"I hope she'll make for some port where there is an American man-of-war,"Ned said, as the sea grew shallower.
"You bet she won't," Jack replied. "She'll make for some out-of-the-wayplace where she can get rid of her plunder."
"Why don't we go back an' see if she took all the plunder out of thewreck?" asked Jimmie.
"If we lose sight of her now," Ned answered, "we may have hard workpicking her up again. If there is anything left in the wreck it willkeep. The thing to do now is to catch her and recover what she tookaway, then have her held to await the action of the Washingtonauthorities."
"But we ain't catchin' her!" urged the little fellow.
"Well, we are not losing her," Jack replied, "and that is theprincipal thing."
"She may give us a long chase," Ned went on, "for she undoubtedlyknows that we are in pursuit, so we must get ready to travel over agood deal of ocean floor before we get our hands on the thieves."
The chase went on all day and all the ensuing night. At dawn of thesecond day the Diver ran up into what seemed to be a little bayprotected by two long points of land. The Sea Lion halted outside andwaited. Once she came to the surface in order to purify the boat, andNed took observations.
"Where are we?" Jimmie asked.
"We're here!" laughed Jack.
"This is all new land to me," Ned replied.
Frank clattered down the staircase into the bowels of the submarineand brought out a map, which he spread out on the floor of the conningtower. It was pretty crowded there, with the three boys grouped aboutit, for the hatch was still open.
"We've been going north all the time?" he asked.
"Just a trifle east of north," Ned answered.
"And we've been running at the rate of about twenty miles an hour for24 hours," continued Frank. "Figure that out."
"Not far from 480 miles," cried Jimmie.
"Then measure," Frank continued. "This map shows about 400 miles tothe inch. Now, where would a run of 480 miles bring us?"
"To the coast of Kwang Tung," suggested the little fellow.
"But this is an island," Ned explained, looking through his glass. "Ican see water where the main land ought to be."
"Figure it out, then," persisted Frank. "We've come to an island inthe China Sea by running 480 miles a little east of north. Where wouldthat bring us?"
"Hailing island," suggested Jimmie.
"Wise little chap!" laughed Frank. "You've hit it!"
Ned was silent for a moment. He was wondering why the Diver, or theShark as she was now appropriately called, had put in there. Could itbe that she was expecting to be met there by some vessel commissionedto remove the plunder she had taken from the wreck?
Or was it true that the plot had included a hiding of the plunder onthe shore and the delivery of the documents--if any had been found--tosome official of the accusing power?
These thoughts were disquieting. The boy had already missed theopportunity of searching the wreck in advance of all others, thoughthe fault was not his own. The best he could do now was to secure theplunder from the pirates who had removed it.
In case assistance came to the people of the rival boat at thatdistant point, he would not be able to do this. The conspirators mighthide the gold in the country near the port and deliver the papers andhe would be powerless to prevent.
"I wonder," he mused, "if anything can be gotten out of young Moore?It is possible that he has been in solitary confinement long enough tocomb down that sneering attitude."
Leaving the boys on the conning tower, therefore, he hastened to theroom where Moore was incarcerated, although the irons had been removedfrom his hands and feet.
"Well," snarled the young man, "you've come to the jumping off place,have you?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"You've chased the Shark to her lair, eh?" Moore added, with a leer.
"How do you know that we've been chasing the Shark?" demanded Ned.
"Oh, you wouldn't be running full speed unless you were after her."
"How do you know that we're not in Hong-kong harbor, ready tocommunicate with Washington and an American man-of-war?"
Ned thought the fellow's face turned a shade whiter as the suggestivewords were spoken. However, he said nothing.
"Do you know where we are, if, as you seem to think, we have followedthe Shark?" asked Ned.
"How should I know?"
Moore had evidently reached the conclusion that he had said too muchat the opening of the conversation.
"You know where the Shark was headed for?" asked Ned.
"She's headed for a place where you can't butt in on her," answeredthe young man with a snarl. "When are you going to turn me loose? Aw,what's the matter with you?" he continued, assuming an air ofgood-fellowship. "I never did anything to you. Why can't you let mego, and say nothing about it?'
"Because," Ned answered, "you are a dangerous person to be at large.The next time you attempt to murder the crew of a submarine you mayhave better luck."
"Well, you keep right on," Moore scowled, "and you'll come to a placewhere there'll be no such word as luck in your dictionary. You mightsave yourself now by letting me go."
"You're a snake," cried Ned. "I wouldn't trust you with the life of arat I cared for. Such people as you ought to be smothered at birth."
"Pile it on, now that you have the inning," said Moore. "Pretty soonyou'll be playing second fiddle."
Ned went out of the temporary prison and locked the door withoutfurther talk. He had gained the point he sought.
Nothing could be clearer, now, than that the Shark was to meet fellowconspirators there. The boy was up against a tough proposition.
He believed that the Shark had secured the important papers. She wouldhardly have left the wreck without them.
The gold did not matter so much, yet he did not like the idea of hisrival taking it out from under his very nose. He did not believe thatall the gold had been secured, and figured that the Shark would goback after the remainder--but not until the important papers had beendelivered to the conspirators.
In order to clear her skirts of the false accusations being whisperedthrough foreign court circles, the Government must get possession ofthose documents. Ned had no idea where they were, where they had beenstored, but he believed that, somewhere in the shipment of gold, fullinstructions for its use had been given.
The papers might have been tucked away in a keg or package of goldcoins. At least they would have been placed where the revolutionaryleaders could find them, and where the Chinese federal officers couldnot--or would not be apt to--find them in case the plans of theconspirators failed in any way.
It struck Ned as a crude arrangement from start to finish. The idea ofshipping gold to the Chinese government in such a way that therevolutionary leaders were sure to seize it looked too childish fordiplomats to entertain. The fact that it had miscarried was proof thatit was not well conceived.
A certain foreign nation, put wise to the conspiracy, had sent a shipout to ram the gold bearing craft, and there she lay at the bottom ofthe China Sea, with all sorts of rumors concerning her cargo andmission circulating through Europe--greatly to the loss of Uncle Sam'sreputation as a square-dealing old chap.
Ned had no doubt that the foreign government which was kicking up themost noise over the affair had sent the Shark to the China Sea tosearch for the papers in the hope that they would bear out theaccusations that had been made. In case they did not the papers woulddoubtless be destroyed--and the charges would continue to be made--thecharges that the subtreasury in New York had shipped the gold to aidthe revolutionary junta in making a republic of China.
So it will be seen that Ned was in no position to give furtherattention to the wreck, or the gold it might or might not containuntil he had done everything in his power to secure the papers, if anyhad been found, before they could be destroyed or delivered.
And now the question was this:
"How can I get to the Shark and
have a look through the plunder takenfrom the wreck?"
The decision was that he could not accomplish such a mission. It wouldbe impossible for him to board the Shark, or make a search even if heshould succeed in getting into the rival submarine.
What next? The men on board the Shark would undoubtedly go ashore ifthe boat remained long in the bay. Why not land and watch about theisland for the arrival of the foreign conspirators?
The island was not a large one, and there were few inhabitants, so ameeting such as Ned believed was set for the place could not fail toattract some attention. Well, the first thing to do, he reasoned, wasto discover if the Shark was sending her men on shore.
"Jimmie," he said, as he returned to the conning tower, "how would youlike to go hunting in the bottom of the sea?"
"Fine!" shouted the lad.
"Bring in a catfish with a bunch of kittens," Frank laughed. "I'mafraid we have mice in the provision room."
"I'll find a dogfish with a couple of puppies," replied Jimmie, "so wecan have plenty of bark to build fires with."
"A bad joke," Frank replied. "If you'd quit studying up slang and readthe best authors you wouldn't inflict such pain-giving jolts."
"Who's going with the kid?" asked Jack, sticking his nose up throughthe open hatchway.
"I am," replied Frank, calmly. "It is not safe to trust him on theisland alone."
"What do you want me to hunt?" asked Jimmie, turning his back on thetwo boys.
"Information."
"I can get that in a book," said Jimmie, with a wink at Frank.
"Get into your promenade suit," Ned continued, "and I'll let you outon the bottom. Then I'll warp the Sea Lion around that point of land,so you can see where the Shark lies and what is going on, ifanything."
"Carry me around the point of land before you drop me," suggested thelittle fellow.
"No," Ned answered. "I want you to search the ocean floor on the wayaround the point. The rascals may have laid mines there, or the peopleon board may be making trips to the point, just to see what we are upto. Understand?"
"Oh, yes, I see the point, all right," was the reply. "And you want meto go out in the wet and inspect another point?"
"Cut it out!" cried Jack.
Jimmie ran off, laughing, to put on his deep-sea suit, and in a momentwas back asking Ned to set his helmet in place.
"When you get down to the bottom," Ned said, before attaching theheavy headpiece, "keep hold of your lifting line and signal stop orforward, just as you find it easy or difficult to make your way alongthe level. One jerk for stop and two to go ahead. You won't forgetthat. Think of the signals on the surface cars in little Old NewYork."
"And keep your eyes out for signs of air-hose and lines on thebottom," Frank put in.
"All right," the boy cried, cheerfully.
"You have a long air-hose and a very long line," Ned went on, "so youcan go up the bay where the Shark lies quite a distance after we stopthe Sea Lion at the point."
The helmet was now put on, the lad passed through the water chamber,and directly there came a signal on the line--two quick jerks.
The submarine moved slowly ahead, and Jimmie almost crawled on the bedof the ocean. The water was not very deep, not more than ten fathoms,and the bright sunlight enabled the boy to see quite well.
Fishes, large and small, sea reptiles, hideous in aspect andattractive as to coloring, swam around him, and terrifying forms rosefrom the bottom and rubbed against his helmet windows. He felt saferon the bottom, for then the creatures could come at him in only oneway.
Presently the sand in front of him showed commotion. It stirred andclouded the water. Jimmie stopped and looked, drawing his weapon--therazor-pointed steel bar--to the front as he did so. Then he feltsomething close about an ankle and draw him down. A serpent's headshowed on a level with his shoulder.
CHAPTER XII
JACK MAKES A DISCOVERY