t being shadowed, and he hasn't written out a
cable when some one hasn't been near his shoulder."

"That is the position, then, so far as you know it?" Duge asked.
"Absolutely!" Littleson answered. "I can tell you nothing more."

Duge finished his luncheon and signed the bill. Then he made an
appointment to dine with Littleson, and sent out for an automobile. When
it arrived he was driven to the American Embassy. At the mention of his
name everything was made easy, and he found himself in a few minutes in
the presence of the ambassador.

"Glad to meet you once more, Mr. Duge," he said. "You have forgotten me,
I dare say, but I think we came across one another at a banquet in New
York about four years ago."

"I remember it perfectly," Phineas Duge answered. "A dull affair it was,
but we talked of the Asiatic Powers and kept ourselves amused. Since
then, you see, all that I said has become justified."

Deane smiled.

"They say that with you that is always the case," he answered. "'Duge
the Infallible' I heard a stockbroker once call you."

Duge smiled.

"Well," he said, "if I remember your politics, and I think I do, you are
going to try and take away that title from me. You are amongst those,
are you not, who have set themselves to dam the torrents?"

Deane shook his head a little stiffly.

"In the diplomatic service," he said, "we have no politics."

"Sometimes," Duge murmured, "you come in touch with them. For instance,
I should like to know what advice you are going to give Norris Vine
about the publication of that little document in his paper."

Deane looked for a moment annoyed.

"I am afraid," he said, "that I cannot answer you that question."

"If you advise him one way or the other," Phineas Duge said, "you give
the lie to your own statement, that in diplomacy there are no politics.
Your advice will show on which side you intend to stand."

"I have not given any advice," Deane replied.

"Nor must you," Phineas Duge said pleasantly enough. "It is not your
affair at all, Mr. Deane. I grant your cleverness, your shrewdness, even
your common sense, but all three are academic. They have no direct
relation to the actual things of the world. Wealth is one of those
forces which only strong fingers can gather, a stream which if you like
you can divert, but you cannot dam. I want to tell you, Mr. Deane, that
if you advise Norris Vine at all, you must see to it that you advise him
to place that paper upon