“Say, cut it out there, will you?”
“Why don’t you do as we agreed to?”
“Yes, do what Mr. Lockyer says.”
“That fellow must think he’s a big league reporter,” muttered Herc savagely.
Sullenly the fleshy man obeyed the chorus of protest and withdrew, stepping back on board the press boat.
“Say, who is that fellow?” whispered one of the reporters to another. “Ever see him before?”
“No, I never did,” was the answer. “I’ll ask Brown.”
But Brown had never seen the stranger, either. Nor, it transpired, had any of the other reporters, all of whom were known to each other.
“Better ask him his name,” suggested Brown. “He’s pretty fresh and may offend these submarine fellows.”