"All right. Let"s go," said Bob. When action was suggested, he always was ready for it.
Jack considered.
"Listen. We want to be careful, and not run unnecessary risks. It"s just a little box of a station with a window in this end nearest us, a door there in front, and probably a window on the other end. I think that window is too small for a man to escape through, don"t you?"
The boys agreed.
"Big enough for pigeons," commented Bob. "That"s about all."
"Well, see what you think of my plan. We"ll creep up to the door, and crouch to each side of it, then knock and call on whoever is within to come out and surrender."
Bob and Frank considered.
"Sounds all right to me," said Frank.
"Why not break right in?" grumbled Bob.
Jack shook his head.
"Best to be cautious," he said. "Let"s go."
Slowly and with infinite care so as not to dislodge loose stones and set them rolling down the hillside or to make any betraying sound, the boys crept to their chosen positions, Bob and Frank on one side of the door, Jack on the other. The revolvers served out to them by Ensign Warwick were held ready. Not a sound from within. Was their presence known or suspected?
Jack leaned forward and thumped on the door with the b.u.t.t of his weapon.
"Come out," he called in a clear, firm voice, "in the name of the United States Navy I call on you to surrender. Your light was seen from the warship, and the station is surrounded."
A moment"s silence followed. The hearts of the boys beat so strongly it seemed to them the very sound must be heard in that tense stillness.
Then the boards of the floor creaked under a light tread, and the door was slowly pulled inward.
"Don"t shoot," said a voice. "I surrender."
A slender form appeared in the doorway, hands upraised. Jack shot the rays of his flashlight upward. A Chinese youth in American clothes appeared. He was spectacled.
"Are you alone?" demanded Jack.
"Yes, sir."
"Armed?"
"Yes, sir."
"Advance and be searched."
The youth stepped across the low sill of the station, hands still upraised. Jack motioned to Frank to search him, and the latter ran his hands over the other"s form, abstracting a revolver and a long knife.
"That all?"
"Yes, sir."
Bob spun the young Chinaman around, pulled out his belt and tied his hands together with it.
"Keep an eye on him," said Jack. "I"m going to have a look at the station."
First casting the rays of his flashlight over the interior and verifying the Chinaman"s statement that he was alone, Jack went inside. Presently Bob and Frank heard him exclaim, and then he appeared in the doorway lugging a heavy square wooden box.
"Look what I found," he cried delightedly. "A portable radio outfit for field work. This is the very latest equipment. I"ve examined it hastily, and it seems to have everything-antennae coiled up and ready for stringing, some jointed steel poles to attach it to the box and powerful storage batteries."
"What"ll we do with it?" asked Bob.
"I don"t know yet, but I have a hunch it will come in handy. Well, now I guess we better go down to the boat and tell this man Robbins what we have discovered and what we suspect. Then we can talk to our prisoner, too."
The latter"s face was impa.s.sive. In appearance and judging by the choice of words he had employed, he was an educated youth. Perhaps something could be gotten out of him by questioning. It was worth trying.
"All right," said Bob. "Frank, you watch our prisoner and I"ll lend Jack a hand with this radio outfit."
CHAPTER XXV-A FORLORN HOPE --------------------------
"Wow. Now that we"re down, I don"t see how we made it with this."
Bob put down his end of the box containing the portable radio transmission set, and Jack followed suit.
"Must weigh all of two hundred pounds," said Bob.
"Well, the batteries are heavy," said Jack. "The light poles weigh little, and the coil contains not much more than a pound of wire. But there are eight "B" batteries of twenty-two and one-half volts each, and they weigh about five pounds apiece."
"Don"t see what use the darned contraption will be, anyhow," grumbled Bob. "Where can we use it?"
"Oh, I don"t know. But I have a hunch it will come in handy. Come on."
Bob took up his end of the case, and the march was resumed. They had reached the base of the hill and were at the rear of the warehouse.
Skirting this, they were halted by a sharp challenge as they reached the front and stepped into the glare of the searchlight from the Sub Chaser.
"All right, Doniphan," said Jack. "We"ve got a prisoner."
The young sailor doing sentry duty in front of the building housing the Chinese coolies regarded them curiously, as they made their way out the pier toward the boat. Robbins, the petty officer left in charge with a half-dozen men felt his responsibility and was on watch on deck. He hailed them, then leaped to the pier. The boys paused, Jack and Bob put down their burden, and briefly Jack related their experiences.
"So you were signallin", hey?" said Robbins sharply, turning to the young Chinaman whom the boys had taken prisoner.
"He had a powerful electric light bulb hung in the window of the radio station," explained Jack. "It could be seen a long distance up the canyon."
"No un"stan"," said the Chinaman, a look of stolid stupidity coming over his face.
Jack recalled the good English employed when the youth had been called on to surrender.
"Oh, come, now," he said. "We know better than that. You"re an educated man."
The Chinaman shrugged. Stupidity gave way to defiance.