[Pg 25]

“It is not true.” Captain Barusky glared at Gilbert savagely. “This looks as if you had come here to make trouble for me. Let me warn you to beware. You cannot attack the honor of a Russian officer recklessly.”

Gilbert felt the truth of the last words and resolved to be cautious. He felt that he was among those who were more likely to prove enemies than friends.

“Then you mean to tell me that you had nothing to do with Ivan Snokoff or his company?” he asked, after a pause.

“I will not say that. I knew Snokoff fairly well, and when he came to me for a loan I lent him several hundred rubles, which, later on, he paid back.”

“And you had nothing to do with the company?”

“Nothing whatever.”

“If that is true, I must beg your pardon for troubling you. Can you tell me where Ivan Snokoff is?”

“I cannot, although I think he has gone to Liao-Yang or Mukden.”

[Pg 26]

[Pg 26]

There was a pause, which was broken by the officer who had brought Gilbert in.

“Do you think he is a spy?” he questioned abruptly.

“Hardly,” answered Captain Barusky, after some hesitation.

“Shall we let him go?”

“Yes. I will see that he does not linger around this vicinity.” The captain turned to the young American. “Come with me, and be thankful that you have escaped a night in the guard-house.”

Glad to get away at any cost, Gilbert followed Captain Barusky from the office and out of the fort grounds. The two walked a distance of several rods further, when the captain came to a halt.

“Now you are at liberty to go,” said he, in a low voice, so that the soldiers standing near might not hear. “But before you do so, allow me to give you a 

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