The Guns of Europe | Page 6

for some inscrutable reason anxious to convince one as
young as his listener, and he em ployed a smoothness of speech and a
charm of manner that John in the morning in the gallery would have
thought impossible in one so stiff and haughty. The spell that this man
was able to cast increased, and yet he was always conscious of a
pitiless strength be hind it.
John presently found himself telling his name, how he was traveling
with William Anson, older than him self, and in a way both a comrade
and a tutor, how he expected to meet his uncle, James Pomeroy, a
United States Senator, in Vienna, and his intention of returning to
America early in the autumn to finish his course at the university.
"I should like to see that America of yours," said von Boehlen, after he
had told something of himself, "but I fear it is not to be this year."
"You stay in Dresden long?" asked John.
"No, I leave tonight, but we may meet again, and then you can tell me
more of that far western world, so vast and so interesting, but of which
we Europeans really know so little."
John noticed that he did not tell where he was go ing. But he surmised
that Prussian army officers usually kept their destination to themselves.
His talk with von Boehlen had impressed him more than ever with the
size, speed and overwhelming power of the German army machine. It
was not possible for any thing to stand before it, and the mystery that
clothed it around imparted to it a superhuman quality.
But he brushed away such thoughts. The sun was shining again. It
danced in a myriad golden beams over the Elbe, it clothed in warmth
the kindly city, and von Boehlen, with a politeness that was now
unimpeachable rose to tell him good-bye. He acknowledged to himself
that he felt a little flattered by the man's attention, and his courtesy was
equal to that of the Prussian. Then the officer, dropping his hand to the
hilt of his sword, apparently a favorite gesture, stalked away.

It was John's first impulse to tell Mr. Anson of his talk with von
Boehlen, but he obeyed his second and kept it to himself. Even after he
was gone the feeling that some motive was behind the Prussian's
blandness remained.
A letter came that afternoon from his uncle, the Senator. He was in
Vienna, and he wished his nephew and Mr. Anson to join him there,
cutting short their stay in Dresden. They could come by the way of
Prague, and a day or two spent in that old Bohemian city would repay
them. John showed the letter to Mr. Anson, who agreed with him that a
wish from the Senator was in reality a command, and should be obeyed
promptly.
John, although he liked Dresden, had but one regret. He could not go
up in the Zeppelin dirigible and he hastened to tell Herr Simmering that
his entry was withdrawn.
"I'll have to cut out the dirigible," he said in his colloquial tongue.
"Perhaps you can find somebody to take my place."
"Perhaps," said the landlord, "and on the other hand it may be that the
dirigible will not go up for me."
"Why? I thought you had chartered it for a second trip."
Herr Simmering compressed his lips. John saw that, under impulse, he
had said more than he in tended. It was an objection of his to Germany
this constant secrecy and mystery that seemed to him not only useless
but against the natural flow of human nature.
"Are all the Zeppelins confiscated by the government?" he asked,
speaking wholly at random.
Herr Simmering started. Fat and smooth, he shot a single, menacing
glance at the young American. But, in a moment, he was smiling again
and John had not noticed.
"Our government never tells its plans," he said. "Mr. Anson says that

you leave tomorrow for Prague."
"Yes," said John curiously, "and I can almost infer from your tone,
Herr Simmering, that you will be glad to see us go."
But Herr Simmering protested earnestly that he never liked to lose
paying guests, above all those de 1 light ful Americans, who had so
much appreciation and who made so little trouble. The German soul
and the American soul were akin.
"Well, we do like your country and your people," \said John. "That's
the reason we come here so much."
In the evening, while Mr. Anson was absorbed in the latest English
newspapers which had just come in, John went out for a walk. His
favorite method of seeing a European city was to stroll the streets, and
using his own phrase to "soak" it in.
He passed now down the