"I see," replied the boy's captor slowly. "Well, I shall have more to say to you about that later."
He again began to tinker with the engine and the motorboat now increased its pace; and then, as the man raised his head to look at Frank, he perceived two dark figures suddenly clamber over the rail and dash toward him.
Frank saw them in the same instant.
"Jack!" he cried.
The German, for such Frank felt sure his captor was, rose quickly to his feet, revolver in hand. He raised it quickly, and pointing it at Jack, who was dashing forward closely followed by Williams, fired.
The distance was so close that a miss would have been impossible and Jack would probably have been killed had it not been for Frank.
The latter sprang quickly forward and seized the German's arm even as his finger pressed the trigger and the bullet went wild. With a muttered imprecation, the German whirled on Frank, reversed his revolver quickly and brought it down on the lad's head.
Frank fell to the deck without a groan and lay still.
At the same moment a shot from the helmsman struck Williams in the chest as he and Edwards dashed toward him and the man fell to the deck, mortally wounded.
Edwards, unarmed, dashed upon the other, but even as he would have grappled with the man, the latter dodged and Edwards went staggering by. Before he could recover himself, the German had clubbed him over the head with his revolver butt.