He left the room, and in two minutes the boys were both asleep. They were exhausted, with the trying mental exhaustion that people feel who have undergone great anxiety and danger.
The two Captains and the Colonel went into Captain Greene's cabin and for a long time talked the matter over. They could hear the crew and the soldiers making merry. It had been a great experience; an experience which fortunately had had a good ending. Already a lot of the boys were writing highly-colored, lengthy accounts home—accounts which were doomed never to pass the censor!
Colonel Bright was happy as a boy. He chuckled and laughed and patted his friends on the back. He was so glad to have his two boys restored to him that he didn't know what to do. He kept tiptoeing back to look at the boys as they slept. And sleep they did hour after hour, until their young bodies were renewed and refreshed. When they finally awoke, it was with the feeling that they never could sleep again. They went up on deck to take their usual morning look around. It was not yet time to report to Colonel Bright. To their great surprise, they were lying outside a harbor. In the distance they could see through the morning haze the lines of shipping and the bright tiled roofs of the houses. There was a feeling of expectation on board the ship. Porky hailed a sailor and asked where they were.
"In Europe," said the Jacky, smiling, and hurried away.
"In Europe!" repeated Porky. "I bet Colonel Bright will tell us." They hurried below. But to their eager questions the Colonel merely repeated the sailor's reply. The boys hurried on deck again. They stood by the rail, staring at the purple shore, when they were startled by a shot below, the sound of a scuffle, and as they turned a man raced past, leaped the rail and was swallowed by the sea. Scarcely had his head appeared again when with a rush Captain Greene gained the rail. For a moment he took aim; a steady, relentless aim. A puff of smoke marked the shot, and the black head, bobbing on the waves, disappeared. A hand was raised, and seemed to wave a good-by.
The boys watched breathlessly, then turned to stare at the Captain, who was peering intently at the water. There was something in his stern, set face that forbade questioning. For once they were completely silenced.
When the head, did not come to the surface, the Captain turned and went hastily down the companionway. The boys looked at each other.
"What on earth does it all mean?" Porky demanded of no one in particular.
They, too, hurried, down. The door of the Captain's cabin was ajar. Colonel Bright, very pale, and supported by the purser, sat opposite the door. When he saw the boys' anxious faces he nodded, and they went silently to his side.
Then they saw that on the Captain's bunk a form, limp and ghastly, was stretched out under the hand of the surgeon. It was the Captain of the Firefly, and as they looked, the surgeon stood upright.