He shouted aloud:
“Help, for heaven’s sake, help!”
Then he sat silent, hardly daring to believe that there was a possibility of his rescue. More probably the voices and footsteps were those of Radwig and his rascally accomplice.
In an agony of apprehension, Jack sat in the darkness waiting for the answer to his cry for aid.
CHAPTER XVIII.
A RASCAL BROUGHT TO BOOK.
We must now go back to an occurrence that happened earlier in the evening. The ship had finally received orders to dock at Southampton and was proceeding at a fast clip up the Channel when the telephone in the wireless room rang and a voice inquired for Bill Raynor. Summoned to the wire by Mullen, Bill, who had just entered the station after a miserable day of anxiety for Jack, replied and found that he had been called by the ship’s surgeon, Dr. Moore.
“There has been an accident,” said the doctor; “one of the men has been badly injured. He says he wants to see you without delay.”
“But I know none of the crew,” said Bill.
“This man evidently knows you, however,” returned the doctor, “and I wish you would come as soon as possible. He appears to be worrying over something and says he cannot rest till he has seen you.”