Askov American., 1925-06-18


put that on his passport, and quite un-
necessary"
III the police suspect anything
wrong"
"The police win not see that pass
port"
"They will," said Janet. "By this
time I expect they have. He went of
to the police office this morning TO oh
tain his Ausweis, taking the passport
with him."
"whatY" said CasImir. "He has
gone 10 the police ofiicel"
THAT'S what I'm trying to tell you."
said Janet, "and I'm very much afraid
there'll be trouble"
"Troublel They VIII imprison him.
They will deport him. They will
But not even Won Steinveldt would
dare shoot him. But Excuse me.
must act at once or all is lost. The
princess! My beloved country But
I have friends and have money. The
king has friends. Perhaps II is not
yet too late"
He hurried across the hall toward
the door. Janet hurried after him.
Tommy was In serious trouble. Cas-
Imlr was excited and frightened. She
could not bear the thought OF not be-
Ing helpful In crisis as desperate as
this. She caught Casimlr by the arm
just as he reached the door.
"Shall l ring up the embassyY' she
IeI L.. f..l. n
of mine. At least, I've often talked
to him over the telephone. After all,
your friend-I mean my nephew--is
n British subject The ambassador
must do something. shall Insist on
his moving In the matter"
Casimir turned on her. He must
have felt extremely irritated. but his
pollteness did not fail him.
"Graclous lady" he said, II can
think Of only one thing In the world
which would make this affair worse
than II is, and that IL the interference
OF the British ambassador"
Janet says that his face was white,
drawn and tragic when he spoke. and
that beads OF persplration had gath
cred on his forehead. But. Janet II
inclined TO exaggerate In the interests
Of. the picturesque. I do not suppose
that Casimir was In the state she de-
scribed. lie was upset about what
had happened and foresaw great
deal OF trouble. But he had no doubt
that he could straighten things out
even II the police had arrested Tom
my.
When he left the hotel Casimir went
straight to his bank and cashed q
check for ten thousand marks. In
Germany II takes a long time to cash
check and Il was half an hour be
fore Casimir actually got the money.
Then he drove to the police office and
walked into the room Into which Tom
my had gone that morning. There
was still long queue OF Poles, Rus
SLAMS, Slavs, Ukralnlans and other for
eigners waiting to approach the police
officers desk. But Casimir did not
take his place at the end OF the line,
He handed twenty marks to the po-
| liceman who kept watch at the door
and was Immediately placed at the
head Of the queue. In return for an.
other twenty marks the policeman or
dered all the other waiting people out
OF the room. They were allowed TO
draw n breath Of fresh air In the pass
age until Caslmlr finished his bust
ness. This was good for them, but
they did not like II.
For some months the German mark
had been falling rapidly. Official sal
aries, from those Of cabinet minister
to those OF simple policeman. had In
March only about one-tenth OF their
supposed value and large class Of
more or less deserving people found
themselves starving. This. though
disagreeable for them, was u great ad-
vantage TO any one who controlled
money In a stable currency. Casimlr
had Procopius Cables English pounds
TO draw on. He felt confident OF be-
Ing able to persuade any official 10 d,
what he wanted done
lie began his Interview with the po-
lice officer by laying thousand
marks on the table In front OF him.
Then he said he wanted an Ausweis,
duly signed and In proper form, for
an Englishman called Norheys. The
police officer stood up and bowed re
specifically TO Casimlr. Then he fixed
his eyes. hopefully at first. sadly aft
erward. on the thousand marks. He
| began TO apologize
II he had known little earlier tha
the hlghborn gentleman wished for M
Ausweis-- The young Englishman hat
been there, In that very office Their
had been a trinlng irregularity In hi
passport. very triiiing. nothing tina
mattered. II he had known Now
unfortunately. he could do nothing
The young Englishman had beel
passed on to his superior officer.
The poor man eyed the thousan
marks hungrily. He had q wife an
two children al home. They had yer
little food and ne firing. A thousan'
marks would have made life q muc
pleasanter affair TO him.
"Ach. most highborn sir" he salt
II cannot now issue the Auswel'
though how willingly I would do 90