The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1911-11-18

have known him for many years,
and have been secretary of the en-
bassy under him in Germany and
Japan and in this country 1 have
never known him to vary this general
order of work unless because of i'll
ness, or necessary absence.
well, Monsieur, last Tuesday-this
is Friday-the ambassador was at his
desk as usual. He dictated a dozen
or more letters, and had begun anoth-
era private letter to his sister in
Paris. He was well along in this let
ter when, without any apparent rea-
son, he rose from his desk and left
the room, closing the door behind
him His stenographer,s impression
was that some detail of business had
occurred to him, and ne had gone into
the general of1ce to- attend to it ]
may say. Monsieur, that this impress
sion seemed strengthened by the fact
that he left fresh. cigarette burning
in his ash tray, and his pen was be
hind his ear. It was all as II he had
merely stepped out, intending TO re
turn immediately-the sort of thing
Monsieur, that any man might have
done
TT so happened that when he went
out he left q sentence Of his letter
incomplete. l tell you this to show
that the impulse to go must have been
sudden one, yet there was nothing
in his manner, so his stenographeI
says, to indicate excitement, or any
other than his usual frame of mind. Il
was about five minutes of twelve
o'clock-high noon-when he went
out. When he didn't return immedi
ately the stenographer began tran
scribing the letters. At one O'Clock
Monsieur Boissegur still had not re
turned and his stenographer went to
luncheon"
As he talked, some inbred excite
ment seemed to be growing upon him
due, perhaps, to his recital of facts
and he paused at last to regain con
troll of himself. Incidentally he won
dered if Mr.. Grimm was taking the
slightest interest in what he was say
ing. Certainly there was nothing il
his impassiye face to indicate it.
Understand. Monsieur" the seere-
tary continued after a moment, that
I knew nothing whatever of all this
Tuesday afternoon about five o'clock.
was engaged all day upon some i'm
portant work in my office, and had
had no occasion to see Monsieur Bots
segur since a word or so when he
came in at ten o'clock My attention
was called to the affair finally by his
stenographer, Monsieur NetterVilIe,
who came to me for instructions. He
had finished the letters and the am
bassador had not returned to sign
them. At this point I began an In
vestigation, Monsieur, and the further
I went the more uneasy grew.
Now Monsieur, there are only two
entrances to the embassy-the front
door, where q servant is in constant
attendance from nine in the morning
until ten at night, and the rear door,
which can only be reached through
the kitchen Neither Of the two men
who had been stationed at the front
door had seen the ambassador since
breakfast, therefore he could not have
gone ont that way. Comprenez? 1t
seemed ridiculous, Monsieur, but then
went to the kitchen. The chef had
been there all day, and he had not
seen the ambassador At all I inquired
further. No one in the embassy, not
Of the ambassadors family had seen
him since he left his Office"
again ne paused and ran one hand
across his troubled brow
(TO BE CONTNUEDl