Jack returned a little while later, and when he learned what had occurred, he put off in a small boat after the ship, which he reached before she could get under way. Now Jack, though young in years, was a stalwart lad. He stood above six feet, and was built proportionately. The sailors laughed at him when he demanded payment and a struggle followed. By exerting his powerful strength and some resourcefulness, Jack succeeded in overcoming the crew. It was then that he learned there were two prisoners aboard the ship. These he released. They proved to be Frank Chadwick and a British secret diplomatic agent. Frank, who had been in Germany when the great European war broke out, had become separated from his father after getting over the border into Italy. In Naples one night he had gone to the aid of a sailor on the water front and saved him from injury at the hands of three others. The sailor whom Frank had rescued showed a queer sense of gratitude by having him shanghaied aboard a small schooner. Here, under the stern rule of an American skipper, he had become one of the crew. The crew mutinied, killed the captain, and, binding Frank securely, threw him below with the other prisoner, the diplomatic agent. Jack's unexpected appearance upon the scene was indeed a welcome sight to both. Upon learning the nature of the work upon which the secret agent was bound, the two lads had volunteered to help him out. This offer was accepted, and thus both found themselves principal figures in a diplomatic coup that broke up the Triple Alliance and took the support of Italy away from Germany and Austria. It was while with the secret agent that they had met Lord Hastings, and it was through the good offices of the latter that they finally found themselves attached to the British fleet as midshipmen. Lord Hastings had taken an instant liking to the lads and had them attached to his ship. Later they had been commissioned lieutenants. Jack and Frank had seen considerable fighting. It was through their strategy that the British had won their first sea victory, off the coast of Heligoland, when four of Germany's most powerful sea fighters had been sent to the bottom. They had saved the British fleet from possible annihilation by being fortunate to discover a spy.