Roy Norton

“ There are but few men, monsieur, who do not make grave mistakes and blunders in early youth; but when the fires of life grow old and dim and cold, there comes repentance, and it seems very godlike for their fellow men to forgive. I assure you that could I obtain that forgiveness from his country for poor old Hector Périgord I would devote but small grief to the loss of the Esperanza, although she was mine, was uninsured, and was my only ship. ”

“ And he opened a door in the wire partition, and conducted me through into a small private office, where he gave me chair.
"Monsieur Périgord is as loyal a Frenchman as lives," I said. "He is, himself, broken-hearted by his exile. The loss of the Esperanza is nothing; the loss of her cargo of cocoa and coffee is nothing, compared with what her real cargo consisted of." ”

“ Being somewhat more fleet of foot than Jimmy, I was the first to arrive. On the sand beside the body lay the articles which the ghoulish beach-comber had taken from the engineer's pockets, and discarded as useless to him. There was a bunch of keys, a toothbrush, a pocket handkerchief, a ball of twine, a sodden packet of letters, and a big flat packet of white papers. Upon these Jimmy fell with a shout, and carefully spread them open on the beach, regardless of the proximity of the dead man. There, clearly defined and unblurred by the water, being done in waterproof ink—were the missing plans. ”

“ Do you suppose that, having himself failed to steal the plans, he succeeded in bribing some of the other men of the crew to make a try for them?"
"Why not?" he answered. "That's just about the way most men show their gratitude. I kept you from murdering him and didn't chuck him overboard myself. I kept you from putting him off at Samaña. I got you to carry him on to Maracaibo and turn him loose. I gave him money aboard the Esperanza, and one day when I met him with his crippled wing, there in the Plaza at Maracaibo, feeling sorry for him, I gave him a hundred dollars more. Good Lord! ”

“ Haven't I done enough for him to make him an enemy? The surest way in the world to make a man hate you is to do something for him."
I saw that he had reverted to his old cynicism and distrust of humanity at large, but could not resist a parting shot at him. ”

“ I decided to lose no time in notifying Monsieur Périgord of our misfortune, and so, as soon as I had given all those dependent upon me ample money to provide for their needs, I went to the cable office. I found it in charge of a French cable officer, evidently a man from the reserve list or one who had been in retirement at the outbreak of the war, and was now serving his country in quasi-military capacity. I got a form and wrote my message, announcing the loss of the Esperanza, and stating that she had been submarined. ”

“ Jimmy, steadily walking, was staring absently ahead into the distance; but I, cherishing an affection for the faithful old Esperanza, looked back over my shoulder, idly speculating meanwhile as to what remnants had been spewed up by the sea. It was then I saw something which made me stop abruptly.
"What do you suppose he has got?" I said, turning fully around, and Jimmy whirled to look back, and exclaimed, "Dirty swine; come on, let's get him," and began running down the beach. There was no mistaking what the beach-comber had pulled ashore, nor what he had been doing ”

“ I believe those plans are right at this moment being carried as fast as that submarine can travel toward Germany. The first thing that will be heard of my invention by anybody will be that German submarines are known to have put in use a new method for sinking ships without ever appearing on the surface. ”