“We need him for a friend,” Johnny replied, quietly. “If he is with us—all the native crew will be, too. He’s a leader.”
“You talk,” said Doris, “as if there were to be war!”
“Who knows?” Johnny did not laugh. “Perhaps there will be, but not just yet. There are spies with us now!”
“How do you know?” She leaned forward in her chair.
“That man I caught on board the other night, was a spy. Look!” He held up the exquisitely wrought knife. “Do you think a native would have such a gem of a knife? Not a chance!
“Then—there’s the green arrow to prove he’s a spy!” Johnny went on. “One of the messages I spelled out by using their code read: ‘Board them. Discover all you can.’”
“But why?” said Doris. “We’re not secret agents.”
“That’s what they don’t know! We are Americans—and they don’t want us around.”
“Know what?” Johnny continued, “I believe that big thing that glides through the water—the thing we saw today—is a submarine!”
“It can’t be!”