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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 1917)
r -— The DESTROYER By BURTON E. STEVENSON ' . "" 1.""" CHAPTER SEVEN (Continued.) “There is some doubt on that point/’ answered Crochard slow ly. “That little road is used but seldom, for a better one now leads around the base of the hill; and few people ever have occasion to enter the grove. It was, of course, for this very reason that the hut was chosen for this installation. 1 have found no one who saw any man at work there. On the other hand, a friend of mine, who has a cabaret on the main road just out side the eity gate, has seen pass a number of times within the past week a man who, from his face and dress, wuis evidently not a French man, and whose actions appeared to my friend to be suspicious. ’ ’ Deleasse smiled. “You seem to have many friends,” he remarked; “and un usually observant ones.” “Yes,” agreed Crochard; “I arn fortunate in my friends; and they find it greatly to their in terest to keep their eyes open. ’ ’ “Did you secure a description of this stranger?” “Yes; but there should have been much more than a mere de scription. Some of my friends are more intelligent than others. Still, it may be of service. This stranger was a small man, slightly built, with grey hair and bright, dark eyes. His complexion was also rather dark, and my friend hazarded the guess that he was a Spaniard. He was dressed in dark clothes, cut after a fashion not French, and wore a soft, dark hat.” “But that is a splendid descrip tion!” cried Delcasse. “What more did yon want ! ’ ’ “Ah, sir,” replied Crochard, ”if it had been some of my friends, they would have managed to meet this man; they would have en gaged him in conversation, have discovered his business and place of abode; instead of which, this friend in question merely sits, at the door of his cabaret and watches the man pass! He was not doing his duty—but he will not make such a mistake again!” “His duty!” echoed Delcasse. “His duty to whom!” “His duty to me,” replied Cro chard. ‘ ‘ But I do not understand, ’ ’ said the minister, more and more amazed. “Why should your friends have any such duty to you!” Crochard hesitated. Lepine's face was fairly saturnine. “I cannot explain that to you now, sir,” said Crochard, finally. “I can only say that it is part of a system which lias existed; for a very long time, and of which I now happen to be the head.” Delcasse pondered this for a mo ment, his eyes on Crochard’s face. . Then he turned to Lepine. “You must learn more of this stranger, Lepine,” he said. “You, also, are at the head of a system— and a very expensive one.” “Yes, and a good one, sir,” said Lepine. quickly. “One which is worth all it costs. But men will not work for money as they do for self interest; and, then, my sys tem is a mere infant beside that of our friend here, which must be at last 200 years old. ’ ’ “Oh, much more than that!” said Crochard, quickly, and smiled at Delcasse’s astounded face. “Please understand,” he added, that I do not assert that this is the man we want. There is as yet n« absolute proof, though T hope soon to have it. But. there is one significant, fact: when going from the eity he frequently carried <1 heavy bundle, but never when re turning.” ‘That is indeed significant,’ agreed Delcasse. “But it indicate? another thing which astonishes me If he did all this alone, it was be cause he had no one to assist him Bnt if he had no accomplice, win were the two men who watcher the destruction of La Liberte And, above all, who is this mm who plans, alone and unaided, tin destruction of our navy? Wha is his pin-pose? Whence did In come? Whither has he gone? I he a madman—an anarchist?' Delcasse ran his fingers throng] his fingers through his hair witl , a despairing gesture. “He as founds roe 1” he added. “My brai fahers at thought of such a man !' But Marbeau, to whom much o this talk had been incomprehens ibte, began at last to understand » and shook his head in violent, pro test. “Whoever the man may have been,'’ he broke out, “or whatever hi.i business, it could have had nothing to do with the destruc tion of La Liberte.” Deleasse whceeled upon him. “ Why do you say that?" he de manded. “Because, sir, it is absurd to suppose that the magazines of the ship could be exploded by wire less. Wireless lias no such power. And, in this instance, it is quite easy to prove that they were not so exploded.” “Prove it, then,” said the min ister, impatiently. “In the first, place, the signal, Which we now know came from that hut up yonder, were first noted on Saturday. They con tinued for half an hour, and yet no explosion occurred. In the sec ond place, we caused them to be repeated today, and again there was no explosion.” “La Liberte was no longer there to explode,” Deleasse ob jected grimly. “True; but there were other ships near by—La Patrie, La Re publique, La Verite. These ships and others were also there at the time of the explosion, yet they were not affected, although all of them had precisely the same sort of powder in their magazines that La Liberte had in hers. ’ ’ “But you have already said that the waves could be intensified in a certain direction,” Deleasse pointed out. “So they can; but they cannot be confined tb a channel nor di rected at a mark, as a bullet it. The hut in the grove is fully three miles away from the harbor, and I assert that, every ship in the har bor felt the waves with the same intensity as La Liberte.” “And what is your deduction from all this?” inquired Deleasse. “My deduction is that those signals did not and could not cause the explosion.” J hen what was their purpose? How do you explain them?” Marbeau made a gesture of helplessness. t “I do not know what their pur pose was: I cannot exphiin them,” lie said; “but I am confident that they could not have destroyed La Liberto.” ”1 agree with General Mar beau,” said Croehard suddenly. They all stared at him. aston ished that he should admit himself defeated. “But I would add one word to his deduction,” he added. “The word ‘alone.’ ” “ ‘Alone’?” echoed Delcasse. “I would make the statement thus: ‘Those signals alone did not and could not cause the explo sion.’ " Delcasse looked at him with puzzled eyes, and again ran his fingers impatiently through his hair. “I do not understand,” he said. “You are getting beyond me. What is your theory, then?” The line in Croehard‘s brow deepened. “It is a thing, sir,” he answered slowly, “which I find difficult to express in words. There is. at the back of my mind, an idea, vague, misty, of which as yet 1 catch only the dim outlines. My process of reasoning is this: it is certain, as General Marbeau says, that the signals from the hut were, in them selves, harmless, or there would have been other explosions than that'on board La Liberte. Wire less waves can be directed and con centrated only to a very limited extent. They can be made a little [stronger in one general direction than in others, that is all. And, in this ease, that general direction would have embraced all the ship? at anchor in the harbor, i “There must, then, have been i some other force which, at the ap ’ pointed time, struck from this i stream of signals a spark, so tc speak, into the magazines of Ls „1 L>berte, one after the other. Thai ‘ there was an appointed time w< ; cannot doubt—wo know that i1 was the moment of sunrise vester i day. That the magazines wen i fired one at a time, and a spacer - intervals wo also know. That the? l could not explode of themselves ii ’ that way seems certain. f “You will remember that tb - signals l>egnn more than an hon >A before sunrise, and continued fa at lor d half an hour afterwards. Wo know that the signals were ert automatically. Why? Partly, no doubt, because it was necessary that they he absolutely regular: but also because the man who did this thing—who is himself, per haps, the inventor of the method— < hr> e to make no confidants, to have no accomplices, and he could not himself he iu the hut-to send the signals. Again you ask why. Not because the danger of discov ery, since there was no such dan ger. 1 believe it was because it was necessary that he be some where else, directing from an angle, perhaps, that other force, so mysterious and so deadly. I seem to see two forces, traveling in converging lines, as two bullets might travel, their point of meet ing the magazines of La Liberte. At the instant of their meeting, there is a shock, a spark — as though flint and steel met—and the magazine explodes—first the forward magazine, then the after magazine, then the main maga zine—one, two, three! This is all mere guesswork, you under stand, sir,” Crochard added, in an other tone, “but so I see it. And, after all, it is susceptible of proof.” “What proof?” demanded Del oassc. “If my theory is the true one,” Crochard explained, “there must have been, somewhere, another in stallation to create the intercept ing force, which, of course, must also be transmitted by ether waves as wireless is, if it is to penetrate wood and steel. It must have been within an hour’s walk — probably half an hour’s walk—of the hut in the grove. For remem ber, the mechani ; n there was set going an hour belore sunrise, and the man had tl n to reach his other mechanist.',' and have it ready t.o start at unrise. It is for us to discover the place where this second mechanism was installed— and where it probably still re mains.” “Yes, that would be proof,” agreed Dele: v;e thoughtfully; “and for my elf, I will say that! believe your • heory the right one. But you have not yet explained the part plu.> ed by the two watch ers on the ( ay. “Their p;: : was that of watch ers merely.' said Crochard. ‘ ‘ They were sent 1 *re to observe and to report to tueir masters—as they did.” “As they did?” ‘ * Surely it is evident,” Crochard explained, "that, if our theory is true, they would hasten to report. Imagine their master's anxiety un til he heard from them! As a mat ter of fact, their report was filed within lb minutes after the ex plosion. M. Lepine has it in his pocket.” IJeleasse stared, uncomprehend ing; but I.epine, Iiis face, suddenly illumined, snatched out his pocket book and produced the sheets of yellow tissue. “Ah, yes, certainly!” he cried. ”1 was blind not. to see it! The i report was in form'agreed upon: • We continued our trip as planned. All well.' You wjll understand now, sir,” he added, to Delcasee, “the reason for the high opinion 1 entertain of this gentleman!” “But that message was sent to Brussels,” objected the minister. ‘ ‘ ft. was sent ‘ rcataute. ’ A man was waiting at the poatoffiee to receive it and forward it instantly to Berlin.”. Delcasse's face was a study, as he turned this over in his mind. “ What is your reading of the other message f“ he asked, at last. “My reading," answered Cro chanf, slowly, “is that, at the last moment, the emperor, appalled at the possible consequences, de cided to forbid the atrocity, to which he had, perhaj>s, been per suaded against his better judg ment, or in a moment of passion.” “And if the message had not been delayed, La Libert* would ! have been saved?” “Precisely that, sir.” j Delcasse's lips were twitching. | "You may be right,” he said j thickly: “you may be right; but | it seems incredible. After all, it is j merely guesswork ! ’' ; “You will pardon me, sir, but it is not guesswork.” protested iCrochard. “M. Lepino will tell I you that, in a case of this kind, it , must be all or nothing. Every de I tail, even to the slightest, the most i significant, innst fit perfectly, ot I they are all worthless. If 1 aw j wrong in this detail, I am wrong jin all the others; if I am right ir [the others. 1 am also right in this 1 They stand or fall together. Anc 1 believe they will stand!” The great minister was gazitq [ fascinated at the speaker; for th< ■! first time, he caught a real glitnpsi [; of his tremendous personality. | “You mean, then,” he said . finally, “that if any details w - may discover hereafter fail to fi r, this theory, the theory must be dia ! carded V “Discarded utterly and without ! hesitation, ” agreed Croehard. |“More than that—” A tap at the door interrupted him. “Come in,” said Deleasse. His secretary entered, followed I by a courier, carrying a portfolio. “From Paris, sir,” said the sec retary, and the courier, with a how, laid the portfolio on the min ister’s desk. Deleasse took from his pocket, a tiny key, unlocked the portfolio, drew out a package and glanced1 at the superscription. “Ah.” he said; “the photo graphs!" and ripped the package, open. There were some two dozen of them, together with a long type written report, which Deleasse glanced through rapidly. “These are the result of the first report from Berlin,” he said,( “of officers who are absent from their commands and whose present whereabouts is not definitely known. A supplementary report will follow.” “We can begin with these,” said Lepine, and looked them over. Croehard had risen and was looking at the photographs over the detective’s shoulder. “ We shall have to "shave them first,” he remarked. “Shave them?” “Divest them of those orna ments, ’ ’ and he indicated the up turned moustaches, a la kaiser, with which nearly all the pictured faces were adorned. “A brush and tablet of water color will do it.”1 M. Delcasse arose. “I will leave that in your hands, gentlemen,” he said. “1 must meet the board of inquiry almost at once. General Marbeau, l think you for your assistance. You will, of course, say nothing of all this to any one. As for you, sir,” he added to Croehard, “1 shall think you better another day. Till this evening. M. Lepine,” and he bowed the three men out. Half an hour later. Lepine and Croehard were eioseted with Monsieur and Madame Brisson in the former's bureau at the du Nord. The little inn keeper and his wife were inarticulate with ex citement, for they had guessed Re pine s identity from his resem blance to the pictures which every illustrated paper published at fre quent intervals, and they sus pected, from his bearing, that Cro ehard was a person of even greater importance. Their faces were glowing with pride, too, for their proffered refreshment had not been decliued. In after days, when the sentence of silence had been lifted, they would tell the story to their admiring friends: “Imagine it. Here we sat, l here. Gabrielle there; in that chair M. l epine, prefect of the Paris service du surete, a little thin man with eyes oh. so bright: and*in th> | fourth chair, with eyes still bright er and an air distinguished which ! there could be no mistaking— : whom do you think? None other ! tban the line de-B-or th > ■Prince de R —, or the Marquis I de C.—; that was a detail to he titled in later: but a great liigli { ness, rest assured ,of that! And j the way that both M. Lupine ffnd I the unknown highness relished their.Chateau Yquent was a great compliment to the house. After these amenities, Lepine produced the demoustaehed pho tographs. “Look well at these,” he said: j“have care—do n<Jt speak unless iyon arc very sure,” and he passed | the photographs one by one to j Madame Gabrielle, who handed | them on to her husband. Some 1(1 or 1” were examined without com ment. and then Madame uttered u sudden exclamation. “It is he!” she cried. “It is ons of them!” “One ef whom?” asked Lepine. J “One of those men. Behold, Aristide!” Brisson took the card and | looked at it. : “Sacred heart! But .von an* right, Gabrielle!” "You are sure?” persisted Le i pine. “Sure! But of a certainty! T ; would swear to him !” I Lepine put thi photograph iri ins j pocket, and turned to the others 1 But there was no second reeogni ! tion. Brisson and his wife went | through them twice, until they had j eohvineed themselves that their | other guest was not among them. I Finally Lepine gathered the pho j tographs together. | (CONTINUED NEXT WEEKJ —— Peace With Justice. I From the New Haven Journal-Courier. Notnlnn will satisfy this free republic ' hut the definite assurance that democracy hae been made safe. In the meantime thoee whn permit themselves to be de , netted by the rumors of restlessness and reeee yeerelnica in Germany are weaken i"i» Atr.eriea'e pewere of resistance. It b-« t beemHe necessary to teaeh Germany a ieei'.rn elm will hoed. Pease with Justice -; <xu» alone be oonatdarad. ♦ NEW3 OF NEWSPAPERS. ♦ ♦ -1- ♦ >■ Journalism the Chief Weapon ♦ + of Democracy. ♦ From an address by Walter Williams, dean of the school of journalism of the University of Missouri. The service of constructive criticism falls within the province of the press. Mistakes will be made fn the conduct of the war—mistakes have been made in the conduct of the war. If is the duty t.f the press, freed from the meshes of partisan ship and without thought of selfish ad vantage, to point out in the broadest way such mistakes and thereby to guard as far as may he possible against their re currence. Individuals temporarily holding public office—clothed with a little brief authority or large—will wish to b*» free of publicity and of criticism. The pre-s must hot grant them this freedom. It will r»ot grant it. Methods of taxation, of the dele gation of power, of the raising of revenue and of its disbursement, questions as to the aim and purpose of the war and *>f its continuance are of vital Interest aim! im portance to the American people. Supreme Task of Press. Here again the press has a plain duty to perform. Publicity will cure evil* in war time no less than in the pipit g days of peace.' A single example—in the en forcement of the selective draft measure young men within the draft age* were asked to answer a question regarding ex emption. a question unfortunately ex pressed and which at the last tt wat .sought to withdraw' or explain awry. 'When the question was honestly answered In accordance with the registration blanks, •we were gravely told that reply thereto constituted cowardice on the part of those who replied. Again, statements sent out from Washington blundered into tire bureaucratic error of announcing that registration totals should equal certain census figures. These figures however were estimates made on the census of 1910, pure guess work as to the probable growth of states in population from 1910 to 1917, an estimate manifestly impossible to make with any degree of accuracy. On such census bureau estimates charges of slacker, states and slacker communities* were unwarrantedly made. It is in con nection with such practices as these and matters of much larger consequences, in volving property ami life and liberty itself, that the press of the country must do the service of constructive criticism. Bureau cracy as wrell as autocracy Is the enemy of democracy. No more important battle in behalf of democracy has been waged in recent years than the struggle in congress against the enactment of the censorship provision of 1 the espionage hill. As members of the profession of journalism, charged with solemn responsibilities in this grave hour, we may not congratulate ourselves upon a complete and well reasoned victory. Un fortunately the victory was not won upon the plain issue of the freedom of the press —fundamental to a democracy—hut was in some measure the result of the desire of certain members of congress to oppose a bill presented by one of the agents of the people in office In Washington. Vic tory did not come upon the broad ground of the constitutional prerogative of the press, but to a degree upon clouded and partisan issues. Fortunately, however. w*e have a constitutional provision upon which the press may stand. T.ot me quote from an old document which * still the supreme law in the United States. made for times of war, as for times of peace. “Congress shall have no power.” soys the constitution of the United States, “to pass .Taws abridging the freedom of speech or ,of the press.” “The people of this republic, it may be | paid in passing, declined to ratify the con- ‘ stitution until this addition thereto wa'j agreed upon. Publicity Aid in War Time. Back even to the constitution is the fundamental right and necessity of pub lic opinion to express itself—without which there is no democracy. We come here to the ulterior power. The statement of its sovereignty needs no apology. Not only the honor and dignity but the very exis tence of a democratic state depend upon it. To preserve and promote them, by the ere at’on of a sound and wholesome public opinion, is the supreme task to which the press must summon its every resource. Bet no so-called necessity of war be permitted to be a cover for re actionary measures. Tt hath not yet been jproved that a republic armed to the teeth and bent only upon material things shall endure. It is the spirit of nations, as of men. that keepeth alive. Would Hove Prevented War. If the press of Europe had been for a century free to print the news uncolored by government influence, if it had been free to discuss in public the machinations of diplomats, this hideous war would not h. \ e come. Certainly national antugon i-n** wore Increased and racial hatreds j embittered by the international news served out by official or semi-official j Sources, the Wolff agency in Germany, Reuter's* in England, the Havas in France, i the Correnpondenz Wilhelm in Austria, j the Stefwtle in Italy, the Ministry of the i Telegraph — frankly official — in Russia. , and others in other lands. The news as j thus circulated was seldom the actual truth — it was what the govem^ier.ts wished the people of their own nations and the governments and people of other nations to think was the truth, l^et us permit no such frightful blunder to be j mace—even under the specious plea of military necessity—in this republic. Many others than Bismarck manipulated the news. War took pla<*e in the open be cause—thanks to nn enslaved and compla cent pres*—the preparations therefore were carried on in secret. Censorship waa an accessory before the colossal crime of war oven if it w-a* not a principal iht bringing it about. Private Property of Autocrats.. From the Omaha World-Herald; I’ow t’-e autocrat* of Russia robbed: the people '«* very plainly shown by the anwint -»f prnpetiy the czar and the p»i »t *nVes Iw?M In their own names. It la Hst ed thnt the provisional Russian Rwcrnmenr has se'zcd property valued ut $;a>/A)/Ai from which the former fkftr VI eh*'as enjoyed a life revenoCi Solanr« of ether properties voiced at JttSvhGO.OOO an.* rtf properties *f Rrend fhfibas ami d trcbeve-s haloed at $210.000 000 is heiwR considered. The exar still has $S5.tW»,d00 on <!ep«*s5t In the Bar#k of Rn^htnd ami ' tike Alexis left $M.0no,O0O 'it the Bank of France. The e»ar’8 »boito! In come nt the time he was deposed is esti mated at I65.A-0 000. As yet po Inventory of the kaiser's pri vate property has been pijhttehed. but «ft*r the wu*, when It '.* made, it Is n«t in-f’v lhi*t :t will he fa** below that of the exar. lie ami tlie empress also have lnr^e deposits in other countries, ft ho* b'pn puarp^stM that If Germany Is itr *'-s*,ed with damages done in Bdg.um that «v‘e property of the aristocrats be f k**n f.*,r nn Indemnity instead of.placing t? m*on tl e rommm people by a pot eminent tax. Th^r- s re other sntoenats in Kurope who hoVl imrr-et'se amounts of property ,;n their own n-im***' thi't. r*i?htfn!‘y belongs V» the people. n’hey hnve rll ra**t an anchor to lee-ward however, by ronhfra: larpy de posits ,r ether rr*n»tdc*. to wnrd r -r-**ns*t a day when they m^y be toim-ed off their thrones. There are n>l!Ti*»i * of e*»- h <]** t»nsi‘t* >* New Vork and perKrrr* also in the baiks of other cities ‘n th<« oonrlry. Mnnd TRat Rocks the Rost. From (he N?ew' Republic. The underlying phoh.sophy of moat bd tcr criticism Is this: The hnrtd that *• ck* the boat rules the wo-Id. rt is not an Ir • xcuaable ba*t* for eritirKm ervmsMe-1nx the stupidity and folly of the particular wvfkl adrn.nisi ration arc have inne itisl but It ha* the diaadv-intaye of tn*beat,i«* ' a whole class and may J>iet cs wet; use reed from that irascibility which a •nan * ertt'e in the ffrat place. e« ui7 eader #r reasonable toMidoMdon University of Notre Dame NOTRE DAME, INDIANA Offer* Complete Course In Agriculture iFuIl courses also iu Letters, Journalism (Library Science, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Medi cine, Architecture, Commerce and Law. HOW TO CONQUER THE CRAMP Worst Effect Is Panic, Which Causes the Swimmer to.Let All the Air Out of His Lungs. A cramp is merely a contraction of the muscles caused by the penetration of the cold. Obviously, it could not of Itself cause firowning. Its effect, ac cording to Popular Science Monthly, is to cause a panic which throws the swimmer off Ms guard, causing him to let the air ourt of his lungs and thus allow the air passages to become filled with water. The safeguard against such a panic Is absolute confidence in ■* the floating power of the body and a demonstrable knowledge of the proper 'way to quickly fill the lungs to utmost capacity with air. The moment a cramp is felt, the swimmer should turn on his hack and begin to gulp the air, making no effort to keep himself from sinking. As he sinks he slowly exhales tinder water, through the mouth, with the lips puck ered as for whistling. If it is a stom ach. cramp the knees will he drawn up against the abdomen, hut the swim mer should force them out. pushing on them with hotli hands and using all his strength until they are fully ex tended. This will no doubt cause great ituln for a few seconds, but ns soon as he legs are straightened out the cramp will vanish, and the body, buoy ed tip by the air in the lungs, will shoot iip to the surface. There still inhaling In great gulps and exhaling through puckered Ups. the swimmer may float until lie regains his strength or is picked up. i In case of cramp in the leg or arm f the same system of breathing is fol lowed and the affected part is straight ened out by sheer strength. Plumbers. Whenever you Invite the plumbers In to spend the week and fix the kitch en faucet you should plan ahead. Have everything in readiness. Plumbers are often a little hurt to see*that there have been no prepara tions. Plumbers take these things very keenly. If a pipe is leaking nnd you are go ing to have the plumbers come, move everything out of the kitchen so- they will have room for their tools. With good weather and no mishaps they may get all of their tools uround! tW first day. (letting all! the tools around ks a good day’s work for two- plumbers and a boy. On the second day they exam ine the leak and make notes thou, get busy planning the week’s work on. it If the leak is a: plain hole then the tiling is simple and they finish it lift in smart shape within the week. It is best to sen it the children! tio» the country when the plumbers come. Put a lid over the goldfish bowl. If you haven’t a spare- room or a stable you might arrange to have them hoard with the neighbor)*.-—Illinois Statu Register. Had Good Reason. Bystander —You have certainly shown great bravery in saving that man’s life.. Is he a relative of yours? 11'To—Relative-?. Oh, no r Kut tie owes nie $21)0.. ’ rnwrftfeU' poems and tmprmted son:'--! make life endurable. ... " j i»i A Perfect Day should end—as well as begin—with a perfect food, say— Grape-Nuts with cream. A crisp, delicious food, containing the entire nutriment of whole wheat and barley, including the vital mineral elements, so richly provided by Nature in these grains. Every table should have its daily ration of Grape>Nuts, “There's a Reason" j