Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-11-05
GENTLEMAN called to
see you this afternoon,
Mr.. Norton" said my

N MI Nortoh' salu my
housekeeper on my arrival
home from the office on evening.
Il gave him your city address, but he
said he preferred to see you here, and
would call again at o'clock this even
ing. When l told him you never trans
acted business here he replied that you
would make his case an exception"
l awaited the arrival of my visitor
with a certain amount of curiosity. l
knew he must have obtained my pri-
vate address from one of four persons,
and that none of the four would have
given it to him unless his business
proved of the utmost importance.
On the stroke of Mrs. Batty an
nounced his arrival, and a moment af-
terward ushered him into my presence.
l looked at him curiously. He was
keen-eyed, elderly man, with gray hair
and mustache, and a forehead deeply
scored with lines of care.
Il am Baron Kaluto, the special rep
resentatiye in England of the Barema
Government. From the papers you
will have gathered that there have
been, and still are, in progress impor-
tant negotiations between your coun-
try and my own"
YES" l interiected.
SIT was not our intention to publish
the terms of those negotiations, but
they had been betrayed, and no other
course remained open to u.s."
He paused for a moment; then, as I
remained silent, continued:
You boast of the freedom of your
press, Mr.. Norton, and rightly so.
Taken as a whole, your editors are
men of high purpose and lofty ideal
men who appreciate the responsibility
of their position and use their power
for the good of the nation. But there
are exceptions, and the editor of the
Early Bugle is one of them. In order
to increase the circulation of his paper
he would turn every public servant
into Judas, and But pardon me,
Mr.. Norton, l did not come here to lee
ture on the evils of free press"
He spoke in a tone of great bitterness
and his eyes flashed ominously.
You will understand why | feel so
deeply on the subject when l tell you
that the items of information concern
Ing the negotiations which have lately
appeared in the Early Bugle have been
secured by its editor from some treach-
erous official.
I'VE have tried in vain to discover
the traitor So, acting upon the advice
of a friend, l determined to take you
into my confidence and ask you to un-
dertake the inquiry"
I assured him that / should bo
pleased to do so, and he went on:
There have been leakages in several
departments lately, and your authori-
ties think the traitor is on their side /
am positive that he is mott
"Why?"
Because the information Is not
taken from official documents, but is
clever summary of conversations be-
tween myself and your representa-
tive And the leakage never occurs
when L have visited your Foreign
Office, but invariably follows the visit
OF your representative to our Leca-
ton.
You have taken a great load off nv
mind by consenting to undertake the
inquiry, for, from what l know of Won.
l am certain If the mystery is to be
solved you are the man to do it."
bowed my acknowledgment OF the
compliment. Then we discussed the
matter in all its bearings, and arranged
that should go and stay at the Lega.
ton during my inquiry.
The day following | entered tho To.
saIon as his honored guest. I was
soon on excellent terms with everybody
connected with the establishment.
wandered about the house ,.1moIestad
poked into odd corners, talked with the
servants, and, in fact, with every one
nut never did come upon a clue which
promised to lead to the solution of the
mystery.
A week passed and was no nearer
the solution than on the first day' of
my entrance. Nothing suspicious had
happened, and yet an important con.
Versation had been betrayed.
In less than an hour a summary nj
the conversation appeared in a special
edition of the Early Bugle.
baron haluto had not left the Lega
tion. The Foreign Office representative
mad been shadowed to his office. FL,
had not spoken to any one on his wa,
there. No third person had been pres
ent at the interview and yet the sum
mary was so concise and accurate tha
1t must have been communicated b,
some one who had listened to the con
Versation. No other explanation wa!
possible. 1 was puzzled.
The following afternoon a represen
tatiVe of the Foreign Office called a
the Legation and was closeted will
Baron Kaluto. An hour later the nam
of the traitor and the method by whlcl
he communicated with the editor wer
known to me. But how he gained hi
knowledge | could not tell.