“I think I recall his name,” said Rich, “but we have so many in the Bureau I find it hard to know them all. At all events, I should not have been directly concerned with planning the work of such a man. The officers under me lay out the work and make out the orders; they merely bring them to Admiral Bishop or me to sign. It would be impossible for me to give any clue to this particular case offhand; but I can start an investigation at once, and we can probably trace his orders to their source.”
“Unhappily,” said Mortimer, “evidence was brought to light which appeared to point unmistakably to you as the real author of the plan to damage the apparatus.”
“Mr. Secretary,” said Rich, with impressive dignity and earnestness, “it is impossible that you have given credence to such slanderous accusations after our years of close and cordial coöperation in the prosecution of the war.”
“Indeed,” said Mortimer, “I was loath to listen to them till the mass of evidence seemed overwhelming.”
“It must, indeed, have been overwhelming to outweigh my years of devoted service to the navy. May I ask what this overwhelming evidence is?”
“A number of things about the behavior of this man Long appeared to those who apprehended him only capable of interpretation as signifying your complicity with his acts. These facts, coupled with the changing of messages last week, and the simultaneous disappearance of Mr. Tompkins, which present indications seem to show are not as easily explained as you made them appear to be then through the agency of Goss, have led to the accusation.”
“All these things can still be perfectly well explained. Goss confessed to tapping the wires and impersonating me, as you yourself can witness; Tompkins was probably himself implicated, and, hearing of Goss’s fate, has either absconded or committed suicide. The evidence associated with this man Long, you speak of, can be explained on proper investigation as easily as all the rest. I think, Mr. Secretary, you are doing me an extraordinary injustice to so much as listen to these accusations after my years of devoted service. Perhaps the gunner, here,” indicating Evans, “who has at times been impatient with me for not accepting new-fangled ideas as quickly as he would like, has been poisoning your mind against me.”
“Since you bring up that issue,” said Evans, “I should like to ask why, if you are indeed the gallant and loyal officer you modestly concede yourself to be, you told Captain Brigham the Delaware would be better off without the equipment you had authorized to enable her to direct the fleet in action.”
A dark scowl showed for an instant on Rich’s face. “It’s a lie,” said he; “I never said such a thing to Captain Brigham or any one else.”
Evans turned to Mortimer.