Show FT THE PURCHASE PRICE OR compromise CAUSE OF by EMERSON HOUGH 1910 by emerson hough SYNOPSIS josephine countess Countes sSt st auban from washington by captain carlisle act ing on government order Is with him on an ohio river rhier steamboat they are ap preached pro ached by War barville ville dunwody a mis bourt state senator the countess in a note asks dunwody for fid kid she Is posing as carlisle a sec see detary carlisle play plays cards with dun and others and loses the two men play cards tor for custody ot of josephine dunwody his and carlisle leaves the boat dunwody confronts josephine the missourian Missour lan infatuated with jose phine declares he aill ill take her to his home against her will the boat Is to boa d ed by a party of recaptured slaves owned by judge judge clayton a passenger dunwody engages an overseer to kid tap gap josephine the cabinet discusses jo bephine as a dangerous abolitionist and decides to ask an opposition statesman to take her away should she return tall wood woods dunwody a home josephine with her maid mald jeanne and dunwody arrives at Tal lwoods he as signs sally an old colored woman to alt ait on her she find finds old faded women s garments in her room and asks eleazer an old french trapper to help her to escape hearing a sound at her door at night she he tries to flee and falls from a window josephine a arm Is broken it Is 19 set get by dr jamieson Jam leson in the night she hears queer crying Tal lwoods Is visited by friends of dunwody the missourians Missour lans have a fight with a party of northerners nort heiners who have taken up and are guarding lily ialy a runaway slave the party Is commanded by carlisle carlisle and his lieutenant kammerer ire are taken prisoners to Tal lwoods dun breaks a leg injured in the fight josephine assumes command at tall woods and releases kammerer and car lisle on parole Ele El eaZers aZera son hector of st genevieve Genev leve mo visits Tal Tall lwoods wooda and Is attracted by jeanne Jose josephine phines s maid majl with josephine Jose phines s nursing dunwody re cover covers he makes a will leaving every sf thing to her i she I 1 les leg to convert dunwody to the tree free ro iso I 1 cause hector asks jeanne to marry h n je a hector are married and and I 1 I 1 be ato 0 ji jr ephine a maid mald the c evsy ij 46 in washing ion ton el 61 v e run mn tl it a hungarian delaga and in i I 1 ale aen contina Cont Colit inu I 1 i iri i i i 1 CHAPTER XV the artful gentleman HE gentlemen drew their chairs T closer I 1 presume you mean the lady lad reputed to have been connected with t resident tay id 16 a s commission of inquiry into at of taira fairs in hungary I 1 1 lea es the most beautiful woman la in I 1 IA asta alij ou dodty tod t so sl bi e 14 1 4 uta by some lie ile moist most b by othel S H s kentucky gotten its gal lanti bantly so fully as that hda has reported the yo it 11 u m woman oma n to me as a char charming minh yo 30 ig lg widow of beauty wealth and let leb manners and and courage abolitionist tendencies ucles aud and fighting she Is a firebrand ure brand a revolutionist treib hick back bioni the old world and aimed with weapons of whose use we old fogies are utterly igloi int Hav itil nothing to lose lobe whose loss she dueads she Is careless of all conser delices you my dear sir speak of your moral abher ence to some new party I 1 ou on consider yourself one of tl ti e lamented I 1 ree boll baity and it pe a resurrection this woman it d es not pause there no she comes omes heie t NA ashington at i re isely the time of our final coal corn irmise when all Is pei pet eaul een eden slumberous and she I 1 ca the of fire and sword tie otier otter I 1 condet ed I 1 bare have never seen the I 1 dy idy be he reu arced at length Is she al i i tinted am ng the abali of the norths north no bhe he trains in no ones camp amp indeed sod soel illy sl e tins has been i neglected in the north for reasons said to have been urged in diplomatic circles Smet Sj methin bin of an eh eb at least enough to excite the at tit ger and sus lilon clon of austria tie interest ot england Eng lind the concern of brane all of what age la Is st ale e I 1 should say tw twenty enty three tm twenty enly four not over twenty six berh o 0 its it Is d filault to say I 1 have met her but baiely I 1 iou on ha hive re a ne e at disadvantage amitage even so smiled the other iou lou have never neer met this fair en ell thus last you are behind the times tiniest retorted letor ted the wily kentuckian lan ler I 1 lr haps blips you would like tile that honor I 1 think it child lid be arranged indeed be he added after a moment spent in calef cageful ut study of his tits companions companion s face I 1 would even undertake to arrange it my dear sir with your well known charm of manner with men and wo men as well you could in that case win the lasting pla edits of your conn coun try if you but possessed the resola tion in a cause so coble noble I 1 would do what I 1 might but what Is the cause and is it proper for one of my place to engage in it I 1 say be balled hailed by the administration in power not as the fa ther of voir yo ir country perhaps but as its savior sailor take this woman out of our camp and into your own flock your own tov fow I 1 together you free boll era ers take her out of washington get her back to europe where she belongs and without jesting toy illy dear sir you shall hae haie the backing next year two years hence in 1853 any time you like of the men who make this admin ind of the men behind this compromise I 1 am serious I 1 speak to you in boulse ill advised to tell vou you the truth we are frightened she his stolen all oar our peace of mind and st len also son e of our thunder some of our castoff and thin th in der she pi pio poses t purchase pur chibe all tl e slues in the united states out of her own fund and ship them out of kiner lea gleit god I 1 es we dare it she does we didn dian t begin she h is b q in and since it ets begun begu vo 1110 knows s what army of the peoble what new party may fall in ili I 1 behind her NN ve e w want ant you to forestall i tit 1 that vie ne dont don t want w ant you to it id that new I 1 arty IN e think yc i w will III do bettel to tall fall in with w ith us to accent the compliment of a Euto mission and to take this fair nith with you ou weale afield to bae hane her in ili washington ashington IV the other listened with a flicker of the eyelid which showed his interest intel Inte est iest but feigned lightness in his tits speech but tell rn me what Is it that you wo lid have me do 7 my dear sir you must transport manhandle murder wheedle bow stiina biown and permanently lose josephine countess st auban herself late back from missouri formerly toi foi merly of god knows know where but I 1 could not well reil carry off this fair lady by main mala strength my own plans unfortunately require some at and I 1 think thit that even the trifling difficulty of the lady s con sent overcome I 1 could not easily us as sume the role of san s alor for of my country bedol e the time of the dep arture of ti tie e next ship for P trope even granted my enemies the ahls will give a mission to an ex democrat and free seller boller like myself not that I 1 should not experience the most pleasurable emotions both in sav say ing the country my dear sir and of saving it in the company of so charm ing a person as this young lady Is le potted to be they looked at each other and broke into laughter yet minds so keen een as theirs long before them had bad read between lines on the printed page under the outward mask of human counte notices stranger things have happened said the gentleman from kentucky Nen tucky my soul and body sly my dear sir you do not speak seriously ills his surprise was feigned and the other knew it I 1 was nei neier er so serious in my life at this time when our diplomacy abroad Is none too fortunate and when hen our diplomacy at home Is far more dell cate abd dangerous you yourself knon know n the country over aa as a man of tact and delicacy are the one man in the world to handle this very mission it Is the old box of the north after all free boiler or not who alone can smooth down matters for us our country had supreme confidence in you this administration has such conn dence still do you sneak speak with authority other than your own t it Is not dot yet time for me to answer that yet you dare approach one who Is in the opposing camp but one whose camp we either hope to join or whom we hope later to have in our own my faith I 1 bel believe iee you yol are serious in this have you really formulated any plans he ile was safe in the trap and the other knew it sir I 1 will not discredit yon you by choos ing method methods As las to the results desired I 1 say no more yet we sit here and discuss this matter as though we contemplated a simple proper and dignified act murder Is perhaps not legal even for the sake gale of one s country but sup I 1 lose ose we hilt halt this side of murder sup pose that by means known only to yourself and not even enen to myself you gained this young woman s free con sent to accompany you say to europe that would be legal dignified proper and ah ab so useful I 1 and clulee impossible altogether impossible oil ob utterly utter lyl they spoke with gravity what th the gentleman from rew new york really thought lay in bla his unvoiced question could it by any possibility be true that the k billmore administration woul would give me support for or the next nomina tion if I 1 agree to swing the tree bree sol take this woman away and lose her vote near to the compromise what the gentleman from kentucky asked in his ou oun n mind was this will be play fair with us or will be he simply make this an occasion to bieak bleak into our ranks I 1 was just saying the kentuckian Kentuck lan remarked that we I 1 ave been told the adorable co inters perhaps bontem plates only a visit in america after all bl L ml binl 1 t be aigy pisy to lea I 1 bick back to europe it if necessary you shall bae hai e a dignified errand in ide for you entirely ei what you jou your self aou d call fitting again you have forgotten about I 1 I 1 I 1 have forgotten nothing and to show you that I 1 si sl e it 1 with a it bority I 1 will tell you this lullu N iti in ti tie e I 1 lour our the Coun counters teb st auban will aae leae her entertainment at the chetter a d ie tum to her hotel kou ou see ee we ale ad alsed of all her tier u eme ts 1 c ille you an houi to meet hei hot nt her I 1 otei an hour to persuade her tier licit the curtain clops 0 0 one in u A Aa t u or in new ew york seeks to lo 10 if bond that curtain he conch ded cled bl q ly io no one counsels 3 you ou w what hat to do a aid i d indeed no one can suggest only take bis this woman oman away and lose hei hel thit Is all there Is risk and there Is no security ty customarily the rewards i f large risks and poor security are great when there are any rewards the gentleman fi aiom om kentucky rose as he spoke and adro t in managing men reached out his hand as though to take the other others s and so clinch the matter I 1 et bis his heart leaped in surl sur rise au w ben hen the latter met his hand with so hearty a grasp of affirmation it should not be so difficult he said it Is only a case of coleal ment it la Is long since I 1 bae haie address ed the people or addressed a lidy lady tint but I 1 shall try my skill once more tonight all that Is necessary Is to axi explain laan to this young lady thit our pol am bivions are quite the sane and th hit it I 1 might be of service did we st shire 11 ire the he same public means of trivel trivet lu 11 a jo r ney already planned by both I 1 waa was intending Intend itiL a visit to europe this very summer but I 1 might be yom ger and fare better nt at that sort of thing altogether to the contrary iry my friend do not mistake hit this 1 I dy youth w would be an tin al at solute bir bar to sue ress cess age dignity a pit lie lic rep citation auch such as yours these aie the only things which m aich by any pos slbil sibil ty to ild lid eatn 1 success and frankly ven o 0 these may fall take my advice I 1 nt tit her in a sack drop her overboard in ili mid wean ocean in return all I 1 ask of vo i Is lot not to throw the sack any where close to this country a sl ore meanwhile the countess st uban kuban innocent of these plans which bad gone fore ard regarding her completed I 1 er attendance at the entertainment which the evening was the elite of washington and in u die d ie time ardven at the entrance of her hotel vital self confident I 1 a trine trifle foreign certainly distinguished at first there might hive have seemed a trice of defiance in the carriage even in the glance of josephine st auban but a second look into the wide dark eves wo lid have found there rather a trice ot pathos bordering upon melancholy mean melan holy such was the woman of the tile bair tio ir in washington lately frowned on by the he ladles ladies as too beautiful talked abo it by the gentlemen as too col cot I 1 disc dibe ibser by some adored by others ut deibe od bv by none dreaded bv by some high in power plotted against by b others let yet more high in place she cast a hurried glance now at the clock which till and solemn near by in the hall it wis was upon the stroke of midnight only buining halt half questioningly to her maid she be hend lid a footfall the manager of the hotel himself came to greet her carr carttini Tini a card in his hand and with a bow ask ing her attention it Is impossible she slid said you know my wishes very well but my dear countess have you noted this name beian u the tile manager of course I 1 know it all the more reason there should be mistake A step sounded near by an ani the cur bains baun baune back the en ell trance to one of the adjoining parlors of the hotel the figure of a well ell built and hale bile gentleman past middle age of dignified carriage and pleasant fea tures was revealed half biting he advanced my dear lady he began in a deep and melodious voice I 1 come to you doubly hand handicap ical ca ped both as intruder and eavesdropper I 1 could not avoid hearing what you ba have bave ve said aud and as listeners bear no good of themselves I 1 venture to Interi I 1 am andio anilois is that your first impression of me should be a good one madam madara she dropped him a chuites cou ites which nas was grace itself her dark eyes looking straight luto into his face surprise brought a slightly heightened color to her cheek check you were saying it was a mistake dear lady but if so the intrusion was on my part I 1 have wished to you quietly if such may be your pleasure I 1 am alone opportunity has lacked for earlier announcement for I 1 have but reached town this evening the countess st auban hesitated for an instant but guessed some errand here worth knowing having herself entered the inner room with grace she signified that the elderly gentleman gent lemin should first be placed madam be he went an my deir countess I 1 could but overhear overbear you re fer to my own name if it bus his any tiny reputation in your eyes let that plead as my excuse for intruding in this manner believe me nothing would induce me to take such a step except business of importance it Is then of business her voice as be he noted once more was cleir and full her enunciation without provin i cial slur clean and high bred let me hasten to make all plain I 1 am aware of a part of your hl history tory and of a part of your plans madini I 1 am not unaware of certain ambitious of your own I 1 am foicey to be so go frank in these conditions you o 0 are in in the cause of hungary place it wider sir she said I 1 in a humanity hence you hive have come to amestica to carry forward certain of your plans 1 alven now you hive have tie ti a greatest and most daring work of al of truism thia this country ever I 1 new and you bed 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