Evening star., 1898-08-06

/
bring up reserves. Here they are vastly
! superior TO us. SupposinR that their next
! ftrwar0 move be eTectual. / fan 10 see
bow We can hope to arrest their march ON
faris.'
You summarize affairs rapidly" cried
/ the king. with some bitterness. He re-
victions.
Your majesty. we may deceive the c.e-
| my. but as you have said. we cannot 6e-
! ceive ourselves
Where is the fieet?" INQUIRED Jerome.
| Protecting the Gabes canal, massed in
! seuadrons at Msrseilles. Toulon. Brest and
! Cherbourg, and patrolling the channel"
broke in the Due de Tangier.
And the German fieet?"
so far as We know, resting gecurely be-
| hind the guns Of Brsmerhaven. Hamburg
and Kiel- They cannot hope to match our
| navy, neglected though it may have been"
| Nansittart ignored the momentary sar-
| CO sm of the concluding remark
Let every available ship be sent from all
| the points you have named. monsieur, into
| the North sea and the Baltic with orders
| TO do as much damage as possible to Ger
| man commerce, ports, navy and fortifica-
| TIC rs. Cable instructions commanders
| of vessels in distant parts Of the world to
! sail for the nearest German colony and tiud
| occupation there. This, think, had better
| be put in operation at once"
The due rose, but he murmured Even a
| single German cruiser in the Mediterranean
can do infinite damage to The Sahara works
at Gabes."
y.
said Jerome. quietly and the secretary for
the navy, in his newborn zeal. rushed inn
petuously from the room to his admiralty
headquarters.
Vansittart took some writing materials
and began to draft a memorandum. the
others watching him curiously. Without
ceasing to write he Inquired:
rs the secretary for war present?
Il am here" replied Gen. EiIleneuve
Are you well supplied with horses?"
"On the contrary 1 have had difficulty in
collecting additional 10000 which have
been requisitioned at the front"
But you have them?
My lists are nearly complete. / irtend
to begin forwarding them in patches to-
morrow"
LAS for forage?"
Fortunately We are well found in that
solitary respect"
Good. 1 want you to collect 10 600 horses,
strong and fast, and in good condition, to-
gether with a weeks supplies for them and
1000 men. at Sedan, as soon as possible"
AT Sedani' broke in several voices in
utter astonishment. Sedan lay to the north
Of the present theater of operations. In
any case, ii was place of evil omen to
the French mind.
Jerome paused a moment in his writing
pulled the map toward aim. scrutnized 1t
for moment. and exclaimed: Yes, ii is
easily accessible by rail, and IS just the
right locality"
No one questioned him. Gen Villeneuve,
not wishfui to oppose the millionaire, yet
ventured on a suggestion.
Der, monsieur. 1 pledged my word to Gen
Daubisson that he should have 10000 with
in week"
He WIFI said Jerome. still writing. II
bought 10000 before leaving the states
They will all reach Havre. Brest or Cher
bourg between tomorrow, Sunday and
Tuesday
A general buzz of subdued comment
Vansttarts thoughtful face with some
thing like wonderment in his own Liam
courts air was ten years younger as he
murmured to his nearest neighbor: The
emperor has not changed. then" Gen.
Villeneuve resolved to carry out instruc-
tions without comment in future.
Jerome scrtbbled on industriously,
Where is Col. lie Breton?" was his next
question.
He commands the cavalry division with
the main army" said Niileneuye.
Capital! The right man in the right
place. / am sorry that he should have to
relinquish his post for time"
At last he ended his task. and carefully
revised the manuscript. The watchful
council noted that he appeared to be very
particular as to its phraseology. Several
times he corrected ii and once sought the
assistance of the king as TO the exact sig
nihcance of a French idiom he had used
When quite satisfied with the production,
he folded the document and handed ii to
Iileneuve, saying: General. I intrust the
execution of the task detailed therein to
you, Daubisson and lie Breton. Have ac-
curate copies made for the instruction Of
both those officers. Your part of the work
Will make itself clear on perusal and no
one else must be cognizant of its nature"
What you have ordered will be DONE"
cried the war minister. in unconscious par
aphrase of Arizona Jim's favorite declara-
ton He at once quilted the assembly to
attend to Eansittarts mysterious mandate
There, cried the millionaire. with the
contentment of one who has finished with
weghty undertaking. Il hope TO hear
the first news of that piece of work from
England"
From England" said Henri, with undis-
guised amazement.
Yes. Your majesty must be aware Of old
that L thoroughly appreciate the press
The correspondents of the enterprising En-
giish journals WILL I have no doubt. inform
US as to the success or failure of my first
personal blow at the German host
Il may say in conclusion" he ADDED,
that | was not idle before I sailed from
ammunition, horses and equipment to-
gether with some special requirements Of
ny own, a. every possible center in Eng
land and America They are all consigned
to a mythical individual named Hiram p
Sloker of Boston, Mass. but / have no
ooubt that they will eventually. and very
soon. hope. find their way to various
French ports The authorities must be in
structed to look out for them. and the less
said about these consignments the better
AS | have already remarked, the press can
FENDER us great service but it can 10 us
even greater injury by making our secrets
known to the enemy"
You have brought us new lie, my
friend" said the king, seizing Vansittart's
hand impulsively.
You have plenty OF life" was the cheer
ful answer, but you need rousng A bit
Believe me. France Will arise from this su-
preme trial more powerful. more dignifed,
than before"
She will be bankrupt in gratitude"
cried Lianeourt.
Nay, that is impossible. OF all coun-
tries, she pays most dearly for slight SER
vices. Now, to protect the Sahara
He wrote a telegram addressed to the
British foreign secretary: THE exigeucies
of the campaign compel France to leave
the Sahara canals at Gabes unprotected,
Your interests, however, demand that they
shall not be injured by any hostile power.
Full explanations will be given to the Brit
,sh ambassador in Paris"
Germany will think many times before
she acts once to inpel Great Britaia
to actively side with us in this struggle"
fe explain ed to those present and the
message was dispatched
when the council dispersed Jerome
sought his private apartments He missed
nd In