"Because," he answered, "I don't suppose Herr Hilliger would have been so considerate as to keep a secret store of petrol for the accommodation of his enemies. Yes, you may stare. But even if the letters 'H.H.' on that silver case didn't stand for Heinrich Hilliger, I should still have known that the cigarettes were of the same brand as the remains of one that I found on the floor of his pigeon-loft."
He vaulted out of the trench.
"Newruck and Quester will keep watch here," he said to Darby. "I want you to come along with me to the naval base."
CHAPTER XVI.
THE BOMB-PROOF SHELTER.
Nothing was said in Haddisport concerning the discovery and removal of the secret store of petrol buried in the sand on Alderwick Denes. The reason for the silence was that no one unconnected with the naval base knew anything about the matter.
Any day during the herring season carts may be seen on the denes carrying to and fro the fleets of nets that are spread out to dry on the grass; and if two heavily-laden carts in particular were noticed being drawn along the lower road towards the town, no one was any the wiser as to their contents, since the red-painted tins of petrol which they carried were successfully hidden under cover of herring nets. Mark Redisham and his fellow scouts knew too well the importance of their discovery to say anything about it, even in their homes.
One thing which the members of the Lion Patrol had especially laid to heart from the beginning of the war was the necessity of keeping silence when in the performance of their duties they chanced to come into possession of a naval or a military secret.
They had shown that they could be trusted with information which never came to the knowledge of the ordinary reader of newspapers or of local gossips such as Constable Challis and old Mr. Croucher. Amongst themselves they might indeed talk and compare notes; but only within limits. Mark Redisham, for example, knew many things which he never mentioned to Darby Catchpole, while Darby was similarly silent towards Mark.
"Strictly between ourselves, sir," said Constable Challis, meeting Mr. Croucher on the esplanade, "I believe young Mark Redisham knows exactly where Sir John Jellicoe's Grand Fleet is at this moment, and what our submarines are doin' across there under the very noses of the enemy's forts. He knows a lot, sir. But you can take it from me, you might as well try to get blood out of a stone as information out of him."