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Copyright, 1915, by Street & Smith. O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith,Proprietors.
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No. 160. NEW YORK, October 2, 1915. Price Five Cents.
CHAPTER I.
AN ENTERPRISING WAITER.
Alfred Knox Atherton was one of the most popular members of the“Marmawell Club.” He was a man in the prime of life, but, in spite ofhis wealth and good looks—and in spite of the schemes of designingmothers—he was still unmarried.
He had a country house in the Berkshires, and a luxuriously furnishedbachelor’s apartment on Park Avenue. He was also the owner of a small,up-to-date steam yacht, which bore the uncommon name of ThePhilosopher’s Stone.
As is usually the case in such places, most of the waiters at theMarmawell Club were foreigners. One among them is worthy of specialmention. He was the cardroom waiter, who went by the name of Max Berne,and was understood to hail from that land of model hotel keepers andwaiters, Switzerland.
Max evidently had seen a great deal of the world, although he was stilla young man. Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Madrid, St. Petersburg—we begpardon, Petrograd—mention any of these cities to Max, and he could tellyou which was the quickest way of getting there, which were the besthotels to stay at, how much they would charge you, what the cooking waslike, and what quality of cigars and wines they stocked.
Needless to say, this made him very popular with the members of theMarmawell. He was, in fact, a perfect encyclopedia of information on allmatters relating to the leading cities of Europe, and he could speakFrench, Italian, and Spanish as fluently as he spoke English.
That evening he was hovering over one of the tables in the desertedcardroom, giving a deft touch here and there, when Atherton walked in.<