ll no more time throw away on fake life-preserver."

F.

With fingers that actually trembled, Jack wrote down every fourth word.
Here is the result he obtained:

"Motorboat Southampton. Will throw life-preserver."

"By the great horn-spoon," exclaimed Jack to himself, "it worked out
like a charm. But still, what am I going to do? I can't go to the
captain with no more evidence than this. He would not order the man
detained. I have it!" he cried, after a moment of deep reflection. "The
Southampton detectives have been already wirelessed about the crime and
are going to board the ship. I'll flash them another message, telling
them of the plan to drop the jewels overboard in a life-preserver so
that they will float till the motor-boat picks them up."

Jack first, however, sent the supposed Prof. Dusenberry's message
through to London, with which he was now in touch. He noted it was to
the same address as before, that of a Mr. Jeremy Pottler, 38 South
Totting Road, W. Then he summoned the Southampton station, and, before
long, a messenger brought to the police authorities there a dispatch
that caused a great deal of excitement. He had just finished doing this
when Jack's attention was attracted by the re-entrance of the professor.

He wanted to look over the dispatch he had sent again, he said, but Jack
noticed that his eyes, singularly keen behind his spectacles, swept the
table swiftly as if in search of something. The abstract that Jack had
made of the cipher dispatch lay in plain view. Jack hastily swept it out
of sight by an apparently careless movement. But he felt the professor's
eyes fixed on him keenly.

But if Prof. Dusenberry had observed anything he said nothing. He merely
remarked that the dispatch appeared to be all right and walked out again
in his peculiar shambling way.

"The old fox suspects something," thought Jack. "I wonder if he saw that
little translation I took the liberty of making of his dispatch. If he
did, he must have known that I smelled a rat."

Just then Raynor dropped in on his way on watch.

"Well, we're in to-morrow, Jack," he said, "but I'm afraid the Britisher
will beat us out."

"I'm afraid so, too," responded Jack. "Their operator has been crowing
over me all day. But at any rate it was in a good cause."

"Yes, and they're taking up a subscription for the shipwrecked men at
the concert to-night, I hear, so that they won't land destitute."

"That's good; but say