The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-09-26

said he preferred 10 see you mere, dhu
would call again at o'clock this even
Ing. When / told him you never trans
acted business here he replied that you
would make his case an exception"
/ awaited the arrival Of my visitor
with q certain amount OF curiosity.
knew he must have obtained my pri-
yate address from one Of four persons,
and that none Of the four would have
given Il 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.
looked at him curiously. He was a
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
resentative 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," interjected.
"It was not our intention to publish
the terms Of those negotiations, but
they had been betrayed, and no other
course remained open 10 us"
He paused for a moment; then, as
remained silent, continued:
"You boast OF the freedom of your
press, Mr.. Norton, and rightly so.
Taken as n 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
10 increase the circulation Of his paper
he would turn every public servant
into n Judas, and But pardon me.
Mr.. Norton, did not come here 20 lee
ture on the evils Of free press"
He spoke In a tone OF great bitterness
and his eyes flashed ominously
You viii understand why feel SO,
deeply on tbe subject when tell you
that the items Of information concern
ing the negotiations which have lately
appeared In the Early Bugle have been
secured by SIS editor from some trcach.
erous official
We have tried in vain 20 discover
the traitor SO. acting upon the advice
OF friend ! determined 10 take you
into my confidence and ask you 10 IN
dertake the inquiry"
assured him that I should be-
pleased 10 do so, and he went on:
There have been leakages in several
departments lately. and your author.-
ties think the traitor is on their side.
am positive that be Is not"
Why"
Because the Information Is not
taken from official documents. but Is
a clever summary Of conversations be-
tween myself and your representa-
tive. And the leakage never occurs
when | have visited your Foreign
Office, but invariably follows the visit
of your representative to our Lega-
ton.
You have taken a great load Off my
mind by consenting to undertake the
inquiry, for. from what | know of you.
j 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 Lcga-
ton during my inquiry.
The day following | entered the lie.
CATION as his honored guest | was
soon on excellent terms with everybody
connected with the establishment.
wandered about the house lsmolested.
poked into odd corners, talked with the
servants, and, In fact, with every one.
but 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-
yersation had been betrayed.
In less than an hour a summary of
the conversation appeared in n special
edition of the Early Bugle.
Baron Kaluto had not left the Lega-
ton. The Foreign Office representative
had been shadowed to his office. He
had not spoken to any one on his way
there. No third person had been pres
ent at the Interview, and yet the sum-
mary was SO concise and accurate that
IL must have been communicated by
some one who had listened TO the con.
versation. No other explanation was
possible. l was puzzled.
The following afternoon represen.
tative of the Foreign Office called AT
the Legation and was closeted with
Baron Kaluto. An hour later the name
OF the traitor and the method by which
he communicated with the editor were
known to me. But how he gained his
knowledge could not tell.
The statement which appeared In the
Early Bugle was made the basis OF n
question In Parliament. and In his re.
ply the Under Secretary stated that II
was pure fiction. The members OF the
Legation smiled knowingly when they
read his answer. They thought that
In the interests Of his country, he had
trifed with the truth.
They were mistaken; he had Spoken
the truth. The representative whc
called at the Legation came. not from
the Foreign Office, but from my Office
He was one OF my men, so cleverly
made up that they were deceived by
his remarkable likeness to the person
he represented.