"Now," continued Jack Benson, "take cap and go up on deck."
"What shall I do there, Captain?" asked Kamanako, politely.
"Well, you"ll stand there until I see if you"ve done anything else on board. If you haven"t, you can then take a boat to the sh.o.r.e--and stay there."
"What this mean, honorable Captain?" demanded Kamanako, a look of offense beginning to creep into his little, brown face.
"Well, if you must have it," returned Benson, coldly, "it means that I"ve found you spying into our mechanisms here. Now, a spy is a creature no one cares to have about--least of all on a warship."
"You call me spy--call me ugly name like that?" cried Kamanako, showing his teeth.
"Get your hat and go up on deck. Do you hear me?" insisted Captain Jack.
"I hear you, but I please myself about when I do it," retorted the j.a.panese, drawing himself up to his full though not very imposing height.
"Then you"ll go without waiting for your hat," retorted Benson, his patience rapidly oozing now. He started toward the j.a.panese, just as Eph, hearing the sound of talking, looked in and down the staircase.
"Gunpowder and smoke!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the carroty-topped boy. "It"s little chocolate drop!"
"Are you going up on deck quietly and in an orderly way?" demanded Benson, a resolute glitter in his clear, blue eyes.
"I please myself," retorted Kamanako, defiantly.
At that Jack Benson promptly forgot the warning he had given Eph, and sprang at the inquisitive steward.
"You"ll go--" began Benson.
He was in error, though. It was he himself who "went." As he reached out with his right hand to seize Kamanako something happened. Exactly what it was the young submarine captain never quite knew. But he found himself sprawling under the seat at the opposite side of the cabin.
"Hi, yi! Wow!" exploded Eph, darting down the stairs. "Save some of that for me!"
It was ready and waiting.
The carroty-topped boy crouched low, resting his hands on his knees, after the manner of a football player awaiting an a.s.sault.
Kamanako slid in close. Ere Eph could seize him the j.a.panese let himself fall lightly on one side. One of his feet hooked itself behind Eph"s advanced left ankle, the other foot pressing against the knee of the same leg. Eph"s ankle was yanked forward, his knee pressed back, and Somers went toppling as a tree in the forest does.
Kamanako was so quickly on his feet again to suggest that he had fallen and risen in the same movement. There was a quiet, yet dangerous, smile on the face of the j.a.panese.
The door of the engine room opened swiftly though noiselessly.
Williamson, the machinist, took in the whole scene instantly. Hardly a full step forward he took when his fist landed between the shoulders of Kamanako, sending that young j.a.panese through the air, to land sprawling.
As Kamanako leaped to his feet he found himself blinking at the muzzle of a revolver that the machinist held in his right hand.
CHAPTER VI
THE LITTLE RUSSIAN HAS HER WAY
"Don"t get troublesome," advised the machinist, softly. "I"ve never shot a j.a.p, but I"ve always wanted to."
There was a flicker of a grin in Williamson"s face that found a reflection in Kamanako"s own features.
By this time Jack Benson was on his feet, a bit ruffled though with all his wits about him. At the same time Hal Hastings peered down from the top of the staircase.
"You"ve had all the fun so far, Kamanako," Jack admitted. "But now you"ve got to get off this boat mighty quick. Do you choose to go without any more fuss?"
"I go when I get ready," retorted the j.a.panese, sullenly.
"What"s the matter, Jack?" asked Hal, slowly.
"I"ve caught a dirty spy at work overhauling our mechanisms," replied the young submarine boat commander.
With something of a snarl Kamanako turned as though to spring at Benson again. The sight of Williamson, immovable as a piece of marble, yet holding that revolver suggestively, cooled the j.a.panese ardor.
"How will it do, Captain," queried Hal, "if I pa.s.s the word to the gunboat and, have a file of marines come over to take charge of this spy?"
"First rate," clicked Benson, and Kamanako looked decidedly uneasy. He had his own reasons why he didn"t care to be placed under arrest by United States troops.
Eph, striking on his head, had been knocked senseless. He was too strong, however, too full of vitality, to remain knocked out for long.
Now, he half opened his eyes, as he murmured:
"How beautifully the birds are singing today! And there"s mother, letting down the bars so the cows can go to the milking shed!"
Jack laughed, in spite of himself. Then he turned to the j.a.panese.
"Kamanako, do you want to go quietly, or remain to see what the Navy officers do with you?"
"I go now," replied the j.a.panese, with a shrug of his shoulders.
Turning, he started up the step, while Hal Hastings, regaining the deck before him, hailed one of the harbor boats.
Jack darted to where Eph was trying to sit up, and raised him to one of the cabin seats.
"What do you think, now, of jiu-jitsu?" asked the young captain.
"I don"t know," confessed Somers, sheepishly. "I didn"t see any of it."
At this moment a stateroom door opened and Jacob Farnum thrust his head out.
"Anything happening?" inquired the ship builder.
"No, sir," Jack answered. "It"s all over."
Mr. Farnum came out, to ask further particulars. Williamson, as soon as he had seen the j.a.panese disappear up aloft, dropped his revolver back into his pocket, closing the engine room door.