<h3> THE PERSONAL EQUATION </h3>
<p> </p>
<p>Mr. Campbell ceased talking and
the deep earnestness that had settled
on his face passed, leaving instead
the blank, inscrutable mask of benevolence behind
which his clock-like genius was habitually
hidden. The choleric blue eyes of the president
of the United States shifted inquiringly to the
thoughtful countenance of the secretary of
state at his right, thence along the table around
which the official family was gathered. It was a
special meeting of the cabinet called at the suggestion
of Chief Campbell, and for more than an
hour he had done the talking. There had been
no interruption.</p>
<p>"So much!" he concluded, at last. "If there
is any point I have not made clear Mr. Grimm
is here to explain it in person."</p>
<p>Mr. Grimm rose at the mention of his name
and stood with his hands clasped behind his
back. His eyes met those of the chief executive
listlessly.</p>
<p>"We understand, Mr. Grimm," the president
began, and he paused for an instant to regard
the tall, clean-cut young man with a certain
admiration, "we understand that there does not
actually exist such a thing as a Latin compact
against the English-speaking peoples?"</p>
<p>"On paper, no," was the reply.</p>
<p>"You personally prevented the signing of the
compact?"</p>
<p>"I personally caused the destruction of the
compact after several signatures had been attached,"
Mr. Grimm amended. "Throughout I
have acted under the direction of Mr. Campbell,
of course."</p>
<p>"You were in very grave personal danger?"
the president went on.</p>
<p>"It was of no consequence," said Mr. Grimm
simply.</p>
<p>The president glanced at Mr. Campbell and
the chief shrugged his shoulders.</p>
<p>"You are certain, Mr. Grimm," and the president
spoke with great deliberation, "you are
certain that the representatives of the Latin
countries have not met since and signed the compact?"</p>
<p>"I am not certain—no," replied Mr. Grimm
promptly. "I am certain, however, that the
backbone of the alliance was broken—its only
excuse for existence destroyed—when they permitted
me to learn of the wireless percussion
cap which would have placed the navies of the
world at their mercy. Believe me, gentlemen,
if they had kept their secret it would have given
them dominion of the earth. They made one
mistake," he added in a most matter-of-fact
tone. "They should have killed me; it was their
only chance."</p>
<p>The president seemed a little startled at the
suggestion.</p>
<p>"That would have been murder," he remarked.</p>
<p>"True," Mr. Grimm acquiesced, "but it seems
an absurd thing that they should have permitted
the life of one man to stand between them and
the world power for which they had so long
planned and schemed. His Highness, Prince
Benedetto d'Abruzzi believed as I do, and so
expressed himself." He paused a moment; there
was a hint of surprise in his manner. "I expected
to be killed, of course. It seemed to me
the only thing that could happen."</p>
<p>"They must have known of the far-reaching
consequences which would follow upon your
escape, Mr. Grimm. Why <i>didn't</i> they kill you?"</p>
<p>Mr. Grimm made a little gesture with both
hands and was silent.</p>
<p>"May they not yet attempt it?" the president
insisted.</p>
<p>"It's too late now," Mr. Grimm explained.
"They had everything to gain by killing me
there as I stood in the room where I had interrupted
the signing of the compact, because that
would have been before I had placed the facts
in the hands of my government. I was the only
person outside of their circle who knew all of
them. Only the basest motive could inspire them
to attempt my life now."</p>
<p>There was a pause. The secretary of state
glanced from Mr. Grimm to Mr. Campbell with
a question in his deep-set eyes.</p>
<p>"Do I understand that you placed a Miss
Thorne and the prince under—that is, you detained
them?" he queried. "If so, where are
they now?"</p>
<p>"I don't know," was the reply. "Just before
the explosion the three of us entered an automobile
together, and then as we were starting
away I remembered something which made it
necessary for me to reenter the house. When
I came out again, just a few seconds before the
explosion, the prince and Miss Thorne had
gone."</p>
<p>The secretary's lips curled down in disapproval.</p>
<p>"Wasn't it rather unusual, to put it mildly,
to leave your prisoners to their own devices that
way?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Well, yes," Mr. Grimm admitted. "But the
circumstances were unusual. When I entered
the house I had locked a man in the cellar. I
had to go back to save his life, otherwise—"</p>
<p>"Oh, the guard at the door, you mean?" came
the interruption. "Who was it?"</p>
<p>Mr. Grimm glanced at his chief, who nodded.</p>
<p>"It was Mr. Charles Winthrop Rankin of
the German embassy," said the young man.</p>
<p>"Mr. Rankin of the German embassy was on
guard at the door?" demanded the president
quickly.</p>
<p>"Yes. We got out safely."</p>
<p>"And that means that Germany was—!"</p>
<p>The president paused and startled glances
passed around the table. After a moment of
deep abstraction the secretary went on:</p>
<p>"So Miss Thorne and the prince escaped. Are
they still in this country?"</p>
<p>"That I don't know," replied Mr. Grimm.
He stood silent a moment, staring at the president.
Some subtle change crept into the listless
eyes, and his lips were set. "Perhaps I had better
explain here that the personal equation enters
largely into an affair of this kind," he said
at last, slowly. "It happens that it entered into
this. Unless I am ordered to pursue the matter
further I think it would be best for all concerned
to accept the fact of Miss Thorne's
escape, and—" He stopped.</p>
<p>There was a long, thoughtful silence. Every
man in the room was studying Mr. Grimm's impassive
face.</p>
<p>"Personal equation," mused the president.
"Just how, Mr. Grimm, does the personal equation
enter into the affair?"</p>
<p>The young man's lips closed tightly, and
then:</p>
<p>"There are some people, Mr. President, whom
we meet frankly as enemies, and we deal with
them accordingly; and there are others who oppose
us and yet are not enemies. It is merely
that our paths of duty cross. We may have
the greatest respect for them and they for us,
but purposes are unalterably different. In other
words there is a personal enmity and a political
enmity. You, for instance, might be a close
personal friend of the man whom you defeated
for president. There might"—he stopped suddenly.</p>
<p>"Go on," urged the president.</p>
<p>"I think every man meets once in his life an
individual with whom he would like to reckon
personally," the young man continued. "That
reckoning may not be a severe one; it may be
less severe than the law would provide; but it
would be a personal reckoning. There is one individual
in this affair with whom I should like to
reckon, hence the personal equation enters very
largely into the case."</p>
<p>For a little while the silence of the room was
unbroken, save for the steady tick-tock of a
great clock in one corner. Mr. Grimm's eyes
were fixed unwaveringly upon those of the chief
executive. At last the secretary of war crumpled
a sheet of paper impatiently and hitched
his chair up to the table.</p>
<p>"Coming down to the facts it's like this, isn't
it?" he demanded briskly. "The Latin countries,
by an invention of their own which the United
States and England were to be duped into purchasing,
would have had power to explode every
submarine mine before attacking a port? Very
well. This thing, of course, would have given
them the freedom of the seas as long as we were
unable to explode their submarines as they were
able to explode ours. And this is the condition
which made the Latin compact possible,
isn't it?"</p>
<p>He looked straight at Mr. Grimm, who nodded.</p>
<p>"Therefore," he went on, "if the Latin compact
is not a reality on paper; if the United
States and England do not purchase this—this
wireless percussion cap, we are right back where
we were before it all happened, aren't we?
Every possible danger from that direction has
passed, hasn't it? The world-war of which we
have been talking is rendered impossible, isn't
it?"</p>
<p>"That's a question," answered Mr. Grimm.
"If you will pardon me for suggesting it, I
would venture to say that as long as there is an
invention of that importance in the hands of
nations whom we now know have been conspiring
against us for fifty years, there is always danger.
It seems to me, if you will pardon me
again, that for the sake of peace we must either
get complete control of that invention or else
understand it so well that there can be no further
danger. And again, please let me call your
attention to the fact that the brain which
brought this thing into existence is still to be
reckoned with. There may, some day, come a
time when our submarines may be exploded at
will regardless of this percussion cap."</p>
<p>The secretary of war turned flatly upon Chief
Campbell.</p>
<p>"This woman who is mixed up in this affair?"
he demanded. "This Miss Thorne. Who
is she?"</p>
<p>"Who is she?" repeated the chief. "She's a
secret agent of Italy, one of the most brilliant,
perhaps, that has ever operated in this or any
other country. She is the pivot around which
the intrigue moved. We know her by a dozen
names; any one of them may be correct."</p>
<p>The brows of the secretary of war were
drawn down in thought as he turned to the president.</p>
<p>"Mr. Grimm was speaking of the personal
equation," he remarked pointedly. "I think
perhaps his meaning is clear when we know
there is a woman in the case. We know that
Mr. Grimm has done his duty to the last inch in
this matter; we know that alone and unaided,
practically, he has done a thing that no living
man of his relative position has ever done before—prevented
a world-war. But there is further
danger—he himself has called our attention to
it—therefore, I would suggest that Mr. Grimm
be relieved of further duty in this particular
case. This is not a moment when the peace of
the world may be imperiled by personal feelings
of—of kindliness for an individual."</p>
<p>Mr. Grimm received the blow without a tremor.
His hands were still idly clasped behind
his back; the eyes fastened upon the president's
face were still listless; the mouth absolutely
without expression.</p>
<p>"As Mr. Grimm has pointed out," the secretary
went on, "we have been negotiating for
this wireless percussion cap. I have somewhere
in my office the name and address of the individual
with whom these negotiations have been conducted.
Through that it is possible to reach
the inventor, and then—! I suggest that we
vote our thanks to Mr. Grimm and relieve him
of this particular case."</p>
<p>The choleric eyes of the president softened a
little, and grew grave as they studied the impassive
face of the young man.</p>
<p>"It's a strange situation, Mr. Grimm," he said
evenly. "What do you say to withdrawing?"</p>
<p>"I am at your orders, Mr. President," was the
reply.</p>
<p>"No one knows better what you have done
than the gentlemen here at this table," the president
went on slowly. "No one questions that
you have done more than any other man could
have done under the circumstances. We understand,
I think, that indirectly you are asking
immunity for an individual. I don't happen to
know the liability of that individual under our
law, but we can't make any mistake now, Mr.
Grimm, and so—and so—" He stopped and
was silent.</p>
<p>"I had hoped, Mr. President, that what I have
done so far—and I don't underestimate it—would
have, at least, earned for me the privilege
of remaining in this case until its conclusion,"
said Mr. Grimm steadily. "If it is to be otherwise,
of course I am at—"</p>
<p>"History tells us, Mr. Grimm," interrupted
the president irrelevantly, "that the frou-frou
of a woman's skirt has changed the map of the
world. Do you believe," he went on suddenly,
"that a man can mete out justice fairly, severely
if necessary, to one for whom he has a personal
regard?"</p>
<p>"I do, sir."</p>
<p>"Perhaps even to one—to a woman whom he
might love?"</p>
<p>"I do, sir."</p>
<p>The president rose.</p>
<p>"Please wait in the anteroom for a few minutes,"
he directed.</p>
<p>Mr. Grimm bowed himself out. At the end
of half an hour he was again summoned into
the cabinet chamber. The president met him
with outstretched hand. There was more than
mere perfunctory thanks in this—there was the
understanding of man and man.</p>
<p>"You will proceed with the case to the end,
Mr. Grimm," he instructed abruptly. "If you
need assistance ask for it; if not, proceed alone.
You will rely upon your own judgment entirely.
If there are circumstances which make it inadvisable
to move against an individual by legal
process, even if that individual is amenable to
our laws, you are not constrained so to do if
your judgment is against it. There is one stipulation:
You will either secure the complete
rights of the wireless percussion cap to this government
or learn the secret of the invention so
that at no future time can we be endangered
by it."</p>
<p>"Thank you," said Mr. Grimm quietly. "I
understand."</p>
<p>"I may add that it is a matter of deep regret
to me," and the president brought one vigorous
hand down on the young man's shoulder, "that
our government has so few men of your type in
its service. Good day."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<SPAN name="CH25"><!-- CHAPTER 25 --></SPAN>
<h3> XXV </h3>
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