The Washington times., 1918-12-28

.
Government agent. drops dead IN his
room Desmond appropriates Semnn.s
papers and assumes his identity. he
reaches Berlin without incident and -
conducted into the presence Of General
Won Boden. an aide OF the Kaiser.
Desmond. having convinced Won
Boden he 10 really Semlin. 70 ushered
1sS s.r he Ss TsSS 5ssSsae' q snssr Ss :.ss:
from his brother, Francis.
Desmond meets, Cluhfoot-
The mans speech. and manner
boded i'll. for me, felt 1 would
have Infinitely preferred violent
language and open threats to the
subtle menace that lay concealed
beneath all this suayity.
You smoker" Queried C1ubfoot-
''No!--he held up his hand to stop
me as was reaching for my cigar
cite case, you shall have cigar
not one OF our poor German Ham
burgers, but a fine Havana cigar
given me by . member Of the Eng
Iish privy council You stare! Aha!
1 repeat, by a member of the Eng
lfsh priVy council, to me, the boche.
and-corner work for the old doctor.
Der Stelze may be lame, Clubfoot
may be past his work, but when he
travels EN- mission, he travels en-
prince, the man OF wealth and sub
stance There - none too high To
d. him honor, to listen to his views
on poor. misguided Germany, the
land OF thinkers sold into bond
fools!s
He snarled venomously. This man
was beginning to interest me. His
rapid change OF moods was fascinHr
ting, now the kindly philosopher,
now. the Teuton braggart. now the
Hun incorporate. As he -limped
across the room TO fetch his cigar
case from the mantelpiece, stud
led him
He was q vast man, not 20 much
by reason OF his height, which waa
below the medium, but his bulk,
which was enormous. The span OF
his shoulders was immense, and,
though q heavy paunch and q white
habbiness of face spoke OF = gross,
Sedentary life, he wGs obviously q
man of quite unusual strength HIS
arms particularly were out Of all
proportion to his stature, being so
long that his hands hung down ON
either side of him when he stood
erect, like the paws Of some giant
ape.
Altogether, there was something
decidedly sImian about his appear
ance his squat nose, with
hairy, open nostrils. and the gen.
eral hirsuteness of the man, his
bushy eyebrows, the tufts Of black
hair on his chsek bones and on the
back Of his big, spade-like hands
And there was that In his eyes. dark
and courageous beneath the shaggy
brows, that hinted at accesses OF
ape-likc fury, uncontrollable' and
ferocious-
He gave me his cigar. which. a.
he had said, was a good one. and,
after a preliminary sip of his wine.
began to speak.
II am a plain man, Herr Doktor,"
he said. "and I like plain speaking.
That is why 1 am going to speak
quite plainly TO you When 1t be-
came apparent that the person,
whom IL is not necessary to name
further, greatly desired q certain
letter to be recovered. naturally
expected that 1, who am q past
master in affairs OF this order.
notably, on behalf OF the person
concerned. would have been in
trusted with the mission. It was /
who discovered the author OF the
theft in an English internment
camp; it was I who prevailed upon
him to acQuiesce in our terms; IL
place OF the document all this.
mark you, without setting foot In
England"
My thoughts new back again to
the three slips OF paper in their
canvas cover, the divided crest, the
big, sprawling. upright handwrit-
ing. l should have known that
hand. / had seen 1t often enough
accorded the place OF honor in the
drawing room at Consistorial-Rat
Won Mayburg's at Bonn
al therefore had the prior claim."
Clubfoot continued. 'to be intrusted
with the important task OF fetch
ing the document and of handing
it back to the writer. But the gen
tleman was in a hurry: the gen
for that old slowcoach Of q Club
foot to mature his plans for get
ting into England. securing the
document, and getting out again
$50 Bernstorft is called into con-
the head OF an embassy
that has made the German secret
service the laughing stock of the
world. an ambassador that has his
private papers lJched by a common
sneak thief In the underground
and Is fool enough to send
home the most valuable documents
by a jackass OF military attache
who let's the whole lot be taken
from him by a dunderheaded Brit
ish customs officer at falmouth!
This was the man who was to re-
place me-
"Bernstorff is accordingly hidden
TO dispatch one OF his trusty serv-
ants to England, with all suitable
TO do my work.
"You are chosen, and / will pay
you the compliment OF saying that
you fulfilled your mission in a man.
ner that is singularly out OF keep
ing with the usual method OF pro-
cedure OF that gentieman's emf
sa ries.
But. my dear Roktor
pray fill your glass. That cigar Is
good. is II not: I thought You
would appreciate a good cigar.
. AS I was saying. you were
from the first. When
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