Page:At the Fall of Port Arthur.djvu/202

184 he thought the description of the great battle of Liao-Yang very realistic. He shook his curly head when he thought of Ivan Snokoff.

"He must be an underhanded rascal if ever there was one," he mused. "And to think he disguised himself as a Chinaman! I'll wager Gilbert thought it a fine thing to expose him and make him pay up. But he and Ben had better look out, or Snokoff and that Captain Barusky may cause them a lot of trouble."

Larry had an hour to himself, and he spent the time in answering both letters, telling briefly what had happened to him since the trip to Manila and how he and Luke were now in service on board of the Japanese warship Shohirika. He added that he liked the position of gunner's mate very much, and that he meant to make a record for himself if given the opportunity to do so. He also told about the doings of Shamhaven and Peterson, and said he hoped to bring them to justice, although he realized that looking for them was as bad as "looking for a pearl on the ocean bottom."

The letters finished, he addressed and posted them, and then he and Luke took a short stroll through Nagasaki, past the many curious shops, and the fine residences. Some of the shop windows displayed flaring war pictures, done in glaring