Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-06-22

| long drive from the Rue des Trois Freres
! TO the Faubourg st. German.
| PAY the cab off, Arendsen," Seager or
! dered, over his shoulder and walked up
to the nearest gatekeeper.
1. II want to see the Due des Reves,' he
! said abruptly.
| A more conciliatory manner would prob
| ably have evoked a pleasanter reply. He
! would have been informed that NJ. lie
Due might be found at his town address
! in the Rue ST. Honore. AS 1t was the
man responded with equal brevity.
THAT is impossible"
"If the due isn't in," he said more
! smoothly. III see Miss Lorraine"
THAT is also impossible" said the man
| stubbornly, but his companion was more
4 polite.
There is no such person here" he as
| serted.
The reply enraged seager beyond meas
ure.
stand aside" he commanded, and made
as If he would have pushed past, ignor-
| ing all Arendsen's cautions.
The gatekeepers did not hesitate to
! Withstand this irritable, overbearing for
eigner. He struck at one and a fracas
! began which ended in his being ignomin-
iously elected.
' Arendsen went across to the gutter in
(which the aggressor was lying, half
stunned, and, having first revived him by
the old deep-sea method of biting one
of his thumps savagey, got him onto
his feet again. When Seager recovered
his senses he would forthwith have be-
sieged the Hotel des Reeves, but his con-
federate at last succeeded in restraining
him from such immediate folly, and they
were still swearing hoarsely at one anoth-
er when there stepped forward from the
shadow of a near tree a stout, sharp
| featured individual who made some essay
TO soothe them.
Monsieur has been outrageously mall
I, treated" he said in French to Seager.
Did hear rightly that he asked for
Mile. Lorraine?'
who the devil are your" asked Seager,
much astonished by his unexpected APP
pearance and not at all approaching his
'EUlBdmks
would only permit me-" the unknown
protested smoothly. 1T may be that 1
can serve monsieur. My name is Chevrel,
Jules Chevrel. was formerly in the con-
fidence of NJ. lie Due des Reeves. 1 also
sought the honor of an interview with
Mile. Lorraine, and was turned away with
contumely."
You were, Ell? WeH"-Seager looked
hi mover again--"We'd better get out OF
this. No use Of butting against stone
walls. Join me in a brandy-and-soda, and
wen have a chat"
He spoke peremptorily, and the other/
followed him without demur. feE
| minutes later the gates of the Hotel 0es
Reeves were thrown wide open again.
The Brasserie of the Blue Rabbit was
but sparsely patronized at that hoE and
they found its sanctum quite empty.
There they installed themselves at cor
ner table, and, having given a sleepy
waiter an order for absinthe, and brandy.
and beer. tried some preliminary tricks
of fence until il was quite clear to AL
| that all were roques, without scruple
| among them. Then they began to talk
business.
Look you, gentlemen said Jules Chew
rel, after he had swallowed the greater
portion of the opalescent liquor the waiter
had just brought him, an example which
Seager was prompt to follow, Il have
plan If you will pay for 1t you may have
an interview with the lady tonight. But
in calculating the payment, you must re-
member two points. These are, first, the
| sacrifice of my own interests, to further
yours, and then the fact that this may
be the last chance you or l will have
Tomorrow she may be on her way to La
Roche-Segur, or the Chateau des Reeves,
or London, or Rome, or Vienna. Monsieur,
my late employer, is a man of many
strange caprices. There is but this one
opportunity to be counted upon, and l
value it very highly
Put a price on it," Seager retorted
bluntly.
The worthy Jules had amassed a modest
fortune of some 10000 francs, including
the 5000 of which he had mulcted Nine.
Ia Duchesse in New York, during the few
years which had elapsed since he first
entered monsieur's service, and 1t was
/ his present ambition to increase that
sum to six figures when he would at once
discharge himself without warning. To
that end he had intended to extort 10000
more from madam under threat that he
| would otherwise feel 1t his duty to tell
the due how she had spent one afternoon
in New York and dined at Martins with
her husbands valet. Either she or mon
sieur himself to whom he already refer
red as his late employer, must pay to
suppress that story. But he had been
foiled in his effort to get speech with the
duchesse, and-monsieur might prove dan
gerous.
! Meantime, here were two providential
Americans, no doubt wealthy, VINO did
not seem to know that this Miss Lor-
raine, in whom they were so deeply in
tersted was really the Duchess des Reeves.
And he certainly had no object in UNI
deceiving them. If they would pay him
the 10000 fracs he required from some
quarter or other II would be a simple
Their plan for interviewing madam. He
abuptly opened negotiations at 1900
francs.
spit out the plan" Seager command
ed, and Jules Chevrel could have CRASHED
his teeth for that he had not asked more,
while Arendsen only contained himself
with a visible effort.
Jules Chevrel leaned across the MARBLE
topped table and spoke in a low, rapid
voice.
Tonight" he explained, "she will go
to the Elysee. There is a soiree at the
palace to which the due has promised to
take her She will drive there alone. The
chauffeur will be well out of the way,
but shall be there at the time. And
ready, as 1 always am, to oblige a friend.
Can you handle an automobile?'
Seager nodded again, and rose from the
table.
''I think we can make a deal of it," he
remarked with brisk complacence. II
want you to wait there till we return"
II am not afraid" Jules Chevrel assur-
ed him with bland untruthfulness. It
shall wait 15-no, 20 minutes for you, I'M
til s o'clock"
| At the darkest corner of the dark I'm
passe Seager stopped before an almost in
visible postern. Arendsen followed him,
/ muttering, into a passage black as the