"Exactly," Ned said.
"An" the bloomin" moocher was in the next room to mine, an" you got him. I was b.l.o.o.d.y well glad to get the five p"un" note you tipped me then. Stone broke I was."
"You earned it," Ned replied.
"It put me on me legs again," Hamblin went on. "An" I took ship an"
come out to this blasted country. I wish I was on the Bowery again, blast me eyes if I don"t."
"What are you doing here?" asked Ned.
"Runnin" a bloomin" store an" sc.r.a.ppin" with the c.h.i.n.ks," was the reply. "It"s a bally bad game, out here."
"Rotten!" echoed Hans.
Hamblin made a break for the German.
"You thief!" he shouted.
"Hold on," cried Jack, "let me tell you about it," and he proceeded to inform the Englishman of the exact situation of affairs.
"I thought he was a bloomin" moocher," said Hamblin, in a moment. "He acted like one."
"Who is he?" asked Ned of Jack, pointing toward Hans, who now sat on the sand with his knees hunched up in his hands.
"That"s Hans," laughed Jack.
Hans threw out his hand in Boy Scout salute.
"Owl Padrol, Philadelphia!" he said.
"Looks like an Owl, eh?" asked Jack.
"He is an Owl!" roared the Englishman. "He works for me, an" he wants to sleep all day an" sit up all the bloomin" night. He"s an Owl all but the wise look."
"You loaver!" cried Hans, well knowing that Hamblin would not be permitted to attack him again. "You starf mine pelly! You put bugs to sleep in mine ped! How should the nights get me sleep when the ped is one processions of pugs?"
Jack now called Ned aside and told him of the meeting of the conspirators at the Hamblin store, of the sealed packet, and of the seeming quarrel, as described by Hans. Ned turned to the Englishman.
"They met there by appointment," he asked, "the man from the Shark and the man who waited for him?"
"Yes, by appointment."
"It was about papers?"
"Yes, and gold."
"Where did the man who waited here come from?"
"Some point in China."
Jack gave a low whistle.
"China!" he cried. "I wouldn"t have believed it."
"Did you know either of the men who met there--ever see either of them before?" asked Ned, then.
"One of them--a Captain Moore, formerly of the United States Navy,"
was the astonishing reply.
"Where had you seen him?" asked Ned, motioning to Jack to remain silent.
"He first came here on a man-of-war about six months ago."
"Well, the doc.u.ments were taken back on board the Shark, then?" asked Ned.
"Yes, I think so."
"You don"t know what the packet contained?"
"Papers, they said."
"Then it"s all right!" Jack cried. "We can now bunch our hits! The papers and the men we want are on board the Shark. All we"ve got to do is to catch the Shark!"
Just then the Sea Lion rose out of the ocean and they saw Frank and Jimmie waving to them.
"So they"re all right," Ned said. "A moment ago the Shark was ramming them!"
"Why don"t we go on board, then?" demanded Jack. "If there"s going to be a fight on the bottom I want to be in on it. Bet your sweet life I do! Hurry on board!"
"Look a liddle oudt!" cried Hans at this moment. "They say with their hats unt hands somedings. Look a liddle oudt!"
Ned did "look a liddle oudt" just then, and saw Captain Moore and a dozen or more natives crowding through the thicket, the Captain carrying a revolver in a threatening manner.
"Stand quiet," the ex-naval officer said. "I don"t intend to harm any of you. Especially you, Mr. Hamblin. I only want to know where my son Arthur is."
"I haven"t got your son!" bl.u.s.tered Hamblin.
"Make me a search!" cried Hans.
"I"m not talking to you two," snarled the Captain. "I"m directing my talk to this sneak," pointing a shaking finger at Ned, whose muscles drew under the insult.
Hans flushed and started forward, but the natives closed about the ex-naval officer.
"Where is my son?" demanded Moore, flourishing his gun nervously.
"Where did you see him last?" asked Ned.
"That is neither here nor there," the Captain replied. "I want to know what you have done with him."