The Motor Boys Bound for Home; or, Ned, Bob and Jerry on the Wrecked Troopship

by Clarence Young

  CHAPTER XXIV

  NED LEARNS SOMETHING

  Ned Slade felt himself being pulled along the deck of the transport inthe firm grip of a man who, for the moment, he believed to be insane.The quick grasp of the pepper-pot and his sudden motion in draggingNed along had, for the time being, deprived the lad of his power ofresistance. But it came back to him quickly enough, and, suspectingsome sinister design on the part of his captor, he braced himself,pulled his hands away, and demanded:

  “What does this mean? What are you trying to do, anyhow? Isn’t itenough for you to have disabled this ship, and so, indirectly, havecaused the collision, without trying anything more?”

  “Don’t speak so loudly! Come with me! To my cabin! I can explaineverything!” hoarsely whispered the little man, variously dubbed thepepper-pot, from his quick, impulsive way, and “_le cochon_,” a namegiven by Marie, the restaurant girl.

  “Not much!” cried Ned. “I see your game! You want to get rid of meas, perhaps by accident, you got rid of Bob, Jerry, and ProfessorSnodgrass!”

  “Ah! Professor Snodgrass! He--he is impossible! A mere dabbler! Acharlatan!” cried the other, with something of his former manner. “Ialone hold the secret! I shall give it to the world! Now that he isgone, I can work freely and openly. I will redouble my efforts! I willbeat him!” His voice was triumphant.

  “Yes, beat him, coward, now that he’s gone!” cried Ned. “I don’t wantto have anything to do with you! I’m going to tell----”

  Ned swung aside and was going to turn back to avoid what he thought wasa lunge on the part of the strange man, a lunge that, the lad thought,meant danger, when he collided with some one hurrying along the passage.

  There were many mutual grunts, for the impact had not been a gentleone, and, half dazed, Ned looked up to observe Captain Munson.

  “Oh!” exclaimed Ned.

  “What is the trouble?” asked the captain, and he smiled at Ned and thelittle man--smiled in such a way as to convince the Motor Boy thateither there was nothing wrong, or else that the captain himself wasdeceived as to the character of his passenger.

  “There is no trouble at all, Captain,” replied the pepper-pot. “Nowthat my rival has gone, I----”

  “You mean Professor Snodgrass,” the captain said. “Yes, unfortunatelyhe is gone. We hope he and the others may have saved themselves, andperhaps have floated off on some bit of wreckage our boats did notobserve, but it hardly seems possible. I suppose you do not need aguard any longer?” he smilingly asked of the little man.

  “No, thank you, my secret is in no further danger of being taken awayby an unscrupulous charlatan!” was the emphatic answer.

  And Ned, puzzled, observed with amazement Captain Munson deliberatelywinking at him the eye that was concealed from the pepper-pot.

  “Captain Munson!” exclaimed Ned, “this--this man is trying to----”

  The pepper-pot interrupted.

  “I can now tell everything!” he said eagerly. “Please let me explain tohim, Captain. I was taking him to my cabin to let him understand thewhole situation, when he broke away from me and----”

  “If you wish to listen to Dr. Hallet’s story I am sure you would findit interesting, to say the least,” broke in the commander. “Of coursedon’t go with him if you don’t want to, but in view of what has takenplace perhaps it will be best to let him tell his side of it. If youwish any further light you may come to me. I will give orders to havethe marines withdrawn from in front of your cabin, Dr. Hallet,” headded.

  “Do you mean to say--I mean is everything all right? Isn’t there anydanger----” began Ned. And then as he looked at the little man, andcompared his own splendid physique with that of _le cochon_, he feltjust a little bit ashamed of the exhibition he had made. Certainlyhe was sure he could hold his own in a struggle, though there was nodenying that the pepper-pot--or Dr. Hallet, to give him his rightname--had a powerful grip.

  “You may safely go with Dr. Hallet,” said the captain. “I am sorrythere has been any misunderstanding. I would have explained before,but so many things have happened, it seemed impossible. As I say, ifyou are not satisfied with what he tells you, come to me,” and havingnodded to Ned, with whom he had talked several times following thefatal crash, the commander passed on.

  “Now are you satisfied?” asked the little man, and, somehow, in thelight of the events of the last few moments, his face seemed morefriendly to Ned.

  “Well, I don’t in the least understand what it’s all about,” admittedNed. “You acted so queerly in the restaurant, and then on board thetransport; and so much has happened--my friends being missing and allthat--you can’t blame me for----”

  “Not in the least, my dear boy! Not in the least!” was the suaveanswer. “If you will come to my cabin I can explain everything to yoursatisfaction. But first let me ask: You do not seriously believe thatI caused the collision with the derelict and the disappearance of yourfriends, do you?”

  Ned thought for a minute. Clearly he could answer in but one way. Inspite of what the captain had said, this man might be guilty of havingcaused the disablement of the _Sherman_. And so, indirectly, he mightbe responsible for what happened to her afterward. But to accuse him ofhaving caused Jerry, Bob, the professor and others to fall overboard,even though such accident was the direct result of the collision, wasgoing a little too far. Ned had to admit this. At least it could not becalled premeditated, for Dr. Hallet could not have known the derelictwas going to drift past.

  And so, after hastily thinking the matter over, Ned came to theconclusion that he might better accompany the little man to his cabin,and hear what he had to say.

  “But I’ll be on my guard,” mused Ned. “He’s got a grip that’s hard tobreak. Must have been quite an athlete in his youth. But I’ve got anautomatic, and I sha’n’t hesitate to use it if I have to.”

  Ned slipped a hand to his hip pocket where he was carrying a smallbut very effective weapon he had bought in Paris. “It might come inuseful,” he reflected.

  “I’ll come with you,” he said to Dr. Hallet, “but I warn you I’m notvery much prepossessed in your favor, and----”

  “I will explain everything, my dear boy,” declared his companion. “Andthen, if you wish to hold enmity against me---- But come to my cabin.We are likely to be disturbed here.”

  This was true enough. Officers and soldiers were constantly passingalong the “alley” of the ship, and Ned was kept busy saluting, whileseveral of his acquaintances, coming back from their mess, lookedcuriously at him and his companion.

  To the very same cabin in front of which two marines had been on guardand within which Ned and his chums had once seen Professor Snodgrass,Dr. Hallet now led the Motor Boy. And it needed but a single glancearound it to disclose to Ned one fact, at least.

  This was that Dr. Hallet was a rival of Professor Snodgrass--or, if nota rival, then a scientist engaged in the same pursuits.

  For there were the same sort of specimen boxes, microscopes, notebooks,and other materials scattered about as always marked the abiding placeof Professor Snodgrass. There were even live bugs crawling in cases,and Ned recognized one or two as exactly similar to some he had helpedProfessor Snodgrass catch at different times.

  “Now if you will sit down, my boy, I’ll begin to explain,” said Dr.Hallet. “It will take some little time, but I am sure at the end youwill have a different feeling toward me.”

  “I may, but I’m going to be perfectly frank, and tell you I have mydoubts!” declared Ned. “You can start explaining whenever you areready,” and he let his hand swing around behind him as he took a seat,making sure that his pistol was within ready reach.

  “In the first place,” began Dr. Hallet, “I want to say that I---- Oh, Inearly forgot! I haven’t fed my fleas!”

  Ned nearly laughed aloud, this was so like what Professor Snodgrassmight have said. Dr. Hallet quickly arose, and, going over to a tinygreen box, opened the top and sprinkled something in. He then quicklyclos
ed the receptacle.

  “Have to be sharp with fleas,” he said. “These have bitten personsafflicted with trench fever and mustard gas poisoning, and I amgoing to make a test to see if those diseases are capable of beingtransmitted by the bite of insects. I don’t want any of these infectedfleas to get on you.”

  “I don’t want it, myself,” murmured Ned, as he moved somewhat away fromthe little green box.

  “Well, now that I have given them food enough to last until we land,I hope, I will go on,” resumed the doctor. “As I was going to say,you are much mistaken if you think that Professor Snodgrass and I areenemies.”

  Ned started.

  “Well,” he said slowly, “if you are a friend of his you take a veryqueer way of showing it.”

  “Professional feeling, my dear boy! Professional feeling; that’s all.Call it jealousy, if you like,” said Dr. Hallet, with something like achuckle. “As a matter of fact, both he and I are working along the samelines to benefit humanity, and if I said anything harsh against him----”

  “Which you certainly did!” interrupted Ned.

  “Well, it was in a Pickwickian sense only--merely Pickwickian,” andthis time the doctor laughed. “You have read Dickens, I dare say?” hewent on.

  “Yes,” admitted Ned. “I know my Pickwick Papers.”

  “Then you’ll understand. As a matter of fact, Professor Snodgrass ismy very dear friend, and we are mutually, though perhaps in a rivalmanner, seeking the same certain end.”

  “Well, if you are,” asked Ned in amazement, “why did you act so? Whydid you call him a ‘charlatan’? And why were you put under guard? Anddid you try to blow up the transport with a bomb? If you did----”

  Ned’s words died away, for at that moment the _Sherman_ was shaken fromstem to stern by a violent concussion, and after a period of portentoussilence confused shouting broke out all over the ship.

  Ned looked strangely at Dr. Hallet and drew his automatic pistol.