THE MARK OF THE ROVER’S KEEL.
Kane remained like a statue in his chair, staring at the detective. The
suggestions thrown out by Nick Carter concerning Count Cadillac paralyzed
him, so to speak. He was appalled by it, and—he could not bring himself
to the belief that there was anything in it more than that strange
circumstance which he had described in the beginning as circumstance. And
yet, all the while, he was forced to admit to himself that there were
suspicious circumstances.
Suddenly, without a word of his intention, but being already garbed in
his bathing-suit, he kicked off the sandals he wore, leaped to his feet,
reached the side of the yacht with one bound, and dived into the water.
Just as he poised on the rail, he shouted to the detective to “come
on,” and so he had scarcely disappeared in the water before Nick was
after him. But when Nick Carter dived he did not come immediately to the
surface, as did Maxwell Kane. The moment he was underneath the surface he
turned toward the bow of the yacht, and, continuing under the water, he
passed under the vessel’s bow to the port side before coming to the top
again for air.
After a moment he heard Kane calling, and, not wishing to frighten his
host, he answered.
“Come along forward, Max,” he called. “I have a suggestion to make.”
“Well, what is it?” asked Kane, when he appeared.
“As nearly as I can determine from the description you have given me,
the yacht is lying in relatively the same position she occupied when the
pirate came aboard of her, is she not? Isn’t she headed about the same?”
“I should say that she could not be put more exactly in the same spot,”
replied Max.
“In that case,” said Nick, pointing with his finger, “the pirate craft
should have been lying about yonder—so, while Captain Sparkle was giving
you his original impersonation of _Hamlet_.”
“Yes; her bow must have been about yonder, and her stern out
there”—indicating with gestures the positions he described.
“And when Sparkle and his men went over the side from the yacht to their
own craft, where is the point where they did that?”
“Right here—directly over our heads.”
“When the pirate craft left you, she must have gone in that direction,”
continued the detective, pointing toward the Sound.
“Yes, that is about it.”
“All right. Thank you.”
Nick had been clinging to the bowsprit-stay while he was talking; but
now, without more remarks, he released his hold upon it and permitted
himself to sink slowly into the depths.
Kane happened to be looking away from him at that moment, and he
continued, through several sentences, his description of how the pirate
had sailed out of the harbor into the open Sound, where she had finally
disappeared. Perceiving, presently, that his description was not received
with the enthusiasm he had a right to expect, he turned his head, and for
the first time discovered that the detective was no longer there.
Kane was a strong swimmer, but was not overfond of diving, and so,
instead of pursuing the detective, who he expected had merely gone under
the vessel in order to reach the other side, he swam away lustily toward
the stern, and climbed upon the deck again, where he seated himself under
the shade of the awning.
But Nick Carter had not permitted himself to sink beneath the water
merely for the purpose of disappearing in order to reappear again at
another spot. In fact, his request for the bathing-suit, and for the
opportunity to use it, had been with a well-defined motive other than the
mere pleasure to be derived from a dip in the sea.
The detective really wished to examine the bottom of the cove. The idea
did not occur to him because he believed that he would discover any
suggestive trace of the pirate down there, but he put the thought into
words because it was his professional habit never to neglect even the
most trivial and apparently unimportant item from his investigations.
The idea of examining the bottom of the Sound for traces of a vessel
which had passed over that spot would be absurdly ludicrous; but, all
the same, there was one idea which had been suggested to Nick by the
description Kane had given him of the pirate craft, and he believed it
to be more than possible that there might be an indication of the fact—if
it were a fact—to be found at the bottom, not far from the buoy to which
the yacht was moored.
It will be remembered that he asked Kane if he thought the pirate craft
was a submarine, and it must be recorded that, notwithstanding the reply
he received, he thought it more than probable that the silent approach of
the vessel had been accomplished in that way.
Nick knew that the bottom of that cove was soft, and largely composed of
clay, especially at points where it attained as great a depth as that
where the yacht was moored.
Clay is impressionable. It will receive and hold the shape of an article
which rests upon it a considerable time, and the detective argued that if
the _Shadow_, as she was called, had at any moment rested upon the bottom
at that particular point, she would have left her mark there. That she
was a submarine, or at least was capable of diving beneath the surface
and remaining there for some time, he had not a doubt. The very fact that
she had approached the _Goalong_ so silently that her proximity was not
suspected was sufficiently satisfactory of that idea to him.
The water was, fortunately, unusually clear, and Nick had no difficulty
in examining the bottom almost at his leisure. When he came to the
surface again, and climbed up on the deck to a seat beside his friend, he
remarked:
“Well, Max, it is as I thought. Your pirate craft is some sort of a
submarine.”
“Is she? How do you know that? Have you seen her?”
“Well, not exactly.”
“I didn’t know but that was why you stayed under water so long. I thought
maybe you had gone after her.”
“Well, you weren’t far wrong, at that. I figured that if she could dive,
that was pretty nearly the explanation of how she approached you so
silently, and, following up that idea, I decided that if she did dive,
she must have left a mark of some kind on the bottom not far from that
buoy.”
“And you found one, eh?”
“Yes, I found one.”
“What was it?”
“Merely the impression of her keel in the clay at the bottom.”
“And I suppose that from that impression, which would mean nothing at
all to me, you have read enough facts about the pirate to fill quite a
respectable book, eh?”
Nick laughed.
“No, Max,” he said. “For once you are wrong, and for once I did not
find anything more than you would have discovered had you gone there in
my place. All I know from what I saw there is that a vessel’s keel has
rested on the bottom within the last twenty-four hours. I could tell, of
course, approximately, her length, and from that could make a good guess
at her breadth of beam, but you have already done that for me. Now, old
chap, let’s get into our clothes.”
Fifteen minutes later, they were reclothed and seated again in their
favorite chairs under the awning.
“And now, Nick, what next?” asked Kane.
“First, tell me what yacht is that one, heading in here toward the
anchorage?” replied Nick, pointing over Kane’s shoulder.
“Oh, that? She is Burton’s auxiliary, the _Harkaway_,” replied Kane.
“There will be half a dozen more of them in here before sundown. There is
a regular meeting of the club to-night, and I shouldn’t wonder if there
would be a score or more of yachts in here between now and midnight.”
“If the pirate only knew that, it might prove to be a harvest for him,
don’t you think?” asked Nick.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. There would be too many of them for him,
wouldn’t there?”
“Not if he is a submarine, and he is one. And say, Max, that thought
suggests a question.”
“What is it?”
“Does the count happen to know about that meeting?”
“What meeting? Oh, you mean the club meeting?”
“Certainly. You just referred to it.”
“Why, yes. I suppose he knows about it. He has heard me say that I wished
to be at the meeting to-night.”
“So he also knows that there will be a lot of craft at this anchorage
to-night, and that the owners and guests from them, almost to an
individual, will be ashore at the club-house, doesn’t he?”
“I have never regarded him as a fool, Nick, and he would have to be
pretty near one if he didn’t know that.”
“And I suppose, Max, that you are looking forward to creating a sensation
when you tell the bunch about how you were boarded by a pirate and robbed
like a gentleman, eh?”
“Why, yes——”
“It is too bad to take that privilege from you, old man, but I really
wish you would say nothing whatever about it, and that you would caution
your wife and guests to observe the same silence. I will only hold you to
that for to-night. To-morrow you can tell the whole world about it if you
like.”
“But why so mighty secret about it to-night, Nick?”
“Because, Max, I expect that the pirate will make another call on the
fleet to-night. It would be a splendid time for him to come; and if he
happens to have any idea of putting in an appearance, I would rather not
have the whole bunch of owners and their friends rush to their vessels
from the club-house, after hearing your story, just in time to spoil the
pirate’s plans. I would rather he’d have the coast clear for to-night, if
he does intend to come, and if you yapped about the business the scene
might be spoiled.”