[CHAPTER XIV]
A BATH HOUSE MYSTERY
For a few seconds it would have been hard to tell who was the more surprised, Noddy or the three boys. They stood confronting each other, while the crowd surged this way and that. Then Noddy spoke again:
“I want to know what you fellows mean, coming here trying to take my whale?” he asked.
“Your whale, Noddy Nixon?” inquired Jerry.
“Yes, my whale. Didn’t I discover it ashore early this morning? I put a paper with my name on it. I claim it under the law.”
Salt Water Sam thrust himself forward. His one eye gleamed with an angry light.
“Who’s this young whipper-snapper that claims my whale?” he asked. “Let me get at him!”
“Don’t you touch me!” cried Noddy, as the sailor confronted him. “I’ll have you arrested if you put your hands on me; that’s what I will!”