“That certainly appears plausible,” said Colonel Minturn. “The Endymion, when pressed, can make twenty-five miles an hour. Our speed is about sixteen. Therefore, it would be an easy matter for her to overhaul us at night, slip away in the daytime, and sneak back at night once more.”
“I think it would be a good plan to keep a sharp look-out to-night,” said Jack. “I’ve a notion that there may be something in the wind.”
“I agree with you,” was the colonel’s rejoinder. “Although, if it comes down to that, there’s no reason why Jarrold shouldn’t, if he wishes to, exchange messages with any ship. At least, I know of no way of stopping him.”
“That’s just the trouble, sir,” said Jack, turning to go. “He’s too much of a fox to put himself into a position where we can get anything definite on him.”
The day passed uneventfully and the first part of the night was the usual unbroken routine. Jack spoke with two or three vessels in the West Indian and South American trade. But nothing unusual occurred to break the monotony. Midnight found him on the watch. When Sam, as much interested in the strange developments as was Jack, came to relieve him at the wireless key, Jack decided to forego his sleep and do some investigating.
Putting on a pair of light canvas shoes with rubber soles, Jack took up a position on the main deck as soon as the ship was wrapped in sleep, except for the watch and the officer who paced the bridge unceasingly under the blazing tropic stars. His vigil was not rewarded till some time before dawn, when, out of the blackness to port, came the sudden blinking of a scarlet disk, like the leering wink of an ensanguined eye.
It came so suddenly and startlingly that Jack knew that the stranger, the one he was now convinced was the Endymion, had crept up without lights, under cover of darkness. There came a few dots and dashes, indicated by the length of the flash of the red light. Then it ceased.
Then it began again, flashing like a night heliograph.
“By Jove! Somebody answered them from this ship!” exclaimed Jack in high excitement.
But the decks were bare. Not a soul was to be seen. Had it been anyone above, Sam was on the lookout there and would have notified Jack at once.