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 come a new commission with a time limit, from some of the South American ports, I should judge by her course, say Caracas, or Paramaribo.”

“But she has no wireless, sir. She couldn't have changed her destination.”

“That would be fairly easy to explain. There are so many fast liners with wireless between New York and Liverpool, it would be a simple matter to get a message signaled to a sailing vessel in the trade route.”

“But I can't see why she sailed through the Sargasso?”

“If the time factor had been urgent enough, she might have tried to shorten her journey by coming this way instead of following the usual course by Cuba and through the Caribbean.”

“That doesn't tell what happened to the men.”

Madden shook his head and wiped the sweat from his face on his undershirt sleeve. “Let's read the log. That ought to clear up things a bit.”

Both lads hurried over to the desk, drew out the greasy, well-thumbed book. In their