The Washington herald., 1912-08-11

One oiB tnietdho IN ulb C8kGcE-ti ne Sve
really wished TO retire-he Joined tn
Double-Four. Now, perforce, he come
out OF retirement It is true. he come
out In a new guise. HIS field Of actfv
ity lies In a different sphere. but he
still Peter Run just the same--stin tn
most delightful scamp that has beel
given to recent fiction. and not alto
gether a scamp at that.
His adventures are told by the rnaste
Of all teilers Of mystery tales. Ther
will be ten stories-each complete In II
self Here's the third. The fourth, en-
titled The First Shot" will appear mex
Sunday.
n ERNADINE, sometimes calle'
X the Count Won Hern, was lunch
- ing at the Savoy, with the pref
ty wife of a cabinet minister. who wa
ljust sufficiently conscious of the i'm
propriety Of her action to render tn
situation interesting.
Il wish you would tell me, Count Vol
Hern," she said, soon after they ha,
settled down in their places, why m,
husband seems to object to you S,
much. / simply dared not tell him tha
we were going to lunch together, ant
as rule he doesn't mind what ] d.
in that way
Bernadine smiled slowly.
"Ah, welI," he remarked, "your hus.
band is a politician and very cautious
man / dare say he is like some o1
those others, who believe that because
/ am a foreigner and live in London
therefore / am spy"
You spy" she laughed. "Wha,
nonsense?"
She shrugged her shoulders. She wa.
certainly very pretty woman, and hei
black gown set off to fullest advantage
her deep red hair and fair complexion
Tell me, Count Won Hern, what
could foreign spy do in England"
Bernadine twirled his fair mustache
and shrugged his shoulders.
Indeed. my dear lady," he admitted
81 scarcely know what spy could dc
nowadays. A few years ago, you Eng
lish people were all so trusting. Your
fortihcations, yoru battfeships, not to
speak of your country itself, were who'll
" at the disposal of the enterprising
foreigner who desired to acquire infor-
nation. The party who governed Great
Britain then seemed to have some
strange idea that these things made for
peace. To-day, however, all that is
changed"
You seem 10 know something about
it. she remarked.
Il am afraid that mine is really only
the superficial point view," he an
swered, but / do know that there is a
good deal of information, which seems
absolutely Insignificant in itself, for
which some foreign countries are will
ing to pay. For instance, there was q
cabinet council yesterday, l believe, and
some one was going to suggest that a
secret, but official, visit be paid to your
new harbor works up at Rosyth. An
announcement will probably be made
in the papers during the next few days
as to whether the visit is to be under
taken or not Yet there are countries
who are willing to pay for knowing
even such an insignificant item of news
as that, few hours before the rest of
the world"
Lady Maxwell laughed.
well, / could earn that little sum of
she declared, gayly, "for my
husband has just made me cancel din
ner party for next Thursday, because
he has to go up to the stupid place"
Bernadine smiled. 1t was really a
very unimportant matter, but he loved
to feel. even in his idle moments, that
he was not altogether wasting his time.
Now, Bernadine was a man of easy
and unruffled composure. To
the natural insouciance of his aristo-
cratic bringing up, he had added the
steelly reserve of a man moving IN the
large world, engaged more often than
not in some hazardous enterprise. Yet,
for once in his life, and in the midst
Of the idlest of conversations, he gave
himself away so utterly that even this
woman with whom he was lunching-a
very butterfly lady, indeed-could not
fail to perceive it. She looked at him
in something like astonishment With
put the slightest warning his face had
become set in a rigid stare, his eyes
were filed with the expression of a
nan who sees into another world.
why, whatever is the matter with
YOU" she demanded. is it ghost
that you seer"
Bernadine's effort was superb, but he
was too clever to deny the shock.
"A ghost, indeed" he answered, "the
ghost of man whom every newspaper
n Europe has declared to be dead"
Her eyes followed his. The two peo-
pie who were being ushered to a seat in
heir immediate vicinity, were certain
v of somewhat unusual appearance
The man was tall, and thin as lath,
ind he wore the clothes of the fashion
lble world without awkwardness, and
ret, with the air of one who was who'll
" unaccustomed to them. His cheek
zones were remarkably high, and reced-
d so quickly toward his pointed chin
hat his cheeks were little more than
follows. His eyes were dry and burn
ng, flashing here and there as though
he man himself were continually op-
pressed by some furtive fear, His
hick black. hair was short cropped, his
jorehead high and intellectual He was
strange figure, indeed, in such gath
ring, and his companion only served
o accentuatea the anachronism of his
appearance She was, above all things, |
woman of the moment-fair, almost |
lorid, a little thick-set, with tightly
aced, yet passable figure. Her eyes
we're blue, her hair light-coiored. She |
yore magnificent fufs, and, as she
hrew aside her boa, she disclosed a.
mass of jewelry around her neck and
lpon her bosom, almost barbaric in its
'rofusion and setting.
What an extraordinary coupiep
.ady Maxwell whispered.
Bernadine smiled
The man looks as though he had
topped out of the Old Testament" he
nurmured.
Lady Maxwell's interest was purely