CHAPTER X
CALLING IN VAIN
“Did you wish to see me?” the lieutenant asked, as Jerry and his chumslooked in rather a fixed manner at the young man.
“Yes, sir,” replied the tall lad. “We wish to find out where CaptainWare may be found. We’re in his company, and----”
“Oh, yes. You were asking me that when I had to give instructions tothese sentinels. If you’ll come with me I’ll take you to Captain Ware.”
He turned to go, but, before leaving, he looked again at the marinecorps sentinels, one of whom stood on either side of the closed doorof the mysterious cabin--at least it was mysterious to the three MotorBoys.
“Don’t forget!” the lieutenant cautioned. “No one is to enter thatcabin--not even I--without a written order from Captain Munson.”
“Yes, sir,” was the answer in chorus, and, acknowledging the salutes ofthe sentries, the lieutenant strode away, followed by Ned, Bob, andJerry.
“Has there been a mutiny, sir, or anything like that?” asked Ned of thelieutenant, at the same time nudging his two comrades to indicate thathe was taking a chance in thus putting a question to a superior officeron a subject that might well be a forbidden one.
“A mutiny? What makes you think that?” was the quick retort.
“Oh, on account of what happened--the blowing up of the boiler, and allthat. I thought maybe some one had been found planting a bomb in theengine room, sir, and----”
“You must have been doing quite a bit of thinking,” was the smilingcomment of the young officer. “Be careful you don’t do too much. Or, atleast, if you do, keep your thoughts to yourself.”
“Yes, sir,” assented Ned, and he knew then that his questions were notto be answered.
“Who told you the boiler had been blown up, and what made you think abomb had been placed in the engine room?” asked the lieutenant.
“Oh, we just imagined so, that’s all, sir,” Ned replied.
“It sounded like an explosion, sir,” said Jerry.
“Well, it was,” and the lieutenant’s answer was a bit snappy. “One ofthe boilers blew out a main feed steam pipe. It takes an explosion todo that, or rather, the act is explosive in itself. But that doesn’tsay it was a bomb.”
“I’m glad it wasn’t,” commented Bob.
“I didn’t say it wasn’t!” came quickly from the young officer. “All Isaid was that a steam boiler could blow up without a bomb having causedit. I don’t know that any one knows exactly what caused the accidentto the ship. We are still investigating, and the less talk about itthe better--especially when no facts are known. So I advise you younggentlemen not to do too much talking.”
“All right, sir,” murmured Ned. “But we were just thinking--about thatcabin, you know--we were just thinking----”
“But keep your thoughts to yourselves--for the time being,” interruptedthe lieutenant. “You may hear all about it later, and again you maynot.”
They found Captain Ware in a small cabin which he had to share withfellow officers, so crowded were accommodations aboard the _Sherman_.The captain greeted the boys cordially.
“Now don’t tell me,” he began with a smile, “that you have come tocomplain of the sleeping quarters, the food, or the lack of exercise. Iknow all that already--a dozen times over,” and he motioned to a pileof papers on his bed.
“Oh, we haven’t come to complain, sir,” voiced Ned. “But we havesomething we’d like to tell you, and it may have to do with theaccident that disabled the ship.”
“Well, that’s interesting, to say the least,” commented the captain.“Come in, boys. There isn’t a great deal of room, but if you stand upwhile you’re talking I guess we can squeeze you all in. These cabinswere made for only two.”
Thereupon the trio entered and, after a few false starts and a friendlyrivalry as to who should open the narrative, the story was finallytold. It began with the encounter in the Brest restaurant, whenJerry mistook a stranger for Professor Snodgrass with the consequentunreasonable indignation on the part of the little bald-headed_cochon_, as he had been dubbed.
Then the boys told of having met the man in the passageway, and of howhe turned back at the sight of them, evidently trying to conceal ablack object he carried.
Ned told of having smelled what seemed to be a burning fuse; and fromthere the tale went on to the guarded cabin.
“Hum,” mused Captain Ware, when the boys had finished. “Is that all?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Ned, who had assumed the role of spokesman. “Exceptthat we thought we ought to report it all to you, sir, so you couldtell Captain Munson if you thought best to do so.”
“You have done quite right. And, now that you have reported to me,please don’t say anything about it to any one else.”
“Do you think there may be anything in it, sir?” asked Bob, who couldnot refrain from his impulsive question. “I mean do you think thislittle man, who looks like our Professor Snodgrass from the back, couldhave tried to blow up the ship?”
“Oh, yes, he could do it easily enough, if he was so minded and hadthe opportunity,” answered the captain. “But, mind you, I am notsaying that he did. This must be investigated, and Captain Munson, inconnection with our army officers, will be the one to do this. I amglad you told me what you did. Now don’t talk about it any more. Thereis no use in starting rumors, the effect of which we can tell nothingabout. And, too, it may prove to be a false alarm.”
“That’s what we were afraid of,” said Jerry. “We didn’t want to get inwrong. But we thought it best to speak after we saw the marines put onduty at the cabin, for we thought it might be of more importance thanit seemed in the beginning.”
“Yes,” answered the captain, noncommittally. “Well, I’ll let you knowwhen your further testimony is needed. Now don’t forget to keep stillabout this.”
He dismissed them with a smile, and the boys, feeling they had doneall in their power to set things right and to prevent any furtheroutrages, in case it really should turn out that an attempt had beenmade to blow up the ship, went up on deck.
“I’m glad that’s off my mind,” remarked Ned.
“So’m I,” added Bob. “There must be something in it all right, or theywouldn’t be guarding that cabin.”
“It’s queer, to say the least,” admitted Jerry. “If we could onlyknow----”
“Hark! What’s that?” interrupted Ned, as they neared the head of thecompanionway.
“The wireless!” cried Bob. “It’s working again!”
And to the ears of the boys came the well-known crackle that told ofelectrical impulses being sent off into space.
Quickly the three chums looked about them when they reached the deck.A group around the wireless room testified that in some manner thedisabled machinery had been put in operation again.
“Yes,” Ned was told by a comrade to whom he put an inquiry, “theymanaged to fix up a small dynamo, and they’re sending out calls forhelp.”
“Then we’re all right!” decided Bob. “I guess my appetite will comeback now.”
“Didn’t know you’d lost it!” mocked Ned.
“Why, I didn’t feel a bit like eating!” retorted the stout lad.
“Well, it’s the first time such a thing has happened in a good manyyears,” commented Jerry.
With every one else on board, they were vitally interested in thereëstablishment of the wireless. But as the day went on and no repliescame to call after call that was flashed into the void, the feeling ofhope gave way to one of despair.
“Don’t they answer?” was the question asked over and over again.
“No reply,” was the report of the wireless men, as they bent over theirkeys and strained their ears to catch the faintest click that mightcome through the ear-pieces strapped to their heads. All their flashingcalls seemed in vain.