An incredulous look flashed into the adjutant’s face, and he bent quickly forward. “Am I to understand, then, sergeant, that you do not entertain the same unfavorable opinion of me as the others?”
“Me, sir!” Cato’s tone was one of surprise. “What kind of a soft-brained pup do you think I am, sir? You sell out to Japanese spies, and make away with the old man? Why, Captain Grail, if you told me yourself that you’d done it, I wouldn’t believe you—no, not if you swore to it! It’s because I’m certain of your innocence, captain, that I’ve been so positive the colonel would be found. Foolish as the charge is, you’ve got to disprove it for your own sake; and, with that sort of a proposition facing you, I knew you would manage to do it somehow. I only wish,” he added, “that I could be of some help to you.”
The adjutant turned sharply about at the suggestion. Quick-witted, discreet, diplomatic, and, above all, devoted to his cause, here was the very helper for whom he had been seeking.
“Help me!” He sprang to his feet. “You can, sergeant. You can help me enormously. Are you willing to put in a day or two of scout work for me, following up what may seem to be a series of absurd and irrelevant investigations, but asking no questions until you are through, or until I see fit to enlighten you as to my purpose?”
“Try me!” said Cato, drawing himself up.
Grail studied for a moment the eager face of the young noncom in front of him; then nodded his satisfaction.
“Good!” He drew from his pocket the stump of the cigarette he had found outside Schilder’s office door, and showed it to the other. “You will notice,” he said, “that this is an imported cigarette, not likely to be found in the average tobacco shop. What I want you to do, therefore, is to go, unostentatiously, through the saloons and small stationery stands down on the river front, in the neighborhood of the Dolliver Foundry, and find out for me, if possible, just where cigarettes of this kind are kept in stock, and, if possible, learn the names of the customers who have asked for them.”
The sergeant signified his comprehension. “And what else, sir?” he asked, handing back the cigarette after a careful examination.
“I fancy,” Grail said, “that you will find your work pretty well cut out for you along that one line. Still, you may have luck; and, in that case, I would like to have you find out about a motor boat which arrived yesterday, consigned to Otto Schilder.”
“You will want me to use a disguise of some kind in making my inquiries, I suppose, sir?”