The Winslow mail., 1914-10-17
Not a sign"
I'm coming down." said the man
overhead


The Slavic fox stood upon a metal
balcony in his picturesque art nou.
vean palace that gave upon the preci-
pice that overhung his bright little
capital, and beside him stood Pesto.
witch, griZzled and cunning and now
full Of an Ill suppressed excitement.
Behind them the window opened into
a large room richly decorated in alu.
minium and crimson enamel, across
which the king, as he glanced ever and
again over his shoulder with gesture
of inquiry. could see through the two
open doors of a little azure walled an
techamber the wireless operator in the
turret working at his incesSant tran
scriptiOn. Two pOmpously uniformed
messengers waited listlessly in this
apartment The room was furnished
with a stately dignity and had in the
middle of it big green baize covered
table with the massive white metal
inkpots and antiquated sand boxes
natural to new but romantic mon
archy. 1t was the kings council
chamber, and about it now in atti-
tudes of suspended intrigue stood the
half dozen ministers who constituted
his cabinet. They had been summon
ed for IL o'clock, but still at half past
II the king loitered in the balcony and
seemed to be waiting for some news
that did not come.
| nbo liz H.
at first in whispers; they had fallen ST
lent, for they found little now to ex-
press except a vague anxiety. Away
there on the mountain side were the
white metal roofs of the long farm
| buildings. beneath which the bomb
factory and the bombs were hidden
| (The chemist who had made all these
for the king had died suddenly after
the declaration of BrissagOl Nobouy
knew of that store of mischief now
but the king and his adviser and threa
heavily faithful attendants; the avi
atOrs who waited now in the midday
| blaze with their bomb carrying ma
chimes and their passenger bomb
throwers in the exercising grounds of
the motor cyclist barracks below were
still in ignorance of the position of
| the ammunition they were presently
| to take up. 1t was time they started
| II the scheme was to work as Pesto.
| witch had planned it. 1t was a mag
nifcent plan. 1t aimed at no less
than the empire of the world. The
government of idealists and professors
away there at Brissago was to be
blown to fragments, and then east
west, north and south those aeroplanes
would go swarming over a world that
had disarmed itself to proclaim Fer
dinand Charles, the new Caesar, the
master, lord Of the earth.
1t was a magnificent plan. But the
tension of this waiting for news of the
success of the first blow was-consiu-
erable.
The Slavic fox was of pallid fair
ness, he had a remarkably long nose,
thick, short mustache and small blue
eyes that were a little too near to-
gether to be pleasant 1t was his
habit to worry his mustache with
short, nervous tugs whenever his rest.
less mind troubled him. and now this
emotion was becoming so incessant
that it irked Pestovitch beyond the
limits Of endurance.
Il will 60" said the minister, land
see what the trouble is with the wire
less. They give us nothing, good or
bad"
Left to himself, the king could worry
his mustache without stint. He leaned
his elbows forward on the balcony and
gave both of his long white hands to
the work. so that he looked like a pale
dog gnawilrg bone. Suppose they
caught his men, what should he do!
Suppose they caught his men?
The clocks in the light, gold capped
belfres of the town below presently
intimated the half hour after midday.
Of course he and Pestovitch had
thought it out. Even if they had
caught those men they were pledged
to secrecy. Probably they would be
killed in the catching. One could deny
anyhow, deny and deny.
And then he became aware of half
a dozen little shining specks very high
in the blue.
Pestovitch came out to him presently
THE government messages, sire, have
all dropped into cypher," he said. 81
have set a mani
Look" interrupted the king and
pointed upward with a long, lean fin
ger.
Pestovitch followed that indication
and then glanced for one questioning
moment at the white face before him.
'We have to face it out, SIRE" he
said.
For some moments they watched the
steep spirals Of the descending mes
sengers, and then they began a hasty
consultation.
They decided that to be holding a
council upon the details Of an ultimate
surrender to Brissago was as innocent
looking thing as the king could wey
be doing, and so when at last the *.
king Egbert, whom the council had