Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-07-18
AN INGENIOUS BETRAYAL.

a gentleman called to sec you this
afternoon. Mr. Norton" said my house
keeper on my arrival home from the
Office one evening. Il gave him your
citv address, but he said he preferred to
see YOU here and would call again at s
o'clock this evening. When | told him
You never transacted business here he re-
| Piled that YOU would make his case al.
/ exception
Il awaited the arrival OF ms visitor
with Il certain amount OF curiosity.
knew he must have obtained my private
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. Battv an
nounced his arrival, and Il moment after
ward 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.
| II am Baron Kaluto the special repre-
sentative in England of the Barema gov
eminent. From the papers you will have
gathered that there have been, and still
are, in progress important negotiations
between your country and my own"
Yes | interiected.
1t was not our intention to publish
the terms of those negotiat tons. but they
had been betrayed, and no other course
remained open to Us"
lie paused for IL moment; then, as |
remained silent, continued:
You boast of the freedom of your
press, Mr.. Norton, and rightly So Taken
as Il whole, your editors are men of high
purpose and lofty ideal-men who appre
catc 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 circua-
ton of his paper he would turn every
public servant into a Judas, and But
pardon me, Mr.. Norton, | did not come
here 10 lecture on the evils of free
press
lie spoke in tone of great bitterness
and his eyes flashed omiuously.
You will understand why feel 50
deeply on the subject when ] tell you
that the items of information concerning
the negotiations which have lately ap-
peared in the Early Bugle have been Sc
cured by its editor from some treacher-
Gus official.
We have tried in vain to discover the
traitor So, acting upon the advice of "A
| friend, for whom you have done efficient
service, / determined to take You into
my confidence and ask you to undertake
the inquiry"
assured him that l should be pleased
to do So, and he went on:
There have been ieakages in several
departments lately, and your authorities
think the traitor j. on their side. am
positive that he Is not
why :"
Because the information Is not taken
from official documents, hut is clever
summary OF conversations btwcen myself
and your representative. And the leak
age never occurs when | have visited
your foreign Office, but invariably follows
the visit OF Your representative to our
legation,
You have taken a great load off my
mind Gy conserving to undertake the in
quiry, for, from what | know of you,
| am certain if the mystery is to be
solved YOU are the man to do it,
| bowed ny acknowledgment of the
compliment. Then we discussed the mat
ter in all lis bearings, and arranged that
should go and stay at the legation dur
ing my inquiry.
The day following | entered the lega.
ton as his honored guest. | was soon on
eNccllert terms with everybody con
nectcd with the establishment. | wan
derod about the mouse unmoIested. poked
into odd corners. talked with the serv-
ants, and, in fact, with every one; hut
never did | come upon Il cine 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 en-
trance Nothing suspicious had hap
Pcned, and yet an important conversa-
ton had 1oen BETRAYED.
In less than All noun n summary Of
the conversation appeared in a special
edition of the Early BuCle
Baron kaluto had not left the legation.
The foreign Office representative had been
Swallowed 10 his Office. He had not
spoken to amy one on his way there. No
third person had been present at the in.
terview, ard Yet the summary was 50
concise and accurate that it must have
| hcen communicated bv some one who
had listened to the conversation. No
Other explanation was possible was
| puzzled.
The following afternoon q representa-,
| nye OF the foreign office called at the
| legation, and was closeted with Baron
| haluto. I'm hour later the name of the
traitor aud the method by which he com.
inundated with the editor were known
to me. But how he gained his knowl
! edge | could not tell
he statement which appeared in the
Early Buglc was made the basis Of a
| question in Parliament, and in his reply
the under secretary stated that it was
! pure fiction. The members Of the lega-
ton smiled knowingly when they read
hlS answer. They thought that. in the
interests of his country, he had TITLED
with the truth.
They We're mistaken: he had spoken
the truth The representative Who called
at the legation came, not from the for.
elgn office. but from my office. He was
ON" OF my men. 50 eleverly made up that
tbey were deceived bv his rrmnrksh bic