H. Irving Hancock

“ Dave responded gravely.
"Then do you work?"
"More hours a day than any laborer does," Darrin answered promptly. "I am a naval officer."
"Ah, but that is a career of honor—of glory!" cried the stranger.
"And so is any honest job of work that a man takes up in earnest and carries through to the best of his ability," Dave Darrin returned with warmth.
"But you see, sir," argued the stranger, though now he was smiling, "you have been trained to a profession. I never was so trained." ”

“ Ensign Darrin asked coldly.
"You know!" cried the Count bitterly.
"Then," asked Dave, "is it indiscreet for me to ask why you have permitted yourself to associate with such company?"
"I doubt if you would believe me," replied Surigny, wincing.
"Is there any good reason why I should believe you?" Dave returned, studying the Frenchman's face.
"Perhaps none so good as the fact that I am a gentleman," the Count of Surigny answered more boldly. "The word of a gentleman is always sacred." ”

“ Side by side Dave and Dan strolled through the vast main salon of the Casino.
Here at tables were groups of men and women. Each player hoped to quit the tables that night richer by thousands. Most of them were doomed to leave poorer, as chance is always in favor of the gambling institution and always against the player.
"It's a mad scene," murmured Dan, in a low voice.
"You are looking on now at an exhibition of what is probably the worst, and therefore the most dangerous, human vice," Dave replied. "Bad as drunkenness is, gambling is worse." ”

“ DAVE DARRIN
ON MEDITERRANEAN SERVICE CHAPTER I GREEN HAT, THE TROUBLE-STARTER
"Dan," whispered Dave Darrin, Ensign, United States Navy, to his chum and brother officer, "do you see that fellow with the green Alpine hat and the green vest?"
"Yes," nodded Dan Dalzell.
"Watch him."
"Why?"
"He's a powerful brute, and it looks as though he's spoiling for a fight."
"You are not going to oblige him, are you?" asked Dalzell in a whisper, betraying surprise.
"Nothing like it," Darrin responded disgustedly. "Danny Grin, don't you credit me with more sense than that? ”

“ It would seem preposterous that any Englishman could suspect the American government of destroying British warships, and just as absurd to think that Americans could take such a charge seriously. Yet in the relations between nations the absurd thing often does happen. Should England lose any warships it would seem that only Germany or Austria could be blamed, yet it might be possible for plotters to manage the thing so successfully, and with so much cleverness, that the United States would really seem to be proven to be the guilty party. ”

“ Darrin and Dalzell, both off duty for the time being, strolled along the battleship's quarter-deck, gazing shoreward.
"It's almost too bad that the times are so civilized," murmured Danny Grin. "That little toy principality would make an ideal pirates' nest."
"I fancy Monaco has done duty enough in that line in the past centuries," smiled Darrin. "I have been reading up a bit on the history of Monaco. Piracy flourished here as late as the fourteenth century. Even rather late in the eighteenth century every ship passing close to this port had to pay toll. ”

“ Dalzell answered.
"May I ask my new American friend why he should waste his time here?" laughed the Countess.
"I do not believe I have exactly wasted my time," Dan replied. "A naval officer, or any other American, may well spend some of his time here in gaining a better knowledge of human nature. Surely, there is much of human nature to be seen here, even though it be not one of the better sides."
"What is the bad trait, or the vice, that one beholds most at Monte Carlo?" the Countess asked. ”

“ Dave took one long step forward, again gripping Count Surigny's right hand with both his own hands.
"Surigny, I am under more obligations than I can ever repay. Few men with the instinct of a gentleman could have endured, for weeks, having to associate with and serve such rascals [219] as this grewsome crew. You have, indeed, proved yourself noble, and I deeply regret that I have ever allowed myself to distrust and dislike you." ”

“ Green Hat reached the street.
"Stop that thief!" roared the young man in the gray suit. "He has robbed me!"
By this time Dalzell was again on his feet and out in the aisle. He sprinted for the street, followed closely by Dave Darrin. The young man in the gray suit, his face pallid, plunged after the young naval officers.
"You're an American, aren't you?" called Dave, over his shoulder.
"Yes," answered he of the gray suit, "and in official life at Washington, too. That scoundrel has robbed me of something of value to the United States government." ”

“ As Dave turned, he found his own face within three inches of Seaman Runkle's glowing countenance.
"Runkle," Dave smiled, "we are fond of the Englishmen. Their commanding officer called for our best speed, and we're going to show it."
"Aye, aye, sir!" grinned Runkle. "When any foreigner asks for the best we have in speed, he's likely to see it, sir."
Already the "Hudson's" launch had drawn smartly ahead of the British craft, and the distance between them grew steadily, though the Englishman was doing his best to keep up in the race. ”

“ Gortchky held out the wallet, then struck a match. By the flame the Count beheld his own crest.
"Yes, it is mine," replied the Count, "and I thank you for your kindness."
"Will Monsieur do me the kindness, before I leave him, to make sure that the contents of the wallet are intact?" urged Gortchky.
"It will take but an instant," laughed the Count of Surigny. "See! I will show you that the contents are intact!"
As he spoke he opened the wallet. A packet of paper dropped to the ground. In astonishment the Count bent over to pick up the packet. M. Gortchky struck another match. ”

“ Halting under the heavy foliage of a tree, the stranger glanced down at the weapon in his hand and shuddered. This foolish young man, haunting the gambling tables until he had ruined himself, and seeing nothing now ahead of him in life, was bent upon self-destruction.
Sometimes there are several such suicides at Monte Carlo in a single week. If unprovided with other means for ending his life, the suicide sometimes hurls himself over the edge of one of the steep cliffs. ”

“ CHAPTER X TREACHERY HAS THE FLOOR
"You will not have much time for sight-seeing, I am afraid," Count Surigny was saying, as Monsieur Dalny soft-footedly returned to the table.
"I do not know how much time we shall have," Dave answered.
"If you have but little time, then it will be most unfortunate," spoke Dalny softly, with his engaging smile. "Naples is vastly rich in things that are worth while seeing."
"We are not likely to have the time to see many of them," Darrin answered. ”

“ Darrin assured him energetically. [61]
"And why are you so certain of that?" demanded the stranger.
Dave looked keenly at his companion before he replied:
"Because, sir, your face is that of a man—not of a coward. Suicide is the act of a coward. It is the resort of one who frankly admits that his troubles are greater than he has the manhood to bear. Now, you have, when one regards you closely, the look of a man and a gentleman." ”

“ I will make myself!" promised the stranger, with a new outburst of emotion.
"And you will never again allow yourself to become so downcast that you will seek to destroy yourself?"
"Never!"
"I am satisfied," Dave said gravely. "You are a man of honor, and therefore are incapable of breaking your word. Your hand!"
Their hands met in ardent clasp. Then Darrin took out his card case, tendering his card to the stranger.
Instantly the young man produced his own card case, and extended a bit of pasteboard, murmuring:
"I am M. le Comte de Surigny, of Lyons, France." ”

“ CHAPTER XVII DAVE'S GUESS AT THE BIG PLOT
"Friends tell me that in being in the Navy I have such a grand chance to see the world," grumbled Dan Dalzell, as the launch headed for the anchorage of the American warships. "I went to Paris and had two short taxicab rides through the city. That was all I saw of Paris. Then a long railway journey, and I reached Genoa. I spent twenty-eight minutes in Genoa, and boarded this launch. Oh, I'm seeing the world at a great rate! ”

“ In the Admiral's quarters a long silence followed.
At length the fleet commander looked up.
"Captain Allen," he asked, "what do you think of Mr. Darrin's surmise?" [197]
"It looks probable to me," said the "Hudson's" commanding officer promptly.
"It looks likely to me, also," sighed Admiral Timworth.
Then the famous old sea-dog brought his clenched fist down on his desk with a bang.
"Malta shall be our next stop," he declared. "We shall see whether any band of plotters can put such a plot through while we are watching! All mankind would shudder at such a tragedy. ”

“ Dropping a towel at Dave's side, the waiter bent over to pick it up, at the same time slyly pressing into Dave's hand a piece of paper.
Holding it under the table and glancing at it, Dave found it carried a brief message in French. Translated, it read:
"For vital reasons, I beg you to follow the waiter, who can be trusted, and come to me at once. Come alone and secretly. Honor depends upon your compliance! S."
"Surigny!" muttered Ensign Darrin, disgustedly, under his breath. "That impossible scoundrel! He has sold himself to those plotters, and now would betray me. The wretch!" ”

“ It was the Count of Surigny who left the cab, which then started forward.
"Is there gambling going on in that club?" asked Darrin, as his man started the car forward again.
"Naturally," replied the chauffeur, shrugging his shoulders.
"It is easy to understand, then," Dave muttered to himself. "Poor Surigny is no longer his own master in anything, for he is a slave to the gambling craze that ruins so many lives. Gortchky furnishes the young man with money [175] for gambling—lends it to him, of course, and thus keeps the Count desperately in his debt. ”

“ It is plain that some very desperate scheme is afoot for making trouble between England and our country. That would drag us in against all of the Entente Allies if the success of the plot should involve us in war with England at this time. The proposed sinking of a British warship is the inkling we have had, but the real scheme may be something else. The first clue of all that we had, even before Darrin and Dalzell came aboard at Gibraltar, came from the American Embassy at Paris. ”

“ The British are feeling the tension of the great war severely, sir."
"There is one flaw in your reasoning, Mr. Darrin," Admiral Timworth replied. "We will admit that the torpedoing happens at a time when only American and British war craft are visible in Grand Harbor. Why would it not be wholly reasonable for the British to suppose that the torpedoing was the work of a German submarine that had sneaked into the harbor of Malta under the surface of the water?" ”

“ Ah, those rascally Maltese! They know no country and they laugh at patriotism. They worship only the dollar, and are ever ready to sell themselves! And the submarine will endeavor to sink the British battleship to-night!"
"To-night!" gasped Darrin, now thoroughly aroused.
"To-night," Surigny nodded, sadly, his face ghastly pale. "Even the yacht that carries the plotters is here."
"These are hardly the times," Dave remarked, "when it would seem to any naval commander [216] a plausible thing for a yacht to cruise in the submarine-infested Mediterranean. ”

“ And to-day, through its vast gambling establishments, visited by [44] thousands every week, Monaco reaches out and still takes its toll from all the world."
"It won't take any from me," smiled Dalzell.
"That is because you're a disciplined human being, and you've too much character and honesty to gamble," Darrin went on. "But think, with a pitying sigh, of the thousands of poor wretches who journey to Monaco, enter the Casino at Monte Carlo, part with their money and their honor, and then pass into one of the gardens, there to blow their brains out. ”

“ Dave and Dan were soon deep in the narration of events in which they participated at Monte Carlo and at Naples.
"I know the young Comte of Surigny," remarked Mr. Caine, "and I am deeply disappointed to learn that he is among our foes, and in such a mean capacity as the one in which he must be employed. The young man comes from one of the most ancient families in France, though he has never been well-to-do, for his ancestors attended to the insuring of his poverty. The gambling streak has run through several generations of the family." ”

“ Dave pressed.
"I never had need to."
"But now you have the need, and working for money will bring some novelty into your life," the young ensign insisted.
"Did I not tell you that I was born a gentleman?" inquired the young man, raising his eyebrows. "A gentleman never works!"
"Some gentlemen don't," Dave admitted. "But they are the wrong kind of gentlemen."
"If I mistake not," quizzed the stranger keenly, "you are a gentleman, yourself." ”

“ Dan continued. "To-night there must be many a man here who is throwing away money that his family needs, yet he will never tell his wife that he lost his money over a table at Monte Carlo. Again, there must be many a woman here throwing away money in large sums, and she, very likely, will never tell her husband the truth. Let us say that, in both sexes, there are a hundred persons here to-night who will be dishonest toward their life partners afterward. And then, perhaps, many a young bachelor, who, betrothed to some good woman, is learning his first lessons in greed and deceit. ”

“ Besides, these Sicilian bravos of Naples much prefer to settle a man with one or two quick thrusts with a narrow blade, and then—But what is the matter, Dalny? Does the use of the knife terrify you?"
"No!" replied Dalny, huskily. "I was merely [114] thinking that, if a man like either Darrin or Dalzell escaped from a knife, after seeing its flash, and if he suspected me of being behind the attempt, either young man would be likely to lay hold of me and snap my spine."
"If you are fearful of the chances and of the possible consequences, Dalny," replied Mender coldly, "you may withdraw." ”