Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1907-08-24
CHAPTER XVI.
discriminating Dispatches.

S''NT U 6h NNNis
discriminating Dispatches.
She had been arranging the papers
deftly in some sort of order
you read French, think? The let
ter of Ferdinand Is In that language;
Sir Mortimer's notes and answers are,
Of course, in English"
I drew toward me the first of the
papers she indicated.
"You are nothing If not modern in
your methods" l scoffed, glancing
down the page. Your safes and
typewriters bring back to me the asso-
Citations of my banking business. And
a banker, let me warn you, scans the
signature of a draft carefully before
he cashes it."
"The typewriter is an amusing little
instrument" she yawned, "and l am
proud of my success in mastering 1t.
AS for the safe, if you have been a
banker, you know that the combina-
ton Is carefully guarded, M. Coward"
1t gave her the cruelest delight to
taunt me with the shameful word. Dur
Ing the next half hour she insulted me
80 at least half dozen times. bent
my attention on the paper before me.
1 translate roughly Ferdinand's let
ter:
"(Strictly confidential)
"Hotel du Rhin,
place Yendome, Paris,
MAY %.
my Dear Sir Mortimer:
81 expect to start for Sofia via Vien-
ma and Budapest in about a week;
trust | shall see you at the Palace
shortly after my arrival. Meanwhile
let me urge on you once more that
you exert without further delay your
great influence with your Foreign Of
flee, that your ministers may be con-
vinced that the crisis has come-the
opportunity we have so long awaited.
Now or never | must lead my army to
the succor of the distressed people of
Macedonia. | think that the profound
knowledge you have always shown of
affairs in the Balkan Peninsula must
make you realize the truth of this
statement. 1t is useless for me to re-
peat my arguments. For what you
have done | thank you. But it is not
to the diplomatist i am now speaking,
but to the man. l have written this
letter with my own hand for reasons
that you will understand.
Believe me, my dear Sir Mortimer,
- ,-~5,.--.,. 50 Faithfully yours,
"a:
81 see nothing discriminating in this
letter." l said, nor anything out of
the usual run of letters.
"You will notice on the back Of the
letter this brief statement: Answered,
June Sd, NJ. B. As to the answer of
the letter it is equally innocent. 1t is
simply the guarded reply of diplo-
matist dealing with a delicate topic.
! In these typewriter copies this letter
and its answer are meaningless. The
originals are simply useful to prove
the authenticity of Sir Mortimer's
handwriting"
/ scanned the answer. 1t was not an
exact copy, but the substance of Sir
Mortimer's letter jotted down to re-
fresh his memory;
Il replied in substance as follows: It
was useless to bring up the matter
again. my personal wishes would not
be sufficient to change the programme
of the Foreign Office; at present l did
not see my way clear to advocate as
a diplomatist England's espousal of
this cause; | would continue to lay the
matter before the Foreign Office; more
than that, when events justified the
act, l would see that such influence as
/ possessed was exerted in the man
ner Prince FERDINAND wished; but at
present | could offer no encourage
ment."
Mote concerning the above, also in
Sir Mortimer's handwriting)
"This reply will put an end, think,
to further correspondence in that quar-
ter Certainly, the hopes of the nation
seem so radically devirgent from those
of the ruler that | can favor one only
at the expense of the other. Natur-
ally, / prefer to favor the party that
promises the most for my own inter-
ests'
II told you that the originals are
particularly useful to identify the
handwriting and signature of Sir Nor
timer. But observe, monsieur, the ex-
preston: Naturally, | prefer to favor
the party that promises the most for
my own interests That sentence is
to be remembered when you read the
other letters. 1t has its significance"
Again she stretched out her hand to
receive the papers | had read. / did
not relinquish them, however. laid
them carelessly on my knee as If to
refer to them later.
THAT remains to be proved" l said