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Show raw? $ SYNOPSIS. c.,ir"V Wsiu.'l HIT. ila'Udit'-r of fir f '7''" "f Hi'- I'-i'llinh a'liiiiraliy, hints al l-t '! r K"Vi:rrn-sH, I r r . 1 f, , mi'l MiMiry Si ;.-.- i.i in. Klln-I ,. II ll'-nry Htri "lnian mils mi Kih.il "iVli'I'' u.ihi'iK r"'' ,1,;r talks to lirt-'AS-f"r Kir m-oi'''h bill lor. who Is a Cciniiin i J ah iiit Inn tiiil'H'o to K' t al mlmlruliy ,Z'"- hi Kir (ii-ow-'n i.ohs.mmIoii. JIh 5,.mr I" 'h-rninii sr.rr.-t soivho lira'l-uirirmni lira'l-uirirmni Klloilniail, tlio (.itiiiiui spy, ami .,',.,l,r IhIimm Hi.-wsl. r, tho hullor) air rfjwiumln ll" pwwIMIily nt war. When I. ill.-l !U.ii'IU H 111! I I I' M IO fori'O ll", to )T-'t fn.m Sir clwri,'" knowlrilcr or the sailor; ,,,-r.i h Ihu Itrltlsh lh- I. TIioiikIi Ii I.I,.vi-s him a fini'li lnslrad of a flrr-niiui flrr-niiui Ml'V. nil" r-'fii.-'rs until ho llirnntrns lllM. ,si,(, ht-'M hlni to aiiiiouni'o tlirir so-,.rai so-,.rai marrtiiK". u.h 'Snorny Is suspicious, hut In- puis h.-r off. At ten. flrurt," ami her lnvi-r. 1 : 1 1 V l-'iilr.ini'i-, ti-.tso Sir Ccnryi', ami .siic lii! in Mini ' s an awkwunl nl-l,.i't nl-l,.i't 1" tall; I'i'lhh'M- I You can imagine, perhaps, the ft sort of furore that would be $ ; kicked up by the entrance of a ij :l breezy, slangy, talkative, well- informed American newspaper li reporter into a typical high-class i 1 English tea party, and of his effect upon a situation exceed- ? ; ingly tense when he plunges 2? ;! into a discussion of possible war ?? ;. which the party has been trying 71 to avoid. Read about Charlie il ',; Brown of New York in this in- (i ; stallment. l'; Streetman, the German spy, t Sir George Wanslaff, British naval official, offi-cial, Ethel Willoughby, secret wife of Streetman, and others are having tea at the Wagstaff home. The party is discussing a play. CHAPTER IV Continued. "You really ought to see (ho piny, ' Sir llcorgo." t Iio irrepressible Guy re marked, lie was always ready to Imi'k up Georgy in any deviltry she wight em hark upon. "Yes! It deals with our next war," til it t young lady added. "As if a playwright knew anything of that!" her father scoffed. "It's horribly insulting to its Britons." Brit-ons." Mrs. Falconer remarked. "Drives in n lot of home truths nnd Rives as Knglish a fearful ragging!" Guy added cheerfully, "-v Sir George looked t t him somewhat iil'leiously. 'VVlio wrote it? . Bernard Shaw?" , 'mtiiii'ed. And f.'iore was much re- :-i his .r-:ne. To him, Shaw was a red rag to n bill. don't k-now vlio wrote it," 'fsy said oarelessh. "I never can '-.'iiiher the beasts' nanvs." It seemed to me to present n Tory ittiing picture of what -n-iy very i'i- liappeii." Henry Streettuau in-!;ed. in-!;ed. Falcoper turned to li in in as-' as-' Minient. She did not ,'hink tliat ".me ill his senses could have taken totlHIy tilay seriouslv. "hi don't mean yuti really believe ' '"i is going to he vnr right over 'Son the continent ?" she exclaimed. 'Ho. rather! And I fancy Fir I njriWs with mo don't you. v fc'u-geV" the wily Streetman von-i von-i lie was determined that if he I "'-5 succeed in forcing Sir George's k'-'.V would -ut least give him a ""'shis money. S'i0i'ge looked bored. I "fc'y. sir, I shotilil prefer not to X &s that matter," he said once ' Ge '? laughed g.nyly. -. "'V father .'puis en his mantle , " UU; 'tliat. it moans serious busaiess. ' she observed. And there was a deal of truth in her statement. ' frivolous as she seemed. But Georgy ' was no fool. She had not lived with her father close upon eighteen years for nothing. She know uuerriugly how to interpret his every manner. I "But why should there be war. even If an Austrian duke did get killed by some Serbian or other':" Mrs. Falconer Fal-coner asked. "Of course I've only seen the headlines." she hastened to add. to disclaim any such plebeian pastime as the reading of newspapers. "Behind that assassination there is much of international politics and diplomacy." di-plomacy." Sir George explained. "In fact, it's ra tiier a long story." "Then, father, don't tell it!" his sarcastic sar-castic daughter banlored. Her plea, however, was entirely superfluous. Sir George had not. the slightest Intention co:n;;:it;ing such an Indiscretion. Guy Falconer was ready enough his opinions. 's not .lust Austria and Ser-s Ser-s , confidently. "The trouble , pU'iny is patting Austria on c'.vliia, Thisperlng. 'Don't give VX-A Wl''id Bussla Is saying, ilpti'fP" -ou're dead right. ; yAliel y ' there you are!" tea i iiiiii "Oil- 1 " hnTil-' aI1-T ,t for Vt."oXWl 'UK I did, , eane her aslouiuling confession. To thor-)ughgoiiig thor-)ughgoiiig lirit ishcrs such a remark ' borders closp upon lose niajeste. And then Brewster announced another an-other caller. ".Mr. Charles Brown!" he pronounced In his host manner u somewhat superfluous su-perfluous statement, perhaps, because all of Brewster's manners were of the best. CHAPTER V. Mr. Drown of New York. In another moment a slight, wiry man, well along in the thirties, came breezily into the room. The first glance told that he was an American. His nervous alertness, his assurance, the slightly slutiehy but nevertheless aggressive ag-gressive manner In which he held himself, him-self, differentiated him unmistakably from the oilier men in Ethel's sitting room. Guy rose to greet him. Pie had in-viletl in-viletl the American to join the party, for Guy was almost like one of Sir George's family. "Hello, Charlie!" he exclaimed with undoubted out huslasm. Aud straightway he introduced the newcomer to F.thol Willoughby, to whom, as hostess, Guy infallibly turned lirst. "Y'ou remember my mother?" Guy asked him then. "You bet I do!" Mr. Brown said heartily as he shook hands with that smiling lady. "Didn't we have a bully time in Chinatown?" "Bather!" Mrs. Falconer replied; and they both laughed over their reminiscence. remi-niscence. To Henry Streetman the American bowed pleasantly enough. And toward Sir George he displayed the utmost affability. af-fability. N "Glad to know you, Sir George!" he said as he gripped his hand. "I want to warn you. though, in case the others haven't, that I'm a newspaper man a journalist, I think you say over here." "Y'ou do frighten me," Sir George replied with a twinkle in his eye. "I've ra tiier a terror of your profession, especially es-pecially when they come from the States." Charley Brown grinned at him. "Don't worry. Sir George!" Guy interposed. in-terposed. - "Charlie doesn't mean all he says." "Father's only spoofing you," Georgy assured the reporter. "Spooling? Spoofing?" Mr. Brown repeated in a somewhat bewildered fashion. He had met many words, during his short stay in London, that he had never before encountered in the English language. But his quick mind was not long at fault. "Oh. sure! Kidding that's it! . . . But, Sir George, I don't blame you. We do butt in a good deal into things that don't actually concern us or the public, but I happen to belong to a newspaper whore it isn't a crime for one of its staff to act like a gentleman: gen-tleman: so don't think I'm making mental notes or that you have to put "Father's Only Spoofing You." the brakes on. If you skid, it's just a private tea party, and that ends it." "Y'ou greatly relieve me," Sir George Wagstaff said, smiling. "But I'll try not to skid as you put it" "Then that's all right!" the American Ameri-can declared. "Aud, speaking of tea. won't you have some?" Ethel asked him. "Y'ou bet I will!" he responded in his Yankee vernacular. Ami he stepped, quickly to the table behind which she sat. "It's a great habit, tea." he dilated, di-lated, as he took the cup from her. "I'm going to introduce it at the Knickerbocker bar when I get back. it's got cocktails skinned a mile," he V fervently. 1 man, what are you doing over NGuy inquired. Just snooping around! Th paper thought they needed a change in their London news, and I knew I i needed one. so I came over." ! "It must he very interesting work." Ethel Willoughby observed. She was more than Interested In Guy's quaint friend. His sort was new to her. And though His bree.ine-is might not have been considered quite good form in an lOnIishiiian. it was a quality which the British I'md both refreshing and entertaining in an American. "It is interesting," Charlie Brown told her. "But you sound as If you were going to interview me; aud for tile love of Mike don't!" "Who Is Mike?" Sir George Inquired innocently. In his endeavor to grasp the intricacies of Mr. Brown's conversation. conver-sation. "Oh, he's an Irishman we Americans swear by," the newspaper man replied. "Fancy that! How odd!" Mrs. Falconer Fal-coner exclaimed. She did not know that Mr. Brown was spoofing now. "Since you're a newspaper man you must know everything," said Georgy Wagstaff. She quite fancied the stranger; aud she wanted to know him better. "Well, at least I try to convince my editor of that," he replied. "Then tell us about the war! We're verv ignorant. We onlv read the head lines," she said. "Father won't talk. It'd be a broach of something or other." "Do tell us your, opinion. Mr. Brown!" Ethel urged. "We're all so very interested." in-terested." "I suppose I can talk where Sir George can't and I do love to talk," Brown admitted. No one knew his pet failing any better than himself. "Silent Charlie that's what they call him!" Guy informed the others delightedly. de-lightedly. ' "You don't mind, Sir George?" The American turned inquiringly to Sir George Wagstaff. "Naturally not!" the older man assented as-sented good-naturedly. "As you said, this is only a private tea party." "Then please do!" Georgy insisted. "If you don't, Guy will!" She dearly loved to rag her devoted admirer. "Away!" Brown declaimed in mock satisfaction at being able to scatter his opinions broadcast. "Well, I'll tell you. While most of you Londoners have been wondering whether the Irish are going to start a civil war, or whether Gunboat Smith did foul Car-pentier, Car-pentier, I've been digging up some inside in-side dope, and, believe me, there's going go-ing to be a merry old bust-up. Russia, Rus-sia, I know, is mobilizing; and so is Germany." "But can Russia, with her internal conditions, afford to fight?" Streetman asked him. "I don't know whether she can afford af-ford to or not," Charlie Brown said. "But I believe she is going to." "I take it you are not particularly informed on Russia." Streetman retorted, re-torted, somewhat acidly. "Oh, yes I am!" the undaunted Yankee Yan-kee replied. "I know it's awfully cold there, and that they drink vodka, and have revolutions, and send their prisoners pris-oners to Siberia, and apart from that I'm pretty darned sure Russia's going to fight." Words habitually flowed from Charlie Brown's mouth without the slightest effort. It is so with bores. But Mr. Brown was far from being a bore. What saved him was the fact that he always said something well worth listening to. Guy Falconer did not allow the conversation con-versation to interrupt his ministry to the inner man. He stepped up to Ethel's Eth-el's table and took a sandwich off a plate. But before he regaled himself with it he paused long enough to say: "Y'ou know, I think Charlie's right." "Go on, Mr. Brown!" Georgy said, impatient at the interruption. "Don't you think Germany can defeat de-feat both France and Russia?" Street-man Street-man demanded. , "Maybe maybe!" Charlie Brown said. "But with England on their side " Streetman did not wait .for him to finish. "England, with a civil war in Ulster on her hands, wouldn't dare " he began be-gan heatedly. And then Mr. Brown interrupted him. lie had not the slightest inten- Hon of being browbeaten by anybody. I And there was a vague antagonism in Ftreetmau's manner toward him that ! roused him mightily. "Civil war!" he exclaimed. "Why, if England has a scrap with Germany, that Ulster trouble will stop in ten minutes; and every Irishman that goes to the front will lick three Germans maybe four. . . . I've seen the Irish mix tilings up in New York." Streetman subsided, for the moment, beneath that avalanche of words. "And you think Germany is quite prepared to face those odds?" Ethel Willoughby asked the American. "Not intentionally," he replied. "The Germans have got everything down so pat in theory that nothing can stop them: but God help 'em if their theories theo-ries don't work." There was no mistaking mis-taking where Brown's sympathies lay. For. though he had not by words expressed ex-pressed his real feelings in the matter mat-ter at issue, there was a fervent ring in his voice that sufficiently betrayed his sentiments. Meauwhi e Henry Streetman regarded re-garded him with extreme disfavor. Terhaps for the moment, among all those enemies, he momentarily forgot that his interests required that he should by no means appear to hold any opinions that one might not expect in ' the most insular of the English. "It seems a pity," he said, "but Germany Ger-many is the only nation in the world that is ready absolutely ready. She j is the only nation that can risk a war with any chance of victory." His companions looked at him in astonishment. as-tonishment. And Sir George Wagstaff even was stirred out of the attitud" of apathy that he was wont to assume. "Y'ou talk strangely, sir. tor an En?- I llshtniin." he told Streetman. But his manifest reproof seemed lost upon that gentleman. "My nationality does nut blind me to the facts." the spy said hastily. "I admire the Germans in lots of ways," Charlie Brown continued, in what was really only a futile effort to appear neutral. "At all the arts and sciences they're wonders. And it's a cinch they've got a great military machine." ma-chine." "The most marvelous in the world!" Streetman agreed with him heartily. Charlie Brown set his empty teacup on the table. "Y'ou're dead right there!" lie assented. as-sented. "Why, back in New Y'ork I know a waiter at I.uechow's bully German place! who was telling me one day how Germany had everything doped out. If war came he'd chase back to his home town go to his armory, ar-mory, and in his locker, number Soli, he'd lind his uniform, his shoes, his gun properly oiled, some of that dried pea soup, fresh water in his canteen! They've boon putting fresh water in those canteens every day for two years past. In fact, everything a soldier sol-dier needs would be there waiting for him. Then he'd inarch down to the station and in a couple of hours he and ml' Mill 1 mix "You Talk Strangely, Sir, for an Englishman." Eng-lishman." hundreds of thousands like him would be off to the front. . . . Now, you've got to hand it to a country that's got it all planned out like that." "By George, you have!" said Guy Falconer. He had listened, like the others, with increasing wonder as the American told his story. "If England were only prepared, too, along similar lines " Ethel Willoughby Wil-loughby said. She did not finish her remark. There was no need of that for the vain wish that lay behind her words was only too evident to them all. "But she isn't prepared not the least bit is she, Sir George?" Charlie Char-lie Brown turned to the member of the British admiralty as a man who could easily back up his statement in an authoritative au-thoritative fashion. Sir George Wagstaff vouchsafed an enigmatic smile. He was, to be sure, vitally interested in everything the newspaper man had said. But he had no intention of allowing himself to be startled into making any ingenuous admission. "If you don't mind, sir, I should prefer pre-fer merely to listen," he said quietly. "I get you," Brown replied, with a quick nod of understanding. "Force of habit makes me ask questions. I guess I thought I was interviewing you." And, taking out his cigarette case, he asked Ethel's permission to smoke. Always an enthusiast, he had thrown every ounce of his nervous energy en-ergy into the discussion. War was a subject that, in those days, was ever present in his mind. "Preparation such as Germany's is often the surest guaranty of peace," Streetman remarked, reluctant to quit the topic that most interested him. He hoped, too, in the course of the tea party, to gather Information of some sort that might prove of value to him. He had been quick to perceive that the American was uncommonly well informed in-formed upon conditions throughout Europe. "Ordinarily such preparation makes for peace," Brown admitted. "But not with Germany! She's been itching for a chance to demonstrate her theories; but the trouble is. she guesses wrong. Diplomatically, ever since old George W. Bismarck died, she's never been right. And just now she's guessing she can lick France, Russia and England Eng-land with the rest of the world thrown in." "And perhaps she's right," Henry Streetman could not refrain from adding. add-ing. CHAPTER VI. One of England's Sons. Charlie Brown lighted his cigarette in silence, while he digested Street-man's Street-man's amazing statement. iz Brown, as you see, is unusu- ii ally shrewd and quick of ap- ? w prehension. Does it occur to fz ?f you that he suspects Streetman li and takes this method of draw- p ing him out? I (TO tE CO.N'TIXUIiD.J |