The Destroyer A Tale of International Intrigue
By Burton E. Stevenson
“Ah, Gabrielle,” said her husband reproachfully, “I should never have believed you could have forgotten! It is to-day, at sunrise, that our guests depart!”
“Heavens!” cried Madame Brisson again, and she, too, bounded from the bed and began to don her clothes with trembling fingers. “That I should have forgotten! Forgive me, Aristide! What hour is it?”
“It is almost four and a half. At five, the coffee must be ready.”
“It shall be!” Madame promised and hurried from the room to finish her toilet in the kitchen.
“Fortunately,” M. Brisson muttered, “the fire is laid!”
Then, having held his collar to the light and decided it was clean enough, he buttoned it about his neck, attached his shiny, ready-made tie, donned his little white coat, picked up the candle, and left the room. Passing along the corridor to the front of the house, he tapped at a door.
“Who is there?” called a rough voice.
“Your coffee will be ready in twenty minutes, sir,” said Brisson.
“Very well, and thank you,” said the voice. Brisson descended to the dining room, opened the shutters, lit the lamp, and spread the cloth.
He was contemplating his handiwork, his head to one side, when heavy steps sounded on the stairs, and a moment later, two men entered. They were both of middle age, somewhat stocky and heavily built, their hair close-cropped, their faces smooth-shaven and deeply tanned. They had, indeed, that indurated look that only years of exposure to wind and rain can give, except that their upper lips were some shades lighter than the remainder of the face, betraying the fact that they had, until recently, been protected by a moustache. They were dressed in somewhat shabby tweed walking suits and wore heavy, well-worn shoes. At this moment, each carried in his hand a little knapsack.
M. Brisson greeted them bent double, hoped they had slept well, foretold a fine day, and assured them that coffee would be ready soon.
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Burton E. Stevenson
Burton Egbert Stevenson (1872–1962) was an American author, anthologist, and librarian.
Biography.
He was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, on 9 November 1872 and attended Princeton University from 1890–1893. He married Elizabeth Shepard Butler (1869–1960) in 1895. He died on May 13, 1962, and was buried in Chillicothe, Ohio. While at Princeton, Stevenson was a correspondent for the United Press and the New York Tribune. He was city editor for the Chillicothe Daily News (1894–1898) and worked for the Daily Advertiser (1898–1899). Stevenson became director of the Chillicothe Public Library in 1899 and held that position for 58 years.
Stevenson was well known for his war efforts. At Camp Sherman, located in Chillicothe, Ohio, he established a library of 40,000 volumes and 22 branches. The Camp Sherman library was said to be a model for national efforts to develop such libraries. In 1918, as Director of French operations for the Library War Service, he helped found what would grow to become the American Library in Paris. He was the director of this ALA outpost from 1918 until the library was privatized in 1920, and he returned from 1925 to 1930. He was then made European director of the American Library Association`s Library War Service, a position he held for seven years.
Burton E. Stevenson
