The Holbrook news., 1921-08-12
PROLOGUE


 -1-
 In the month of December, 1918, and on the very day that British cavalry division marched into Cologne, with flags flying and bands playing as the conuuerOrs of a beaten nation, the manager of the Hotel Rationale In Benle received a letter. Its con- tents appeared to puzzle him some what, for having read it twice he rang the bell on his desk to summon his secretary. Almost immediately the door opened, and young French girl came into the room.
 Monsieur rang?"
 Have we ever had staying in the hotel a man called le Comte de Guy?" He leaned back in his chair and looked at her through his pince-nez.
 The secretary thought for a mo- ment and then shook her head. Mot as far as I can remember" she said.
 DO we know anything about him? Has he ever fed here, or taken pri- vate rOom7"
 ''Not that know of"
 The manager handed her the letter, and waited in silence until she had read it.
 "It seems on the face of it a pecu- liar request from an unknown man." he remarked as she laid 1t down. "A dinner of four covers; no expense to be spared. Wines specified and if not in hotel to be obtained. A private room at half-past seven sharp Guests to ask for room x"
 The secretary nodded in agreement.
 'Tt can hardly be hoax" she re- marked after a short silence.
 "No." The manager tapped his teeth with his pen thoughtfully. "But if by any chance it was, it would prove an expensive one for us. 1 wish I could think who this COmte de Guy is.'
 He took off his pince-nez and laid them on the desk in front of him. "Send the maitre d'hOtel to me at once" Whatever may have been the man. ager's misgivings, they were certainly not shared by the head waiter as he left the office after receiving his in- structions War and short ratiOns had not been conducive to any partic- uIarIy lucrative business in his sphere; and the whole sound of the proposed entertainment seemed to him to contain considerable promise.
 And so at about twenty minutes past seven the maitre d'hotel was lowering around the hall-porter. the manager was lowering round the maitre d'hoteI, and the secretary was lowering around both. At five-and twenty minutes past the first guest arrived.
 He was a peculiar-lOoking man, in a big fur coat. reminding one ire sistibly of a codfish.
 'T wish to be taken to Room K" The French secretary stiffened invol- untariIy as the maitre d'hotel stepped Obsequiously forward. Cosmopolitan as the hotel was even now she could never hear German spoken without an inward shudder of digust. "A Boche," she murmured in disgust. l Almost immediately afterward the second and third members of the par ty arrived They did not come togeth- CT, and what seemed peculiar to the manager was that they were evidently |
 
 strangers to one another.
 The leading one-a tall gaunt man | with a ragged beard and a pair of | piercing eyes-asked in a nasal and by | no means an inaudible tone for Room | x. As he spoke a little fat man who was standing just behind him started | perceptibly, and shot a birdlike glance | at the speaker.
 Then in execrable French he too asked for Room x.
 "Hes not French" said the secre- tary excitedly to the manager. "That last one was another Boche."
 The manager thoughtfully twirled | his pince-nez between his fingers.
 1.-TWO Germans and an American." He looked a little apprehensive. Let us hope the dinner will appease every body. Otherwise
 But whatever fears he might have | entertained with regard to the furni- ture in Room x, they were not des- tined to be uttered. Even as he spoke | the door again swung open, and man | with a thick white scarf around his | neck, so pulled up as almost con- pletely to cover his face, came in. All | that the manager could swear to as regards the newcomers appearance was pair of deep-set, steel-gray eyes which seemed to bore through him.
 You got my letter this morning?"
 'M'sieur le Comte de Guy2" The |