One afternoon, as they were nearing the end of their voyage, Benton called the boys together on a deserted part of the deck. They could tell from his agitated appearance that something was wrong.
He did not keep them long in suspense. It seemed, that shortly after dinner he had been strolling along the decks when suddenly, in a group of several men working at a windlass, he had seen Ramirez, the half-breed.
Benton’s first impulse had been to leap for the rascal and avenge the attempt the halfbreed had made to stab him. But even as his muscles had tensed, another thought had flashed across his mind and caused him to desist. Apparently, Ramirez had not seen him, and Benton withdrew to think the matter over. It seemed improbable that the halfbreed’s presence on the boat was a mere coincidence, and Benton’s face wore a worried expression as he told the boys of the encounter.
“The chances are that he found out in some way that I was taking passage on this ship and joined the crew in the hope of stealing the map which he knows that I always carry with me,” concluded Benton. “From now on we must all be on the alert, for he will know that you are with me and may suspect each one of having a copy of the map. So watch your step and keep away from dark places on the deck after nightfall.”
For the rest of the trip, the boys kept their eyes open, but the halfbreed made no hostile move, and for a time they believed that Benton must have mistaken his man. Life on shipboard followed the usual routine and the boys made many friends among the passengers.
With their knowledge of radio, they also got in the good graces of the radio operators on board ship, and once Phil stood an entire watch in the radio room, receiving and sending messages in a way that evoked the unqualified admiration of the professionals.
One message that came during that watch illustrated again the beneficent properties of radio. Word came from a town on the shore where an accident had happened to one of the workmen erecting a sugar mill. There was no doctor at hand and the superintendent of the mill sent out a radio call for help that Phil caught. He summoned the ship’s doctor, and at his dictation told the superintendent just what to do in order to save the man’s life. The interchange of messages lasted for over an hour and when the doctor arose from his chair it was with the information that his orders had been followed to the letter, and that the patient was resting easily with every prospect of complete recovery.
Radio concerts also were held in the salon of the steamer, and helped to beguile the time most pleasantly. The hours passed quickly until one day a speck appeared on the horizon that grew into an island as they approached it and a few hours later the ship had dropped anchor in San Domingo.
CHAPTER X
LURKING IN THE SHADOWS
Early the next day they set out in search of a suitable craft for their expedition. It was no easy task to find what they wanted, but at last they chanced on a trig little sloop, of which after considerable bargaining and red tape they became the proud owners. All this was not accomplished without the passage of many days, and while Benton was interviewing ship owners and harbor masters, the boys employed the time in mastering the mysteries of the diver’s art.