The young sailor withdrew.
“How far down the coast are we now, Ensign?” asked Frank. “Murphy gave me our bearings aboard the trawler, so I could radio them to you. But I have no idea where that is on the map. We had been trying to compute the distance we traveled from San Francisco, but when we awoke this morning the trawler’s engines were still, and I don’t know how long she had lain there. You spoke of Santa Barbara. Are we near that point?”
“About fifty or sixty miles west-north-west,” said the naval officer. He rose. “Shall we go on deck? In this weather I ought to be there.”
They followed him from the cabin.
“Say, Bob,” said Frank, as the pair dropped behind, “wouldn’t it be fun to take a cruise aboard this Sub Chaser in pursuit of ‘Black George’s’ gang?”
“Great.”
“I mean not just after the trawler. Probably we’ll lose her in this fog. But to go on a regular expedition, maybe to nose out the smugglers’ rendezvous, maybe clear down into Mexican waters?”
“Great,” agreed Bob again.
“Well, we’ve already had considerable fun out of this,” declared Jack, joining them and leaving Mr. Temple and Doctor Marley to continue with the naval officer.
“Haven’t we, though,” agreed Frank. “Why, when we get back to Harrington Hall in the fall, and tell the fellows about this——”