Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-03-10

your son decides to stay you will prom
lse to respect his wishes.
"He will come" said the emperor
MY son will not refuse"
Matt thought of MirOvna and wal
less positive. He wondered whether
he should inform the old man Of hel
existence, but refrained.
II can do nothing without your ma
jesty's promise" he said. "The deci
sion must be left to the prince. He
must be free to choose-free to stay
II he prefers"
Certainly I promise that" returned
the emperor, with touch Of Queru
lousness. "Compulsion would be worse
than wrong. 1t would be ridiculous
Why do you still hesitate? 1t Is not
kind to keep me in suspense"
II am not hesitating, your majesty
1 am only asking myself whether you
may not be mistaken In thinking my
friend to be your son."
"Mistaken! How is 1t possible to be
mistaken? That ring he gave you-it
was one he always wore. Moreover,
Mr.. Satterlee is positive you recog-
nized the miniature he showed you.
Isn't that SOP"
Eyes. The resemblance was remark.
able"
MY son is now forty-seven years of
age. Does that not accordY'
1T does, though he appears some
what older"
"Is he not q violinist Of exceptional
talent? 1t was that reference I'm the
newspaper accounts printed Of you
which first attracted our attention"
Again you are right, though l would
not call It talent. but genius"
Look at this photograph - almost
the last taken Of him. Have you still
any doubts?'
mo. 1t Is John Mort"
"John Mort?"
'.That Is the name by which I have
known him."
Mort, you say? Mort! All, how
like him to choose such name! Tell
ME of him; describe him to me. want
to know everything-everything.'
But who was the gentleman who
offered me 100000 In Manaswan"
"a celebrated criminal lawyer of
New York, whom Frankasch, my chief
Of the secret poltce, retained among
others to assist him. A very clever.
able man. who proved himself invalu-
able"
"And the schooner, the Esmeralda-
how was it contrived to have her timed
to meet me-"
"She had been bought from the first
and was manned by special detail OF
picked naval officers. Frankasch sus-
pected you would return to san Fran
cisco, for that Is the gateway to the
Pacific, and II became n part OF his
plan to get you there rs soon as he
discovered he could not brlbe you. The
vessel lay there for over four months,
while no efforts were spared to make
It impossible for you to remain In east
ern America. Admiral Won Tripwitz-
to you Brnndcis-spoke too little Eng
lish, and therefore for that as well as
other reasons it seemed wiser to have
as nominal commander Agent Schwartz
Of the secret service"
"And how were those jewelers..
Snood & Hargreaves. induced To treat
me as they did,"
ooh, that was simple. They were
shown long official cablcerams from
Europe, vouched for by our consul
warning them that the ring had heel
stolen. When these matters Were SET
tied to their satisfaction and sub
stantial bond given they made no dill
Guilty In surrendering the ring to the
consulate. Your letter and then yor"
telegram were handed to the consul.
who on the telegraphcd orders OF
Frankasch replied to you rs he WIS di-
rected. or course he knew nothing.
He merely obeyed orders. But you
must not think our surveillance was
limited to San Francisco. The whole
western coast from Vancouver to san
Diego and Mnzatlan was under con
stant watch"
"Your majesty will, of course. give
directions that Snood & Hargreaves
are undeceived? 1t would not be fair
that l should remain In their estima-
tion-a thief"
"No, no. no! You do not understand.
Mr.. Broughton. Frankasch never ac-
cused you Of theft. 1t suited his pur-
pose to make you out innocent--a sailor
who had picked up the ring for trl-
fie, for he would have been glad had
you brought suit against the jewelers.
In order to force from you the pariic-
ulars Of how you came into possession
Of the ring. 1t was even arranged to
guide you to lawyer who should be-
tray your confidence. Shameful, Yes.
detestable, but were we not justiiicd!'
The old man unrolled chart and
flattened 1t out, not without difficulty.
on the bed. Painfully excited. with
his emaciated hands shaking and his
voice senile and broken. he besought
Matt to show him the spot where his
son was.
There" said Matt, running his flu
ger over the sheet to speck marked
"Reef 9. d." There, yodr majesty"
The old emperor bowed his head
over the chart and seemed to be strug-
Cling with a terrible emotion. Call Ad-
miral Won Todloben," he gasped, fall
ing back on his pillows. II must in
struct him to alter the ships course at
once"