The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-18


 swered without looking up. He sat propped against a granite boulder. Beside him were hand camera and satchel.
 ''Then I'll run down to Coombe Regis and get some more pates." He scurred off across the moor in the direction of the valley.
 Two men stood on the edge of the cliff. Below them a rough and broken but per fecty negotiable path led to scrap of sandy beach bettressed on three sides by the cliff. On the beach, run up above the high water line of seaweed, was small dinghy. Be hind them was the desolate furze and heather of the stream with granite boulders. One a political magnate, the other the representative of allied nation, a general whose much -phtogra pheti features were well known to the pictorial press-ioving British public.
 ..It was not bad choice of spot, gen eral,' the political magnate said, waving hand toward the moor. Quite deserted
 .'Admirable,' the general agreed
 .sYou manage the path.'
 Bat. yes" He exercised his arm play fully. T shall be what you call stiff when I reach the yacht. It is long pull"
 You are sure that no one board the yacht guesses?"
 .'No, no. It is lucky that am known to have 3 mania for fishing" He smiled. q am a-what is it7-oh yes, crank. They will laugh at me when I arrive with nothing. I was so certain that there was of4 ht c+,,a c;J of the head. She is anchored. There is band and they will dance. They will give me thought
 ''It is lucky that I can drive a car,' the political magnate unused.
 You stay far from here?" The general being idly polite.
 Thirty miles. Beastly roads. I came alone-I speak in the House tomorrow night, and if they intelligent enough to guess at al they will imagine that I wanted sol- tude in order to fashion my speech. The car is hidden in a coppice Even if any one stumbled on it, which is very unlikely, there is nothing in it to betray my identity. l think we have arranged it ali very circum- specify" The political magnates smile was eloquent of self-satisfacton.
 "Very," the general agreed "Ths meeting can be known only to our two selves For my part am enchanted to have been able to come to so complete an understanding with you
 ''Yes. It is gain. To be able to speak freely unwatched by multitude of censo- rous eyes" He laughed shortly. 'l wonder what iniquities would be credited to me if It ware known How hotlv the Opnosition would take up the scent, what a babble when they gave tongue! The minister meets the most blatantiy militarst of the allied representatives,! The minister is embarking on an enterprise that is as deadly as it is secret, Imagine the questions in the House, my friend. Imagine the leading articles in the opposition press Imagine the nervous ness of the public. Yet it was necessary to meet. We have spent profitable hour"
 'It was most necessary acquiesced the general gravely. "Now when you oppose me at first shall understand
 ..And you will marshal your arguments in the sequence l have indicated? If 1 can appear to oppose, and then reluctantly bow to the force of your overwhelming logic, shali carry my public. 1 can say Only the conviction that the generals attitude is the correct one, only the knowledge borne in upon me at the last hour that the generals arguments are invincible, could induce me to pledge my country to this further effort - * I shall deal roughly with you at first, my general"
 "Monsieur, so long as we understand each other, what does it matter?"
 HWa meal avain at the conference in six