"Well," inquired Edestone with a faint smile, "you did forget that his wife and two daughters were stopping in London in the spring, I am quite sure, and sure that he is convinced you got the best of it."

"Oh, I say, Mr. Edestone, that was a nasty one! You really would not have expected me to introduce that fellow at my clubs, would you?"

"No," said Edestone, toying with something on the table to hide the smile that played across his lips. "No, no, not at all. The Lord Mayor of London would have satisfied him."

He would have dropped the subject there, but pressed by the other man he continued rather seriously: "Since you ask me, 'Lord Denton,' I do think that you should not have accepted that man's hospitality unless you were prepared to return it to a certain extent."

"Well, what would you have expected His Royal Highness to do--I mean 'Lord Denton?'" "Karlbeck" corrected himself hastily. Edestone set his gla.s.s down, and looked at the man for a moment. When he finally spoke it was with a touch of asperity. With a sarcastic smile he said:

"The quiet way in which you Europeans accept everything from us and return nothing, is being resented, not by the lower cla.s.ses for they read in our papers how the King shook hands with Jack Johnson; not by the _nouveaux riches_, for they are perfectly satisfied with the notoriety they get at the hands of your broken-down aristocracy who spend their money,--no not by these cla.s.ses, but by our ladies and gentlemen."

"Then why do you entertain our Princes so lavishly?" sneered "Karlbeck."

"It is our sense of humour, which allows us to be imposed upon. That sense of humour is often mistaken for hysterical hospitality by the distinguished stranger. We--and when I say we I mean people of breeding which does not include the vulgarian who knows nothing and may be the son of your father's ninth gardener--we know that the more ridiculous we appear to you, the better you like it. Not to appear ridiculous offends you, as it arouses a feeling of rivalry to which you object, but with your lack of that same sense of humour, this you deny."

Again he would have willingly dropped the subject, but "Lord Denton"

once more insisted upon keeping up the discussion.

"You must remember," said he, "Prince Henry's visit to America. You don't mean to tell me the Americans were not complimented and pleased at a visit from a Royal Prince?"

Edestone laughed. "You mean when Prince Henry of Prussia came over to bridge the chasm which had formed between the German and American nations over the Manila episode, by the interchange of courtesies between the two ruling families, the Hohenzollerns and the Roosevelts?

"I was surprised that the Kaiser was so poorly informed as not to know our att.i.tude toward him and his Divine Right and mailed fist. Why, everybody laughed except the Kaiser and the President--they were the only ones who were fooled: the Kaiser, because he could not help himself, it was in his blood; and Roosevelt, because he was at that time in a most septic condition and was suffering from auto-intoxication at the hands of that particular form of microbe."

"Edestone entertained Prince Henry himself at his Little Place in the Country," said Rebener, who saw that "Lord Denton" was losing his temper.

"Yes, I did," said Edestone. "Not that I thought he would enjoy it, but somebody--and now when I come to think of it, you were the man, Rebener--insisted that he would like to visit my machine shops. And he did seem to enjoy seeing them very much, and Admiral Tirpitz and his staff took all kinds of notes while asking all kinds of questions."

The reminiscence seemed to make the three other men a trifle uncomfortable.

"Oh! what difference does it make after all?" said Rebener. "Let's get down to business.

"Now, Edestone," he turned to the inventor, "you know me, and I'm not much for beating about the bush. When I want something, my motto is, 'Go to it.' My object in inviting you here to meet these gentlemen tonight was to see if we can't get together. As I understand the situation, Jack, you have something that you think is pretty good. You have lots of money, and you don't want to sell it. You don't have to, but you want to get England to use it, and if she won't, you will try Germany. Now is not that just about the size of it?"

"To a certain extent, yes," replied Edestone.

"Then why in the name of common sense don't you let 'Lord Denton' and me have it and we will guarantee to have it used where it will do the most good. He has more pull with the Government than any man in England. I think you know pretty well now who he is," he added with a wink. "If it is the war you want stopped, he is the best man outside of the King or Kaiser."

"Well, yes, Mr. Rebener," said Edestone, "I do know who 'Lord Denton'

is and had the pleasure of seeing him this afternoon at Buckingham Palace, but I thought perhaps he would prefer that I should preserve his incognito and, following the example of his most charming d.u.c.h.ess, permitted myself to forget. I shall be most happy to----"

He halted and turned as a waiter stepped up behind his chair to interrupt him.

"I beg pardon, sir, but the Marquis of Lindenberry wishes to speak to you on the telephone.

"I am sorry, sir, but you will have to go to the booth in the room behind the stairs. Mr. Rebener's telephone is out of order."

"What do you mean, 'my telephone is out of order'?" Rebener glanced up sharply. "I used it not twenty minutes ago." And going into the adjoining room he tried to speak to the floor switchboard.

"The fellow's right," he admitted on returning to the table. "You'll have to use the booth, Jack. Waiter, show Mr. Edestone where to go."

"This way, sir," said the waiter, and he conducted Edestone down the long corridor, pa.s.sing one of Captain Bright's cavalrymen at almost every turn. Just around the foot of the stairs the waiter showed him a door.

"There it is, sir," he pointed.

Edestone went in and found himself in a room that was almost dark. It was lighted only by a shaded electric bulb used by the man at the switchboard, who sat facing the door but hidden from anyone entering by the high instrument in front of him. Edestone walked over to him, finding him almost obscured by the huge green shade pulled down over his eyes, and seemingly very much occupied with both incoming and outgoing calls.

"Is there a call for Mr. Edestone?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," said the man without looking up from his plugs. "The second booth from this end, No. 2."

Edestone, turning, saw in the dim light a row of booths against the wall over beyond the door. It was quite dark in that corner, but he could see that the door of the second booth was open. He went inside, muttering as he did so, "I think they might give a fellow a little more light."

As he sat down and took up the receiver, he put out his hand to stop the door from slowly closing, apparently by itself. It was one of those double-walled, sound-proof, stuffy boxes, and he did not want the door shut tight, so he put out his foot to hold it open. But he was just a moment too late. The door shut with a little bang, and when he tried to open it again, he found that it seemed to have jammed.

CHAPTER XVII

THE VOICE IN THE TELEPHONE

Edestone waited. He thought he heard, or rather he felt, a vibration as if someone were moving in the next booth. He tried the door again, but found that it held fast.

He was about to signal the switchboard operator and tell him to come and open up the booth, when an, "Are you there, Mr. Edestone?" came to him from across the wire, and caused him for the moment to forget the refractory door.

"h.e.l.lo!" he answered. "Yes; I am Mr. Edestone. Who is this?"

The voice, instead of replying directly, spoke as if to another person with an aside. "Mr. Edestone is on the wire."

A moment, and then a second voice spoke. "Are you there, Mr.

Edestone?"

It was not the voice of his friend, and he answered a trifle impatiently: "Yes. Who are you? Are you speaking for the Marquis of Lindenberry?"

"No, I am not," came the reply. "And I must apologize for having used his name."

The voice bore the unmistakable intonation of an English gentleman.

"I am the Count Kurtz von Hemelstein. I regret that circ.u.mstances compel me to force myself upon you in this caddish manner. But my duty as a soldier in the service of His Majesty, the Emperor of Germany, demands it. I shall not delay you long, however, if you will only do what I ask."

There was a moment's pause. Involuntarily Edestone drew back slightly from the instrument.

"Count Kurtz von Hemelstein, did you say?" He spoke with a touch of sternness. "I do not think that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting you, sir. I did meet a Count Heinrich von Hemelstein last summer."

"Yes; that was my brother. He has often spoken of you, Mr. Edestone.

If I am not mistaken, you were rivals for the attention of a pretty, young matron with a good-natured husband?"

"Not rivals, Count von Hemelstein." Edestone laughed, but under the laugh he was doing some rapid thinking. "Your brother was the favoured one, and when the war broke out, and he had to leave for the front, the lady was almost inconsolable.