spent most of his life on the north coast of Africa. Together the lads
had disposed of the crew of the vessel.

They became fast friends. Fortune threw them in the path of Lord
Hastings, British nobleman and secret service agent, and they had gone
through all kinds of troubles with him. Lord Hastings had commanded
several vessels during the course of the war, and Jack and Frank upon
these occasions had been his first officers.

Both lads spoke German and French fluently, and both had a smattering
of several other tongues. Jack was huge in stature and of enormous
strength for one of his age. Frank, on the other hand, was rather
small, but what he lacked in physical strength he more than made up in
courage.

Frank's greatest accomplishment, and one that had caused Jack much
envy, was shooting. He could hit almost anything with a rifle, and
revolvers in his hands were no less deadly.

Frank's chief trouble was his hot-headedness and more than once this
had gotten him into such trouble that it took all Jack's
resourcefulness to extricate him.

Both lads had seen service in many parts of the world since they had
met Lord Hastings. Their commander recently had lost his vessel and
the three had been on indefinite leave of absence.

The day before Jack's return Frank had been informed by Lord Hastings
that they were about to put to sea again.