Middletown transcript., 1916-01-15

1 SSE6Q, COulCLCu LOM dIu LuG Guy VI
strong men, and, one by one, presented
themselves, in turn, to a grave and
silent, kinky-haired old darky by the
name of Ephraim.
over sterile plains and snowy noun
tains and bounding seas; the magic
whisper of Money!
Through Ephraim they came to the
stocky, square-standing, sQuare-faced
chess player who was called Allison
They found him pleasant, agreeable,
but hardly of their class. He was sc
forcefnl as to be necessarily more OF
less crude, and he had an unpleasant
fashion of waving aside all the decent
little pretenses about money. That
was the fault of this whole rude coun-
try, where luxury had been brought to
the greatest refinement ever known in
the history Of the world; it was so
devoted to money. and the cultured
gentlemen did their best to get all
they could.
To Ivan Strolesky Allison was frank
and friendly, for there was something
in the big Russian which was different
from these others, so he hastened to
have business out Of the way.
Here are your lines" he said,
spreading down a map which had been
brought up to date by hand "The
ones l want are checked in blue. The
others 1 do not care for"
The grand duke looked them over
with a keen eye.
81 am rather disappointed" he con-
fessed in excellent English. Il had
understood that you wished to control
our entire railway system"
81 do,' assented Allison; "but don't
wish to pay out money for them all.
| If l can acquire the lines / have
marked, the others will be controlled
quite easily from the fact that l shall
have the only outlet"
The grand duke, who had played po-
ker in America and fan-tan in China
and roulette in Monte Carlo. and all
the other games throughout the world,
smiled with his impressive big eyes,
and put his hand up under his beard.
THE matter then seems to resolve
itself into a question of price" he
commented.
mo; protection" responded Allison.
IF were buying these railroads out
right, 1 should expect my property in
terests to be guarded, even If had to
appeal to international equity; but |
am not"
NO" admitted the grand duke.
They cannot be purchased"
The proposition resolves itself then
into matter of virtual commercial
seizure" Allison pointed out.
The grand duke, still with his hand
in his beard, chuckled, as he regarded
Allison amusedly.
Il shall not mind if you call it pi-
racy," he observed. 1--WE, in Russia.
must collect our revenues as we can,
and We are as frank as Americans
about it. Returning to your matter of
protection, l shall admit that the
only agreement upon which we can
secure what you want, would not hold
in international equity; and, in conse-
quence, the only protection l can give
you is my personal word that you will
not be molested in anything which you
wish to do, providing it is pleasant to
myself and those represent"
Then we'll make it an annual pay
ment," decided Allison, putting away
some figures he had prepared. Wen
make it a sliding scale. increasing
each year with the earnings"
The grand duke considered that
proposition gravely. and offered an
amendment.
After the first year." he said. I'VE
shall begin with a large bonus, how
ever"
Allison again put out of his mind
certain figures he had prepared to sug-
gest. Apparently the grand duke need
ed large supply of immediate cash,
and the annual payments thereafter
would need to be decreased accord
ingly, with still another percentage de-
Quoted for profit on the dukes neces-
sites.
Let US first discuss the bonus" pro-
posed Allison, and quite amicably they
went into the arrangement. whereby
Ivan Strolesky filched the only valu-
able railroad lines in his country from
the control of it's present graft-ridden
possessors, and handed it over to the
International Transportation company.
by the way" said Allison. How
soon can we obtain possession?"
Ivan Strolesky put his hand in his
beard again, and reflected.
There is only one man who stands
in the way" he calculated. "He will
be removed Immediately upon my re-
turn"
There was something so uncanny
about this that even the practical
Allison was shocked for an instant,
and then he laughed.
I'VE have still much to learn from
your country" he courteously con-
fessed.
When Ivan Strolesky had gone, ALI
son went to his globe and drew a
bright red line across the land of the
frozen seas.
There came famous diplomat, a
heavy blond man with a red face
and big spectacles and a high, wide,
round forehead.
Il do not know what you want"
said the visitor. regarding Allison with
stolid stare. 'I have come to see."
were brought into service a new kind
Of soldiers called grenadiers, who were
dexterous in fiinging hand grenades
They had furred caps with coped