“Oh, no! Nothing so harsh as that!” reassured the other. “We will call it simply guests for the time being. That sounds better!”
“Would you mind telling us what Mackinder had to say about us?” inquired Ned. “We would like very much to know that!”
“Consider,” temporized the officer, “how little time there has been since we first sighted you for conversation of any sort!”
“Yes,” agreed the lad, “but he has told you something!”
“Nothing of importance!” declared the other, rising to indicate that the interview was at an end. “You will be given quarters forward, where you will receive every consideration until we reach our destination.”
“Where are you bound, Captain?” asked Jimmie.
“Our destination just now is a lonely island in the North Sea,” answered the other. “It is heavily guarded, so you will be in no danger.”
“Does Mackinder go ashore, too?” Jimmie continued.
“That has not been decided yet,” replied the commander. He touched a button, summoning an orderly. “Take these young gentlemen forward and see that they want no comfort. They are our guests!” he ordered.
In a few minutes the boys were seated at a table in the forecastle, where they were provided with a great profusion of well-cooked food from the sailors’ mess. With sharpened appetites they fell to eagerly.