Washington telegraph., 1921-07-08

With a bow the man LEFT the rooin'
and the door closed.
During that five minutes, gentle
men, propose to Introduce myselt 10
you, and you to one another. The
business which | wish to discuss we
will postpone, with your PERMISSION
till after the coffee, when we shall De
undisturbed."
In silence the three guests walteu
until he unwound the thick white mut-
fer; then. with undisgulsed curiosity
they studied their host. In appearance
he was striking. He had short DARK
beard, and in profile his face was aqul-
line and stern. The eyes, which had
so impressed the manager, seemed
now to be a cold grey-blue; the thick
brown hair, fecked slightly with grey
was brushed back from a broad tore-
head. To even the most superficial oo-
server the giver of the feast was
man Of power; Il man capable OF form
ing instant decisions and of carrying
them through.
And If so much was obvious to the
superficial observer. It was more than
obvious to the three men who stood by
the fire watching him. Each one OF
them, as he watched the host, realized
that he was I'm the presence Of great
man. 1t was enough: great men do
not send fool invitations to dinner TO
men Of International repute. 1t mat
tered not what form his greatness took
there was money in greatness, big
money. And money was their life.
The count advanced first to the Am
erican.
"Mr. Hooking, | believe" he re-
marked in English, holding out his
hand. 81 am glad you managed to
come"
The American shook the prOfered
hand, while the two Germans looked at
him with sudden interest. As the man
at the head of the great American cot
ton trust, worth more in millions than
he could count, he was entitled to
their respect.
That's me, Count" returned the mil
lionare in his nasal twang. 81 am in
terested to know to what am indebt-
ed for this invitation"
"All in good time, Mr.. Hooking" ;"
smiled the host 81 have hopes that
the dinner viii fill in that time salts
| factorily"
I---He. tl.saed "a. the -lallsl the TWO
Germans, who without his coat seemed
more like Goldfish than ever.
Herr Steinemann, is It not?" This
time he spoke in German.
The man whose interest in German
coal was hardly less well known than
Hockings in cotton, bowed stifly.
"And Herr Won Gratz?" The Count
turned to the last member Of the par
| ty and shook hands. Though less well
known than either Of the other two in
the realms Of international finance, Won
Gratzs name in the steel trade Of Cen
! tral Europe was one to coniure with.
"Well, gentlemen" said the Count,
before we sit down to dinner, l may
perhaps be permitted TO say a few
words Of Introduction. The nations
of the world have recently been en-
gagged In performance Of unriyaled
stupidity. As far as one can tell that
performance is now over, The last
/ thing | wish to do is to discuss the
war-except in so far as it concerns
our meeting here tonight. Mr.. Hook
ing Is an American you two gentlemen
are Germans. T'-the Count smiled
slightly-"have no nationality. Or
rather, shall | say, / have every ma
tionallty Completely cosmopolitan.
Gentlemen, the war was waged by
idiots, and when idiots get busy on a
large scale, It is time for clever men to
| step In. That is the raisOn d.
etre for this little dinner &. l
claim that we four men are sufficiently
! international to be able to disregard
any stupid and petty feelings about
this country and that country, and to
regard the world outlook at the present
moment from one point Of view and
one point of view only-our own
The gaunt American gave a hoarse
chuckle.
ut will be my object after dinner
NohAliiutu lilt NtuIls " llA anu ll"''
to you that we have a common point
Of view. Until then-shall we merely
concentrate on a pious hope that the
Hotel Rationale will not poison us
with their food?"
The next moment the head waiter
opened the door, and the four men sat
down 10 dine.
II must be admitted that the average
hostess, desrous of making a dinner
success, would have been filled with
secret dsmay at the general atmos-
phere In the room. The American In
accommodating his millions, had also
accumulated digestion Of such an eX-
otic and tender character that dry
rushs and Vichy water were the limit
Of his capacity.
Herr Steinemann was Of the common
order Of German. 10 whom food Is
sacred. RE ate and drank enormously
and evidently considered that nothing
further was required of him.
Won Gratz did his best to keep his
Ia, psnflK In