The Washington herald., 1908-04-07
CHAPTER XIII.
The Insf Relnvea.


Weeks had dragged by. To Max Bar
clay they had been weeks OF keen anx-
iety and unceasing search to discover
traces OF his lost beloved.
Once, and only once, had he seen Jean
Adam, against whom Sam Stratham had
warned him. He had met the man of
brilliant financial ideas by appointment
at lunch at the Savoy and had told him
plainly that he had reconsidered the whole
matter Of the Turkish concessions, and
had decided to have nothing to do with
il.
His excuse was lack of funds at that
moment To the old millionaire he owed
a good deal for giving him the tip re-
garding the plausible Anglo-F o-Frenchman.
Adam. alias Adams, received Max's de-
cision without the alteration of a muscle
OF his face. He was perfect actor. and
betrayed no sign OF surprise or of chagrin.
Well my dear fellow" he remarked.
raising his glass of Brauneberger. and
contemplating it before placing 1t to his
lips; you're losing the chance of life
time. If Baron Hirsch had been alive
he wouldn't have allowed sucn a thing
to slip. When old Statham knows Of II
he'll move heaven and earth to come in.
Max was silent. He did not allow his
companion 10 know that Statham had
been responsible for his refusal 10 join in
the project.
I'm sorry, too" he said. But just
now I'm rather pressed. I was hard hit
last week over those Siberians.
But the money required is a mere bag
atelie. I have mine ready.
Il regret. answered Max, but my de-
cisiOn is final.
Very well, my dear fellow replied
Adam lightly Il don't want TO persuade
sou. There are thousand men in the
city who'll be ready 70 put up money to-
morrow morning"
And the pair finished their luncheon and
parted. Adam, of course, entirely unsus-
picious of the part Statham had played
in upsetting his deeply laid plans,
To every address which Marion's brother
had furnished he had gone at posthaste.
only 70 draw blank every time. Charlie
had, at Statham's Instructions. gone first
10 Censtantinople, then TO Odessa and
BatOum. after which he had returned
direct to London.
In Odessa he had been met by a special
messenger from the London Office bearing
a number of documents. and his business
in that city had occupied him nearly a
fortnight. Therefore il was early IN Octo-
Der when, arriving by the evening train at
Charing Cross from Paris, ne took a cab
straight 10 Park lane.
In greeting him. old Sam was rather
curious in his manner he thought. There
was a lack of cordiality Usually. when
he came of a long journey the old fellow
ordered Levi TO bring the decanter Of
whisky and a syphon. But on this occa-
sion the head of the great financial house
merely sat in his chair at his desk and
heard his secretaTy's report without even
suggesting that ne might be tagged by
his rush across Europe.
Rolfe related, briefly and plainly the
various points upon which he had failed
and those upon which he had been sue
cessful. Some Of his decisions had brought
many thousands of pounds into the al
ready overlooking Golfers of Statham
Brothers, and yet the old man made no
sign. He heard all without any comment
save now and then a grunt of satisfaction.
The younger man could not disguise
from himself the fact that the million
aire was not himself His face was paler
and more transparent, while the green
shaded electric lamp shed upon it hue
that was unreal and CHASTITY. Old Levi.
100. as he fitted in and out like a white
breasted shadow, seemed to regard him
with unusual suspicion and dstrust.
What could II al mean?
He looked from one to the other in
puzzled surprise.
He was unaware that only on the previ-
Gus night thin, dark, bearded man had
been ushered into thrt very room and
had sat for two b Irs with the great
fnancier. His eountenance, his gestures,
the cut of his clothes, all showed plainly
that he was not English. Besides. the
consultation was IN French, a language
which old Sam knew fairly well.
That man was spy, and he was from
Belgrade.
From the moment Charlie Rolfe had de
scended at the station to the moment he
had left 1t. secret observation had been
kept upon his movements. And to furnish
the report TO his master the spy had
Travelled from Servia TO London. Samuel
Statham trusted nobody. Even his most
confidential assistant was spied upon,
and his own reports compared with those
of a spy's.
More than once, as Charlie Rolfe. all
unconscious Of the surveillance upon him.
related what had occurred in King Peters
capital, the old man smiied-in disbelief.
This the young man could not under
stand. He was in ignorance of the great
conspiracy IN progress. or Of the mil
lionaires ulterioT motives. The old mans
face was sphinx-like, as 1t ever way-a
eountenance in which no single trait was
visible; neither was there human joy or
human sympathy. II was the face OF
statue-the face of a man whose greed
and avarice had rendered him pitiess.
And yet, strangely enough, this very
man was, to Charles knowledge a phil
anthropist in secret, giving away thou
sands yearly to the deserving poor with
out any thought Of laudatOry comment Of
either press or public.
Samuel Statham was not we'll; Of that
Charlie felt assured. He noticed the Slight
trembling of the thin white hands, the
fixed, anxious look IN his eyes, the curl
Of the thin gray lips. all Of which caused
him anxiety. In his ignorance he had
grown to be greatly fond Of the eccentric
old man who pulled so many of the fnan-
ciai wires of Europe and whose word
could cause the stock markets to fiuctu-
ate. A scribbled word Of his that night
would be felt in Wall street on the NOR
row, whilst the pulses OF the bOurses of
Berlin. Paris. and Vienna were ready at
any moment to respond instantly 10 the
transactions of Statham Brothers, often
so gigantic SIS TO cause a sensation.
Presently Sam Statham commenced his
cross-questioning regarding the exact sit
uatlon In Belgrade, the attitude Of the
minister-president, and the strength Of
the opposition in that wooden shed-iike
parliament house, the Skuptchina, Of
whom he had seen. and what information
he had gathered regarding the tariff war
with Austria
To all the questions Charlie replied in a
manner which showed him 20 be perfectly
alive 10 all the requirements OF the firm.
To those in Old Broad street. city, secret
information regarding the future policy
of Servia means the gain or loss of many