Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-09-20

you again." and, holding out his
hand, he gave that of the aston
ishcd mariner a hearty clasp.
"a passenger of the second
class!' stammered the captain:
but | do not understand"
"lt is not necessary that you
should" said the admiral, CURLY,
and at the words, the captain red
dened a little.
"Ah, now l know you," he said.
quietly. Admiral Pachmann,"
and again he saluted.
eyes" said the admiral, 40
knowledging the salute. "We had
not intended to betry, even to you,
our presence on board, but an un-
foreseen circumstance has made
it necessary. NJ one else, of course,
must suspect it. All that you need
to know-indeed, all that we are
permitted to tell you-is that his
highness and myself are at this
moment engaged upon an affair of
state of the first Importance. Here
are my credentials"
He took from an inner pocket a
long leather pocketbook, extracted
from it a heavy envelope sealed
with a great black seal, and
passed it to the captain.
The latter took it, glanced at
the seal and hesitated, for it bore
the imperial crown.
"Do you intend that / should
open this?" he asked.
II wish you to do So" an.
swered Pachmann.
With fingers that trembled a
little, the captain loosened the
seal, lifted the flap, and drew out
the sheet of paper which lay with
in. 1t was an ivory finished white,
almost as stiff as a card, the entire
upper left quarter occupied by the
Imperial crown and monogram, the
other three-quarters covered by
writing in a large and rather stiff
hand, with a scrawling signature
at the bottom. The captain glanced
at this signature, then, his face
very grave, read the missive slow
ly and carefully. Finally he re-
turned the sheet to it's envelope,
and handed it back to Pachmann,
his eyes meeting the admiral's
with a kind OF, awed wonder.
II am at your service" he said.
"Will You ss*"
There was a tap at the door. The
captain went to it and opened it,
standing so that his body filled the
doorway. He exchanged a word
with some one, and then closed the
door and turned back into the
room, a sheaf of papers in his
hand.
"Will you not sit down." he
asked.
eve will be but a moment"
said Pachmann. "That was the
wireless man, was it not?"
Yes"
"Among the messages you have
in your hand is one from Lepine,
project of the Paris Service du
Surete. He asks whether you have
aboard in stateroom 514 a man
named lgnace Ward, accompanied
by his daughter"
Captain Hausmann, with an ad-
mlrable composure, glanced
through the messages:
eyes, here it u.s." he said.
81 will dictate the answer"
said the admiral.
Without a word, the captain sat
down again at his desk and wrote
to Pachmann's dictation:
Lepne. Paris.
No record of Ignace Ward and daugh-
ter on Ottilie. Stateroom 5l4 unoccu-
pied.
ut would be we'll to have the
message sent at once," added
Pachman. "You will also see that
the name Ward and his daughter
do not appear or your passenger
list, and that they are moved from
the stateroom they now occupy to
some other one. The records for
the voyage must show that that
room was indeed unoccupied. You
will also instruct the purser that
the tickets surrendered by Ward
and his daughter are not to be
turned in, but. in case of inquiry,
to be reported unused"
The captain had listened care.
fully. &
ION what pretext will l move
these people9" he asked.
1.-THE pretext must be found"
The captain stroked his beard
with a troubled air.
II fear there is no second cabin
room empty-we are very crowd
u An "a ~ ~ E