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Show I,4 fromjast Sunday) CHAPTER XXI. r whony had succeeded Cibowlnghia way through ;tc surging, perspiring t Boiij otiicers. civilians- -''British. Italian. American r,r, du bn in Pans, he ,k a, he boarded the train. Eust ounds of drawling. W,31?rica.. speech Two African civilians were ,hr corridor before the Ut his own, and a, thrbugll the glass door Z bicle. he saw that it d Wuh leather mail pouches t of theto Americans. I r; erect and soldierly, Ly nioustache. nodded to .nijht.' hesald politely replied Anthony, "but I cool where I am Switzerland0- ventured the erlind it is." confirmed "Ever been there" ' The boot three times a week-few week-few month- 1 am' he cx--Ihe diploma lie courier be-irj5 be-irj5 and Heme." J Ct told each other that their I U r.ere Wesl and Thompson. LdTfly. Thompson I.. I La "shake hands with I & bud.lv here." a private oi I En the courier between Paris Rc,c? Some time during the H( Uriir would l ave them at JtfV Aflthon was Informed, Hgo on to Italy fE) those are diplomatic courier?, WLi to himself. In stories a HJjsatlc courier always wore a HL and looked particularly ele sinister and mysterious. Those slouch-batted Americans spoke a ord of an language but Eir o'n, and -vere proud of it. ijtrnc'inp.'on. the Kcntuckian. f Knot of Marines, and I'.riai ihe Kisaa. private. were prepan d to Hud their pouches with their E, and made excellent couriers. 3K' ifcelr ready Americun .-mile (d2ptatiii'' the "eased' ihelr Jtarongh poh Furopc, these 5jBjs their one lormality being K fHate adhesion to ihelr mailac jKoiLiTon va jieessed of a re-1H.,Hllb!e re-1H.,Hllb!e gift for narrative He n- ' ..Jum both n )rsHMv- Tiii lone and vivid tales .paofeke&ce. t d;.n:-'i o( hov an Ept bad ten made to loot one vfhEipouebos on tlie train betwe u Mr.- . M the tight thai !2ife la vhi( h hi: .vailanl erne lWBtlnus .e?i-al teeih and r 1 ' rt.il coalulonc . ol the dangers JJHlBrked throuphrm' Swli erland pJjlEO'iably in the city ot Berne "Bialt ihe crooks of Knrope ore fjr.iifc' be nimbled on "They'll try ,r hiBjtt you try to ot you Keep os oB eyea open tliu' s all I say i mfc rocr eyes open. You goin" to ll tWb!?atlonv he asked abruptly. :t0r,'t to the military attache " Whony told him. Mfolotial Cole fin fellow . But ? your eye j open Don't leave uluable papers in your trunk It don't matter -what kind Ha lock you've po'. they'll go tale it" And then he related dor him) brief epic ol a right hd vhen be returned to his Bel room unexpectedly one eve-jHtand eve-jHtand found a man bending over i lAtibsay rr- ihrld. .-'rid for the J tUme since he tdiae to Europe, I Bjlbted Perhaps alter all Ihls .j 7 Prove better lhan checking K rk:t!0DS. V , mi it-Dant Anthony West! The II try designation had seemed a r, PfI?rv 10 him. even at Bordeaux; why he vras now being hurled ) "Bj Switzerland, removed trom tho jpj.Ka'" ala t0,&l ,08S to under 3 KB1 He j.iirced. perhaps with feif W1". Hiat the nv..-' drouth of IjiL 3rienerdls, the General raid In JLpaiDd for nil.- reputed to he m if lCrhEl5a 0f ermii"- I'l f'ti'-li and lM(bly newspaper experience. F him like a Taslde weed mPfl (brown him into Switzerland. I civilian clothe aid soar ' LJfC ta? Pipers and report to the 1 r'P? attache at Berne," had been BL!1 ar'd lp had complied 1 "C'E :o,b"j,J,'':i i.im to carry o clothes from home: uow lie ff1 6uT them and leave behind sy hope of miliurv adventure B the few week? ho had been at fwauihehad alitadv fallen into JCAUh. and with the routine KaSent8011 l dUU' metllQnical jj oae of the oRlces unde( the WW, Marshal his busim - had tf fc m ,of theck'nK i he :-. . ;,.a 'Mt, ?5' BcrutlDiziDg their E.-T n.K arriT'"8 ships and K1 inllisl? of lodBlnus and t, . y and eNtn dav he C4 ,rfdJhrough the sprightly MT 01 tordeaiix. along the fS,CMyftaDr1 '"."..-d land- .I IT ilee X':ai,sllon he uoutd fall K; W. gray iffll had had tli. vnatiou of being awakened five minutes after going to bed. That routine bad suited him. He had prayed for ..blivion, had hastened into the army largely to get It. and obliviou he had obtained. He had felt himself him-self impersonal, berefi of indU viduality a machine. The memory of his last days in New Yrik, however, was nor Mftlly to bo effaced. On the train Inward Switzerland, when he could not sleep for the roar of the iron wneels. the whole devastating business rc-enaeted rc-enaeted Itself before him. Adela's words of dlsmt- al and fiery indignation indig-nation had burnt themselves into his brain "Xever speak to me again or try to communicate with me I never want to see or hear from you again.' Every fiber in his a ' ;-. -a body carried an inprint of thoso words. They still lamed before his eyes. Her indisiitlou bad been cruel, but he coulj not call it unjustified. un-justified. With a strange! vividness, mat bitter evening o(j Adela's letter ame back to hih now . Tears, i hat great solace ol women, are denied de-nied to manhood. land men. pre-f-umably, never wep. Yet every man knows the hd scalding pain of invisible tears jWhen he had despatched hir. repj to Adela that evening in May anqmtmounced his own sentence in thevwords "she will never answer it,"' W had sunk crushed upon hip coih, wishing that he would rise no nore. Moveless he had ain there, huddled, physically pnrt. But he saw whether with theeyes in his sockets or the eyes in lis soul he hardly knew he saw . projection ui himself, the real Amony. a figure fig-ure racked and torn t suffering, kneeling there beside hn, kneeling and praying as he ha not done since childhood. The bt, searing icars raining down in his heart w ere pouring endlessly from that pain-lashed wraith by th couch. It .teemed as though the tars would never cease, tho kneeing figure never rise again, so inte$p wa ; his agony. Like Dostoyoviy's hero he was kneeling finally ttthat great pod human suffering. In a momentary mo-mentary sv. oon of the senes he had actually forgotten hlmstf he wan nobody in particular he -as ever: body all suffering lumanitv Hours later the Anthon;who had hpen lying on the couclurose. sat up and looked for the krellng figure fig-ure beside bim so real Id it been to him. It was not there He was alone and dry-eyed. It hd been a dream. Then he knew tht a dream may bo the intenser form f reality But men seldom kneel jd never weep ! It v as alter this that th thought ' of going to Washington hi flashed upon him like an illumlrtion of going to Washington andoressing for un immediate commissi) based upon his Plattsburg trainin. or else to enlist as a private. He ailed to mind a relative of his moaer's. a Congressman, who might bable to speed him in his resolv With cool, grim deliberation he vide his plans'at the office the next ay and the name night departed fqWash-Ington. fqWash-Ington. Less than five wees later ho had crossed the sea and week in Bordeaux had made him he automaton au-tomaton he was Tie was a Sranror I altogether another Antrny he did nut Know hunseli. t omy hope, when he hoped at i, was . .7,'-' i ' ' 00W '.yT ; -'V;.'.-.:" ' "'"." 8jW"waa "ft I i that before long ho might be shifted to the front, where there was some chance of zest and the stimulus of peril Instead of that, however, he had been ordered to Switzerland -a neutral country, safe, dull, protected pro-tected even from air raids. He ould be complete! out of tho war All things eluded him. His portion in life was disappointment. With a melancholy heart he cave up suggesting sug-gesting programmes to Providence and resigned himself to whatever destiny held. The train whirled on toward the uplands of Europe, and finally he tdept. He found pleasure the following morning in tho company of the tall, yarn-spinning ex-Marine. They passed tho frontier at Bellcgarde together, and during the torty.-niin-nte transit between Bellcgarde and Culoz, Thompr-on showed himself the capable courier he was. He stood leaning out of a window iu tho corridor of tho cairiuKe. hjuh ning his yarns. hi3 pouches in a heap beside him. But always at the approach of one of the many tunnels tun-nels he would carelessly move ovei and lazily straddle tho bags, as though In response to a lurching of the train. When daylight reap peared he would as lightly .step over them and stand seemingly oblivious of his charge. But any one attempt ing to steal a pouch would have found Thompson full of prepared ne.-s. They lunched together at Geneva between trains and when Anthony arrived at Berne that evening, the dull, poorly lighted station had an agreeable air of hospitality, thanks to tho ex-.Mariue courier, and the old Hotel Berneihof with it polyglot, poly-glot, gossiping and bridge-playing clientele seemed almost luzuriou Very carefully, in his best French, Anthony penned two notes, one for his trunk and another for his suitcase, suit-case, nddriassed to "dear Messrs. the spies." informing them that search for valuable papers among his effects would be time wasted, and id 1S90, International li assuring them that he was expecting expect-ing their visits. These bulletins ho placed on lop of his thiun inside his luggage, and descended to the dining room in quest of a bite of supper. A week after his arrival he was acquainted with all his yoifbg colleagues col-leagues whose headquarters in Steinerslrai-se reminded him of nollung so much as a Yonkers real estate office. He had his place at a cheaply made desk and was scanning scan-ning reports on flimsy sheets marked "confidential" from the a nny intelligence .service, from the naval intelligence section and other bureaus. But what did it all amount to? Dally he and the others hung around the mup of the Western West-ern Front, seeing an occasional little Hag moved; daily they walked from the hotel across the Klrchon-l Klrchon-l eld bridge along Thunstrasse lour such trips a day to and from the office, speculating In vain on the sensation that a pretty face would cause In those thoroughfares. At the end of a week Anthony felt as though he had been Ihero years in sheer dejected idleness. Whern wore the days of rushing hurriedly apOUt ihe streets and docks of Bordeaux to the stage of exhaustion? exhaus-tion? There if one wasn't a soldier at least one was a busy shipping cleric. Where was the brilliant sun light of Southwestern France? Where the sense of being a flash-iug flash-iug crusader come to the relief of u hard-pressed people? atur." Barrio, in' ;rct ur "Why, An yearning ' f Won' Berne, In truth, was not Improbably Im-probably the most dismal capltai in Europe during the war. and if any others claimed that distinction it was out of misguided Jealousy. Squatting as It does on a plateau ringed with mountains, the city is a nest of all the chills and fogs of the region, and when it does no' rain or snow you often wish it would to break the monontony of the moist penetrating cold that cares for nothing short of the mar row in your bones. In other places clouds come and pass and go. In Bei-ue they hang lowering to the last moment, touching clammy hands with their successors. "Why. this is a backwater a cemetery." he declared to Roy, one Ol his young colleagues, who had bei a brought up in Switzerland. "Well, what did you thiuk it was?" laughed Ray, "the Western Frout?" "I thought there was . intrigue, plotting, excitement a perpetual novel by Dumas " His mind harked back to tho yarns of the courier. "Look at those fices." Ray pointed through a window at the. somber visages of some Bernese pedestrians "Can you expect much excitement from those? These birds have been living in a state of blue funk ever since the war began. They have been afraid of invasion, of starvation, of epidemics. epi-demics. They used to call this the playground of Europe. The prison yard would be more appropriate. (tain Right nrwrvrd. thony!" she breathed with I eyes. "How delightful! t you sit down?" Who comes here? Only some refugees, escaped or exchanged prisoners, a few wretched interned soldiers and poor simps like ourselves." our-selves." Anthony's heart sank. Fate was pursuing him still frustrating him. nullifying all his desires. He had visions of himself in some heroic action at the front, wounded, stag-e stag-e Ing back to his own lines, bear-mi.' bear-mi.' forever the marks end insignia of distinction. Here, wnat was he. but again a clerk in an office7 This was an office impossible to magnify. mag-nify. Failure failure was his portion. por-tion. What was it in him that militated against success on the bright side ot life? He could not determine his peculiar flaw. It was destiny. This was the punishment reserved for him, the lukewarm He was lacking IU tire that was it Ills mind ran back, as always, to Adela. Why had he failed with iier? Many men. he knew, after riotous lives, married beautiful and saintly women and lived In hnppi-ness hnppi-ness thereafter If only he had had the force to lake that beautiful, proud, high-spirited girl, to love her in a high tlame of passion, to make a brilliant energetic life that would have been the way! Had he told her about Vilma at the very outset instead f leaving her to the .-hock and chagrin ol discovery, all mlgkt have been diiferent. Vilma was the blight of his life. But she need not have been, had he handled the .- ituation with will and decision. But it was too late now. With a heavy, lonely hoart he tell led dow n to his new exlsteuee. Ho discovered that there was more work thau he had supposed There was the culling and docketing dock-eting of information from news-capers, news-capers, from propaganda pamphlets uud leaflets; from oral reports that came iuto the uificu translation. transcription, observation. He en-deavored en-deavored to take his work with a 'searching sincerity of seriousness, H but still It seemed puerile Ger- man methods were pointed out to iH bim. and he began to observe and study them for himself. Nam? and ' yW faces of German agents and diplo- j mats were brought to his notice, tl in the street, in the hotel lobbies - he attempted to immerse himself bis routine. But, oh. it was dull! Bow he missed the driving power '1 of his superior at Bordeaux! dl Nightly he sat about in the lob- H hies and lounge rooms of the two dlijijfl large hotels, the Bernerhof and tho Bellovue. chatting with his associ- 'll ates. with the younger diplomats dl and their wives, with British and iil French young men engaged In 'BiSisi similar work. On none did the dull t j i'l Germanic environment seem to isLsLsl weigh so heavily as on himself. I jji j ! He learned to play bridge well tfll enough to lose money at it: he V uLsLsH Btudied to improve his French and 1 German; he endeavored to tire him ll self physically by long walks, by ll climbinp the Gurfen but It was J Tho members of the French Prop- j ! aganda Mission seemed to be the sLsLsl most interesting group there pros- ' ent Every evening they gathered Ul about a little round table in tho coffee room at the Bernerhof and ) discussed the latest rumors. Al- J 1 isH ways they seemed a little In ad- .i ; lll vane e of everyone else with' Ibeir I news One of their number, an j IH AlBatlen doctor, had as his speel- II ally news of the Kaiser and his ! dl movements. A dramatic person '1 was this doctor, who told his stories I'iJI with finished smoothness and em pilaris, adding gesture to show how " j H the Kaiser had arrived at Spa or at some other point behind tho lines, and of what had passed there. He described him in his palace at Potsdam or Berlin, his neurasthenic restlessness and insomnia how ho had his little iron bed moved from one room to another several times during a night, and how, with wild, rolling eyes, he would sit up in bed and make long, rambling speeches to his valet on military tactfes, on statecraft, on his inspired dealings with his "Gott." Imil The Frenchmen alone, the young journalists and literary mon, as ' well as professional bureaucrats, jl seemed to take their enforced so- if journ in Switzerland calmly. ' sLB "It is all one," replied ono of H them, Doucet, a finished boulevard type, to a remark of Anthony's. "Since one cannot bo in Paris i what does it matter where one is? At le I one can wear a clean shirt her VoyeZiVous, you Americans are born tourists and le tourisme JH the Kaiser alone can practice it jH now." ' fl'IsLsH To the French, as well as to Ten- II H tonic agents and diplomats, our H young men. naive and kindly, uh- ,H schooled in intrigue, seemed like so many children. What was the use of those boys, they asked them- il selves. They could not tell, save if that the American Government was iH fabulously, eccentrically rich. H commissioner, a Middle Western business man named Clarkson. who , alone seemed at ease of all the American contingent. Overflowing with energy, he was constantly in motion. He was living at the Belle- vue and was never solitary Al- i ways there was a group about him. j "Here it is cocktail time," he would break out suddenly, "and here are we sitting like so many !'! bumps on a log Come on. boys! j "Another little drink wou't do us any harm. Come on. boys let's fight the demon rum. I come from a dry State." There were times when even he .f;j rebelled against the routine of i''lill bridge and gossip evening after l 1 evening. i U'il "A littlo liquid refreshment will ' 1 j'fl be had In my room at half after . iJJ f nine." he would go about, whisper- fi ! ''fl in into the ears ot the guests ho . . selected, "and peradventure we may -sing some litti. ditties." I And punctually the cucsts would tiH assemble, and. tho perspiring pails ' ntfiH of ice With the nocks of champagne i bottles protruding like blossoms on : !!' a bush, the gathering would begin -iil to sing what Walt Whitman would dLsfl have called the barbaric yawp of ?' TH cur national songs. "My Old Ken- j, YM tUCky I lome," "Over There." "When I for Genera Grant" those I were ime of the leleci tone. Clark- I son invariably rendered a solo, on deinand to the tune of "Marching Through Georgia." The captivating jl words of that song were tho best- Jj, known antidote that Winter to the ,l 'JH depreaslon Of the Bernese elimato. f t Aguin and agnin he would render j : the encore: , , w "Hooray' Hoo ray! My father is ,. goin' to be hung! I'V-J'j Hooray! I loo-ray' The mean old ' son of a gun' Ki t For he was very rude to me when - ' I'l iifl I was very young. . ' it- Anil DOW I'm goin' to get even with my fa a-a-lner!" His keen, lean face would redden and grimace with emphasis, and his ! (Continued on Poq . I at v ;r a l IiConthlUd flOT)l "PrtCt&lHQ raor) broad hands ould beat time for the chorus like, a huge batou. His irresistible, Infectious jollity convulsed con-vulsed his guests, and roar after roar of laughter would disturb the spies and scalawags and diplomats in neighboring rooms Aud this, too, is a phase of war. thought Anthony. He bad moved over to the Bellevue as the more congenial atmosphere, and also because be-cause the public rooms were about tour degrees warmer than at the older Bcrnerh'if But even here, whenever he wished to stay In his 100m and read or think, he was obliged to get into bed. It was impossible im-possible to iit in ones room for more than fifteen minutes without numbed fiugers and a devitalizing chtll. He found himself thinking a good deal of the futiliiy of it. the peurile waste and CI irin-nallty irin-nallty of n ar. ""What do you think of it all'.'" be once ake.l tho energetic Clarkson. 'Gpt to pur a stop to it put a stop to it," tiriskly answered tho tall westerner. west-erner. ' Kill out the Bochcs and there'll be no more war." "Do you really believe that"" "Yep!" Clarkeon's thought did not run along philosophical lines "Don't you see, Clark-on. Clark-on. that was is really the suppressed criminality of the world breaking out , , at intervals?" . "Maybe," admitted ij5-; CTaiV on ' lie criminality " W cf the Bodies." V "li Is not only Boche?, Clarion-. It's all of them tho diplomats make the war. Look at those brldgc-playtng. brldgc-playtng. pursy, overdressed overdress-ed old ni-n in the legations. lega-tions. Trouble is their justification for esistacco. They're like a rotten dc tective bureau and worse than that. Tbey are a set of pickpockets with the badge of respectability allowed al-lowed them. Every now and ihcn they hare to make, a sort of field day I Roman holiday of the able-bodied men r f the world " "Look out. son." Clark-son Clark-son warned him. "somebody "some-body may hear you." "What of it? President Wilson himself sees rh-.t secret diplomacy Is the nigger in the woodpile or tho wrench in the macti-.c He .1 put a top to all that. He is the'nian to H do ".Maybe, son, maybe," muttered Claikron. "But it's a very stiff poker game he is roiziK to Bit in when we've licked tho Boche If he comes over. They're old hanus at Iil on rlijf side." "Von mean to say. Clarkson, that this tiling has got to on that men have got to kill each other by the million once in p-o often hat we have got to sit here watching the other pickpockets and let nations na-tions do to each other wbat anion Individuals would bring the police. If rot lynching? You wait and see! Our peonle are awake to it all, already." Clarkson laugiie-d "I liV.c your optimism son But. as you tay. wait and see. I'm an optimist myself, but only from 8 A. M till bedtime. Tomorrow I begin over again You don't seem to know our so-called human r?. e rery well. Why. West my boy, dou't you know that If there's anything stupid and rolton and out of date, that thing gather supporters round It as a hulk gathers supporters or scrap iron gathers rust? I manufacture manu-facture barbed wire, myself. Let any new device come In and every super and foreman In the shop will fight it. Yet our people are novelty seekers compared with these moss-talk-, over here. Anyhow, let's ben: the Roche first and then see." I "You mean," pressed Anthony "you don't think war will ever pass out of existence?" "O-oh. yes!" answered Clarkson with a large gesture; "when frontiers fron-tiers and boundaries pass out of exigence and even then but come on, son, let's take a walk. I gH cold feet when I talk world And so the routine went on Every month one either had to go to the police station or send a porter por-ter for bread cards, cheese cards, tat or grease cards and milk cards Anthony received only enough milk to whiten his coffee in the morn inp and be never saw eheese or butter or any other form of f.it But punctiliously be presented hi-cards hi-cards at every meal and the waiter reduced them in size by cutting the coupons. 1 An Invisible line ran through the 3 dining room of too hotel and one Z, side was by tacit ronMent held firmly firm-ly as Allied ground. The other side I wsb called the Jungle, or Hun ter- I San i ritoiy. There the Ccrman attaches, some of them with American wives; the Austrian?, with their own pretty pret-ty women, and even Turkish diplomats, diplo-mats, herded by themselves. Vo.i Ratbenau. the Qermafl military attache, at-tache, a particularly insolent typo Of Junker whom Cl&rkson h;id hristened Willie tho Rat, oftn stalked from table to table the length of the jungle with, loud, hyena like laughter, as If flaunting all the arrogance of his class and empire before the Allies. The game was not to see him. The louder he laughed the more invisible invisi-ble he became. In the lounge there was another Imaginary line. Two sofas in the middle of the room wore the pillars of Hercules. Beyond them no Allied Al-lied peibou i,aiguted. The other v side of the rofas was Hun territory. The stolid British and the lively French were better hands a' ignoring ignor-ing the enemy thau the Amerl. Often the Americans would attempt in their exuberance of spirit and for lack of other amusements, a certain play they were fond of. Two of them would sit e n one of the farthest sofa, and Clarkaon, Tho was the leader In those dra-matlcs, dra-matlcs, would make sure thai thero were Huns on the other aide not far off. "1 suppose you'TC heard," he would announce In a stage whisper, "Colonel Cole told me to-day" "What do you mean?" "We've already got a million men In France. The official figures are minimized there's a reason for that, my boy," he would thurup Anthony An-thony in the rib? "there's a rea-sou! rea-sou! Tho Hun will be on the run soon." The Germans, less scrupulous, did not maA" a game of this. They freely circulated the information ihat thouand3 of our troops wer'i being .unl; every month, and S'.vi?i citizens and their wives commiserated commiser-ated with the Americans on the frightful losses we were suffering at sea. "What a pity those poor lr.-ever lr.-ever start," sympathized Madam Gysln, a warm-hearted Swiss lady, with the wife of our charge "Of couree. ou people don't know It yourselves the censorship, you know but thousands of them are sunk and drowned every day. I'm so sorry." "That's very sweet of you," was the American woman's reply "But our official Information is that in the first place we haven't any ships to carry them in. and in the second place all our troops can swim." "And this is the noble game of war!" laughed Anthony in repeating repeat-ing the story to Clarkson. "Lie-, lies, lie?' And the mofe lies the better. Ordinary, everyday American Amer-ican business has long since found out that the He Is the poorest kind of investment Oh. there'll never be honely in international relations rela-tions until the diplomat disappears." disap-pears." "Oh, cheer up aud be good." an-fewered an-fewered Clarkson. "or the Woman In Black will get you." "Who's that, said r,thony "another "an-other liar?" "Here, don't be so rough'" humorously hu-morously expostulated ( far): on "Majbe ahe is. She la a neutral Dutch tody but, nnyhow, she's a stunner." "Then she won't get me." Anthony An-thony assured him, "there's no such woman In Heine." "I didn't ay there was Hmnrty." retorted Clarkson. "I met her In Geneva yesterday. Hut little Orphan! Or-phan! An:ile Is coming to live with us she is coming hero to-morrow -and she is some peach, believe me." "Impossible!" toughed Anthony. "Nothing like that happens here. Is lie pro Hun or pro-Ally"'' "What do you think"' remon-Btrated remon-Btrated Clarkson. ' "Think I've made a separate poae? If I condescended con-descended to talk with her she sure is pro-us " The ne evening, when Anthony. Clarkson, Ray aud two young Bngb lishmen, wno snarea a rouua tame, wore finishing their dinner. Clark-on Clark-on i uddenly nudged Anthouy and called his atteutlon to a handsome, well-groomed woman In a beautiful simple Mack frock who was coming com-ing Into the room. She looked neither to the right nor left, but with demure and downcast eyes Ehe was following ihe head waiter to a small table in the rear of the Allied side of the dining room. A tremor shot through Anthony and tho blood left his face and Hooded his heart. The woman in black was Vilma! CHAPTER XXII. The H'oman in Black. rLARKSON," said Anthony I Id tie, as tho young men pus lied back their chain and rose from the table, "will you do me a favor?" "Sure pop." said Clarkson. who was the soul of good nature, lowering lower-ing his own deep voice. The other oung men moved discreetly toward the door. Each of them, as they departed cast a covert glance at the height of the wine in his individual in-dividual claret bottle to see bow much the waiters would drink of It by noon to morrow. The lady who has Just come in is an old acquaintance of mine," Anthony told him. "and I want to greet her alone. Do you mind if I don't drag you to her side this minute? min-ute? I'll meet you in the lounge." Clarkson shot blm a quick glance and noted the pallor In his face "Drag me 1 like that!" he muttered mut-tered good-humoredly. "And I promising to introduce you' However How-ever 1 am no spoil-port, old top' ' "I wouldn't call it sport " murmured mur-mured Anthony, "hut let that pass. See you later." "Never mind, son," rumbled Clarkbon "So long See you in the lounge." And without turning he marched briskly out of the room. For the few minutes since the entrance of Vilma. after tho lirst Shock of recognition. Anthony wus conscious of some of t lie most rapid thinking in his life. The pendant that wa3 the first thought that flashed noon his mind At las' bis opportunity had come! It was like the mockery of fate that what he had so long sought In vain should come gliding into his life in this K't lfr."0. Inlrrnallonil Vr '"' IVX 1 e: , lHau W i remote spot by the merest chance. How was he to act? He felt as though an inde-pendeut inde-pendeut thinker inside his brain was acting rejecting, constructing, with imnv-nse speed, like iome delicate machine under a glass covering cover-ing Almost like a spectator specta-tor he found himself marveling mar-veling at the sureness and Intensity of the mechanism The atmosphere of the place suggested a variety of wildly theatrical movements which bis brain clipped off with a machine-like finality and sharpness. There was but one thing he desired from Vllma. and that he would seek without the slightest delay or wasto of time. With as much nonchalance as ho could command ho moved down toward her table Yilma looked up placidly, then with a fine show of Muttering perturbation she half rose, sat down again and held out her hand. "Why. Anthony! You. of all people peo-ple in this place!" Her fingers ns he touched them were cold and tremulous. She still spoke with that slight Jlplng trace of accent that had once so enchanted him. "How delightful!" she breathed with yearning eyes "Won't you sit down?" It was evident to him that Vilma also was thinking very rapidly. He looked at her squarely, and for a moment he said nothing. Vilma Vil-ma seemed a Bh&de disconcerted and she lowered her gaze "Aren't you Glad to see me?" she added snftiv. "Enchanted'" bo finally assured with a crisp brevity, and Inwardly he added, "There is only one way with this lady Whatever lier elcv--emesa might be. there is tho certainty cer-tainty of her vanity " "That's better!" she toughed. Except that her hair seemed to have darkened a shud and that she had thinned somewhat, she was the simie Vilma the same smooth skin and high coloi'in-', the slightly parted part-ed lips, the physical magnetism that were both her charm and the curso of her. And her gown wio exquisite. ex-quisite. "So it Is really you." he murmured mur-mured meditatively. "Time alone passes you by You manage to look more beautllul than evor " "What a pretty speech." she laughed with i MMc effort at gay- ty, ".nd what a man or the world jturv Smh t, tec. Gront Br ' 4. we have become' You are here for your Government, I suppose?" "Yes," he said. "But as to being what you call a man of the world, anybody can become that by meeting meet-ing one or two Vilma Vanleers." "So you have met two naughty boy?" "No," he smiled, "I was precocious. preco-cious. One did the trick for me." Three or four straggling dineis remaining in the room riveted the pair with their gaze. Anthonv. from the nli r his eye. observed this and decided to make his inter-rlew inter-rlew brief. "You are alone in the hotel?" ho asked with an attempt at naturalness. natural-ness. "But of cour-e. my friend Whom snould I be with?" and she scrutinized scruti-nized him under her long lashes. "Oh. I don't know," he murmured half mockingly "You see. vou are 0 attractive. Vilma and resource- "Lislen, Anthony," she almost whispered with a look of earnest pleading "Don't talk like that uon't say bnrrld thiugs to me I lease promise We shall Ik- great friends you shall see." The look in Ins eyes seemed to trouble her Oh, I kn.,w what you're thinking But wait-! shall tell you WVeryl thing,' and . be paused. "All right- hut when." decisively "dm I to have the pleasure of "a conversation not in the dinine room? & "Hut any time. Anthonv. of course. am here for mv he-,lh " she added irrelevantlv. " Anthonv smiled. "Truly." she insisted, I had a kind of breakdown " J ,nt,.'?.ny kncw wwnethjng of the diff cultles of entering Switzerland during the war. but he made no comment. ' Shall c say to-morrow at eight- while the rest are at dinner9" dine?r"ndid'bUt WhCn slRl11 1 "At seven, of course, while the oth. rs ar.- cocktallingi" "The same nn.slcrful Anthony," tain H'chli iltM'rvn), ; "Clarkson would lead the chorus in vhat - Walt Whitman would have called the barbaric yawp of our J f national songs." I che murmured demurely, and he suspected satlie at his expense. He rose. "Au revolr. iiacame." he bowed. "I promised Join some friends. Until to-morr 9 then." "Au revoir mon ami," she answered, an-swered, and left her before she could add ashing to detain him. In the clnson lounge room, where bud iffee was being dispensed dis-pensed at aranc the cup and expensive ex-pensive grca and golden liqueurs were being Aped as though peace and good wj and plenty girdled the globe tjrkson. Ray" and tho two young Englishmen, grouped round a tabl on the Allied side of the room, jeeted Anthony with smiles of v(ying dimensions and degrees of skgestiveness. "I will this for you," remarked re-marked Claron. pulling him down on the leaor sofa behind him. "you're a n i of your word. Fivo minutes lsri much to spend with a peach likthat." "Er d'jn know her very well?" inqrfed Sidney, one of the young Enjhmen, a winged Hie now assfgd to intelligence work His left hid had been shot off He was ailear-cut young Briton who liked Irthony. "Yes," 45 Anthony's reply, "I know her-iough she's not a friend of mine that's what you mean." Lr thf is what I do mean." answererl dnoy. "Does she call herself Valo-.T?" "ves. ttt s her name." , J1'1 U perhaps I ought to ten you-40'3 down on our list as suspicioui-worklng with the Huno you knj But perhaps your people peo-ple havejr, too:" "I donfthink so." reflected An-U.ony. An-U.ony. -f i shouldn't bo in tho sort " ( SCd at anythins or that 1 "Oh," irmured tho Englishman fpologet llv. "a, long as vou thOfiZ nnd by a taclt consent i they dig Bsed Vilma as a topto of convcrsun and began the orgaui- ' B zatlon q game of bridge von Baecau, the stocky Junker, In r-; o'.l.t red flvinrMep-1 stalked in his insolent on hll iv u'Ji&mr: . The path to the bar A llied side, jB'"! mon consent was surJ" his daily "f?!BffS from Julius, the 1 r." --'.- ten .1 l! ' Doesa': he thlnkssH nil th " MIS If ; 'iiod of Gtrm-Jpb); when tho lines were bendiof Hf ttu giving and Cent ral Cough's MflBfc In llv cracking. T he Bis- in thlr voices whetttlH I with En. ''-huif-n. B: dBac-. altered by a hair's breadth nBP tomary attitude of wellheinjB ennfl'ii'ii ; "i'r'crivlfcg- their ilinners tr their cotnpoiCrt-HSiUJ "1 v i-h t!io--.. Mon? arob? '' ''' BBH looking af'.or i Rathenau. m y- . "Er no need, old chap." Hbti mured Sidney. "Our Iad3 ;ni yaaJJlwW. will t u 'ii fh'"1 trick." "Ys- hut 1 want It to ::''B! t-soon." t-soon." Bald Clarkson. - "Oh 'f time. oM cRtiJ Your follows and our fellows all he till" ' ' vaBtttTTr "Thev sav," whispered CIi7H their "SgL r.f .nied :r ,mfl!:jlBpirs; !-n m workin:: 'iere. I under 'J'.i Sidnev and Anthony sta'W&frS one another and said notbieMH was v. i n" ''r' 'Wi2?ls I Complainls t0BaJH Swiss Govemmcnt. however, "Kj futile . istir" "Point out the ni.-n to c0-V,MStiSl said the Pollticl Miniver sLMKj-will sLMKj-will arre;t them" Hu' "SWaS of longest experience in 'jafc ' :-r.h wbo-e own re--j. . uneerned. were at 3 '..:"'"um their searching and '"afcsL in vain. Yer consfan'lr the K General Headquarfr e. "!BBJeH Dilr ..n and the I'nitol S.!J'1- iL7 lTl sen dine; n ,r--- ' S'SSrt unlmnpircd and that ZMEStec in .firm wa- almost mvarwN 5m t.y war of Switzerland. tr-Effi - , e'd get them, SKgJj Ita". "But a lot of tbose k7rft ,,,-,,, - more han Hun ""gSL. md jackals." I ested v.i-i a 3S ripsK 'all in good time, i- W? ..m t: . 45 "si. lu 'MV& eflectlona , - j , . .i,,ni: of the f:--i, WT T; y Jmi? . ".Ma.-I." - 'S , ;.- ; 4 |