"
"Take us to it," requested the Admiral.
Captain Driggs led the visitors below. There, in the cabin floor, he
pointed to a well-concealed trapdoor. It opened upon a very considerable
space between cabin floor and keel.
"This space certainly _would_ accommodate a torpedo," declared Admiral
Townsley. "Mr. Rhinds, if we could prove that you had a torpedo in this
space the other day, there would be an almost complete case, wouldn't
there?"
"But I didn't have," cried Rhinds, with cunning insistence.
"Mr. Driggs," pursued the admiral, "we shall want you as a witness at
the investigation on board the 'Oakland.' My aide will hand you a
subpoena. This, I believe, gentlemen, is all we have to do here."
Looking years older, yet holding up his head in a certain kind of
bravado, John Rhinds returned to shore with the party.
No sooner had Rhinds entered the hotel than a bell-boy moved over,
drawing him aside and saying something in a low tone.
"I'll wager that talk would interest us, if we could hear it," remarked
Jack Benson, sarcastically, to his friends.
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