Part 3 (1/2)
At least, the two men intended to jump on him.
Something went wrong. They crashed into the closed door instead.
There was a brief flurry of action. The two attackers were big men. They jolted the floor when they landed. Alarmed cries sounded from down the corridor.
The mild-appearing man turned on the light. The two men on the floor were out cold. One of them was the man who had slipped up from the lobby a few minutes before.
Jack Warren-or Jackson-looked around swiftly. Hahln's rooms showed the effects of thorough searching.
Pictures had been pulled from the walls. Rugs had been torn from the floor. Even the mattress on the bed had been torn out.
Footsteps were racing up the hall outside. The mild-appearing man locked the door from the inside just before heavy fists started to pound on it.
”Open up! This is the house detective!”
Warren-or Jackson-did not seem to hear. He examined the radio Hahln had so carefully wrecked. He examined it closely. Then he went into the bathroom. The wash-basin was discolored.
From some place in his clothing he produced several slips of paper. He moistened these and placed them against the spots in the basin. The paper changed color.
The hammering on the door was increasing. The mild-mannered man went to a window, opened it. He vanished through it just before the house detective broke down the door.A COUPLE of hours later, Doc's aids got another telegraph from the bronze man. It also was from New York. It read: IF EXACT SPOT OF SEA SERPENT BATTLE LOCATED, TAKE UNDERWATER PICTURES.
OF LARGE AREA OF SEA BOTTOM AT THAT POINT.
Monk looked mystified. ”Daggonit!” he complained. ”Doc ain't going to let us have any vacation at all, if we're not careful.”
Ham grinned. ”Remember,” he reminded. ”You're the one who didn't mention a vacation. You mentioned a sea serpent.”
Long Tom also was looking puzzled, but for another reason. ”Strange Doc didn't call us, if he wanted to give any instructions,” he commented.
Monk looked startled. Ham also showed surprise. The dapper lawyer went to a telephone. He asked the telegraph company to find out how the message had been filed.
All looked serious when the answer came. ”It was telephoned in,” they were informed. ”Efforts to reach Mr. Savage for confirmation failed.”
”A trap?” Ham queried.
Monk's homely face stretched into a grin. His big fists opened and closed. ”Sounds like action, dang it!”
he howled.
Long Tom did the logical thing. He called Doc's office. He used a private number, known only to the bronze man's aids. Doc's voice replied.
”The instructions were legitimate, but use care,” came the message.
The three followed orders. They had engaged the boat of Captain Teold. Teold still insisted he knew the exact location of the sea battle.
They found nothing the first day, but they took a great many underwater movies.
They also were sure their actions were un.o.bserved. In that they were wrong. They were watched by a mild-appearing man wearing a blue serge suit and horn-rimmed gla.s.ses.
There was something else they didn't know, also. The mild-appearing man did some diving as well. He did his at night, but, since it was impossible to see far under water without the use of special lights, that didn't make any difference.
The mild-appearing man also took underwater movies. The third day they got another message from Doc. ”Return at once,” was all it said.
Monk grumbled, but the others knew he really was glad to go. Spending most of their time beneath the sea, they hadn't even got the good tan they had expected.
”I'll show Doc the picture, daggonit,” the hairy chemist said as they prepared to leave. ”But you guys can back me up that the sea-serpent yarn really was a hoax.”
That remark also was overheard by their pilot. The pilot again looked grimy-faced. He no longer resembled the nosy reporter.Their plane was speeding toward New York as terror struck for the first time on the Atlantic coast.
Chapter V. A PIRATE RAID.
THE S. S. Bellina was the victim. The Bellina was a rusty tramp steamer of Argentine registry. It was plodding slowly off the Florida coast when it happened.
The Bellina was out of Boston. It was loaded mostly with food supplies. It was well within the neutrality zone established by Pan-American nations after war started in Europe. It was flying a neutral flag.
The captain wasn't expecting trouble. At least, not serious trouble. The only squalls he saw ahead were those he intended to break himself. One small cabin boy by the name of Juan Lucke was to be the unfortunate recipient.
”Lucke might be hees name, but Lucke won't be his fate,” the captain promised grimly and loudly.
The captain was short and stout, with a very short temper as well. Juan Lucke was responsible for the temper.
Juan had signed on after a.s.suring the captain he would be the ”most wide-awake boy in all the Americas.”
He might be wide-awake in the Americas, the captain once admitted, but he undoubtedly was the most sleepy boy on the seven seas.
At first it had been comparatively easy to find Juan. But as day after day had pa.s.sed, he had become more and more adept at finding out-of-way places for concealment-and sleep.
The captain was swearing furiously when the first mate called him to the bridge. Those of the crew within hearing grinned wisely. The first mate was a kindly man. He was undoubtedly trying to distract the captain's attention from the luckless Juan.
The first mate was not interested in Juan for the moment. He directed the captain's attention excitedly to a point just off starboard. A white streak of foam was approaching the S. S. Bellina from that direction.
”A submarine!” he gasped.
The captain looked, and he forgot all about Juan also. Then he shrugged. ”True, but we are neutral,” he said scornfully.
As the two watched, the conning tower of the submarine came into view. Men leaped to the deck, rushed to the gun there, swung it toward the Bellina.
The captain looked startled, but still he did not foresee trouble.
A man in officer's uniform appeared in the conning tower, shouted through a megaphone: ”Heave to! Do not attempt to signal with your radio, or we will sink you!”
The captain's squat figure swelled angrily. Then he relaxed. Once more he shrugged.
”Follow instructions,” he told the first mate.
He didn't know it, but that was the last order he was ever to give that would be obeyed.