The Raymer enterprise., 1911-08-31
THE MISSING
TREATY

~~~A - - u
Michael Danevitch entered the ON.
cial residence Of Prince Ignatoff in st.
Petersburg one day at noon. In obedi.
ence to message from that gentle.
mao. requesting him to set aside all
other business. and come at once.
Prince Ignaton was then minister Of
foreign affairs. He had the reputation
Of being one Of the most powerful ON.
cials who had ever held that position
In Russia. He was born diplomat.
list. brilliant. unscrupulous, far.sceing
and high In favor with the car. Ig.
naton was widower with one grown
up daughter. Between the latter and
her father. however. there existed
deadly feud. and he had disowned her.
as she had married against bis will,
and very much beneath her. as the
father averred. Her husband was in
the consular service. His name was
Kasin; he was member OF a middle.
class family who had made money In
trade. Kasin himself was said to be
poor. and almost entirely dependent
upon his salary.
A summary OF these facts passed
through the mind OF Danevitch, as he
sat and listened to the smooth, even
tones OF the minister. who was speak.
Ing in low voice. but with much
earnestness.
II have sent for you, Danevitch," he
said. "for the purpose OF testing your
powers In an affair OF the most deadly
importance to this government. A
special. confidential and trusted cou.
rier arrived here yesterday afternoon,
and placed in my hands the draft OF a
secret treaty. Having perused It.
placed 1t in the dispatch box and
locked the box In my safe; but not.
withstanding that precautlon 1t has
been stolen"
The bo1?" querled Daneyltch.
No. the treaty only. | made the
discovery soon after eight o'clock this
morning. The courier came from Bul.
garia. and Is one Of the best men In
the service. He was excessively IN.
tigued with his journey, and being re.
lieved OF his great responsibility, said
ne would sleep for the next "a hours.
no search has yet been made for the
missing document. The thief who
steals state paper Of that kind Is not
likely to leave much trace behind"
"One thing seems clear" remarked
Danevitch, "and that Is that the person
who took the document must have
been well acquainted with this place
Do you suppose II possible that the
dispatch box was rined on the chance
of its containing something OF value?"
NO. My deliberate opinion was and
is that the thief wanted that draft OF
the treaty, and that alone. He Is an
enemy. traitor: and II he can be
found the penalty OF his crime will be
death"
III your opinion Is correct, then the
thief must have known the draft OF
the treaty was there. Now. who is
likely to have possessed that iniorma.
tom"
"Legitimatcly. very few indeed. 1t
Is one OF the state secrets. There are
many people who go and come here,
and an alert traitor might learn
much"
How long did the courier remain
with You after he delivered the papers
into your hands,"
Not more than five minutes"
When he left, did anyone else
come into your bureau?"
No. perused the document, and
1t was to have been laid before his
majesty the emperor today. | re.
mained here for an hour after the
courier left. Nobody came In during
that interval. and It Is certain that |
was alone, for as you can see, there
ia no place here where spy could
conceal himself"
A quick glance around the apart.
ment satisfied Danevitch that this last
statement was correct. III | under.
stand you rightly" continued the de-
tectiye. when you had finished ex.
amining the document, you placed 1t
in the dispatch box?"
II did. Both safe and box we're
locked then by my own hand, and |
took the keys with me. When dis.
covered the loss. saw that the locks
OF both safe and box were intact. It
Ia therefore obvious that both were
opened with keys that fitted them"
Are there any duplicate keys In
existence?"
yes. there are duplicate keys OF
all the dispatch boxes and all the
safes In this department. but they are
In the possession OF the emperor him.
self. They are kept to guard against
any possible contingency. should
say that the difficulties In the way Of
any unauthorized person getting hold
OF them are 80 great that We may dis.
miss that theory as practically impos.
sible."
"That throws us b6ck. then. on the
theory that somebody must have got
possession OF your keys"
That, too, seems almost lmpossI.