"Very good; since you refuse I have no option--I arrest you. Any statement you make may be used as evidence against you. Come along with me."
Attended by the surging crowd the policeman escorted his charge to the road, where a cab was hailed. The chief officer of coastguards was requested to accompany the prisoner as a witness, and the three entered the vehicle and were driven to the police-station.
Here, in order to gain time, the prisoner was formally charged with unlawful bathing, and as the Court was still sitting at the Town Hall he was ordered to be taken there at once. The chief officer meanwhile communicated with the naval authorities by telephone, expressing his opinion that the diver was a member of the mysterious Captain Restronguet's submarine.
But the prisoner never arrived at the Town Hall. When the cab stopped outside the court a policeman was found insensible on the seat. The floor had been violently ripped up, and unknown to the driver and the constable on the box the suspect had got clean away. By some inexplicable agency the unknown had deprived his captor of his senses, and the mystery of Captain Restronguet had entered into another phase.
CHAPTER IV.
THE SIGNAL FROM THE DEPTHS.
"Naval appointments: The following appointment was made at the Admiralty this afternoon: Sub-Lieutenant Arnold Hythe to the 'Investigator' for special duties (undated)."
This item, in the Stop-Press columns of an evening paper, was shown to Sub-Lieutenant Hythe by one of his brother officers.
"You are a lucky dog!" exclaimed the latter. "My Lords evidently recognize your capabilities as a diver. Well, good luck, old man. I hope you'll play the chief part in running down this plaguey fellow. Hang it all, I cannot see that he's doing any harm, except that all leave is stopped until something is done to stop his little antics."
"Yes, that is hard lines," assented the sub. "But I'll do my level best, no doubt."