"No, sir, I did not even get a glimpse of him. But I thought, sir, that perhaps——"
"Yes," encouraged the captain in a kindly tone. "Go on with your suggestion."
"I thought, sir," Joe continued, "that if we could find a man aboard with his shirt torn in such a way that this piece would fit, and especially if he had the other end of this chain in his possession, then it might be pretty definitely assumed that he was the man who was in the battery room."
"The chain—perhaps," said the captain slowly, "although that seems doubtful. As to the shirt, no."
And, unbuttoning his jacket, he produced from beneath it a torn and crumpled brown woolen shirt.
"We found this about twenty feet from here as we were on our way," he continued. "It resembles, but it is not, a regulation army shirt. It is of the same texture and color, but it differs in minor details easily discernible. It is my opinion that the man who wore this shirt bought it and wore it for this very purpose, so that, if necessary, he might discard it and still have the one which came to him through the Quartermaster's Department. We evidently have to deal with a very crafty enemy, and one as bold as he is unscrupulous.
"Lieutenant, what do you make of his manipulations in the battery room?"
"There is no doubt in my mind, sir," Lieutenant Mackinson answered, "that he was about to connect up this instrument and then hide it for future use where it could not easily be seen."
"I believe you are right," said the captain. "And then what use did he intend to make of it?"
"Evidently his intention was not a loyal or friendly one," the junior officer continued. "It would seem to me that his probable purpose was to divulge to German submarines our whereabouts when we came within their zone."