CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Missing Cook
Across the East river the lights of Manhattan glowed brightly while inthe Laidlaw yard last minute preparations for the voyage of the _S-18_were being rushed. Supplies were being checked and every possible testof equipment was made.
In the radio room Ike Green got in contact with the New York Journalstation and Tim filed his last story. The next would be sent when the_S-18_ was out to sea.
A whistle shrilled on the deck overhead and Tim mounted the ladder andclimbed through the main hatch. Riding lights of the submarine were on.Yard workers were casting off the lines which held the _S-18_ to thetowering dock.
The huge Diesels came to life and the submarine pulsated gently totheir song of power. Commander Ford was at his station in the conningtower while near him at the auxiliary controls was Pat Reynolds. Half adozen other members of the crew were on deck.
Down in the inky waters at the rear of the _S-18_ the propellerschurned. Slowly the submarine nosed away from the boatyard, heading outtoward the East river. There was no sound from the workers on the dock;no sound from the men on deck. This business of hunting sunkentreasures was deadly serious.
There was little traffic on the river after the midnight hour and the_S-18_ felt its way out into mid-stream and then dropped down towardthe open sound.
Somewhere behind them a ferryboat hooted dismally and a tramp steamer,just swinging out of its wharf, answered.
"Any chance that that vessel may be Sladek's?" Tim asked Pat.
"There's more than a chance. It probably is," replied the first officer.
The submarine moved down the bay at a steady eight knots an hour andTim watched the lights of Manhattan fading into a haze. They stood welldown the bay for the Sea King factory was on the south shore of LongIsland.
Above him in the conning tower Tim could hear Commander Ford conversingwith Pat. Then the commander leaned over the edge of the tower andcalled to the men on deck.
"Everyone down below," he said. "We're going to submerge and rununderwater to the Sea King plant. That may throw Sladek's ship off ourtrail."
They tumbled below, the main hatch was sealed, and Pat checked everygauge before Commander Ford gave the order to submerge. The _S-18_ wentdown twenty feet and then levelled off, the electric motors pushing itsmoothly underwater.
With his eyes glued to a periscope, Commander Ford scanned the surfaceof the sound for another craft. At almost an instant's notice the_S-18_ was ready to dive lower.
At the microphones, Ike Green was listening intently for the beat ofthe propeller of the tramp steamer. He grinned as Commander Fordentered the tiny room.
"They're puzzled," said the radio man, "and they're zig-zagging allover the lower bay."
The _S-18_ continued to run underwater at a bare four knots an hour. Itwas three hours later when they came to the surface and the sky waslighter in the east. Sunrise was less than half an hour away. To theirleft was the factory of the Sea King company and the _S-18_ nosedslowly toward the dock.
As the sky brightened they saw the smudge of a steamer well out to sea.
"Unless I miss my guess there goes Jack Sladek and his treasure-huntingexpedition," grinned Pat.
The seaplane purchased for their trip was on the dock ready and it tookless than half an hour to load the craft on the deck of the _S-18_ andmake it fast.
"There'll be no more diving with that sky-hopping bug on deck," saidPat.
"Which will suit me all right," replied Tim. "Anytime you want to do alittle exploring under water in this tin fish just let me know and I'llcruise around in the clouds for a couple of hours."
"You may have to do that when we get down into the Caribbean if we findSladek too close to our trail," put in Commander Ford who had come upbehind them. "He's going to be a hard customer to lose and he'llprobably use that seaplane of his to do a lot of scouting."
Breakfast was served by Al Hardy, who was the cook, and they enjoyedthe morning meal before casting loose from the Sea King dock. Then,with all hands on deck and a bright sun shining down on them, the_S-18_ resumed its southward voyage. The next port of call was to beKey West, where the fuel tanks would be replenished for the voyageacross the Caribbean.
Once out to sea, half of the crew turned in, for there had been nosleep aboard the _S-18_ during the hours they had been submerged. TheJersey coast gradually dropped from view and they moved southward at asteady ten knots an hour.
Tim sought his bunk in the after quarters. Ahead the Diesels poundedsteadily, but the air was clean and sweet and in spite of the noise hewas soon asleep.
The clatter of pans as Al Hardy prepared the noon meal awoke him and herejoined Pat in the conning tower. Commander Ford was down in thediving room talking with the chief divers and Tim and Pat were alone.
"Do you think we're going to be in for trouble before we get through?"Tim asked as he watched the sharp bow of the _S-18_ cut through thegentle swells.
"Commander Ford told me this morning that Sladek had rounded up aboutthe prize gang of cutthroats on the New York waterfront. You'll get allof the excitement you want before this shindig ends."
"Just give me time enough to get aloft in the plane and I'll be readyfor anything that comes along," said Tim, nodding toward the trimseaplane lashed securely on the forward deck.
Mess was served in relays that noon and shortly after that Tim sightedthe seaplane winging up from the south.
"Company coming," he informed Pat, who was back in the conning tower.
Commander Ford was summoned and they watched the approach of the fastcraft. The plane was flying high, but as it neared the _S-18_, thepilot put it into a dive.
"That fellow knows how to handle a plane," said Tim, half to himself.
The seaplane came out of the dive at a thousand feet and circled the_S-18_.
"The answer to that is plain," said Commander Ford grimly. "That'sSladek's ship and it won't be long until his dirty old tramp steamer ison our trail again."
The seaplane winged away again and in less than two hours they saw asmudge of smoke on the horizon. Before sundown the tramp steamer, the_Iron Mate_, was riding a half mile off their port bow.
"There's no use trying to sneak away from them now," said thecommander. "When we get out of Key West and head across the Caribbeanwe'll find some way to give them the slip."
Down the east coast the _S-18_ made its leisurely way with the _IronMate_ a constant companion. The sky was clearer, the air warmer, asthey neared the southern tip of Florida and nosed into the harbor atKey West. The Iron Mate stood out to sea, waiting for the return of the_S-18_, for Sladek was taking no chances on getting into trouble withfederal officials.
The _S-18_ replenished its fuel oil tanks, fresh supplies were takenaboard, and the crew stretched its legs before the voyage into theCaribbean.
Pat and Tim strolled along the wharfs. It was a picturesque city andthey enjoyed the walk at the sunset hour.
A small boat was coming in from the sea. They watched it curiously forthe men at the oars were particularly vicious looking.
"I wouldn't want to meet them on a dark night," said Pat.
When they returned to the _S-18_, Commander Ford divulged his plans foreluding the _Iron Mate_ and its crew of cutthroats.
"Tim," he said, "we'll hoist your seaplane overboard at once. Thenwe'll slip out of the harbor and run submerged until we are well awayfrom the coast. You fool around here all day tomorrow. The next morninghop early and rejoin us at this joint." The commander indicated a spotin the Caribbean approximately two hundred miles west of Key West.
"Sladek will probably set his pilot to watching you when he finds we'vegiven him the slip, but I'll expect you to elude him and join us at therendezvous without being followed. A great deal will depend upon yoursuccess."
"It may take some time to shake him off my trail," promised Tim, "butI'll see that he doesn't follow me too far."
"That's good," said Ford. "Now we'll drop your seaplane overboard andprepare to slip out of the harbor. I've special clearances which willallow our departure at any hour we care to leave."
Tim directed the unloading of the Sea King and made sure that trimlittle craft was fast to the dock before he returned to the deck of the_S-18_.
Pat was checking over the crew list. Everyone answered present exceptAl Hardy, the cook.
"Anyone see Al?" demanded Pat.
"He left just before sundown to get some supplies he needed," saidErich Gaunt. "He should have been back half an hour ago."
"We'll wait a few minutes more," said Pat, hurrying below to informCommander Ford that the cook was missing.
A half hour elapsed and Al was still among the missing. At CommanderFord's Order, the crew scattered along the docks, seeking their missingcook. By ten o'clock, with still no trace of Al, the commander gave theorder to clear the lines. The _S-18_ was going without its cook.
"Maybe you can find him in the hoosegow in the morning," Pat told Tim."If you do, load him in your plane and bring him along. We need a goodcook."
"I'll do my best to find him," promised Tim as the _S-18_ slipped awayfrom the dock.
Tim watched the submarine until its lights faded into the night. Hemade arrangements with the watchman at the dock to keep an eye on theseaplane. Then he turned away from the waterfront. He was unfamiliarwith the city and he stumbled along a poorly lighted street. From analley to his right came a groan. Tim hesitated. It sounded like a humanbeing in agony, but it might be a waterfront trap of thugs to lure himfrom the street.
The sound came again. There was no mistaking it this time. Someone wasin great pain. Tim ducked into the alley. Along one wall was a huddledform. He bent down and lifted the man's head. It was too dark todistinguish the features and Tim lugged the man to the head of thealley where the rays from a street lamp half a block away gave him somelight.
He bent down again and looked into the battered face of Al Hardy, themissing cook.