"Unlock the box," ordered the Captain.
Ned stepped forward with his key, but was brought to a stop by a beating on the door of the rear cabin.
"I forgot," the boy said, "and the man in there doubtless desires his liberty. If some of you will unlock the door you will find the man the government sent away in charge of this expedition."
"What do you mean?" asked the Captain, while Carstens sank back in his chair with a groan.
"I think," Ned replied, "that you will find the real Lieutenant Carstens on the other side of that door."
CHAPTER XIX.
BOY SCOUTS UNEARTH PLOT.
The door was opened instantly, and a man in the uniform of a lieutenant in the United States Navy, stepped forth. He was pale and haggard, and there was a bandage about his head, but his eyes were clear and bright.
Even in his emaciated condition his resemblance to the man crouching in his chair was striking.
There was a silence in the cabin for an instant as the man stepped forth. Surprise was depicted on every face except those of Ned and Captain Curtis.
"You see I was right," Ned said.
"You are Lieutenant Carstens?" asked the Captain.
"I am," was the slow reply, "and I ask that the traitor cowering in the chair be placed under arrest."
"That has already been done," the Captain said. "How long have you been confined in the cabin?"
"Several days," was the reply, "ever since the first day out, and each day seemed an eternity of years, for I knew that a treasonable scheme was afoot. If you will open that steel box," he added, "you will find the proof of my words."
"So they tried to corrupt you, did they?" asked Ned, applying the key to the box.
"Indeed they did," was the reply, "and failing, they determined to take my life. Why they delayed doing so is more than I can understand."
"Perhaps it may be well to use the key held by this man Keene, who has been personating me for so many days," Lieutenant Carstens said.
"I know nothing about the box or its contents!" Keene shouted. "It was given to me by the senator"s son, and now I command you to restore it to him as I received it, unopened."
Captain Curtis raised his hand and three men sprang upon Keene, who struggled violently for a moment and then dropped back, inert and almost lifeless. A search of his pockets revealed a key which was the exact duplicate of the one in the possession of Ned, and with this the steel box was opened.
Captain Curtis took a sheaf of papers from it and handed them to Ned.
"See if your guess had any merit," he said, with a laugh.
"Here," Ned began, separating the papers one by one, "is a treaty signed by many native chiefs. Under its provisions, a thousand islands in the Philippine group would have been in open revolt within a week."
"This is all news to me!" gasped the senator"s son, pale and frightened.
"And yet you claimed the box!" Ned said.
"But only as a piece of property placed in my possession as a sacred charge," the young man answered. "I didn"t know what it contained. This man Keene, who has been posing as Lieutenant Carstens, alone knew what was in the box."
"That is false!" shouted Keene, "for you wrote the treaty, and witnessed the signing of it. It was all done in the interest of that gigantic corporation of which your very honorable father is the head!"
"Are you ready to tell the truth at last?" asked the Captain.
"Yes," answered Keene, "I"ll tell all I know about it. I was poor and in disgrace in army circles, and this senator offered me more than I could refuse. That is all there is to it. I"ll tell the truth, fast enough."
"You"re a fool!" shouted the senator"s son. "Who will believe what you say? As you said a moment ago, you are in disgrace in army circles now, having been cashiered for cheating at cards. No officer would take your word, or your oath, for that matter."
"And he," Keene faltered, pointing a shaking finger at the young man, "was sent out here to pay me the price of my treachery and to see that I delivered the goods!"
"It is false!" the young man replied. "All a lie! Wait until you hear from Washington! Then you"ll see who is a traitor!"
"And this," Ned went on, holding up another paper, "is the order which followed Lieutenant Rowe to Captain G.o.dwin"s headquarters. Why they kept it, I do not know, but keep it they did."
"Read it," commanded the Captain.
"It orders Lieutenant Rowe," the boy summarized, "to arrest Tag, Captain G.o.dwin"s servant, and half a dozen other Filipinos at G.o.dwin"s headquarters and place them in irons. It informs Lieutenant Rowe that he must remain at G.o.dwin"s quarters until further instructions are sent to him."
"That paper," Keene said, "was retained to prove to the native chiefs what difficulties we, their friends, were encountering in trying to a.s.sist them in building up a confederacy of their own."
"It seems to me that there is nothing more to say about this matter,"
Ned said. "We boys came to the Philippines to a.s.sist the government in unearthing this plot and bringing the leaders to punishment, and there seems to be nothing more to be done."
"But I don"t quite understand it yet," Captain Curtis said. "How did you know that this box contained the treaty? How did you know that Keene was personating Lieutenant Carstens?"
"This man Keene," Ned laughed, "played his hand awkwardly. Through spies in the offices at Manila, doubtless, he learned that the treachery of the Filipinos at G.o.dwin"s island had been discovered. He knew that the government would look there first, and determined to block the investigation until he could accomplish what he had set out to do and get his blood money."
Keene frowned up from his chair at the boy, but said nothing. The senator"s son smiled weakly and kept his eyes on the floor.
"Go on!" the Captain said, greatly interested.
"Lieutenant Rowe was detailed to investigate the matter, and ordered to the G.o.dwin island. If the isle has another name I have never learned of the fact."
"It is called Penalty Island," smiled the Captain, "because the man sent there is supposed to be given the detail for some oversight of duty.
However, in the case of Captain G.o.dwin, I do not think this holds good."
"After the Lieutenant left for Penalty Island, then," Ned went on, "Keene discovered what was going on and feared that Tag and his fellows, if arrested, would snitch, as the boys have it. Then the messenger was sent after Rowe with more definite instructions. That is, he was given more positive instructions and sent out in haste. On the way to Penalty Island the instructions were stolen and another paper subst.i.tuted.
"While the original order required Rowe to arrest Tag and his fellow conspirators, the false one required the Lieutenant to return at once to Manila. This would indeed have blocked the investigation and given Keene and his confederates time in which to complete their work of organizing the tribes.
"But the messenger knew what the papers he had been given contained, and when they were read by the Lieutenant--exactly opposite to the instructions given him--there was a pretty row. He informed Rowe of the subst.i.tution and advised him not to obey the orders delivered.
"Tag and his men, cl.u.s.tered about the windows and porch of the nipa hut, heard what was going on and decided to get rid of Lieutenant Rowe and his party by a.s.sa.s.sination. This plan was not carried out because this young man Clem, whom we know only as the senator"s son, arrived with a party of Americans and Filipinos.