"I"m outside the three-mile limit," he screamed. "I"ll have the law on ye."
"He means," explained Captain Folsom to the boys, "that he is beyond the jurisdiction of United States waters and on the open sea."
Nevertheless, the old skipper barked out an order, sailors sprang to obey, sails came down, and the schooner lay hove to. Then the Nark approached until only a boat"s length away. On the deck of the schooner, only the skipper stood. The seamen had gone below, their tasks completed.
"Look here, my man," said Lieutenant Summers, "you may be outside the three-mile limit, but you are drawing the line pretty fine. What are your papers?"
The old skipper looked at him shrewdly, quizzically, from out his ambush of whiskers. A slow grin broke over his features.
"Ye know well as I we"m outside the three-mile limit," he said. "So I don"t mind tellin" ye. I got liquor aboard. But my papers is all clear, an" ye can"t touch me. I"m from Na.s.sau in the Bahamas for St.
John. Two British possessions. An" I"m on my course."
Lieutenant Summers"s face grew red. Captain Folsom"s eyes twinkled, and the boys saw one of the Nark"s crew, an old salt, put up a big palm to hide a smile.
"The old sh.e.l.lback has our skipper," whispered Captain Folsom to the boys. "He has him on the hip. We are outside the three-mile limit, undoubtedly. To think of the old Yankee"s s.p.u.n.k in telling us he has liquor aboard. His papers will be as he says, too, but just the same that liquor will never reach St. John. It is destined for a landing on our own coast."
Lieutenant Summers also was of the opinion apparently that he had been foiled. And little as he relished the fact that the old skipper was laughing at him up his sleeve, there was naught he could do about it.
However, he decided to pay a visit to the "Molly M," for he called:
"Stand by to receive a boat. I am coming aboard."
Presently, the boys saw the little boat dancing over the waves, then Lieutenant Summers climbed to the deck of the schooner, and he and the old skipper disappeared together down the companionway.
Awaiting his return, Captain Folsom enlightened the boys about the difficulties of preventing liquor from being smuggled into the country.
"As you can see from this instance," he said, "the traffic is carried on openly, or under only a thin coating of camouflage. That boat fully intends, no doubt, to land its cargo along our coast somewhere. But her papers are all in order and as long as she stays outside the three-mile limit we can do nothing about it. Of course, we can hang to her heels and prevent her from landing. But while we are doing that, other smugglers slip ash.o.r.e somewhere else. It"s a weary business to try and enforce such a law at first. And, what makes it harder," he concluded, his brow clouding, "is that every now and then some member of the enforcement service sells out to the liquor ring, and then the rest of us who are doing our work honestly and as best we can are given a black eye, for everybody says: "Ah, yes, they"re all crooks. I thought so."
"But here," he said, "is Lieutenant Summers returning. Now we shall see what he found out."
The old skipper and the naval officer appeared on the schooner"s deck, Lieutenant Summers went overside, and the boat returned with him. Once more the schooner put on sail, and began to draw away. When he reached the deck, Lieutenant Summers sent a sailor to summon Captain Folsom and the boys below. They joined him in the cabin.
"I have news for you boys," said Lieutenant Summers, at once. "Captain Woolley of the "Molly M" proved to be a pretty smooth article," and he smiled wryly, "but from a member of his crew, one of my men learned that a speed boat answering the description of your stolen craft had been seen alongside a sub chaser manned by a crew in naval uniform off Atlantic Highlands on the Jersey coast."
"Hurray," cried Frank, "one of your fleet must have recaptured it."
Lieutenant Summers shook his head.
"That"s the puzzling thing," he said. "If one of our boats had found your craft adrift or captured it with the fugitive smugglers aboard, I would have been notified by radio. You see, the schooner sighted the sub chaser and motor boat yesterday. This sailor, a talkative chap apparently, told my man they thought the chaser was a ship of the "Dry Navy" and crowded on all canvas to edge away from dangerous company.
Then, he said, they could see these uniformed men aboard the chaser leaning on the rail and holding their sides from laughing at the schooner. What it all meant, he didn"t know, but at any rate the chaser made no attempt to pursue."
"And you haven"t heard from any of your fleet that our boat was recovered?" asked Jack, in surprise.
"From none," said Lieutenant Summers. "However, I shall order "Sparks"
at once to query all the ships."
CHAPTER XXIII
IN STARFISH COVE AGAIN
"Sparks" as the radio operator aboard the sub chaser was known, sat down to his key at once and sent out a wireless call for all members of the "Dry Navy," requesting information as to whether any had recovered the stolen speed boat belonging to the boys.
One by one, from their various stations along the coast, the boats responded, giving negative replies. Several hours elapsed before all had been heard from. Meantime the Nark crisscrossed and quartered the sea off Montauk Point, in search of the rumored "fleet" of liquor runners, but without success. Numerous sail were sighted as well as steamers, but the latter were all so large as to preclude in the opinion of the revenue men the possibility of their being liquor carriers, and the former never stood close enough to be examined. Nor did any a.s.semblage of vessels sufficiently large to warrant the designation "fleet" appear.
Late in the day, when the low descending sun warned of the approach of nightfall, and the boys" watches showed 7 o"clock, Lieutenant Summers again consulted with Captain Folsom, who presently rejoined the boys with word that they were going to turn back and cruise offsh.o.r.e and that the boys in an hour or two could be landed, not at Starfish Cove, but at their own boathouse, thus involving only a short trip afoot home for Bob.
Hardly had the boat"s course been altered, however, when "Sparks"
appeared from the radio room in a state of high excitement, addressed Lieutenant Summers who was on the little bridge, and the two returned together. The wireless room originally had been the chart house. It was equipped for the employment, both sending and receiving, of wireless telegraphy and telephony.
"I wonder what is up," said Captain Folsom to the boys, with whom he was talking in the bow. "Something has come by radio that has excited "Sparks." Excuse me, boys, a moment, while I go to inquire."
Captain Folsom, however, had not had time to reach the radio room when Lieutenant Summers again appeared on the bridge, and beckoned both him and the boys to approach.
"I"ll explain in a moment," he said, "as soon as I can give the necessary orders."
A number of orders were delivered, and the men on deck leaped to execute them with alacrity. What their purport, was not made known, of course, but the helmsman was given a course direct for Starfish Cove and, in response to signals to the engine room for full speed ahead, the craft seemed fairly to leap through the water.
"Something has happened ash.o.r.e," said Frank, to his companions. "I wonder what it is."
Their curiosity was soon to be satisfied. Lieutenant Summers led the way below to his cabin, and, once all five were gathered inside, he lost no time in coming to the point.
"The mystery of that sub chaser seen by the crew of the "Molly M" with your speed boat in tow is in a fair way to be solved," he said. "Also, I have high hopes of catching the ringleader of the liquor smugglers whom Captain Folsom and I have been seeking."
"What? What"s that?" demanded Captain Folsom, excitedly.
Lieutenant Summers nodded.
"You couldn"t imagine in a thousand years where the radio call came from," he declared, "nor what it was all about. Well, I"ll not attempt to mystify you any further. The call was from one of the guards I left posted at the Brownell place, and he was calling, not from the Brownell radio station, but from yours, Hampton."
"From our station?"
Jack was puzzled.
"What"s the matter with his own?" asked Frank.
"Our guards have been captured by raiders dressed in naval uniform who disembarked from a sub chaser," said Lieutenant Summers, exploding his bombsh.e.l.l. "Only one man escaped. And he made his way to your station, Hampton, found your man, Tom Barnum, there and began calling for me."
The eyes of the three boys shone, as the implication reached them. The smugglers evidently had obtained possession of a sub chaser and wearing U. S. naval uniforms had carried out a bold coup d"etat, although for what purpose could not be seen at the time. It looked as if there were a fair prospect of action, and all were excited in consequence.
Captain Folsom, however, began hunting at once for causes.
"But why in the world should such a move have been carried out?" he demanded. "Of course, I take it the smugglers have obtained a sub chaser somewhere, together with uniforms. Yet why should they seek to recapture the Brownell place? They could not hope to hold it."
Lieutenant Summers shook his head.