Page:Arthur Stringer - Gun Runner.djvu/144

 "You mean that you might be able to warn them?" she asked at last.

"I mean that it might be possible, under certain conditions, for Duran's palace operator to get a message from me. It might also be possible for your brother's men to be aboard this boat five or six hours after that message was received. So why not explain the whole situation by saying that both of us chance to be acting for the same cause? We're fighting for the same end, so no matter how it hurts, or whatever may happen, we must stick together!"

"But why leave any mystery between us, if we are already that close?" asked the girl. "Why can't you still tell me everything?"

"I'm beginning to learn that you can't tell things, in my calling, until you're sure of your ground. That's why I had to fling that lie to the captain. It's warfare—and I've got to be true to my people before everything else."

"But who are your people?" she persisted.

He laughed, a little wearily, a little ambiguously. "I have no people," he said. "But we've got to fight for Guariqui, whatever it costs!"