Mower County transcript., 1906-04-11

sSss sss
SsS..A hundfed thousand dollars q,
rhe# dip plomat glanced alnusedly III
HIS American friend. suppose that5
sounds small enough to yon rich "A AMER
leans But to 4 clerk It reads wealth ,alEd =.
SS.s The American was silent. IA terri
sSble thought flashed through his brain
ID thought that he repu ulsed almost I'M
2metliately
'.of course, i am only speculating; !;
nothing has been done as yet. 4
X. hen some ething is going B is b3 So
done ?'' asked the Ann erican, clearing
his voice I. 1S "a
One day Or. another If We can ut not
find the clerk we shall look higher.
We should consider q nillion franca,
well Y'easted. e. America is rapidly be-
coming e great power But let us
drop the subject. and turn to some
thing more agreeable to us both. sY our
daughter is charming. / honestly con-
Tess to you that ] have not met her
equal %e' 81 L in any country. Pardon my.
presumption, but may Il ask il she
/ ISL engaged to be married ?'' NJ SssS 81
Not to my knowledge, vastly sur
prised and at the same time pleased.
Are you averse to foreign alli-
ances?" The diplomat dipped the end
of his fresh-lighted cigar into his cof-
fee. %%s% - 'r, s.. $.> ,4sS- W.
/ MY dear count, I am not averse to.
foreign alliances, but l rather suspect
that my daughter is.So This aversion
might be overcome, however, ;i. %3...%
1 What. 2 vista was opened to this
swretched father! II only she might
marry riches, how easily he might con-
! Tess what he had done, how easily all
this despair and terror might be dis
persedt And here was man who was.
known in the great world, rich, young
and handsome. ~ S ~
i The other gazed dreamily at the
ceiling; from there his gaze travelled
about the cofee-room, with it's gath
ering Of coffee drinkers, and at length
came back to bis vis-a-vis. #
,"'You will return to Washington? ?" he
asked. " s#Ss%
:, II shall live there for the winter;
that is, I expect to- %..s.sE.# ..t.@
b., Doubtless we shall see each other
this !. winter, then" and the count
threw away his cigar. babe his COM
panion good night, and went to- his
room. Ye1 ..,,t,.. = ,:=* =,
(. How adroitly he had sown the seed!
AT that period he. had no positive idea
upon what kind Of ground he had cast
1t. But he took that chance which all
far-sighted men take, and then
waited. There was little he had not
learned about this handsome American
with the beautiful daughter. How he
had learned will always remain dark to
me. My own opinion is, that he had
been studying him during his tenure
OF Office In Washington, and, with that
patience, which is making Russia 50.
formidable, waited for, this opportu--
nity... +, y .s- 3 :32 & .s:s.. #
MI shall give the Russian all the JUS
hce Sof impartiality. When he: saw
the girl he rather shrank from tho
affair j. But he: had gone too. Tar, he
had promised too much; to withdraw
now meant his own defeat, his gov
ernment's anger, his political oblivion.
And there was a zest in this life of his.
He could no more resist the call Of
intrigue than a gambler can resist the
croupier's Make your game, gentle
men!' I believe that he loved the girl
the moment he set eyes upon her. Her
beauty and bearing distinguished her
from the other women heFhad met, and
her personality was SO engaging that
her conquest of him was complete and
spontaneous. How to win this girl
and at the same time ruin her father
was an embarrassing problem. The
plan which finally came to him he re-
PEELED again and again, but at length
he surrendered To get the parent IN
his. power and then to coerce the girl in
case she refused him! To my knowl-
edge this affair was the first dishonor-
able act Of very honorable man. :,
But love makes fools and rogues Of us
ALL sft-1 5.i G. ~: ">~' - \.
When the American returned to the
world, his cigar was out and his coffee
was stale and cold. 70 n 4
!: "A million <francs!" he murmured.
""Two hundred thousand!":i
/ The seed had fallen on fruitful
ground. s q. ,:;%. :2..' ~ r.>
! To BE contInued.
9 49, .@5:s ss5% Il. VI IT, No., II :
j 5-----.. . - - - y r II III .*E