Pointing his finger directly at the big diver, Jay said:
"Weddigen stole those diamonds. By the light of his own flash I saw him break open the chest in the captain's cabin of the Dominion and transfer some of those sparklers to his pockets. As God is my judge, I saw this man take those diamonds."
The hubbub increased. The crew of the Nemo seemed about to leap on the accused diver.
"Since he didn't get away with the theft because of the alertness of Seymour," Jay continued, "I decided to let the matter go by. But now that he's been caught again, and this time in a dastardly effort against the country that we all love, I'm telling the whole story. He's a thief and a traitor, and Dick Monaghan and I have the goods on him."
Jay's dramatic climax in high-pitched voice with an extended hand that shook with rage aroused the crew of the Nemo to a wild frenzy of rage. With one accord they moved toward the indicted diver. A traitor to the United States! More yet, an emissary of the vaunted German secret service working right in their very midst!
"String him up! Give him his due! Kill him!" the cries were intermingled with the hoarse guttural exclamations of the Nemo's crew. They were minded on the moment to mete out justice themselves—the mob-rule spirit when it has been whetted to white heat passion.
In this trying situation, Captain Austin, exponent of law and order, took a hand. Enraged as he was at the revelations concerning Weddigen, he was determined there should be no informal lynching party aboard his craft. Better to make a prisoner of the man and turn him over to the United States Government for a trial that would bring out interesting information and certainly result in punishment of a fitting nature being visited upon this miserable spy.
Whipping out his revolver the captain advanced through the crowd to the side of the dismayed diver.
"He's my prisoner, boys; I'll just lock him up and take him back to Bridgeford with us, where we'll turn him over to Uncle Sam."