When Jack reéntered the cabin, the Spaniard had crawled from under the boat cover and taken up a place of vantage at a porthole where he could see into the cabin and watch Jack’s every movement.
“Will he never go near the wireless key!� he exclaimed impatiently to himself as Jack, half-a-dozen times, appeared to be on the point of retiring. The young wireless operator felt strangely restless and disinclined to sleep. At last the wireless apparatus caught his eye.
“Guess I’ll see if everything is in shape,� he murmured to himself. “I won’t have much time to effect repairs after we sail to-morrow.�
Alvarez’s eyes glowed like live coals and his yellow fingers clinched as he watched the lad approach the key.
He was like an evil serpent watching some victim nearing its fangs.
Jack pressed down the key.
There was a deafening explosion.
Amidst a glare of red flame and lurid smoke, the young operator staggered backward and fell unconscious on the floor of the cabin. In his forehead was a jagged gash from which the blood streamed over his white, lifeless face.
CHAPTER XII: UNCLE TOBY IS OFF FOR TREASURE.
“What happened? Where am I?�