The Washington times., 1938-02-16

Chiefs office, only to find him
hearted, struggling desperatel!
grim duty with fine human il
The trouble concerned Pierre de
Fourval, the chiefs confidential
secretary poor young crippled
/ Pierre, whose deformity hao
barred him from ever entering the
army, and whose linguistic ano
scholarly accomplishments h a q
secured for him one of the most
responsible positions in our organ
iZations.
For the third time, the chief
told me the story which, boiled
down, amounted to this: An
anonymous denunciation h a d
drawn attention to the fact that
Pierre de Fourval was receiving
mysterious correspondence and
large sums of money from Spain;
his mail had been watched, as a
matter of routine; two days before
my arrival, a package had been
seized, containing a small fortune
in pesetaS, with a covering note,
unsigned, which merely said: THE
last lot was very good. Continue
as arranged. If possible, concent-
rate on measures against sub
marine activity"
THROWN IN PRISON
Pierre de Fourval was in the
military prison Of the Cherche
Midi, and the inquiry into his
allegedly treacherous actions was
In full swing.
who tipped you to the AFFAIR.""
I asked.
1T was to the war office that
the anonymous denunciation
came" the chief said slowly, then,
before it could be acted upon,
Madame de Fourval called on Gen
eral Tiercelin and asked for ad-
vice and guidance in distressing
dilemma. He came to me and !
had to act. May God forgive
- her, the boys own mother accused
him." the usually humorous eyes
blazed with anger. "His mother!
"She went to Tiercelin, told him
that she was racked between her
duty as a French-woman and her
mother-love; she had, she said
noticed that mysterious letters
came for Pierre from neutral coun.
tries; confessed to having searched
his effects and found large sum
in foreign currency concealed in a
pair of socks; the boy had grown
moody and strange lately-Oh
=. my dear, what's the uSe," he broke
off, "you can piece up the whole
damnable story yourself Pierre
was arrested and charged with
treason two days ago. Yesterday
Madame de Fourval called on the
, premier .."
SEES PIERRE IN CELL
"Fat lot of sympathy and mercy
Ghe'u get from him." I remarked
drily.
= "It is not sympathy and mere!
she is after, but what she call
injustice She asked the Tiger
to hurry up the inquiry and sale
she was sacrificing all she had
an only Son-for the good o.
France -"
"She did, did she?" I felt vi
ciouS." Now, chief, can you ar
range for me to see Pierre al
once?"
I saw Pierre de Fourval alone
In his dreary cell. He was, az
usual, gentle and calm. The inter
view led nowhere; he swore hi
innocence and believed him. But
some of his remarks found il
Illuminating: "I am sorry fol
mother" he said.
dramatically patriotic as she is
her position is one of shame. JUS
visualize it, my dear: Father die
barely two months before the be
ginning of the war, so that she i!
merely the widow Of general, w
have no men-folk in the various
services-they're either too old o.
too young. The only man of mill
tary age-myself-is a cripple, 81
that I have to work in utter oh
ecurity. No reflected glory 70.
her, poor dear :"
"She'S not your mother really
! said, "only your Stepmother
isn't she?"
What does it matter? Sht
married father when was a baby
and she's been an admirable
mother to me. She's brought mt
back to comparative health anc
strength But think what {
bitter disappointment to her tina
] am unable to fight! No glorious
wounds for me; no mentioning il
dispatches; no posthumous decora
tions. If died -"
I had easy access to '"The Tiger
and my next visit was to him. HI
listened intently to what I had tt
say and his sensitive mouth curleC
up into the accustomed half -cyni
cal, half-amused expression: bu
there was no fire and anger in tn
deep set eyes.
OUTLINES PLAN
$50" he growled, "a Romal
holiday for a woman sufferin!
from war hysteria. helm? We'll
we'll see about that"
I outlined my plan and h
y L