CHAPTER IV
UNDER SUSPICION
Although every one tried to put the best face on the matter, afterwardsmore than one of the boys frankly confessed that his heart was beatingfuriously 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 ofthe Magyars were unfamiliar to them. More than this, war had just beendeclared, which was sure to mean that Austria-Hungary would be athandgrips 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 instore for them. Josh was so much afraid even then that George might betempted to try his American German on the Hungarian officers that heimmediately 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 excitedand 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 allthe same, I do it under protest. You don't know what you may be missingwhen you put the muzzle on a fellow that way. But I'm used to being saton, and I guess I can stand for it again."
Jack himself was pleased to hear Josh settle this. He had feared thatGeorge, who could make himself more or less of a busybody when he chose,might break in when the negotiations were well under way and possiblyspoil the whole business.
But they would at least soon know the worst, for the other boat wascoming on at great speed and about to draw alongside.
The man at the wheel knew his part of the business perfectly, for whenthe craft came together the bump was hardly noticeable.
There were just three of the Hungarian officers, all of them dressedin their attractive uniforms, with little capes hanging from theirshoulders and their lower limbs encased in shiny boots with tassels.Indeed, Buster just stared at them in sheer admiration, for he thoughthe had never in all his life looked upon such handsome soldiers.
Apparently the tall one must have been the superior of the trio, for hetook it upon himself to do the talking.
All of them were looking curiously at the four lads. They evidentlyhardly knew what to make of them, for, while outwardly Jack and hischums had the appearance of harmless young chaps off for a holiday,nevertheless in such dark times as now hung over the Fatherland it wasnot well to be too easily deceived. Spies must be abroad, under manydisguises; and if so, why not playing the part of innocent tourists, wasno doubt the question uppermost in each of their minds.
Then the tall officer said something. His voice was filled with authorityand his face frowning, but of course none of the boys could understand aword 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 whothey were and what they might be doing there. George sighed as though itnearly broke his ardent heart to be deprived of this golden opportunityto air some of his German. He had perhaps managed to remember certainwords that would serve to partly explain the situation; but a savagenudge from Josh caused him to shut his teeth fiercely together and get afresh grip on himself.
Then Jack tried an experiment.
"We do not understand what you say, because none of us can speak thelanguage. We only know English. We would be glad to explain everythingif you could understand what we tell you."
The tall man listened attentively and then immediately turned to hiscomrades 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 concludingword.
Then, turning again to them, the officer went on:
"Certainly we can speak English as well as is necessary. We have manytourists in our country each summer. I myself have a number of very goodfriends among the English, though when we meet again it may be as bitterenemies."
Jack saw that there need be no further trouble in explaining matters. Hefelt decidedly relieved over the sudden change in the situation. OnlyGeorge frowned, for possibly he had been entertaining a forlorn hopethat in the end Jack might have to call on him to save the day, and nowhe 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 theydid not know whether to believe the assertion or not.
"We have great regard for America," the tall man went on to say, "formany of our countrymen are there, making an honest living and helping tosupport their kin on this side of the water. Of course, then, you canshow us your passports?"
"Certainly, sir, and with pleasure," responded Jack.
His words served as the signal to the others. Every fellow immediatelyhastened to dive into his breast pocket and produce the necessary paper,which was always kept in an especially safe place for fear of trouble incase of its being lost.
The officer took the sheaf of papers and proceeded to critically examinethe passports, as though looking for signs of fraud. Buster watched himanxiously. He had heard that when war came upon a country all ordinaryprotection for tourists is annulled, and even passports may not beworth the paper they are written on.
Greatly to Buster's relief he saw that the tall officer did not look atthem so ferociously after he had scanned the papers, which he now handedback to Jack in a bunch.
"They seem to be perfectly correct, so far as I can see," he proceededto say; "but perhaps you would not mind explaining what your object isin coming down the Danube in this powerboat?"
"I'll be only too glad to do that, sir," Jack announced, with one of hiswinning smiles that always caused people to feel kindly toward him."Over in our own country we have three motorboats, with which six of usin 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 hecould appreciate the love for adventure that induced these healthyspecimens 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 beenfound off in the mountains, hunting the wild boar, or it might be inpursuit 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 longtrip down the beautiful blue Danube. I had just been reading an accountof a cruise taken by an Englishman from near the source down to theBlack Sea. While we couldn't spare the time for all that, we could cometo Vienna, find where a suitable boat could be chartered half-way toBudapest, 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 yourtrip. Many a voyage have I taken on its waters when I was younger. Buthow long have you been at Budapest, may I ask?"
Jack knew that there was only one way to treat such a questioner, andthat was by being perfectly frank with him.
"We only arrived late yesterday afternoon, to tell the truth, sir," headmitted.
"But how comes it you are leaving so early the next morning?" askedthe officer, with a little fresh suspicion in his manner. "We have amost beautiful and renowned city here, and travelers usually find itdifficult 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 thingI did on arriving was to hasten to the postoffice for our letters fromhome. It was then that I realized the city was in a feverish state ofexcitement. I suspected what must have happened, for we heard rumorswhen above. I managed to learn that war had been declared by Germany onRussia, which would mean for Austria-Hungary, too. And after we hadtalked it all over we decided that it would be best for us not to wasteany 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 thelast ones you received, please."
The other took them as they were thrust out. He examined the postmarksas if making sure of the dates, and also read each name in turn. Then hedeliberately opened that belonging to Jack and seemed to be glancingover 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 gleanedsomething of the contents. At least he could see it was genuine, andthat counted for a good deal.
"I am quite satisfied now that you are just what you claim tobe--tourists, who have no connection with our enemies, or those who ina short time we must look on as such. You are wondering, no doubt, why Iwent so far as to pry into the contents of your letter from home, and Ibelieve an explanation is due. To tell the truth, we rested under thebelief that you were four desperate young Serbian youths, who weresaid to be on their way up the Danube bound for Vienna, with the madintention of trying to assassinate our good kaiser, Francis Joseph, justas the Austrian heir apparent to the throne was killed not long ago."
Buster could not keep from giving a little gasp at hearing this. Reallynever before, so far as he knew, had he been taken for a desperado. Hedid not know whether to be ashamed or flattered. It would be somethingwith which to thrill those boy comrades at home, if ever they were luckyenough to get safely back again.
"That would be a serious charge against us, I am sure," said Jack; "butit pleases us to know that you are now convinced we are not what youthought. Seeing four strangers in a boat, and all young at that, ofcourse made you suspicious."
"The fact that you were headed down-stream puzzled us considerably,"continued the officer, apparently willing to explain things in order toprove that he and his comrades were only doing their duty; "but wefigured that something may have caused a change in plans, perhaps thebreaking out of war, and that the four desperate Serbians were on theway back to their native land."
"After all, we should not be sorry for what has happened," diplomaticJack went on to say, "since it has given us the pleasure of meetingthree such excellent gentlemen. I hope, though, there need be nonecessity for causing us to alter our plans, since our hearts are seton finishing the voyage, and we will never have the opportunity forvisiting your great country again."
Every one of them held his breath while waiting for the officer to makea reply to this question. He looked around at the half circle of anxiousfaces and smiled indulgently. No doubt just then he put himself in theirplace and tried to realize how much it might mean to be simply letalone.
"I do not mean to demand that you turn back," he finally told Jack, "forthat would really be exceeding my authority; but I would feel that I hadnot done my full duty if I did not warn you of the perils you willlikely encounter below here. By the time you reach the Serbian border itis more than likely there will be desperate fighting going on betweenHungarians and Serbians, for they are ready to-day to fly at oneanother's throat. You will find yourselves in great danger before youcan 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 givethat kind warning," he remarked warmly; "but we have passed through somepretty lively adventures in the past and always managed to come outsafely. We will try and be careful how we act when the time comes; andonce 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 bemaking a mistake. We will wish you a pleasant trip, and that you reachyour goal in safety. What are your plans after arriving at the sea, mayI 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 toItaly, and then back to London to sail for home about October fifteenth."
"Ah! what wonderful things may happen in those ten weeks!" remarked theofficer, as though he might be trying to lift the veil that hid thefuture. "History will be in the making, I fear, and all Europe be tornup with the war clouds. But better so than the armed peace that hasexisted so long. A storm is necessary once in so often to clear theatmosphere 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 andmy comrades here," the tall officer told them as in turn he pressed eachboy's hand, in which genial undertaking he was followed by the otherpair, who, although taking no part in all the talking, had been earnestlisteners.
Then the speed boat backed away, made a sweeping turn, and was soonheading up the Danube again. The boys waved their hats to the threegaily dressed Hungarian soldiers seated in the other craft, and were inturn saluted by the trio.
After that Jack again started the engine, and they began moving with thecurrent at a lively rate.
"Well, that was a new experience, now!" exclaimed Josh; "and we aremighty lucky to have escaped being taken back to Budapest and shut up ina dungeon."
"Yes, it was easy, after all," grumbled George; "but who'd thinkHungarian officers would know English so well?"
"And just to think of our being taken for a lot of desperate Serbianyouths 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 beforethat I looked like a fellow who would take his life in his hand to dosuch a terrible thing."