“Certainly.”
“Can you ever forgive me?” moaned the man.
[pg 207] “Why, what have you done?” asked Jack.
“That assault back in Dunhaven—”
“Was it you who knocked me out there?” demanded Benson sharply.
“Yes.” In a shaking voice Truax confessed the details of the affair and from that passed to Jack's trip to the suburbs of Annapolis.
“I found the mulatto in a low den. I told him you carried a lot of money and that he could have it all if he'd decoy you somewhere, keep you all night, and send you back to the Naval Academy looking like a tramp.” He then added the name of the mulatto.
“But why have you done this?” demanded Jack. “What have you against me?”
“I didn't do it on my own account. I did it for Tip Gaynor, a salesman for Sidenham.”
“The Sidenham Submarine Company?” cried Jack, deeply interested. “The Sidenham people are our nearest competitors in the submarine business!” he exclaimed.