EM EM : monthly magazine - 01.09.1941, Blaðsíða 29

EM EM : monthly magazine - 01.09.1941, Blaðsíða 29
Em Eui 29 íster explaintó briskly. “It was the final payment of a loan made to Andegova in the T&ft adminis- traiion. That ís why our govern- ment is vitally interested in the re- covery of the goid. Thac is why yeu have been ordered to super- vlse the salvage, m the event that salvage is found feasibl-i.” I whistled softly, lit a cigaret and walked over to the window. In a pond itutside stood four coral flainingoes, tall and ttacely and motioniess. 1 watched tliem for a moment or tvvo and then tumed back to Coionel Eaird. "I suppose you kricw, colonel, that the Alderbaron was scuttíed.” “X understand that i3 supposed to bc the case.” "Why?” I asked. “Have you tried ío figure out why ?” The colonel shrugged. "The word ir.ust have got out abcut that ship- uient of gold, although it was sup- pjíSed to liave ba«n Xepi secret. 1 tonagine s. plot was íormed to sLnk rhe ship and later scnd down a Siver and steal the bullion. That i3 why the spot where sha sank is besiig patroúed right ncw by an Andegoyan gunboat, just to pre- vent anything líke that. The gun- boat is also attempting to locate the ohip with a view of reeovering the bullion.” I shook my head decisive'ty. “It’s a good theory, colonel, bul it doesn’t fit tlie facts.” He blinked ac me Ojrough his thick lenses. “Why not, Leslie?” “Have you any idea how deep the Caribbean is out there?” I cour.tered, , . “No.” “Weii, I haven’t looked at the charts far some time, but 1 know it is plenty deep. Probably sev- eral hundred fathoms. Do you know how decp a diver can worl: in safety?” ‘ i “I do not.” “Not more than 40 fathoms. I have done a good deal of divlng myself and I know from experi- ence that little effective work can be done at depths belovr 40, So there you are. “Of courge, there is the bare chance that the Alderbaron landed on a shoal. But, going íurther, the man who kliled the carpenter and openad the sea cocka had no way of knowing the exact posltion of the ship nor how far she would run before she sank. Alno, h« had no way of knowing in advance just wnen he would be able to get lnto the double bottoms.” Colonel Baird slowly nodded. “The ship, then, could not have been deliberately scuttled over a Bhoal.” ............... •iNu. xne proDaouuy ís tnat sne lies in five or six hundred fathoms of water and the bullion will never be recovered.” "H-m. What theory about the sinking have you evolved then, lieutenant?” I grinned. “I haven’t any, col- onel. None whatever. Though I can tell you this much, I knew she was going to sink.” “You knew—she was going—to sink!” Baird gasped. I told him, then, of the warning Pedro Gonzales had sent me. "And what,” he finally asked, “has this man Gonzales to say now?” “He hasn’t reported for work at the club for two days and I haven’t been able to locate him.” “H-m. A very strange affair.” “Another thing, colonel,” I put in quickly. “Francisco Carretos’ yacht was only a few miles from the Alderbaron when she went down, while he was aboard the ship.” Baird eyed me sharply. “Are you suggesting that Carretos may have had some part in this plot?” “I am, sir,” I said decisively. “But, man! If he had known of it, would he have taken passage on the ship?” “That seems strange, I will ad- mit, but it is even more strange that his yacht should be so close. And after all, there was little dan- ger in that calm sea for a man with a lifebelt. And Carretos, I can testify, was one of the first persons on the ship to don a belt.” “But Francisco Carretos! Good Lord, man! Do you realize his position in the country ? Why should a man of his standing be mixed up in a dastardly plot of this kind?” “I can’t answer that question, colonel,” I admitted. “But consider, Leslie! That gold bullion must have been responsible for the sinking of the ship. Fran- cisco Carretos is the rlchest man in this country. He is worth mil- lions. He has every possible lux- ury that money can buy. Now why should a man of his position in the country, a man of his enor- mous wealth, concem himself over ithat four million? Why would he risk his position, his very life it- aelf, by engaging in the inhuman plot of ccuitling the ship?” I lit another clgaret and shook my head. “I can’t answer those questions, sir.” The Whipple dropped her hook in the harbcr at daybreak the fol- iowing morniiig. I was waiting íor thn mntor dorv when it nullftd eitmgsare'niC uoeir antrwent rrooara the destroyer immediately. There I was happy to find Dick Hoffman, an old friend, in command. Dick is a tall, lanky, good-natured three- striper, a good egg and a fellow who can be counted on in any sort of a pinch. “Well, how’s the naval attache ?.”• Hoffman grinned. "We’U skip that,” I said. ”And what’s all this stuff I hear about a lot of gold bulHon ? What’s been going on in this comic opera republic ?” “Plenty. Come down to the wardroom and I’ll tell you about ít. And while we’re talking, you can haul your lioolc and stand out on a course of 98 true.” “Say, guy, to whom are you giv- ing orders — to whom?” Diek laughed. “To you, you big guy! Get go- ing.” During the tliree hours it took the Whipple to run out to the cccne of disaster, Dick Hoffman and I sat in the wardroom. We h&d a bottle of Scotch on the table sn front of us—which is strictly non-reg—and I told him all I knew and all I surmised and con- jecíured. i ! “That’s how things stand at the present time,” I finished. "The ÍAIdetbaron was scuttled, though it ie a dead cinch she wasn’t sunk with a view of stealing the bulUon because it was only by the merest chance that she went down ln shaliow water. Personally, I think this rnan Carretos is implicated, though I’m completely in the dark as to his motives and the motives beliind the sinking.” >. “Huh—a rotten business,” Hoff- man growjed-___________________ - i f .Ifel i __L CHAPTER VI "Oh, our job, I suppose, is to s&l- vage that bullion,” Hoffman said. “No, not according to my or- ders. Our govemment is inter- ested in its recovery, of course, be- cause the gold was consigned to the United States Treasury. But the Andegoyans are responsible for it and the actual salvage work, if the ship is located, devolves upoh them. We’re to act only in an ad-j visory capactty.” “By which is meant what?”< Hoffman asked. “You tell me.” The commander poured himself, a short drink. "Well, it’s a mightyj strange business, anyway you looki at it. There’s something fishy somewhere, all right But try toj fietire It oiit " '

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