When Stedman had locked up the cable office and
rejoined him, he bade him tell Messenwah to send three of his
youngest men and fastest runners back to the hills to watch
for the German vessel and see where she was attempting to land
her marines.
"This is a tremendous chance for descriptive writing,
Stedman," said Gordon, enthusiastically; "all this confusion
and excitement, and the people leaving their homes, and all
that. It's like the people getting out of Brussels before
Waterloo, and then the scene at the foot of the mountains,
while they are camping out there, until the Germans leave. I
never had a chance like this before."
It was quite dark by six o'clock, and none of the three
messengers had as yet returned. Gordon walked up and down the
empty plaza and looked now at the horizon for the man-of-war,
and again down the road back of the village. But neither the
vessel nor the messengers bearing word of her appeared. The
night passed without any incident, and in the morning Gordon's
impatience became so great that he walked out to where the
villagers were in camp and passed on half way up the mountain,
but he could see no sign of the man-of-war.
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