“It looks very much like it. How long have you been in Manchuria?”
“I came over from Nagasaki a week ago.”
“Then you know but little of affairs here. Russia has been fortifying this port for several months, and our harbor is filled with warships.”
“I saw some of the warships as our vessel came up the harbor. If war should come, Port Arthur may have a hot time of it.”
“Exactly.” There was a pause. “Anything else I can do for you, lieutenant? If not, I’ll get at my desk work. My correspondence has been very heavy lately.”
“Nothing more, Mr. Chase. I am much obliged to you.”
“Not at all. I am always glad to do what I can for a brother American. Come in again and let me know how you make out.”
“I will,” answered Gilbert Pennington, and after a hearty handshake he left the main offices of the Anglo-Chinese Trading Company and walked slowly up the broad and well-kept business street of Port Arthur upon which the buildings of the concern were located.
Gilbert Pennington was a young man of Southern blood and strong military tendencies. He came from Richmond, Virginia, and upon the death of his parents had drifted, first to the West Indies and then to New York. This was during the opening of our war with Spain, and fired with patriotism, the young Southerner entered the volunteer service and became one of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, as related in one of my previous books, entitled “A Young Volunteer in Cuba.”
From Cuba the young soldier shifted to the Philippines where, in company with his old-time chums, the Russell boys, he saw much active service under Generals Otis and McArthur, and the much-lamented General Lawton, many particulars of which are given in “Under Otis in the Philippines” and other volumes of the “Old Glory Series.”