L. P. M. (The End of The Great War) | Page 7

sifted them out, and applied
to each of them the acid test, that he was sure he could rely on them, as
he liked to say, "to the last ditch."
For the rest, although he had taken only a few of them into his
confidence as to his real purposes and intentions, he had assured each
recruit that he would be required to do nothing that was contrary to his
duty to his fellow-man, his country, or his God.
And tomorrow the wheels would be set in motion. The undertaking to
which he had dedicated his life and colossal fortune would be launched.
It was characteristic of Edestone that no sooner had he laid his head
upon the pillow than his eyes closed, and he slept as peacefully as a
tired child.
CHAPTER III
CROSSING WITH ROYALTY
After a perfectly uneventful voyage, the Ivernia, with Edestone and his
three men aboard, swung slowly to her dock. As the big vessel had
approached the coast the few cabin passengers were at first a little
nervous, but the contempt in which the officers held, or pretended to
hold, the submarine menace made itself soon felt throughout the ship,
and but for the thinness of their ranks all went as usual. It is true that
the little group of army contract-seekers and returning refugees seemed
to enjoy constituting themselves into special look-outs, and regarded it
as their particular duty, as long as it did not interfere with their game of
bridge, or might cause them to lose a particularly comfortable and
sheltered corner of the deck, to notify the stewards if they happened to
see anything which to them looked like a periscope or floating mine.

Throughout the voyage Edestone kept very much to himself and in his
quarters occupied himself constructing a new instrument, and to the
hard-rubber case that had been provided for it he attached a wireless
receiver. In some of this work he was assisted by Stanton and Black,
two electricians he had brought with him, who, with James, his valet,
made up his party.
He had little time and less inclination to observe his neighbours, who
occupied the corresponding suite just across the passageway; but his
man James, who had been formally introduced to their servants,
insisted upon telling him all about them. They were, James said, the
Duchess of Windthorst and her daughter, the Princess Wilhelmina, who
were returning from Canada, where they had been visiting the Duke of
Connaught at Toronto.
But, if Edestone was preoccupied, the Princess, on the contrary, being a
girl of nineteen, with absolutely nothing on her mind, had not failed to
note the handsome young man across the passage. Unconsciously
answering to the irresistible call of youth, which is as loud to the
princess as to the peasant, she had watched him with a great deal of
interest, and had been fascinated by his faultless boots and the fact that
he failed to notice her at all.
Yet Edestone, it may be remarked, was not the only person on board
favoured with the royal regard. The Duchess, with the propensity of her
kind on visiting the States, had selected for her rare promenades on
deck a Broadway sport of the most absurd and exaggerated type,
known as "Diamond King John" Bradley.
This vagary is explained by the fact that the social chasm separating
them from all Americans is, to their limited vision, so infinitely great
that it is impossible for them to see and to understand the niceties that
the Americans draw between the butcher of New York and the
dry-goods merchant of Denver; and since it is impossible to see nothing
from infinity, they content themselves by selecting those who are, in
their opinion, typical, in order that in the short time they can give to
this study they may learn all of the characteristics of this most
extraordinary race, who on account of the similarity of language have

presumed to claim a relationship with them. They will not accept as
true what much of the world believes: that Old England is in her
decadence, and that her only hope is in those sons who have left her
and who, away from the debilitating influence of the poisonous vapours
arising from the ruins of her glory, are developing the ancient spirit of
their ancestors and are returning to her assistance in her time of need.
As to the Princess, Edestone, although he noted that she was extremely
attractive in face and figure, did not give her a second thought. He was
amused at the attitude of the Duchess and her class, and was willing to
accept it, but it did not arouse any desire on his part to follow the lead
of the gentleman from Broadway and seek their acquaintance. As a