THE TREASURE RECLAIMED
Just then one of the trio stirred at the table and Jay drew back
hurriedly lest his presence be noted. At the same time the Brighton lad
heard the guard moving on the other side of the ship. It was time to
get out of here. And why not? He had seen enough to acquaint him with
the fact that whoever these men were aboard this palatial craft, they
were pirates bold who had filched from the _Dominion_ some of her gold
bullion.
The lad hesitated not a moment, but quickly ran back over the deck to
the rope ladder and as deftly lowered over the side. He had come aboard
all unsuspected and undetected. Now he would hasten back to the _Jules
Verne_ and tell Captain Austin all that he had seen. It would be up to
the chief officer of the salvage ship to say what next should be done.
"They must not get away at all hazards," Jay told himself. He hated to
go, for his own disposition was to confront these chaps and demand of
them by what right they had helped themselves to the gold that reposed
here in American waters where only qualified agents could search it
out. But that, of course, would have been foolhardy. The only thing to
do was to get back to the _Jules Verne_ and report his find.
The trip back was as easily negotiated as the trip over. The distance
was short, not more than two hundred yards at most, and the athletic
diver found himself still strong and sturdy as he came alongside the
_Jules Verne_. A low soft whistle brought Dick to the rail in a hurry.
"That you, Jay?" came the friendly challenge. To which Jay replied
affirmatively, and was quickly drawn aboard by the eager hands of his
friends.
"What luck?" asked Captain Austin, who came up on the _qui vive_.
Jay motioned them all into his stateroom and there, while Dick and
Larry rubbed him down and helped him into his clothes, Jay told the
whole story as rapidly as he could. Captain Austin, Dick, Larry and
Jay--these composed the group--with the addition of Fismes, who was
snoring in one corner. Wide-eyed, they sat hearing the whole narrative.
Patiently they heard him through.
"Did you recognize any of them at all?" asked Captain Austin.
"No, not one, except that one looked familiar," replied Jay. And then,
in explicit detail, he told of him who seemed to be the leader of the
trio in the cabin, who sat with his back turned.
"I could not get a look at his face, but he looked familiar to me and
I've been trying to place him in my memory," added the youth.
After deliberating for a time Captain Austin decided to get in touch
with the revenue cutter _Marblehead_ and tell them the whole story. If
the pirates decided to slip away in the night the slow-going _Jules
Verne_ with her diving bell, the _Nautilus_, could not pursue. But the
fast little revenue cutter could overhaul them in a hurry.
Consequently, Larry Seymour repaired at once to the wireless room and
in a few minutes was telling the whole story to the _Marblehead_.
For some time the wireless spat its messages into the ether and then
subsided as its receiver got busy. Larry was transcribing the messages.
"Captain Fowler, of the _Marblehead_, says he will move up closer to
us," said Larry. "He wants us to keep a sharp lookout during the night
and apprise them of the slightest movement aboard the pirate ship. If
they move at all the _Marblehead_ will charge down upon them. Captain
Fowler proposes to go aboard at daybreak and find out who they are and
by what authority they come taking the gold from the _Dominion_."
"Tell him O. K. and to keep his wireless receiver constantly on the
alert," replied Captain Austin.
In the meantime extra precautions were taken to guard the pirates. An
additional guard was posted and both the powerful searchlight and the
machine gun on the bridge of the _Jules Verne_ were inspected to see
that they were in prime condition.
Captain Austin told Jay and Dick to turn in; that he would call them
on the slightest provocation that their services were needed. Jay,
although a bit fatigued by his swim, was for remaining up, but listened
to the counsel of his chum, and together they withdrew to their
stateroom.
"Might as well rest a bit, for there is bound to be some excitement in
the morning," advised Dick.
So they repaired to the quiet of their own stateroom and with light
extinguished lay in their bunks enjoying the cool night air that was
such a relief after the heat of the day. From the corner came the
gentle snores of Fismes, who was curled up fast asleep and entirely
oblivious of the stirring events the morrow might hold for his masters.
And pretty soon Jay and Dick, who had talked for a long time there in
the darkness of their quarters fronting on the water about amidships,
lapsed into slumber.
* * * * *
It was Dick who was first roused by a slight noise outside the
stateroom. Was he dreaming, or had he heard a slight movement? The
youth stirred and raised himself on one elbow. Did he imagine it, or
was that the figure of a man--a head silhouetted through the stateroom
window against the starry sky background? He was minded on the moment
to cry out, demanding who was there. But he kept silence.
Reaching quietly under his pillow he was a bit dismayed to find his
revolver not there where he expected it. Then he remembered; he had
left it on the table. But he could not reach it without getting out of
his bunk. Jay was still asleep.
How about Fismes? Funny the dog wouldn't be awake if some one was
there. Dick listened but could hear no gentle snore that would indicate
the dog was there as usual. Possibly Fismes had gone out on deck or
below. The animal would prowl about at times.
Just then there was a slight stir again at the window. This time
there was no mistake--some one was there. What Dick had thought was a
head moved slightly. And then through the open door of the stateroom
appeared in firm outline the form of a man--a huge hulk of a figure!
And then Dick did a funny thing. The best course was to have kept
silence until the figure moved on. Then the Brighton youth could have
slipped out of bed, grabbed his revolver and followed on. But he was
not sure in his drowsy condition whether it was really a man, and
whether it was friend or enemy. It might be only the guard on patrol.
At any rate, Dick sat up in bed, reached for the electric light and
snapped on the light. Instantly the intruder, who had been going by the
door, swung on his heel and thrust a revolver through the open door.
"Not a word, or I'll blow your brains out," snapped the visitor.
Awakening with a start, Jay jumped up in bed. The newcomer at once
swung his revolver to cover him.
"Throw up your hands, and don't say a word," came the command. "If
either of you speak, it means death. Not only to you, but to everybody
on board. One sound and I'll blow this"--he indicated a whistle tied
around his neck on a cord. "Your old boat is well covered from the
little ship over yonder. We can blow you out of the water with one
little broadside and the world will never know what became of you."
"Who are you?" demanded Jay as he sat on the edge of his bunk with both
hands up. The youth was thinking rapidly. What could he do, though, in
the face of that ugly looking revolver?
"Never mind who I am," came the reply. "Your game is up. We have
cleaned out the _Dominion_ of all her gold. Our ship is on the move
now. You will never know us nor catch up to us. A little swim for me
and then into a fast motor launch that will take me safely aboard my
own ship. Do you get me? The jig is up. You have come too late. The
_Dominion_ has been cleaned as clean as a whistle. Haw! Haw!"
He laughed softly. That laugh! Where had Jay and Dick heard it before?
Somewhere--this man----
They were both stirred by a quick command from their visitor.
"I'll trouble you for the key to your stateroom," he was saying. "I'll
have to lock you both in until I get safely away. Come across, quick."
Jay was inclined to parley, hoping to engage the fellow until help came.
"Don't imagine it is so soft for you," he sneered. "Just off the cove
here lies a U. S. revenue cutter. They know all about you. I was aboard
you myself to-night and saw you getting your treasure together in the
cabin. We are equipped with wireless and we have the revenue cutter
_Marblehead_ right outside here waiting for you. You'll never get away."
The muscles of the intruder's face contracted at that, and his eyes
bulged a bit at Jay's startling declaration. And then his finger sought
the trigger of the revolver.
"If it were not for stirring up a fuss I'd plug you both full of lead
before I leave," hissed the figure in the doorway. "As it is, you'll
either give me the key to your stateroom immediately or I'll shoot you
both and then take my chances on getting away. Come along smart now or
I'll bore you both through with this shooter."
And he took a new grip on the revolver as he stepped menacingly forward.
But just then came an ominous growl on deck just outside the stateroom.
It disconcerted the intruder for a second and he turned his head
slightly as there came another growl. In that instant Dick leaped for
his own revolver as the lean figure of a stalwart hound dog leaped
through the air, launched fully and fairly upon the giant in the
doorway.
"Fismes!" yelled Jay. "Get him! Get him!"
It needed no direction to tell this dog what to do. With a malignant
howl of hatred the huge war dog dove for the body of the visitor and
sank his teeth in the flesh of the thigh. Bang! went the revolver, but
taken off his balance by the unexpected flank attack, the intruder
shot harmlessly over the head of the boys in the stateroom. At the
same moment Jay hurled himself in a flying tackle just as he had flung
himself at many a foe on the gridiron at Brighton.
Down went the pirate leader. Jay's lightning-like tackle cut both feet
from under him. Before he could shoot again Dick leaped upon him and
wrested the revolver from his hand. Against the infuriated dog and
the combined attack of two such sturdy youths as Jay Thacker and Dick
Monaghan he was outclassed. The struggle was short and in the end the
prowling visitor lay panting and helpless.
Outside came the tramp of many feet and then the face of Captain
Austin, Larry Seymour and others of the crew who had heard the shot and
had been attracted by the commotion.
"What have we here?" demanded Austin heatedly as he bent over the
confused mass of dog and men. It took only a glance to show what had
happened. Some one had come slyly aboard the _Jules Verne_ and had been
trapped in the stateroom of the Brighton boys.
Jay and Dick struggled to their feet, relaxing their hold now that
help had arrived in overwhelming numbers. But not so the dog. Fismes
held on as though his life depended on it. With difficulty his masters
succeeded in getting him to let go the figure on the floor.
"Quick, captain," shouted Jay. "The pirate ship over there is making
ready to get away. This chap came aboard here to see who we were and
to pay his compliments with a bomb before he left. Quick! notify the
_Marblehead_."
Like a flash Larry was away to the wireless to call the revenue cutter.
Order followed order as other members of the crew sprang to the
searchlight and turned its blazing rays on the pirate craft. Others
manned the machine gun and stood by awaiting the order to fire in case
the ship so close by attempted to move.
"Zzz-t-t-ttt!" the wireless snapped out its radio call. Then the key
was closed awaiting the answer.
"_Marblehead_ half a mile away only," reported Larry as he came dashing
back to the stateroom. "She has seen our light and knows right where
we are. She has two boatloads of armed men on the way now to take the
pirates in tow."
The figure on the floor stirred uneasily, torn between the hurt of the
wound where the dog had sunk his sharp teeth into the flesh and the
despair of knowing that the game was all up.
"Get up until we can take a look at you," commanded Captain Austin as
he turned to the prisoner.
Slowly the latter struggled to his feet. All eyes were on him. Who was
he?
Captain Austin turned the fellow with his face full to the light. He
moved closer and gazed intently for a moment.
"Don't think you can fool me, you rascal. Don't think I can't see
through that disguise. You have grown beard and moustache since last we
saw you. But I know you; and so do these boys. Take a good look at him,
fellows--don't you recognize him?"
"Carl Weddigen!" gasped the boys almost in unison.
"Just who he is!" affirmed Captain Austin. "And believe me, he'll not
get away this time."
They were fastening handcuffs on the prisoner when the sound of rifle
fire across the water indicated the men of the revenue cutter were
boarding the pirate.