Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/123

 Ever since Corbitt's letter came into the hands of those responsible for the anti-peer campaign, Lord Stranleigh, his capable secretary, and even the dignified Ponderby, his lordship's valet, had been under strict espionage. The moment Blake developed his plan to the first man, that man, after listening and catching the drift of the scheme, apparently aided the secretary by supplying the addresses of numerous orators, but after Blake's departure there was quick work on the telephone. Headquarters was informed, and from there went out instructions to the whole list of those likely to be called on by Stranleigh's agents.

Next morning the anti-peer newspapers spread the news of the "vile plot," as they called it, over their pages and over Britain. Sign-board headlines, done in the biggest type by the blackest ink, blazoned the conspiracy of money to all the world. The head-quarters' staff of the anti-peer party completely misapprehended Stranleigh's intention. They never guessed that he purposed to deliver one or other of the speeches, but credited him with a foolhardy attempt to create an anti-peer corner in eloquence by purchasing from the speakers copyright in their lectures. The true villainy of the intrigue was made manifest when the newspapers