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SYNOPSIS.
f Senator Jo'jtr, Calhoun is offered the
portfolio of secretary of state In Tyler’s
cabinet. He declares that If he accepts
It means that Texas and Oregon rnUBt be
added to th« Union. He plans to learn
too intentions of England with regard to
Mexico, through Baroness Von Ritz, se¬
cret spy and reputed mistress of the
English ambassador, Pakc-nham. He
■ends his secretary, Nicholas Trist, to
bring the baroness to his apartment.
While searching for the baroness' homo,
a. carriage drives up and he is Invited to
enter. The occupant is the baroness, who
Bays she Is being The pursued. baroness The pursuers
are shaken off. consents to
•eo Calhoun, Nicholas notes that she
has lost a slipper. She gives Nicholas the
remaining slipper os a pledge that she
Will tell Calhoun all, and, as security,
Nicholas gives her a trinket ho intended
for his sweetheart, Elizabeth Churchill.
Nicholas Is ordered to loave at once for
Montreal on state business, by Calhoun,
who has become secretary of state, and
plana to he married that night. Tyler
warn* Pakoziham that Interference by
Mu F nit land in the affairs of this continent
not be tolerated. The west de¬
mands that the Joint occupancy of Ore¬
gon with Great Britain cease, and has
Fight” raised the cry of "Fifty-four, tells Nicholas Forty or
The baroness she
will do her best to prevent his marriage.
Bhe returns the trinket and he promises
to return her slipper. Nicholas enlists
toe services of Congressman Dandrldge,
» rejected suitor of Elizabeth’s, to assist
In the arrangements for the wedding and
entrusts him with the return The of the slip-
|per to the baroness. congressman
gets beth. drunk apd sends the declared slipper to Eliza¬
.The wedding f» off, and
Nicholas is ordered from the house by
Elizabeth's father. Nicholas is ordered
to gain access to a meeting of the Hud¬
son Bay directors In Montreal and learn
England’s intentions regarding Oregon.
Nicholas sees the baroness leave the di¬
rectors’ meeting In Montreal, where he
uad failed Jo gain admission. She warns
him that his life Is in danger and he ac¬
cepts an invitation to puss the night at
oar home.
CHAPTER XVI.—Continued.
► might
1 "Vet you spoke of others who
eome here. What others? Who are
they? The representatives of Mex¬
ico? Some attache of the British
embassy at Washington? Some min¬
ister from England itself, sent here
direct?"
1 8he smiled at me again. “I told
you not to go back to your hotel, did
I not?” /
1 got no further with her, it seemed.
1 “You interest me sometimes,” Bhe
went on slowly, at last, "yet you seem
to have so little brain! Now, in your
employment, 1 should think that brain
would be somewhat useful at times."
“1 do not deny that suggestion,
madam.”
“But you are unable to analyze.
Thus, In the matter of yourself, 1
suppose if you were told of It, you
would only say that you forgot to
look in the toe of the slipper you
bad.
"Did you credit the attache of Mex¬
ico with being nothing more than a
drunken rowdy, td follow me across
town with a little shoe in his car¬
riage?"
“But you said he was In wine.”
“True, But would that be a rea¬
son? Continually you show your lack
of brain In accepting as conclusive
results which could not possibly have
occurred. Granted he was In wine,
granted he followed me, granted he
bad my shoe in his possesslon-r-what
then? Does It follow that at the ball
at the White House he could have
removed that shoe? Does monsieur
think that I, too, was in wine?"
“I agree that 1 have no brain! I
cannot guess what you mean. I can
only beg once more that you explain.”
"Now listen. In your most youth¬
ful and charming innocence I presume
you do not know much of the capabil¬
ities for concealment offered by a
lady's apparel! Now, suppose I had
a message—where do you think I
could hide It; granted, of course, the
conditions obtaining at a ball In the
"Then you did have a message? It
oame to you there, at that time?”
She nodded. "Certainly, Mr. Van
Zandt had almost no other opportun¬
ity to meet me or get word to me.”
"Van Zandt! Madam, are you In¬
deed in the camp of all these different
Interests? So, what Pakenham said
■was true! Van Zandt is the attache
of Texas. Van Zandt Is pleading with
Mr. Calhoun that he shall take up the
■ecretaryship. Van Zandt promises
ua the friendship of Texas If we will
■tand out for the annexation of Texas.
Van Zandt promises us every effort
In his power against England. Van
Zandt promises us the sternest of
fronts against treacherous Mexico.
Van Zandt Is known to be Interested
In this fair Dona Lucrezlo, just as
Polk Is. Now, then, comes Van Zandt
■with his secret message slipped into
the hand of madam at the ambassa¬
dor’s ball—madam, the friend of Eng¬
land! The attache of Mexico is curi¬
ous—furious—to know what Texas Is
saying to England! Aud that message
must be concealed! And madam con¬
ceals it In—”
She smiled at me brilliantly. "You
come on," she said. "Should your head
be opened and analyzed, yes, I think
• trace of brain might be discovered
by good chemistry."
I resumed impatiently. "You put
bis message in your slipper?”
She nodded. "Y'es,” she said, “In
the toe of It.-There was barely chance
to do that. You see. our skirts are
full and wide; there are curtains in
the east room; there was wine by
this time; there was mualc; so 1 ef¬
fected that much. But when you took
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“Then You Think There Is a thanee of Trouble Between Our Country
and England Out There?”
the slipper, you took Van Zandt’s 1
aotal You had It 11 -Was truth president -what j
I told Pakenham before the
—I did not then have that note! You
had It. At least, I thought you had
It, till I found it crumpled on the
table the next day! It must have
fallen there from the shoe when we
made our little exchange that night.
Ah, you hurried me. I scarce knew
whether I was clad or shod, until the
next afternoon—after I left you at the
White House grounds. So you hastily
departed—to your wedding?”
“So small a shoe could not have
held an extended epistle, madam,” 1
said, Ignoring her question.
“No, but the little roll of paper
caused me anguish. After I had
danced I was on the point of faint¬
ing. I hastened to the cover of the
nearest curtain, where I might not
be noticed. Senor Yturrio of Mexico
was somewhat vigilant. He wished
to know what Texas planned with
England. He has long made love to
me—by threats, and jewels. As I
stood behind the curtain I saw his
face, I Bed; but one shoe—the empty
one—was not well fastened, and it
fell. I could not walk. I reached
down, removed the other shoe with
Its note, hid it in my handkerchief—
thank Providence for the fashion of
so much lace—and so, not In wine,
monsieur, as you may believe, and
somewhat anxious, as you may also
believe, expecting to hear at once of
an encounter between Van Zandt and
the Mexican minister, Senor Almonte,
or his attache Yturrio, or between one
of them and 'some one else, I made
my adieux—I will warrant the only
woman in her stocking feet who
bowed for Mr. Tyier at the ball that
night!”
“Yes, so far as I know, madam, you
are the only lady who ever left the
east room precisely so clad. And so
you got into your own carriage—
alone—after awhile? And so, when
you were there you put on the shoe
which was left? And so Yturrio of
Mexico got the other one—and found
nothing in It! And so, he wanted this
one!”
"You come on,” she said. "You
have something more than a trace of
brain.”
“And that other shoe, which I got
that night?"
Without a word she smoothed out a
bit of paper which she removed from
a near-by desk, and handed it to me.
“This was in yours! As I said, in
my confusion I supposed you had it.”
1 spread the page upon the cloth be¬
fore me; my eyes raced down the
lines. I did not make further reply to
her.
"Madam,” went on the communica¬
tion, "say to your august friend Sir
Richard that we have reached the
end of our endurance of these late de¬
lays. The promises of the United
States mean nothing. We can trust
neither Whig nor Democrat any long-
or. There is no one party in power,
nor will there be. There are two sec¬
tions in America and there is no na¬
tion, and Texas knows not where to
go. We have offered to Mr. Tyler to
join the union if the union will al¬
low us to join. We intend to reserve
our own lands and reserve the right
to organize later Into four or more
states, if our people shall so desire.
But as a great state we will join the
union if the union will accept us That
must be seen.
■•Fnriana England now beseeches k », us not . to
)V
,tw
by subscriptions of the town mer
chants—a spacious room made out o;
the old Methodist chapel on St. Jo
seph street. I knew this for a place
of town gossip, and hoped I might
hit upon something to aid me in mj
errand, which was no more than be ;
gun, it seemed. Entering the place ;
shortly before noon, I made pretense j
of reading, all the while with an eye
and an ear out for anything that
might happen. j j
As 1 stared in pretense at the page
before me, I fumbled idly in a pocket,
with unthinking hand, and brought out
to place before me on the table, as
object of which at first I was uncon
scious—the little Indian blanket clasp
As it lay before me I felt seized of a
sudden hatred for it, and let fall on
it a heavy hand. As I did so, I heard
a voice at my ear.
“Mein Gott, man, do not! You
break it, surely.”
I started at this. I had not heard
any one approach. I discovered now
that the speaker had taken a seat
near me at the table, and could not
fail to see this object which lay be-
fore me.
“I beg pardon,” he said, in a broken
speech which showed his foreign
birth; “but it iss so beautiful; to
break it. iss wrong.” table
I pushed the trinket along the
towards him.
“ ’Tie of little value,” I said, "and is
always In the way when I would find
anything in my pocket.”
“But once some one hass made it;
once it hass been value, Tell me
where you get ft?”
“North of the Platte, in our west-
ern territories,” I said. “I once traded
in that country.”
"You are American?”
“Yes."
“So,” he said thoughtfully. "So. A
great country, a very great country.
Me, 1 also live In it.”
“Indeed?” I said. “In what part?”
“It Iss five years since 1 cross the
Rockies.” 1
“You have crossed the Rockies?
envy you.” I live
"You meesunderstand me.
west of them for five years. I am now
come east."
I was afraid my eyes showed my
interest; but he went on.
”1 haf been in the Columbia coun-
try, and in the Willamette country,
where most of your Americans are
settled. I know somewhat of Callfor-
nia. Mr. Howard, of the Hudson Bay
Company, knows alsogpf the country
of Calilornla. He said to those Eng-
lish gentlemans at our meeting last
night that England should haf some-
thing to offset California on the west
coast; because, though Mexico claims
California, the Yankees really rule
there, and will rule there yet more.
He Iss right; but they laughed at
him."
“Oh, I think little will come of all
this talk,” I said carelessly. “It is
very far, out to Oregon.” Yet all the
time ray heart was leaping. So he
had been there, at that very meeting
0 f which I could learn nothing!
“You know not what you say. A
thousand men came into Oregon last
year. It iss like one of the great ml
grations of the peoples of Asia, o!
Europe. I say to you, it Iss a great
epoch. There iss a folk-movemenl
such as we haf not seen since tht
days of the Huns, the Goths, the Van
dais, since the Cimri movement. It
iss an epoch, my friend! It iss fate
that iss in it.”
"So, then, it is a great country?” 1
asked,
"it iss so great, these traders do not
wish it known. They wish only that
j it may be savage; also that their
posts and their harems may be undis-
turbed. That iss what they wish
These Scots go wild again, in the
wilderness. They trade and they trav-
el, but It Iss not homes they build.
Sir George Simpson wants steel traps
and not plows west of the . Rockies.
That iss all!"
“They do not speak so of Dr. Me-
Laughlin,” 1 began tentatively.
"My friend, a great man, McLaugh¬
lin, believe me! But he Iss not Mc¬
Kay; he Iss not Simpson; he iss not
Behrens; he iss not Colville; he iss
not Douglas. And I say to you, as I
learned last night—you see, they
asked me also to tell what I knew of
Oregon—I say to you that last night
McLaughlin was deposed. He Iss in
charge no more—so soon as they can
get word to him, he loses his place at
Vancouver.”
“After a lifetime in the service!” I
commented.
“Yess, after a lifetime; and Me-
t Laughlin had brain and heart, too. If
England would listen to him, she
would learn sometings. 1-Ie plants, he
plows, he hass gardens and mills and
houses and herds. Yess, if they let
McLaughlin alone, they would haf a
civilization on the Columbia, and not
a fur-trading post. Then they could
) ! oppose your civilization there. That
1 jc; S what he preacirjs. Simpson
! preaches otherwise. Simpson loses
j ; Oregon to England, it may be."
"Then you think thsre is a chance
of trouble between our country and
j I England, out there?"
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
enter the union, but to stand apart,
either fpr independence or for alli-
ance with Mexico and gngland. The
proposition has been made to us to
divide Into tjre governments, one free
and one To slave. England has proposed j
to ua advance us moneys to pay
all our debts if we will agree to this.
Settled by bold men from our mother
country, the republic, Texas has been
averse to this. But now our own
mother repudiates us, not once but
many times. We get no decision.
This then, dear madam, is from Tex¬
as to England by your hand, and we
know you will carry it safe and secret.
We shall accept this proposal of Eng¬
land, and avail ourselves of the rich-
ness of her generosity.
“If within thirty days action is not
taken In Washington for the annexa-
tion of Texas, Texas will never in the
history of the world be one of the
United States. Moreover, if the
United States shall lose Texas, also
they lose Oregon, and all of Oregon,
Carry this news—I am persuaded that
it will be welcome—to that gentleman
whose ear I know you have; and be-
lieve me always, my dear madam,
with respect and admiration, yours,
for the state of Texas, Van Zandt.” J
I drew a deep breath as I saw this
proof of double play on the part of ]
this representative of the republic of
the southwest. "They are traitors!" I
exclaimed. "But there must be ae- 1
tion something must be done at !
once. I must not wait; 1 must go! I
must take this, at least, to Mr. Cal-
houn.
“Have I been fair with you thus
far?” she asked at length,
"More than fair. I could not have
asked this of you. In an hour I have
learned the news of years. But will
vou not also tell me what is the news :
rom Chateau Ramezay? Then, in- j
;eed > 1 could B° home feeling I had
'one very much for my chief.” ;
"Monsieur, I cannot do so. You will
j not “Of tell what?” me that other news.”
I
" of your nuptials!”
"Madam, I cannot do so. But for
you. much as I owe you, I would like
o wring your neck. I would like to
ake your arms in my hands and
rush them, until—”
“Until what?” Her face was
strange. 1 saw a hand raised to her
throat.
“Until you told me about Oregon!”
said I.
I saw her arms move—just one in¬
stant—her body incline. She gazed at
me steadily, somberly, Then her
hands fell.
“Ah, God! how I hate you both!”
she said; "you and her. You were
married, after all! Yes, it can be, it
can be! A woman may love one man
—even though he could give her only
a bed of husks! And a man may love
a woman, too—one woman. I had not
known.”
"Monsieur, adieu!" she added swift-
ly. I bent and kissed her hand.
"Madam, au revolr!”
"No, adieu! Go!"
CHAPTER XVII.
A Hunter of Butterflies.
X love men, not because they are men,
but because they are not women.—Queen
Christina.
There at . that .. time in Montreal
was
a sort of news room and public ex-
change, which made a place of gen-
eral m®® 1 * 11 ® 11 was supplied with
newspapers and the like, and kept up
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