The herald., 1913-08-14
Diplomacy
By +. TOWNSEND SMITH

SJdleS at hdSulHSlO lr Vas 'dl4Cu OhS
afternoon tO the private office of his
chief, who said to him:
There is the paper You are TO take
TO Berlin. Take it home with you and
keep 1t in your hiding place for impOr-
tant documents till your departure
But he careful II the French office
should get hold of it we would be ruin
ed. Ii refers to payment for the
French work on the Panama canal"
Count Rudolph took the paper, at
| the same time saying 10 the ambasSa-
| dor:
1T is said that no spying is done in
| Washington. but | do not believe it.
! ] have reason 10 suspect that my hid
ing place-a little safe in a wall in my
| home-iS known. Let the place where
l keep the key be known as well and
| a document might as well be laid out
/ on table will hide this paper till
Saturday, the day leave"
Miss Agnes Winterton, the daughter
Of an admiral of the United States
navy. but whose father was dead.
maintained a social position in Wash
| ington that she had inherited, but
| which she could not have retained in
poverty In any other city except
! Washington Miss Winterton was sit
| ting in the drawing room Of Count
| Breitsteim having sent up her card
to the counts mother with whom he
lived, when a latchkey was put in the
front door lock, and Count Rudolph
! himself entered the house.
The rain was coming down in tor
rents. ana the room in which Miss
! Winterton sat was quite dark from the
storm and the heavy window curtains
! The count came into the room, where
she was sitting in a shaded corner,
| and though he looked about the room.
did not see her But he wore glasses
and had not wiped the moisture from
them after entering the house. Going
to bookcase. he took down Il volume
from the left hand corner Of the top
shelf, opened the volume, put a paper
in it, closed the case and left the room
| unconscious Of having been observed.
Mounting to his room, he threw him
self on a lounge for a brief rest be-
fore dressing for dinner.
The countess. who was changing
from street 10 dinner costume, kept
Miss Winterton waiting some time
After Count Rudolph left the drawing
room the young lady. yielding to a
natural feminine curiosity, went TO
the bookcase and took down the book in
which Rudolph had placed the paper
and, opening the former, took out a
document which she read.
1.-The information contained in that
few pages of matter" she said to her
self, IF used by me would make us
all rich" Then, folding it, she put
1t back in its place and resumed her
seat.
1t is singular that one who could
yield to temptation to crafty a Gu
riosity she had no right to indulge
could have had the fOrtitude to resist
the temptation to make fortune by
means Of the information derived. But
we are all bundles Of inconsistencies,
and women, though more likely than
men to yield to some petty foible, are
by no means behind the sterner sex in
resisting great ones.
The countess did not mention to her
son Miss WintertOn having called, and
he remained in ignorance of the young
lady's having been in the house al. the
same time as himself. He left for
Berlin in a few days and was not
back in Washington again for several
weeks On the night after his return
he met Miss Winterton at a reception
! given by a member of the cabinet He
chatted with her for a few minutes,
not for moment suspecting that she
held a secret that would make her
rich and secure his dismissal from the
German diplomatic corps in disgrace.
Time wore on. The diplomatic bust
ness bearing upon the building Of the
canal was settled, the necessary trea,
ties were signed and the work com.
menced. Meanwhile Count Rudolph
and Miss Winterton were thrown oc
casiOnally together The countess was
especially pleased with her and Otter
invited her to her house The count
had no idea Of marrying an American
wife, but felt that If he were so inclin
ed Miss Winterton would be his choice
Washington gossip had it that Miss
Winterton had set her cap for the Ger
man secretary Of legation, but there
was not word of truth In the report
The count was a man OF the world
and, above all, diplomat. He asked
her to be his wife simply because b,
made up his mind that he couldn't very
well get on without her. Added to this
he knew that when he introduced hel
IN Berlin she would take high socia
rank there. She was quite clever ant
passably comely. But above all, ther,
was a high bred air about her tha
would always make her prominent II
any society in which she might be in
troduced. So he proposed to her ant
was accepted.
One evening not long after the en-
gagement they were sitting in tn,
drawing room. Miss Winterton arose
went TO the bookcase, took out til,
book she had taken before, opened i
and said:
Your hiding place Is empty today"
Rudolph was appalled,. He had neve
used that book before for concealmen
and well remembered the one occasion
ryu