"Ah, boys, getting warmed through?" asked a voice, and Captain Needham appeared a little later. "Well, you look pretty comfortable. Guess you"re ready for supper."
"You"re a good guesser, sir," said Fenn with a laugh.
"Right this way then," the captain went on quickly, opening a small door which led from the engine room. "I"ll have something sent in here.
There"s a table and some chairs. It"s warm and you can dress in there when your clothes are dry."
The boys went into the apartment he indicated. It was lighted by a small hanging lamp. They sat down to the table, presenting a queer sight in the overalls and jumpers several sizes too large for them. In a little while a man came in with a big tray on which were plates of beef-stew, cups of coffee and plenty of bread and b.u.t.ter.
"Sort of a pick-up meal," Captain Needham said, as he looked in on them a little later, when they were in the midst of it. "Best we could do in a hurry. We don"t often have people drop in on us out of a balloon for supper," and he laughed.
"Say, captain," began Ned. "Is that boy--"
"I"ll be back in a little while," called the captain, as he closed the door, leaving the chums alone.
"I was going to ask him about Sandy," added Ned.
"It"ll keep," remarked Bart.
The boys finished their meal and felt better.
"I"d like to get into my clothes," remarked Fenn. "I want to see about sending a message home. We must be out of the dangerous part of the river now."
"Open the door and we"ll go back to the engine room and see if they aren"t dry," suggested Frank.
Bart, who was nearest, turned the k.n.o.b. The door did not open.
"Stuck, I guess," he said, and gave it a yank. It moved a bit, but only enough to show that it was fastened in some way.
"Locked!" exclaimed Ned. "They"ve locked us in!"
CHAPTER XXVI
PLANNING TO ESCAPE
"Can"t be!" came from Bart. "What in the world would they do that for?"
"Don"t know," admitted Ned. "But you can see for yourself. The door"s locked."
"Maybe the catch slipped by mistake when the captain went out,"
suggested Frank. "Give him a call, or pound on the wall to attract attention."
"Let me give the door another try," Bart said. "No use making a false alarm. Maybe it"s only stuck."
But it was too evident that the portal was locked. The k.n.o.b turned freely, but the bolt was shot and effectually made the boys prisoners.
"Shall I pound on the door?" asked Bart.
"Let"s see if there isn"t another way out," suggested Ned.
They looked all around the room. It was about ten feet square, and, aside from the table, chairs and lamp contained no furniture or furnishings.
"There isn"t even a window," said Frank.
"What"s that up there?" inquired Fenn, pointing to some sort of an opening near the ceiling.
Bart climbed up on the table and investigated.
"It"s a window," he said, "but it"s not more than a foot square, and has bars to it. More for ventilation than anything else I guess. It"s just above the waterline, for I can hear the river and the noise of the propeller."
"It must be a mistake," said Frank. "Go ahead, Bart, and make a racket like a base drum. We"ve got to get out of here, dress and get ash.o.r.e somehow."
Thereupon Bart pounded with both fists on the door, while the boys aided him by yelling. They kept it up for several minutes but there was no response.
"Maybe the machinery makes so much noise they can"t hear us," remarked Ned. "Let"s all pound together. Use the chair and save our fists."
They raised a thundering din by knocking the chairs against the walls of the room and the door.
"Surely someone must hear that," said Bart, as he stopped to rest his arm. Evidently someone did, for in the silence that followed a voice asked:
"What do you want?"
"We want to get out," called Bart. "We"re locked in."
"Well boys, I"m very sorry," went on the voice, which they recognized as that of Captain Needham"s "but I can"t let you out."
"You can"t let us out?" demanded Ned. "What right have you got to keep us here, prisoners."
"Oh, I wouldn"t think of calling you prisoners," the captain said in a gentle tone from the other side of the door.
"What else is it?" Bart asked indignantly.
"Well, you"re only detained for a little while, that"s all. I can"t explain now, but it will be all right in a few days. I wish I could tell you, but I can"t. I"m bound to secrecy. If you will only be patient I"m sure it will be all right inside of a week."
"Do you mean to say you"re going to keep us here a week?" inquired Fenn.
"Well, I"m afraid I"ll have to, you know. You"ll be well taken care of.
Plenty to eat, but I"m sorry I can"t give you any better clothes than those you have on. You can"t run away in them, and you might if you had your own."
"You"ll be sorry for this!" threatened Bart. "When we do get out you"ll be arrested. You can"t do this sort of thing in this country!"
"But I have done it," the captain replied, and the boys thought they heard him laughing. "Now don"t get excited. We"ll treat you well."
"We don"t want to be treated well!" fired back Frank. "We want our rights! We demand that you release us at once!"
"I"m sorry, but I can"t do it, boys. The best I can do is to send word to your folks that you are safe, but unavoidably detained," and this time the boys were sure the man was laughing.