Amador ledger., 1906-04-20

was glorious fall evening in Par
IS we were seated in the club OF
the Boulevard Germain, discussing tn,
stirring events of the day. There hat
been rumors and reports of disagree
No man could say what would han
pen next. Both nations were on tn,
qul vive, armed, mobilizing, ready Il
hight at the drop OF the hat.
Brangere, the sculptor, drew up q
small table and we prepared for &
game of the fascinating American pok.
er, which had just become all the rage
cards. Brangere, with Ouvrard, the
banker, Mongerval, former French am
bassador to st. Petersburg, and myself
made up the party.
Suddenly Latour. the correspondent
OF La We, burst in upon US. His eyes
were sparkling. Latour's eyes ALWAYS
contained a message of some kind
Quired.
mo. What has happened?"
War is declaredw
we jumped to our feet in astonish-
Mutual insults have passed. Yhe
Germans have burned the French am
passador in ef1gy. The French retail
ate by hanging a dummy Kaiser. The
streets are full of mobs, all of one mind
Germany must back down. In Ber-
lin the people are swarming the
streets, demanding that Germany
stand upon her dignity. So there you
have it."
".And what from the War Ofice?'
asked Mongerval
=. Latour bent over our table and fair
~ missed the words: The Germans
have already invaded France They
are swarm1ng across the frontier And
oh, the shame of tive are not ready.
is the asininity of the Government;
the littleness, the self1shness, the
greed Of the commanders and the min
T,atour,s broofb e-ava ont IL --o.
always tragic. Our game was forgot
ten. We looked at one another in
dumb astonishment. For none knew
better that we the unpreparedness of
the French, against which stood the
mighty power of the enemy, her teen,-
ing population, every man of whic- !
shoot, to obey orders. And the Ger
mans had chosen their season we'll. I
recalled a pronouncement of the Ger
man General Staff in 1905, when they
a winter campaign. Our soldiers, COM
ing from the cold regions of the north
will march toward a temperate cli-
gether ours.''
Latour left US on his chase for news.
Our party was broken up. The i'm
pending crisis was too much for US
"I shall go to the front and gather
material for a wonderful group-the
dying Generalissimo, said Brangere,
throwing Dack MS DrOad shoulders.
'The French will win," said Ouv-
rard, smiling, "and I shall loan them
funds-as much as they may need
without charge. for the sake of my
beloved France" And here he lied,
for knew that he would demand in
tereSt to the last sou.
"Adieu," said Mongerval. 'T go to
the President. 1 shall urge meditation,
and I, myself, shall be an ambassador
to arrange terms" He withdrew
grandiloquently.
I was left alone-I. James Adams,
a plain American of adventure, to per-
form a part of which I had then NO
conception.
1t is dangerous in France, or in
Germany either, for that matter, to be
secretive. Suspicious are sure to be
aroused If your business is not well
known and openly stated. Therefore
it was well that 1 was allied with large
American manufacturing firms, with
offices in Berlin, Hamburg, Paris and
Calais. In France I was careful to be
French in sympathy and ourspoKen,
too. In Germany I became a. Teuton
to the core. In addition to this ready
adaptability, l was personally ac-
quainted with the French and German
rulers, had excellent German connec-
tions, and was well known in Belgium,
Holland and Italy. And inasmuch as
it often became necessary for me to