The Washington times., 1918-12-30


Goysrpuent agsut. droVs dead IN his
room. Desmond approprtetes Scmnus
paperH and assumes his IDENTIFY. he
reaches Berlin !sithOVt incident and -
condurted into the presence OF Geoeral
Won Boden. an aide Of the Kaiser.
Desnond- haying convinced Won
Bpden he is really Semiin. is ushercd
Later he receives cipher message
from his brother. Francis
Desmond meets Ciubfoot. who eK-
plains what he wants Of Semlin
II reflected that an astute Amer
lean like yourself Cbelieye me. you
are very astute) would probably be
accustomed to look at everything
from the business standpoint. I
will also consider the matter from
the business standpoint said to
myself, and 1 decided that. in your
place. 1. too. would not be content
10 accept. as sole payment for the
danger Of my mission, The scarcely
generous compensation that Count
Bernstorff ailots to, his collabora-
tors,
"No. I should. wish to secure q
little renown for myself. or. were
that not possible. then some none
tary gain proportionate with the
risks L had run. You see, have
been at pains to put myself wholly
in your place. hope I have not
said anything tActless- If so. l.
can at least acquit myself Of any
desire to OFFEND"
-0n the contrary. Herr Doktor."
I replied. "you are the model OF
tact and diplomacy"
His eyes narrowed n little at this
thought he wouldn't Ike that
word 'diplomaey."
j Another glass of wine7 You may
safely venture; there is not q head
ache In bottle Of H. Well, Herr
Doktor. since you have followed me
so patiently thus farSI will 20 fur
ther. told you. when I frst saw
you this evening. that / was de-
lighted at our meeting That was
no mere banality, but the sober
truth For; you see, / am the very
person with whom, in the eireum-
stances. you would wish to get In
touch. Deprived - OF the honor.
rightly belonging TO me, OF under
taking this mission single-banded
and OF fulfilling II. alone. find
that you can enable nfe to carry
cut the mission to a successful COM
elusion. whilst I, for my part, am
able and willing to recompense your
services as they deserve and not
according to Bernstorffs starya-
ton scale.
ITO make a long story short.
Herr Doktor how mueh.H
He brought his remarks to this
abrupt anti-climax so suddenly that
/ was taken abaek,. The man was
watching me intently for all his
apparent nonchalGnce. and felt
more than ever the necessity for
being on my guard. II could only
fathom how much he knew or
two things I felt fairly sure; the
fellow believed me to be Semlin
and was under the impression that
stIll retained my portion of the
document. SHOULD have to gain
time. The bargain he proposed
over my half OF the letter might
give me an opportunity of doing
that Moreover. must find out
whether he really had the other
half Of the document, and in that
case, where he kept it
He broke the silence.
well. Herr Doktor." he said, do
you want me to start the bidding?
You needn't be afraid am gen.
erous."
I leant forward earnestly in my
cnair.
"You have spoken with admirable
frankness. Herr Doktor" 1 said.
"and I will be equally plain. but
will be brief. In the first place,
wish to know that you are the
man you profess to be: so far, you
must remember. have only the as
surance of our excitable young
friend"
"Your caution is most praise
worthy" said the other, "but
should imagine I carry my name
written on my boot" And he lifted
his hideous and deformed foot.
THAT Is scarcely sufficient guar
this importance. A detail like that
could easily be eounterfeited, or
otherwise provided for"
MY badge" and the man pro-
duced from his waistcoat pocket a
silver star Identical with the one I
carried on my braces. but bearing
only the lettor "G' above the in
scription "Abt. VII"
That, even." retorted, ais not
Clubfoot's mind was extraordi-
narily alert, however gross and
heavy his body might be.
He paused for u moment in re-
Election, his hands crossed upon his
great paunch.
"why not:" he said, suddenly,
reached out for his cigar case, be- |
side him on the table. and pro-
duced three slips OF paper highly
glazed and covered with that un-
sprawling hand, a por-
tion of a gilded crest at the top-in
short, the missing half of the docu- |
ment I had found in Semlin's bag.
C:ubfoot held them out fanwise for
me to see. but well out OF my reach.
and he kept a great. spatulate
thumb over the top OF the first sheet
where the name of the addressee
should have been.
'I trust You are now convinced.
Herr DolItor" he said, with a smile |
that barred his teeth. and, putting
the pieces together, he folded them
across, tucked them carefully away |
in the cigar case again, and thrust
it into his pocket
must test the ground further.
Has IT occurred to you, Herr |
I asked, shat we have
very little time at our disposal? |
The person whom we serve must be
waiting .
Ciubfoot laughed and shock his !
l'csi.
''! van; tha; hslfAet'er badly"
Es said. but there's 10 v,oicnI
hurry. So l. fear you must leave
that argument out Of your presen-