Dave Darrin on the Asiatic Station Part 30

"How did this box happen to reach your wife?" asked Lieutenant Hata, gravely.

Dave frankly related the circ.u.mstances as told him by his wife.

"If we could see the note, that might throw some light on the matter,"

suggested Lieutenant Hata, darkly.

"That is the curious part of it, gentlemen," said Dave, gravely. "Soon after the gift came that note disappeared, and neither Mrs. Darrin nor I have been able to find any trace of it."

"That is certainly remarkable," said Hata, with emphasis.

"Very remarkable," agreed Toruma.

"So remarkable," added Katura, "that I cannot comprehend it at all."

"At any rate, before I leave Tokio," proposed Darrin, "I shall hope to have the whole matter cleared up."

For the second time Lieutenant Katura's face flushed a fiery red. He could not help feeling that he was being lightly or insolently used. In his own mind the j.a.panese was not prepared to suspect an American officer and gentleman of deliberate theft.

"Mr. Darrin," asked Katura, "is this your idea of a really clever joke?"

"What do you mean, sir?" demanded Dave Darrin, flushing in turn.

"Can you realize, sir, how I must have felt," the little lieutenant went on, "when my mother permitted me to take this medallion from the bank vault to show it to American friends, and then I returned to the bank to find that the heirloom was missing from my pocket?"

"I have told you all that I know about the matter," Ensign Dave insisted with dignity. "Is that not enough?"

"No, sir, it is not!" replied Lieutenant Katura, firmly. "I trust you will pardon me when I say that it was all a very stupid joke!"

"Joke?" gasped Dave. "Do you mean-"

He paused, unwilling to finish the sentence, for it seemed to him that this angry little j.a.panese had suddenly thrown a doubt around Mrs.

Darrin's word.

"You have no further explanation to offer me?" asked Katura frigidly.

"There is no other explanation to be offered, sir," Dave Darrin returned, with equal stiffness.

"Then I am sorry, but I have to do-this!"

Advancing a step or two, Lieutenant Katura landed the flat of his right hand across the cheek of the American ensign.

Swifter than a flash Ensign Darrin returned the insult in the same manner.

"That is enough of this, between gentlemen," exclaimed Lieutenant Toruma, leaping between the two angry young officers. Hata followed, saying:

"Quite enough!"

"The rest," remarked Toruma, "can be settled in a much different fashion."

Dave cooled down a bit, realizing that he had sustained himself by returning the insult in the same form in which it had been delivered.

Unless he were struck again he did not propose to discredit himself by brawling in the parlor of a hotel.

Katura, after a moment of sullenness, flashed at Toruma a look that the latter quite understood.

"Have you any idea, Mr. Darrin," Toruma asked, "when I shall be fortunate enough to find Mr. Dalzell in?"

"Probably at about five-thirty," Dave answered. "He will wish to dress, and we dine at six."

"Then we will do ourselves the honor of wishing you good afternoon,"

said Hata, bowing low. In another moment the three j.a.panese had left the room.

"Well, of all the odd experiences!" muttered Ensign Darrin, frowning.

After a moment or two he left the parlor, going direct to his apartment.

"Was it Mr. Katura who sent me that medallion?" asked Belle, at once.

"He says not," Dave answered.

"Then who-"

"Belle, dear, do you mind letting me think this little puzzle out in silence?" begged Dave.

For a long time he sat silent. At last he told Belle what had happened below.

"But why should Mr. Katura strike you?" asked Belle, her eyes flashing.

"That is what I cannot understand," Dave rejoined, in a hurt tone. "I have looked upon Katura as a fine little fellow, and I imagine him to be the soul of honor."

"Does he doubt your word, then, about the manner in which the medallion came into our possession?" Belle quizzed.

"He had better not," her young husband retorted. "I would not be patient under an insinuation that my word is doubted. Belle, I cannot explain any single part of the matter."

So the pair talked it over for a long time, but no point in the tangle became a whit clearer.

Late in the afternoon there came a knock at the door.

"Come in," called Dave.

"Hullo! There you are," cried Danny Grin, opening the door a little and showing his head. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Darrin. Dave, old fellow, have you time to favor me with just a little visit in my room?"

"Why, certainly," a.s.sented Darrin, rising at once, for there was suppressed excitement in Dalzell's voice.

Dan, however, remained silent until he had led the way down the corridor and had closed the door of his room on the chums.

"Now, Dave," gasped the other young ensign, "what is all this about?"

"What is what about?" parried Dave.