Page:Arthur Stringer - Gun Runner.djvu/136

 "Suspect what?"

"What each of us knows!"

"But you have just challenged his power; you've disclaimed his authority! What can he do?"

"He can do anything! On the high seas he's king over this little floating kingdom of his."

"And you, too, are under him?"

"As much as one of his stokers, in a way."

"But what have you gained by a lie like this?"

He found it hard to understand her scruples, to fathom her indignation. He stopped her as, she started to speak again.

"Wait! Don't say anything more until I try to explain what it means to you.

He peered out along the deck and then slipped the bolt in the cabin door before he turned to her again.

"Listen! What I have to say is only the other half of your own story, of what you yourself have said. If Duran and his army are shut up in Guariqui, it s because they're there without ammunition!"

"You know that?" she cried.

"Yes; and this man Ganley knows it. He knows it because he s been the cause of it. Six hundred thousand rounds of ammunition went out of Mobile for the Locombian troops, for