TWO MYSTERIOUS CHANGES
"Hey, you!" shouted Jimmie, dashing across the street in the direction of
the queer outfit. "Come here! I want to see you!"
The pseudo milk vendor gave a quick glance at the approaching boy. A
street lamp cast a flickering glare upon the automatic which Jimmie had
drawn from his pocket. Without waiting to explain or ask questions the
person addressed deserted the dog team instantly.
With but a single look over its shoulder the figure darted toward a
building at the head of the quay. Boots clattered on the pavement, while
the long stride clearly indicated to the boys that Jimmie and Jack had
been correct in their surmise that the garb of a woman milk vendor had
been assumed as a disguise.
Although Jimmie's speed was great, the lad's sprint was not sufficient to
permit him to overtake his quarry.
"He'll never make it!" declared Jack, tugging away at his own automatic
and preparing to follow his comrade.
"Come on, fellows, let's get a move on!" suggested Harry. "That fellow
will just about get into a corner somewhere and knock Jimmie over the
head. He's capable of worse than that, I believe!"
All three lads hastened after the fleeing figure of their red-headed chum
and the one whom he was pursuing.
An open door in the building indicated that the race had turned in that
direction. Producing an electric searchlight Ned urged caution. Directly
the lads heard the sound of a falling body. This was at once followed by
an exclamation of surprise and disgust. They recognized the tones as
those of their companion.
"Are you there, Jimmie?" called Ned, swinging the beam from his
searchlight about the interior, lighting up a collection of merchandise
piled in the warehouse. Jimmie was nowhere to be seen.
"Where could he have gone so suddenly?" queried Harry.
"Maybe Mackinder hit him over the head!" ventured Jack.
"Mackinder better be careful how he monkeys with this crew!" was Harry's
belligerent comment. "Maybe that guy'll get all that's coming to him and
get it right in the neck!"
For a moment the boys stood listening intently for some indication of the
presence of their comrade. Once Ned thought he heard a soft footfall. He
put out his hand to touch Jack on the arm.
"Ss-s-sh!" he hissed. "What was that?"
"Rat, maybe!" suggested Jack. "Turn your searchlight this way a minute. I
want to see where this passage leads."
Ned swung the searchlight in the direction indicated. Its lance of flame
pierced the gloom, revealing tiers of boxes and piles of bags and bales
heaped up in orderly array. Sufficient space had been left between the
heaps of merchandise to provide passageway.
"Come on," cried Jack, "we're losing time standing here!"
Scarcely had the boy uttered the words ere an object came hurtling
through the air. It struck the searchlight fairly upon the lens. There
was a quick cry of distress from Ned, a rattle of broken glass, the
tinkle of the falling searchlight. For a moment complete silence reigned.
The next instant there was a rush of a heavy body.
Taken by surprise the boys were not prepared for the onslaught. They went
down like ten pins. Harry received a blow on the jaw that nearly put him
out for the count. Jack declared afterwards that his stomach would never
cease aching from the punch that landed there.
Ned had been bringing up the rear of the little party, hence suffered
least. He felt about quickly for the searchlight as he lay on the floor.
Before he could recover it the boys heard the outer door slam and knew
that someone had passed out of the building after the sudden attack. Who
it might have been they could only conjecture.
"Oh, my poor jaw!" groaned Harry. "I'm knocked out!"
"No, you're not!" protested Ned. "That only shook you up!"
"Sure!" agreed Jack. "Shook us all up so we'll get a little more 'pep'.
Let's hurry up and follow that guy!"
"Wait a minute," objected Ned. "We want to find Jimmie first!"
"Right-O!" agreed Harry. "I think my jaw is better now. Where are we
going, anyway? Do you suppose that was Jimmie that floored us just now?
Maybe he thought Mackinder had pals coming in!"
"I don't believe it," stated Ned. "Jimmie must have known that Mackinder
was alone with the milk wagon. He also knew that we would follow him
here. Possibly the lad is farther along in the warehouse, lost amongst
this merchandise. That must have been Mackinder!"
"You're right, Ned!" declared Jack. "He probably misled Jimmie in here
and then dashed out as we came in!"
"But where is Jimmie now?" queried Harry. "I don't hear him!"
"Oh, Jimmie!" called Ned in a loud tone.
To this hail there was no answer. Complete silence reigned.
"That's mighty funny!" puzzled Harry. "Get your searchlight and let's
hunt him up. He can't have gotten far away."
A short search by all three boys resulted in the recovery of the
searchlight. Beyond the damaged lens the instrument had suffered no
injury. It was still serviceable and cast a strong beam of light.
By its aid the lads followed the passage, stepping rapidly forward. They
were becoming alarmed over the failure of their chum to respond to their
calls. All feared that Mackinder might have done the lad harm.
Momentarily their anxiety increased.
"Here's a side passage!" declared Harry, who brought up the rear of the
little procession. "Where does this go?"
"Wait a minute with that searchlight, Ned!" called Jack, who followed Ned
closely. "Throw it back here a minute for Harry!"
Before the light could be brought into service Harry had taken a step
into the passage he had just discovered. A sharp cry of surprise brought
Jack and Ned to his side in an instant.
The lads saw Harry bending over the form of their missing chum. Jimmie
lay in a heap, blocking the passageway.
Fearful that their first suspicions had been correct, the boys scarcely
dared investigate. Jack began growling out uncomplimentary remarks
concerning Mackinder. Ned quickly forced his way to Harry's side.
"Here, let me see him!" Ned cried, throwing the flame of his searchlight
on the recumbent form. "Why, he's all huddled up!"
"All in a bunch!" agreed Harry. "I wonder if he's hurt!"
"Roll him over," directed Ned. "Let's get him out of here!"
"Why, he's tied!" cried Harry, in a startled voice.
"Tied?" questioned Jack, pushing forward. "Who tied him?"
"And gagged!" went on Harry, his voice vibrating with indignation.
"Mackinder will pay for this!" the lad continued. "We'll get him!"
Without the loss of a moment Harry was swiftly relieving Jimmie of the
object which prevented speech. A small block of wood had been forced
between Jimmie's teeth. This had been secured in place by tying a
handkerchief over his face. The gag had been extremely effective, even
though it was uncomfortable and crude.
As the gag was removed Jimmie wagged his jaw a few times to relieve the
strained muscles. He nodded his appreciation.
"How are you feeling, Jimmie?" was Ned's solicitous inquiry.
"All right," replied the lad. "Untie my hands, will you?"
"Gee, but you're an artist, Jimmie!" cried Jack. "We'll get you a job as
'Tricko, The Handcuff King'! I want to say right now," the boy went on in
mock seriousness, "there are very few people who can tie themselves up so
completely and so quickly as this job has been done!"
"You win the argument!" decided Jimmie, ironically. "If I get my tutor
where I can lay hands on him I'll show him a trick or two that wasn't in
the first chapter. He's in for some instruction all right!"
"What happened, Jimmie?" asked Ned, carefully passing his knife through
the bonds that confined the other's hands and feet.
"Well, when I came slamming along into the warehouse I was only a few
feet behind the milk maid!" began Jimmie. "I at once crept in on tiptoe,
because I reasoned that he would be slugging along, making considerable
noise. I didn't know that there were goods in here.
"I couldn't see him anywhere. From that I concluded that he had either
stopped or had taken to tiptoeing, too. I had my 'gat' ready and started
in. I felt along the bales and boxes a ways. Just as I heard you fellows
come into the door something tripped me and down I went.
"Before I could say a word he had shoved that thing into my mouth, pulled
a handkerchief out of my pocket, tied it around my face and then tied my
hands together under my knees. Say," the lad continued earnestly, "that
guy never got his knowledge out of a correspondence course! He's been
there and helped skin 'em! He's smooth!"
"Where's your automatic?" asked Harry.
"I don't know," replied Jimmie. "Let's have the bug a minute. I'm sure I
heard it fall, but I can't say whether Mackinder got it or not!"
"Mackinder?" questioned Ned. "How do you know it was he?"
"Because as he was tying my hands together I had a chance to feel of the
back of his right hand. I could feel the scar as plainly as could be. It
was the same scar I saw before he started to run and the same scar I saw
when the 'U-13' package was pinched!"
"I'd like to take a poke at him just for luck!" declared Jack.
"I don't know about that," stated Jimmie. "I can't help but admire a
fellow as capable as he is. He tied me up so quickly and cleverly and yet
so effectively. I'd like to take lessons of him!"
"Here's your gun!" joyously announced Harry. "And here's the milkmaid's
dress he shed in here after he trussed you up."
"Now, then," began Ned, as the party was again complete and ready for
action, "let's get out of here and get our baggage."
"Let's get Mackinder first," proposed Jack.
"I vote 'No' on that question, Mr. Chairman!" declared Jimmie.
"Why?" questioned Jack, with surprise. "What's the matter?"
"Well, there are several matters!" declared Jimmie. "I don't feel that
we'd gain anything by chasing him. The 'U-13' package is not in our
possession and he knows it. Besides, he's a clever guy and we might get
the worst of it if we step out of our way to go after him."
"I agree with Jimmie," announced Ned. "Let's get aboard the Lena Garlic
and get started on our way as soon as possible."
"You mean Lena Knobloch!" corrected Harry.
"It's the same thing!" declared Ned. "Knobloch means garlic!"
"All right, then, let's get going!" agreed Jack.
The boys lost little time in proceeding to their hotel, where they went
directly to their room. Here a scene of confusion awaited them. Their
possessions lay scattered around in disorder.
"Well, Great Frozen Hot Boxes!" cried Jimmie. "What's this?"
"Mackinder and Norton again, I'll bet my head!" said Jack.
"Weren't satisfied with their first search," agreed Jimmie.
"Came back here and went through everything. Then I'll bet Mackinder
grabbed that milk cart and dogs, slipped on an old lady's dress and
chased down to the dock to see if he could stop us!" put in Jack. "When
he found we were armed he just cut it and ran away!"
"Boys, we will do well to pack up and get aboard that vessel as quickly
as possible!" declared Ned. "Through a mistake we're under suspicion, and
it won't pay us to remain here another minute!"
Replacing their belongings in the bags with skill and despatch the lads
were soon ready. They at once proceeded to the dock.
Tramping aboard they proceeded to the cabin at the after end of the
vessel. Entering they discovered Captain von Kluck seated at the little
table. Before him was a bottle and a glass.
"Well, Captain," began Ned, "we're here and ready to go!"
"So-o-o?" queried von Kluck. "Vhell, if you're reatty to go, vhy go! But
you don'd go on dis schip. Vhe don'd carry bassengers!"