"Certainly," Darrin nodded, for he saw insistent appeal in the stranger's gaze.
"Mr. Darrin," began the stranger, using the name he had heard Dave announce in the introductions to the Britisher, "do you really belong to the American Navy?"
"I do, indeed," Darrin answered. "I am attached to the battleship 'Hudson,' now lying in this harbor."
"Then I will introduce myself," continued the young man in the gray suit. "My name is George Cushing. Do you recognize the meaning of this?"
"This" proved to be a small gold badge, revealed by Cushing as he turned back the lapel of his coat. It was a badge worn by men belonging to a special branch of the secret service of the American Department of State. The members of this special service are usually found, if found at all, on duty in foreign countries.
"I know the badge, Mr. Cushing," nodded Dave Darrin. "Now, what have you to tell me?"
"That big man with the green hat must have started that fight with the waiters in the theatre to cover his intended attack on me," Cushing replied. "At the moment of knocking me down, he snatched from my coat pocket and made off with a most important document."
"Then you almost deserved to lose it, sir," replied Darrin sternly, "as a punishment for wasting your time in such a place as that theatre."
"I must see the American admiral as soon as possible," urged Cushing, ignoring Darrin's reproof. "But first of all, I must ask you to pass me safely by that provost guard, or I might be detained at a time when I cannot afford to lose a single instant. You will vouch for me, won't you, Mr. Darrin? Here are my formal credentials," continued Cushing, producing and unfolding a wallet that contained properly sealed and signed credentials from the American Department of State.
"The paper that was stolen from you did not in any way relate to the defenses and fortifications here at Gibraltar, did it?" Dave asked.
"Not in the least," Cushing replied promptly.
"You give me your word of honor for that?" Dave asked bluntly.
"Do you believe I'd waste my time on such rubbish as that?" demanded Cushing, scornfully. "Why, every civilized government on earth possesses accurate plans of the fortifications at Gibraltar! I give you my word of honor, Mr. Darrin, that the paper stolen from me did not in any way relate to the Gibraltar fortifications."
"Then I'll do my best to get you by the provost guard," Ensign Darrin promised, turning to lead the way back.
"Sir," Dave announced to Lieutenant Abercrombie, commanding the provost guard detachment, "I beg to report, on what I regard as the best of authority, that there is no reason why my countryman, Mr. Cushing, should be detained by you."
"Then that of which he claims to have been robbed is nothing that could officially interest me?" pressed the British officer.
"I am certain that the matter could not interest a British officer, except in his desire to see a thief caught," Ensign Darrin vouched.
"That is all, then," replied Lieutenant Abercrombie. "Gentlemen, you are at liberty to proceed on your way."
In the meantime the Spanish waiter had slipped back to the theatre.
Dave and Dan saluted, the Englishman doing the same. Then Lieutenant Abercrombie gave each of these brothers in arms a hearty handclasp. The men of the provost guard parted to allow the three Americans to pass on their way.
"And now where do you wish to go, Mr. Cushing?" Dave inquired, after they had passed the British provost guard.
"I suppose you expect me to search for the thief," rejoined the man from the State Department. "But that would now be worse than a waste of time. Gibraltar, quaint Moorish city that it is, is so full of holes in the wall that it would be impossible to find the thief, for he will not venture out again to-night. The best thing I can do will be to go straight to the American admiral, and you gentlemen, I imagine, can take me there."
"A launch will put off from the mole for the flagship at ten o'clock," Dave informed him. "We may as well go down to the mole and wait."
Twice, on the way, after leaving the more crowded parts of the city behind, the three were challenged by English sentries invisible in the darkness.
"Who goes there?" came the sentry's hail in each instance.
"Officers from the American flagship," Darrin answered for the party.
"Pass on, gentlemen," came the response out of the darkness.
At all times strict watch over all comers outside the British army service is kept at Gibraltar, and after dark this vigilance is doubled.
"On a moonless night like this, one would imagine that Gibraltar, save for the few blocks of 'city,' held few human beings," murmured Dan, as the three continued on at a quiet walk toward the water front. "One gets the impression that there are but a few sentries, sprinkled here and there, yet we know there are thousands of British soldiers scattered over this rock."
"Hardly scattered," smiled Dave Darrin. "Except for the guard, men and officers are alike in barracks, and many of the barracks are at rather long distances from the fortifications."
Nor are the fortifications to be found along the water front. Back on the great hill of rock are gun embrasures, often cut into the face of the rock itself. Back of the embrasures are galleries cut through the stone, and here, in time of siege, the soldiers would stand behind the huge guns.
Gibraltar's harbor is small, though large enough to hold a great fleet. In the days when cannon had shorter range than now, a British fleet might have hidden in the harbor and been secure against all the fleets of the world, for the guns of the huge fortress could have sunk the combined navies of the world, had they attempted to enter the harbor. In these modern days Gibraltar is not so secure, for the heights of Algeciras, in Spain, are only about seven miles away. If Spain were at war with Great Britain, or if any other power took the heights of Algeciras from Spain, guns could be mounted on those heights that would dominate the harbor of Gibraltar. None the less, as long as war exists and the huge stone height of Gibraltar remains, the impression of strong military force will abide with the rock.
Down at the mole a British sentry stopped the trio. Near him stood a corporal and three other soldiers.
"American officers and a friend," replied Ensign Darrin, when halted by this sentry. Then the trio advanced when ordered. Lieutenant Totten, from the 'Hudson,' stepped forward, peered at Darrin and Dalzell, and said to the corporal:
"I recognize these gentlemen as officers of ours."
"And the friend?" inquired the corporal.
"The friend is an American citizen who has business with Admiral Timworth," Dave stated.
"Then it is all right," Lieutenant Totten assured the corporal.
Whereupon the British corporal permitted Cushing to step out on the mole with his companions, Darrin and Dalzell.
"Which is the flagship launch?" asked Darrin.
"The rearmost," answered Lieutenant Totten. "Ours is the only launch here. The two other launches belong to the warships of other powers."
Cushing, while this brief conversation was going on, had walked rapidly along the mole until he reached the farthest launch.
"I want you!" he shouted, bending over suddenly.
He had found and seized by the coat collar the man with the green hat.
Dave and Dan rushed to the spot, hardly knowing what they could do, as they did not want to see the representative of the American State Department lack for backing.
"Pull Cushing away from that fellow," ordered Totten.
"Is that an official order?" Dave flashed back, in a whisper.
"It is," nodded Totten, and faded back into the