The night was hot and little air astir. He gazed purposelessly through the porthole, dozing anon till far after the middle of the night, he was aroused to active interest by seeing the lights of another ship. From his viewpoint, the harbor’s opening toward the sea was visible.
There was commotion now over his head, the running about of sailors, calling the captain to the deck. The mate and others of the crew all assembled on the deck above, and very near Jim’s compartment.
The first exultant thought in Jim’s mind was that the professor with the Storm King had come to his rescue. The more logical reasoning determined that it would have been quite impossible to have accomplished any such result in so short a time. Furthermore such a move would have been foolhardy and impractical. No, there must be some other explanation to be sought.
The mysterious arrival was puzzling Captain Beauchamp and his company, who, indeed, took the new arrival to be the Storm King. This Jim readily determined by the talk of those leaning against the deck rail.
“Are you sure that no lights are showing below?” It was Beauchamp’s soft voice.
“There are no lights lit on board, sir. Your orders were that none should show in this harbor.”
“Then they can’t locate us in the dark. Before dawn have all the guns looked over and everything made in readiness for an attack.”
“Is that young fellow worth fighting for?” asked the mate.
“I thought to keep him while we looked for the cave, and his party don’t know that we have got him.”
“But they will soon find out. Any one of those Frontier Boys can follow even a rabbit trail.”