The Boy Allies with Uncle Sams Cruisers | Page 9

boat reached the Algonquin's side, all passengers and
members of the crew were on deck. Frank pressed close to Jack.
"Got your gun?" he asked.
"In my boot," was the quiet reply; "and yours?"

"All right. How about your little decoration?"
Jack took a small object from his pocket and put it in the left-hand
button hole of his coat. Frank followed his example.
"What is the meaning of this outrage?" demanded Mrs. Wheaton, as she
watched the small boat approach.
"Meaning is that we are prisoners of the German raider," answered
Captain Stoneman, who overheard the remark.
"And why?" demanded the woman. "I heard guns fired above here.
Couldn't you hit anything?"
"We didn't try, madam," said the captain. "We fired those guns to
notify the Pioneer we had encountered the raider."
"Well, why didn't you shoot at her?" demanded Mrs. Wheaton.
Captain Stoneman was about to make an angry retort, but restrained
himself with a visible effort.
The raider's boat scraped alongside the Algonquin.
"Throw down a ladder here," said a voice in English, though with a
heavy German accent.
Captain Stoneman growled ominously, but he ordered the command
obeyed. A moment later a German naval officer appeared on deck. He
was closely followed by half a dozen other figures. The officer
approached Captain Stoneman.
"You are the commander of this vessel?" he asked.
"I am," was the reply. "What of it?"
"You'd best keep a civil tongue in your head," said the German.
"What's your destination, and the nature of your cargo?"

"Buenos Ayres; oil," growled the captain, answering both questions
briefly.
"Good!" said the German. "We are in need of oil." He turned to one of
his men. "Below with you," he said. "Take three men and unloosen a
hundred barrels of oil. I'll send a boat after them."
The man saluted and went below, followed by several of his
companions. The German officer turned again to Captain Stoneman.
"You and your men, and these two ladies," he indicated Mrs. Wheaton
and her daughter, "will be prisoners aboard the Vaterland. Captain
Koenig will make you as comfortable as possible."
"Thanks," said Captain Stoneman briefly." I know enough about you
Germans and what to expect."
"Silence!" thundered the German, "or I shall have you placed in irons."
Captain Stoneman shrugged his shoulders, but he held his tongue.
Now, for the first time, the German officer appeared to notice that Jack
and Frank were not members of the Algonquin crew. He motioned
them to approach.
"You are passengers?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," said Jack.
The German took a quick step forward as he noticed the little emblem
on Jack's coat. He glanced at Frank and saw one there, too. He tapped
the one that Jack wore with his finger.
"Where did you get that?" he asked sharply.
"Where could I get it but in one place?" was Jack's reply.
"You are no German," said the officer.

"I was not born in Germany, it is true," said Jack, "but my ancestors
were. I am what some people are pleased to call a German-American."
"Good!" exclaimed the German officer. "But what are you doing here?"
"That," said Jack, "is rather a long story and one that I am commanded
to tell to Captain Koenig."
The German officer hesitated.
"You come together?" he asked at length, indicating Frank.
"Yes," said Jack.
"Well," said the German, "you will realize that I must be careful. I must
see if you are armed."
He examined the lads' clothing carefully.
"You will follow me," he said a few moments later.
The crew of the Algonquin, meantime, was being transferred to the
Vaterland. Jack and Frank found themselves in the last boatload to go.
Aboard the Vaterland, as the two lads followed their captor to the cabin
of the German commander, Frank saw the disgust in the eyes of
Elizabeth Wheaton as he passed her. It was plain that she, at least, took
him for what he represented himself to be to the German officer.
"Oh, well," said the lad, as he walked along, "it cannot be helped."
Captain Koenig asked the lads several sharp questions which
apparently satisfied him that they were what they claimed to be.
"But I cannot land you yet," he said.
"Any time within the month will do, Captain," said Jack. "We still have
a little time. We do not need to reach New York until two days before
the meeting. You can set us ashore some place in time enough for us to

get there."
"I'll do better than that," said the captain. "I'll set you ashore on the
coast of Florida three weeks from today."
"Good!" said Jack.
"Now," said the captain, "if you care to accompany me on deck, you
shall see the last of the ship that carried you here."
The