CHAPTER XXX.--THROUGH THE GOLDEN GATE.
There was an audible gasp from passengers and crew, and the samequestion was upon every lip:
"Who is he?"
As the German lieutenant reached the side of the ship, Captain VonBlusen spoke again:
"Lieutenant Von Meyers!"
The lieutenant turned about sharply, and came to attention.
"You will wait with the boat. I shall go with you."
The lieutenant saluted again and stood stiffly erect in his tracks.
Captain Von Blusen turned to Captain Anderson.
"I shall relieve you of the responsibility of my presence immediately,captain," he said quietly. "I shall go aboard the cruiser."
Captain Anderson was too much taken by surprise to mutter more than:
"Very well, sir."
Why he added the "sir" the captain could not have told, but there wassomething in the bearing of the man that faced him that called it forthinvoluntarily.
Captain Von Blusen held out his hand, and the commander of the _Yucatan_grasped it.
"Good luck to you, sir," said the latter.
"And to you," returned Captain Von Blusen.
He descended from the bridge, and made his way to where the Willingparty stood gazing at him in open-eyed wonder.
The German officer first addressed Mr. Willing and Colonel Ashton.
"I am sorry that I have been the means of putting you to so muchtrouble," he said, with a slight bow, "but whatever I did I consideredin line with my duty. Please believe that."
"I have no doubt of it," replied Mr. Willing.
"Nor I," agreed Colonel Ashton.
Captain Von Blusen now turned to Dick, and with the slightest of smileshe extended his hand.
"As you and I had a little difficulty," he said, "I pray you willoverlook it."
Dick grasped the extended hand, as he replied.
"Why, of course. I guess I am a bit hot-headed once in a while."
"No more than I am," returned Captain Von Blusen. "It has been my chieffault."
He pressed Dick's hand once more, and then turned to the two girls, whohad been too stunned by what they had witnessed, to speak.
The captain extended a hand to each in turn and Shirley and Mabel shookhands with him.
"I am pleased to have met you, Miss Ashton," he said courteously, "andyou, Miss Willing, and I regret that I have been the means of causingyou unpleasantness. But as I have said to your fathers, what I did wasbut in the line of duty. Now I must say good-bye, but when the war isover," he looked at Mabel, "I hope that I shall see you both again."
He bowed low, and before the girls could reply, he made his way towardthe spot where the German lieutenant stood awaiting him. He motioned thelatter to precede him over the side, and was just about to follow, whenhe seemed to think of something.
He walked quickly back across the deck to where Shirley and Mabel stood,and spoke.
"I suppose you all wonder who I am," he said quietly, "and while I wouldgreatly like to satisfy your curiosity, I fear it is impossible at thistime."
Now Shirley found her tongue.
"You can at least tell us whether you are of royal birth," she cried.
Again Captain Von Blusen bowed low.
"I cannot say yes, nor can I deny it," he answered.
"Then your name is not really Captain Von Blusen?"
The captain smiled and bowed, but made no reply.
Now Mabel spoke.
"Captain," she said quietly, "for by such name only can we know you now,we should, of course, be honored with your confidence, but if you cannotspeak at this time, I for one shall ask you no questions."
Captain Von Blusen took her hand and bent over it gallantly.
"I thank you, Miss Ashton," he replied quietly. "Some day I hope to beable to confide in you."
He bowed to the others, and turning sharply on his heel, made his way tothe side of the ship and clambered over the rail.
Now the passengers hurried to the side of the ship, and gazed withsomething like awe at the boat that made swiftly for the German cruiser.
Captain Anderson did not give the signal to get under way until thecruiser's launch was being hoisted aboard, when there broke out from thecruiser a salvo of guns.
"A salute!" cried Captain Anderson, raising his voice to make himselfheard. "He is some one of importance. Now I wonder----"
He broke off suddenly, as he counted the number of guns and, in hismind, ran over the list of relatives of the German Emperor. Then hisclouded brow cleared, and he smiled.
"If he wishes to keep it a secret, I am not the man to betray it," hesaid to himself.
That Captain Anderson knew who "Captain Von Blusen" really was therecould be no doubt, but the commander of the _Yucatan_ kept his promiseto himself and confided to no one, in spite of the questions that werepoured on him later.
Now Captain Anderson gave the signal to get under way, and the _Yucatan_slowly gathered headway. The German cruiser remained stationary as the_Yucatan_ approached, and the big steamship passed her less than aquarter of a mile away.
There, on the bridge of the cruiser, with the commander of the vesseland his officers standing at attention, stood "Captain Von Blusen." Thepassengers waved their hands at him, and he, in return, lifted his capand made a low bow.
Then the passengers aboard the _Yucatan_ saw him turn to the man theycould make out was the commander of the cruiser and give a sharpcommand. The latter repeated it to one of his officers, and a momentlater a second salvo broke out from the cruiser. At the same time theGerman flag at the masthead was dipped in salute.
"That," said Captain Anderson calmly, "is a fine token of respect. Toobad we haven't the guns with which to return it."
He gave an order, however, and the American ensign at the masthead ofthe _Yucatan_ returned the salute.
These courtesies having been exchanged, all became bustle and hurryaboard the German cruiser, as the passengers on the _Yucatan_ could see.Men dashed hurriedly hither and thither, and a moment later the cruiserswung slowly about and headed due south.
"And that is the last we shall see of Captain Von Blusen," declaredShirley. "I wonder who he is."
"I haven't any idea," returned Mabel slowly, "but there can be noquestion that he is of high rank."
"No, there can be no question about that," agreed Mr. Willing, who hadoverheard this conversation. "I should say that he is a member of theImperial German family."
"Then what is he doing in the United States?"
"I have learned a couple of Mexican words," replied Mr. Willing. "Quiensabe?" (Who knows.)
"But he said we should hear from him when the war is over," declaredMabel.
"Yes," said Shirley, "he said 'we' but he meant you."
Mabel's face turned a trifle red.
"What do you mean?" she asked in some confusion.
Shirley laughed.
"I guess you know what I mean, all right," she made reply. "Do youremember saying something like that to me once?"
"But I had reason to," protested Mabel. "It was so plain in Dick'scase."
"No more so than in Captain Von Blusen's case," declared Shirley.
"I don't see----"
"Oh, yes you do. You mean you just won't admit it. Well, you don't haveto. Why, what makes your face so red, Mabel?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," declared Mabel, and turningabout quickly, she rushed to her cabin, leaving Shirley laughing toherself.
The steamship _Yucatan_ was forging ahead at full speed now, and wasrapidly lessening the distance to the first California port--San Diego.
"Dad," said Shirley, "isn't there a second fair at San Diego?"
"Yes," replied her father, "why?"
"Well then, why can't we stop off there for a day or two and go on toSan Francisco by rail?"
"We can if you wish it," replied Mr. Willing.
"Then let's do, Dad."
"All right."
And so it was arranged. Shirley went below where she and Mabelimmediately began gathering their things together so that they would beready to leave the boat the moment it docked at San Diego.
There was no question that the girls had become great favorites with allthe passengers. Many pressed them to continue the trip to San Francisco,Captain Anderson being one of the most anxious to keep them aboard aslong as possible.
"I don't know what I shall do without you," he told Shirley and Mabel."We have had lots of excitement on this voyage, more than ever before,and you two girls have been mainly responsible for it. I hope that Ishall see you again some time."
"Why," said Shirley, "there are many more summers coming, and if we everdecide to make this trip again we shall not ever think of taking anyboat but yours."
"May the time come soon," said the captain.
The passengers bade them an affectionate good-bye as they left the_Yucatan_ at San Diego, and then they entered a taxi and were driven toa hotel, where they once more made themselves comfortable for a stayashore.
They spent two days at the San Diego exposition, and then took a trainfor San Francisco to view, as Shirley expressed it, "the greatest sightthey ever expected to see."
And none of the party was a whit disappointed in the great exposition.In fact, it was far beyond expectations. For two weeks they remained inthe California metropolis, spending every minute possible upon the largeexposition grounds overlooking the Golden Gate and the broad expanse tothe Pacific.
When the time came for them to betake themselves homeward, it was withregret that they realized it would be long before they could again hopeto see the beauties of the far-off state of California.
There remains yet one incident to be told.
Two weeks after their return home, Mabel received a registered packagepostmarked Rome, Italy. Eagerly she ran to her room with it, where sheopened it in solitude; nor could she repress a cry of admiration whenshe drew out a beautifully bejeweled cross, patterned after the IronCross of Germany--the Iron Cross with which the German Emperor decorateshis troops for bravery.
With it there was a brief note, with the signature "Captain Von Blusen."
Looking closer at the piece of paper on which the message was written,Mabel perceived a seal of peculiar design. She ran hastily for herdictionary, and turned to the seals of the various nations.
There was a striking similarity between the seal on the paper and theImperial German seal, as reproduced, in colors, in her big dictionary.
For perhaps half an hour the girl sat silent, musing.
"Can it be possible?" she asked herself at last "I wonder----"
She rushed downstairs to consult Shirley, who at that moment was holdinga tete-a-tete with Dick on the sunny front porch.
THE END.