Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-02-23

mean that Il hJnb is ready"
Good luck attend you. my savant.
said the mil iS,er, with a friendliness
which was ei ahd genuine. lie had
known NJ. rerraud IN other days.
And. above All take care OF your.
self"
Trust me. rDHnt" And the secret
agent departed TO appear again In
these chambers only when his work
was done
"A strange man" unused the minis
ter when he was alone. IA still strau.
ger business for Il genuine scholar. Is
he really poor: Does he do this work
to afford hin ease and time for bis
studies. or. letter still. does he hide a
great and singular patriotism under
butterfly wings: Patriotism: More
and more il becomes self interest. Il
is only when foreign mob starts to
tear down your house that you become
a patriot"
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. Ii |
concerned a butterfly Of vast proper
tons and Kaleidoscope In color long
ago pinned away and labeled among
others OF lesser brilliancy. Ii had
cast a fine shadow In its brief flight
But the species was now extinct. Al
least so the historian Of this particu
lar butterfly declared. Hybrid? Such
a contingency was always possible.
Suppose 1t does exist. as and a
few others very we'll know II does
What a fine joke II would be TO see II
fly into Paris! But no. Idle dream.
Still | 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 becomeI
in turn the repository Of such political
secrets as fell under the eyes Of his
predecessor. and the chancellor Who'll
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 excelency has already de
clared."
What has ii TO do with FranceT
Much or little. II depends upon this
side Of the Rhine"
What imagination! But for your
credentials. NJ Fcrraud. | should not
listen TO you one moment"
81 have seen some documents"
"FOrgeries.." cOntemptuOusly.
Not in the least" suavely. They
are in every part genuine. They are
his own"
The chancellor paused. frownlng.
well. even them"
NJ. Ferraud shrugged.
This fellow. who was forced to re-
sign from the navy because Of bis
tricks at cards. whv doubt If he could
stir up a brawl in 4 tavern. Really. II
there was word Of truth in the affair,
we should have acted before this. II
Is all idle newspaper talk that Germany
wishes war; far from ii. Still. we lose
no point to fortify ourselves against the
possibility of it, Some one has been
telling you old wives tales"
2 Ten thousand marks almost In.
audibly.
What was that you said:" cried the
chancellor whirlng round abruptly. for
the words startled him.
Pardon me! was thinking out loud
about a sum Of money"
"Ah" And yet the chancellor re-
allied that the other was telling him
as plainly as be dared that the German
government had offered such q sum TO
forward the very intrigue which be
was so emphatically denying. why
not turn the matter over TO your own
an1 IN cuaHor haras"
The secret agent laughed. Publicity
is what neither your government nor
mine desires. Thank You"
Il am sorry not 10 he Of some service
to you"
Il can readily believe that. your ex-
cellency." not to he outdone In the mat
ter Of duplicity. Il thank you for your
time"
Il hadn't the least idea that you were
in the service; butterflies and dlplo.
macy" with hearty laugh.
1T is only temporary"
Your Alpine Butterflies compares
favOrably with The Life Of the Bee 4"
THAT is a very great compliment
! And with this the interview. ex.
traordlnary in all ways, came to an
end. Neither man had fooled the
other. neither had made any mistake
in his logical deductions. and. In a
way. both were satisfied. The chan.
cellor resumed his more definite labors,
and the secret agent hurried away to
the nearest telegraph Office.
/ $50 ! am to stand on these two
feetY NJ. Ferraud ruminated. as be
took the seat by the window in the
second class carriage for Munich. "All
the finer the sport Ten Thousand
marks! He forgot himself for q mo.
ment And ! might have gone further
and said that $1,000 marks would be
/ added to those 10000 IL the bride was