“He dropped one letter; why not this one too!” Sydney exclaimed.
“If that is what happened,” Phil cried eagerly, “then we’ve found out Impey’s calling. He’s the leader of these conspirators.”
“What shall we do with the letter?” Sydney asked suddenly.
“I shall place it at once in Captain Rodgers’ hands,” Phil replied decidedly. “It’s too much responsibility for us to shoulder.”
“But,” Sydney said gravely, “then what was the cause of the constraint in the navy building? Something was lost by their messenger. It might have been this letter. Remember, Taki can write excellent English, quite as good as this, and the handwriting, as I remember his, is not unlike it.”
Phil whistled softly to show the seriousness of this thought.
“If this letter was composed in the Japanese navy department,” Sydney continued excitedly, “it means but one thing.”
Phil nodded, his pulse beating faster. It meant that the Japanese navy department was itself prejudicing the people against Americans.
“The ‘Shimbunshi’ is the newspaper that has been most vituperative against everything American. It then would be the government organ,” Phil said grimly and in a lowered voice. “The silent partner of the Mikado’s ministers. It seems monstrous! I can’t believe it possible! And Taki helping to poison the minds of his people against us after greeting us so affectionately this afternoon!”
Phil was striving to excuse the people whom he admired greatly for their wonderful achievements.