CHAPTER XVII.
ROB'S BRAVE ACT.
While the boys had been watching, Barton had lain down, as though tired,on the summit of a near-by dune. As the red light came close in shore,however, he arose, and once more waved his lantern.
At the signal the course of the red light shifted and headed directlytoward him. The boys' hearts beat thickly; the time for action was athand. The bow of the boat they had seen approaching grated on the beach,and two figures sprang out while Barton advanced to meet them.
"Get as close as you can," whispered Rob, as he wriggled forward; "wewant to get every word."
Merritt merely nodded; but his silent advance was as rapid as hisleader's. Owing to the nature of the ground, they were able to runforward in an almost upright position when they reached the hollows ofthe dunes, being compelled to cast themselves down only when they toppeda rise. Therefore, they were within ear shot when Barton greeted the twomen who had disembarked from the boat.
"Well," said one of the newcomers in a voice which plainly betrayed hisforeign origin; "well, did you do as you said you would?"
"Yes," responded Barton; "I've got the drawings here. They are notcomplete, however, and you will have to give me more time."
"As you were told at Bridgeport, before you left for this island, youcan have all the time you want, only make the job complete."
"You can depend upon me to do that," was the response. "So long as I'mwell paid, I'll sell out all I know, and that's about everything aboutthe Barr submarine."
Here another voice, that of the second man who had left the boat, struckin:
"What about the models?"
"I've got them hidden up here in the sand," came Barton's voice inreply. "I'd have had them ready but two blooming kids trailed me here."
"Trailed you? What do you mean?" demanded the voice of the man who hadfirst spoken and who, with the solitary exception noted, had carried onmost of the conversation.
"Why, this Ensign Hargreaves, this Navy dude, saw fit to bring a band ofBoy Scouts down here. They're the nosiest kids ever, and I half thinkthey suspect me of not being all I appear to be."
"That's a good guess," whispered Rob to Merritt.
Merritt could not refrain from a quiet chuckle.
"As a long distance and local guesser, Barton takes the palm," hebreathed.
"Hush!" murmured Rob under his breath: "What are they up to now?"
"Going to dig up those models, I guess. Barton must have stolen themfrom the workshop at odd moments."
Right then something happened that gave Merritt a shock. Rob rose to hisfeet and started toward the beach. The men that the two Boy Scouts werewatching had headed inland, evidently to aid Barton in uncovering thehidden models.
"Have you gone crazy, Rob? Lie down here," cautioned Merritt.
"Not much," was the response; "I'm going to do some reconnoitering whileI've got the chance."
"What do you mean?"
"That I'm going down to have a look at that boat, and if I can I'm goingto shove her off and thus leave those men prisoners on the island."
"By ginger, Rob, you are a great fellow for ideas. If only you can castthe boat adrift, we'll have those chaps bottled up as securely as ifthey were in a jail."
"Wait here till I come," responded the boy leader. "I won't be gone morethan ten minutes."
"I'd like to come with you, Rob."
"No; this is a job I can do best alone."
Rob noiselessly slipped away. The boat from which the mysterious men hadlanded was plainly discernible as a black blot on the sandy beach. Robtried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, but against thewhite strip of sand he felt as noticeable as an elephant. However, hegained the boat without interruption.
Its bow had been built up, apparently, to make it more seaworthy, andthe boy noticed that a small door had been cut leading into the spacebeneath the raised bow. He had hardly discovered this when he wasstartled to hear voices close at hand.
It was Barton and his crooked accomplices coming back. Fortunately forRob, they were behind a dune, so that it was impossible for them toobserve him. But in a moment, the boy realized with a thrill, they wouldbe upon him.
Quick as a flash, and hardly realizing what he was doing, Rob sought theonly place of concealment close at hand--the space under the raised bowof the boat. He had hardly squeezed into his cramped quarters before thetrio of rascals topped the rise.
Rob, with a sinking of the heart, realized at that moment that it wouldhave been better for him to have taken his chances and run away from thescene. But it was too late now. With something that was not exactlyfear, but very like it, Rob recognized the fact that he was a concealedpassenger, a stowaway, on board a boat on which his presence might costhim his life.
As these reflections ran through his mind the men drew closer, talkingabout the "clever" work they had done.
"I guess Barr and his _Peacemaker_ can say good-bye to Uncle Sam now,"laughed one of them.
"Yes, and the best of it is that Barton will never be suspected,"responded the other. "Our government will be manufacturing submarines ofthe Barr type, while Barr and the United States Government are still inblissful ignorance of the fact that all efforts are for nothing."
"You can bet I never put through a job unless I do it right," struck inBarton with great self-complacency.
Rob, crouched in his cramped place of concealment, flushed with anger.Right then and there he determined that, come what might, he would seethis strange adventure of his through to the bitter end. This resolvewas still in his mind when the two men shoved the boat off, badegood-night to the rascally Barton, and, all unconscious of theirsecreted passenger, got under way.
"If I get out of this alive, I'll be lucky," soliloquized Rob as heheard the oars and felt the boat moving through the water. "I wonder ifI've done right? At any rate I'm in it now, and, as a Boy Scout, I'mgoing to see it through."