab for
+him.
+
+Jack wrenched himself away and dodged a blow from the rolling-pin. The
+window was open and it was a short drop to the yard. He darted for the
+window and made the jump.
+
+"Pat! Pat!" yelled the woman.
+
+Jack leaped over a fence at the back of the yard and found himself in an
+alley. He ran for his life. Behind him came cries of pursuit but they
+soon died away. He ran for several blocks, however, and then came to a
+standstill.
+
+"I guess Ned and Billy went home," he mused. "I'd better hunt up Ned. If
+his father is a Senator he may be able to use some influence to catch
+these rascals before they get away for good. I wonder what time that
+ship sails? By the way, I don't know her name."
+
+At the hotel, to which he went first, he slipped up to his room without
+attracting much attention and washed off the dirt of the cellar. Then he
+inquired for Billy and learned that Raynor had telephoned the night
+before that he was going to stop at Senator Rivers' house and for Jack
+to come straight over there, if he came in. Jack procured a copy of a
+commercial newspaper which he knew listed sailings of ships from all
+important ports. He turned to the Baltimore section. Half way down the
+column he found this entry:
+
+"Italian-American Line. S.S. _Southern Star_,--Balto., for Naples,
+Italy. Sails--A.M. (hour indefinite). Mixed cargo. Ten passengers."
+
+"Hurrah! That's the ship, all right," thought Jack, "there's a chance
+yet that we can stop them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+THE WIRELESS MAKES GOOD.
+
+
+He lost no time in hastening to Senator Rivers' house. Just as he turned
+into the gate Billy and Ned emerged. They had spent a sleepless night
+and were on their way to Police Headquarters to report Jack's absence.
+As they saw their missing comrade, they set up a glad shout.
+
+"Gracious, where have you been?" demanded Billy.
+
+"We were on our way to the police about you," put in Ned.
+
+"Do you know anything about the Judsons and Jarrow?" asked Jack eagerly.
+
+"Why, yes, they came out of the house some time after you went in. We
+chased them but they jumped into a high-powered car and escaped."
+
+"I know; they've gone to Baltimore."
+
+"How in the world do you know that?" asked Billy wonderingly.
+
+"I'll tell you it all in a few minutes. Ned, is your father up yet?"
+
+"Gracious, no. But if it's important I can tell him to hurry up."
+
+"I wish you would; there's a chance that we can get back the naval code
+if you do."
+
+"I'll tell him that, and he'll be dressed and down in record time,"
+cried Ned, running off.
+
+Jack waited to tell his adventures till they were all at breakfast. Then
+Billy and Ned had to tell their stories.
+
+"Well, you boys certainly have your share of adventures," remarked the
+Senator, "but the most important thing now is to secure the apprehension
+of those rascals without delay. We had better call up the steamship
+company at Baltimore and find out if anyone called Jenkins or Thompson,
+I think those are the aliases they gave at the tenement house, are among
+the passengers."
+
+This was done at once, but to the intense chagrin of all concerned, the
+telephone company had seized that early hour of the day to repair some
+wires which had been knocked down in a thunderstorm near Baltimore the
+night before. It was impossible to communicate with that city till some
+hours later.
+
+"We might telegraph," suggested Jack.
+
+"Yes, I'll call a messenger at once. But I doubt even then that we'll be
+in time," said the Senator.
+
+The telegram was sent, but before a reply came they were able to use the
+telephone.
+
+"Hullo, is this the Italian-American steamship Company?--all right--are
+three passengers, two men and a boy, booked on the _Southern Star_ as
+Jenkins and Thompson,--they are,--good, this is Senator Rivers talking,
+from Washington,--those men are criminals,--they have robbed the
+government of valuable documents--summon the police and have them
+arrested and held--I'll take full responsibility--WHAT!--The _Southern
+Star_ sailed two hours ago!"
+
+The senator dropped the receiver from his hand in his disappointment.
+
+"Too late! The code is lost to the United States for good, and those
+rascals have escaped!"
+
+But Jack suddenly sprang forward. His cheeks were aflame with
+excitement.
+
+"Senator," he cried. "There is still a chance."
+
+"I fail to see it," said Mr. Rivers.
+
+"Get the line on the wire again, sir, and find out if the _Southern
+Star_ has a wireless."
+
+"But what--Jove, boy! I see your plan now."
+
+Eagerly the Senator snatched up the receiver again. Before long
+connection was again established.
+
+"The _Southern Star_ has a wireless," he exclaimed. "Her call is S. X.
+A., and now for your plan, my boy."
+
+"Show me to your wireless room, will you, Ned?" said Jack, subduing the
+excitement in his voice with a struggle.
+
+"Oh, Jack, I see what you're going to do now," cried Ned. "Come on. We
+don't want to lose a minute."
+
+The boys dashed up the stairs three at a time. The Senator followed at a
+more discreet pace. They entered the wireless room with a bang and a
+shout.
+
+Jack fairly flung himself at the key and began pounding out the
+_Southern Star's_ call. In reality it was only ten minutes, but to those
+in that room it seemed hours before he got a reply. When he did, he
+summoned the captain through the operator.
+
+"Have I got authority to use your name, Senator?" asked the boy while he
+waited for the announcement that the captain was in the wireless room.
+
+"You have authority to use the name of the most powerful institution in
+the world, my boy, the United States Government," said the Senator
+solemnly. Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he hurriedly
+left the room. Downstairs he once more applied himself to the telephone,
+but this time he talked to the Secretary of the Navy.
+
+Fifteen minutes after Jack had spoken to the Captain of the _Southern
+Star_ that craft was anchored in the Chesapeake River waiting the
+arrival of a gunboat hastily detailed by government wireless to proceed
+at once up that river and take three prisoners off the _Southern Star_.
+This latter order was the result of Senator Rivers' call to the Navy
+Department.
+
+Jack's happy task was then to break the good news to Captain Simms,
+which he lost no time in doing, and the captain's deep gratitude, which
+was none the less because he expressed it in few words, may be imagined.
+
+"I declare," he said, "you boys have been my good angels all through.
+You have helped me as if your own interests had been at stake. I don't
+know how to thank you."
+
+The code was yielded up by Judson without a struggle, which procured him
+some leniency later on. But both he and Jarrow met with heavy punishment
+for their misdeeds. Donald was allowed to go free on account of his
+youth and the government's disability to prove that he had actually
+anything to do with the theft of the code. After the news of his arrest
+spread, the long threatened disaster to Judson's company happened and it
+went into bankruptcy. Donald, the pampered and selfish, had to go to
+work for a living. The boys heard that he had gone west. They were
+destined to meet him again, however, as they were Thurman.
+
+One of Jack's proudest possessions is a framed letter from the Secretary
+of the Navy thanking him for his great aid and that of his friends in
+the matter of the Navy Code, but he values the friendship of Captain
+Simms as highly. Not long after the successful tests of the detector,
+there was a joyous gathering on board the old _Venus_, to which queer
+home Uncle Toby had returned. All our friends were there and Jack was
+able to announce a joyous surprise. He had been able to secure, through
+Captain Simms' influence, the command of a fine new sailing ship for
+Captain Dennis. She was a full-rigged bark, plying between New York and
+Mediterranean ports.
+
+Tears stood in the veteran captain's eyes, as he thanked Jack, and Helen
+cried openly.
+
+"Oh, Jack, I--I'd like to hug you!" she exclaimed, whereupon everybody
+laughed, and the emotional strain was over.
+
+After a while, Captain Dennis began to tell of some of his adventures.
+Not only had he gone through many experiences on the sea, but also on
+land, and especially during the great Civil War.
+
+"One time," said Captain Dennis, "while on a foraging expedition, our
+men were surprised, and before I knew what had happened I was a
+prisoner. I was taken to an old building and put in the upper story of
+it.
+
+"Of course, I wanted to escape. So, after a while, I began to try my
+luck with the rope tied around my wrists. To my joy I found that I could
+move them. Half an hour later my wrists were free.
+
+"I peered out of the window. It was a very dark night, and the guard set
+around the building was close and vigilant. I felt that my chances to
+escape were very small.
+
+"Still, I determined to try. After listening many hours, I thought I
+learned the exact position of the sentries. The spaces between them were
+very short, but it would be quite possible, I thought, to pass by them
+noiselessly and without being perceived. I may as well state that the
+watch would have been even more strict had not the Confederates regarded
+the struggle as virtually at an end, and were, therefore, less careful
+as to their prisoners than they would otherwise have been.
+
+"I prepared for escape by tearing up the sheet on the bed, and knotting
+the strips into a rope. I opened the window, threw out this rope, and
+slipped down to the ground. So far I was safe.
+
+"It was dark and foggy, and very difficult to see two feet in advance. I
+soon found that my observations as to the places of the sentries had
+been useless. Still, in the darkness and thickness of the night, I
+thought that the chance of detection was small.
+
+"Creeping quietly and noiselessly along, I could hear the constant
+challenges of the sentries around me. These, excited by the unusual
+darkness of the night, were unusually vigilant.
+
+"I approached until I was within a few yards of the line, and the voices
+of the men as they challenged enabled me to ascertain exactly the
+position of the sentries on the right and left of me. Passing between
+these, I could see neither, although they were but a few paces on either
+hand. Suddenly I fell into a stream running across my path.
+
+"Of course, in the darkness I had not observed it. At the sound of my
+falling there was an instant challenge. Then a shot was fired!"
+
+"Oh! How thrilling!" exclaimed Helen.
+
+Jack and Ned laughed.
+
+"Well," resumed Captain Dennis, "I struggled across the stream, and
+clambered out on the opposite side. As I did so, a number of muskets
+were fired in my direction by soldiers who had rushed up to the point of
+alarm. I felt a sharp, twitching pain in my shoulder, and I knew that I
+had been hit. But fortunately the other shots fired whizzed harmlessly
+by. At top speed I ran forward.
+
+"I was safe from pursuit, for in the darkness it would have been
+absolutely impossible to follow me. So, in a few moments, I ceased
+running. What was the use of taking chances? All was quiet behind me,
+but I could no longer tell in what direction I was advancing.
+
+"So long as I heard the shouts of the sentries, though the sounds seemed
+far off, I continued my way; and then, all guidance being lost, I lay
+down under a hedge and waited for morning."
+
+"Oh, dear!" Helen cried sympathetically, "did you have to sleep in that
+cold, moist night?"
+
+"Quite so," replied Captain Dennis, smiling good-humoredly; "and in the
+morning it was still foggy. After wandering aimlessly about for some
+time I at last succeeded in striking a road. I decided to take a
+westerly course.
+
+"My shoulder was stiff and somewhat swollen. But the bullet had passed
+through its fleshy part, missing the bone; and although it cost much
+pain I was able, by wrapping my arm tightly to my body, to proceed. More
+than once I had to withdraw from the road into the fields or bushes when
+I heard a straggling number of Confederates coming along.
+
+"I came upon a house, and although I was hungry and tired, I was
+cautious. Instead of going to the door I made for the window. But I had
+my trouble for nothing. I looked in and saw a number of Confederate
+soldiers there, and knew that there was no safety for me. To add to my
+dismay, one of the soldiers happened to cast his eyes up as I glanced in
+the room and he at once gave a shout of warning.
+
+"Instantly the others sprang to their feet and started out to pursue me.
+I fled down the road. A few shots were fired, but fortunately I was not
+hit again.
+
+"At last I came to a small village. I wondered why I had not reached my
+camp. But you must remember that I was attached to a small number of men
+only, and that we always were many miles ahead or in the rear of the
+army, as occasion called for.
+
+"The village was deserted, for it was late at night again. I made myself
+comfortable in a sort of stable warehouse, climbing over a number of
+bales of cotton, and laid myself down next to the wall, secure from
+casual observation.
+
+"When I awoke the next morning, I nearly uttered a cry of pain a sudden
+movement had given to my arm. I, however, suppressed it, and it was well
+that I did so, for I suddenly heard voices right near me. Darkies were
+moving bales of cotton but, being well back, I had little fear of being
+discovered.
+
+"The hours passed wearily. I was parched and feverish from pain of my
+wound. Yet I was afraid to move. So I sometimes dozed off into snatches
+of fitful sleep. Perhaps I moaned, or I was accidentally discovered. At
+all events, when I awoke a mammy was bending over me, her voice fully of
+pity. And--well, to make a long story short, I had blundered again, for
+the village was being occupied by the Federals, and the cotton the
+darkies had been taking away was going North. There is no need to add
+that I was well fed and well taken care of."
+
+Captain Dennis paused, and thoughtfully smoked his pipe. His little
+audience sat very quietly, their eager faces and shining eyes plainly
+showing their rapt interest in the modestly told story.
+
+"Well, well," said Captain Dennis, at last breaking the silence, "some
+day you, Jack and you Ned will be able to tell very many far more
+thrilling stories."
+
+"Yes" replied Jack, "but none of them will be about so great a cause."
+
+"You are right, Jack," Captain Dennis said fervently; "it was a good
+cause. But come, you are tired, so let us say 'good night,' my friends."
+
+A half hour later Jack and Ned were fast asleep, dreaming of those
+stirring times when the immortal Abraham Lincoln was President of this
+glorious nation.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next week the _Columbia_ sailed again. As she passed out of New York
+harbor, and past Sandy Hook, the passengers crowded to the rail to look
+at a beautiful sea picture.
+
+The sun was setting, and the radiance turned to gold the white sails of
+a beautiful bark outward bound. As she heeled over on the starboard
+tack, it was evident that she would pass close to the steamer. From the
+wireless room Jack Ready and Billy Raynor watched the pretty sight with
+more interest, perhaps--certainly it was so in Jack's case--than anyone
+else on board.
+
+"It's the _Silver Star_, Jack, Captain Dennis's ship," said Billy.
+
+Jack nodded.
+
+"I know it," he answered. "She sailed this morning. I've been on the
+lookout for her all the way down the bay."
+
+There was silence between the two chums. The _Silver Star_, gliding
+swiftly through the water, came steadily on. As the steamer passed her,
+she was quite close, looking like a beautiful toy from the towering
+decks of the _Columbia_.
+
+"Look!" exclaimed Billy, half in a whisper, as her ensign fluttered down
+in salute and then climbed upward to the peak again. A booming roar from
+the _Columbia's_ siren acknowledged the compliment.
+
+But Jack had no eyes for this. His gaze was fixed on the stern deck of
+the _Silver Star_, where, by her steering-wheel, gripped by two stalwart
+seamen, stood an upright old man, with glasses bent on the _Columbia_. A
+graceful girl was at his side. Jack saw her wave, and was waving
+frantically back, when there came an insistent summons from the wireless
+room.
+
+When he came out on deck again twilight had fallen, but far back on the
+horizon was a tiny blur--the _Silver Star_. As Jack gazed back at her,
+she vanished below the horizon as suddenly as an extinguished spark in a
+piece of tinder.
+
+"Good-night," breathed Jack, and he stood for a long time motionless,
+leaning on the rail.
+
+And here, for the time being, we, too, will say good-by to our young
+friends, to meet them all again in the next volume devoted to their
+doings, which will be called "The Ocean Wireless Boys on the Pacific."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+HURST & COMPANY'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
+
+
+KINDERGARTEN LIMERICKS
+
+By FLORENCE E. SCOTT
+
+_Pictures by Arthur O. Scott with a Foreword by Lucy Wheelock_
+
+_A Volume of Cheerfulness in Rhyme and Picture_
+
+The book contains a rhyme for every letter of the alphabet, each
+illustrated by a full page picture in colors. The verses appeal to the
+child's sense of humor without being foolish or sensational, and will be
+welcomed by kindergartners for teaching rhythm in a most entertaining
+manner.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FRANK ARMSTRONG SERIES
+
+By MATTHEW M. COLTON
+
+
+_Frank Armstrong's Vacation_
+
+How Frank's summer experiences with his boy friends make him into a
+sturdy young athlete through swimming, boating and baseball contests,
+and a tramp through the Everglades, is the subject of this splendid
+story.
+
+_Frank Armstrong at Queens_
+
+We find among the jolly boys at Queen's School, Frank, the
+student-athlete, Jimmy, the baseball enthusiast, and Lewis, the
+unconsciously-funny youth who furnishes comedy for every page that bears
+his name. Fall and winter sports between intensely rival school teams
+are expertly described.
+
+_Frank Armstrong's Second Term_
+
+The gymnasium, the track and the field make the background for the
+stirring events of this volume, in which David, Jimmy, Lewis, the "Wee
+One" and the "Codfish" figure, while Frank "saves the day."
+
+_Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker_
+
+With the same persistent determination that won him success in swimming,
+running and baseball playing, Frank Armstrong acquired the art of
+"drop-kicking," and the Queen's football team profits thereby.
+
+_Frank Armstrong, Captain of the Nine_
+
+Exciting contests, unexpected emergencies, interesting incidents by land
+and water make this story of Frank Armstrong a strong tale of
+school-life, athletic success, and loyal friendships.
+
+_Frank Armstrong at College_
+
+With the development of this series, the boy characters have developed
+until in this, the best story of all, they appear as typical college
+students, giving to each page the life and vigor of the true college
+spirit.
+
+Six of the best books of College Life Stories published. They accurately
+describe athletics from start to finish.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+OAKDALE ACADEMY SERIES
+
+Stories of Modern School Sports
+
+By MORGAN SCOTT.
+
+
+BEN STONE AT OAKDALE.
+
+Under peculiarly trying circumstances Ben Stone wins his way at Oakdale
+Academy, and at the same time enlists our sympathy, interest and
+respect. Through the enmity of Bern Hayden, the loyalty of Roger Eliot
+and the clever work of the "Sleuth," Ben is falsely accused, championed
+and vindicated.
+
+BOYS OF OAKDALE ACADEMY.
+
+"One thing I will claim, and that is that all Grants fight open and
+square and there never was a sneak among them." It was Rodney Grant, of
+Texas, who made the claim to his friend, Ben Stone, and this story
+shows how he proved the truth of this statement in the face of apparent
+evidence to the contrary.
+
+RIVAL PITCHERS OF OAKDALE.
+
+Baseball is the main theme of this interesting narrative, and that means
+not only clear and clever descriptions of thrilling games, but an
+intimate acquaintance with the members of the teams who played them. The
+Oakdale Boys were ambitious and loyal, and some were even disgruntled
+and jealous, but earnest, persistent work won out.
+
+OAKDALE BOYS IN CAMP.
+
+The typical vacation is the one that means much freedom, little
+restriction, and immediate contact with "all outdoors." These conditions
+prevailed in the summer camp of the Oakdale Boys and made it a scene of
+lively interest.
+
+THE GREAT OAKDALE MYSTERY.
+
+The "Sleuth" scents a mystery! He "follows his nose." The plot thickens!
+He makes deductions. There are surprises for the reader--and for the
+"Sleuth," as well.
+
+NEW BOYS AT OAKDALE.
+
+A new element creeps into Oakdale with another year's registration of
+students. The old and the new standards of conduct in and out of school
+meet, battle, and cause sweeping changes in the lives of several of the
+boys.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Log Cabin to White House Series
+
+LIVES OF CELEBRATED AMERICANS
+
+
+FROM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD
+
+(The Life of Benjamin Franklin). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+Benjamin Franklin was known in the scientific world for his inventions
+and discoveries, in the diplomatic world because of his statemanship,
+and everywhere, because of his sound judgment, plain speaking, and
+consistent living.
+
+FROM FARM HOUSE TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of George Washington). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+The story of the hatchet and other familiar incidents of the boyhood and
+young manhood of Washington are included in this book, as well as many
+less well-known accounts of his experiences as surveyor, soldier,
+emissary, leader, and first president of the United States.
+
+FROM LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of James A. Garfield). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+It was a long step from pioneer home in Ohio where James A. Garfield was
+born, to the White House in Washington, and that it was an interesting
+life-journey one cannot doubt who reads Mr. Thayer's account of it.
+
+
+FROM PIONEER HOME TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of Abraham Lincoln). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+No President was ever dearer to the hearts of his people than was
+homely, humorous "Honest Abe."
+
+To read of his mother, his early home, his efforts for an education, and
+his rise to prominence is to understand better his rare nature and
+practical wisdom.
+
+
+FROM RANCH TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of Theodore Roosevelt). By _Edward S. Ellis. A. M._
+
+Every boy and girl is more or less familiar with the experiences of Mr.
+Roosevelt as Colonel and President, but few of them know him as the boy
+and man of family and school circles and private citzenship.
+
+Mr. Ellis describes Theodore Roosevelt as a writer, a hunter, a fighter
+of "graft" at home and of Spaniards in Cuba, and a just and vigorous
+defender of right.
+
+
+FROM TANNERY TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of Ulysses S. Grant). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+Perhaps General Grant is best known to boys and girls as the hero of the
+famous declaration: "I will fight it out on this line if it takes all
+summer."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+REX KINGDON SERIES
+
+By GORDON BRADDOCK
+
+
+_Rex Kingdon of Ridgewood High_
+
+A new boy moves into town. Who is he? What can he do? Will he make one
+of the school teams? Is his friendship worth having? These are the
+queries of the Ridgewood High Students. The story is the answer.
+
+
+_Rex Kingdon in the North Woods_
+
+Rex and some of his Ridgewood friends establish a camp fire in the North
+Woods, and there mystery, jealousy, and rivalry enter to menace their
+safety, fire their interest and finally cement their friendship.
+
+
+_Rex Kingdon at Walcott Hall_
+
+Lively boarding school experiences make this the "best yet" of the Rex
+Kingdon series.
+
+_Rex Kingdon Behind the Bat_
+
+The title tells you what this story is; it is a rattling good story
+about baseball. Boys will like it.
+
+Gordon Braddock knows what Boys want and how to write it. These stories
+make the best reading you can procure.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NEW BOOKS ON THE WAR
+
+GREAT WAR SERIES
+
+By MAJOR SHERMAN CROCKETT
+
+    _Two American Boys with the Allied Armies_
+
+    _Two American Boys in the French War Trenches_
+
+    _Two American Boys with the Dardanelles Battle Fleet_
+
+The disastrous battle raging In Europe between Germany and Austria on
+one side and the Allied countries on the other, has created demand for
+literature on the subject. The American public to a large extent is
+ignorant of the exact locations of the fighting zones with its small
+towns and villages. Major Crockett, who is familiar with the present
+battle-fields, has undertaken to place before the American boy an
+interesting Series of War stories.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BOY SCOUT SERIES
+
+_ENDORSED BY BOY SCOUT ORGANIZATIONS_
+
+By LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON
+
+BOY SCOUTS OF THE EAGLE PATROL
+
+In this story, self-reliance and self-defense through organized
+athletics are emphasized.
+
+BOY SCOUTS ON THE RANGE
+
+Cow-punchers, Indians, the Arizona desert and the Harkness ranch figure
+in this tale of the Boy Scouts.
+
+BOY SCOUTS AND THE ARMY AIRSHIP
+
+The cleverness of one of the Scouts as an amateur inventor and the
+intrigues of his enemies to secure his inventions make a subject of
+breathless interest.
+
+BOY SCOUTS' MOUNTAIN CAMP
+
+Just so often as the reader draws a relieved breath at the escape of the
+Scouts from imminent danger, he loses it again in the instinctive
+impression, which he shares with the boys, of impending peril.
+
+BOY SCOUTS FOR UNCLE SAM
+
+Patriotism is a vital principle in every Boy Scout organization, but few
+there are who have such an opportunity for its practical expression as
+comes to the members of the Eagle Patrol.
+
+BOY SCOUTS AT THE PANAMA CANAL
+
+Most timely is this authentic story of the "great ditch." It is
+illustrated by photographs of the Canal in process of Building.
+
+BOY SCOUTS UNDER FIRE IN MEXICO
+
+Another tale appropriate to the unsettled conditions of the present is
+this account of recent conflict.
+
+BOY SCOUTS ON BELGIAN BATTLEFIELDS
+
+Wonderfully interesting is the story of Belgium as it figures in this
+tale of the Great War.
+
+BOY SCOUTS WITH THE ALLIES IN FRANCE
+
+On the firing line--or very near--we find the Scouts in France.
+
+BOY SCOUTS at THE PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION
+
+If you couldn't attend the Exposition yourself, you can go even now in
+imagination with the Boy Scouts.
+
+BOY SCOUTS UNDER SEALED ORDERS
+
+Here the Boy Scouts have a secret mission to perform for the Government.
+What is the nature of it? Keen boys will find that out by reading the
+book. It's a dandy story.
+
+BOY SCOUTS' CAMPAIGN FOR PREPAREDNESS
+
+Just as the Scouts' motto is "Be Prepared," just for these reasons that
+they prepare for the country's defense. What they do and how they do it
+makes a volume well worth reading.
+
+You do not have to be a Boy Scout to enjoy these fascinating and
+well-written stories. Any boy has the chance. Next to the Manual itself,
+the books give an accurate description of Boy Scout activities, for they
+are educational and instructive.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+MOTOR CYCLE SERIES
+
+By LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON
+
+You do not need to own either a motor-cycle or a bicycle to enjoy the
+thrilling experiences through which the Motor Cycle Chums pass on their
+way to seek adventure and excitement. Brimful of clever episodes.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums Around the World_
+
+Could Jules Verne have dreamed of encircling the globe with a motor
+cycle for emergencies, he would have deemed it an achievement greater
+than any he describes in his account of the amusing travels of Philias
+Fogg. This, however, is the purpose successfully carried out by the
+Motor Cycle Chums, and the tale of their mishaps, hindrances and delays
+is one of intense interest, secret amusement, and incidental information
+to the reader.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums of the Northwest Patrol_
+
+The great Northwest is a section of vast possibilities and in it the
+Motor Cycle Chums meet adventures even more unusual and exciting than
+many of their experiences on their tour around the world. There is not a
+dull page in this lively narrative of clever boys and their attendant,
+"Chinee."
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums in the Gold Fields_
+
+How the Motor Cycle Chums were caught by the lure of the gold and into
+what difficulties and novel experiences they were led, makes a tale of
+thrilling interest.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums' Whirlwind Tour_
+
+To right a wrong is the mission that leads the Riding Rovers over the
+border into Mexico and gives the impulse to this story of amusing
+adventures and exciting episodes.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums South of the Equator_
+
+New customs, strange peoples and unfamiliar surroundings add fresh zest
+to the interest of the Motor Cycle Chums in travel, and the tour
+described in this volume is full of the tropical atmosphere.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums through Historic America_
+
+The Motor Cycle Chums explore the paths where American history was made,
+where interest centers to-day as never before.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ocean Wireless Boys And The
+Naval Code, by John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 26778-8.txt or 26778-8.zip *****
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ocean Wireless Boys And The Naval
+Code, by John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+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 www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Ocean Wireless Boys And The Naval Code
+
+Author: John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+Illustrator: Christopher L. Wren
+
+Release Date: October 5, 2008 [EBook #26778]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figleft">
+<img src="images/spine.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figright">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+
+
+<h1>THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS AND THE NAVAL CODE</h1>
+
+<h2>BY CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON</h2>
+
+<h3>AUTHOR OF "THE BOY AVIATORS' SERIES," "THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS' SERIES,"
+"THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS AND
+THE LOST LINER," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS OF THE ICE-BERG PATROL," ETC.</h3>
+
+
+<h4><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLES L. WRENN</i></h4>
+
+<h4>NEW YORK<br />
+HURST &amp; COMPANY<br />
+PUBLISHERS</h4>
+
+<h4>Copyright, 1915,<br />
+BY HURST &amp; COMPANY</h4>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="i1" id="i1"></a>
+<img src="images/i1.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3>"Huh, I don't think the idea's worth a cent," sniffed
+Thurman.</h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.  <span class="smcap">Vacation Days</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">"Speedway" vs. "Curlew"</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">Captain Simms, of the "Thespis"</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">On Secret Service</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">Night Signals</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">In the Dark</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">The Naval Code</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">A Monkey Interlude</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">Noddy and the Bear</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">"What Do You Make of It?"</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">A Swim with a Memory</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">A Tale from the Frozen Lands</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">A Night Alarm</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">Jack's Curiosity and Its Results</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">Billy Takes the Trail</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">A "Ghostess" Abroad</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">One Mystery Solved</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">Bill Sniggers Decides</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. <span class="smcap">What a "Hayseed" Did</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. <span class="smcap">The "Curlew" in Trouble</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <span class="smcap">The End of Jack's Holiday</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. <span class="smcap">"The Gem of the Ocean"</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. <span class="smcap">Jack's Big Secret</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV. <span class="smcap">The Navy Department "Sits Up"</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV. <span class="smcap">A Mystery on Board</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI. <span class="smcap">A "Flash" of Distress</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII. <span class="smcap">A Strange Wreck</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII. <span class="smcap">Cast Away with a Python</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX. <span class="smcap">Captured by Radio</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX. <span class="smcap">Thurman Plots</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI. <span class="smcap">The "Suitable Reward"</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII. <span class="smcap">The Plotter's Triumph</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII. <span class="smcap">In the Power of the Enemy</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV. <span class="smcap">The Search for Jack</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV. <span class="smcap">The Wireless Makes Good</span></a><br /><br />
+<a href="#HURST_COMPANYS_BOOKS_FOR_YOUNG_PEOPLE">HURST &amp; COMPANY'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE</a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<p><a href="#i1">"Huh, I don't think the idea's worth a cent," sniffed Thurman.</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#i2">While Billy stood there hesitating, the creature gave another of its alarming growls.</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#i3">The next instant a great lithe, striped body streaked through the air.&mdash;</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#i4">What he saw made him almost lose his grip on the hatchway.</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Naval Code.</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>VACATION DAYS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Up with your helm there, Noddy! Luff her up or you'll have the <i>Curlew</i>
+on the rocks!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, luff!" cried Billy Raynor, adding his voice to Jack
+Ready's command.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I <i>luff</i> to do," grinned the red-headed, former Bowery
+waif, Noddy Nipper, as, with a dexterous motion, he jerked over the
+tiller of the fine, speedy sloop in which the boys were enjoying a sail
+on Alexandria Bay, above the Thousand Islands.</p>
+
+<p>The mainsail and jib shivered, and the <i>Curlew</i> spun round like a top
+just as it seemed inevitable that she must end her career on some jagged
+rocks that had suddenly loomed up ahead.</p>
+
+<p>"Neatly done, Noddy," applauded Jack. "We'll forgive you even that awful
+pun for that skillful bit of boat-handling."</p>
+
+<p>The freckled lad grinned in appreciation of the compliment paid him by
+the Wireless Boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Much obliged," he said. "Of course I haven't got sailing down as fine
+as you yet. How far do you reckon we are from home?"</p>
+
+<p>"From the Pine Island hotel, you mean?" rejoined Billy Raynor. "Oh, not
+more than ten miles."</p>
+
+<p>"Just about that," chimed in Jack. "If this wind holds we'll be home in
+time for supper."</p>
+
+<p>"Supper!" exclaimed Bill; "I could eat an octogenarian doughnut, I'm so
+hungry."</p>
+
+<p>A groan came from Noddy. Although the Bowery lad had polished up on his
+grammar and vocabulary considerably since Jack Ready first encountered
+him as second cook on the seal-poaching schooner <i>Polly Ann</i>, Captain
+"Terror" Carson commanding, still, a word like "Octogenarian" stumped
+him, as the saying is.</p>
+
+<p>"What's an octo-octo&mdash;what-you-may-call-'um doughnut, anyhow?" he
+demanded, for Noddy always liked to acquire a new word, and not
+infrequently astonished his friends by coming out with a "whopper"
+culled out of the dictionary. "Is it a doughnut with legs on it?"</p>
+
+<p>Jack and Billy broke into a roar of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"A doughnut with legs on?" sputtered Billy. "Whatever put that idea into
+your head, Noddy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, don't octo-octo-thing-a-my-jigs have legs?" inquired Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you mean octopuses," cried Jack, with another laugh. "Billy meant
+an eighty-year-old doughnut."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll look it up when we get back," remarked Noddy gravely; "it's a good
+word."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, fellows, we are sure having a fine time out of this holiday,"
+remarked Billy presently, after an interval of silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but just the same I shan't be sorry when Mr. Juke's new liner is
+completed and we can go to sea again," said Jack, "but after our
+experiences up north, among the ice, I think we had a holiday coming to
+us."</p>
+
+<p>"That we did," agreed Noddy. "Some difference between skimming around
+here in a fine yacht and being cast away on that wretched island with
+nothing to eat and not much prospect of getting any."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but if it hadn't been for that experience, and the ancient
+treasure we found, we couldn't have taken such a jolly vacation," argued
+Jack. "It's made Uncle Toby a rich man and put all of us on Easy
+Street."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it was certainly worth all the hardships we went through," agreed
+Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we are in for a long spell of quiet now, though," remarked
+Jack, after a pause, during which each boy thought of their recent
+adventures.</p>
+
+<p>"Not so sure of that," replied Noddy. "You're the sort of fellow,
+judging from what you've told us, who is always tumbling up against
+something exciting."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I feel it in my bones that we are not destined to lead an
+absolutely uneventful time&mdash;&mdash;" began Billy Raynor. "I&mdash;hold hard there,
+Noddy; watch yourself. Here comes another yacht bearing down on us!"</p>
+
+<p>Jack and Billy leaped to their feet, steadying themselves by clutching a
+stay. Billy was right. Another yacht, a good deal larger than their own,
+was heading straight for them.</p>
+
+<p>"Hi! put your helm over! We've got the right of way!" shouted Jack,
+cupping his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out where you're going!" cried Billy.</p>
+
+<p>But whoever was steering the other yacht made no motion to carry out the
+suggestions. Instead, under a press of canvas, she kept directly on her
+course.</p>
+
+<p>"She'll run us down," cried Noddy. "What'll I do, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Throw her over to port lively now," sang out Jack Ready. "Hurry up or
+we'll have a bad smash-up!"</p>
+
+<p>He leaped toward the stern to Noddy's assistance, while Billy Raynor,
+the young engineer, did the same.</p>
+
+<p>In former volumes of this series the previous adventures of the lads
+have been described. In the first book, devoted to their doings and to
+describing the fascinating workings of sea-wireless aboard ocean-going
+craft, which was called "The Ocean Wireless Boys on the Atlantic," we
+learned how Jack became a prime favorite with the irascible Jacob Jukes,
+head of the great Transatlantic and Pacific shipping combine. Jack's
+daring rescue of Millionaire Jukes' little girl resulted in the lad's
+obtaining the position of wireless man on board a fine ship, after he
+had looked for such a job for months in vain. But because Jack would not
+become the well-paid companion of Mr. Jukes' son Tom, a rather sickly
+youth, the millionaire became angry with the young wireless man.
+However, Jack was able, subsequently, to rescue Mr. Jukes from a
+drifting boat after the magnate's yacht had burned in mid-ocean and,
+following that, to reunite the almost frantic millionaire with his
+missing son.</p>
+
+<p>Other exciting incidents were described, and Jack gained rapidly in his
+chosen profession, as did his chum, Billy Raynor, who was third
+assistant engineer of the big vessel. The next volume, which was called
+"The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Lost Liner," told of the loss of the
+splendid ship "Tropic Queen," on a volcanic island after she had become
+disabled and had drifted helplessly for days. By wireless Jack managed
+to secure aid from U. S. vessels, and it came in the nick of time, for
+the island was destroyed by an eruption just after the last of the
+rescued passengers had been taken off. Wireless, too, secured, as
+described in that book, the capture of a criminal much wanted by the
+government.</p>
+
+<p>The third volume related more of Jack's doings and was called "The Ocean
+Wireless Boys of the Ice-berg Patrol." This book told how Jack, while
+serving aboard one of the revenue cutters that send out wireless
+warnings of ice-bergs to transatlantic liners, fell into the hands of a
+band of seal poachers. Things looked black for the lad for a time, but
+he found two good friends among the rough crew in the persons of Noddy
+Nipper and Pompey, an eccentric old colored cook, full of superstitions
+about ghosts. The <i>Polly Ann</i>, as the schooner was called, was wrecked
+and Jack and his two friends cast away on a lonesome spot of land called
+Skull Island. They were rescued from this place by Jack's eccentric,
+wooden-legged Uncle, Captain Toby Ready, who, when at home, lived on a
+stranded wooden schooner where he made patent medicines out of herbs for
+sailors. Captain Toby had got wind of an ancient treasure hidden by a
+forgotten race on an Arctic island. After the strange reunion they all
+sailed north. But an unscrupulous financier (also on a hunt for the
+treasure) found a way to steal their schooner and left them destitute.
+For a time it appeared that they would leave their bones in the bleak
+northland. But the skillful resource and pluck of Jack and Noddy won the
+day. We now find them enjoying a holiday, with Captain Toby as host, at
+a fashionable hotel among the beautiful Thousand Islands. Having made
+this necessary digression, let us again turn our attention to the
+situation which had suddenly confronted the happy three, and which
+appeared to be fraught with imminent danger.</p>
+
+<p>Like their own craft, the other boat carried a single mast and was
+sloop-rigged. But the boat was larger in every respect than the
+<i>Curlew</i>. She carried a great spread of snowy canvas and heeled over
+under its press till the white water raced along her gunwale.</p>
+
+<p>As she drew nearer the boys saw that there were two occupants on board
+her. One was a tall, well-dressed lad in yachting clothes, whose face,
+rather handsome otherwise, was marred by a supercilious sneer, as if he
+considered himself a great deal better than anyone else. The other was a
+somewhat elderly man whose hair appeared to be tinged with gray. His
+features were coarse, but he resembled the lad with him enough to make
+it certain he was his father.</p>
+
+<p>"Sheer off there," roared Jack at the top of his lungs, to the occupants
+of the other boat; "do you want to run us down?"</p>
+
+<p>"Get out of the way then," cried the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sheer off yourselves, whipper-snappers!" came from the man.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got the right of way!" cried Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Go chase yourselves," yelled Noddy, reverting in this moment of
+excitement, as was his habit at such times, to his almost forgotten
+slang.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep her on her course, Donald; never mind those young jack-a-napes,"
+said the man in the other sloop, addressing the boy, who was steering.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, pop," was the reply; "they'll get the worst of the smash if
+they don't clear out."</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, they really mean to run us down," cried Jack, in a voice of
+alarm. "Better sheer off, Noddy, though I hate to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"By jinks, do you see who they are?" cried Bill Raynor, who had been
+studying the pair in the other boat, which was now only a few yards off.
+"It's that millionaire Hiram Judson and his son Donald, the boy you had
+the run in with at the hotel the other day."</p>
+
+<p>But Jack made no reply. The two boats were now almost bowsprit to
+bowsprit. As for Noddy, the freckles stood out on his pale, frightened
+face like spots on the sun.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>"SPEEDAWAY" VS. "CURLEW."</h3>
+
+
+<p>But at the critical moment the lad at the helm of the other craft, which
+bore the name <i>Speedaway</i>, appeared to lose his nerve. He sheered off
+and merely grazed the <i>Curlew's</i> side, scraping off a lot of paint.</p>
+
+<p>"Hi, there! What do you mean by doing such a thing?" demanded Jack,
+directly the danger of a head-on collision was seen to have been
+averted.</p>
+
+<p>The other lad broke into a laugh. It was echoed by the man with him,
+whom he had addressed as "pop."</p>
+
+<p>"Just thought I'd see how much you fellows knew about handling a boat,"
+he sneered. "It's just as I thought, you're a bunch of scare-cats. You
+needn't have been afraid that I couldn't keep the <i>Speedaway</i> out of
+danger."</p>
+
+<p>"You risked the lives of us all by running so close," cried Billy
+indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Never attempt such a thing again," said Jack angrily, "or&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Or what, my nervous young friend?" taunted the elderly man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the lad, with an unpleasant grin, "what will you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall feel sorely tempted to come on board your boat and give you the
+same sort of a thrashing I gave you the other day when I found you
+tormenting that poor dog," said Jack, referring to the incident Billy
+Raynor had already hinted at when he first recognized the occupants of
+the <i>Speedaway</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll never set foot on my boat," cried Donald Judson, with what he
+meant to be dangerous emphasis; but his face had suddenly become very
+pale. "You think you got the best of me the other day, but I'll fix you
+yet."</p>
+
+<p>The two craft were out of earshot almost by this time, and none of the
+three lads on the <i>Curlew</i> thought it worth while to answer Donald
+Judson. The millionaire and his son occupied an island not far from the
+Pine Island Hotel. A few days before the incident we have just recorded,
+Jack, who hated cruelty in any form, had found Donald Judson, who often
+visited the hotel to display his extensive assortment of clothes,
+amusing himself by torturing a dog. When Jack told him to stop it the
+millionaire's son started to fight, and Jack, finding a quarrel forced
+upon him, ended it in the quickest way&mdash;by knocking the boy flat.</p>
+
+<p>Donald slunk off, swearing to be revenged. But Jack had only laughed at
+him and advised him to forget the incident except as a lesson in
+kindness to animals. It appeared, however, that, far from forgetting his
+humiliation, Donald Judson was determined to avenge it even at the risk
+of placing his own life in danger.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if he followed us up to-day on purpose to try to ram us or
+force us on a sandbar?" mused Noddy, as they sailed on.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks like it," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe he is actually sore enough to sink our boat if he could, even
+if he damaged his own in doing it," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"To my mind his father is as bad he is," said Noddy; "he made no attempt
+to stop him. If I&mdash;&mdash;Look, they've put their boat about and are
+following us."</p>
+
+<p>"There's no doubt that they are," said Jack, after a moment's scrutiny
+of the latest maneuver of the <i>Speedaway</i>. The Judsons' boat, which was
+larger, and carried more sail and was consequently faster than the
+<i>Curlew</i>, gained rapidly on the boys. Soon she was within hailing
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you following us for? Want to have another collision?" cried
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you own the water hereabouts?" asked Donald. "I didn't know I was
+following you."</p>
+
+<p>"We've a right to sail where we please," shouted Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if you don't imperil other folks' boats," agreed Jack. "If you've
+got any scheme in mind to injure us I'd advise you to forget it," he
+added.</p>
+
+<p>"Huh! What scheme would I have in mind? Think I'd bother with
+insignificant chaps like you and your little toy boat?"</p>
+
+<p>"You keep out of our way," added the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, just do that little thing if you know what's healthy for you,"
+chimed in Donald Judson.</p>
+
+<p>His insulting tone aroused Jack's ire.</p>
+
+<p>"It'll be the worse for you if you try any of your tricks," he roared.</p>
+
+<p>"What tricks would I have, Ready?" demanded the other.</p>
+
+<p>"Some trick that may turn out badly for you!"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I don't need you to tell me what I will or what I won't do."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, only keep clear of us. That's fair warning. You'll get the
+worst of it if you don't."</p>
+
+<p>"So, young man, you are going to play the part of bully, are you?"
+shouted Donald's father. "That fits in with what I've heard of you from
+him. You've been prying around our boat for several days. I don't like
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, keep away from us," cried Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, your room's a lot better than your company," sputtered Noddy. "We
+don't care if you never come back."</p>
+
+<p>"Really, what nice language," sneered Donald. "I congratulate you on
+your gentlemanly friend, Ready. He&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Look out there," warned Jack, for Noddy, in his indignation, had sprung
+to his feet, entirely forgetting the tiller. The <i>Curlew</i> broached to
+and heeled over, losing "way." The <i>Speedaway</i> came swiftly on. In an
+instant there was a ripping, tearing sound and a concerted shout of
+dismay from the boys as the sharp bow of Judson's larger, heavier craft
+cut deep into the <i>Curlew's</i> quarter.</p>
+
+<p>"Now you've done it!" cried Billy Raynor.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;er&mdash;it was an accident," cried Donald, as the two boats swung apart,
+and there was some justification for this plea, as the <i>Speedaway</i> was
+also damaged, though not badly.</p>
+
+<p>"It was no accident," cried Jack, but he said no more just then. He was
+too busy examining the rent in the <i>Curlew's</i> side.</p>
+
+<p>Still shivering, like a wounded creature, from the shock of the impact,
+the <i>Curlew</i>, with the water pouring into the jagged rip in her side,
+began slowly to sink!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>CAPTAIN SIMMS OF THE "THESPIS."</h3>
+
+
+<p>Silence, except for the inrush of water into the damaged side of the
+<i>Curlew</i>, followed the collision. The three lads on the sinking craft
+gazed helplessly at each other for a few seconds.</p>
+
+<p>"Get away as quick as you can," whispered Donald's father to the boy who
+had wrought the damage, and now looked rather scared. The <i>Speedaway</i>
+swung out and her big mainsail began to fill.</p>
+
+<p>"We are going to the bottom," choked out Billy, the first of the party
+to recover the use of his vocal organs.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid there's no doubt of that," said Jack. "Donald Judson," he
+shouted, raising his voice and throwing it across the appreciable
+distance that now separated the two craft, "you'll pay for this."</p>
+
+<p>"It was an accident, I tell you," yelled back the other lad, but in a
+rather shaky voice.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll do no good by abusing us," chimed in his father.</p>
+
+<p>"What'll we do, Jack?" demanded Noddy, tugging at Jack's sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>"Steer for the shore. There's just a chance we can make it, or at least
+shallow water," was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Doesn't look much as if we could make it," said Billy dubiously,
+shaking his head and regarding the big leak ruefully, "but I suppose we
+can try."</p>
+
+<p>The wounded <i>Curlew</i> began to struggle along with a motion very unlike
+her usual swift, smooth glide. She staggered and reeled heavily.</p>
+
+<p>"Put her on the other tack," said Jack. Noddy followed his orders with
+the result that the <i>Curlew</i> heeled over on the side opposite to that
+which had been injured, and thus raised her wound above the water line.
+Billy began bailing, frantically, with a bucket, at the water that had
+already come in.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we help you?" cried Donald.</p>
+
+<p>"No, we don't want your help," answered Jack shortly. "We'll thresh all
+this out in court later on," he added.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm a witness that it was an accident," shouted the elder Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have a swell time proving I ran you down on purpose," added his
+son.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that it was useless to prolong such a fruitless argument at long
+distance, Jack refrained from making a reply. Besides, the <i>Curlew</i>
+required his entire attention now. He took the tiller himself and kept
+the injured craft inclined at such an angle that but little water
+entered the hole the <i>Speedaway's</i> sharp bow had punched in her.</p>
+
+<p>The shore, on which were a few small houses and a wharf hidden among
+trees and rocks, appeared to be a long distance off. But the <i>Curlew</i>
+staggered gamely onward with Jack anticipating every puff of wind
+skillfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe that we'll make it, after all," said Billy hopefully, as the
+water-logged craft was urged forward.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish that Donald, with his sissy-boy clothes, was ashore when we
+land," grumbled Noddy. "I'd give him what-for. I have not forgotten how
+to handle my dukes, and as for his old octo-octo&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Octogenarian," chuckled Raynor.</p>
+
+<p>"Octogenarian of a father,&mdash;I knew I'd get a chance to use that
+word&mdash;&mdash;" said Noddy triumphantly; "he's worse than his son. They're a
+fine pair,&mdash;I don't think."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, abusing them will do no good," said Jack. "We'll have to see what
+other steps can be taken. I'm afraid, though, that they were right;
+we'll have a hard time proving that it was not an accident, especially
+as Noddy had dropped our tiller."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I just couldn't&mdash;&mdash;" began Noddy, rather shamefacedly, when there
+came a mighty bump and the <i>Curlew</i> came to a standstill.</p>
+
+<p>"Now what?" cried Raynor.</p>
+
+<p>"We've run on a shoal, fellows," declared Jack. "This cruise is over for
+a time."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, anyhow, we can't sink now," said Noddy philosophically, "but
+although the <i>Curlew's</i> stuck on the shoal I'm not stuck on the
+situation."</p>
+
+<p>"Better quit that stuff," ordered Jack, "and help Billy lower the
+mainsail and jib. They are no good to us now. In fact a puff of wind
+might send us bowling over."</p>
+
+<p>His advice was soon carried out and the <i>Curlew</i> lay under a bare pole
+on the muddy shoal. The boys began to express their disgust at their
+predicament. They had no tender, and would have to stay there till help
+came because of their lack of a small boat.</p>
+
+<p>"Better set up some sort of a signal to attract the attention of those
+folks on shore," suggested Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a good idea," agreed Jack, "but hullo! Look yonder, there's a
+motor boat coming out from the shore. Let's hail that."</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, there! Motor boat ahoy!" they all began to yell at the top of
+their lungs.</p>
+
+<p>But they might have saved their voices, for the motor boat swung about
+in a channel that existed among the shoals and began making straight for
+them. Its single occupant waved an encouraging hand as he drew closer.</p>
+
+<p>"In trouble, eh?" he hailed; "well, maybe I can get you off. I saw that
+other boat run you down. It was a rascally bit of business."</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious!" cried Jack suddenly, as the motor boat drew closer and they
+saw its occupant was a bronzed, middle-aged man with a pleasant face;
+"it's Captain Simms of the revenue cutter <i>Thespis</i>! What in the world
+is he doing up here?"</p>
+
+<p>"If it isn't Jack Ready!" came in hearty tones from the other, almost
+simultaneously.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>ON SECRET SERVICE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>There was no question about it. Astonishing as it appeared, the bluff,
+sunburned man in the motor boat which was winding its way toward the
+<i>Curlew</i>, in serpentine fashion, among the tortuous channels, was
+Captain Simms, the commander of the revenue cutter on which Jack Ready
+had served as "ice-patrol" operator. The greetings between his late
+commander and himself were, as might be imagined, cordial, but, owing to
+the circumstances under which they were exchanged, somewhat hurried.</p>
+
+<p>"So you've been in a smash-up," cried the captain, as he reduced speed
+on nearing the stern of the <i>Curlew</i>, which was still afloat. "Nobody
+hurt, I hope?"</p>
+
+<p>"Except the boat," smiled Jack with grim humor.</p>
+
+<p>"So I see. A nasty hole," was the captain's comment. "Lucky that I
+happen to be camping ashore or you might have stayed out here for some
+time. Rivermen hereabouts aren't over-obliging, unless they see big
+money in it for their services."</p>
+
+<p>"We'd have been content to pay a good salvage to get off here," Jack
+assured him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that other craft certainly sheered off in short order after she
+hit you," was Captain Simms' comment, as he shut off power and came in
+under the <i>Curlew's</i> stern, which projected, as has been said, over
+fairly deep water, only the bow being in the mud.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you can tell who was to blame?" asked Billy eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly can and will, if I am called upon to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Jack. "I mean to make them settle for the damage, even
+if I have to go to court to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right. It was a bad bit of business. She followed you right up.
+I'd be willing to swear to that in any tribunal in the land. I hope you
+bring them to justice. Who were the rascals?"</p>
+
+<p>"A millionaire named Judson, who owns an island near here, and his son,
+who is a fearful snob."</p>
+
+<p>The boys saw a look of surprise flit across the naval officer's face.
+But it was gone in an instant.</p>
+
+<p>"Surely not Hiram Judson?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"The same man," replied Jack. "Why, do you know him, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;er&mdash;that is, I think we had better change the subject," said Captain
+Simms with odd hesitation. Jack saw that there was something behind the
+sea officer's hesitancy, but of course he did not ask any more
+questions.</p>
+
+<p>"I can give you a tow to the shore where there is a man who makes a
+business of repairing boats," volunteered Captain Simms. "But will your
+craft keep afloat that long?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so," said Jack. "We can all sit on one side and so raise the
+leak above water. But can you pull us off?"</p>
+
+<p>"We shall soon see that," was the rejoinder. "It looks as if it would be
+an easy task. Throw me a line and I'll make it fast to my stern bitts."</p>
+
+<p>This was soon done, and then the little launch set to work with might
+and main to tug off the injured yacht.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurray, she's moving!" cried Billy presently.</p>
+
+<p>This was followed by a joyous shout from all the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"She's off!"</p>
+
+<p>They moved down the channel with the boys hanging over one side in order
+to keep the <i>Curlew</i> heeled over at an angle that would assure safety
+from the leak. They landed at a rickety old dock with a big gasoline
+tank perched at one end of it. Attached to it was a crudely painted
+sign:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Charles Hansen, Boats Built and Repaired.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All work Promptly Exicutid."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Hansen himself came toddling down the wharf. He was an old man with a
+rheumatic walk and a stubbly, unshaven chin stained with tobacco juice.
+A goodly sized "chaw" bulged in his withered cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you repair our boat quickly?" asked Jack, pointing to the hole.</p>
+
+<p>Old Hansen shot a jet of tobacco juice in the direction of the injury.</p>
+
+<p>"Bustitupconsiderable," he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" demanded Billy. "Doesn't he talk English?" and he turned
+an inquiring glance at Captain Simms, who laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"That's just his way of talking when he's got a mouthful of what he
+calls 'eatin' tobacco.' He said, 'he is of the opinion that your boat is
+bust up considerable.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we don't need an expert to tell us that," laughed Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Doyouwantmetofixit?" inquired the eccentric old man, still running his
+words together in the same odd way.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied Jack, "can we have her by to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Haveterseehowbadlyshesbusted," muttered the old man.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll have to see how badly she's busted," translated Jack. "Suppose
+you take a look at her," he added to the boatman.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybeagoodidee," agreed old Hansen, and he scrambled down into the
+boat.</p>
+
+<p>"I'llfixherbyto-morrow," he said at last.</p>
+
+<p>The charges, it appeared, would not be more than ten or twelve dollars,
+which the boys thought reasonable.</p>
+
+<p>"Especially as they won't come out of our pockets," commented Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Not if I can help it," promised Jack decisively.</p>
+
+<p>"And now," said Captain Simms, "as I happen to have some business at the
+Pine Island Hotel, I'll run you down there in the <i>Skipjack</i>, as I call
+my boat."</p>
+
+<p>"That's awfully good of you," said Jack gratefully. "I began to think
+that we would have to stay ashore here all night."</p>
+
+<p>Before many minutes had passed they were off, leaving old Hansen, with
+working jaws, examining the hole in the <i>Curlew's</i> side. The <i>Skipjack</i>
+proved speedy and they made the run back to the hotel in good time,
+arriving there before sundown. Captain Toby had met Captain Simms after
+the latter had found the treasure party at the spot where they had
+unearthed the rich trove. But he proved equally reticent as to the
+object of his presence at Alexandria as he had been with the boys. He
+was doing some "special work" for the government, was all that Captain
+Toby could ascertain.</p>
+
+<p>"There's considerable mystery to all this," said Captain Toby to the
+boys after Captain Simms had left them to write some letters which, he
+said, he wished to send ashore by the hotel motor boat that evening.</p>
+
+<p>"It's some sort of secret work for Uncle Sam, I guess," hazarded Jack,
+"but what it is I've no idea. Anyhow it's none of our business."</p>
+
+<p>The boys little guessed, when Jack made that remark, how very much their
+business Captain Simms' secret mission was to become in the near future.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>NIGHT SIGNALS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>After supper Captain Simms suddenly announced that he wished to make a
+trip to the mainland to the town of Clayton. He wished to send an
+important telegram to Washington, he explained.</p>
+
+<p>"How are you going?" asked Jack. "The hotel boat has stopped running for
+the day."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, but I'll go on the <i>Skipjack</i>. You lads want to come?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do we? I should say we do."</p>
+
+<p>"You lads must be full of springs from the way you're always jumping
+about," remarked Uncle Toby, with a smile, "but I suppose it's boy
+nature."</p>
+
+<p>The run to the shore was made quickly. It seemed almost no time at all
+before they made out the string of lights that marked the pier and the
+radiance of the brilliantly lit hotel behind them. But as they were
+landing an unforeseen accident occurred. Mistaking his distance in the
+darkness, the captain neglected to shut off power soon enough, and the
+nose of the <i>Skipjack</i> bumped into the pier with great force. At the
+same time a splintering of wood was heard.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, another wreck," exclaimed Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Wow! What a bump!" cried Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it a bad smash?" asked Billy anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>The captain was bending over the broken prow of the boat examining it by
+the white lantern.</p>
+
+<p>"Bad enough to keep us here all night, I'm afraid," he said. "Do you
+boys mind? It looks to me as if it could soon be repaired in the
+morning, and the boat will be safe here to-night at any rate."</p>
+
+<p>"It's too bad," exclaimed Jack. "We seem to be regular hoodoos on a
+boat."</p>
+
+<p>"It was my own fault," said the captain, "but the lights on the pier
+dazzled me so that I miscalculated my distance."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's a good thing no other harm was done," was Billy's comment.</p>
+
+<p>The boat was tied up and the watchman on the dock given some money to
+keep an eye on it. They engaged rooms at the hotel, and while Captain
+Simms composed his telegram, the boys took a stroll about the grounds of
+the hostelry, which sloped down to the bay. They had about passed beyond
+the radiance of the lights of the hotel when Jack suddenly drew his
+companions' attention to a figure that was stealing through the darkness
+hugging a grove of trees. There was something indescribably furtive in
+the way the man crept along, half crouched and glanced behind him from
+time to time.</p>
+
+<p>"A burglar?" questioned Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Some sort of crook I'll bet," exclaimed Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"He's up to some mischief or I'm much mistaken," said Jack, as he drew
+his companions back further into a patch of black shadow cast by some
+ornamental shrubs.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's trail him and see what he's up to," said Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, you're a regular Sherlock Holmes at the drop of the hat,"
+laughed Billy. "What do you think, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. He's going toward the wharf and I don't see just what he
+could steal there."</p>
+
+<p>"Look at him stop and glance all around him as if he was afraid of being
+followed," whispered Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"That doesn't look like an honest man's action, certainly," agreed Jack.
+"Come on, boys; we'll see what's in the wind. Do you know, somehow I've
+got an idea that we've seen that fellow somewhere before."</p>
+
+<p>"What gives you that impression?" asked Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't say&mdash;it's just a feeling I've got. An instinct I guess you
+might call it."</p>
+
+<p>The three boys moved forward as stealthily as did the man whose actions
+had aroused their suspicions. Presently they saw him cut across a small
+patch of lawn and strike into a narrow path which led among some trees.</p>
+
+<p>With every care to avoid making any noise, the three boys followed. The
+path led to the edge of a cliff, down the face of which a flight of
+stone steps ran down to the water's edge. The man descended these.</p>
+
+<p>"What can he be? A smuggler," suggested Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see any boat down there, if he is," rejoined Jack in low tones.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a sharp, low exclamation came from Noddy, who had been looking
+out over the lake.</p>
+
+<p>He caught Jack's arm and pointed.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, boys, a yacht!" he breathed.</p>
+
+<p>"Heading in this way, too," rejoined Jack. "It looks like&mdash;but no, it
+cannot be."</p>
+
+<p>"Cannot be what?" asked Billy, caught by something in his companion's
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Cannot be the <i>Speedaway</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Judson's craft, the one that ran us down? Nonsense, you've got Judson
+on the brain, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>"Have I? Well, it's an odd coincidence, then, that the yacht yonder has
+a tear in her foresail exactly where our bowsprit tore the <i>Speedaway's</i>
+jib this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"By hookey, you're right, Jack!" cried Noddy. "There may be more to this
+than we think."</p>
+
+<p>Billy was peering from behind a bush over the edge of the cliff, which
+was not very high.</p>
+
+<p>He could see below, the dark figure of a man making a black patch in the
+gloom upon the white beach. He was moving about and pacing nervously to
+and fro on the shingle as if awaiting something or somebody.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he made a swift move.</p>
+
+<p>"He's waving his handkerchief," whispered Billy to the others, as he saw
+the man make a signal with a square of white linen.</p>
+
+<p>"To that yacht, I'll bet a cookie," exclaimed Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>As if in answer to his words there suddenly showed, on the yacht, a red
+lantern, as if a scarlet eye had suddenly opened across the dark water.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>IN THE DARK.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Something's in the wind sure enough," said Jack. "Hark, there's the
+plash of oars. They must be going to land here."</p>
+
+<p>From below there came a man's voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Right here, Judson; here's the landing place. Are you alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, my son is with me," came the reply, "but for heaven's sake, man,
+not so loud."</p>
+
+<p>"There's no one within half a mile of this place. I came down through
+the grounds and they were deserted."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph, but still it's as well to be careful. One never knows what spies
+are about," came the reply.</p>
+
+<p>The boys, nudging each other with excitement, heard the bow of the boat
+scrape on the shingly beach and then came the crunch of footsteps.</p>
+
+<p>"They are coming up the steps," whispered Jack in low, excited tones.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, so they are," breathed Billy cautiously. "Let's get
+behind the trees and learn what is going on."</p>
+
+<p>"It's something crooked, that's sure," whispered Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"I begin to think so myself," agreed Jack, "but that man's voice, as
+well as his figure, seemed familiar to me when he hailed Judson, but I
+can't, for the life of me, think where I heard his voice before."</p>
+
+<p>The three lads lost no time in concealing themselves behind some
+ornamental bushes in the immediate vicinity. They were none too soon,
+for hardly had they done so when the figures of two men and a boy
+appeared at the top of the steps.</p>
+
+<p>"Phew," panted Judson, "I'm not as young as I was. That climb has made
+me feel my age. Let's sit down here."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, that bench yonder will be just the place," agreed the man
+the boys had followed, and who had seemed so oddly familiar to Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The seat they had selected could hardly have been a better one for the
+boys' purpose. It was placed right against the bush behind which they
+were hiding. The voices came to them clearly, although the speakers took
+pains to modify them.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I've been waiting for you," came in the voice of the man the boys
+had instinctively followed.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd have got here sooner, but were delayed by an accident, or rather a
+sort of accident on purpose that occurred this afternoon. I was glad to
+see that you hadn't forgotten our night signal code," said Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"What was the accident?" asked the man, who was a stranger to the boys,
+who were listening intently.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, just three brats who are summering here," scoffed Donald Judson.
+"They appeared to think they owned the bay, and I guess it was up to me
+to show them they didn't. I guess Jack Ready will be on the market for
+another boat before long and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on, hold on," exclaimed the strange man. "What was that name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ready, Jack Ready. He thinks he's a wizard at wireless. Why, do you
+know him, Jarrow?"</p>
+
+<p>Jarrow, at the sound of the name there, brought into Jack's mind the
+recollections of the rascally partner of Terrill &amp; Co., who had financed
+his uncle's treasure hunt and had then tried to steal the hoard from
+him. It was Jack who had overthrown the rascal's schemes and made him
+seek refuge in the west to escape prosecution. Yet he had apparently
+returned and in some way become associated with Judson. Noddy, too, as
+had Bill, had started at the name. Both nudged Jack, who returned the
+gesture to show that he had heard and understood.</p>
+
+<p>"So Ready is here, eh?" growled Jarrow. "Confounded young milksop."</p>
+
+<p>"You appear not to be very fond of him," interjected the elder Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"Fond of him! I should think not! I hate him like poison."</p>
+
+<p>"What did he ever do to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"He&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;he upset an&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;business deal I was in with his
+uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"The one-legged old sea captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's the fellow. He trusted me in everything till Jack Ready came
+nosing in and spoilt his uncle's chance of becoming a rich man through
+his association in business with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I've no use for him either," exclaimed Donald vindictively. "I'll give
+him a good licking when I see him."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well, let's get down to business," said the elder Judson
+decisively. "You have been to Washington, Jarrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and found out something, but not much. The new naval wireless code
+is not yet completed. I found out that by bribing a clerk in the Navy
+Department and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"This business is proving pretty expensive," grumbled Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"We're playing for a big stake," was the reply. "I found out that the
+code has been placed in the hands of a Captain Simms, recently attached
+to the revenue service, for revision. I believe that it is the same
+Captain Simms against whom I have a grudge, for it was on his ship that
+I was insulted by aspersions on my business honesty, and that, also, was
+the work of this Jack Ready."</p>
+
+<p>"Pity he didn't tell them that he was in irons at the time," thought
+Jack to himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is this Captain Simms?" asked Judson, not noticing, or appearing
+not to, his companion's outbreak.</p>
+
+<p>"That's just it," was the rejoinder. "Nobody knows. His whereabouts are
+being kept a profound secret. Since it has become rumored that the Navy
+wireless code was being revised, Washington fairly swarms with secret
+agents of different governments. Simms is either abroad or in some
+mighty safe place."</p>
+
+<p>"Our hands are tied without him," muttered Judson, "and if I don't get
+that code I don't stand a chance of landing that big steel contract with
+the foreign power I have been dealing with."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid not," rejoined Jarrow. "I saw their representative in
+Washington and told him what I had learned. His answer was, 'no code, no
+contract.' I'm afraid you were foolish in using that promise as a means
+to try to land the deal."</p>
+
+<p>"I had my thumb on the man who would have stolen it for me at the time,"
+rejoined Judson, "but he was discharged for some minor dishonesty before
+I had a chance to use him."</p>
+
+<p>"The thing to do is to locate this Captain Simms."</p>
+
+<p>"Evidently, you must do your best. The wind has died down and I guess
+we'll stop at the hotel till to-morrow. Anyhow, it's too long a sail
+back to-night. Come on, Donald; come, Jarrow." The bench creaked as they
+rose and made off, turning their footsteps toward the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Not till they had gone some distance did the boys dare to speak, and
+even then they did not say much for a minute or two. The first
+expression came from Jack. It was a long, drawn-out:</p>
+
+<p>"We-e-l!"</p>
+
+<p>"And so that is the work that Captain Simms has been doing in that
+isolated retreat of his," exclaimed Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"And these crooks have just had the blind luck to tumble over him,"
+exploded Noddy. "Just wait till they take a look at the hotel register."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe by the time they enter their names the page will have turned,"
+suggested Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"No," rejoined Jack, "our names were at the top of the page and there
+would hardly have been enough new arrivals after us at this time of
+night to have filled it since."</p>
+
+<p>"We must find Captain Simms at once and tell what is in the wind,"
+decided the young wireless man a moment later. "I guess the instinct
+that made us follow Jarrow was a right one."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder how the rascal became acquainted with Judson?" pondered Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Mixed up with him in some crooked deal or other before this," said
+Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't wonder," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>They began to walk back to the hotel. They did not enter the lobby by
+the main entrance, for the path they followed had brought them to a side
+door. They were glad of this, for, screened by some palms, they saw,
+bending intently over the register, the forms of the three individuals
+whose conversation they had overheard.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE NAVAL CODE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Now that you boys know the nature of the work I have been engaged on, I
+may as well tell you that confidential reports from Washington have
+warned me to be on my guard," said Captain Simms. "It was in reply to
+one of these that I sent a code dispatch to-night."</p>
+
+<p>It was half an hour later, and they were all seated in the Captain's
+room, having told their story.</p>
+
+<p>"But I should have imagined making up a code was a very simple matter,"
+said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"That is just where you are wrong, my boy," smiled Captain Simms. "A
+commercial code, perhaps, can be jumbled together in any sort of
+fashion, but a practical naval code is a different matter. Besides
+dealing in technicalities it must be absolutely invulnerable to even the
+cleverest reader of puzzles. The new code was necessitated by the fact
+that secret agents discovered that an expert in the employ of a foreign
+power had succeeded in solving a part of our old one. It was only a very
+small part, but in case of trouble with that country it might have meant
+defeat if the enemy knew even a fragment of the wireless code that was
+being flashed through the air."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you nearly completed your work?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Almost," was the reply, "but the fact that these men are here rather
+complicates matters. At Musky Bay, the name of the little settlement
+where I am stopping, they think I am just a city man up for the fishing.
+I do not use my right name there. By an inadvertence, I suppose it was
+habit, I wrote it on the hotel register to-night. That was a sad
+blunder, for it is practically certain that these men will not rest till
+they have found out where I am working."</p>
+
+<p>"At any rate I'm mighty glad we followed that Jarrow," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"And caught enough of their plans to put you on guard," chimed in Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and I am deeply grateful to you boys," was the rejoinder.
+"'Forewarned is forearmed.' If Judson and his crowd attempt any foul
+tactics they will find me ready for them."</p>
+
+<p>"Judson apparently wishes now that he had not been so anxious to secure
+that contract as to promise the naval code as a sort of bonus," said
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't doubt it," answered Captain Simms. "Now that I recall it, I
+heard rumors that Judson, who once had a steel contract with our
+government, is not so sound financially as he seems. I judge he would go
+to great lengths to assure a large contract that would get him out of
+his difficulties."</p>
+
+<p>"I should imagine so," replied Jack. "What was the reason he never did
+any more work for the government?"</p>
+
+<p>"The inferior quality of his product, I heard. There were ugly rumors
+concerning graft at the time. Some of the newspapers even went so far as
+to urge his prosecution."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we are dealing with bad men?" commented Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Unquestionably so. But I think we had better break up this council of
+war and get to bed. I want to get an early start in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>But when morning came, it was found that the repairs to the <i>Skipjack</i>
+would take longer than had been anticipated. While Captain Simms
+remained at the boat yard to superintend the work, the lads returned to
+the hotel and addressed some post cards. This done they sauntered out on
+the porch. Almost the first person they encountered chanced to be
+Jarrow. He started and turned a sickly yellow at the sight of them,
+although he knew, from an inspection of the register the night before,
+that they were there.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;er&mdash;ahem, so it is you once more. Where did you spring from?"</p>
+
+<p>"We came out of that door," murmured Jack, while Noddy snickered. "Where
+did you come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"I might say from the same place," was the rejoinder, with a look of
+malice at Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"We thought you were in the west," said Billy. "Great place, the west.
+They say the climate out there is healthier than the east&mdash;for some
+folks."</p>
+
+<p>"Boy, you are impudent," snarled Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. I was merely making a meteorological remark," smiled Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I get that word," implored Noddy, pulling out a notebook and
+a stub of pencil.</p>
+
+<p>"Splendid grounds they have here for taking strolls at night," Jack
+could not help observing.</p>
+
+<p>From yellow Jarrow's face turned ashen pale. Muttering something about a
+telephone call, he hurried into the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>"Goodness, that shot brought down a bird, with a vengeance," chuckled
+Billy.</p>
+
+<p>Jarrow's head was suddenly thrust out of an open window. He glared at
+the boys balefully. His face was black as a thundercloud.</p>
+
+<p>"You boys have been playing the sneak on me," he cried angrily. "If you
+take my advice, you will not do so in the future."</p>
+
+<p>He withdrew his head as quickly as a turtle draws its headpiece into its
+shell.</p>
+
+<p>"He's a corker," cried Noddy. "I'll bet if he had a chance, he'd like to
+half kill us."</p>
+
+<p>"Shouldn't wonder," laughed Jack, "but he isn't going to get that
+chance. But hullo! What's all this coming up the driveway?"</p>
+
+<p>The others looked in the same direction and beheld a curious spectacle.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A MONKEY INTERLUDE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well, here's something new, and no mistake," cried Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Good, it will help pass our morning," declared Noddy, who was beginning
+to find time hang heavily on his hands now that he had nobody to play
+pranks on, like those he used to torment poor Pompey with.</p>
+
+<p>An Italian was coming up the road toward the hotel. Strapped across his
+shoulders was a small hand-organ. He led a trained bear, and two monkeys
+squatted on the big creature's back. He came to a halt near the grinning
+boys.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurray! This is going to be as good as a circus!" declared Noddy.
+"Start up your performance, professor."</p>
+
+<p>"They're off!" cried Billy.</p>
+
+<p>Summer residents of the hotel, anxious for any diversion out of the
+ordinary, came flocking to the scene as the strains of the barrel organ
+reached their ears, and the bear, in a clumsy fashion, began to dance to
+the music of the ear-piercing instrument.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you going, Noddy?" asked Jack, as the red-headed lad tried to
+get quietly out of the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"I just saw a chance for a little fun," rejoined Noddy innocently.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, be careful," warned Jack. "This is no place for such jokes as you
+used to play on Pompey."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothing like that," Noddy assured him as he hurried off.</p>
+
+<p>"Just the same I'm afraid of Noddy when he starts getting humorous,"
+thought Jack.</p>
+
+<p>He would have been still more afraid if he could have seen Noddy make
+his way to the hotel kitchen and bribe a kitchen maid to get him three
+large sugar cakes. Then he made his way to the dining-room, and boring
+tiny holes in the buns filled each of them with red pepper from the
+casters.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for some fun," he chuckled.</p>
+
+<p>"I just know that boy is up to some mischief by the look on his face,"
+remarked an old lady as he hurried by.</p>
+
+<p>Quite a big crowd was round the Italian when Noddy got back. Almost as
+soon as he arrived the man began passing the hat, and taking advantage
+of this, Noddy proffered his buns to the animals. They accepted them
+greedily.</p>
+
+<p>"Peep! Peep!" chattered the monkeys.</p>
+
+<p>"You mean 'pep,' 'pep'," chuckled Noddy to himself.</p>
+
+<p>Both bear and monkeys tore into their buns as if they were half starved.
+In their hunger they got a few mouthfuls down without appearing to
+notice that anything was wrong. Then suddenly one of the monkeys hurled
+his bun at the bear and the other leaped on the big hairy creature's
+head. Apparently they thought the innocent bear had something to do with
+the trick that had been played on them.</p>
+
+<p>"Da monk! da monk!" howled the Italian, "da monk go a da craz'."</p>
+
+<p>"He says they are mad," exclaimed an old gentleman, and hurried away.</p>
+
+<p>Just as he did so, the bear discovered something was wrong. He set up a
+roar of rage and broke loose from his keeper. The monkeys leaped away
+from the angry beast and sought refuge. One jumped on the head of an
+elderly damsel who was very much excited. The other made a dive for a
+fashionably dressed youth who was none other than Donald Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"Help!" screamed the old maid. "Help! Will no one help me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will, madam," volunteered an old gentleman, coming forward. He seized
+the monkey and tugged at its hind legs, but it only clung the tighter to
+the elderly damsel's hair.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there came a piercing scream.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, her hair's come off!" cried a woman.</p>
+
+<p>"She's been scalped, poor creature!" declared another.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you wretch, how dare you!" shrieked the monkey's victim, rushing at
+the gallant old gentleman. She raised her parasol and brought it down on
+his head with a resounding crack. In the meantime the Italian was
+howling to "Garibaldi," as he called the monkey, to come to him.</p>
+
+<p>But this the monkey had no intention of doing. Clutching the old maid's
+wig in its hands, it leaped away in bounds and joined its brother on the
+person of Donald Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"Ouch, take them off. They'll bite me!" Donald was yelling.</p>
+
+<p>The monkeys tore off his straw hat with its fancy ribbon and tore it to
+bits and flung them in the faces of the crowd. Then, suddenly, they both
+darted swiftly off and climbed a tree, where they sat chattering.</p>
+
+<p>It was at that moment that the confused throng recollected the bear,
+which had not remained in the vicinity but had gone charging off across
+the lawn looking for water to drown the burning sensation within him.
+Now, however, an angry roar reminded them of him. The beast was coming
+back across the lawn, roaring and showing his teeth.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out for the bear!"</p>
+
+<p>"Get a gun, quick."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he'll hug me," this last from the old maid, were some of the cries
+which the crowd sent up.</p>
+
+<p>"He's mad, shoot him!" cried somebody. The Italian set up a howl of
+protest.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, no shoota heem. Mika da gooda da bear. No shoota heem."</p>
+
+<p>"If you don't want him shot, catch him and get out of here. You'll have
+my hotel turned into a sanitarium for nervous wrecks the first thing you
+know," cried the proprietor of the place.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody playa da treeck," protested the Italian. "Mika da nica da
+bear, da gooda da bear."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess he's like an Indian, only good when he's dead," said the hotel
+man. "I'm off to get my gun."</p>
+
+<p>Noddy watched the results of his joke with mixed feelings. He had not
+meant it to go as far as this. He looked about him apprehensively, but
+everybody was too frightened to notice him.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the bear headed straight for Noddy. Perhaps his red head was a
+shining mark or perhaps the creature recollected the prank-playing youth
+as the one who had given him the peppered bun. At any rate he charged
+straight after the lad, who fled for his life.</p>
+
+<p>"Help!" he called as he ran. "Help, help!"</p>
+
+<p>"Noddy's getting a dose of his own medicine," cried Jack to Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"But we don't want to let the bear get him," protested Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not, but he'll beat the bear into the hotel, see if he
+doesn't."</p>
+
+<p>The hotel front door was evidently Noddy's objective point. It appeared
+he would reach it first, but suddenly he tripped on a croquet hoop and
+went sprawling. He was up in a minute, but the bear had gained on him.
+As he rushed up the steps it was only a few inches behind him.</p>
+
+<p>Noddy gave a wild yell and took the steps in three jumps. The next
+second he was at the door and swinging it shut with all his might. But
+just then an astonishing thing happened.</p>
+
+<p>Just as Noddy swung the door shut the bear made a leap. The result
+surprised Noddy as much as Bruin.</p>
+
+<p>The edge of the door caught the big creature's neck and held him as fast
+as if he had been caught in a dead-fall. He was gripped as in a vise
+between the door and the frame. But poor Noddy was in the position of
+the man who caught the wild cat.</p>
+
+<p>He didn't know how to let go!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>NODDY AND THE BEAR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I've got him!" yelled Noddy. "Help me, somebody!"</p>
+
+<p>"Goodness, Noddy's caught the bear," cried Jack, as he and Billy
+streaked across the lawn, followed by the less timid of the guests.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold him tight," shouted some in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him go," bawled others.</p>
+
+<p>Perspiring from his efforts, Noddy braced his feet and kept the door
+tightly closed on the bear's neck. But the creature's struggles made the
+portal groan and creak as if it would be shoved off its hinges.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, I can't hold it much longer. Can't somebody hit him on the
+head with a club?"</p>
+
+<p>The negro bell boys and clerk, together with several of the guests who
+had been in the lobby, began to come back, now that they saw there was
+no immediate chance of the bear rushing in.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah reckon ah knows a way ter fix dat b'ar widout hurting him," cried
+one of the negro boys.</p>
+
+<p>He snatched a fire extinguisher off the wall of the office and squirted
+its contents full in the bear's face. The animal gave one roar of dismay
+and a mighty struggle that burst the door open and threw Noddy off his
+feet. He set up a yell of fright. But he need not have been afraid. The
+ugliness had all gone out of the bear, and besides being half choked he
+was temporarily blinded by the contents of the fire extinguisher.</p>
+
+<p>The Italian came running up, carrying a chain and a muzzle.</p>
+
+<p>"Gooda da boy! Gooda da Mika!" he cried ingratiatingly.</p>
+
+<p>The bear was as mild as a kitten, but nevertheless the muzzle was
+buckled on and the Italian departed in search of his monkeys just as the
+manager appeared with his gun. It had taken him a long time to find, he
+explained, whereat Noddy, who had recovered his spirits, snickered.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to pay the bill and get out of here," whispered Jack in
+Noddy's ear. "You'd better get away as quietly as you can. Several
+people saw you give those buns to the animals. If they find you here,
+they'll mob you."</p>
+
+<p>"Being chased by a bear is quite enough excitement for one day,"
+rejoined Noddy, "but my! It was good fun while it lasted. Did you see
+that old maid's hair, did you see Donald Judson, did you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Get out of here quickly," warned Jack, and this time Noddy took his
+advice without waiting. It was just as well he did, for the elderly
+gentleman, whose shining bald head had been belabored by the old maid's
+parasol, came in, accompanied by the damsel. She had recovered her hair
+when the monkeys were caught and had tendered handsome apologies to the
+would-be gallant.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is that boy who started all this?" demanded the old gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>"It was one of that gang there," cried Donald Judson, who had followed
+them and whose face showed plenty of scratches where the monkeys had
+clambered up to demolish his hat.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a terrible boy he must be," cried the old maid. "He ought to
+go to prison. Where is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ask them, they'll know," cried Donald, pointing to Jack and Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"No, it wasn't either of them. They were back in the crowd," cried the
+old maid; "it was another boy, a red-headed one."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad I told Noddy to get out," whispered Jack to his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, they are whispering to each other. I told you they knew all about
+it," cried Donald, who saw a chance of avenging himself for his
+treatment by the monkeys.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, young man," said the manager, coming up to Jack, "I think your
+friend was responsible for this rumpus."</p>
+
+<p>"What rumpus?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, that trouble with the bear, of course. You boys are at the bottom
+of it all."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, the bear chased my friend harder than anyone else," said Jack,
+with assumed indignation.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we'll pay our bill and leave," struck in Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Think you'd better, eh?" sneered the manager.</p>
+
+<p>"If you want your money you'd better be civil," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but&mdash;your bill is eight dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"Here it is. Now don't bother us any more or I'll report you to the
+proprietor."</p>
+
+<p>"I know, but look here."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't see in that direction."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know if that man has caught his monkeys yet."</p>
+
+<p>"No use of your worrying about that unless you're afraid one of them
+will get your job."</p>
+
+<p>There was a loud laugh at this and in the midst of it the boys passed
+out of the hotel, leaving the clerk very red about the ears.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope that will teach Noddy a lesson," said Jack, as they hurried down
+to the boat yard where Noddy had been instructed to precede them.</p>
+
+<p>"It ought to. Being chased by a bear is no joke."</p>
+
+<p>But when they reached the yard they were just in time to see the man who
+was working on the boat clap his hand to the back of his neck and yell:</p>
+
+<p>"Ouch! A bee stung me."</p>
+
+<p>Not far off, looking perfectly innocent, stood Noddy, but Jack detected
+him in the act of slipping into his pocket a magnifying glass, by which
+he focused the sun's rays on the workman's neck.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>"WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT?"</h3>
+
+
+<p>The <i>Skipjack</i> was all ready for them and no delay was had in making a
+start back to Musky Bay, where, it will be remembered, the boys had left
+their boat to be repaired. A brief stop was made at the Pine Island
+hotel and then the trip was resumed.</p>
+
+<p>"Wonder where Judson and his crowd have gone to?" pondered Jack, as they
+moved rapidly over the water.</p>
+
+<p>"One thing sure, they never started back home in the <i>Speedaway this</i>
+morning," said Billy. "The water is like glass, and there's not a breath
+of wind."</p>
+
+<p>"Look, there's a handsome motor boat off yonder," exclaimed Jack
+presently. He pointed to a low, black craft, some distance behind them
+and closer in to the shore.</p>
+
+<p>"She's making fast time," said Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe she wants to give us a race," suggested Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid we wouldn't stand much chance with her," laughed Captain
+Simms.</p>
+
+<p>They watched the black boat for a time, but she appeared to slacken
+speed as she drew closer, as if those in charge of her had no desire to
+come any nearer to the <i>Skipjack</i> than they were.</p>
+
+<p>"That's odd," remarked Jack. "There is evidently nothing the matter with
+her engine, but for all that they don't seem to want to pass us. That's
+the first fast boat I ever saw act that way."</p>
+
+<p>"It does seem queer," said Captain Simms, and suddenly his brow clouded.</p>
+
+<p>"Could it be possible&mdash;&mdash;" he exclaimed, and stopped short.</p>
+
+<p>Jack looked at him in a questioning way.</p>
+
+<p>"Could what be possible, sir?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, that Judson and the others are on board that black craft?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ginger! That never occurred to me!" cried Jack; "and yet, if they were
+following us to find out where you are located that would be just the
+sort of way in which they would behave."</p>
+
+<p>"So I was thinking," said Captain Simms thoughtfully. "However, we can
+soon find out."</p>
+
+<p>He opened a locker and took out his binoculars. Then he focused them on
+the black craft.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" questioned Jack, as the captain laid them down again.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a man at the wheel, but he isn't the least like your
+descriptions of your men," said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"What does he look like?" questioned Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"He's rather tall and has a full black beard," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Then it's not one of Judson's crowd," said Jack with conviction.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we are all the victims of nerves to-day," smiled the captain.</p>
+
+<p>They swung round a point and threaded the channel that led among the
+shoaly waters of Musky Bay. The point shut out any rearward view of the
+black motor boat and they saw no more of it. Captain Simms invited them
+up to the house he occupied, which was isolated from the half dozen or
+so small habitations that made up the settlement. It was plainly
+furnished and the living room was littered with papers and documents.</p>
+
+<p>"What made you select Musky Bay as a retreat?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"I come from up in this part of the country," rejoined Captain Simms,
+"and I thought this would be a good quiet place to hide myself till my
+work was complete. But it seems," he added, with a smile, "that I may
+have been mistaken."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know," replied Jack. "Those fellows would never think of
+trailing you here. I guess they think you are still in Clayton."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hope so, anyway," said the captain, and here the discussion
+ended.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after they said good-by, promising to run over again before long.
+Their boat was all ready for them. A good job had been done with it.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks as good as new," commented Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"She's a fine boat," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"A regular pippin," agreed Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, young men, your-craft-will-carry-you-through many a blow yet.
+She's as nice a little-ship-as-I-ever-saw."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess he says that of every boat that brings him a job," grinned
+Noddy, as Jack paid the man, and they got ready to get under way. A
+light breeze had risen, and they were soon skimming along, taking great
+care to avoid shoals and sand-banks. By standing up to steer, Jack was
+easily able to trace the deeper water by its darker color and they got
+out of the bay without trouble.</p>
+
+<p>As they glided round the point, which had shrouded the black motor boat
+from their view when they entered the bay, Billy, who was in the bow,
+uttered a sharp cry and pointed. The others looked in the direction he
+indicated, realizing that something unusual was up.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, look at that, will you?" exclaimed Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The black motor-boat was anchored close in to the shore. Her dinghy lay
+on the beach, showing that somebody had just landed. Clambering up the
+steep and rocky sides of the point were three figures. When the boys
+caught sight of them the trio had just gained the summit of the rocky
+escarpment.</p>
+
+<p>They crouched behind rocks, as if fearing that they would be seen, and
+one of them drew from his pocket a pair of field glasses. He gazed
+through these down at the settlement of Musky Bay, which lay below. Then
+he turned to his companions and made some remark and each in turn took
+up the glasses.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you make of it?" asked Billy, turning to Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The wireless boy shook his head dubiously.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you what <i>I</i> make of it," he said. "Just this. Those three
+figures up yonder are Judson, Donald and Jarrow. They trailed us here in
+that motor boat but were too foxy to round the point. When they saw us
+turn into the bay, they knew they could land and sneak over the point
+without being seen. They are spying on the settlement and watching for
+Captain Simms. At any rate, they will see his boat tied up there and
+realize that they have struck a home trail."</p>
+
+<p>"What will we do?" asked Billy, rather helplessly.</p>
+
+<p>"There's only one thing to do," said Jack with decision, "and that is to
+turn back and warn Captain Simms of what is going on."</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Curlew</i> was headed about and a few moments later was in sight of
+Musky Bay again.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A SWIM WITH A MEMORY.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"So they did find me out, after all?" said Captain Simms grimly, after
+he had heard the boys' story. "Well, it will not do them much good. I am
+well armed and the government is at my back. If I get the chance I will
+deal with those rascals with no uncertain hand."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you have them arrested right now?" asked Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"Because it would be premature to do so at the present moment. The
+agents of several nations are keen on getting a copy of the code. If
+these men were arrested, it would reveal, directly, the whereabouts of
+the code and its author."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems too bad such rascals can carry on their intrigues without
+being punished," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>As it was noon by that time, and the appetites of all were sharp set,
+Captain Simms invited the boys to have lunch with him. It was a simple
+meal, consisting mainly of fish; but the boys did ample justice to it,
+and finished up with some pie, which the captain had brought from
+Clayton to replenish his larder.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner the capricious breeze died out entirely. The heat was
+intense, and the water glittered like a sheet of molten glass. The boys
+looked longingly at the bay, however. The idea of a cool swim seemed
+very attractive just then. Captain Simms had left them to their own
+devices while he took a nap.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell you what," said Billy, "let's take a swim, eh, fellows?"</p>
+
+<p>"Suits me down to the ground," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Suits me down to the water," grinned Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>They had bathing trunks on their boat, and, having found what looked
+like a good spot, a little cove with a sandy beach, they disrobed and
+were soon sporting in the water.</p>
+
+<p>"Ouch! It's colder than I thought it was," cried Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll soon warm up," encouraged Jack. "I'll race you out to that
+anchored boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Bully for you," cried Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"You're on," echoed Noddy, not to be outdone. But, as a matter of fact,
+the red-headed lad, who had eaten far more than the others, wasn't
+feeling very well. However, he did not wish to spoil the fun, so he
+didn't say anything.</p>
+
+<p>Jack and Billy struck out with long, strong strokes.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on," cried Jack, looking back at Noddy, who was left behind, and
+who began to feel worse and worse. "What's the trouble&mdash;want a
+tow-rope?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll beat you yet, Jack Ready," cried Noddy, fighting off a feeling of
+nausea.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I went in the water too soon after eating," he thought. "It
+will wear off."</p>
+
+<p>"Help!"</p>
+
+<p>The single, half-choked cry for aid reached the ears of Jack and Billy
+when they were almost at the anchored boat, which was the objective
+point of the race.</p>
+
+<p>"Great C&aelig;sar!" burst from Jack. "What's up now?"</p>
+
+<p>He turned round just in time to see Noddy's arms go up in the air. Then
+the red-headed lad sank out of sight like a stone.</p>
+
+<p>"He can't be fooling, can he?" exclaimed Billy nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"He wouldn't be so silly as to do that," rejoined Jack, who was already
+striking out for the spot where Noddy had vanished. Billy followed him
+closely.</p>
+
+<p>They were still some yards off when Noddy suddenly reappeared. He was
+struggling desperately, and his eyes seemed to be popping out of his
+head. His arms circled wildly, splashing the water helplessly. Then he
+disappeared once more.</p>
+
+<p>"Heavens, he is drowning," choked out Jack. "We must save him, Billy."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course we will, old boy," panted Billy, upon whom the pace was
+beginning to tell.</p>
+
+<p>Jack reached the spot where the disturbed water showed that Noddy had
+gone down for the second time. Just as he gained the place Noddy shot up
+again. He was totally unconscious and sank again almost instantly.</p>
+
+<p>Like a flash Jack was after him, diving down powerfully. He grasped
+Noddy round the chest under the arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Noddy! Noddy!" he exclaimed, as they shot to the surface. But the lad's
+eyes were closed, his face was deadly white, and his matted hair lay
+over his eyes. A terrible thought invaded Jack's mind. What if Noddy
+were dead and had been rescued too late?</p>
+
+<p>"Here, give me one of his arms. We must get him ashore as quickly as we
+can," cried Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right; he's a dead weight. Oh, Billy, I hope that he isn't&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>A moan came from Noddy. Suddenly he opened his eyes and grasped at Jack
+wildly, with five times his normal strength. The movement was so
+unexpected that Jack was dragged under water. But the next moment
+Noddy's drowning grip relaxed and they rose to the surface.</p>
+
+<p>"He's unconscious again," panted Jack. "He'll be all right, now. Take
+hold, Billy, and we'll make for the shore."</p>
+
+<p>It was an exhausting swim, but at last they reached shallow water, and,
+ceasing swimming, carried Noddy to the beach. They anxiously bent over
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"We must get that water out of his lungs," declared Jack, who knew
+something of how to treat the half-drowned.</p>
+
+<p>Luckily, an old barrel had drifted ashore not far off, and over this
+poor Noddy was rolled and pounded and then hoisted up by the ankles till
+most of the water was out of his lungs and he began to take deep,
+gasping breaths.</p>
+
+<p>But it was a long time before he was strong enough to get on his feet,
+and even then his two chums had to support him back to Captain Simms'
+house, where they received a severe lecture for going in the water so
+soon after eating.</p>
+
+<p>"It was an awful sensation," declared Noddy. "It just hit me like an
+electric shock. I couldn't move a limb. Then I don't remember much of
+anything more till I found myself on the beach."</p>
+
+<p>Noddy's deep gratitude to his friends may be imagined, but it was too
+painful a subject to be talked about. It was a long while, however,
+before any of them got over the recollection of Noddy's peril.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A TALE FROM THE FROZEN LANDS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Although Noddy had recovered remarkably quick, thanks to his rugged
+constitution, from the effects of his immersion, Captain Simms ordered
+him on the sick-list and he was, much against his will, sent to bed.</p>
+
+<p>"He'd better stay there all night," said the captain. "We don't want to
+run any risks of pneumonia. I don't suppose your uncle will worry about
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's got over that long ago," laughed Jack; "besides, there's a
+professor stopping at the hotel who is on the lookout for funny plants
+and herbs. That's Uncle Toby's long suit, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"So I have heard," smiled the captain. "Well, you boys may as well make
+yourselves at home."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, we will," said Billy. Whereat there was a general laugh.</p>
+
+<p>There was a phonograph and a good selection of records in the cottage,
+so they managed to while away a pleasant afternoon. Jack cooked supper,
+"just by way of paying for our board," he said. After the meal they sat
+up for a time listening to Captain Simms' tales of seal poachers in the
+Arctic and the trouble they give the patrol assigned to see that they do
+not violate the international boundary, and other laws. Before he had
+taken command of the <i>Thespis</i>, of the Ice-berg Patrol, Captain Simms
+had been detailed to command of the <i>Bear</i> revenue cutter, and had
+chased and captured many a sealer who was plying his trade illicitly.</p>
+
+<p>The boys listened attentively as he told them of the rough hardships of
+such a life, and how, sometimes, a whole fleet of sealers, if frozen in
+by an early formation of ice, must face hunger and sometimes death till
+the spring came to release them from their imprisonment.</p>
+
+<p>"It must take a lot of nerve and courage to be a sealer," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"It certainly does," agreed the captain. "Yet I heard from one sealing
+captain the story of a young fellow whom it turned from a weak coward
+into a brave man. This lad, who was regarded as a weakling, saved
+himself and two companions from a terrible death simply by an act of
+almost sublime courage. Would you like to hear the story?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you don't mind spinning the yarn," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then," began the captain, "to start with, the name of my hero is
+Shavings. Of course he had another name, but that's the one he was
+always known by, and I've forgotten the right one. He was a long-legged,
+lanky Vermont farmer, with dank strings of yellow hair hanging about his
+mild face. This hair gave him his nickname aboard the sealing schooner,
+<i>Janet Barry</i>, on which he signed as a boat man. How Shavings came to
+St. Johns, from which port the <i>Janet Barry</i> sailed, or why he picked
+out such a job, nobody ever knew. He had, as sailors say, 'hayseed in
+his hair' and knew nothing about a ship.</p>
+
+<p>"But what he didn't know he soon learned under the rough method of
+tuition they employed on the <i>Barry</i>. A mate with a rope's end sent him
+aloft for the first time and kept sending him there till Shavings
+learned how to clamber up the ratlines with the best of them. He learned
+boat-work in much the same way, although he passed through a lot of
+experiences while chasing seals, that scared him badly. He told the
+captain long afterward that, although he was afraid of storms and gales,
+still he sometimes welcomed them, because he knew the boats would not
+have to go out.</p>
+
+<p>"One day, far to the north, they ran into an exceptionally fine school
+of seals. All the boats were sent away, and among them the one to which
+Shavings belonged. In command of this boat was Olaf Olsen, the mate who
+had taught Shavings the rudiments of his profession by means of hard
+knocks. Dark clouds were scurrying across the sky, and the sea looked
+angry, but that made no difference to the sealers. Lives or no lives,
+women in the States had to have their sealskin coats.</p>
+
+<p>"So the boats pursued the seals for a long distance, and in the
+excitement nobody noticed what the weather was doing. Nobody, that is,
+but Shavings, and he didn't dare to say that it was growing worse, for
+fear of angering the mate. The hunters harpooned a goodly catch before
+the gale was upon the little fleet almost without warning.</p>
+
+<p>"Then the storm broke with a screech and a massing of angry water. The
+boats had been under sail, and in a flash two of them were over-turned.
+Shavings saw all this with terror in his eyes and a cold clutch at his
+heart. He knew the men in those boats would never go sealing again.</p>
+
+<p>"Then his eyes fell on the mate, Olaf Olsen. The man appeared to be
+petrified with fright. He made no move to do anything. Then something in
+Shavings seemed to wake up.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps that yellow hair of his was a survival of some old Viking
+strain, or perhaps all those months of rough sea life had made him over
+without his knowing it. But he seized the mate and shook him by the
+shoulder:</p>
+
+<p>"'Give an order, man!' he shouted. 'Order the sail reefed.'</p>
+
+<p>"But the sight of the death of his shipmates had so unnerved the mate
+that he could no nothing. Shavings kicked him disgustedly, and went
+about the job himself. Clouds of spray burst over him. Time and again he
+was within an inch of being swept overboard, but at last he had the sail
+reefed down. Then he took the tiller and headed back for the schooner
+across the immense seas through the screeching gale.</p>
+
+<p>"He handled that boat skillfully, meeting the big seas and riding their
+summits, only to be buried the next instant in the watery valley between
+the giant combers. But always he rose. He had the cheering sight of the
+schooner before him and it grew closer. The boat sailed more on her beam
+than on her keel, but at last Shavings, more dead than alive, ran her in
+under the lee of the schooner's hull, and willing hands got the
+survivors out of the boat.</p>
+
+<p>"The skipper of that craft was a rough man. He drove Olaf Olsen forward
+with blows and curses and the strong Swede whimpered like a whipped cur.
+Then he came aft to where the cook was giving Shavings and the rest hot
+coffee.</p>
+
+<p>"'Shavings,' he said, 'after this you're mate in that coward Olsen's
+place. You're a man.'</p>
+
+<p>"'No, sirree,' rejoined Shavings, 'I'm a farmer. No mate's job for me.
+When we gets back ter home I'm goin' ter take my share uv ther catch and
+buy a farm.'</p>
+
+<p>"But he was finally persuaded to take the job of mate when his canny New
+England mind grasped the fact that the mate's share of the profits is
+much bigger than a foremast hand's. He was as good as his word, however,
+and, when the <i>Janet Barry</i>, with her flag at half mast but her hold
+full of fine skins, docked at St. Johns after the season was over,
+Shavings drew his money and vanished. I suppose he is farming it
+somewhere in Vermont now, but I agree with his captain, who told me the
+story, that there was a fine sailor lost in Shavings."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A NIGHT ALARM.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Jack sat bolt upright in bed and listened with all his might. Outside
+the window of the little room he occupied that night in the captain's
+cottage he was almost certain he had heard the sound of a furtive
+footfall and whisperings. His blood beat in his ear-drums as he sat
+tense and rigid, waiting a repetition of the noise.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, there came a low whisper from outside.</p>
+
+<p>"If only we knew if the captain was alone. For all we know those
+bothersome boys may be with him, and, if they are, we are likely to get
+the worst of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Donald Judson!" exclaimed Jack to himself. "What ought I to do?"</p>
+
+<p>He pondered a moment and then recollected that there was a door to his
+room which let directly out on a back porch without the occupant of the
+room having to traverse any other chamber. Jack at once formed a bold
+resolve. He did not wish to arouse the others unnecessarily, but he did
+want, with all his power, to find out what was going on.</p>
+
+<p>He rose from the bed as cautiously as he could, and made his way to the
+door. It was a ticklish task, in the dark, to accomplish without noise,
+but he succeeded in doing it. Outside it was very dark, with a velvety
+sort of blackness. The boy was glad of this, for it afforded him
+protection from the men he felt sure were reconnoitering the house for
+no good purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he saw, not far off, the gleam of a light of some sort. If it
+belonged to the Judsons, they must have presumed that nobody was about,
+or not have realized that the place where they had left it was visible
+from the cottage.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I wonder what they've got up there?" mused Jack. "Maybe it would be
+a good scheme to go up and see."</p>
+
+<p>Anything that looked like an adventure aroused Jack's animation, and a
+few seconds after the idea had first taken hold of him he was making his
+way up a rather steep hillside, covered with rocks and bushes, toward
+the light. At last he reached a place where he could get a good look at
+the shining beacon. He hardly knew what he had expected to see, but
+somehow he felt a sort of sense of disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>The lantern stood by itself on a rock and the idea suggested itself to
+Jack that it might have been placed there as a beacon to guide the
+midnight visitors back when they had accomplished whatever they purposed
+doing.</p>
+
+<p>"I've a good mind to carry off their lantern," said Jack to himself; "if
+they put it there to guide them that would leave them in a fine fix and
+we could easily capture them."</p>
+
+<p>Once more, half involuntarily, his feet appeared to draw him toward the
+lantern. The next instant he had it in his grasp.</p>
+
+<p>"Now to turn it out," he muttered, when he felt himself seized from
+behind in a powerful grip and a harsh voice growled in his ear:</p>
+
+<p>"Yer would, would yer, you precious young scallywag."</p>
+
+<p>The lantern was wrested from his grasp, and Jack felt a noose slipped
+over his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you?" he demanded indignantly of his unknown captor.</p>
+
+<p>"Bill Smiggers, of the motor boat <i>Black Beauty</i>," was the gruff reply.
+"They left me up here to watch by the light, and I guess they'll be glad
+they did when they see who I've caught. I reckon you're one of those
+snoopy kids I've heard them talking about."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what you mean," replied Jack, "but you'd better let me go
+at once."</p>
+
+<p>"Huh, I'd be a fine softy to do that, wouldn't I? No, young man, here
+you are, and here you stay. I'm getting well paid for this job, and I'm
+going to do a good one."</p>
+
+<p>Just then footsteps were heard coming up the hillside. Then a low,
+cautious voice whispered out of the darkness:</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter, Bill? We saw the light waved, and came right back.
+Is there any danger?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not right now, I reckon," rejoined Bill, with grim humor. "Any of you
+gents know this young bantam I've got triced up here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Jack Ready, by all that's wonderful!" cried Judson, stepping forward.
+He was followed by young Judson and Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear me, what an&mdash;er&mdash;what a pleasant encounter," grinned Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>"So you thought you'd spy on us, did you?" snarled Donald, vindictively;
+"well, this is the time that we've got you and got you right."</p>
+
+<p>Jack's heart, stout as it was, sank like lead within him. He was in the
+hands of his enemies and that, largely, by his own foolishness.</p>
+
+<p>"So this is that Ready kid I hearn you talkin' about?" asked Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the boy, confound him! He's always meddling in my schemes,"
+growled Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>"Bright looking lad, ain't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Too bright for his own good. He's so sharp he'll cut himself."</p>
+
+<p>"No, his brightness won't help him now," chuckled Donald maliciously.
+"I'll bet you're scared to death," he went on, coming close to Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Not particularly. It takes more than a parcel of cowards and crooks to
+frighten me."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you put on airs with me. You're in our power now," jeered Donald.
+"I'll make you suffer for the way you've treated me."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be like you to take advantage of the fact that my arms are
+tied," retorted Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Donald came a step closer and stuck his fist under Jack's nose.</p>
+
+<p>"You be careful, or I'll crack you one," he snarled.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a nice sort of an individual, I must say. Why don't you try fair
+dealing for a change?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do deal fair. It's you that don't. I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"That will do," interrupted his father; "I've been talking with Bill and
+he says he knows a place where we can take this young bantam and leave
+him till he cools off."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean that you are going to imprison me?" demanded Jack indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>"You may call it that, if you like," said Judson imperturbably; "you are
+quite too clever a lad to have at large."</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you taking me to?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll find that out soon enough. Now then, forward march and, if you
+attempt to make an outcry, you'll feel this on your head."</p>
+
+<p>Judson, with a wicked smile, flourished a stout club under the captive
+boy's nose.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>JACK'S CURIOSITY AND ITS RESULTS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"What do you intend to do with me?" repeated Jack, as they hurried over
+the rough ground, following Bill, who trudged ahead with the lantern.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll find out quick enough, I told you before," said Donald.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know that my friends are in the neighborhood? They will
+invoke the law against you for this outrage."</p>
+
+<p>"We know all about that," was the elder Judson's reply, "but we're not
+worrying. We'll have them prisoners, too, before long."</p>
+
+<p>Jack made no reply to this, but he judged it was an empty threat made to
+scare him. He knew that nothing would have delighted Donald Judson more
+than to see him breaking down. So he kept up a brave front, which he was
+in reality far from feeling at heart.</p>
+
+<p>From the bold manner in which Bill displayed the lantern as he led the
+party on, Jack knew that the rascal must be familiar with the country,
+and know it to be sparsely inhabited. So far as Jack could judge they
+were retreating from the river and going up hill.</p>
+
+<p>About an hour after they had started, Bill paused in front of an ancient
+stone dwelling&mdash;or rather what had been a dwelling, for it was now
+dilapidated and deserted.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the place, boss," he grated, holding up his lantern so that its
+rays fell on the old place, which looked as grim as a fortress.</p>
+
+<p>"It's haunted, too, isn't it, Bill?" asked Donald meaningly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, they do say there was a terrible murder done here some years ago
+and that's the reason it's been deserted ever since, but I really could
+not say as to the truth of that, Master Judson," rejoined Bill, falling
+into Donald's plan to tease Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Inside the place was one large room. A few broken bits of furniture
+stood about. Bill set the lantern down on a rickety table and then went
+to guard the door, while the others retreated to a corner and held a
+parley.</p>
+
+<p>At its conclusion Judson came over to Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Ready," he said, "you've caused us a lot of trouble, but still I
+might come to terms with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you ready to release me?" demanded Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, under certain conditions. First, you must tell us all you know
+about that naval code of Captain Simms."</p>
+
+<p>"And the truth, too," snarled Jarrow. "We'll find out quick enough if
+you're lying, and we'll make it hot for you."</p>
+
+<p>"You bet we will," chimed in Donald.</p>
+
+<p>"Donald, be quiet a minute," ordered his father. "Well, Ready, what have
+you to say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose I tell you I know nothing about the naval code?" said Jack
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I should say you were not telling the truth."</p>
+
+<p>"Nevertheless I am."</p>
+
+<p>"What, you know nothing about the code?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing except that Captain Simms was ordered to get up something of
+the sort."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't know if it's finished or not?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no idea."</p>
+
+<p>"Is your life worth anything to you?" struck in Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Just what I say. If it is, you had better make terms to save it."</p>
+
+<p>"Impossible. You are fooling with me, Jarrow. Even a man as base as you
+wouldn't dare&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't, eh? Well, you'll find out before long if I'm in earnest or
+not."</p>
+
+<p>Jack was a brave lad, as we know, and carried himself well through many
+dangerous situations. But he was not the dauntless hero of a nickel
+novel whom nothing could scare. He knew Jarrow for a desperado and,
+although he could not bring himself to believe the man would actually
+carry out any such threat as he had made, still he realized to the full
+the peril of his situation.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what do you say?" demanded Jarrow, after a pause.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know just what to say," said Jack. "My head is all in a whirl.
+Give me time to think the thing over. I can hardly collect my thoughts
+at present."</p>
+
+<p>The men made some further attempts to get something out of him, but,
+finding him obdurate, they ordered Bill to see that his bonds were tight
+and then to put him in the "inner room" he had spoken of. Bill gave the
+ropes a savage yank, found they were tight and then led Jack to a green
+door at the farther end of the large room. Jack had a glimpse of a
+square room with a broad fireplace at one end and a small window. It
+appeared to be used as a storehouse of some kind, for it was half filled
+with bags, apparently containing potatoes. In one corner stood a
+grindstone operated by a treadle. Then the door was shut with a bang,
+and he was left to his own, none-too-pleasant reflections. Outside he
+could hear the buzz of voices. But he couldn't catch much of what was
+being said. Once he heard Jarrow say:</p>
+
+<p>"You're too soft with the boy. A good lashing with a black-snake would
+bring him to his senses quick enough."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to lay it on," he heard Donald chime in.</p>
+
+<p>At last they appeared to grow sleepy. Jack heard a key turned in the
+lock of the inner room that he occupied and not long thereafter came the
+sound of snores. Evidently nobody was on guard, the men who had captured
+him thinking that there was no chance of the boy's escape.</p>
+
+<p>"Now's my chance," thought Jack. "If only I could get my hands free, I
+might be able to do something. But, as it is, I'm helpless."</p>
+
+<p>His heart sank once more, as he thought bitterly of the predicament into
+which his own foolhardiness had drawn him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3>BILLY TAKES THE TRAIL.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"What's the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>Just as Jack stole out of the house Billy Raynor sat bolt upright in bed
+and asked himself that question. He was on the other side of the
+cottage, and, like Jack a few minutes before, he too heard the cautious
+footsteps of the marauders, as they crept round the cottage,
+reconnoitering.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody's up to mischief," thought the boy. "It may only be common
+thieves, or it may be that rascally outfit. I'll go and rouse Jack.
+Perhaps we can get after them."</p>
+
+<p>He tiptoed across the main room of the cottage to Jack's door. Inside
+the room he struck a match. He almost cried out aloud when he saw that
+the bed was empty and that there was no sign of his chum.</p>
+
+<p>"Where can he be?" thought the lad. "Surely he has not gone after that
+gang single-handed."</p>
+
+<p>Raynor hastened to his own room, slipped on some clothes, and went to
+the door. Far up on the hillside a lantern was twinkling like some
+fallen star.</p>
+
+<p>"That's mighty odd," reflected the lad. "I guess I'll take a look up
+there and see what's coming off."</p>
+
+<p>He picked his way cautiously up the rough hillside. But the lantern
+retreated as he went forward. As we know, Judson and his gang, led by
+Bill, were carrying off Jack. Without realizing how far he had gone,
+Raynor kept on and on. Some instinct told him that the dodging
+will-o'-the-wisp of light ahead of him had something to do with Jack,
+and he wanted to find out what that something was.</p>
+
+<p>But, not knowing the trail Bill was following, and having no light but
+the spark ahead of him, Raynor found it pretty hard traveling. At last
+he was so tired that he sat down to snatch a moment's rest, leaning his
+back against a bush.</p>
+
+<p>As his weight came against the bush, however, a strange thing happened.
+The shrub gave way altogether under the pressure. Raynor struggled for
+an instant to save himself, and then felt himself tumbling backward down
+an unknown height. He gave a shout of alarm, but his progress down what
+appeared to be a steep wall of rock, was over almost as soon as it had
+begun.</p>
+
+<p>"What happened?" gasped the lad, as, shaken by his adventure, he picked
+himself up and tried to collect his wits. "Oh, yes, I know, that bush
+gave way and I toppled over backward. I must be in some sort of hole in
+the ground. Well, the first thing to do is to get a light."</p>
+
+<p>Luckily Raynor's pockets held several matches, and he struck one of them
+and looked about him.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes fell on the bush which lay at his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"No wonder it gave way," he muttered. "The thing is dead and withered.
+But"&mdash;as a sudden thought struck him&mdash;"it will make a dandy torch and
+help save matches."</p>
+
+<p>He lit the dead bush, which blazed up bravely, illumining his
+surroundings with a ruddy glow. Above him was a dark hole, presumably
+the one through which he had fallen. But there was no way of escape in
+that direction. He turned his gaze another way. The cave appeared to
+recede beyond the light of the blazing branch.</p>
+
+<p>Looking down, he saw that the floor of the cave was thickly littered
+with leaves and small branches. This encouraged him a good deal.</p>
+
+<p>"They couldn't have been blown in by the hole I fell through," he mused,
+"for the dead bush covered that. Their being here must mean that there
+is another entrance to this place."</p>
+
+<p>Carrying his torch aloft, he struck off into the cave. Its floor sloped
+gently upward as he progressed and the walls began to grow narrower. The
+air, too, rapidly lost its musty odor, and blew fresh and sweet on his
+perspiring head.</p>
+
+<p>"This will be quite an adventure to tell about if I ever get out of
+here," muttered Raynor, and the thought of Jack, whom he had almost
+forgotten in his fright at his fall into the cave, occurred to him.</p>
+
+<p>What could have happened to his chum? Surely he had not been foolhardy
+enough to face the marauders alone? Raynor did not know what to make of
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"Somehow," he pondered, "I am sure that lantern had something to do with
+Jack. I wonder if they would have dared to carry him off? I wish to
+goodness I'd kept on, instead of leaning against that bush. Even if I do
+get out of here, the light must be far out of sight by this time, and
+I'll have to wait till daylight, anyhow, for I must have walked almost a
+mile from the other entrance to the cave by this time."</p>
+
+<p>His thoughts ran along in this strain as he walked. The thought of
+Captain Simms' alarm, too, when he found both boys missing, gave him a
+good deal of worry.</p>
+
+<p>He was thinking over this phase of the situation when he was startled by
+a low growl, coming from a pile of rocks just ahead of him. What could
+it be? Holding his breath painfully, while a cold chill ran down his
+spine, Raynor came to a dead pause and listened. His improvised torch
+had almost burned out and it was appalling to think that he faced the
+possibility of being in darkness ere long, with a wild beast close at
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>Again came the growl. It echoed and re-echoed hollowly in the cave till
+the frightened lad appeared to be menaced from all directions.</p>
+
+<p>"It must be a bear, or some wild beast just as bad," thought Raynor.</p>
+
+<p>The growling was repeated, but now it appeared to be retreating from
+him. Plucking up courage, after a while, Raynor, waving his torch,
+pushed forward again. He came to a place where it was necessary to
+scramble up to a sort of platform considerably higher than the path he
+had been traversing.</p>
+
+<p>As he gained this, he saw several tiny bright lights in front of him.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah! It's the stars!" he cried aloud.</p>
+
+<p>"The&mdash;s-t-a-r-s!" the echoes boomed back.</p>
+
+<p>At almost the same instant Raynor saw, in front of him, what looked like
+two balls of livid green flame.</p>
+
+<p>But the boy knew that they were the eyes of whatever beast it was that
+had sent its growls echoing fearfully through the cave.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A "GHOSTESS" ABROAD.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Suddenly, like an inspiration, Jack thought of a way in which he might
+free his captive hands. Naturally quick-witted, the emergency he found
+himself facing had made his mind more active than usual.</p>
+
+<p>"That grindstone," he thought. "I can work the treadle with my foot,
+while I stand backward to it. If I hold the rope against the sharp edge
+of the stone it ought to cut through in a very short time."</p>
+
+<p>It was quite a task to locate the grindstone in the darkness without
+making a noise. But at last Jack, by dint of feeling softly along the
+walls, located it. Then he turned his back to the machine and put his
+foot on the treadle. As the wheel began to turn he pressed the rope that
+bound his hands against the rough stone. In ten minutes he was free.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for the next move," counseled the boy. "I've got to do whatever I
+decide upon quickly. If I don't escape, and that gang finds how I've
+freed my wrists, they'll shackle me hand and foot, and I'll not get
+another chance to get away. If it was only daylight I'd stand a much
+better opportunity of getting out."</p>
+
+<p>There was the door, but to try that was out of the question. Jack had
+heard it locked and the key turned. The window? It was too small for a
+big, well-grown boy like Jack to creep through. He had noted that during
+the time the door was open and his prison was lighted by the rays of the
+lantern.</p>
+
+<p>"There's that fireplace," thought the boy, "that's about the last
+resort. I wonder&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He located the big, old-fashioned chimney, built of rough stones and
+full of nooks and crannies, without trouble. Getting inside it on the
+hearthstone he looked upward; it was open to the sky and at the top he
+could see a faint glow.</p>
+
+<p>"It's getting daylight," he exclaimed to himself.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment he noticed that right across the top of the chimney was
+the stout branch of a tree.</p>
+
+<p>"If I could get up the chimney that branch would afford me a way of
+getting to the ground," he thought.</p>
+
+<p>"By Jove! I believe I could do it," he muttered, as the light grew
+stronger and he saw how roughly the interior of the chimney was built.
+"It's not very high, and those rough stones make a regular ladder."</p>
+
+<p>As time was pressing, Jack began the ascent at once. For a lad as active
+as he was, it proved even more easy than he had anticipated. But long
+before he reached the top he was covered from head to foot with soot,
+although, oddly enough, that thought never occurred to him. At length,
+black as a negro in mourning, he reached the top of the chimney and
+grasped the tree branch he had noticed from below.</p>
+
+<p>He swung into it and made his way to the main trunk of the tree, an
+ancient elm. It was no trick at all then for him to slide to the ground.
+Then, silently as a cat, he tiptoed his way from the old stone house,
+with its occupants sleeping and snoring, blissfully unaware that Jack
+had stolen a march on them.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, things have gone finely so far," he mused. "Now, what shall be
+the next step?"</p>
+
+<p>He looked about him. The country was a wild one. There was no sign of a
+house, and, as far as he could see, there was nothing but an expanse of
+timber and rocks.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a tough problem," thought the boy. "I've no idea where I am, or
+the points of the compass. If I go one way, I might come out all right,
+but then again I might find myself lost in the forest. Hanged if I know
+what to do."</p>
+
+<p>But, realizing that it would not do to waste any time around the old
+house, Jack at length struck off down what appeared to have been, in
+bygone days, some sort of a wood road. It wound for quite a distance
+among the trees, but suddenly, to his huge delight, the boy beheld in
+front of him the broad white ribbon of a dusty highway.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, too, he heard the sound of wheels and the rattle of a horse's
+hoofs coming along at a smart rate.</p>
+
+<p>"Good; now I can soon find out where I am," thought the boy, and he
+hurried forward to meet the approaching vehicle. It contained a pretty
+young woman, wearing a sunbonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Jack had no hat to lift, but he made his best bow as the fair driver
+came abreast of him.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon," he began, "but could you tell me&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The young woman gave one piercing scream.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh-h-h-h-h-h!" she cried, and gave her horse a lash with the whip that
+made it leap forward like an arrow. In a flash she was out of sight in a
+cloud of dust.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what do you know about that?" exclaimed Jack. "She must be crazy,
+or something, or else she's the most bashful girl I ever saw."</p>
+
+<p>He sat down on a rock at the side of the road to rest and waited for
+another rig or a foot passenger to come by. Before long he heard a
+sprightly whistle, and a barefooted boy, carrying a tin pail, and with a
+fish pole over his shoulder, appeared round a curve in the road.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I'll get sailing directions," said Jack to himself, and then, as
+the boy drew near:</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, sonny! Can you tell me&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The boy gave one look and then, dropping his can of bait, and his pole,
+fled with a howl of dismay.</p>
+
+<p>"Hi! Stop, can't you? What's the matter with you?" shouted Jack. He ran
+after the boy at top speed. But the faster he ran the faster the
+youngster sped along the road.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh-h-h-h-h! Help! Mum-muh!" he yelled, as he ran, in terrified tones.</p>
+
+<p>At length Jack gave up the chase. He leaned against a fence and gave way
+to his indignation.</p>
+
+<p>"Bother it all," he said. "What can be the matter with these people?
+Everyone I speak to runs away from me, as if I had the plague or
+something. Anyhow, that youngster can't be very far down this road. I
+guess I'll keep right on after him, and then I'm bound to come to some
+place where there are some sensible folks."</p>
+
+<p>As he assumed, it was not long before he came in sight of a neat little
+farm-house, standing back from the road in a grove of fine trees. He
+made his way toward it. In the front yard an old man was trimming
+rose-bushes.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you tell me&mdash;&mdash;" began Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The old man looked up. Then uttering an appalling screech, he ran for
+his life into the house. "Mandy! Mandy! Thar be a ghostess in the yard!"
+he yelled, as he ran.</p>
+
+<p>Jack looked after him blankly. What could be the matter?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>ONE MYSTERY SOLVED.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Jack. "What <i>can</i> be the matter? It
+beats me. I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hey you, git out of thar. I don't know what of critter ye be, but you
+scared my old man nigh ter death. Scat now, er I'll shoot!"</p>
+
+<p>Jack looked up toward an upper window of the farm-house, from which the
+voice, a high-pitched, feminine one, had proceeded. An old lady, with a
+determined face, stood framed in the embrasure. In her hands, and
+pointed straight at the mystified Jack, she held an ancient but
+murderous looking blunderbuss.</p>
+
+<p>"It's loaded with slugs an' screws, an' brass tacks," pleasantly
+observed the old lady. "Jerushiah!" this to someone within the room,
+"stop that whimperin'. I'm goin' ter send it on its way, ghost or no
+ghost."</p>
+
+<p>"But, madam&mdash;&mdash;" stammered Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't madam me," was the angry reply. "Git now, and git quick!"</p>
+
+<p>"This is like a bad dream," murmured Jack, but there was no choice for
+him but to turn and go; "maybe it is a dream. If it is I wish I could
+wake up."</p>
+
+<p>He turned into the hot, dusty road once more. He felt faint and hungry.
+His mouth was dry, and he suffered from thirst, too. Before long he
+found a chance to slake this latter. A cool, clear stream, spanned by a
+rustic bridge, appeared as he trudged round a bend in the road.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that looks good to me," thought Jack, and he hurried down the bank
+as fast as he could.</p>
+
+<p>He bent over the stream at a place where an eddy made an almost still
+pool, as clear as crystal. But no sooner did his face approach the water
+than he gave a violent start. A hideous black countenance gazed up at
+him. Then, suddenly, Jack broke into a roar of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Jerusalem! No wonder everybody was scared at me when I scare myself!"
+he exclaimed. "It's the soot from that chimney. Just think, it never
+occurred to me why they were all so alarmed at my appearance. Why, I'd
+make a locomotive shy off the track if it saw me coming along."</p>
+
+<p>It did not take Jack long to clean up, and, while his face was still
+grimy when he had finished, it was not, at least, such a startling
+looking countenance as he had presented to those from whom he sought to
+find his way back to Musky Bay.</p>
+
+<p>"Now that I look more presentable I guess I'll try and get some
+breakfast," thought the boy as, his thirst appeased, he scrambled up the
+bank again.</p>
+
+<p>About half a mile farther along the road was the queerest-looking house
+Jack had ever seen. It was circular in form, and looked like three giant
+cheese-boxes, perched one on the top of the other, with the smallest at
+the top.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, whoever lives there must be a crank," thought Jack; "but still,
+since I've money to pay for my breakfast, even a crank won't drive me
+away, I guess."</p>
+
+<p>A man was sawing wood in the back yard and to him Jack addressed
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to know if I can buy a meal here?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you can't fry no eel here," said the man, and went on sawing.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't say anything about frying eels. I said 'Can I get a meal?'"
+shouted Jack, who now saw that the man was somewhat deaf.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't see it makes no difference to you how I feel," rejoined the man.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm hungry. I want to eat. I can pay," bellowed Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that about yer feet?" asked the deaf man.</p>
+
+<p>"Not feet&mdash;eat&mdash;E-A-T. I want to eat," fairly yelled Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by calling me a beat?" angrily rejoined the deaf man.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't. Oh, Great Scott, everything is going wrong to-day," cried
+Jack. Then he cupped his hands and fairly screeched in the man's ear.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I buy a meal here?"</p>
+
+<p>A light of understanding broke over the other's face.</p>
+
+<p>"Surely you can," he said. "Araminta&mdash;that's my wife&mdash;'ull fix up a bite
+fer yer. Why didn't you say what you wanted in the fust place?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did," howled Jack, crimson in the face by this time; "but you didn't
+hear me. You are deaf."</p>
+
+<p>"Wa'al, I may be a <i>little</i> hard o' hearing, young feller," admitted the
+man, "but I hain't deef by a dum sight."</p>
+
+<p>Jack didn't argue the point, but followed him to the house, where a
+pleasant-faced woman soon prepared a piping hot breakfast. As he ate and
+drank, Jack inquired the way to Musky Bay.</p>
+
+<p>"It ain't far," the woman told him, "five miles or so."</p>
+
+<p>"Can I get anyone to drive me back there?" asked Jack, who was pretty
+well tired out by this time.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes; Abner will drive you over fer a couple of dollars."</p>
+
+<p>She hurried out to tell her husband to hitch up. Jack could hear her
+shouting her directions in the yard.</p>
+
+<p>"All right. No need uv speaking so loud. I kin hear ye," Jack could hear
+the deaf man shouting back. "I kin hear ye."</p>
+
+<p>"Just think," said the woman when she came back into the kitchen, where
+Jack had eaten, "Abner won't admit he's deef one bit. At church on
+Sundays he listens to the sermon just as if he understood it. If anyone
+asks him what it was about, he'll tell 'um that he doesn't care to
+discuss the new minister, but he's not such a powerful exhorter as the
+old one. He's mighty artful, is Abner."</p>
+
+<p>The rig was soon ready and Jack was on his homeward way. To his
+annoyance, Abner proved very talkative and required answers to all his
+remarks.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, I'll have no lungs left if I have to shout this way all the
+way home," thought Jack. "It'll be Husky Bay. If ever I drive with Abner
+again, I'll bring along some cough lozenges."</p>
+
+<p>"Must be pretty tough to be really, down-right deef," remarked Abner,
+after Jack had roared out answers to him for a mile and a half.</p>
+
+<p>"It must be," yelled Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir-ee," rejoined Abner, wagging his head. "I'm just a trifle that
+er-way, and it bothers me quite a bit sometimes, 'specially in damp
+weather. Gid-ap!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>BILL SNIGGERS DECIDES.</h3>
+
+
+<p>We left Billy Raynor in a most unpleasant position. With escape from the
+cave within his grasp the way was blocked, it will be recalled, by some
+wild beast, the nature of which Billy did not know. His torch, made from
+the withered bush that was responsible for his dilemma, was burning low.
+Just in front of him glowed two luminous green eyes.</p>
+
+<p>While Billy stood there hesitating, the creature gave another of its
+alarming growls. Hardly thinking what he was doing, Billy, startled by a
+shrill caterwaul, which followed the growl, flung his lighted torch full
+at the eyes, and heard a screech that sounded as if his blazing missile
+had struck its mark.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="i2" id="i2"></a>
+<img src="images/i2.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3>While Billy stood there hesitating, the creature gave another of its alarming growls.</h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>There was a swift patter of feet and the eyes vanished.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Christmas, I've scared the creature off," said Billy to himself,
+with a sigh of relief; "a lucky thing I had that torch."</p>
+
+<p>He walked forward more boldly. The evident alarm of the animal that had
+scared him, when the torch struck, convinced the boy that there was no
+more danger to be feared from it. In a few seconds more he was out in
+the open air and on a hillside.</p>
+
+<p>It was still pitch dark, but the stars seemed to be growing fainter.
+Billy drew out his watch and, striking a match, looked at it. The hands
+pointed to three-thirty.</p>
+
+<p>"It will be daylight before long," thought Billy. "If I start walking
+now I will only lose myself. I'll wait till it gets light and then try
+to get my bearings."</p>
+
+<p>Never had dawn come so slowly as did that one, in the opinion of the
+tired and impatient lad. But at last the eastern sky grew faintly gray
+and then flushed red, and another day was born. In the growing light,
+Billy stood up and looked about him. The bay or any familiar landmarks
+were not in sight. Billy was in a quandary. But before long he came to a
+decision.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll strike out for a main road," he decided; "if I can find one, that
+will bring me to where I can get some information, at any rate."</p>
+
+<p>With this end in view, he scrambled down the hillside and found himself
+in some fields. After a half-hour's walk across these, he saw, with
+delight, that he had not miscalculated his direction. A road lay just
+beyond a brush hedge.</p>
+
+<p>Billy made his way through a gap and struck off, in what he was
+tolerably sure was the way to Musky Bay. If he had but known it,
+however, he was proceeding in an exactly opposite direction. He had
+walked about a mile when another foot passenger hove in sight.</p>
+
+<p>The lad was glad of this at first, for, although he had walked some
+distance, he had not passed a house, nor had any vehicles come by. But a
+second glance at the man who was coming toward him made him by no means
+so pleased at his appearance. The other foot passenger was a heavily
+built man with a lowering brow. He wore clothes that savored of a
+nautical character.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, there, young feller," he said, as he halted to allow Billy to
+come up to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Good morning," said Billy. "I am trying to find my way to Musky Bay.
+Can you direct me?"</p>
+
+<p>The other looked at the boy with a glance of quick suspicion. "Livin'
+there?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that is to say, I'm staying there with friends."</p>
+
+<p>"Umph! I know a crowd of folks there. Who you stopping with?"</p>
+
+<p>Before Billy realized what he was saying he had made a fatal slip.</p>
+
+<p>"With Captain Simms&mdash;that is," he hurried on, in an effort to correct
+his blunder, "I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Know a kid named Ready&mdash;Jack Ready?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, he's my best friend. He&mdash;here, what's the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>The other had suddenly drawn a pistol and held it pointed unwaveringly
+at Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Jerk up yer hands, boy, and get 'em up quick!" he snarled.</p>
+
+<p>Billy had no recourse but to obey. The man facing him was a hard-looking
+enough character to commit any crime. With a sudden pang Billy recalled
+that he was wearing the handsome watch&mdash;one of which had been given both
+to Jack and himself for services they had performed for a high official
+in Holland, when they rescued the latter's wife and daughter from
+robbers who had held up the ladies' automobile.</p>
+
+<p>He saw the man's eyes fixed on the chain with a greedy glare. "Hand over
+that watch," he ordered.</p>
+
+<p>Billy did as he was told. Then came another order while the pistol was
+pointed unwaveringly at him.</p>
+
+<p>"Now come across with your cash."</p>
+
+<p>Billy handed over what money he possessed&mdash;about fifteen dollars. The
+rest was in a New York bank, and some in a safe at the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>The man looked at the inscription on the watch.</p>
+
+<p>"William Raynor, eh? Your friend was talking about you just before we
+had to&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>All his fear was forgotten as the man spoke. His tones were sinister.
+Billy realized, like a flash, that this man was an ally of the Judsons,
+and must have had a hand in Jack's disappearance.</p>
+
+<p>"Had to what?" Billy demanded. "You don't mean that you committed any
+act of violence?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm not sayin' as to that," rejoined the other, who, as our
+readers will have guessed, was Bill Sniggers, "you'll find out soon
+enough."</p>
+
+<p>The man was deliberately torturing Billy.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after Jack's escape, Judson had awakened, and had been the first to
+discover that the boy had got away. A hasty and angry consultation
+followed, and it had been decided to send Bill, who was not known by
+sight in the vicinity, out to scout and see if the hunt for the missing
+boy was up. His astonishment at running into Billy was great. At first,
+till the boy spoke of Musky Bay, Bill, who was an all-around scoundrel,
+merely regarded him as a favorable object of robbery when he spied his
+gold watch chain. Now, however, the boy was a source of danger.</p>
+
+<p>"Come over here, and I'll tell you all about it," said Bill. "Oh, you
+needn't be scared. I won't hurt you. I got all I wanted off of you. You
+see your friend got a little uppish after we carried him off, and so we
+had&mdash;<i>to hit him this way</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>The last words were spoken quickly and were accompanied by a terrific
+blow aimed at Billy's chin. The boy sank in the roadway without a moan.
+He lay white and apparently lifeless, while Bill, with a satirical grin
+on his face, regarded him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you won't come to life this little while, young feller," he
+muttered. "I'll just put you over this hedge for safekeeping, so as you
+won't attract undue attention, and then be on my way."</p>
+
+<p>He picked the unconscious boy up as if he had been a feather and placed
+him behind the hedge. Then, with unconcern written on his brutal face,
+the rascal walked on. He was bound for a neighboring village to get
+provisions; for, till they knew how the land lay, none of the Judson
+gang dared to leave the deserted house. Bill, in his rough clothes,
+would attract little or no attention. But the others were smartly
+dressed and wore jewelry, and Donald had on yachting clothes. Had they
+been seen they could not have failed to be noticed in that simple
+community.</p>
+
+<p>"This must be my lucky day," muttered Bill, as he walked along. "I got
+my pay for that job last night, and now I've got a gold watch and chain
+and fifteen dollars beside. Tell you what, Bill, old-timer, I won't go
+back to that old house again. I'll just leave that bunch up there, and
+beat it out of these parts in my motor-boat. That's what I'll do&mdash;go,
+while the goin's good, because I kin smell trouble coming sure as next
+election."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>WHAT A "HAYSEED" DID.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Billy opened his eyes. His head swam dizzily, and he felt sick and
+faint. The hot sun was beating down on him, but at first he thought he
+was at home and in bed. Then he began to remember. He sat up, and then,
+not without an effort, rose to his feet dizzily.</p>
+
+<p>"Where on earth am I?" he thought. "And what happened? Let's see what
+time it is."</p>
+
+<p>But his watch pocket was empty, and then full recollection of what had
+occurred came back to him. He was still rather painfully trying to
+regain the road when he heard the sound of a voice. It was a very loud
+voice, even though the owner of it was not yet in sight.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks like we might have rain. I said it looks like we might have a
+shower."</p>
+
+<p>Then another voice&mdash;a boyish one&mdash;shouted back:</p>
+
+<p>"YES&mdash;IT&mdash;DOES."</p>
+
+<p>"Gid-ap," came in the first voice, and then came hoof-beats and the
+rumble of wheels. The next minute a ramshackle, two-seated rig, with a
+man and a boy on the front seat, came into sight. Billy gave one long
+stare, as one who doubted the evidence of his own eyes. Then he broke
+into a glad shout:</p>
+
+<p>"Jack!"</p>
+
+<p>"Billy, old fellow, what in the world? Why, you're white as a sheet."</p>
+
+<p>With alarm on his face, Jack sprang out, as Abner stopped the rig, and
+rushed toward Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"How did you get here? What has happened?" demanded Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Billy told his story in as few words as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the rascal," broke out Jack, when Billy described the hold-up.
+"That was Bill Sniggers. He's the man who led the way to the stone
+house&mdash;but get in and I'll tell you my story as we go along."</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>"Back to Musky Bay; but a few hours ago I didn't think I'd ever see it
+again."</p>
+
+<p>Jack had to shout both his story and Billy's for Abner's benefit. But he
+gave them in highly condensed versions, as his sorely taxed vocal organs
+had almost reached the limit of their strength. He had just reached the
+conclusion, having been interrupted several times by Abner's
+exclamations, when, ahead of them, on the road, they spied a figure
+shuffling along in the dust. The two boys were on the rear seat of the
+rig, so that the man, when he saw the rig approaching, having turned his
+head at the sound of hoofs, did not see the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"Reckon that feller means ter ask fer a ride," remarked Abner, as a bend
+in the road ahead screened the man from view for a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden idea had come into Jack's head.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him have it," he said; "and then drive to the nearest village and
+up to the police station. I'll pay you well for it."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but&mdash;who is he?" demanded Abner, stopping his horse.</p>
+
+<p>"Bill Sniggers, the rascal who is in league with Judson."</p>
+
+<p>"Great hemlock! You bet I'll pick him up right smart. But he'll see you
+boys and scare."</p>
+
+<p>"No, we'll hide in here," and Jack raised a leather flap that hung from
+the back seat. "It will be a tight fit, but there'll be room."</p>
+
+<p>"Wa'al, if that don't beat all," said Abner. "Git in thar, then, and
+then the show kin go on."</p>
+
+<p>As Jack had said, it was a "tight fit" in the recess under the seat,
+but, as Abner's rig had been made to take produce to market, there was a
+sort of extension at the back, which gave far more room than would
+ordinarily have been the case. Pretty soon the boys, in their
+hiding-place, felt the rig come to a stop. Then came a voice both
+recognized as Bill's.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, gimme a ride, will yer?"</p>
+
+<p>"Did ye say my harness was untied?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I said gimme a ride," roared Bill, at the top of his powerful
+lungs.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, all right. Git in. Whoa thar', consarn yer (this to the horse).
+Whar yer goin'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nearest village. I'm campin' up the bay. I want to get some grub,"
+shouted Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"Yer a long ways frum ther river," remarked Abner.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe; but I reckon that ain't your business," growled Bill.</p>
+
+<p>"Not ef you don't want ter tell it, 'tain't," said Abner apologetically.
+He had heard enough of Bill's character not to argue with him.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a nice-looking watch you've got there," the boys heard Abner say
+pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p>There was a pause and then Bill roared out:</p>
+
+<p>"What's that to you if it is?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothing, only I jest saw that printing on it, and calkilated it
+might have bin a present to yer."</p>
+
+<p>Jack could almost see Bill hurriedly thrusting the watch back into his
+pocket. Then, after a little while, he spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't see nothing of a kid back there in the road, did yer?"</p>
+
+<p>"He means you, Billy," whispered Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't see nothing of nobody," was Abner's comprehensive
+rejoinder.</p>
+
+<p>There was a long silence, during which the boys sweltered in their close
+confinement. But they would have gone through more than that for the
+sake of what they hoped to bring about&mdash;the apprehension of at least one
+of Judson's aides.</p>
+
+<p>"Getting near a village?" asked Bill presently.</p>
+
+<p>"Yep; 'bout half a mile more," rejoined Abner.</p>
+
+<p>In a short time the rig began to slacken its pace. Then it stopped.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, what's this?" the boys heard Bill exclaim. "You're stopping in
+front of a police station."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure. The chief is Araminta's&mdash;that's my wife&mdash;cousin. I'm goin' in ter
+see him a minit. Hold the horse, will yer, he's a bit skittish."</p>
+
+<p>The boys heard Abner get out, and then an eternity seemed to elapse.
+Then a door banged and a sharp voice snapped out:</p>
+
+<p>"Throw up your hands, gol ding yer. I'm the chief uv perlice, an' I
+arrest ye fer ther robbery of one gold watch and assault and batt'ry."</p>
+
+<p>"Confound it, the old hayseed led me into a trap!" exclaimed Bill.</p>
+
+<p>He threw himself out of the rig and started to run. But, as he did so,
+Jack and Billy, who had crawled out from the back, suddenly appeared.
+Bill gave a wild shout, and the next instant he was sprawling headlong
+in the dusty street, while a crowd came rushing from all directions.</p>
+
+<p>Jack had tripped him by an old football trick. With an oath the
+desperado reached for his revolver. But, before he could reach it, he
+was pinioned by a dozen pairs of hands, and marched, struggling and
+swearing, into the police station.</p>
+
+<p>He was searched, and Billy's watch found on him, as well as the money.
+Then he was locked up. He refused to give any information about the
+Judsons, in which he showed his astuteness, for, if they had been
+caught, his plight would have been worse than it was, for they would
+have been certain to implicate him deeply. So he contented himself by
+saying that he knew nothing about them. They had hired him to help the
+elder Judson recover his nephew from another uncle, who had treated him
+badly. He knew nothing more about the case, he declared, except that,
+after Jack's escape, the Judsons had left for New York. (It may be said
+here that he was eventually found guilty of the theft and the assault
+and received a jail sentence.)</p>
+
+<p>Abner was well rewarded for the clever way he had brought about Bill's
+capture; and, well pleased with the way everything had come out, the
+boys resumed their journey.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope Abner will invest part of what I gave him in an ear-trumpet,"
+said Jack, as they entered Musky Bay.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so," laughed Billy. He was going to add something, but a shout
+stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>"There's Captain Simms and Noddy," shouted Jack, as the two came running
+toward the vehicle. There is no need to go into the details of the
+reunion, or to relate what anxious hours the captain and Noddy had gone
+through after their discovery that the boys had vanished. If they had
+not reappeared when they did, Captain Simms was preparing to organize
+posses and make a wide search for them, as well as enlisting the aid of
+the authorities. In the vague hope that the Judsons and Jarrow might
+have remained in the stone house, waiting Bill's return, a party
+searched it next day, under the guidance of a native who knew the trail
+to it. But it was empty. A search for the black motor boat, too,
+resulted in nothing being found of her.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, not many minutes after Bill, from whom they wished
+to be separated, had left the house, the Judsons&mdash;father and son&mdash;and
+Jarrow, had made all speed to the point where the motor craft had been
+left and had hastily made off in her. They knew that the search for Jack
+would be hot and wished to get as far away from Bill as he treacherously
+wished to get from them. In their case there was certainly none of the
+proverbial honor among thieves.</p>
+
+<p>The black motor boat was left at Clayton and afterward claimed by a
+relative of Bill, who, by reason of "circumstances over which he had no
+control," was unable to claim her himself. As for the Judsons, they
+vanished, leaving no trace behind them. The same was the case with
+Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>A message had been sent to Uncle Toby, telling him of the reason for the
+boys' delay at Musky Bay, <i>via</i> a small mail steamer that plied those
+waters. His reply was characteristic:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Them buoys is as hard to hurt as gotes, and as tuff as ship's biskit on
+a Cape Horner. Best wishes to awl. Awl well here at eight bells.</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Cap'n Toby Ready</span>,</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Inventor and Patentee of the Universal Herb Medicine, Guaranteed to
+Cure All Ills, Both of Man and Quadruped.</i>"</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE "CURLEW" IN TROUBLE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Looks as if we might have a blow, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Curlew</i> was lazily moving along, with all sail set, carrying the
+boys back to Pine Island from their adventurous visit to Musky Bay. But,
+although every bit of canvas was stretched on her spars, she hardly
+moved. Her form was reflected in the smooth water with almost
+mirror-like accuracy.</p>
+
+<p>"A blow? Pshaw," scoffed Noddy, "there isn't a breath of wind. I wish we
+could get a blow and cool off."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, your wish is likely to come true before very long," said Jack,
+who was at the tiller.</p>
+
+<p>"How's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"See that cloud bank over yonder, that ragged one?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, what's that got to do with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's as full of wind as an auto tire," said Jack. "I've been
+watching it for some time. It'll be a nasty storm when it hits us."</p>
+
+<p>"Hadn't we better run in for shelter somewhere?" asked Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"There's so little wind now that I doubt if we could get inshore before
+the squall hits us," replied Jack. "I'll try to, though."</p>
+
+<p>He headed for the distant shore, where the outlines of some sort of a
+wooden structure could be seen.</p>
+
+<p>"If it gets very bad we can take refuge there," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"That's so. I've no great fancy for getting wet," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Nor have I. We've had enough experiences of late to last us a long
+time," laughed Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"And I was left out of every one of them," grumbled Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"For which you ought to be duly thankful," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I didn't enjoy that stone house much, or the soot," declared Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"That cave didn't make much of a hit with me, either," said Billy. "My,
+those green eyes gave me a scare. I thought it was a bear or a mountain
+lion, sure; but they say there aren't any such animals in this part of
+the country."</p>
+
+<p>"Abner said it must have been a lynx," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"That being the case, you should have cuffed it," chuckled Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>For the time being he escaped punishment for perpetrating this alleged
+pun, for the wind began to freshen and the <i>Curlew</i> slid through the
+water like a thing of life. The shore drew rapidly nearer.</p>
+
+<p>But the cloud curtain spread with astonishing rapidity, till the whole
+sky was covered. The water turned from green to a dull leaden hue. Puffs
+of wind came with great velocity, heeling over the <i>Curlew</i> till the
+foam creamed in her lee scuppers.</p>
+
+<p>The wind moaned in a queer, eerie sort of way, that bespoke the coming
+of a storm of more than ordinary severity. Jack was a prey to some
+anxiety as he held the <i>Curlew</i> on her course. If they could not make
+the dock he was aiming for before the storm struck, there might be
+serious consequences.</p>
+
+<p>But, to his great relief, they reached the wharf, a tumble-down affair,
+before the tempest broke. The <i>Curlew</i> was made "snug," and this had
+hardly been done before a mighty gust of wind, followed by a blanket of
+rain, tore through the air.</p>
+
+<p>"Just in time, boys," said Jack, as they set out on the run for the
+structure which they had observed from the water. On closer view it
+turned out to be nothing more than a barn, not in any too good repair,
+but still it offered a shelter.</p>
+
+<p>The boys reached it just as a terrific blast of wind swept across the
+bay, roughening it with multitudinous whitecaps. A torrent of rain
+blotted out distances at the same time and turned all the world in their
+vicinity into a driving white cloud.</p>
+
+<p>The barn proved to be even more rickety than its outside had indicated.
+The door was gone and its windows were broken out. But at least it was
+pleasanter under a roof than it would have been out in the open. The
+rain, driven by the furious wind, penetrated the rotten, sun-dried
+shingles and pattered on the earthen floor, but the boys found a dry
+place in one corner, where there was a pile of hay.</p>
+
+<p>As the storm increased in fury the clouds began to blot out the
+daylight. It grew as dark as night almost. The roar of the rain was like
+the voice of a giant cataract.</p>
+
+<p>"We may have to stay here all night," said Billy, after a long silence.</p>
+
+<p>"That's true," rejoined Jack. "It would be foolhardy to take a boat like
+the <i>Curlew</i> out in such a storm."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there came a terrific flash of lightning, followed by a sharp
+clap of thunder. It was succeeded by flash after flash, in blinding
+succession.</p>
+
+<p>"My, this is certainly a snorter," exclaimed Billy, and the others
+agreed with him.</p>
+
+<p>"We won't forget it in a hurry," said Jack. "I can't recall when I've
+heard the wind make such a noise."</p>
+
+<p>To add to their alarm, as the fury of the wind increased, the old barn
+visibly quavered. It seemed to rock back and forth on its foundations.
+The noise of the wind grew so loud that conversation was presently
+impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there came a fiercer blast than any that had gone before. There
+was a ripping and rending sound.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott! Boys, run for your lives, the old shack is tumbling down,"
+cried Jack.</p>
+
+<p>He had scarcely spoken when what he had anticipated happened. Beams,
+boards and shingles flew in every direction. There was no time even to
+think. Acting instinctively, each boy threw himself flat upon the pile
+of moldy hay.</p>
+
+<p>Noddy, in his terror, burrowed deep into it. The noise that accompanied
+the dissolution of the old barn was terrific. Each boy felt as if at any
+moment a huge beam might fall on him and crush his life out. Above it
+all the wind howled with a note of triumph at its work of destruction.</p>
+
+<p>The boys felt as if the end of the world had come.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE END OF JACK'S HOLIDAY.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Fortunately, otherwise this story might have had a different ending, the
+barn was lifted almost entirely from its foundations and hurled over on
+its side. The roof was ripped off like an old hat and hurtled through
+the tempest to the water's edge.</p>
+
+<p>None of the wreckage and d&eacute;bris struck the crouching boys. But the mere
+sound was terrifying enough. Even Jack was cowed by the tremendous force
+of the elements. Each lad felt as if the next moment would be his last.</p>
+
+<p>But at last Jack mustered up courage and looked up. The beating rain,
+which had already soaked them all through, stung his face like
+hailstones.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, fellows," he exclaimed, "is&mdash;is anybody hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"All right here," rejoined Billy. "But say, wasn't that the limit?"</p>
+
+<p>"It sure was," agreed Jack. "At one time I thought we were goners,
+and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Goo-oof-g-r-r-r-r-r!" An extraordinary sound, which can only be
+typographically rendered in this manner, suddenly interrupted him.</p>
+
+<p>"Heavens, what's that?" gasped Billy, looking about him in a rather
+alarmed manner.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh-ugh-groof-f-f-f-f-f-f!"</p>
+
+<p>"It's Noddy!" cried Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, he must be dying," gasped Billy.</p>
+
+<p>In his eagerness to escape the full fury of the storm and the flying
+wreckage of the barn, Noddy had plunged into the hay with his mouth
+open, and now his throat was full of the dry stuff. He was almost
+choked.</p>
+
+<p>"Pull him out," directed Jack, and he and Billy laid hold of Noddy's
+heels and dragged him out of the hay-pile. The lad was almost black in
+the face.</p>
+
+<p>"Ug-gug-groo-o-o-o-o-o!" he mumbled, making frantic gestures with his
+arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Goodness, this is as bad as the time he was almost drowned," cried
+Jack. "Clap him on the back good and hard. That's it."</p>
+
+<p>There were several gulps and struggles, and then Noddy began to cough.
+But all danger from strangulation had passed, thanks to the heroic
+efforts of Jack and Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Phew! I thought I was choked," sputtered Noddy, as soon as he found his
+voice. "I'd hate to be a horse and have to eat that stuff."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a kind of a horse," said Billy slyly.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you make that out?" demanded Noddy, falling into the trap.</p>
+
+<p>"A donkey," laughed Billy teasingly, but poor Noddy felt too badly after
+his experience in the hay to retaliate in kind.</p>
+
+<p>After the restoration of Noddy, they began to survey the situation. All
+were soaked through, and the rain beat about them unmercifully. But they
+were thankful to have escaped with their lives. Through the white
+curtain of rain they could make out the outlines of the <i>Curlew</i>, riding
+at the dock.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad to see that," observed Jack. "I was half afraid that she might
+have broken away."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we <i>would</i> have been in a fine fix," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"What will we do next?" asked Noddy, removing some fragments of hay from
+his ears.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till the clouds roll by," laughed Billy. "I guess that's about the
+program, isn't it, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Seems to be about all that there is to do," replied Jack; "but it seems
+to me that the storm is beginning to let up even now. Look in the
+northwest&mdash;it's beginning to get lighter."</p>
+
+<p>"So it is," agreed Billy. "Let's get under that clump of trees yonder
+till it blows over altogether."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, fellows, if we had a fire now, it would feel pretty good,"
+observed Noddy.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what's the matter with having one?" asked Jack. "We can get some
+of those old shingles and tarred posts. They're pretty wet, but we can
+start the blaze going with dried hay from the bottom of the pile."</p>
+
+<p>"Good for you. Volunteer firemen, get to work," cried Billy.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the boys were carrying the dry hay and such wood as seemed suitable
+for their purpose to the clump of trees. Jack took some matches from his
+safe and struck a lucifer after the wood had been properly piled.</p>
+
+<p>It blazed up cheerily. Each lad stripped to his underclothes and their
+drenched garments were hung in front of the hot fire. The dripping
+clothes sent up clouds of steam, but it was not long before they were
+dry enough to put on. By the time this was done the storm had abated.
+Presently the rain, which did not bother the boys under the thick clump
+of trees, ceased altogether. Only in the distance a dull muttering of
+thunder still went on. A rainbow appeared, delighting them with its
+brilliant colors.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's over," observed Jack, as he dressed. "Now we'll go down
+and pump out the <i>Curlew</i>. I'll bet she's half full of water."</p>
+
+<p>His conjecture proved correct. On their return to their trim little
+craft they found a foot or more of water in her hull. But this was soon
+disposed of and, with a brisk breeze favoring them, they set out once
+more for Pine Island. On their return they found Captain Toby, who had
+spied them from a distance, awaiting them on the dock.</p>
+
+<p>In his hand he held a yellow envelope. It was a telegram for Jack. The
+boy eagerly tore it open, and for a moment, as he scanned its contents,
+his face fell. But almost instantly he brightened.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what's the news?" demanded his uncle.</p>
+
+<p>"Good and bad," rejoined Jack. "I guess our holiday is over. Billy and I
+are ordered to join the <i>Columbia</i> as soon as we can."</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah! I was beginning to long for the sea again," declared Billy
+Raynor.</p>
+
+<p>"I must confess I was, too," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a great life for lads&mdash;makes men out of them," said Captain Toby.
+"I must see if I've got two bottles of the Universal Remedy for you boys
+to take to sea with you," and he hurried off.</p>
+
+<p>Noddy looked rather blue.</p>
+
+<p>"You are lucky fellows&mdash;off for more adventures and fun," he said,
+"while I just stick around."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, you've got your business in New York to attend to, and, as
+for adventures, I've had plenty of them for a time, haven't you, Billy?"</p>
+
+<p>"A jugful," declared Raynor. "Enough to last me for the rest of my
+life-time, and, anyhow, life at sea is mostly hard work."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what makes it worth living," said Jack. "I'll be glad to get
+down to work again after our long holiday."</p>
+
+<p>"And I really believe I will, too," said Billy; "and on a crack liner
+like the <i>Columbia</i> we may be able to make our marks."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope we will. I mean to work mighty hard, anyhow," said the young
+wireless man, "but hark, there goes the bell for supper. Hurry up,
+fellows, I'll race you to the house."</p>
+
+<p>The next day was devoted to saying good-by to the scenes and the people
+who had helped make up a happy vacation for the lads. Noddy, it was
+decided, would stay on with Captain Toby for the present, as his
+presence was not required in New York.</p>
+
+<p>Of course the lads visited Captain Simms. He told them that his holiday
+also was almost over. The naval code was nearly completed, and he must
+get back to Washington within a week or so.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, here's to our next meeting," he said, as he heartily clasped the
+hands of both lads in farewell.</p>
+
+<p>Under what circumstances that meeting was to occur none of them just
+then guessed.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>"THE GEM OF THE OCEAN."</h3>
+
+
+<p>The <i>Columbia</i>, a magnificent and imposing vessel of more than 20,000
+tons burden, lay at her New York dock two weeks later. Within her steel
+sides, besides the usual cabin accommodations, she had swimming pools,
+Roman courts, palm gardens and even a theater. Elevators conveyed her
+passengers from deck to deck. The new vessel of the Jukes shipping
+interests was the last word in shipbuilding, and from her stern flew the
+Stars and Stripes.</p>
+
+<p>It was sailing day. From the three immense black funnels smoke was
+rolling. Steam issued, roaring from the escape pipes. The dock buzzed
+and fermented with a great crowd assembled to see their friends off on
+the first voyage of the great ship. Wagons, taxicabs and autos blocked
+the street in front of the docks. Photographers and reporters swarmed
+everywhere. The confusion was tremendous, yet, promptly at the hour set
+for sailing, the booming siren began to sound, last farewells were
+shouted, and the invariable late stayer on board made his wild leap for
+the gang-plank before it was drawn in.</p>
+
+<p>A perceptible vibration ran through the monster ship. Her propellers
+began to churn the water white. A small fleet of tugs helped to swing
+her against the tide as she slowly backed into the stream. Majestically
+her monster bulk swung round, her bow pointing seaward. Her maiden
+voyage had begun.</p>
+
+<p>It is doubtful if among her delighted passengers and proud officers,
+however, there were any more enthusiastic about the great vessel than
+two lads who were seated in the wireless operators' cabin on the topmost
+deck.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Billy, this is different from the old <i>Ajax</i>, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is it? Well, I should say so," responded Billy. "You ought to see the
+engine-room. You could have put the <i>Ajax</i> in it, almost."</p>
+
+<p>"We ought to be proud of our jobs," continued Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"I know I am. It's a great thing to be part of the human machinery of a
+huge vessel like this, and the best part of it is that she flies the
+American flag," added Billy enthusiastically.</p>
+
+<p>"I heard that the <i>Gigantia</i>, of the London Line, sails to-day, too. By
+Jove, there she comes now."</p>
+
+<p>He pointed out of the open door back up the river. The great British
+steamer, till then the biggest thing on the ocean, was backing out. Her
+four red-and-black funnels loomed up imposingly above her black hull.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we'll have a race for certain," said Billy, his eyes dilating with
+excitement; "good for us, but my money goes on the <i>Columbia</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"That Britisher can travel, though," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we won't have an easy time of it, but I'll bet my shirt we'll win
+the blue ribbon of the ocean."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so," rejoined Jack with a smile at the other's enthusiasm. "But
+what do you think of my quarters, Billy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, they're fit for a king or a millionaire," laughed Raynor. "I'll
+bet you never thought, when you were in that little rabbit hutch of a
+wireless room on the old <i>Ajax</i>, that some day you'd be traveling in
+such style?"</p>
+
+<p>Raynor's eyes wandered to the instrument table, with its array of the
+most up-to-date wireless apparatus.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo! What's that thing?" he asked suddenly, pointing to a device that
+looked unfamiliar. It was a box-shaped arrangement, metal, with
+complicated wires strung to it and had a "telephone" receiver attached
+to it with a band to hold it securely to the operator's head.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that's an invention of my own that I'm trying out," said Jack. "I
+don't just know what success I'll have with it. I haven't really put it
+to the test yet."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you call it?"</p>
+
+<p>"The Universal Detector," replied Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Just what is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, at present you know a ship can only receive wireless messages
+from a ship that is 'in tune' with her own radio apparatus. The
+Universal Detector should make it possible to catch every wireless
+sound. I am very anxious, if I perfect it, to get it adopted in the
+navy. It would be of great value in time of war, for by its use every
+message sent by an enemy, even if they were purposely put 'out of tune,'
+could be caught."</p>
+
+<p>"By the way, speaking of the navy, did you hear from Captain Simms?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; he is still up at Musky Bay. Some difficulties in the code have
+arisen, and he will not be through with his work for two weeks or more
+yet, he says."</p>
+
+<p>"No more attempts to steal his work, or to spy on him?"</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't mention any. I guess we're through with the Judson crowd."</p>
+
+<p>"Looks that way. What a gang of thorough-paced rascals they were."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess Judson's business must be in a bad way to make him take such
+desperate chances to recoup by landing that contract."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that's it."</p>
+
+<p>Raynor lifted his eyes to the ship's clock above Jack's operating
+instruments.</p>
+
+<p>"By Jove, almost eight bells! I've got to go on watch. This is my first
+job as second engineer, and I mean to keep things on the jump. Well, so
+long, old fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"See you this evening," said Jack, as Raynor hurried off.</p>
+
+<p>Jack soon became very busy. The air was full of all sorts of messages.
+Besides that, his cabin was crowded with men and women who wished to
+file last messages to those they left behind them. He worked steadily
+through the afternoon, catching meteorological radios as well as
+information from other steamers scattered along the Atlantic lane.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that he might expect hard work and plenty of it all that day.
+There would be no chance for him to experiment with his Universal
+Detector. About dusk, Harvey Thurman, his assistant, came into the
+wireless room to relieve him while he went to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Thurman was a short, thick-set young man, with a flabby, pallid face and
+shifty eyes. He had got his job on the new liner through a "pull" that
+he possessed through a distant relationship with Mr. Jukes. Jack had not
+met him before, and, since they had been on board, they had exchanged
+only a few words, but he instinctively felt that he and Thurman were not
+going to make very good shipmates.</p>
+
+<p>As Jack relinquished the head-receivers and the key to his "relief,"
+Thurman's gaze rested on the Universal Detector.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, just a little idea I'm working on," said Jack, "a new invention. If
+I can perfect it, it may be valuable."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but what is it? What's it for?" persisted Thurman.</p>
+
+<p>Jack explained what he hoped to accomplish with the instrument, and an
+instant later was sorry he had done so, for he noticed an expression of
+cupidity creep into Thurman's eyes. The youth persisted in asking a host
+of questions, and Jack, having started to explain, could not very well
+refuse to answer. Besides, inventors are notoriously garrulous about
+their brain children, and Jack, even though he did not like Thurman,
+soon found himself talking away at a great rate.</p>
+
+<p>"Huh, I don't think the idea's worth a cent," sniffed Thurman
+contemptuously, when Jack had finished.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess that's where you and I differ," said Jack, controlling his
+temper with some difficulty, for the sneer in Thurman's voice had been
+marked. "I'm going to make it a success, and then we shall see."</p>
+
+<p>He left the wireless room, and the instant he was gone Thurman, with a
+crafty look on his flabby face, eagerly began examining the detector. As
+he was doing so Jack, who had forgotten his cap, suddenly re&euml;ntered the
+wireless room. Thurman had been so intent on his scrutiny of the
+detector that he did not hear him.</p>
+
+<p>"You appear to be taking great interest in that useless invention," said
+Jack in a quiet voice.</p>
+
+<p>Thurman started and spun round. His face turned red and he had an almost
+guilty look.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't think you were coming creeping back like that," he exclaimed,
+"a fellow would almost think you were spying on him."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any reason to fear being spied upon?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Me? No, not the least. That's a funny question."</p>
+
+<p>"I want to tell you, Thurman, that my invention is not yet completed and
+therefore, of course, is not patented. I was pretty free with you in
+describing it, and I shall trust to your honor not to talk about it to
+anyone."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not," blustered Thurman. "I'm not that sort of a chap."</p>
+
+<p>But, after Jack had gone out, he resumed his study of the detector a
+second time, desisting every time he heard a step outside.</p>
+
+<p>"So it's not patented, eh?" he muttered to himself. "That will help.
+It's an idea there that ought to be worth a pot of money."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>JACK'S BIG SECRET.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The next day Jack found an opportunity to sandwich in some work on his
+invention between his regular work. The thing fascinated him, and he
+tried and tested it in a hundred different combinations. Suddenly, just
+after he had altered two important units of the device, a new note came
+to his ears through the "watch-case" receivers that were clamped to his
+head.</p>
+
+<p>"It's code&mdash;somebody sending code!" exclaimed Jack, and then the next
+instant, "it's some ship of the navy! Hurrah! The detector is working,
+for they use different wave lengths from the commercial workers, and, if
+it hadn't been for the Universal Detector, I'd never have been able to
+listen in at their little talk-fest."</p>
+
+<p>He waited till the code message, a long one from Washington to the
+<i>Idaho</i>, of the North Atlantic fleet at Guantanamo, Cuba, was finished,
+and then he could not refrain from "butting in."</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, navy," he chattered with the wireless key, "that was a nice
+little message you had. How's the weather up your way?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who is this?" demanded the navy wireless in imperious tones.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, just a fellow who was listening," responded Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Butting in, you mean. But say, how did you ever get on to our sending?
+We were using eccentric wave-lengths to keep our talk a secret."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll have to keep how I caught your talk a secret, too, for the
+present, old man."</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott! It isn't possible that you've solved the problem of a
+universal detector. Why, that's a thing the navy sharps have been
+working on for years."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't say how I caught your message," shot back Jack's radio through
+space.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have to tell if the government gets after you," was the reply.
+"Uncle Sam isn't going to have a fellow running round loose with
+anything like that."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"That you will be forbidden to use it."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that's so. I'm going to make out a report for my superiors about
+it right now. You're pretty fresh."</p>
+
+<p>"Put that in the report, too," chuckled the <i>Columbia's</i> wireless
+disdainfully.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll find it's no joke to monkey with the government," snapped back
+the naval man.</p>
+
+<p>Jack didn't answer. A message from the <i>Taurus</i>, of the Bull Line, was
+coming in. She had sighted an iceberg, something very unusual at that
+time of year. Jack hurried the message, which gave latitude and
+longitude of the menace, to Captain Turner.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that won't bother us," said that dignitary. "We're far to the
+south of that. Those Bull fellows run to Quebec. Send a radio to Captain
+Spencer, of the <i>Taurus</i>, thanking him for his information."</p>
+
+<p>The great man, the captain of a liner, who has literally more power than
+a king, lit a cigar, and bent his head once more over the problem in
+navigation he was wrestling with. Jack saluted and hurried back to his
+quarters.</p>
+
+<p>He was highly elated over the success of his Universal Detector. The
+threats of the government man did not alarm him, for he did not propose
+to place his invention on the general market, but to sell it outright to
+the government, whose secret it would then remain.</p>
+
+<p>He resolved to test it again. A moment after he had put the receivers to
+his ears, a broad grin came over his face. The air was literally vibrant
+with the calls of the navy men, flinging their high-powered currents
+through space.</p>
+
+<p>"... he's a cheeky beggar, whoever he is, but he's got the goods," was
+the first he heard.</p>
+
+<p>"Hum, that's Mr. Washington," thought Jack. Then, from some other point
+came another message.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott! Uncle Sam won't let him get away with anything like that."</p>
+
+<p>"I should say not. The Secret Service department is already at work
+trying to find out who the dickens he is."</p>
+
+<p>"That will be a sweet job," came the naval station at Point Judith.</p>
+
+<p>"Talk about a needle in a haystack," sputtered the U. S. S. <i>Alabama</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a patch on it," agreed the great dreadnought <i>Florida</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Then came Washington again.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you it's stirred up a fuss here," he said. "I wonder who it
+can be."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe that Italian fellow who invented the sliding sounder," suggested
+the <i>Florida</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Or Pederson, out in Chicago," came from a land station. All the navy
+men appeared to be joining in the confab.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, what a fuss I've stirred up," thought Jack, with a quiet
+smile. "They'd never guess in a million years that it's a kid of an
+operator who's causing all the trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"No; both the men you mentioned are in Europe," declared Washington.
+"The department's been trailing them since they got my news."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the wireless men are going to be a happy hunting ground for the
+Secret Service fellows for this one little while," chuckled the
+<i>Florida</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Wonder if he's listening now?" struck in the <i>North Dakota</i>, which had
+not yet talked.</p>
+
+<p>"Shouldn't wonder," remarked the <i>Idaho</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Jack pressed down his key and the spark began to flash and crackle.</p>
+
+<p>"You fellows are having a grand old pow-wow," he said. "Sorry I can't
+give you any information. I know you're dying of curiosity."</p>
+
+<p>"You've got your nerve, I must say," sputtered Washington indignantly.
+"Have you been listening right along?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; that Secret Service hunt is going to be very interesting."</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be very interesting for you, whoever you are, when they get
+you," thundered the mighty <i>Florida</i>. "It's bad business monkeying with
+Uncle Sam."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe they won't get me," suggested Jack's spark.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, they will," came from Washington, "and you'll find it doesn't
+pay to be as sassy as you've been."</p>
+
+<p>"M-M-M," sent out Jack mischievously.</p>
+
+<p>The three letters mean, in telegraphers' and wireless men's language,
+"laughter."</p>
+
+<p>Washington's dignity took fire at this gross insult. They must have
+sizzled as from the national capital an angry message shot out to the
+other ships to talk in code. Jack's fun was over, but he had thoroughly
+enjoyed all the excitement he had stirred up. As he laid down the
+receivers Raynor came in.</p>
+
+<p>"You look tickled to death over something," he exclaimed. "What's up?"</p>
+
+<p>Jack sprang to his feet. His eyes were shining. He clasped Raynor's hand
+and wrung it pump-handle fashion. Raynor looked at the usually quiet,
+rather self-contained lad, in blank astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"What's happened&mdash;somebody wirelessed you that you're heir to a
+million?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"No, better than that, Billy."</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott! Tell me."</p>
+
+<p>"Billy, old boy, it works. It works like a charm. I've got half the navy
+all snarled up about it now. By to-morrow they'll be after me with
+Secret Service men."</p>
+
+<p>"Gee whillakers. You've done the trick! Good for you, old boy."</p>
+
+<p>A sudden shadow in the open door made them both look round. Thurman
+stood in the embrasure.</p>
+
+<p>"May I add my congratulations?" he said, holding out his hand.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE NAVY DEPARTMENT "SITS UP."</h3>
+
+
+<p>Jack could not refuse the proffered hand. But he took it with an uneasy
+air. There was something not quite "straight" about Thurman, it seemed
+to Jack, but as the former offered his congratulations he appeared
+sincere enough.</p>
+
+<p>"After all, it may be just his misfortune that he can't look you in the
+eyes," Jack told himself.</p>
+
+<p>But if he had been in the wireless room that night he would have deemed
+his suspicions only too well founded. Thurman busied himself with
+routine matters till he was sure Jack was asleep. Then he began calling
+Washington with monotonous regularity.</p>
+
+<p>An irritable operator answered him. By the wave length the Washington
+man knew that it was not a naval station or vessel calling.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;yes&mdash;what&mdash;is&mdash;it?" he snapped.</p>
+
+<p>"I know the fellow who has that Universal Detector."</p>
+
+<p>"What!" The other man, hundreds of miles away, almost fell out of his
+chair. Recovering himself, he shot out another message:</p>
+
+<p>"Who is this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind that, just for the present."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, you're not that fresh fellow himself talking just to kid us, are
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I'm far from joking. I expect to make some money out of this."</p>
+
+<p>"A reward?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's the idea."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there's no doubt but you would get it if you really have the
+information. The department's been all up in the air ever since that
+fellow butted in."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to report this conversation?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most assuredly."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't forget that I demand a substantial reward for the information."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't. When will you call me again?"</p>
+
+<p>"About this time to-morrow night."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, then. Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>Thurman took the receiver from his head with a slow smile of
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess that will cook that fresh kid's goose," he said. "It's a mean
+thing to do, maybe, but I need the money, and I'm glad to get a chance
+to set him down a peg or two."</p>
+
+<p>Thurman could hardly wait for the next night to come. During the day
+Jack had been having some more fun with the navy men, driving them
+almost wild. When Thurman finally got Washington, therefore, everything
+in the government's big wireless station was at fever heat. A high
+official of the navy sat by the operator, waiting for Thurman's promised
+call to come out of space.</p>
+
+<p>Men of the Secret Service were scattered about the room as well as
+department officials. The air was tense with expectancy. At last
+Thurman's message came.</p>
+
+<p>His first question was about the reward.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell him he will be liberally rewarded," ordered the naval official.
+"Tell him to give us the information at once. That fellow has been
+playing with us all day, and we've been powerless to outwit the
+Universal Detector, or whatever device it is he uses. The man must be a
+wizard to have solved a problem that has baffled the keenest minds in
+the Navy Bureau."</p>
+
+<p>"Reward is assured you," flashed back the naval operator. "Now give us
+your information. Time is precious."</p>
+
+<p>But Thurman's answer proved disappointing to those in the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Impossible to do so now. Inventor is on the high seas. Will wireless
+you later when he will return."</p>
+
+<p>"Confound it," grumbled the naval official. "I thought we would have had
+our hands on the fellow before daylight. Now it seems we shall have to
+play a waiting game."</p>
+
+<p>"If the man is on the high seas, it is not unlikely that he is the
+wireless man on one of the liners," put in Burns, a spare, grizzled man
+and Chief of the Secret Service.</p>
+
+<p>"That's probable, Burns," rejoined the navy official.</p>
+
+<p>"More than likely, I think," put in another member of the group, "but
+it's impossible to find out which one."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we are at the mercy of our unknown informant," said Burns. "Why
+the deuce was he so mysterious about it?" He tugged at his gray mustache
+as a sudden thought struck him.</p>
+
+<p>"Jove!" he exclaimed. "You don't think it's a put-up job to get money
+out of the government? Put up, I mean, by an agent of the inventor
+himself."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, Burns," was the official's reply. "It's all mighty
+mysterious. I confess I can't hazard a guess as to the man's identity.
+We've looked up all the most prominent wireless sharps all over the
+country. I am satisfied this fellow is not one of their number."</p>
+
+<p>"Some obscure fellow, I guess," said a Secret Service man.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he won't remain obscure long," remarked Burns, "if he has brains
+enough to turn the navy department topsy-turvy for forty-eight hours."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>A MYSTERY ON BOARD.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Two days later the monotony of the voyage, which was broken only by the
+radiograms which were posted daily concerning the race between the
+American and British liners&mdash;the <i>Columbia</i> being in the lead&mdash;was
+rudely shattered by an incident in which Jack was destined to play an
+important part. Jack had been on a visit to Raynor during the young
+engineer's night watch in the engine-room. They had stayed chatting and
+talking over old times till Jack suddenly realized that it was long
+after midnight and time for him to be in his bunk.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily saying good-night, he made his way through the deserted
+corridors of the great ship, which stretched empty and dimly lit before
+him. As he traversed them the young wireless man could not but think of
+the contrast to the busy life of the day when stewards swarmed and
+passengers hurried to and fro. Now everything was silent and deserted,
+except for the still figures up on the bridge and below in the engine
+and fire rooms, guiding and powering the great vessel onward through the
+night at a twenty-four-knot clip.</p>
+
+<p>The lad had just reached the end of one corridor, and was about to turn
+into another which led to a companionway, which would bring him to his
+own domain, when he stopped short, startled by the sound of a single
+sharp outcry. It came from the corridor he was about to turn into. Jack
+darted round the corner and almost instantly stumbled over the huddled
+body of a man lying outside one of the cabin doors.</p>
+
+<p>A dark stain was under his head, and Jack saw at once that the man had
+been the victim of an attack. At almost the same moment, by the dim
+light, he recognized the unconscious form as being that of Joseph
+Rosenstein, a diamond merchant, so wealthy and famous that he had been
+pointed out to Jack by the purser as a celebrity.</p>
+
+<p>"Queer fellow," the purser had said. "Won't put his jewels in the safe,
+although I understand he is carrying three magnificent diamonds with
+him. Likely to get into trouble if anyone on board knows about it."</p>
+
+<p>"He's taking big chances," agreed Jack, and now here was the proof of
+his words lying at the boy's feet. Suddenly he recalled having received
+a message a few days before from New York for the injured man.</p>
+
+<p>"Be very careful. F. is on board," it had read, and Jack interpreted
+this to be meant as a warning to the diamond merchant. But he did not
+devote much attention to it just then, except to rouse the sleepy
+stewards. Within a few minutes the captain and the doctor were on the
+scene.</p>
+
+<p>"A nasty cut, done with a blackjack or a club," opined Dr. Browning, as
+he raised the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it a mortal wound?" asked the captain. "This is a terrible thing to
+have happen on my ship."</p>
+
+<p>"I think he'll pull through if no complications set in," said the
+doctor, and ordered the man removed to his cabin. Suddenly Jack
+recollected what the purser had said about the diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon, sir," said he to the captain, "but I heard that this
+man carried about valuable diamonds with him. He was probably attacked
+for purposes of robbery."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right," answered the captain, with a quick look of approval at
+Jack. "Browning, we'd better examine the contents of his pockets." They
+did so, but no traces of precious stones could be found.</p>
+
+<p>"Whoever did this, robbed him," declared the captain, with a somber
+brow, "and the deuce of it is that, unless we can detect him, he will
+walk ashore at Southampton or Cherbourg a free man."</p>
+
+<p>The door of the stateroom opposite to which the injured man lay opened
+suddenly, and a little, wizen-faced man, wearing spectacles, looked out.
+He appeared startled and shocked as he saw the limp form.</p>
+
+<p>"Good gracious! This is terrible, terrible, captain," he sputtered.
+"Is&mdash;is the man dead?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, Professor Dusenberry, although that does not appear to be the fault
+of whoever attacked him," was the rejoinder.</p>
+
+<p>"He was attacked, then, for purposes of robbery, do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suspect so."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear, this has so upset me that I shan't sleep the rest of the
+night," protested the little man, and withdrew into his stateroom.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, naturally, the whole ship buzzed with the news of the
+night's happenings, and speculation ran rife as to who could have
+attacked the diamond merchant, who had recovered consciousness and was
+able to talk. He himself had not the slightest idea of his assailant. He
+had sat up till late in the smoking saloon, he said, and was coming
+along the corridor to his stateroom when he was struck down from behind.
+A black leather wallet, containing three diamonds, which were destined
+to be sold to the scion of a European royal house, was missing from his
+pocket, and the loss nearly drove the unfortunate diamond man frantic.
+He valued the stones at $150,000, so that perhaps his frenzy at losing
+them was not unnatural.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon, Professor Dusenberry, dressed in a frock coat and top
+hat, although he was at sea and the weather was warm, came into the
+wireless room. He wanted to send a message, he said, a wireless to
+London. He was very cautious about inquiring the price and all the
+details before he sat down to write out his dispatch. When it was
+completed he handed it to Jack with his thin fingers, and asked that it
+be dispatched at once. Then he retreated, or rather faded, from the
+wireless room. Jack scanned the message with thoughtful eyes. It seemed
+an odd radiogram for a college professor, such as he had heard Prof.
+Dusenberry was, to be sending. It read as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Meet me at three on the granite paving-stones. The weather is
+fine, but got no specimens. There is no suspicion as you have
+directed, but I'm afraid wrong."</p>
+
+<p>F.</p></div>
+
+<p>"Well, that's a fine muddle for somebody to make out when they get it,"
+mused Jack, as he sent out a call for the Fowey Station.</p>
+
+<p>"Must be some sort of a cipher the old fellow is using. He's a dry sort
+of old stick. Goodness! How scared he was when he saw that man lying
+outside his door. I thought he was going to faint or something."</p>
+
+<p>"Wonder what sort of a cipher that is," mused Jack, as he waited for an
+answer to his call. "Looks to me as if it's one of those numerical
+ciphers where every second or third or fourth or fifth word is taken
+from the context and composes a message. Guess I'll try and work it out
+some time. It'll be something to do. And, hullo, he signs himself 'F'."</p>
+
+<p>Jack looked up at the printed passenger-list that hung before him.
+"Professor F. Dusenberry" was the last of the "D's"</p>
+
+<p>"His initial," thought Jack, "but it's a funny coincidence that it
+should be the same as that of the man the diamond merchant was warned to
+watch out for, and that it should have been the professor's door outside
+of which he was struck down."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A "FLASH" OF DISTRESS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Having dispatched the message, Jack sat back in his chair and mused over
+the future of the Universal Detector. It was a fascinating subject to
+day-dream over, but his reverie was rudely interrupted by a sharp
+summons from space.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;yes&mdash;yes," he shot back, "who&mdash;is&mdash;it?"</p>
+
+<p>"This is the <i>Oriana</i>," came back the reply, "Hamburg for New York. We
+are in distress."</p>
+
+<p>"What's the trouble?"</p>
+
+<p>The spark crackled and writhed, as Jack's rapid fingers spelled out the
+message.</p>
+
+<p>"We struck a half submerged derelict and our bow is stove in. We believe
+we are sinking. This is an S. O. S."</p>
+
+<p>Then followed the position of the craft and another earnest appeal to
+rush to her aid. Jack roughly figured out the distances that separated
+the two ships.</p>
+
+<p>"Will be there in about two hours," he flashed, and then hurried to
+Captain Turner's cabin with his message.</p>
+
+<p>The captain scanned the message with contracted brow.</p>
+
+<p>"The <i>Oriana</i>," he muttered, "I know her well. Rotten old tramp. We must
+have full speed ahead. Stand by your wireless, Ready, and tell them we
+are rushing at top speed to their aid. Confound it, though," he went on,
+half to himself, "this will lose us the race with the Britisher, but
+still if we can save the lives of those poor devils I shall be just as
+well satisfied."</p>
+
+<p>The captain hastened to the bridge to issue his orders and change the
+big ship's course. Jack went quickly back to his cabin and began
+flashing out messages of good cheer. About half an hour later Captain
+Turner came along.</p>
+
+<p>"Any more news, Ready?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. Their current is getting weak. The last time I had them the
+operator said that the ship was slowly settling, but that they had the
+steam pumps going and would keep them working till the water reached the
+fires. The officers were keeping the firemen at their work with
+revolvers."</p>
+
+<p>"I've been through such scenes," remarked the captain. "It's part of a
+seaman's life, but it's an inferno while it lasts."</p>
+
+<p>"Notify me if you hear anything further," said Captain Turner a few
+moments later.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. Hullo, here's something coming now. It's the <i>Borovian</i>, of
+the Black Star line. She got that S. O. S. too, and is hurrying to the
+rescue. But she's far to the south of us."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we shall reach the <i>Oriana</i> long before she does," said the
+captain. "By the way, Ready, I've heard that you have quite a reputation
+for loving adventure."</p>
+
+<p>Jack colored. He did not quite make out what the captain was "driving
+at," as the saying is.</p>
+
+<p>"I do like action, yes, sir," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then," said Captain Turner, "you've got a little excitement due
+to you for your prompt action last night in the case of the assault on
+that diamond merchant. If you want to go on the boats to the <i>Oriana</i>,
+you may do so. Get Thurman to stand by the wireless while you're gone.
+You can make the time up to him on some other occasion."</p>
+
+<p>Jack's eyes danced. He could hardly express his thanks at the
+opportunity for a break in the rather monotonous life on shipboard. But
+the captain had turned on his heel as he finished his speech and left
+the grateful lad alone.</p>
+
+<p>Thurman was sleeping when Jack roused him. When he learned that Jack was
+to make one of the boat parties and that he (Thurman) was to remain on
+duty, the second wireless man's temper flared up.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a fine thing, I must say," he growled. "You're to go on a junket
+while I do your work. I won't stand for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Pshaw, Thurman," said Jack pacifically. "I'll do the same for you at
+any time you say. Besides, I heard you say once you wouldn't like to go
+in the small boats."</p>
+
+<p>"Think I'm afraid, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"I said no such thing," retorted Jack, "I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care, you thought it. I'll complain to Captain Turner."</p>
+
+<p>"I would not advise you to."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your advice to yourself. I've got pull enough to have you fired."</p>
+
+<p>"This line treats its employees too fairly for any such claim as a
+'pull' to be advanced."</p>
+
+<p>"You think so, eh? Well, I'll show you. You've been acting like a
+swelled head all the way over, Ready," said Thurman, forgetting all
+bounds in his anger. "I'll find a way to fix you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Say, you talk like an angry kid who's been put out of a ball game,"
+said Jack. "I hope you get over it by the time you come on duty."</p>
+
+<p>An angry snarl was Thurman's only rejoinder as Jack left the wireless
+operator's sleeping quarters. But the next instant all thought of
+Thurman was put out of his mind. The lookout had reported from the
+crow's-nest. On the far horizon a mighty cloud of dark smoke was rising
+and spreading.</p>
+
+<p>Before many moments had passed it was known that fire&mdash;that greatest of
+sea perils&mdash;had been added to the sinking <i>Oriana's</i> troubles.</p>
+
+<p>As the news spread through the ship the passengers thronged to the
+rails. Suppressed excitement ran wild among them. Even Jack found
+himself unable to stay still as he thought of the lives in peril under
+that far-off smoke pall. All communication with the stricken ship had
+ceased, and Jack knew that things must have reached a crisis for her
+crew.</p>
+
+<p>Then came an order to cast loose four boats, two on the port and two on
+the starboard side. Officers and men obeyed with a will. By the time
+they were ready to be dropped overside, the outlines of the burning
+steamer were plainly visible. She looked very low in the water. From her
+midships section smoke, in immense black clouds, was pouring.</p>
+
+<p>But to Jack's surprise no boats surrounded her, as he had expected would
+be the case. Instead, on her stern, an old-fashioned, high-raised one,
+he could make out, through his glasses, a huddled mass of human figures.
+Suddenly one figure detached itself from the rest and Jack saw a pistol
+raised and aimed at the lower deck. Spurts of smoke from the weapon
+followed. Thrilled, Jack was about to report what he had seen to the
+bridge when the third officer, a young man named Billings, came up to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"You're in my boat," he said. "Cut along."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A STRANGE WRECK.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well, boys, we got here just in time," observed Mr. Billings, as the
+boat cut through the water.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not so sure that we have arrived in time to avert a tragedy," said
+Jack, and he told of the shooting that he had witnessed.</p>
+
+<p>"Probably a mutiny," said Mr. Billings, with the voice of experience.
+"The crews on those old tramps are the riff-raff of a hundred ports. Bad
+men to handle in an emergency."</p>
+
+<p>He had hardly finished speaking when, borne toward them on the wind,
+which was setting from the burning, sinking ship, came a most appalling
+uproar. It sounded like the shrieks of hundreds of passing souls mingled
+with deep roars and screeches.</p>
+
+<p>Even Mr. Billings turned a shade paler under his tan.</p>
+
+<p>"In the name of heaven what was that?" he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke a huge tawny form was seen to climb upon the rail of the
+rusty old steamer and then launch itself into the sea with a mighty
+roar.</p>
+
+<p>"A lion!" exclaimed Jack, "by all that's wonderful, a lion."</p>
+
+<p>"That explains the mystery of those noises and the predicament of those
+poor fellows crowded on the stern away from the boats," said Mr.
+Billings, who had quite regained his self-possession.</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but I don't understand," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"That ship has a cargo of wild animals on board," explained Mr.
+Billings. "Such shipments are regularly made from Hamburg, her hailing
+port, to America. Most probably she had lions, tigers, leopards, great
+serpents and other animals on board. When her bow was stove in a number
+of cages were smashed and the wild beasts escaped."</p>
+
+<p>"That accounts for the shooting I saw, then," exclaimed Jack; "they must
+have been firing from the raised stern at the animals which menaced them
+on the main deck."</p>
+
+<p>"Unquestionably. I am glad I brought my own shooting iron," said Mr.
+Billings. "I packed it along in case we had trouble with a mutinous
+crew."</p>
+
+<p>They were now close to the blazing ship. The heat and odor of the flames
+were clearly felt.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have to pull around on the weather side," decided Mr. Brown. "If
+we come up under the wind, we'd all be scorched before we could effect
+any rescues.</p>
+
+<p>"Pull round the stern, my lads," he ordered.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye, sir," came in a deep-throated chorus from the crew.</p>
+
+<p>As the four boats made under the stern, white, anxious faces looked down
+on them.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank heaven you've come!" exclaimed the captain, whose haggard
+countenance showed all that he had been through. "We're just about at
+our last ditch. The animals we were taking from Jamrachs, in Hamburg,
+for an American circus, broke loose after the collision with the
+derelict. They've killed two of my men and maimed another."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, my hearties, just hold on a minute and we'll have you out of
+that," exclaimed Mr. Billings cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>More roars and screeches from the loosened animals checked him. Then
+came more shots, telling of an attack on the stern, the only cool part
+of the ship left, which had been repulsed. The flames shot up, seeming
+to reach to the sky, and the smoke blotted out the sun, enveloping
+everything in the burning ship's vicinity in a sort of twilight.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think we'll be able to get all of them off?" asked Jack eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm in hopes that we will," said Mr. Billings, "if nothing untoward
+happens."</p>
+
+<p>There was, Jack noticed, a shade of anxiety in the young officer's tone.
+There was, then, some peril, of which he knew nothing as yet, attached
+to the enterprise, thought Jack. But of the nature of the danger he had
+no guess till later.</p>
+
+<p>As the first boat, Mr. Billings' craft, drew alongside the blistering
+side of the burning ship, a Jacob's ladder came snaking down from the
+stern. At almost the same moment Jack, who had been looking upward,
+uttered a shout of alarm.</p>
+
+<p>The fierce face of a wild beast had suddenly appeared above the rail of
+the blazing <i>Oriana</i>. The next instant a great lithe, striped body
+streaked through the air straight for the boat. Instinctively Jack, who
+saw the huge form of the tiger, for that was the desperate
+flame-maddened creature that had made the jump, sprang for the side of
+the boat and dived overboard.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="i3" id="i3"></a>
+<img src="images/i3.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3>The next instant a great lithe, striped body streaked through the air.&mdash;</h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>He was not a second too soon. The tiger struck the side of the boat in
+the stern just where Jack had been sitting a fragment of a minute
+before. The boat heeled over as the great beast, mad with terror, clawed
+at its sides with its fore-paws and endeavored to climb in. Mr.
+Billings, pale but firm, whipped out his revolver with an untrembling
+hand while the men, utterly unnerved, dropped their oars and shouted
+with alarm.</p>
+
+<p>Bang! The tiger gave a struggle that almost capsized the boat. Then,
+suddenly, its claws relaxed their hold and it slid into the water, limp
+and lifeless, shot between the eyes. But where was Jack? The question
+just occurred to Mr. Billings when, looking up suddenly, he saw
+something that made him yell a swift order at the top of his lungs.</p>
+
+<p>"Row for your lives, men, row. She's going to blow up!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>CAST AWAY WITH A PYTHON.</h3>
+
+
+<p>When Jack dived overboard he was so unnerved by the sudden apparition of
+the fear-frenzied tiger that he rose some distance back of the boat. He
+came to the surface just in time to see the slaying of the animal and
+hear Mr. Billings' sharp cry of warning.</p>
+
+<p>Before he could attract attention the boats were all pulling at top
+speed from the burning ship.</p>
+
+<p>"She's going to blow up!" the words etched themselves on Jack's brain
+with the rapidity of a photographic plate.</p>
+
+<p>He saw a convulsive tremor shake the big steel fabric and the despairing
+shouts of the men in the stern rang in his ears. At the same moment he
+dived and began swimming with all his strength away from the doomed
+ship. Suddenly came a shock that even under water seemed to drive his
+ear-drums in.</p>
+
+<p>Then he felt himself seized as if in a giant's grip and dragged down,
+down, down. His vision grew scarlet. His heart beat as if it must burst
+from his frame and his entire body felt as if it was being cruelly
+compressed in a monster vise. Jack knew what had occurred: the boilers
+of the <i>Oriana</i> had blown up and he was being carried down by the
+suction of the hull as it sank.</p>
+
+<p>Just as he felt that he could no longer endure the strain, the dragging
+sensation ceased. Like a stone from a catapult Jack was projected up
+again to the surface of the sea. The sky, the ocean, everything burned
+red as flame as he regained the blessed air and sucked it in in great
+lungfulls.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment or so he was actually unconscious. Then, as his normal
+functions returned, and his sight grew less blurred, he made out a hatch
+floating not far from him. He struck out for this and clambered upon it.
+The sea was strewn with the wreckage of the explosion. Beams, skylights,
+even charred and blistered metal liferafts floated all about him. But
+these did not engross Jack's attention for long after he had cast his
+gaze in the direction where the <i>Oriana</i> last lay. There he encountered
+an extraordinary sight.</p>
+
+<p>On the surface of the ocean floated the stern section of the sunken
+steamer. To it still clung the occupants that he had last seen there.
+Jack rubbed his eyes and looked and looked again. Yes, there was no
+doubt about it, the after part of the <i>Oriana</i> was still afloat,
+although how long it would remain so it was impossible to say.</p>
+
+<p>Jack guessed, and as it afterward transpired, guessed correctly, that
+the watertight bulkhead doors, which had automatically been closed all
+over the ship when the collision occurred, were sustaining the stern
+fragment of the ship on the surface. This part of the <i>Oriana</i>, unharmed
+by the explosion or the collision, was now floating much as a corked
+bottle might be expected to do, excepting, of course, that there was a
+marked list to the drifting fragment.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
+
+<p>Jack now saw the scattered boats returning to the scene. The man in
+command of each was urging the crews on with voice and gesture. Not one
+had been harmed, but it was a narrow escape. Jack set up a shout, but
+apparently, in the excitement of racing for the floating stern part of
+the <i>Oriana</i>, he was unnoticed. However, this did not alarm him, for he
+was sure of being able to attract attention before long.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden lurch of the hatchway on which he was drifting, and the sound
+of a slithering motion as of some heavy body being dragged along some
+rough surface, made him turn his head.</p>
+
+<p>What he saw made him almost lose his grip on the hatchway.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="i4" id="i4"></a>
+<img src="images/i4.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3>What he saw made him almost lose his grip on the hatchway.</h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The hideous flat head and wicked eyes of a huge python faced him. The
+great snake, escaping somehow from the catastrophe to the menagerie
+ship, had swum for the same refuge Jack had chosen. Now it was dragging
+its brilliantly mottled body, as thick as a man's thigh, up upon the
+hatchway. The floating "raft" dipped under the great snake's weight,
+while Jack, literally petrified with horror, watched without motion or
+outcry.</p>
+
+<p>But apparently the snake was too badly stunned by the explosion to be
+inclined for mischief. It coiled its great body compactly in gay-colored
+folds on the hatch and lay still. But Jack noticed that its mottled eyes
+never left his figure.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, I can't stand this much longer," thought Jack.</p>
+
+<p>He looked about him for another bit of wreckage to which he might swim
+and be free of his unpleasant neighbor. But the d&eacute;bris had all drifted
+far apart by this time and his limbs felt too stiffened by his
+involuntary dive to the depths of the ocean for him to attempt a long
+swim.</p>
+
+<p>Not far off he could see the boats busily transferring the castaways of
+the <i>Oriana</i> on board. Supposing they pulled away from the scene without
+seeing him? Undoubtedly, they deemed him lost and would not make a
+search for him. Warmly as the sun beat down, Jack felt a chill that
+turned his blood to ice-water run over him at the thought. Left to drift
+on the broad Atlantic with a serpent for a companion and without a
+weapon with which to defend himself. The thought was maddening and he
+resolutely put it from him.</p>
+
+<p>So far the great snake had lain somnolently, but now, as the sun began
+to warm its body, Jack saw the brilliantly colored folds begin to writhe
+and move. It suddenly appeared to become aware of him and raised its
+flat, spade-shaped head above its coils.</p>
+
+<p>Its tongue darted in and out of its red mouth viciously. Jack became
+conscious of a strong smell of musk, the characteristic odor of
+serpents.</p>
+
+<p>His mouth went dry with fear, although he was naturally a brave lad, as
+we know. A dreadful fascination seemed to hold him in thrall. He could
+not have moved a muscle if his life, as he believed it did, depended on
+his escape. The hideous head began to sway rhythmically in a sort of
+dance. Still Jack could not take his eyes from that swaying head and
+darting red tongue. A species of hypnotic spell fell over him. He heard
+nothing and saw nothing but the swaying snake.</p>
+
+<p>All at once the head shot forward. With a wild yell Jack, out of his
+trance at last, fell backward off the hatch into the water. At the same
+instant Mr. Billings' pistol spoke. Again and again he fired it till the
+great snake's threshing form lay still in death. Unwilling to give Jack
+up for lost, although he feared in his heart that this was the case, the
+third officer would not leave the scene till all hope was exhausted.
+Sweeping the vicinity with his glasses, he had spied the impending
+tragedy on the hatch.</p>
+
+<p>Full speed had been made to the rescue at once and, as we know, aid
+arrived in the nick of time. As Jack rose sputtering to the surface
+strong hands pulled him into the boat. He was told what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>"A narrow escape," said Mr. Billings, beside whom sat Captain Sanders of
+the lost steamer. He looked the picture of woe.</p>
+
+<p>"I owe my life to you, Mr. Billings," burst out Jack, holding out his
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>The seaman took it in his rough brown palm.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, my lad," he said. "Maybe you'll do as much for me
+some day."</p>
+
+<p>And then, as if ashamed even of this display of emotion, he bawled out
+in his roughest voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Give way there, bullies! Don't sit dreaming! Bend your backs!"</p>
+
+<p>As the boats flew back toward where the great bulk of the <i>Columbia</i>,
+her rails lined with eager passengers, rested immobile on the surface of
+the ocean, the castaway captain turned a glance backward to the stern of
+his ship, which was still floating but settling and sinking fast. It was
+easy to guess what his thoughts were.</p>
+
+<p>"That's one of the tragedies of the sea," thought Jack.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>CAPTURED BY RADIO.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was two days later and they were nearing Southampton, but the stop
+they had made to aid the <i>Oriana's</i> crew had given the Britisher a big
+lead on them. The passengers eagerly clustered to read Jack's wireless
+bulletin from the other ship which was posted every day. Excitement ran
+high.</p>
+
+<p>Jack had seen no more of Professor Dusenberry, but he had spent a good
+deal of leisure time pondering over the code message the queer little
+dried up man had sent. Raynor, who had quite a genius for such things,
+and spent much time solving the puzzles in magazines and periodicals,
+helped him. But they did not make much progress.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, however, the night before they were due to reach Southampton,
+Jack was sitting staring at the message when, without warning, as such
+things sometimes will, the real sense of the message leaped at him from
+the page.</p>
+
+<p>"Meet me at <i>three</i> on the paving <i>stones</i>, the weather is <i>fine</i> but
+got no <i>specimens</i>, there is no <i>suspicion</i> as you have <i>directed</i> but
+I'm afraid <i>wrong</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Taking every fourth word from the dispatch then, it read as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Three stones. Fine specimens. Suspicion directed wrong."</p></div>
+
+<p>Jack sat staring like one bewitched as the amazingly simple cipher
+revealed itself in a flash after his hours of study. Granted he had
+struck the right solution, the message was illuminating enough.
+Professor Dusenberry was a dangerous crook, instead of the harmless old
+"crank" the passengers had taken him for, and his cipher message was to
+a confederate.</p>
+
+<p>But on second thought Jack was inclined to believe that it was merely a
+coincidence that placing together every fourth word of the jumbled
+message made a dispatch having a perfectly understandable bearing on the
+jewel theft. It was impossible to believe that Professor Dusenberry,
+mild and self-effacing, could have had a hand in the attack on the
+diamond merchant. Jack was sorely perplexed.</p>
+
+<p>He was still puzzling over the matter when the object of his thoughts
+appeared in his usual timid manner. He wished to send another dispatch,
+he said. While he wrote it out Jack studied the mild, almost benevolent
+features of the man known as Prof. Dusenberry.</p>
+
+<p>"But there's one test," he thought to himself. "If the 'fourth word'
+test applies to this dispatch also, the Professor is a criminal, of a
+dangerous type, in disguise. But he contrived to glance carelessly over
+the dispatch when the professor handed it to him and fumbled in his
+pocket for a wallet with which to pay for it. Not till the seemingly
+mild old man had shuffled out did Jack apply his test to it. The message
+read as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Columbia</i> fast as motor-boat, watch her in Southampton. Am well
+and will no more time throw away on fake life-preserver."</p>
+
+<p>F.</p></div>
+
+<p>With fingers that actually trembled, Jack wrote down every fourth word.
+Here is the result he obtained:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Motorboat Southampton. Will throw life-preserver."</p></div>
+
+<p>"By the great horn-spoon," exclaimed Jack to himself, "it worked out
+like a charm. But still, what am I going to do? I can't go to the
+captain with no more evidence than this. He would not order the man
+detained. I have it!" he cried, after a moment of deep reflection. "The
+Southampton detectives have been already wirelessed about the crime and
+are going to board the ship. I'll flash them another message, telling
+them of the plan to drop the jewels overboard in a life-preserver so
+that they will float till the motor-boat picks them up."</p>
+
+<p>Jack first, however, sent the supposed Prof. Dusenberry's message
+through to London, with which he was now in touch. He noted it was to
+the same address as before, that of a Mr. Jeremy Pottler, 38 South
+Totting Road, W. Then he summoned the Southampton station, and, before
+long, a messenger brought to the police authorities there a dispatch
+that caused a great deal of excitement. He had just finished doing this
+when Jack's attention was attracted by the re-entrance of the professor.</p>
+
+<p>He wanted to look over the dispatch he had sent again, he said, but Jack
+noticed that his eyes, singularly keen behind his spectacles, swept the
+table swiftly as if in search of something. The abstract that Jack had
+made of the cipher dispatch lay in plain view. Jack hastily swept it out
+of sight by an apparently careless movement. But he felt the professor's
+eyes fixed on him keenly.</p>
+
+<p>But if Prof. Dusenberry had observed anything he said nothing. He merely
+remarked that the dispatch appeared to be all right and walked out again
+in his peculiar shambling way.</p>
+
+<p>"The old fox suspects something," thought Jack. "I wonder if he saw that
+little translation I took the liberty of making of his dispatch. If he
+did, he must have known that I smelled a rat."</p>
+
+<p>Just then Raynor dropped in on his way on watch.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we're in to-morrow, Jack," he said, "but I'm afraid the Britisher
+will beat us out."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid so, too," responded Jack. "Their operator has been crowing
+over me all day. But at any rate it was in a good cause."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and they're taking up a subscription for the shipwrecked men at
+the concert to-night, I hear, so that they won't land destitute."</p>
+
+<p>"That's good; but say, Bill, you're off watch to-morrow and I want you
+to do something for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Anything you say."</p>
+
+<p>"This may involve danger."</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott, you talk like Sherlock Holmes or a dime novel. What's up?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've got the man who stole those diamonds."</p>
+
+<p>"What!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't talk so loud. I mean what I say. Listen."</p>
+
+<p>And Jack related everything that had occurred.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, what I want you to do is to watch Prof. Dusenberry, as he calls
+himself, to-morrow when we get into the harbor. His is an inside
+stateroom so that he can't throw it out of a porthole from there. He'll
+most likely go to one at the end of a passage."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and then what?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'd do it myself but the old fox suspects me, I half fancy, and if he
+saw me in the vicinity he'd change his plans. You'd better take two of
+your huskiest firemen with you, Billy. He's an ugly customer, I fancy,
+and might put up a bad fight."</p>
+
+<p>"U-m-m-m, some job," mused Billy. "Why don't you put the whole thing up
+to the captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"It would do no good the way things are now, and he might get wind of it
+and hide the jewels so that they couldn't be found. Anyhow, we've no
+proof against him till he is actually caught throwing the jewels out in
+that life-preserver to his confederates in the motor-boat."</p>
+
+<p>"I see, you want to catch him red-handed, but what about those cipher
+radios?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's no way of proving that I read the cipher right," said Jack.
+"Our only way is to do as I suggested."</p>
+
+<p>"I hear that Rosenstein has offered a big reward for the recovery of the
+diamonds," said Billy. "He's up and about again, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Billy, I think he'll have his diamonds back by to-morrow noon if
+we follow out my plan."</p>
+
+<p>And so it was arranged. The next morning Jack received a message from
+Southampton:</p>
+
+<p>"All ready. Does our man suspect anything?"</p>
+
+<p>This was Jack's answer:</p>
+
+<p>"Not so far as I know. Have a plan to catch him red-handed. You watch
+the motor-boat."</p>
+
+<p>Saluted by the whistles of a hundred water craft, the <i>Columbia</i> made
+stately progress into Southampton harbor. As her leviathan bulk moved
+majestically along under reduced speed, her whistles blowing and her
+flag dipping in acknowledgment of the greeting, Jack with a beating
+heart, stood on the upper deck watching earnestly for developments.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that Billy and the two firemen he had selected to help him, on
+what might prove a dangerous job, were below watching Prof. Dusenberry.
+They all wore stewards' uniforms so that the man who Jack believed
+struck down the diamond merchant and stole the stones might not get
+suspicious at seeing them about in the corridors.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe they must have changed their plans, after all," Jack was
+thinking when, from the shore, there shot out, at tremendous speed, a
+sharp-bowed, swift motor-boat. It headed straight for the <i>Columbia</i>. As
+it drew closer, Jack saw it held two men. Both were blowing a whistle,
+waving flags and pointing at the big ship as if they, like many other
+small water craft, were just out to get a glimpse of the triumph of
+American shipbuilders.</p>
+
+<p>They maneuvered close alongside, while Jack's fingers grasped the rail
+till the paint flaked off under the pressure he exerted in his
+excitement. What was happening below? he wondered. Could Billy and his
+companions carry out their part of the program? Not far from the boy the
+diamond merchant, unconscious of the drama being enacted on his account,
+stood, with bandaged head, explaining for the hundredth time the beauty
+and the value of the gems he had lost.</p>
+
+<p>"Five thousand thalers I give if I get them back," he declared.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Jack's heart gave a bound. From a port far down on the side of
+the ship, and almost directly under him, a white object was hurled. It
+struck the water with a splash and spread out, floating buoyantly.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the black motor-boat darted forward, one of the men on board
+holding a boat hook extended to grasp the floating life-preserver,
+hidden in which was a king's fortune in gems.</p>
+
+<p>Jack stood still just one instant. Then, driven by an impulse he could
+not explain, he threw off his coat, kicked off the loose slippers he
+wore when at work, and the next moment he had mounted the rail and made
+a clean, swift dive for the life-preserver.</p>
+
+<p>Billy rushed on deck, excitement written on his face, just as Jack dived
+overboard.</p>
+
+<p>"Jack! Jack!" he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>But he was too late.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Neptune, has the boy gone mad?" exclaimed Captain Turner, who had
+passed along the deck just in time to see Jack's dive. Regardless of sea
+etiquette, Billy grasped the skipper's arm and rushed into a narrative
+of the plan he and Jack had hoped to carry out.</p>
+
+<p>"But Dusenberry was too quick for us, sir," he concluded.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind that, now," cried the captain, "that boy may be in danger."</p>
+
+<p>He looked over the rail, which, owing to most of the passengers being
+busy below with their preparations for landing, was almost deserted.
+Billy was at his side. In the black motor-boat two men stood with their
+hands up. Alongside was a speedy-looking launch full of strapping big
+men with firm jaws and the unmistakable stamp of detectives the world
+over. Some of them were hauling on board the police launch Jack's
+dripping figure, which clung fast to the life-preserver. Others kept the
+men in the black launch covered with their pistols.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later, when the passengers&mdash;all that is but Mr.
+Rosenstein&mdash;had gone ashore (the diamond merchant had been asked by the
+captain to remain), a little group was assembled in Captain Turner's
+cabin. In the center of it stood Professor Dusenberry, alias Foxy Fred,
+looking ever more meek and mild than usual. He had been seized and bound
+by the two disguised firemen as he threw the life-preserver, but not in
+time to prevent his getting it out of the port. Beside him, also
+manacled, were the two men who had been in the motor-boat and who,
+according to the Southampton police, formed a trio of the most daring
+diamond thieves who ever operated.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we may send for Mr. Rosenstein now," said Captain Turner with a
+smile. "Only I hope that he is not subject to attacks of heart failure.
+Ready," he said, turning to Jack, who stood side by side with Billy,
+"take these and give them to Mr. Rosenstein with your compliments."</p>
+
+<p>Jack blushed and hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd,&mdash;I'd rather&mdash;sir&mdash;if you&mdash;don't mind&mdash;&mdash;" he stammered.</p>
+
+<p>"You may regard what I just said as an order if you like," said Captain
+Turner, trying to look grim, while everybody else, but Jack and the
+prisoners, smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"You wanted to see me on important business, captain?" asked Mr.
+Rosenstein, as he entered. "You will keep me as short a time as
+possible, please. I must get to Scotland Yard, my diamonds&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Are right here in this boy's hand," said the captain, pushing Jack
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>"What! This is the fellow who took them?" thundered the diamond
+merchant.</p>
+
+<p>"No; this is the lad you have to thank for recovering them for you from
+those three men yonder," said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Professor Dusenberry!" exclaimed the diamond expert, throwing up his
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Or Foxy Fred," grinned one of the English detectives.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my head, it goes round," exclaimed Mr. Rosenstein.</p>
+
+<p>"This lad, with wonderful ingenuity, and finally courage, when he leaped
+overboard to save your property, traced the guilty parties," went on the
+captain, "and by wireless arranged for their capture."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a bit of work to be proud of," said the head of the English
+contingent.</p>
+
+<p>"It is that," said the captain. "It has cleared away a cloud that might
+have hung over this ship till the mystery was dispelled, which probably
+would have been never."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rosenstein, who had taken the diamonds from Jack, stood apparently
+stupefied, holding them on his palm. Suddenly, however, to Jack's great
+embarrassment, he threw both arms round the boy's neck and saluted him
+on both cheeks. Then he rushed at Billy and finally the two firemen, who
+dodged out of the way. Then he drew out a check book and began writing
+rapidly. He handed a pink slip of paper to Jack. It was a check for
+$5,000.</p>
+
+<p>"A souvenir," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but&mdash;&mdash;" began Jack, "we didn't do it for money. It was our duty
+to the company and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It's your duty to the company to take that check, then," laughed
+Captain Turner, and in the end Jack did. The two firemen, who had helped
+the boys, received a good share of it and later were promoted by the
+company for their good work. As for Prof. Dusenberry and his companions,
+they vanish from our story when, in custody of the detectives, they went
+over the side a few minutes later. But Jack and Billy to-day have two
+very handsome diamond and emerald scarf-pins, the gifts of the grateful
+Mr. Rosenstein.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks as if we are always having adventures of some kind or another,"
+said Billy to Jack that evening as they strolled about the town, for the
+ship would not sail for Cherbourg, her last port before the homeward
+voyage, till the next day.</p>
+
+<p>"It certainly does look that way," agreed Jack and then, with a laugh,
+he added:</p>
+
+<p>"But they don't all turn out so profitably as this one."</p>
+
+<p>With which Billy agreed.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2>
+
+<h3>THURMAN PLOTS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was two nights before the <i>Columbia</i>, on her homeward voyage, entered
+New York harbor. On the trip across she had once more had the big
+British greyhound of the seas for a rival. But this time there was a
+different tale to tell. The <i>Columbia</i> was coming home, as Billy Raynor
+put it, "with a broom at the main-mast head."</p>
+
+<p>All day the wireless snapped out congratulations from the shore. Jack
+was kept busy transmitting shore greetings and messages from returning
+voyagers who had chosen the finest ship under the stars and stripes on
+which to return to the United States. Patriotism ran riot as every
+bulletin showed the <i>Columbia</i> reeling over two or three knots more an
+hour than her rival. One enthusiastic millionaire offered a
+twenty-dollar gold piece to every fireman, and five dollars each to all
+the other members of the crew, if the <i>Columbia</i> beat her fleet rival by
+a five-hour margin. The money was as good as won.</p>
+
+<p>Thurman sat in the wireless room. His head was in his hands and he was
+thinking deeply. Should he or should he not send that message to
+Washington which, he was sure, would cause Jack's arrest the instant the
+ship docked. He had struggled with his conscience for some time. But
+then the thought of the reward and the fancied grudge he owed Jack
+overtopped every other consideration. He seized the key and began
+calling the big naval station.</p>
+
+<p>It was not long before he got a reply, for when not talking to warships
+the land stations of the department use normal wave-lengths.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is this?" came the question from the government man.</p>
+
+<p>"It's X. Y. Z," rapped out Thurman.</p>
+
+<p>This was the signature he had appended to his other messages.</p>
+
+<p>"The thunder you say," spelled out the other; "we thought we'd never
+hear from you again."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, here I am."</p>
+
+<p>"So it appears. Well, are you ready to tell us who this chap is who's
+been mystifying us so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Great ginger, wait till I get Rear-admiral &mdash;&mdash; and Secretary &mdash;&mdash; on
+the 'phone. It's late but they'll get out of bed to hear this news."</p>
+
+<p>But it transpired that both the officials were at a reception and
+Thurman was asked to wait till they could be rushed at top speed to the
+wireless station in automobiles. At last everything was ready and
+Thurman, while drops of sweat rolled down his face, rapped out his
+treachery and sent it flashing from the antenn&aelig; across the sea.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," came the reply when he had finished, "the secretary also
+wishes me to thank you and assure you of your reward. Secret Service men
+will meet the ship at the pier."</p>
+
+<p>"And Jack Ready, what about him?"</p>
+
+<p>"He will be taken care of. You had better proceed to Washington as soon
+as possible after you land."</p>
+
+<p>"How much will the reward be?" greedily demanded Thurman.</p>
+
+<p>"The secretary directs me to say that it will be suitable," was the
+rejoinder.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, when Jack came on duty, he sent a personal message to
+Uncle Toby via Siasconset. This was it:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Universal detector a success. Will you wire Washington of my
+intention to proceed there with all speed when I arrive?</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Jack</span>."</p></div>
+
+<p>Late that day he got back an answer that appeared to astonish him a good
+deal, for he sat knitting his brows over it for some moments.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Washington says some ding-gasted sneak has been cutting up funny
+tricks. Looks like you have been talking.</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Toby Ready</span>."</p></div>
+
+<p>This characteristic message occupied Jack for some moments till he
+thought of a reply to its rather vaguely worded contents. Then he got
+Siasconset and shot this through the air:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Have talked to no one who could have seen Washington. My last
+letter to the Secretary of the Navy was that I thought I was on the
+road to success.</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Jack</span>."</p></div>
+
+<p>No reply came to this and Jack went off watch with the matter as much of
+a mystery as ever. But as Thurman came in to relieve him a sudden
+suspicion shot across Jack's mind. Could Thurman have&mdash;&mdash;?</p>
+
+<p>He recalled the night he had caught him examining the device with such
+care! Jack had since removed it, but in searching in the waste basket
+for a message discarded by mistake he had since come across what
+appeared to be crude sketches of the Universal Detector. If Thurman had
+not drawn them, Jack was at a loss to know who had. But for some
+mysterious reason he only smiled as he left the wireless room.</p>
+
+<p>"If you've been up to any hocus-pocus business, Mr. Thurman," he said to
+himself, as he descended to dinner, "you are going to get the surprise
+of your life within a very short time."</p>
+
+<p>After dinner he came back to the upper deck again, but as he gained it
+his attention was arrested by the scream of the wireless spark. It was a
+warm night and the door of the cabin was open. Jack stopped
+instinctively to listen to the roaring succession of dots and dashes.</p>
+
+<p>"He's calling Washington," said Jack to himself as he listened.</p>
+
+<p>"He's got them," he exclaimed a minute later.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo! Hullo! I guess I was right in my guess, then, after all. Oh,
+Thurman, what a young rascal you are."</p>
+
+<p>He listened attentively as Thurman shot out his message to the National
+Capital. Jack repeated it in an undertone as the spark crackled and
+squealed.</p>
+
+<p>"Do&mdash;I&mdash;get&mdash;my&mdash;reward&mdash;right&mdash;away?"</p>
+
+<p>Jack actually burst, for some inexplicable reason, into a hearty laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Thurman! Thurman!" he exploded to himself. "What a badly fooled
+young man you are going to be."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE "SUITABLE REWARD."</h3>
+
+
+<p>The arrival of the <i>Columbia</i> at her dock the next day was in the nature
+of an ovation. A band played "Hail Columbia," and a dense crowd blocked
+the docks and adjacent points of vantage to view the great liner which
+had taken the blue ribbon of the seas from England's crack ship. News of
+the dramatic rescue of the crew of the <i>Oriana</i>, wirelessed at the time
+of the occurrence to the newspapers, had inflamed public interest in the
+big ship too, and her subsequent doings had been eagerly followed in the
+dailies.</p>
+
+<p>"Great to be home again, isn't it, old fellow?" asked Raynor, coming up
+to Jack as a dozen puffing tugs nosed the towering <i>Columbia</i> into her
+dock.</p>
+
+<p>"It is, indeed," said Jack, looking over the rail. "I'm going to&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He broke off suddenly and began waving frantically to two persons in the
+crowd. One was an old man, rather bent, but hale and hearty and
+sunburned. Beside him was a pretty girl. It was Helen Dennis and her
+father, Captain Dennis, who had been rescued from a sinking sailing ship
+during Jack's first voyage, as told in the "Ocean Wireless Boys on the
+Atlantic." Captain Dennis, since the disaster, had been unable to get
+another ship to command and had been forced to accept a position as
+watchman on one of the docks, but Jack had been working all he knew how
+to get the captain another craft, so far, however, without success.</p>
+
+<p>"There's one reason why you're glad to be home," said Raynor slyly,
+waving to Helen. "You're a lucky fellow."</p>
+
+<p>The gang-plank was down, but before any passengers were allowed ashore,
+way was made for four stalwart, clean-shaven men who hurried on board.</p>
+
+<p>"Wonder who those fellows are?" said Raynor; "must be some sort of
+big-wigs."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they certainly got the right of way," responded Jack without much
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>Thurman joined them.</p>
+
+<p>"I hear that the Secret Service men are on board," he said. "Must be
+looking for someone."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose so," said Jack. "They usually are."</p>
+
+<p>Somebody tapped Jack on the shoulder. It was one of the men who had
+boarded the ship. An evil leer passed over Thurman's face as he saw
+this.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you Jack Ready?" asked the man.</p>
+
+<p>"That's my name," replied Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The man threw back his coat, displaying a gold badge. His three
+companions stood beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to come to Washington with us at once," said the man. "I am
+operative Thomas of the United States Secret Service."</p>
+
+<p>"Why what's the matter? What's he done?" demanded Raynor.</p>
+
+<p>"That's for the Navy Department to decide," said the man sternly.
+Thurman had slipped away after the man had displayed his badge. His
+envious mind was now sure of its revenge. He, too, meant to get the
+first train to Washington.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't worry, old fellow," said Jack. "Just slip ashore and make my
+excuses to Helen and her father, will you, and then meet me in
+Washington at the Willard. I think I shall have some news that will
+surprise you."</p>
+
+<p>Greatly mystified, Raynor obeyed, while Jack and the four men, two on
+each side of him, left the ship. Thurman followed them closely. His
+flabby face wore a look of satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"Two birds with one stone," he muttered to himself. "I've got even with
+Jack Ready and I get a reward for doing it. Slick work."</p>
+
+<p>The trip to Washington was uneventful. On their arrival there Jack and
+the Secret Service men went straight to the Navy Department. They passed
+through a room filled with waiting persons having business there, and
+were at once admitted to the office of the Secretary of the Navy, a
+dignified looking man with gray hair and mustache, who sat ensconced
+behind a large desk littered with papers and documents.</p>
+
+<p>There were several other gentlemen in the room. Some of them were in
+naval uniforms and all had an official appearance that was rather
+overawing.</p>
+
+<p>"So, this is our young man," said the Secretary, as Jack removed his
+hat. "Sit down, Mr. Ready, these gentlemen and myself wish to talk to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Then, for an hour or more, Jack described the Universal Detector and
+answered scores of questions. After the first few minutes his sense of
+embarrassment wore off and he talked easily and naturally. When he had
+finished, and everybody's curiosity was satisfied, the Secretary turned
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>"And you are prepared to turn this instrument over to the United States
+navy?"</p>
+
+<p>"That was the main object I had in designing it," said Jack, "but I am
+at a loss to know how you discovered that I was on board the
+<i>Columbia</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"That will soon be explained," said the Secretary, with a smile that was
+rather enigmatic. "You recollect having a little fun with our navy
+operators?"</p>
+
+<p>Jack colored and stammered something while everybody in the room smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't worry about that," laughed the Secretary. "It just upset the
+dignity of some of our navy operators. Well, following that somebody
+offered, for a consideration, to tell us who it was that had discovered
+the secret of a Universal Detector. It turned out, as I had expected
+from our previous correspondence, that it was you. But not till two
+nights ago, when our informant again wirelessed, did we know that you
+were at sea."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but, sir," stuttered Jack, greatly mystified, "who did this?"</p>
+
+<p>The Secretary pressed a button on his desk. A uniformed orderly
+instantly answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell Mr. Thurman to come in," said the Secretary.</p>
+
+<p>There was a brief silence, then the door opened and Thurman, with an
+expectant look and an assured manner, stepped into the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Thurman?" asked the Secretary.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," said Thurman in a loud, confident voice, "I thought I'd
+hurry over here as soon as the ship docked and talk to you about my work
+in discovering for you the fellow who invented the Universal Detector.
+I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He suddenly caught sight of Jack and turned a sickly yellow. Jack looked
+steadily at the fellow who, he had guessed for some time, had been
+evilly interested in the detector.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, go on, Mr. Thurman," said the Secretary, encouragingly, but with
+a peculiar look at the corners of his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>Thurman shuffled miserably.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd prefer not to talk with&mdash;with him in the room," he said, nodding
+his head sideways at Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? Mr. Ready has just sold his invention to the United States
+government."</p>
+
+<p>"Sold it, sir&mdash;&mdash;" began Jack, flushing, "why I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Secretary held up a hand to enjoin silence. Then he turned to the
+thoroughly uncomfortable Thurman.</p>
+
+<p>"We feel, Mr. Thurman," he said, "that you really tried to do us a great
+service."</p>
+
+<p>Thurman recovered some of his self-assurance. Could he have had the
+skill to read the faces about him, though, he must have known that a
+bomb was about to burst.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir," he said, "I did what I could, what I thought was my
+duty. And now, sir, about that reward."</p>
+
+<p>"'Suitable reward,' was what was said, I think, Mr. Thurman," said the
+Secretary.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes, sir, 'suitable reward,'" responded Thurman, his eyes
+glistening with cupidity.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Thurman," and the Secretary's voice was serious and impressive,
+"these gentlemen and I have decided that the most suitable reward for a
+young man as treacherous and mean as you have shown yourself to be,
+would be to be kicked downstairs. Instead I shall indicate to you the
+door and ask you to take your leave."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but&mdash;I told you who the fellow was that had discovered the
+detector. Why, I even made drawings of it for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't doubt that," said the Secretary dryly. "There was only one weak
+point in your whole scheme, Mr. Thurman, and that was that Mr. Ready
+wrote us some time ago when he first began his experiments about his
+work and asked some advice. At that time he informed us that if he
+succeeded in producing a Universal Detector that it would be at the
+service of this government. So you see that you were kind enough to
+inform us of something we knew already. But for a time we were at a loss
+to know whether it was not some other inventor working on similar lines
+who had discovered such a detector. To find out definitely we
+fine-combed the country."</p>
+
+<p>"And&mdash;and I get no reward?" stuttered Thurman.</p>
+
+<p>"Except the one I mentioned and the possible lesson you may have learned
+from your experience. Good-afternoon, Mr. Thurman."</p>
+
+<p>Thurman was so thunderstruck by the collapse of his hopes of reaping a
+fortune by his treachery that he appeared for a moment to be deprived of
+the power of locomotion. The Secretary nodded to the orderly, who came
+forward and took the wretched youth, for whom Jack could not help
+feeling sorry, by the arm and led him to the door. This was the last
+that was seen of Thurman for a long time, but Jack was destined to meet
+him again, thousands of miles away and under strange circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>When Jack left the Navy Department he felt as if he was walking on air.
+In his pocket was a check, intended as a sort of retaining fee by the
+government, till tests should have established beyond a doubt the value
+of his invention. His eyes were dancing and all he felt that he needed
+was a friend to share his pleasure with. This need was supplied on his
+return to the hotel, for there was a telegram from Billy Raynor, telling
+Jack to meet him on an evening train. It wound up with these words:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Helen Dennis and myself badly worried. Hope everything is all
+right."</p></div>
+
+<p>"All right," smiled Jack, "yes, all right, and then some."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PLOTTER'S TRIUMPH.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The face of one of the first of the passengers to disembark from the
+train as it rolled into the depot was a familiar one to Jack. With a
+thrill of pleasure he darted through the crowd to clasp the hand of his
+old friend, Captain Simms.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's a coincidence," he exclaimed. "I'm here to meet Billy Raynor. He
+must have come on the same train. But are you ill, sir? Is anything the
+matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Jack, my boy," said the captain, who was pale and drawn, "a terrible
+thing has happened. The code has been stolen."</p>
+
+<p>"Stolen! By whom?"</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly by Judson and his gang. I thought I saw them on the train
+between Clayton and New York. I was on my way here with the completed
+code. I had it under my pillow in my berth on the sleeper. When I
+awakened it had gone."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you have a hunt made for Judson when you reached New York?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but we had made two stops in the night. Undoubtedly, they got off
+at one of them. Unless that code is found I'm a ruined and a disgraced
+man."</p>
+
+<p>At that moment Billy Raynor came hurrying up. But there was not much
+warmth in Jack's welcome to him. His mind was busy with other things.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" said Billy in a low voice, for he too had noticed
+Captain Simms' dejection.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind now," whispered Jack, "I'll tell you later. If I may suggest
+it, sir," he said, addressing the captain, who appeared completely
+broken by the loss of the code, "hadn't we better get into a cab and
+drive to the Willard? You are not going to the department to-night?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I couldn't face them to-night," said the captain. "We'll do as you
+say."</p>
+
+<p>"There may be a way of catching the rascals," said Jack as the taxicab
+bumped off.</p>
+
+<p>The captain shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"The code is in the hands of the ambassador of the foreign power that
+wanted it as the price of a contract by this time," he said. "It is gone
+beyond recovery. I am disgraced."</p>
+
+<p>On their arrival at the hotel, the captain retired at once to his room.
+The boys had dinner without much appetite for the meal and then set out
+for a stroll to talk things over.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a terrible off-set to my good news," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think there's a chance of getting the code back?" asked
+Billy.</p>
+
+<p>Jack shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it is as Captain Simms said, the code is in the hands of that
+ambassador by this time."</p>
+
+<p>"Jack Ready, by all that's good, and Billy too, shake!"</p>
+
+<p>The cry came from up the street and a tall, good-looking lad of their
+own age came hurrying toward them. It was Ned Rivers, a youth who was
+interested in wireless and in that way had become acquainted with Jack
+and Billy on board the <i>Tropic Queen</i> while he was accompanying his
+father on a cruise on that ill-fated ship.</p>
+
+<p>"Ned!" cried Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a sight for sore eyes," exclaimed Billy, and a general
+handshaking followed.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing here, Ned?" asked Jack, after a few more words had
+been exchanged.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I thought you lived in Nebraska," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"So we did, but we've moved here. Father's in the Senate now. I thought
+you knew."</p>
+
+<p>"Congratulations," said Jack. "I guess we'll have to call you Mr.
+Senator, Jr., now and tip our hats to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Avast with that nonsense, as they don't say at sea," laughed Ned.
+"There's our house yonder," and he pointed to a handsome stone
+residence.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, what's that I see on the roof?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"That's my wireless outfit. Mother made an awful kick about having it
+there, but at last she gave in."</p>
+
+<p>"So you're still a wireless boy?" said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and I've got a dandy outfit too. Come on over. I want to introduce
+you to the folks."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks, we will some other time, but not to-night. We don't feel fit
+for company. You see quite a disaster has happened to a friend of ours,"
+and under a pledge of secrecy from Ned, who he knew he could rely on,
+Jack told the lad part of the story of the theft of the code.</p>
+
+<p>"By jove, that is a loss," said Ned sympathetically. "I've heard dad
+talking about the new code. It was a very important matter."</p>
+
+<p>"We were going for a walk to discuss the whole question," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I join you?" asked Ned.</p>
+
+<p>"Glad to have you," was the rejoinder. Talking and laughing merrily over
+old times on the <i>Tropic Queen</i>, the boys walked on, not noticing much
+where they were going till they found themselves on an ill-lighted
+street of rather shabby-looking dwellings.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo," said Ned, "I don't think much of this part of town. Let's get
+back to a main street."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a regular slum," said Billy, and the three boys started to retrace
+their steps. But suddenly Jack stopped and jerked his companions into a
+doorway. Two figures had just come in sight round the corner. They were
+headed down the street on the opposite sidewalk.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Judson and his son," whispered Jack. "What can they be doing
+here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hiding, most probably," returned Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they&mdash;hullo! Look, they're going into that alley-way."</p>
+
+<p>The boys darted across the street. Looking down the alley-way, they saw
+the figures of Judson and his son, by the light of a sickly gas lamp,
+ascending the steps of a rickety-looking tenement house.</p>
+
+<p>"Jove, this is worth knowing," exclaimed Jack. "If they are really
+hiding here we can get the police on their track. How lucky that we just
+let ourselves roam into this part of town."</p>
+
+<p>"We ought to have them arrested at once," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that's a good idea. But they may have just sneaked through the
+hallway and out by a rear way. You fellows wait here till I go and see."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Jack, you may get in trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we'll go with you," said Ned.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you stay here," Jack insisted. "One of us won't be noticed. Three
+would. Besides, that house is full of other tenants. Nothing much could
+happen to me."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of their further protests he walked rapidly, but cautiously,
+down the alley-way. Noiselessly he entered the hallway and walked to the
+door of a rear room, where he heard voices. But it was a laboring man
+and his wife quarreling over something. Jack heard a door open on an
+upper floor. Then came a voice that thrilled him. It was Jarrow's.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, Judson, back again? Well, how did things go?"</p>
+
+<p>Then Jack heard the door closed and locked.</p>
+
+<p>"So, they are really here," he muttered. "What a piece of luck. But the
+question is, have they got the code? If it is out of their hands it will
+be well nigh impossible to recover it, for it is a serious matter to
+charge an ambassador with wrong-doing."</p>
+
+<p>Jack began to ascend the rickety stairs with great caution. They creaked
+dismally under his tread. At a door on the second floor he caught the
+sound of Judson's voice. With a beating heart he crept as close as he
+dared and listened.</p>
+
+<p>"The plans have all been changed," he heard Judson saying. "We are to
+take the code to Crotona (the capital of the power represented by the
+ambassador) ourselves. There's a steamer that leaves Baltimore for
+Naples to-morrow. We are to take that and proceed from Naples to our
+destination."</p>
+
+<p>"What a bother," came in Donald's voice. "I don't see why the ambassador
+didn't take them."</p>
+
+<p>"He said it was too dangerous. He was being watched by the Secret
+Service men."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's just as dangerous for us, if it comes to that," grumbled
+Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got another piece of news for you," said Judson. "As I was passing
+the Willard to-night I saw Simms, and who do you think was with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, I'm sure."</p>
+
+<p>"Those two brats who made trouble for us at Alexandria Bay. It was a
+good thing I was disguised, for I passed close to them before I
+recognized them."</p>
+
+<p>"Confound it all," burst out Jarrow, "do you think they know we are
+here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a ghost of a chance of it," said Judson confidently; "anyhow, we've
+picked a hiding place where no one would ever dream of looking for us."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so. I'll be glad when we get out of the horrid hole," grumbled
+Donald.</p>
+
+<p>A footstep sounded behind Jack on the creaking boards. It startled him.
+He had not heard a door open. But now he was confronted by a portly
+Italian. The man grabbed him by the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Whadda you do-a here?" demanded the man, "me thinka you one-a da
+sneak-a da tief."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go," demanded Jack, striving to wrench himself free.</p>
+
+<p>"I no leta you go justa yet. I tinka you here steala da tings," cried
+the man in a loud voice.</p>
+
+<p>The talk inside Judson's room broke off suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, what's up outside?" exclaimed Donald. "Somebody's collared a
+thief. Let's see what it's all about."</p>
+
+<p>He flung the door open and the lamplight streamed out full on Jack's
+face.</p>
+
+<p>Donald fell back a pace with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott! It's Jack Ready," he exclaimed. "What in the world are you
+doing here?"</p>
+
+<p>"You knowa desa boy?" asked the Italian, still holding Jack fast.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I do. He's no good," replied Donald.</p>
+
+<p>"Dena I throwa him out or calla da police."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;no, for goodness' sake, not the police," exclaimed Donald. "Dad,
+Jarrow, here's that Ready kid spying on us. He was caught in the hall by
+that Italian next door, who thought he was a sneak thief."</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! Ready, you are the most unlucky lad I know," cried Judson, coming
+to the door, "we've got you just where we want you this time. There are
+no chimneys here. Bring him inside."</p>
+
+<p>"Not much! Help!" Jack began to shout, but Jarrow clapped a hand over
+his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>"Help us run him in here," he ordered the Italian, "I'll pay you for
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Whatsa da mat'?" asked the Italian suspiciously. "He no lika you."</p>
+
+<p>"No wonder. He robbed us once. I guess he was here to do it again. We
+want to settle accounts with him."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh-ho, datsa eet ees it?" said the Italian. "All righta, I no make da
+troub'."</p>
+
+<p>He gave Jack a forward shove into the room of the wireless boy's
+enemies.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>IN THE POWER OF THE ENEMY.</h3>
+
+
+<p>As soon as the door was shut and locked, Judson faced Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Now you keep quiet if you don't want a rap over the head with this," he
+said, exhibiting a heavy bludgeon.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't dare touch me," spoke Jack boldly.</p>
+
+<p>"That will depend. I want to ask you some questions. Will you answer
+them?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall see."</p>
+
+<p>"You followed Donald and me here and were spying on us when that Italian
+caught you."</p>
+
+<p>"A good thing he did," interjected Donald.</p>
+
+<p>"You heard us planning&mdash;er&mdash;er something?"</p>
+
+<p>"Possibly I did."</p>
+
+<p>"Boy, I know you did."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what's the sense of asking me?"</p>
+
+<p>"None of your impudence, young man! You've always been too much of a
+busy-body for your own good," snarled Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the use of questioning him, dad?" said Donald. "He'll only lie."</p>
+
+<p>"That's probably correct. I guess he heard everything. What shall we do
+with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Make him a prisoner," said Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>"But we can't stay here to guard him and he'd be out of this room in a
+jiffy."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you where we'll take him," said Donald. He whispered in his
+father's ear. Judson's face brightened and he nodded approvingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Just the place. It will serve him right. He got himself into this
+mess."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to let me go?" demanded Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not. You've made your bed&mdash;you can lie on it."</p>
+
+<p>Jack made a leap for the door. The key was in the lock, but he didn't
+have a chance to turn it before all three threw themselves on him. A
+scuffle followed which Judson brought to a quick stop by striking Jack a
+stunning blow on the head with his bludgeon. With a million stars
+dancing before him in a void of blackness, Jack went down.</p>
+
+<p>"Now come on quick before anyone spots us," said Jarrow.</p>
+
+<p>Jack's limp form was rolled up in a dirty old blanket so as to look like
+some kind of a bundle. Then Jarrow and Judson lifted him by the head and
+feet, while Donald preceded them with the lamp.</p>
+
+<p>The younger Judson led the way out of a rear door to a side hallway.
+From here two flights of stairs led down to an ill-ventilated, low
+cellar which was seldom visited and was used mostly for old rubbish and
+rags. Jack was carried to a high-sided wooden coal bin and his form
+dropped on a pile of dirty old newspapers and decaying straw. There was
+a heavy door with an iron bolt on the outside leading into the place. As
+Judson closed this, leaving Jack to his fate, he muttered:</p>
+
+<p>"This is the time we don't need to bother about his getting out. He'll
+stay there till to-morrow, anyhow, and by that time we'll be at sea."</p>
+
+<p>"What time will that auto be at the corner?" asked Donald.</p>
+
+<p>"It should be there in a few minutes. We must get ready right away,"
+replied his father. "Come on, we've no time to lose."</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Billy and Ned waited on the corner. As the minutes flew
+by they began to get worried.</p>
+
+<p>"Jack is certainly taking his time," said Ned.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he is scouting about," suggested Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he has fallen into a trap," exclaimed Ned. "I've a good mind to
+go for the police."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll wait a little longer," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>Almost an hour passed and there was no sign of Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't wait any longer," declared Ned, when suddenly three figures
+emerged from the house. Their hats were pulled over their eyes and they
+glanced about suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the two Judsons and Jarrow," exclaimed Billy.</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke a big touring car came down the street and stopped at the
+mouth of the alley-way. The three persons who had just emerged from the
+tenement house began to hasten to it, but Billy intercepted them.</p>
+
+<p>"What have you done with Jack?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, where is he?" cried Ned.</p>
+
+<p>"Out of our way," said Jarrow, giving Billy a shove.</p>
+
+<p>"We don't know any Jack," growled Judson.</p>
+
+<p>Before the boys could stop them they had reached the car and sprung in.</p>
+
+<p>"Drive off at full speed," Judson ordered the chauffeur, and, leaving
+the boys standing rooted to the spot, the car dashed off with a roar.
+Borne back to them they could hear the mocking laughter of its
+occupants.</p>
+
+<p>"Those rascals have played some trick on Jack and they've got away
+scot-free," groaned Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"We must hunt for him at once," exclaimed Ned.</p>
+
+<p>The two boys set out for the tenement. It was pitch dark in the hallway.
+Ned struck a match.</p>
+
+<p>"Jack! Jack! where are you?" he called softly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SEARCH FOR JACK.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The two boys, with their hearts heavy as lead, ascended the stairs
+calling for Jack. On the second floor, as they reached it, a door was
+suddenly flung open.</p>
+
+<p>"Be jabers, stop that racket. Can't yez be lettin' a dacent family slape
+in pace?"</p>
+
+<p>Another door flew open and a black, woolly head was poked out.</p>
+
+<p>"What fo' you alls come makin' such a cumsturbance at dis yar hour ob de
+night?"</p>
+
+<p>"We're looking for a boy who we think has been trapped in this building.
+Have you seen anything of him?" asked Ned.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure and I haven't. This is a dacent house and dacent folks. Go along
+wid yer now and let us slape."</p>
+
+<p>"By gollys we don't kidsnap no boys," came from the negro.</p>
+
+<p>Another door was opened and the Italian who had caught Jack in the hall
+came out.</p>
+
+<p>"Whatsa da mat'?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"We're looking for a boy, our chum. He came into this house two hours
+ago. We're afraid he&mdash;&mdash;" burst out Billy desperately.</p>
+
+<p>"I see-a da boy in deesa hall," said the Italian. "I teenka heem sneaka
+teef. I catcha heem but two men and a boy in data rooma dere dey taka
+heem. Dey say dat he robba heem and they getta even."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they take him into the room?" burst out Ned.</p>
+
+<p>The Italian nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, dey takea heem in. I geeva heem to them," said the man
+indifferently.</p>
+
+<p>"Great heavens, they invented that story about his robbing them," cried
+Billy. "They've made him a prisoner. We must get him out. Jack! Jack!"</p>
+
+<p>No answer came and then Billy, regardless of consequences, flung himself
+against the door of the room the Italian had indicated. By this time
+quite a crowd of tenement dwellers had assembled, attracted by the loud
+voices. At first the door stood firm, but when Ned joined Billy it gave
+way with a bang, precipitating them into the room.</p>
+
+<p>But now a new voice was added to the uproar. Hans Pumpernickel, a sour
+old German who owned the tenements and lived there to save rent in a
+better quarter, put in an appearance.</p>
+
+<p>"Vos is los?" he demanded, "ach himmel, de door vos busted py der
+outside. Who did dis?"</p>
+
+<p>"We did," said Billy boldly. "My chum was decoyed into this house by
+some bad characters. This was the room they occupied. But he isn't
+here."</p>
+
+<p>"Ach du liebe! Vos iss idt I care aboupt your droubles? I haf mein own."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll find Jack if we go through this house from cellar to attic,"
+declared Ned.</p>
+
+<p>"I dond pelief dot boy vos harmed by der men dot hadt idt dis room,"
+declared the crabbed old man. "Dey vos very respectable. Now you pay me
+for dot door undt den go aboudt your pusiness."</p>
+
+<p>"If you interfere with us we'll call in the police," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if you want to keep out of trouble, you'll help us," said Ned
+boldly.</p>
+
+<p>"Is dot so? Undt who iss you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm the son of Senator Rivers of Nebraska."</p>
+
+<p>The landlord's jaw dropped. He grew more respectful.</p>
+
+<p>"Vell, vot am I to do?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't interfere with us. We'll pay for this door. Hullo, what's that on
+the floor?" exclaimed Billy. "Why, it's Jack's knife. But where is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Den dose nice mens, Mr. Jenkins undt Mister Thompson are kidsnabbers,"
+exclaimed the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>"Are those the names they gave?" asked Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"Ches. Dey pay idt me a month in advance. Dey vost nice gentlemen."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, very nice," exclaimed Billy bitterly. "However, knowing those
+names may give a clew later on."</p>
+
+<p>They searched for several hours but found no further trace of Jack. At
+last, tired out and sick at heart, they returned home. Billy accepted
+Ned's invitation to stay at the latter's house that night and to lay the
+matter before the Senator in the morning.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Half stunned, Jack lay still for some time on the moldy straw and the
+old newspapers in the coal bin in the cellar. But at length he mustered
+his strength and rose, rather giddily, to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, this is the limit of tough luck," he complained. "If I don't get
+out of here before to-morrow, when that steamer sails, the code will
+have gone for good. If only I'd cut away sooner. Confound that Italian.
+He spoiled it all with his stupidity."</p>
+
+<p>Besides being pitch dark, the place was full of cobwebs. To add to
+Jack's discomfort, a spider occasionally dropped on him. Suddenly
+overhead sounded footsteps and voices.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody lives up there," he thought. "If I could only attract their
+attention."</p>
+
+<p>He shouted but nobody answered, although he tried it at intervals for
+some hours. At last he gave up and sat down on the pile of straw to
+think. He was very thirsty and his mouth and eyes were full of coal dust
+and dirt. The roof of the cellar was so low, too, that in moving about
+he bumped his head-against the beams.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he remembered that he had some matches. To strike a light was
+the work of a moment. Then he located the door. But all his efforts
+failed to make it budge. He struck another light and this time he made a
+discovery.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee whiz, that looks like a trap-door just above me," he decided.</p>
+
+<p>He raised his hands and the cut-out square in the flooring came up with
+ease. Jack scrambled up into a kitchen. In one corner was a ladder, no
+doubt used when the occupants wished to enter the cellar. Through one of
+the windows daylight was streaming, the gray light of early dawn.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott! I've been down there all night," ejaculated the boy.</p>
+
+<p>He was considering his next step when a large woman, with stout red
+arms, came into the kitchen. Her husband had to be at work early and she
+was about to prepare his breakfast. She had a florid, disagreeable face.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you after doing here?" she demanded, picking up a heavy
+rolling pin.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm trying to get out of this house. Will you show me the way?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indade and I will not. I'll hand yez over ter the perlice." She raised
+her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Pat! Pat! come here at onct."</p>
+
+<p>"Phwat's the mather?" came from another room.</p>
+
+<p>"Thare's a thafe forninst the kitchen. Get ther perlice. I'll hold
+him&mdash;he's only a gossoon."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you crazy?" demanded Jack. "I was locked in that cellar by some
+rascals and got out through your trap-door."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell that to the marines," sneered the woman, as she made a grab for
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Jack wrenched himself away and dodged a blow from the rolling-pin. The
+window was open and it was a short drop to the yard. He darted for the
+window and made the jump.</p>
+
+<p>"Pat! Pat!" yelled the woman.</p>
+
+<p>Jack leaped over a fence at the back of the yard and found himself in an
+alley. He ran for his life. Behind him came cries of pursuit but they
+soon died away. He ran for several blocks, however, and then came to a
+standstill.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess Ned and Billy went home," he mused. "I'd better hunt up Ned. If
+his father is a Senator he may be able to use some influence to catch
+these rascals before they get away for good. I wonder what time that
+ship sails? By the way, I don't know her name."</p>
+
+<p>At the hotel, to which he went first, he slipped up to his room without
+attracting much attention and washed off the dirt of the cellar. Then he
+inquired for Billy and learned that Raynor had telephoned the night
+before that he was going to stop at Senator Rivers' house and for Jack
+to come straight over there, if he came in. Jack procured a copy of a
+commercial newspaper which he knew listed sailings of ships from all
+important ports. He turned to the Baltimore section. Half way down the
+column he found this entry:</p>
+
+<p>"Italian-American Line. S.S. <i>Southern Star</i>,&mdash;Balto., for Naples,
+Italy. Sails&mdash;A.M. (hour indefinite). Mixed cargo. Ten passengers."</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah! That's the ship, all right," thought Jack, "there's a chance
+yet that we can stop them."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE WIRELESS MAKES GOOD.</h3>
+
+
+<p>He lost no time in hastening to Senator Rivers' house. Just as he turned
+into the gate Billy and Ned emerged. They had spent a sleepless night
+and were on their way to Police Headquarters to report Jack's absence.
+As they saw their missing comrade, they set up a glad shout.</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, where have you been?" demanded Billy.</p>
+
+<p>"We were on our way to the police about you," put in Ned.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know anything about the Judsons and Jarrow?" asked Jack eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, they came out of the house some time after you went in. We
+chased them but they jumped into a high-powered car and escaped."</p>
+
+<p>"I know; they've gone to Baltimore."</p>
+
+<p>"How in the world do you know that?" asked Billy wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you it all in a few minutes. Ned, is your father up yet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious, no. But if it's important I can tell him to hurry up."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would; there's a chance that we can get back the naval code
+if you do."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell him that, and he'll be dressed and down in record time,"
+cried Ned, running off.</p>
+
+<p>Jack waited to tell his adventures till they were all at breakfast. Then
+Billy and Ned had to tell their stories.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you boys certainly have your share of adventures," remarked the
+Senator, "but the most important thing now is to secure the apprehension
+of those rascals without delay. We had better call up the steamship
+company at Baltimore and find out if anyone called Jenkins or Thompson,
+I think those are the aliases they gave at the tenement house, are among
+the passengers."</p>
+
+<p>This was done at once, but to the intense chagrin of all concerned, the
+telephone company had seized that early hour of the day to repair some
+wires which had been knocked down in a thunderstorm near Baltimore the
+night before. It was impossible to communicate with that city till some
+hours later.</p>
+
+<p>"We might telegraph," suggested Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I'll call a messenger at once. But I doubt even then that we'll be
+in time," said the Senator.</p>
+
+<p>The telegram was sent, but before a reply came they were able to use the
+telephone.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, is this the Italian-American steamship Company?&mdash;all right&mdash;are
+three passengers, two men and a boy, booked on the <i>Southern Star</i> as
+Jenkins and Thompson,&mdash;they are,&mdash;good, this is Senator Rivers talking,
+from Washington,&mdash;those men are criminals,&mdash;they have robbed the
+government of valuable documents&mdash;summon the police and have them
+arrested and held&mdash;I'll take full responsibility&mdash;WHAT!&mdash;The <i>Southern
+Star</i> sailed two hours ago!"</p>
+
+<p>The senator dropped the receiver from his hand in his disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>"Too late! The code is lost to the United States for good, and those
+rascals have escaped!"</p>
+
+<p>But Jack suddenly sprang forward. His cheeks were aflame with
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"Senator," he cried. "There is still a chance."</p>
+
+<p>"I fail to see it," said Mr. Rivers.</p>
+
+<p>"Get the line on the wire again, sir, and find out if the <i>Southern
+Star</i> has a wireless."</p>
+
+<p>"But what&mdash;Jove, boy! I see your plan now."</p>
+
+<p>Eagerly the Senator snatched up the receiver again. Before long
+connection was again established.</p>
+
+<p>"The <i>Southern Star</i> has a wireless," he exclaimed. "Her call is S. X.
+A., and now for your plan, my boy."</p>
+
+<p>"Show me to your wireless room, will you, Ned?" said Jack, subduing the
+excitement in his voice with a struggle.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Jack, I see what you're going to do now," cried Ned. "Come on. We
+don't want to lose a minute."</p>
+
+<p>The boys dashed up the stairs three at a time. The Senator followed at a
+more discreet pace. They entered the wireless room with a bang and a
+shout.</p>
+
+<p>Jack fairly flung himself at the key and began pounding out the
+<i>Southern Star's</i> call. In reality it was only ten minutes, but to those
+in that room it seemed hours before he got a reply. When he did, he
+summoned the captain through the operator.</p>
+
+<p>"Have I got authority to use your name, Senator?" asked the boy while he
+waited for the announcement that the captain was in the wireless room.</p>
+
+<p>"You have authority to use the name of the most powerful institution in
+the world, my boy, the United States Government," said the Senator
+solemnly. Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he hurriedly
+left the room. Downstairs he once more applied himself to the telephone,
+but this time he talked to the Secretary of the Navy.</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen minutes after Jack had spoken to the Captain of the <i>Southern
+Star</i> that craft was anchored in the Chesapeake River waiting the
+arrival of a gunboat hastily detailed by government wireless to proceed
+at once up that river and take three prisoners off the <i>Southern Star</i>.
+This latter order was the result of Senator Rivers' call to the Navy
+Department.</p>
+
+<p>Jack's happy task was then to break the good news to Captain Simms,
+which he lost no time in doing, and the captain's deep gratitude, which
+was none the less because he expressed it in few words, may be imagined.</p>
+
+<p>"I declare," he said, "you boys have been my good angels all through.
+You have helped me as if your own interests had been at stake. I don't
+know how to thank you."</p>
+
+<p>The code was yielded up by Judson without a struggle, which procured him
+some leniency later on. But both he and Jarrow met with heavy punishment
+for their misdeeds. Donald was allowed to go free on account of his
+youth and the government's disability to prove that he had actually
+anything to do with the theft of the code. After the news of his arrest
+spread, the long threatened disaster to Judson's company happened and it
+went into bankruptcy. Donald, the pampered and selfish, had to go to
+work for a living. The boys heard that he had gone west. They were
+destined to meet him again, however, as they were Thurman.</p>
+
+<p>One of Jack's proudest possessions is a framed letter from the Secretary
+of the Navy thanking him for his great aid and that of his friends in
+the matter of the Navy Code, but he values the friendship of Captain
+Simms as highly. Not long after the successful tests of the detector,
+there was a joyous gathering on board the old <i>Venus</i>, to which queer
+home Uncle Toby had returned. All our friends were there and Jack was
+able to announce a joyous surprise. He had been able to secure, through
+Captain Simms' influence, the command of a fine new sailing ship for
+Captain Dennis. She was a full-rigged bark, plying between New York and
+Mediterranean ports.</p>
+
+<p>Tears stood in the veteran captain's eyes, as he thanked Jack, and Helen
+cried openly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Jack, I&mdash;I'd like to hug you!" she exclaimed, whereupon everybody
+laughed, and the emotional strain was over.</p>
+
+<p>After a while, Captain Dennis began to tell of some of his adventures.
+Not only had he gone through many experiences on the sea, but also on
+land, and especially during the great Civil War.</p>
+
+<p>"One time," said Captain Dennis, "while on a foraging expedition, our
+men were surprised, and before I knew what had happened I was a
+prisoner. I was taken to an old building and put in the upper story of
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, I wanted to escape. So, after a while, I began to try my
+luck with the rope tied around my wrists. To my joy I found that I could
+move them. Half an hour later my wrists were free.</p>
+
+<p>"I peered out of the window. It was a very dark night, and the guard set
+around the building was close and vigilant. I felt that my chances to
+escape were very small.</p>
+
+<p>"Still, I determined to try. After listening many hours, I thought I
+learned the exact position of the sentries. The spaces between them were
+very short, but it would be quite possible, I thought, to pass by them
+noiselessly and without being perceived. I may as well state that the
+watch would have been even more strict had not the Confederates regarded
+the struggle as virtually at an end, and were, therefore, less careful
+as to their prisoners than they would otherwise have been.</p>
+
+<p>"I prepared for escape by tearing up the sheet on the bed, and knotting
+the strips into a rope. I opened the window, threw out this rope, and
+slipped down to the ground. So far I was safe.</p>
+
+<p>"It was dark and foggy, and very difficult to see two feet in advance. I
+soon found that my observations as to the places of the sentries had
+been useless. Still, in the darkness and thickness of the night, I
+thought that the chance of detection was small.</p>
+
+<p>"Creeping quietly and noiselessly along, I could hear the constant
+challenges of the sentries around me. These, excited by the unusual
+darkness of the night, were unusually vigilant.</p>
+
+<p>"I approached until I was within a few yards of the line, and the voices
+of the men as they challenged enabled me to ascertain exactly the
+position of the sentries on the right and left of me. Passing between
+these, I could see neither, although they were but a few paces on either
+hand. Suddenly I fell into a stream running across my path.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, in the darkness I had not observed it. At the sound of my
+falling there was an instant challenge. Then a shot was fired!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! How thrilling!" exclaimed Helen.</p>
+
+<p>Jack and Ned laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," resumed Captain Dennis, "I struggled across the stream, and
+clambered out on the opposite side. As I did so, a number of muskets
+were fired in my direction by soldiers who had rushed up to the point of
+alarm. I felt a sharp, twitching pain in my shoulder, and I knew that I
+had been hit. But fortunately the other shots fired whizzed harmlessly
+by. At top speed I ran forward.</p>
+
+<p>"I was safe from pursuit, for in the darkness it would have been
+absolutely impossible to follow me. So, in a few moments, I ceased
+running. What was the use of taking chances? All was quiet behind me,
+but I could no longer tell in what direction I was advancing.</p>
+
+<p>"So long as I heard the shouts of the sentries, though the sounds seemed
+far off, I continued my way; and then, all guidance being lost, I lay
+down under a hedge and waited for morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear!" Helen cried sympathetically, "did you have to sleep in that
+cold, moist night?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite so," replied Captain Dennis, smiling good-humoredly; "and in the
+morning it was still foggy. After wandering aimlessly about for some
+time I at last succeeded in striking a road. I decided to take a
+westerly course.</p>
+
+<p>"My shoulder was stiff and somewhat swollen. But the bullet had passed
+through its fleshy part, missing the bone; and although it cost much
+pain I was able, by wrapping my arm tightly to my body, to proceed. More
+than once I had to withdraw from the road into the fields or bushes when
+I heard a straggling number of Confederates coming along.</p>
+
+<p>"I came upon a house, and although I was hungry and tired, I was
+cautious. Instead of going to the door I made for the window. But I had
+my trouble for nothing. I looked in and saw a number of Confederate
+soldiers there, and knew that there was no safety for me. To add to my
+dismay, one of the soldiers happened to cast his eyes up as I glanced in
+the room and he at once gave a shout of warning.</p>
+
+<p>"Instantly the others sprang to their feet and started out to pursue me.
+I fled down the road. A few shots were fired, but fortunately I was not
+hit again.</p>
+
+<p>"At last I came to a small village. I wondered why I had not reached my
+camp. But you must remember that I was attached to a small number of men
+only, and that we always were many miles ahead or in the rear of the
+army, as occasion called for.</p>
+
+<p>"The village was deserted, for it was late at night again. I made myself
+comfortable in a sort of stable warehouse, climbing over a number of
+bales of cotton, and laid myself down next to the wall, secure from
+casual observation.</p>
+
+<p>"When I awoke the next morning, I nearly uttered a cry of pain a sudden
+movement had given to my arm. I, however, suppressed it, and it was well
+that I did so, for I suddenly heard voices right near me. Darkies were
+moving bales of cotton but, being well back, I had little fear of being
+discovered.</p>
+
+<p>"The hours passed wearily. I was parched and feverish from pain of my
+wound. Yet I was afraid to move. So I sometimes dozed off into snatches
+of fitful sleep. Perhaps I moaned, or I was accidentally discovered. At
+all events, when I awoke a mammy was bending over me, her voice fully of
+pity. And&mdash;well, to make a long story short, I had blundered again, for
+the village was being occupied by the Federals, and the cotton the
+darkies had been taking away was going North. There is no need to add
+that I was well fed and well taken care of."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Dennis paused, and thoughtfully smoked his pipe. His little
+audience sat very quietly, their eager faces and shining eyes plainly
+showing their rapt interest in the modestly told story.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well," said Captain Dennis, at last breaking the silence, "some
+day you, Jack and you Ned will be able to tell very many far more
+thrilling stories."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes" replied Jack, "but none of them will be about so great a cause."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, Jack," Captain Dennis said fervently; "it was a good
+cause. But come, you are tired, so let us say 'good night,' my friends."</p>
+
+<p>A half hour later Jack and Ned were fast asleep, dreaming of those
+stirring times when the immortal Abraham Lincoln was President of this
+glorious nation.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The next week the <i>Columbia</i> sailed again. As she passed out of New York
+harbor, and past Sandy Hook, the passengers crowded to the rail to look
+at a beautiful sea picture.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was setting, and the radiance turned to gold the white sails of
+a beautiful bark outward bound. As she heeled over on the starboard
+tack, it was evident that she would pass close to the steamer. From the
+wireless room Jack Ready and Billy Raynor watched the pretty sight with
+more interest, perhaps&mdash;certainly it was so in Jack's case&mdash;than anyone
+else on board.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the <i>Silver Star</i>, Jack, Captain Dennis's ship," said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>Jack nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"I know it," he answered. "She sailed this morning. I've been on the
+lookout for her all the way down the bay."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence between the two chums. The <i>Silver Star</i>, gliding
+swiftly through the water, came steadily on. As the steamer passed her,
+she was quite close, looking like a beautiful toy from the towering
+decks of the <i>Columbia</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Look!" exclaimed Billy, half in a whisper, as her ensign fluttered down
+in salute and then climbed upward to the peak again. A booming roar from
+the <i>Columbia's</i> siren acknowledged the compliment.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack had no eyes for this. His gaze was fixed on the stern deck of
+the <i>Silver Star</i>, where, by her steering-wheel, gripped by two stalwart
+seamen, stood an upright old man, with glasses bent on the <i>Columbia</i>. A
+graceful girl was at his side. Jack saw her wave, and was waving
+frantically back, when there came an insistent summons from the wireless
+room.</p>
+
+<p>When he came out on deck again twilight had fallen, but far back on the
+horizon was a tiny blur&mdash;the <i>Silver Star</i>. As Jack gazed back at her,
+she vanished below the horizon as suddenly as an extinguished spark in a
+piece of tinder.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night," breathed Jack, and he stood for a long time motionless,
+leaning on the rail.</p>
+
+<p>And here, for the time being, we, too, will say good-by to our young
+friends, to meet them all again in the next volume devoted to their
+doings, which will be called "The Ocean Wireless Boys on the Pacific."</p>
+
+
+<h4>THE END.</h4>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The after part of the ill-fated tank steamer <i>Oregon</i>, sunk
+100 miles off Sandy Hook, in 1913, when, during a severe storm, she
+broke in two, floated with the survivors in exactly the manner described
+in the <i>Oriana's</i> case.&mdash;Author's Note.</p></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="HURST_COMPANYS_BOOKS_FOR_YOUNG_PEOPLE" id="HURST_COMPANYS_BOOKS_FOR_YOUNG_PEOPLE"></a>HURST &amp; COMPANY'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE</h2>
+
+
+<h3>KINDERGARTEN LIMERICKS</h3>
+
+<h3>By FLORENCE E. SCOTT</h3>
+
+<h4><i>Pictures by Arthur O. Scott with a Foreword by Lucy Wheelock</i></h4>
+
+<h4><i>A Volume of Cheerfulness in Rhyme and Picture</i></h4>
+
+<p>The book contains a rhyme for every letter of the alphabet, each
+illustrated by a full page picture in colors. The verses appeal to the
+child's sense of humor without being foolish or sensational, and will be
+welcomed by kindergartners for teaching rhythm in a most entertaining
+manner.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h3>FRANK ARMSTRONG SERIES</h3>
+
+<h3>By MATTHEW M. COLTON</h3>
+
+
+<h4><i>Frank Armstrong's Vacation</i></h4>
+
+<p>How Frank's summer experiences with his boy friends make him into a
+sturdy young athlete through swimming, boating and baseball contests,
+and a tramp through the Everglades, is the subject of this splendid
+story.</p>
+
+<h4><i>Frank Armstrong at Queens</i></h4>
+
+<p>We find among the jolly boys at Queen's School, Frank, the
+student-athlete, Jimmy, the baseball enthusiast, and Lewis, the
+unconsciously-funny youth who furnishes comedy for every page that bears
+his name. Fall and winter sports between intensely rival school teams
+are expertly described.</p>
+
+<h4><i>Frank Armstrong's Second Term</i></h4>
+
+<p>The gymnasium, the track and the field make the background for the
+stirring events of this volume, in which David, Jimmy, Lewis, the "Wee
+One" and the "Codfish" figure, while Frank "saves the day."</p>
+
+<h4><i>Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker</i></h4>
+
+<p>With the same persistent determination that won him success in swimming,
+running and baseball playing, Frank Armstrong acquired the art of
+"drop-kicking," and the Queen's football team profits thereby.</p>
+
+<h4><i>Frank Armstrong, Captain of the Nine</i></h4>
+
+<p>Exciting contests, unexpected emergencies, interesting incidents by land
+and water make this story of Frank Armstrong a strong tale of
+school-life, athletic success, and loyal friendships.</p>
+
+<h4><i>Frank Armstrong at College</i></h4>
+
+<p>With the development of this series, the boy characters have developed
+until in this, the best story of all, they appear as typical college
+students, giving to each page the life and vigor of the true college
+spirit.</p>
+
+<h4>Six of the best books of College Life Stories published. They accurately
+describe athletics from start to finish.</h4>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h3>OAKDALE ACADEMY SERIES</h3>
+
+<h4>Stories of Modern School Sports</h4>
+
+<h3>By MORGAN SCOTT.</h3>
+
+
+<h4>BEN STONE AT OAKDALE.</h4>
+
+<p>Under peculiarly trying circumstances Ben Stone wins his way at Oakdale
+Academy, and at the same time enlists our sympathy, interest and
+respect. Through the enmity of Bern Hayden, the loyalty of Roger Eliot
+and the clever work of the "Sleuth," Ben is falsely accused, championed
+and vindicated.</p>
+
+<h4>BOYS OF OAKDALE ACADEMY.</h4>
+
+<p>"One thing I will claim, and that is that all Grants fight open and
+square and there never was a sneak among them." It was Rodney Grant, of
+Texas, who made the claim to his friend, Ben Stone, and this story
+shows how he proved the truth of this statement in the face of apparent
+evidence to the contrary.</p>
+
+<h4>RIVAL PITCHERS OF OAKDALE.</h4>
+
+<p>Baseball is the main theme of this interesting narrative, and that means
+not only clear and clever descriptions of thrilling games, but an
+intimate acquaintance with the members of the teams who played them. The
+Oakdale Boys were ambitious and loyal, and some were even disgruntled
+and jealous, but earnest, persistent work won out.</p>
+
+<h4>OAKDALE BOYS IN CAMP.</h4>
+
+<p>The typical vacation is the one that means much freedom, little
+restriction, and immediate contact with "all outdoors." These conditions
+prevailed in the summer camp of the Oakdale Boys and made it a scene of
+lively interest.</p>
+
+<h4>THE GREAT OAKDALE MYSTERY.</h4>
+
+<p>The "Sleuth" scents a mystery! He "follows his nose." The plot thickens!
+He makes deductions. There are surprises for the reader&mdash;and for the
+"Sleuth," as well.</p>
+
+<h4>NEW BOYS AT OAKDALE.</h4>
+
+<p>A new element creeps into Oakdale with another year's registration of
+students. The old and the new standards of conduct in and out of school
+meet, battle, and cause sweeping changes in the lives of several of the
+boys.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h4>Log Cabin to White House Series</h4>
+
+<h3>LIVES OF CELEBRATED AMERICANS</h3>
+
+
+<h4>FROM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD</h4>
+
+<h4>(The Life of Benjamin Franklin). By <i>Wm. M. Thayer</i>.</h4>
+
+<p>Benjamin Franklin was known in the scientific world for his inventions
+and discoveries, in the diplomatic world because of his statemanship,
+and everywhere, because of his sound judgment, plain speaking, and
+consistent living.</p>
+
+<h4>FROM FARM HOUSE TO WHITE HOUSE</h4>
+
+<h4>(The Life of George Washington). By <i>Wm. M. Thayer</i>.</h4>
+
+<p>The story of the hatchet and other familiar incidents of the boyhood and
+young manhood of Washington are included in this book, as well as many
+less well-known accounts of his experiences as surveyor, soldier,
+emissary, leader, and first president of the United States.</p>
+
+<h4>FROM LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE</h4>
+
+<h4>(The Life of James A. Garfield). By <i>Wm. M. Thayer</i>.</h4>
+
+<p>It was a long step from pioneer home in Ohio where James A. Garfield was
+born, to the White House in Washington, and that it was an interesting
+life-journey one cannot doubt who reads Mr. Thayer's account of it.</p>
+
+
+<h4>FROM PIONEER HOME TO WHITE HOUSE</h4>
+
+<h4>(The Life of Abraham Lincoln). By <i>Wm. M. Thayer</i>.</h4>
+
+<p>No President was ever dearer to the hearts of his people than was
+homely, humorous "Honest Abe."</p>
+
+<p>To read of his mother, his early home, his efforts for an education, and
+his rise to prominence is to understand better his rare nature and
+practical wisdom.</p>
+
+
+<h4>FROM RANCH TO WHITE HOUSE</h4>
+
+<h4>(The Life of Theodore Roosevelt). By <i>Edward S. Ellis. A. M.</i></h4>
+
+<p>Every boy and girl is more or less familiar with the experiences of Mr.
+Roosevelt as Colonel and President, but few of them know him as the boy
+and man of family and school circles and private citzenship.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ellis describes Theodore Roosevelt as a writer, a hunter, a fighter
+of "graft" at home and of Spaniards in Cuba, and a just and vigorous
+defender of right.</p>
+
+
+<h4>FROM TANNERY TO WHITE HOUSE</h4>
+
+<h4>(The Life of Ulysses S. Grant). By <i>Wm. M. Thayer</i>.</h4>
+
+<p>Perhaps General Grant is best known to boys and girls as the hero of the
+famous declaration: "I will fight it out on this line if it takes all
+summer."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h3>REX KINGDON SERIES</h3>
+
+<h3>By GORDON BRADDOCK</h3>
+
+
+<h4><i>Rex Kingdon of Ridgewood High</i></h4>
+
+<p>A new boy moves into town. Who is he? What can he do? Will he make one
+of the school teams? Is his friendship worth having? These are the
+queries of the Ridgewood High Students. The story is the answer.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Rex Kingdon in the North Woods</i></h4>
+
+<p>Rex and some of his Ridgewood friends establish a camp fire in the North
+Woods, and there mystery, jealousy, and rivalry enter to menace their
+safety, fire their interest and finally cement their friendship.</p>
+
+
+<h4><i>Rex Kingdon at Walcott Hall</i></h4>
+
+<p>Lively boarding school experiences make this the "best yet" of the Rex
+Kingdon series.</p>
+
+<h4><i>Rex Kingdon Behind the Bat</i></h4>
+
+<p>The title tells you what this story is; it is a rattling good story
+about baseball. Boys will like it.</p>
+
+<h4>Gordon Braddock knows what Boys want and how to write it. These stories
+make the best reading you can procure.</h4>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h4>NEW BOOKS ON THE WAR</h4>
+
+<h3>GREAT WAR SERIES</h3>
+
+<h3>By MAJOR SHERMAN CROCKETT</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Two American Boys with the Allied Armies</i><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Two American Boys in the French War Trenches</i><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Two American Boys with the Dardanelles Battle Fleet</i><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The disastrous battle raging In Europe between Germany and Austria on
+one side and the Allied countries on the other, has created demand for
+literature on the subject. The American public to a large extent is
+ignorant of the exact locations of the fighting zones with its small
+towns and villages. Major Crockett, who is familiar with the present
+battle-fields, has undertaken to place before the American boy an
+interesting Series of War stories.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h3>BOY SCOUT SERIES</h3>
+
+<h4><i>ENDORSED BY BOY SCOUT ORGANIZATIONS</i></h4>
+
+<h3>By LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON</h3>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS OF THE EAGLE PATROL</h4>
+
+<p>In this story, self-reliance and self-defense through organized
+athletics are emphasized.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS ON THE RANGE</h4>
+
+<p>Cow-punchers, Indians, the Arizona desert and the Harkness ranch figure
+in this tale of the Boy Scouts.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS AND THE ARMY AIRSHIP</h4>
+
+<p>The cleverness of one of the Scouts as an amateur inventor and the
+intrigues of his enemies to secure his inventions make a subject of
+breathless interest.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS' MOUNTAIN CAMP</h4>
+
+<p>Just so often as the reader draws a relieved breath at the escape of the
+Scouts from imminent danger, he loses it again in the instinctive
+impression, which he shares with the boys, of impending peril.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS FOR UNCLE SAM</h4>
+
+<p>Patriotism is a vital principle in every Boy Scout organization, but few
+there are who have such an opportunity for its practical expression as
+comes to the members of the Eagle Patrol.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS AT THE PANAMA CANAL</h4>
+
+<p>Most timely is this authentic story of the "great ditch." It is
+illustrated by photographs of the Canal in process of Building.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS UNDER FIRE IN MEXICO</h4>
+
+<p>Another tale appropriate to the unsettled conditions of the present is
+this account of recent conflict.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS ON BELGIAN BATTLEFIELDS</h4>
+
+<p>Wonderfully interesting is the story of Belgium as it figures in this
+tale of the Great War.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS WITH THE ALLIES IN FRANCE</h4>
+
+<p>On the firing line&mdash;or very near&mdash;we find the Scouts in France.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS at THE PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION</h4>
+
+<p>If you couldn't attend the Exposition yourself, you can go even now in
+imagination with the Boy Scouts.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS UNDER SEALED ORDERS</h4>
+
+<p>Here the Boy Scouts have a secret mission to perform for the Government.
+What is the nature of it? Keen boys will find that out by reading the
+book. It's a dandy story.</p>
+
+<h4>BOY SCOUTS' CAMPAIGN FOR PREPAREDNESS</h4>
+
+<p>Just as the Scouts' motto is "Be Prepared," just for these reasons that
+they prepare for the country's defense. What they do and how they do it
+makes a volume well worth reading.</p>
+
+<h4>You do not have to be a Boy Scout to enjoy these fascinating and
+well-written stories. Any boy has the chance. Next to the Manual itself,
+the books give an accurate description of Boy Scout activities, for they
+are educational and instructive.</h4>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h3>MOTOR CYCLE SERIES</h3>
+
+<h3>By LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON</h3>
+
+
+<h4><i>The Motor Cycle Chums Around the World</i></h4>
+
+<p>Could Jules Verne have dreamed of encircling the globe with a motor
+cycle for emergencies, he would have deemed it an achievement greater
+than any he describes in his account of the amusing travels of Philias
+Fogg. This, however, is the purpose successfully carried out by the
+Motor Cycle Chums, and the tale of their mishaps, hindrances and delays
+is one of intense interest, secret amusement, and incidental information
+to the reader.</p>
+
+<h4><i>The Motor Cycle Chums of the Northwest Patrol</i></h4>
+
+<p>The great Northwest is a section of vast possibilities and in it the
+Motor Cycle Chums meet adventures even more unusual and exciting than
+many of their experiences on their tour around the world. There is not a
+dull page in this lively narrative of clever boys and their attendant,
+"Chinee."</p>
+
+<h4><i>The Motor Cycle Chums in the Gold Fields</i></h4>
+
+<p>How the Motor Cycle Chums were caught by the lure of the gold and into
+what difficulties and novel experiences they were led, makes a tale of
+thrilling interest.</p>
+
+<h4><i>The Motor Cycle Chums' Whirlwind Tour</i></h4>
+
+<p>To right a wrong is the mission that leads the Riding Rovers over the
+border into Mexico and gives the impulse to this story of amusing
+adventures and exciting episodes.</p>
+
+<h4><i>The Motor Cycle Chums South of the Equator</i></h4>
+
+<p>New customs, strange peoples and unfamiliar surroundings add fresh zest
+to the interest of the Motor Cycle Chums in travel, and the tour
+described in this volume is full of the tropical atmosphere.</p>
+
+<h4><i>The Motor Cycle Chums through Historic America</i></h4>
+
+<p>The Motor Cycle Chums explore the paths where American history was made,
+where interest centers to-day as never before.</p>
+
+<h4>You do not need to own either a motor-cycle or a bicycle to enjoy the
+thrilling experiences through which the Motor Cycle Chums pass on their
+way to seek adventure and excitement. Brimful of clever episodes.</h4>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ocean Wireless Boys And The
+Naval Code, by John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ***
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+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,6881 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ocean Wireless Boys And The Naval
+Code, by John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+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 www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Ocean Wireless Boys And The Naval Code
+
+Author: John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+Illustrator: Christopher L. Wren
+
+Release Date: October 5, 2008 [EBook #26778]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                    THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS AND THE NAVAL CODE
+
+                             BY CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE BOY AVIATORS' SERIES," "THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS' SERIES,"
+"THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS AND
+THE LOST LINER," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS OF THE ICE-BERG PATROL," ETC.
+
+                     _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLES L. WRENN_
+
+
+NEW YORK
+HURST & COMPANY
+PUBLISHERS
+
+Copyright, 1915,
+BY HURST & COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Huh, I don't think the idea's worth a cent," sniffed
+Thurman.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+        I. VACATION DAYS
+
+       II. "SPEEDWAY" VS. "CURLEW"
+
+      III. CAPTAIN SIMMS, OF THE "THESPIS"
+
+       IV. ON SECRET SERVICE
+
+        V. NIGHT SIGNALS
+
+       VI. IN THE DARK
+
+      VII. THE NAVAL CODE
+
+     VIII. A MONKEY INTERLUDE
+
+       IX. NODDY AND THE BEAR
+
+        X. "WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT?"
+
+       XI. A SWIM WITH A MEMORY
+
+      XII. A TALE FROM THE FROZEN LANDS
+
+     XIII. A NIGHT ALARM
+
+      XIV. JACK'S CURIOSITY AND ITS RESULTS
+
+       XV. BILLY TAKES THE TRAIL
+
+      XVI. A "GHOSTESS" ABROAD
+
+     XVII. ONE MYSTERY SOLVED
+
+    XVIII. BILL SNIGGERS DECIDES
+
+      XIX. WHAT A "HAYSEED" DID
+
+       XX. THE "CURLEW" IN TROUBLE
+
+      XXI. THE END OF JACK'S HOLIDAY
+
+     XXII. "THE GEM OF THE OCEAN"
+
+    XXIII. JACK'S BIG SECRET
+
+     XXIV. THE NAVY DEPARTMENT "SITS UP"
+
+      XXV. A MYSTERY ON BOARD
+
+     XXVI. A "FLASH" OF DISTRESS
+
+    XXVII. A STRANGE WRECK
+
+   XXVIII. CAST AWAY WITH A PYTHON
+
+     XXIX. CAPTURED BY RADIO
+
+      XXX. THURMAN PLOTS
+
+     XXXI. THE "SUITABLE REWARD"
+
+    XXXII. THE PLOTTER'S TRIUMPH
+
+   XXXIII. IN THE POWER OF THE ENEMY
+
+    XXXIV. THE SEARCH FOR JACK
+
+     XXXV. THE WIRELESS MAKES GOOD
+
+
+
+
+The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Naval Code.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+VACATION DAYS.
+
+
+"Up with your helm there, Noddy! Luff her up or you'll have the _Curlew_
+on the rocks!"
+
+"That's right, luff!" cried Billy Raynor, adding his voice to Jack
+Ready's command.
+
+"That's what I _luff_ to do," grinned the red-headed, former Bowery
+waif, Noddy Nipper, as, with a dexterous motion, he jerked over the
+tiller of the fine, speedy sloop in which the boys were enjoying a sail
+on Alexandria Bay, above the Thousand Islands.
+
+The mainsail and jib shivered, and the _Curlew_ spun round like a top
+just as it seemed inevitable that she must end her career on some jagged
+rocks that had suddenly loomed up ahead.
+
+"Neatly done, Noddy," applauded Jack. "We'll forgive you even that awful
+pun for that skillful bit of boat-handling."
+
+The freckled lad grinned in appreciation of the compliment paid him by
+the Wireless Boy.
+
+"Much obliged," he said. "Of course I haven't got sailing down as fine
+as you yet. How far do you reckon we are from home?"
+
+"From the Pine Island hotel, you mean?" rejoined Billy Raynor. "Oh, not
+more than ten miles."
+
+"Just about that," chimed in Jack. "If this wind holds we'll be home in
+time for supper."
+
+"Supper!" exclaimed Bill; "I could eat an octogenarian doughnut, I'm so
+hungry."
+
+A groan came from Noddy. Although the Bowery lad had polished up on his
+grammar and vocabulary considerably since Jack Ready first encountered
+him as second cook on the seal-poaching schooner _Polly Ann_, Captain
+"Terror" Carson commanding, still, a word like "Octogenarian" stumped
+him, as the saying is.
+
+"What's an octo-octo--what-you-may-call-'um doughnut, anyhow?" he
+demanded, for Noddy always liked to acquire a new word, and not
+infrequently astonished his friends by coming out with a "whopper"
+culled out of the dictionary. "Is it a doughnut with legs on it?"
+
+Jack and Billy broke into a roar of laughter.
+
+"A doughnut with legs on?" sputtered Billy. "Whatever put that idea into
+your head, Noddy?"
+
+"Well, don't octo-octo-thing-a-my-jigs have legs?" inquired Noddy.
+
+"Oh, you mean octopuses," cried Jack, with another laugh. "Billy meant
+an eighty-year-old doughnut."
+
+"I'll look it up when we get back," remarked Noddy gravely; "it's a good
+word."
+
+"Say, fellows, we are sure having a fine time out of this holiday,"
+remarked Billy presently, after an interval of silence.
+
+"Yes, but just the same I shan't be sorry when Mr. Juke's new liner is
+completed and we can go to sea again," said Jack, "but after our
+experiences up north, among the ice, I think we had a holiday coming to
+us."
+
+"That we did," agreed Noddy. "Some difference between skimming around
+here in a fine yacht and being cast away on that wretched island with
+nothing to eat and not much prospect of getting any."
+
+"Yes, but if it hadn't been for that experience, and the ancient
+treasure we found, we couldn't have taken such a jolly vacation," argued
+Jack. "It's made Uncle Toby a rich man and put all of us on Easy
+Street."
+
+"Yes, it was certainly worth all the hardships we went through," agreed
+Noddy.
+
+"I guess we are in for a long spell of quiet now, though," remarked
+Jack, after a pause, during which each boy thought of their recent
+adventures.
+
+"Not so sure of that," replied Noddy. "You're the sort of fellow,
+judging from what you've told us, who is always tumbling up against
+something exciting."
+
+"Yes, I feel it in my bones that we are not destined to lead an
+absolutely uneventful time----" began Billy Raynor. "I--hold hard there,
+Noddy; watch yourself. Here comes another yacht bearing down on us!"
+
+Jack and Billy leaped to their feet, steadying themselves by clutching a
+stay. Billy was right. Another yacht, a good deal larger than their own,
+was heading straight for them.
+
+"Hi! put your helm over! We've got the right of way!" shouted Jack,
+cupping his hands.
+
+"Look out where you're going!" cried Billy.
+
+But whoever was steering the other yacht made no motion to carry out the
+suggestions. Instead, under a press of canvas, she kept directly on her
+course.
+
+"She'll run us down," cried Noddy. "What'll I do, Jack?"
+
+"Throw her over to port lively now," sang out Jack Ready. "Hurry up or
+we'll have a bad smash-up!"
+
+He leaped toward the stern to Noddy's assistance, while Billy Raynor,
+the young engineer, did the same.
+
+In former volumes of this series the previous adventures of the lads
+have been described. In the first book, devoted to their doings and to
+describing the fascinating workings of sea-wireless aboard ocean-going
+craft, which was called "The Ocean Wireless Boys on the Atlantic," we
+learned how Jack became a prime favorite with the irascible Jacob Jukes,
+head of the great Transatlantic and Pacific shipping combine. Jack's
+daring rescue of Millionaire Jukes' little girl resulted in the lad's
+obtaining the position of wireless man on board a fine ship, after he
+had looked for such a job for months in vain. But because Jack would not
+become the well-paid companion of Mr. Jukes' son Tom, a rather sickly
+youth, the millionaire became angry with the young wireless man.
+However, Jack was able, subsequently, to rescue Mr. Jukes from a
+drifting boat after the magnate's yacht had burned in mid-ocean and,
+following that, to reunite the almost frantic millionaire with his
+missing son.
+
+Other exciting incidents were described, and Jack gained rapidly in his
+chosen profession, as did his chum, Billy Raynor, who was third
+assistant engineer of the big vessel. The next volume, which was called
+"The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Lost Liner," told of the loss of the
+splendid ship "Tropic Queen," on a volcanic island after she had become
+disabled and had drifted helplessly for days. By wireless Jack managed
+to secure aid from U. S. vessels, and it came in the nick of time, for
+the island was destroyed by an eruption just after the last of the
+rescued passengers had been taken off. Wireless, too, secured, as
+described in that book, the capture of a criminal much wanted by the
+government.
+
+The third volume related more of Jack's doings and was called "The Ocean
+Wireless Boys of the Ice-berg Patrol." This book told how Jack, while
+serving aboard one of the revenue cutters that send out wireless
+warnings of ice-bergs to transatlantic liners, fell into the hands of a
+band of seal poachers. Things looked black for the lad for a time, but
+he found two good friends among the rough crew in the persons of Noddy
+Nipper and Pompey, an eccentric old colored cook, full of superstitions
+about ghosts. The _Polly Ann_, as the schooner was called, was wrecked
+and Jack and his two friends cast away on a lonesome spot of land called
+Skull Island. They were rescued from this place by Jack's eccentric,
+wooden-legged Uncle, Captain Toby Ready, who, when at home, lived on a
+stranded wooden schooner where he made patent medicines out of herbs for
+sailors. Captain Toby had got wind of an ancient treasure hidden by a
+forgotten race on an Arctic island. After the strange reunion they all
+sailed north. But an unscrupulous financier (also on a hunt for the
+treasure) found a way to steal their schooner and left them destitute.
+For a time it appeared that they would leave their bones in the bleak
+northland. But the skillful resource and pluck of Jack and Noddy won the
+day. We now find them enjoying a holiday, with Captain Toby as host, at
+a fashionable hotel among the beautiful Thousand Islands. Having made
+this necessary digression, let us again turn our attention to the
+situation which had suddenly confronted the happy three, and which
+appeared to be fraught with imminent danger.
+
+Like their own craft, the other boat carried a single mast and was
+sloop-rigged. But the boat was larger in every respect than the
+_Curlew_. She carried a great spread of snowy canvas and heeled over
+under its press till the white water raced along her gunwale.
+
+As she drew nearer the boys saw that there were two occupants on board
+her. One was a tall, well-dressed lad in yachting clothes, whose face,
+rather handsome otherwise, was marred by a supercilious sneer, as if he
+considered himself a great deal better than anyone else. The other was a
+somewhat elderly man whose hair appeared to be tinged with gray. His
+features were coarse, but he resembled the lad with him enough to make
+it certain he was his father.
+
+"Sheer off there," roared Jack at the top of his lungs, to the occupants
+of the other boat; "do you want to run us down?"
+
+"Get out of the way then," cried the boy.
+
+"Yes, sheer off yourselves, whipper-snappers!" came from the man.
+
+"We've got the right of way!" cried Jack.
+
+"Go chase yourselves," yelled Noddy, reverting in this moment of
+excitement, as was his habit at such times, to his almost forgotten
+slang.
+
+"Keep her on her course, Donald; never mind those young jack-a-napes,"
+said the man in the other sloop, addressing the boy, who was steering.
+
+"All right, pop," was the reply; "they'll get the worst of the smash if
+they don't clear out."
+
+"Gracious, they really mean to run us down," cried Jack, in a voice of
+alarm. "Better sheer off, Noddy, though I hate to do it."
+
+"By jinks, do you see who they are?" cried Bill Raynor, who had been
+studying the pair in the other boat, which was now only a few yards off.
+"It's that millionaire Hiram Judson and his son Donald, the boy you had
+the run in with at the hotel the other day."
+
+But Jack made no reply. The two boats were now almost bowsprit to
+bowsprit. As for Noddy, the freckles stood out on his pale, frightened
+face like spots on the sun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+"SPEEDAWAY" VS. "CURLEW."
+
+
+But at the critical moment the lad at the helm of the other craft, which
+bore the name _Speedaway_, appeared to lose his nerve. He sheered off
+and merely grazed the _Curlew's_ side, scraping off a lot of paint.
+
+"Hi, there! What do you mean by doing such a thing?" demanded Jack,
+directly the danger of a head-on collision was seen to have been
+averted.
+
+The other lad broke into a laugh. It was echoed by the man with him,
+whom he had addressed as "pop."
+
+"Just thought I'd see how much you fellows knew about handling a boat,"
+he sneered. "It's just as I thought, you're a bunch of scare-cats. You
+needn't have been afraid that I couldn't keep the _Speedaway_ out of
+danger."
+
+"You risked the lives of us all by running so close," cried Billy
+indignantly.
+
+"Never attempt such a thing again," said Jack angrily, "or----"
+
+"Or what, my nervous young friend?" taunted the elderly man.
+
+"Yes," said the lad, with an unpleasant grin, "what will you do?"
+
+"I shall feel sorely tempted to come on board your boat and give you the
+same sort of a thrashing I gave you the other day when I found you
+tormenting that poor dog," said Jack, referring to the incident Billy
+Raynor had already hinted at when he first recognized the occupants of
+the _Speedaway_.
+
+"You'll never set foot on my boat," cried Donald Judson, with what he
+meant to be dangerous emphasis; but his face had suddenly become very
+pale. "You think you got the best of me the other day, but I'll fix you
+yet."
+
+The two craft were out of earshot almost by this time, and none of the
+three lads on the _Curlew_ thought it worth while to answer Donald
+Judson. The millionaire and his son occupied an island not far from the
+Pine Island Hotel. A few days before the incident we have just recorded,
+Jack, who hated cruelty in any form, had found Donald Judson, who often
+visited the hotel to display his extensive assortment of clothes,
+amusing himself by torturing a dog. When Jack told him to stop it the
+millionaire's son started to fight, and Jack, finding a quarrel forced
+upon him, ended it in the quickest way--by knocking the boy flat.
+
+Donald slunk off, swearing to be revenged. But Jack had only laughed at
+him and advised him to forget the incident except as a lesson in
+kindness to animals. It appeared, however, that, far from forgetting his
+humiliation, Donald Judson was determined to avenge it even at the risk
+of placing his own life in danger.
+
+"I wonder if he followed us up to-day on purpose to try to ram us or
+force us on a sandbar?" mused Noddy, as they sailed on.
+
+"Looks like it," said Billy.
+
+"I believe he is actually sore enough to sink our boat if he could, even
+if he damaged his own in doing it," said Jack.
+
+"To my mind his father is as bad he is," said Noddy; "he made no attempt
+to stop him. If I----Look, they've put their boat about and are
+following us."
+
+"There's no doubt that they are," said Jack, after a moment's scrutiny
+of the latest maneuver of the _Speedaway_. The Judsons' boat, which was
+larger, and carried more sail and was consequently faster than the
+_Curlew_, gained rapidly on the boys. Soon she was within hailing
+distance.
+
+"What are you following us for? Want to have another collision?" cried
+Jack.
+
+"Do you own the water hereabouts?" asked Donald. "I didn't know I was
+following you."
+
+"We've a right to sail where we please," shouted Judson.
+
+"Yes, if you don't imperil other folks' boats," agreed Jack. "If you've
+got any scheme in mind to injure us I'd advise you to forget it," he
+added.
+
+"Huh! What scheme would I have in mind? Think I'd bother with
+insignificant chaps like you and your little toy boat?"
+
+"You keep out of our way," added the man.
+
+"Yes, just do that little thing if you know what's healthy for you,"
+chimed in Donald Judson.
+
+His insulting tone aroused Jack's ire.
+
+"It'll be the worse for you if you try any of your tricks," he roared.
+
+"What tricks would I have, Ready?" demanded the other.
+
+"Some trick that may turn out badly for you!"
+
+"I guess I don't need you to tell me what I will or what I won't do."
+
+"All right, only keep clear of us. That's fair warning. You'll get the
+worst of it if you don't."
+
+"So, young man, you are going to play the part of bully, are you?"
+shouted Donald's father. "That fits in with what I've heard of you from
+him. You've been prying around our boat for several days. I don't like
+it."
+
+"Well, keep away from us," cried Billy.
+
+"Yes, your room's a lot better than your company," sputtered Noddy. "We
+don't care if you never come back."
+
+"Really, what nice language," sneered Donald. "I congratulate you on
+your gentlemanly friend, Ready. He----"
+
+"Look out there," warned Jack, for Noddy, in his indignation, had sprung
+to his feet, entirely forgetting the tiller. The _Curlew_ broached to
+and heeled over, losing "way." The _Speedaway_ came swiftly on. In an
+instant there was a ripping, tearing sound and a concerted shout of
+dismay from the boys as the sharp bow of Judson's larger, heavier craft
+cut deep into the _Curlew's_ quarter.
+
+"Now you've done it!" cried Billy Raynor.
+
+"I--er--it was an accident," cried Donald, as the two boats swung apart,
+and there was some justification for this plea, as the _Speedaway_ was
+also damaged, though not badly.
+
+"It was no accident," cried Jack, but he said no more just then. He was
+too busy examining the rent in the _Curlew's_ side.
+
+Still shivering, like a wounded creature, from the shock of the impact,
+the _Curlew_, with the water pouring into the jagged rip in her side,
+began slowly to sink!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+CAPTAIN SIMMS OF THE "THESPIS."
+
+
+Silence, except for the inrush of water into the damaged side of the
+_Curlew_, followed the collision. The three lads on the sinking craft
+gazed helplessly at each other for a few seconds.
+
+"Get away as quick as you can," whispered Donald's father to the boy who
+had wrought the damage, and now looked rather scared. The _Speedaway_
+swung out and her big mainsail began to fill.
+
+"We are going to the bottom," choked out Billy, the first of the party
+to recover the use of his vocal organs.
+
+"I'm afraid there's no doubt of that," said Jack. "Donald Judson," he
+shouted, raising his voice and throwing it across the appreciable
+distance that now separated the two craft, "you'll pay for this."
+
+"It was an accident, I tell you," yelled back the other lad, but in a
+rather shaky voice.
+
+"You'll do no good by abusing us," chimed in his father.
+
+"What'll we do, Jack?" demanded Noddy, tugging at Jack's sleeve.
+
+"Steer for the shore. There's just a chance we can make it, or at least
+shallow water," was the reply.
+
+"Doesn't look much as if we could make it," said Billy dubiously,
+shaking his head and regarding the big leak ruefully, "but I suppose we
+can try."
+
+The wounded _Curlew_ began to struggle along with a motion very unlike
+her usual swift, smooth glide. She staggered and reeled heavily.
+
+"Put her on the other tack," said Jack. Noddy followed his orders with
+the result that the _Curlew_ heeled over on the side opposite to that
+which had been injured, and thus raised her wound above the water line.
+Billy began bailing, frantically, with a bucket, at the water that had
+already come in.
+
+"Shall we help you?" cried Donald.
+
+"No, we don't want your help," answered Jack shortly. "We'll thresh all
+this out in court later on," he added.
+
+"I'm a witness that it was an accident," shouted the elder Judson.
+
+"You'll have a swell time proving I ran you down on purpose," added his
+son.
+
+Seeing that it was useless to prolong such a fruitless argument at long
+distance, Jack refrained from making a reply. Besides, the _Curlew_
+required his entire attention now. He took the tiller himself and kept
+the injured craft inclined at such an angle that but little water
+entered the hole the _Speedaway's_ sharp bow had punched in her.
+
+The shore, on which were a few small houses and a wharf hidden among
+trees and rocks, appeared to be a long distance off. But the _Curlew_
+staggered gamely onward with Jack anticipating every puff of wind
+skillfully.
+
+"I believe that we'll make it, after all," said Billy hopefully, as the
+water-logged craft was urged forward.
+
+"I wish that Donald, with his sissy-boy clothes, was ashore when we
+land," grumbled Noddy. "I'd give him what-for. I have not forgotten how
+to handle my dukes, and as for his old octo-octo----"
+
+"Octogenarian," chuckled Raynor.
+
+"Octogenarian of a father,--I knew I'd get a chance to use that
+word----" said Noddy triumphantly; "he's worse than his son. They're a
+fine pair,--I don't think."
+
+"Well, abusing them will do no good," said Jack. "We'll have to see what
+other steps can be taken. I'm afraid, though, that they were right;
+we'll have a hard time proving that it was not an accident, especially
+as Noddy had dropped our tiller."
+
+"Well, I just couldn't----" began Noddy, rather shamefacedly, when there
+came a mighty bump and the _Curlew_ came to a standstill.
+
+"Now what?" cried Raynor.
+
+"We've run on a shoal, fellows," declared Jack. "This cruise is over for
+a time."
+
+"Well, anyhow, we can't sink now," said Noddy philosophically, "but
+although the _Curlew's_ stuck on the shoal I'm not stuck on the
+situation."
+
+"Better quit that stuff," ordered Jack, "and help Billy lower the
+mainsail and jib. They are no good to us now. In fact a puff of wind
+might send us bowling over."
+
+His advice was soon carried out and the _Curlew_ lay under a bare pole
+on the muddy shoal. The boys began to express their disgust at their
+predicament. They had no tender, and would have to stay there till help
+came because of their lack of a small boat.
+
+"Better set up some sort of a signal to attract the attention of those
+folks on shore," suggested Billy.
+
+"That's a good idea," agreed Jack, "but hullo! Look yonder, there's a
+motor boat coming out from the shore. Let's hail that."
+
+"Hullo, there! Motor boat ahoy!" they all began to yell at the top of
+their lungs.
+
+But they might have saved their voices, for the motor boat swung about
+in a channel that existed among the shoals and began making straight for
+them. Its single occupant waved an encouraging hand as he drew closer.
+
+"In trouble, eh?" he hailed; "well, maybe I can get you off. I saw that
+other boat run you down. It was a rascally bit of business."
+
+"Gracious!" cried Jack suddenly, as the motor boat drew closer and they
+saw its occupant was a bronzed, middle-aged man with a pleasant face;
+"it's Captain Simms of the revenue cutter _Thespis_! What in the world
+is he doing up here?"
+
+"If it isn't Jack Ready!" came in hearty tones from the other, almost
+simultaneously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+ON SECRET SERVICE.
+
+
+There was no question about it. Astonishing as it appeared, the bluff,
+sunburned man in the motor boat which was winding its way toward the
+_Curlew_, in serpentine fashion, among the tortuous channels, was
+Captain Simms, the commander of the revenue cutter on which Jack Ready
+had served as "ice-patrol" operator. The greetings between his late
+commander and himself were, as might be imagined, cordial, but, owing to
+the circumstances under which they were exchanged, somewhat hurried.
+
+"So you've been in a smash-up," cried the captain, as he reduced speed
+on nearing the stern of the _Curlew_, which was still afloat. "Nobody
+hurt, I hope?"
+
+"Except the boat," smiled Jack with grim humor.
+
+"So I see. A nasty hole," was the captain's comment. "Lucky that I
+happen to be camping ashore or you might have stayed out here for some
+time. Rivermen hereabouts aren't over-obliging, unless they see big
+money in it for their services."
+
+"We'd have been content to pay a good salvage to get off here," Jack
+assured him.
+
+"Well, that other craft certainly sheered off in short order after she
+hit you," was Captain Simms' comment, as he shut off power and came in
+under the _Curlew's_ stern, which projected, as has been said, over
+fairly deep water, only the bow being in the mud.
+
+"Then you can tell who was to blame?" asked Billy eagerly.
+
+"I certainly can and will, if I am called upon to do so."
+
+"Thank you," said Jack. "I mean to make them settle for the damage, even
+if I have to go to court to do it."
+
+"That's right. It was a bad bit of business. She followed you right up.
+I'd be willing to swear to that in any tribunal in the land. I hope you
+bring them to justice. Who were the rascals?"
+
+"A millionaire named Judson, who owns an island near here, and his son,
+who is a fearful snob."
+
+The boys saw a look of surprise flit across the naval officer's face.
+But it was gone in an instant.
+
+"Surely not Hiram Judson?" he demanded.
+
+"The same man," replied Jack. "Why, do you know him, sir?"
+
+"I--er--that is, I think we had better change the subject," said Captain
+Simms with odd hesitation. Jack saw that there was something behind the
+sea officer's hesitancy, but of course he did not ask any more
+questions.
+
+"I can give you a tow to the shore where there is a man who makes a
+business of repairing boats," volunteered Captain Simms. "But will your
+craft keep afloat that long?"
+
+"I think so," said Jack. "We can all sit on one side and so raise the
+leak above water. But can you pull us off?"
+
+"We shall soon see that," was the rejoinder. "It looks as if it would be
+an easy task. Throw me a line and I'll make it fast to my stern bitts."
+
+This was soon done, and then the little launch set to work with might
+and main to tug off the injured yacht.
+
+"Hurray, she's moving!" cried Billy presently.
+
+This was followed by a joyous shout from all the boys.
+
+"She's off!"
+
+They moved down the channel with the boys hanging over one side in order
+to keep the _Curlew_ heeled over at an angle that would assure safety
+from the leak. They landed at a rickety old dock with a big gasoline
+tank perched at one end of it. Attached to it was a crudely painted
+sign:
+
+    "Charles Hansen, Boats Built and Repaired.
+    All work Promptly Exicutid."
+
+Hansen himself came toddling down the wharf. He was an old man with a
+rheumatic walk and a stubbly, unshaven chin stained with tobacco juice.
+A goodly sized "chaw" bulged in his withered cheek.
+
+"Can you repair our boat quickly?" asked Jack, pointing to the hole.
+
+Old Hansen shot a jet of tobacco juice in the direction of the injury.
+
+"Bustitupconsiderable," he remarked.
+
+"What's that?" demanded Billy. "Doesn't he talk English?" and he turned
+an inquiring glance at Captain Simms, who laughed.
+
+"That's just his way of talking when he's got a mouthful of what he
+calls 'eatin' tobacco.' He said, 'he is of the opinion that your boat is
+bust up considerable.'"
+
+"Well, we don't need an expert to tell us that," laughed Jack.
+
+"Doyouwantmetofixit?" inquired the eccentric old man, still running his
+words together in the same odd way.
+
+"Yes," replied Jack, "can we have her by to-morrow?"
+
+"Haveterseehowbadlyshesbusted," muttered the old man.
+
+"He'll have to see how badly she's busted," translated Jack. "Suppose
+you take a look at her," he added to the boatman.
+
+"Maybeagoodidee," agreed old Hansen, and he scrambled down into the
+boat.
+
+"I'llfixherbyto-morrow," he said at last.
+
+The charges, it appeared, would not be more than ten or twelve dollars,
+which the boys thought reasonable.
+
+"Especially as they won't come out of our pockets," commented Billy.
+
+"Not if I can help it," promised Jack decisively.
+
+"And now," said Captain Simms, "as I happen to have some business at the
+Pine Island Hotel, I'll run you down there in the _Skipjack_, as I call
+my boat."
+
+"That's awfully good of you," said Jack gratefully. "I began to think
+that we would have to stay ashore here all night."
+
+Before many minutes had passed they were off, leaving old Hansen, with
+working jaws, examining the hole in the _Curlew's_ side. The _Skipjack_
+proved speedy and they made the run back to the hotel in good time,
+arriving there before sundown. Captain Toby had met Captain Simms after
+the latter had found the treasure party at the spot where they had
+unearthed the rich trove. But he proved equally reticent as to the
+object of his presence at Alexandria as he had been with the boys. He
+was doing some "special work" for the government, was all that Captain
+Toby could ascertain.
+
+"There's considerable mystery to all this," said Captain Toby to the
+boys after Captain Simms had left them to write some letters which, he
+said, he wished to send ashore by the hotel motor boat that evening.
+
+"It's some sort of secret work for Uncle Sam, I guess," hazarded Jack,
+"but what it is I've no idea. Anyhow it's none of our business."
+
+The boys little guessed, when Jack made that remark, how very much their
+business Captain Simms' secret mission was to become in the near future.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+NIGHT SIGNALS.
+
+
+After supper Captain Simms suddenly announced that he wished to make a
+trip to the mainland to the town of Clayton. He wished to send an
+important telegram to Washington, he explained.
+
+"How are you going?" asked Jack. "The hotel boat has stopped running for
+the day."
+
+"I know that, but I'll go on the _Skipjack_. You lads want to come?"
+
+"Do we? I should say we do."
+
+"You lads must be full of springs from the way you're always jumping
+about," remarked Uncle Toby, with a smile, "but I suppose it's boy
+nature."
+
+The run to the shore was made quickly. It seemed almost no time at all
+before they made out the string of lights that marked the pier and the
+radiance of the brilliantly lit hotel behind them. But as they were
+landing an unforeseen accident occurred. Mistaking his distance in the
+darkness, the captain neglected to shut off power soon enough, and the
+nose of the _Skipjack_ bumped into the pier with great force. At the
+same time a splintering of wood was heard.
+
+"Gracious, another wreck," exclaimed Jack.
+
+"Wow! What a bump!" cried Noddy.
+
+"Is it a bad smash?" asked Billy anxiously.
+
+The captain was bending over the broken prow of the boat examining it by
+the white lantern.
+
+"Bad enough to keep us here all night, I'm afraid," he said. "Do you
+boys mind? It looks to me as if it could soon be repaired in the
+morning, and the boat will be safe here to-night at any rate."
+
+"It's too bad," exclaimed Jack. "We seem to be regular hoodoos on a
+boat."
+
+"It was my own fault," said the captain, "but the lights on the pier
+dazzled me so that I miscalculated my distance."
+
+"Well, it's a good thing no other harm was done," was Billy's comment.
+
+The boat was tied up and the watchman on the dock given some money to
+keep an eye on it. They engaged rooms at the hotel, and while Captain
+Simms composed his telegram, the boys took a stroll about the grounds of
+the hostelry, which sloped down to the bay. They had about passed beyond
+the radiance of the lights of the hotel when Jack suddenly drew his
+companions' attention to a figure that was stealing through the darkness
+hugging a grove of trees. There was something indescribably furtive in
+the way the man crept along, half crouched and glanced behind him from
+time to time.
+
+"A burglar?" questioned Billy.
+
+"Some sort of crook I'll bet," exclaimed Noddy.
+
+"He's up to some mischief or I'm much mistaken," said Jack, as he drew
+his companions back further into a patch of black shadow cast by some
+ornamental shrubs.
+
+"Let's trail him and see what he's up to," said Noddy.
+
+"Gracious, you're a regular Sherlock Holmes at the drop of the hat,"
+laughed Billy. "What do you think, Jack?"
+
+"I don't know. He's going toward the wharf and I don't see just what he
+could steal there."
+
+"Look at him stop and glance all around him as if he was afraid of being
+followed," whispered Billy.
+
+"That doesn't look like an honest man's action, certainly," agreed Jack.
+"Come on, boys; we'll see what's in the wind. Do you know, somehow I've
+got an idea that we've seen that fellow somewhere before."
+
+"What gives you that impression?" asked Billy.
+
+"I can't say--it's just a feeling I've got. An instinct I guess you
+might call it."
+
+The three boys moved forward as stealthily as did the man whose actions
+had aroused their suspicions. Presently they saw him cut across a small
+patch of lawn and strike into a narrow path which led among some trees.
+
+With every care to avoid making any noise, the three boys followed. The
+path led to the edge of a cliff, down the face of which a flight of
+stone steps ran down to the water's edge. The man descended these.
+
+"What can he be? A smuggler," suggested Billy.
+
+"I don't see any boat down there, if he is," rejoined Jack in low tones.
+
+Suddenly a sharp, low exclamation came from Noddy, who had been looking
+out over the lake.
+
+He caught Jack's arm and pointed.
+
+"Look, boys, a yacht!" he breathed.
+
+"Heading in this way, too," rejoined Jack. "It looks like--but no, it
+cannot be."
+
+"Cannot be what?" asked Billy, caught by something in his companion's
+voice.
+
+"Cannot be the _Speedaway_."
+
+"Judson's craft, the one that ran us down? Nonsense, you've got Judson
+on the brain, Jack."
+
+"Have I? Well, it's an odd coincidence, then, that the yacht yonder has
+a tear in her foresail exactly where our bowsprit tore the _Speedaway's_
+jib this afternoon."
+
+"By hookey, you're right, Jack!" cried Noddy. "There may be more to this
+than we think."
+
+Billy was peering from behind a bush over the edge of the cliff, which
+was not very high.
+
+He could see below, the dark figure of a man making a black patch in the
+gloom upon the white beach. He was moving about and pacing nervously to
+and fro on the shingle as if awaiting something or somebody.
+
+Suddenly he made a swift move.
+
+"He's waving his handkerchief," whispered Billy to the others, as he saw
+the man make a signal with a square of white linen.
+
+"To that yacht, I'll bet a cookie," exclaimed Noddy.
+
+As if in answer to his words there suddenly showed, on the yacht, a red
+lantern, as if a scarlet eye had suddenly opened across the dark water.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+IN THE DARK.
+
+
+"Something's in the wind sure enough," said Jack. "Hark, there's the
+plash of oars. They must be going to land here."
+
+From below there came a man's voice.
+
+"Right here, Judson; here's the landing place. Are you alone?"
+
+"No, my son is with me," came the reply, "but for heaven's sake, man,
+not so loud."
+
+"There's no one within half a mile of this place. I came down through
+the grounds and they were deserted."
+
+"Humph, but still it's as well to be careful. One never knows what spies
+are about," came the reply.
+
+The boys, nudging each other with excitement, heard the bow of the boat
+scrape on the shingly beach and then came the crunch of footsteps.
+
+"They are coming up the steps," whispered Jack in low, excited tones.
+
+"That's right, so they are," breathed Billy cautiously. "Let's get
+behind the trees and learn what is going on."
+
+"It's something crooked, that's sure," whispered Noddy.
+
+"I begin to think so myself," agreed Jack, "but that man's voice, as
+well as his figure, seemed familiar to me when he hailed Judson, but I
+can't, for the life of me, think where I heard his voice before."
+
+The three lads lost no time in concealing themselves behind some
+ornamental bushes in the immediate vicinity. They were none too soon,
+for hardly had they done so when the figures of two men and a boy
+appeared at the top of the steps.
+
+"Phew," panted Judson, "I'm not as young as I was. That climb has made
+me feel my age. Let's sit down here."
+
+"Very well, that bench yonder will be just the place," agreed the man
+the boys had followed, and who had seemed so oddly familiar to Jack.
+
+The seat they had selected could hardly have been a better one for the
+boys' purpose. It was placed right against the bush behind which they
+were hiding. The voices came to them clearly, although the speakers took
+pains to modify them.
+
+"Well, I've been waiting for you," came in the voice of the man the boys
+had instinctively followed.
+
+"We'd have got here sooner, but were delayed by an accident, or rather a
+sort of accident on purpose that occurred this afternoon. I was glad to
+see that you hadn't forgotten our night signal code," said Judson.
+
+"What was the accident?" asked the man, who was a stranger to the boys,
+who were listening intently.
+
+"Oh, just three brats who are summering here," scoffed Donald Judson.
+"They appeared to think they owned the bay, and I guess it was up to me
+to show them they didn't. I guess Jack Ready will be on the market for
+another boat before long and----"
+
+"Hold on, hold on," exclaimed the strange man. "What was that name?"
+
+"Ready, Jack Ready. He thinks he's a wizard at wireless. Why, do you
+know him, Jarrow?"
+
+Jarrow, at the sound of the name there, brought into Jack's mind the
+recollections of the rascally partner of Terrill & Co., who had financed
+his uncle's treasure hunt and had then tried to steal the hoard from
+him. It was Jack who had overthrown the rascal's schemes and made him
+seek refuge in the west to escape prosecution. Yet he had apparently
+returned and in some way become associated with Judson. Noddy, too, as
+had Bill, had started at the name. Both nudged Jack, who returned the
+gesture to show that he had heard and understood.
+
+"So Ready is here, eh?" growled Jarrow. "Confounded young milksop."
+
+"You appear not to be very fond of him," interjected the elder Judson.
+
+"Fond of him! I should think not! I hate him like poison."
+
+"What did he ever do to you?"
+
+"He--er--er--he upset an--er--er--business deal I was in with his
+uncle."
+
+"The one-legged old sea captain?"
+
+"That's the fellow. He trusted me in everything till Jack Ready came
+nosing in and spoilt his uncle's chance of becoming a rich man through
+his association in business with me."
+
+"I've no use for him either," exclaimed Donald vindictively. "I'll give
+him a good licking when I see him."
+
+"Well, well, let's get down to business," said the elder Judson
+decisively. "You have been to Washington, Jarrow?"
+
+"Yes, and found out something, but not much. The new naval wireless code
+is not yet completed. I found out that by bribing a clerk in the Navy
+Department and----"
+
+"This business is proving pretty expensive," grumbled Judson.
+
+"We're playing for a big stake," was the reply. "I found out that the
+code has been placed in the hands of a Captain Simms, recently attached
+to the revenue service, for revision. I believe that it is the same
+Captain Simms against whom I have a grudge, for it was on his ship that
+I was insulted by aspersions on my business honesty, and that, also, was
+the work of this Jack Ready."
+
+"Pity he didn't tell them that he was in irons at the time," thought
+Jack to himself.
+
+"Where is this Captain Simms?" asked Judson, not noticing, or appearing
+not to, his companion's outbreak.
+
+"That's just it," was the rejoinder. "Nobody knows. His whereabouts are
+being kept a profound secret. Since it has become rumored that the Navy
+wireless code was being revised, Washington fairly swarms with secret
+agents of different governments. Simms is either abroad or in some
+mighty safe place."
+
+"Our hands are tied without him," muttered Judson, "and if I don't get
+that code I don't stand a chance of landing that big steel contract with
+the foreign power I have been dealing with."
+
+"I'm afraid not," rejoined Jarrow. "I saw their representative in
+Washington and told him what I had learned. His answer was, 'no code, no
+contract.' I'm afraid you were foolish in using that promise as a means
+to try to land the deal."
+
+"I had my thumb on the man who would have stolen it for me at the time,"
+rejoined Judson, "but he was discharged for some minor dishonesty before
+I had a chance to use him."
+
+"The thing to do is to locate this Captain Simms."
+
+"Evidently, you must do your best. The wind has died down and I guess
+we'll stop at the hotel till to-morrow. Anyhow, it's too long a sail
+back to-night. Come on, Donald; come, Jarrow." The bench creaked as they
+rose and made off, turning their footsteps toward the hotel.
+
+Not till they had gone some distance did the boys dare to speak, and
+even then they did not say much for a minute or two. The first
+expression came from Jack. It was a long, drawn-out:
+
+"We-e-l!"
+
+"And so that is the work that Captain Simms has been doing in that
+isolated retreat of his," exclaimed Billy.
+
+"And these crooks have just had the blind luck to tumble over him,"
+exploded Noddy. "Just wait till they take a look at the hotel register."
+
+"Maybe by the time they enter their names the page will have turned,"
+suggested Billy.
+
+"No," rejoined Jack, "our names were at the top of the page and there
+would hardly have been enough new arrivals after us at this time of
+night to have filled it since."
+
+"We must find Captain Simms at once and tell what is in the wind,"
+decided the young wireless man a moment later. "I guess the instinct
+that made us follow Jarrow was a right one."
+
+"I wonder how the rascal became acquainted with Judson?" pondered Billy.
+
+"Mixed up with him in some crooked deal or other before this," said
+Noddy.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder," said Jack.
+
+They began to walk back to the hotel. They did not enter the lobby by
+the main entrance, for the path they followed had brought them to a side
+door. They were glad of this, for, screened by some palms, they saw,
+bending intently over the register, the forms of the three individuals
+whose conversation they had overheard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE NAVAL CODE.
+
+
+"Now that you boys know the nature of the work I have been engaged on, I
+may as well tell you that confidential reports from Washington have
+warned me to be on my guard," said Captain Simms. "It was in reply to
+one of these that I sent a code dispatch to-night."
+
+It was half an hour later, and they were all seated in the Captain's
+room, having told their story.
+
+"But I should have imagined making up a code was a very simple matter,"
+said Billy.
+
+"That is just where you are wrong, my boy," smiled Captain Simms. "A
+commercial code, perhaps, can be jumbled together in any sort of
+fashion, but a practical naval code is a different matter. Besides
+dealing in technicalities it must be absolutely invulnerable to even the
+cleverest reader of puzzles. The new code was necessitated by the fact
+that secret agents discovered that an expert in the employ of a foreign
+power had succeeded in solving a part of our old one. It was only a very
+small part, but in case of trouble with that country it might have meant
+defeat if the enemy knew even a fragment of the wireless code that was
+being flashed through the air."
+
+"Have you nearly completed your work?" asked Jack.
+
+"Almost," was the reply, "but the fact that these men are here rather
+complicates matters. At Musky Bay, the name of the little settlement
+where I am stopping, they think I am just a city man up for the fishing.
+I do not use my right name there. By an inadvertence, I suppose it was
+habit, I wrote it on the hotel register to-night. That was a sad
+blunder, for it is practically certain that these men will not rest till
+they have found out where I am working."
+
+"At any rate I'm mighty glad we followed that Jarrow," said Jack.
+
+"And caught enough of their plans to put you on guard," chimed in Billy.
+
+"Yes, and I am deeply grateful to you boys," was the rejoinder.
+"'Forewarned is forearmed.' If Judson and his crowd attempt any foul
+tactics they will find me ready for them."
+
+"Judson apparently wishes now that he had not been so anxious to secure
+that contract as to promise the naval code as a sort of bonus," said
+Jack.
+
+"I don't doubt it," answered Captain Simms. "Now that I recall it, I
+heard rumors that Judson, who once had a steel contract with our
+government, is not so sound financially as he seems. I judge he would go
+to great lengths to assure a large contract that would get him out of
+his difficulties."
+
+"I should imagine so," replied Jack. "What was the reason he never did
+any more work for the government?"
+
+"The inferior quality of his product, I heard. There were ugly rumors
+concerning graft at the time. Some of the newspapers even went so far as
+to urge his prosecution."
+
+"Then we are dealing with bad men?" commented Jack.
+
+"Unquestionably so. But I think we had better break up this council of
+war and get to bed. I want to get an early start in the morning."
+
+But when morning came, it was found that the repairs to the _Skipjack_
+would take longer than had been anticipated. While Captain Simms
+remained at the boat yard to superintend the work, the lads returned to
+the hotel and addressed some post cards. This done they sauntered out on
+the porch. Almost the first person they encountered chanced to be
+Jarrow. He started and turned a sickly yellow at the sight of them,
+although he knew, from an inspection of the register the night before,
+that they were there.
+
+"Why--er--ahem, so it is you once more. Where did you spring from?"
+
+"We came out of that door," murmured Jack, while Noddy snickered. "Where
+did you come from?"
+
+"I might say from the same place," was the rejoinder, with a look of
+malice at Noddy.
+
+"We thought you were in the west," said Billy. "Great place, the west.
+They say the climate out there is healthier than the east--for some
+folks."
+
+"Boy, you are impudent," snarled Jarrow.
+
+"Not at all. I was merely making a meteorological remark," smiled Billy.
+
+"Wait till I get that word," implored Noddy, pulling out a notebook and
+a stub of pencil.
+
+"Splendid grounds they have here for taking strolls at night," Jack
+could not help observing.
+
+From yellow Jarrow's face turned ashen pale. Muttering something about a
+telephone call, he hurried into the hotel.
+
+"Goodness, that shot brought down a bird, with a vengeance," chuckled
+Billy.
+
+Jarrow's head was suddenly thrust out of an open window. He glared at
+the boys balefully. His face was black as a thundercloud.
+
+"You boys have been playing the sneak on me," he cried angrily. "If you
+take my advice, you will not do so in the future."
+
+He withdrew his head as quickly as a turtle draws its headpiece into its
+shell.
+
+"He's a corker," cried Noddy. "I'll bet if he had a chance, he'd like to
+half kill us."
+
+"Shouldn't wonder," laughed Jack, "but he isn't going to get that
+chance. But hullo! What's all this coming up the driveway?"
+
+The others looked in the same direction and beheld a curious spectacle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A MONKEY INTERLUDE.
+
+
+"Well, here's something new, and no mistake," cried Billy.
+
+"Good, it will help pass our morning," declared Noddy, who was beginning
+to find time hang heavily on his hands now that he had nobody to play
+pranks on, like those he used to torment poor Pompey with.
+
+An Italian was coming up the road toward the hotel. Strapped across his
+shoulders was a small hand-organ. He led a trained bear, and two monkeys
+squatted on the big creature's back. He came to a halt near the grinning
+boys.
+
+"Hurray! This is going to be as good as a circus!" declared Noddy.
+"Start up your performance, professor."
+
+"They're off!" cried Billy.
+
+Summer residents of the hotel, anxious for any diversion out of the
+ordinary, came flocking to the scene as the strains of the barrel organ
+reached their ears, and the bear, in a clumsy fashion, began to dance to
+the music of the ear-piercing instrument.
+
+"Where are you going, Noddy?" asked Jack, as the red-headed lad tried to
+get quietly out of the crowd.
+
+"I just saw a chance for a little fun," rejoined Noddy innocently.
+
+"Well, be careful," warned Jack. "This is no place for such jokes as you
+used to play on Pompey."
+
+"Oh, nothing like that," Noddy assured him as he hurried off.
+
+"Just the same I'm afraid of Noddy when he starts getting humorous,"
+thought Jack.
+
+He would have been still more afraid if he could have seen Noddy make
+his way to the hotel kitchen and bribe a kitchen maid to get him three
+large sugar cakes. Then he made his way to the dining-room, and boring
+tiny holes in the buns filled each of them with red pepper from the
+casters.
+
+"Now for some fun," he chuckled.
+
+"I just know that boy is up to some mischief by the look on his face,"
+remarked an old lady as he hurried by.
+
+Quite a big crowd was round the Italian when Noddy got back. Almost as
+soon as he arrived the man began passing the hat, and taking advantage
+of this, Noddy proffered his buns to the animals. They accepted them
+greedily.
+
+"Peep! Peep!" chattered the monkeys.
+
+"You mean 'pep,' 'pep'," chuckled Noddy to himself.
+
+Both bear and monkeys tore into their buns as if they were half starved.
+In their hunger they got a few mouthfuls down without appearing to
+notice that anything was wrong. Then suddenly one of the monkeys hurled
+his bun at the bear and the other leaped on the big hairy creature's
+head. Apparently they thought the innocent bear had something to do with
+the trick that had been played on them.
+
+"Da monk! da monk!" howled the Italian, "da monk go a da craz'."
+
+"He says they are mad," exclaimed an old gentleman, and hurried away.
+
+Just as he did so, the bear discovered something was wrong. He set up a
+roar of rage and broke loose from his keeper. The monkeys leaped away
+from the angry beast and sought refuge. One jumped on the head of an
+elderly damsel who was very much excited. The other made a dive for a
+fashionably dressed youth who was none other than Donald Judson.
+
+"Help!" screamed the old maid. "Help! Will no one help me?"
+
+"I will, madam," volunteered an old gentleman, coming forward. He seized
+the monkey and tugged at its hind legs, but it only clung the tighter to
+the elderly damsel's hair.
+
+Suddenly there came a piercing scream.
+
+"Gracious, her hair's come off!" cried a woman.
+
+"She's been scalped, poor creature!" declared another.
+
+"Oh, you wretch, how dare you!" shrieked the monkey's victim, rushing at
+the gallant old gentleman. She raised her parasol and brought it down on
+his head with a resounding crack. In the meantime the Italian was
+howling to "Garibaldi," as he called the monkey, to come to him.
+
+But this the monkey had no intention of doing. Clutching the old maid's
+wig in its hands, it leaped away in bounds and joined its brother on the
+person of Donald Judson.
+
+"Ouch, take them off. They'll bite me!" Donald was yelling.
+
+The monkeys tore off his straw hat with its fancy ribbon and tore it to
+bits and flung them in the faces of the crowd. Then, suddenly, they both
+darted swiftly off and climbed a tree, where they sat chattering.
+
+It was at that moment that the confused throng recollected the bear,
+which had not remained in the vicinity but had gone charging off across
+the lawn looking for water to drown the burning sensation within him.
+Now, however, an angry roar reminded them of him. The beast was coming
+back across the lawn, roaring and showing his teeth.
+
+"Look out for the bear!"
+
+"Get a gun, quick."
+
+"Oh, he'll hug me," this last from the old maid, were some of the cries
+which the crowd sent up.
+
+"He's mad, shoot him!" cried somebody. The Italian set up a howl of
+protest.
+
+"No, no, no shoota heem. Mika da gooda da bear. No shoota heem."
+
+"If you don't want him shot, catch him and get out of here. You'll have
+my hotel turned into a sanitarium for nervous wrecks the first thing you
+know," cried the proprietor of the place.
+
+"Somebody playa da treeck," protested the Italian. "Mika da nica da
+bear, da gooda da bear."
+
+"I guess he's like an Indian, only good when he's dead," said the hotel
+man. "I'm off to get my gun."
+
+Noddy watched the results of his joke with mixed feelings. He had not
+meant it to go as far as this. He looked about him apprehensively, but
+everybody was too frightened to notice him.
+
+Suddenly the bear headed straight for Noddy. Perhaps his red head was a
+shining mark or perhaps the creature recollected the prank-playing youth
+as the one who had given him the peppered bun. At any rate he charged
+straight after the lad, who fled for his life.
+
+"Help!" he called as he ran. "Help, help!"
+
+"Noddy's getting a dose of his own medicine," cried Jack to Billy.
+
+"But we don't want to let the bear get him," protested Billy.
+
+"Of course not, but he'll beat the bear into the hotel, see if he
+doesn't."
+
+The hotel front door was evidently Noddy's objective point. It appeared
+he would reach it first, but suddenly he tripped on a croquet hoop and
+went sprawling. He was up in a minute, but the bear had gained on him.
+As he rushed up the steps it was only a few inches behind him.
+
+Noddy gave a wild yell and took the steps in three jumps. The next
+second he was at the door and swinging it shut with all his might. But
+just then an astonishing thing happened.
+
+Just as Noddy swung the door shut the bear made a leap. The result
+surprised Noddy as much as Bruin.
+
+The edge of the door caught the big creature's neck and held him as fast
+as if he had been caught in a dead-fall. He was gripped as in a vise
+between the door and the frame. But poor Noddy was in the position of
+the man who caught the wild cat.
+
+He didn't know how to let go!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+NODDY AND THE BEAR.
+
+
+"I've got him!" yelled Noddy. "Help me, somebody!"
+
+"Goodness, Noddy's caught the bear," cried Jack, as he and Billy
+streaked across the lawn, followed by the less timid of the guests.
+
+"Hold him tight," shouted some in the crowd.
+
+"Let him go," bawled others.
+
+Perspiring from his efforts, Noddy braced his feet and kept the door
+tightly closed on the bear's neck. But the creature's struggles made the
+portal groan and creak as if it would be shoved off its hinges.
+
+"Gracious, I can't hold it much longer. Can't somebody hit him on the
+head with a club?"
+
+The negro bell boys and clerk, together with several of the guests who
+had been in the lobby, began to come back, now that they saw there was
+no immediate chance of the bear rushing in.
+
+"Ah reckon ah knows a way ter fix dat b'ar widout hurting him," cried
+one of the negro boys.
+
+He snatched a fire extinguisher off the wall of the office and squirted
+its contents full in the bear's face. The animal gave one roar of dismay
+and a mighty struggle that burst the door open and threw Noddy off his
+feet. He set up a yell of fright. But he need not have been afraid. The
+ugliness had all gone out of the bear, and besides being half choked he
+was temporarily blinded by the contents of the fire extinguisher.
+
+The Italian came running up, carrying a chain and a muzzle.
+
+"Gooda da boy! Gooda da Mika!" he cried ingratiatingly.
+
+The bear was as mild as a kitten, but nevertheless the muzzle was
+buckled on and the Italian departed in search of his monkeys just as the
+manager appeared with his gun. It had taken him a long time to find, he
+explained, whereat Noddy, who had recovered his spirits, snickered.
+
+"I'm going to pay the bill and get out of here," whispered Jack in
+Noddy's ear. "You'd better get away as quietly as you can. Several
+people saw you give those buns to the animals. If they find you here,
+they'll mob you."
+
+"Being chased by a bear is quite enough excitement for one day,"
+rejoined Noddy, "but my! It was good fun while it lasted. Did you see
+that old maid's hair, did you see Donald Judson, did you----"
+
+"Get out of here quickly," warned Jack, and this time Noddy took his
+advice without waiting. It was just as well he did, for the elderly
+gentleman, whose shining bald head had been belabored by the old maid's
+parasol, came in, accompanied by the damsel. She had recovered her hair
+when the monkeys were caught and had tendered handsome apologies to the
+would-be gallant.
+
+"Where is that boy who started all this?" demanded the old gentleman.
+
+"It was one of that gang there," cried Donald Judson, who had followed
+them and whose face showed plenty of scratches where the monkeys had
+clambered up to demolish his hat.
+
+"Oh, what a terrible boy he must be," cried the old maid. "He ought to
+go to prison. Where is he?"
+
+"Ask them, they'll know," cried Donald, pointing to Jack and Billy.
+
+"No, it wasn't either of them. They were back in the crowd," cried the
+old maid; "it was another boy, a red-headed one."
+
+"I'm glad I told Noddy to get out," whispered Jack to his friends.
+
+"Look, they are whispering to each other. I told you they knew all about
+it," cried Donald, who saw a chance of avenging himself for his
+treatment by the monkeys.
+
+"Say, young man," said the manager, coming up to Jack, "I think your
+friend was responsible for this rumpus."
+
+"What rumpus?"
+
+"Why, that trouble with the bear, of course. You boys are at the bottom
+of it all."
+
+"Why, the bear chased my friend harder than anyone else," said Jack,
+with assumed indignation.
+
+"I guess we'll pay our bill and leave," struck in Billy.
+
+"Think you'd better, eh?" sneered the manager.
+
+"If you want your money you'd better be civil," said Jack.
+
+"Yes, but--your bill is eight dollars."
+
+"Here it is. Now don't bother us any more or I'll report you to the
+proprietor."
+
+"I know, but look here."
+
+"I can't see in that direction."
+
+"I don't know if that man has caught his monkeys yet."
+
+"No use of your worrying about that unless you're afraid one of them
+will get your job."
+
+There was a loud laugh at this and in the midst of it the boys passed
+out of the hotel, leaving the clerk very red about the ears.
+
+"I hope that will teach Noddy a lesson," said Jack, as they hurried down
+to the boat yard where Noddy had been instructed to precede them.
+
+"It ought to. Being chased by a bear is no joke."
+
+But when they reached the yard they were just in time to see the man who
+was working on the boat clap his hand to the back of his neck and yell:
+
+"Ouch! A bee stung me."
+
+Not far off, looking perfectly innocent, stood Noddy, but Jack detected
+him in the act of slipping into his pocket a magnifying glass, by which
+he focused the sun's rays on the workman's neck.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+"WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT?"
+
+
+The _Skipjack_ was all ready for them and no delay was had in making a
+start back to Musky Bay, where, it will be remembered, the boys had left
+their boat to be repaired. A brief stop was made at the Pine Island
+hotel and then the trip was resumed.
+
+"Wonder where Judson and his crowd have gone to?" pondered Jack, as they
+moved rapidly over the water.
+
+"One thing sure, they never started back home in the _Speedaway this_
+morning," said Billy. "The water is like glass, and there's not a breath
+of wind."
+
+"Look, there's a handsome motor boat off yonder," exclaimed Jack
+presently. He pointed to a low, black craft, some distance behind them
+and closer in to the shore.
+
+"She's making fast time," said Bill.
+
+"Maybe she wants to give us a race," suggested Noddy.
+
+"I'm afraid we wouldn't stand much chance with her," laughed Captain
+Simms.
+
+They watched the black boat for a time, but she appeared to slacken
+speed as she drew closer, as if those in charge of her had no desire to
+come any nearer to the _Skipjack_ than they were.
+
+"That's odd," remarked Jack. "There is evidently nothing the matter with
+her engine, but for all that they don't seem to want to pass us. That's
+the first fast boat I ever saw act that way."
+
+"It does seem queer," said Captain Simms, and suddenly his brow clouded.
+
+"Could it be possible----" he exclaimed, and stopped short.
+
+Jack looked at him in a questioning way.
+
+"Could what be possible, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Why, that Judson and the others are on board that black craft?"
+
+"Ginger! That never occurred to me!" cried Jack; "and yet, if they were
+following us to find out where you are located that would be just the
+sort of way in which they would behave."
+
+"So I was thinking," said Captain Simms thoughtfully. "However, we can
+soon find out."
+
+He opened a locker and took out his binoculars. Then he focused them on
+the black craft.
+
+"Well?" questioned Jack, as the captain laid them down again.
+
+"There's a man at the wheel, but he isn't the least like your
+descriptions of your men," said the captain.
+
+"What does he look like?" questioned Billy.
+
+"He's rather tall and has a full black beard," was the answer.
+
+"Then it's not one of Judson's crowd," said Jack with conviction.
+
+"I guess we are all the victims of nerves to-day," smiled the captain.
+
+They swung round a point and threaded the channel that led among the
+shoaly waters of Musky Bay. The point shut out any rearward view of the
+black motor boat and they saw no more of it. Captain Simms invited them
+up to the house he occupied, which was isolated from the half dozen or
+so small habitations that made up the settlement. It was plainly
+furnished and the living room was littered with papers and documents.
+
+"What made you select Musky Bay as a retreat?" asked Jack.
+
+"I come from up in this part of the country," rejoined Captain Simms,
+"and I thought this would be a good quiet place to hide myself till my
+work was complete. But it seems," he added, with a smile, "that I may
+have been mistaken."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," replied Jack. "Those fellows would never think of
+trailing you here. I guess they think you are still in Clayton."
+
+"Let us hope so, anyway," said the captain, and here the discussion
+ended.
+
+Soon after they said good-by, promising to run over again before long.
+Their boat was all ready for them. A good job had been done with it.
+
+"It looks as good as new," commented Jack.
+
+"She's a fine boat," said Billy.
+
+"A regular pippin," agreed Noddy.
+
+"Well, young men, your-craft-will-carry-you-through many a blow yet.
+She's as nice a little-ship-as-I-ever-saw."
+
+"I guess he says that of every boat that brings him a job," grinned
+Noddy, as Jack paid the man, and they got ready to get under way. A
+light breeze had risen, and they were soon skimming along, taking great
+care to avoid shoals and sand-banks. By standing up to steer, Jack was
+easily able to trace the deeper water by its darker color and they got
+out of the bay without trouble.
+
+As they glided round the point, which had shrouded the black motor boat
+from their view when they entered the bay, Billy, who was in the bow,
+uttered a sharp cry and pointed. The others looked in the direction he
+indicated, realizing that something unusual was up.
+
+"Well, look at that, will you?" exclaimed Jack.
+
+The black motor-boat was anchored close in to the shore. Her dinghy lay
+on the beach, showing that somebody had just landed. Clambering up the
+steep and rocky sides of the point were three figures. When the boys
+caught sight of them the trio had just gained the summit of the rocky
+escarpment.
+
+They crouched behind rocks, as if fearing that they would be seen, and
+one of them drew from his pocket a pair of field glasses. He gazed
+through these down at the settlement of Musky Bay, which lay below. Then
+he turned to his companions and made some remark and each in turn took
+up the glasses.
+
+"What do you make of it?" asked Billy, turning to Jack.
+
+The wireless boy shook his head dubiously.
+
+"I'll tell you what _I_ make of it," he said. "Just this. Those three
+figures up yonder are Judson, Donald and Jarrow. They trailed us here in
+that motor boat but were too foxy to round the point. When they saw us
+turn into the bay, they knew they could land and sneak over the point
+without being seen. They are spying on the settlement and watching for
+Captain Simms. At any rate, they will see his boat tied up there and
+realize that they have struck a home trail."
+
+"What will we do?" asked Billy, rather helplessly.
+
+"There's only one thing to do," said Jack with decision, "and that is to
+turn back and warn Captain Simms of what is going on."
+
+The _Curlew_ was headed about and a few moments later was in sight of
+Musky Bay again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A SWIM WITH A MEMORY.
+
+
+"So they did find me out, after all?" said Captain Simms grimly, after
+he had heard the boys' story. "Well, it will not do them much good. I am
+well armed and the government is at my back. If I get the chance I will
+deal with those rascals with no uncertain hand."
+
+"Why don't you have them arrested right now?" asked Noddy.
+
+"Because it would be premature to do so at the present moment. The
+agents of several nations are keen on getting a copy of the code. If
+these men were arrested, it would reveal, directly, the whereabouts of
+the code and its author."
+
+"It seems too bad such rascals can carry on their intrigues without
+being punished," said Jack.
+
+As it was noon by that time, and the appetites of all were sharp set,
+Captain Simms invited the boys to have lunch with him. It was a simple
+meal, consisting mainly of fish; but the boys did ample justice to it,
+and finished up with some pie, which the captain had brought from
+Clayton to replenish his larder.
+
+After dinner the capricious breeze died out entirely. The heat was
+intense, and the water glittered like a sheet of molten glass. The boys
+looked longingly at the bay, however. The idea of a cool swim seemed
+very attractive just then. Captain Simms had left them to their own
+devices while he took a nap.
+
+"Tell you what," said Billy, "let's take a swim, eh, fellows?"
+
+"Suits me down to the ground," said Jack.
+
+"Suits me down to the water," grinned Noddy.
+
+They had bathing trunks on their boat, and, having found what looked
+like a good spot, a little cove with a sandy beach, they disrobed and
+were soon sporting in the water.
+
+"Ouch! It's colder than I thought it was," cried Noddy.
+
+"You'll soon warm up," encouraged Jack. "I'll race you out to that
+anchored boat."
+
+"Bully for you," cried Billy.
+
+"You're on," echoed Noddy, not to be outdone. But, as a matter of fact,
+the red-headed lad, who had eaten far more than the others, wasn't
+feeling very well. However, he did not wish to spoil the fun, so he
+didn't say anything.
+
+Jack and Billy struck out with long, strong strokes.
+
+"Come on," cried Jack, looking back at Noddy, who was left behind, and
+who began to feel worse and worse. "What's the trouble--want a
+tow-rope?"
+
+"I'll beat you yet, Jack Ready," cried Noddy, fighting off a feeling of
+nausea.
+
+"I guess I went in the water too soon after eating," he thought. "It
+will wear off."
+
+"Help!"
+
+The single, half-choked cry for aid reached the ears of Jack and Billy
+when they were almost at the anchored boat, which was the objective
+point of the race.
+
+"Great Caesar!" burst from Jack. "What's up now?"
+
+He turned round just in time to see Noddy's arms go up in the air. Then
+the red-headed lad sank out of sight like a stone.
+
+"He can't be fooling, can he?" exclaimed Billy nervously.
+
+"He wouldn't be so silly as to do that," rejoined Jack, who was already
+striking out for the spot where Noddy had vanished. Billy followed him
+closely.
+
+They were still some yards off when Noddy suddenly reappeared. He was
+struggling desperately, and his eyes seemed to be popping out of his
+head. His arms circled wildly, splashing the water helplessly. Then he
+disappeared once more.
+
+"Heavens, he is drowning," choked out Jack. "We must save him, Billy."
+
+"Of course we will, old boy," panted Billy, upon whom the pace was
+beginning to tell.
+
+Jack reached the spot where the disturbed water showed that Noddy had
+gone down for the second time. Just as he gained the place Noddy shot up
+again. He was totally unconscious and sank again almost instantly.
+
+Like a flash Jack was after him, diving down powerfully. He grasped
+Noddy round the chest under the arms.
+
+"Noddy! Noddy!" he exclaimed, as they shot to the surface. But the lad's
+eyes were closed, his face was deadly white, and his matted hair lay
+over his eyes. A terrible thought invaded Jack's mind. What if Noddy
+were dead and had been rescued too late?
+
+"Here, give me one of his arms. We must get him ashore as quickly as we
+can," cried Billy.
+
+"That's right; he's a dead weight. Oh, Billy, I hope that he isn't----"
+
+A moan came from Noddy. Suddenly he opened his eyes and grasped at Jack
+wildly, with five times his normal strength. The movement was so
+unexpected that Jack was dragged under water. But the next moment
+Noddy's drowning grip relaxed and they rose to the surface.
+
+"He's unconscious again," panted Jack. "He'll be all right, now. Take
+hold, Billy, and we'll make for the shore."
+
+It was an exhausting swim, but at last they reached shallow water, and,
+ceasing swimming, carried Noddy to the beach. They anxiously bent over
+him.
+
+"We must get that water out of his lungs," declared Jack, who knew
+something of how to treat the half-drowned.
+
+Luckily, an old barrel had drifted ashore not far off, and over this
+poor Noddy was rolled and pounded and then hoisted up by the ankles till
+most of the water was out of his lungs and he began to take deep,
+gasping breaths.
+
+But it was a long time before he was strong enough to get on his feet,
+and even then his two chums had to support him back to Captain Simms'
+house, where they received a severe lecture for going in the water so
+soon after eating.
+
+"It was an awful sensation," declared Noddy. "It just hit me like an
+electric shock. I couldn't move a limb. Then I don't remember much of
+anything more till I found myself on the beach."
+
+Noddy's deep gratitude to his friends may be imagined, but it was too
+painful a subject to be talked about. It was a long while, however,
+before any of them got over the recollection of Noddy's peril.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A TALE FROM THE FROZEN LANDS.
+
+
+Although Noddy had recovered remarkably quick, thanks to his rugged
+constitution, from the effects of his immersion, Captain Simms ordered
+him on the sick-list and he was, much against his will, sent to bed.
+
+"He'd better stay there all night," said the captain. "We don't want to
+run any risks of pneumonia. I don't suppose your uncle will worry about
+you?"
+
+"He's got over that long ago," laughed Jack; "besides, there's a
+professor stopping at the hotel who is on the lookout for funny plants
+and herbs. That's Uncle Toby's long suit, you know."
+
+"So I have heard," smiled the captain. "Well, you boys may as well make
+yourselves at home."
+
+"Thank you, we will," said Billy. Whereat there was a general laugh.
+
+There was a phonograph and a good selection of records in the cottage,
+so they managed to while away a pleasant afternoon. Jack cooked supper,
+"just by way of paying for our board," he said. After the meal they sat
+up for a time listening to Captain Simms' tales of seal poachers in the
+Arctic and the trouble they give the patrol assigned to see that they do
+not violate the international boundary, and other laws. Before he had
+taken command of the _Thespis_, of the Ice-berg Patrol, Captain Simms
+had been detailed to command of the _Bear_ revenue cutter, and had
+chased and captured many a sealer who was plying his trade illicitly.
+
+The boys listened attentively as he told them of the rough hardships of
+such a life, and how, sometimes, a whole fleet of sealers, if frozen in
+by an early formation of ice, must face hunger and sometimes death till
+the spring came to release them from their imprisonment.
+
+"It must take a lot of nerve and courage to be a sealer," said Jack.
+
+"It certainly does," agreed the captain. "Yet I heard from one sealing
+captain the story of a young fellow whom it turned from a weak coward
+into a brave man. This lad, who was regarded as a weakling, saved
+himself and two companions from a terrible death simply by an act of
+almost sublime courage. Would you like to hear the story?"
+
+"If you don't mind spinning the yarn," said Jack.
+
+"Well, then," began the captain, "to start with, the name of my hero is
+Shavings. Of course he had another name, but that's the one he was
+always known by, and I've forgotten the right one. He was a long-legged,
+lanky Vermont farmer, with dank strings of yellow hair hanging about his
+mild face. This hair gave him his nickname aboard the sealing schooner,
+_Janet Barry_, on which he signed as a boat man. How Shavings came to
+St. Johns, from which port the _Janet Barry_ sailed, or why he picked
+out such a job, nobody ever knew. He had, as sailors say, 'hayseed in
+his hair' and knew nothing about a ship.
+
+"But what he didn't know he soon learned under the rough method of
+tuition they employed on the _Barry_. A mate with a rope's end sent him
+aloft for the first time and kept sending him there till Shavings
+learned how to clamber up the ratlines with the best of them. He learned
+boat-work in much the same way, although he passed through a lot of
+experiences while chasing seals, that scared him badly. He told the
+captain long afterward that, although he was afraid of storms and gales,
+still he sometimes welcomed them, because he knew the boats would not
+have to go out.
+
+"One day, far to the north, they ran into an exceptionally fine school
+of seals. All the boats were sent away, and among them the one to which
+Shavings belonged. In command of this boat was Olaf Olsen, the mate who
+had taught Shavings the rudiments of his profession by means of hard
+knocks. Dark clouds were scurrying across the sky, and the sea looked
+angry, but that made no difference to the sealers. Lives or no lives,
+women in the States had to have their sealskin coats.
+
+"So the boats pursued the seals for a long distance, and in the
+excitement nobody noticed what the weather was doing. Nobody, that is,
+but Shavings, and he didn't dare to say that it was growing worse, for
+fear of angering the mate. The hunters harpooned a goodly catch before
+the gale was upon the little fleet almost without warning.
+
+"Then the storm broke with a screech and a massing of angry water. The
+boats had been under sail, and in a flash two of them were over-turned.
+Shavings saw all this with terror in his eyes and a cold clutch at his
+heart. He knew the men in those boats would never go sealing again.
+
+"Then his eyes fell on the mate, Olaf Olsen. The man appeared to be
+petrified with fright. He made no move to do anything. Then something in
+Shavings seemed to wake up.
+
+"Perhaps that yellow hair of his was a survival of some old Viking
+strain, or perhaps all those months of rough sea life had made him over
+without his knowing it. But he seized the mate and shook him by the
+shoulder:
+
+"'Give an order, man!' he shouted. 'Order the sail reefed.'
+
+"But the sight of the death of his shipmates had so unnerved the mate
+that he could no nothing. Shavings kicked him disgustedly, and went
+about the job himself. Clouds of spray burst over him. Time and again he
+was within an inch of being swept overboard, but at last he had the sail
+reefed down. Then he took the tiller and headed back for the schooner
+across the immense seas through the screeching gale.
+
+"He handled that boat skillfully, meeting the big seas and riding their
+summits, only to be buried the next instant in the watery valley between
+the giant combers. But always he rose. He had the cheering sight of the
+schooner before him and it grew closer. The boat sailed more on her beam
+than on her keel, but at last Shavings, more dead than alive, ran her in
+under the lee of the schooner's hull, and willing hands got the
+survivors out of the boat.
+
+"The skipper of that craft was a rough man. He drove Olaf Olsen forward
+with blows and curses and the strong Swede whimpered like a whipped cur.
+Then he came aft to where the cook was giving Shavings and the rest hot
+coffee.
+
+"'Shavings,' he said, 'after this you're mate in that coward Olsen's
+place. You're a man.'
+
+"'No, sirree,' rejoined Shavings, 'I'm a farmer. No mate's job for me.
+When we gets back ter home I'm goin' ter take my share uv ther catch and
+buy a farm.'
+
+"But he was finally persuaded to take the job of mate when his canny New
+England mind grasped the fact that the mate's share of the profits is
+much bigger than a foremast hand's. He was as good as his word, however,
+and, when the _Janet Barry_, with her flag at half mast but her hold
+full of fine skins, docked at St. Johns after the season was over,
+Shavings drew his money and vanished. I suppose he is farming it
+somewhere in Vermont now, but I agree with his captain, who told me the
+story, that there was a fine sailor lost in Shavings."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+A NIGHT ALARM.
+
+
+Jack sat bolt upright in bed and listened with all his might. Outside
+the window of the little room he occupied that night in the captain's
+cottage he was almost certain he had heard the sound of a furtive
+footfall and whisperings. His blood beat in his ear-drums as he sat
+tense and rigid, waiting a repetition of the noise.
+
+Suddenly, there came a low whisper from outside.
+
+"If only we knew if the captain was alone. For all we know those
+bothersome boys may be with him, and, if they are, we are likely to get
+the worst of it."
+
+"Donald Judson!" exclaimed Jack to himself. "What ought I to do?"
+
+He pondered a moment and then recollected that there was a door to his
+room which let directly out on a back porch without the occupant of the
+room having to traverse any other chamber. Jack at once formed a bold
+resolve. He did not wish to arouse the others unnecessarily, but he did
+want, with all his power, to find out what was going on.
+
+He rose from the bed as cautiously as he could, and made his way to the
+door. It was a ticklish task, in the dark, to accomplish without noise,
+but he succeeded in doing it. Outside it was very dark, with a velvety
+sort of blackness. The boy was glad of this, for it afforded him
+protection from the men he felt sure were reconnoitering the house for
+no good purpose.
+
+Suddenly he saw, not far off, the gleam of a light of some sort. If it
+belonged to the Judsons, they must have presumed that nobody was about,
+or not have realized that the place where they had left it was visible
+from the cottage.
+
+"Now I wonder what they've got up there?" mused Jack. "Maybe it would be
+a good scheme to go up and see."
+
+Anything that looked like an adventure aroused Jack's animation, and a
+few seconds after the idea had first taken hold of him he was making his
+way up a rather steep hillside, covered with rocks and bushes, toward
+the light. At last he reached a place where he could get a good look at
+the shining beacon. He hardly knew what he had expected to see, but
+somehow he felt a sort of sense of disappointment.
+
+The lantern stood by itself on a rock and the idea suggested itself to
+Jack that it might have been placed there as a beacon to guide the
+midnight visitors back when they had accomplished whatever they purposed
+doing.
+
+"I've a good mind to carry off their lantern," said Jack to himself; "if
+they put it there to guide them that would leave them in a fine fix and
+we could easily capture them."
+
+Once more, half involuntarily, his feet appeared to draw him toward the
+lantern. The next instant he had it in his grasp.
+
+"Now to turn it out," he muttered, when he felt himself seized from
+behind in a powerful grip and a harsh voice growled in his ear:
+
+"Yer would, would yer, you precious young scallywag."
+
+The lantern was wrested from his grasp, and Jack felt a noose slipped
+over his head.
+
+"Who are you?" he demanded indignantly of his unknown captor.
+
+"Bill Smiggers, of the motor boat _Black Beauty_," was the gruff reply.
+"They left me up here to watch by the light, and I guess they'll be glad
+they did when they see who I've caught. I reckon you're one of those
+snoopy kids I've heard them talking about."
+
+"I don't know what you mean," replied Jack, "but you'd better let me go
+at once."
+
+"Huh, I'd be a fine softy to do that, wouldn't I? No, young man, here
+you are, and here you stay. I'm getting well paid for this job, and I'm
+going to do a good one."
+
+Just then footsteps were heard coming up the hillside. Then a low,
+cautious voice whispered out of the darkness:
+
+"What's the matter, Bill? We saw the light waved, and came right back.
+Is there any danger?"
+
+"Not right now, I reckon," rejoined Bill, with grim humor. "Any of you
+gents know this young bantam I've got triced up here?"
+
+"Jack Ready, by all that's wonderful!" cried Judson, stepping forward.
+He was followed by young Judson and Jarrow.
+
+"Dear me, what an--er--what a pleasant encounter," grinned Jarrow.
+
+"So you thought you'd spy on us, did you?" snarled Donald, vindictively;
+"well, this is the time that we've got you and got you right."
+
+Jack's heart, stout as it was, sank like lead within him. He was in the
+hands of his enemies and that, largely, by his own foolishness.
+
+"So this is that Ready kid I hearn you talkin' about?" asked Bill.
+
+"That's the boy, confound him! He's always meddling in my schemes,"
+growled Jarrow.
+
+"Bright looking lad, ain't he?"
+
+"Too bright for his own good. He's so sharp he'll cut himself."
+
+"No, his brightness won't help him now," chuckled Donald maliciously.
+"I'll bet you're scared to death," he went on, coming close to Jack.
+
+"Not particularly. It takes more than a parcel of cowards and crooks to
+frighten me."
+
+"Don't you put on airs with me. You're in our power now," jeered Donald.
+"I'll make you suffer for the way you've treated me."
+
+"It would be like you to take advantage of the fact that my arms are
+tied," retorted Jack.
+
+Donald came a step closer and stuck his fist under Jack's nose.
+
+"You be careful, or I'll crack you one," he snarled.
+
+"You're a nice sort of an individual, I must say. Why don't you try fair
+dealing for a change?"
+
+"I do deal fair. It's you that don't. I----"
+
+"That will do," interrupted his father; "I've been talking with Bill and
+he says he knows a place where we can take this young bantam and leave
+him till he cools off."
+
+"You mean that you are going to imprison me?" demanded Jack indignantly.
+
+"You may call it that, if you like," said Judson imperturbably; "you are
+quite too clever a lad to have at large."
+
+"Where are you taking me to?"
+
+"You'll find that out soon enough. Now then, forward march and, if you
+attempt to make an outcry, you'll feel this on your head."
+
+Judson, with a wicked smile, flourished a stout club under the captive
+boy's nose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+JACK'S CURIOSITY AND ITS RESULTS.
+
+
+"What do you intend to do with me?" repeated Jack, as they hurried over
+the rough ground, following Bill, who trudged ahead with the lantern.
+
+"You'll find out quick enough, I told you before," said Donald.
+
+"Don't you know that my friends are in the neighborhood? They will
+invoke the law against you for this outrage."
+
+"We know all about that," was the elder Judson's reply, "but we're not
+worrying. We'll have them prisoners, too, before long."
+
+Jack made no reply to this, but he judged it was an empty threat made to
+scare him. He knew that nothing would have delighted Donald Judson more
+than to see him breaking down. So he kept up a brave front, which he was
+in reality far from feeling at heart.
+
+From the bold manner in which Bill displayed the lantern as he led the
+party on, Jack knew that the rascal must be familiar with the country,
+and know it to be sparsely inhabited. So far as Jack could judge they
+were retreating from the river and going up hill.
+
+About an hour after they had started, Bill paused in front of an ancient
+stone dwelling--or rather what had been a dwelling, for it was now
+dilapidated and deserted.
+
+"This is the place, boss," he grated, holding up his lantern so that its
+rays fell on the old place, which looked as grim as a fortress.
+
+"It's haunted, too, isn't it, Bill?" asked Donald meaningly.
+
+"Well, they do say there was a terrible murder done here some years ago
+and that's the reason it's been deserted ever since, but I really could
+not say as to the truth of that, Master Judson," rejoined Bill, falling
+into Donald's plan to tease Jack.
+
+Inside the place was one large room. A few broken bits of furniture
+stood about. Bill set the lantern down on a rickety table and then went
+to guard the door, while the others retreated to a corner and held a
+parley.
+
+At its conclusion Judson came over to Jack.
+
+"Well, Ready," he said, "you've caused us a lot of trouble, but still I
+might come to terms with you."
+
+"Are you ready to release me?" demanded Jack.
+
+"Yes, under certain conditions. First, you must tell us all you know
+about that naval code of Captain Simms."
+
+"And the truth, too," snarled Jarrow. "We'll find out quick enough if
+you're lying, and we'll make it hot for you."
+
+"You bet we will," chimed in Donald.
+
+"Donald, be quiet a minute," ordered his father. "Well, Ready, what have
+you to say?"
+
+"Suppose I tell you I know nothing about the naval code?" said Jack
+quietly.
+
+"Then I should say you were not telling the truth."
+
+"Nevertheless I am."
+
+"What, you know nothing about the code?"
+
+"Nothing except that Captain Simms was ordered to get up something of
+the sort."
+
+"You don't know if it's finished or not?"
+
+"I have no idea."
+
+"Is your life worth anything to you?" struck in Jarrow.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Jack.
+
+"Just what I say. If it is, you had better make terms to save it."
+
+"Impossible. You are fooling with me, Jarrow. Even a man as base as you
+wouldn't dare----"
+
+"I wouldn't, eh? Well, you'll find out before long if I'm in earnest or
+not."
+
+Jack was a brave lad, as we know, and carried himself well through many
+dangerous situations. But he was not the dauntless hero of a nickel
+novel whom nothing could scare. He knew Jarrow for a desperado and,
+although he could not bring himself to believe the man would actually
+carry out any such threat as he had made, still he realized to the full
+the peril of his situation.
+
+"Well, what do you say?" demanded Jarrow, after a pause.
+
+"I don't know just what to say," said Jack. "My head is all in a whirl.
+Give me time to think the thing over. I can hardly collect my thoughts
+at present."
+
+The men made some further attempts to get something out of him, but,
+finding him obdurate, they ordered Bill to see that his bonds were tight
+and then to put him in the "inner room" he had spoken of. Bill gave the
+ropes a savage yank, found they were tight and then led Jack to a green
+door at the farther end of the large room. Jack had a glimpse of a
+square room with a broad fireplace at one end and a small window. It
+appeared to be used as a storehouse of some kind, for it was half filled
+with bags, apparently containing potatoes. In one corner stood a
+grindstone operated by a treadle. Then the door was shut with a bang,
+and he was left to his own, none-too-pleasant reflections. Outside he
+could hear the buzz of voices. But he couldn't catch much of what was
+being said. Once he heard Jarrow say:
+
+"You're too soft with the boy. A good lashing with a black-snake would
+bring him to his senses quick enough."
+
+"I'd like to lay it on," he heard Donald chime in.
+
+At last they appeared to grow sleepy. Jack heard a key turned in the
+lock of the inner room that he occupied and not long thereafter came the
+sound of snores. Evidently nobody was on guard, the men who had captured
+him thinking that there was no chance of the boy's escape.
+
+"Now's my chance," thought Jack. "If only I could get my hands free, I
+might be able to do something. But, as it is, I'm helpless."
+
+His heart sank once more, as he thought bitterly of the predicament into
+which his own foolhardiness had drawn him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+BILLY TAKES THE TRAIL.
+
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+Just as Jack stole out of the house Billy Raynor sat bolt upright in bed
+and asked himself that question. He was on the other side of the
+cottage, and, like Jack a few minutes before, he too heard the cautious
+footsteps of the marauders, as they crept round the cottage,
+reconnoitering.
+
+"Somebody's up to mischief," thought the boy. "It may only be common
+thieves, or it may be that rascally outfit. I'll go and rouse Jack.
+Perhaps we can get after them."
+
+He tiptoed across the main room of the cottage to Jack's door. Inside
+the room he struck a match. He almost cried out aloud when he saw that
+the bed was empty and that there was no sign of his chum.
+
+"Where can he be?" thought the lad. "Surely he has not gone after that
+gang single-handed."
+
+Raynor hastened to his own room, slipped on some clothes, and went to
+the door. Far up on the hillside a lantern was twinkling like some
+fallen star.
+
+"That's mighty odd," reflected the lad. "I guess I'll take a look up
+there and see what's coming off."
+
+He picked his way cautiously up the rough hillside. But the lantern
+retreated as he went forward. As we know, Judson and his gang, led by
+Bill, were carrying off Jack. Without realizing how far he had gone,
+Raynor kept on and on. Some instinct told him that the dodging
+will-o'-the-wisp of light ahead of him had something to do with Jack,
+and he wanted to find out what that something was.
+
+But, not knowing the trail Bill was following, and having no light but
+the spark ahead of him, Raynor found it pretty hard traveling. At last
+he was so tired that he sat down to snatch a moment's rest, leaning his
+back against a bush.
+
+As his weight came against the bush, however, a strange thing happened.
+The shrub gave way altogether under the pressure. Raynor struggled for
+an instant to save himself, and then felt himself tumbling backward down
+an unknown height. He gave a shout of alarm, but his progress down what
+appeared to be a steep wall of rock, was over almost as soon as it had
+begun.
+
+"What happened?" gasped the lad, as, shaken by his adventure, he picked
+himself up and tried to collect his wits. "Oh, yes, I know, that bush
+gave way and I toppled over backward. I must be in some sort of hole in
+the ground. Well, the first thing to do is to get a light."
+
+Luckily Raynor's pockets held several matches, and he struck one of them
+and looked about him.
+
+His eyes fell on the bush which lay at his feet.
+
+"No wonder it gave way," he muttered. "The thing is dead and withered.
+But"--as a sudden thought struck him--"it will make a dandy torch and
+help save matches."
+
+He lit the dead bush, which blazed up bravely, illumining his
+surroundings with a ruddy glow. Above him was a dark hole, presumably
+the one through which he had fallen. But there was no way of escape in
+that direction. He turned his gaze another way. The cave appeared to
+recede beyond the light of the blazing branch.
+
+Looking down, he saw that the floor of the cave was thickly littered
+with leaves and small branches. This encouraged him a good deal.
+
+"They couldn't have been blown in by the hole I fell through," he mused,
+"for the dead bush covered that. Their being here must mean that there
+is another entrance to this place."
+
+Carrying his torch aloft, he struck off into the cave. Its floor sloped
+gently upward as he progressed and the walls began to grow narrower. The
+air, too, rapidly lost its musty odor, and blew fresh and sweet on his
+perspiring head.
+
+"This will be quite an adventure to tell about if I ever get out of
+here," muttered Raynor, and the thought of Jack, whom he had almost
+forgotten in his fright at his fall into the cave, occurred to him.
+
+What could have happened to his chum? Surely he had not been foolhardy
+enough to face the marauders alone? Raynor did not know what to make of
+it.
+
+"Somehow," he pondered, "I am sure that lantern had something to do with
+Jack. I wonder if they would have dared to carry him off? I wish to
+goodness I'd kept on, instead of leaning against that bush. Even if I do
+get out of here, the light must be far out of sight by this time, and
+I'll have to wait till daylight, anyhow, for I must have walked almost a
+mile from the other entrance to the cave by this time."
+
+His thoughts ran along in this strain as he walked. The thought of
+Captain Simms' alarm, too, when he found both boys missing, gave him a
+good deal of worry.
+
+He was thinking over this phase of the situation when he was startled by
+a low growl, coming from a pile of rocks just ahead of him. What could
+it be? Holding his breath painfully, while a cold chill ran down his
+spine, Raynor came to a dead pause and listened. His improvised torch
+had almost burned out and it was appalling to think that he faced the
+possibility of being in darkness ere long, with a wild beast close at
+hand.
+
+Again came the growl. It echoed and re-echoed hollowly in the cave till
+the frightened lad appeared to be menaced from all directions.
+
+"It must be a bear, or some wild beast just as bad," thought Raynor.
+
+The growling was repeated, but now it appeared to be retreating from
+him. Plucking up courage, after a while, Raynor, waving his torch,
+pushed forward again. He came to a place where it was necessary to
+scramble up to a sort of platform considerably higher than the path he
+had been traversing.
+
+As he gained this, he saw several tiny bright lights in front of him.
+
+"Hurrah! It's the stars!" he cried aloud.
+
+"The--s-t-a-r-s!" the echoes boomed back.
+
+At almost the same instant Raynor saw, in front of him, what looked like
+two balls of livid green flame.
+
+But the boy knew that they were the eyes of whatever beast it was that
+had sent its growls echoing fearfully through the cave.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+A "GHOSTESS" ABROAD.
+
+
+Suddenly, like an inspiration, Jack thought of a way in which he might
+free his captive hands. Naturally quick-witted, the emergency he found
+himself facing had made his mind more active than usual.
+
+"That grindstone," he thought. "I can work the treadle with my foot,
+while I stand backward to it. If I hold the rope against the sharp edge
+of the stone it ought to cut through in a very short time."
+
+It was quite a task to locate the grindstone in the darkness without
+making a noise. But at last Jack, by dint of feeling softly along the
+walls, located it. Then he turned his back to the machine and put his
+foot on the treadle. As the wheel began to turn he pressed the rope that
+bound his hands against the rough stone. In ten minutes he was free.
+
+"Now for the next move," counseled the boy. "I've got to do whatever I
+decide upon quickly. If I don't escape, and that gang finds how I've
+freed my wrists, they'll shackle me hand and foot, and I'll not get
+another chance to get away. If it was only daylight I'd stand a much
+better opportunity of getting out."
+
+There was the door, but to try that was out of the question. Jack had
+heard it locked and the key turned. The window? It was too small for a
+big, well-grown boy like Jack to creep through. He had noted that during
+the time the door was open and his prison was lighted by the rays of the
+lantern.
+
+"There's that fireplace," thought the boy, "that's about the last
+resort. I wonder----"
+
+He located the big, old-fashioned chimney, built of rough stones and
+full of nooks and crannies, without trouble. Getting inside it on the
+hearthstone he looked upward; it was open to the sky and at the top he
+could see a faint glow.
+
+"It's getting daylight," he exclaimed to himself.
+
+The next moment he noticed that right across the top of the chimney was
+the stout branch of a tree.
+
+"If I could get up the chimney that branch would afford me a way of
+getting to the ground," he thought.
+
+"By Jove! I believe I could do it," he muttered, as the light grew
+stronger and he saw how roughly the interior of the chimney was built.
+"It's not very high, and those rough stones make a regular ladder."
+
+As time was pressing, Jack began the ascent at once. For a lad as active
+as he was, it proved even more easy than he had anticipated. But long
+before he reached the top he was covered from head to foot with soot,
+although, oddly enough, that thought never occurred to him. At length,
+black as a negro in mourning, he reached the top of the chimney and
+grasped the tree branch he had noticed from below.
+
+He swung into it and made his way to the main trunk of the tree, an
+ancient elm. It was no trick at all then for him to slide to the ground.
+Then, silently as a cat, he tiptoed his way from the old stone house,
+with its occupants sleeping and snoring, blissfully unaware that Jack
+had stolen a march on them.
+
+"Well, things have gone finely so far," he mused. "Now, what shall be
+the next step?"
+
+He looked about him. The country was a wild one. There was no sign of a
+house, and, as far as he could see, there was nothing but an expanse of
+timber and rocks.
+
+"This is a tough problem," thought the boy. "I've no idea where I am, or
+the points of the compass. If I go one way, I might come out all right,
+but then again I might find myself lost in the forest. Hanged if I know
+what to do."
+
+But, realizing that it would not do to waste any time around the old
+house, Jack at length struck off down what appeared to have been, in
+bygone days, some sort of a wood road. It wound for quite a distance
+among the trees, but suddenly, to his huge delight, the boy beheld in
+front of him the broad white ribbon of a dusty highway.
+
+Suddenly, too, he heard the sound of wheels and the rattle of a horse's
+hoofs coming along at a smart rate.
+
+"Good; now I can soon find out where I am," thought the boy, and he
+hurried forward to meet the approaching vehicle. It contained a pretty
+young woman, wearing a sunbonnet.
+
+Jack had no hat to lift, but he made his best bow as the fair driver
+came abreast of him.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he began, "but could you tell me----"
+
+The young woman gave one piercing scream.
+
+"Oh-h-h-h-h-h!" she cried, and gave her horse a lash with the whip that
+made it leap forward like an arrow. In a flash she was out of sight in a
+cloud of dust.
+
+"Well, what do you know about that?" exclaimed Jack. "She must be crazy,
+or something, or else she's the most bashful girl I ever saw."
+
+He sat down on a rock at the side of the road to rest and waited for
+another rig or a foot passenger to come by. Before long he heard a
+sprightly whistle, and a barefooted boy, carrying a tin pail, and with a
+fish pole over his shoulder, appeared round a curve in the road.
+
+"Now, I'll get sailing directions," said Jack to himself, and then, as
+the boy drew near:
+
+"Hullo, sonny! Can you tell me----"
+
+The boy gave one look and then, dropping his can of bait, and his pole,
+fled with a howl of dismay.
+
+"Hi! Stop, can't you? What's the matter with you?" shouted Jack. He ran
+after the boy at top speed. But the faster he ran the faster the
+youngster sped along the road.
+
+"Oh-h-h-h-h! Help! Mum-muh!" he yelled, as he ran, in terrified tones.
+
+At length Jack gave up the chase. He leaned against a fence and gave way
+to his indignation.
+
+"Bother it all," he said. "What can be the matter with these people?
+Everyone I speak to runs away from me, as if I had the plague or
+something. Anyhow, that youngster can't be very far down this road. I
+guess I'll keep right on after him, and then I'm bound to come to some
+place where there are some sensible folks."
+
+As he assumed, it was not long before he came in sight of a neat little
+farm-house, standing back from the road in a grove of fine trees. He
+made his way toward it. In the front yard an old man was trimming
+rose-bushes.
+
+"Can you tell me----" began Jack.
+
+The old man looked up. Then uttering an appalling screech, he ran for
+his life into the house. "Mandy! Mandy! Thar be a ghostess in the yard!"
+he yelled, as he ran.
+
+Jack looked after him blankly. What could be the matter?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ONE MYSTERY SOLVED.
+
+
+"Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Jack. "What _can_ be the matter? It
+beats me. I----"
+
+"Hey you, git out of thar. I don't know what of critter ye be, but you
+scared my old man nigh ter death. Scat now, er I'll shoot!"
+
+Jack looked up toward an upper window of the farm-house, from which the
+voice, a high-pitched, feminine one, had proceeded. An old lady, with a
+determined face, stood framed in the embrasure. In her hands, and
+pointed straight at the mystified Jack, she held an ancient but
+murderous looking blunderbuss.
+
+"It's loaded with slugs an' screws, an' brass tacks," pleasantly
+observed the old lady. "Jerushiah!" this to someone within the room,
+"stop that whimperin'. I'm goin' ter send it on its way, ghost or no
+ghost."
+
+"But, madam----" stammered Jack.
+
+"Don't madam me," was the angry reply. "Git now, and git quick!"
+
+"This is like a bad dream," murmured Jack, but there was no choice for
+him but to turn and go; "maybe it is a dream. If it is I wish I could
+wake up."
+
+He turned into the hot, dusty road once more. He felt faint and hungry.
+His mouth was dry, and he suffered from thirst, too. Before long he
+found a chance to slake this latter. A cool, clear stream, spanned by a
+rustic bridge, appeared as he trudged round a bend in the road.
+
+"Ah, that looks good to me," thought Jack, and he hurried down the bank
+as fast as he could.
+
+He bent over the stream at a place where an eddy made an almost still
+pool, as clear as crystal. But no sooner did his face approach the water
+than he gave a violent start. A hideous black countenance gazed up at
+him. Then, suddenly, Jack broke into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Jerusalem! No wonder everybody was scared at me when I scare myself!"
+he exclaimed. "It's the soot from that chimney. Just think, it never
+occurred to me why they were all so alarmed at my appearance. Why, I'd
+make a locomotive shy off the track if it saw me coming along."
+
+It did not take Jack long to clean up, and, while his face was still
+grimy when he had finished, it was not, at least, such a startling
+looking countenance as he had presented to those from whom he sought to
+find his way back to Musky Bay.
+
+"Now that I look more presentable I guess I'll try and get some
+breakfast," thought the boy as, his thirst appeased, he scrambled up the
+bank again.
+
+About half a mile farther along the road was the queerest-looking house
+Jack had ever seen. It was circular in form, and looked like three giant
+cheese-boxes, perched one on the top of the other, with the smallest at
+the top.
+
+"Well, whoever lives there must be a crank," thought Jack; "but still,
+since I've money to pay for my breakfast, even a crank won't drive me
+away, I guess."
+
+A man was sawing wood in the back yard and to him Jack addressed
+himself.
+
+"I'd like to know if I can buy a meal here?" he said.
+
+"No, you can't fry no eel here," said the man, and went on sawing.
+
+"I didn't say anything about frying eels. I said 'Can I get a meal?'"
+shouted Jack, who now saw that the man was somewhat deaf.
+
+"Don't see it makes no difference to you how I feel," rejoined the man.
+
+"I'm hungry. I want to eat. I can pay," bellowed Jack.
+
+"What's that about yer feet?" asked the deaf man.
+
+"Not feet--eat--E-A-T. I want to eat," fairly yelled Jack.
+
+"What do you mean by calling me a beat?" angrily rejoined the deaf man.
+
+"I didn't. Oh, Great Scott, everything is going wrong to-day," cried
+Jack. Then he cupped his hands and fairly screeched in the man's ear.
+
+"Can I buy a meal here?"
+
+A light of understanding broke over the other's face.
+
+"Surely you can," he said. "Araminta--that's my wife--'ull fix up a bite
+fer yer. Why didn't you say what you wanted in the fust place?"
+
+"I did," howled Jack, crimson in the face by this time; "but you didn't
+hear me. You are deaf."
+
+"Wa'al, I may be a _little_ hard o' hearing, young feller," admitted the
+man, "but I hain't deef by a dum sight."
+
+Jack didn't argue the point, but followed him to the house, where a
+pleasant-faced woman soon prepared a piping hot breakfast. As he ate and
+drank, Jack inquired the way to Musky Bay.
+
+"It ain't far," the woman told him, "five miles or so."
+
+"Can I get anyone to drive me back there?" asked Jack, who was pretty
+well tired out by this time.
+
+"Oh, yes; Abner will drive you over fer a couple of dollars."
+
+She hurried out to tell her husband to hitch up. Jack could hear her
+shouting her directions in the yard.
+
+"All right. No need uv speaking so loud. I kin hear ye," Jack could hear
+the deaf man shouting back. "I kin hear ye."
+
+"Just think," said the woman when she came back into the kitchen, where
+Jack had eaten, "Abner won't admit he's deef one bit. At church on
+Sundays he listens to the sermon just as if he understood it. If anyone
+asks him what it was about, he'll tell 'um that he doesn't care to
+discuss the new minister, but he's not such a powerful exhorter as the
+old one. He's mighty artful, is Abner."
+
+The rig was soon ready and Jack was on his homeward way. To his
+annoyance, Abner proved very talkative and required answers to all his
+remarks.
+
+"Gracious, I'll have no lungs left if I have to shout this way all the
+way home," thought Jack. "It'll be Husky Bay. If ever I drive with Abner
+again, I'll bring along some cough lozenges."
+
+"Must be pretty tough to be really, down-right deef," remarked Abner,
+after Jack had roared out answers to him for a mile and a half.
+
+"It must be," yelled Jack.
+
+"Yes, sir-ee," rejoined Abner, wagging his head. "I'm just a trifle that
+er-way, and it bothers me quite a bit sometimes, 'specially in damp
+weather. Gid-ap!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+BILL SNIGGERS DECIDES.
+
+
+We left Billy Raynor in a most unpleasant position. With escape from the
+cave within his grasp the way was blocked, it will be recalled, by some
+wild beast, the nature of which Billy did not know. His torch, made from
+the withered bush that was responsible for his dilemma, was burning low.
+Just in front of him glowed two luminous green eyes.
+
+While Billy stood there hesitating, the creature gave another of its
+alarming growls. Hardly thinking what he was doing, Billy, startled by a
+shrill caterwaul, which followed the growl, flung his lighted torch full
+at the eyes, and heard a screech that sounded as if his blazing missile
+had struck its mark.
+
+[Illustration: While Billy stood there hesitating, the creature gave
+another of its alarming growls.]
+
+There was a swift patter of feet and the eyes vanished.
+
+"Great Christmas, I've scared the creature off," said Billy to himself,
+with a sigh of relief; "a lucky thing I had that torch."
+
+He walked forward more boldly. The evident alarm of the animal that had
+scared him, when the torch struck, convinced the boy that there was no
+more danger to be feared from it. In a few seconds more he was out in
+the open air and on a hillside.
+
+It was still pitch dark, but the stars seemed to be growing fainter.
+Billy drew out his watch and, striking a match, looked at it. The hands
+pointed to three-thirty.
+
+"It will be daylight before long," thought Billy. "If I start walking
+now I will only lose myself. I'll wait till it gets light and then try
+to get my bearings."
+
+Never had dawn come so slowly as did that one, in the opinion of the
+tired and impatient lad. But at last the eastern sky grew faintly gray
+and then flushed red, and another day was born. In the growing light,
+Billy stood up and looked about him. The bay or any familiar landmarks
+were not in sight. Billy was in a quandary. But before long he came to a
+decision.
+
+"I'll strike out for a main road," he decided; "if I can find one, that
+will bring me to where I can get some information, at any rate."
+
+With this end in view, he scrambled down the hillside and found himself
+in some fields. After a half-hour's walk across these, he saw, with
+delight, that he had not miscalculated his direction. A road lay just
+beyond a brush hedge.
+
+Billy made his way through a gap and struck off, in what he was
+tolerably sure was the way to Musky Bay. If he had but known it,
+however, he was proceeding in an exactly opposite direction. He had
+walked about a mile when another foot passenger hove in sight.
+
+The lad was glad of this at first, for, although he had walked some
+distance, he had not passed a house, nor had any vehicles come by. But a
+second glance at the man who was coming toward him made him by no means
+so pleased at his appearance. The other foot passenger was a heavily
+built man with a lowering brow. He wore clothes that savored of a
+nautical character.
+
+"Hullo, there, young feller," he said, as he halted to allow Billy to
+come up to him.
+
+"Good morning," said Billy. "I am trying to find my way to Musky Bay.
+Can you direct me?"
+
+The other looked at the boy with a glance of quick suspicion. "Livin'
+there?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, that is to say, I'm staying there with friends."
+
+"Umph! I know a crowd of folks there. Who you stopping with?"
+
+Before Billy realized what he was saying he had made a fatal slip.
+
+"With Captain Simms--that is," he hurried on, in an effort to correct
+his blunder, "I----"
+
+"Know a kid named Ready--Jack Ready?"
+
+"Why, yes, he's my best friend. He--here, what's the matter?"
+
+The other had suddenly drawn a pistol and held it pointed unwaveringly
+at Billy.
+
+"Jerk up yer hands, boy, and get 'em up quick!" he snarled.
+
+Billy had no recourse but to obey. The man facing him was a hard-looking
+enough character to commit any crime. With a sudden pang Billy recalled
+that he was wearing the handsome watch--one of which had been given both
+to Jack and himself for services they had performed for a high official
+in Holland, when they rescued the latter's wife and daughter from
+robbers who had held up the ladies' automobile.
+
+He saw the man's eyes fixed on the chain with a greedy glare. "Hand over
+that watch," he ordered.
+
+Billy did as he was told. Then came another order while the pistol was
+pointed unwaveringly at him.
+
+"Now come across with your cash."
+
+Billy handed over what money he possessed--about fifteen dollars. The
+rest was in a New York bank, and some in a safe at the hotel.
+
+The man looked at the inscription on the watch.
+
+"William Raynor, eh? Your friend was talking about you just before we
+had to----"
+
+All his fear was forgotten as the man spoke. His tones were sinister.
+Billy realized, like a flash, that this man was an ally of the Judsons,
+and must have had a hand in Jack's disappearance.
+
+"Had to what?" Billy demanded. "You don't mean that you committed any
+act of violence?"
+
+"Well, I'm not sayin' as to that," rejoined the other, who, as our
+readers will have guessed, was Bill Sniggers, "you'll find out soon
+enough."
+
+The man was deliberately torturing Billy.
+
+Soon after Jack's escape, Judson had awakened, and had been the first to
+discover that the boy had got away. A hasty and angry consultation
+followed, and it had been decided to send Bill, who was not known by
+sight in the vicinity, out to scout and see if the hunt for the missing
+boy was up. His astonishment at running into Billy was great. At first,
+till the boy spoke of Musky Bay, Bill, who was an all-around scoundrel,
+merely regarded him as a favorable object of robbery when he spied his
+gold watch chain. Now, however, the boy was a source of danger.
+
+"Come over here, and I'll tell you all about it," said Bill. "Oh, you
+needn't be scared. I won't hurt you. I got all I wanted off of you. You
+see your friend got a little uppish after we carried him off, and so we
+had--_to hit him this way_!"
+
+The last words were spoken quickly and were accompanied by a terrific
+blow aimed at Billy's chin. The boy sank in the roadway without a moan.
+He lay white and apparently lifeless, while Bill, with a satirical grin
+on his face, regarded him.
+
+"Well, you won't come to life this little while, young feller," he
+muttered. "I'll just put you over this hedge for safekeeping, so as you
+won't attract undue attention, and then be on my way."
+
+He picked the unconscious boy up as if he had been a feather and placed
+him behind the hedge. Then, with unconcern written on his brutal face,
+the rascal walked on. He was bound for a neighboring village to get
+provisions; for, till they knew how the land lay, none of the Judson
+gang dared to leave the deserted house. Bill, in his rough clothes,
+would attract little or no attention. But the others were smartly
+dressed and wore jewelry, and Donald had on yachting clothes. Had they
+been seen they could not have failed to be noticed in that simple
+community.
+
+"This must be my lucky day," muttered Bill, as he walked along. "I got
+my pay for that job last night, and now I've got a gold watch and chain
+and fifteen dollars beside. Tell you what, Bill, old-timer, I won't go
+back to that old house again. I'll just leave that bunch up there, and
+beat it out of these parts in my motor-boat. That's what I'll do--go,
+while the goin's good, because I kin smell trouble coming sure as next
+election."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+WHAT A "HAYSEED" DID.
+
+
+Billy opened his eyes. His head swam dizzily, and he felt sick and
+faint. The hot sun was beating down on him, but at first he thought he
+was at home and in bed. Then he began to remember. He sat up, and then,
+not without an effort, rose to his feet dizzily.
+
+"Where on earth am I?" he thought. "And what happened? Let's see what
+time it is."
+
+But his watch pocket was empty, and then full recollection of what had
+occurred came back to him. He was still rather painfully trying to
+regain the road when he heard the sound of a voice. It was a very loud
+voice, even though the owner of it was not yet in sight.
+
+"Looks like we might have rain. I said it looks like we might have a
+shower."
+
+Then another voice--a boyish one--shouted back:
+
+"YES--IT--DOES."
+
+"Gid-ap," came in the first voice, and then came hoof-beats and the
+rumble of wheels. The next minute a ramshackle, two-seated rig, with a
+man and a boy on the front seat, came into sight. Billy gave one long
+stare, as one who doubted the evidence of his own eyes. Then he broke
+into a glad shout:
+
+"Jack!"
+
+"Billy, old fellow, what in the world? Why, you're white as a sheet."
+
+With alarm on his face, Jack sprang out, as Abner stopped the rig, and
+rushed toward Billy.
+
+"How did you get here? What has happened?" demanded Jack.
+
+Billy told his story in as few words as possible.
+
+"Oh, the rascal," broke out Jack, when Billy described the hold-up.
+"That was Bill Sniggers. He's the man who led the way to the stone
+house--but get in and I'll tell you my story as we go along."
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"Back to Musky Bay; but a few hours ago I didn't think I'd ever see it
+again."
+
+Jack had to shout both his story and Billy's for Abner's benefit. But he
+gave them in highly condensed versions, as his sorely taxed vocal organs
+had almost reached the limit of their strength. He had just reached the
+conclusion, having been interrupted several times by Abner's
+exclamations, when, ahead of them, on the road, they spied a figure
+shuffling along in the dust. The two boys were on the rear seat of the
+rig, so that the man, when he saw the rig approaching, having turned his
+head at the sound of hoofs, did not see the boys.
+
+"Reckon that feller means ter ask fer a ride," remarked Abner, as a bend
+in the road ahead screened the man from view for a few minutes.
+
+A sudden idea had come into Jack's head.
+
+"Let him have it," he said; "and then drive to the nearest village and
+up to the police station. I'll pay you well for it."
+
+"But--but--who is he?" demanded Abner, stopping his horse.
+
+"Bill Sniggers, the rascal who is in league with Judson."
+
+"Great hemlock! You bet I'll pick him up right smart. But he'll see you
+boys and scare."
+
+"No, we'll hide in here," and Jack raised a leather flap that hung from
+the back seat. "It will be a tight fit, but there'll be room."
+
+"Wa'al, if that don't beat all," said Abner. "Git in thar, then, and
+then the show kin go on."
+
+As Jack had said, it was a "tight fit" in the recess under the seat,
+but, as Abner's rig had been made to take produce to market, there was a
+sort of extension at the back, which gave far more room than would
+ordinarily have been the case. Pretty soon the boys, in their
+hiding-place, felt the rig come to a stop. Then came a voice both
+recognized as Bill's.
+
+"Say, gimme a ride, will yer?"
+
+"Did ye say my harness was untied?"
+
+"No, I said gimme a ride," roared Bill, at the top of his powerful
+lungs.
+
+"Oh, all right. Git in. Whoa thar', consarn yer (this to the horse).
+Whar yer goin'?"
+
+"Nearest village. I'm campin' up the bay. I want to get some grub,"
+shouted Bill.
+
+"Yer a long ways frum ther river," remarked Abner.
+
+"Maybe; but I reckon that ain't your business," growled Bill.
+
+"Not ef you don't want ter tell it, 'tain't," said Abner apologetically.
+He had heard enough of Bill's character not to argue with him.
+
+"That's a nice-looking watch you've got there," the boys heard Abner say
+pleasantly.
+
+There was a pause and then Bill roared out:
+
+"What's that to you if it is?"
+
+"Oh, nothing, only I jest saw that printing on it, and calkilated it
+might have bin a present to yer."
+
+Jack could almost see Bill hurriedly thrusting the watch back into his
+pocket. Then, after a little while, he spoke again.
+
+"Didn't see nothing of a kid back there in the road, did yer?"
+
+"He means you, Billy," whispered Jack.
+
+"No, I didn't see nothing of nobody," was Abner's comprehensive
+rejoinder.
+
+There was a long silence, during which the boys sweltered in their close
+confinement. But they would have gone through more than that for the
+sake of what they hoped to bring about--the apprehension of at least one
+of Judson's aides.
+
+"Getting near a village?" asked Bill presently.
+
+"Yep; 'bout half a mile more," rejoined Abner.
+
+In a short time the rig began to slacken its pace. Then it stopped.
+
+"Here, what's this?" the boys heard Bill exclaim. "You're stopping in
+front of a police station."
+
+"Sure. The chief is Araminta's--that's my wife--cousin. I'm goin' in ter
+see him a minit. Hold the horse, will yer, he's a bit skittish."
+
+The boys heard Abner get out, and then an eternity seemed to elapse.
+Then a door banged and a sharp voice snapped out:
+
+"Throw up your hands, gol ding yer. I'm the chief uv perlice, an' I
+arrest ye fer ther robbery of one gold watch and assault and batt'ry."
+
+"Confound it, the old hayseed led me into a trap!" exclaimed Bill.
+
+He threw himself out of the rig and started to run. But, as he did so,
+Jack and Billy, who had crawled out from the back, suddenly appeared.
+Bill gave a wild shout, and the next instant he was sprawling headlong
+in the dusty street, while a crowd came rushing from all directions.
+
+Jack had tripped him by an old football trick. With an oath the
+desperado reached for his revolver. But, before he could reach it, he
+was pinioned by a dozen pairs of hands, and marched, struggling and
+swearing, into the police station.
+
+He was searched, and Billy's watch found on him, as well as the money.
+Then he was locked up. He refused to give any information about the
+Judsons, in which he showed his astuteness, for, if they had been
+caught, his plight would have been worse than it was, for they would
+have been certain to implicate him deeply. So he contented himself by
+saying that he knew nothing about them. They had hired him to help the
+elder Judson recover his nephew from another uncle, who had treated him
+badly. He knew nothing more about the case, he declared, except that,
+after Jack's escape, the Judsons had left for New York. (It may be said
+here that he was eventually found guilty of the theft and the assault
+and received a jail sentence.)
+
+Abner was well rewarded for the clever way he had brought about Bill's
+capture; and, well pleased with the way everything had come out, the
+boys resumed their journey.
+
+"I hope Abner will invest part of what I gave him in an ear-trumpet,"
+said Jack, as they entered Musky Bay.
+
+"I hope so," laughed Billy. He was going to add something, but a shout
+stopped him.
+
+"There's Captain Simms and Noddy," shouted Jack, as the two came running
+toward the vehicle. There is no need to go into the details of the
+reunion, or to relate what anxious hours the captain and Noddy had gone
+through after their discovery that the boys had vanished. If they had
+not reappeared when they did, Captain Simms was preparing to organize
+posses and make a wide search for them, as well as enlisting the aid of
+the authorities. In the vague hope that the Judsons and Jarrow might
+have remained in the stone house, waiting Bill's return, a party
+searched it next day, under the guidance of a native who knew the trail
+to it. But it was empty. A search for the black motor boat, too,
+resulted in nothing being found of her.
+
+As a matter of fact, not many minutes after Bill, from whom they wished
+to be separated, had left the house, the Judsons--father and son--and
+Jarrow, had made all speed to the point where the motor craft had been
+left and had hastily made off in her. They knew that the search for Jack
+would be hot and wished to get as far away from Bill as he treacherously
+wished to get from them. In their case there was certainly none of the
+proverbial honor among thieves.
+
+The black motor boat was left at Clayton and afterward claimed by a
+relative of Bill, who, by reason of "circumstances over which he had no
+control," was unable to claim her himself. As for the Judsons, they
+vanished, leaving no trace behind them. The same was the case with
+Jarrow.
+
+A message had been sent to Uncle Toby, telling him of the reason for the
+boys' delay at Musky Bay, _via_ a small mail steamer that plied those
+waters. His reply was characteristic:
+
+     "Them buoys is as hard to hurt as gotes, and as tuff as ship's
+     biskit on a Cape Horner. Best wishes to awl. Awl well here at eight
+     bells.
+
+     "Cap'n Toby Ready,
+
+     "_Inventor and Patentee of the Universal Herb Medicine, Guaranteed
+      to Cure All Ills, Both of Man and Quadruped._"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE "CURLEW" IN TROUBLE.
+
+
+"Looks as if we might have a blow, Jack."
+
+The _Curlew_ was lazily moving along, with all sail set, carrying the
+boys back to Pine Island from their adventurous visit to Musky Bay. But,
+although every bit of canvas was stretched on her spars, she hardly
+moved. Her form was reflected in the smooth water with almost
+mirror-like accuracy.
+
+"A blow? Pshaw," scoffed Noddy, "there isn't a breath of wind. I wish we
+could get a blow and cool off."
+
+"Well, your wish is likely to come true before very long," said Jack,
+who was at the tiller.
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"See that cloud bank over yonder, that ragged one?"
+
+"Yes, what's that got to do with it?"
+
+"Well, that's as full of wind as an auto tire," said Jack. "I've been
+watching it for some time. It'll be a nasty storm when it hits us."
+
+"Hadn't we better run in for shelter somewhere?" asked Billy.
+
+"There's so little wind now that I doubt if we could get inshore before
+the squall hits us," replied Jack. "I'll try to, though."
+
+He headed for the distant shore, where the outlines of some sort of a
+wooden structure could be seen.
+
+"If it gets very bad we can take refuge there," he said.
+
+"That's so. I've no great fancy for getting wet," said Billy.
+
+"Nor have I. We've had enough experiences of late to last us a long
+time," laughed Jack.
+
+"And I was left out of every one of them," grumbled Noddy.
+
+"For which you ought to be duly thankful," said Billy.
+
+"Yes, I didn't enjoy that stone house much, or the soot," declared Jack.
+
+"That cave didn't make much of a hit with me, either," said Billy. "My,
+those green eyes gave me a scare. I thought it was a bear or a mountain
+lion, sure; but they say there aren't any such animals in this part of
+the country."
+
+"Abner said it must have been a lynx," said Jack.
+
+"That being the case, you should have cuffed it," chuckled Noddy.
+
+For the time being he escaped punishment for perpetrating this alleged
+pun, for the wind began to freshen and the _Curlew_ slid through the
+water like a thing of life. The shore drew rapidly nearer.
+
+But the cloud curtain spread with astonishing rapidity, till the whole
+sky was covered. The water turned from green to a dull leaden hue. Puffs
+of wind came with great velocity, heeling over the _Curlew_ till the
+foam creamed in her lee scuppers.
+
+The wind moaned in a queer, eerie sort of way, that bespoke the coming
+of a storm of more than ordinary severity. Jack was a prey to some
+anxiety as he held the _Curlew_ on her course. If they could not make
+the dock he was aiming for before the storm struck, there might be
+serious consequences.
+
+But, to his great relief, they reached the wharf, a tumble-down affair,
+before the tempest broke. The _Curlew_ was made "snug," and this had
+hardly been done before a mighty gust of wind, followed by a blanket of
+rain, tore through the air.
+
+"Just in time, boys," said Jack, as they set out on the run for the
+structure which they had observed from the water. On closer view it
+turned out to be nothing more than a barn, not in any too good repair,
+but still it offered a shelter.
+
+The boys reached it just as a terrific blast of wind swept across the
+bay, roughening it with multitudinous whitecaps. A torrent of rain
+blotted out distances at the same time and turned all the world in their
+vicinity into a driving white cloud.
+
+The barn proved to be even more rickety than its outside had indicated.
+The door was gone and its windows were broken out. But at least it was
+pleasanter under a roof than it would have been out in the open. The
+rain, driven by the furious wind, penetrated the rotten, sun-dried
+shingles and pattered on the earthen floor, but the boys found a dry
+place in one corner, where there was a pile of hay.
+
+As the storm increased in fury the clouds began to blot out the
+daylight. It grew as dark as night almost. The roar of the rain was like
+the voice of a giant cataract.
+
+"We may have to stay here all night," said Billy, after a long silence.
+
+"That's true," rejoined Jack. "It would be foolhardy to take a boat like
+the _Curlew_ out in such a storm."
+
+Suddenly there came a terrific flash of lightning, followed by a sharp
+clap of thunder. It was succeeded by flash after flash, in blinding
+succession.
+
+"My, this is certainly a snorter," exclaimed Billy, and the others
+agreed with him.
+
+"We won't forget it in a hurry," said Jack. "I can't recall when I've
+heard the wind make such a noise."
+
+To add to their alarm, as the fury of the wind increased, the old barn
+visibly quavered. It seemed to rock back and forth on its foundations.
+The noise of the wind grew so loud that conversation was presently
+impossible.
+
+Suddenly there came a fiercer blast than any that had gone before. There
+was a ripping and rending sound.
+
+"Great Scott! Boys, run for your lives, the old shack is tumbling down,"
+cried Jack.
+
+He had scarcely spoken when what he had anticipated happened. Beams,
+boards and shingles flew in every direction. There was no time even to
+think. Acting instinctively, each boy threw himself flat upon the pile
+of moldy hay.
+
+Noddy, in his terror, burrowed deep into it. The noise that accompanied
+the dissolution of the old barn was terrific. Each boy felt as if at any
+moment a huge beam might fall on him and crush his life out. Above it
+all the wind howled with a note of triumph at its work of destruction.
+
+The boys felt as if the end of the world had come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE END OF JACK'S HOLIDAY.
+
+
+Fortunately, otherwise this story might have had a different ending, the
+barn was lifted almost entirely from its foundations and hurled over on
+its side. The roof was ripped off like an old hat and hurtled through
+the tempest to the water's edge.
+
+None of the wreckage and debris struck the crouching boys. But the mere
+sound was terrifying enough. Even Jack was cowed by the tremendous force
+of the elements. Each lad felt as if the next moment would be his last.
+
+But at last Jack mustered up courage and looked up. The beating rain,
+which had already soaked them all through, stung his face like
+hailstones.
+
+"Hullo, fellows," he exclaimed, "is--is anybody hurt?"
+
+"All right here," rejoined Billy. "But say, wasn't that the limit?"
+
+"It sure was," agreed Jack. "At one time I thought we were goners,
+and----"
+
+"Goo-oof-g-r-r-r-r-r!" An extraordinary sound, which can only be
+typographically rendered in this manner, suddenly interrupted him.
+
+"Heavens, what's that?" gasped Billy, looking about him in a rather
+alarmed manner.
+
+"Ugh-ugh-groof-f-f-f-f-f-f!"
+
+"It's Noddy!" cried Jack.
+
+"Gracious, he must be dying," gasped Billy.
+
+In his eagerness to escape the full fury of the storm and the flying
+wreckage of the barn, Noddy had plunged into the hay with his mouth
+open, and now his throat was full of the dry stuff. He was almost
+choked.
+
+"Pull him out," directed Jack, and he and Billy laid hold of Noddy's
+heels and dragged him out of the hay-pile. The lad was almost black in
+the face.
+
+"Ug-gug-groo-o-o-o-o-o!" he mumbled, making frantic gestures with his
+arms.
+
+"Goodness, this is as bad as the time he was almost drowned," cried
+Jack. "Clap him on the back good and hard. That's it."
+
+There were several gulps and struggles, and then Noddy began to cough.
+But all danger from strangulation had passed, thanks to the heroic
+efforts of Jack and Billy.
+
+"Phew! I thought I was choked," sputtered Noddy, as soon as he found his
+voice. "I'd hate to be a horse and have to eat that stuff."
+
+"You are a kind of a horse," said Billy slyly.
+
+"How do you make that out?" demanded Noddy, falling into the trap.
+
+"A donkey," laughed Billy teasingly, but poor Noddy felt too badly after
+his experience in the hay to retaliate in kind.
+
+After the restoration of Noddy, they began to survey the situation. All
+were soaked through, and the rain beat about them unmercifully. But they
+were thankful to have escaped with their lives. Through the white
+curtain of rain they could make out the outlines of the _Curlew_, riding
+at the dock.
+
+"I'm glad to see that," observed Jack. "I was half afraid that she might
+have broken away."
+
+"Then we _would_ have been in a fine fix," said Billy.
+
+"What will we do next?" asked Noddy, removing some fragments of hay from
+his ears.
+
+"Wait till the clouds roll by," laughed Billy. "I guess that's about the
+program, isn't it, Jack?"
+
+"Seems to be about all that there is to do," replied Jack; "but it seems
+to me that the storm is beginning to let up even now. Look in the
+northwest--it's beginning to get lighter."
+
+"So it is," agreed Billy. "Let's get under that clump of trees yonder
+till it blows over altogether."
+
+"Say, fellows, if we had a fire now, it would feel pretty good,"
+observed Noddy.
+
+"Well, what's the matter with having one?" asked Jack. "We can get some
+of those old shingles and tarred posts. They're pretty wet, but we can
+start the blaze going with dried hay from the bottom of the pile."
+
+"Good for you. Volunteer firemen, get to work," cried Billy.
+
+Soon the boys were carrying the dry hay and such wood as seemed suitable
+for their purpose to the clump of trees. Jack took some matches from his
+safe and struck a lucifer after the wood had been properly piled.
+
+It blazed up cheerily. Each lad stripped to his underclothes and their
+drenched garments were hung in front of the hot fire. The dripping
+clothes sent up clouds of steam, but it was not long before they were
+dry enough to put on. By the time this was done the storm had abated.
+Presently the rain, which did not bother the boys under the thick clump
+of trees, ceased altogether. Only in the distance a dull muttering of
+thunder still went on. A rainbow appeared, delighting them with its
+brilliant colors.
+
+"Well, that's over," observed Jack, as he dressed. "Now we'll go down
+and pump out the _Curlew_. I'll bet she's half full of water."
+
+His conjecture proved correct. On their return to their trim little
+craft they found a foot or more of water in her hull. But this was soon
+disposed of and, with a brisk breeze favoring them, they set out once
+more for Pine Island. On their return they found Captain Toby, who had
+spied them from a distance, awaiting them on the dock.
+
+In his hand he held a yellow envelope. It was a telegram for Jack. The
+boy eagerly tore it open, and for a moment, as he scanned its contents,
+his face fell. But almost instantly he brightened.
+
+"Well, what's the news?" demanded his uncle.
+
+"Good and bad," rejoined Jack. "I guess our holiday is over. Billy and I
+are ordered to join the _Columbia_ as soon as we can."
+
+"Hurrah! I was beginning to long for the sea again," declared Billy
+Raynor.
+
+"I must confess I was, too," said Jack.
+
+"It's a great life for lads--makes men out of them," said Captain Toby.
+"I must see if I've got two bottles of the Universal Remedy for you boys
+to take to sea with you," and he hurried off.
+
+Noddy looked rather blue.
+
+"You are lucky fellows--off for more adventures and fun," he said,
+"while I just stick around."
+
+"Nonsense, you've got your business in New York to attend to, and, as
+for adventures, I've had plenty of them for a time, haven't you, Billy?"
+
+"A jugful," declared Raynor. "Enough to last me for the rest of my
+life-time, and, anyhow, life at sea is mostly hard work."
+
+"That's what makes it worth living," said Jack. "I'll be glad to get
+down to work again after our long holiday."
+
+"And I really believe I will, too," said Billy; "and on a crack liner
+like the _Columbia_ we may be able to make our marks."
+
+"I hope we will. I mean to work mighty hard, anyhow," said the young
+wireless man, "but hark, there goes the bell for supper. Hurry up,
+fellows, I'll race you to the house."
+
+The next day was devoted to saying good-by to the scenes and the people
+who had helped make up a happy vacation for the lads. Noddy, it was
+decided, would stay on with Captain Toby for the present, as his
+presence was not required in New York.
+
+Of course the lads visited Captain Simms. He told them that his holiday
+also was almost over. The naval code was nearly completed, and he must
+get back to Washington within a week or so.
+
+"Well, here's to our next meeting," he said, as he heartily clasped the
+hands of both lads in farewell.
+
+Under what circumstances that meeting was to occur none of them just
+then guessed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+"THE GEM OF THE OCEAN."
+
+
+The _Columbia_, a magnificent and imposing vessel of more than 20,000
+tons burden, lay at her New York dock two weeks later. Within her steel
+sides, besides the usual cabin accommodations, she had swimming pools,
+Roman courts, palm gardens and even a theater. Elevators conveyed her
+passengers from deck to deck. The new vessel of the Jukes shipping
+interests was the last word in shipbuilding, and from her stern flew the
+Stars and Stripes.
+
+It was sailing day. From the three immense black funnels smoke was
+rolling. Steam issued, roaring from the escape pipes. The dock buzzed
+and fermented with a great crowd assembled to see their friends off on
+the first voyage of the great ship. Wagons, taxicabs and autos blocked
+the street in front of the docks. Photographers and reporters swarmed
+everywhere. The confusion was tremendous, yet, promptly at the hour set
+for sailing, the booming siren began to sound, last farewells were
+shouted, and the invariable late stayer on board made his wild leap for
+the gang-plank before it was drawn in.
+
+A perceptible vibration ran through the monster ship. Her propellers
+began to churn the water white. A small fleet of tugs helped to swing
+her against the tide as she slowly backed into the stream. Majestically
+her monster bulk swung round, her bow pointing seaward. Her maiden
+voyage had begun.
+
+It is doubtful if among her delighted passengers and proud officers,
+however, there were any more enthusiastic about the great vessel than
+two lads who were seated in the wireless operators' cabin on the topmost
+deck.
+
+"Well, Billy, this is different from the old _Ajax_, eh?"
+
+"Is it? Well, I should say so," responded Billy. "You ought to see the
+engine-room. You could have put the _Ajax_ in it, almost."
+
+"We ought to be proud of our jobs," continued Jack.
+
+"I know I am. It's a great thing to be part of the human machinery of a
+huge vessel like this, and the best part of it is that she flies the
+American flag," added Billy enthusiastically.
+
+"I heard that the _Gigantia_, of the London Line, sails to-day, too. By
+Jove, there she comes now."
+
+He pointed out of the open door back up the river. The great British
+steamer, till then the biggest thing on the ocean, was backing out. Her
+four red-and-black funnels loomed up imposingly above her black hull.
+
+"Then we'll have a race for certain," said Billy, his eyes dilating with
+excitement; "good for us, but my money goes on the _Columbia_."
+
+"That Britisher can travel, though," said Jack.
+
+"Oh, we won't have an easy time of it, but I'll bet my shirt we'll win
+the blue ribbon of the ocean."
+
+"I hope so," rejoined Jack with a smile at the other's enthusiasm. "But
+what do you think of my quarters, Billy?"
+
+"Why, they're fit for a king or a millionaire," laughed Raynor. "I'll
+bet you never thought, when you were in that little rabbit hutch of a
+wireless room on the old _Ajax_, that some day you'd be traveling in
+such style?"
+
+Raynor's eyes wandered to the instrument table, with its array of the
+most up-to-date wireless apparatus.
+
+"Hullo! What's that thing?" he asked suddenly, pointing to a device that
+looked unfamiliar. It was a box-shaped arrangement, metal, with
+complicated wires strung to it and had a "telephone" receiver attached
+to it with a band to hold it securely to the operator's head.
+
+"Oh, that's an invention of my own that I'm trying out," said Jack. "I
+don't just know what success I'll have with it. I haven't really put it
+to the test yet."
+
+"What do you call it?"
+
+"The Universal Detector," replied Jack.
+
+"Just what is that?"
+
+"Well, at present you know a ship can only receive wireless messages
+from a ship that is 'in tune' with her own radio apparatus. The
+Universal Detector should make it possible to catch every wireless
+sound. I am very anxious, if I perfect it, to get it adopted in the
+navy. It would be of great value in time of war, for by its use every
+message sent by an enemy, even if they were purposely put 'out of tune,'
+could be caught."
+
+"By the way, speaking of the navy, did you hear from Captain Simms?"
+
+"Yes; he is still up at Musky Bay. Some difficulties in the code have
+arisen, and he will not be through with his work for two weeks or more
+yet, he says."
+
+"No more attempts to steal his work, or to spy on him?"
+
+"He doesn't mention any. I guess we're through with the Judson crowd."
+
+"Looks that way. What a gang of thorough-paced rascals they were."
+
+"I guess Judson's business must be in a bad way to make him take such
+desperate chances to recoup by landing that contract."
+
+"I suppose that's it."
+
+Raynor lifted his eyes to the ship's clock above Jack's operating
+instruments.
+
+"By Jove, almost eight bells! I've got to go on watch. This is my first
+job as second engineer, and I mean to keep things on the jump. Well, so
+long, old fellow."
+
+"See you this evening," said Jack, as Raynor hurried off.
+
+Jack soon became very busy. The air was full of all sorts of messages.
+Besides that, his cabin was crowded with men and women who wished to
+file last messages to those they left behind them. He worked steadily
+through the afternoon, catching meteorological radios as well as
+information from other steamers scattered along the Atlantic lane.
+
+He knew that he might expect hard work and plenty of it all that day.
+There would be no chance for him to experiment with his Universal
+Detector. About dusk, Harvey Thurman, his assistant, came into the
+wireless room to relieve him while he went to dinner.
+
+Thurman was a short, thick-set young man, with a flabby, pallid face and
+shifty eyes. He had got his job on the new liner through a "pull" that
+he possessed through a distant relationship with Mr. Jukes. Jack had not
+met him before, and, since they had been on board, they had exchanged
+only a few words, but he instinctively felt that he and Thurman were not
+going to make very good shipmates.
+
+As Jack relinquished the head-receivers and the key to his "relief,"
+Thurman's gaze rested on the Universal Detector.
+
+"What's that?" he demanded.
+
+"Oh, just a little idea I'm working on," said Jack, "a new invention. If
+I can perfect it, it may be valuable."
+
+"Yes, but what is it? What's it for?" persisted Thurman.
+
+Jack explained what he hoped to accomplish with the instrument, and an
+instant later was sorry he had done so, for he noticed an expression of
+cupidity creep into Thurman's eyes. The youth persisted in asking a host
+of questions, and Jack, having started to explain, could not very well
+refuse to answer. Besides, inventors are notoriously garrulous about
+their brain children, and Jack, even though he did not like Thurman,
+soon found himself talking away at a great rate.
+
+"Huh, I don't think the idea's worth a cent," sniffed Thurman
+contemptuously, when Jack had finished.
+
+"I guess that's where you and I differ," said Jack, controlling his
+temper with some difficulty, for the sneer in Thurman's voice had been
+marked. "I'm going to make it a success, and then we shall see."
+
+He left the wireless room, and the instant he was gone Thurman, with a
+crafty look on his flabby face, eagerly began examining the detector. As
+he was doing so Jack, who had forgotten his cap, suddenly reentered the
+wireless room. Thurman had been so intent on his scrutiny of the
+detector that he did not hear him.
+
+"You appear to be taking great interest in that useless invention," said
+Jack in a quiet voice.
+
+Thurman started and spun round. His face turned red and he had an almost
+guilty look.
+
+"I didn't think you were coming creeping back like that," he exclaimed,
+"a fellow would almost think you were spying on him."
+
+"Have you any reason to fear being spied upon?" asked Jack.
+
+"Me? No, not the least. That's a funny question."
+
+"I want to tell you, Thurman, that my invention is not yet completed and
+therefore, of course, is not patented. I was pretty free with you in
+describing it, and I shall trust to your honor not to talk about it to
+anyone."
+
+"Certainly not," blustered Thurman. "I'm not that sort of a chap."
+
+But, after Jack had gone out, he resumed his study of the detector a
+second time, desisting every time he heard a step outside.
+
+"So it's not patented, eh?" he muttered to himself. "That will help.
+It's an idea there that ought to be worth a pot of money."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+JACK'S BIG SECRET.
+
+
+The next day Jack found an opportunity to sandwich in some work on his
+invention between his regular work. The thing fascinated him, and he
+tried and tested it in a hundred different combinations. Suddenly, just
+after he had altered two important units of the device, a new note came
+to his ears through the "watch-case" receivers that were clamped to his
+head.
+
+"It's code--somebody sending code!" exclaimed Jack, and then the next
+instant, "it's some ship of the navy! Hurrah! The detector is working,
+for they use different wave lengths from the commercial workers, and, if
+it hadn't been for the Universal Detector, I'd never have been able to
+listen in at their little talk-fest."
+
+He waited till the code message, a long one from Washington to the
+_Idaho_, of the North Atlantic fleet at Guantanamo, Cuba, was finished,
+and then he could not refrain from "butting in."
+
+"Hello, navy," he chattered with the wireless key, "that was a nice
+little message you had. How's the weather up your way?"
+
+"Who is this?" demanded the navy wireless in imperious tones.
+
+"Oh, just a fellow who was listening," responded Jack.
+
+"Butting in, you mean. But say, how did you ever get on to our sending?
+We were using eccentric wave-lengths to keep our talk a secret."
+
+"I'll have to keep how I caught your talk a secret, too, for the
+present, old man."
+
+"Great Scott! It isn't possible that you've solved the problem of a
+universal detector. Why, that's a thing the navy sharps have been
+working on for years."
+
+"I can't say how I caught your message," shot back Jack's radio through
+space.
+
+"You'll have to tell if the government gets after you," was the reply.
+"Uncle Sam isn't going to have a fellow running round loose with
+anything like that."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"That you will be forbidden to use it."
+
+"Is that so?"
+
+"Yes, that's so. I'm going to make out a report for my superiors about
+it right now. You're pretty fresh."
+
+"Put that in the report, too," chuckled the _Columbia's_ wireless
+disdainfully.
+
+"You'll find it's no joke to monkey with the government," snapped back
+the naval man.
+
+Jack didn't answer. A message from the _Taurus_, of the Bull Line, was
+coming in. She had sighted an iceberg, something very unusual at that
+time of year. Jack hurried the message, which gave latitude and
+longitude of the menace, to Captain Turner.
+
+"Well, that won't bother us," said that dignitary. "We're far to the
+south of that. Those Bull fellows run to Quebec. Send a radio to Captain
+Spencer, of the _Taurus_, thanking him for his information."
+
+The great man, the captain of a liner, who has literally more power than
+a king, lit a cigar, and bent his head once more over the problem in
+navigation he was wrestling with. Jack saluted and hurried back to his
+quarters.
+
+He was highly elated over the success of his Universal Detector. The
+threats of the government man did not alarm him, for he did not propose
+to place his invention on the general market, but to sell it outright to
+the government, whose secret it would then remain.
+
+He resolved to test it again. A moment after he had put the receivers to
+his ears, a broad grin came over his face. The air was literally vibrant
+with the calls of the navy men, flinging their high-powered currents
+through space.
+
+"... he's a cheeky beggar, whoever he is, but he's got the goods," was
+the first he heard.
+
+"Hum, that's Mr. Washington," thought Jack. Then, from some other point
+came another message.
+
+"Great Scott! Uncle Sam won't let him get away with anything like that."
+
+"I should say not. The Secret Service department is already at work
+trying to find out who the dickens he is."
+
+"That will be a sweet job," came the naval station at Point Judith.
+
+"Talk about a needle in a haystack," sputtered the U. S. S. _Alabama_.
+
+"Not a patch on it," agreed the great dreadnought _Florida_.
+
+Then came Washington again.
+
+"I'll tell you it's stirred up a fuss here," he said. "I wonder who it
+can be."
+
+"Maybe that Italian fellow who invented the sliding sounder," suggested
+the _Florida_.
+
+"Or Pederson, out in Chicago," came from a land station. All the navy
+men appeared to be joining in the confab.
+
+"Gracious, what a fuss I've stirred up," thought Jack, with a quiet
+smile. "They'd never guess in a million years that it's a kid of an
+operator who's causing all the trouble."
+
+"No; both the men you mentioned are in Europe," declared Washington.
+"The department's been trailing them since they got my news."
+
+"Well, the wireless men are going to be a happy hunting ground for the
+Secret Service fellows for this one little while," chuckled the
+_Florida_.
+
+"Wonder if he's listening now?" struck in the _North Dakota_, which had
+not yet talked.
+
+"Shouldn't wonder," remarked the _Idaho_.
+
+Jack pressed down his key and the spark began to flash and crackle.
+
+"You fellows are having a grand old pow-wow," he said. "Sorry I can't
+give you any information. I know you're dying of curiosity."
+
+"You've got your nerve, I must say," sputtered Washington indignantly.
+"Have you been listening right along?"
+
+"Yes; that Secret Service hunt is going to be very interesting."
+
+"It won't be very interesting for you, whoever you are, when they get
+you," thundered the mighty _Florida_. "It's bad business monkeying with
+Uncle Sam."
+
+"Maybe they won't get me," suggested Jack's spark.
+
+"Oh, yes, they will," came from Washington, "and you'll find it doesn't
+pay to be as sassy as you've been."
+
+"M-M-M," sent out Jack mischievously.
+
+The three letters mean, in telegraphers' and wireless men's language,
+"laughter."
+
+Washington's dignity took fire at this gross insult. They must have
+sizzled as from the national capital an angry message shot out to the
+other ships to talk in code. Jack's fun was over, but he had thoroughly
+enjoyed all the excitement he had stirred up. As he laid down the
+receivers Raynor came in.
+
+"You look tickled to death over something," he exclaimed. "What's up?"
+
+Jack sprang to his feet. His eyes were shining. He clasped Raynor's hand
+and wrung it pump-handle fashion. Raynor looked at the usually quiet,
+rather self-contained lad, in blank astonishment.
+
+"What's happened--somebody wirelessed you that you're heir to a
+million?" he demanded.
+
+"No, better than that, Billy."
+
+"Great Scott! Tell me."
+
+"Billy, old boy, it works. It works like a charm. I've got half the navy
+all snarled up about it now. By to-morrow they'll be after me with
+Secret Service men."
+
+"Gee whillakers. You've done the trick! Good for you, old boy."
+
+A sudden shadow in the open door made them both look round. Thurman
+stood in the embrasure.
+
+"May I add my congratulations?" he said, holding out his hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE NAVY DEPARTMENT "SITS UP."
+
+
+Jack could not refuse the proffered hand. But he took it with an uneasy
+air. There was something not quite "straight" about Thurman, it seemed
+to Jack, but as the former offered his congratulations he appeared
+sincere enough.
+
+"After all, it may be just his misfortune that he can't look you in the
+eyes," Jack told himself.
+
+But if he had been in the wireless room that night he would have deemed
+his suspicions only too well founded. Thurman busied himself with
+routine matters till he was sure Jack was asleep. Then he began calling
+Washington with monotonous regularity.
+
+An irritable operator answered him. By the wave length the Washington
+man knew that it was not a naval station or vessel calling.
+
+"Yes--yes--what--is--it?" he snapped.
+
+"I know the fellow who has that Universal Detector."
+
+"What!" The other man, hundreds of miles away, almost fell out of his
+chair. Recovering himself, he shot out another message:
+
+"Who is this?"
+
+"Never mind that, just for the present."
+
+"Say, you're not that fresh fellow himself talking just to kid us, are
+you?"
+
+"No, I'm far from joking. I expect to make some money out of this."
+
+"A reward?"
+
+"That's the idea."
+
+"Well, there's no doubt but you would get it if you really have the
+information. The department's been all up in the air ever since that
+fellow butted in."
+
+"Are you going to report this conversation?"
+
+"Most assuredly."
+
+"Don't forget that I demand a substantial reward for the information."
+
+"I won't. When will you call me again?"
+
+"About this time to-morrow night."
+
+"All right, then. Good-by."
+
+Thurman took the receiver from his head with a slow smile of
+satisfaction.
+
+"I guess that will cook that fresh kid's goose," he said. "It's a mean
+thing to do, maybe, but I need the money, and I'm glad to get a chance
+to set him down a peg or two."
+
+Thurman could hardly wait for the next night to come. During the day
+Jack had been having some more fun with the navy men, driving them
+almost wild. When Thurman finally got Washington, therefore, everything
+in the government's big wireless station was at fever heat. A high
+official of the navy sat by the operator, waiting for Thurman's promised
+call to come out of space.
+
+Men of the Secret Service were scattered about the room as well as
+department officials. The air was tense with expectancy. At last
+Thurman's message came.
+
+His first question was about the reward.
+
+"Tell him he will be liberally rewarded," ordered the naval official.
+"Tell him to give us the information at once. That fellow has been
+playing with us all day, and we've been powerless to outwit the
+Universal Detector, or whatever device it is he uses. The man must be a
+wizard to have solved a problem that has baffled the keenest minds in
+the Navy Bureau."
+
+"Reward is assured you," flashed back the naval operator. "Now give us
+your information. Time is precious."
+
+But Thurman's answer proved disappointing to those in the room.
+
+"Impossible to do so now. Inventor is on the high seas. Will wireless
+you later when he will return."
+
+"Confound it," grumbled the naval official. "I thought we would have had
+our hands on the fellow before daylight. Now it seems we shall have to
+play a waiting game."
+
+"If the man is on the high seas, it is not unlikely that he is the
+wireless man on one of the liners," put in Burns, a spare, grizzled man
+and Chief of the Secret Service.
+
+"That's probable, Burns," rejoined the navy official.
+
+"More than likely, I think," put in another member of the group, "but
+it's impossible to find out which one."
+
+"Yes, we are at the mercy of our unknown informant," said Burns. "Why
+the deuce was he so mysterious about it?" He tugged at his gray mustache
+as a sudden thought struck him.
+
+"Jove!" he exclaimed. "You don't think it's a put-up job to get money
+out of the government? Put up, I mean, by an agent of the inventor
+himself."
+
+"I don't know, Burns," was the official's reply. "It's all mighty
+mysterious. I confess I can't hazard a guess as to the man's identity.
+We've looked up all the most prominent wireless sharps all over the
+country. I am satisfied this fellow is not one of their number."
+
+"Some obscure fellow, I guess," said a Secret Service man.
+
+"Well, he won't remain obscure long," remarked Burns, "if he has brains
+enough to turn the navy department topsy-turvy for forty-eight hours."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A MYSTERY ON BOARD.
+
+
+Two days later the monotony of the voyage, which was broken only by the
+radiograms which were posted daily concerning the race between the
+American and British liners--the _Columbia_ being in the lead--was
+rudely shattered by an incident in which Jack was destined to play an
+important part. Jack had been on a visit to Raynor during the young
+engineer's night watch in the engine-room. They had stayed chatting and
+talking over old times till Jack suddenly realized that it was long
+after midnight and time for him to be in his bunk.
+
+Hastily saying good-night, he made his way through the deserted
+corridors of the great ship, which stretched empty and dimly lit before
+him. As he traversed them the young wireless man could not but think of
+the contrast to the busy life of the day when stewards swarmed and
+passengers hurried to and fro. Now everything was silent and deserted,
+except for the still figures up on the bridge and below in the engine
+and fire rooms, guiding and powering the great vessel onward through the
+night at a twenty-four-knot clip.
+
+The lad had just reached the end of one corridor, and was about to turn
+into another which led to a companionway, which would bring him to his
+own domain, when he stopped short, startled by the sound of a single
+sharp outcry. It came from the corridor he was about to turn into. Jack
+darted round the corner and almost instantly stumbled over the huddled
+body of a man lying outside one of the cabin doors.
+
+A dark stain was under his head, and Jack saw at once that the man had
+been the victim of an attack. At almost the same moment, by the dim
+light, he recognized the unconscious form as being that of Joseph
+Rosenstein, a diamond merchant, so wealthy and famous that he had been
+pointed out to Jack by the purser as a celebrity.
+
+"Queer fellow," the purser had said. "Won't put his jewels in the safe,
+although I understand he is carrying three magnificent diamonds with
+him. Likely to get into trouble if anyone on board knows about it."
+
+"He's taking big chances," agreed Jack, and now here was the proof of
+his words lying at the boy's feet. Suddenly he recalled having received
+a message a few days before from New York for the injured man.
+
+"Be very careful. F. is on board," it had read, and Jack interpreted
+this to be meant as a warning to the diamond merchant. But he did not
+devote much attention to it just then, except to rouse the sleepy
+stewards. Within a few minutes the captain and the doctor were on the
+scene.
+
+"A nasty cut, done with a blackjack or a club," opined Dr. Browning, as
+he raised the man.
+
+"Is it a mortal wound?" asked the captain. "This is a terrible thing to
+have happen on my ship."
+
+"I think he'll pull through if no complications set in," said the
+doctor, and ordered the man removed to his cabin. Suddenly Jack
+recollected what the purser had said about the diamonds.
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," said he to the captain, "but I heard that this
+man carried about valuable diamonds with him. He was probably attacked
+for purposes of robbery."
+
+"That's right," answered the captain, with a quick look of approval at
+Jack. "Browning, we'd better examine the contents of his pockets." They
+did so, but no traces of precious stones could be found.
+
+"Whoever did this, robbed him," declared the captain, with a somber
+brow, "and the deuce of it is that, unless we can detect him, he will
+walk ashore at Southampton or Cherbourg a free man."
+
+The door of the stateroom opposite to which the injured man lay opened
+suddenly, and a little, wizen-faced man, wearing spectacles, looked out.
+He appeared startled and shocked as he saw the limp form.
+
+"Good gracious! This is terrible, terrible, captain," he sputtered.
+"Is--is the man dead?"
+
+"No, Professor Dusenberry, although that does not appear to be the fault
+of whoever attacked him," was the rejoinder.
+
+"He was attacked, then, for purposes of robbery, do you think?"
+
+"I suspect so."
+
+"Oh, dear, this has so upset me that I shan't sleep the rest of the
+night," protested the little man, and withdrew into his stateroom.
+
+The next day, naturally, the whole ship buzzed with the news of the
+night's happenings, and speculation ran rife as to who could have
+attacked the diamond merchant, who had recovered consciousness and was
+able to talk. He himself had not the slightest idea of his assailant. He
+had sat up till late in the smoking saloon, he said, and was coming
+along the corridor to his stateroom when he was struck down from behind.
+A black leather wallet, containing three diamonds, which were destined
+to be sold to the scion of a European royal house, was missing from his
+pocket, and the loss nearly drove the unfortunate diamond man frantic.
+He valued the stones at $150,000, so that perhaps his frenzy at losing
+them was not unnatural.
+
+In the afternoon, Professor Dusenberry, dressed in a frock coat and top
+hat, although he was at sea and the weather was warm, came into the
+wireless room. He wanted to send a message, he said, a wireless to
+London. He was very cautious about inquiring the price and all the
+details before he sat down to write out his dispatch. When it was
+completed he handed it to Jack with his thin fingers, and asked that it
+be dispatched at once. Then he retreated, or rather faded, from the
+wireless room. Jack scanned the message with thoughtful eyes. It seemed
+an odd radiogram for a college professor, such as he had heard Prof.
+Dusenberry was, to be sending. It read as follows:
+
+     "Meet me at three on the granite paving-stones. The weather is
+     fine, but got no specimens. There is no suspicion as you have
+     directed, but I'm afraid wrong."
+
+     F.
+
+"Well, that's a fine muddle for somebody to make out when they get it,"
+mused Jack, as he sent out a call for the Fowey Station.
+
+"Must be some sort of a cipher the old fellow is using. He's a dry sort
+of old stick. Goodness! How scared he was when he saw that man lying
+outside his door. I thought he was going to faint or something."
+
+"Wonder what sort of a cipher that is," mused Jack, as he waited for an
+answer to his call. "Looks to me as if it's one of those numerical
+ciphers where every second or third or fourth or fifth word is taken
+from the context and composes a message. Guess I'll try and work it out
+some time. It'll be something to do. And, hullo, he signs himself 'F'."
+
+Jack looked up at the printed passenger-list that hung before him.
+"Professor F. Dusenberry" was the last of the "D's"
+
+"His initial," thought Jack, "but it's a funny coincidence that it
+should be the same as that of the man the diamond merchant was warned to
+watch out for, and that it should have been the professor's door outside
+of which he was struck down."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+A "FLASH" OF DISTRESS.
+
+
+Having dispatched the message, Jack sat back in his chair and mused over
+the future of the Universal Detector. It was a fascinating subject to
+day-dream over, but his reverie was rudely interrupted by a sharp
+summons from space.
+
+"Yes--yes--yes," he shot back, "who--is--it?"
+
+"This is the _Oriana_," came back the reply, "Hamburg for New York. We
+are in distress."
+
+"What's the trouble?"
+
+The spark crackled and writhed, as Jack's rapid fingers spelled out the
+message.
+
+"We struck a half submerged derelict and our bow is stove in. We believe
+we are sinking. This is an S. O. S."
+
+Then followed the position of the craft and another earnest appeal to
+rush to her aid. Jack roughly figured out the distances that separated
+the two ships.
+
+"Will be there in about two hours," he flashed, and then hurried to
+Captain Turner's cabin with his message.
+
+The captain scanned the message with contracted brow.
+
+"The _Oriana_," he muttered, "I know her well. Rotten old tramp. We must
+have full speed ahead. Stand by your wireless, Ready, and tell them we
+are rushing at top speed to their aid. Confound it, though," he went on,
+half to himself, "this will lose us the race with the Britisher, but
+still if we can save the lives of those poor devils I shall be just as
+well satisfied."
+
+The captain hastened to the bridge to issue his orders and change the
+big ship's course. Jack went quickly back to his cabin and began
+flashing out messages of good cheer. About half an hour later Captain
+Turner came along.
+
+"Any more news, Ready?" he asked.
+
+"No, sir. Their current is getting weak. The last time I had them the
+operator said that the ship was slowly settling, but that they had the
+steam pumps going and would keep them working till the water reached the
+fires. The officers were keeping the firemen at their work with
+revolvers."
+
+"I've been through such scenes," remarked the captain. "It's part of a
+seaman's life, but it's an inferno while it lasts."
+
+"Notify me if you hear anything further," said Captain Turner a few
+moments later.
+
+"Yes, sir. Hullo, here's something coming now. It's the _Borovian_, of
+the Black Star line. She got that S. O. S. too, and is hurrying to the
+rescue. But she's far to the south of us."
+
+"Yes, we shall reach the _Oriana_ long before she does," said the
+captain. "By the way, Ready, I've heard that you have quite a reputation
+for loving adventure."
+
+Jack colored. He did not quite make out what the captain was "driving
+at," as the saying is.
+
+"I do like action, yes, sir," he replied.
+
+"Well, then," said Captain Turner, "you've got a little excitement due
+to you for your prompt action last night in the case of the assault on
+that diamond merchant. If you want to go on the boats to the _Oriana_,
+you may do so. Get Thurman to stand by the wireless while you're gone.
+You can make the time up to him on some other occasion."
+
+Jack's eyes danced. He could hardly express his thanks at the
+opportunity for a break in the rather monotonous life on shipboard. But
+the captain had turned on his heel as he finished his speech and left
+the grateful lad alone.
+
+Thurman was sleeping when Jack roused him. When he learned that Jack was
+to make one of the boat parties and that he (Thurman) was to remain on
+duty, the second wireless man's temper flared up.
+
+"That's a fine thing, I must say," he growled. "You're to go on a junket
+while I do your work. I won't stand for it."
+
+"Pshaw, Thurman," said Jack pacifically. "I'll do the same for you at
+any time you say. Besides, I heard you say once you wouldn't like to go
+in the small boats."
+
+"Think I'm afraid, eh?"
+
+"I said no such thing," retorted Jack, "I----"
+
+"I don't care, you thought it. I'll complain to Captain Turner."
+
+"I would not advise you to."
+
+"Keep your advice to yourself. I've got pull enough to have you fired."
+
+"This line treats its employees too fairly for any such claim as a
+'pull' to be advanced."
+
+"You think so, eh? Well, I'll show you. You've been acting like a
+swelled head all the way over, Ready," said Thurman, forgetting all
+bounds in his anger. "I'll find a way to fix you----"
+
+"Say, you talk like an angry kid who's been put out of a ball game,"
+said Jack. "I hope you get over it by the time you come on duty."
+
+An angry snarl was Thurman's only rejoinder as Jack left the wireless
+operator's sleeping quarters. But the next instant all thought of
+Thurman was put out of his mind. The lookout had reported from the
+crow's-nest. On the far horizon a mighty cloud of dark smoke was rising
+and spreading.
+
+Before many moments had passed it was known that fire--that greatest of
+sea perils--had been added to the sinking _Oriana's_ troubles.
+
+As the news spread through the ship the passengers thronged to the
+rails. Suppressed excitement ran wild among them. Even Jack found
+himself unable to stay still as he thought of the lives in peril under
+that far-off smoke pall. All communication with the stricken ship had
+ceased, and Jack knew that things must have reached a crisis for her
+crew.
+
+Then came an order to cast loose four boats, two on the port and two on
+the starboard side. Officers and men obeyed with a will. By the time
+they were ready to be dropped overside, the outlines of the burning
+steamer were plainly visible. She looked very low in the water. From her
+midships section smoke, in immense black clouds, was pouring.
+
+But to Jack's surprise no boats surrounded her, as he had expected would
+be the case. Instead, on her stern, an old-fashioned, high-raised one,
+he could make out, through his glasses, a huddled mass of human figures.
+Suddenly one figure detached itself from the rest and Jack saw a pistol
+raised and aimed at the lower deck. Spurts of smoke from the weapon
+followed. Thrilled, Jack was about to report what he had seen to the
+bridge when the third officer, a young man named Billings, came up to
+him.
+
+"You're in my boat," he said. "Cut along."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A STRANGE WRECK.
+
+
+"Well, boys, we got here just in time," observed Mr. Billings, as the
+boat cut through the water.
+
+"I'm not so sure that we have arrived in time to avert a tragedy," said
+Jack, and he told of the shooting that he had witnessed.
+
+"Probably a mutiny," said Mr. Billings, with the voice of experience.
+"The crews on those old tramps are the riff-raff of a hundred ports. Bad
+men to handle in an emergency."
+
+He had hardly finished speaking when, borne toward them on the wind,
+which was setting from the burning, sinking ship, came a most appalling
+uproar. It sounded like the shrieks of hundreds of passing souls mingled
+with deep roars and screeches.
+
+Even Mr. Billings turned a shade paler under his tan.
+
+"In the name of heaven what was that?" he exclaimed.
+
+As he spoke a huge tawny form was seen to climb upon the rail of the
+rusty old steamer and then launch itself into the sea with a mighty
+roar.
+
+"A lion!" exclaimed Jack, "by all that's wonderful, a lion."
+
+"That explains the mystery of those noises and the predicament of those
+poor fellows crowded on the stern away from the boats," said Mr.
+Billings, who had quite regained his self-possession.
+
+"But--but I don't understand," said Jack.
+
+"That ship has a cargo of wild animals on board," explained Mr.
+Billings. "Such shipments are regularly made from Hamburg, her hailing
+port, to America. Most probably she had lions, tigers, leopards, great
+serpents and other animals on board. When her bow was stove in a number
+of cages were smashed and the wild beasts escaped."
+
+"That accounts for the shooting I saw, then," exclaimed Jack; "they must
+have been firing from the raised stern at the animals which menaced them
+on the main deck."
+
+"Unquestionably. I am glad I brought my own shooting iron," said Mr.
+Billings. "I packed it along in case we had trouble with a mutinous
+crew."
+
+They were now close to the blazing ship. The heat and odor of the flames
+were clearly felt.
+
+"We'll have to pull around on the weather side," decided Mr. Brown. "If
+we come up under the wind, we'd all be scorched before we could effect
+any rescues.
+
+"Pull round the stern, my lads," he ordered.
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," came in a deep-throated chorus from the crew.
+
+As the four boats made under the stern, white, anxious faces looked down
+on them.
+
+"Thank heaven you've come!" exclaimed the captain, whose haggard
+countenance showed all that he had been through. "We're just about at
+our last ditch. The animals we were taking from Jamrachs, in Hamburg,
+for an American circus, broke loose after the collision with the
+derelict. They've killed two of my men and maimed another."
+
+"All right, my hearties, just hold on a minute and we'll have you out of
+that," exclaimed Mr. Billings cheerfully.
+
+More roars and screeches from the loosened animals checked him. Then
+came more shots, telling of an attack on the stern, the only cool part
+of the ship left, which had been repulsed. The flames shot up, seeming
+to reach to the sky, and the smoke blotted out the sun, enveloping
+everything in the burning ship's vicinity in a sort of twilight.
+
+"Do you think we'll be able to get all of them off?" asked Jack eagerly.
+
+"I'm in hopes that we will," said Mr. Billings, "if nothing untoward
+happens."
+
+There was, Jack noticed, a shade of anxiety in the young officer's tone.
+There was, then, some peril, of which he knew nothing as yet, attached
+to the enterprise, thought Jack. But of the nature of the danger he had
+no guess till later.
+
+As the first boat, Mr. Billings' craft, drew alongside the blistering
+side of the burning ship, a Jacob's ladder came snaking down from the
+stern. At almost the same moment Jack, who had been looking upward,
+uttered a shout of alarm.
+
+The fierce face of a wild beast had suddenly appeared above the rail of
+the blazing _Oriana_. The next instant a great lithe, striped body
+streaked through the air straight for the boat. Instinctively Jack, who
+saw the huge form of the tiger, for that was the desperate
+flame-maddened creature that had made the jump, sprang for the side of
+the boat and dived overboard.
+
+[Illustration: The next instant a great lithe, striped body streaked
+through the air.--]
+
+He was not a second too soon. The tiger struck the side of the boat in
+the stern just where Jack had been sitting a fragment of a minute
+before. The boat heeled over as the great beast, mad with terror, clawed
+at its sides with its fore-paws and endeavored to climb in. Mr.
+Billings, pale but firm, whipped out his revolver with an untrembling
+hand while the men, utterly unnerved, dropped their oars and shouted
+with alarm.
+
+Bang! The tiger gave a struggle that almost capsized the boat. Then,
+suddenly, its claws relaxed their hold and it slid into the water, limp
+and lifeless, shot between the eyes. But where was Jack? The question
+just occurred to Mr. Billings when, looking up suddenly, he saw
+something that made him yell a swift order at the top of his lungs.
+
+"Row for your lives, men, row. She's going to blow up!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+CAST AWAY WITH A PYTHON.
+
+
+When Jack dived overboard he was so unnerved by the sudden apparition of
+the fear-frenzied tiger that he rose some distance back of the boat. He
+came to the surface just in time to see the slaying of the animal and
+hear Mr. Billings' sharp cry of warning.
+
+Before he could attract attention the boats were all pulling at top
+speed from the burning ship.
+
+"She's going to blow up!" the words etched themselves on Jack's brain
+with the rapidity of a photographic plate.
+
+He saw a convulsive tremor shake the big steel fabric and the despairing
+shouts of the men in the stern rang in his ears. At the same moment he
+dived and began swimming with all his strength away from the doomed
+ship. Suddenly came a shock that even under water seemed to drive his
+ear-drums in.
+
+Then he felt himself seized as if in a giant's grip and dragged down,
+down, down. His vision grew scarlet. His heart beat as if it must burst
+from his frame and his entire body felt as if it was being cruelly
+compressed in a monster vise. Jack knew what had occurred: the boilers
+of the _Oriana_ had blown up and he was being carried down by the
+suction of the hull as it sank.
+
+Just as he felt that he could no longer endure the strain, the dragging
+sensation ceased. Like a stone from a catapult Jack was projected up
+again to the surface of the sea. The sky, the ocean, everything burned
+red as flame as he regained the blessed air and sucked it in in great
+lungfulls.
+
+For a moment or so he was actually unconscious. Then, as his normal
+functions returned, and his sight grew less blurred, he made out a hatch
+floating not far from him. He struck out for this and clambered upon it.
+The sea was strewn with the wreckage of the explosion. Beams, skylights,
+even charred and blistered metal liferafts floated all about him. But
+these did not engross Jack's attention for long after he had cast his
+gaze in the direction where the _Oriana_ last lay. There he encountered
+an extraordinary sight.
+
+On the surface of the ocean floated the stern section of the sunken
+steamer. To it still clung the occupants that he had last seen there.
+Jack rubbed his eyes and looked and looked again. Yes, there was no
+doubt about it, the after part of the _Oriana_ was still afloat,
+although how long it would remain so it was impossible to say.
+
+Jack guessed, and as it afterward transpired, guessed correctly, that
+the watertight bulkhead doors, which had automatically been closed all
+over the ship when the collision occurred, were sustaining the stern
+fragment of the ship on the surface. This part of the _Oriana_, unharmed
+by the explosion or the collision, was now floating much as a corked
+bottle might be expected to do, excepting, of course, that there was a
+marked list to the drifting fragment.[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: The after part of the ill-fated tank steamer _Oregon_, sunk
+100 miles off Sandy Hook, in 1913, when, during a severe storm, she
+broke in two, floated with the survivors in exactly the manner described
+in the _Oriana's_ case.--Author's Note.]
+
+Jack now saw the scattered boats returning to the scene. The man in
+command of each was urging the crews on with voice and gesture. Not one
+had been harmed, but it was a narrow escape. Jack set up a shout, but
+apparently, in the excitement of racing for the floating stern part of
+the _Oriana_, he was unnoticed. However, this did not alarm him, for he
+was sure of being able to attract attention before long.
+
+A sudden lurch of the hatchway on which he was drifting, and the sound
+of a slithering motion as of some heavy body being dragged along some
+rough surface, made him turn his head.
+
+What he saw made him almost lose his grip on the hatchway.
+
+[Illustration: What he saw made him almost lose his grip on the
+hatchway.]
+
+The hideous flat head and wicked eyes of a huge python faced him. The
+great snake, escaping somehow from the catastrophe to the menagerie
+ship, had swum for the same refuge Jack had chosen. Now it was dragging
+its brilliantly mottled body, as thick as a man's thigh, up upon the
+hatchway. The floating "raft" dipped under the great snake's weight,
+while Jack, literally petrified with horror, watched without motion or
+outcry.
+
+But apparently the snake was too badly stunned by the explosion to be
+inclined for mischief. It coiled its great body compactly in gay-colored
+folds on the hatch and lay still. But Jack noticed that its mottled eyes
+never left his figure.
+
+"Gracious, I can't stand this much longer," thought Jack.
+
+He looked about him for another bit of wreckage to which he might swim
+and be free of his unpleasant neighbor. But the debris had all drifted
+far apart by this time and his limbs felt too stiffened by his
+involuntary dive to the depths of the ocean for him to attempt a long
+swim.
+
+Not far off he could see the boats busily transferring the castaways of
+the _Oriana_ on board. Supposing they pulled away from the scene without
+seeing him? Undoubtedly, they deemed him lost and would not make a
+search for him. Warmly as the sun beat down, Jack felt a chill that
+turned his blood to ice-water run over him at the thought. Left to drift
+on the broad Atlantic with a serpent for a companion and without a
+weapon with which to defend himself. The thought was maddening and he
+resolutely put it from him.
+
+So far the great snake had lain somnolently, but now, as the sun began
+to warm its body, Jack saw the brilliantly colored folds begin to writhe
+and move. It suddenly appeared to become aware of him and raised its
+flat, spade-shaped head above its coils.
+
+Its tongue darted in and out of its red mouth viciously. Jack became
+conscious of a strong smell of musk, the characteristic odor of
+serpents.
+
+His mouth went dry with fear, although he was naturally a brave lad, as
+we know. A dreadful fascination seemed to hold him in thrall. He could
+not have moved a muscle if his life, as he believed it did, depended on
+his escape. The hideous head began to sway rhythmically in a sort of
+dance. Still Jack could not take his eyes from that swaying head and
+darting red tongue. A species of hypnotic spell fell over him. He heard
+nothing and saw nothing but the swaying snake.
+
+All at once the head shot forward. With a wild yell Jack, out of his
+trance at last, fell backward off the hatch into the water. At the same
+instant Mr. Billings' pistol spoke. Again and again he fired it till the
+great snake's threshing form lay still in death. Unwilling to give Jack
+up for lost, although he feared in his heart that this was the case, the
+third officer would not leave the scene till all hope was exhausted.
+Sweeping the vicinity with his glasses, he had spied the impending
+tragedy on the hatch.
+
+Full speed had been made to the rescue at once and, as we know, aid
+arrived in the nick of time. As Jack rose sputtering to the surface
+strong hands pulled him into the boat. He was told what had happened.
+
+"A narrow escape," said Mr. Billings, beside whom sat Captain Sanders of
+the lost steamer. He looked the picture of woe.
+
+"I owe my life to you, Mr. Billings," burst out Jack, holding out his
+hand.
+
+The seaman took it in his rough brown palm.
+
+"That's all right, my lad," he said. "Maybe you'll do as much for me
+some day."
+
+And then, as if ashamed even of this display of emotion, he bawled out
+in his roughest voice:
+
+"Give way there, bullies! Don't sit dreaming! Bend your backs!"
+
+As the boats flew back toward where the great bulk of the _Columbia_,
+her rails lined with eager passengers, rested immobile on the surface of
+the ocean, the castaway captain turned a glance backward to the stern of
+his ship, which was still floating but settling and sinking fast. It was
+easy to guess what his thoughts were.
+
+"That's one of the tragedies of the sea," thought Jack.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+CAPTURED BY RADIO.
+
+
+It was two days later and they were nearing Southampton, but the stop
+they had made to aid the _Oriana's_ crew had given the Britisher a big
+lead on them. The passengers eagerly clustered to read Jack's wireless
+bulletin from the other ship which was posted every day. Excitement ran
+high.
+
+Jack had seen no more of Professor Dusenberry, but he had spent a good
+deal of leisure time pondering over the code message the queer little
+dried up man had sent. Raynor, who had quite a genius for such things,
+and spent much time solving the puzzles in magazines and periodicals,
+helped him. But they did not make much progress.
+
+Suddenly, however, the night before they were due to reach Southampton,
+Jack was sitting staring at the message when, without warning, as such
+things sometimes will, the real sense of the message leaped at him from
+the page.
+
+"Meet me at _three_ on the paving _stones_, the weather is _fine_ but
+got no _specimens_, there is no _suspicion_ as you have _directed_ but
+I'm afraid _wrong_."
+
+Taking every fourth word from the dispatch then, it read as follows:
+
+     "Three stones. Fine specimens. Suspicion directed wrong."
+
+Jack sat staring like one bewitched as the amazingly simple cipher
+revealed itself in a flash after his hours of study. Granted he had
+struck the right solution, the message was illuminating enough.
+Professor Dusenberry was a dangerous crook, instead of the harmless old
+"crank" the passengers had taken him for, and his cipher message was to
+a confederate.
+
+But on second thought Jack was inclined to believe that it was merely a
+coincidence that placing together every fourth word of the jumbled
+message made a dispatch having a perfectly understandable bearing on the
+jewel theft. It was impossible to believe that Professor Dusenberry,
+mild and self-effacing, could have had a hand in the attack on the
+diamond merchant. Jack was sorely perplexed.
+
+He was still puzzling over the matter when the object of his thoughts
+appeared in his usual timid manner. He wished to send another dispatch,
+he said. While he wrote it out Jack studied the mild, almost benevolent
+features of the man known as Prof. Dusenberry.
+
+"But there's one test," he thought to himself. "If the 'fourth word'
+test applies to this dispatch also, the Professor is a criminal, of a
+dangerous type, in disguise. But he contrived to glance carelessly over
+the dispatch when the professor handed it to him and fumbled in his
+pocket for a wallet with which to pay for it. Not till the seemingly
+mild old man had shuffled out did Jack apply his test to it. The message
+read as follows:
+
+     "_Columbia_ fast as motor-boat, watch her in Southampton. Am well
+     and will no more time throw away on fake life-preserver."
+
+     F.
+
+With fingers that actually trembled, Jack wrote down every fourth word.
+Here is the result he obtained:
+
+     "Motorboat Southampton. Will throw life-preserver."
+
+"By the great horn-spoon," exclaimed Jack to himself, "it worked out
+like a charm. But still, what am I going to do? I can't go to the
+captain with no more evidence than this. He would not order the man
+detained. I have it!" he cried, after a moment of deep reflection. "The
+Southampton detectives have been already wirelessed about the crime and
+are going to board the ship. I'll flash them another message, telling
+them of the plan to drop the jewels overboard in a life-preserver so
+that they will float till the motor-boat picks them up."
+
+Jack first, however, sent the supposed Prof. Dusenberry's message
+through to London, with which he was now in touch. He noted it was to
+the same address as before, that of a Mr. Jeremy Pottler, 38 South
+Totting Road, W. Then he summoned the Southampton station, and, before
+long, a messenger brought to the police authorities there a dispatch
+that caused a great deal of excitement. He had just finished doing this
+when Jack's attention was attracted by the re-entrance of the professor.
+
+He wanted to look over the dispatch he had sent again, he said, but Jack
+noticed that his eyes, singularly keen behind his spectacles, swept the
+table swiftly as if in search of something. The abstract that Jack had
+made of the cipher dispatch lay in plain view. Jack hastily swept it out
+of sight by an apparently careless movement. But he felt the professor's
+eyes fixed on him keenly.
+
+But if Prof. Dusenberry had observed anything he said nothing. He merely
+remarked that the dispatch appeared to be all right and walked out again
+in his peculiar shambling way.
+
+"The old fox suspects something," thought Jack. "I wonder if he saw that
+little translation I took the liberty of making of his dispatch. If he
+did, he must have known that I smelled a rat."
+
+Just then Raynor dropped in on his way on watch.
+
+"Well, we're in to-morrow, Jack," he said, "but I'm afraid the Britisher
+will beat us out."
+
+"I'm afraid so, too," responded Jack. "Their operator has been crowing
+over me all day. But at any rate it was in a good cause."
+
+"Yes, and they're taking up a subscription for the shipwrecked men at
+the concert to-night, I hear, so that they won't land destitute."
+
+"That's good; but say, Bill, you're off watch to-morrow and I want you
+to do something for me."
+
+"Anything you say."
+
+"This may involve danger."
+
+"Great Scott, you talk like Sherlock Holmes or a dime novel. What's up?"
+
+"I've got the man who stole those diamonds."
+
+"What!"
+
+"Don't talk so loud. I mean what I say. Listen."
+
+And Jack related everything that had occurred.
+
+"Now, what I want you to do is to watch Prof. Dusenberry, as he calls
+himself, to-morrow when we get into the harbor. His is an inside
+stateroom so that he can't throw it out of a porthole from there. He'll
+most likely go to one at the end of a passage."
+
+"Yes, and then what?"
+
+"I'd do it myself but the old fox suspects me, I half fancy, and if he
+saw me in the vicinity he'd change his plans. You'd better take two of
+your huskiest firemen with you, Billy. He's an ugly customer, I fancy,
+and might put up a bad fight."
+
+"U-m-m-m, some job," mused Billy. "Why don't you put the whole thing up
+to the captain?"
+
+"It would do no good the way things are now, and he might get wind of it
+and hide the jewels so that they couldn't be found. Anyhow, we've no
+proof against him till he is actually caught throwing the jewels out in
+that life-preserver to his confederates in the motor-boat."
+
+"I see, you want to catch him red-handed, but what about those cipher
+radios?"
+
+"There's no way of proving that I read the cipher right," said Jack.
+"Our only way is to do as I suggested."
+
+"I hear that Rosenstein has offered a big reward for the recovery of the
+diamonds," said Billy. "He's up and about again, you know."
+
+"Well, Billy, I think he'll have his diamonds back by to-morrow noon if
+we follow out my plan."
+
+And so it was arranged. The next morning Jack received a message from
+Southampton:
+
+"All ready. Does our man suspect anything?"
+
+This was Jack's answer:
+
+"Not so far as I know. Have a plan to catch him red-handed. You watch
+the motor-boat."
+
+Saluted by the whistles of a hundred water craft, the _Columbia_ made
+stately progress into Southampton harbor. As her leviathan bulk moved
+majestically along under reduced speed, her whistles blowing and her
+flag dipping in acknowledgment of the greeting, Jack with a beating
+heart, stood on the upper deck watching earnestly for developments.
+
+He knew that Billy and the two firemen he had selected to help him, on
+what might prove a dangerous job, were below watching Prof. Dusenberry.
+They all wore stewards' uniforms so that the man who Jack believed
+struck down the diamond merchant and stole the stones might not get
+suspicious at seeing them about in the corridors.
+
+"I believe they must have changed their plans, after all," Jack was
+thinking when, from the shore, there shot out, at tremendous speed, a
+sharp-bowed, swift motor-boat. It headed straight for the _Columbia_. As
+it drew closer, Jack saw it held two men. Both were blowing a whistle,
+waving flags and pointing at the big ship as if they, like many other
+small water craft, were just out to get a glimpse of the triumph of
+American shipbuilders.
+
+They maneuvered close alongside, while Jack's fingers grasped the rail
+till the paint flaked off under the pressure he exerted in his
+excitement. What was happening below? he wondered. Could Billy and his
+companions carry out their part of the program? Not far from the boy the
+diamond merchant, unconscious of the drama being enacted on his account,
+stood, with bandaged head, explaining for the hundredth time the beauty
+and the value of the gems he had lost.
+
+"Five thousand thalers I give if I get them back," he declared.
+
+Suddenly Jack's heart gave a bound. From a port far down on the side of
+the ship, and almost directly under him, a white object was hurled. It
+struck the water with a splash and spread out, floating buoyantly.
+
+Instantly the black motor-boat darted forward, one of the men on board
+holding a boat hook extended to grasp the floating life-preserver,
+hidden in which was a king's fortune in gems.
+
+Jack stood still just one instant. Then, driven by an impulse he could
+not explain, he threw off his coat, kicked off the loose slippers he
+wore when at work, and the next moment he had mounted the rail and made
+a clean, swift dive for the life-preserver.
+
+Billy rushed on deck, excitement written on his face, just as Jack dived
+overboard.
+
+"Jack! Jack!" he shouted.
+
+But he was too late.
+
+"Great Neptune, has the boy gone mad?" exclaimed Captain Turner, who had
+passed along the deck just in time to see Jack's dive. Regardless of sea
+etiquette, Billy grasped the skipper's arm and rushed into a narrative
+of the plan he and Jack had hoped to carry out.
+
+"But Dusenberry was too quick for us, sir," he concluded.
+
+"Never mind that, now," cried the captain, "that boy may be in danger."
+
+He looked over the rail, which, owing to most of the passengers being
+busy below with their preparations for landing, was almost deserted.
+Billy was at his side. In the black motor-boat two men stood with their
+hands up. Alongside was a speedy-looking launch full of strapping big
+men with firm jaws and the unmistakable stamp of detectives the world
+over. Some of them were hauling on board the police launch Jack's
+dripping figure, which clung fast to the life-preserver. Others kept the
+men in the black launch covered with their pistols.
+
+Half an hour later, when the passengers--all that is but Mr.
+Rosenstein--had gone ashore (the diamond merchant had been asked by the
+captain to remain), a little group was assembled in Captain Turner's
+cabin. In the center of it stood Professor Dusenberry, alias Foxy Fred,
+looking ever more meek and mild than usual. He had been seized and bound
+by the two disguised firemen as he threw the life-preserver, but not in
+time to prevent his getting it out of the port. Beside him, also
+manacled, were the two men who had been in the motor-boat and who,
+according to the Southampton police, formed a trio of the most daring
+diamond thieves who ever operated.
+
+"I think we may send for Mr. Rosenstein now," said Captain Turner with a
+smile. "Only I hope that he is not subject to attacks of heart failure.
+Ready," he said, turning to Jack, who stood side by side with Billy,
+"take these and give them to Mr. Rosenstein with your compliments."
+
+Jack blushed and hesitated.
+
+"I'd,--I'd rather--sir--if you--don't mind----" he stammered.
+
+"You may regard what I just said as an order if you like," said Captain
+Turner, trying to look grim, while everybody else, but Jack and the
+prisoners, smiled.
+
+"You wanted to see me on important business, captain?" asked Mr.
+Rosenstein, as he entered. "You will keep me as short a time as
+possible, please. I must get to Scotland Yard, my diamonds----"
+
+"Are right here in this boy's hand," said the captain, pushing Jack
+forward.
+
+"What! This is the fellow who took them?" thundered the diamond
+merchant.
+
+"No; this is the lad you have to thank for recovering them for you from
+those three men yonder," said the captain.
+
+"Professor Dusenberry!" exclaimed the diamond expert, throwing up his
+hand.
+
+"Or Foxy Fred," grinned one of the English detectives.
+
+"Oh, my head, it goes round," exclaimed Mr. Rosenstein.
+
+"This lad, with wonderful ingenuity, and finally courage, when he leaped
+overboard to save your property, traced the guilty parties," went on the
+captain, "and by wireless arranged for their capture."
+
+"It's a bit of work to be proud of," said the head of the English
+contingent.
+
+"It is that," said the captain. "It has cleared away a cloud that might
+have hung over this ship till the mystery was dispelled, which probably
+would have been never."
+
+Mr. Rosenstein, who had taken the diamonds from Jack, stood apparently
+stupefied, holding them on his palm. Suddenly, however, to Jack's great
+embarrassment, he threw both arms round the boy's neck and saluted him
+on both cheeks. Then he rushed at Billy and finally the two firemen, who
+dodged out of the way. Then he drew out a check book and began writing
+rapidly. He handed a pink slip of paper to Jack. It was a check for
+$5,000.
+
+"A souvenir," he said.
+
+"But--but----" began Jack, "we didn't do it for money. It was our duty
+to the company and----"
+
+"It's your duty to the company to take that check, then," laughed
+Captain Turner, and in the end Jack did. The two firemen, who had helped
+the boys, received a good share of it and later were promoted by the
+company for their good work. As for Prof. Dusenberry and his companions,
+they vanish from our story when, in custody of the detectives, they went
+over the side a few minutes later. But Jack and Billy to-day have two
+very handsome diamond and emerald scarf-pins, the gifts of the grateful
+Mr. Rosenstein.
+
+"Looks as if we are always having adventures of some kind or another,"
+said Billy to Jack that evening as they strolled about the town, for the
+ship would not sail for Cherbourg, her last port before the homeward
+voyage, till the next day.
+
+"It certainly does look that way," agreed Jack and then, with a laugh,
+he added:
+
+"But they don't all turn out so profitably as this one."
+
+With which Billy agreed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+THURMAN PLOTS.
+
+
+It was two nights before the _Columbia_, on her homeward voyage, entered
+New York harbor. On the trip across she had once more had the big
+British greyhound of the seas for a rival. But this time there was a
+different tale to tell. The _Columbia_ was coming home, as Billy Raynor
+put it, "with a broom at the main-mast head."
+
+All day the wireless snapped out congratulations from the shore. Jack
+was kept busy transmitting shore greetings and messages from returning
+voyagers who had chosen the finest ship under the stars and stripes on
+which to return to the United States. Patriotism ran riot as every
+bulletin showed the _Columbia_ reeling over two or three knots more an
+hour than her rival. One enthusiastic millionaire offered a
+twenty-dollar gold piece to every fireman, and five dollars each to all
+the other members of the crew, if the _Columbia_ beat her fleet rival by
+a five-hour margin. The money was as good as won.
+
+Thurman sat in the wireless room. His head was in his hands and he was
+thinking deeply. Should he or should he not send that message to
+Washington which, he was sure, would cause Jack's arrest the instant the
+ship docked. He had struggled with his conscience for some time. But
+then the thought of the reward and the fancied grudge he owed Jack
+overtopped every other consideration. He seized the key and began
+calling the big naval station.
+
+It was not long before he got a reply, for when not talking to warships
+the land stations of the department use normal wave-lengths.
+
+"Who is this?" came the question from the government man.
+
+"It's X. Y. Z," rapped out Thurman.
+
+This was the signature he had appended to his other messages.
+
+"The thunder you say," spelled out the other; "we thought we'd never
+hear from you again."
+
+"Well, here I am."
+
+"So it appears. Well, are you ready to tell us who this chap is who's
+been mystifying us so?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"Great ginger, wait till I get Rear-admiral ---- and Secretary ---- on
+the 'phone. It's late but they'll get out of bed to hear this news."
+
+But it transpired that both the officials were at a reception and
+Thurman was asked to wait till they could be rushed at top speed to the
+wireless station in automobiles. At last everything was ready and
+Thurman, while drops of sweat rolled down his face, rapped out his
+treachery and sent it flashing from the antennae across the sea.
+
+"Thank you," came the reply when he had finished, "the secretary also
+wishes me to thank you and assure you of your reward. Secret Service men
+will meet the ship at the pier."
+
+"And Jack Ready, what about him?"
+
+"He will be taken care of. You had better proceed to Washington as soon
+as possible after you land."
+
+"How much will the reward be?" greedily demanded Thurman.
+
+"The secretary directs me to say that it will be suitable," was the
+rejoinder.
+
+The next morning, when Jack came on duty, he sent a personal message to
+Uncle Toby via Siasconset. This was it:
+
+     "Universal detector a success. Will you wire Washington of my
+     intention to proceed there with all speed when I arrive?
+
+     "JACK."
+
+Late that day he got back an answer that appeared to astonish him a good
+deal, for he sat knitting his brows over it for some moments.
+
+     "Washington says some ding-gasted sneak has been cutting up funny
+     tricks. Looks like you have been talking.
+
+     "TOBY READY."
+
+This characteristic message occupied Jack for some moments till he
+thought of a reply to its rather vaguely worded contents. Then he got
+Siasconset and shot this through the air:
+
+     "Have talked to no one who could have seen Washington. My last
+     letter to the Secretary of the Navy was that I thought I was on the
+     road to success.
+
+     "JACK."
+
+No reply came to this and Jack went off watch with the matter as much of
+a mystery as ever. But as Thurman came in to relieve him a sudden
+suspicion shot across Jack's mind. Could Thurman have----?
+
+He recalled the night he had caught him examining the device with such
+care! Jack had since removed it, but in searching in the waste basket
+for a message discarded by mistake he had since come across what
+appeared to be crude sketches of the Universal Detector. If Thurman had
+not drawn them, Jack was at a loss to know who had. But for some
+mysterious reason he only smiled as he left the wireless room.
+
+"If you've been up to any hocus-pocus business, Mr. Thurman," he said to
+himself, as he descended to dinner, "you are going to get the surprise
+of your life within a very short time."
+
+After dinner he came back to the upper deck again, but as he gained it
+his attention was arrested by the scream of the wireless spark. It was a
+warm night and the door of the cabin was open. Jack stopped
+instinctively to listen to the roaring succession of dots and dashes.
+
+"He's calling Washington," said Jack to himself as he listened.
+
+"He's got them," he exclaimed a minute later.
+
+"Hullo! Hullo! I guess I was right in my guess, then, after all. Oh,
+Thurman, what a young rascal you are."
+
+He listened attentively as Thurman shot out his message to the National
+Capital. Jack repeated it in an undertone as the spark crackled and
+squealed.
+
+"Do--I--get--my--reward--right--away?"
+
+Jack actually burst, for some inexplicable reason, into a hearty laugh.
+
+"Oh, Thurman! Thurman!" he exploded to himself. "What a badly fooled
+young man you are going to be."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE "SUITABLE REWARD."
+
+
+The arrival of the _Columbia_ at her dock the next day was in the nature
+of an ovation. A band played "Hail Columbia," and a dense crowd blocked
+the docks and adjacent points of vantage to view the great liner which
+had taken the blue ribbon of the seas from England's crack ship. News of
+the dramatic rescue of the crew of the _Oriana_, wirelessed at the time
+of the occurrence to the newspapers, had inflamed public interest in the
+big ship too, and her subsequent doings had been eagerly followed in the
+dailies.
+
+"Great to be home again, isn't it, old fellow?" asked Raynor, coming up
+to Jack as a dozen puffing tugs nosed the towering _Columbia_ into her
+dock.
+
+"It is, indeed," said Jack, looking over the rail. "I'm going to----"
+
+He broke off suddenly and began waving frantically to two persons in the
+crowd. One was an old man, rather bent, but hale and hearty and
+sunburned. Beside him was a pretty girl. It was Helen Dennis and her
+father, Captain Dennis, who had been rescued from a sinking sailing ship
+during Jack's first voyage, as told in the "Ocean Wireless Boys on the
+Atlantic." Captain Dennis, since the disaster, had been unable to get
+another ship to command and had been forced to accept a position as
+watchman on one of the docks, but Jack had been working all he knew how
+to get the captain another craft, so far, however, without success.
+
+"There's one reason why you're glad to be home," said Raynor slyly,
+waving to Helen. "You're a lucky fellow."
+
+The gang-plank was down, but before any passengers were allowed ashore,
+way was made for four stalwart, clean-shaven men who hurried on board.
+
+"Wonder who those fellows are?" said Raynor; "must be some sort of
+big-wigs."
+
+"Yes, they certainly got the right of way," responded Jack without much
+interest.
+
+Thurman joined them.
+
+"I hear that the Secret Service men are on board," he said. "Must be
+looking for someone."
+
+"I suppose so," said Jack. "They usually are."
+
+Somebody tapped Jack on the shoulder. It was one of the men who had
+boarded the ship. An evil leer passed over Thurman's face as he saw
+this.
+
+"Are you Jack Ready?" asked the man.
+
+"That's my name," replied Jack.
+
+The man threw back his coat, displaying a gold badge. His three
+companions stood beside him.
+
+"I want you to come to Washington with us at once," said the man. "I am
+operative Thomas of the United States Secret Service."
+
+"Why what's the matter? What's he done?" demanded Raynor.
+
+"That's for the Navy Department to decide," said the man sternly.
+Thurman had slipped away after the man had displayed his badge. His
+envious mind was now sure of its revenge. He, too, meant to get the
+first train to Washington.
+
+"Don't worry, old fellow," said Jack. "Just slip ashore and make my
+excuses to Helen and her father, will you, and then meet me in
+Washington at the Willard. I think I shall have some news that will
+surprise you."
+
+Greatly mystified, Raynor obeyed, while Jack and the four men, two on
+each side of him, left the ship. Thurman followed them closely. His
+flabby face wore a look of satisfaction.
+
+"Two birds with one stone," he muttered to himself. "I've got even with
+Jack Ready and I get a reward for doing it. Slick work."
+
+The trip to Washington was uneventful. On their arrival there Jack and
+the Secret Service men went straight to the Navy Department. They passed
+through a room filled with waiting persons having business there, and
+were at once admitted to the office of the Secretary of the Navy, a
+dignified looking man with gray hair and mustache, who sat ensconced
+behind a large desk littered with papers and documents.
+
+There were several other gentlemen in the room. Some of them were in
+naval uniforms and all had an official appearance that was rather
+overawing.
+
+"So, this is our young man," said the Secretary, as Jack removed his
+hat. "Sit down, Mr. Ready, these gentlemen and myself wish to talk to
+you."
+
+Then, for an hour or more, Jack described the Universal Detector and
+answered scores of questions. After the first few minutes his sense of
+embarrassment wore off and he talked easily and naturally. When he had
+finished, and everybody's curiosity was satisfied, the Secretary turned
+to him.
+
+"And you are prepared to turn this instrument over to the United States
+navy?"
+
+"That was the main object I had in designing it," said Jack, "but I am
+at a loss to know how you discovered that I was on board the
+_Columbia_."
+
+"That will soon be explained," said the Secretary, with a smile that was
+rather enigmatic. "You recollect having a little fun with our navy
+operators?"
+
+Jack colored and stammered something while everybody in the room smiled.
+
+"Don't worry about that," laughed the Secretary. "It just upset the
+dignity of some of our navy operators. Well, following that somebody
+offered, for a consideration, to tell us who it was that had discovered
+the secret of a Universal Detector. It turned out, as I had expected
+from our previous correspondence, that it was you. But not till two
+nights ago, when our informant again wirelessed, did we know that you
+were at sea."
+
+"But--but, sir," stuttered Jack, greatly mystified, "who did this?"
+
+The Secretary pressed a button on his desk. A uniformed orderly
+instantly answered.
+
+"Tell Mr. Thurman to come in," said the Secretary.
+
+There was a brief silence, then the door opened and Thurman, with an
+expectant look and an assured manner, stepped into the room.
+
+"Mr. Thurman?" asked the Secretary.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Thurman in a loud, confident voice, "I thought I'd
+hurry over here as soon as the ship docked and talk to you about my work
+in discovering for you the fellow who invented the Universal Detector.
+I----"
+
+He suddenly caught sight of Jack and turned a sickly yellow. Jack looked
+steadily at the fellow who, he had guessed for some time, had been
+evilly interested in the detector.
+
+"Well, go on, Mr. Thurman," said the Secretary, encouragingly, but with
+a peculiar look at the corners of his mouth.
+
+Thurman shuffled miserably.
+
+"I'd prefer not to talk with--with him in the room," he said, nodding
+his head sideways at Jack.
+
+"Why not? Mr. Ready has just sold his invention to the United States
+government."
+
+"Sold it, sir----" began Jack, flushing, "why I----"
+
+The Secretary held up a hand to enjoin silence. Then he turned to the
+thoroughly uncomfortable Thurman.
+
+"We feel, Mr. Thurman," he said, "that you really tried to do us a great
+service."
+
+Thurman recovered some of his self-assurance. Could he have had the
+skill to read the faces about him, though, he must have known that a
+bomb was about to burst.
+
+"Thank you, sir," he said, "I did what I could, what I thought was my
+duty. And now, sir, about that reward."
+
+"'Suitable reward,' was what was said, I think, Mr. Thurman," said the
+Secretary.
+
+"Well, yes, sir, 'suitable reward,'" responded Thurman, his eyes
+glistening with cupidity.
+
+"Mr. Thurman," and the Secretary's voice was serious and impressive,
+"these gentlemen and I have decided that the most suitable reward for a
+young man as treacherous and mean as you have shown yourself to be,
+would be to be kicked downstairs. Instead I shall indicate to you the
+door and ask you to take your leave."
+
+"But--but--I told you who the fellow was that had discovered the
+detector. Why, I even made drawings of it for you."
+
+"I don't doubt that," said the Secretary dryly. "There was only one weak
+point in your whole scheme, Mr. Thurman, and that was that Mr. Ready
+wrote us some time ago when he first began his experiments about his
+work and asked some advice. At that time he informed us that if he
+succeeded in producing a Universal Detector that it would be at the
+service of this government. So you see that you were kind enough to
+inform us of something we knew already. But for a time we were at a loss
+to know whether it was not some other inventor working on similar lines
+who had discovered such a detector. To find out definitely we
+fine-combed the country."
+
+"And--and I get no reward?" stuttered Thurman.
+
+"Except the one I mentioned and the possible lesson you may have learned
+from your experience. Good-afternoon, Mr. Thurman."
+
+Thurman was so thunderstruck by the collapse of his hopes of reaping a
+fortune by his treachery that he appeared for a moment to be deprived of
+the power of locomotion. The Secretary nodded to the orderly, who came
+forward and took the wretched youth, for whom Jack could not help
+feeling sorry, by the arm and led him to the door. This was the last
+that was seen of Thurman for a long time, but Jack was destined to meet
+him again, thousands of miles away and under strange circumstances.
+
+When Jack left the Navy Department he felt as if he was walking on air.
+In his pocket was a check, intended as a sort of retaining fee by the
+government, till tests should have established beyond a doubt the value
+of his invention. His eyes were dancing and all he felt that he needed
+was a friend to share his pleasure with. This need was supplied on his
+return to the hotel, for there was a telegram from Billy Raynor, telling
+Jack to meet him on an evening train. It wound up with these words:
+
+     "Helen Dennis and myself badly worried. Hope everything is all
+     right."
+
+"All right," smiled Jack, "yes, all right, and then some."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+THE PLOTTER'S TRIUMPH.
+
+
+The face of one of the first of the passengers to disembark from the
+train as it rolled into the depot was a familiar one to Jack. With a
+thrill of pleasure he darted through the crowd to clasp the hand of his
+old friend, Captain Simms.
+
+"Here's a coincidence," he exclaimed. "I'm here to meet Billy Raynor. He
+must have come on the same train. But are you ill, sir? Is anything the
+matter?"
+
+"Jack, my boy," said the captain, who was pale and drawn, "a terrible
+thing has happened. The code has been stolen."
+
+"Stolen! By whom?"
+
+"Undoubtedly by Judson and his gang. I thought I saw them on the train
+between Clayton and New York. I was on my way here with the completed
+code. I had it under my pillow in my berth on the sleeper. When I
+awakened it had gone."
+
+"Didn't you have a hunt made for Judson when you reached New York?"
+
+"Yes, but we had made two stops in the night. Undoubtedly, they got off
+at one of them. Unless that code is found I'm a ruined and a disgraced
+man."
+
+At that moment Billy Raynor came hurrying up. But there was not much
+warmth in Jack's welcome to him. His mind was busy with other things.
+
+"What's the matter?" said Billy in a low voice, for he too had noticed
+Captain Simms' dejection.
+
+"Never mind now," whispered Jack, "I'll tell you later. If I may suggest
+it, sir," he said, addressing the captain, who appeared completely
+broken by the loss of the code, "hadn't we better get into a cab and
+drive to the Willard? You are not going to the department to-night?"
+
+"No, I couldn't face them to-night," said the captain. "We'll do as you
+say."
+
+"There may be a way of catching the rascals," said Jack as the taxicab
+bumped off.
+
+The captain shook his head.
+
+"The code is in the hands of the ambassador of the foreign power that
+wanted it as the price of a contract by this time," he said. "It is gone
+beyond recovery. I am disgraced."
+
+On their arrival at the hotel, the captain retired at once to his room.
+The boys had dinner without much appetite for the meal and then set out
+for a stroll to talk things over.
+
+"This is a terrible off-set to my good news," said Jack.
+
+"Don't you think there's a chance of getting the code back?" asked
+Billy.
+
+Jack shook his head.
+
+"I think it is as Captain Simms said, the code is in the hands of that
+ambassador by this time."
+
+"Jack Ready, by all that's good, and Billy too, shake!"
+
+The cry came from up the street and a tall, good-looking lad of their
+own age came hurrying toward them. It was Ned Rivers, a youth who was
+interested in wireless and in that way had become acquainted with Jack
+and Billy on board the _Tropic Queen_ while he was accompanying his
+father on a cruise on that ill-fated ship.
+
+"Ned!" cried Jack.
+
+"You're a sight for sore eyes," exclaimed Billy, and a general
+handshaking followed.
+
+"What are you doing here, Ned?" asked Jack, after a few more words had
+been exchanged.
+
+"Yes, I thought you lived in Nebraska," said Billy.
+
+"So we did, but we've moved here. Father's in the Senate now. I thought
+you knew."
+
+"Congratulations," said Jack. "I guess we'll have to call you Mr.
+Senator, Jr., now and tip our hats to you."
+
+"Avast with that nonsense, as they don't say at sea," laughed Ned.
+"There's our house yonder," and he pointed to a handsome stone
+residence.
+
+"Hullo, what's that I see on the roof?" asked Jack.
+
+"That's my wireless outfit. Mother made an awful kick about having it
+there, but at last she gave in."
+
+"So you're still a wireless boy?" said Billy.
+
+"Yes, and I've got a dandy outfit too. Come on over. I want to introduce
+you to the folks."
+
+"Thanks, we will some other time, but not to-night. We don't feel fit
+for company. You see quite a disaster has happened to a friend of ours,"
+and under a pledge of secrecy from Ned, who he knew he could rely on,
+Jack told the lad part of the story of the theft of the code.
+
+"By jove, that is a loss," said Ned sympathetically. "I've heard dad
+talking about the new code. It was a very important matter."
+
+"We were going for a walk to discuss the whole question," said Billy.
+
+"Can I join you?" asked Ned.
+
+"Glad to have you," was the rejoinder. Talking and laughing merrily over
+old times on the _Tropic Queen_, the boys walked on, not noticing much
+where they were going till they found themselves on an ill-lighted
+street of rather shabby-looking dwellings.
+
+"Hullo," said Ned, "I don't think much of this part of town. Let's get
+back to a main street."
+
+"It's a regular slum," said Billy, and the three boys started to retrace
+their steps. But suddenly Jack stopped and jerked his companions into a
+doorway. Two figures had just come in sight round the corner. They were
+headed down the street on the opposite sidewalk.
+
+"It's Judson and his son," whispered Jack. "What can they be doing
+here?"
+
+"Hiding, most probably," returned Billy.
+
+"Yes, they--hullo! Look, they're going into that alley-way."
+
+The boys darted across the street. Looking down the alley-way, they saw
+the figures of Judson and his son, by the light of a sickly gas lamp,
+ascending the steps of a rickety-looking tenement house.
+
+"Jove, this is worth knowing," exclaimed Jack. "If they are really
+hiding here we can get the police on their track. How lucky that we just
+let ourselves roam into this part of town."
+
+"We ought to have them arrested at once," said Billy.
+
+"Yes, that's a good idea. But they may have just sneaked through the
+hallway and out by a rear way. You fellows wait here till I go and see."
+
+"Oh, Jack, you may get in trouble."
+
+"Yes, we'll go with you," said Ned.
+
+"No, you stay here," Jack insisted. "One of us won't be noticed. Three
+would. Besides, that house is full of other tenants. Nothing much could
+happen to me."
+
+In spite of their further protests he walked rapidly, but cautiously,
+down the alley-way. Noiselessly he entered the hallway and walked to the
+door of a rear room, where he heard voices. But it was a laboring man
+and his wife quarreling over something. Jack heard a door open on an
+upper floor. Then came a voice that thrilled him. It was Jarrow's.
+
+"Hullo, Judson, back again? Well, how did things go?"
+
+Then Jack heard the door closed and locked.
+
+"So, they are really here," he muttered. "What a piece of luck. But the
+question is, have they got the code? If it is out of their hands it will
+be well nigh impossible to recover it, for it is a serious matter to
+charge an ambassador with wrong-doing."
+
+Jack began to ascend the rickety stairs with great caution. They creaked
+dismally under his tread. At a door on the second floor he caught the
+sound of Judson's voice. With a beating heart he crept as close as he
+dared and listened.
+
+"The plans have all been changed," he heard Judson saying. "We are to
+take the code to Crotona (the capital of the power represented by the
+ambassador) ourselves. There's a steamer that leaves Baltimore for
+Naples to-morrow. We are to take that and proceed from Naples to our
+destination."
+
+"What a bother," came in Donald's voice. "I don't see why the ambassador
+didn't take them."
+
+"He said it was too dangerous. He was being watched by the Secret
+Service men."
+
+"Well, it's just as dangerous for us, if it comes to that," grumbled
+Jarrow.
+
+"I've got another piece of news for you," said Judson. "As I was passing
+the Willard to-night I saw Simms, and who do you think was with him?"
+
+"I don't know, I'm sure."
+
+"Those two brats who made trouble for us at Alexandria Bay. It was a
+good thing I was disguised, for I passed close to them before I
+recognized them."
+
+"Confound it all," burst out Jarrow, "do you think they know we are
+here?"
+
+"Not a ghost of a chance of it," said Judson confidently; "anyhow, we've
+picked a hiding place where no one would ever dream of looking for us."
+
+"That's so. I'll be glad when we get out of the horrid hole," grumbled
+Donald.
+
+A footstep sounded behind Jack on the creaking boards. It startled him.
+He had not heard a door open. But now he was confronted by a portly
+Italian. The man grabbed him by the shoulder.
+
+"Whadda you do-a here?" demanded the man, "me thinka you one-a da
+sneak-a da tief."
+
+"Let me go," demanded Jack, striving to wrench himself free.
+
+"I no leta you go justa yet. I tinka you here steala da tings," cried
+the man in a loud voice.
+
+The talk inside Judson's room broke off suddenly.
+
+"Hullo, what's up outside?" exclaimed Donald. "Somebody's collared a
+thief. Let's see what it's all about."
+
+He flung the door open and the lamplight streamed out full on Jack's
+face.
+
+Donald fell back a pace with astonishment.
+
+"Great Scott! It's Jack Ready," he exclaimed. "What in the world are you
+doing here?"
+
+"You knowa desa boy?" asked the Italian, still holding Jack fast.
+
+"Yes, I do. He's no good," replied Donald.
+
+"Dena I throwa him out or calla da police."
+
+"Yes--no, for goodness' sake, not the police," exclaimed Donald. "Dad,
+Jarrow, here's that Ready kid spying on us. He was caught in the hall by
+that Italian next door, who thought he was a sneak thief."
+
+"Ha! Ready, you are the most unlucky lad I know," cried Judson, coming
+to the door, "we've got you just where we want you this time. There are
+no chimneys here. Bring him inside."
+
+"Not much! Help!" Jack began to shout, but Jarrow clapped a hand over
+his mouth.
+
+"Help us run him in here," he ordered the Italian, "I'll pay you for
+it."
+
+"Whatsa da mat'?" asked the Italian suspiciously. "He no lika you."
+
+"No wonder. He robbed us once. I guess he was here to do it again. We
+want to settle accounts with him."
+
+"Oh-ho, datsa eet ees it?" said the Italian. "All righta, I no make da
+troub'."
+
+He gave Jack a forward shove into the room of the wireless boy's
+enemies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+IN THE POWER OF THE ENEMY.
+
+
+As soon as the door was shut and locked, Judson faced Jack.
+
+"Now you keep quiet if you don't want a rap over the head with this," he
+said, exhibiting a heavy bludgeon.
+
+"Don't dare touch me," spoke Jack boldly.
+
+"That will depend. I want to ask you some questions. Will you answer
+them?"
+
+"I shall see."
+
+"You followed Donald and me here and were spying on us when that Italian
+caught you."
+
+"A good thing he did," interjected Donald.
+
+"You heard us planning--er--er something?"
+
+"Possibly I did."
+
+"Boy, I know you did."
+
+"Then what's the sense of asking me?"
+
+"None of your impudence, young man! You've always been too much of a
+busy-body for your own good," snarled Jarrow.
+
+"What's the use of questioning him, dad?" said Donald. "He'll only lie."
+
+"That's probably correct. I guess he heard everything. What shall we do
+with him?"
+
+"Make him a prisoner," said Jarrow.
+
+"But we can't stay here to guard him and he'd be out of this room in a
+jiffy."
+
+"I'll tell you where we'll take him," said Donald. He whispered in his
+father's ear. Judson's face brightened and he nodded approvingly.
+
+"Just the place. It will serve him right. He got himself into this
+mess."
+
+"Are you going to let me go?" demanded Jack.
+
+"Certainly not. You've made your bed--you can lie on it."
+
+Jack made a leap for the door. The key was in the lock, but he didn't
+have a chance to turn it before all three threw themselves on him. A
+scuffle followed which Judson brought to a quick stop by striking Jack a
+stunning blow on the head with his bludgeon. With a million stars
+dancing before him in a void of blackness, Jack went down.
+
+"Now come on quick before anyone spots us," said Jarrow.
+
+Jack's limp form was rolled up in a dirty old blanket so as to look like
+some kind of a bundle. Then Jarrow and Judson lifted him by the head and
+feet, while Donald preceded them with the lamp.
+
+The younger Judson led the way out of a rear door to a side hallway.
+From here two flights of stairs led down to an ill-ventilated, low
+cellar which was seldom visited and was used mostly for old rubbish and
+rags. Jack was carried to a high-sided wooden coal bin and his form
+dropped on a pile of dirty old newspapers and decaying straw. There was
+a heavy door with an iron bolt on the outside leading into the place. As
+Judson closed this, leaving Jack to his fate, he muttered:
+
+"This is the time we don't need to bother about his getting out. He'll
+stay there till to-morrow, anyhow, and by that time we'll be at sea."
+
+"What time will that auto be at the corner?" asked Donald.
+
+"It should be there in a few minutes. We must get ready right away,"
+replied his father. "Come on, we've no time to lose."
+
+In the meantime Billy and Ned waited on the corner. As the minutes flew
+by they began to get worried.
+
+"Jack is certainly taking his time," said Ned.
+
+"Perhaps he is scouting about," suggested Billy.
+
+"Perhaps he has fallen into a trap," exclaimed Ned. "I've a good mind to
+go for the police."
+
+"Well, we'll wait a little longer," said Billy.
+
+Almost an hour passed and there was no sign of Jack.
+
+"I won't wait any longer," declared Ned, when suddenly three figures
+emerged from the house. Their hats were pulled over their eyes and they
+glanced about suspiciously.
+
+"It's the two Judsons and Jarrow," exclaimed Billy.
+
+As he spoke a big touring car came down the street and stopped at the
+mouth of the alley-way. The three persons who had just emerged from the
+tenement house began to hasten to it, but Billy intercepted them.
+
+"What have you done with Jack?" he demanded.
+
+"Yes, where is he?" cried Ned.
+
+"Out of our way," said Jarrow, giving Billy a shove.
+
+"We don't know any Jack," growled Judson.
+
+Before the boys could stop them they had reached the car and sprung in.
+
+"Drive off at full speed," Judson ordered the chauffeur, and, leaving
+the boys standing rooted to the spot, the car dashed off with a roar.
+Borne back to them they could hear the mocking laughter of its
+occupants.
+
+"Those rascals have played some trick on Jack and they've got away
+scot-free," groaned Billy.
+
+"We must hunt for him at once," exclaimed Ned.
+
+The two boys set out for the tenement. It was pitch dark in the hallway.
+Ned struck a match.
+
+"Jack! Jack! where are you?" he called softly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+THE SEARCH FOR JACK.
+
+
+The two boys, with their hearts heavy as lead, ascended the stairs
+calling for Jack. On the second floor, as they reached it, a door was
+suddenly flung open.
+
+"Be jabers, stop that racket. Can't yez be lettin' a dacent family slape
+in pace?"
+
+Another door flew open and a black, woolly head was poked out.
+
+"What fo' you alls come makin' such a cumsturbance at dis yar hour ob de
+night?"
+
+"We're looking for a boy who we think has been trapped in this building.
+Have you seen anything of him?" asked Ned.
+
+"Sure and I haven't. This is a dacent house and dacent folks. Go along
+wid yer now and let us slape."
+
+"By gollys we don't kidsnap no boys," came from the negro.
+
+Another door was opened and the Italian who had caught Jack in the hall
+came out.
+
+"Whatsa da mat'?" he asked.
+
+"We're looking for a boy, our chum. He came into this house two hours
+ago. We're afraid he----" burst out Billy desperately.
+
+"I see-a da boy in deesa hall," said the Italian. "I teenka heem sneaka
+teef. I catcha heem but two men and a boy in data rooma dere dey taka
+heem. Dey say dat he robba heem and they getta even."
+
+"Did they take him into the room?" burst out Ned.
+
+The Italian nodded.
+
+"Yes, dey takea heem in. I geeva heem to them," said the man
+indifferently.
+
+"Great heavens, they invented that story about his robbing them," cried
+Billy. "They've made him a prisoner. We must get him out. Jack! Jack!"
+
+No answer came and then Billy, regardless of consequences, flung himself
+against the door of the room the Italian had indicated. By this time
+quite a crowd of tenement dwellers had assembled, attracted by the loud
+voices. At first the door stood firm, but when Ned joined Billy it gave
+way with a bang, precipitating them into the room.
+
+But now a new voice was added to the uproar. Hans Pumpernickel, a sour
+old German who owned the tenements and lived there to save rent in a
+better quarter, put in an appearance.
+
+"Vos is los?" he demanded, "ach himmel, de door vos busted py der
+outside. Who did dis?"
+
+"We did," said Billy boldly. "My chum was decoyed into this house by
+some bad characters. This was the room they occupied. But he isn't
+here."
+
+"Ach du liebe! Vos iss idt I care aboupt your droubles? I haf mein own."
+
+"We'll find Jack if we go through this house from cellar to attic,"
+declared Ned.
+
+"I dond pelief dot boy vos harmed by der men dot hadt idt dis room,"
+declared the crabbed old man. "Dey vos very respectable. Now you pay me
+for dot door undt den go aboudt your pusiness."
+
+"If you interfere with us we'll call in the police," said Billy.
+
+"Yes, if you want to keep out of trouble, you'll help us," said Ned
+boldly.
+
+"Is dot so? Undt who iss you?"
+
+"I'm the son of Senator Rivers of Nebraska."
+
+The landlord's jaw dropped. He grew more respectful.
+
+"Vell, vot am I to do?" he asked.
+
+"Don't interfere with us. We'll pay for this door. Hullo, what's that on
+the floor?" exclaimed Billy. "Why, it's Jack's knife. But where is he?"
+
+"Den dose nice mens, Mr. Jenkins undt Mister Thompson are kidsnabbers,"
+exclaimed the landlord.
+
+"Are those the names they gave?" asked Billy.
+
+"Ches. Dey pay idt me a month in advance. Dey vost nice gentlemen."
+
+"Yes, very nice," exclaimed Billy bitterly. "However, knowing those
+names may give a clew later on."
+
+They searched for several hours but found no further trace of Jack. At
+last, tired out and sick at heart, they returned home. Billy accepted
+Ned's invitation to stay at the latter's house that night and to lay the
+matter before the Senator in the morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Half stunned, Jack lay still for some time on the moldy straw and the
+old newspapers in the coal bin in the cellar. But at length he mustered
+his strength and rose, rather giddily, to his feet.
+
+"Well, this is the limit of tough luck," he complained. "If I don't get
+out of here before to-morrow, when that steamer sails, the code will
+have gone for good. If only I'd cut away sooner. Confound that Italian.
+He spoiled it all with his stupidity."
+
+Besides being pitch dark, the place was full of cobwebs. To add to
+Jack's discomfort, a spider occasionally dropped on him. Suddenly
+overhead sounded footsteps and voices.
+
+"Somebody lives up there," he thought. "If I could only attract their
+attention."
+
+He shouted but nobody answered, although he tried it at intervals for
+some hours. At last he gave up and sat down on the pile of straw to
+think. He was very thirsty and his mouth and eyes were full of coal dust
+and dirt. The roof of the cellar was so low, too, that in moving about
+he bumped his head-against the beams.
+
+Suddenly he remembered that he had some matches. To strike a light was
+the work of a moment. Then he located the door. But all his efforts
+failed to make it budge. He struck another light and this time he made a
+discovery.
+
+"Gee whiz, that looks like a trap-door just above me," he decided.
+
+He raised his hands and the cut-out square in the flooring came up with
+ease. Jack scrambled up into a kitchen. In one corner was a ladder, no
+doubt used when the occupants wished to enter the cellar. Through one of
+the windows daylight was streaming, the gray light of early dawn.
+
+"Great Scott! I've been down there all night," ejaculated the boy.
+
+He was considering his next step when a large woman, with stout red
+arms, came into the kitchen. Her husband had to be at work early and she
+was about to prepare his breakfast. She had a florid, disagreeable face.
+
+"What are you after doing here?" she demanded, picking up a heavy
+rolling pin.
+
+"I'm trying to get out of this house. Will you show me the way?"
+
+"Indade and I will not. I'll hand yez over ter the perlice." She raised
+her voice.
+
+"Pat! Pat! come here at onct."
+
+"Phwat's the mather?" came from another room.
+
+"Thare's a thafe forninst the kitchen. Get ther perlice. I'll hold
+him--he's only a gossoon."
+
+"Are you crazy?" demanded Jack. "I was locked in that cellar by some
+rascals and got out through your trap-door."
+
+"Tell that to the marines," sneered the woman, as she made a grab for
+him.
+
+Jack wrenched himself away and dodged a blow from the rolling-pin. The
+window was open and it was a short drop to the yard. He darted for the
+window and made the jump.
+
+"Pat! Pat!" yelled the woman.
+
+Jack leaped over a fence at the back of the yard and found himself in an
+alley. He ran for his life. Behind him came cries of pursuit but they
+soon died away. He ran for several blocks, however, and then came to a
+standstill.
+
+"I guess Ned and Billy went home," he mused. "I'd better hunt up Ned. If
+his father is a Senator he may be able to use some influence to catch
+these rascals before they get away for good. I wonder what time that
+ship sails? By the way, I don't know her name."
+
+At the hotel, to which he went first, he slipped up to his room without
+attracting much attention and washed off the dirt of the cellar. Then he
+inquired for Billy and learned that Raynor had telephoned the night
+before that he was going to stop at Senator Rivers' house and for Jack
+to come straight over there, if he came in. Jack procured a copy of a
+commercial newspaper which he knew listed sailings of ships from all
+important ports. He turned to the Baltimore section. Half way down the
+column he found this entry:
+
+"Italian-American Line. S.S. _Southern Star_,--Balto., for Naples,
+Italy. Sails--A.M. (hour indefinite). Mixed cargo. Ten passengers."
+
+"Hurrah! That's the ship, all right," thought Jack, "there's a chance
+yet that we can stop them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+THE WIRELESS MAKES GOOD.
+
+
+He lost no time in hastening to Senator Rivers' house. Just as he turned
+into the gate Billy and Ned emerged. They had spent a sleepless night
+and were on their way to Police Headquarters to report Jack's absence.
+As they saw their missing comrade, they set up a glad shout.
+
+"Gracious, where have you been?" demanded Billy.
+
+"We were on our way to the police about you," put in Ned.
+
+"Do you know anything about the Judsons and Jarrow?" asked Jack eagerly.
+
+"Why, yes, they came out of the house some time after you went in. We
+chased them but they jumped into a high-powered car and escaped."
+
+"I know; they've gone to Baltimore."
+
+"How in the world do you know that?" asked Billy wonderingly.
+
+"I'll tell you it all in a few minutes. Ned, is your father up yet?"
+
+"Gracious, no. But if it's important I can tell him to hurry up."
+
+"I wish you would; there's a chance that we can get back the naval code
+if you do."
+
+"I'll tell him that, and he'll be dressed and down in record time,"
+cried Ned, running off.
+
+Jack waited to tell his adventures till they were all at breakfast. Then
+Billy and Ned had to tell their stories.
+
+"Well, you boys certainly have your share of adventures," remarked the
+Senator, "but the most important thing now is to secure the apprehension
+of those rascals without delay. We had better call up the steamship
+company at Baltimore and find out if anyone called Jenkins or Thompson,
+I think those are the aliases they gave at the tenement house, are among
+the passengers."
+
+This was done at once, but to the intense chagrin of all concerned, the
+telephone company had seized that early hour of the day to repair some
+wires which had been knocked down in a thunderstorm near Baltimore the
+night before. It was impossible to communicate with that city till some
+hours later.
+
+"We might telegraph," suggested Jack.
+
+"Yes, I'll call a messenger at once. But I doubt even then that we'll be
+in time," said the Senator.
+
+The telegram was sent, but before a reply came they were able to use the
+telephone.
+
+"Hullo, is this the Italian-American steamship Company?--all right--are
+three passengers, two men and a boy, booked on the _Southern Star_ as
+Jenkins and Thompson,--they are,--good, this is Senator Rivers talking,
+from Washington,--those men are criminals,--they have robbed the
+government of valuable documents--summon the police and have them
+arrested and held--I'll take full responsibility--WHAT!--The _Southern
+Star_ sailed two hours ago!"
+
+The senator dropped the receiver from his hand in his disappointment.
+
+"Too late! The code is lost to the United States for good, and those
+rascals have escaped!"
+
+But Jack suddenly sprang forward. His cheeks were aflame with
+excitement.
+
+"Senator," he cried. "There is still a chance."
+
+"I fail to see it," said Mr. Rivers.
+
+"Get the line on the wire again, sir, and find out if the _Southern
+Star_ has a wireless."
+
+"But what--Jove, boy! I see your plan now."
+
+Eagerly the Senator snatched up the receiver again. Before long
+connection was again established.
+
+"The _Southern Star_ has a wireless," he exclaimed. "Her call is S. X.
+A., and now for your plan, my boy."
+
+"Show me to your wireless room, will you, Ned?" said Jack, subduing the
+excitement in his voice with a struggle.
+
+"Oh, Jack, I see what you're going to do now," cried Ned. "Come on. We
+don't want to lose a minute."
+
+The boys dashed up the stairs three at a time. The Senator followed at a
+more discreet pace. They entered the wireless room with a bang and a
+shout.
+
+Jack fairly flung himself at the key and began pounding out the
+_Southern Star's_ call. In reality it was only ten minutes, but to those
+in that room it seemed hours before he got a reply. When he did, he
+summoned the captain through the operator.
+
+"Have I got authority to use your name, Senator?" asked the boy while he
+waited for the announcement that the captain was in the wireless room.
+
+"You have authority to use the name of the most powerful institution in
+the world, my boy, the United States Government," said the Senator
+solemnly. Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he hurriedly
+left the room. Downstairs he once more applied himself to the telephone,
+but this time he talked to the Secretary of the Navy.
+
+Fifteen minutes after Jack had spoken to the Captain of the _Southern
+Star_ that craft was anchored in the Chesapeake River waiting the
+arrival of a gunboat hastily detailed by government wireless to proceed
+at once up that river and take three prisoners off the _Southern Star_.
+This latter order was the result of Senator Rivers' call to the Navy
+Department.
+
+Jack's happy task was then to break the good news to Captain Simms,
+which he lost no time in doing, and the captain's deep gratitude, which
+was none the less because he expressed it in few words, may be imagined.
+
+"I declare," he said, "you boys have been my good angels all through.
+You have helped me as if your own interests had been at stake. I don't
+know how to thank you."
+
+The code was yielded up by Judson without a struggle, which procured him
+some leniency later on. But both he and Jarrow met with heavy punishment
+for their misdeeds. Donald was allowed to go free on account of his
+youth and the government's disability to prove that he had actually
+anything to do with the theft of the code. After the news of his arrest
+spread, the long threatened disaster to Judson's company happened and it
+went into bankruptcy. Donald, the pampered and selfish, had to go to
+work for a living. The boys heard that he had gone west. They were
+destined to meet him again, however, as they were Thurman.
+
+One of Jack's proudest possessions is a framed letter from the Secretary
+of the Navy thanking him for his great aid and that of his friends in
+the matter of the Navy Code, but he values the friendship of Captain
+Simms as highly. Not long after the successful tests of the detector,
+there was a joyous gathering on board the old _Venus_, to which queer
+home Uncle Toby had returned. All our friends were there and Jack was
+able to announce a joyous surprise. He had been able to secure, through
+Captain Simms' influence, the command of a fine new sailing ship for
+Captain Dennis. She was a full-rigged bark, plying between New York and
+Mediterranean ports.
+
+Tears stood in the veteran captain's eyes, as he thanked Jack, and Helen
+cried openly.
+
+"Oh, Jack, I--I'd like to hug you!" she exclaimed, whereupon everybody
+laughed, and the emotional strain was over.
+
+After a while, Captain Dennis began to tell of some of his adventures.
+Not only had he gone through many experiences on the sea, but also on
+land, and especially during the great Civil War.
+
+"One time," said Captain Dennis, "while on a foraging expedition, our
+men were surprised, and before I knew what had happened I was a
+prisoner. I was taken to an old building and put in the upper story of
+it.
+
+"Of course, I wanted to escape. So, after a while, I began to try my
+luck with the rope tied around my wrists. To my joy I found that I could
+move them. Half an hour later my wrists were free.
+
+"I peered out of the window. It was a very dark night, and the guard set
+around the building was close and vigilant. I felt that my chances to
+escape were very small.
+
+"Still, I determined to try. After listening many hours, I thought I
+learned the exact position of the sentries. The spaces between them were
+very short, but it would be quite possible, I thought, to pass by them
+noiselessly and without being perceived. I may as well state that the
+watch would have been even more strict had not the Confederates regarded
+the struggle as virtually at an end, and were, therefore, less careful
+as to their prisoners than they would otherwise have been.
+
+"I prepared for escape by tearing up the sheet on the bed, and knotting
+the strips into a rope. I opened the window, threw out this rope, and
+slipped down to the ground. So far I was safe.
+
+"It was dark and foggy, and very difficult to see two feet in advance. I
+soon found that my observations as to the places of the sentries had
+been useless. Still, in the darkness and thickness of the night, I
+thought that the chance of detection was small.
+
+"Creeping quietly and noiselessly along, I could hear the constant
+challenges of the sentries around me. These, excited by the unusual
+darkness of the night, were unusually vigilant.
+
+"I approached until I was within a few yards of the line, and the voices
+of the men as they challenged enabled me to ascertain exactly the
+position of the sentries on the right and left of me. Passing between
+these, I could see neither, although they were but a few paces on either
+hand. Suddenly I fell into a stream running across my path.
+
+"Of course, in the darkness I had not observed it. At the sound of my
+falling there was an instant challenge. Then a shot was fired!"
+
+"Oh! How thrilling!" exclaimed Helen.
+
+Jack and Ned laughed.
+
+"Well," resumed Captain Dennis, "I struggled across the stream, and
+clambered out on the opposite side. As I did so, a number of muskets
+were fired in my direction by soldiers who had rushed up to the point of
+alarm. I felt a sharp, twitching pain in my shoulder, and I knew that I
+had been hit. But fortunately the other shots fired whizzed harmlessly
+by. At top speed I ran forward.
+
+"I was safe from pursuit, for in the darkness it would have been
+absolutely impossible to follow me. So, in a few moments, I ceased
+running. What was the use of taking chances? All was quiet behind me,
+but I could no longer tell in what direction I was advancing.
+
+"So long as I heard the shouts of the sentries, though the sounds seemed
+far off, I continued my way; and then, all guidance being lost, I lay
+down under a hedge and waited for morning."
+
+"Oh, dear!" Helen cried sympathetically, "did you have to sleep in that
+cold, moist night?"
+
+"Quite so," replied Captain Dennis, smiling good-humoredly; "and in the
+morning it was still foggy. After wandering aimlessly about for some
+time I at last succeeded in striking a road. I decided to take a
+westerly course.
+
+"My shoulder was stiff and somewhat swollen. But the bullet had passed
+through its fleshy part, missing the bone; and although it cost much
+pain I was able, by wrapping my arm tightly to my body, to proceed. More
+than once I had to withdraw from the road into the fields or bushes when
+I heard a straggling number of Confederates coming along.
+
+"I came upon a house, and although I was hungry and tired, I was
+cautious. Instead of going to the door I made for the window. But I had
+my trouble for nothing. I looked in and saw a number of Confederate
+soldiers there, and knew that there was no safety for me. To add to my
+dismay, one of the soldiers happened to cast his eyes up as I glanced in
+the room and he at once gave a shout of warning.
+
+"Instantly the others sprang to their feet and started out to pursue me.
+I fled down the road. A few shots were fired, but fortunately I was not
+hit again.
+
+"At last I came to a small village. I wondered why I had not reached my
+camp. But you must remember that I was attached to a small number of men
+only, and that we always were many miles ahead or in the rear of the
+army, as occasion called for.
+
+"The village was deserted, for it was late at night again. I made myself
+comfortable in a sort of stable warehouse, climbing over a number of
+bales of cotton, and laid myself down next to the wall, secure from
+casual observation.
+
+"When I awoke the next morning, I nearly uttered a cry of pain a sudden
+movement had given to my arm. I, however, suppressed it, and it was well
+that I did so, for I suddenly heard voices right near me. Darkies were
+moving bales of cotton but, being well back, I had little fear of being
+discovered.
+
+"The hours passed wearily. I was parched and feverish from pain of my
+wound. Yet I was afraid to move. So I sometimes dozed off into snatches
+of fitful sleep. Perhaps I moaned, or I was accidentally discovered. At
+all events, when I awoke a mammy was bending over me, her voice fully of
+pity. And--well, to make a long story short, I had blundered again, for
+the village was being occupied by the Federals, and the cotton the
+darkies had been taking away was going North. There is no need to add
+that I was well fed and well taken care of."
+
+Captain Dennis paused, and thoughtfully smoked his pipe. His little
+audience sat very quietly, their eager faces and shining eyes plainly
+showing their rapt interest in the modestly told story.
+
+"Well, well," said Captain Dennis, at last breaking the silence, "some
+day you, Jack and you Ned will be able to tell very many far more
+thrilling stories."
+
+"Yes" replied Jack, "but none of them will be about so great a cause."
+
+"You are right, Jack," Captain Dennis said fervently; "it was a good
+cause. But come, you are tired, so let us say 'good night,' my friends."
+
+A half hour later Jack and Ned were fast asleep, dreaming of those
+stirring times when the immortal Abraham Lincoln was President of this
+glorious nation.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next week the _Columbia_ sailed again. As she passed out of New York
+harbor, and past Sandy Hook, the passengers crowded to the rail to look
+at a beautiful sea picture.
+
+The sun was setting, and the radiance turned to gold the white sails of
+a beautiful bark outward bound. As she heeled over on the starboard
+tack, it was evident that she would pass close to the steamer. From the
+wireless room Jack Ready and Billy Raynor watched the pretty sight with
+more interest, perhaps--certainly it was so in Jack's case--than anyone
+else on board.
+
+"It's the _Silver Star_, Jack, Captain Dennis's ship," said Billy.
+
+Jack nodded.
+
+"I know it," he answered. "She sailed this morning. I've been on the
+lookout for her all the way down the bay."
+
+There was silence between the two chums. The _Silver Star_, gliding
+swiftly through the water, came steadily on. As the steamer passed her,
+she was quite close, looking like a beautiful toy from the towering
+decks of the _Columbia_.
+
+"Look!" exclaimed Billy, half in a whisper, as her ensign fluttered down
+in salute and then climbed upward to the peak again. A booming roar from
+the _Columbia's_ siren acknowledged the compliment.
+
+But Jack had no eyes for this. His gaze was fixed on the stern deck of
+the _Silver Star_, where, by her steering-wheel, gripped by two stalwart
+seamen, stood an upright old man, with glasses bent on the _Columbia_. A
+graceful girl was at his side. Jack saw her wave, and was waving
+frantically back, when there came an insistent summons from the wireless
+room.
+
+When he came out on deck again twilight had fallen, but far back on the
+horizon was a tiny blur--the _Silver Star_. As Jack gazed back at her,
+she vanished below the horizon as suddenly as an extinguished spark in a
+piece of tinder.
+
+"Good-night," breathed Jack, and he stood for a long time motionless,
+leaning on the rail.
+
+And here, for the time being, we, too, will say good-by to our young
+friends, to meet them all again in the next volume devoted to their
+doings, which will be called "The Ocean Wireless Boys on the Pacific."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+HURST & COMPANY'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
+
+
+KINDERGARTEN LIMERICKS
+
+By FLORENCE E. SCOTT
+
+_Pictures by Arthur O. Scott with a Foreword by Lucy Wheelock_
+
+_A Volume of Cheerfulness in Rhyme and Picture_
+
+The book contains a rhyme for every letter of the alphabet, each
+illustrated by a full page picture in colors. The verses appeal to the
+child's sense of humor without being foolish or sensational, and will be
+welcomed by kindergartners for teaching rhythm in a most entertaining
+manner.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FRANK ARMSTRONG SERIES
+
+By MATTHEW M. COLTON
+
+
+_Frank Armstrong's Vacation_
+
+How Frank's summer experiences with his boy friends make him into a
+sturdy young athlete through swimming, boating and baseball contests,
+and a tramp through the Everglades, is the subject of this splendid
+story.
+
+_Frank Armstrong at Queens_
+
+We find among the jolly boys at Queen's School, Frank, the
+student-athlete, Jimmy, the baseball enthusiast, and Lewis, the
+unconsciously-funny youth who furnishes comedy for every page that bears
+his name. Fall and winter sports between intensely rival school teams
+are expertly described.
+
+_Frank Armstrong's Second Term_
+
+The gymnasium, the track and the field make the background for the
+stirring events of this volume, in which David, Jimmy, Lewis, the "Wee
+One" and the "Codfish" figure, while Frank "saves the day."
+
+_Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker_
+
+With the same persistent determination that won him success in swimming,
+running and baseball playing, Frank Armstrong acquired the art of
+"drop-kicking," and the Queen's football team profits thereby.
+
+_Frank Armstrong, Captain of the Nine_
+
+Exciting contests, unexpected emergencies, interesting incidents by land
+and water make this story of Frank Armstrong a strong tale of
+school-life, athletic success, and loyal friendships.
+
+_Frank Armstrong at College_
+
+With the development of this series, the boy characters have developed
+until in this, the best story of all, they appear as typical college
+students, giving to each page the life and vigor of the true college
+spirit.
+
+Six of the best books of College Life Stories published. They accurately
+describe athletics from start to finish.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+OAKDALE ACADEMY SERIES
+
+Stories of Modern School Sports
+
+By MORGAN SCOTT.
+
+
+BEN STONE AT OAKDALE.
+
+Under peculiarly trying circumstances Ben Stone wins his way at Oakdale
+Academy, and at the same time enlists our sympathy, interest and
+respect. Through the enmity of Bern Hayden, the loyalty of Roger Eliot
+and the clever work of the "Sleuth," Ben is falsely accused, championed
+and vindicated.
+
+BOYS OF OAKDALE ACADEMY.
+
+"One thing I will claim, and that is that all Grants fight open and
+square and there never was a sneak among them." It was Rodney Grant, of
+Texas, who made the claim to his friend, Ben Stone, and this story
+shows how he proved the truth of this statement in the face of apparent
+evidence to the contrary.
+
+RIVAL PITCHERS OF OAKDALE.
+
+Baseball is the main theme of this interesting narrative, and that means
+not only clear and clever descriptions of thrilling games, but an
+intimate acquaintance with the members of the teams who played them. The
+Oakdale Boys were ambitious and loyal, and some were even disgruntled
+and jealous, but earnest, persistent work won out.
+
+OAKDALE BOYS IN CAMP.
+
+The typical vacation is the one that means much freedom, little
+restriction, and immediate contact with "all outdoors." These conditions
+prevailed in the summer camp of the Oakdale Boys and made it a scene of
+lively interest.
+
+THE GREAT OAKDALE MYSTERY.
+
+The "Sleuth" scents a mystery! He "follows his nose." The plot thickens!
+He makes deductions. There are surprises for the reader--and for the
+"Sleuth," as well.
+
+NEW BOYS AT OAKDALE.
+
+A new element creeps into Oakdale with another year's registration of
+students. The old and the new standards of conduct in and out of school
+meet, battle, and cause sweeping changes in the lives of several of the
+boys.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Log Cabin to White House Series
+
+LIVES OF CELEBRATED AMERICANS
+
+
+FROM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD
+
+(The Life of Benjamin Franklin). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+Benjamin Franklin was known in the scientific world for his inventions
+and discoveries, in the diplomatic world because of his statemanship,
+and everywhere, because of his sound judgment, plain speaking, and
+consistent living.
+
+FROM FARM HOUSE TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of George Washington). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+The story of the hatchet and other familiar incidents of the boyhood and
+young manhood of Washington are included in this book, as well as many
+less well-known accounts of his experiences as surveyor, soldier,
+emissary, leader, and first president of the United States.
+
+FROM LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of James A. Garfield). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+It was a long step from pioneer home in Ohio where James A. Garfield was
+born, to the White House in Washington, and that it was an interesting
+life-journey one cannot doubt who reads Mr. Thayer's account of it.
+
+
+FROM PIONEER HOME TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of Abraham Lincoln). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+No President was ever dearer to the hearts of his people than was
+homely, humorous "Honest Abe."
+
+To read of his mother, his early home, his efforts for an education, and
+his rise to prominence is to understand better his rare nature and
+practical wisdom.
+
+
+FROM RANCH TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of Theodore Roosevelt). By _Edward S. Ellis. A. M._
+
+Every boy and girl is more or less familiar with the experiences of Mr.
+Roosevelt as Colonel and President, but few of them know him as the boy
+and man of family and school circles and private citzenship.
+
+Mr. Ellis describes Theodore Roosevelt as a writer, a hunter, a fighter
+of "graft" at home and of Spaniards in Cuba, and a just and vigorous
+defender of right.
+
+
+FROM TANNERY TO WHITE HOUSE
+
+(The Life of Ulysses S. Grant). By _Wm. M. Thayer_.
+
+Perhaps General Grant is best known to boys and girls as the hero of the
+famous declaration: "I will fight it out on this line if it takes all
+summer."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+REX KINGDON SERIES
+
+By GORDON BRADDOCK
+
+
+_Rex Kingdon of Ridgewood High_
+
+A new boy moves into town. Who is he? What can he do? Will he make one
+of the school teams? Is his friendship worth having? These are the
+queries of the Ridgewood High Students. The story is the answer.
+
+
+_Rex Kingdon in the North Woods_
+
+Rex and some of his Ridgewood friends establish a camp fire in the North
+Woods, and there mystery, jealousy, and rivalry enter to menace their
+safety, fire their interest and finally cement their friendship.
+
+
+_Rex Kingdon at Walcott Hall_
+
+Lively boarding school experiences make this the "best yet" of the Rex
+Kingdon series.
+
+_Rex Kingdon Behind the Bat_
+
+The title tells you what this story is; it is a rattling good story
+about baseball. Boys will like it.
+
+Gordon Braddock knows what Boys want and how to write it. These stories
+make the best reading you can procure.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NEW BOOKS ON THE WAR
+
+GREAT WAR SERIES
+
+By MAJOR SHERMAN CROCKETT
+
+    _Two American Boys with the Allied Armies_
+
+    _Two American Boys in the French War Trenches_
+
+    _Two American Boys with the Dardanelles Battle Fleet_
+
+The disastrous battle raging In Europe between Germany and Austria on
+one side and the Allied countries on the other, has created demand for
+literature on the subject. The American public to a large extent is
+ignorant of the exact locations of the fighting zones with its small
+towns and villages. Major Crockett, who is familiar with the present
+battle-fields, has undertaken to place before the American boy an
+interesting Series of War stories.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BOY SCOUT SERIES
+
+_ENDORSED BY BOY SCOUT ORGANIZATIONS_
+
+By LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON
+
+BOY SCOUTS OF THE EAGLE PATROL
+
+In this story, self-reliance and self-defense through organized
+athletics are emphasized.
+
+BOY SCOUTS ON THE RANGE
+
+Cow-punchers, Indians, the Arizona desert and the Harkness ranch figure
+in this tale of the Boy Scouts.
+
+BOY SCOUTS AND THE ARMY AIRSHIP
+
+The cleverness of one of the Scouts as an amateur inventor and the
+intrigues of his enemies to secure his inventions make a subject of
+breathless interest.
+
+BOY SCOUTS' MOUNTAIN CAMP
+
+Just so often as the reader draws a relieved breath at the escape of the
+Scouts from imminent danger, he loses it again in the instinctive
+impression, which he shares with the boys, of impending peril.
+
+BOY SCOUTS FOR UNCLE SAM
+
+Patriotism is a vital principle in every Boy Scout organization, but few
+there are who have such an opportunity for its practical expression as
+comes to the members of the Eagle Patrol.
+
+BOY SCOUTS AT THE PANAMA CANAL
+
+Most timely is this authentic story of the "great ditch." It is
+illustrated by photographs of the Canal in process of Building.
+
+BOY SCOUTS UNDER FIRE IN MEXICO
+
+Another tale appropriate to the unsettled conditions of the present is
+this account of recent conflict.
+
+BOY SCOUTS ON BELGIAN BATTLEFIELDS
+
+Wonderfully interesting is the story of Belgium as it figures in this
+tale of the Great War.
+
+BOY SCOUTS WITH THE ALLIES IN FRANCE
+
+On the firing line--or very near--we find the Scouts in France.
+
+BOY SCOUTS at THE PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION
+
+If you couldn't attend the Exposition yourself, you can go even now in
+imagination with the Boy Scouts.
+
+BOY SCOUTS UNDER SEALED ORDERS
+
+Here the Boy Scouts have a secret mission to perform for the Government.
+What is the nature of it? Keen boys will find that out by reading the
+book. It's a dandy story.
+
+BOY SCOUTS' CAMPAIGN FOR PREPAREDNESS
+
+Just as the Scouts' motto is "Be Prepared," just for these reasons that
+they prepare for the country's defense. What they do and how they do it
+makes a volume well worth reading.
+
+You do not have to be a Boy Scout to enjoy these fascinating and
+well-written stories. Any boy has the chance. Next to the Manual itself,
+the books give an accurate description of Boy Scout activities, for they
+are educational and instructive.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+MOTOR CYCLE SERIES
+
+By LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON
+
+You do not need to own either a motor-cycle or a bicycle to enjoy the
+thrilling experiences through which the Motor Cycle Chums pass on their
+way to seek adventure and excitement. Brimful of clever episodes.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums Around the World_
+
+Could Jules Verne have dreamed of encircling the globe with a motor
+cycle for emergencies, he would have deemed it an achievement greater
+than any he describes in his account of the amusing travels of Philias
+Fogg. This, however, is the purpose successfully carried out by the
+Motor Cycle Chums, and the tale of their mishaps, hindrances and delays
+is one of intense interest, secret amusement, and incidental information
+to the reader.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums of the Northwest Patrol_
+
+The great Northwest is a section of vast possibilities and in it the
+Motor Cycle Chums meet adventures even more unusual and exciting than
+many of their experiences on their tour around the world. There is not a
+dull page in this lively narrative of clever boys and their attendant,
+"Chinee."
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums in the Gold Fields_
+
+How the Motor Cycle Chums were caught by the lure of the gold and into
+what difficulties and novel experiences they were led, makes a tale of
+thrilling interest.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums' Whirlwind Tour_
+
+To right a wrong is the mission that leads the Riding Rovers over the
+border into Mexico and gives the impulse to this story of amusing
+adventures and exciting episodes.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums South of the Equator_
+
+New customs, strange peoples and unfamiliar surroundings add fresh zest
+to the interest of the Motor Cycle Chums in travel, and the tour
+described in this volume is full of the tropical atmosphere.
+
+_The Motor Cycle Chums through Historic America_
+
+The Motor Cycle Chums explore the paths where American history was made,
+where interest centers to-day as never before.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ocean Wireless Boys And The
+Naval Code, by John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 26778.txt or 26778.zip *****
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