But Ned had not time to revolve the puzzling question in his mind. The remaining man now made a clumsy jump, and almost missed the submarine, but strong arms caught him, and he was hauled on board. As he was dragged over the rail, however, something fell from his pocket which struck the steel deck with a metallic ring. It went bounding off, and vanished with a splash.
“A revolver!” gasped Ned; “now, what does a man, out for a sail in a catboat, want with a revolver?”
Both the rescued men were hurried below, and as Lieutenant Parry, who had emerged on deck, had noted by this time the drenched condition of Ned and Herc, he ordered them also below to change their uniforms and put on dry clothing. They entered one of the small staterooms to do so. As it happened, it was one adjoining the room into which the two rescued men had been ushered by the submarine’s officers for the same purpose.
Although the staterooms appeared to be separated by thick, steel bulkheads, as a matter of fact these partitions were not so solid as they appeared. At the top of each was a lattice-work strip, through which air could circulate while the submarine was under the water. Evidently, the rescued men were not aware of this, for they took no care to sink their voices as they talked, and their conversation was not of a kind, so the boys judged, anyway, that they would have wished to blurt out from the housetops.
As the voices came floating through the lattice-work at the top of the bulkheads, Ned gripped Herc’s arm to enjoin absolute silence. He did not, of course, wish to betray, by the slightest sound, the fact that they were there.
“Well, Ignacio,” came one voice, “the first part of our task is accomplished. It was easier than I thought it would have been. For a moment I almost lost the box. A good thing they didn’t try to examine it.”
“That is right, Guiseppi,” was the reply; “these fools on the submarine fell into the trap very neatly. However, the hardest part of our duty lies still before us.”
“Yes, but the reward makes it well worth the risk. If we are detected it will be easy to say that we were ignorant and wished to examine the machinery. They will never suspect. These Americans have the heads of wood and the senses of stone.”
The other laughed aloud, which brought an angry caution from his friend.