UNDER SUSPICION
Although every one tried to put the best face on the matter, afterwards
more than one of the boys frankly confessed that his heart was beating
furiously during that time when waiting for the speed boat to come up.
They were in a strange land, it must be remembered, and the habits of
the Magyars were unfamiliar to them. More than this, war had just been
declared, which was sure to mean that Austria-Hungary would be at
handgrips with not only Serbia on the south, but great Russia as well.
They gathered at the stern of the boat and awaited whatever fate had in
store for them. Josh was so much afraid even then that George might be
tempted to try his American German on the Hungarian officers that he
immediately made a suggestion.
“Remember, now, everybody keep still but Jack. That’s meant for you,
Buster, as well as George here. The rest of us are apt to get excited
and do our case more harm than good if we butt in.”
“I’m as mum as an oyster, Josh,” said Buster readily.
“How about you, George?” demanded the other sternly.
“Oh, I’ll promise all right,” mumbled George, shaking his head; “but all
the same, I do it under protest. You don’t know what you may be missing
when you put the muzzle on a fellow that way. But I’m used to being sat
on, and I guess I can stand for it again.”
Jack himself was pleased to hear Josh settle this. He had feared that
George, who could make himself more or less of a busybody when he chose,
might break in when the negotiations were well under way and possibly
spoil the whole business.
But they would at least soon know the worst, for the other boat was
coming on at great speed and about to draw alongside.
The man at the wheel knew his part of the business perfectly, for when
the craft came together the bump was hardly noticeable.
There were just three of the Hungarian officers, all of them dressed
in their attractive uniforms, with little capes hanging from their
shoulders and their lower limbs encased in shiny boots with tassels.
Indeed, Buster just stared at them in sheer admiration, for he thought
he had never in all his life looked upon such handsome soldiers.
Apparently the tall one must have been the superior of the trio, for he
took it upon himself to do the talking.
All of them were looking curiously at the four lads. They evidently
hardly knew what to make of them, for, while outwardly Jack and his
chums had the appearance of harmless young chaps off for a holiday,
nevertheless in such dark times as now hung over the Fatherland it was
not well to be too easily deceived. Spies must be abroad, under many
disguises; and if so, why not playing the part of innocent tourists, was
no doubt the question uppermost in each of their minds.
Then the tall officer said something. His voice was filled with authority
and his face frowning, but of course none of the boys could understand a
word he uttered, for the Magyar tongue was a sealed book to them.
They could, of course, give a pretty good guess that he was asking who
they were and what they might be doing there. George sighed as though it
nearly broke his ardent heart to be deprived of this golden opportunity
to air some of his German. He had perhaps managed to remember certain
words that would serve to partly explain the situation; but a savage
nudge from Josh caused him to shut his teeth fiercely together and get a
fresh grip on himself.
Then Jack tried an experiment.
“We do not understand what you say, because none of us can speak the
language. We only know English. We would be glad to explain everything
if you could understand what we tell you.”
The tall man listened attentively and then immediately turned to his
comrades to say something to them. It was just as if he remarked,
“Didn’t I tell you they must be English?” for Jack caught the concluding
word.
Then, turning again to them, the officer went on:
“Certainly we can speak English as well as is necessary. We have many
tourists in our country each summer. I myself have a number of very good
friends among the English, though when we meet again it may be as bitter
enemies.”
Jack saw that there need be no further trouble in explaining matters. He
felt decidedly relieved over the sudden change in the situation. Only
George frowned, for possibly he had been entertaining a forlorn hope
that in the end Jack might have to call on him to save the day, and now
he knew that chance was doomed.
“I am glad you can understand what I want to tell you,” Jack proceeded.
“In the first place, we are not English at all, but from America.”
Again the three Hungarians exchanged significant looks. Evidently they
did not know whether to believe the assertion or not.
“We have great regard for America,” the tall man went on to say, “for
many of our countrymen are there, making an honest living and helping to
support their kin on this side of the water. Of course, then, you can
show us your passports?”
“Certainly, sir, and with pleasure,” responded Jack.
His words served as the signal to the others. Every fellow immediately
hastened to dive into his breast pocket and produce the necessary paper,
which was always kept in an especially safe place for fear of trouble in
case of its being lost.
The officer took the sheaf of papers and proceeded to critically examine
the passports, as though looking for signs of fraud. Buster watched him
anxiously. He had heard that when war came upon a country all ordinary
protection for tourists is annulled, and even passports may not be
worth the paper they are written on.
Greatly to Buster’s relief he saw that the tall officer did not look at
them so ferociously after he had scanned the papers, which he now handed
back to Jack in a bunch.
“They seem to be perfectly correct, so far as I can see,” he proceeded
to say; “but perhaps you would not mind explaining what your object is
in coming down the Danube in this powerboat?”
“I’ll be only too glad to do that, sir,” Jack announced, with one of his
winning smiles that always caused people to feel kindly toward him.
“Over in our own country we have three motorboats, with which six of us
in times past have made many exciting cruises along the great rivers,
and the coast as well.”
The officer nodded his head, while his face lighted up. Evidently he
could appreciate the love for adventure that induced these healthy
specimens of boyhood to want to be in the open air all they could.
Perhaps whenever he had the chance for an outing he might have been
found off in the mountains, hunting the wild boar, or it might be in
pursuit of the nimble chamois.
“When we had a chance to come to Europe this summer,” continued Jack,
“we decided that the thing we would like best of all would be a long
trip down the beautiful blue Danube. I had just been reading an account
of a cruise taken by an Englishman from near the source down to the
Black Sea. While we couldn’t spare the time for all that, we could come
to Vienna, find where a suitable boat could be chartered half-way to
Budapest, and make our start there. And, sir, that is what we have done.
We are now just two days on the way.”
“I admire your courage, as well as your choice of the Danube for your
trip. Many a voyage have I taken on its waters when I was younger. But
how long have you been at Budapest, may I ask?”
Jack knew that there was only one way to treat such a questioner, and
that was by being perfectly frank with him.
“We only arrived late yesterday afternoon, to tell the truth, sir,” he
admitted.
“But how comes it you are leaving so early the next morning?” asked
the officer, with a little fresh suspicion in his manner. “We have a
most beautiful and renowned city here, and travelers usually find it
difficult to tear themselves away from it, even after a stay of days.
You seem to have been in a great hurry.”
“We own up that we are, sir,” continued Jack. “You see, the first thing
I did on arriving was to hasten to the postoffice for our letters from
home. It was then that I realized the city was in a feverish state of
excitement. I suspected what must have happened, for we heard rumors
when above. I managed to learn that war had been declared by Germany on
Russia, which would mean for Austria-Hungary, too. And after we had
talked it all over we decided that it would be best for us not to waste
any time here, but hurry along our way.”
“Would you mind showing me those letters?” asked the officer.
“With the greatest of pleasure, sir,” Jack told him. “Boys, hand him the
last ones you received, please.”
The other took them as they were thrust out. He examined the postmarks
as if making sure of the dates, and also read each name in turn. Then he
deliberately opened that belonging to Jack and seemed to be glancing
over it, though the boy felt rather surprised to see him do this.
Still, it was good to find the officer nodding his head as he gleaned
something of the contents. At least he could see it was genuine, and
that counted for a good deal.
“I am quite satisfied now that you are just what you claim to
be--tourists, who have no connection with our enemies, or those who in
a short time we must look on as such. You are wondering, no doubt, why I
went so far as to pry into the contents of your letter from home, and I
believe an explanation is due. To tell the truth, we rested under the
belief that you were four desperate young Serbian youths, who were
said to be on their way up the Danube bound for Vienna, with the mad
intention of trying to assassinate our good kaiser, Francis Joseph, just
as the Austrian heir apparent to the throne was killed not long ago.”
Buster could not keep from giving a little gasp at hearing this. Really
never before, so far as he knew, had he been taken for a desperado. He
did not know whether to be ashamed or flattered. It would be something
with which to thrill those boy comrades at home, if ever they were lucky
enough to get safely back again.
“That would be a serious charge against us, I am sure,” said Jack; “but
it pleases us to know that you are now convinced we are not what you
thought. Seeing four strangers in a boat, and all young at that, of
course made you suspicious.”
“The fact that you were headed down-stream puzzled us considerably,”
continued the officer, apparently willing to explain things in order to
prove that he and his comrades were only doing their duty; “but we
figured that something may have caused a change in plans, perhaps the
breaking out of war, and that the four desperate Serbians were on the
way back to their native land.”
“After all, we should not be sorry for what has happened,” diplomatic
Jack went on to say, “since it has given us the pleasure of meeting
three such excellent gentlemen. I hope, though, there need be no
necessity for causing us to alter our plans, since our hearts are set
on finishing the voyage, and we will never have the opportunity for
visiting your great country again.”
Every one of them held his breath while waiting for the officer to make
a reply to this question. He looked around at the half circle of anxious
faces and smiled indulgently. No doubt just then he put himself in their
place and tried to realize how much it might mean to be simply let
alone.
“I do not mean to demand that you turn back,” he finally told Jack, “for
that would really be exceeding my authority; but I would feel that I had
not done my full duty if I did not warn you of the perils you will
likely encounter below here. By the time you reach the Serbian border it
is more than likely there will be desperate fighting going on between
Hungarians and Serbians, for they are ready to-day to fly at one
another’s throat. You will find yourselves in great danger before you
can pass the Iron Gate and enter Rumania.”
Jack only smiled reassuringly at him.
“Thank you many times, sir, for taking enough interest in us to give
that kind warning,” he remarked warmly; “but we have passed through some
pretty lively adventures in the past and always managed to come out
safely. We will try and be careful how we act when the time comes; and
once past the Serbian border along the Danube we need fear little else.”
“Well, I admire your boldness, while at the same time I fear you may be
making a mistake. We will wish you a pleasant trip, and that you reach
your goal in safety. What are your plans after arriving at the sea, may
I ask?”
“We have arranged to send the boat back to the owner at our expense,”
explained Jack. “Then we will find some way of getting to Constantinople,
where we hope to remain a short time, looking around. From there we go to
Italy, and then back to London to sail for home about October fifteenth.”
“Ah! what wonderful things may happen in those ten weeks!” remarked the
officer, as though he might be trying to lift the veil that hid the
future. “History will be in the making, I fear, and all Europe be torn
up with the war clouds. But better so than the armed peace that has
existed so long. A storm is necessary once in so often to clear the
atmosphere which has become murky.”
He thrust out his hand to Jack, who gladly seized it.
“May the best of luck follow you all the way, is the wish of myself and
my comrades here,” the tall officer told them as in turn he pressed each
boy’s hand, in which genial undertaking he was followed by the other
pair, who, although taking no part in all the talking, had been earnest
listeners.
Then the speed boat backed away, made a sweeping turn, and was soon
heading up the Danube again. The boys waved their hats to the three
gaily dressed Hungarian soldiers seated in the other craft, and were in
turn saluted by the trio.
After that Jack again started the engine, and they began moving with the
current at a lively rate.
“Well, that was a new experience, now!” exclaimed Josh; “and we are
mighty lucky to have escaped being taken back to Budapest and shut up in
a dungeon.”
“Yes, it was easy, after all,” grumbled George; “but who’d think
Hungarian officers would know English so well?”
“And just to think of our being taken for a lot of desperate Serbian
youths sworn to get the aged and benevolent Emperor Francis Joseph! Ugh!
it’ll give me a shiver every time I think of it. I never dreamed before
that I looked like a fellow who would take his life in his hand to do
such a terrible thing.”