Evening star., 1921-04-04
Bulldog Drummond
BY CYRIL McNElLE ('sapper")
A Novel of Mystery, Love and Adventure
by George
BY CYRIL McNEILE ("Sapper' ''
Copyright. 1871, by George H. Dor.n Col

US, "hicn nau so impressed the
manager. seemed now to be q cold
gray-hlue: the thick brown hair
necked slightly with gray. was brush
eo pack from a broad forehead. His
nAnos were large and white: not ef-
ieminate, but capable and determin-
60: the hands of a man who knew
Wnat he wanted. knew how to get it.
and got 1t. To even the most super
neral observer the giver of the feast
vas man of power: a man capable
OF forming instant decisions and of
carrying them through.
AND II so much was obvious to the
superficial observer. it was more than
oovious to the three men. who stood
oy the nre watching him. They were
what they were simply owing to the
Iact that they were not superficial
servers of humanity; and each one of
them. as he watched his host, real
ized that he was in the presence of a
great man. 1t was enough: great
men do not send fool invitations to
dinner to men of international repuae.
IL mattered not what form his great
ness took-there was money in great
ness. big money. And money was
The count advanced first to the
American.
Mr.. Hooking. I believe" he re-
marked in English. holding out his
hand. L am glad you managed to
come"
The American shook the proffered
hand. while the two Germans looked
at him with sudden interest. AS the
man at the head of the great Amer
ican cotton trust. worth more in mil
lions than he could count he was en-
Titled to their respect
That's me. count" returned the
millionaire in his nasal twang. 81
am interested to know to what I am
indebted for this invitation
An in good time. Mr.. Hooking"
smiled the host II have hopes that
isfActorily."
He turned to the taller of the two
Germans. who without his coat seem
ed more like a Goldfish than ever.
Herr Steineman. is 1t not?: This
time he spoke in German.
The man whose interest in German
coal was hardly less well known than
And Herr Won Gratx? 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 Gratz's name in the steel
trade Of central Europe was one to
conjure With.
Well. gentlemen" said the count,
before we sit down to dinner I may
perhaps be permitted to say a few
the world have recently been engaged
IN performance OF unrivaied stu
pidity. AS far as one can tell that
performance -is now over. The last
thing wish to do Is to discuss the
war-exeept in SO far as it concerns
ing is an American. you two gentle
men are Germans THE count
smiled slightiy-''have no natfonaIi-
ty. Or rather. shall I say. I have
every nationality. Completely cosmo-
Vas 1s<eay idiosss snsea and 3ien sni idiots Tas
get busy on . large scale It 10 time
for c1e0er men to step in. That
IL the<atsDn deetre for this little din
ner. claim that we four men
are sufficiently international to be
able to disregard any stupid ana petty
feelings about this country and that
country. and to regard the world out
look At the present moment from one
point OF view and one point of view
The gaunt American gave q hoarse
TT will be my object after dinner, !"
continued the count. ito try and prove
to you that we have a common point
OF view. Until then-shall we mere
ly concentrate on a pious hope that
the 5.p Hotel In; Nationals io will not poison
Il guess" remarked the American.
that you've got a pretty healthy
command of languages. count"
Il speak four fuenuy-French. Ger
man, English and Spanish" returned
the other. I'm addition. I can make
myself understood IN Russia, Japan,
China. the Balkan States. and
America"
His smile. as he spoke. robbed, the
words OF zny suspicion Of oGense.
The next moment the head waiter
opened the door. and the four men
sat down to dine.
1t must be admitted that the aver
age hostess. desfrous OF making
dinner succeas, would have been I'LL
ed with secret dismay at the general
atmosphere In the room. The Ameri-
can. IN accumulating his millions, had
also accumulated digestion of such
an exotic and tender character that
dry rusks and vichy water were the
limit Of his capacity.
Herr steinsmann was OF the com
mon order of German. to whom food
% sacred. He ate and drank enor-
mously. and evidently considered that
nothing further was required of him.
Won Gratis did his best to keep his
end up. but ~ he was apparently in
gaunt Amer16n would assault him
with violence. he cannot be- said to
have contributed much to tho gayety
of the meal.
And so to the host must be given
the credit that the DINNER was a sue
cess Without appearing to monopo-
LIE the conversation he talked cease
le1aly and we'll Aore-he talked bril-
lfantly. There seemed to be no cor
ner of the globe with which he had
not a nodding acquaintance at least;
while with most places he was as
familiar as a Londoner with Picca-
dilly Circus. But to even the most
brilliant of conyersationalists the
strain of talking TO a hypochondrical
American and two Germans-one
Considerable: and the count heaved
an inward sigh of relief when the cof-
fee had been handed round and tho
door closed behind the waiter. From
now on the topic was an easy one
one where no effort on his part would
was the topic Of money-the common
bond Of his three guests. And yet, as
he carefully cut the end of his cigar,
and realized that the eyes of the
other three were fixed on him expect
antly. he knew that the hardest part
of the evening was in front Of him
Big fnancisrs. in common with all
other people. are fonder Of having
money put into their pockets thu n Of
taking IT out And that was the very
do-in large quantities.
Gentlemen" he remarked, when his
cigar was going TO his satisfaction
I'VE are all men of busines. l do not
propose therefore to beat about the
bush over the matter which / have to
put before you. but to come to the
point at once. said before dinner
that 1 considered we were sufficiently
big to exclude any small arbitrary
national distinctions from our minds.
As men whose interests are interna-
tional. such things are beneath US. I
wish now to slightly qualify that re-
mark" He turned to the American
on his right. who with his eyes half
cloAed WAS thOughtfully nickinD nj,