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Show TPp BIRMINGHAM WNU Service. what he does not get. He picked up the thousand marks again. Then he laid down a note for a hundred hun-dred marks, and asked to see the superior su-perior officer who had taken charge of Tommy. This time the young man, standing behind his desk, bowed gratefully. Certainly the highborn gentleman should see the superior officer at once. Casimir was shown Into the Inner room. The young man at the desk pocketed the hundred-mark note. Perhaps Per-haps he spent half of It on a piece of soap. His face looked as If he had none at home. Casimir dealt with the superior officer In much the same way, except that this time he laid down two thousand thou-sand marks. He was received with almost groveling civility. This officer looked at money not so much hungrily hungri-ly as greedily. He had neither wife nor children and was not actually hungry. hun-gry. But he was a man who liked enjoying en-joying himself, and In the good old days before the mark fell he was accustomed ac-customed to spend his evening In pleasure resorts less sumptuous and much less respectable than the Mas-cotte. Mas-cotte. From these delights he had been cut off for some months. With two thousand marks a man can buy a, great deal of pleasure In Berlin. For two thousand marks most government officials would have done a great deal. Casimir said what he wanted, an Auswels for Tommy. The officer, 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 In-ternational Military control. He to whatever charity In Berlin ht thinks most worthy of support. Tell him at the same time that I want te remain anonymous and desire no receipt re-ceipt for the money." The king, who had been lounging In a chRlr, got up, went over to his writing writ-ing table and unlocked a drawer. He took from it a small case made of real morocco leather. "You may as well offer him this at the same time," said the king. He opened the box and displayed a small golden snake. It was curled up so that Its tall was in its mouth. Its eyes, which had a fierce expression, were garnets. Casimir looked at It with reverence. It was the sign of "The Most Noble Order of the Golden Adder of Lystria," an order granted to very few people and worn by no Lystrian except the king himself. "He may like to have it," said the king, "though I don't know why he should. It's only nine carat gold, and the creature's eyes aren't rubles. Still, he may like it. Try him, and you might say if at any time he wants a good table at the Mascotte, he has nothing to do but ring me up and I'll arrange it. What's more, I'll take fifty fif-ty per cent off his bill, and he won't be expected to tip the waiters. Tell him all that, will you?" Casimir went off to Von Steinveldt'a office in good spirits and full of confidence. con-fidence. He did not expect that his interview would be pleasant, but ha had no doubt that he would be successful suc-cessful in obtaining Tommy's release. Von Steinveldt would probably try ta bully him. He usually did try to bully any one he met. He would certainly bargain and the haggling might ba prolonged. Casimir expected bullying and bargaining; but he felt that no living German would resist the offer of five hundred pounds In English bank notes, a decoration to pin on hla coat and the chance of supper at the Mascotte whenever he liked at half the usual price. Never was any diplomatist, engaged in a demarche of an important kind, more surprised than Casimir was. Von Steinveldt made no attempt to bully him. He received him with extreme ex-treme politeness and showed every kind of courtesy and consideration. This made Casimir suspicious. He knew Von Steinveldt fairly well and had never seen him behave like a gentleman gen-tleman before. "His majesty the king of Lystria " Casimir began. "Ah, poor King Wladlslaws," said Von Steinveldt. "My heart bleeds for him. Such a position for one who has been a king. Tell me, how is he getting get-ting on?" Casimir did not believe that Von Steinveldt's heart ever bled for anyone. any-one. He felt sure that he did not care whether King Wladlslaws starved or not. His suspicions, already awakened awak-ened by Von Steinveldt's politeness, became acute. "His majesty," he said, "sent me to place a small sum of money in your excellency's hands. He knows little of the needs of the poor in Berlin and he hopes that your excellency will be kind enough to spend this money in the way that you think wisest." He drew from his pocket his packet of English bank notes and laid it on the table. Von Steinveldt picked It up. There were fifty Bank of England Eng-land notes for ten pounds each. Von Steinveldt hated and despised almost everything English. But he had a deep respect and a genuine liking for English bank notes. He became almost al-most genial, certainly facetious, while counting the notes. The feel of the paper between his finger and thumb gave him a sense of physical pleasure. pleas-ure. "King Wladsilaws," he said, "seems to have been doing pretty well at the Mascotte." "Ills majesty," said Casimir stiffly, "wishes his gift t9 be" anonymous, and hopes that you will make no acknowledgment acknowl-edgment of the receipt of the money." Von Steinveldt pocketed the notes. "Among the German aristocracy," . he suid "there are many, who have suffered severely by the fall of the mark. Their pride forbids them to make any public complaint of their poverty. I think, if your king approves, ap-proves, 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 five hundred pounls. "It is," said Von Steinveldt, "a most generous gift. I beg of you to convey con-vey to your king my warmest thanks." Casimir took out of his pocket (lie crimson case which contained the Golden Adder of Lystria. "His majesty," he said, "is deeply conscious of your kindness in acting as his almoner, and is not unmindful of the many services which you have rendered in the past to the unfortunate unfortu-nate kingdom of Lystria. He begs your acceptance of the Order of the Goldfn Adder of Lystria." Von Steinveldt picked the adder out of Its box and held it suspended by the pink ribbon attached to it. Then, standing up and bowing deeply to Casimir, Cas-imir, lie pinned the decoration to the breast of his tunic. It hung there, the last In the second row of decorations which Von Steinveldt wore. There were twenty-nine of them and the Golden Adder made the thirtieth. (TO BE CONTINUED.) CHAPTER XI Continued 14 "They will," said Janet. "By this tlm I expect they have. He went off 5 to the police office this morning to obtain ob-tain his Auswels, taking the passport with him." -What?" said Casimir. "He has gone to the police office I" "That's what I'm trying to tell you," aid Janet, "and I'm very much afraid there'll be trouble." "Trouble I They will Imprison him. They will deport him. They will But not even Von Steinveldt would dare shoot him. But Excuse me. I must act at once or all Is lost. The princess I My beloved country I But I have friends and I have money. The king has friends. Perhaps it Is not yet too late." He hurried across the hall toward the door. Janet hurried after him. Tommy was in serious trouble. Casimir Cas-imir was excited and frightened. She could not bear the thought of not being be-ing helpful in a crisis as desperate -as this. She caught Casimir by the arm Just as he reached the door. "Shall I ring up the embassy?" she eald. "The third secretary Is a friend of mine. At least, I've often talked to him over the telephone. After all, .vour friend I mean my nephew Is a British subject. The ambassador must do something. I shall Insist on hli moving In the matter." Casimir turned on her. He must have felt extremely irritated, but his politeness did not fail him. "Gracious lady," he said, "I can think of only one thing in the world which would make this affair worse than It is, and that Is the interference of the British ambassador." Janet says that his face was white, drawn and tragic when he spoke, and that beads of perspiration had gathered gath-ered on his forehead. But Janet is Inclined to exaggerate In the Interests of the picturesque. I do not suppose that Casimir was in the state she described. de-scribed. He was upset about what had happened and foresaw a great deal of trouble. But he had no doubt -- - . that he could straighten things out even if the police had arrested Tommy. Tom-my. When he left the hotel Casimir went straight to his bank and cashed a check for ten thousand marks. In Germany it takes a long time to cash a check and It was half an hour before be-fore Casimir actually got the money. Then he drove to the police office and walked into the room into which Tommy Tom-my had gone that morning. There was still a long queue of Poles, Kus-slans, Kus-slans, Slavs, Ukrainians and other foreigners for-eigners waiting to approach the police ! officer's desk. But Casimir did not take his place at the end of the line. He handed twenty marks to the policeman po-liceman who kept watch at the door nnd was Immediately placed at the head of the queue. In return for another an-other twenty marks the policeman or-tered or-tered all the other waiting people out of the room. They were allowed to draw a breath of fresh air in the passage pass-age until Casimir finished his business. busi-ness. This was good for them, but they did not like it. For some months the German mark had been falling rapidly. Official salaries, sal-aries, from those of cabinet minister to those of simple policeman, had In March only about one-tenth of their supposed value and a large class of more or less deserving people found themselves starving. This, though disagreeable for them, was a great advantage ad-vantage to any one who controlled money In a stable currency. Casimir : had Procoplus Cable's English pounds to draw on. He felt confident of being be-ing able to persuade any official to do what he wanted done. He began his interview with the police po-lice officer by laying a thousand marks on the table in front of him. Then he said he wanted an Ausweis, duly signed and In proper form, for nn Englishman called Norheys. The police officer stood up and bowed respectfully re-spectfully to Casimir. Then, he fixed his eyes, hopefully at first, sadly afterward, aft-erward, oa the thousand marks. He began to apologue. 'If he had knewr. Uttle earlier that the highborn gentletfirm wished for an Auswels The young Englishman had been there, in that very office There had been a trilling irregularity in his passport, very trilling, nothing that mattered. If lie had known Now, unfortunately, lie could do nothing. The young Englishman had been passed on to his superior officer. The poor man eyed the thousand marks hungrily. He had a wife and two children at home. They had very little food and no firing. A thousand marks would have made life a much plensanter affair to him. "Ach, most highborn, sir," he said, "I cannot hot issue the Auswels, though how willingly I would do so If 1 could." Casimir li not a man who pays for Von Steinveldt Picked the Adder Out of Its Box, 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 on to the Prince von Steinveldt. He himself could do nothing in the matter of the Ausweis. The information was worth something some-thing and Casimir paid for it. Then he went back to his bank and drew out, not marks this time, but five hundred pounds sterling. Even with that sum in his pocket he did not feel quite sure of being able to deal with Prince Von Steinveldt. He drove to the fiat which King Wlad-islaws Wlad-islaws occupied and took counsel with him. The king listened to the story. "The difficulty is," said the king, "that Von Steinveldt wants to step into in-to my shoes himself. He can't, of course. The Entente powers would never allow a German to sit on the throne of Lystria. And, besides, Calypso Calyp-so wouldn't marry him. But that's not the point. He thinks he'll be able to manage it and of course he'll want to get Norheys out of the way." "Fortunately," said Casimir, "and thanks to the excellent Cable, we have plenty of money." "There's no use offering Steinveldt marks," said the king. "He understands under-stands all about marks and knows exactly ex-actly what's going to happen to them." "Naturally," said Casimir. "1 should not offer him marks. I have In my pocket five hundred pounds sterling." "That ought to be enough," said the king. "He wouldn't make that much clear profit, after paying all expenses, out of Lystria In two years unless he is a great deal cleverer than I am. But you'll have to be careful, V.simir. He'll take the money all right. But he's a prince. You must allow him to keep up his self-respect." "I had thought," said Casimir, "of laying the money on his desk without saying anything about it." "I should be rather inclined," said the king, "to hand It over to him openly, open-ly, saying that I sent it as a donation |