The Washington herald., 1911-02-08
CHAPTER u-Continued.

Are there not rare butterflies In the
Amazonian swamps?" cynically.
"Ah, but this man has good blood IN
him; and if he flies at all he VIII fly
high. Think OF this man fifty years
ago: what a possibility he would have
| been: But it Is out Of fashion to-day.
Well, monsieur. I must be on. There
is an old manuscript at the Bibliotheaue
1 wish to inspect"
Concerning this natter"
Butterflies" softly: ''or, should I say.
chrysalides.
The subtle inference passed by the
minister. There wer, many other things
to-iny and fro-inS in the busy corridors
of his brain. Il shall hear from you
frequently?'
LAS often .,s the atr alton requires. BY
the way. l have an idea. When l cable
you the word butterfly. prepare your
self accordingly. 1t will mean that
the bomb is ready
Good luck attend you. my savant."
said the minister. with a friendliness
which was deep and genuine. He had
known Monsieur Ferraud in other days.
And above all. take care of yourself"
Trust me, count, And the secret
agent departed. to appear again in
these chambers only when his work was
done.
"A strange man." unused the minister.
when he was alone. "A still stranger
business for a genuine scholar. Is he
really poor? Does he do this work to
afford him ease and time for his stu
dies? Or. better still. does he hide
great and singular patriotism under but
terf1y wings Patriotism? More and
more il becomes self-interest. 1t is only
! when a foreign mob starts to tear down
your house that you become a patriot"
Now the subject of these desultory
musings went directly to the Bbliotheque
Nationale. The study he pursued was Of
deep interest to him: it concerned a
butterfly Of vast proportions and kaleido-
scopic in color. long ago pinned away
| and labeled among others of lesser brill
liancy. 1t had cast a fine shadow in
| it's brief fight. But the species was
now extinct, at least so the historian of
| this particular butterfly declared Hy
brid? Such a contingency was always
possible.
Suppose it does exist. as and few
| few others very well know it does: what
fine joke it would be to see it fly into
| Paris! But. no. Idle dream! Still. 1
shall wait and watch. And now, sup
pose we pay a visit to Berlin and use
| blunt facts in place of diplomacy? 1t
will surprise them"
EdCn herman ChdnCellOr mas become
| in turn, the repository OF such political
secrets as fell under the eyes Of his
predecessor; and the chancellor who
walked up and down before Monsieur
Ferrau, possessed several which did not
rest heavily upon his soul simply because
he was incredulous or affected that he
was.
"The thing is preposterous'
LAS your excellency has already de-
clared."
What has it to do with France?'
Much or little. 1t depends upon this
side Of the Rhine
What imagination. But for your Gre
| dentials. Monsieur Ferraud. I should not
listen to you one moment"
81 have seen some documents"
"Forgeries!" contemptuous1y.
Not in the least" suavely. "They are
in every part genuine. They are his
own
The chancellor paused, frowning. We'll.
even them
Monsieur Ferfaud shrugged.
This fellow who was forced to resign
from the navy because Of his tricks at
cards. why 1 doubt il he could stir up a
brawl in a tavern. Really, if there was
word of truth in the affair we should
have acted before this. It is all idle news
paper talk that Germany wishes war: far
from it. Still, We lose no point to fortify
ourselves against the possibility OF 1t.
Some one has been telling you old wives
tales"
"Ten thousand marks" almost maud
IDLY.
what was that you said?' cried the
chancellor. whirling around abruptly. for
the words startled him.
Pardon me! was thinking out loud
about a sum OF money
"Ah!" And yet the chancellor realized
that the other was telling him as plainly
as he dared that the German government
had offered such . sum to forward the
very intrigue which he was SO emphati-
cally denying. why not turn the mat
ter over to your own ambassador here?"
The secret agent laughed. Publicity
il what neither your government nor mine
desires. Thank you"
II am sorry not to be of some service
to you.''
IT can readily believe that, your ex-
cellency.' not to be outdone in the matter
Of duplicity. Il thank you for your
time"
Il hadn't the least idea that you were
in the service; BUTTERFLIES and diplomacy"
with hearty laugh.
1T 10 only temporary"
''Your Alpine Butterflies compares
favorably with Tho LIE Of the Bee
THAT b . very great compliment"
And With this the interview. extraor-
dinafy IN al1 ways. came to IN end.
Neither msn had fooled the other. neither
had made any mistake In his logical
deductions: and, In . way, both Wero
satisded. Tho chancellof resumed his
more defnlte laboss, and the secret agent
hurried away to the ueasoN telegraph
- 8 en- u. ssa.1 q thsss t~s ssssr..
! |1eo1le9 1eg1An1 tna1e6 - - teot