CHAPTER XII.
PAT TAKES A BIG CHANCE.
The _Manhattan_ glided like a duck over the waters of the BasheeChannel, South of the Island of Formosa. A week had passed since thatnight in Yokohama, and Ned and Jimmie were back among the islands northof Luzon.
It had been a close shave that night, for the boys had been only a fewfeet ahead of their pursuers when they were fortunate enough to comeupon a party of American marines on shore leave. The marines hadgathered about the panting boys and finally, after fighting off theJaps, conducted them to their hotel. The last Ned saw of the man whom hebelieved to be an American military man in the disguise of a Jap he wasrunning in a most undignified manner down the street, as if not willingto look upon the uniforms of the marines. The next morning he had caughta glimpse of the fellow, but had not been able to get close to him. Onthe day before he left for Manila the man had left the port. Ned was ofthe opinion that he had traveled on to Manila, and so on to the group ofislands which the _Manhattan_ was now nosing among.
At Manila Ned had again conferred with Major John Ross, and thatdignified official had virtually dismissed the boy from the service. Hehad scolded him for going over to Yokohama and for stirring up a messthere, as he put it, between a party of hilarious marines and the localpolice.
However, Ned did not accept dismissal. Instead of remaining at Manila,as ordered to do, until word could be received from Washington, hejoined Pat in the motor boat, provisioned her for a long cruise, and setout to locate the island which was to see the signing of the treatybetween the tribes of the Philippines--the treaty which was certain tobring war and starvation to the islands.
He was sure the treaty had not yet been signed, and he could notunderstand the delay. It did not seem possible that his appearance atthe island first chosen for the meeting could have caused so long a waitin the important negotiations. He had suspicions at times that thedisappearance from the scene of the men he had followed to Yokohama hadhad something to do with the delay.
In looking over the results of the trip to the Japanese city, Ned wasfairly well satisfied with them. He believed that he had caught aglimpse of the man who was at the head of the plot against the UnitedStates. When he considered that the sailor who had complained sobitterly of the manner in which he had been treated had been murdered inhis room while the suspect sat below in disguise, he did not doubt thatthe crime had been committed by paid assassins for the purpose ofenforcing secrecy.
On the whole he was well pleased with the progress of the case. He hadmade his discoveries by deviating from the paths usually followed byinvestigators, but he believed that he held the right clues in hishands. It remained for him now to find the island where the treaty wasto be signed and await developments.
It was sure that if the king-pins of the conspiracy could be capturedthe whole fabric would fall to the ground. He believed that large sumsof money were being used, though he could not tell where the cash wascoming from. Sometimes he thought commercial interests guilty of thereckless thing that was being done. Sometimes he thought the plotoriginal with the foxy prime minister of some nation looking foradditional possessions in the Orient.
At Manila he had learned that Lieutenant Rowe had been restored toliberty, badly wounded, but in a fair way to recover. The Lieutenant,however could do little to assist the investigation, as he had learnedlittle during his captivity, had not been permitted to see the leadingspirits. As Ned had believed from the first, the men who attacked himwere not inclined to do murder unnecessarily. All they sought was thesealed orders carried by the officer and the man who had followed onafter him and entered unceremoniously through the window.
One thing Ned could not understand was the matter of the despatcheshanded the Lieutenant by the man who had entered the nipa hut in sostrange a manner, shortly after midnight on the night of the attack.These instructions, according to reports, countermanded the onesLieutenant Rowe had received in person at Manila, and would have turnedhim back without conferring with Major Ross or the lads he had with him.
The fourth man had declared, when seen by by Ned at Manila, that he hadmanaged to follow on the heels of the Lieutenant with the supplementalinstructions, and had reached the island at midnight. He said that hehad entered by way of the window because the front of the house seemedto be watched with hostile intent, and because there was a ladder thereready to his hand.
This story seemed a little fishy to Ned, but he had no means of provingthat the man was not telling the truth. The fellow certainly had beengiven despatches to deliver to Lieutenant Rowe, with orders to followhim and place them in his hands personally. But the instructionsreceived by the Lieutenant were not, it was asserted, the ones sent tohim.
The supplemental instructions would have taken him back to Manila atonce, as has been said, without conferring with Major Ross and theassistants he had brought with him. It was insisted at the militaryoffice that the instructions sent out had increased rather thandiminished the Lieutenant's authority to act.
One of two things seemed to be true. Either there was a traitor in theoffice, or the instructions had been changed. The envelope might havebeen shifted after reaching the man's hands or he might have substitutedthe counterfeit ones for the original ones. In this latter case themessenger was himself a traitor, and would bear watching.
Ned would have liked nothing better than to have remained in Manila forthe purpose of investigating this phase of the case, but he believedthat the mystery would be solved eventually where the work was beingdone--on the ground with the native tribes which were being urged intorevolt. So he had provisioned the _Manhattan_ and, much to the joy ofthe boys, headed for the group of islands north of Luzon.
It was glorious there in the channel, with the green islands liftingfrom the lacquered sea, bluer than any sky the lads had ever seen. Fromthe bow of the _Manhattan_ spread two thin emerald lines curlingtransparently and tipped with foam. Upon the immensity of the sea therewould be for hours no other movement, and upon the immensity of the skythere would not be a fleck of cloud. At night the boys slept in theirbunks with the waves whispering to the sand of some sheltered bay.
"I hope we'll never find the island where the treaty is to be signed,"Jack said, one morning. "I'd like to stay here forever."
"Why don't you build a hut on one of the islands and stay there, then?"asked Jimmie.
"I guess you'd soon get weary of doin' the Robinson Crusoe act an' getback to the Great White Way!"
"I'm not looking for life in the jungle," Jack replied. "The water isgood enough for me."
One morning when the _Manhattan_ lay in a bay on the eastern shore of anisland of good size and Jack proposed a trip to the shore.
"There's game up there," he said, pointing to an elevation not far fromthe beach. "Unless I'm very much mistaken there is a line of hills onthe other side of this bit of land, with a valley in between the two. Ifthis is right, that valley will be well stocked with game, and I'mgetting hungry for fresh meat."
"There's surely one class of animal life there," Frank said. "Hear themonkeys! They must be holding some kind of a convention!"
While the boys were talking Ned came out of the cabin with his glass. Hegazed landward for a long time and then handed the glass to Jack.
"There's something stirring up the little chaps," he said.
"They're always wigglin' like a basket of snakes," Jimmie observed.
"Sounds like they were calling the police," Frank put in.
"I'll tell you about it when I return," Jack said. "If there's anythinggrand, gloomy or peculiar over there I'll be sure to find it. Want to goalong with me, little boy?" he added, turning to Jimmie, who at onceresented this manner of address by trying to push Jack overboard.
"Of course I'm goin'," Jimmie declared, giving over his benevolentintentions with regard to Jack. "I reckon you'll get lost if you go sixyards away from the _Manhattan_ alone."
"Run along, both of you!" Ned said. "And don't get into trouble. We'vegot no ti
me to waste looking up runaway boys."
"If the native tribes are holding a convention there," Frank said, asthe boys slipped into the boat which they were to row ashore, "just givethem my compliments and ask them to dinner."
For some moments after the boys reached the white beach and disappearedin the jungle Ned stood scanning the island with his glass.
"I half believe the chiefs are there," he said, turning to Frank.
"Then why did you let the boys go?" asked the latter.
"I wish now that I hadn't," Ned replied.
"Say," Pat called out, "I can go and bring 'em back. They can't be veryfar away. Shall I?"
"Yes," was the hesitating reply, "and bring back all the news you canabout what is going on on the island. There's something unusual takingplace there, judging from the row the monkeys are making."
"How you going to get ashore?" asked Frank. "The boat is over there onthe beach."
"I'll show you," Pat replied.
The next moment he was in the water, striking out with lusty strokes forthe shore, only a few rods away.
"There's a crocodile coming!" Frank called out to him.
The call was designed to make Pat show a burst of speed, but it didindeed serve as a warning to the swimmer, for a huge crocodile separatedhimself from a point a few paces away and started to make a breakfast ofthe boy.
Pat saw the danger and hesitated an instant, uncertain whether to turnback to the _Manhattan_ or to strike out for the shore. This second ofhesitation would have cost him his life if Ned had not acted promptly.
When he saw that the crocodile was sure to win in the race, he fired oneshot and the saurian disappeared beneath the surface of the water, shotthrough the eye. Pat turned back to the _Manhattan_, but Ned directedhim to go on to the shore, find the boys, and return as quickly aspossible.
"And row back here before you go," continued Ned.
"And swim to the beach again?" called Pat, glancing cautiously about."Not on your whiskers!"
"Afraid of a little crocodile not more then forty feet long!" laughedFrank, as Pat reached the beach and entered the boat.
"Here's the boat," Pat called, in a few moments, touching the bow of the_Manhattan_. "What next!"
"I'm going with you and bring it back," Ned replied. "When you boysreach the beach you'll have to call out. I'm going to take the_Manhattan_ out farther."
"All right!" Pat said. "I think you need to after that shot!"
"And tell the boys," Ned went on, "that they'll have the chiefs of ahundred tribes of dog-eaters after them if they don't get to the boatright quick!"
"I guess that ought to bring them!" Frank said.
Ned accompanied Pat to the beach, brought the boat back, and then movedthe _Manhattan_ some distance out in the bay.
"Do you really think the boys are in danger?" asked Frank, after theyhad settled down to a careful watch of the beach.
"They certainly are," was the reply.
"Do you think the chiefs are really on that island?"
"Yes; in fact, I am quite certain of it."
"Oh, a wild cat might have stirred up the monkeys," Frank said, hardlybelieving the lame explanation of the disturbances which he was making.
Ned pointed off to the west.
"Look there," he said.
"Can't see a thing."
"Then take the glass," Ned said.
"Why," Frank said, "there's smoke over there on the west coast! Now,what do you think of that? It wasn't there a few minutes ago."
"No," replied Ned. "It wasn't there a few minutes ago. It puffed upwhile I was looking that way."
"It must be a steam launch," Frank observed.
"Of course," Ned replied, "and steam has been gotten up since that shotwas fired. Now do you understand?"
"I'm afraid I do," Frank replied. "And the steamer is coming around hereto see what's going on, and the native chiefs will be coming down to thebay to look the situation over! Where do the boys come out?"
"They are in a dangerous position," Ned replied.
"I hope they'll get here before the steamer turns that point."
"They will have to return pretty soon if they do," Ned said, lookingagain through his glass, "for the steamer is approaching the southernend of the island rapidly, and will soon be in sight."
"Can we beat it?" asked Frank.
"On the run? I'm afraid not. If the boys were here we might stand achance of keeping out of their way for a long time, but we've got toremain here until the last moment in the hope of their returning."
"You're not thinking of going away and leaving them, are you?" askedFrank, surprised at Ned's remark.
"If we stay here and submit to capture," Ned replied, "it is all off forall of us. If we get away we may be able to render assistance to theboys, but if we remain here and are killed or taken prisoners there islittle hope for them, surrounded by savages on an unknown island,without even a boat."
"Of course you are right," Frank said, "It seems cruel to sail away andleave them here."
The steamer, as shown by the column of smoke, was now approaching thesouthern end of the island, and would soon be in a position from whichthe _Manhattan_ might be seen.
"If we are going at all," Ned said, with a sigh, "we may as well bemoving. We ought to be able to make the north end by the time they gainthe south end. It will be a game of chase, I reckon. I hope the boyswill understand."
"They certainly will," replied Frank. "They know well enough we are noquitters, and that there is usually a good reason for what you do."
The _Manhattan_ was soon in motion, speeding at the rate of fifteen oreighteen miles an hour toward the north end of the island. Ned watchedthe smoke of the steamer intently as the race progressed. Finally thepoint at the north was turned, and, much to the surprise of both boys,they saw Pat standing on the beach beckoning to them in a manner full ofexcitement.
"There's been something doing," said Frank, with a shiver.