CHAPTER II
"FRENCH SPOKEN HERE"
"Well, what do you think of that?"
It was Eph Somers who put the question, and the time was some fifteenminutes later.
Captain Jack had met his two comrades up on the main street of thevillage. He had told them, with a good deal of amusement, of his latetalk with the German.
Hal Hastings didn't say a word, but his eyes twinkled.
"I wouldn't have minded," laughed Jack, "but it was the Professor'scock-sureness that I was to be Germany's oyster."
"Is he an old man?" asked Hal.
"Not very," Jack answered. "Perhaps not old enough to know better.Anyway, if I were going to a foreign government, Germany would be aboutthe last country. Germany is our rival in building a large navy. Aboutevery other month the experts in Germany sit down to figure whether theyare anything ahead of us in the tonnage of warships, and, if so, whetherthere is any danger of our catching up with them. Now, unless theGermans have a notion that they may need, to fight us one of thesedays--"
"Oh, I don't believe anything of that sort," broke in Hal, shaking hishead. "I don't believe any country in the world is aching to pick aquarrel with us."
"Not while the United States pocket-book is such a fat one, and so wellbuilt for paying war expenses," grinned Eph. Then his look became moresolemn, as he added:
"But we don't want ever to get into a naval condition where it will beeasy for some other country to snatch that fat pocket-book out of ourhands."
"Let's go along, fellows. Drowning and confusion to all possible foesafloat," proposed Hal, the one who could never see "war" on the horizon."After a winter on hot sodas, it'll be a relief to know that thedruggist put in icecream soda to-day."
So the three boys turned and made their way to the drugstore. Whilethey were exploring with spoons the bottoms of their glasses, thestreet door opened. Herr Professor Radberg looked in, then came in,beaming condescendingly on the young men.
"Ach! You young men are just the ones I wish to see," he exclaimed,resting one hand on Eph's shoulder, the other on Hal's.
"Lots of folks will pay for that privilege," declared Eph, solemnly.
"Yes? Well, I will pay, too--you shall see. I shall look for you atthe hotel, in just one hour. One hour--remember."
"Have you a telescope?" inquired Eph, calmly.
"A telescope. Eh?" inquired the German. "What for?"
"You might need it in looking for us," Eph replied.
"Then, in one hour, I shall see you--at the hotel!"
"You'll be lucky, if you do," grinned Eph.
"Eh? I do not know that I understand," responded Herr Professor Radberg,slowly.
"If you're figuring on seeing us," Eph went on, gravely, "I'm afraidyou're in for bad news."
"Bad news? Ach! What do you mean, young man?"
"Just what I said," replied Eph.
Professor Radberg looked so puzzled that Hal Hastings broke in, quietly:
"Professor, unless I'm much in error, you want to see us about aproposition that we enter the German naval service."
"Hush! Not so loud," warned Radberg, looking suspiciously around.
"There's nothing we have to keep quiet about," Hal went on. "You havealready spoken to our captain, Jack Benson, about this matter."
"Ach! Yes."
"And Jack has refused."
"Your captain is a fool!" cried the German.
"Then we serve a fool, because he's our captain," retorted Hal, quietly,though there was a flash in his eyes.
"I shall look for you two at the hotel in one hour," declared the German,impressively.
"My friend, Mr. Somers, has already told you that you'll be using youreyesight to poor advantage, then," Hal answered.
"What do you mean?"
"Why, I mean, Professor, that you can't possibly persuade us to go toGermany and tell your people anything that we know about the Pollardsubmarine boats, or any other type."
"But you shall be well paid!"
"Professor, what would be your price for selling out your country to theUnited States?" asked Hal, gazing fixedly at the German.
"You insult me!" cried the German, his face growing red. "I am apatriot."
"Yet, you insult us by thinking that we would sell our country," wenton Hal, coolly.
"Are you two going to be as big fools as your captain?" demanded HerrProfessor Radberg, almost incredulously.
"Bigger!" promised Eph, with a grin.
"Ach! Well, we shall talk this all over when you come to the hotel inan hour," replied the German. He turned and left the store.
"Now, I don't doubt," mocked Hal, "he has gone away firm in the beliefthat we'll keep his appointment."
"He'll wake up after a while," laughed Eph Somers.
After indulging in a second ice cream soda the submarine boys starteddown the street toward the Farnum shipyard where the Pollard boats werebuilt.
As they passed a street corner they heard a cautious:
"Hss--sst!"
"Now, who threw that our way?" demanded the irrepressible Eph, turningswiftly. Then he added, in a tone so low that only his comrades couldhear:
"Say, fellows, I'll bet that cost something!"
"That" was, a rather undersized little man, of perhaps thirty. Dark ofhair, and sparkling of eye, the stranger's rather pallid face was partlycovered, in front, by a short goatee, of the French "imperial" sort,and a moustache whose points were waxed out in fierce militaryfashion.
It was the stranger's apparel that had attracted Eph's noticeparticularly. The stranger was arrayed almost exquisite fashion; hisclothes were of finest texture and latest Parisian type. His little,pointed shoes were almost as dainty as a girl's. Though the day waswarm the stranger was gloved, and handled a cane in the head of which ahandsome amethyst shone.
"I wonder how that got through the custom house?" was Eph Somers's nextundertoned question.
"Ah, good morning, gentlemen," greeted the stranger, coming toward them,all smiles and bows. "Av I have not med ze mistake, zen I am address zetorpedo boys."
"Right-o," drawled Eph. "Regular human torpedoes, as touchy asgun-cotton. Why, I am due to explode this moment!"
Though the stranger looked puzzled at first, his face rapidly broke intoa cordial smile.
"Oh, ah! I understand. You mek what is call ze American joke, eh? Youhave little fun wiz me."
The Frenchman, for that he unmistakably was, laughed in the utmost goodhumor. The boys found themselves much inclined to like this stranger.
"Now, young gentlemen," continued the Frenchman, "I am ze ChevalierGari d'Ouray."
"Glad to meet you, Chev," volunteered Eph, with suspicious amiability,holding out his hand, which the Frenchman took daintily. "I'm a'shoveleer' myself, and this awkward, gawky looking boy with me is ourengineer."
Eph had a tight grip on the stranger's hand, by this time, and wassurely making it interesting for the Frenchman. The Chevalier d'Ouraywas doing his best to retain his politeness, but Somers's hearty griphurt the foreigner's soft little hand.
"What can we do for you, Chev?" demanded Eph, holding to the Frenchman'shand so persistently that Hastings gave his friend a sharp nudge inthe back.
"Let us go somewhere," urged the Frenchman. "Some place were we can sitdown and have ze talk about important matters. I have ze message foryou zat I cannot deliver upon ze street."
"Now, don't say, please," begged Eph, "that you have heard we are wantedin the French Navy."
The Chevalier d'Ouray looked intensely astonished.
"Parbleu! You are one marvel!" gasped the Frenchman. "You read my mostsecret thought. But yes! You have made ze one right guess. However,I cannot more say upon ze street. Let us go somewhere."
"All right," nodded Eph. "You go along, now, and we'll be along in anhour."
"Wiz pleasure," nodded the chevalier, eagerly. "But we're shall I go?"
"Anywhere you like," suggested E
ph, cordially.
"But, zen, how will you know w'ere I am to be found?"
"Oh, we'll take a chance on that," proposed Eph, carelessly.
"But, unless I am able to say, now, w'ere I shall be--" the Frenchmanstarted to argue.
"We'll guess the meeting place as well as we did your errand," proposedEph.
"Ten thousan' thanks!" cried, the chevalier. "Yet, for fear we mek zeone mistek, suppose I say--"
Eph Somers had struck such a streak of "guying" nonsense that JackBenson felt called upon to interpose, for he and Hal both liked thetwinkling eyes and good-humored face of this dandified little Frenchman.
"Pardon me, sir," Jack accordingly broke in, "but, if we happened toguess your errand, it was because we have just gotten away from theagent of another government."
"How? Is zat posseeble?" cried the Chevalier d'Ouray, a disappointedlook coming into his face.
"Yes; it's true," nodded Jack.
"But you did not come to any terms wiz him?"
"Oh, no!"
"Ah, zen, ze coast is steel clear," cried the little Frenchman,delightedly. "So, as to w'ere we can meet and mek ze one talk--"
"We can get that all over with, right here," Jack replied. "We can makeyou the same answer that we gave the other man. We are Americans, andwould never think of serving any other flag, even in peace time.Chevalier, I can save your time by telling you that any arrangement toengage our services away from the United States would be utterlyhopeless."
"But ze money--" began the Frenchman, protestingly.
"There isn't money enough across the Atlantic to hire us," Jack answered,bluntly.
"And ze honneur--"
"Honor? What would that word afterwards mean to Americans, Chevalier,after they had left their own country to serve another?"
The Chevalier d'Ouray began to look as though he realized he had a hardertask before him than he had expected.
"So you see, sir," Jack went on, "it will not be in the least worth yourwhile to try to tempt us. Come what will or may, we are under theAmerican flag for life. You yourself, Chevalier, wouldn't leave theFrench flag to serve this country, Great Britain or Germany."
"No; but zat is deeferent, for I, monsieur, am French."
"And we are American," Jack responded.
"I will leave you, now, zen, gentlemen," replied the Frenchman, in atone of disappointment. "But I shall not go away before to-morrow. Ifyou change ze mind--or weesh to hear w'at I have to mek ze offer--"
"Thank you," nodded Jack. "But don't waste any more time on us,Chevalier. And now--good-bye!"
The Chevalier d'Ouray shook hands with them all most gallantly. Eph feltsomewhat ashamed of his late nonsense, and, to prove it, hit theChevalier d'Ouray a friendly slap on one shoulder that set the Frenchmanto coughing.
"Say," muttered Jack, as the three now hurried along the street, "I beginto wish I had a good umbrella."
"Humph! You'd look great with one," retorted Hal. "You, who have stoodon the platform deck of a submarine for hours, steering unconcernedly,when the skies were trying to drown you."
"But I feel," remonstrated Jack, "that it's soon going to rain foreignagents. I'd like to get in out of the international wet."
"Oh, we won't see any more of these fellows," smiled Hal.
"Now, there's just where I believe you're wrong, messmate," Jackcontended. "These foreign governments hire detectives to watch eachother. When we hear from one, we're likely to hear from the whole lotat once. Look around you, Eph. Do you see a Jap anywhere?"
"Not a solitary jiu-jitsu fiend," responded Eph, after halting andstaring both ways in turn along the street.
"Well, Japan is about due," laughed Benson. "And now, let's get inthrough the gate of the shipyard. If any more of these foreign agentsshow up--well, there are two boats in the harbor that are in commission.We'll find an excuse to put to sea in one of them."
"Just the youngsters I was going out to try to find," hailed GrantAndrews, foreman of the submarine construction work, as he hurriedacross the yard. "Mr. Farnum told me to get out and find you. He'dhave sent some one else, but I guess the business is rather on thequiet."
"Is he in his office?" queried Jack.
"Yes."
"Thank you; we'll go right in, then."
"Now I wonder what country it is whose agent has gotten hold of Mr.Farnum?" asked Eph, plaintively.
"Nonsense!" mocked Jack.
"That's what we try to tell 'em all," mocked Eph. "But the Germans arethe hardest."
All three of the submarine boys were laughing so heartily, as theyentered the shipbuilder's private office that Jacob Farnum, a youngishlooking man to be at the head of so large a manufacturing plant, glancedup quickly.
"What's the joke, boys?" he asked. "I haven't had a laugh since Ipounded my thumbnail with a sledge-hammer."
Captain Jack Benson quickly detailed the meetings with Radberg andd'Ouray.
"The Frenchman didn't look a bit like a 'shovelee' either," mutteredEph. "If anything, that looked more in the German's line."
"Well, you'll have a chance to get rid of nonsense, now, for a while,"went on Mr. Farnum, after having enjoyed a few laughs with the boys."I've some serious business in hand for you, and the time has come."
That was like the shipbuilder. Whatever he was planning, at any time,he kept strictly to himself until the time came to put the plan intooperation.
"There's quite an important little job for you up at Craven's Bay,"continued Mr. Farnum. "You know, there are important fortificationsthere, because the Navy people expect, in wartime, to use Craven'sBay as a possibly important naval station and shelter for vessels thathave to put in. Now, for some time the Army engineer officers have beenperfecting a system of submarine mines for the bay. The engineers havea problem on hand as to whether an enemy's submarine boats could sneakinto the bay and blow up the submarine mines before the Army woke upto the danger."
"There's a chance that _that_ could be done," nodded Jack, musingly.
"Jest so," nodded Mr. Farnum. "So I want you to go up in one of theboats. To-morrow the engineer officers at that station will test it outwith you whether a submarine can destroy the mines, or the mines couldbe made to destroy the submarine boats."
"Then the Army engineer officers will use dummy submarine mines, I hope,"broke in Eph.
"Oh, of course," nodded Mr. Farnum. "Now, the trip to Craven's Bay isonly an eight-hour sail at a good gait, so you won't really need tostart until after dark to-night."
"I believe I'd rather start now, though, and go at less speed," suggestedJack, thoughtfully.
"That's just as you please, of course," nodded the shipbuilder.
"It will take us out on the water, for one thing," Captain Jackcontinued, "and we've been growing stale on shore, of late." Then headded, whimsically: "Besides, if the agents of any more foreigngovernments show up, they won't find us here."
"And there's a Jap just about due now," grimaced Eph.
"Take Williamson with you, for use in the engine room," advised Mr.Farnum. "That will allow you to take the boat through with two watchesabove and below. Which boat will you take?"
"The 'Spitfire,' unless you'd rather have us take the other one," youngBenson replied.
"Take the 'Spitfire,' by all means," nodded the owner.
Twenty minutes later, Williamson having been found, the crew was allready for the start for Craven's Bay.
Eph and Williamson cast off from moorings while Hal Hastings, down belowat the gasoline motors, started the twin propellers as soon as JackBenson, at the deck wheel, signaled for speed ahead.
Right after the start, Williamson, a grown man and machinist, droppedbelow. Eph Somers stood beside the young submarine captain.
For some minutes both boys gazed out over the waters. Then Eph remarked:
"Well, we got away without being overhauled by a Jap or a Russian,didn't we?"
"I don't know," smiled Jack, unsuspectingly. "See
that launch over toport? Hanged if she doesn't seem to be putting toward us."
"She does," admitted Eph, solemnly. "Oh, well, with a few more turns ofthe screw we can easily get away from that launch."
For some moments Captain Jack paid no especial heed to the launchbearing down upon them on the port side. He noted only, at the distance,that the launch contained two men. Presently, however, as the launchcame nearer, Captain Benson made a discovery.
"Eph," he gasped, "look over there! Are my eyes going back on me, or isthat a Japanese in the bow of the launch?"
"Japanese?" gasped Eph Somers, in turn. "Nothing but!"
Eph made a swift dive for the box that contained the signal flags usedin the international marine signaling code. Moving swiftly, youngSomers selected the two flags representing "N" and "D." These he strungto the halliard of the short signal mast forward. Nor was he ahead oftime, for by this time the launch had described part of a circle, andwas coming up alongside.
In the bow of the launch stood the Japanese, smiling, and holding amegaphone in his hand.
"Submarine, a-ho-o-o-oy!" came the hail. "Will you slow down? I havesomething to say to you."
Up flew the signal flags, fluttering in the breeze. Then Eph snatchedup a megaphone, holding the smaller end to his mouth.
"Launch ahoy!" he shouted back. "Just tell your folks that you sawour signal!"
The Japanese read the fluttering flags, then called back:
"N.D.? What does that mean?"
Hoarsely Eph Somers bellowed back:
"_Nothing doing!_"