“Pardon me, a moment,” urged Radwin, rising.  “I’ll be back directly.”

Radwin slipped out to the sidewalk, for he had seen a hovering figure at the curb.  However, Radwin kept on down the street, turning in at the third doorway beyond.  Now, the hovering figure sauntered past.

“We got the cub,” whispered the prowler.

“Good!” whispered Radwin.  “Then you’re ready for the rest?”

“Huh!  It’ll be like sleeping on a haymow, if the other two are as easy as that one was.”

“All right, then!  Be off, and see that you do your work well!”

With that Radwin walked briskly back and into the hot soda place.

“I’m ashamed to tell you what took me out,” he laughed, easily.  “Boys, after writing that letter in the drug-store, I forgot to mail it, and just felt it in my coat pocket.  Well, it’s safe in the mail-box, at last.”

“We were just saying,” Hal announced, “that it’s funny the others haven’t come along.  We better go back and get Eph, anyway?”

“It will be a good idea,” nodded Radwin.

Of course, when they reached the corner at which they had left young Somers, he was not there.

“I wonder if he has gone back and joined the party at the hotel?” queried Hal.

“We can soon find out,” declared Jack.

“Suppose you and I walk down there, then, Hastings?” suggested Radwin.  “We can leave Benson here, to tell Somers where we are, if he comes back this way.”

“You wait here, Hal,” suggested Jack.  “There’s a little matter I want to speak to Mr. Farnum about, anyway.”

So Hastings was left at the corner.  He saw Jack and the Rhinds man go in through the hotel entrance.

Then, hearing steps, Hal turned to see two sailors approaching.  They wore the uniform of the United States Navy.  Hastings regarded them with the friendly interest that he, like most other Americans, always felt for sailors.  But the two sailors came along, talking earnestly, and did not appear to see young Hastings, who stood in close to the wall.

“When I first seen him fall,” one of the sailors was saying, “I mistook him for a Navy officer.  He was pretty young, but the uniform fooled me.”

“He had the uniform, all right but no signs of rank on it,” nodded the other sailor, thoughtfully.  “Was he much hurt?”

“Oh, it won’t kill him,” replied the first sailor.  “But—­”

“I beg your pardon,” interposed Hal, springing in front of the pair.  “It has just struck me that you are speaking of a comrade of mine.”

“Well, he had a uniform on, just like your’n, replied the first sailor, looking Hal Hastings over quickly.

“Only the young feller we’re talkin’ about has red hair,” added the second.

“What has happened to him?” demanded Hal, a feeling of alarm sweeping over him.

“Oh, he got in a little fight—­that’s all,” responded the first sailor.  “Bit off a little bit bigger chunk of fight than he could handle.  He’s kinder dazed and silly, now, and talkin’ about queer things.  Half an hour more, though, messmate, and I guess he’ll be able to walk down to the water front all right.”