CALL OF THE CLUB.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 201, 26 August 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

CALL OF THE CLUB.

"You are right, we can't; yet I hesi- ( tate to take extreme measures. These t three have beaten me on every hand, ] and I should like to see them —to talk ( with them." Trevalyn paused. "Per- j haps I could persuade tlieni to join with j us—become Mocco6." "Such would not be wise, captain, t You can't make two Australian boys see the same as we do. They have such i a thing which they call honour, for • which they are prepared to brave anything." i The speaker was a foreigner, yet he had been long enough in Australia to understand how far an average Australian boy was prepared to go.. "Where are they ?" "In a cave about half a mile away. I have -put a reliable guard on them so that they cannot effect an escape." "Not in the cave that is said to be haunted?" Trevalyn asked, smiling broadly. "Superstition again 1 It is fortunate that I have gathered round me men who are not influenced by such silliness. Yet," he proceeded rutninatlvely, "that cave has never been explored. We don't know how far it extends." "Because, captain, to date it hasn't been of any use to us. It is in. rather an exposed position, and can be eeen clearly from passing ships." "Bring the three of them here. Blindfold them so that they cannot see anything, and don't release the bandages from their eyes until they are right inside this room." The man departed. The captain was wrong, he felt, in not getting rid of the intruders before they were allowed to work any mischief. Still, orders were orders! One thing he knew. He wasn't going to be too gentle With the old sea captain and the boys. By the iime they reached Captain Trevalyn they would have suffered sufficiently to " prevent them from taking any interest in what j was going on around them. He called a man to him and snapped out an order. "Those three we .caught spying. They are etill ifl that cave, 1 understand." "They are. And guarded by four men. I passed by tjie spot a few minutes ago. I had a barricade of green bushes erected to screen the men from any passing vessels." "Good! Blindfold them and have them brought here. I want to ttfke thein to Captain Trevalyn. Watch them carefully. They seem to have luck with them at the moment." "What is going to happen to them? Are they going to ber sent home to talk about what they've eeen or are they—" _ "That is for Captain Trevalyn to decide," the other interrupted. "Bring them along at once. I'll wait here to pick them up. And don't forget what I said about watching ithem closely. They are slippery beggars. They've beaten us many times as it i#V and it was only because we caught them unawares, while they were resting, that they are in our hands alt present."

v Said Captain Bob: "You would walk along a recognised route cleared of tree* and undergrowth ? Don't think you'd be silly? You'd be asking for trouble. As it is, I can't say that w« are too safe. I've a feeling—well, you know, like we sailors get—a premonition if you like, that all isn't too healthy for us; it isn't. I'm walking with my eyes skinned, as if expecting to see a young army rise up from out of the ground at any moment." ''Bunnies!" Frank laughed at the idea. "Your imagination is running riot, Captain. W e are as safe as houses at the moment. I'm with George. I should like to march straight to the rock and chance what is going to happen. They wouldn't kill us at any rate." (To be continued on Saturday next.)