CHAPTER XII
ON A LONG VOYAGE
"This is a serious charge," went on the man in uniform, who was evidently from the police department. "We have had some dynamiting outrages here, and we don't want any more."
"Dynamite!" exclaimed the hotel clerk; "do you think it could be that, officer?"
"That's what it seems like to me," said the other. "I have investigated a number of infernal machines, and they all make the same sort of sound before they go off."
"Go off!" cried the clerk, while Joe and Blake were vainly endeavoring to get in a word that would explain matters. "If it's dynamite, and goes off here, it will blow up the hotel. Get it away! Porter, go up and get that infernal machine, and dump it in a pail of water."
"'Scuse me!" exclaimed the colored porter, as he made a break for the door. "I—I guess as
93
