rough work on board, and one sock that had the day before been utilized as a "swab" for mopping up a capsized paraffin lamp.  

"Say, this is hardly the rig for Coney Island!" exclaimed Detroit. "Guess we look like a pair of hoboes."  

"I'll kick up a fuss about this, by Jove!" ejaculated the Sub furiously. "Directly I——"  

"Silence!" interrupted the German lieutenant, mistaking Hamerton's attitude for a display of "bluff" on the part of a spy caught redhanded. "It is forbidden!"  

"Everything seems to be forbidden as far as you are concerned, my friend," replied Hamerton. "You are certainly labouring under a delusion. I was——"  

"Silence!" repeated the officer. "Ascend this moment."  

He pointed to a flight of granite steps alongside of which the boat was being held by the bowman and the coxwain.  

At the head of the steps stood a marine, dressed in a blue tunic, white trousers, and a brightly-polished brass helmet. The man brought his rifle smartly to the salute as the German officer passed, then, shouldering his piece, paced the quay in the stolid manner so typical of the Kaiser's soldiery.  

Thirty or forty yards away stood another sentry; farther on there were more. The whole place seemed crowded with marines on duty, while every person that Hamerton could see wore either a military or a naval uniform. The civilian element was totally lacking.  

The Sub had very little time to make the observation, for from the shelter of a stone building that served as a guardroom a file of marines appeared. With fixed bayonets they fell in on either side of the two members of the Diomeda's crew.  

"Great snakes, we're arrested!" exclaimed Detroit.  

"I imagined so long ago," replied Hamerton. "No matter, they can't bring a case against us. They've no proof. We'll be out of this mess within the next few hours."  

Even as he spoke he remembered the confidential book hidden in the stove on board the yacht. If the officials should chance to discover that incriminating article! The thought struck the Sub in a very unpleasant manner, but the next instant his confidence returned. After all, he could explain, and the seaman Pfeil would, he felt sure, corroborate his statement.  

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