CHAPTER X.
FRANK TO THE RESCUE.
Jack jumped to his feet, prepared to fight. But before he could strike ablow he reeled and fell to the floor. The German picked him up and laidhim on the couch. Then, unlocking the door, he called softly. There wasthe sound of footsteps ascending the stairs, and a moment later twoother men entered the room. One carried a physician's case. He opened itand administered a drug to the unconscious boy.
Soon Jack's lips moved slightly, a few muttered words became audible andthe three men leaned nearer to catch them. The voice became stronger:
"I want my pay! Two pounds four! Oh, you would, would you! Then takethat! I'll go through the skylight! Well, I've got one of them, anyhow!Now for the next! Safe at last! I don't want the gold! I want two poundsfour!"
For an hour the Germans listened to monotonous repetitions of the samething--then the effect of the drug wore off and the lips became silent.Again the drug was administered, but the effect did not vary by so muchas a word.
During the experiment three shadows had crept silently upstairs. Forjust a moment they listened, and then the heavy oak door was pushedopen, and, with Frank in the lead, the three entered the room.
Frank leaped forward, and with a heavy blow sent the man who was bendingover Jack reeling. The latter drew a revolver and fired point blank atthe lad.
But Frank had seen the move, and ducked, closing in as he did so, andthe bullet sped harmlessly over his head, imbedding itself in the door.Frank grabbed the barrel of the revolver before the man could fireagain, and twisted--striking out with his free hand as he did so.
Struck upon the point of the jaw, the German reeled back again, leavinghis weapon in Frank's hand. The lad followed up his advantage and struckhis opponent another stinging blow. The man fell to the floor.
In the meantime, the other rescuers, who turned out to be Hetheringtonand Lord Hastings, had taken care of the other Germans. Lord Hastings,leaping across the room at Frank's heels, had placed one _hors ducombat_ with a single blow, and Hetherington, after a brief struggle,had succeeded in overcoming his adversary.
Frank bent over Jack and shook him, but the latter did not open hiseyes. Again and again Frank shook him, with the same result. LordHastings approached the couch, reached over and lifted Jack's eyelidswith his finger.
"The sleeping sickness!" he ejaculated. "I recognize the symptoms. Hemust have a physician at once. We must put him in the car and get him tomy place quick."
The unconscious lad was hastily carried to a waiting automobile, and wassoon laid on a comfortable bed in Lord Hastings' home.
"Is he going to die?" asked Frank of Lord Hastings.
"Not necessarily. The sleeping sickness is not always fatal, but hiscondition is dangerous."
The physician arrived a few moments later, and after a carefulexamination, announced that with perfect quiet Jack would live. A littledelay, he said, would probably have proven fatal.
For two days Jack hovered between life and death, but upon the third daythe physician pronounced him out of danger. Then, for the first time,Frank, who had removed his belongings from the hotel to Lord Hastings'home to be near, was allowed to see his friend.
"Well, old man," he said, "you have had a narrow escape."
"So the doctor told me," replied Jack.
"Yes," declared Frank, "and you have proved yourself quite a hero."
"Hero!" exclaimed Jack. "I haven't done anything."
"You haven't, eh! Why, anyone who would go through what you did, whenyou could have prevented it by a few words, is a hero, all right."
"Oh, that was nothing. I was sure they wouldn't learn anything throughme. Besides, you wouldn't have had me tell my country's secrets, wouldyou?"
"There are a good many who would have done so rather than to go throughwhat you did."
"Would you have told?"
"Well," said Frank, "I don't know. I don't believe I would."
"Of course you wouldn't. But now, tell me how you happened to arrivejust in the nick of time. I know I owe my life to you."
"When I came downstairs and went to the street to join you in the taxi,"Frank explained, "there wasn't any taxi in sight. I was sure youwouldn't have gone on without me. Recalling the fact that we had beenfollowed that afternoon, I became suspicious. I put two and twotogether, and events proved that I added them up right.
"I got Hetherington on the telephone. He said he had sent you no letter,and that he was just leaving to meet us. He hurried to the hotel, andafter I explained the situation, we rushed to Lord Hastings'.
"It took us four hours to find the place where you had been taken. Icertainly could never have found it by myself. Lord Hastings had everypoliceman in London interrogated, I guess, and we finally received wordthat one had seen two men, apparently carrying another, enter the housewhere we found you. Lord Hastings immediately recognized the housedescribed as the home of a well-known and prominent Austrian.
"We rushed to the house, and it took us about half an hour to find a wayto get in, so heavily were the windows and doors barred. Also we knew wehad to be very quiet, for, if our presence had become known, yourcaptors would undoubtedly have killed you before making their escape.
"We finally effected an entrance through the front door, Lord Hastingssucceeding in picking the lock after some difficulty. Then we hurriedupstairs. We found the room you were in by the sounds of the voices ofyour captors. Lord Hastings realized immediately what the Germans weretrying to do, and we broke in the door. They put up a fight, but we soonhad them safe. That is all there is to the story."
"Where are they now?" demanded Jack.
"Oh, they are safe enough. They are being held as prisoners of war,although it was first planned to have them shot as spies."
The two boys were silent for some time, and finally Frank said:
"Jack, I have an idea and I want to know how it strikes you!"
"All right. Let's hear it."
"What is the matter with us enlisting and seeing a little realfighting?"
"Why, I have been figuring on that all the time. That is why I came toEngland. But you are an American. I don't see why you should want tofight."
"Maybe I am, but my ancestors were English. Besides, I want to seesomething of this war, and I can't see it in London. I want to be wherethe fighting is."
"Well, I'm glad. I guess Lord Hastings can arrange it so we can betogether."
"I guess so, too. We'll speak to him as soon as he comes in."
The Boy Allies on the North Sea Patrol Page 10