"If Jack's making a noise
like that," retorted Hastings, as be straightened up and wheeled
about, "he's got a mighty good reason for it."
"Of course. Every lunatic has loads of good reasons for anything
he does," muttered Eph.
"Look here, fellows!" ordered Jack Benson, almost staggering as
he approached them.
"Great Dewey! Am I going crazy, too?" muttered Eph, staring hard.
"What I think I see in Jack's hands are some of the missing copper
plates."
"It's exactly what you do see," announced Jack Benson, his face
beaming.
"But how---"
"How they came to be there I don't know," Benson replied. "But
when I threw away your quarter, Eph, it rolled under the bench.
There wasn't supposed to be anything metallic under the bench,
but I felt almost, sure that I had heard the silver strike against
something metallic. Even then it seemed like a crazy notion to
me. I didn't really expect to find anything, but some uncontrollable
impulse urged me to go hustling under the bench. And so I found
these duplicate plates, wedged in behind a lot of junk and right
up against the partition."
Hal Hastings, in the meantime, had taken one of the plates from
Lieutenant Jack's hand, and was now quietly fitting it where it
belonged on the motor.
The six midshipmen, as soon as they realized what had happened,
had sprung eagerly to the door of the engine room and stood peering
in. Behind them were the cook and crew of the "Dodger.
Pages:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99