The Boy Allies Under the Sea Part 10

At the same moment Blosberg fired and Lord Hastings felt a stinging sensation in his left shoulder.

He staggered back.

Blosberg took advantage of this and darted out the door just as Frank appeared at the top of the steps. Both raised their revolvers at the same moment, but Blosberg was the first to fire.

Frank's gun seemed to explode in his hand. It leaped in the air like a live thing and the lad felt a strange sensation in his hand. He wiggled his fingers, but now he was unable to tell whether he had a right hand or not. There was no feeling there. Blosberg's bullet had struck the lad's revolver and the shock had numbed the lad's hand.

Before Frank could recover, Blosberg had darted down the hall and turned into a narrow pa.s.sageway at the end of it, disappearing just in time to escape a bullet from Jack's revolver, the lad appearing on the second floor at that moment.

He dashed after Blosberg.

Turning off the main hall into the narrow pa.s.sage at the end, Jack brought up sharply against an object in the semi-darkness; but he found no Blosberg. Quickly he took a match from his pocket and struck it.

There was no sign of Blosberg, and Jack made out that the object that had interrupted his progress was a ladder leading upward toward the roof.

"He's up on the roof," cried Jack. "Come on."

Without taking thought of what danger might be in store for him above, he mounted the ladder rapidly.

When Blosberg reached the roof he had replaced the trapdoor, but he wasted no time, and began looking for a means of descent. He still held a gun in his hand and whirled sharply as the trapdoor suddenly flew open. He saw Jack at the same moment Jack saw him, and both fired.

But the aim of each was poor and Jack followed his shot by leaping to the roof. Then he dropped down suddenly as Blosberg fired again, and, still unharmed, drew himself quickly behind a chimney nearby. Blosberg took refuge behind a second chimney.

Now Lord Hastings' head appeared and drew back suddenly as Blosberg took a quick shot at him.

"All right, sir, come on!" called Jack. "I'll get him if he tries to pot you again."

Lord Hastings sprang through the opening and a moment later Frank also appeared on the roof. Blosberg made no effort to fire again, apparently realizing the hopelessness of his case.

Frank and Lord Hastings now had taken their places with Jack behind the chimney.

"Well, we can't fool around here all day," said Jack. "We'll circle about and one of us can get him."

Lord Hastings, wounded, was left behind the chimney, while Frank, who had produced another revolver, leaped out suddenly to the left, Jack at the same time springing to the right. Then they moved forward.

"Hold on," came Blosberg's voice at this moment. "I surrender."

The three friends breathed easier.

"Drop your gun and come out--and have your hands in the air," ordered Jack, still holding his revolver ready.

A moment later Blosberg appeared, unarmed.

Jack lowered his own weapon, and as he did so Blosberg, with a sudden cry, dashed forward and leaped off the roof into s.p.a.ce.

For a brief instant Jack was stunned; then he dashed to the edge of the roof and peered over. He saw Blosberg's twisting, tumbling body crash head-first upon the hard walk, and then lay still.

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?"