CHAPTER XVII.
THE SPRINGING THEREOF.
The rude hut, which, judging by its odor and condition, was used as anoccasional shelter for the bay fishermen, was full of talk and smoke.Herc could not catch much meaning from the confused babel of tongues,but judged from the intelligible snatches he could seize upon, that itrelated to himself and Ned.
He was hardly surprised to recognize, among the occupants of the place,Chance and Merritt, as well as Herr Muller. There were four or fiveother men, including the one who had led him into the trap.
Herc's keen eyes also noticed one peculiarity about each of the menabout him. Every one of them wore in his buttonhole a tiny strip ofbright red ribbon. What its significance might be, he had no way oftelling, of course, but it impressed him.
"Well," said Herr Muller at last, his voice rising masterfully abovethose of the rest, "we had better be getting on board. The tide is onthe turn, and we have much to do. Besides, they may pursue us from thetown."
"No chance of that, comrade," rejoined the man who had conducted Hercfrom Bartonville. "I got the lad away without any one noticing ourdeparture."
"Just the same, both those Dreadnought Boys are tricky as cats,"snarled Merritt. "My advice is to get away at once."
A general bustle followed. Herc was lifted bodily, and carried downa narrow plank gangway leading to the sloop. Once on board, he washalf-thrown, half-pushed, into a stuffy cabin, and the door above himclosed with a sharp bang. He heard a metallic clang, as the bolts andlock, which evidently held it, were closed.
"Wow!" exclaimed the Dreadnought Boy. "If this isn't what old BenFranklin would call 'the logical limit of the uttermost.'"
The cabin was almost dark, being lighted only by two dirty and verysmall port holes. It was, moreover, stuffy and malodorous. Herc triedto get on his feet, but, being bound hand and foot, he was compelled tolie as he had fallen at the foot of the stairs. On deck he could hearthe trampling of feet, and before long the motion of the sloop told himthat she was under way.
"Going to sea, I guess," mused Herc. "I wonder what they mean to dowith me?"
He was left to speculate on this topic for some time. The motion of achoppy sea was already manifest when a man descended into the cabinwith some bread and some cold meat. He also had a stone jug presumablycontaining water.
"Here you are," he said, thrusting it in front of Herc. "You'd bettereat while you get a chance."
"I can't do that very well while I'm all trussed up like a roastingchicken," objected Herc.
"That's so," assented the man. "Well, I guess there's no harm insetting you loose for a while. We've cleared the bay, and the onlyplace you can go to if you want to get away is overboard."
So saying, he loosened Herc's bonds, to the immense satisfaction of thefreckle-faced boy.
The man seemed to be a shade less rough than his companions, so Hercventured to ask him a question.
"What is the occasion for all this?" he inquired in a half-humoroustone.
"Now, don't ask questions, and you won't hear untruths," said the man.
With this, he hastened out of the cabin, carefully relocking thecompanionway door on the outside.
"Wow!" exclaimed Herc, giving vent to his favorite exclamation. Then hefell to eating with a will.
The meal, coarse as it was, revived his spirits. It was only when hecame to taste the water that he put it down with a wry face. It wasbitter, and had a nauseating flavor.
"I'm not certain," mused Herc, "but nevertheless, I'm pretty sure thatsome sort of drug has been placed in that stuff. Too bad. I'm thirstyenough to drink it all, too."
The motion of the sloop was quite lively now. It was evident that theywere some distance out at sea. Occasionally, too, a green wave, washingover one of the port-holes, partially obscured what little light therewas.
"Guess I might as well explore the place and see what sort of a craftthis is," said Herc, as inactivity grew irksome. He started up fromthe locker on which he had been sitting, and made toward a door at thestern of the cabin.
It was not locked, and the lad threw it open without effort. Whatwas his astonishment to see, stretched on a bunk, apparently in deepslumber, the form of his missing comrade.
"Ned! Ned!" exclaimed Herc, springing forward.
Usually Ned, as sailors say, "slept with one eye open." This was aquality he shared with most seamen.
Herc was heartily astonished, therefore, to find that his shipmate didnot respond at once to his vigorous shakings and shoutings. At lengthhowever, he bestirred himself, and yawned, moving in an inert fashion,much unlike his usual movements, which were full of activity and life.
"Oh-ho! Hi-hum!" he yawned, gaping broadly, and gazing about him."What's up, watch turning out?"
"Wish it was, and that we were safe back on the old _Manhattan_,"muttered Herc.
"No, my hearty," he went on, "the watch isn't being turned out; butit's time you woke up, just the same. It's my opinion that you've beendrugged with some of that stuff they tried to give me."
After renewed efforts, Herc finally succeeded in getting Ned broadawake. But it was some minutes before his befogged brain took in thesituation. As Herc had suspected, he had been drugged by some substanceplaced in a drink of water he had asked for.
Ned, once restored to himself, speedily explained how it was the sightof Kennell passing the hotel that had caused him to make his hastyexit, and indirectly bring about the present situation.
He had followed Kennell through the outskirts of the town, he said,wishing to find out where he was going. He succeeded in this beyond hishopes, but Kennell, it appeared subsequently, had been aware that Nedwas following him, from the moment the Dreadnought Boy had left thehotel. Cunningly he had led him right up to the lone fisher hut, andNed's capture had been swift and easy for the nefarious band.
Herc's story followed.
"There's something mysterious about the band," he said. "Take that bitof ribbon they wear, for instance--what is it? What does it signify?"
"I heard enough of their talk before I drank the drugged water toapprise me of that," said Ned. "These fellows are a bunch of desperateanarchists. They are acting, as far as I can make out, in the interestsof some European power, and mean to do all the harm they can to UncleSam's navy."
"The despicable scoundrels!" gasped Herc. "But how did Chance andMerritt come to join them?"
"Money, I suppose. They seem to be well supplied. I guess Chance andMerritt are being well paid for the information they can impart to therascals concerning the secrets of our naval organization."
"Do you think it is possible they could be such traitors?"
"Anything is possible where they are concerned. By the way, Herc, thisis no ordinary sloop we are on. In the first place, it is the samecraft as that from which I was fired on at the time Midshipman Shrikefell from the aeroplane."
Herc nodded.
"Now I know why that red stripe seemed so familiar," he said.
"Moreover," resumed Ned, "she is fitted with wireless."
"With wireless!"
"Yes. The instruments are in another cabin forward of this one. Inoticed the aerial wires on her mast, too, as I was brought on board.Muller ordered them hauled down, but not before I had seen them."
"What does she want with a wireless apparatus?"
"I can't imagine, unless it is to catch the messages that the ships ofthe navy are sending concerning plans, and so on."
"But they are in cipher."
"Yes, but there are two men on board who know that cipher--Chance andMerritt. That fact alone explains their value to the anarchists."
"Humph! That's so," agreed Herc. "But what's the matter with ourlooking about a bit more? We might discover something else."
"All right. My head still aches a little, but otherwise I'm wellenough," responded Ned. "I guess we are safe from interruption for atime. The wind seems to be freshening, and the men will all be busy ondeck. I reckon they think we are both drugged, too,
and are safe not toawaken for some time."
"Wow! I'm glad I didn't drink that water, or there would be more truththan poetry in that," said Herc.
"I guess they gave me a light dose, for I didn't taste it," said Ned.
"Good thing they did, or I couldn't have roused you so easily."
The two boys cautiously set about exploring the cabin. It was abare little place, and did not contain much subject matter forinvestigation. There was a door forward leading to the wireless room,but it was locked. Ned listened at the keyhole, but the instrumentswere silent.
"Hullo!" said Herc, suddenly halting and pointing downward at the cabinfloor. "What's under here, I wonder?"
There was a ring at his feet. Ned lost no time in laying hold of it. Hegave it a sharp tug, and it came up easily, bringing with it a sectionof flooring to which it had been attached.
It revealed a dark, yawning space under the cabin floor, into whichboth boys peered eagerly.
"There's something in there, but I can't make out what," said Nedpresently. "Wait a jiffy, till I strike a match."
A lucifer was soon lighted, and Ned, bending over, held it inside thehole in the cabin floor. He recoiled with a jump and a suppressed cry,as if he had suddenly discovered a nest of rattlesnakes.
"What's up?" demanded Herc, who had been able to detect nothing but ametallic glitter, like that of steel.
"Torpedoes!" gasped Ned; "six Whiteheads! enough to destroy all thefinest and newest vessels of Uncle Sam's navy."