The Washington weekly post., 1899-07-25
BY ROBERT BARR


"hoie coinage IN this so-called war chest,
"hich was not war chest at all. but
merely the receptacle OF a reserve fund
wnieh Austria possessed, was entirely in
Austrian coinage); Fifth, in order that
trese sensational and disquiettng scandals
snonld be set at rest. the government an
houncec that II intended to weigh this
gold upon certain date. and Il invited
representatives OF the press from Russia,
Germany, France, and England 10 witness
this weighing
/ Inc day after this troy weight furction
had taken place in Vienna iong telegraph
ic accounts Of Il appeared in the English
press, and several solemn leading articles
were put forward IN the editorial columns.
which without mentioning the name OF the
Daily busle, deplored the yoracity Of the
Sensational editor. who Respected neither
the amity which should exist between
freEaiy nations nor the good name OF the
honored and respected dead In his VOLTS;
hunt for the daily scandal Nothing was
100 high sDiced or improbable for him 10
print He traded on the supposed guilt
bliity of hckle public But. fortuna ely,
Tn the long run, these staid sheets assert
&c, such actions recOIied upon the head Of
him who promulgated them Sensational
journals meriteG and received the scath-
[ Ing contempt OF all honest men. Later on
one Of the reviews had an article entitled
some Aspects OF Modern Journalism, a"
Z which struck the head OF the Daily Pu<le
/ With a sle0se hammer and IN one Of the
I qU&rteriies a professor at Cambridge
showed the absurdity OF the alleged in
vention from a scientific point Of view
i swear" cried Mr.. HardwicK. as he
paced up and down his room. that shall
be more careful after this in the handling
I or the truth. II Is q dangerous thing 70
/ NEEDLE with. II you tell the truth about
man, you are mulcted in a libel suit, and
If YOU tell the truth about nation the
united press OF the country is down upon
you. All, well, It makes the battle Of life
AL the more interesting and We are bafled
I 10 fight better. as Browning says"'
The editor had sent for Miss Baxter. and
she now sat by his desk while he paced
up and down the floor The doors were
closed and locked so that they might not
be interrupted, and she knew by the ell
itors manner that something important
was on hand Jennie had returned to
London after a months stay in Vienna,
and had been occupied for a week at hes.
ole routine work in the Office.
Nov, Miss Baxter" said the editor.
/ wheE he had proclaimed his fear Of the
truth as workable material in Journal
ISM i have plan 10 set before YOU, and
when you know what 1t is | am quite
prepared 10 hear YOU refuse 10 have any
thing TO do with IL, and, remember. if YOU
do undertake IL, there is but one chance
IN million Of your succeeding. II is on
that one chance that ] propose now TO
send you TO st. Petersburg
ITO st. Petersburg" echoed the girl in
dismay
yes" said the editor, -nistaking The
purport OF her ejaculation. II is a very
long journey, but you can travel in great
comfort, and I want you to spare no ex-
pense i'm obtaining for yourself any lux
ury that travel can afford during your
journey 10 St Petersburg and back"
And what am | TO go to st. Peters
burg for? murmured Jennie. family.
Merely for letter. Here is what has
happened and what is happening: | shall
mention no names but at present a high
and mighty parsonage in Russia, who is
friendly 10 Great Britain, has written a
private letter making some proposals 10
a certain high and mighty parsonage m
| England who is friendly to Russia. This
communication is entirely unofficial:
neither government is supposed to know
anything AT all about il. AS a matter Of
fact, the Russian government has a sus-
picion and the British government has n
certainty that such a document will
shortly be in transit. Nothing may come
of it, or great things may come of it, Now.
on the night Of the 2st. on one Of tho
sleeping cars leaving St. Petersburg ty
the Nord express for Berlin. there will
travel special messenger having this let
ter in his possession. / want YOU 10 take
passage by that same train and secure a
compartment near the messenger. if pos
SibIe. This messenger will be a man in
whom the respective parties To the ne
Foiations have implicit confidence. I
wish ] knew his name, but don't Still.
/ the chances are that he is leaving London
for ST Petersburg about this time, and so
you might keep your eyes open even on
( the journey there. for If you discovered
him TO be your fellow passenger II might
perhaps make the business that comes
after easier. You see this envelope" said
the editor, taking from a drawer in mis-
| desk large envelope, the flap of which
was secured by A great piece of stamped
/ scaling wax. This envelope contains \
/ humble ordinary copy of to-dav's issue of
/ the Daily Bugle. but in outside appearance
| it might be taken for a duplicate of the
( letter which is to leave ST. Petersburg on
| the list Now, what / wOul like you TO
/ do is 10 take this envelope IN your hand
/ bag, and If on the journey back TO Lon
/ don you have an opportunity Of securing
/ the real letter and leaving this in rs
/ place you will have accomplished the
/ greatest service you have yet done for the
paper"
: "Ohr' cried Jennie, rising 'T couldn't
do that. Mr.. Hardwick, | couldn't think
of doing it. II is nothing short Of high
way robbery"
Il know it looks like that" pleaded Mr.
Hardvick, but listen TO me. If were
going TO open the letter and use its con-
/ tents, then you might charge me with in
stigating theft. The fact is. the letter
will not be delayed; ii will reach the
hands Of the high and mighty parsonage
( in England quite intact The only differ
ence is that you VIII be its bearer instead
OF the messenger they send for it
You expect 10 open the letter then in
some surrepitious way-some way that
VIII not be noticed aftervard? Oh, l
couldn't do it, Mr.. Hardwick."
My dear Girl. you are jumping at con-
cluSions- l shall amaze you when l tell
you that ] know already practically what
the contents Of that letter are"
Then what is the use Of going TO all
this expense and trouble trying to steal
! it?'
Don't say steal it, Miss Baxter. III
tel you what my motive IS. There IS an
official In England who has gone out Of
his way 70 throw obstacles in mine This
is needless and irritating. fer generally 1
manage 70 get the news I am in quest Of;
but in several instances, owing to his
opposition, J have not only not got the
news, but other papers have. Now, since
the general rakins we have had over this
Austrian business, quite aside from the
fact that We published the exact truth.
this stupid old official duTer has taken
Il upon himself 10 be exceedingly sneering
and obnoxious 10 me, and / confess /
want 10 take him down peg He hasn't
any idea that know as much about this
business as ] do-in fact, he thinks IL Is
an absolute secret-yeL II / liked, / could
tomorrow nUlllfy all the ARA ngements
b,r sFy,-Iv ys4rhlfSh hing What 4. aFrass,- IA