The Argosy, October 1906 — page 90: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

x } = Bae : ‘from the great Head Council and who is obeyed implicitly by al! the Brethren in his own land. “The Vicomte Barberi, who for- twen- ty- -five years was Italian legate, died last month. We were notified “by messenger (for, to avert exposure, it is a rule that no papers of any sort shall be passed among us) that the successor had been appointed and that he would set out at once for Naples. ‘The Italian Brother- hood were to convene here to receive him. ‘For reasons, doubtless wise, Mr. _ D’Auban, the new legate, remained in- cognito for some time after his arrival, and has not yet decreed a formal meet- ing of the Italian branch.” ies _ He paused again; perhaps aware that his stifled resentment against my long in- action had led him from the main thread: of his narrative. “Such is the personnel and manage- ment of the Brotherhood of Vienna,” he went on. “Its object may be summed up in one word—IlVealth’ Where does the world’s greatest wealth—in the most portable form—lie? In — America! There fortunes, so colossal as never to be attained in any other country, are made in a day. Men of no birth or breeding grow suddenly rich beyond all dreams of avarice. These men have children—sons who are sometimes weak and foolish—daughters who realize their low ancestry and yearn to gild it by a title. Their fathers second the wish. Our work is made easy.” He smiled knowingly at Billy, whose eyes ,had never strayed for an instant from the opposite wall. “In brief,” said Sebaste, “ through the strength, means, and genius of our Brotherhood we marry the daughters of such men to poor and titled members of our order. American millions, nay, even _ billions, thus pass yearly into our coffers. We have lists of America’s newly made millionaires and their families, and the exact amount of their wealth. The agent, not legate (for in America alone of all countries the- Brotherhood has as yet no accredited legate), the agent who keeps us supplied with these frequently revised lists is Mr. Amos Todd.” I don’t know why I was surprised. The old fox was quite equal to such ' work, And yet this oily hypocrite, who helped in the sale of innocent girls to — bankrupt fortune-hunters, was himself a father! The father of Doris! Her big honest eyes rose before my memory and‘JI shuddered involuntarily. I was indeed learning—learning fast. ‘These heiresses come to Europe or the nobleman selected by the Head Coun- cil go to America,’ went on Sebaste. ‘All our skill and our countless varied resources are exerted; and the matter is arranged. ‘The fortune is acquired and, by his oath, the noble who marries it is obliged to pay seventy per cent to the treasury of the Brotherhood. Even with the remaining thirty per cent he is rich. “As for the young American wife— ‘well, the woman who is fool enough to marry out of her own country, her own surroundings and race—deseryes the re- ward she gets. Without our help these nobles could scarcely hope to win such wives. Hence they gladly conform to our rules; and every one benefits—ex- cept the ‘American girl.” Now I had, of course, _known, as does many “another American, that there is a regular gild, or society, in Europe, whose object is to win, by marriage, the fortunes of foolish American girls. Victims of the dirty deal are usually too proud to reveal the facts; but there is more than one authentic case on record. Ar nd, as a good American, my blood had often boiled at the thought of this band of vampires who prey on ‘women’s lives. But I had never dreamed that the traffic was carried to such wholesale pro- portions or that it had acquired a finan- cial backing that would put to shame most of the state treasure- chests. of Eu- rope. | It is one thing to hear impersonally of the existence of such a thing; quite an- other matter to be brought face to face with it as I now was. It needed all my nerve and self-con- trol to play my part of cynical, careless — listener. I do not know what close calls Sebaste had had earlier in his ‘career 5 but I doubt if he had ever been nearer to death than at the moment when hot, - / blind rage took hold of me at his vile — = recital of that commerce in souls. | <a ae es “- 4 — | => com cboo “5.0 oe m Se ae ~ MeN — 5 Pa . > ee ee — = aks Saas Sno =