The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1898-04-22


o not suspect You, tir; have positive
proof Of It."
"Since yesterday. Dsedes. catastro-
phe has occurred"
you briefly limited at 1t in your
telegram" I answered. What is it's
nature?"
"The most serious that has happen
ed during the whole Of my admins
tration," he said. in a voice that plain
ly betrayed his agitation. The
clauses of the secret defensive al
lance which Hammerton brought
from Be=ln yesterday are known in
St. Petersburg"
What" l cried. IN alarm. remem-
| bering the Earls woI As, and his elab-
crate precautions to preserve its Sc
crecy. Surely they cannot be already
known"
1--WE have been tcicked by spies,
Decides" he answered. sternly. Read
this and he handed me telegram
in the private cipher known only to
the Minister himself Its transcript
was written beneath, and at glance
saw it was from a Russian official IN
the Foreign ONCE at st. Petersburg,
who acted as our secret agent there
and received large sum yearly for
his services. The dispatch, which
showed that it had baen handed in at
Hamburg at O'Clock on the previous
evening-all secret messages being
sent in the first insts nee to that city,
and retransmitted-rta as follows:
! Greatest excitement caused here by
receipt an hour ago uf verbatim copy
Of secret defensive alliance between
England and Germany. Have seen
telegram, which was landed in at No.
1853 Strand, London, at $3.50. Just
called at Embassy and informed Lord
Strathavon. Council of Ministers has
been summoned"
1T is amazing" l gasped, when I
had read the dispatch. How could
our enemies have learned the TRUTH"
Without replying he took from his
writing table another message, which
read:
From Strathavon, st. Petersburg.
To the Earl of Wsrnham, London.
Defensive alliance known here. Hos
tilities feared. French ambassador
has had audience at Winter Palace,
and telegraphed to Paris for instruc-
tons. Shall wire hourly"
One by one he took up the tele-
graphic dispatches that during the
night had been re-transmitted from the
the Foreign Office oyer the private
wire to the instrument that stood upon
small table opposite us. AS l read
each Of them eagerly saw plainly that
Russia and France were in complete
accord, and that we were on the verge
of national disaster, sudden and
terrible. With such nscrecy and rap
idity were negotiations being carried
on between Paris AMI St. Petersburg
that in Berlin, city always well-in-
formed In all matters of diplomacy.
nothing unusual was suspected.
A telegram from QUE secret agent in
the Russian Foreign Office, received an
hour before my arrival at Warnham,
read.
The secret is gradually leaking out.
The Novosti has Just issued a special
edition limiting at tie possibility of
war with England aid this has caus-
ed the most intense excitement every
where. The journal. evidently In
spiced, gives no authority for its
statement, nor does it give any reason
for the startling rumor."
l laid down the dispatch in silence,
and as l raised my head the Minis
ter's keen, penetrating eyes met mine.
WELL" he exclaimed, In a dry
harsh tone. What is your explana-
ton, sir?"
my explanation" l cried, in
J amazement, noticing his determined
affair, except the kilograms you hav'
shown me"
Upon you alone the responsibility
Of this catastrophe rests" he said. an
grily. ut is useless to deny al
| knowledge of 1t and only aggravat,
your offence. Because you come Of
r diplomatic family, have trusted yo'
implicitly, but 1t Is evident that m,
/ confidence has been utterly misplac
, ed"
, II deny that / have ever for sin
: gle instant betrayed the trust yol
} have placed in me-" replied, hotly
| II know nothing Of the means b,
: which the Cars army of spies hav
: obtained knowledge Of our secret"
(. He snapped his bony fingers impa
t tiently, saying:
1T is not to be expected that 20
will acknowledge yourself traitor t
3 your country, sir; therefore we mus
D prove your guilt"
you are at liberty, Of course. t
! act in what manner you please" an
: swered. Il tell you frankly, however
I that this terrible charge you brin
against me is as startling as the in
formation that have just read.
, can only say that am entirely innc
cent
Bah" he cried, turning on his hes
with a gesture of disgust. Then, fas
ing me again, his eyes flashing wit
anger, he added: IF you are innc
, cent, tell me why you were so long al
sent yesterday when registering tn
dispatch; tell me why. when such a
important document was In your pos
session, you did not remain in tn
Office instead Of being absent over a
hour"
Il went out to lunch" said.
; with the document In your pool
et?"
Yes. But surely you do not SUI
pect me Of being spy" l cried.
II do not suspect you, sir ha,
positive proof Of it,"
Proof" l gasped. SHOW 1t
mel"
1T is here" he answered, his thi