“It is possible that we will never be able to solve the problem.” I was observing to Rawson, when suddenly I heard that which made me stop short in amazement, momentarily forgetting all about tidal waves and sunken cities. “Saints in heaven, that’s a good one! That’s the time I put one over on you, boys!” came to me in indistinct tones, accompanied by a loud guffaw; and Rawson and I stared at one another in astonishment, bewildered as men who have seen a ghost. “Stranahan!” we cried in one voice; and the tears were ready to flow at the thought that we had found our lost companion. A moment later, having made our way through a columned hallway into an adjoining room, we were met by the strangest sight we had yet seen in this land of many wonders. Sprawled haphazard on the floor, absorbed in the distribution of a pack of cards, were our four lost fellow seamen, all of them looking grotesque indeed in their colored native garments, and Stranahan appearing particularly outlandish in his gown of pale green, his trouser legs showing from beneath, his blue sailor’s blouse conspicuous through the open neck in front! CHAPTER IX The Will of the Masters “Lord have mercy on me, if it ain’t Harkness! And Rawson, too!” cried Stranahan, leaping to his feet, and seizing our hands in a hearty grip. “By all things holy, I thought I’d never see you again!” For a moment we were unable to reply, so great was the confusion of shouts, greetings, and excited questionings from our four new-found companions. Though we were fully as delighted as they, our first words came in inchoate, mumbled phrases, for our surprise was apparently even greater than theirs. “Well, and what are you doing in this part of the country?” Stranahan at length inquired, with a smile. “I thought you were safe in the old X-111.” “Nothing is safe in the X-111,” I replied. “Captain Gavison sent us out after you when you didn’t come back.” “I’m sorry to hear that,” declared Stranahan, ruefully. “You know I hate to disobey orders, but I’m afraid I’ll have to. We won’t be coming back just yet.” “What makes you think that?” I demanded, with sudden misgivings. “I don’t think it--I know it,” he maintained, with an air of certainty. And, leaning on one foot against a marble column while his brawny hand stroked his chin, he continued, ruminatingly, “Suffering sea snakes, do you take me for a fool? Do you think I’d be here if I could find a way out?” “But can’t you?” I questioned, innocently. “No, by the devil, I can’t!” he swore. “Neither can you! We’re all prisoners here!” “What? Prisoners in this building?” I gasped. “No, not in this building! In this town!” corrected Stranahan. “In this town?” Despite my agitation, I began to laugh. “This town makes a fair-sized jail.”