It was the rum bottle.
It lay beside the stove, almost at the exact point where it had fallen from the hand of Mr. Briggs.
Here was not only the cause of the fire. Here was proof of who really had started it!
Sandy slipped from the support of the friendly arms that had grasped him. He bent to pick up an asbestos glove dropped by one of the crewmen. He slipped it on his right hand and walked quickly forward to retrieve the bottle.
As he leaned over, he felt himself jostled aside. He nearly fell down again. A tall man stepped in front of him and swung the flat of an ax down on the bottle. He did it deliberately. He shattered the bottle into a hundred pieces.
“Why did you do that?” Sandy cried, unable to hide his anger.
The man in front of him turned with a wicked smile, and said, “You could have burned yourself on that, Little Lord Show-off—and you’re in enough hot water already.”
It was Mr. Briggs.
CHAPTER NINE
Charged with Arson
No one was less surprised than Sandy Steele when the order came for him and Jerry James to report to Captain West in his cabin.