s belt.

"Don't say it twice!" cried Jimmie. "We heard you the first time!"

The boys prepared to follow the orderly, who evidently intended to escort
them to the mess hall, where they would secure dinner.

As they turned toward the iron ladder leading to the hatch Jimmie, who
had followed close upon the orderly's heels, cried out:

"Hello, Mackinder, where you from?"

CHAPTER XIII

A THREATENING SITUATION

"Who's there, Jimmie?" asked Ned, pressing forward.

"Nobody now," answered the other. "I thought I saw our friend Mackinder
looking down the hatchway, but possibly I was mistaken. At any rate he's
gone now and we'd better hurry on for dinner."

"Mackinder's a prisoner here," stated Ned, positively.

"Maybe he broke loose," suggested Harry.

"All right, I'm going up to the deck and look about," said Ned.

As the boys reached the narrow confines of the small deck at the top of
the conning tower they saw a figure hastening along the foot planks that
led from vessel to vessel. The fleeing person was now almost at the
building on the wharf. In a moment the shelter of this structure had been
gained. The figure dodged out of sight.

"Now, that's a funny thing to do!" mused Ned. "I wonder just what the
fellow wanted. Are you sure it was Mackinder, Jimmie?"

"No, I'm not," admitted the lad. "Of course, the face was in shadow as he
looked down the hatch. I'm not positive, but thought it was he."

"Well, let's not bother about it any more," said Ned, apparently
dismissing the subject. "We're too hungry for any more mysteries!"

As only hungry boys can the five attacked the ample dinner provided for
them. The dishes were strange but appetizing. Jimmie declared that he
intended to remain in that location for some time in order to become
acquainted with the chef. He said that he would be the envy of the entire
Wolf Patrol if he could cook in German style.

After dinner the boys gathered in the lee of a small building, where they
would be protected from the chilling blasts. Puffy squalls, bearing
dashes of snow, sleet or rain, came threshing out of the west. It
appeared to the lads that the weather was growing decidedly worse.

In spite of the inclement weather a number of the hardy workmen were
indulging in out of door sports during their rest hour.

For some time the lads watched the games as the hardy men relaxed their
work-tensed muscles. The sullen booming of surf on the rocky coast
constantly so