"Never mind who we are. You can find out in the morning." And in that same moment he resolved in his mind that he would keep the stranger well covered during the night and see that no effort was made to escape. Turning from the rail, the captain immediately called his executive officer and gave orders for the crew to be armed with sidearms, that a sentry with a rifle be posted to starboard on the side facing the stranger craft, and that a machine gun that the _Jules Verne_ carried for just such protection as might arise out of an emergency of this kind be mounted on the bridge. "Seymour, I want you to stand close by the wireless tonight, for we might want you at any time," the captain directed. Officials of the salvage company had deemed it wise to arm the _Jules Verne_; for, since her fame as a salvage ship had gone abroad it was possible that pirate ships might lay for her and attempt to rob her. The wireless had been installed also because virtually all sea-going vessels were now so equipped. Larry Seymour, who had been with the radio service while in the army, had proved an ideal man for the post of wireless operator on the _Jules Verne_. With these preparations complete Captain Austin ordered all men below for evening mess and called his two special divers, Jay Thacker and Dick Monaghan, into his own stateroom to have dinner with him. The three sat down to eat and were soon engrossed in a deep discussion of the mysterious ship that was their neighbor for the night. "I'll say he has a nasty tongue in his head to answer the way he did," said Jay. He was ready for a fight; his blood was up. "Mighty discourteous, to say the least," was the captain's comment. They were agreed by now that the strange craft had come to Martha's Vineyard with some design rather than that she had accidentally anchored for the night in the vicinity of the submerged _Dominion_. But who she was and who was aboard her was more than they could surmise. Only daylight would reveal her--provided she stayed that long. What was to prevent her slipping away? "I'll tell you what we'll do"----Jay had jumped from the table, overturning a plate of food in his excitement. "I'll go aboard her myself this very night. I'll find out who she is and who is aboard her and what they are doing. I'll----" "How will you go aboard her? Row over in a small boat and take your chances on being shot or done away with by a band of pirates? Not if I have anything to say about it," said Captain Austin firmly. But Jay was insistent. Nothing would deter him, he said. He would swim. It was the logical thing to do. If the ship were a pirate craft they could take measures at once to capture her or wireless for help. "But you would be running quite a risk," offered the captain. "Nonsense," rattled off Jay. "That would be just a lark, and I am more than able to take care of myself."