[Illustration: Up Against the Gates.]
DAVE DARRIN ON THE ASIATIC STATION
OR
WINNING LIEUTENANTS’ COMMISSIONS ON THE ADMIRAL’S FLAGSHIP
By
H. Irving Hancock
Author of “Dave Darrin at Vera Cruz,” “Dave Darrin on
Mediterranean Service,” “Dave Darrin’s South American Cruise,”
“Dave Darrin and the German Submarines,” “Dave Darrin After the
Mine Layers,” etc., etc.
Illustrated
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
Akron, Ohio—New York
Made in U. S. A.
Copyright MCMXIX
By THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
CONTENTS
Chapter I—Among the Forty Thieves
Dave and Dan have an unpleasant experience. Old “Burnt-face”
scores. The green jade necklace. The young naval officers meet a
plausible stranger. The snub that went home.
Chapter II—Who Robbed the Ensigns?
Darrin voices a suspicion. Sighting a strange craft. Perhaps a
tragedy. A bullet from the quarterdeck. What was found in the
canoe. A hideous sight. The police are notified. A prophecy come
true.
Chapter III—Ensigns Go A-Visiting
“I don’t believe that I would trust him.” An accident and a
rescue. The Englishman has luck. Chilled with suspicion. “We sail
at seven.” Dave Darrin wonders.
Chapter IV—The Landing Party at Nu Ping
Yankee guns speak out. To the rescue of the imperiled mission.
Dave faces the yellow mob. “Charge bayonets!” Thousands follow
the detachment. Up to the governor.
Chapter V—Sin Foo Has His Doubts
Henshaw plays the gong. Bang! Crash! Zim! Zoum! Smash! A brave
front. Dave Darrin’s happy surprise. Prisoners of the governor.
Something doing on board the “Castoga.”
Chapter VI—Heckling His Excellency
Rebels on the war path again. The warship’s guns in action again.
Ensign Darrin invades the yamen. “Burnt-face” makes his
appearance. “The rioters are about to attack, sir!”
Chapter VII—Fighting from the Ramparts
Sin Foo turns green. The treasure of the burned mission. Belle
Darrin cool under fire. Fighting men must eat. The mystery of
Pembroke. Mrs. Darrin gets a tip. “That is an awful thought.”
Chapter VIII—The Swarm of Night Furies
Yellow soldiers “get the gate.” The yamen door goes down. A stern
warning. Machine guns sweep the hordes. Scaling ladders against
the walls. “Prepare to repel boarders!”
Chapter IX—The Traitor of the Yamen
“We are going to have a noisy night.” American blood is drawn.
“Let ’em have it strong!” Fighting for their lives. Dave and Dan
are without fear. An unequal battle. Ensign Darrin makes a
terrifying discovery.
Chapter X—Darrin Lays the Traitor Low
“Help here! Quick!” Five men against scores. Battle yells change
to groans of pain. “Good work, Darrin and all hands.” Dave makes
an arrest. Gongs make night hideous. Rebels rush the yamen.
Chapter XI—“It Is Chinese War!”
Ensign Darrin’s desperate plan. The governor in terror. Old
“Burnt-face” swoons. Dave tests the powder. “Fire the magazine
when you think it is the only course left!” Darrin kisses his
wife farewell.
Chapter XII—His Excellency Makes a Proposal
Hand to hand on top of the wall. Yellow men hurled to the ground.
Sampson totes the governor. Words that acted like magic. Villainy
is suspected. “Forward, march!”
Chapter XIII—A Journey of Fears
Riding on a powder magazine. On board the “Castoga.” “Well done,
Darrin.” Dan objects to being thanked. A summons from the
sickbay. What happened to Pembroke.
Chapter XIV—The Plot That Failed
Dave hears a confession. “If I am alive in the morning.” The
governor’s avarice. The part of “Burnt-face.” Darrin shakes hands
with a scoundrel.
Chapter XV—Ensigns Get a Surprise
The lot of a naval officer. Dave admits being badly scared. How
the governor made amends. Sailing of the “Castoga.” Good bye to
Belle. Ordered to report to the Admiral. What came of Darrin’s
report.
Chapter XVI—Old Friends Meet in Tokio
A wonderful medallion. “In my family 600 years.” A ride after a
two-legged horse. Belle receives a present. Could not keep a
secret. Dave in line for trouble.
Chapter XVII—Complications Await Ensign Darrin
The note that Belle lost. Japanese are polite in their
indignation. Dave is astounded. What does it all mean? Prepared
to face a storm.
Chapter XVIII—A Call That Turned out Badly
An insult resented. Danny Grin bears a startling message. “What
are you going to do about it?” A joke that was not a joke. Dave
Darrin challenged to a duel.
Chapter XIX—An Outcast in Tokio
Danny Grin makes a speech. That was a splendid deed. Never
smelled powder. Japanese officers unconvinced. Dave Darrin is
shunned. The Frenchman’s snub. “If any man dares, I’ll wring his
neck!”
Conclusion—Courage That Did Not Fail
“Spt! Spt! Sizz! Sizz-zz!” A sputtering bomb under Ensign Darrin.
Japan’s undying gratitude earned. A belated apology. The mystery
of the stolen medallion. Honored by the Emperor.
DAVE DARRIN ON THE ASIATIC STATION
CHAPTER I—TWO STRANGERS OF MANILA
“I am delighted to have had the privilege of meeting you, Miss Chapin,”
said Ensign Dave Darrin, lifting his uniform cap and bowing low at the
end of the brief conversation. “And my thanks to you, Captain Chapin,
for having afforded us the great pleasure.”
Ensign Dan Dalzell, U. S. Navy, delivered himself in similar fashion.
The two young naval officers turned and were about to resume their
stroll over the _Punta de España_, or Spanish bridge, which, crossing
the Pasig River, separates Old Manila from New.
Just as suddenly, however, the pair checked their progress, to stare
across the bridge.
On the opposite side, leaning against the rail, stood a Chinaman in
rather rich apparel, with a decidedly sinister cast of countenance.
“Why is Old ‘Burnt-face’ staring so hard after Miss Chapin and her
brother?” muttered Dalzell.
“I’m blessed if I know,” returned Dave Darrin. “I’ve a good mind to
cross over and put your question to the Chinaman.”
“I’ve a greater mind to throw him into the Pasig,” growled Dalzell.
“I’m not strong on race lines or color, but I don’t believe that any
yellow man has a right to glare like that at an American girl.”
Dalzell took a step forward, as though to cross the bridge, but Darrin
promptly caught his wrist.
“Don’t do anything rash, Danny Grin,” urged Dave. “Throwing a Chinaman
into a river isn’t approved by the American government that has been
set up in these islands.”
“Then perhaps I’d better not hoist him over the bridge rail and let him
drop into the water,” Dan conceded. “But I believe that I will cross
over and have a look at him.”
“Not a bad idea, and certainly not against the law,” nodded Ensign
Darrin. “Let us follow the Chapins a little way, cross the road, and
then come down on the other side so as to meet Mr. Burnt-face face to
face.”
The nickname that the American pair had given the yellow man was due to
a patch of purple skin, of considerable area, under the yellow man’s
right eye. Had that patch been absent, undoubtedly the Chinaman would
not have appeared so sinister.
“Odd that a fine girl like Miss Chapin should want to waste her life
serving as a missionary in China, isn’t it?” asked Dan.
“I wouldn’t call it wasting her life,” Darrin returned. “Neither, you
may be sure, does Miss Chapin herself so consider it. To her way of
thinking, she is devoting her life to one of the noblest ideals that
can animate the human mind.”
“I wouldn’t mind so much if she were like the average girl,” Dan
rambled on, rather vaguely. “But for a stunner like Miss Chapin—such a
dainty little piece of exquisite womanhood—”
“Oh,” laughed Dave. “Then it isn’t her services that you begrudge the
natives of China, but her good looks.”
“Well, anyway,” Danny Grin continued rather testily, “I’ll wager that
Chapin doesn’t fully approve of what his sister is doing.”
Captain Chapin was serving in one of the infantry regiments of the Army
line at Manila. Being stationed in the city, Chapin had the good
fortune to have his family, consisting of his mother, wife and two
young children, located in a cottage over in Ermita, just beyond the
massive stone walls of Old Manila. Miss Lucy Chapin was visiting her
brother on her way to China, where a missionary post awaited her.
Knowing Captain Chapin from the stirring days of service in Mexico, the
two young naval officers, on meeting him here in Manila, the “Paris of
the East,” had been presented to that charming young woman.
Crossing the roadway near the Old Manila end of the bridge, Dave and
Dan strolled back. In the meantime “Burnt-face,” as Dan had named him,
had turned and was heading toward the Escolta, the Broadway of New
Manila.
Both young officers wore the white service uniform of the tropics. Here
and there a soldier or sailor, in passing, brought his hand to his cap
in smart salute, a courtesy which both officers, in every instance,
returned.
“That’s our fellow,” whispered Darrin, slowing down his step.
“Burnt-face,” a man of somewhere near forty, if it be possible to judge
a Chinaman’s age, kept on his way at a pace neither hurried nor slow.
Three different times parties of Chinese coolies passed him. On
perceiving “Burnt-face” they lowered their eyes to the ground in
passing.
Near the end of the bridge two much better dressed Chinamen passed the
yellow man whom the young naval officers were now following. This pair
made deferential bows, then moved slightly aside in order not to compel
“Burnt-face” to step out of his own course.
“Our man is a chap of some importance,” murmured Darrin.
“He may be—to a Chinaman!” grunted Danny Grin.
Reaching the end of the bridge, the Chinaman paused, then started to
cross the street as if to go to the famous Café de Paris.
Honk! honk! A touring car, going at about twelve miles an hour, rolled
down out of the nearby Escolta, heading for the bridge. With an agile
bound “Burnt-face” leaped back to the sidewalk.
“Look at the scowl he’s sending after that car,” whispered Dalzell.
“His lips are moving, too,” returned Darrin, quietly observant. “If it
weren’t for the look on his face I should say that our chap was
praying.”
“In his case,” muttered Dalzell, “he’s more likely cursing.”
“But say,” Dave went on. “Just observe how ‘Burnt-face’ continues to
glare after that car.”
“Can he have anything against the people in the car?” Dan wondered.
“It is more likely that his hatred is directed against the car itself,”
Darrin replied.
“But why should he hate a mere assemblage of mechanical units?” Dan
demanded.
“I suppose that, being a Chinaman, he regards an automobile as the work
of the Evil One,” Dave smiled. “Your real, old-fashioned Chinaman isn’t
strong for new-fangled ideas. In some parts of China the appearance of
an automobile, even to-day, would rouse a mob to wild fury.”
“Queer old place, China!” uttered Dalzell.
“Since we’re waiting orders to go to China, you’ll soon know,” Dave
rejoined.
“I don’t believe I shall like China,” Dan declared prophetically.
Now that the road was clear, “Burnt-face” crossed the street. He did
not go to the Café de Paris, but stepped up in front of a drug store,
where he halted and turned around.
In passing, Dave and Dan managed, without staring, to get a good look
at the yellow face. In addition to the purple mark under the right eye,
“Burnt-face,” with his lips parted, displayed one incisor tooth, the
lower end of which had been broken off. At the left side of his chin
was a mark such as might have been made by a knife or a bullet.
“He’s an ugly-looking customer,” Dan muttered, when he and his chum had
passed a few yards beyond the drug store.
“That face carries a history,” guessed Darrin. “Nor do I believe that
it is a very savory history.”
“I believe that the only real pirates left in the world,” observed Dan,
“are the Black Flags that every now and then infest Chinese waters. I
wonder if ‘Burnt-face’ were ever apprenticed to the Black Flags.”
“Don’t talk about him any more,” murmured Dave, after a backward
glance. “The Chinaman is now returning our late courtesies by following
_us_.”
Attracted by the window display of a shop that dealt in Hindu curios,
the two young naval officers went inside.
“I want to buy something pretty with which to surprise Belle,” Dave
explained, as the chums roamed through the shop, inspecting the
hundreds of quaint and artistic articles offered for sale.
“You expect her to reach Manila the 26th of the month, don’t you?” Dan
asked.
“The 16th,” Darrin corrected his chum.
“Due here in eleven days?” cried Dalzell, sharing his comrade’s
pleasure in the thought. “My, Dave, you’re a very lucky young man!”
“It seems ages since I said good-bye to Belle,” Dave went on musingly.
“Dan, it almost seems as if I had not seen my wife since she and I were
high school sweethearts.”
“I can take my oath that you’ve seen her more recently than that,”
laughed Dan. “Yet I know that it must seem a long while between your
meetings.”
A Hindu salesman, wearing European clothes, topped by a real Hindu
turban, now approached them.
“Something really nice for a lady,” Dave nodded.
“Pardon, excellency,” replied the Hindu, with a low bow. “Is the
lady—ah—young?”
“Yes,” assented Ensign Darrin.
“May I—ah—inquire whether the young lady be—ah—wife, sweetheart, or
sister?” suggested the Hindu, with a second bow that was lower than the
first.
“Why do you need to know that?” demanded Dave, frowning slightly.
“She’s the finest girl on earth. Isn’t that enough for you to know?”
“Then,” declared the Hindu imperturably, “she is your sweetheart, and
in that case I am certain that I know exactly what to show you.”
“Oh, you do?” grimaced Ensign Darrin. “Then trot out the best you
have.”
“Will your excellency condescend to step this way?” proposed the Hindu,
with the lowest bow yet. “I shall exert myself to show you the very
finest that we have suitable for distinguished presentation to a
sweetheart.”
Down to a vault, at the rear of the shop, the salesman led the way.
Opening the vault door he nimbly slipped out two trays of exquisite yet
eccentric Hindu jewelry.
“Now, let the excellency gloat over these,” begged the salesman,
throwing out a bewildering array of rings, brooches, amulets,
bracelets, neck chains and the like, set in a dazzling array of
precious and semi-precious gems.
“How much is this chain?” asked Dave, picking up one of beautiful
workmanship.
“The price of that, excellency, is twelve hundred dollars, but as a
very special favor to an officer in the Service I will allow it to go
out of the store at eleven hundred.”
Sighing, Dave laid the chain down.
“It is not fine enough, I know, excellency,” glowed the salesman. “Now,
look at this chain. Is it not handsomer?”
“Yes,” Dave admitted.
“This chain, excellency, is a wonderful bargain at fifteen hundred
dollars.”
Dave sighed, but declined to examine the chain.
“Even if you had the money with you,” remarked Danny Grin, “your wife
would hardly think you displayed good judgment in spending almost a
year’s salary to buy her a chain.”
“Oh, it is for your wife?” exclaimed the Hindu, in an almost shocked
voice.
“Yes,” Dave assented.
“Oh, in that case, excellency—”
With incredibly rapid movements the Hindu put the articles back into
the two drawers, shoved them into the vault and closed the door.
“Here you are, excellency!” cried the Oriental, springing to a near-by
counter. “Here is a chain of considerable beauty, and it costs but six
dollars.”
Giving a momentary gasp, Darrin eyed the fellow, then suddenly reached
over and took him in a tight collar grip.
“What do you mean, Mr. Insolence?” Darrin demanded sternly. “Do you
wish to insinuate that a sweetheart calls for a handsome gift, but that
anything is good enough for a wife?”
“Er—ah—in _my_ country, excellency, when one buys for a sweetheart it
is one thing. When he buys for a wife—”
“Then thank goodness that my country isn’t your country,” uttered
Ensign Darrin disgustedly, while Danny Grin implored:
“Before you let him go, Davy, turn him around this way so that I may
register at least one kick!”
But Darrin suddenly released the rather frightened fellow, saying
crisply:
“Show me some pieces of jewelry at prices around fifty dollars.”
At first the salesman displayed several pieces for which he asked from
seventy-five to a hundred dollars.
“You’re wasting my time, but I won’t waste yours,” Dave suddenly broke
in, turning away.
“Wait a moment, excellency. Do you realize, excellency, that you have
not, in any instance, attempted to bargain with me?”
“Do you mean that you expect me to work you down to a lower price?”
asked Ensign Dalzell, lowering his voice.
“It is customary to bargain, excellency,” replied the Hindu, with a
bow, though not so low as he had displayed at first.
“I’m not going to bargain with you,” Dave declared quietly. “At any
price you name for an article I shall either accept the price, and pay
it, or else refuse further to consider that article. And don’t waste
any more of my time. At the first sign of it I shall quit your store
and not enter it again.”
Still the Hindu tried high prices for a while, then suddenly held up a
necklace set with small, beautiful bits of jade.
“Eighty dollars,” he exclaimed.
“Mex?” broke in Dan quickly.
“Of course, excellency,” confirmed the Hindu.
“See here, David, little giant,” Danny Grin rattled on, “we’ve been
going it a bit blind. We’ve been thinking of gold, or American dollars,
while this man has been talking on the basis of the Mexican silver
dollar.”
In the Philippine Islands the Mexican dollar is still the basis of
currency. As this dollar is worth less than half of that amount in
gold, the price charged by the Hindu, translated into American money,
amounted to less than forty dollars.
“I’ll take it,” Dave announced, after a keen inspection of the
necklace.
Payment was made, and the necklace was placed in a box so small that
Ensign Darrin was easily able to drop it into one of his pockets.
From the curb outside a pair of glittering, bead-like eyes had peered
into the gloom of the store.
Dave and Dan left the curio shop, the former feeling happier at thought
of the pleasant surprise secured for Belle.
Further up the Escolta there now appeared a somewhat Americanized
Chinese youth, of perhaps sixteen years, who soon started indolently on
the trail of the strolling naval officers.
“Where now?” inquired Danny Grin.
“Have you anything that you wish to do ashore?” Dave asked.
“Nothing.”
“Neither have I, so suppose we go down to the office of the Captain of
the Port. Our launch should be in soon.”
“Suits me,” nodded Dan.
These two young officers are the same Dave and Dan whose fortunes our
readers have followed through many volumes full of exciting adventures
and strange incidents.
Our readers first met them in the pages of the “Grammar School Boys
Series,” in which Darrin and Dalzell appeared as members of that now
famous group of six schoolboys who were collectively known as Dick &
Co., taking that name from their leader, Dick Prescott. Their
adventures are further to be found in the High School Boys Series, and
in the High School Vacation Series.
At the end of high school days Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes went to
the United States Military Academy at West Point. What there befell the
two cadets is set forth in the pages of the West Point Series. The
professional careers of Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton, once also of Dick
& Co., are to be found in the exciting volumes of the Young Engineers
Series. Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell, as all our readers are aware, were
appointed midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis,
and their lives in that famous training school are splendidly depicted
in the Annapolis Series.
The present series, as our readers know, depicts the life of Dave and
Dan at sea as young officers. The first volume, “Dave Darrin at Vera
Cruz,” deals with the famous events suggested by the title. In the
second volume, “Dave Darrin on Mediterranean Service,” is told what
befell our young friends in their efforts to frustrate an international
plot of possibly grave consequence to this country. The third volume,
“Dave Darrin’s South American Cruise,” which our readers have lately
read, deals with the adventures of the two young naval officers in
foiling the outrageous plots of a South American ex-dictator, scheming
to get back into power. And now, at last, we find Dave and Dan on the
Asiatic Station.
Hardly had the naval officers turned out of the Escolta, at the water
front, when Dan noticed that the sidewalk held at least fifty Chinese.
“This is the greatest of American cities, as far as Chinese population
goes,” smiled Dave. “Manila never has less than a hundred thousand
Chinese residents.”
Out in the road stood a solitary member of the Chinese population. At a
signal from the youth behind the naval officers, he said a few words in
guttural undertone.
Quickly the Chinese came together, jabbering and crowding the sidewalk.
“Gangway!” cried Danny Grin, as he and Dave found themselves pressing
through the yellow throng.
Slowly, rather indifferently, the Chinese made way for the two naval
officers to step through the crowd. Had Dave and Dan gone out into the
road to get around this crowd it would have been at the expense of
their dignity in a city where no white man is supposed to allow coolies
to block his way.
“Gangway!” roared Dalzell.
The Americanized Chinese boy was now close beside the naval officers. A
small, skinny yellow hand reached out.
“I’m sure Belle will be delighted with that necklace,” Dave murmured to
himself.
Alas! That jewel box no longer rested in his pocket, for the yellow boy
with the bead-like eyes, at that very instant, had filched the little
package. Nor did the picking of the white men’s pockets cease at that
point.
Once through the throng, the two young ensigns were not long in
reaching the building in which are situated the offices of the Captain
of the Port. It is opposite this building, on the bank of the Pasig
River, where launches from naval vessels and army transports come in
and tie up.
“Launch not in,” announced Danny Grin.
“We’ll have some minutes to wait,” Dave answered. “Let’s go over there
and get a soda.”
“Over there” referred to a little white one-story building, in which
plain soda and similar beverages were sold.
Dave and Dan stepped inside, calling for soda water and drinking
thirstily.
“Tastes good,” muttered Dan. “Let’s have another.”
So the second soda was ordered, and was finished more slowly. Then
Darrin reached into one of his pockets. Soon he explored another
pocket.
“Why, that’s queer!” muttered Dave, aloud. “I thought my money—”
“Never mind your money, chum,” interrupted Dan Dalzell. “I’ll pay for—”
A few seconds later Dan’s expression changed to one of great amazement.
“Why, where _is_ my money?” he gasped.
“Don’t look for it,” returned Dave. “I don’t believe you’ll find it.
For myself, my pockets have been completely cleaned out. I haven’t even
the necklace that I bought for Belle.”
“Look here!” uttered Danny Grin, his lower jaw dropping low, indeed.
“Have we been robbed? Have our pockets been gone through just as if we
were a pair of rubes?”
“Our pockets have been picked all right,” Darrin assented, with a
smile.
“Then it was done while we were in that Chinese sidewalk mob!” said
Dan, quivering with rage. “Just wait until I overhaul ’em, and—”
Dan sprang outside. His good intentions, however, came to naught, for
the crowd of Chinese had disappeared.
“It’s a good joke on us,” grinned Dave, though not very mirthfully.
“Oh, is it?” flashed back Danny Grin. “Then enjoy yourself! Laugh as
heartily as you can. But I’ve been touched for two hundred and forty
dollars. How much did you lose?”
“A hundred and sixty dollars, and the necklace,” confessed Darrin.
“Say,” muttered Ensign Dalzell, another strange look coming into his
face as he made another discovery. “I wish I could find those
yellow-faced thieves.”
“Why?”
“They overlooked something,” almost exploded Dalzell. “They didn’t get
my watch. It seems to me that it would be no more than honest to run
after them and hand them that, also.”
Dan held up his gold watch.
“They left my watch in my clothes, too,” nodded Dave.
“I wonder why?” murmured Dalzell.
“Over four hundred dollars, from the two of us,” muttered Dave, staring
grimly up the road. “Not a bad two minutes’ work for some one.”
“It would make me feel more kindly to the poor fellow if only he’d come
back and take my watch and chain,” declared Danny Grin. “I hate to see
a poor thief overlook anything of value.”
“I was wondering,” Dave continued, “whether it would do any good to
complain to the police. On second thought, I believe I shall write the
chief of police after I go aboard ship. If there’s a regular gang
working this part of Manila, then the police ought to know it, but I’ve
no idea that the police would be able to get our money back.”
“That money has been under cover for some minutes,” rejoined Dalzell.
“If you’ve any loose change you might settle our bill here.”
“I haven’t a cent,” Darrin confessed.
But the proprietor of the little shop begged the young gentlemen to
forget the little bit of small change that they owed him. This both Dan
and Dave refused to do, promising to pay him the next time they came
ashore.
No sooner did they step outside than they were confronted by a
well-dressed, tall young man under thirty.
“I hope you’ll pardon me,” said this stranger, with a rather decided
English accent, “but I couldn’t possibly help overhearing your
conversation inside. For that reason I know that you have had the
misfortune to be robbed of your money by Chinese thieves. Now—no
offense intended, I assure you—could I be of any manner of use to you?
Pembroke is my name, you know; Pembroke of Heathshire, England. I’m on
my way around the world. Now, if between one gentlemen and two others,
you know, I could be of any—”
The Englishman paused, as if embarrassed; it was plain that he was
trying to offer a loan of money.
“I think I understand you, Mr. Pembroke,” Ensign Darrin replied, with a
grateful smile. “It is extremely kind in you, but the robbery has left
us embarrassed only for a moment. Both of us have funds deposited with
the paymaster on board ship, and after we go aboard it is only a matter
of asking for what we need.”
“You’re not annoyed, I trust,” murmured Pembroke apologetically.
“No; profoundly glad to find such faith in human nature as you have
displayed,” smiled Ensign Darrin.
“Oh, I don’t trust the whole blooming human race,” declared Mr.
Pembroke gravely. “I’m not such a simpleton as that. But I know that
good old Uncle Sam’s officers are gentlemen, and between gentlemen, you
know, there is and should be a lot of jolly confidence.”
In the easiest way in the world, Mr. Pembroke was now sauntering along
with the two young Americans.
“Do you know much about the Chinese?” Dave inquired.
“Not enough to make me like ’em a precious lot,” replied Pembroke.
“I wish I could understand their lingo,” muttered Dalzell.
“And I’m positively proud that I don’t!” glowed Mr. Pembroke.
They had halted at the water’s edge, now, Dan turning his eyes in the
direction of the breakwater to see if he could make out the launch for
which he and his chum waited.
“Here comes a fuzzy-fuzzy boat,” announced Dalzell, at last. “But it’s
not ours. Just as it happens, the craft is a Frenchman.”
Pembroke cast a glance at the approaching launch, then went on chatting
with Darrin.
Presently the launch ran in alongside, a middle-aged French officer
stepping up on the jetty not fifty feet from where Dave and his
companions stood.
The Frenchman started rather visibly when his gaze rested on Pembroke.
Dave noticed that. And Pembroke saw the Frenchman, for one fleeting
instant. Then the Englishman turned his back squarely, while the French
naval officer, holding himself very erect, and with a frown on his
face, returned the courteous salute of the young American officers.
“Do you know that gentleman, Mr. Pembroke?” Dave asked quietly.
“Never saw him before,” declared Mr. Pembroke coldly.
“That’s odd,” reflected Dave. “If faces are books, and if glances may
be read, I should have said that the Frenchman didn’t like our very
courteous Englishman.”
The French officer was now passing out of sight.
“I see our launch,” called out Danny Grin.
“I say, Mr. Darrin, by the way,” spoke up the Englishman, “what is your
ship?”
“The gunboat ‘Castoga’,” Darrin answered.
“Then, if you don’t mind, I’m going to do myself the honor, some
afternoon in the near future, of going out to your ship and calling on
you. I find it very dull here in Manila, you know, and I shall be glad
to see more of you both.”
“We shall undoubtedly meet at one of the clubs ashore,” Dave smiled
back steadily into the other’s eyes. “In that case, I’ll try to
introduce you to our commanding officer, and I’ve no doubt that he’ll
be glad to extend you a cordial invitation to come aboard.”
A few moments later the launch from the “Castoga” came gliding in at
the jetty. Dave and Dan extended their hands to Mr. Pembroke, then
stepped aboard the launch, leaving the Englishman to turn away.
Nor had he more than turned his back when Pembroke allowed a very
distinct frown to gather on his face.
In front of the office of the Captain of the Port, Pembroke came face
to face with the same French naval officer. The two men regarded each
other stolidly and passed on without speaking.