“Well, that’s that,” said Rawlins, when Mr. Pauling told him of the message, “but there’s a bunch of cays and islands down there. I’ll bet Commander Disbrow didn’t hunt every one. I’m for getting down in there anyway. Maybe we can get their talk again.”
There seemed no better plan and so, giving Disbrow their position and course, they continued on their way, passing the Caicos low down on the horizon and making for the remote, uninhabited, outlying cays. In the hopes of again picking up the Russian conversation the resonance coil had been fixed on the superstructure and a man was detailed to slowly swing it back and forth through a wide arc, while below, one of the boys was constantly at the receivers with Bancroft at the regular equipment listening for messages from the destroyer or any other source.
Land was in sight ahead—low-lying, surf-beaten cays on the fringe of the Bahamas—when once more Tom heard the rough gutturals in his ears. Instantly he summoned Smernoff and with the signal bell, which had been arranged, notified the man at the resonance coil to hold it steady. Mr. Pauling, Mr. Henderson and Rawlins appeared at the same instant as the Russian and all waited breathlessly as the big fellow seated himself at the instruments. But only a few words came to him in the tongue of his native land and they were meaningless to him. Mere numbers, but which, after he had repeated them several times and his hearers were convinced he had made no mistake, caused the others to glance at one another and to retire behind closed doors the moment the Russian was out of sight. In the meantime Rawlins had hurried on deck and had asked the man at the coil for the direction in which it had pointed when the bell had sounded.
“Southeast by south one-quarter south, Sir,” he replied.
“Well, they’re not on those cays!” Rawlins announced as he joined the others. “The coil was pointing southeast by south one-quarter south and the cays are just about due south by east. What did you make of those numbers?”
“Latitude and longitude, I should say,” replied Mr. Pauling. “If so, where would they bring it?”
Rawlins left and returned a moment later with a chart. Spreading it on the table he ran his parallel ruler over it.
“If they are latitude and longitude they’re not anywhere within five hundred miles,” he declared, “and,” he continued, “I don’t believe they were latitude and longitude. One was X 3568 and the other 46 B 15. Whichever way you take it that would be way outside of the West Indies and I’ll bet my best hat to a stale doughnut that they’re some cypher numbers. By the jumping Jupiter! I have it! That’s the way the Hun planes used to signal their gunners to direct their fire! Those fellows on that sub are directing some one to somewhere. Yes, sir, and I’ll make another guess and that is they’re onto us and are breaking for headquarters as fast as they can beat it. Likely as not those numbers refer to us. I’ll say that’s it! We never heard a peep from them till we began testing that radio under water. Shouldn’t wonder if they were lying low not far off and heard us.”
“You may be right,” agreed Mr. Pauling. “But it’s all guesswork. Of course we did not hear them before as we had not set up the instruments and had not used the resonance coil. But tell me, Henderson, how is it we get them on that and don’t get them on the regular instruments?”
“Too weak for the latter,” replied the other, “you forget the boys are using three stages of amplification and those crystals. But if that detector is right we should be able to hear that other sub if she’s near. Are there any cays southeast by south one-quarter south, Rawlins?”