HARMLESS AS A RATTLESNAKE.
"I beg your pardon, sir, but could I speak to you a moment?"
"Certainly; come in, Chance," rejoined Lieutenant De Frees, who was sitting in his quarters on the aviation testing ground the morning after the events narrated in our last chapter.
"It's—it's about Strong and Taylor, sir, that I wished to speak," said Chance, twisting his cap in his hands. His crafty face looked more fox-like and mean than ever. His manner was almost cringing.
Lieutenant De Frees jumped to his feet.
"You've got news of them?" he exclaimed. "Out with it, my lad. They are not the boys to be absent without good reasons, although I fear that if they have overstayed their leave without just cause they must be disciplined."
"That's just it, sir," said Chance. "I—I don't want to make trouble, sir, but I'm afraid that Strong and Taylor are not all that you think them, sir. I would have spoken at roll-call this morning when they were reported absent without leave, but I thought that maybe they would turn up."
"Well, what do you know about them? Come, out with it," urged the officer sharply.
He had never liked Chance, and the seaman's furtive manner irritated him.