Page:Arthur Stringer - Gun Runner.djvu/110

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94
THE PAWN AND THE BOARD

not lift from her cheek until she began to speak again.

"You want me to explain everything?" she asked.

"Everything!"

"The man who was in this room is Kaiser Ganley—King-maker Ganley they call him everywhere south of Guatemala. His business is to make revolutions. He has agents in almost every one of the Central American republics, in New York, in Cuba, in New Orleans—everywhere. When he sees signs of unrest he sends a man to strike a bargain with the enemies of the government. He waits like a buzzard on a housetop until his meal is ready. Then he is given money, and he brings so many men and so many carbines, and so many mules and machine guns. Sometimes it's for the patriots, sometimes it's for railway charters or for mine rights. Sometimes it's for rubber and coffee concessions. A more conciliatory man must be made dictator, or a more dependable friend must be set up as president. That's the way he won the Caqueta Asphalt concession; that's why he never dares land in Brazil or be seen in Venezuela again."

She paused for a moment. Then she added:

"And now he has the rebellion in Locombia. The Locombian president has been called the