The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-09-30
PRIZE DETECTIVE STORIES, No. 30.
lGT @0T TG66EG

When il was done the prince said:
"Thsnk you, Maubeuge; need not keep
you any longer; ! shall not want you
again before ten. F"
The young man got up, bowed to the
prince and 10 me, and left the room with
a noiseless step.
"My new factotum," said the prince,
when the door had closed behind him,
"and perfect treasure. -
~ thought did not remember him."
i said.
"No; / had Francois when you were
with me last, but Francois was Gaul OF
the Gauls. He was always signing for
his beloved France, and finding every
other country triste in comparison. SO
at last | had TO let him return home.
When he went thought i would get a
valet who could do little writing for
me sometimes. Francois was no good at
that Assis sous and six sous were
the same to him as far as spelling went.
OF course, one has ones secretaries, but
only at stated hours. Besides, there are
letters 1t is not necessary that secretaries
should see. And am now quite unable
TO write a line myself, owing to this
gout in my hand. So / find Maubeuge
very useful. Not so good a valet as Fran
co.'s, but far superior in other ways. And
with no e-sickness. He is a Belgian,
not Frenchman. And he is really well
educated, SO that, altogether, he suits
me admirably. But what am I thinking
of, to chatter in this way, instead of ask
ing you about yourself2 No need TO in
quire about your health-your looks are
sufficient. But how have you been get
ting on? Tell me all about yourself"
There was not much to tell. The prince
knew already that my father was dead,
and that 1 had succeeded TO the family
estates. Nor did / wish TO prolong the
conversation, for l could see that the
prince needed rest. So after few min
utes rose TO go.
"Well," he said, "I will not try to de-
tain you now, for we shall have, hope,
many opportunities of meeting. You
must come and see me whenever you can.
Au plaisir. And now for nap"
As he spoke, he took up white silk
handkerchief that lay beside him on the
couch, shook II out, and poured over IT
some liquid from bottle on the table.
As he did so the smell OF chlor oform
diffused itself through the room.
81 can get no sleep without it, said
the prince, catching my look. "Don't
be alarmed. Ii is not a habit II is
onlya temporary resource whilst the neu-
ralgia troubles me-"
CHAPTER III.
Where the carcass is, there will the
vultures be gathered together land where
ever diplomatists assem- BILE for a special
purpose, there you will assuredly find a
crowd OF special correspondents also
This was conspicuously the case on the
occasion OF which am writing. Every
great newspaper in Europe had sent a
representative to watch the proceedings
OF the congress. OF course the watching
had to be done from the outside, and
very tedious and Disappointing work ii
was. The plenipotentiaries were even
more cautious and Ieticent than usual;
they dropped none OF those little crumbs
OF information on important topics which
keep the special correspondent from alb
solute starvation. They were watched as
they went into the sittings, ana watched
as they came out; but the keenest scru-
tiny was unavailing; an elusive smile
baffled all observers.
Prominent amoug these special corre-
spondents was man fof European repu-
tatioD, He represo ntcd q famous En-
glish journal, but whether he himself
was an Englishman no one knew. He
was pleased to call himself Le Grand
but it does not follow that this was his,
real name; he may have adopted il for
the sake OF the idea that 1t embodied. II
was said that he was native of the
Channel Islands; his French was, how
ever, the purest Partisan. But then, he
spoke with equal purity English, Ger
man, and daresay various other languages
in~which was less able to judge of his
proficiency. Never was there man more
thoroughly cosmopolitan. and never was
there a correspondent who exhibited
greater enterprise and audacity in securing
tid-bits of early Information for the paper
he represented. He was personally ac-
quainted with every prominent statesman
in Europe, and had been admitted to con-
fidential interviews with many monarchs.
On one OCCASION he had travelled tete-a-
tete with king across France, and, on
another, he had forced his advice upon
the most masterful Of continental states
men. When he chose, he could decorate
his breast with an array of orders suff-
ciently numerous and distinguished to
excite the envy of many a diplomatist.
Physically he was an immense man, but
his appearance was not distinguished.
His broad, fat face was clean -shaven, per-
haps TO favor the idea that he was an En- |
glishman. The features, taken as a
whole, were commonplace; the eyes
small and cunning; the mouth wide; the |
upper lip stih and strenuous; the chin de- /
termined; the nose long and fiexibel. as
became such seeker after news. The |