Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-08-22
The Bobbs-Merriil CO.,
CHAPTER XIII.
uEnfAr. A I"

Mr.. Joseph Alnner, proprietor Of
the Hotel %Splendide, on WATERPROOF
street, vas absorbed, heart and Soul,
in a curious task. He was emptying
the powder from two-grain qutn1ne
capsules on to a sheet Of white letter
paper on his desk.
It was noon OF Wednesday, the day
following the arrival of Captain
Woodhouse. AImer was alone in the
hotels reception room and office be-
hind the dingy glass partially enclos-
ing his desk. His alpaca-covered
shoulders were close to his ears; and
his bald head, with its stripes OF
Of latitude on a polished globe, was
held far forward SO as to bring his
eyes on the work In hand. Like
some plump magpie he appeared,
turning over bits Of china in a treas
ure hole.
"A round box of the gelatine cocoons
lay at his left hand; it had just been
delivered by an Arab boy. quick to
pick up the street commission for g
picked the capsules from the box one
by one, opened them, and spilled the
nose. He Erunted peevishly- when
the sixth shell had been emptied. The
seventh capsule brought an eager
whistle to his lips. When he had
jerked the c%oncentric halves apart,
very little powder fell out. Instead
the thin. folded edges Of a pellet OF
containers. This Almer had extract
ed in an instant. He spread 1t
against the black back OF a ledger
and read the very fine script-Written
thereon. This was the sessage:
Danger. An informer from
Alexandria has denounced Jul
two friends to Crandail. You
must warn; I a not"
The spy's heart was suddenly drain
ed, and the wisp Of paper In his hand
trembled SO that it scattered the quiz
more he read the note, then held q
match to 1t and scuffed Its feathery
ash with his feet Into the rug beneath
his stool. The fortitude which had
held Joseph Almer to the Rock In the
never failing hope that some day
would bring him the, opportunity to
do a great service for the fatherland
came near crumbling chat minute.
He groaned.
"our friends" he whispered,
"Woodhouse and Louisa-trapped|
The warning in the note left moth
ing open to ambiguity for Almer;
there were but four Of them
friends" under the wilhelmstrasse
Fellowship Of danger-there in Gibral-
tar: Louisa. the man who passed as
Woodhouse, and whose hand was. to
execute the great coup when the right
moment came, himself. and the other
House itself. From this latter the
note Of warning had come. How
desperate the necessity for it Alner
could guess when he took into reckon
ing the dangers that beset any attempt
at communication Of the writer's
part. So narrow the margin OF
safety for this "friends' that he must
look at each setting sun as being rea.
.sonab1y the last for him.
Amer. did not, attempt to 20 behind
the note and guess who was the TN
former that had lodged information
with the governor-general. He had
forgotten. In fact. the incident Of the
night before, when the clustering Cap
per called the newly arrived Wood
house by name. The fash Of suspic-
ion that attached responsibility to the
American girl named Gerson was dis
sipated as quickly as It came: she had
the boat from Alexandria. His was
now the imperative duty to carry
warning to the two suspected, not to
waste time in Idle speculation as to
the identity Of the betrayer. There
was but one ray Of hope in this sud-
den pail of gloom. and that Almer
grasped eagerly. He knew the, char
acter of General Crandall-the phleE-
matte conservatism Of the man, which
would not easily be Jared out Of an
accustomed line Of thought and ac-
ton. The general would be slow to
leap at an accusation brought against
one wearing the stripes OF service:
and, though he might reasonably at
tempt to test Captain woodhouse, one
such as Woodhouse. chosen by the