Show biff RIL ax y MC jj COPYRIGHT 1908 ly Y THE associated bunday COPYRIGHT by THE bobba MERRILL COMPANY SYNOPSIS Count di til the tha ambassador la ie at dinner with diplomats when a Ines messenger summons hini him to the embassy where a beauta oung loung woman a ticket to inh hasay aBsy ball the ticket Is made mc ou in th tho 0 name of miss isabel thorne chief campbell of the secret service and air grimm ills his gead head detective are warned that a plot la Is rowing in washington and orlum goes to the state ball for or information ills his nt at tent lori Is called to allos isabel thorne who with her companion disappears A hot la Is hear hearro and senor alvarez of the mexican M ie leff atlon gation Is 13 found wounded orlynn is 13 assured miss bliss thorne did it lie he visits her demanding knowledge of tile tho affair and arrests cletro miss thorne visits an old bomb maker and they discuss a bonde wonderful ful ex experiment perline lit fifty I atty thousand bollara la stolen from froin the office of senor benor rodriguez tho lie minister from venezuela land while detectives are investigating vesti gating the robbery alias thorne up ap pears paar sas aa a guest of the legation grimm accas accuses a her ier of tho the theft the money Is but a new mystery occurs in the of monsieur the french ambassador blus miss aliss thorna reappears hearing bearing a le letter ive er whirl which baates that the ambassador has ban and demanding ransom the ambassador bas returns and again strangely disappears ap pears later he Is resau rescued ed from an old house tn in the suburbs it is IB discovered that cletro shot senor alvarez and that lie Is prince dabruzzi grimm figures in a mysterious jail delivery I 1 lie le orders both miss thorne and dabruzzi to lo leave the country they are conveyed to new york tork and placed on a steamer tut bUt return grimms coffee Is drugged dupon an regaining consciousness he finds a sympathetic note from isabel thorne the conspirators against the government are located and their scheming Is over hearda he ardi grimm orders dabruzzi to detroy troy the unsigned compact isabel compels hm him to obey and is as termed a by the conspirators CHAPTER continued 1 I personally caused the destruction of the compact after several signatures had bad been attached mr grimm amended throughout I 1 have acted under the direction of mr j campbell of course you were in very grave personal danger th abo Preil president dent wenton it was vas oi of no corf consequence sequence said mr grimm simply you a are ra certain fain mr grimm and the president ident spoke with great deliberation you are certain that the representatives of the latin countries have not met since and signed the compact 1 I amnot certain no replied mr grimm promptly 1 I am certain however that the backbone of the alliance was broken its only excuse for existence destroyed when they permitted me to learn of the wireless percussion cap which would have placed the navies of the world at their mercy believe nib me gentlemen it if they had kept their secret it would have given them dominion of the earth they made one mistake he added ina in a most moat matter of fact tone they should have killed me it was their only chance the president seemed a little startled at the suggestion that Th atwould would have been murder he benl irked rr ked tao true mr grimm ad but it seems an absurd thing that they should shoula have permitted the life of one man to stand between them and tho the world power tor for which they had so long planned and schemed his highness prince benedetto dabruzzo believed as I 1 do and so expressed himself he paused a moment there was a hint of in his manner 1 I expected to be killed of course it seemed to mo me tho only thing thin that could happen they must have known of the tar far reaching con eeb bences erce would bolow upon your escape mr grimm why they billyou kill kil lyou you mr grimm made a little gesture turf with both hands bands and was silent may abl they ey not yet attempt it the president insisted its t too late now mr grimm ex pla fa 1 I ined i 0 d they had bad everything to gala gain vy by killing me mb there as I 1 stood in the room where I 1 had interrupted the signing of the compact because that y would have bave been before I 1 had placed the facts in the hands bands of my govern ment I 1 was the only person outside dt of their circle who knew all of them only the basest motive could inspire y them thein to attempt my life now A there was waa a pause the secretary lofstate of bf state glanced from mr air grimm to mr ca campbell Camp M Cell with a au question estion in blo beep set eyes do 1 1 I understand that you placed a wea thorne and the prince under that la Is you detained worn them he Auer queried led if so where are they now 1 I dort dont know was the reply just before abb explosion the three of us entered an automobile together and then as we were if starting arting away I 1 re ra something which made it ilme Esary for me to reenter re enter the house when I 1 came out again just a ew seconds before tho the explosion the prince and thorne thorn had gone the secre lips curled down in disapproval it rather ansual to put it mildly to leave your prisoners to their own devices that way he asked 1 well yes mr grimm admitted a dmIt ted but the circumstances were unusual when I 1 entered the house I 1 had locked a man in the cellar I 1 had to go back to save gave his life otherwise oh i the lie guard at tho the door you mean camo came the interruption who was it mr air grimm glanced nt at his chief who nodded it was mr air charles winthrop rankin of the german embassy said the young man inan mr air rankin of the german embassy was as on guard at the door demanded the president quickly yes we got out safely and that means meana that germany was 1 tho the president paused and startled glances passed around the table after a moment of deep abstraction the secretary went on so miss thorne and the prince escaped are arc they still in this country that I 1 dont know replied mr grimm ile he stood silent a moment staring at the president some subtle change crept into the listless eyes and his bis lips were set perhaps I 1 had better explain here that the personal equation enters largely into an affair of this kind he said at lust last slowly it happens that it entered into this unless I 1 am ordered jo to pursue tile tha matter further I 1 think it would bo be best for all concerned to accept the tha fact of miss escape and ile he stopped personal equation mused the president just how mr grimm do iou esthe ithe personal equation enter ente r into the affair the young mans mana lips closed lightly and then there are some people mr president whom we meet frankly as enemies and we deal with them accordingly and there are others who oppose us and yet are not enemies it Is merely that our paths of duty cross we may have the greatest respect for them and they for us but purposes aro are unalterably different in other words there Is a personal enmity and a political enmity you for instance might bo be a close personal friend of the man whom you defeated for president there might he eto stopped pied suddenly go on urged the president 1 I 1 think every man meets meeta oabe once in his life an individual with whom he would like to reckon personally the young man continued continue ld that reckoning may not be a severe one it may be less severe than the law would provide but it would bo a personal reckoning there Is one individual in this affair with whom I 1 should like to reckon honce bonce the personal equation enters very largely In into the case the secretary of war crumpled n sheet of paper impatiently and hitched ills his chair up to the table coming down to the facts its like hlo taij 3 lant it he demanded briskly the rhe latin countries by an invention of theira the their own which the united states and england were vere to be duped into purchasing would have had power to lo explode every submarine mino mine before attacking a port very well this thing of courso course would have given them the freedom of the seas as long as wo we were unable to explode their submarines as they were vere able to explode ours oura and this la Is the condition which made the latin compact possible it lie ho looked straight at mr grimm who nodded therefore ho he went on if the latin compact Is not a reality on paper it if the united states and england do not purchase this this wireless percussion cap we aro right back where we were before it all happened arent wo we every possible danger bangor from that direction has passed it the world war of which we havo have been talking la 19 rendered impossible it chii ts a guest question iob answered mr air grimm it you will pardon me for suggesting it I 1 would venture to say that as long as aa there la Is an invention of that importance in the hands of nations whom we now know have been conspiring against us for afif fifty ty years there Is always alwais danger it adems to me it if you will pardon me ngali that for tho sake of peace we must either get com complete control of that invention or elise elbo understand it so well that there can be no further danger and again please let me call your attention to the fact that tho the brain which brought this thing into existence Is still to bo be reckoned with there may some day come a time when our submarines may be exploded at will regardless of this percussion cap the secretary of war turned oatly flatly upon chief campbell Camp boll this woman who Is mixed up in t L this note Not eMr mr grimm Is surprising this affair he demanded this miss thorns thorne who la in she who Is she repeated the chief ashes a secret agent of italy one of the most brilliant perhaps that has ever operated in this or any other country the brows of the secretary of war were drawn down th in thought as he ha turned to the president mr air grimm was speaking of tho the personal equation he remarked pointedly 1 I think perhaps hla his meaning Is clear when we know there Is a woman in the case we know that mr afir grimm has baa done his duty to the last inch in this matter we know that alone and unaided practically lie he has done a thins thing that no living man of his relative position has bar ever done before prevented a world war but there la Is further danger ho he himself has called out attention to it therefore I 1 would suggest that mr grimm be relieved of further duty in this particular case this Is not a moment when the peace of tho the world may be imperiled by person perso nhi bl feeling of of kindliness for an individual mr grimm received the blow with out a tremor As mr arr grimm lins has pointed out the secretary went on wo we have been negotiating for this wireless percus borcus slon sion cap I 1 have somo somewhere where in m ml offee tile the name and address of tho the in with whorl whom these negotiations have been conducted through that it Is possible to reach the enven tor and then I 1 I 1 suggest that wt we vote veto our thanks to mr air grimm and relieve him of this particular case tho the choleric eyes of the president softened a little and grow grave as aa they studied the impassive face of the young man mail its a strange alt situation mr grimm lie ho said evenly what do you say to withdrawing 1 I am at your orders mr air pro president 81 was the reply no one knows better what wha t you havo have done than the gentlemen here at this table the president went on slowly no one questions that you have done moro than any other man could have done under the circumstances we understand I 1 think that indirectly you aro asking immunity for an individual I 1 dont happen to know tile the liability of th that a t individual under tinder our law but wo we cant make any mistake now mr grimm and so and so ile he stopped and was silent 1 I had hoped mr air president that what I 1 havo dono done so BO far and I 1 d ont dont underestimate it would have at least earned for me the privilege of remaining nial ning in this case until its conclusion clu cl said mr air grimm steadily it it Is to bo be otherwise of cour course a e I 1 nm am at tho the president rose please wait in the anteroom for a few ow minutes he directed mr grimm bowed himself out at tile the end of half an hour lie was again summoned into tho the cabinet chamber the president met him with outstretched hand you will proceed with the caso tc the end mr grimm ho he instructed abruptly if you need assistance ask for it it if not proceed alone you will rely upon your own judgment entirely if there are circumstances which mako make it inadvisable to move against an individual by legal process even it that individual Is amenably ame to out oui laws you yon are not constrained so to dc it your judgment is ie against it IL there Is one stipulation you will secure the complete rights of the wireless percussion cap to ahta gov eminent or learn the secret of the in bention ao that at no future time cay ca we be endangered by it thank you said mr grimm quietly 1 I understand CHAPTER we two mr grimm turned from pennsyl vanla vania avenue into a cross street walked along half a block or sot so climbed a short tight flight of stairs and en an office Is mr air howard in he queried of a boy in attendance name please mr grimm handed over a sea sealed ed envelope which bore the official am in print of the department of war in th lit upper left hand band corner and the bos disappeared into a room beyond A moment later he be emerged and held open the door for mr grimm A gen aleman mr howard rose from blin hi seat and stared at him as aa he entered tills this note mr grimm Is surprising he remarked TO BE CONTINUED |