CHAPTER III
DETAINED BY THE RUSSIANS
In spite of the fact, well known to all in Port Arthur, that the Russians allowed no foreigners in or near their forts, Gilbert was much astonished to find himself virtually a prisoner of the officer who had detained him.
Almost before he knew it, he found himself in a small office attached to the fort proper. Here two burly soldiers were on guard, and each scowled ominously at him.
“I reckon I’ve put my foot into it this time,” he told himself.
He wished to explain to the officer, but the latter would not listen. A few words were spoken to one of the soldiers, in a Siberian dialect which Gilbert could not understand, and then the officer left as quickly as he had come.
“What are you going to do with me?” questioned the young American, after a moment of silence.
At this query each of the Russian soldiers merely shrugged his shoulders.
“You have no right to detain me in this manner,” went on Gilbert. “I am an American citizen and have done no wrong.”
For answer one of the soldiers motioned him to a bench and placed his rather dirty hand over Gilbert’s mouth, at the same time raising his gun. It was a hint to sit down and keep quiet, and feeling it would be useless to resist, Gilbert did as suggested.
Half an hour dragged by slowly, and the young American was growing impatient, when the officer who had first accosted him came back, accompanied by a dark, surly individual dressed in the uniform of a captain.
“Here is the American,” said the first of the pair. “I found him watching us rather closely.”
“Ha!” came from the second. He turned to Gilbert. “And what have you to say for yourself?”
“What is there to say?” returned the young American boldly. “Certainly I have done no wrong.”
“You were acting the part of a spy.”
“Not at all. I am looking for a certain Captain Barusky, who is, so I have been told, located at one of the forts in or near this port.”
“Captain Barusky? That is my name.”
“Indeed!” Gilbert was taken somewhat by surprise. He looked at the man closely, and the face did not at all please him.
“What do you want of me? What is your name?”
“I want to see you on business,” was Gilbert’s bold answer. “My name is Gilbert Pennington, and I am the selling agent for the Richmond Importing Company. I think you have heard of that concern.”
Captain Barusky started slightly and changed color. But he quickly recovered and took on a look of unconcern.
“I have heard of your company, yes, but I know little about it, and nothing about you.”
“Probably you know more about Ivan Snokoff,” went on Gilbert dryly.
“Yes, I know him quite well.”
“You were partners in business, so I understand.”
“Partners? Never! I am not a business man.”
“Do you mean to say that you did not have an interest in the concern which Ivan Snokoff ran?”
“Never. Why are you so curious to know?”
“Because Ivan Snokoff owes our company four thousand dollars, and he has run away,” answered Gilbert flatly. He felt that the man before him was not telling the truth. “I have been told upon pretty good authority that you were his partner.”
“It is not true.” Captain Barusky glared at Gilbert savagely. “This looks as if you had come here to make trouble for me. Let me warn you to beware. You cannot attack the honor of a Russian officer recklessly.”
Gilbert felt the truth of the last words and resolved to be cautious. He felt that he was among those who were more likely to prove enemies than friends.
“Then you mean to tell me that you had nothing to do with Ivan Snokoff or his company?” he asked, after a pause.
“I will not say that. I knew Snokoff fairly well, and when he came to me for a loan I lent him several hundred rubles, which, later on, he paid back.”
“And you had nothing to do with the company?”
“Nothing whatever.”
“If that is true, I must beg your pardon for troubling you. Can you tell me where Ivan Snokoff is?”
“I cannot, although I think he has gone to Liao-Yang or Mukden.”
There was a pause, which was broken by the officer who had brought Gilbert in.
“Do you think he is a spy?” he questioned abruptly.
“Hardly,” answered Captain Barusky, after some hesitation.
“Shall we let him go?”
“Yes. I will see that he does not linger around this vicinity.” The captain turned to the young American. “Come with me, and be thankful that you have escaped a night in the guard-house.”
Glad to get away at any cost, Gilbert followed Captain Barusky from the office and out of the fort grounds. The two walked a distance of several rods further, when the captain came to a halt.
“Now you are at liberty to go,” said he, in a low voice, so that the soldiers standing near might not hear. “But before you do so, allow me to give you a word of advice. Do not try to make trouble for me, for if you do, I shall certainly make Port Arthur too hot to hold you.” And with this warning he turned abruptly and hurried back to the fort.
For an instant Gilbert thought to answer back, but then he shut his lips tightly and remained silent. He was satisfied in his mind that Captain Barusky had not told him the truth concerning Ivan Snokoff and his dealings with that rascal. Yet how to get hold of the captain in a legal way was a question.
“I’ll have to go slow,” he thought. “If I don’t the captain will try to prove that I am a spy—and then I may be put in prison or shot. I wish this war scare was over. Then a fellow might get down to real business.”
The next day was a busy one for the young American. He had several bills to collect, and in some instances it was hard to get the money. There was also something wrong about a consignment of goods, and this matter had to be straightened out at the customhouse.
Gilbert had had an account at one of the banks, but now he resolved to close this and stow his cash about his person.
“There is no telling what is going to happen soon,” he thought. “If there is any fighting here, financial matters will be all upset. I’ll keep the money where I can lay my hands on it.”
There was another matter to worry Gilbert fully as much as did the money. He had had consigned to several firms in Manchuria goods to the value of sixteen thousand dollars. These goods were on board the three-masted schooner Columbia, which was now somewhere in Japanese waters, with part of her cargo consigned to firms in Nagasaki. What would happen to the schooner, if she should attempt to come into Port Arthur during the outbreak of a war, there was no telling.
“If she came here from Nagasaki, perhaps the Russians would capture or sink her,” he reasoned. “I wish I could get Captain Ponsberry to remain at Nagasaki until the atmosphere clears just a little.”
Gilbert knew Captain Ponsberry very well—a sailor of the old school, who had plowed the waters of the Pacific and the Far East for many years. The captain had been to Manchuria twice before and knew the surrounding waters very well.
“I must get word to him somehow,” said the young American to himself. But how to send word was a question, for no steamer was sailing and the mails were closed.
On returning to the hotel at which he was stopping Gilbert found several letters awaiting him. The majority were business communications, but one was of a private nature, and as soon as he beheld the hand-writing he tore it open in surprise.
“From my old chum, Ben Russell!” he cried, as he looked at the signature. “Where in the world can he be now? I thought he had gone home to stay there. Dated from Manila, too, and I thought he was in Buffalo or New York.”
The communication was a long one, filling sixteen closely written pages, and ran in part as follows:
“My Dear Chum Gilbert: I know you will be surprised to receive this, written from the above-named place, but the fact of it is, I changed my mind after writing to you that I was going home to visit my Uncle Job Dowling, and my brothers Larry and Walter, who left for home, as you know, two years ago.
“Some time ago I received several letters from home, including one each from Larry and Walter. Walter has gone into business and is doing remarkably well, so he tells me. But Larry did not want to stay on land, and after knocking around for the best part of a year he entered into communication with his old friend, Captain Ponsberry of the Columbia, and the upshot of the matter was that Larry is now on board of the Columbia, acting as second mate. He is certainly a sea-dog if ever there was one, and I begin to believe he will end his days on the ocean in spite of all we can do to make him settle down on land.
“Larry knew that the old Columbia was carrying a cargo for your company, and as soon as he could he communicated with me stating that the schooner was going to stop at Manila while on her way to Japan and Manchuria, and asking me to wait there until he could see me.
“The Columbia came in several days ago, and I can tell you I was mighty glad to see Larry, and to see old Captain Ponsberry, too. It was like a touch of old times, and I was sorry you and Walter were not there. Do you remember the good time we had at our last meeting? How we talked of all the hardships we had endured, and of the narrow escapes we had had? And how you told us of your adventures in China? I shall never forget that meeting, and of how we celebrated with a big dinner.
“As soon as I saw Larry I knew he had a card up his sleeve, and it came out pretty quick. He wanted me to take the trip on the Columbia. He had arranged it with Captain Ponsberry so that I could have half of his quarters (Larry’s, I mean), and he said it would give me a chance to try an ocean trip on a sailing vessel and also an opportunity to see you and see another part of the world.
“I didn’t think so much of the trip on a sailing vessel, but I did think it would be pleasant to sail with Larry and with our old friend the captain, and when he mentioned you that settled it, and I said yes almost before I knew it. And then you ought to have seen Larry hug me! ‘It’s just boss, Ben,’ said he. ‘We’ll have the best times ever!’ And he fairly danced a jig over the prospect. The captain was pleased, too, and said so.
“We sail early in the morning, and you know as much about when the Columbia will arrive as I do. I shall look for you either at Nagasaki or Port Arthur, and let me say frankly that I can hardly await the time when we shall be together again. When I arrive you must knock off for awhile and go sight-seeing and holiday-making with me.”