“By Jove! Walter! I’m glad to see you.” Rutile sprang to his feet and hurried forward as Topham entered the office of the embassy. “How are you, old man?” he rattled on. “I heard you were coming, but didn’t expect you quite so soon. Must have had a quick trip!”
Topham shook hands, smilingly. No sign of distress on account of the missing papers clouded his eyes.
“Pretty quick,” he answered. “Glad to get here; however.”
Rutile turned. “Let me present you to the ambassador,” he said. “Your Excellency! This is Mr. Topham of the navy, an old friend of mine, en route to Tokio via Brindisi and Suez.”
Topham started and shot a glance of surprise at Rutile. Then he turned back to the ambassador, who smiled and put out his hand.
“I’m glad to see you, Mr. Topham,” he said, a little ponderously. “Isn’t it er—rather unusual to go from Washington to Tokio by way of Berlin?”
The ambassador’s tones were entirely casual, but Topham thought he detected some veiled meaning in them, perhaps because he was thinking of the secretary’s caution to say nothing to the ambassador about the papers placed in his charge. “Well! yes! it is unusual,” he answered. “You see the navy’s short of officers and has to make out as best it can. They are going to make me earn my passage to Tokio by serving as watch officer on the Nevada. She leaves Brindisi for Manila on Friday, and I’m to join her, so as to let one of her present officers be invalided home.”
“But even so, Berlin seems off your route.”
Topham laughed. “It is a little,” he assented. “But I had never been here and I wanted to see old Rutile, and so I persuaded the personnel bureau to make my orders read via Berlin. It isn’t much out of the way.”
“I see!” The ambassador rose. “I—er—thought at first that you might have brought me some special instructions?” His voice had a slight rising inflection at the end.