Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-02-27

IN THE WAX OF bElNt a thkAf hASSAh'
Now the subject Of these desultory
musings went directly to the Biblio'
theque Rationale. The study he pur'
sued was of deep interest to him. 1t
concerned butterfly Of vast proper
tions and kaleidoscope in color long
ago pinned away and labeled among
others of lesser brilliancy. 1t had
cast a fine shadow In its brief flight.
But the species was now extinct. AT
least so the historian Of this particu.
lar butterfly declared. Hybrid? Such
a contingency was always possible.
Suppose 1t does exist. as and q
few others very well know 1t does.
What fine joke 1t would be to see 1t
fy into Puris But no. Idle dream!
Still l shall wait and watch. And
now suppose we pay visit to Berlin
and use blunt facts In place OF diplo'
macy? 1t will surprise them"
Each German chancellor has become
in turn the repository Of such political
secrets US fell under the eyes OF his
predecessor, and the chancellor who
walked up and down before NJ. Fer
raud possessed several which did not
rest heavily upon his soul simply be.
cause he was incredulous or affected
that be was.
"The thing Is preposterous."
"As your excellency has already de-
clared."
what has it to do with FranceT
Much or little. 1t depends upon this
side Of the Rhine"
what Imagination! But for your
credentials. NJ. Ferraud. should moi
listen to you one moment
81 have seen some documents"
"Forgeriesw contemptuously.
mot in the least" suavely. "The5
are In every part genuine. They are
his own"
The chancellor paused. frowning'
SWELL even then?"
NJ. Ferraud shrugged.
This fellow. who was forced to re-
sign from the navy because OF nls
tricks at cards. WHY doubt II he could
stir up a brawl In tavern. Really, II
there was q word of truth In the analr,
we should have acted before this. II
Ia all Idle newspaper talk that Germany
wishes war; far from 1t. 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 In
audibly.
what was that you said?" cried the
chancellor, whirling round abruptly. TOT
the words startled him.
Pardon me! was thinking out LOUD
about sum Of money"
"Ah! And yet the chancellor re-
allied that the other was telling him
as plainly as he dared that the German
government had offered such a sum to
forward the very intrigue which ne
was so emphatically denying. Wny
not turn the matter over to your own
ambassador hereT'
The secret agent laughed. publicity
Is what neither your government nor
mine desires. Thank YOU"
II am sorry not to be Of some service
to you"
~ can readily believe that. your ex'
cellency," not to he outdone In the mat
ter Of duplicity. 81 thank you for your
time"
"I hadn't the least idea that you were
In the service; butterflies and diplo'
macyp with a hearty laugh.
ut Is only temporary"
"Your Alpine Butterflies compares
favorably with The Life Of the Bee
"That Is a very great compliment!
And with this the interview. ex'
traordinary In oil ways. came to m
end. Neither man had fooled the
other, neither had made any mistake
In his logical deductions. and, 10 q
way, both were satisfied. The chan
cellor resumed his more definite labors
and the secret agent nurreu away "
the nearest telegraph office.
$50 am to stand on these two
feetr NJ. Ferraud ruminated. as he
took the seat by the window In the
second class carriage for Munich. "All
the finer the sport Ten thoussnd
marks! He forgot himself for a mo-
ment. And might have gone further
and said that $4,000 marks would be
added to those 10000 II the bribe was
accepted and the promise fulfilled.
All. 1t would be beautiful to untangie
this snarl nll alone. 1t would be the
finest chase that had ever fallen to bis
lot. 40 grain of sand, however small
should escape him. There were fools
In Berlin as we'll as In Paris. and be
knew what he knew, Meyer = move