As it did so one of the end boards flew off under the strain, and the receptacle gaped open.
By this time the group from the Beale were quite close by, and Ned’s sharp eyes fell on some shiny metal apparatus inside the case. Stanley saw it at the same instant, and so did Herc.
“Those fellows will be giving their agricultural machinery to the mermaids to cultivate seaweed with the first thing they know,” grinned Herc.
“Agricultural machinery nothing!” snapped Stanley sharply. “Do you know what’s in that box, boys?”
“What it says, I suppose,” rejoined Ned.
“Not much. That box there and those others as well, I’ll bet, are full of machine guns!” was the startling reply.
“How do you know?”
“I’ve seen too many for my eyesight to fool me. I’d know any part of one a mile off, even if I only spied it through a busted box.”
As the boys’ elder spoke, a man who had been down in the launch superintending the stowage of the boxes, clambered up over the stringpiece. Angry words were on his lips, but as his eyes fell on the boys they quickly died away, and, without uttering a sound, he sank back again.