The Dermott news., 1915-07-01

he rose up and, taking me by the arm.
led me into his private study. at
once guessed what was coming and,
while accepting cigar, determined
that nothing should be extracted from
me respecting the negotiation | have
| described, and Of which NJ. Fleuriot
i had kept me partly informed.
My dear baron he commenced,
j you and | are old friends. We should
both be equally distressed if war were
to break out between our two coun-
! tries
Without doubt. replied affecting
to consider the remark mere chance
! observation Let US be thankful that
such an event is not III the least likely
to take place And | added to myself:
/ Unless you refuse to give up Egypt
He glanced at me with suspicion.
How far you are in the confidence
/ of your foreign Office, he said. 1 nei-
i Their know, nor do | ask you to tell
me. | desire to give you information,
not to receive it
You are too good | murmured,
more on my guard than ever
I hope, at the same time. he went
on. that what | have to say to you
may cause you to take action in what
| believe To be the interest of both
countries. | am sure that il you use
this information YOU will not allow
/ its source TO be discovered.
THAT is understood of course l
replied, beginning to be really inter
ested
THANK you. Let me say at once.
then. that l have reason to believe
that your government has recently
proposed to the court OF Berlin an of
fensive alliance against England, with
a view to compelling US to evaeuate
Egypt in your favor
Il was thundemtruck at the accu-
racy of his information
But my lord this S some chimera.
delusion, cried affecting the utmost
incredibly Such an idea is too ex-
traYagant for a feuilletouH
Lord Soames smiled coldly.
u have already said that do not
ask YOU to commit yourself. my dear
baron he replied I will assume. If
you prefer II, that all this Is news to
YOU But YOU have not yet heard what
wanted to tell you As You know.
Great Britain has hitherto steadfastly
refused to join the triple alliance for
fear of being dragged by Germany into
Il war against France Il is 10 your
interest ] think YOU viii admit. that
We should continue to hold aloof
4 shrugged my shoulders without
expressing any opinion on this point
Now, pursued Lord Soames. we
suddenly find ourselves placed in this
dilemma. Prince Bismarck has in
formed our ambassador in Berlin that
he will accept your proposal unless
England accedes to the triple alliance
within a week from today. and un-
/ dertakes to employ her navy in a
blockade of the French coast as soon
as war is declared
Il was overwhelmed The reyela-
ton of this atrocious duplicity on the
part of Bismarck completely stunned
me. knowing what did of his char
acter. 1t VAS impossible TO doubt the
truth OF Lord Soames' disclosure 1t
was evident that the whole of the
negotiations with our foreign office
/ had been a deliberate ruse In order to
obtain the means OF discreditins us in
the eyes of Great Britain. II was the
Belgian trick of 1870 over again,
u could have wept. 1t was with the
I 4 4 ~ L.
CONSERVATION from the keen eyes of
the Englishman.
You have been deceived. my
friend answered. in a tone Of great
confidence. That Bismarck should
make such assertions does not sur.
/ prise me in the least But it is mere
/ invention of his own. believe me. II
such a thing had been on the carpet
am the first person with whom NJ.
Fleuriot would have communicated
Lord Soames listened To me with
an all Of indulgence as If had been
a child
Again permit me to remind YOU
that | am simply giving you a warning
for your own benefit he said I have
only to add that the prince has prom
Used to show our ambassador the writ
ten French proposal. signed by NJ
Fleuriot, next Saturday. Unless you
can reclaim that document by then,
! England will join the alliance, and war
will be declared within a fortnight
1T was useless for me to make fur
Their protests. They were wasted on
this man of ice.
II am obliged to you for your
friendliness. | said rising. No doubt
the whole story is some clumsy fabri-
cation of Prince Won Bismarck's. which
it will be easy to disprove. If | should
chance to meet M. Fleuriot, however,
will inform him of these ISLANDERS.
I'VE returned to the drawing.room,
and | chatted with Lady Soames for
twenty minutes, in order to show that
my mind was at ease then an
nounced that | had a headache and