The White Lie.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 162, 9 July 1914, Page 10

The White Lie.

A Story of Love, Blackmail and Revenue. By WILLIAM LE QITETJX. 'Author of "England's Peril," "Revelations of the Secret Bernac," -"Butheti Up," etc., etc. ( HAFTER XVI. ■TEAK UAS A SURPnisK.

■'f.in. iTms dismissed descended to the library, where, a< r ,.-- Ihe dark crimson rarpw, ;h- | af : rays of the frorfTP.ous

•"in-,..; «;aTiie.l in through the hi-h window, i n w -hirh uerc -et the armorial bearms* of .lead-ainl-ffoiiP Hraeondalps in -iainp<l-g;a.« r-Miitrhpon-.

Her eye? wry tix.-,l va.nntly into "I"- >h|p '' ,:| s tliinkinu'— thinking 11:1,111 " f 'hat fateful paragraph in the paper—the Ulicxpirtpd new, which liuil reiider-d h.-r v w i*. w .

she thought of .Vdolplie ( .ft.. n with teelinjis of pity. Thoiijrh a criinirml or ■~ crimiiml stoi-k. ill-lirrd. and with scam-l\ am i.<lucation. yet ho had Iwhavnl to hu'r •<-- fi-w men had lii-havofl. l|,. had always helil her in o>tcom and respect Kven as »tood there she ~< lU| ,l he-ar hi-hijrh-piu-hed inii-p n<ldre.<ain"' her i"MiMUiin.-."

Iptaira, h\ the ~f the >ic|< i aliinct Mini-tor, the thin, prey-faem! rmiii. "the eye- and ears of the ( abiin-i." was mailing ncr-ret r' i p l )rt to hi- lordship.

I'hough the Karl of Bracondale. X.(... uas I] i> Majesty's Principal SecreUiry of Mate for Foreign Affairs, yet Darn-rt-ir"Ugh. the e\or-astnte. -leeples- man of s"ciets. was the keeper uf lireat Britain- prestige abroad. Tlioujrh hi.- name timer appeared on the roll of IJovernment servants, neither did he draw any .-alan- direct as an official, yet he wa> the only man in. England who could demand audience of the Sovereign at any hour b> day or night, ur who had the free i.ittrrr to the Hoval residence and could att.'u.l any function uninvited.

A- a statesman, as a secret agem. as an n;(vnioii s plotter in the interests uf In- ciyntry. he wa.s a genius. He was a ■ li.-.-onry of tll( . | att , U)rrt Salisbury in the lijtt days of the Victorian era." At that rime he had Iwen a Foreign < Irl'u-c • lerk. a keen-eyed young man. with a Iwk "f black hair hanging loox-lv nirofts hi- brow. Lord Salisbury reeognined in with his usual bluntues.s nulled him one •lay to Hatfleld and jnive him a very delicate mi.-.'ion abroad.

Darnl.i.rough went. ||c had audi"liei> with the Shah of I'ersia. juggled with tluii heduunonded potentate, and camu l>a k with the draft of a secret treaty ilirewod against Russia's influence safely in his pocket, fie had achieved what British Ministers to Teheran for the pr<--vii.u- lifieen years had failed to effect.. And iriiru that moment Darnborough had been allowed a free hand in international Lord riosohory. Lord l.ausdowne. and Sir Edward I'irey had adopted the same ;iuitn,lc towards him as the great I.onl Salisbury. He was the one man who knew the secret policy of Britain's enemies. the man who had s,, often attended iii'-ptings of the Cabinet and warned it of the pitfalls open for tho destruction of Tlriti-h prestige.

Had they listened to Darnhorough on thai memorable afternoon when, at the Cabinet Council, he had excitcdlr struck tlic lons table with hi* fist, and in polite

language eni'ed the Trime Minister a fool. Kngla-nd would have had no Boer War.

At that moment, the renowned chief of tiir swrot Sen ice was explaining the latest conspiracy afoot apain-4 Kngland. h serious conspiracy hatched in both Berlin rind Vienna to embroil our nation in

complications in the Far [Cast. Darnhorniißli'ji apnntfi in both capitals had that morning arrived at Downing Street |Mi-t-ha-le and reported upon what was in (lrogn-es, with the result tha.t their chief had come to place hefore the ForMinister the latest iniquity of diplomatic .juggling. Mi- lordship lay in Ivd and listened to the man of -ecret- without uttcrinr; a At iengt-h he turned Ills head restlessly on the pillow an.l. v ith n weary remarkoil: — ■■.M>: DarnlKtrnuch. I fear that each rla\ iT-irjrn; n> nearer thp peril, nearer pn-iire of those confidential reports upon our navn] manoeuvres was serious piiouph to our rUploinaiT. The policy of the Covernment. is. alas! one of false assurance in our defences. The country has bepn lulled In sloop hr too lonp. False assurances of our national security have been jriron over and over again, and upon them the Cabinet have pursued a policy of bluff. But alas! the days of Vnlmerston and Salisbury are past. Europe can gaugo the extent and strength of our national defence, and. with the navigation of the air. we livo no longer upon 'the tight little island' of our revered ancestors."

"Yes," replie<l the man neated in the rha.ir by the hedfid". as ho stretched his leps forward and folded his arms. ''In nil the ,-a.pitals it is to-day the fashion 1o laugh at F.nplnnd's greatness, and in ppea.k of us as a declining Poor. 1 hear it everywhere. The <;rea.t Powers are in daily expectation of seeing the tail of the ' British lion badly twisted, and I quite au-ree that the 'most nrjfortiinate leokivge of 0 national secret was that report upon the la.-< navn.l manoeuvres. The hulible of our defensive and offensive power has burst."

"Anil poor Richard llarborne lost his life." remarked the Karl.

Yes." replied tlie other, thoughtfully

"Up was a. tine fellow, Ha rnhoroufrh— a very line young follow. He camp 10-spp mc onif or twiro on confidential roat(rrs. Vmi ?ent him to Mexico, youll rcracral>rr. and ho camr- to report to mc personally. 1 was raiirli struck by his k«'n foresight n.nd cleverness. Have yon any further information concerning; his mysterious end?" •I have iradp a pood many inquiries. Iroth at honv and abroad, but Harborne swms to have been something of a my<terv himself. Up was ptrangHy reserved. and something of ;i recluse in private jjfp—livpd in chambers in the Temple when not travelling abroad, and kept hirr.-elf very much 10 himself." "Ftt any reason' "N'odo. as far as I can tell. He was a merry, easy-goin£ young fellow, a member cf the SV James", and highly popular among the younger set at the i-lub. but he held aloof from them ail be could. .4s I told you som? time ago. there was a lariy in the rase. liis lordship sighed. ■'Ail', 'lamborough, the best of men go nr.Her for the palcp of a. woman!" "Tn ti'is ra?p T am not sure that Harl>oniß really a virtnn," replied hi< visitnr. "Only the other day, when in Borkum, I that Harhorne had bc£& i" Germany and met by appoint-

7iK>nt a young forcijrn woman named Fraujein ilontapic. She was V>eneh. I nas told, and very pretty. It was she who rarrierl on the iieprotiation? lor the purr-ha-c of the se.ret of the new Krupp aerial gnin." "You ought to find her. She might tell you something."'

"That's just what I am striving my utmost to do. I have learnt that she was the daughter of a French restaurant keeper, livinp somewhere in London, and that after Harbnrne'ri death ?hc married a Frenchman, whose name I am unable, a? vet. to scertain."' "Yon will soon know it. narnhorough," remarked the Karl, with a faint smile. "You always know everything." "I» it not. my profession?" the other asked. "Yes. 1 'shall try to discover this lady for I have a theory that she knows Something which we ought to know In addition, she knows who killed Richard HarboriN 1 ." ■1 sincerely hope that you vriH he surt .os«ful." declared tho Foreign Minister. ••By Harbnrne's death Britain has lost » patriot, a man who serve! h« country as truly and -» «01l aj any be--oraml general, and who had ucod (loath a dozen lime- iinOiTlPhinply m t.he performance of his dutie* to hi* country and hi> Sovereign." ■V,.," ilef-U'iil DarnlHjniugli. "ij a"}' man deserved a C.M.C. or a knighthood Di.k llarbonie tho.*! certainly aid. ' » the only per-nn who is in the jkisition of knowing how devotedly he served

bis country." "I know. I know." exclaimed the Karl.

■•And it lip had lived it w»<« my intention of in.hifJin.tr his name in the next Birthday Honour." list."

"Poor fellow!" remarked his chief. "I wonder who that woman Montague wa-. and whether -he really had any hand in the crime* Thai he was fond of her 1 have on <r.io;l authority, vet Pick was. after all. uol much of a ladies' man. Therefore I am somewhat surprised at ;he nature of the information I have

gathered. Nevertheless 1 mean to lind tho woman —and to know t.he truth."

"Have you any i-lue whatever to her identity:" inquired the Ea-rl. looking ai him strangely.

"None, save what I have told you." was the -low. deliberate reply. "But 1 think I shall eventually find her."

"You will. Daritborough. I know n-erl what you mean when you reply in those terms. I'have experienced your vague re-pnnse.- before.' , laughed his lordship.

But the great secret agent on!\ grinned, and his grey face broadened into a -rnilp. while the Earl lay wondering whether, after all his visitor knew more concerning the mysterious fern-ale friend of Harbornc than lie had admitted.

Darnborougli went on with his secret report, placing before the Secretary of State the exact nature of the war-cloud which once again threatened to arise over Europp. and of which our Embassies in Berlin and Vienna, with all the pomp of their officialdom, were as yet in ignorance.

It is rho duty of Ambassadors and Minsters Plenipotentiary. Secretaries, and the rest, to wear gold-laced uniforms and dance attendance upon emperorsand kings, but they do so only a- puppets, the strings of which -.ire pulled in Downing Street. The man who knew the sK-rpts of the chancelleries of F.urope wa- Damborouprh. the head of the network of an ever-active secret service, and it was he who primed lxird Bracondale. who. in turn, wrote cipher despatches to our representatives at the capitals, and gave them instructions what to so.v and how to act.

There is' much that is farcical and amusing, much thai i« old-fa-hioned and out of date, and much haughty and injudicious red ta-pe to-day in our British diplomacy wheji viewed from behind ihp scpne'. Outwardly the made a brave show, hut Europe is nowadays no longer deceived by "the-mnn-with-the-aun." as British Ministers are sometime?, humorously referred to by their foreign colleagues. And while the chief of t no Secret Service was closeted with the Foreign Minister, and the latter was scribbling some pencil notes of his visitor's ropon. Jean waited downstairs in the library for the Earl's permission to her to return to his room. A- tho soft after-glow of early autumn spread over the western sea before her, she uirned at last from tbc lonjr window and crossed the big n>om. wherein deep The Earl's mysterious visitor had been shown in there by -lenner before being conducted to his lordship's room, nnd upon the Karl's pedestal writing-table, set, in an alcove overlooking the torraec ; stood a small, well-worn despa.toh-box of preen enamelled steel, covered -with dark gxpen oanva*. It had be.-n brought by Oarnborough, and stood unlocked and oyen. juat as he had taken from it the written reports of the agents of the Secret Service who had arrived at Charing Cross early thai morning from the Continent. Curiosity prompted -lean to pause flJid peer into it. She ivondered what business that ratVr sour-facod man had -with the iEarl. and what that .portable little steel box could contain.

A photograph— fbe photograph of a young and handsome woman —which was lying face upwards, first attracted her attention. Curious, she thought, that the man towards whom old .Irnner had been so deferential should carry about the picture of a pretty woman. £he took it in her tingrrs and held it in the light in order to examine it more closely. Then, in replacing it. ehe glance.l at the file of pa-p rrh uppermost. a thick bundle of various documents. stamped with the arms of F.ngland and tho word.-. "Foreign Office." and upon the outside of which was written, in a bold, clerkish hand. "Be Richard Harborrre. deceased."'

Richard Harbornc! Slight or that name caused her tv hold her breath.

Sbe took out the file, of papers with trembling- hand and bent to examine them in the li^ht.

She saw there newspaper cuttings, and long report* in. writing and typed—reports signed by pereons of whom she had no knowledge.

Tn one paper at which she {rfaJlCPd Dick was referred to ac "the Honourable Tlic'hard Da\-ies Harborne. late of 11 is Britannic Majesty's Secret Service." She read eag-erly. hoping to discover something to ' throw light upon the poor fellow's sad end. but Ihe writing was rmall. crabbed. and difficult for her to ilpaphcr. Yet *o deeply interested did she become that she did not hear the door open. Suddenly she heard a footstep behind her, and starting quickly, turned t-o find his lordship's mysterious visitor standing facing her with a 3ook of severe inquiry upon bis grey, furrowed countenance. •'Oh! I—l—l'm co very sorry., was all ehe could say, as she quickly replaced the file of pa,pere in the dispatch-box. •I--T " But further T>ordc= failed her. and she stood abashed, con-fused, and ashamed. (7"o be continued daily.)