The Dreadnought Boys on Aero Service

"The despicable scoundrels!" gasped Herc. "But how did Chance and Merritt come to join them?"

"Money, I suppose. They seem to be well supplied. I guess Chance and Merritt are being well paid for the information they can impart to the rascals concerning the secrets of our naval organization."

"Do you think it is possible they could be such traitors?"

"Anything is possible where they are concerned. By the way, Herc, this is no ordinary sloop we are on. In the first place, it is the same craft as that from which I was fired on at the time Midshipman Shrike fell from the aeroplane."

Herc nodded.

"Now I know why that red stripe seemed so familiar," he said.

"Moreover," resumed Ned, "she is fitted with wireless."

"With wireless!"

"Yes. The instruments are in another cabin forward of this one. I noticed the aerial wires on her mast, too, as I was brought on board. Muller ordered them hauled down, but not before I had seen them."

"What does she want with a wireless apparatus?"

"I can't imagine, unless it is to catch the messages that the ships of the navy are sending concerning plans, and so on."

"But they are in cipher."

"Yes, but there are two men on board who know that cipher – Chance and Merritt. That fact alone explains their value to the anarchists."

"Humph! That's so," agreed Herc. "But what's the matter with our looking about a bit more? We might discover something else."

"All right. My head still aches a little, but otherwise I'm well enough," responded Ned. "I guess we are safe from interruption for a time. The wind seems to be freshening, and the men will all be busy on deck. I reckon they think we are both drugged, too, and are safe not to awaken for some time."

"Wow! I'm glad I didn't drink that water, or there would be more truth than poetry in that," said Herc.

"I guess they gave me a light dose, for I didn't taste it," said Ned.

"Good thing they did, or I couldn't have roused you so easily."

The two boys cautiously set about exploring the cabin. It was a bare little place, and did not contain much subject matter for investigation. There was a door forward leading to the wireless room, but it was locked. Ned listened at the keyhole, but the instruments were silent.

"Hullo!" said Herc, suddenly halting and pointing downward at the cabin floor. "What's under here, I wonder?"

There was a ring at his feet. Ned lost no time in laying hold of it. He gave it a sharp tug, and it came up easily, bringing with it a section of flooring to which it had been attached.

It revealed a dark, yawning space under the cabin floor, into which both boys peered eagerly.

"There's something in there, but I can't make out what," said Ned presently. "Wait a jiffy, till I strike a match."

A lucifer was soon lighted, and Ned, bending over, held it inside the hole in the cabin floor. He recoiled with a jump and a suppressed cry, as if he had suddenly discovered a nest of rattlesnakes.

"What's up?" demanded Herc, who had been able to detect nothing but a metallic glitter, like that of steel.

"Torpedoes!" gasped Ned; "six Whiteheads! enough to destroy all the finest and newest vessels of Uncle Sam's navy."

CHAPTER XVIII

ON BOARD THE SLOOP

They had no further opportunity, just then, to comment on their discovery. For, just as Ned voiced it, somebody could be heard fumbling with the lock on the companionway door. It was the work of an instant for Herc to replace the removable section of the flooring while Ned slid silently and swiftly back into the cabin he had vacated.

Herc had just time to resume his seat on the locker, together with a vacant expression of countenance, when the door was flung open. It admitted a gust of fresh, crisp air and a shower of spray.

"Wish I was up on deck inhaling some of that," commented Herc to himself, as he turned his head to see who the newcomer might be.

It proved to be Herr Muller. He came down the steps slowly, glancing about him sharply as he came. He seemed somewhat surprised as his eyes lit on Herc perched up on his locker.

"Ah, ha! awake!" he exclaimed.

"You hadn't any reason to suppose I'd be asleep, had you?" inquired Herc blandly.

"No. You boys are too wide-awake altogether. That is why we have taken you off on this cruise," chuckled the anarchist grimly.

"Very considerate of you, I'm sure," rejoined Herc. "And this – this cruise, I presume, it isn't for our health?"

"Hardly," rejoined the other, with a smile; "I mean to make you useful to us and – to the cause!"

His eyes glittered as he spoke. The glare of a fanatic filled them.

"How is your comrade?" he asked the next instant.

Herc saw the trap instantly. Muller had thought to trap him into answering without thought. Had he done so, the crafty anarchist would have known that the boys had been talking together. So Herc assumed his most unworldly expression.

"What, is Ned on board?" he exclaimed.

"You didn't know it?"

"Not I. You are clever fellows to have trapped both of us."

Herr Muller looked at the lad sharply. He did not know what to make of this careless, debonair manner.

"Well, as you observed," he said at length, "we have trapped you."

"But what for? What do you want with little us?" grinned Herc.

"You are making fun of me, Mister Yankee."

"Not any more fun than you make of yourself," parried Herc quickly.

Herr Muller looked more puzzled than ever. Then he frowned suddenly. "You do not seem to realize the seriousness of your position," he said.

"Not I. Oh, I'm a care-free sail-o-r-r-r-r oh!" sang Herc. "How do you like my singing?" he inquired.