Dick entered the room, then started back in surprise.
Bristow lay propped up in bed, reading. Around his head was a white bandage. Dick hastened to his side.
“Why, what is the matter?” he exclaimed.
“Accident,” replied Bristow, with a slight smile, and volunteered no further information.
Dick did not press him for an explanation. After some little talk, in the course of which Bristow said he did not require anything and announced that he would be perfectly fit on the morrow, Dick took his leave and rejoined the others.
“And how was he hurt?” asked Mr. Willing, after Dick had reported what he had learned.
“He didn’t say and I didn’t ask him,” he replied. “But I am sure there is something strange about it, sir.”
“I am beginning to think that myself,” agreed Colonel Ashton. “He’s a queer one. Now, I wonder why he warned us not to sail on this ship?”
“It’s too deep for me,” declared Dick.
“I have it,” exclaimed Shirley suddenly. “Perhaps he is an agent of one of the foreign countries, England or Germany.”