The Chief of Police, angry at being baffled in his search for Radwin, went away declaring that he would have an order issued for the arrest of Rhinds as an accessory.
CHAPTER XX
CAPTAIN JACK PULLS A NEW STRING
Radwin did not return.
Though looking outwardly composed, John C. Rhinds passed the next few hours in a condition of internal unrest.
Why did Chief Ward want to see Fred Radwin? And why had the latter tricked himself off out of sight?
These questions tormented Rhinds the more because he could not even invent satisfactory answers to them.
"Is the chief of police acting on anyone else's orders?" quavered the old man. "Has Fred betrayed himself in anything he has done? Is he a fugitive from justice? Oh, mercy! What a situation just when I am trying to put the deals through that shall make the Rhinds Submarine Company the richest concern of its kind in the world!"
By the middle of the afternoon Rhinds heard the newsboys calling something excitedly down in the street.
"What's that? What's that?" gasped the old man, holding one hand to his ear. "Sounds like 'Dastardly plot—submarine mystery.' Can it be anything to injure our chances?"