The boys, nudging each other with excitement, heard the bow of the boat sc.r.a.pe on the shingly beach and then came the crunch of footsteps.
"They are coming up the steps," whispered Jack in low, excited tones.
"That"s right, so they are," breathed Billy cautiously. "Let"s get behind the trees and learn what is going on."
"It"s something crooked, that"s sure," whispered Noddy.
"I begin to think so myself," agreed Jack, "but that man"s voice, as well as his figure, seemed familiar to me when he hailed Judson, but I can"t, for the life of me, think where I heard his voice before."
The three lads lost no time in concealing themselves behind some ornamental bushes in the immediate vicinity. They were none too soon, for hardly had they done so when the figures of two men and a boy appeared at the top of the steps.
"Phew," panted Judson, "I"m not as young as I was. That climb has made me feel my age. Let"s sit down here."
"Very well, that bench yonder will be just the place," agreed the man the boys had followed, and who had seemed so oddly familiar to Jack.
The seat they had selected could hardly have been a better one for the boys" purpose. It was placed right against the bush behind which they were hiding. The voices came to them clearly, although the speakers took pains to modify them.
"Well, I"ve been waiting for you," came in the voice of the man the boys had instinctively followed.
"We"d have got here sooner, but were delayed by an accident, or rather a sort of accident on purpose that occurred this afternoon. I was glad to see that you hadn"t forgotten our night signal code," said Judson.
"What was the accident?" asked the man, who was a stranger to the boys, who were listening intently.
"Oh, just three brats who are summering here," scoffed Donald Judson.
"They appeared to think they owned the bay, and I guess it was up to me to show them they didn"t. I guess Jack Ready will be on the market for another boat before long and----"
"Hold on, hold on," exclaimed the strange man. "What was that name?"
"Ready, Jack Ready. He thinks he"s a wizard at wireless. Why, do you know him, Jarrow?"
Jarrow, at the sound of the name there, brought into Jack"s mind the recollections of the rascally partner of Terrill & Co., who had financed his uncle"s treasure hunt and had then tried to steal the h.o.a.rd from him. It was Jack who had overthrown the rascal"s schemes and made him seek refuge in the west to escape prosecution. Yet he had apparently returned and in some way become a.s.sociated with Judson. Noddy, too, as had Bill, had started at the name. Both nudged Jack, who returned the gesture to show that he had heard and understood.
"So Ready is here, eh?" growled Jarrow. "Confounded young milksop."
"You appear not to be very fond of him," interjected the elder Judson.
"Fond of him! I should think not! I hate him like poison."
"What did he ever do to you?"
"He--er--er--he upset an--er--er--business deal I was in with his uncle."
"The one-legged old sea captain?"
"That"s the fellow. He trusted me in everything till Jack Ready came nosing in and spoilt his uncle"s chance of becoming a rich man through his a.s.sociation in business with me."
"I"ve no use for him either," exclaimed Donald vindictively. "I"ll give him a good licking when I see him."
"Well, well, let"s get down to business," said the elder Judson decisively. "You have been to Washington, Jarrow?"
"Yes, and found out something, but not much. The new naval wireless code is not yet completed. I found out that by bribing a clerk in the Navy Department and----"
"This business is proving pretty expensive," grumbled Judson.
"We"re playing for a big stake," was the reply. "I found out that the code has been placed in the hands of a Captain Simms, recently attached to the revenue service, for revision. I believe that it is the same Captain Simms against whom I have a grudge, for it was on his ship that I was insulted by aspersions on my business honesty, and that, also, was the work of this Jack Ready."
"Pity he didn"t tell them that he was in irons at the time," thought Jack to himself.
"Where is this Captain Simms?" asked Judson, not noticing, or appearing not to, his companion"s outbreak.
"That"s just it," was the rejoinder. "n.o.body knows. His whereabouts are being kept a profound secret. Since it has become rumored that the Navy wireless code was being revised, Washington fairly swarms with secret agents of different governments. Simms is either abroad or in some mighty safe place."
"Our hands are tied without him," muttered Judson, "and if I don"t get that code I don"t stand a chance of landing that big steel contract with the foreign power I have been dealing with."
"I"m afraid not," rejoined Jarrow. "I saw their representative in Washington and told him what I had learned. His answer was, "no code, no contract." I"m afraid you were foolish in using that promise as a means to try to land the deal."
"I had my thumb on the man who would have stolen it for me at the time,"
rejoined Judson, "but he was discharged for some minor dishonesty before I had a chance to use him."
"The thing to do is to locate this Captain Simms."
"Evidently, you must do your best. The wind has died down and I guess we"ll stop at the hotel till to-morrow. Anyhow, it"s too long a sail back to-night. Come on, Donald; come, Jarrow." The bench creaked as they rose and made off, turning their footsteps toward the hotel.
Not till they had gone some distance did the boys dare to speak, and even then they did not say much for a minute or two. The first expression came from Jack. It was a long, drawn-out:
"We-e-l!"
"And so that is the work that Captain Simms has been doing in that isolated retreat of his," exclaimed Billy.
"And these crooks have just had the blind luck to tumble over him,"
exploded Noddy. "Just wait till they take a look at the hotel register."
"Maybe by the time they enter their names the page will have turned,"
suggested Billy.
"No," rejoined Jack, "our names were at the top of the page and there would hardly have been enough new arrivals after us at this time of night to have filled it since."
"We must find Captain Simms at once and tell what is in the wind,"
decided the young wireless man a moment later. "I guess the instinct that made us follow Jarrow was a right one."
"I wonder how the rascal became acquainted with Judson?" pondered Billy.
"Mixed up with him in some crooked deal or other before this," said Noddy.
"I shouldn"t wonder," said Jack.
They began to walk back to the hotel. They did not enter the lobby by the main entrance, for the path they followed had brought them to a side door. They were glad of this, for, screened by some palms, they saw, bending intently over the register, the forms of the three individuals whose conversation they had overheard.