The Voice in the Fog - Page 43/93

Until one day a newspaper reporter glanced carelessly through the hotel

register. The only thing which escapes the newspaper man is the art of

saving; otherwise he is omnipotent. He sees things, anticipates

events, and often prearranges them; smells war if the secretary of the

navy is seen to run for a street-car, is intimately acquainted with

"the official in the position to know" and "the man higher up," "the

gentleman on the inside," and other anonymous but famous individuals.

He is tireless, impervious to rebuff, also relentless; as an

investigator of crime he is the keenest hound of them all; often he

does more than expose, he prevents. He is the Warwick of modern times;

he makes and unmakes kings, sceptral and financial.

This particular reporter sent his card up to Mr. Thornden and was,

after half an hour's delay, admitted to the suite. Mr. Thornden laid

aside his tea-cup.

"I am a newspaper man, Mr. Thornden," said the young man, his eye

roving about the room, visualizing everything, from the slices of lemon

to the brilliant eyes of the valet.

"Ah! a pressman. What will you be wanting to see me about,

sir?"--neither hostile nor friendly.

"Do you intend to remain long in America--incog?"

"Incog!" Mr. Thorndon leaned forward in his chair and drew down his

eyebrow tightly against the rim of his monocle.

"Yes, sir. I take it that you are Lord Henry Monckton, ninth Baron of

Dimbledon."

Master and man exchanged a rapid glance.

"Tibbets," said the master coldly, "you registered."

"Yes, sir."

"What did you register?"

"Oh," interposed the reporter, "it was the name Dimbledon caught my

eye, sir. You see, there was a paragraph in one of our London

exchanges that you had sailed for America. I'm what we call a hotel

reporter; hunt up prominent and interesting people for interviews. I'm

sure yours is a very interesting story, sir." The reporter was a

pleasant, affable young man, and that was why he was so particularly

efficient in his chosen line of work.

"I was not prepared to disclose my identity so soon," said Lord

Monckton ruefully. "But since you have stumbled upon the truth, it is

far better that I give you the facts as they are. Interviewing is a

novel experience. What do you wish to know, sir?"

And thus it was that, next morning, New York--and the continent as

well--learned that Lord Henry Monckton, ninth Baron of Dimbledon, had

arrived in America on a pleasure trip. The story read more like the

scenario of a romantic novel than a page from life. For years the

eighth Baron of Dimbledon had lived in seclusion, practically

forgotten. In India he had a bachelor brother, a son and a grandson.

One day he was notified of the death (by bubonic plague) of these three

male members of his family, the baron himself collapsed and died

shortly after. The title and estate went to another branch of the

family. A hundred years before, a daughter of the house had run away

with the head-gardener and been disowned. The great-great-grand-son of

this woman became the ninth baron. The present baron's life was

recounted in full; and an adventurous life it had been, if the reporter

was to be relied upon. The interview appeared in a London journal,

with the single comment--"How those American reporters misrepresent

things!"