"I am positive that I could do so, sir," Dave rejoined, "provided they were not disguised."
"Then you may meet them again, as we shall stop at various Mediterranean ports. If you do, sir, I wish you to report to me anything that you may find out about them. Mr. Dalzell did not see them, did he?"
"I may have passed them, sir," Dan replied, "but I would not know them, if meeting them, as the men whom Mr. Darrin mentions."
"Then, Captain, you will see to it," directed the Admiral, "that Mr. Dalzell has shore leave whenever Mr. Darrin does. The two young men will go ashore together so that Mr. Darrin, if opportunity presents, may indicate the plotters to Mr. Dalzell."
The Captain and the young officers bowed their understanding of this order.
"The presence of Gortchky here, taken with what Mr. Darrin overheard those men talking about, and coupled with what took place on the mole at Gibraltar, leads me to believe that some foreign government has plans for involving the United States government in serious complications," resumed the Admiral, after a pause. "Gortchky is not in charge of any very extensive plot. He is simply a tool of greater minds, and it may easily be that the pair whom Mr. Darrin overheard are those who are directing Gortchky in some really big and dangerous scheme. By the way, gentlemen, was either of you introduced to any young or charming woman ashore?"
"We were both presented to the Countess Ripoli, sir," Darrin answered, at once.
"And at the Countess's request, I took a little turn with her on one of the verandas, sir," Dan added.
"Tell me all about the Countess and your meeting with her, Mr. Dalzell," Admiral Timworth directed.
So Dan plunged at once into a narration of his chat with the Countess, to which Admiral Timworth listened attentively.