The Raymer enterprise., 1921-08-11


With a bow the man left the room
and the door closed.
During that Ave minutes. gentle
men. propose to introduce myself to
you, and you to one another. The
business which I wish to discuss we
will postpone, with your permission.
till after the coffee, when we shall be
undIsturbed."
In silence the three guests waited
until he unwound the thick white muf
fer; then, with undlsgulsed curiosity.
they studied their host. In appearance
he was striking. He had a short dark
| beard. and In profile his face was aqui-
line and stern. The eyes. which had
so impressed the manager, seemed
now to be cold grey-blue; the thick
brown hair. flecked slightly with grey,
| was brushed back from a broad fore.
head To even the most superficial OBJ
server the giyer OF the feast was a
man OF power: man capable OF form
Ing instant decisions and Of carrying
them through.
And II so much was obvious to the
| superficial observer, 1t 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 In the presence Of great
man. II was enough: great men do
not send fool invitations to dinner to
men Of international repute. 1t mat
tered not what form hls greatness took
there was money In greatness, big
money. And money was their life.
The count advanced first to the Am
| erican.
"Ar. Hooking, believe" he re-
marked In English, holding out his
hand. II 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 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
llonaire In his nasal twang. II am in.
terested to know to what I am indebt-
ed for this invitation"
"All in good time. Mr.. Hooking"
smiled the host. II have hopes that
the dinner will al In that time salts.
factorily."
He turned to the taller Of the two
Germans. who without his coat seemed
more like q Goldfish than ever.
Herr Steinemann. Is II notr This
time he spoke In German.
The man whose interest In German
coal was hardly less well known than
Hockings In cotton, bowed stiffly.
And Herr Won Gratzr 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
GRATIS name In the steel trade Of Cen.
tral Europe was one to conjure with.
well. gentlemen" said the Count,
before we sit down to dinner, / may
perhaps be permitted to say few
words Of Introduction. The nations
Of the world have recently been en-
gagged In a performance Of unrivaled
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 II 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 I say, I have every na-
tionality. 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 !
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-0ur own"
The gaunt American gave hoarse
chuckle.
1T will be my object after dinner,
continued the Count, ito try and prove
to you that we have common point
Of view. Until then-shall We merely
concentrate on a plous hope that the
Hotel Rationale will not poison ua
with their foodT'
The next moment the head waiter
opened the door, and the four men sat
down to dine.
1t must be admitted that the average
hostess. desirous Of making dinner q
success, would have been filed with
secret dismay at the general atmos'
phere in the room. The American. In
accumulating his millions, had also
accumulated a digestion Of such an ex'
otic and tender character that dry
rusks and vlchy water were the limi,
Of his capacity.
Herr Steinemann was of the common
order Of German, to whom food II
| sacred. He ate and drank enormously
and evidently considered that nothing
further was required Of him.
Won Gratz did his best to keep hii
end up. but as he was apparently in q
| chronic condition Of fear that the