CHAPTER XIII
HOPE IS "IN THE AIR"
Jack waked early the next morning and lay in his berth wonderingdrowsily for several moments as to what caused his feeling that therewas something unusual in the situation. Then he jumped alertly to hisfeet and ran to the porthole.
The trawler was motionless. When he retired it had been tossed about bythe storm. Now its engines were stilled, its screw was not turning, andexcept for a slight rolling motion it lay as calm as in a harbor. Couldit be they had reached the smugglers' cove during the night? It was thisalarming thought which sent Jack to the porthole.
But a look at the outer world convinced him to the contrary. There wasno land in sight. And as he was on the landward side, he considered thisa pretty good indication that they were not in port anywhere. Of course,the trawler might have swung about, so that her starboard side laytoward the land. He sniffed. There was no land smell in the salty air.He listened. No land sounds came to his ears.
Perhaps the trawler had broken down in the storm, perhaps something hadhappened to engines or screw. Jack had the natural curiosity of a youngfellow in his 'teens and wished that he might go on deck andinvestigate. He thought of Matt Murphy's prohibition, of the Chinesecrew thirsting for the blood of himself and his comrades.
But, after all, he reassured himself, if he merely poked his head up thecompanionway nobody would see him. He would be safe enough. And at therecollection of that clean sunshine flooding all the world outside,which he had seen through the porthole, and of the magically calmed sea,he decided he would have to obtain a glimpse of the world above decks,get a lungful of fresher air, no matter what happened.
All this time he had been hurriedly getting into his clothes. A lookshowed him Bob slept on. Unlocking the cabin door, he steppedsoundlessly into the salon.
It was empty of human occupants other than himself. The door of theTemples' cabin was closed. "Black George's" cabin door was closed. So,too, was that of Matt Murphy. Jack gave fleeting thought to the questionof how that worthy had survived the stress of the night. Was he still ondeck? Or had he retired to rest? If the latter, who was in command?
"Certainly is a queer layout, anyhow," Jack mused. "Murphy and thedoctor the only white men we have seen other than 'Black George.' Aren'tthere any officers? Are all others aboard Chinamen? Well, here goes."
And trying the handle of the outer door, and finding it turnsoundlessly, he opened it inch by inch. The companionway was empty. Ashort flight of steps led to the deck. Mounting several, he found hishead on a level with the deck and started to raise it cautiously to peerout.
The sound of low-voiced conversation came to his ears, and instinctivelyhe bent down again. Listening a moment, he decided that he had not beenseen, for the whispering went on. It came, he believed, from a point notfar to the right, on the other side of the wooden bulwark of thecompanionway.
He held his breath, straining painfully. Whoever they were, they werespeaking in English. Yet neither voice was that of Matt Murphy. Whocould they be? He had to see.
Slowly, slowly, scarcely moving, yet edging forward all the time, Jackpeered around the bulwark. Presently he saw them. They were two innumber, and one was the little fat doctor who looked after "BlackGeorge." The other was a sodden-looking man of middle age, with a smudgeof grease over one eye and his face generally dark with grime and coaldust. He was in his undershirt and carried a wrench in his right hand.
"We'll soon have her fixed now, Doc," this latter individual was saying,"nothing wrong but a couple of bolts shaken loose in the storm. ThoughtI'd better lay up and tighten things generally. That's all. Well, solong, I have to keep them Chinks moving or we'll never get the workfinished."
The engineer, Jack correctly surmised. He started to move on. The fatlittle doctor laid a detaining hand on his arm, and glanced aroundnervously. Jack hastily withdrew his head, only to advance it againcautiously a moment later. The doctor's back was turned.
"Mr. MacFinney," he said to the engineer. "You don't know what'shappening to your engines while you're away, do you?"
"Not with them Chinks around," said the other, laughing a little. "Theydon't know much about machinery."
"The Chinamen," said the doctor, darkly. "That's just it."
"What's the matter with you, Marley?" said MacFinney, thrusting his facecloser to the other's. "Out with it, man. Have ye something on yourmind? Or is it just the drink again?"
Doctor Marley drew his fat little form upright, as if to resent therough remark. He was cursed with the habit of secret drinking, and itwas on that account he had lost his practice and had fallen into thestate of a creature to "Black George." But resentment did not last. Hewas frightened. The next moment he laid a trembling hand on MacFinney'sarm.
"Mr. MacFinney," he said, low and hurried, "I'm afraid the Chinese mayhave put your engines out of commission, or may be doing it now whileyou are absent. You know our Chinese cook is a strange fellow, hates theothers, or at any rate has little to do with them. And he saidsomething----"
MacFinney started forward with an oath.
"If they're up to any monkeyshines, I'll fix 'em."
Doctor Marley ran after him, laying a hand on his arm.
"Oh, do be careful, Mr. MacFinney," he pleaded, all a-twitter with fear,as Jack could observe. "Please be careful. What--what would I do, ifanything happened to you?"
MacFinney regarded him scornfully.
"So it's yourself you're thinking of. What might happen to me doesn'tmatter on my account. But you need me for protection, hey?"
"Oh, Mr. MacFinney. Oh. You mustn't think that. But it's those boys thatMr. Folwell brought aboard. They injured Wong Ho. I bound up his headbefore I left. And he's their leader, he's----"
"Yes, yes, I know," interrupted the engineer, impatiently. "But don'tdelay me. If what you suspect is true, and I wouldn't put it past themChinks, it's high time I was gettin' below."
Jack waited to hear no more. He did not want to be discovered by DoctorMarley, if the latter chose to return at once. Retreating noiselesslydown the companion, he re-entered the salon. It was just as he had leftit. But when he opened the door of his cabin, he received a surprise.
Frank was at the porthole with his back turned and the headphones ofJack's ring-radio set clamped to his ears. Jack's thoughts flew at onceto the ring, and he remembered having taken it off before retiring andplacing it on a stand against the wall. He looked. It was not there.Obviously, Frank, on awaking, had noticed it and had been impelled totake the parts from Jack's bag and make an attempt to listen in on theether.
On tiptoe Jack crossed the cabin and peered over Frank's shoulder. Hischum had one arm through the porthole, clutching the extended umbrella.One wire led to the wire stem. Another wire dangled downward to the sea,although Jack could not, of course, observe more than the fact of itsdirection. Here were aerial and ground. Jack tapped his chum on theshoulder, but Frank, with serious face, frowned at him, and Jackinterpreted the look to be a request for silence. Perhaps Frank washearing something of moment. He stood to one side, waiting for Frank tospeak.
Evidently his chum was straining hard to hear. He even closed his eyes,the better to concentrate. What could it be? Jack had news of his own toimpart, important news, but in Frank's attitude he sensed something thatbespoke importance too. Suddenly Frank opened his eyes.
"That's all," he said. "The conversation grew fainter and fainter. Now Ican't hear at all any more."
"What was it? What did you hear?"
"Just two ships talking, Jack. That's all."
Frank smiled teasingly, as he folded the umbrella and pulled it backthrough the porthole, then laid off the headphones and began hauling inthe ground wire.
"Just two ships, that's all. You don't mind my taking liberties withyour toy, do you, Jack?"
"Of course not. But, look here, you heard something that excited you,Frank. Quit joshing. What was it?"
Frank turned a serious face, his eyes gleaming.
"Jack, the funniest thing. I heard two ships talking, or rather, onlyone ship talking to another. The replies of the second I couldn't hearat all."
"That ring-radio has a radius of about ten miles," said Jack. "Perhapsnot quite that much. That accounts for it. You heard the ship that waswithin our radius, but not the other because it was too far away to beheard. But what was said? Business, I suppose?"
"Business, my eye," said Frank. "The one nearby was the U. S. Sub ChaserX-51. And as far as I could gather, it was talking to a coast linerbound north for San Francisco aboard which was Inspector Burton. He wasasking the sub chaser to run alongside the liner and take him off.Remember, I could only hear what the sub chaser replied. I gathered fromsomething said that the liner could not be so very far away. The subchaser started for it, however, and as it drew away from us the radiogot fainter and fainter until I lost it altogether."
"A sub chaser that close to us," said Jack, highly excited. "Thatdecides me. We've got to act at once. Come on."
He seized Frank by an arm and propelled him toward the door.
"But here. Wait a minute. I'm not half dressed yet. What's the matterwith you?"
"Jump into your clothes quick. Meantime I'll get hold of Mr. Temple andBob and bring them back here. We have got to talk to that sub chaser andturn her this way."
"Talk to her?" said Frank, perplexed. "You must be crazy. With thislittle receiving set, I suppose."
"No, with the trawler's radio. But I'll explain when I return. Jump intoyour clothes."