I can also guess who is wearing it at this
moment if he hasn't thrown it away!"
"Do you mean the man we picked up--the man who was knocked off the
schooner?" breathlessly queried the younger boy.
"That's the man we want!" announced Harry. "And maybe I won't do a thing
to him when I lay hands on him. Boy Scout or not, I'll put a dent in his
dome that'll hold coffee like a saucer!"
"Will that fid hold?" questioned Tom examining the spot.
"No, I don't think it will," was Harry's reply. "We'd better get a plug
of that soft pine in the lazarette, then when it gets soaked it'll swell
and hold tight. This fid's made of hard wood. It may hold all right for
a while, but it'll work loose just when it should hold. If you'll get
the pine, Arnold, I'll make a plug."
Arnold hastened to bring the wood while Tom looked to the pumps and
examined the cabin for further damage.
"He got an automatic or two from the locker in the kitchenette," he
announced returning to the after cabin after his search.
"If he took those two lying on the lower shelf," announced Harry, "he
got only one automatic! That's a joke on him."
"What do you mean by that?" Arnold asked returning with the desired
piece of wood. "If the man took two, he took only one!"
"Because" explained Harry fitting the plug into place, "the other is a
flashlight made in the shape of an automatic."
Laughing over the joke unconsciously played upon himself by their late
visitor, the boys repaired to the pilot house where the gravity of the
situation was repeated to Jack, who had been at the wheel controlling
the movements of the Fortuna and keeping a lookout.
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