As minutes and then hours elapsed and Rob did not return, Merritt became first anxious, and then seriously alarmed. He knew Rob's daring nature, and had a keen fear that it might have led him into doing something reckless.
It was almost dawn when he at length determined to return to the encampment and seek out Ensign Hargreaves. By the time he had tramped back over the sandy dunes day was breaking, and in the camp of the Boy Scouts the notes of the morning bugle were ringing out cheerily. The first of the Scouts to note Merritt's return was Donald Grant.
He came running toward him, and thenstopped short as he noted the other's drawn, tired face.
"Why, what in the world's the matter with you, Merry?" he gasped out. "You look as if you'd been drawn through a knothole. Where's Rob? Where have you been all night?"
"I'll explain that later," said Merritt wearily; "just now I've got to find Ensign Hargreaves. Rob's either been kidnapped or lost."
He hastened on, leaving the other lad rooted to the spot with amazement and alarm. He knew Merritt well enough already to realize that the other was not the sort of lad to overrate a situation. If Merritt was as scared and weary as he looked, something serious indeed must have taken place.
In the meantime Merritt hastened to Ensign Hargreaves' tent. Hastily arousing him, he hurriedly explained the whole matter. The officer was out of his cot in an instant.
"You had no business to go off alone like thatwithout notifying me," he exclaimed rather sharply. "Don't you know that the first duty of a soldier, a sailor or a scout is to obey orders?"
Merritt crimsoned and hung his head. He knew that the officer was right.
"We thought we were doing a good thing," he said, "but I know now that we did wrong in not notifying you."
The ensign's hand fell on the lad's shoulder. Then kindly enough he said:
"Well, acknowledging that you did wrong is a manly thing, my boy, and we'll say no more about the matter. But about Rob, something must be done right away. Arouse Mr. Barr while I am dressing and we'll set about searching for him at once. There's little doubt in my mind but that he is on that island where you saw the signals flying."
"But how could he get there unless he had an airship?" inquired Merritt.
"Hasn't it occurred to you that he might havehidden in the boat while the men were out of it?"
"Gracious! In that case he may be their prisoner by this time!"
"I am afraid that there is little doubt of that. We must get after the rascals at once."
By the time the ensign was dressed, Mr. Barr was also attired, and the two immediately began a discussion of plans for the rescue of Rob. But first the ensign wanted to know about Barton.
It was hard for Mr. Barr to believe that the man whom he trusted implicitly could have proved traitor to him.
"The best way to find that out is to look at your papers and models and see if anything is missing," was the response.
"I'll do so; but I'm sure the boys must be mistaken in Barton. He has worked for me for many years."
"Possibly the large price he was offered to turn over the plans of thePeacemakerhad something to do with it," suggested Merritt.
"Perhaps; but I'll not say anything till I find out definitely that something is missing."
Mr. Barr hastened off toward the shed, but returned before long with a countenance filled with apprehension.
"My most important blue prints and models are missing!" he exclaimed.
The ensign made a dry grimace.
"Our young friends were right," he said. "In detecting the rascal they have done an excellent piece of scouting work. But now let us hurry off in search of Rob at once."
"How will you reach that other island?" asked Merritt.
"We will go in the motor boat. She is fast and does not draw much water."
"Can we all go along?"
"No, we'll take one of my sailors, your chum Donald, Tubby Hopkins, you and myself. We haven't settled accounts with Barton yet, and I don't want him left practically alone on the island."
"Do you think he would try to harm the submarine?"
"I think it likely. He has probably been paid to injure it so that the rival power that is working against us can construct its submarines first."
"But you are going to make him confess?"
"If he will, yes. If not, he faces a long prison term, although it will be hard to prove that he actually stole the papers and models."
"But we saw him answering those signals, and then again, last night we saw him meet the men."
"I'm afraid that wouldn't make very good evidence in a court of law," was the rejoinder. "But enough of this now. Tell Hawkins (one of the sailors) to get the boat ready, and hurry through your breakfast We'll start right afterward."
"We can't start too quick for me," was the brisk reply. "Poor old Rob, I wonder what has happened to him."
While he ate a hasty meal Merritt outlined to the other Scouts what had happened. Following this, Ensign Hargreaves announced a change of his plans. He had decided, he said, to take Barton along, not caring to leave the man on the island.
"He is clever and dangerous," he said, "and I want him under my eye till I have decided how to dispose of his case."
"You are not going to let him know you suspect him?" asked Merritt.
"For the present, no. As to what I shall do in the future, I have not yet made up my mind."
Ten minutes later a black motor boat shot out of the little inlet in which she had been moored. As she sped seaward, making for the other island, those left behind set up the cry of the Eagle and Wolf patrols.
Barton, looking sullen and suspicious, was at the engines. He knew the object of the trip, but, of course, had no knowledge that his part in itwas suspected. Nor did any of the party show him by looks or words that so much as a breath of suspicion attached to him. This was by the orders of Ensign Hargreaves, who had determined to give the fellow plenty of rope.
As theViper, as the black motor boat was called, raced over the water, Merritt found himself gloomily contemplating the future. If anything serious had happened to Rob, he felt that he would be in a measure responsible for allowing the young leader of the Eagles to go off alone.
Half an hour after her start, theViperglided alongside the island from which Merritt had seen the signals go up the afternoon before. He could not forbear to take a glance at Barton as the ensign ordered the engines stopped.
The machinist was stooping over the motor to hide his agitation; but by the trembling of his hands Merritt could tell that the fellow was apprehensive of something that might involve himself. As soon as the anchor dropped, the motor boat's dinghy was drawn up alongside and the ensign and Merritt boarded it. The others were left on board theViperwith whispered orders from the officer to watch Barton's every move.The island was a small one, and from its highest point it was possible to see all around it. To Merritt's bitter disappointment, however, no sign of another motor boat was in sight. Their quarry had flown.
"There's but one thing to do," declared the ensign; "we must make for that small hut over yonder and search it thoroughly. It may yield a clue of some kind."
A short walk brought them to the hut which had been the scene of the stirring events of the preceding night. Hardly had they entered the door before Merritt gave a start of surprise and a swift exclamation.
"Look! Look there!" he cried. "There's Rob's hat!"
Sure enough, lying in a corner was the boy leader's campaign hat, which he had lost in the scuffle with Mike and Gyp.
"Well, that shows conclusively enough that he was here last night, and from that upset tableand the general look of things, I should imagine there had been a pretty lively scrap here," commented the ensign.
"But where can Rob be now?"
"Probably fearing discovery if they remained here, the men who have taken the plans and the models carried him off, too."
"How will it ever be possible to obtain a clew as to where they have gone?"
The ensign's answer appeared enigmatical.
"Could you describe the motor boat you saw off here yesterday?"
"Well, she was of a very remarkable color—a light green, with a signal mast sticking up amidships. Then, too, her cabin was unusually high."
"Good. Such a boat as that ought not to be very hard to locate."
"I don't quite understand."
"Well, then I'll explain. These waters are fairly well traveled, and by working our wirelesswe may be able to get into communication with some boat similarly equipped, which may have seen that green motor boat."
"Cracky, that's a good idea," cried the admiring boy; "let's go back and try it at once."
"Yes, it's small use our waiting about here. The rascals overreached us by getting away as quick as possible. I suppose they didn't want to run any chances of discovery."
The return to theViperwas quickly made, and the motor boat was driven back to the Submarine Island at top speed. Barton tried with all his might to overhear what was said in the bow of the boat where the Boy Scouts had gathered; but the ensign was careful to keep his voice low, and then, too, the noise of the engines precluded the machinist from catching a word, hard as he strained his ears.
Under the tutoring of Hiram Nelson, the wireless scout, the others had all become fair operators. It was agreed that day and night oneof them should be at the apparatus, seeking for news of the green motor boat.
It was the ensign's opinion that the craft would not put into a port immediately, fearing a hue and cry, but would cruise about or hide in some little frequented part of the coast. But he hoped that if the wireless "caught" some vessel that had spoken to her, he could at least obtain a line on which direction she had taken.
The first "session" at the wireless was taken by Hiram, then came the others in rotation; but when at ten o'clock that night Donald, who had learned wireless on his father's yacht, came on duty, there had come no word from the air of a green motor boat. Several ships had been spoken to, but not one reported anything to give the boys hope.
"Well, good-night, old man," said Merritt, as Donald, who relieved him, came on duty, "and good luck."
"I'll keep a good watch out, all right," wasthe earnest response. "It's our only way to get poor old Rob back."
"I'm afraid so," sighed Merritt, leaving the place with a despondent air. As Donald had said, it was a chance—but what a long, seemingly hopeless one!
Donald, left alone, began sending out calls, and every little while he paused for an answer out of space to his appeals. As he pressed the sending key the blue, lithe spark leaped and crackled between its points like a fiery snake. Then all would become silent again as he listened for an answer to his call.
Once he caught a steamer bound north and carried on quite a conversation with its operator. He felt quite lonesome when he closed down his sending apparatus with a parting "good-bye."
It was very still about the encampment. So still, in fact, that the boy began to feel more and more lonesome. He longed for someone to talk to; but he knew that chance would not come till Tubby, his relief, appeared.
The stout youth was almost due when Donald suddenly got into communication with a steamer called theCambria, bound north from New Orleans to New York. He put his customary query about the green motor boat.
"A green motor boat?" came back the reply.
"Yes," flashed Donald.
"With one signal mast and a high cabin?"
"Yes! yes," shot out Donald, pounding the key excitedly. "Have you seen such a craft?"
"We sighted her this evening."
The boy's fingers shook as he wrote down the reply with flying pencil on the scratch pad at his elbow.
"Down off some islands about Lat. 80 deg., Long. 33 deg.," came the answer. "She was coming straight toward us and then all of a sudden she headed away. Seemed like she didn't want to get near us. Is that all?"
"Yes; good-bye, and thank you," flashed back Donald exultantly.
His fingers had hardly left the key before he was startled by a soft footfall behind him.
The boy wheeled like a flash and then almost fell off his chair. Facing him, with an ugly-looking revolver in his hand, was Barton, the machinist.
There was a mean sneer on his sinister face as he snarled out:
"Let me see that message and let me see it quick."
"I've got no message for you," responded Donald, determined not to let the man know that he had information of the green motor boat's whereabouts.
"That's a lie," snarled Barton; "don't monkey with me. I've got this gun and, jingo, I know how to use it, too."
Just as Donald, who was no match physically for the burly machinist, was pondering what to do, the door which was open became filled by a rotund figure.
It was Tubby.
In a jiffy he took in the scene, the threatening attitude of Barton, the alarmed look of Donald, who stood staring at the revolver like a bird fascinated by a snake. Tubby realized that it was no time for thinking the situation over. Instead, he crouched low, and then, darting forward with surprising agility, he seized the machinist around the legs before the fellow knew what was happening.
Taken utterly by surprise, and borne off his feet by Tubby's rush, Barton came crashing to the floor in a heap. As he fell the revolver exploded, the bullet passing by Donald's head.
Barton struggled desperately with Tubby, but the stout youth held on to him like a leech, at the same time yelling for help. In a few seconds the ensign and Mr. Barr came rushing in, followed by the Boy Scouts and the sailors. There was an end to the battle then and there. After a brief resistance Barton, snarling and cursing, was tied hand and foot, and the ensign ordered him locked up in the dining room shed for the present.
Donald soon told his story and proudly exhibited the message from the air which told of sighting the green motor boat. All agreed that it was a cheering bit of news.
"If they were near a lot of islands when sighted, it is most probable that they are hiding on one of the group. At all events, having thelatitude and longitude, it will be easy to go down there and see."
"What are you going to do about Barton? We have full proof of his villainy now," struck in Merritt.
"I suppose we shall have to take him along with us. We can't waste time going ashore now and risking the law's delays. We will go down the coast in the submarine with theViperacting as escort, and Barton a prisoner on thePeacemaker," decided the ensign.
"I wonder why he was so anxious to see that message?" spoke Tubby.
"I guess he knew we were trying to trace the green motor boat, and was watching the wireless through that window. When he saw Donald busy taking a message, he guessed what it was, and decided that it was necessary for him to see it," hazarded Mr. Barr. "How I have been deceived in the rascal!"
"You certainly have. His actions show himto be a scoundrel of the worst type," agreed the ensign.
There was not much more sleep for anybody that night. Excitement ran far too high for that. An attempt was made to force Barton to confess his part in the conspiracy, but he sullenly refused to talk.
"You've got nothing on me," was all he would vouchsafe. "Anything those tin soldier kids tell you is patched up out of whole cloth."
Slumber being out of the question, the rest of the night was devoted to stocking both craft with food and water in good quantities. In this work the Scouts helped with a will. They were aided by the three sailors, who were to be left behind to guard the island, and therefore did not work any too hard.
Dawn found all in readiness, and at the summons of the bugle all lined up before Ensign Hargreaves to receive their orders. To the submarine were assigned Merritt and Donald, besidesMr. Barr, Ensign Hargreaves, and the prisoner Barton. TheViper'screw was captained by Tubby, a capable motor boat engineer, and Hiram and the others. When this had been done, Barton was led before Ensign Hargreaves.
"Barton," said he sternly, "you have acted the part of a scoundrel and should be behind the bars now. But I need you for work, and upon the manner in which you perform it, will depend just how severe your punishment will be. Cast him loose, men, and take him into the engine room of the submarine. You are to stand by for orders."
"I'll try to do my best, sir," rejoined Barton in a soft tone of voice, very unusual for him. "I'm sorry, sir, for what I did, but I was led astray by promises of money."
This change in the man was almost startling. From a sullen, morose fellow he had suddenly, or so it seemed, become a dutiful, attentive man,willing to obey orders and do his best. Was all this genuine? We shall have to go further to see.
There being no excuse for delay, and as all were anxious to get off as quickly as possible, the two craft were boarded. The hatch of the submarine was left open for the present, for it was the intention of the ensign to run "awash," as it is called.
The motor boat running very nearly as fast as the submarine, they kept each other company down the coast with little difficulty. It was fine, exciting sport in the motor boat as it cut its way over the swells, hurling spray and water out to either side of its sharp bow. If only the boys had had Rob with them, they would have enjoyed it much more, though.
All that was visible of the submarine was the top of her conning tower, and the slender, needle-like "eye" of the periscope. The water surged round her conning tower as she rushed along,for all the world like some sea monster speeding on an errand of destruction. She was not going full speed, for the ensign wished to keep company with the motor boat.
At noon, just as the lads on the motor boat were settling down to lunch cooked on a blue-flame stove, a head was thrust out of the conning tower. It was that of Mr. Barr.
"We are going to run under the surface in a short time," he said; "just follow your same course, and you'll pick us up when we rise again."
"All right," shouted Tubby, his mouth full of ham sandwich, which he held in one hand, while with the other he clasped a big wedge of pie.
The hatch on top of the conning tower closed shortly after with a metallic "clang." The next instant the craft vanished from view in a swirl of water. For a time the tip of the periscope tube, which was twenty-five feet long, projected above the surface; then that, too, vanished, and the motor boat was alone on the ocean.
On board the submarine the lads were enjoying themselves as much as their fellow Scouts on the motor boat. This second experience was even more novel and enjoyable than their first dive. Mr. Barr sat in the cabin reading some scientific works. Barton, seemingly a changed character, was at work in the engine room. The negro cook was in the galley, while in the conning tower the ensign was giving Donald and Merritt a lesson in handling a diving craft.
In fact, it was Merritt who was at the deflecting apparatus when the occupants of Tubby's boat saw the submarine sink.
"That is the descending lever and this the ascending one," explained the officer before Merritt sent the boat under the surface.
The levers were small affairs and looked fragile for the work they did of starting up the mighty pumps that caused the boat to rise or sink at will.
"What if one of them should break or be lost?" asked Donald.
"Well, if we were under water and the ascending lever happened to be missing, we should be in an awkward position, and I don't believe that Mr. Barr carries an extra one."
"Gracious! Then if the lever was lost we should have to stay at the bottom of the sea?"
"That's about the size of it," was the reply.
Mr. Barr, coming into the conning tower just then, confirmed the officer's suspicion that no extra lever was carried.
"I admit there ought to be one as a matter of precaution," he said, "but we were in such a hurry to give the boat her tests that we forgot about it."
All the afternoon the submarine ran under the water, rising about sunset to the surface. In the distance was the motor boat, but far in the rear. ThePeacemakerwas sent around in circle and soon came alongside her companion craft.
Then the hatchway was opened and the ensignshouted some orders to Tubby. The submarine was going to dive once more, but would come up before dark. When night fell a red light would be carried astern which the motor craft was to follow throughout the night. When this had been made clear, thePeacemakerdived once more, but this time it had been decided to send her down to a good depth.
"We will eat an early supper under water just for the novelty of it," declared Mr. Barr.
While the meal was going forward Barton was sent into the conning tower to navigate the craft. He obeyed with the same smooth complacence with which he had received every order since his attack on Donald. Evidently the man was hoping, by good behavior, to save himself from a long jail sentence.
After supper Barton was relieved, and Merritt sent to the wheel in his place. He had been in the conning tower but a short time when he was joined by Ensign Hargreaves and Mr. Barr.
"I guess we'll go to the surface now," said the inventor; "it must be almost dark up above."
Merritt reached for the lever that operated the ascending pumps. Right then he received the most acute and alarming shock of his life.
There was no lever there!
"It's gone!" he shouted.
"What? What's gone?" repeated the inventor in a puzzled tone.
"The lever! The ascending lever! We can't rise to the surface without it."
The inventor turned pale. Drops of sweat stood out on his forehead. Even the ensign turned a shade whiter than usual.
If the lever could not be discovered, they were doomed to an awful death in the depths of the sea!
Rob, disconsolate and miserable, passed a bad night, and rose early. As his captors were still asleep and had, apparently, made no effort to guard him, he decided to make a tour of the island himself. For one thing, he was by no means sure that Berghoff had been speaking the truth when he said that the place was uninhabited; and again he thought that some form of escape might present itself if only he investigated the place thoroughly.
So the lad tiptoed out of the camp, first taking the precaution to fill his pockets with food. He headed straight into the woods, planning to come out again when he had traveled a safe distancefrom the camp. He followed out this idea, pushing his way through the brush for a time, and then emerging on a strip of white beach that seemed to extend around the island.
He trudged along, keeping a bright lookout, but saw nothing that would further his prospects of getting away. All at once, though, as he came around the other side of the little spot of land, he saw another island lying at no great distance off. And on the beach of this island was a boat.
A more welcome sight could not have presented itself to the boy's eyes just then. It meant that there was somebody on the island,—somebody who would surely be glad to help out a lad in his predicament.
"But how on earth am I to get over there?" mused the lad. "The tide is running like a mill race, and I don't know whether I'm a strong enough swimmer to buck it."
Then another idea occurred to him. Just above him was a small point of land. By goinginto the water from the end of this, he would be some distance above the island he wished to gain, and the current, would, therefore, carry him down.
"If I only could get a log or something," thought the boy; "it wouldn't take me long to get over there."
He started to hunt for a log that would suit his requirements; but logs didn't seem very plentiful in that vicinity. In his search, he reëntered the woods, and after looking about a bit succeeded in finding one that would just suit his purpose.
Stooping down, he lifted it, and then jumped back with a startled exclamation. A huge black snake had been coiled under the log, and now it struck at him, hissing and darting its red tongue in and out, and showing its vicious fangs!
Before Rob could avoid the creature's attack, it had wrapped itself around his arm, fastening its fangs into his sleeve.
HE TOPPLED BACKWARD OVER THE BRINK AND PLUNGED DOWN INTO THE SWIFTLY FLOWING CURRENT BENEATH.HE TOPPLED BACKWARD OVER THE BRINK AND PLUNGED DOWN INTO THE SWIFTLY FLOWING CURRENT BENEATH.
Rob battled desperately with the reptile, which lashed its tail and hissed with vicious intonations. The feel of the creature's grip was loathsome to the boy, and although its fangs had not penetrated his tough khaki coat, they might do so at any moment.
In the battle Rob backed out of the woods, striving all the time to free himself, and unconsciously stepped nearer and nearer to the water's edge. Before he realized his position he toppled backward over the brink and plunged down into the swiftly flowing current beneath.
Down he went until it seemed he must strike the bottom! But his fall into the channel had had one good effect. The snake was not gripping his arm any more. When he shot to the surface he saw it swimming for its life, but being carried away from the shore.
In fact, the same thing was the case with Rob. The grip of the water drew him far from the island he had just vacated in such an unceremoniousmanner, and hurried him toward the spot of land where he had seen the boat. Striking out with all his might, the lad fought the current so as to reach the other island before the water hurried him past it. It was a hard fight even for a powerful swimmer like Rob. His clothes encumbered him cruelly, too; but at last, almost exhausted, he touched bottom and reeled ashore.
For a time he could do nothing but lie there gasping. Had his life depended on it, he could not have moved hand or foot. But at length his youthful vitality came to his aid and he rose to his feet to look about him.
The current had landed him on a part of the beach from which the boat he had spied was not visible. But he knew in which direction it lay, and started out for it. As he rounded a small promontory he came upon it, a heavily-built, rickety-looking old thing, but still a boat.
Rob in his present situation would have taken anything that would float.
"I'll examine it first and then go hunt up the owner and make a bargain with him for it," he thought.
With this intention he approached the craft, and the next instant received one of the cruellest shocks of his life.
The boat was a mere shell, falling to pieces from age and exposure to the hot sun. It must have been years since she had been used, and Rob's experienced eye saw that she would have sunk like a stone the instant she was put in the water. It was a bitter blow to the lad, and for a time he sank down on the sand, completely knocked out.
But after a time he rallied his spirits.
"After all," he mused, "there may be somebody living on the island and that boat may be just an old one they have discarded. I'll dry my clothes and then start out to investigate."
With the drying of his clothes, Rob made an alarming discovery. The food he had taken wasmost of it reduced to pulp by its immersion, some canned goods alone remaining edible.
"That makes it all the more urgent for me to find some aid," he said to himself; "I don't think that bunch on the motor boat will trouble to look for me. I guess they'd be glad to leave me here if this is a deserted island. In that case, I might die here before aid came."
But thrusting all such thoughts as that aside, Rob determined to meet the situation like a brave Scout.
"I won't give up till I'm at the last ditch," he said to himself with determination, as he put on his clothes. "I'll fight it out to the end."
Somehow this resolution of his made the boy feel better. With renewed courage he set out to explore the island. But he made the circuit of it in vain. There was not a trace to be found of human habitation nor any indication, except the stranded, sun-dried boat, that anyone but himself had ever landed there.
So despondent did he feel over this discoverythat had he possessed the strength to do so, he would have swum back to the other island and thrown himself on the mercy of his recent captors. But this was now out of the question.
Unless he could find some way out of his dilemma, it looked as if he would indeed be doomed to leave his bones on those sands. The thought was a dreadful one, and although it was a warm, almost tropical day, the boy shivered and cold sweat ran down his face.
If he were indeed to die there, nobody would ever know his fate, in all probability. He had failed in his mission to recover the papers, too. Altogether he felt in a very miserable frame of mind. It was in this mood that, in order to keep his mind off his predicament, more than anything else, he fell to examining the old boat again. There might be some way to patch her up, he thought desperately, hoping against hope.
Suddenly he made a discovery that set his heart to beating wildly. On the stern board of the boat was cut the name "Good Hope!"
The "Good Hope!"
What a crowd of memories the name brought buzzing about the boy! The lone derelict, the figure in the mouldering cabin, the—the plan in his pocket!
With fingers that trembled Rob drew out the solution of the cryptogram and read it over.
Then he held his head in his hands a moment to keep it from whirling round.
Could it be possible that this was the island where the hoard of century-old ivory was buried? Had he stumbled by a complete accident upon the cache that had sent one man to his death?
Then he recalled that on his trip of explorationhe had noticed a big dead cypress on the other side of the island. But if this was the veritable island where the whalers had buried their ivory, why was the boat lying there mouldering on the beach? Why had they not left again?
The more the boy thought of it, the more mysterious and inexplicable the whole thing became. He resolved to go back to the dead cypress and follow the directions of the cryptic message of the captain of theGood Hope.
As has been said, the island was not a large one, and he was not long in reaching the gaunt, dead tree. Somehow he felt a chill go through him as he stood beneath its leafless gray limbs. It reminded him oddly of that skeleton in the deck house of the derelict.
But he pulled himself together and struck off into the woods in a direction that, by using his watch as a compass, he knew to be the west. The undergrowth was thick, but after going a few paces, he reached an open space.
In the centre of this was a sight that made his heart jump and then beat wildly. Strewn in every direction were big tusks of yellow ivory, evidently lying just as they had been dug from the ground.
Rob was still contemplating them when his eye caught the flutter of a rag of cloth at the edge of the open space. Attracted by a curiosity he could not account for, he made his way toward it. If the sight of the ivory had made him jump, what he now saw sent a chill of horror down his spine. The rag that had fluttered had been part of the clothing of what had once been two men.
Both lay close together, their bones showing where the cloth had worn away under Time's finger. A pair of rusty pistols lying by each showed how they had come to their death. The whole tragedy was as clear to Rob as if he had seen it:—the quarrel between the two ivory stealers, the duel with the pistols, and the deathof both combatants beside the treasure pile they had done so much wickedness to acquire.
"Truly that figure in the deck house is avenged," thought Rob, gazing with horror-stricken eyes at the things before him. "Death was indeed the wages of sin in their case."
Turning from the grisly relics of that far-off duel on the lonely island, Rob fell to examining the ivory. There was a large quantity of it.
"It must be worth an immense sum," he thought.
But in the very moment of his triumph, Rob suddenly recollected what, in his excitement, he had entirely forgotten for the moment. He was a castaway on a strange, uninhabited island, with only a few tins of beef between him and starvation. Thirst he did not fear, for close to where he had struggled ashore was a spring of sweet, cool water.
Rob made his way back to the beach and the boat. Inside the boat he now noticed what hadhitherto escaped his attention. There were several hundred feet of light rope which seemed to be still in fairly good condition. There was, too, a pair of oars. At the same moment the boy was seized by a sudden idea. He could get away from the island, and in a boat, too!
His Boy Scout training had made him fertile in ideas, and if the present one succeeded it would mean his escape from a terrible fate.
. . . . . .
Ensign Hargreaves and Mr. Barr looked sternly at each other.
"There is only one man who could have taken that lever," said the ensign.
"And that is who?"
"The rascal Barton."
"But for what possible object?"
"I cannot think unless he has hidden it and will only give it up as the price of his liberty."
"But if he keeps us down here, he will die, too."
"He is playing his life against ours and he holds the cards."
"Not for long. Come below at once. We must act quickly. There is a chance he still has it on his person."
Down the stairs they ran, leaving Merritt at the wheel with a sinking feeling of fear clutching at his heart. If Barton, turned desperate, had hidden the key and would not reveal its hiding place, it meant that they must remain in the depths till death put an end to their sufferings.
In the meantime, the ensign and Mr. Barr, both excited, had rushed through the cabin and toward the engine room. As they approached the door, it was slammed and a pistol thrust through a small hole in it, which had been cut for ventilation.
Then Barton's voice came ringing out:
"Don't come a step closer unless you want to get a bullet in you."
"What's the matter, man, are you mad?" exclaimed Mr. Barr.
A shriek of demoniacal laughter was the sole response.
It sent a shudder through everyone who heard it. The man was mad, violently insane. The seeds of lunacy, which had been germinating in his brain for a long time, had burst forth into a terrible harvest.
"And on that man everyone of our lives depends," breathed the ensign.
Then in a louder tone, which rang with authority:
"Barton, did you take that ascending lever?"
"Yes; ha-ha-ha! It's a good joke on you! You thought you'd put me in prison, but now we'll all die together."
"Barton," pleaded Mr. Barr, "be rational. Return that lever and you shall have immunity."
"It's too late now!" screamed the demented wretch. "We'll all die together in the depths of the sea, where dead men's bones rot and the fish eat their eyes out."
A hasty consultation followed between the ensign and Mr. Barr. The man was undoubtedly violently insane, and there didn't seem a chance in the world of dislodging him from his position.
The situation was the more serious from the fact that the fresh air devices were not working properly and the air inside the submarine was already getting noticeably stale and foul.
"We must rush that door; it's our only chance," declared the officer in a whispered voice.
"But he is liable to shoot," objected Mr. Barr, eying the blued-steel muzzle of the revolver which was pointed threateningly at them.
"It cannot be helped. It means death in a fearful form if we do not dislodge him from that position, and a man in his condition cannot listen to reason."
"Well, what do you propose?"
"That you start talking to him to distract hisattention, offer him money or anything to give up the lever. Then I'll watch my chance and rush in on him; thank goodness, that door has no lock on it."
"Barton!" said Mr. Barr, in a resonant voice.
"Well?" snarled the lunatic.
"Be calm now and listen to reason. Is it money you wish?"
"No, blood! Human lives!" shrieked the maniac.
At precisely that instant, like a projectile from a gun the ensign's powerful body shot forward. Crash came his solid one hundred and eighty-five pounds against the door.
At the same instant there was another crash, the sharp crack of a revolver! In that confined space it sounded terribly loud.
"He's shot him!" cried Mr. Barr.
But Barton had done nothing of the kind. The attack had been utterly unexpected by him, and as the door banged against him with terrificforce, he had been knocked down. As he fell the revolver exploded; before he could pull the trigger a second time the powerful young officer of Uncle Sam's Navy was upon the man. Barton fought like a wildcat, and with the superhuman strength of those afflicted with insanity.
At last, however, he was overpowered and, raving incoherently, was tied hand and foot and carried out to the cabin where he was placed on a lounge. Mr. Barr, who knew something of medicine, gave him a calming dose from the submarine's medicine chest, and he became less violent.
"Barton, where did you put that lever?" demanded the ensign.
The man whimpered like a child.
"I—I don't remember," he gasped out.
Consternation showed on every face. Already the air was getting worse and worse.
The ensign bent over the bound man, who was now crying weakly.
"You must remember, man. You must, I say!" he snapped, in tones that cut like the crack of a whip. "Think! think! our lives depend upon it!"
"If I knew, I would tell you," murmured the man; "but I don't. I don't remember."
A stillness like death itself settled on the occupants of the cabin. Barton had accomplished his insane purpose only too well, it seemed.
Rob's idea was a simple enough one. With his knife he would cut bundles of branches and then bind them to the sides of the boat with the rope. This would at least keep the crazy craft afloat and offer him a means of reaching the shore.
He set to work at once with great enthusiasm, and by dusk his strange-looking boat was ready to be launched. By placing round branches under it for rollers and using another branch as a lever, he soon succeeded in getting it into the water. But it was hard work, and he paused to eat some of his canned beef before going any further.
To his huge delight the boat, though lopsided and half full of water, was buoyed up by the branches, and he had no doubt that he could navigate her with the oars. As soon as he had finished his unappetizing meal, Rob clambered on board his "ark," as he mentally called her, and thrust the oars into the rowlocks. The boat was very heavy, and owing to her waterlogged condition pulled very hard. Worse still, Rob encountered a current that carried him toward the other island, the one he had left that morning; and even worse, a fact he presently perceived, his craft was being carried around a point, on the opposite side of which he could see the glow of a fire against the night sky; for by this time it was dark. Rob was heartily glad that this was the case, for he knew that the fire must be that of the rascals who had abducted him, and in the darkness he might slip by them unnoticed.
Luckily the current set a bit from the shore atthis point, and although the boy could hear the three rascals carousing around their fire over a keg of spirits, and singing and shouting at the top of their voices, they could not see him, partly because of their condition, and partly because of the firelight.
Past the camp, with its carousing inmates, the boy was carried, and suddenly his boat was bumped against something. Rob looked around. At first he thought he had struck a rock. Instead he saw before him the green motor boat.
Like a flash an inspiration came to him. He clambered on board, and not till he was fairly on deck did he recollect that he had neglected to tie his ark to the side.
He looked over the stern rail. In the dim light he could see his clumsy craft drifting off, bobbing up and down on the tide.
"Well, I've burned my bridges behind me now," he exclaimed to himself. "If I can't carry this thing through, I'll be cold meat by morning."
Just at that moment came a shout from the outlaws carousing on the beach.
Keener-eyed than his companions, Berghoff had spied a dark form on the motor boat, silhouetted against the thickly sprinkled stars.
"There's someone stealing our boat. After him, boys!" Rob heard the fellow roar.
Then he ducked as a volley of bullets came whizzing over his head. His next move was to clamber forward, keeping as low as possible till he reached the anchor chain.
There was no time to haul in, for the men had already run down the beach and launched their small boat.
Rob merely knocked out a shackle pin and let the whole thing go. This done, he scrambled back and descended to the engine room.
"If I can't make this old tea-kettle go, I'm a gone coon," he admitted to himself with grim humor, as he switched on gasoline and spark, and turned the fly wheel over.Outside the shouts were coming closer every instant, and the motor showed no signs of intending to start.