CHAPTER X

CALLING IN VAIN

“Did you wish to see me?” the lieutenant asked, as Jerry and his chums looked in rather a fixed manner at the young man.

“Yes, sir,” replied the tall lad. “We wish to find out where Captain Ware may be found. We’re in his company, and----”

“Oh, yes. You were asking me that when I had to give instructions to these sentinels. If you’ll come with me I’ll take you to Captain Ware.”

He turned to go, but, before leaving, he looked again at the marine corps sentinels, one of whom stood on either side of the closed door of the mysterious cabin--at least it was mysterious to the three Motor Boys.

“Don’t forget!” the lieutenant cautioned. “No one is to enter that cabin--not even I--without a written order from Captain Munson.”

“Yes, sir,” was the answer in chorus, and, acknowledging the salutes of the sentries, the lieutenant strode away, followed by Ned, Bob, and Jerry.

“Has there been a mutiny, sir, or anything like that?” asked Ned of the lieutenant, at the same time nudging his two comrades to indicate that he was taking a chance in thus putting a question to a superior officer on a subject that might well be a forbidden one.

“A mutiny? What makes you think that?” was the quick retort.

“Oh, on account of what happened--the blowing up of the boiler, and all that. I thought maybe some one had been found planting a bomb in the engine room, sir, and----”

“You must have been doing quite a bit of thinking,” was the smiling comment of the young officer. “Be careful you don’t do too much. Or, at least, if you do, keep your thoughts to yourself.”

“Yes, sir,” assented Ned, and he knew then that his questions were not to be answered.

“Who told you the boiler had been blown up, and what made you think a bomb had been placed in the engine room?” asked the lieutenant.

“Oh, we just imagined so, that’s all, sir,” Ned replied.

“It sounded like an explosion, sir,” said Jerry.

“Well, it was,” and the lieutenant’s answer was a bit snappy. “One of the boilers blew out a main feed steam pipe. It takes an explosion to do that, or rather, the act is explosive in itself. But that doesn’t say it was a bomb.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t,” commented Bob.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t!” came quickly from the young officer. “All I said was that a steam boiler could blow up without a bomb having caused it. I don’t know that any one knows exactly what caused the accident to the ship. We are still investigating, and the less talk about it the better--especially when no facts are known. So I advise you young gentlemen not to do too much talking.”

“All right, sir,” murmured Ned. “But we were just thinking--about that cabin, you know--we were just thinking----”

“But keep your thoughts to yourselves--for the time being,” interrupted the lieutenant. “You may hear all about it later, and again you may not.”

They found Captain Ware in a small cabin which he had to share with fellow officers, so crowded were accommodations aboard the _Sherman_. The captain greeted the boys cordially.

“Now don’t tell me,” he began with a smile, “that you have come to complain of the sleeping quarters, the food, or the lack of exercise. I know all that already--a dozen times over,” and he motioned to a pile of papers on his bed.

“Oh, we haven’t come to complain, sir,” voiced Ned. “But we have something we’d like to tell you, and it may have to do with the accident that disabled the ship.”

“Well, that’s interesting, to say the least,” commented the captain. “Come in, boys. There isn’t a great deal of room, but if you stand up while you’re talking I guess we can squeeze you all in. These cabins were made for only two.”

Thereupon the trio entered and, after a few false starts and a friendly rivalry as to who should open the narrative, the story was finally told. It began with the encounter in the Brest restaurant, when Jerry mistook a stranger for Professor Snodgrass with the consequent unreasonable indignation on the part of the little bald-headed _cochon_, as he had been dubbed.

Then the boys told of having met the man in the passageway, and of how he turned back at the sight of them, evidently trying to conceal a black object he carried.

Ned told of having smelled what seemed to be a burning fuse; and from there the tale went on to the guarded cabin.

“Hum,” mused Captain Ware, when the boys had finished. “Is that all?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Ned, who had assumed the role of spokesman. “Except that we thought we ought to report it all to you, sir, so you could tell Captain Munson if you thought best to do so.”

“You have done quite right. And, now that you have reported to me, please don’t say anything about it to any one else.”

“Do you think there may be anything in it, sir?” asked Bob, who could not refrain from his impulsive question. “I mean do you think this little man, who looks like our Professor Snodgrass from the back, could have tried to blow up the ship?”

“Oh, yes, he could do it easily enough, if he was so minded and had the opportunity,” answered the captain. “But, mind you, I am not saying that he did. This must be investigated, and Captain Munson, in connection with our army officers, will be the one to do this. I am glad you told me what you did. Now don’t talk about it any more. There is no use in starting rumors, the effect of which we can tell nothing about. And, too, it may prove to be a false alarm.”

“That’s what we were afraid of,” said Jerry. “We didn’t want to get in wrong. But we thought it best to speak after we saw the marines put on duty at the cabin, for we thought it might be of more importance than it seemed in the beginning.”

“Yes,” answered the captain, noncommittally. “Well, I’ll let you know when your further testimony is needed. Now don’t forget to keep still about this.”

He dismissed them with a smile, and the boys, feeling they had done all in their power to set things right and to prevent any further outrages, in case it really should turn out that an attempt had been made to blow up the ship, went up on deck.

“I’m glad that’s off my mind,” remarked Ned.

“So’m I,” added Bob. “There must be something in it all right, or they wouldn’t be guarding that cabin.”

“It’s queer, to say the least,” admitted Jerry. “If we could only know----”

“Hark! What’s that?” interrupted Ned, as they neared the head of the companionway.

“The wireless!” cried Bob. “It’s working again!”

And to the ears of the boys came the well-known crackle that told of electrical impulses being sent off into space.

Quickly the three chums looked about them when they reached the deck. A group around the wireless room testified that in some manner the disabled machinery had been put in operation again.

“Yes,” Ned was told by a comrade to whom he put an inquiry, “they managed to fix up a small dynamo, and they’re sending out calls for help.”

“Then we’re all right!” decided Bob. “I guess my appetite will come back now.”

“Didn’t know you’d lost it!” mocked Ned.

“Why, I didn’t feel a bit like eating!” retorted the stout lad.

“Well, it’s the first time such a thing has happened in a good many years,” commented Jerry.

With every one else on board, they were vitally interested in the reëstablishment of the wireless. But as the day went on and no replies came to call after call that was flashed into the void, the feeling of hope gave way to one of despair.

“Don’t they answer?” was the question asked over and over again.

“No reply,” was the report of the wireless men, as they bent over their keys and strained their ears to catch the faintest click that might come through the ear-pieces strapped to their heads. All their flashing calls seemed in vain.