Transcriber’s Notes:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.
* * * * *
_The_ ADVENTURE LIBRARY No. 69
_The_ PRESIDENTIAL SNAPSHOT
_By_ Bertram Lebhar
[Illustration: _STREET & SMITH CORP. PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK_]
* * * * *
A CARNIVAL OF ACTION
ADVENTURE LIBRARY
Splendid, Interesting, Big Stories
This line is devoted exclusively to a splendid type of adventure story,
in the big outdoors. There is really a breath of fresh air in each of
them, and the reader who pays fifteen cents for a copy of this line
feels that he has received his money’s worth and a little more.
The authors of these books are experienced in the art of writing, and
know just what the up-to-date American reader wants.
_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_
By WILLIAM WALLACE COOK
1--The Desert Argonaut
2--A Quarter to Four
3--Thorndyke of the Bonita
4--A Round Trip to the Year 2000
5--The Gold Gleaners
6--The Spur of Necessity
7--The Mysterious Mission
8--The Goal of a Million
9--Marooned in 1492
10--Running the Signal
11--His Friend the Enemy
12--In the Web
13--A Deep Sea Game
14--The Paymaster’s Special
15--Adrift in the Unknown
16--Jim Dexter, Cattleman
17--Juggling with Liberty
18--Back from Bedlam
19--A River Tangle
20--Billionaire Pro Tem
21--In the Wake of the Scimitar
22--His Audacious Highness
23--At Daggers Drawn
24--The Eighth Wonder
25--The Cat’s-Paw
26--The Cotton Bag
27--Little Miss Vassar
28--Cast Away at the Pole
29--The Testing of Noyes
30--The Fateful Seventh
31--Montana
32--The Deserter
33--The Sheriff of Broken Bow
34--Wanted: A Highwayman
35--Frisbie of San Antone
36--His Last Dollar
37--Fools for Luck
38--Dare of Darling & Co.
39--Trailing “The Josephine”
40--The Snapshot Chap By Bertram Lebhar
41--Brothers of the Thin Wire By Franklin Pitt
42--Jungle Intrigue By Edmond Lawrence
43--His Snapshot Lordship By Bertram Lebhar
44--Folly Lode By James F. Dorrance
45--The Forest Rogue By Julian G. Wharton
46--Snapshot Artillery By Bertram Lebhar
47--Stanley Holt, Thoroughbred By Ralph Boston
48--The Riddle and the Ring By Gordon McLaren
49--The Black Eye Snapshot By Bertram Lebhar
50--Bainbridge of Bangor By Julian G. Wharton
51--Amid Crashing Hills By Edmond Lawrence
52--The Big Bet Snapshot By Bertram Lebhar
53--Boots and Saddles By J. Aubrey Tyson
54--Hazzard of West Point By Edmond Lawrence
55--Service Courageous By Don Cameron Shafer
56--On Post By Bertram Lebhar
57--Jack Cope, Trooper By Roy Fessenden
58--Service Audacious By Don Cameron Shafer
59--When Fortune Dares By Emerson Baker
60--In the Land of Treasure By Barry Wolcott
61--A Soul Laid Bare By J. Kenilworth Egerton
62--Wireless Sid By Dana R. Preston
63--Garrison’s Finish By W. B. M. Ferguson
64--Bob Storm of the Navy By Ensign Lee Tempest, U. S. N.
In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the
books listed below will be issued during the respective months in New
York City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers at a distance
promptly, on account of delays in transportation.
To be published in July, 1927.
65--Golden Bighorn By William Wallace Cook
66--The Square Deal Garage By Burt L. Standish
To be published in August, 1927.
67--Ridgway of Montana By Wm. MacLeod Raine
68--The Motor Wizard’s Daring By Burt L. Standish
69--The Presidential Snapshot By Bertram Lebhar
To be published in September, 1927.
70--The Sky Pilot By Burt L. Standish
71--An Innocent Outlaw By William Wallace Cook
To be published in October, 1927.
72--The Motor Wizard’s Mystery By Burt L. Standish
73--From Copy Boy to Reporter By W. Bert Foster
To be published in November, 1927.
74--The Motor Wizard’s Strange Adventure By Burt L. Standish
75--Lee Blake, Trolley Man By Boland Ashford Phillips
To be published in December, 1927.
76--The Motor Wizard’s Clean-up By Burt L. Standish
77--Rogers of Butte By William Wallace Cook
When you get the S & S Novels you get the best!
The Presidential Snapshot
OR
THE ALL-SEEING EYE
BY
BERTRAM LEBHAR
Author of “On Post,” “His Snapshot Lordship,”
“Snapshot Artillery,” etc.
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
PUBLISHERS
79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York
* * * * *
Copyright, 1913-1914
By STREET & SMITH
The Presidential Snapshot
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian.
Printed in the U. S. A.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENTIAL SNAPSHOT.
CHAPTER I. A CABINET DISCUSSION.
The President of the United States shook his head with an emphasis
which caused the other men gathered around the massive mahogany
table to realize that it would be almost a waste of time to pursue
the discussion. “It is my opinion, gentlemen, that if there were the
slightest basis for this rumor, Mr. Throgmorton’s report would not be
couched in such positive terms!” he declared, pointing to a paper on
the table before him. “There isn’t a man in the diplomatic service more
alert or level-headed than he, so far as I know. I am confident that it
would be impossible for Portiforo to pull the wool over his eyes.”
“Possibly Portiforo has not pulled the wool over Throgmorton’s eyes,”
the little man who sat at the president’s right suggested quietly. “He
may not have found it at all necessary to do that.” There was something
about the speaker’s tone which caused the other members of the cabinet
to look at him curiously, and prompted the president to ask, quite
calmly: “Will you say what you mean to imply by that remark, Mr.
Attorney General?”
The little man smiled--a peculiar form of smile which seemed to be
done with his eye only. “The American minister to the Republic of
Baracoa has never given the impression of being exactly hostile to the
Portiforo administration,” he remarked dryly.
The president frowned. “Are we to understand this as an insinuation
against his good faith?”
“To be quite frank, Mr. President, I have never credited Mr.
Throgmorton with a superabundance of good faith,” the attorney general
replied. “I have known him for a long time--in fact, we were at
college together, and--well, it would take more than his unsupported
word to convince me that there is no truth in this startling story of
Portiforo’s perfidy. He and the President of Baracoa are reputed to be
close friends, and it is possible that his investigation might not be
unbiased.”
“I protest against that remark,” the secretary of state exclaimed
indignantly. “I, too, have known Mr. Throgmorton for a long time, and
there isn’t a man living, Mr. President, in whose integrity I have
greater confidence. If this hideous thing were true he would have told
us so, no matter how amicably disposed he might be toward the Portiforo
administration.”
The president nodded an acquiescence. “I have as much confidence in
Throgmorton’s honesty as I have in his good judgment,” he declared. “As
I said before, gentlemen, he is too conservative a man to have made
such a positive denial unless he had good ground for doing so. I have
felt all along that this rumor was nothing more than a concoction of
Portiforo’s enemies; now I am sure of it.”
“And nothing would cause you to change your mind, Mr. President?” the
attorney general inquired.
“I would not say that. I am always open to conviction. Of course, if
you could bring me a photograph of Felix in a dungeon cell, I might
be ready to believe that Portiforo has him in captivity. But even at
that,” he added, a twinkle in his eyes, “I would have to be convinced
that the snapshot was genuine.”
The attorney general smiled deprecatingly. “Then I’m afraid it will
never be possible to convince you, Mr. President. I don’t imagine that
there’s a photographer in all the world who could break into a South
American dungeon, snapshot a prisoner, and get out again.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” put in the secretary of the interior. “I
know of one man who might be able to accomplish even that remarkable
feat. He’s a New York newspaper man named Hawley. He’s on the staff of
the _Sentinel_. I met him some months ago, when I was in New York, and
the experience I had with him then leads me to believe that there is
scarcely any feat impossible of accomplishment where he is concerned.”
“Isn’t that the man they call ‘the Camera Chap’?” the president
inquired, evincing keen interest.
“I believe they do call him that,” the secretary of the interior
replied. “He is truly a wonderful photographer. I believe that if
Portiforo really has Felix locked up in El Torro Fortress, Hawley could
get a picture of him.”
The president made no comment on this, but, later that day, when the
cabinet meeting was over, he said to his secretary: “I wish you would
send word to Mr. Bates, of the New York _Sentinel_, that I would like
to see him at his earliest convenience.”
Bates, the _Sentinel’s_ Washington correspondent, hurried over to
the White House immediately upon receipt of this information, hoping
that the head of the nation contemplated favoring his paper with some
exclusive information. What the latter actually said to him caused him
some mystification.
“Mr. Bates,” the president began, “I believe you have a photographer
named Hawley employed on your paper?”
“You mean the Camera Chap, Mr. President?”
“Yes. I have heard a great deal about his exploits, and if what I have
heard is true, he must be a very unusual fellow. Tell me more about
him, if you don’t mind.”
The _Sentinel’s_ star correspondent launched into the subject with
enthusiasm. There was not a man on his paper, from the editor in chief
down to the youngest office boy, who was not proud of the fact that
Frank Hawley was connected with it. The Camera Chap occupied a position
unique in the newspaper world. He commanded a large salary, and his
extraordinary achievements had made him famous in every newspaper
office in the country, and caused other managing editors to envy the
_Sentinel_ for having him under contract.
It took Bates more than half an hour to tell of some of Hawley’s
most notable performances, and the president’s face lighted up as he
listened. “Why,” he exclaimed enthusiastically, “the Camera Chap must
be a remarkable character! Does he ever come to Washington? I should
very much like to meet him. You might make it a point to mention that
to your managing editor the next time you communicate with your office,
Mr. Bates.”
“I will be sure to do so, Mr. President,” said the _Sentinel_
representative, who, being far from dull-witted, and well acquainted
with the chief executive’s methods, surmised that there was behind this
request some special motive.
As a result of the message which Bates sent over the wire which
connected the _Sentinel’s_ Washington bureau with the home office, a
tall, slender young man, with a prepossessing countenance and a twinkle
in his keen eyes, arrived at the capital the following afternoon.
Bates greeted him effusively. “Welcome to our city, Hawley, old man!”
he exclaimed. “I don’t know whether the president contemplates offering
you a position in his cabinet or whether he merely wants his picture
taken, but, whatever the reason, he’s very keen to meet you. His
secretary called me up this morning to make sure you were coming; and
when I told him that you were on your way to Washington he sent over
this note for you.”
Bates handed Hawley a square envelope, on which the address of the
executive mansion was embossed. The Camera Chap opened it, and read
its contents over twice, the expression of surprise on his face
intensifying as he did so.
“Are you sure this isn’t a practical joke?” he inquired half
incredulously, handing Bates the note.
An envious look came to the other’s face as he glanced at it. “That’s
going some!” he exclaimed. “You certainly are lucky, old man. Some of
us Washington correspondents pride ourselves on being pals with the
president, but he’s never invited any of _us_ to lunch at the White
House.”