"On the Orient Express, or what was the O.E. before the '_Grosse
General Stab_' took over the whole job of mixing up these
schedules.... Well, well, well, the veiled lady of the Métropole and
Buckingham is in trouble in the next compartment ... at least so
she says!... She just came into my compartment and said she had been
insulted by the man who is sharing it with her.... Confound him!...
BUT ... Now I've heard of such 'plants' before.... While I'd like
to go in there and kick the brute through the partitions I believe
discretion is the better part of valor.... Let her call the guard if
the case needs attention.... The guard is a reservist and I believe
she _knows_ it.... Furthermore, I must be at Donaustrasse 24,
Budapest, tomorrow, and meet Colonel Shuvalov at the Hotel de Paris,
Belgrade, the day after.... I wonder if that petit Paris looks the
same as when I met my old friend Count Arthur Zu Weringrode and
Kazimir Galitzyn coquetting with Cecilia Coursan, Mlle. Balniaux and
the Petite Valon at the card tables after our sparkling dinners a few
years ago.... And where is that fire-eating Prince now?... He was
a great friend of Grey and Churchill at Monte Carlo.... and
notwithstanding that meeting in the Taunus they MUST BE friends
YET.... The Monte Carlo combination HOLDS good today.... The Taunus
meeting so far as Haldane and Winston Spencer were concerned was a
_frame-up_ to catch Waechter and 'His Whiskers' (both the Admiral and
the General).... That's where the Wilhelmstrasse FELL DOWN!... and
yet I am on a mission of mercy, in behalf of one of the principal
double-crossers, today!... _Must see Kovalsky at Donau 24 sure_....
Mademoiselle must take care of herself today...."
The next entry read:
"This is a great combination--Roumania is sidestepping
Wilhelmstrasse.... _Greece_ is tying up with Servia, Bulgaria is
likely to form a wedge between a complete coalition of these mutually
hating and suspicious grafters.... Montenegro is the only honest
combination in the whole bunch.... In another hour I will see Kovalsky
and _astonish_ him with the news I bring."
7. Then the following entry: "_K---- is absolutely opposed_ to taking
any part in this business.... Will not raise a hand without the
sanction of CHARLES.... Looks as though I'll have to bring pressure on
these despairing creatures.... They wanted the Balkans,--that was the
deal in the Black Forest,--and because some one doesn't hand it to
them on a silver platter they complain of der Grosse General Stab's
neglect!... At two I get my answer.... If O.K. I'll be in Odessa in 48
hours unless that veiled minx of the Métropole sticks a knife under my
fifth rib.... Her conduct is becoming _mighty suspicious_!... Watch me
give her a run for her money!"
8. Then there was this entry: "Charles refuses to see me but tells
K----_not_ to put any obstacles in my way.... this is a pretty mess!...
How in the devil am I to slip through the lines with those devilish
English and French officers scattered around everywhere?... If
Roumania had only listened to reason!... I think that Mackinzen will
be able to help me out,--I might as well ask Envir Pasha as these
dervishes of Sofia to lend a hand in this affair!... Yet I _must_,
simply _MUST_ be in Odessa in time to meet Vladimir K before the order
of execution!... Either that--or jump into the Danube!"
9. The following entry is significant: "I have been deaf, dumb and
blind for the last 24 hours! The veiled lady was responsible.... She
had me kidnapped and carried out into these infernal hills, wherever
they are.... Never saw them before.... Looks as if a cyclone hit
them.... One can pick up enough shells and scrap iron to stock
a foundry.... The trees are all shot off--nothing but stumps and
slivered trees and broken wheels and boxes littered around.... Looks
like SOME FIGHT had taken place in this _strong-smelling_ hopyard
among these hummocks.... Apparently the hogs have been rooting up the
ground all around here.... There isn't a sign of a living thing
in sight ... and not a drop of water to be had!... WHO was that
woman?... The Baroness, who?... Must find out more about Syvorotka."
10. "... Been tramping all day in the direction of the rising sun....
Mud, mud, mud everywhere.... It may have been a good thing that I
wrote my brother Fox at Mendocino about this trip before I set out....
If I am lost and this comes into a white man's hands who understands
America he will know what to do with it.... Hunger and thirst are
delirious bed-fellows.... Seems like a hundred years since I heard
that Métropole woman's voice when they were choking me in the
carriage.... She was saying, 'Search him, search him; I know he
ran away with it; it belonged to the Princess!' Then that deep heavy
voice: 'What did it look like?' Every word he uttered seemed to add
pneumatic pressure to his grip on my neck.... 'It was almost a light
purple, the size of a hickory nut, shaped like a pyramid and gives
out the reflection of a cluster of stars,' she cried like a wench....
'Worth a great deal of money,' the deep voice grunted as his hand
pressed harder against my windpipe.... 'Priceless!' she shrieked. 'It
couldn't be duplicated for 100,000 rubles; the most gorgeous sapphire
in the world!'... 'Are you sure this man has it?'... 'Certainly!'
she insisted; 'didn't I see that little wasp Kerensky give it to
his cousin, and didn't I see that cousin give it to this man in
America?'... 'Who is this man?' he asked, tightening his grip until my
tongue hung out.... 'They call him Fox on the west coast of America;
but THAT is NOT his name,' was the last I remember until I found
myself lying on the roadside among the hills back yonder.... I
certainly DO resemble my brother slightly and am hoping that if he has
a sapphire the size mentioned by that hissing vixen he will keep it
for the honor and glory of the family of Foxes.... And to think that
a few days ago I was falling in love with her at the Métropole!...
If man is a meditating atom, WOMAN must be a _premeditating
subterfuge!_... I see smoke rising over the hills away to the
east.... Yes, it's the smoke of guns.... I can hear the hoarse roar
of heavy artillery to the right and the spitting hollow barking and
coughing of lighter pieces on the left and I feel the ground quiver as
I write these lines."