"Sure," a.s.sented the captain, seating himself. "Und I know a man vot vould haul your goots, too. I get him," he added.

"In that case, we'll all go over together," proposed Jack. "I don't like the idea of separating while we're in a strange town."

"Perhaps the captain can tell us where we can get some English papers,"

ventured Jimmie. "We'd like to get the latest news."

Wheeling in his chair the captain bawled out an order in Dutch. A waiter came bustling up with an air of deference. Evidently he knew the captain and understood that no delay would be tolerated.

A few words were rapidly spoken, whereupon the waiter hastened away to return presently with several newspapers. These were spread upon the table before the boys, who began a perusal of their contents.

"Gee whiz!" exclaimed Jimmie, glancing at the headlines of the paper which had fallen to his lot. "Listen to this--three vessels sunk in the mouth of the Mersey river by a German submarine identified as the 'U-13.'

Then there's been two vessels sunk at the mouth of the Thames!"

"What sunk them?" inquired Harry.

"It says here that they were sunk by a German submarine. In each case the diver has been identified as the 'U-13' by the crews of the ill-fated vessels. Now, that's going some!"

"Let's see," pondered Harry, "the Thames is the river leading to London, while the Mersey is the river leading to Liverpool."

"Right you are, Old Scout, go to the head of the cla.s.s!"

"Hush, Jimmie, no nonsense!" cautioned Ned.

"What I was thinking about," continued Harry, "is the distance a boat would have to travel to get from one place to the other. It must be all of seven hundred miles around Land's End. A boat would have to be speedy to cover that distance so quickly!"

"How quickly?" demanded Jimmie. "The paper says the three ships were sunk at the Mersey on Wednesday morning. Those at the Thames, or rather 'off Margate,' as the article states, were sunk Thursday afternoon. That wouldn't be such an impossible feat after all!"

"Twenty miles an hour sustained speed for about twenty-eight hours is running along at a pretty good clip, just the same!"

"Well, the vessel did it!" declared Jimmie. "The paper says that about six o'clock Wednesday morning the Wanderer, a vessel laden with foodstuffs from Australia, was hailed by the crew of a submarine. They were permitted to take to the small boats and then the Wanderer was torpedoed, going down at once. The submarine was positively identified as the 'U-13.' Then the other paragraph says that at about eight o'clock on Thursday evening the steamer Adventure from Buenos Ayres with a cargo of flour for London was treated in the same manner off Margate by the 'U-13'!"

"Isn't it a little strange that the submarine should have attacked a peaceful merchant vessel?" inquired Jack. "That isn't war!"

"Evidently it is the intention to blockade all English ports and shut off the food supply of the nation," ventured Ned. "You see the article relates that all the ships were loaded with food and destined to English ports. It must be a blockade movement!"

"Here's an account," announced Harry, "that says a steamer was hailed by a submarine a few miles off the Lizard Head. It escaped by its superior speed, but only by a narrow margin, for the submarine launched a torpedo that barely missed striking the after portion of the ship!"

"Maybe it was the same little old 'U-13,'" suggested Jimmie.

"Oh, you 'U-13'!" laughed Jack. "You're some boat, all right!"

"Say!" shouted Jimmie, jumping quickly to his feet. The boy glanced about the group with startled looks. "What about that 'U-13' package? Do you suppose it was intended for the submarine?"

The boys exchanged puzzled looks. Perplexity was expressed in every face.

A look of worry began to appear on Ned's countenance.

"I wonder who Mackinder is and what he has to do with that package," the lad said presently. "Boys, we're surely stumbling into a mess of something. We'll have to be careful!"

"Captain," demanded Jimmie, turning to von Kluck, "what do you know about this 'U-13' business? What is the 'U-13'?"

Leaning back in his chair the captain drew a long breath. He filled a great pipe from a capacious pouch. Gravely he packed the tobacco into the immense bowl, accompanying the procedure with sundry shakes of his head.

Not until the pipe was drawing freely did he reply.

"Ach, id vas vot der Deutsch say it 'Unterseeboot'! You English say it submarine! Und dot liddle schip goes 'Boom'! und down goes der big schips under der va.s.ser! Und dey stay, too!" he concluded.

"Yes, we know that," a.s.sented Jimmie, punctuating his statement with a poke at the paragraph he had just read, "but who owns it?"

"Vh.e.l.l, der Chermans dey claim to haf a big share in id!"

"Then if we start out for England in this Lena k.n.o.bloch of yours how do we know that the 'U-13' won't come along and take a poke at us just out of pure spite?" questioned the lad.

"Vh.e.l.l, maybe she vill," agreed von Kluck, between puffs. "Bud if you vhas like me, you iss willing to took a chance. I go, und das Lena goes, und by und by maybe we make blenty money und go ash.o.r.e to shtay."

"You take it easy, I must say!" returned Jimmie, somewhat amused.

"Are you going out just the same, Captain?" inquired Jack.

"Sure!" proclaimed the captain, in no uncertain tones.

"Then let's be getting that truck and take the Grey Eagle boxes aboard the Lena k.n.o.bloch!" cried Jack. "The sooner it's over the easier I'll feel. I'm beginning to get nervous about all this 'U-13' business!"

After paying their bill the boys set out in company with the captain to find the trucker. That individual put up a strong protest at taking out his horses at the unseemly hour, but a piece of coin slipped into his hand at the opportune moment by Ned soon changed his mind.

Another piece of money changing hands at the proper moment secured the consent of the official in charge of the freight sheds to the delivery of the boxes containing the precious Grey Eagle.

Making the affair a pleasure jaunt the lads lost no time in loading the cases aboard the truck. Merrily they set off for the dock.

Upon arriving in the vicinity of his vessel the captain shed his jovial air like an overcoat. He bawled out orders to his crew, emphasizing his commands with sundry fistic punctuations. The men evidently knew with whom they had to deal, for they fell to the work with a will.

The boys turned back to the hotel to secure their hand baggage.

A small cart drawn by two huge dogs was approaching. In the vehicle were some milk cans. The figure of a woman guided the strange team.

"This is rather early for the milklady!" laughed Jimmie.

"That's no woman!" declared Jack. "Look at that walk!"

"That's Mackinder!" Jimmie cried. "See the scar on his hand!"

CHAPTER V

TWO MYSTERIOUS CHANGES

"Hey, you!" shouted Jimmie, dashing across the street in the direction of the queer outfit. "Come here! I want to see you!"