As Ned's feet sounded on the boards of the stuffy little cuddy, he heard a sharp "bang" above him and then the grating of a rusty iron bolt, as it was shot to, making him a prisoner.

The sound of the grating bolt and the sense that he was a captive, even though in a sense a voluntary one, made Ned see "red" for an instant.

"So they couldn't even trust to my word!" he muttered angrily to himself; and then, "All this precaution shows that there is something very out of the ordinary going forward. Something, too, that unless I miss my guess is in the line of my commission to find out. Gee whiz, I'd give a lot to know right now what is at the bottom of all this how-d'ye-do!"

[Pg 215]

Ned cast himself down on a transom. For a time silence reigned on deck. Then he became aware of a trampling of feet above him and the sound of hoarse voices hailing.

"Somebody coming alongside," surmised Ned, with ready apprehension of what was going forward. "It must be dark by this time. Clearly whatever their business is, it is such that does not bear the light of day for its transaction."

The noise on deck continued. Ned scrutinized his place of captivity for some means of seeing without its confines. But except for the scuttle which had been secured, the cabin was without openings. No port-holes or air vents were visible.

"If only I could see out," he muttered, "that would help some."

Then came more voices outside. Above them sounded sharp, authoritative tones.

"By the great bow gun, whoever is giving orders out there is a man-o'-war's-man!" exclaimed[Pg 216] the Dreadnought Boy. "Something is in the wind in connection with the Blue fleet beyond a doubt. By hookey, I may be on the verge of making some discovery which will be invaluable to our side."

He listened greedily now. His trained ears had not deceived him. It was a man-o'-war "steamer" that had glided up to Captain Briggs' down-at-heel craft. She now lay alongside, while her crew of Jackies hustled up upon the schooner's dirty decks and their leader, a petty officer, greeted Captain Briggs.

"We'll get to work just as soon as you're ready," grunted Captain Briggs to this individual, who had introduced himself as Gunner's Mate Steffens of the destroyer Truxton.

Presently, to Ned in the cabin below, came the sounds of hurrying action on deck. He heard the blows of hammers as the battens were ripped off hatchways and the cargo of the[Pg 217] schooner, whatever it was, lay ready for the broachers.

There was a partition forward in the cabin, and Ned guessed that beyond it must lie the hold with its mysterious contents. He stationed himself against the bulkhead awaiting developments.

While he stood there listening to the creaking of blocks and tackles, as apparatus for transferring the cargo of the schooner to the "steamer" was in process of rigging, his eye was caught by a sudden gleam of light.

The cabin was dark, so he the more easily saw the long, thin slice of radiance that he was not long in finding out leaked through a longitudinal crack in the bulkhead, w............