"Oh, my head, it goes round," exclaimed Mr. Rosenstein.
"This lad, with wonderful ingenuity, and finally courage, when he leaped overboard to save your property, traced the guilty parties," went on the captain, "and by wireless arranged for their capture."
"It"s a bit of work to be proud of," said the head of the English contingent.
"It is that," said the captain. "It has cleared away a cloud that might have hung over this ship till the mystery was dispelled, which probably would have been never."
Mr. Rosenstein, who had taken the diamonds from Jack, stood apparently stupefied, holding them on his palm. Suddenly, however, to Jack"s great embarra.s.sment, he threw both arms round the boy"s neck and saluted him on both cheeks. Then he rushed at Billy and finally the two firemen, who dodged out of the way. Then he drew out a check book and began writing rapidly. He handed a pink slip of paper to Jack. It was a check for $5,000.
"A souvenir," he said.
"But--but----" began Jack, "we didn"t do it for money. It was our duty to the company and----"
"It"s your duty to the company to take that check, then," laughed Captain Turner, and in the end Jack did. The two firemen, who had helped the boys, received a good share of it and later were promoted by the company for their good work. As for Prof. Dusenberry and his companions, they vanish from our story when, in custody of the detectives, they went over the side a few minutes later. But Jack and Billy to-day have two very handsome diamond and emerald scarf-pins, the gifts of the grateful Mr. Rosenstein.
"Looks as if we are always having adventures of some kind or another,"
said Billy to Jack that evening as they strolled about the town, for the ship would not sail for Cherbourg, her last port before the homeward voyage, till the next day.
"It certainly does look that way," agreed Jack and then, with a laugh, he added:
"But they don"t all turn out so profitably as this one."
With which Billy agreed.
CHAPTER x.x.x.
THURMAN PLOTS.
It was two nights before the _Columbia_, on her homeward voyage, entered New York harbor. On the trip across she had once more had the big British greyhound of the seas for a rival. But this time there was a different tale to tell. The _Columbia_ was coming home, as Billy Raynor put it, "with a broom at the main-mast head."
All day the wireless snapped out congratulations from the sh.o.r.e. Jack was kept busy transmitting sh.o.r.e greetings and messages from returning voyagers who had chosen the finest ship under the stars and stripes on which to return to the United States. Patriotism ran riot as every bulletin showed the _Columbia_ reeling over two or three knots more an hour than her rival. One enthusiastic millionaire offered a twenty-dollar gold piece to every fireman, and five dollars each to all the other members of the crew, if the _Columbia_ beat her fleet rival by a five-hour margin. The money was as good as won.
Thurman sat in the wireless room. His head was in his hands and he was thinking deeply. Should he or should he not send that message to Washington which, he was sure, would cause Jack"s arrest the instant the ship docked. He had struggled with his conscience for some time. But then the thought of the reward and the fancied grudge he owed Jack overtopped every other consideration. He seized the key and began calling the big naval station.
It was not long before he got a reply, for when not talking to warships the land stations of the department use normal wave-lengths.
"Who is this?" came the question from the government man.
"It"s X. Y. Z," rapped out Thurman.
This was the signature he had appended to his other messages.
"The thunder you say," spelled out the other; "we thought we"d never hear from you again."
"Well, here I am."
"So it appears. Well, are you ready to tell us who this chap is who"s been mystifying us so?"
"I am."
"Great ginger, wait till I get Rear-admiral ---- and Secretary ---- on the "phone. It"s late but they"ll get out of bed to hear this news."
But it transpired that both the officials were at a reception and Thurman was asked to wait till they could be rushed at top speed to the wireless station in automobiles. At last everything was ready and Thurman, while drops of sweat rolled down his face, rapped out his treachery and sent it flashing from the antennae across the sea.
"Thank you," came the reply when he had finished, "the secretary also wishes me to thank you and a.s.sure you of your reward. Secret Service men will meet the ship at the pier."
"And Jack Ready, what about him?"
"He will be taken care of. You had better proceed to Washington as soon as possible after you land."
"How much will the reward be?" greedily demanded Thurman.
"The secretary directs me to say that it will be suitable," was the rejoinder.
The next morning, when Jack came on duty, he sent a personal message to Uncle Toby via Siasconset. This was it:
"Universal detector a success. Will you wire Washington of my intention to proceed there with all speed when I arrive?
"JACK."
Late that day he got back an answer that appeared to astonish him a good deal, for he sat knitting his brows over it for some moments.
"Washington says some ding-gasted sneak has been cutting up funny tricks. Looks like you have been talking.
"TOBY READY."
This characteristic message occupied Jack for some moments till he thought of a reply to its rather vaguely worded contents. Then he got Siasconset and shot this through the air:
"Have talked to no one who could have seen Washington. My last letter to the Secretary of the Navy was that I thought I was on the road to success.
"JACK."
No reply came to this and Jack went off watch with the matter as much of a mystery as ever. But as Thurman came in to relieve him a sudden suspicion shot across Jack"s mind. Could Thurman have----?
He recalled the night he had caught him examining the device with such care! Jack had since removed it, but in searching in the waste basket for a message discarded by mistake he had since come across what appeared to be crude sketches of the Universal Detector. If Thurman had not drawn them, Jack was at a loss to know who had. But for some mysterious reason he only smiled as he left the wireless room.
"If you"ve been up to any hocus-pocus business, Mr. Thurman," he said to himself, as he descended to dinner, "you are going to get the surprise of your life within a very short time."
After dinner he came back to the upper deck again, but as he gained it his attention was arrested by the scream of the wireless spark. It was a warm night and the door of the cabin was open. Jack stopped instinctively to listen to the roaring succession of dots and dashes.
"He"s calling Washington," said Jack to himself as he listened.
"He"s got them," he exclaimed a minute later.