Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-09-09
CHAPTER VII.
Making a War.

Making a war.
Hedworth Westerling would have
said twenty to one if he had been asked
the odds against war when he was
parting from Marta Galland in the
hotel reception room. Before he
reached home he would have changed
them to ten to one. A scare bulletin
about the Bodlapoo affair compelling
attention as his car halted to let the
traffic of cross street pass. he bought
q newspaper thrust in at the car win
| dow that contained the answer of the
government of the Browns to a dis
patch of the Grays about the dispute
! that had arisen in the distant African
| Jungle. This he had already read two
/ days previously, by courtesy of the
! premier. 1t was moderate in tone, as
! became a power that had 100000 SOL
| diers against its opponents 100000;
nevertheless, 1t firmly pointed out that
the territory of the Browns had been
| overtly invaded, on the pretext of Sc
curing a deserter who had escaped
across the line, by Gray colonial
troops who had raised the Gray flag in
| place of the Brown flag and remained
! deflantly in occupation of the outpost
! they had taken.
AS yet, the Browns had not attempt
ed to repel the aggressor by arms for
; fear of complications, but were relying
! on the Gray government to order a
withdrawal of the Gray force and the
reputation of a commander who had
been guilty of so grave an international
affront The surprising and illuminat-
ing thing to Westerling was the in
| spired statement to the press from the
Gray foreign office, adroitly appealing
| to Gray chauvinism and justifying the
"intrepidity" of the Gray commander
in response to so-called "pin-pricking
I exasperations.
| At the door of his apartment, Fran
co.'s, his valet and factotum, gave Wes-
terling letter.
important, sir" said Francois.
Westerling knew by q glance that 1t
was, for 1t was addressed and marked
Personal in the premier's own hand
! writing. A conference for ten that
evening was requested in a manner
that left no doubt of its urgency.
Curiosity made him a little ahead Of
time, but he found the premier await
ing him in his study, free from inter
ruption or eavesdropping.
In the shadow of the table lamp the
old premier looked his years. From
youth he had been in politics, ever a
bold figure and a daring player. but
now beginning to feel the pressure of
younger mems elbows. Fonder even
of power, which had become habit,
than in his twenties, he saw 1t slipping
from his grasp at an age when the
downfall of his government meant that
| he should never hold the reins again.
He had been called an ambitious DEM
agogue and a makeshift opportunist by
his enemies, but the crowd liked him
for his ready strategy, his genius for
appealing phrases, and for the gam
bler's virtue which hitherto had made
him good loser.
You saw our communique tonight
that went with the publication of the
Browns dispatch?" he remarked
Yes, and l am glad that had been
careful to send a spirited commander
to that region" Westerling replied.
$50 you guess my intention, I see."
The premier smiled. He picked up a
long, thin ivory paperknife and softly
patted the palm of his hand with it.
Certainly" Westerling replied in
his ready, confident manner.
I'VE hear a great deal about the pre-
cision and power of modern arms as
favoring the defensive" said the pre-
mier. Il have read somewhere that it
will enable the Browns to hold US back,
despite our advantage of numbers.
Also, that they can completely man
every part of their frontier and that
their ability to move their reserves
rapidly, thanks to modern facilities.
makes a powerful fanking attack in
surprise out of the question"
ITO be Continued1