"I'd like to know who this Lord Guess-so is--barking behind honest men's
backs!"
"Mr. Fogg! That's him! Seems to know his business!"
"Fogg?"
"'Exactly!' That's his great word," explained the other, grinning. "Some
chap, too, with cigars and language!"
"By the gods, now I know who chartered this tug!" he shouted. "What kind
of a fool am I getting to be?"
He turned and ran toward the officers' quarters. He leaped into the main
passageway and explored headlong the staterooms. There was no sign of
his visitor.
At that moment, in the tumult of his thoughts, he had only a glimmering
of an idea as to what might be the motive of the man's visit. But he
was certain, now, that a wretch who had deliberately wrecked a rival
steamer--if Candage's suspicions were correct--would do almost anything
else for money.
A narrow companionway with brass rails led below to the crew's quarters.
Mayo, coming to the head of it, saw the man hurrying to its foot. The
captain grasped the rails and slid down with one swoop.
"What in the devil's name are you doing?" he gasped.
The intruder grabbed him and threw him to one side, and started up the
companionway. He had dropped the suit-case to seize Mayo, and it bounced
in a way to show that it was empty.
Mayo leaped and grasped the other's legs as he was mounting. The man
kicked him ferociously in the breast before the attacker managed to
pinion the legs in his arms. They went down together, rolling over and
over.
The stranger was stocky and strong, his muscles toughened by a sailor's
activities. Moreover, he seemed to be animated by something more than a
mere grudge or desire to defend himself; he fought with frenzy, beating
his fists into Mayo's face and sides as they rolled. Then he began to
shout. He fairly screamed, struggling to release himself.
But his assailant was just as tough and just as desperate, and he had
a younger man's superior agility. The other had forced the fight. Mayo
proposed to hang to him until he discovered the meaning of this peculiar
ferocity.
He flipped across his prisoner, clutched him by both ears, and rapped
the man's head so smartly on the deck planks that his victim relaxed,
half unconscious.
Then he opened staring eyes. "Let me go! Let me go! I quit. Run for it.
Let me run. We're goners!" he squalled.
"Run? Why?" demanded the victor.
"Dynamite! I've planted it. The fuse is going."