Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-01-18

! ton at the great English stronghold
on the Rock. The captain looked al
his watch, found the hour late, and
rose to depart. Doctor Koch accom-
panied him to the gate, and stood with
him for a minute under the strong
light from the nearby arc.
You go direct to the Princess
Mary?' he asked. + rNt
"Direct to the Princess Mary" the
other answered. "She is to sail al
s o'clock"
"Then God guard you, my friend
on-your great adventure" They
clasped hands, and the gate closed be
lind the doctor. !.
A shadow skipped from the top Of
the wall about the majors house
across the road. At shadow logged
the footsteps Of the tall we'll knit
man who strobe down the deserted
Queens Terrace toward the tiled sta
ton by the tracks. A little more
than an hour later, the same shadow
fitted up the g%angplank of the Prin'
cess Mary at her berth. When the
big P. & o. liner pulled out at dawn,
she carried among her saloon passen'
gers one registered as &c. G. Wood
house, Capt. Sig. Service" and in her
second cabin a civilian Capper."
mo, madam does not know me; but
she must'see me. Oh, l know she will
see me. Tell her, please, it is a girl
from New York all alone in Paris
who needs her help"
The butler looked again at the card
1.-The visitor had given him- Quick sus'
! picion flashed into his tired eyes-the
same suspicion that had all Paris
mad.
"Gerson-Mademoiselle FGer-son
That name, excuse me, If / say 1t
that name ees-"
ut sounds German; yes. Haven't
had that told me a thousand times
these last few days?" The girls shout
ders dropped Imply, and she tried to
smile. but somehow failed. But it's
nv name, and I'm an American
been an American for twenty-five
years. Please-please!"
Madame the ambassadors wife;
she ees overwhelm wiz woark." Inc
butler gave the door an insinuat1ne
push. Jane Gerson's patent leather
boot stopped it. She made a quick
rummage in her bag, and when she
withdrew her hand, a bit Of bank pa
per crinkled in it. The butler peck
eted the note with perfect legerde'
main, smiled a formal thanks and In
vited Jane into the dark cool hallway
of the embassy. She dropped on q
s~kin.covered couch, utterly spent
Hours she had passed moving, foot
by foot. in an interminable line, up to
q little wicket in a steamship office.
only to be told, Every boats sold
out" Other grilling hours she had
passed similarly before the express
Office, to find, at last, that her little
paper booklet of checks was as worth:
less as a steamship folder. Food
even lacked, because the money she
offered was not acceptable. For a
week she had lived in the seething
caldron that was Paris in war time,
harried. buffeted, trampled and STAN
neded-a chip on the froth Of mad,
ness. This day, the third Of August,
found Jane Gerson summoning the
last remnants of her tagging nerve 10
the supreme endeavor. Upon her WIS.,
it to the embassy depended e
thing: her safety, the future she was
battling for. But now, with the mrs.
barrier passed, she found herself SUD
denly faint and weak. -,
Madam the ambassadors wife will
see YOU. Comet The buffers voice
sounded from afar off, though Jane
saw the cleaning buckles at his knees
very close. The pounding Of her
heart almost choked her as n rose
to follow him. Down a long hall and
into a richly furnished drawing room,
now strangely transformed by the
presence Of desks, fling cabinets and
busy girl st~enographers; the click OF
typewriters and rustic Of papers gave
the air of an office at top pressure.
The butler showed Jane to a couch
near the portieres and withdrew
From the tangle of desks at the oppo'
Site end of the room, a woman with
a kindly face crossed. with hand ex-
tended. Jane rose, grasped the hand
and squeezed convuls1vely.
"You are
eyes, my dear, I am the wife of the
ambassador. Be seated and tell me
! all YOUR troubles. We are pretty busy
here, but not too busy to help-f we
can" .
Jane looked into the sympathetic
ewes of the ambassadors wife, and
what she found there was like a draft
Of water to her parched soul. The
elder woman, smiling down into the
white face, wherein the large brown
Ieyes burned unnaturally bright, saw
la trembling Of the lips instantly con
jquered by a rallying will, and she
lpatted the small hand hearteningly.
Dear lady" Jane began, almost az