"No!" objected Jimmie. "Don"t say that! I don"t want any more Boy Scouts mixed up in this! It isn"t fair!"
"Just the same, he"s there!" laughed Harry.
"Well, then," stated Jimmie, with a sigh of resignation, "we are in for another siege of it. I never knew it to fail! Just as quickly as we get going somewhere and a Boy Scout shows up there"s trouble ahead and lots of it! Why can"t they stay home?"
"Now, Jimmie," cautioned Ned, "you know we"ve never in all our adventures found a Boy Scout that really brought us ill luck. Sometimes they"ve caused us a lot of trouble, but usually they help!"
"That"s true, too, but I wish we could get home to the little old U. S.
A. without mixing up in this "U-13" business with the Boy Scouts!"
"Maybe it"ll come out all right after all," soothed Ned.
"Maybe," reluctantly agreed Jimmie. "I say, Harry," he continued, "let me take those gla.s.ses. I want to see what that fellow"s like."
Long and eagerly the lad peered through the binoculars.
"I see him!" he cried, presently. "He"s going up the foreshrouds! I"ll bet he"s working his pa.s.sage on that steamer!"
"What"s he doing on the foreshrouds?" asked Ned.
"It looks as if something had fouled at the fore top," replied Jimmie.
"He"s going up to clear it, I guess. Oh, look!" the boy shouted. "He"s falling! He"s broken one of the ratlines and is falling!"
"I see him!" cried Ned. "I can see him!"
"Oh, good!" exclaimed Jimmie, the next moment. "He hit the shrouds and the steamer rolled at the right minute, throwing him clear of the deck.
See that splash in the water?"
"I see it!" answered the others, together.
"Are they trying to help him?" asked Harry.
"Yes, they are," stated Jimmie. "They"ve thrown him a ring buoy!"
"Can you see him now?" asked Ned.
"Yes, and he"s swimming. There must be a current in here that"s dragging him away from the steamer. The buoy fell short and he"s swimming directly away from the steamer. He"s coming towards us!"
Intently the lad watched the one in the water. He swam a good stroke resting easily, even though somewhat impeded by his clothing.
Now and again as the crest of a wave approached the swimmer his head was submerged, only to reappear again in the yeasty froth following the racing monster. Eagerly his progress was noted by all on board the schooner. They were at a loss to understand why he had left his own vessel to swim toward a strange craft.
Presently, however, as he approached the Lena k.n.o.bloch the lad"s strokes became more feeble. He was evidently tiring rapidly.
"Captain, what do you say to getting a boat over?" asked Ned.
"Vhait!" grunted von Kluck. "Id"s lots of vork to do id!"
"But the lad may need help!" urged Ned, eagerly.
"Vh.e.l.l, if he needs id, I put him ofer. Nod before!"
Jimmie ran forward into the very eyes of the schooner. In his hands he grasped a ring buoy, to which was attached a goodly length of line. This he coiled ready to heave the buoy to the one in the water as soon as he should come within reach.
Just as Jimmie was measuring with his eye the distance separating the swimmer from his goal and preparing for a mighty throw of the buoy he noted that the other"s stroke was fast weakening.
With a jerk the Wolf unfastened and kicked loose a shoe. In an instant the other followed. A rapid movement loosened his jacket. A backward twist of his shoulders helped him slip from the garment.
One look over the rail showed that the swimmer was losing control of his muscles. Both hands went up into the air only to disappear beneath the crest of an oncoming wave. The boy stayed under.
"Stand by to get me, boys!" shouted Jimmie.
A splash told that he had gone overboard. His companions crowded eagerly to the rail, watching for his reappearance. In a moment they were relieved to see his red head come up close to the spot where the other had sunk. Emptying his lungs of the pent up air with a loud "Whoosh!" the boy instantly refilled them to plunge again under water.
To the intense satisfaction of those on board the schooner he again came quickly to the surface, this time dragging by the hair the boy to whose rescue he had gone. Swimming on his back, using but one hand, Jimmie slowly brought the other lad to a position where he could reach the buoy flung to him by Ned"s strong arm.
Harry had already made a bowline in a bight at the end of a line. This he pa.s.sed over the side to Jimmie, who succeeded without difficulty in getting the loop over the shoulders of the rescued lad.
Soon both were on deck, where they received the attentions of all hands.
Captain von Kluck insisted upon giving the newcomer a draught of "schnapps" to a.s.sist in the reviving process. As the fiery liquor burned its way down his throat the lad coughed violently.
Choking and spitting the lad clawed at his burning mouth and throat.
Evidently he thought the cure worse than the disease.
"Let"s get into the cabin," suggested Jimmie. "I"m freezing!"
"Sure enough!" cried Ned. "How thoughtless of us! Captain," he added, "can you have the steward bring us some coffee?"
Roaring for the steward to perform this service, the captain picked up the nearly drowned lad in his strong arms. He deposited the boy on a locker in the cabin, then stood aside to permit his pa.s.sengers to administer such a.s.sistance as they might.
Ned stepped forward to begin operations. With a cry he bent over the boy.
Wonderingly the others crowded forward.
"Frank!" cried Ned, seizing the lad by the shoulders. "Frank! Speak to me! Frank, how did you get here?"
"Who is it?" asked Jimmie, elbowing his way into the group to a position where he could see the rec.u.mbent figure. "Why," continued the boy in a tone of amazement, "if it ain"t old Frank Shaw of New York!"
A cup of steaming coffee at this moment brought by the steward was offered to the newcomer, who drank eagerly. He glanced about the group with a faint smile in answer to their puzzled looks.
"Look out for the "U-13", boys!" he said.
CHAPTER VIII
MORE ABOUT THE "U-13"