"So it"s you, is it?" he roared, with an oath. "You escaped from the Lion"s Mouth! Well, there"s no escape for you now. Here come my men and this time I"ll put you where you"ll be out of harm"s way for good."
At the same moment several men, among them c.u.mmings, came running at top speed toward them.
Jack was no coward. But he was also no fool. There were six against him in that lonely part of the dock section of Kingston. If he stood his ground he would not have a chance. As Jarrold leaped toward him, he turned swiftly and darted off.
Bang!
Jarrold had drawn a pistol and was sending bullets after him. Up a dark alley Jack dodged, while behind him he could hear the rush of feet pursuing.
"Goodness, if they ever get me, it"s all off!" gasped the boy.
He darted out of the alley he had been following, doubled up another and heard the rush of feet growing fainter. At last they died out altogether. Apparently his pursuers had given up the chase.
Utterly winded, he leaned against a blank wall to recover his breath. He had no idea what part of the town he was in, but it appeared to be in the native quarter. From the opposite direction he heard men approaching.
By a street lamp he saw that they were two blacks. Both carried bundles.
From their dress and walk they appeared to be stokers or firemen on some steamer. Jack stepped up to them and asked them the way to the hotel.
They stared at him a minute, and then one of them said:
"Lawd, boss, we dunno no mo" "bout Kingston "an you do. We"s United States n.i.g.g.e.rs, we is. Not dis Wes" Injun trash. We b"long on de _"Dimyun_."
Jack gasped.
"On the _Endymion_?"
"Yes, boss, reckon dat am de name, come ter fink ob it."
"The _Endymion_ is docked here, then?"
"She sho" is, boss, but she won" be long. We"s got orders to git a wiggle on. She"s gwine to sail right away. Come on, Jake, we ain"t got no license ter be talkin" here. We"s likely to miss de ship."
"One question more!" cried Jack, as the men hurried off. "When did the ship dock?"
"Night befo" de day befo" yisterday," said Jake.
"Do you know the name of her wireless operator?"
"Ah dunno. Fink it"s Comein or suthin" lak dat. But see here, we all kain"t answer no mo" question. Goo" night."
The two negroes hurried off, leaving Jack with swimming senses. So the _Endymion_ was in the harbor! Had docked the night before the _Tropic Queen_! It was all plain enough now to the boy. c.u.mmings was her wireless man. That explained his connection with Jarrold. And the yacht was to sail that night, within a few minutes probably, and Jarrold, in disguise, had blown the _Tropic Queen"s_ safe open.
Jack"s head buzzed. What was the key to it all? What had Jarrold blown the safe for just before he was hurrying to sea on his yacht in this clandestine fashion?
And then, like a bolt of lightning, the explanation struck him.
Colonel Minturn"s papers had been placed in the safe while he was ash.o.r.e!
Jarrold had taken a desperate chance and won out.
In half an hour"s time he would be at sea beyond the possibility of pursuit, for the _Endymion_ was far faster than any craft in the vicinity of Kingston.
CHAPTER x.x.xIV
BAD NEWS FOR THE COLONEL
The gardens of the hotel were brilliantly lighted, and the colored lamps, strung among the trees, glowed down on a gay throng, when into the midst of the merry-makers there burst an odd figure.
It was hatless, its white duck clothes were bedaubed with mud. Few would have recognized in this panting, wild-eyed apparition the usually natty Jack Ready.
But Jack it was. A waiter stretched out an arm to stop him as he dashed into the garden, but he shoved the man aside with a force that sent him spinning. Men and women stared at the boy as if he were a madman as he rushed about, searching frantically for Colonel Minturn.
He found him at last, chatting with a group of ladies and gentlemen.
Despite Jack"s condition, the colonel recognized him at once.
"What, my boy, what has happened?" he exclaimed. "You look--"
"Never mind that now, Colonel, please," besought Jack. "I must speak to you alone at once."
"Certainly," said the military man, realizing that Jack must have some serious news. He excused himself to his friends and stepped aside, while Jack, in a swift, eager, low tone, told him what he feared had occurred.
"Colonel Minturn must have bad news," said one of the ladies of the gay party with which the colonel had been chatting. "Look, he"s as white as a ghost!"
"That scare-crow messenger has brought him some news that has given him a shock evidently," commented one of the men.
But although Jack"s message of the probable theft of the Panama papers had shaken the colonel to the fibers of his being, the long training of a military officer stood him in good stead at that crucial moment. By a supreme effort he steadied his nerves, and in the most casual voice in the world excused himself to his friends, saying that he would be back before long.
"I"ve a friend here who has a fast auto," he said to Jack, as the two thrust their way through the throng, who gaped at the spectacle of the distinguished-looking man in evening clothes and his disreputable appearing companion.
"We must get it and work quick," he went on, "there"s a chance even yet that we can stop that yacht."
"If only I hadn"t lost my way," said Jack, "we"d have saved a lot of precious time."
Colonel Minturn found his friend, and the auto with its chauffeur was willingly loaned. They jumped into the fast machine and were off, after Colonel Minturn had given directions to drive first to the ship. They found old Schultz guarding the safe. The reek of the explosive was still heavy in the air.
Utterly regardless of his apparel, Colonel Minturn dived in among the blackened contents. There were packages of money, costly jewels and other valuables, but the most important contents of the safe-the papers which the colonel had hoped against hope might have been overlooked by the thief-were gone.
Despite his stoicism, the colonel could not restrain a groan.
"This means my ruin," he exclaimed. "We must get a boat of some kind at once and give chase."
"There"s nothing in this harbor or south of New York that could touch the _Endymion_ for speed," declared Jack bitterly. "There"s only one chance in a thousand of stopping her! Oh, why didn"t I think of that before?"