"Shove off, then," Tom commanded. "To the landing stage, Mr. Randolph."
It would have been almost laughable, to anyone who had witnessed the frolicsome motor boat boys going through their hazing affair of the forenoon, had he now been at hand to hear them using the stately "mister" and "sir" with all the gravity of naval officers.
Jeff speedily had the party ashore.
Twenty minutes later a closed cab rolled slowly in at one corner of gayly-lighted, malodorous Chinatown. The vehicle contained Messrs. Baldwin and Ross and young Captain Tom Halstead. In this poisonous atmosphere they sought a young human wreck, Gaston Giddings.
CHAPTER V A HUNT IN THE UNDER-WORLD
During the ride from the water front Captain Tom Halstead had sat on the front seat of the cab, quiet and reserved.
Now, as they entered the outer confines of Chinatown, Halstead leaned slightly forward, peering out at the shops and at the queer Oriental jumble, mixed here and there with white people, that thronged the narrow sidewalks.
"Are you headed for any particular place, sir?" queried the young skipper, after a few moments.
"No," admitted Mr. Baldwin. "I know nothing of Chinatown. We must drive through, first of all, at a venture. Presently an idea may come to us. Whatever we do, our plans must soon be formed. If I dared speak to a police officer—but the risk is too great."