CHAPTER XIX In the Pirates' Nest

PEERING through the darkness the new arrivals on the Jules Verne could scarcely make out the outlines of the other craft. She seemed at first glance like a good-sized sloop with a leg-of-mutton mainsail that bellied wide against the night skyline. And then again she appeared to be a huge cabin cruiser. Lights appeared from a row of ports well forward.

"What do you suppose it is?" asked Jay as he edged up close to his captain.

"Likely an auxiliary craft of some kind—sail and motor," replied the chief executive of the Jules Verne.

For a few minutes the trio watched the other vessel lying to only a few cable lengths away. Captain Austin had a glass that he trained on the stranger. But it was too dark to get many details of her.

"Who do you suppose he is?" asked Dick.

Captain Austin shook his head. There was no way of telling. "Looks as though some one had beat us to it," he mused.

"Do you reckon they have gotten down into the Dominion and gotten up any of the bullion?" queried Larry Seymour, who had joined them.

"Indeed, son, I haven't the least idea," said the captain. "It does seem mighty strange that some one else should have anchored right in the vicinity of the Dominion. Very few people know where the Dominion lies, and if this chap doesn't know, it surely is an odd coincidence that he should be anchored for the night right where he is."

The engines of the Jules Verne were still in motion. The anchors were just being run out and it was not possible to hear distinctly any noise that might have been wafted over the waters from the mythical craft. Captain Austin announced he would speak the vessel as soon as the Jules Verne had settled for the night and the engines had stopped. In the meantime the crew indulged in all manner of speculation.

"Maybe it is a United States revenue cutter," offered Dick.

"Or one of the fishing fleet that has gotten off her course and stopped here for the night," suggested Larry.

"Might be some millionaire's pleasure craft, too," put in Captain Austin. "She looks like a pretty swell boat, whatever she is. What do you think, Mr. Thacker?"

The captain turned to Jay. That youth slowly shook his head.

"I'm not a trouble-hunter, but my own private opinion is that that ship over there, whatever is she and whoever is aboard her, is here for no good," replied Jay deliberately.

"You mean—" began Dick.

"I mean that I think those fellows over there right now are after the gold in the Dominion," interrupted Jay. "They may have been here for days. They may have the Dominion pretty well cleaned out, or they may have just arrived. At any rate, my hunch is that she is a treasure-hunter—a submarine pirate."

"How are we going to find out?" interrogated Larry, very much aroused by the possibility of encountering a pirate.

"Wait until morning, I reckon," answered Jay.

Just then Captain Austin, who had moved off during the conversation, came back. He was carrying a megaphone.

"I am going to hail them," he announced. The Jules Verne had been anchored and her engines shut off. So the captain of the salvage ship advanced to the rail and trained his megaphone in the direction of the other ship.

"Hello! Who are you?" he bellowed, slowly and distinctly.

Eagerly the crowd waited. But no reply. Again the captain shouted and still no response. A third time he shouted, this time in an even more imperative tone. And back came an answer.

"None of your business who we are. Who are you?"

If there had been any suspicion aboard the Jules Verne as to the character of the other ship, that answer settled it. Whoever it was, he was not going to make himself known. He was averse to disclosing his identity and he wanted no interference, as was manifested by his saucy answer.

In reply Captain Austin gave no information to disclose his identity either. Instead he yelled:

"Never mind who we are. You can find out in the morning."

And in that same moment he resolved in his mind that he would keep the stranger well covered during the night and see that no effort was made to escape. Turning from the rail, the captain immediately called his executive officer and gave orders for the crew to be armed with sidearms, that a sentry with a rifle be posted to starboard on the side facing the stranger craft, and that a machine gun that the Jules Verne carried for just such protection as might arise out of an emergency of this kind be mounted on the bridge.

"Seymour, I want you to stand close by the wireless tonight, for we might want you at any time," the captain directed.

Officials of the salvage company had deemed it wise to arm the Jules Verne; for, since her fame as a salvage ship had gone abroad it was possible that pirate ships might lay for her and attempt to rob her. The wireless had been installed also because virtually all sea-going vessels were now so equipped. Larry Seymour, who had been with the radio service while in the army, had proved an ideal man for the post of wireless operator on the Jules Verne.

With these preparations complete Captain Austin ordered all men below for evening mess and called his two special divers, Jay Thacker and Dick Monaghan, into his own stateroom to have dinner with him. The three sat down to eat and were soon engrossed in a deep discussion of the mysterious ship that was their neighbor for the night.

"I'll say he has a nasty tongue in his head to answer the way he did," said Jay. He was ready for a fight; his blood was up.

"Mighty discourteous, to say the least," was the captain's comment.

They were agreed by now that the strange craft had come to Martha's Vineyard with some design rather than that she had accidentally anchored for the night in the vicinity of the submerged Dominion. But who she was and who was aboard her was more than they could surmise. Only daylight would reveal her—provided she stayed that long. What was to prevent her slipping away?

"I'll tell you what we'll do"——Jay had jumped from the table, overturning a plate of food in his excitement.

"I'll go aboard her myself this very night. I'll find out who she is and who is aboard her and what they are doing. I'll——"

"How will you go aboard her? Row over in a small boat and take your chances on being shot or done away with by a band of pirates? Not if I have anything to say about it," said Captain Austin firmly.

But Jay was insistent. Nothing would deter him, he said. He would swim. It was the logical thing to do. If the ship were a pirate craft they could take measures at once to capture her or wireless for help.

"But you would be running quite a risk," offered the captain.

"Nonsense," rattled off Jay. "That would be just a lark, and I am more than able to take care of myself."

In the end the leader of the salvage crew surrendered to his determined diver. It was agreed they would wait until ten o'clock when all was quiet and that no word should be spread among the crew of the Jules Verne. So while Captain Austin went off to inspect the ship, and in particular the guard whom he had posted, Jay repaired to his stateroom and stretched out for a little rest. Dick was with him and Fismes snoozed near the open door.

"How many men do you suppose they have on board over there?" queried Dick, pointing in the direction of the unknown vessel.

"Goodness only knows; they may have a dozen or fifty," said Jay. "She looks like a pretty big boat as near as you can size her up in the dark. If they came out here after any of that gold you can make up your mind they are well equipped to take care of themselves. They have enough men to put up a good fight and quite likely are as well armed if not better than we are."

"What makes you think they are here after the Dominion's gold? I thought only a few people knew where the liner went down, let alone that she carried such wealth," pondered Dick.

"True enough," said Jay. "Not many people do know where she is. But they could find out. You remember that we were out here once before on the Dominion. Possibly some member of the crew of the Nemo has spread the news."

Ten o'clock found Jay ready for the venture. He had divested himself of all his outer clothing and had resolved to make the trip dressed only in a bathing suit. The night was warm and the water just the temperature for a cool swim. The youth went unarmed.

"Just going out to reconnoiter a little bit," he had said. Jay's plan was to get aboard the strange craft in some way, look her over and report back his observations. What they would be he had not the slightest idea. His sole intent was to learn something about the unfriendly ship that had refused to divulge its identity and to bring back this information to the Jules Verne. He resolved to go unarmed, deciding not even to carry a dirk in his belt, although Dick had suggested that for the sake of self-protection in a possible surprise attack.

"No, if the worst comes to the worst I'll just jump overboard and get back here in a jiffy," Jay had said.

Accompanied by his chum, Jay started from his stateroom for the bridge, there to consult a moment with Captain Austin before leaving. On the way the two Brighton boys dropped in on Larry Seymour in the wireless room just to say "howdy."

"Good enough, fellows," said Larry, as the two Brighton boys stepped into the wireless station. "I've just been talking with a revenue cutter—the Marblehead. She's anchored for the night in a cove about five miles around the bend of the coast line from us."

"Fine!" exclaimed Jay, as he brought his fist down on the table. And then he added: "Tell him we might need his services around here pretty shortly and to keep a sharp ear out for us."

"I've already done that much," smiled back Larry, "and he's so inquisitive he wants to know what's up. But I've told him nothing more. He knows we are a salvage ship and that we are always likely to be mixing it up with some highway—I mean high sea—robber."

"Good work," answered Jay. "And now I'm off, fellows."

Jay ran off for a moment to speak to Captain Austin and then came back to the rail, where Dick and Larry awaited him.

"You all right, chum?" queried Dick anxiously.

"Never felt better in my life," the other answered. And then they shook hands all around.

Jay waved a farewell and went over the side on a tie rope. Soundlessly he slipped into the water and straightway began to swim. He had laid his course several times during the evening and found it easy going because the strange craft had dim lights forward and aft. Jay's target lay directly between.

Accustomed to the water, a stout swimmer and in the best of condition, he made rapid progress. The youth's chief concern was to make no noise. By no means must he make the slightest sound that would betray his approach to any who might be watching aboard the mystery ship. That some one or perhaps many were on guard Jay felt only too sure.

Here was a sure enough adventure! He prided himself on the exploit. It was just what suited his daring nature. Like Bainbridge in the harbor at Tripoli, or Hobson at Santiago! Jay remembered American naval heroes who had performed spectacularly and bravely for their country.

"This may not be war, but it's good live stuff all right!" He chuckled to himself as he swam stealthily along in the water, conserving his energy in every possible way and aiming true to his target.

Presently he came close up to the craft. Yes, she was a palatial auxiliary, just as Captain Austin had divined. Her sails were furled by now and she was wrapped in a mantle of darkness save for her signal lights and a solitary light that twinkled from the cabin ports well forward.

Jay swam closer. He was swimming slowly with only his face out of water. What was that just over the rail on a line with the main mast? The youth turned smoothly on his back and lay looking up on the deck of the stranger craft. It was a guard! Jay could see faintly the glow of a cigar and a moment later heard the man clear his throat!

Immediately the Brighton youth swam in close to the side of the vessel. There was less chance of being seen. Quietly he set his course toward the bow. Likely the guard was only to starboard since that side was next the Jules Verne in the near distance. Jay resolved to go around to the port side and take his chances there on getting aboard.

Accordingly, he swam quietly forward and slipped around the bow of the mystery ship, sliding in under her taut anchor chain. Once on the port quarter, Jay worked his way rapidly along looking for a line that might lead aboard the vessel. What was his great joy to find a rope ladder fully extended and firmly held above.

It was only the work of a minute to draw himself up, round over round. At the rail he paused and surveyed the deck in both directions. No one was in sight. Only from the cabin forward came a murmur of voices. The guard—if there was one—was to the far side and apparently in ignorance of the fact that a boarder had come over the side.

Jay's mission was to find out something of the craft and her crew. He resolved first to take a peep into that lighted cabin. Forthwith he directed his course in that direction, keeping a sharp lookout on either side of him. His presence so far was undiscovered.

In a few seconds he had arrived by the nearest port. Now he must be careful, indeed. Inch by inch he moved his head along until one eye gazed through the glass. And what a sight!

There in the cabin sat three men around a table. Upon the table were laid a number of bars of shining metal. Gold—the bullion, at least a portion of it, from the Dominion!

The lad gasped. Here were pirates who had discovered the Dominion and salvaged some of her precious stores. But who were these men? Jay could see the faces of two of them. They were unfamiliar faces to him. The third sat with his back to the Brighton youth. But there was something about the shape of the head, the contour of the shoulders and the general physical build that was familiar.

Who was he?