CHAPTER VI.

With the motorboat fleet.

Frank and Lord Hastings also came quickly forward and peered over the edge of the roof.

Jack wiped beads of perspiration from his face; then turned and lifted his hat.

“That,” he said quietly, “took nerve; for he must have known he would be killed.”

“But he preferred it to falling into the hands of an enemy,” said Frank.  “He was a brave man.”

“Come,” said Lord Hastings; “we shall go down and carry him into the house.  Then we shall notify the civil authorities and they can take charge of his body.”

They made their way down stairs and tenderly carried the body of the Baron into the house, where they stretched out his mangled form as well as possible and covered it with a sheet.  Lord Hastings went to the telephone in the hall and notified the authorities.

“Well,” he said, “we may as well go now.”

“How about your wound, sir?” asked Jack.  “I saw blood on your coat a moment ago.”

“True; I had forgotten,” replied Lord Hastings.

He stripped off his coat and Jack examined the wound.

“Just a scratch,” he said cheerfully.  “I’ll fix it up in a jiffy, sir.”

He did a neat job and Lord Hastings again donned his coat and turned to go.

“Wait a minute, sir; you are forgetting something,” exclaimed Frank.

“What’s that?” asked Lord Hastings in surprise.

“Davis, sir.”

“By Jove!  I had forgotten all about that scoundrel,” said Lord Hastings.

He led the way to the room where he had so recently placed Davis hors de combat, but there was no Davis there.

Lord Hastings was greatly crestfallen.

“I should not have forgotten him,” he said.  “He may work more mischief around here.”

“The chances are, knowing he has been discovered, he’ll make himself extremely scarce,” suggested Frank.  “He’ll probably figure that his usefulness here is at an end.”

“Well, that’s probably true,” admitted Lord Hastings.

“We’ll come across him again some place,” said Jack.  “I wonder if he recognized us as the ones from whom be obtained his information?”

“I wonder, too,” said Frank with a laugh.  “If not, he probably believes we are in trouble.  Guess he will imagine we have been executed as spies by this time.”

“To tell the truth, I don’t believe he recognized us,” said Jack.  “We were too far away for that.”

“Except for the time he laid me out down the street there,” said Frank ruefully.  “Then the chances are he didn’t take time to look at me.  And he was unconscious when we came upstairs here.  No, I don’t believe he recognized us.”

“Well, I hope we shall have the pleasure of introducing ourselves to him more fully at some future date,” said Jack.

“And I have a hunch that we shall,” declared Frank.