"Hush! Not too loud," came the soft warning from the man behind the
cigar.

As Benson came up this second man held out a hand, which the submarine
boy unsuspiciously took, at the same time looking over this second man.
He appeared, like the first, to be a laborer at the Melville yard.

"I hear you have some interesting word for me," began Benson. "I--oh,
great Scott! How dare you?"

For, dropping his cigar from between his teeth, this second Italian,
while still holding the boy's hand, gave his wrist a wrenching twist
that forced Captain Jack over to the ground.

In a twinkling the guide fell upon him, too.

"What on earth does this mean!" demand Benson, freeing his right hand
and doing all in his power to fight.

The spot was fearfully lonely. Captain Jack remembered, in a jiffy,
all the gruesome tales he had heard about the dread doings of the
Black Hand. Brave though he was, the young submarine expert felt
suddenly cold and creepy, though he did not once think of giving up the
fight.

"Now, be still you!" ordered the late guide, plaintively. "We not want
to hurt you. But, if you make us--"

"Be still, behave, and you be all right," promised the other Italian, in