“Let me hear you mimic Commander Rich,” said Mortimer.
Upon this Goss said a characteristic sentence in which he aped the voice and manner of his master with such skill that Mortimer laughed and Rich blushed in spite of himself. Goss glanced at Rich for an instant. In the glance Rich saw a look of pathetic appeal; and even in his hard and cruel heart there was a shadow of admiration and pity as he realized how his henchman had shown his talent at its best, though the revelation sealed his doom.
Rich cast a knowing glance at Mortimer who saw the convincing significance of the demonstration. The action then moved swiftly. Admiral Rallston took the lead and told Goss they wanted him to look over some wires with them. Then he led the way, followed by Mortimer, Rich, and Goss, to the severed wires, and, suddenly lifting the plank that hid them, turned sharply on Goss, saying, “We want to know who cut and spliced those wires.”
Goss, true to his master, appeared confused and disconcerted; then, with a visible effort to regain his composure, professed his ignorance of the matter. Mortimer and Rich looked on as Admiral Rallston grilled his victim. At last they wrung from him a confession that he served the Sultan, but when questioned as to his confederates he stoutly insisted that he was his own master; Headquarters in Constantinople had sent him and from none other had he taken orders.
With the fatalism of the Moslem he faced his execution. Rich was now more strongly entrenched than ever in the good graces of the Navy Department. His promptitude in finding the real spy had won him the warmest commendation.
The day after Goss had confessed to cutting the wires and impersonating Commander Rich, Mortimer instructed Rand to send a secret message to Evans informing him that the original suspect had been exonerated, and had in fact assisted them in finding the real spy who was now imprisoned under a strong guard, and awaiting execution. When Evans received this message his mind was troubled. He conferred again with Barton and told him he was not satisfied.
“I’ll bet my last dollar that scoundrel is the guilty one,” he said. “He’s just pulling their legs.”
He reviewed the evidence in detail.
“I believe you’re right,” said Barton. “But it’s hard to convince them at this distance. I didn’t tell you,” he continued after a pause, “what I learned about the Sheridan affair.”
“What was it?”