The Port of Missing Men | Page 6

spoken of that work with
contempt. History, I believe, will reckon it justly."
"Your place is secure--no one can gainsay that," broke in Armitage.
"If you would do something for me--for me--do something for Austria,
do something for my country and yours! You have wits; I dare say you
have courage. I don't care what that service may be; I don't care where
or how you perform it. I am not so near gone as you may think. I know
well enough that they are waiting for me to die; but I am in no hurry to
afford my enemies that pleasure. But stop this babble of yours about

democracy. _Do something for Austria_--for the Empire that I have
held here under my hand these difficult years--then take your name
again--and you will find that kings can be as just and wise as mobs."
"For the Empire--something for the Empire?" murmured the young
man, wondering.
Count Ferdinand von Stroebel rose.
"You will accept the commission--I am quite sure you will accept. I
leave on an early train, and I shall not see you again." As he took
Armitage's hand he scrutinized him once more with particular care;
there was a lingering caress in his touch as he detained the young man
for an instant; then he sighed heavily.
"Good night; good-by!" he said abruptly, and waved his caller toward
the door.

CHAPTER II
THE CLAIBORNES, OF WASHINGTON
--the Englishman who is not an Englishman and therefore doubly
incomprehensible.--The Naulahka.
The girl with the white-plumed hat started and flushed slightly, and her
brother glanced over his shoulder toward the restaurant door to see
what had attracted her attention.
"'Tis he, the unknown, Dick."
"I must say I like his persistence!" exclaimed the young fellow, turning
again to the table. "In America I should call him out and punch his head,
but over here--"
"Over here you have better manners," replied the girl, laughing. "But
why trouble yourself? He doesn't even look at us. We are of no

importance to him whatever. We probably speak a different language."
"But he travels by the same trains; he stops at the same inns; he sits
near us at the theater--he even affects the same pictures in the same
galleries! It's growing a trifle monotonous; it's really insufferable. I
think I shall have to try my stick on him."
"You flatter yourself, Richard," mocked the girl. "He's fully your height
and a trifle broader across the shoulders. The lines about his mouth are
almost--yes, I should say, quite as firm as yours, though he is a younger
man. His eyes are nice blue ones, and they are very steady. His hair
is"--she paused to reflect and tilted her head slightly, her eyes
wandering for an instant to the subject of her comment--"light brown, I
should call it. And he is beardless, as all self-respecting men should be.
I'm sure that he is an exemplary person--kind to his sisters and aunts,
very willing to sacrifice himself for others and light the candles on his
nephews' and nieces' Christmas trees."
She rested her cheek against her lightly-clasped hands and sighed
deeply to provoke a continuation of her brother's growling disdain.
The young gentleman to whom she had referred had seated himself at a
table not far distant, given an order with some particularity, and settled
himself to the reading of a newspaper which he had drawn from the
pocket of his blue serge coat. He was at once absorbed, and the
presence of the Claibornes gave him apparently not the slightest
concern.
"He has a sense of humor," the girl resumed. "I saw him yesterday--"
"You're always seeing him: you ought to be ashamed of yourself."
"Don't interrupt me, please. As I was saying, I saw him laughing over
the _Fliegende Blätter_."
"But that's no sign he has a sense of humor. It rather proves that he
hasn't. I'm disappointed in you, Shirley. To think that my own sister
should be able to tell the color of a wandering blackguard's eyes!"

He struck a match viciously, and his sister laughed.
"I might add to his portrait. That blue and white scarf is tied beautifully;
and his profile would be splendid in a medallion. I believe from his
nose he may be English, after all," she added with a dreamy air
assumed to add to her brother's impatience.
"Which doesn't help the matter materially, that I can see!" exclaimed
the young man. "With a full beard he'd probably look like a Sicilian
bandit. If I thought he was really pursuing you in this darkly mysterious
way I should certainly give him a piece of my American mind. You
might suppose that a girl would be safe traveling with her brother."
"It isn't your fault, Dick," laughed the girl. "You know