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| CHAPTER 5 | CHAPTER 6 | CHAPTER 7 |
I am forced to admit that even though I had traveled a long distance toplace Bowen Tyler's manuscript in the hands of his father, I was stilla trifle skeptical as to its sincerity, since I could not but recallthat it had not been many years since Bowen had been one of the mostnotorious practical jokers of his alma mater. The truth was that as Isat in the Tyler library at Santa Monica I commenced to feel a triflefoolish and to wish that I had merely forwarded the manuscript byexpress instead of bearing it personally, for I confess that I do notenjoy being laughed at. I have a well-developed sense of humor—whenthe joke is not on me.
Mr. Tyler, Sr., was expected almost hourly. The last steamer in fromHonolulu had brought information of the date of the expected sailing ofhis yacht Toreador, which was now twenty-four hours overdue. Mr.Tyler's assistant secretary, who had been left at home, assured me thatthere was no doubt but that the Toreador had sailed as promised, sincehe knew his employer well enough to be positive that nothing short ofan act of God would prevent his doing what he had planned to do. I wasalso aware of the fact that the sending apparatus of the Toreador'swireless equipment was sealed, and that it would only be used in eventof dire necessity. There was, therefore, nothing to do but wait, andwe waited.
We discussed the manuscript and hazarded guesses concerning it and thestrange events it narrated. The torpedoing of the liner upon whichBowen J. Tyler, Jr., had taken passage for France to join the AmericanAmbulance was a well-known fact, and I had further substantiated bywire to the New York office of the owners, that a Miss La Rue had beenbooked for passage. Further, neither she nor Bowen had been mentionedamong the list of survivors; nor had the body of either of them beenrecovered.
Their rescue by the English tug was entirely probable; the capture ofthe enemy U-33 by the tug's crew was not beyond the range ofpossibility; and their adventures during the perilous cruise which thetreachery and deceit of Benson extended until they found themselves inthe waters of the far South Pacific with depleted stores a