“Is that so, now?” questioned Mr. King, beginning to get interested.
“Say, don’t you suppose it was rats?” propounded the quick-thinking Hiram.
“No, sir!” declared the cook definitely. “I have never noticed a trace of rats in the Albatross.”
“Then I’ll bet it’s another stowaway—say, just like Elmer here was.”
All hands laughed abruptly at this unique piece of guesswork.
“I reckon I was the only intruder aboard, Hiram,” remarked Elmer, good-naturedly.
“Well, the beans are gone and somebody ate them,” said the cook. “It couldn’t be anybody of the crew, for no one has passed through the galley but myself, and the room I speak of is beyond it.”
“Suppose we investigate?” suggested the young aviator.
“That’s it,” agreed the impetuous Hiram. “Come on, fellows.”
All hands followed the cook to his quarters. They inspected the galley and then entered the room beyond it. Sure enough, there was the dish of beans, nearly half its original contents missing.