“I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on,” he said. “I had a lot of notes to transcribe in my books, having made them only hastily on scraps of paper. All I recall is that we stopped for something or other, and I supposed we were waiting for passengers, or for some reason like that.”
“Waiting for passengers in the middle of the ocean,” murmured Bob. Jerry signaled his chum to refrain from making comments, and then the tall lad fired a volley of questions at the professor.
“Who is this Dr. Hallet?” Jerry asked. “Why is he such an enemy of yours? and why was he kept under guard in his cabin? Afterward the guard was withdrawn and we saw you in there, though perhaps you didn’t see us. And what does it all mean, anyhow? Why will Ned be likely to get into trouble if he is left under the influence of this man? Don’t you think you’d better explain?”
The professor appeared to be considering this. And it seemed to require as much mental effort on his part as though he were deciding the most abstruse of abstract questions.
“Yes,” he finally admitted, “I think I had better explain matters to you. I didn’t think you were so interested. And as for you having trouble with this—this—well, I won’t say what I think of him—but as for you having had trouble with Dr. Hallet, Jerry, I know nothing of that. I only know I’ve had plenty of trouble.”
“He’s a long time getting down to facts,” thought Bob. “I wonder what it all means?”
“To begin at the beginning,” resumed the professor, after apparently casting his mind back into the past, “the trouble between Dr. Hallet and me started when we were rivals in the pursuit of——”
The silence that pervaded the cabin, save for the low voice of the little bald-headed scientist, was suddenly broken by a dull rumbling sound, and a slight vibration seemed to go through the whole length of the derelict. To the boys, used to water navigation as they were, the sound and the feeling meant but one thing.
“We’ve bumped into something or something has bumped into us!” cried Bob.
“Or else we’ve rubbed up against the dock,” added Jerry.