Dave Darrin, after his rebuff in the lobby, stepped slowly toward the door.
“I’ll go outside for a while before I go back to Belle,” he decided.
Within five minutes he ran into Dalzell, who at once told him of the interview with the two Japanese.
“The end is not yet,” sighed Dave. “But now suppose we return and dress for dinner. Remember, no word of this to Belle. I don’t want her vacation spoiled if I can help it.”
But could he help it? Apparently no one at the tables noticed Belle and the two young ensigns as they made their way through the dining room.
“Did you notice, Dave, that none of the Japanese officers, and there were a good many of them in the room, rose and bowed to me tonight? What can the matter be?”
“Let us hope,” answered Dave, “they’re absorbed in their own affairs.”
Belle noted, however, that throughout the meal and on their leaving the room, no one except some United States naval officers and two American infantry officers on leave offered them the slightest courtesy.
Leaving Belle in the parlor, the two young officers returned to the lobby. They were shortly approached by Lieutenant Commander Emery of the “Katahdin.”
“Hullo, Darrin. Evening, Dalzell. Now Darrin, what is this rumor about your refusing to meet a Japanese officer on the field?” he asked abruptly.