| Show 4 A BININ t CHAPTER XI continued 14 they will said aid janet by this expect they have ile he went oft off aa ha I 1 the be police office this morning to ob is ila his Aus auswell wels taking tho the passport with him what bald casimir ile he hits ha police office I 1 ina coo to the what im trying to toll you wd janet and I im in very much afraid tb frell be trouble trouble lel I 1 they will imprison him they will deport him they will put but not even von Stein veldt would sire due shoot hoot blin but excuse me I 1 must act at once or all Is 1 lost the princess I 1 my beloved country I 1 but I 1 have bare friends and I 1 have money the king aln has friends perhaps it to Is not yet too lato lla be hurried across the hull hall toward hurried after him h door janet tommy was in serious trouble oas coo loir imir was aras excited and frightened she could not bear the thought of not baini bein bain in helpful in a crisis as desperate as aa this she caught casimir by the ana am just jat as he reached the door shall I 1 ring up tho the embassy she said aid the third secretary Is a friend of mine at least ive often talked 10 0 o him over the telephone after all your our friend I 1 mean my nephew i Is british subject the ambassador nuit must do something I 1 shall insist on his moving in the matter casimir turned on her he must have felt extremely irritated but his politeness did not tall fail him gracious lady he said 1 I can think of only one thing in the world which would make this affair worse thin than it la is and that Is the interference of f the british ambassador janet says that hla his face was waa white drawn and tragic when he spoke and that beads of perspiration had gathered on his forehead but janet la Is inclined to exaggerate in the interests of ct the picturesque I 1 do not suppose that casimir was in the state she described bed ile he was upset about what had bad happened and foresaw a great deal ot of trouble but he had bad no doubt that he could straighten things out even it if the police had arrested tommy when he left the hotel casimir went straight to hla his bank and cashed a check for ten thousand marks in germany it takes a long time to cash it a check and it was half an hour before casimir actually got the money then he drove to the police office and walked into the room into which tommy had gone that morning there was still a long queue of pole poles si rus rua slays slavs ukrainians and other foreigners waiting to approach the police oil officers leers desk but casimir did not take his place at the end of the line ile he handed twenty marks to the po licen ihn who kept watch at the door nd was immediately placed at the head of the queue in return for another twenty marks the policeman dared all the other waiting people out if the room they were allowed to draw it a breath of fresh air in the passage until casimir finished ills busl bus ties ness this was good for them but they did not like it 4 for some months the german mark maric had ad been falling rapidly official sal wes leg from those of cabinet minister to those of simple policeman had in march only about one tenth of their opposed supposed value and a large class of more or less deserving people found themselves starving this though for them was a great advantage to any one who controlled willoney ney in a stable currency casimir had ad procopius Proc oplus cables english pounds to draw on oil he felt confident of be ing able to persuade anyo any official to do vat he wanted done ile be began his Interview with the po DO ce officer by laying a thousand narks marks on the table in front of him then hen he said he wanted an auswell Aus Au wels duty doiy signed and in proper form for 1413 nEng englishman lishman called Nor heys the police officer stood up and bowed re fully to casimir then he fixed lis als eyes hopefully at first sadly aft orward arward on oa the thousand marks he agan to if he had known 4 tittle earlier that ht e highborn wished for an the mad had young English englishman tea 1114 ahti there e in that very y office there ad been n trifling irregularity in ills hla rw PaI port sPort very trifling ining tr nothing that mattered littered if he had known now fortunately fortunately lie could do nothing the alle young englishman had been passed on to hla 1118 su superior parlor of officer fleer the poor man inan eyed the thousand marks arks hungrily Y ile he had a wife and tao children ren at home they had very little ie food fend and no firing A thousand arks would have made life a much Plea pleasanter santer at affair a ir to him ach most high highborn bont sir he said ol 01 01 noy now labue easue the he Aua Allo welB wels nuga k aco how willingly I 1 would do so 0 lt if could id is I 1 rot a num a who pays pay tor for I 1 what he does doea not pet get ile he picked up tile the thousand marks roarda again then he laid down don a note for a hundred marks and naked asked to see the superior officer who had taken charge of tommy tom my this titue time the young man standing behind tits his desk bowed gratefully certainly the highborn gentleman gentleman should sen see the superior officer at once casimir was shown into tho the inner room the young man at the d desk esk pocketed the hundredmark hundred mark note perhaps lie he spent half of it on a piece of ills his taco face looked as it if he had none at home casimir dealt with the superior officer in much tile the same way except that this athla time he laid down two thousand marks lie he was waa received with almost groveling civility this officer looked at money not so much hungrily an a greedily he had neither wife nor children and was not actually hungry but he was waa a man who liked enjoying himself and in the good old days day before the mark fell he was accustomed cus tomed to spend his evening in pleasure resorts less les sumptuous and much less respectable than the maacotte from these delights he had been cut oft off for some months with two thousand marks a man can buy I 1 ft great deal of pleasure in berlin for two thousand marks most government officials would have done a great deal casille ald said what lie he wanted an auswell for tommy the officer ilia his eyes fixed on the money cursed himself his bad luck his government the late war the french nation the english nation the reparations commission and the international ter national military tury control ue ile 1 von picked tho the adder out of its iti box hold held it suspended by the pink ribbon attached to it cursed fluently blasphemously and obscenely at last he told casimir that tommy had been sent bent on to the prince von Stelli veldt lie he himself could do nothing in the matter of the auswell Aus wels the information was worth something and casimir paid for it then lie he went back to his bank an and d drew out not marks this time but five hundred pounds sterling E even ven with that sum suin in his pocket lie he lid not feel quite sure of being al able le to deal with prince von Stelli veldt ile he drove to tile tho flat which king wlad islawa occupied and took counsel with him the king listened to the story the difficulty Is 13 said the king that von Stein veldt wants to step into my shoes himself ile he cant fat bf course the entente powers would never allow a german to sit on the throne of Ly lystila and besides calypso marry him but not the point he thinks hell be able to manage it and of course hell want to get out of the way fortunately sold said casimir and thanks to the excellent cable we have plenty of money theres no use offering Stein veldt marks said the king lie he understands all about marks and knows exactly going to happen to them naturally said casimir 1 I should not offer him marks I 1 have in my pocket five hundred pounds sterling that ought to be enough said tho the king he aake that much clear profit after paying all expenses out of lystila in ila two years unless he Is a great deal cleverer than I 1 am but have to be careful casimir hell take the money all right but hes a prince you mug must t allow mm to keep up his self seit respect respect t 11 1 I had thought said casimir of laying tho the money on his desk without ayling anything about it 1 I should be rather inclined eald bald the king oto to hand band it over to him open ly ir yla that thai I 1 seat wt it as a donation to whatever charity la in berlin h ho thinks most worthy of suppora tup port tall hit him at tile the same arce time that I 1 want ant ta f remain anonymous abd desire no ao t receipt for or the money the king who had b been ten lounging in a chair tot got up went over to ills his writ las ing table and unlocked a drawer 11 II took from it a small case made ot of real ral morocco leather you may as well olter offer him thin at the same time said the king lie he opened the box and displayed A small golden snake it was curled up so BO that its tall was in its HH mouth its if eyes which had a tierce fierce expression were garnets casimir looked tit nt it with reverence it was tile the sign of the most noble order of the golden adder of Ly tin an order grunted granted to very few people and worn by no Lys trian except the king himself ile he way like ilke to have it said the kins king though I 1 dont know why lie ho should its only nine carat gold and the creatures eyes arent rubles still ho he may like it try him and you might say buy if tit at tiny any time ho tit wants a good table at tile the mascotte lie ho has nothing to do but ring tile me up arid ill arrange it more ill take lit ty per cent ort off tits his bill and lio lie wont be expected to tip fill tile the wal waiters teni tell him all that will you casimir went oft off to von lats in III good spirits anti and full of confidence fi ile he did not expect eliat bli hl interview would be pleasant but 11 in 4 had no doubt that lie ho would be successful in obtaining tommys tommas release von would probably try ta ia bully him in lie ho usually did try to bully any one he met ile he would certainly bargain and the haggling might bo be p prolonged ro longed casimir expected bullying and bargaining but lie he felt that no living german clerman would resist tle the offer of five hundred pounds in U english bank notes a decoration to plu pill on oil hla his coat and the chance of supper at the mascotte Mn Bin scotte whenever ho he liked at half the usual price never wits was any diplomatist engaged in a demarche of an important kind more surprised than casimir was waa von made no attempt to bully him ile ho received him with extreme politeness and showed every kind of courtesy and consideration this made casimir suspicious auspicious ile he knew von Stein veldt fairly well and had never seen him behave like a 11 gentleman before ilia his majesty the king of lystila casimir began ali ah poor king said von Stein veldt my heart bleeds for him such a position for one who has been a king tell tile me how la Is lie he getting on casimir did not believe that von Stein veldts heart ever bled for anyone ile he felt sure that he did not care whether king Wladis laws starved or not ills his suspicions already awakened by von Stein veldts politeness become became acute ills his majesty lie he said sent me to place a small sum slim of money in your excellences hands ile knows little of the needs of the poor tn f n berlin and he hopes that your excellency will bo be kind enough to spend this money in tile the way that you think wisest ile he drew from his pocket his packet of english bank notes and laid it on oil the table von Stein veldt picked it up there were fifty bank of england notes for ten pounds each von Stein veldt hated and despised almost everything english but he had a deep respect and a genuine liking for english bank notes lie he became almost get genial ilal certainly facetious while counting the notes the feel of the paper between ills his finger and thumb g gave a ve him a sense of physical pleasure king tie he said seems to have been doing pretty well at the ilia mascotte ills his majesty said casimir stiffly wishes tits his gift to be anonymous and hopes that you will make no acknowledgment nent of the receipt of the money von Stein veldt pocketed the notes among the german aristocracy he said there are many who have suffered severely by tile the fall of the mark their pride forbids them to make any public complaint of their poverty I 1 think if your king approves that this money would be well spent perhaps best spent in relieving their distress casimir had little doubt that the german aristocracy at all events one member of it would benefit by the ove five hundred counis it Is said von Stein veldt a mos most t generous gift I 1 beg of iou you to convey ve y to your king my warmest thanks casimir took out of his pocket the crimson case which contained the golden adder of Ly lystila ills his majesty he said la is deeply conscious cons cloua of your kindness in acting as ills his almoner and Is not unmindful of tile the many services which you have h ave rendered in the past to tile the anro unfortunate atu kingdom of Ly lystila ile he bega beg your acceptance of the order of the tha golden adder of lystila Ly von Stein veldt picked the adder out of its box and held it suspended by the pink ribbon attached to it then stand ingup and bowing deeply to cas imir he pinned the decoration to tile the breast of his tunic it hung there the last in the second row of decorations which von veldt wore there were v re twenty nine of them and the golden adder made the thirtieth TO BE BB CONTINUED CONTINUE |
