The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1913-11-28


at Havre for New York, arrived =
week later, and FASTENED to Washing
ton. He proceeded to the White
House Immediately after his arrival
and demanded an audience with the
president. His name secured this
with the briefest formality and after
only a few minutes delay.
The president was standing in the
middle of the floor in his working
room; he was alone. for at that time
of the day he elected to read the doc
uments laid before him for signing.
Without any introduction Paul entered
upon his story.
When, flushed with anxiety, he fall
tered toward the close of it, he per-
ceived that the president was still
standing in exactly the same position,
apparently immovable, and dangling
his eyeglasses in meditative man
ner. He watched the younger man
for full half minute without speak
ing.
MIR. Lane" he said at last, your
father was known to me very well.
He was regarded as one of the most
patriotic Americans of his day, in
that. without fiamboyancy, without
partisanship, he made his duty the
conduct of his vast business enter
prises. He thought of nothing else,
he cared for nothing else. Three of
my predecessors In office consulted
him upon important affairs Of state
and without hesitation laid bare i'm
portant secrets, confident that his pa
triotism would rise superior to all
thought of personal gain and that he
had the interests of the nation at
heart You, l believe, do not interest
yourself in such affairs at all?"
81 have been living abroad, Mr..
President" stammered Paul. q"
Precisely, Mr.. Lane" replied the
president, with great dignity. "You
are content to spend the proceeds Of
the enterprises which your father es-
tablished with so much labor and in
tegrity. And now you, sir, an expa-
triated American, come to me and ask
me to believe that you are in posses
sion of some cock-and-bull secret In
volving the destruction of our navy,
and that motives of patriotism have
impelled you to hurry here from Eu-
rope to save the nation. Mr.. Lane, l
decline absolutely to place the slight
est credence in your tale
Paul flushed holly. In his native
land something of the glamor of his
adventures had departed; even to
him the story seemed more like a
dime novel record than matter of
sober fact. But, remembering all
that he had undergone he could not
but believe that the League was pow
erful enough to attempt, at least, to
carry out its purpose.
"This chart of the Pyloffs-of course
you took the precaution to secure it, !"
the president went on, watching the
young man in some amusement.
mo, Mr.. President" responded
Paul. 81 did not"
Good day, sir" said the president.
"One moment, Mr.. President"
cried Paul, veheuently. you, as
commander-in-chief of all the forces,
by land and sea, are at least able to
engage recruits. VIII you give me a
letter to Admiral Blake authorizing
him to engage me as special seaman
Il mean to enlist as seaman-when-
ever l present it,"
81 will do that very gladly, Mr..
Lane" the president answered. ITO
serve your country in any capacity
will do you a world Of good, Mr.. Lane.
| will write the letter at once and
you may present it as soon as you
are able"
He sat down at his desk and wrote
a short letter to Admiral Blake, sealed
it, and rising, gave it to Paul with a
slight bow which signified that the
interview was at an end. Paul walked
out into the street feeling as though
he had been whipped.
For a while he almost abandoned
his enterprise. He had offered his
services to his country and they had
been rejected He had done all that
duty required. Suppose he did no
more! Suppose he let the fleet go
to it's destruction and found his own
vindication thereby! Unconscious Of
his surroundings, he tramped through
the streets of the capital, fiercely de-
batting. The sacrifice that he had
made of all he held most dear had
thrilled him to finer sense of patri-
otism than he had ever attained-and
to this end! And In his minds eye
he saw all the while the face of his
false love, she who had betrayed him,
she whose dupe he had been. Had
there been no atom of love in those
words whispered to him on the hot
sands of Tripoli?
Suddenly the impact of a pedestrian
caused him to reel and clutch for sup
port at a street lamp post. A man
was leaving a house to enter a taxi
cab which stood waiting for him, and
Paul, rushing squarely across his
path, had run right into him. Paul
looked up with a scowl-to encounter
the angry visage of Captain Won Holz-
rath
1t was their fourth encounter. The
last had been upon the staircase of
the emperor's palace at Hofberg,
where, sword in hand, Paul had
matched himself against his enemy
and found that he was his inferior
Twice Won Holzsath had spared his
life when he held it in the hollow Of
his hand. Now, at that memory, 4
blind fury seized on him, and he felt
his hands ache to strangle his foe.
He rushed forward, his fists clenched,
but clutched ONLY emptiness for Won