WHOSO FINDETH A WIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10407, 3 April 1897, Page 3 (Supplement)

WHOSO FINDETH A WIFE.

BY WILLIAM LE QUEUX, Author of "Tho Great War in England in 1897," "Zoraida," "Stolen Souls," " Guilt? Bonds," " A Secret Service," etc., etc. (COI'VRIGHT. SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. thapteh I and IL-Deedes, a conflili-ntial clerk in .nnremnient office, receives a despatch from Berlin, * i hlsK id" ferl of Warnliaui, H*r Majesty , ,! &al Foreign Secretary, directs him to seal it KK... ami placs it In hL pocket. lie todies with Dudley Ogle, an old college chum, ami Kwls de'iv.d the de<patrh to the earl. In the loins they .line at the Nook with Mrs. La<n«, to SSle .landiter Dde.les is engaged. He is some.hit ienlous of the attentions of an old man named Andrew Bfck. A telagnm in cipher alarms Saedes anil he is about to li-ave for London when karfiinibles over (he dead body of his friend, Dudley Oele, lying in the path. CHAFTF.iiS HI ANI) I.eaTine the dead Imdy ,V;. Mend to await in inquest, Demies limrii-s I' »to learn the stirtlini! news that he iswu-ed ..a spy liy is chief, who informs him lhlt the document entrusted to him has been stolen, the .nvelope handed leek to the earl containing •nthiuß but blank p.per. At. the name time a i.wraiibic despatch informs them thai llus.iais go the point ■/ declaims war .gainst KnUnd in consequence of the <fcret despatch being known to tie Russian Government. CHAPTER V. LORD WABNHASt'S ADMISSION.

"Asvthinu further ?" inquired the groat jtjtcinian in a low mechanical tone, hie m fixed straight before him aa he sat. "Nothing further, your lordship," inswerDfl the telegraphist. The Karl of Warnham sighed deeply, his

thin hands twitching with a nervous excitement he strove in vain to suppress. "Ask if Lord Maybury is in town," he said hoarsely, suddenly rousing himself. Again tho instrument clicked, and a few moments later tho telegraphist, turning to

tbe Foreign Minister, said: "Tho Premier is in town, your lordship." The earl glanced at his watch a few Kconds in silence, then exclaimed s •' Tell Gaysford to inform Lord Maybury at once of the contents of this last despatch from St. Petersburg, and eay that I will meet tho Premier at 5.30 at tho Foreign Office."

The telegraphist touched the key, and in a few moments the minister's orders were obeyed. Then, taking a sheet of notepapor and a pencil, he wrote in a private oipher a telegram, which he addressed to Her Majesty atOabome. This, too, the clerk despatched all once over the wire, followed by urgent messages to members ot the Cabinet Council mdto Lord Kingabury, Commander-in-chief of the British Army, asking them to meet informally at six o'clock that evening at the foreign Office. When all these messages had boen transmitted with a rapidity that was astonishing, the telegraphist turned in his chair and teked: " Anything more, your lordship ?" "No, nothing for the present," he inewered. "Leavens. , Then, when he had gone, the earl roso slowly, and with bent head and hands clasped behind his back strode up and down the library in silent contemplation. Suddenly he halted before me where I stood, »nd abruptly asked : " What did you say was the name of that Wend who lunched with you yesterday ?" "Ogle," I answered. "Dudley Ogle." "And his profession?" "He had none. His father left htm with enough to live upon comfortably." "Who was hU father!" be inquired with a sharp look of doubt. "A landowner."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

The earl slightly raised his shaggy grey brows, then continued : " How long have you known this friend f "Several years." "You told me thnb he has died since yesterday," his lordship said. "Is not that a rather curious fact—if true?" "True!" I cried. "You apparently doubt me. A telegram to the police at Staines will confirm my statement." "Yes, J iiever disguise my doubts, Deedee," the earl snapped, fixing his grey eyes upon mine. " I suspect very strongly that you have sold the secret to our enemies; you have, to put it plainly, betrayed your country." " I deny it!" I replied with fierce anger. "I care not for any of your alleged proofs. True, the man who wae with me during the whole time I was absent is dead. Nevertheless, I am prepared to meet and refute all the accusations you may bring against

Wβ." " Well, we shall eee—we shall see," he anewered dryly, snapping his fingers unci again cominenoing to pace the great Horary from end to end with steps a trifle more hurried than before. "Wo have—nay, I personally havo been the victim of dastardly spies, but I will not rest until I clear up the mystery and bring upon the guilty one the punishment he deserved. Think," lie cried, " think what this means! England's prestige ia ruined, her power is challenged; and ere long the great armies of Russia and France will be swarming upon our shores. In the fights at sea and the fights on land with modern armaments the results must be too horrible to contemplate. The disaster that we must face will, I fear, be crushing and complete. I am not, I have never been, one of those over-confident idiots who believe our island impregnable ; but am old-fashioned enough to incline towards Napoleon's opinion. We are apt to rely upon our naval strength, ft strength that may, or may not, be up to the standard of power wo believe. If it is a rotten reed, what remains ? England must be trodden beneath the iron heel of tho invader, and the Russian eagle will float beside the tricolour in Whitehall." "But can diplomacy do nothing to avert the cataetrophe f" I suggested. "Not when it is defeated by the devilish machinations of spies," he replied meaningly, flashing a glance at mo, the fierceness of which 1 did not fail to observe. " But Russia dare not take the initiative," I blurted out. "Permit me, sir, to express iny own opinion upon our relations with St. Petersburg," ho roared. " I tell you that for years Russia has held herself iii readiness to attack us at the moment when she received sufficient provocation, and fof , that very object she contracted nn alliance with Prance. The Czar's recent visit to England was a mero farce to disarm suspicion, a proceeding in which, thank Heaven! 1 refueed to play any part whatever. The blow that I have long anticipated and have sought to ward off all these long years of my administration as Premier and as Foreign Secretary has fallen. To-day in the most sorry day that England has over known. The deathbell of her power has sounded," and he walked down the room towarde mo_, palefaced and bent, his countenance wearing an expression of unutterable gloominess. He wag, I knew, a patriot who would have sacrificed his life for his country's honour, »nd I aleo know that every word he had uttered came straight from his heard. " How the secret agents of the Czar obtained knowledge of the treaty surpasses comprehension," I exclaimed. " The catastrophe is due to you—to you -done !" he cried. " You knew of what vital importance to our honour it was that the contents of that document should be kept absolutely secret. I told you with my own lips. You have no excuse whatever; none. Your conduct ie culpable in the highest degree, and you deserve, sir, instant dismissal and the publication in the Gazette of a statement that you have been discharged from Her Majesty's eervice because you were a thief and a spy !" " I am neither I" I shouted in a frenzy of

'age, interrupting him. "If you were a younger man I'd —by heaven! I'd knock you down. But I respect your age, Lord Warnham, and I am not forgetful of the fact that to you I owe more that I can ever repay, Hy family have faithfully served their country through generations, and I will never allow a false accusation to bo brought upon it, even though you, Her Majesty's Foreign Secretary, may choose to make it." He halted, glancing afc me with an expression of unfeigned surprise. " You forgeb yourself, sir," he answered with that calm, unruffled dignity that he could assume at will. "I re P "W accusation, and it is for you to refute it." •■. " I can! I will!" I cried. .• "Thon explain the reason you handed . fne a sheet of blank paper in exchange for the instrument." ' •IttDßOti,!-.

Hβ laughed a hard cynical laugh, and turning upon hie heel paced towards the opposite window "All I know ie that the envelope I gave you was the same you handed to me," I protested.

" It's a deliberate lie," he cried, as he turned in anger to face me aeain. " I opened tho despatch, read it through to ascertain there was no mistake, and after sealing it with my own hands, gave it to you. Yet in return, you hand me this!" and he took from the table the ingeniouslyforged duplicate envelope and held it up. Then, casting it down again passionately, headded: S

"The document I handed to you was exchanged for that dummy, and an hour later the whole thins; was telegraphed in uUtnso to Russia. The original was in your possession, and even if you are not actually in the pay of our enemies, you were so negligent of your duty towards your Queen and country that you are undeserving the name of Englishman."

"But does not London pvvarin with Russian ogentu?" I said. " Have we not had ample evidence of that lately ?" "I admit it," ho answered. " Hut what proof is there to show that you yourself did not hand the original document to one ol these enterprising erentlemon who take such a keen interest in our affaire ?"

" There is no proof that lam a spy," I cried hotly. " There never will be, for I am entirely innocent of this disgraceful charge. You overlook the fact that after it had been deposited in the safe it may have been tampered with." "I have overlooked no detail," he answered with calmnoss. " Your suggestion is an admirable form of excuse, but unfortunately for you it) will not hold water. First, because, as you must be aware, there is but one key to that safe, and that never loaves my person ; secondly, no one but you and I are possessed of the secret whereby the safe may be opened or closed; thirdly, the packet you gavo me did not remain in the safo. In order that you should believe that the document was deposited there I put it in in your presence, but when you left my room I took it out again and carried it home with me to Berkeley Square, intending to show it to Lord Maybury. The Premier did not call as he had promised, bub I kept tho document in my pocket tho whole time, and at six o'clock returned to the Foreign OlHce and deposited it again in the safo. Almost next moment—l had not left the room remember —some thought prompted me to re-open the envelopo anil reassure myself of the wording of one of the clauses. Walking to the safe I took out the envelope and cut it open, only to discover that 1 had been tricked. Tho paper was blank!"

"It might havo been stolon while in your possession just as easily as while in mine," I exclaimed, experiencing some satisfaction at heini' thus able to turn his own arguments against himself. "Knowing its vital importance I took the most elaborate precautions that such circumstances were rendered absolutely impossible." "From your wards when Haminerton arrived from Borlin it was plain that you suspected treachery. On what ground were your suspicions founded ?" Upon his ephinx-like faoa there rested a heavy frown of displeasure, as ho replied : " I refuse to submit to any crocs-exami-nation, sir. That I outertainod certain suspicions is onough." " And you actually accuse mo without the slightest foundation J' , I cried with warmth.

" You are in error," ho retorted very calmly, returning to hia writing-table and taking up some paper. "I have here tho original of the telegram handed in at the branch post office in the Strand yesterday afternoon."

"Well?"

" It has been examined by the caligraphic expert employed by tho police, and declared to bo in your handwriting.'' "What?" 1 gasped, almost snatching the yellow telegraph funne from his hand in my eagerness to examine the mysterious jumble of letters and figure? composing the cipher. My heart sank within me whon next instant I recognised they woro in a hand so noarly roserabling my own that 1 eould scarcely detect any difference whatever. As I stood gazing at this marvellous forgery open mouthed in abject dinnay there broke upon my ear a short harsh laugh—a laugh of triumph. Raising my head the earl's penetrating gaze met mine. "Now," he exclaimed, " come, acknowledge the truth, it is useless toprovaricate." " I have told the truth," I answered. " I never wrote this."

For an instant his steely oyea flashed as his blanched face assumed an expression of unutterable hatrod and disgust. Then ho shouted :

" You are a thief, a spy, nnd a liar, sir! Leave me instantly. J3von in fnco of such evidence us this, you protest innocence with childish simplicity, l'ou have betrayed your country into tho hands of her onomies, nnd are even now seeking to throw blame and suspicion upon myself. You—"

" I Imvo noC done so. I merely suggested that the document might) havo beon oxchanged whilo in your possession. Surely—"

" And you actuully como to mo with a lame, absurd tale that the only man who can clear you is dead ! The whole defence is too absurd," ho thundered. " You have sold your country's honour and the lives of your fellow-men for Kussian roubles. Go ! —never let mo seo you again, oxcopt in a felon's dock." " But surely I may be permitted to clear myself ?" I cried. " Your masters in Sb. Petersburg will no doubt arrange for your future. In London we require your faithless pervicosno longer,' the enrl answered with iiitoneo bittorness. "Go!"

[To ba continued on Wednesday next.)