"I stepped out of the wireless room for only a few moments," he said. "When I returned I found this lying upon the table."
He opened his left hand. In it lay a piece of light chain, both ends broken.
"Beside it," he continued, "was this note."
From his pocket he extracted a piece of paper, the edges of which were roughly torn. He handed it to the captain, who read aloud:
"Let this be a warning that no further interference will be of avail."
The captain looked from the note to the chain. There was no further word on the paper, and no signature.
"I believe, sir," said Jerry, "that this is the rest of the chain which was attached to the iron cross torn from the man caught in the battery room."
The senior officer of the vessel took from his pocket the cross, with its two bits of chain still dangling from it. He placed the ends to the chain which Jerry had found in the wireless room.
"You are right," he said simply. And there could be no doubt about it.