If
only the prince were here!"
"He will come; youth will be youth."
"Perhaps."
"You have never been young."
"Not in that particular sense to which you refer," dryly.
* * * * * *
In the chamber of finance Colonel Beauvais leaned over the desk
and perused the writing on a slip of paper which the minister
had given him. Enough daylight remained to permit the letters to
stand out legibly. When he had done the Colonel tossed back the
missive, and the minister tore it into shreds and dropped them
into the waste basket.
"So much for your pains," said Beauvais. "The spy, who has eaten
up ten thousand crowns, is not worth his salt. He has watched
this man Hamilton for two days, been his guide in the hills, and
yet learns nothing. And the rigor of the customs is a farce."
"This day," replied the minister, "the police lost its
jurisdiction over the customs. Complaints have been entered at
the British legation, which forwarded them to the chancellor."
"O ho!" The Colonel pulled his mustache.
"I warned you against this. The chancellor is a man to be
respected, whatever his beliefs. I warned you and Mollendorf of
the police what the result would be.
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