CHAPTER XIII.
HARMLESS AS A RATTLESNAKE.
"I beg your pardon, sir, but could I speak to you a moment?"
"Certainly; come in, Chance," rejoined Lieutenant De Frees, who wassitting in his quarters on the aviation testing ground the morningafter the events narrated in our last chapter.
"It's--it's about Strong and Taylor, sir, that I wished to speak," saidChance, twisting his cap in his hands. His crafty face looked morefox-like and mean than ever. His manner was almost cringing.
Lieutenant De Frees jumped to his feet.
"You've got news of them?" he exclaimed. "Out with it, my lad. They arenot the boys to be absent without good reasons, although I fear thatif they have overstayed their leave without just cause they must bedisciplined."
"That's just it, sir," said Chance. "I--I don't want to make trouble,sir, but I'm afraid that Strong and Taylor are not all that you thinkthem, sir. I would have spoken at roll-call this morning when they werereported absent without leave, but I thought that maybe they would turnup."
"Well, what do you know about them? Come, out with it," urged theofficer sharply.
He had never liked Chance, and the seaman's furtive manner irritatedhim.
"Why, you see, sir, Merritt and I happened to be in town last night,sir, and we saw Strong and Taylor associating with some disreputablecharacters, sir. We warned them, but they laughed at us, sir. Wecontinued to urge them to come with us, however, but they only swore atus."
"What!" exclaimed the officer, startled out of his official calm, "yousaw Strong and Taylor in undesirable surroundings and with disreputablecharacters, and you mean to say that that is the reason for theirnon-appearance this morning?"
"That's just it, sir," rejoined Chance. "The last we saw of them was asthey were turning into a drinking resort. I fear that some harm musthave come to them, sir."
"Why--why--confound it all, I'd almost rather cut off my right handthan hear such a report, Chance. You are certain that you are correctin your report?"
"Absolutely certain, sir," was the response; "there could be nomistake. I hope I am not doing wrong in reporting this, sir?"
"No, no, my man, you have done perfectly right," was the answer,although the officer's face was troubled. The news that his mosttrusted pupils should have misconducted themselves had shaken him agood deal.
"Good heavens, can one place no trust in human nature?" he thought."I'd have staked my commission that those boys were absolutelyclean-lived and upright."
"Is--is there anything else you'd like to know, sir?" Chance edgedtoward the door as he spoke.
"No, no. That's all, my man. You may go."
"Thank you, sir."
And Chance, his despicable errand performed, slid through the door inthe same furtive way in which he had entered.
"If they haven't returned by eight bells, and there is no news of themin the meantime, I'll have to send out a picket to bring them in,"mused the officer when Chance had departed. "Then disgrace and 'thebrig' will follow, and two promising careers will be blasted. Strongand Taylor, of all people. I can't understand it. And yet there can beno other explanation of their absence."
Dismissing the matter from his mind for the time being, LieutenantDe Frees continued his official work. Outside on the field hissubordinates attended to the morning practice of the flying squad. Halfan hour must have passed thus, when a sudden knock at the door causedhim to look up.
"Come in!" he said, in a sharper voice than usual. The news that hisfavorites had so fallen from grace had distressed him more than even hecared to own to himself.
In response to his words, the door swung open, and there, framed in thedoorway, stood the two very individuals whose absence had so worriedhim.
Ned and Herc clicked their heels together sharply and gave the salutein a precise manner.
"We've reported on duty, sir," said Ned in a steady voice.
The officer looked at them blankly. Their clothes were torn, althoughan effort had seemingly been made to mend them and clean them of tracesof mud and dirt. A bruise appeared on Ned's face, while Herc's hair wasrumpled and standing up wildly. Their appearance bore out the story theofficer had heard. Two more disreputable-looking beings it would havebeen hard to picture.
"So this is the way you men repay my trust in you?" said the officerin sharp, harsh tones, very unlike his usual ones. "You will bothconsider yourselves under arrest, pending an inquiry. Remain standingtill I summon a guard."
The lads' absolutely dumfounded looks at this reception did not escapethe officer's attention.
"Well, have you any explanation to offer?" he demanded. "Mind, don'tattempt to lie to me. I know all of your proceedings, dating from thehour that you, Strong, left my quarters."
"You mean that you have heard we have been engaged in somediscreditable prank, sir?" asked Ned firmly, but respectfully, andstill standing--as did Herc--stiffly at attention.
"I mean just that," was the response. "Since when has it been thecustom in the United States navy for men to disgrace the service and gounpunished?"
"And yet," said Ned, in the same well-disciplined tones, "it hasn'tbeen the custom to condemn men unheard, sir."
"I have heard quite enough, already," was the sharp answer. "If youhave anything to add to what Chance has told me, you may. But I warnyou that any explanation you may offer will be investigated thoroughly,and if it is found you have been lying, it will go harder with you thanotherwise."
"I think you will find it is Chance who has been lying, sir," said Nedcalmly. "May I tell you our side of the story, dating from the hour youmentioned?"
"You may, but make it brief. My time is fully occupied," was the coldresponse.
But, as Ned struck into his story, telling it in a calm, even tone,the officer's expression changed from one of hard incredulity to blankastonishment, passing rapidly to deep indignation.
"We were startled soon after gaining our freedom," related Ned, goingon with his narrative from the point where we left the lads, "by thesound of a voice calling on us to halt. A few minutes later we foundthat the man who had given the order was the local constable, EzraTimmons. He is a farmer on the outskirts of the town, and had beendriving home late from selling some produce, when he noticed lights inthe old asylum. He decided to investigate, and did so. He found thedoor open, and, penetrating the place, soon encountered us. He took ushome with him, and helped us clean up a bit, and then we hastened overhere to report."
"And that's true, by gum, every dinged word uv it!" came a voiceoutside the open door. Farmer--and Constable--Timmons stepped into theroom, dramatically throwing back his coat and exposing a big tin star,just as he had seen constables in rural dramas do.
"But they ain't told it all," he rushed on. "These two lads here savedmy wife frum some ruffians what wanted ter rob her the t'other day.They sailed by in their sky-buggy jus' in time ter save ther spoonsthet Gran'ma Timmons willed me on her dyin' bed, by heck!---- and it'smy idee that this same gang of roustabouts was consarned in thet, frumwhat I kin judge."
The officer pressed a button. An orderly responded, coming smartly toattention.
"Send for Merritt and Chance at once," he ordered.
The orderly saluted and turned like an automaton.
Constable Timmons gazed at him in amazement.
"Is thet feller real or jes' one uv them clockwork dummies yer readabout?" he asked.
"He's real, constable," smiled Lieutenant De Frees, with someamusement. He then began questioning the boys concerning every detailof their experiences. Nor did he forget to acknowledge that he hadwronged them on the word of a rascal.
"It must have been their intention to keep you there until they hadmade up their minds what to do with you," he said. "But they shall notgo unpunished. If a summary court martial can deal with their casesit shall do so, and at once. Well?" he added interrogatively, as theorderly entered the room once more.
He saluted as before, to Constable Timmons' undisguised wond
er, andthen said in precise tones:
"There is no trace of the men you sent for, sir."
"What!" demanded the officer.
"They were last seen leaving the grounds in an automobile, sir."
"Good heavens! This is confirmation, indeed, of their guilt," said theofficer. "Were they alone?"
"No, sir. The car was driven by a person some of the men recognized asa wandering photographer who has been around the grounds for some days,sir."
"Herr Muller!" exclaimed Ned, forgetting all discipline. "I know nowwhy the third man seemed so familiar. I--I beg your pardon, sir,but----"
"That's all right, Strong," said the officer. "Constable, you can relyon the department cooperating with you in every way to capture thesemen. I can't conceive how the photographer Muller fits into the matter,but if they can be arrested we shall soon find out."
But, despite the officer's hopes of capturing the gang that had madeso much trouble for Ned and Herc, they managed to conceal their tracescleverly enough to avoid arrest. The automobile in which they hadtaken flight--and which had been hired from a local garage--was foundabandoned near a small wayside station, where they might have boardeda train for some distant point. As for the presence of the automobile,it was assumed that Herr Muller had visited the abandoned asylum earlythat day and discovered that the prisoners had escaped. Realizing thathe must act quickly, he had evidently set out at once to warn Chanceand Merritt. Incidentally, it was found out that Muller, on account ofhis anarchistic tendencies, had once been confined in the abandonedasylum, before its condemnation, which accounted for his familiaritywith it. He had been discharged as "harmless" some time before.
"Humph! He's about as harmless as a rattlesnake!" grunted Herc, when heheard of this.