Show I S' S A h hS' hS r S MH i 44 F the Golden Death t Revelations of An i M L at Large Ambassador rge i 1 Transcribed by H. H M. M Egbert from the private papers of an Englishman who for a time was an unofficial diplomat in the most secret service of the British Government I 3 H H oC- oC H O t Ht O t Copyright 1915 1916 by W W. G. G Chapman I I shall begin this narration by revealing re- re re- re I. I ealing a fact tact which by all the rules of story telling should be kept for tor the culminating surprise Yet perhaps the r gossip of the Brussels boulevards Is Ismore ismore more or ot less public property and ItIs it itIs as Is known that the late King Leopold of or Belgium did not really die from the effects of an operation alleged to have been performed upon him in his sev sev- fifth enty year i Le ILe rot rol perdu the perdu the lost king king his his subjects used to call him For days at ata ata is a time he would disappear from the theten y ken ten of of his subjects and ministers leaving affairs of state to settle themselves themselves them them- selves while he lurked in one or other of or his numerous retiring places absorbed ab ab- c in his hobby which had already J a master passion a The many sided many sided character of the old man has been much dwelt on It is r me lie was neith neither r a good husband Inor a good father it is true he sought r pleasures which comparatively venial In youth are not regarded with condonation condonation con con- donation In inra a grandfather But he 1 had bad one passion mightier than all r which came to dominate him to the exclusion of every other That w was s avarice In a way it had proved the strongest asset of his realm Certainly under Leopold Belgium had prospered as never before He administered her 3 affairs with prudence but then he was damned in the eyes of all decent men by the atrocities In inthe the Congo Free FreeState FreeState 4 State where his agents hunted down and murdered or enslaved the helpless help help- r less riess natives in order t that at Leopold 2 might line his pockets with the pro pra- reeds of the rubber extorted by forced forced labor from the villagers The he sudden and mysterious illness then the story of the old mans man's death t was was a polite fiction destined to pave L the way to King Alberts Albert's succession to f the Belgian throne Leopold had become an Faced with an ultimatum and promised the ithe s se- se of hW his' incomes the theold old king kingo o signed his abdication willingly enough wd retired into obscurity Now whether his crafty mind was breaking down or whether below the x surface of civilization 4 there here lay a al astrain a l strain of medievalism It is not for me j Ito say but Leopold In retirement be be- Same iame possessed by exact exactly exactly y the same t desires which have haunted so many eiders of old days He sought in fact one of which at least once everywhere believed in became re- re sc- sc as ns a myth when nhen modern science ence was was' born and again seemed pos pas ible a Ahe opening of the twentieth century when the transmutation of The elements was proved to be not the bounds of feasibility One was the elixir of life lite The other was the philosophers philosopher's stone or 01 its modern equivalent which turns turns all metals into gold To have and gold beyond computation became the dreams of an old man of of 1 I was not at that time in the employ em em- ploy of the British government I lad fad lad lad-in tin rm fact been compelled to resign resigns s my ambassadorship owing to a certain certain tain tamn indiscretion and I had completed a a. certain investigation for the foreign Y Yet t being in do touch with the secret ecret affairs of nations I knew the thet t facts of Leopolds Leopold's retirement I I knew f that Tat he was lIving in Cornwall where under the name of Leopold de Lys he had purchased a a sm small ll prop prop- In a lonely region bordering upon the sea a manor whit which h h had d owned fhe royalties a accruing from numerous i bead mines now abandoned The lead mines of Cornwall are are 7 i nearly mearly worked out now but they were formerly the richest in the world The galleries were driven far under the sea until a point was reached where engineering engineering en en- ring science could no no longer cops cope cope with the problem except at at ata a cost 4 r which made the further working of 4 these mines impracticable Far underneath under under- neath the the- waves which which leap leap above the theold theold old submerged kingdom of He ne l lead ad deposits richer than any in inthe the rho world but never to be worked V so long as lead remains one of the d cheaper metals It was in the spring of 1913 that I Deceived a communication from the foreign office asking me to c call ll at a Certain ertain hour upon upon- a certain day on a matter of importance The letter was signed by one of the permanent staff As I had ad been vainly seeking for sortie some ome time to obtain an interview in iu inthe 7 the of or securing another diplomatic diplo diplo- matic ma appointment i naturally con con- eluded cIu ed that my petitions had at last bees bee heard heare And my hopes ran high wb when h. h calling at t the appointed appoint d time T was shown up into Sir Edward Greys Grey's office He Elie was seated beside the fire in a abig trig big leather armchair and with him engaged in earnest conversation was wasa a man nian man whom 1 I had never met before t He looked like a church dignitary in mufti r J I F 1 fI I I am glad to see you Mr X Xi X- X i paid aid d Sir Edward rising and giving me f ja a cordial handshake Permit me t to t Introduce to you Mr Graves one of ot I f t.- t. s' s 4 the the Woolwich arsenal directors My hopes hopes' of a regular appointment l 1 G tr J Jh were were dashed to the ground by Sir Edwards Edward's Edwards Edward's Edwards Edward's Ed Ed- wards ward's ensuing remark We are face tace to face with a very perplexing problem Mr X X- X he said and y you u alone of all the men I know are capable of assisting in its solution You are of course acquainted acquainted ac acquainted with a certain fact relative to the late king of the Belgians which must not be permitted to become become become be be- come public property I am aware that a Heer de Lys has purchased a villa and small manorial right in Cornwall I answered Excellently put replied Sir Edward Edward Edward Ed Ed- ward smiling Well and now you remember remember remember re re- re- re member the wreck of the tho Cornish tramp Hesper upon Shoal island last week I assented The Hesper had been wrecked on a rocky ledge in a high gale and the crew very bravely rescued rescued res res- res cued by a torpedo torpedo boat boat destroyer Only a small part of her cargo was saved continued Sir Edward but there is reason to believe that the whole cargo consisted of one identical substance In fine Mr X X- X we recovered recovered recovered re re- re- re covered a very fine quality of quick quick- silver Now of or course quicksilver does exist in Cornwall In smal small quantities quantities quan quan- and in fact wherever lead is found But Bui if that cargo came out of Cornwall then ihen somebody has found the the finest quicksilver mine in the world The tramp ship sailed from where Heer de Lys has his estate She was bound for Hamburg You see Mr X X- X explained Mr Graves quicksilver is of great value in the manufacture of a certain high grade of explosive In n fact without its its use we cannot positively produce an explosive of that character which will be safe The British and certain foreign governments have probably the identical explosive though each discovered It separately We get our quicksilver from Spain So do they Now In the event of well of-well well of war war war- it is essential that an unlimited supply supply sup sup- ply of quicksilver should not be stored In Hamburg I ISo So Mr X X- X we we want you to go got goto goto t to and find whether our friend the Heer de Lys is interested in the shipment of ot quicksilver and where he lie gets It said the foreign minister II l accepted the commission and nd went to o Pl wy in the e wise guise of of a a. a health seeker I saw saw Leopolds Leopold's villa from the train as we rolled Into the station station sta sta- sta tion which is the terminus of the line It was a pretty little stucco place with extensive gardens such as the queer old ma man man had always delighted delight delIght- ed in The town itself straggling up upa a steep hill with its one street paved with cobblestones was about a mile distant I secured lodgings in the cottage of an an ancient lent widow representing representing representing myself to be a business man manIn manin manin in need of rest after a long period of overwork delighted me 1 felt that I could spend a couple of weeks there very comfortably The only drawback to m my undertaking was that it was impossible to make the acquaintance nce of the ex ruler ex-ruler ruler since he had known me he nie very well when 1 I Iwas Iwas was stationed at the Brussels courtOn court ourt On the morning after my arrival I Iwas Iwas Iwas was up early and descending the steep street strolled along the beach where the fishermen were mending their nets and stringing them between their schooners I managed to get into conversation with one ancient fellow who was kind enough to enliven me with the famIly family family fam fam- ily histories of the local magnates After a while I brought him round to the discussion of the occupant of ot the villa I Mr de Lys you mean said the old man Frenchman he is or Dutchman or somewhere between tl the e two Hes He's a bad un fun zur zur leastways leastways that's n gossip Carries on at atall atall atall all hours of the night he does drinkIng drinking drinking drink drink- ing and piano playing Sundays playing Sundays too too too- with a parcel of folks from foreign parts men and women sir We dont don't think much of him in His voice dropped and he looked timidly at me They do zay zur as ashow as ashow ashow how hes he's sold to the devil he whispered with the countryman's fear of ridicule But seeing that I showed no disposition to laugh at him he continued Aye he walks in the old lead quarries quarries quarries ries at night zur Tom Bower him when he come in on the morning tide last week Walking out of the quarries at sunrise zur with a foreign for for- eign looking eign-looking looking gentleman in a green hat Perhaps the gentleman went for a walk because he couldn't sleep I suggested No zur What for would any d de decent decent de- de cent man in want to walk where I wouldn't go for all the gold goldin in the Bank of England Theres There's evil things in the old quarries zur zur evil evil tl things ings that travels night night night- He stopped short and I could elicit nothing more from him Evidently the old fellow regretted his But as the d days ys passed I received corroboration of the old fishermans fisherman's statement from other sources Everyone In firmly believed that Heer Hear de Lys had sold himself to the Evil One He scandal i 0 J the pious neighborhood by Sundays Sundays Sundays Sun Sun- days which were in the broadest sense continental There were rumors rumors rumors ru ru- ru- ru mors too of a strange ship that came secretly to an anchorage at a So point where the quarries ran Into the sea Contraband one man suggested but there is no coast guard station at and with the disinclination of the English countryman to meddle in his neighbors neighbor's affairs nobody took steps to communicate the thel authorities authorities au au- The quarries ran under the waves at a point about two miles north of a desolate uninhabited tract of ot land a waste of heather heather clad clad hills running sharply down to the he beach At the water high-water mark a sort of ramshackle bridge connected the land tunnel with the gallery that had been driven under the sea A flight of worn concrete steps led down and one could enter the gallery without difficulty even at high tide I chose a Sunday for my exploration exploration exploration tion having first satisfied myself that Heer de Lys was entertaining his friends at the villa I approached as near as I cou could d along the road I could hear sounds of distant laughter and the voices of women Evidently the ex king ex-king king has ha not forgotten the gayetieS gayeties gayeties gay gay- of life in his enforced exile Leaving the road I crept around the edge of one of those hawthorn hedges that are so prominent a feature of our English landscape until I was in a position to look across the garden into the windows It It was not an act of which I was in any any way proud Yet I was consumed with anxiety to assure myself that the ex monarch ex-monarch was likely to be eng engaged ged with his friends friends' for for a considerable period And just as I settled myself Into position ion a burst of or ringing laught laughter laugh laugh- t ter r near at hand sent me ducking down behind the hedge I l I Heer de Lys was giving a garden party There were two women and II S I Ili i I Its 1 1 e i 1 I I l I I i I KI I t ll l l Yes Croaked tub the Old King Hew Haw Long Bethman For a Few Years or op Forever three men and they were chattering away in French with the utmost ity And now my patience was rewarded rewarded rewarded re re- re- re warded for not twenty paces away I saw a man with a green alpine hat on his knee I knew him immediately though I it was five years since I had set eyes on him His name was vas Bethman an and he was accounted the most famous chemist in Hamburg Hamburg all all Germany for that matter He had invented new dyeing processes processes which had enriched the fatherland to the extent of many millions of marks and had created industries industries in In- I employing thousands of workmen He bore me no good will I for I had been instrumental in blocking blockIng blocking block block- blockI I ing a certain p patent tent of his which Infringed infringed infringed in In- fringed the rights of a fellow fellow country country man I wondered what purpose he had In Incoming Incoming incoming coming to but it seemed obvious obvious obvious ob ob- ob- ob that De Lys had sent for hini him to report up upon n the quicksilver i cries eries Yet if It qui quicksilver was being mined I in P where were the miners I The answer to that question could I Ionly only be obtained by searching the mine I hurried back to the outlet of the quarries where I had hidden a lantern lantern lan lan- tern and about five o'clock J ii in the afternoon I enter entered d the tunnel beneath beneath beneath be be- neath the sea t I tIt 01 It was not a pleasing sensation that plunge Into the darkness my only light that shed by the lantern which cast a flickering glow on the dripping rock walls of the tunnel but I estimated estimated esti esti- mated that it would be possible to investigate investigate investigate in in- and return well before twi twi- light On I went until the glimmer of daylight behind me had faded and the theseas theseas theseas seas sea's murmur disappeared The stillness stillness stillness still still- ness ness was eerie The beating of my heart was the only sound I heard At intervals I stopped to examine the tho wet vet rocks L Long ng veins of lead ran here and there between slate strata There was no sign of quicksilver er Presently the tunnel branched and coming to a standstill I examined the passages There was no clue to the tho right road I turned to the right ana anu wandered on till the passage again divided Halting again I was astonished aston aston- ted is to see that it was nearly six There was still another fork in the way ray in front of me and now I came cameto cameto cameto to the conclusion that with such a it multitude of passages I should be compelled to adopt other methods Clearly some clue to the way was es essential essential es to my success Besides |