A QUEER CONVERSATION
"We were here all the time, Dick," said Ursula soon after the first
outburst of joyful greeting had subsided, "and we all tried our level
best to catch your eye but, goodness--you were so military you would
look neither to the right nor left," and she straightened her back and
puffed out her cheeks in comic imitation of her brother on parade.
"It is quite as well I didn't see you, for if I had, I'd have forgotten
every bit of military discipline I've absorbed since being here,"
responded Dick, smiling good-naturedly at his sister's mockery; "as it
was I came near making a break when Hank Cabell pointed you out to me;
but fortunately he grabbed me and saved my reputation as a marine."
"Is 'Hank,' as you call him, the boy about whom you wrote to us--the
Southerner?" inquired Dick's father.
"Yes, Dad, and I want you to meet him. He's a dandy chap and comes from
a good family, though I believe they are very poor, and likewise very
proud."
"Sometimes that combination isn't all that could be desired as an
asset," drily remarked Mr. Comstock.
"But he is all right, Dad," said Dick, quickly coming to the defense of
his friend against any possible insinuation. "There he is now. I'll
get him to come over here."
Suiting actions to his words Richard presently returned with Henry, and
the formality of introductions over, Mr. Comstock invited his son's
friend to join them at luncheon and for the day. Henry's rather sombre
face lighted up with pleasure.
"I should be very glad to go, sir, providing I can secure early
liberty," he said.
"How about you, Dick, are you in the same boat as your friend Henry?"
inquired his father.
"No, Dad; you see, when I told Colonel Waverly you were here he excused
me for the rest of the day," replied Richard, and turning to Henry he
said, "Suppose you hurry up and get permission, Hank, while I go and put
away my implements of warfare."
"Implements of war, indeed!" laughed Ursula, pointing banteringly at the
drum slung over her brother's shoulder, "and are your weapons as
dangerous as my brother's?" asked she, turning her questioning eyes on
Henry.
"Mine consists of a brass trumpet," replied the boy with a smile, "but
it has one advantage over the drum as a weapon, for it makes a handy
bludgeon in time of need."
"Run along, boys," cautioned Mrs. Comstock, "it is nearly noon and I for
one am famished."
"I reckon it would be better for us to get permission to wear cits; it
might be less embarrassing for you all," and Henry looked inquiringly at
Richard's parents.
"Not for me," interposed Dick, with some emphasis; "I'm in uniform, and
I'm proud of it, and so are my people."
"I didn't mean it in that light," Henry replied, flushing at the
suggested rebuke. "I was merely thinking of your mother and sister and
the possibility of saving them embarrassment. You may not know this,
but enlisted men in uniform are not greeted cordially everywhere, even
here in Washington."
"Excuse me, Henry, for being so hasty; I had not thought of that side of
the question," said Dick frankly, and he turned red himself because of
his readiness to find fault with his chum's remark.
"Yes, Henry was quite right in what he said," stated Mr. Comstock. "I
read of many such incidents in the papers; but there are laws now which
slowly but nevertheless surely are making people understand that the
enlisted man in uniform may no longer be treated with disrespect. A
better class of men seem to be joining the colors these days, and they
are calling their defamers to a strict accounting. But this is not
getting something to satisfy our appetites. You boys hurry up now and
get yourselves ready."
After a bountiful luncheon at one of the best hotels in the city a tour
of the capital was proposed and an enjoyable afternoon of sightseeing
followed. In Dick's spare moments during his stay in Washington he had
visited nearly every one of the public buildings and he took great
pleasure in showing his sister about. The three young people even
climbed the thousand steps of Washington Monument, scorning the
slow-moving elevator which carried their elders up the five hundred feet
which still left them fifty-five feet beneath the apex of the wonderful
shaft.
Ursula was enchanted with this superb view of the "magic city," as she
was pleased to call it, and for a long time they all enjoyed the
panorama of land and water, field and forest, country and city, spread
before them to the distant horizons.
After this they walked back to their hotel, and while Mrs. Comstock
enjoyed a little rest before dinner and Mr. Comstock departed on a
business engagement the trio of young people occupied themselves in
animated conversation in one of the ornate reception rooms.
Feeling that Ursula and Richard might appreciate being alone together
for a while, Henry excused himself, promising to return in time for the
evening programme, which would not end until after the roof garden
supper following the theatre.
After his departure Ursula and Dick strolled over to one of the low
windows and pushing aside the long curtains which reached to the floor
they stepped into the vacant space of a small narrow balconied window
ledge and stood looking at the passing traffic. A group of palms, the
half-closed blinds and the long curtains effectually concealed them from
the view of people inside the room.
The mere fact of being together was happiness in itself for these two
devoted young people and gradually a silence fell upon them as they
stood absorbed in the scenes outside.
A subdued murmur of voices came from the room behind them, and Dick
heard someone say:
"Here is a quiet place where we may talk freely."
Glancing over his shoulder the boy saw three men seating themselves and
deliberately placing their chairs near the window where he and his
sister were standing. He was wondering why they took such care with the
chairs, when again the same voice gave him the reason.
"We can see from here whomever comes into the room, gentlemen, and it is
well to observe caution while discussing this question."
"Shall we speak in German, Senor?" brusquely inquired a heavily built
man whose blond hair stood up in short stiff bristles on his head.
"Si, Senor," deferentially replied the third member of the party, a
slender, black-haired man whose dark skin announced him a resident of
some Latin-American country, and from then on they spoke in the tongue
agreed upon, and so quietly that Dick could not overhear. Knowing that
he was an unintentional eavesdropper he turned back again to the street
feeling it was unnecessary to move from the window, for unless he made
an especial attempt the words of the speakers were inaudible to his
ears. A little time passed in this way, when suddenly Dick placed his
hand over Ursula's mouth, for she had turned, meaning to address him.
At the same moment he motioned her to be silent.
To both Richard and Ursula Comstock the German spoken language was an
open book, for Mrs. Comstock had employed German nursemaids to attend
them when they were little tots, and until Ursula was twelve years of
age she had had a German governess. Even the cook, a family retainer
for years, was a native of Cologne. In consequence the loud remark
which Dick heard from the room behind was as significant as if spoken in
English. He knew that the big foreigner from across the ocean had
uttered it. There was no mistaking the deep, abrupt, explosive voice.
"The United States can do nothing! Germany can whip her any day!
Germany can whip the whole world; and some day she will!"
The speaker had risen and the others now pushed their chairs back and
stood beside him. Their voices came distinctly to the ears of the boy
and girl tensely listening in the shadow of the blind.
"Well, I should not go so far as that, you know!" protested the tall man
who had led them to the window for their talk and whom Dick decided was
an Englishman.
"Maybe you wouldn't, but it's so," reiterated the German, using his
words as a ruffian would a cudgel. "Now, Senor, I must have your
decision regarding this canal business at once, or it will be too late
to be of any use to us. If your revolution in Nicaragua is a success,
will the man you put in the presidential chair grant Germany the canal
right-of-way or not?"
"I cannot tell you, Senor. It is a question which must be placed before
the committee. I am only empowered to offer you the things already
mentioned in return for financing our uprising. The United States has a
concession, I believe--had it as far back as eighteen eighty-two. They
would not permit us to agree to your proposal."
"I tell you that you are wrong. The United States never made any treaty
with Nicaragua. Your government granted a concession to a private
corporation in 1897 to build a canal, and they bluffed for a while at
digging it on the Atlantic side. The United States also sent a
commission down to Nicaragua several times, but nothing came of it. Then
they forced Panama into revolt against the Colombian Government, and
made her give them the present location. Therefore if you want our
money and our secret aid your candidate must agree to Germany's terms."
"Suppose we give Senor Cabanas a few days to consult with his
committee," suggested the Englishman in his mild voice.
"The committee knows it already," exclaimed the exasperated Teuton.
"The subject was thrashed out in Leon while I was there six months ago.
I tell you it is subterfuge, pure and simple. They know what we want,
and they should have deputized their man to grant our demands."
"Pardon me again, Senor," came the suave voice of the little man, yet
his eyes must have flashed ominously at the brutal pounding of the
German's heavy voice, "I assure you that this is absolute news to me."
"It shouldn't be! Your committeemen are a set of vacillating fools;
that is all, and the best I can say of them. Go back to them and
arrange it; but I warn you--not a mark,--not a single mark, unless----"
"Be careful, Mein Herr, here comes the house detective--they are all
secret service men in Washington. We had best postpone this and meet
again."
It was the Englishman who gave the warning, and with the words the three
conspirators moved towards the door leading to the hotel lobby.
Behind the curtains Richard and Ursula still stood, hardly daring to
breathe for fear of disclosing their presence. Every word uttered by
the plotters since Dick placed his hand over Ursula's lips had been
distinctly heard and understood by both, and they realized the import of
the information they had obtained so unintentionally.
Barely had the three men disappeared when Dick, exclaiming, "Wait for me
here!" was running towards the door in pursuit.
Henry Cabell, returning from his self-imposed absence, came around the
corner of the entrance at that identical moment, and the lads collided
forcibly. The delay caused thereby was sufficient to enable the quarry
to efface themselves and though Dick made a careful search his efforts
were futile.
Returning, he found Ursula excitedly relating their experience to Henry.
They both looked up expectantly at Dick's entrance.
"Did you catch them, Dick?" his sister inquired breathlessly. "Did you
have them arrested?"
"No, I lost them," announced Dick in a disgusted tone; "I couldn't have
them arrested anyway on the little we know; this is a free country. But
I sure would have liked to see their faces. All the time they had their
backs towards us, and I merely glanced at them when they first came in.
I do wish I'd been more observing."
"What would you have done had you caught them?" asked Ursula.
"I'm sure I don't know; only I'd have pointed them out to that house
detective, for one thing."
"Could you identify any of them if you saw them again?" asked Henry.
"I'd know that big brute of a German by his back, in a million, but I'm
not sure of the others,--yes, I believe I could tell the Englishman
too."
"I should know him if I ever saw him again," said Ursula. "I never
should forget that peculiar suit of clothes he wore, nor----"
Both the boys broke into a shout of laughter at this remark and Dick
said:
"That's like a woman; noticing the dress first of all."
"Oh, you need not laugh, Dickie dear; I do not doubt that he has other
clothes, but the chief thing I should recognize him by was a peculiar
patch of white hair on the right side of his head behind his ear, and
also half the middle finger of his left hand was missing."
"We apologize most humbly for our premature expression of opinion
regarding your powers of observation," said Dick, bowing low to Ursula
with mock deference, "but now the question is,--what shall we do with
this information we have acquired?"
"Here is Father; let us ask him," and Ursula ran to greet Mr. Comstock
who at that moment approached them.
After hearing of the episode, Mr. Comstock advised Dick to write out all
the details as he and Ursula remembered them, and he, Mr. Comstock,
would see that the report was placed in proper hands.
"I believe you have discovered a very pretty plot, which would seriously
damage us if carried to an ultimate conclusion," said Dick's father.
"We all know that Germany is expanding her trade lines enormously and
making greater strides in systematic foreign commercialism than any
other nation, but I can hardly conceive she would dare to finance such a
risky venture with the canal right-of-way as her only payment."
"Would Uncle Sam permit Germany or any other country to build a canal
across Nicaragua now that the Panama Canal is almost completed?" asked
Henry.
"I doubt it so much that I feel perfectly safe in saying, most
emphatically,--No!"
"The United States would never allow any country to acquire territory in
the Western Hemisphere--it would be contrary to the provisions of the
Monroe Doctrine," said Dick. He leaned over and picked his campaign hat
from the floor, then pointing to the small metal object thereon, he
continued:
"This little insignia of the marines tells its own story; this is the
Western Hemisphere; across it the anchor and above the eagle with
spreading wings, holding a ribbon on which is inscribed the motto of our
Corps. It is our part to look out for these little countries, and
according to history the marines have been doing it mighty effectually
since the United States became a nation. And I guess we can keep up the
good work."
"With the able assistance of one Drummer Richard Comstock, U.S.M.C.!"
slyly interposed Ursula, and Dick joined in the laughter which followed
her remark.
"The thing I can't figure out," said Henry, "is what the Englishman is
mixed up in it for! Do you reckon England is joining hands with
Germany?"
"No, I doubt anything of that nature," answered Mr. Comstock. "The
interests of England and the United States are too closely allied for
her to risk rupturing them by any such hazardous undertaking."
"I would not trust an Englishman as far as I could see him! I cannot
bear them!" exclaimed Ursula, vehemently.
"Why do you feel so bitter against our mother country?" asked Henry, who
was surprised at her outburst. "Is that the general feeling up North?
For I am quite certain it is not in the South."
"Ursula's feeling is largely due to local influences," answered her
father. "In our home town the English have never been popular since the
day during the Revolutionary War one of their officers, a major, after
having received the surrender of our brave Colonel Ledyard at the Battle
of Groton Heights, took that officer's proffered sword and ran him
through the heart and then commanded his troops to massacre the
surviving gallant defenders of the fort, who were drawn up, unarmed, in
one of the bastions. That same day our city was burned to the ground by
the traitor, Benedict Arnold."
"The brute! Why! I'd rather be Benedict Arnold than that Englishman,"
and Ursula's pretty face looked very stern and her hands clenched in
anger.
"It was fortunate you both understood German," said Henry a little later
in the evening. "I never could bear the study of languages, though I
did struggle along for a year or two with Latin at school."
"We neither of us have studied German, merely picked it up as children,
and we always use it talking to the cook. But I like French and had it
three years at school, but really no practise in it," said Dick.
They were at the theatre and Dick sat next to his father, which afforded
the two many opportunities to converse during the vaudeville acts.
"I am glad, Dick, that you keep writing to your mother regularly," said
Mr. Comstock; "it is a fine habit to form and to stick to. If every boy
wrote home at least once a week, I believe the world would be a better
place. So many boys grow careless and after a while lose touch with the
home ties and associations. Then, too, besides being a good thing for
you personally, you have no idea what those letters mean to your
mother."
"I like to get letters, and unless I wrote them on my part my mail would
be pretty slim," replied Dick. "I have seen already how the men welcome
the sight of the mail orderly, and some who never get mail envy those
who do. Some of our boys never receive home news, and they must be
homesick and heart-sick at times the way they sort of hang around and
listen when some fellow happens to read out a few of the things that
happen back in the home town. I know I'd be, were I in their place."
"You will never regret being thoughtful when it comes to giving your
mother a little line or two of written happiness. But in your letters I
have noticed an absence of complaints. Is it because you have none to
make or that you didn't want us to feel bad by recounting them?"
"I haven't a single kick coming, Dad, for we are treated splendidly.
Good food and well cooked, good clothes, fine beds and healthy work. I
only wish it was more strenuous than it is. I spend a lot of time in
the gym and playing ball. I did hope we musics would get more military
drill than we do, but outside of a little marching and physical drills
and a 'hike' across the river into Maryland, we do nothing of real
soldiering. One of the privates has taught me the manual of arms and
bayonet exercises, so I'm not wasting my opportunities. I think that in
a year more I can get my rank changed to a private, then I shall be in
line for promotion to corporal."
"Time enough, my boy. It is better to make haste slowly and thoroughly,
for I don't doubt you will have to be very thorough if you are to
succeed. Have you any idea what books you will require?"
"Well, I'm studying the U.S. Army Guard Manual, which the marines have
adopted, and there is a book called 'Landing Force and Small Arms
Instruction' for the Navy which is just filled with meat and will take
some time to digest. I shall have no difficulty in getting the books as
I need them, and my high school education was along the lines that would
have helped me most at Annapolis--physics, chemistry, astronomy,
surveying and so forth. All these are sure to be valuable, to say
nothing of the mathematics up to trig."
"It pleases me to hear you like the life," said Dick's father. "That is
more than half the battle always,--the interest and liking we have for
the task at hand. No man ever became successful without being in
perfect harmony with his work and his environments, no matter what his
walk in life."
Richard's mother was more solicitous regarding her son's creature
comforts, and the following day she insisted on making a visit to the
barracks and seeing with her own eyes exactly how and where her boy
lived. The manner of her request so enchanted Colonel Waverly when she
asked to be taken around the post that he volunteered to act as her
escort, nor was her New England sense of cleanliness and order once
outraged with what she saw.
They visited the living quarters, offices, mess hall, auditorium,
storerooms and galley, and she even tasted with approval the food in
preparation for the noonday meal. A youthful Lieutenant of Marines,
accompanying the party, insisted on presenting Ursula with several pairs
of N.C.O. dress chevrons and trumpet cords from the Quartermaster's
stores, with which she might decorate a sofa pillow, and not to be
outdone in gallantry, Henry Cabell, on seeing these evidences of the
officer's regard for the charming sister of his friend, made a dash for
the post canteen before its closing hour and purchased for her a dainty
little gold and silver pin, a miniature of the Marine Corps emblem, for
which he required her to give him a copper in payment.
Dick and Henry had not been included in the inspection tour but they
later accompanied their visitors to the train which carried them away
that beautiful Sunday afternoon back to New England.
"These two days have been, sure enough, the happiest days I have spent
since leaving home," remarked Henry as the boys retraced their way to
the barracks. "I didn't half thank your folks for the great pleasure
they have given me."
"It was fine, wasn't it?" said Dick simply, for his mind still dwelt on
the last proud look his father had given him; the suspicion of tears
bravely suppressed in Ursula's eyes and voice; and the
never-to-be-forgotten good-bye kiss from his mother's trembling lips.
Yes, it was fine indeed!
And how fortunate this visit was, for two weeks later came orders
sending aboard the cruiser _Denver_ a detail of marines to replace men
whose tour of sea-duty had expired, and with that detail went Richard
Comstock and Henry Cabell, Drummer and Trumpeter.