The Port of Missing Men | Page 4

I speak the truth; but this is a matter for action, and not for
discussion. That packet was stolen by intention, and not by chance,
John Armitage!"
There was a slight immaterial sound in the hall, and the old prime
minister slipped from German to French without changing countenance
as he continued:
"We have enough troubles in Austria without encouraging treason. If
Rambaud and his chief, Winkelried, could make a king of Francis, the
brokerage--the commission--would be something handsome; and
Winkelried and Rambaud are clever men."
"I know of Winkelried. The continental press has given much space to
him of late; but Rambaud is a new name."
"He is a skilled hand. He is the most daring scoundrel in Europe."
Count von Stroebel poured a glass of brandy from a silver flask and
sipped it slowly.
"I will show you the gentleman's pleasant countenance," said the
minister, and he threw open a leather portfolio and drew from it a small
photograph which he extended to Armitage, who glanced at it
carelessly and then with sudden interest.
"Rambaud!" he exclaimed.

"That's his name in Vienna. In Paris he is something else. I will furnish
you a list of his noms de guerre."
"Thank you. I should like all the information you care to give me; but it
may amuse you to know that I have seen the gentleman before."
"That is possible," remarked the old man, who never evinced surprise
in any circumstances.
"I expect to see him here within a few days."
Count von Stroebel held up his empty glass and studied it attentively,
while he waited for Armitage to explain why he expected to see
Rambaud in Geneva.
"He is interested in a certain young woman. She reached here yesterday;
and Rambaud, alias Chauvenet, is quite likely to arrive within a day or
so."
"Jules Chauvenet is the correct name. I must inform my men," said the
minister.
"You wish to arrest him?"
"You ought to know me better than that, Mr. John Armitage! Of course
I shall not arrest him! But I must get that packet. I can't have it peddled
all over Europe, and I can't advertise my business by having him
arrested here. If I could catch him once in Vienna I should know what
to do with him! He and Winkelried got hold of our plans in that
Bulgarian affair last year and checkmated me. He carries his wares to
the best buyers--Berlin and St. Petersburg. So there's a woman, is there?
I've found that there usually is!"
"There's a very charming young American girl, to be more exact."
The old man growled and eyed Armitage sharply, while Armitage
studied the photograph.
"I hope you are not meditating a preposterous marriage. Go back where

you belong, make a proper marriage and wait--"
"Events!" and John Armitage laughed. "I tell you, sir, that waiting is
not my forte. That's what I like about America; they're up and at it over
there; the man who waits is lost."
"They're a lot of swine!" rumbled Von Stroebel's heavy bass.
"I still owe allegiance to the Schomburg crown, so don't imagine you
are hitting me. But the swine are industrious and energetic. Who knows
but that John Armitage might become famous among them--in politics,
in finance! But for the deplorable accident of foreign birth he might
become president of the United States. As it is, there are thousands of
other offices worth getting--why not?"
"I tell you not to be a fool. You are young and--fairly clever--"
Armitage laughed at the reluctance of the count's praise.
"Thank you, with all my heart!"
"Go back where you belong and you will have no regrets. Something
may happen--who can tell? Events--events--if a man will watch and
wait and study events--"
"Bless me! They organize clubs in every American village for the study
of events," laughed Armitage; then he changed his tone. "To be sure,
the Bourbons have studied events these many years--a pretty spectacle,
too."
"Carrion! Carrion!" almost screamed the old man, half-rising in his seat.
"Don't mention those scavengers to me! Bah! The very thought of them
makes me sick. But"--he gulped down more of the brandy--"where and
how do you live?"
"Where? I own a cattle ranch in Montana and since the Archduke's
death I have lived there. He carried about fifty thousand pounds to
America with him. He took care that I should get what was left when he

died--and, I am almost afraid to tell you that I have actually augmented
my inheritance! Just before I left I bought a place in Virginia to be near
Washington when I got tired of the ranch."
"Washington!" snorted the count. "In due course it will be the storm
center of the world."
"You read the wrong American newspapers," laughed Armitage.
They were