L. P. M. (The End of The Great War)

L. P. M. (The End of The Great
War)

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Title: L. P. M. The End of the Great War
Author: J. Stewart Barney
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[Illustration: "COUNT VON HEMELSTEIN," THE AMERICAN
SAID LAZILY, "I WAS JUST THINKING WHAT A STUNNING
BOOK-COVER YOU WOULD MAKE FOR A CHEAP NOVEL."
Drawn by Clarence F. Underwood.]

L. P. M.
The End of the Great War

By J. Stewart Barney
1915

With a Frontispiece by Clarence F. Underwood

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY REAL FRIENDS, WHO MAY

LOVE IT. WHILE THE OTHERS IT MAY BORE; TO MY
ENEMIES, GOD BLESS THEM, THO' THEY SPLUTTER, MORE
AND MORE.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
--THE MAN AND THE HOUR II.--THE ONE-MAN SECRET
III.--CROSSING WITH ROYALTY IV.--THE FIRST REBUFF
V.--ECHOES FROM THE WILHELMSTRASSE VI.--A RUSTY
OLD CANNON-BALL VII.--DIPLOMACY WINS VIII.--THE
SPY-DRIVEN TAXI IX.--BUCKINGHAM PALACE X.--HE MEETS
THE KING XI.--THE DEIONIZER XII.--FIRST SHOW OF FORCE
XIII.--"THE KING IS DEAD; LONG LIVE THE KING!" XIV.--THE
ROYAL TEA-TABLE XV.--SURROUNDED BY SOLDIERS
XVI.--A DINNER AT THE BRITZ XVII.--THE VOICE IN THE
TELEPHONE XVIII.--IN THE HANDS OF THE GERMANS
XIX.--THE GERMAN POINT OF VIEW XX.--GENERAL VON
LICHTENSTEIN XXI.--HE INSTALLS HIS WIRELESS
XXII.--KAFFEE KLATSCH XXIII.--THE TWO-WHEELED
MYSTERY XXIV.--DER KAISER XXV.--THE MASQUERADER
XXVI.--TWO REMARKABLE MEN XXVII.--ALL CARDS ON THE
TABLE XXVIII.--WHERE IS IT? XXIX.--THE DIFFERENCE OF
THEIR STATIONS XXX.--THEY CALL FOR ASSISTANCE
XXXI.--"SIT DOWN, YOU DOG!" XXXII.--L. P. M.
XXXIII.--YACHTING IN THE AIR XXXIV.--THE ULTIMATUM
XXXV.--A LYING KING MAKES A NATION OF LIARS
XXXVI.--THINK OF IT! WHY NOT?

L. P. M.
CHAPTER I

THE MAN AND THE HOUR
The Secretary of State, although he sought to maintain an air of official
reserve, showed that he was deeply impressed by what he had just
heard.
"Well, young man, you are certainly offering to undertake a pretty large
contract."
He smiled, and continued in a slightly rhetorical vein--the Secretary
was above all things first, last, and always an orator.
"In my many years of public life," he said, "I have often had occasion
to admire the dauntless spirit of our young men. But you have forced
me to the conclusion that even I, with all my confidence in their power,
have failed to realize how inevitably American initiative and
independence will demand recognition. It is a quality which our form
of government seems especially to foster and develop, and I glory in it
as perhaps the chief factor in our national greatness and pre-eminence.
"In what other country, I ask you," he flung out an arm across the great,
flat-topped desk of state, "would a mere boy like yourself ever conceive
such a scheme, or have the incentive or opportunity to bring it to
perfection? And, having conceived and perfected it, in what other
country would he find the very heads of his Government so accessible
and ready to help him?"
The young man leaned forward. "Then am I to understand, Mr.
Secretary, that you are ready to help me?"
"Yes." He faced about and looked at his visitor in a glow of enthusiasm.
"Not only will I help you, but I will, so far as is practicable, put behind
you the power of this Administration.
"Doubtless the newspapers," his tone took on a tinge of ironic
resentment, "when they learn the broad character of the credentials that
I shall give you in order that you may meet the crowned heads of
Europe, will say that I am again lowering the dignity of my office. But

I consider, Mr. Edestone, that I am,