Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1908-05-05
CHAPTER xxx.
The City Of Unrest

Ten days had passed since Charlie
had met the mysterious Lorena in
Paris.
To both Charlie and Ma1-though.
now separated by the breath Of Europe
they had been breathless, anxious,
neverto-be-forgotten days.
The ominous words of Lorena ever
recurred to him. Apparently the girl
knew TAR more than she had told him,
and her declaration that confirmation
of Adams charges would be found
beyond that white enameled door in
Park lane gripped his senses. He
could think of nothing else.
She had left him In the Rue de
Rivoli, outside the Gardens, refusing
her address or any further account
of herself. She had warned him
that was, she said, allsufficient.
He blamed himself a thousand times
for not having followed her; for not
having sought some further informa-
tion concerning the peril of old Sam
Statham.
Yet the afternoon following, just as
he was about to drive from the Grand
Hotel to the Care du Nord, to return
to London, one of the clerks from Old
.
letter from the head Of the firm, giving
him instructions to proceed to Servia
at once and transact certain business
with the Government regarding certain
copper concessions in the district Of
Kaopanik. The deal meant the intro
duction of considerable amount of
British capital into Seriva, and had
support from his Majesty King Peter
dCyxy o,~6c oil IN
favour save the Opposition in the
unruly peasants who opposed every
mee sure the Pashitch Government put
for tard.
The business brooked no delay
Therefore Charlie, that same night,
entered the Orient express, that train
of dusty wagons-lit which runs three
times a week between Paris and Con-
stantinople, and three days later ar
rived in Belgrade, the Servian capital
He was no stranger in that rather
pleasant town, perched high up at the
junction of the Save with the broad
Danube The passport officer at Sem
lin station recognised him, and gave
him visa at once, and on alighting at
Belgrade the little ferret-eyed man
idling outside the station did not fol
low him, for he knew him by sight and
was we'll aware that the Grand Hotel
was his destination.
There are more spies in Belgrade
than in other city in Europe. So much
foreign intrigue is ever in progress
that the Servian authorities are com
PEELED to support a whole army Of
secret agents to watch and report
Hence it is that the stranger, from
the moment he sets foot in Belgrade to
the moment he leaves it, is watched,
and his every movement noted and
reported. Yet all is SO we'll managed
that the foreigner is never aware of
the close surveillance upon him, and
Belgrade is as gay town in the mat
ter Of entertaining and general free
dom as, well, as any other you may
choose to name.
During the days when, owing to the
unfortunate events which terminated
the reign of the half-imlecile King
Alexander and the designing woman
who became his Queen, when England
had suspended diplomatic negotiations
the great stakes held in the country
by Statham Brothers were in a some
what precarious condition. For two
years Seryian finance had been in any
thing but fourishing condition, but
now, under the rule of King Peter who
had done his very utmost to reinstate
his country in it's former fourishing
position, the confidence of Europe had
been restored, and Statham Brothers
were ready to make further invest
ments.
In Charles Rolfe the great million
aire had the most perfect confidence.
The letter he had sent to Paris was
clear and explicit in its instructions.
II the concessions were confirmed by
the Prime Minister Pashitch and the
Council, million dinars Cor francs)
were already deposited in the Ma
tional Bank of Servia, and could be
drawn at an hours notice upon
Charlie signature.
So he drove to the Grand, the hotel
with It's great garish cafe, its restaur-
ant where the sterlet is perhaps more
delicious than the Hermitage In Mos
COW, and its excellent Tzigane band.