Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent Read online

  CHAPTER III

  AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR

  Next morning Ashton-Kirk's car was drawn up at his door; in the hall,the secret agent pulled on a pair of gloves; at his side stood the alertFuller.

  "You carried out my instructions?" asked the former.

  "Yes," answered Fuller. "I telegraphed the secretary that you wouldreach Washington by 11:40 and would call upon him at once."

  "You urged him that the matter was possibly one of much importance?"

  "Yes."

  The secret agent turned to Stumph, who stood at the front door.

  "Have Dixon meet every Washington train after dark," said he. "We shallbe on one or the other of them."

  Stumph threw open the hall door and then that of the car; the soft throbof the engine changed to a startled snort, and then the huge vehicleglided away.

  A little later the two men sat facing each other upon the heavy"Limited"; Ashton-Kirk turned the pages of a magazine. For a timeFuller was silent and thoughtful. But at length he said:

  "Do you know--I don't just understand those two fellows behind the houselast evening, the Jap, you know--and the one who acted as though he werecold. What are we to make of men who edge toward each other, apparentlybent upon some sort of a secret communication--and then when they getwithin speaking distance, work away doggedly and at last depart withoutexchanging a word?"

  "You are quite sure that there was no message dropped across the hedge,or stuck among its branches?"

  "Positive. I did not take my eyes off them for a moment; and later Imade it my business to go out and look. That they exchanged signals isscarcely possible, unless they were remarkably ingenious ones. And then,had they desired to signal, they could have done so at a distance; itwould have been unnecessary for them to risk attracting attention bydrawing so closely together."

  Ashton-Kirk did not reply; and after another period spent in cogitation,Fuller spoke again.

  "The feeling which you have spoken of as existing between old Nanon andher employer is rather queer, isn't it?"

  "Somewhat."

  "But that she should remain with him--even accompany him to a newcountry--and all the time hate, or fear, him is perplexing."

  Ashton-Kirk nodded, his eyes half closed.

  "Yes," he said, "it is rather so. But," and he opened his eyes, "don'tforget that this woman is, by her trace of accent, a Breton, and thepeasantry of that section have very rigorous notions as to duty."

  "They must have if she's borne with his quips and sneers all theseyears. I can see very readily what Warwick meant when he said you'd notwonder at his lack of interest in Dr. Morse if you knew the man."

  "When Warwick came into the room where we were awaiting him lastevening, did you notice anything in his manner?"

  "He _did_ seem rather agitated, now that I think of it. His face wasflushed and his voice trembled a bit--just as though he had beenquarreling with some one."

  Again the secret agent nodded.

  "But with whom?" said he. "Not Miss Corbin, I feel sure; and scarcelythe old servant woman."

  "You think it was with Dr. Morse?" eagerly.

  "I don't know. But when Morse was heard entering the house, the girlwhispered something to Warwick, rather pleadingly I thought, and hebrusquely denied having any intention of doing--whatever it was that shespoke of."

  "Humph," said Fuller.

  After some hours the train drew into the station at Washington; at oncethey took a taxi-cab and whirled to a government building. Ashton-Kirkwas shown through a spacious suite and into a room where a handsomewhite-haired gentleman sat at a huge mahogany desk.

  "It was kind of you, Mr. Secretary, to put yourself out," said thesecret agent.

  The white-haired gentleman arose and shook his hand cordially.

  "I have had such telegrams from you before," he said, "and they havenever failed to be followed by matters of some interest."

  Ashton-Kirk sat down; the secretary pushed a box of long loosely wrappedcigars toward him.

  "They are Porto Ricos," said he. "You may fancy their flavor."

  For a little time after lighting the cigars they sat in silence watchingthe smoke drifts and enjoying the aroma. Then Ashton-Kirk spoke.

  "Yesterday," said he, "my attention was called to a rather interestingtrain of circumstances."

  "If _you_ class it as interesting," said the statesman, "there isnothing more to be said. I recall several matters which you handled in asomewhat bored fashion; and yet, to me, they were in many ways reallyamazing."

  "That is, perhaps, because you held to the point of view of thespectator. There is a broad element of drama in most things of thissort, and as a looker-on, this appealed to you. But this presentaffair," leaning a trifle forward, "may have a greatly increasedinterest for you, for the indications are that it will lead directly toyour department."

  The secretary knocked a narrow rim of ash from his cigar; he examinedthe red end carefully, and then said:

  "Indeed?"

  "All countries have had their secrets," said Ashton-Kirk, after a pause."Some never see the light--others are only made known after centuries.If the hidden archives of the nations were thrown open to the world,history, perhaps, would have to be rewritten. Of course," with a wave ofone long finger, "some governments have more of these state secrets thanothers; the Italian republics probably were in the lead; the UnitedStates I should place almost last."

  "You are very good," smiled the secretary.

  "But, still, we have some. Even in a democracy, it is not possible tomake public all the details of government. Things are handed from oneadministration to another which must await the time of ripening andfulfilment."

  The secretary smoked quietly, but he said nothing.

  "These matters," continued Ashton-Kirk, "are not, of course, to bedisclosed--they are scarcely to be hinted at. But the case which I bringto your attention perhaps involves a delicate point of internationalrelationship; if my reasoning holds, I do not require you to make anyadmissions. That you consider the affair important and worth followingout will be enough."

  "Go on," said the official.

  Ashton-Kirk reflected for a moment; then with a smile, he said:

  "Don't be alarmed if I date the beginning of my story back quite a bit.I merely desire to glance at one or two facts which I consider of someimportance; then I will come as swiftly as I may to the present." Therewas another pause, but in a moment he resumed. "Have you ever noticedthat there are individuals who, without any great intimacy, seem tocherish a steady regard for each other? There are families which do thesame thing. And there are nations.

  "Now, I'm going to take a running view of such a friendship between twocountries. When George III was puzzled as to how he should put down therebellion of England's American colonies in the year 1775, he turned toRussia and tried to borrow an army. Catherine was then Empress ofRussia; and her answer to the request was a most biting one. And Georgegrowled that she was a barbarian and contented himself with Hessiansand Brunswickers.

  "When the second war of independence began, John Quincy Adams was UnitedStates Minister at St. Petersburg; and to him the Czar expressed thekeenest regrets. And he did not stop at this. Through hisrepresentative, Daschkoof, and by personal letters, the Czar strove tobring the war to an end; he failed, but through no fault of his own. Thefriendly manner in which Russia ceded Alaska to the United States needsno comment.

  "During the blackest period of the Civil War, when practically allEurope favored the Confederacy and were upon the verge of giving itofficial recognition; when France had gone so far as to throw troopsinto Mexico in defiance of the Monroe doctrine, Russia still stood ourfirm friend. To the wonder of the nations she sent a fleet across theAtlantic; it entered our northern ports and lay grimly waiting. What theadmiral's orders were, only St. Petersburg and Washington knew; but thatthey warranted his stripping his ships for action in the event ofcertain conditions arising, I have no doubt.

  "When the fam
ine swept Russia a score of years ago, what people so quickto respond as our own? And when that same nation, because ofgeographical disadvantages, was outclassed in her war with Japan, itwas the United States that stepped in and called a stay which resultedin the treaty of Portsmouth."

  There were some few moments of silence; the secretary leaned back in hischair, his fingers pattering upon its arms; that he was interested wasshown by the quick little jets of smoke which rose above his head.

  "Well?" said he.

  "We now come to the matter of present interest," said Ashton-Kirk. "Theearly defeats of Russia at the hands of Japan demonstrated herunpreparedness; and upon the heels of the news, the Russian CountMalikoff, with some military officers, came to Washington. At once ascarcely audible murmur ran through the more daring of the newspapers,but almost instantly died away. However, one with his ear to the groundcould detect the falling into place of the ponderous parts of someinternational arrangement; but just what this arrangement was has notbeen made known."

  "Well," said the secretary again.

  Slowly and with great care, the secret agent then began the story of Dr.Morse. Starting with the visit of Warwick, he related the queerhappenings at Sharsdale; then came the flight to America and thegrotesque messages which had so startled Stella Corbin. He proceeded:

  "A second glance at the picture of the crowned woman handed me byWarwick, and my attention was caught. It was the work of a Japanese."

  "Ah!" said the secretary. And he sat a trifle more upright.

  "It was a Japanese with a thoroughly Western training; but that hispoint of view was still Oriental was plain in the drawing. It thenoccurred to me that if a Japanese were vitally interested in Dr. Morsehe would be likely to live as near to him as he could. And the telephonedirectory informed me that the house directly behind that of Morse wasoccupied by one Okiu."

  The secretary laid down his cigar.

  "Okiu!" said he. "I think I recall that name."

  "And more than likely it is the same person," said Ashton-Kirk; "thoughas yet I am not assured of that fact."

  "Well?" said the official, expectantly.

  "As you have seen, the persecution of Dr. Morse began only after hisreturn from Manchuria, where he had served in the Russian army. This initself seemed to tell something; but when I add to it that he had neverbefore come into contact with Japanese, and that one of the race wasplainly involved, you will see that I had a fairly good reason forsupposing that the thing had its beginning in Manchuria.

  "But what was the thing? Plainly it was not a personal matter, for hisperson and effects had been spared more than once. Then I got a faintgleam of light; for just about now the name of Drevenoff comes into thecase."

  "Drevenoff!" The official repeated the name quietly; his ruddy face wasentirely devoid of expression.

  "It is the name of a young Pole who is employed by Morse as a sort ofgardener. He is educated and, I understand, capable of filling a muchhigher position in life. A few weeks ago he came to Eastbury entirelydestitute. I recalled that a Colonel Drevenoff made one of the partywhich bore Count Malikoff company upon the mysterious mission toWashington in the early days of the Russo-Japanese war; I rememberedalso that Philip Warwick had told me that Morse had known youngDrevenoff's father.

  "This suggested an amazing possibility. After leaving the house onFordham Road I consulted the files of a newspaper; from this I learnedthat Colonel Drevenoff had, some six months after leaving Washington,joined the army in Manchuria and had been killed in battle."

  The secretary nodded.

  "Well?" said he.

  "Morse told me, in the brief talk that I had with him, that he had beenattached as surgeon to the 47th Siberian infantry; and I learned fromthe newspaper file that Colonel Drevenoff had been commander of thatvery regiment."

  The official shifted his position; his face was still unreadable; hisvoice, when he spoke, was even.

  "You appear to attach some significance to that," said he.

  "Suppose," spoke Ashton-Kirk, "that Colonel Drevenoff were possessed ofsomething of great value; when brought in wounded and dying, what morelikely thing than that he should be attended by Dr. Morse? Also it isnot without the range of possibility that he should entrust thisprecious possession to the physician's keeping."

  "You are not deficient in imagination." And as the secretary said thishe smiled.

  "Imagination is a vital necessity in my work. Without it I could makebut little headway. And now I will venture still farther upon the sameroad; but, remember, I am claiming nothing substantial for what I amabout to say. I merely place it before you as what might have happenedand ask you to fit it to any facts of which you may be possessed. ThatColonel Drevenoff was in the party of so eminent a diplomat as CountMalikoff shows him to have been a person of some standing; that heshould so suddenly be packed off to the Orient to head a provincialregiment indicates a fall in favor.

  "What was the cause of this? I have no means of knowing, but in view ofwhat I do know, I can build up a structure which may be more or lesscomposed of truths. Suppose, after Malikoff left Washington, he missedsomething--a document, perhaps, in the hand of some person high in thisgovernment. Suppose Drevenoff were suspected of taking it, but could notbe charged with the act because of lack of proof. There we have a reasonfor his banishment. Now we will suppose that Drevenoff did actually takethis paper. Why did he do so? In order that he should profit by it. Inwhat way? The answer follows swiftly: by selling it to the Japanesegovernment."

  The secretary arose and crossed to a window.

  "It is rather close here," said he. "But don't stop."

  "Suppose the mission of Malikoff had already suggested the existence ofthis paper to Tokio; but upon Drevenoff getting into communication withthem, they learned for the first time of its reality. But before thematter could be closed, Drevenoff met his death; and after Dr. Morsereturned to England, the enemies of Russia in some way discovered thathe had been made the custodian of the secret. What followed has been inthe nature of attempts to gain possession of the coveted thing."

  "But if this is so, how do you account for the bizarre--almostnonsensical methods employed? And how do you account for the apparentignorance of Dr. Morse as to the meaning behind this persecution ofhim?"

  Ashton-Kirk shook his head.

  "I do not account for it," he said. "That is a thing which I have notcome to, as yet."

  The secretary recrossed to his desk, took another cigar and pushed thebox toward his visitor; after he had the long roll burning freely, hebegan pacing up and down. After quite a space, he resumed his chair.

  "As you said in the beginning," he spoke, "there are things which cannoteven be hinted at before the time of ripening and fulfilment. Therefore,I can say only this: Count Malikoff _did_ lose a document of mosttremendous importance. Colonel Drevenoff _was_ suspected. The paper inquestion, should it fall into the hands of those unfriendly to thisgovernment, might cause a nasty diplomatic complication. That it has notdone so as yet, we feel sure; because the conditions are such thatimmediate and open steps would be taken. But official Washington has, soto speak, been living over a volcano for several years."

  "This is all you can say?"

  "In an official way, yes. But, assuming the point of view of a merespectator, of which you lately accused me," and here the secretarysmiled, "I should say that this matter of Dr. Morse holds all theelements of an interesting case."

  "I agree with you," said Ashton-Kirk, as he arose to his feet and lookedat his watch, "and as there is a train in another half hour I think Ishall return at once and take up the study of it.