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diff --git a/6948-h/6948-h.htm b/6948-h/6948-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df2524c --- /dev/null +++ b/6948-h/6948-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9153 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> + <title>The Secrets of the German War Office</title> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> + <meta name="keywords" content="spy, german, war, office, secrets"> + <meta name="rating" content="General"> + <meta name="robots" content="all"> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + BODY { background: white; + margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; } + P.indent { text-indent: 3mm; text-align: justify; } + P.letter { text-align: justify; font-size: small; } + P.letterin { text-indent: 3mm; text-align: justify; + font-size: small; } + P.letterrt { text-indent: 3mm; text-align: right; + font-size: small; } + P.center { text-align: center; } + P.subtitle { text-align: center; font-size: large; + font-weight: bold; } + P.right { text-align: right; } + H1 { text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; } + H2 { text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; } + H3 { text-align: center; margin-top: 1em; + font-weight: normal } + DIV.center { text-align: center; } + TD { padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; } + TD.left { text-align: left; } + TD.right { text-align: right; } + TD.center { text-align: center; } + --> + </style> +</head> + +<body> + +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Secrets of the German War Office +by Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Secrets of the German War Office + +Author: Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6948] +[This file was first posted on February 17, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SECRETS OF THE GERMAN WAR OFFICE *** + + + + + +</pre> + +<p>This eBook was produced by Gordon Keener. +<br>HTML version by Robert J. Hall + +</p><br /><br /><br /><br /> + +<div class="center"> +<table border=0 class="center" width="380"> +<tr><td class="center"><img src="fig001a.jpg" width="375" + height="272" alt="Fig. 1a"></td> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"><img src="fig001b.jpg" width="376" + height="287" alt="Fig. 1b"></td> +<tr><td class="center">DR. GRAVES SECRET SERVICE CARD</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center">"Udo von Wedell" is the secret service + signature of Count Botho von Wedell, privy Counsellor to the + Kaiser</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center">The seal is visible from the front when + held to the light</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<h1> +THE SECRETS OF THE +GERMAN WAR OFFICE +</h1> + +<p class="center"> +By<br>DR. ARMGAARD KARL GRAVES +</p> + +<p class="center"> +with the collaboration of<br>EDWARD LYELL FOX +</p> + +<h2> +FOREWORD +</h2> + +<p class="indent"> +In view of the general war into which Europe has been precipitated +just at the moment of going to press, it is of particular interest to +note that the completed manuscript of this book has been in the hands +of the publishers since June 1st. Further comment on Dr. Graves' +qualifications to speak authoritatively is unnecessary; the chapters +that follow are a striking commentary on his sources of information. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +THE PUBLISHERS +</p> + +<p>August 7, 1914.</p> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table border=0 cellspacing=0> +<tr><td colspan=2>CHAPTER</td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">I</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#I">HOW I BECAME A SECRET + AGENT</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">II</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#II">THE MAKING OF A SECRET + AGENT</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">III</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#III">INTO THE EAST</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">IV</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#IV">AT THE SUBLIME + PORTE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">V</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#V">THE GRAND DUKE'S + LETTER</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">VI</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#VI">THE INTRIGUE AT MONTE + CARLO</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">VII</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#VII">THE KAISER PREVENTS A + WAR</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">VIII</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#VIII">THE ISOLATION OF + FRANCE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">IX</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#IX">IN THE BALKAN + COUNTRY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">X</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#X">MY MISSION AND BETRAYAL IN + ENGLAND</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">XI</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#XI">TO NEW YORK FOR + ENGLAND</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">XII</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#XII">"THE GERMAN WAR + MACHINE"</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="right">XIII</td> + <td class="left"><a href="#XIII">ARMING FOR PEACE OR + WAR</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<h2>THE ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<table border=0> +<tr><td>Dr. Graves Secret Service Card</td></tr> +<tr><td>Kaiser Wilhelm II</td></tr> +<tr><td>Reproduction of a fateful piece of Count von Wedel's + handwriting</td></tr> +<tr><td>General von Heeringen</td></tr> +<tr><td>General von Moltke</td></tr> +</table> + +<h2><a name="I">I</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">HOW I BECAME A SECRET AGENT</p> + +<p class="center"> +<i>"O Jerum, jerum, jerum, quâ motatio rerum."</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Half past three was heard booming from some clock tower on the twelfth +day of June, 1913, when Mr. King, the Liberal representative from +Somerset, was given the floor in the House of Commons. Mr. King +proceeded to make a sensation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He demanded that McKinnon Wood, the House Secretary for Scotland, +reveal to the House the secrets of the strange case of Armgaard +Karl Graves, German spy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A brief word of explanation may be necessary. Supposed to be serving +a political sentence in a Scotch prison, I had amazed the English +press and people by publicly announcing my presence in New York City. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mr. King asked if I was still undergoing imprisonment for espionage; +if not, when and why I was released and whether I had been or +would be deported at the end of my term of imprisonment as an +undesirable alien. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Permit me to quote verbatim from the Edinburgh <i>Scotsman</i> +of June 12, 1913: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The SECRETARY FOR SCOTLAND replied--Graves was released in December +last. It would not be in accordance with precedent to state reasons +for the exercise of the prerogative. I have no official knowledge of +his nationality. The sentence did not include any recommendation in +favor of deportation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +MR. KING--Was he released because of the state of his health? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The SECRETARY FOR SCOTLAND--I believe he was in bad health, but +I cannot give any other answer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +MR. KING--Were any conditions imposed at the time of his release? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +THE SECRETARY FOR SCOTLAND--I think I have dealt with that in my +answer. (Cries of "No.") +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +MR. KING--Can the right hon. gentleman be a little more explicit? +(Laughter.) We are anxious to have the truth. Unless the right +hon. gentleman can give me an explicit answer as to whether any +conditions were imposed I will put down the question again. +(Laughter.) +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The SPEAKER intervened at this stage, and the subject dropped. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Heckling began at this point; word was quickly sent to the Speaker, +and he intervened, ruling the subject closed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Now consider the Secretary for Scotland's statement. "It would not be +in accordance with precedent to state reasons for the exercise of +prerogative." In other words, high officials in England had found it +advisable secretly to release me from Barlinney Prison by using the +royal prerogative. Why? Later you will know. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Also, consider the Secretary for Scotland's statement that he had +no official knowledge as to my <i>nationality</i>--significant +that, as you will realize. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are three things which do not concern the reader: My origin, +nationality and morals. There are three persons alive who know who I +am. One of the three is the greatest ruler in the world. None of the +three, for reasons of his own, is likely to reveal my identity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I detest sensationalism and wish it clearly understood that this is no +studied attempt to create mystery. There is a certain dead line which +no one can cross with impunity and none but a fool would attempt to. +Powerful governments have found it advisable to keep silence regarding +my antecedents. A case in point occurred when McKinnon Wood, +Secretary for Scotland, refused in the House of Commons to give any +information whatsoever about me, this after pressure had been brought +to bear on him by three members of Parliament. Either the Home +Secretary knew nothing about my antecedents, or his trained discretion +counseled silence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was brought up in the traditions of a house actively engaged in the +affairs of its country, for hundreds of years. As an only son, I was +promptly and efficiently spoiled for anything else but the station in +life which should have been mine--but never has been and, now, never +can be. I used to have high aspirations, but promises never kept +shattered most of my ideals. The hard knocks of life have made me a +fatalist, so now I shrug my shoulders. <i>"Che sara sara."</i> I have +had to lead my own life and, all considered, I have enjoyed it. I have +crowded into thirty-nine years more sensations than fall to the lot of +the average half a dozen men. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Following the custom of our house, I was trained as a military cadet. +This military apprenticeship was followed by three years at a famous +<i>gymnasium</i>, which fitted me for one of the old classic universities +of Europe. And after spending six semesters there, I took my degrees +in philosophy and medicine. Not a bad achievement, I take it, for a +young chap before reaching his twenty-second birthday. I have always +been fond of study and had a special aptitude for sciences and the +languages. On one occasion I acquired a fair knowledge of Singalese +and Tamul in three months. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the university I returned home. I had always been obstinate and +willful, not to say pigheaded, and being steeped in tales of wrongs +done to my house and country, and with the crass assurance of a young +sprig fresh from untrammeled university life, I began to give vent to +utterances that were not at all to the liking of the powers that were. +Soon making myself objectionable, paying no heed to their protests, +and one thing leading to another, my family found it advisable to send +me into utter and complete oblivion. To them I am dead, and all said +and done, I would rather have it so. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After the complete rupture of my home ties, I began some desultory +globe trotting. I knocked about in out-of-the-way corners, where I +observed and absorbed all sorts of things which became very useful in +my subsequent career. A native, and by that I mean an inhabitant, of +non-European countries always fascinated me, and I soon learned the +way of disarming their suspicion and winning their confidence--a +proceeding very difficult to a European. After a time I found myself +in Australia and New Zealand, where I traveled extensively, and came +to like both countries thoroughly. I have never been in the western +part of the United States, but from what I have heard and read I +imagine that the life there more closely resembles the clean, healthy, +outdoor life of the Australians than any other locality. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was just on the point of beginning extensive travels in the South +Sea Islands, when the situation in South Africa became ominous. War +seemed imminent, and following my usual bent of sticking my nose in +where I was not wanted I made tracks for this potential seat of +trouble. I caught the first steamer for Cape Town landing there a +month before the outbreak of war. On horseback I made my way in easy +stages up to the Rand. Here happened one of those incidents, which, +although small in itself, alters the course of one's life. What took +place when I rode into a small town on the Rand known as Doorn Kloof +one chilly misty morning, was written in the bowl of fate. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Doorn Kloof is well named; it means "the hoof of the Devil." A +straggling collection of corrugated iron shanties set in the middle of +a grayish sandy plain as barren of vegetation as the shores of the +Dead Sea, sweltering hot an hour after sunrise, chilly cold an hour +after sunset, populated by about four hundred Boers of the old +narrow-minded ultra Dutch type with as much imagination as a +grasshopper--that is Doorn Kloof. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When I rode into the village I was in a decidedly bad temper. Hungry, +wet to the skin, the dismal aspect of the place, the absence of +anything resembling a hotel, the incivility of the inhabitants, all +contributed to shorten my, by no means long, temper. I was ripe for a +row. As I rode down the solitary street I found a big burly <i>Dopper</i> +flogging brutally a half-grown native boy. This humanitarian had the +usual Boer view that the sambrock is more effective than the Bible as +a civilizing medium. After convincing him of the technical error of +his method, I attended to the black boy, whose back was as raw as a +beefsteak. Kim completely adopted me and he is with me still. I +christened him Kim, after Kipling's hero, for his Basuto name is +unpronounceable. He has repaid me often for what he considers the +saving or his life. Not many months later Kim was the unconscious +cause of a radical change in my destiny. I have ceased to wonder at +such things. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By the time Kim had learned some of the duties of a body servant we +had reached Port Natal. War had broken out and I volunteered with a +Natal field force in a medical capacity. Field hospital work took me +where the fighting was thickest. During the battle of the Modder +River among the first of the wounded brought in was one of the many +foreign officers fighting on the Boer side. It was Kim who found him. +This officer's wound was fairly serious and necessitated close +attention. Through chance remarks dropped here and there, the officer +placed my identity correctly. It developed that he was Major Freiherr +von Reitzenstein, one of the few who knew the real reasons of my +exile. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In one of our innumerable chats that grew out of our growing intimacy, +he suggested my entering the service of Germany in a political +capacity. He urged that with my training and social connections I had +exceptional equipment for such work. Moreover, he suggested that my +service on political missions would give me the knowledge and +influence necessary to checkmate the intriguers who were keeping me +from my own. This was the compelling reason that made me ultimately +accept his proposal to become a Secret Agent of Germany. No doubt, if +the Count had lived, I would have gained my ends through his guidance +and influence, but he was killed in a riding race, three years after +our meeting in the Veldt, and I lost my best friend. By that time I +was too deep in the Secret Service to pull out, although it was my +intention more than once to do so. And certain promises regarding my +restoration in our house were never kept. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Coming to a partial understanding with Count Reitzenstein, I began to +work in his interests. The Boer War taught Germany many things about +the English army and a few of these I contributed. As a physician I +was allowed to go most anywhere and no questions asked. I began to +collect little inside scraps of information regarding the discipline, +spirit and equipment of the British troops. I observed that many +Colonial officers were outspoken in their criticisms. All these +points I reported in full to Count Reitzenstein when I dressed his +wound. One day he said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Don't forget now. After the war, I want to see you in Berlin." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In my subsequent eagerness to pump more details from the Colonial +officers, I too criticised, and one day I was told Lord Kitchener +wanted to see me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Doctor," he said curtly, when I was ushered into his tent, "you +have twenty-four hours in which to leave camp--" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Whether that mandate was a result of my joining in with the Colonial +officers' criticism, or because my secret activity for Count +Reitzenstein had been suspected, I cannot say. But knowing the ways +of the "man of Khartoum," I made haste to be out of camp within the +time prescribed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Later I learned that the Count, being convalescent and paroled, was +sent down to Cape Town. After the occupation of Pretoria, I got tired +of roughing it and made my way back to Europe, finally locating in +Berlin for a prolonged stay. I knew Berlin, and had a fondness for +it, having spent part of my youth there in the course of my education. +It has always been a habit of mine not to seem anxious about anything, +so I spent several weeks idling around Berlin before looking up Count +Reitzenstein. One day I called at his residence, Thiergartenstrasse +23. I found the Count on the point of leaving for the races at +Hoppegarten. He was one of the crack sportsmen of Prussia and never +missed a meeting. He suggested that I go to the track with him, and +while we waited for the servant to bring around his turn-out, he +renewed his proposals about my entering Prussian service. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I expected you long ago," he said. "I have smoothed your way to a +great extent. We are likely to meet one or two of the Service Chiefs +out at the track, this afternoon. If you like, I'll introduce you to +them." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Is there any likelihood of my being recognized?" I asked. "You know, +Count, it will be impossible for me to go under my true flag." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He assured me there was not the slightest chance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Your identity," he explained, "need be known to but one person." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Later I was to know who this important personage was. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Very well," I agreed; "we'll try it." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Count always drove his own turn-out, and invited me to climb up +on the box. When his attention was not occupied with his reins and +returning the salutes of passers-by, for he was one of the most +popular men in Berlin, we discussed my private affairs. The Count +showed a keen interest and sympathy in them and his proposal began to +take favorable shape in my mind. As he predicted, we met some of the +Service Chiefs at the track. Indeed, almost the first persons who +saluted him in the saddle paddock were Captain Zur See von Tappken and +a gentleman who was introduced to me as Herr von Riechter. The Count +introduced me as Dr. von Graver, which I subsequently altered whenever +the occasion arose to the English Graves. After chatting a bit, +Captain von Tappken made an appointment with me at his bureau in the +Koenigergratzerstrasse 70, the headquarters of the Intelligence +Department of the Imperial Navy in Berlin, but made no further +reference to the subject that afternoon. I noticed though that Herr +von Riechter put some pointed and leading questions to me, regarding +my travels, linguistic attainments, and general knowledge. He must +have been satisfied, for I saw some significant glances pass between +him and the Captain. The repeated exclamations of "Grossartig!" and +"Colossal!" seemed to express his entire satisfaction. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Following my usual bent, I did not call at Koenigergratzerstrasse 70 +as the Captain suggested. About three days passed and then I received +a very courteously worded letter requesting me to call at my earliest +convenience at his quarters as he had something of importance to tell +me. I called. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Koenigergratzerstrasse 70 is a typical Prussian building of +administration. Solid but unpretentious, it is the very embodiment +of Prussian efficiency, and like all official buildings in Germany +is well guarded. The doorkeeper and commissaire, a taciturn +non-commissioned officer, takes your name and whom you wish to see. +He enters these later in a book, then telephones to the person +required and you are either ushered up or denied admittance. When +sent up, you are invariably accompanied by an orderly--it does not +matter how well you are known--who does not leave you until the door +has closed behind you. When you leave, there is the same procedure +and the very duration of your visit is entered and checked in the +doorkeeper's book. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was admitted immediately. After passing through three anterooms +containing private secretaries not in uniform, I was shown into +Captain von Tappken's private office. He wore the undress ranking +uniform of the Imperial Navy. This is significant, for it is +characteristic of all the branches of the Prussian Service to find +officers in charge. The secretaries and men of all work, however, are +civilians; this for a reason. The heads of all departments are German +officers, recruited from the old feudal aristocracy, loyal to a degree +to the throne. They find it incompatible, notwithstanding their +loyalty, to soil their hands with some of the work connected with all +government duties, especially those of the Secret Service. Though +planning the work, they never execute it. To be sure, there are +ex-officers connected with the Secret Service, men like von Zenden, +formerly an officer of the Zweiter Garde Dragoner, but with some few +exceptions they are usually men who have gone to smash. No active or +commissioned officer does Secret Service work. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Von Tappken greeted me very tactfully. This is another typical asset +of a Prussian Service officer, especially a naval man, and is quite +contrary to the usual characteristics of English officials, whose +brusqueness is too well and unpleasantly known. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After offering me a chair and cigars, Captain von Tappken began +chatting. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Doctor," he said, "have you made up your mind to enter our +Service? For a man fond of traveling and adventure, I promise you +will find it tremendously interesting. I have carefully considered +your equipment and experience and find that they will be of mutual +benefit." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I asked him to explain what would be required of me, but he replied: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Before my entering upon that, are you adverse to telling me if +you have made up your mind to enter the Service?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was a fair question, and I replied: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, provided nothing will be directly required of me that is +against all ethics." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I noticed a peculiar smile crossing his features. Then, looking me +straight between the eyes and using the sharp, incisive language of +a German official, he declared: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We make use of the same weapons that are used against us. We cannot +afford to be squeamish. The interests at stake are too vast to let +personal ethical questions stand in the way. What would be required +of you in the first instance, is to gain for us information such as +we seek. The means by which you gain this information will be left +entirely to your own discretion. We expect results. We place our +previous knowledge on the subject required, at your disposal. You +will have our organization to assist you, but you must understand that +we cannot and will not be able to extricate you from any trouble in +which you may become involved. Be pleased to understand this clearly. +This service is dangerous, and no official assistance or help could be +given under any circumstances." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To my cost, I later found this to be the truth. So far, so good. +Captain von Tappken had neglected to mention financial inducements and +I put the question to him. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He replied promptly: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"That depends entirely on the service performed. In the first +instance you will receive a retaining fee of 4000 marks ($1000) a +year. You will be allowed 10 marks ($2.50) a day for living expenses, +whether in active service or not. For each individual piece of work +undertaken you will receive a bonus, the amount of which will vary +with the importance of the mission. Living expenses accruing while +out on work must not exceed 40 marks ($10) a day. The amount of the +bonus you are to receive for a mission will in each case be determined +in advance. There is one other thing. One-third of all moneys +accruing to you will be kept in trust for you at the rate of 5 per +cent. interest." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I laughed and said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Captain, I can take care of my own money." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He permitted the shadow of a smile to play around his mouth. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You may be able to," he said, "but most of our agents cannot. We +have this policy for two reasons: In the first place, it gives us a +definite hold upon our men. Secondly, we have found that unless we +save some money for our agents, they never save any for themselves. +In the event of anything happening to an agent who leaves a family or +other relatives, the money is handed over to them." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I later cursed that rule, for when I was captured in England +there were 30,000 marks ($7,500) due me at the Wilhelmstrasse +and I can whistle for it now. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Captain von Tappken looked at me inquiringly, but I hesitated. It +was not on account of monetary causes, but for peculiarly private +reasons--the dilemma of one of our house becoming a spy. The Captain, +unaware of the personal equation that was obsessing me before giving +my word, evidently thought that his financial inducements were not +alluring enough. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Of course," he continued, "this scale of pay is only the beginning. +As your use to us and the importance of your missions increases, so +will your remuneration. That depends entirely on you." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He raised his eyebrows inquiringly. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Very well," I said. "I accept." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He held out his hand. "You made up your mind quickly." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It is my way, Captain. I take a thing or leave it." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"That's what I like, Doctor; a quick, decisive mind." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That seemed to please him. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Very well. To be of use to us, you will need a lot of technical +coaching. Are you ready to start tomorrow?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Now, Captain." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Very good," he said, "but to-morrow will do. Be here at ten A. M. +Then give us daily as much of your time as we require." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He called in one of his secretaries, gave him command briefly +and in a few minutes the man was back with an order for three +hundred marks. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"This, Doctor, is your first month's living expenses. Retaining fees +are paid quarterly." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As I pocketed the check I remarked: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Captain, personally we are total strangers. How is it that you seem +so satisfied with me?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Again his peculiar smile was noticeable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"That is outside our usual business procedure," he said. "I have my +instructions from above and I simply act on them." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was young then, and curious so I asked: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Who are those above and what are their instructions?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No sooner had I put that question than I learned my first lesson in +the Secret Service. All traces of genial friendliness vanished from +von Tappken's face. It was stern and serious. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"My boy," he said slowly, "learn this from the start and learn it +well. Do not ask questions. Do not talk. Think! You will soon +learn that there are many unwritten laws attached to this Service." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I never forgot that. It was my first lesson in Secret Service. +</p> + +<h2><a name="II">II</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">THE MAKING OF A SECRET AGENT</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The average man or woman has only a hazy idea what European Secret +Service and Espionage really means and accomplishes. Short stories +and novels, written in a background of diplomacy and secret agents, +have given the public vague impressions about the world of spies. But +this is the first real unvarnished account of the system; the class of +men and women employed; the means used to obtain the desired results +and the risks run by those connected with this service. Since the +days of Moses who employed spies in Canaan, to Napoleon Bonaparte, who +inaugurated the first thorough system of political espionage, +potentates, powerful ministers and heads of departments have found it +necessary to obtain early and correct information other than through +the usual official channels. To gain this knowledge they have to +employ persons unknown and unrecognized in official circles. A +recognized official such as an ambassador or a secretary of legation, +envoys plenipotentiary and consuls, would not be able to gain the +information sought, as naturally everybody is on their guard against +them. Moreover, official etiquette prevents an ambassador or consul +from acting in such a capacity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In this age of rapid developments the need of quick and accurate +information is even more pressing. Europe to-day is a sort of armed +camp, composed of a number of nations of fairly equal strength, in +which the units are more or less afraid of each other. Mutual +distrust and conflicting interests compel Germany, England, France and +Russia to spend billions of money each year on armaments. Germany +builds one battleship; England lays down two; France adds ten +battalions to her army; Germany adds twenty. So the relative strength +keeps on a fair level. But with rapid constructions, new inventions +of weapons, armor, aërial craft, this apparent equality is +constantly disturbed. Here also enters the personal policy and +ambitions and pet schemes of the individual heads of nations and +their cabinets. Because there is a constant fear of being outdistanced, +every government in Europe is trying its utmost to get ahead of the +other. They, hence, keep a stringent watch on each other's movements. +This is possible only by an efficient system of espionage, by trained +men and women, willing to run the risks attached to this sort of work. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border=0 width="375" class="center"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig002.jpg" width="371" height="608" alt="Fig. 2"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center">KAISER WILHELM II</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center">The visible head of Germany's mighty war +machine is called Der Grosse General Stab, but the real directing +genius is the Emperor himself</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +For risks there are. I have been imprisoned twice, once in the +Balkans at Belgrade, once in England. I have been attacked five times +and bear the marks of the wounds to this day. Escapes I have had by +the dozen. All my missions were not successes, more often, failures, +and the failures are often fatal. For instance: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Early in the morning of June 11, 1903, the plot which had been brewing +in Servia ended with the assassination of the king, queen, ministers +and members of the royal household of Servia. I shall not go into the +undercurrent political significance of these atrocities as I had no +active part in them, but I was sent down by my government later to +ascertain as far as possible the prime movers in the intrigue which +pointed to Colonel Mashin and a gang of officers of the Sixth +Regiment. All these regicides received Russian pay, for King +Alexander had become dangerous to Russia, because of his flirting +with Austria. Besides, his own idiotic behavior and the flagrant +indiscretions of Queen Draga had by no means endeared him to his +people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I stuck my nose into a regular hornets' nest and soon found myself +in a most dangerous position. I was arrested by the provisional +government on the order of Lieutenant Colonel Niglitsch on a most +flimsy charge of traveling with false passports. In those times +arrests and executions were the order of the day. The old Servian +proverb of "Od Roba Ikad Iz Groba Nikad" (Out of prison, yes; out +of the grave, never) was fully acted upon. There were really no +incriminating papers of any description upon me, but my being seen +and associating with persons opposed to the provisional government +was quite enough to place me before a drumhead court-martial. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was sitting in the Café Petit Parisien with Lieutenant +Nikolevitch and Mons Krastov, a merchant of Belgrade, when a file of +soldiers in charge of an officer pulled us out of our chairs and without +any further ado marched us to the Citadel. The next morning we were +taken separately into a small room where three men in the uniform of +colonels were seated at a small iron table. No questions were asked. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You are found guilty of associating with revolutionary persons. You +were found possessing a passport not your own. You are sentenced to +be shot at sundown." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The whole thing appeared to me first as a joke, then as a bluff, +but looking closely into those high-cheekboned, narrow-eyed faces +with the characteristically close-cropped brutal heads, the humorous +aspect dwindled rapidly and I thought it about time to make a +counter move. Without betraying any of my inward qualms--and +believe me, I began to have some--I said quietly: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I think you will find it advisable to inform M. Zolarevitch" +(then minister of War) "that Count Weringrode sends his regards." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I saw them looking rather curiously at each other and then the +center inquisitor fired a lot of questions at me, in answer to +which I only shrugged my shoulders. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"That's all I have to say, monsieur." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was shoved back in my cell. About four that afternoon one of the +officers came to see me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Your message has not been sent. My comrades were against sending it, +but I am related to Zolarevitch. So if you can show me some reason, I +shall take your message." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I gave him some reason. So much so that he did not lose any time +getting under way. In fact, it was a very pale, perturbed officer who +rushed out of my cell. I didn't worry much, but when at about 7.30 +the cell door opened and two sentries with fixed bayonets and +cartridge pouches entered, placed me in the center and marched me into +the courtyard, where ten more likewise equipped soldiers in charge of +an officer awaited me, I felt somewhat green. I know a firing squad +when I see one. I knew if my message ever reached responsible +quarters, nothing could happen to me; but these were motley times and +all sorts of delays may have happened to the officer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Right about wheel" and myself in the center, we marched out +of the courtyard to a little hill to the west of the Citadel. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +An old stone building--probably a decayed monastery, for I noticed +several crumbled tombstones--was evidently selected for the place of +execution. On a little rough, four-foot, stone wall we halted, and +the officer, pulling out a document, began reading to me a rather +lengthy preamble in Servian. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Up to then not a word had been spoken. I let him finish and then +politely requested him, as I was not a Serb and consequently did not +understand his lingo, to translate it into a civilized language, +preferably German or French. He seemed somewhat startled and gave me +to understand that he was led to believe I was a Serb. I used some +very forcible German and French, both of which he was able to +understand, pointing out to him that someone, somewhere, made a +thundering big blunder which somehow would have to be paid for. He +was clearly ill at ease, but said, "I have to obey my instructions." +I had told him of my message to the minister, and although it was +quite obvious I was sparring for time he seemed in no way inclined to +rush the execution. Five minutes went; ten minutes went and looking +at his watch, which showed five minutes to eight (although it was fast +getting dusk, I could see that watch-dial distinctly), shrugging his +shoulders and saying, "I can delay no longer," he called a sergeant, +who placed me with my shoulders to the wall and offered me a +handkerchief. I didn't want a handkerchief. A few sharp orders and +twelve Mauser tubes pointed their ugly black snouts directly at me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I hate to tell my sensation just then. Frankly, I felt nothing +clearly. The only thing I remember distinctly was the third man in +the second file held his gun in rather a slipshod manner, aiming it +first at my midriff, next pointing it at my nose--which strangely +enough caused me intense annoyance. How long we stood thus I don't +know. The next thing I remember was a rattle of grounding arms and +the sight of two other officers, excitedly gesticulating with the one +in charge of the firing squad. All three presently came towards me +and one pulling out a flask of cognac with a polite bow offered me a +drink. I needed it; but didn't take it. All this time I had been +standing motionless with my arms folded across my breast. I heard one +say to the other, "Nitchka Curacha" (no coward). If he had only +known. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Indeed, had I anticipated such an experience, had I known the things I +know now I doubt if I would have been so pleased with the results of +my first visit to Koenigergratzerstrasse 70, where the Intelligence +Department of the German Admiralty is quartered. Will the reader step +back with me in the narrative to the day of my officially joining the +Service? Returning to my hotel after my interview with Captain von +Tappken in his office, I began to reflect. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had not entered the Service out of pure adventure or for monetary +reasons alone. Money has never appealed to me as the all-powerful +thing in life. I have always had enough for creature comforts and as +for adventure I had had my fill during the Boer War and my world +wanderings. No, I had joined the German Secret Service for quite a +different reason. I was thinking of the influences that had pressed +me out of my destined groove, by every human right my own. I remember +how sanguine Count Reitzenstein was that through the Service I ought +to gain the power I had lost. But as I sat in the hotel room had +occult powers been given me, I never would have taken up Secret +Service work. But one is not quite as wise at twenty-four as at +thirty-nine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Well satisfied with my prospects, I arose early the next morning and +walked briskly to Captain Tappken's office. Punctually at ten o'clock +I announced myself at the Admiralty and after the usual procedure with +the door man, I was received by Herr von Stammer, private secretary of +Captain Tappken. A very astute and calculating gentleman is Herr von +Stammer. Suave, genial, talkative, he has the plausible and unstudied +art of extracting information without committing himself in turn. A +marvelous encyclopædia of devious Secret Service facts, an ideal +tutor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When we were alone in his office, von Stammer began by saying +abruptly: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"From now on, you must be entirely and absolutely at our Service. You +will report daily at twelve noon by telephoning a certain number. At +all times you must be accessible. You will pay close attention to the +following rules: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Absolute silence in regard to your missions. No conversation with +minor officials but only with the respective heads of departments or +to whomever you are sent. You will make no memoranda nor carry +written documents. You will never discuss your affairs with any +employee in the Service whom you may meet. You are not likely to meet +many. It is strictly against the rules to become friendly or intimate +with any agent. You must abstain from intoxicating liquors. You are +not permitted to have any women associates. You will be known to us +by a number. You will sign all your reports by that number. Always +avoid telephoning, telegraphing and cabling as much as possible. In +urgent cases do so, but use the cipher that will be supplied to you." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He went on to give numerous other minor details and instructions, +elaborating the system, but which might prove wearisome here. I was +in his office all the forenoon, and when he ushered me out I half +expected to be called into von Tappken's presence to be sent on my +first mission. Instead of that, I had to wait five months before I +was given my first work and an exceedingly unimportant thing it was. +During those five months I was kept at a steady grind of schooling in +certain things. Day after day, week after week, I was grounded in +subjects that were essential to efficient Secret Service work. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Broadly, they could be divided into four classes--topography, +trigonometry, naval construction and drawing. The reasons for these +you will see from my missions. My tutors were all experts in the +Imperial Service. A Secret Service agent sent out to investigate and +report on the condition, situation, and armament of a fort like Verdun +in France must be able to make correct estimates of distances, height, +angles, conditions of the ground, etc. This can only be done by a man +of the correct scientific training. He must have the science of +topography at his finger tips; he must be able to make quick and +accurate calculations using trigonometry, as well as possessing skill +as a draftsman. In my mission to Port Arthur, where I had to report +on the defenses, I found this training invaluable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The same applies to the subject of naval construction. Before +entering the German Secret Service, I certainly knew the difference +between a torpedo and a torpedo boat destroyer, but naturally could +not give an accurate description of the various types of destroyers +and torpedoes. My instructor in this subject was Lieutenant Captain +Kurt Steffens, torpedo expert of the Intelligence Department of the +Imperial Navy. After a month of tutelage under him, I was able to +tell the various types of torpedoes, submarines, and mines, etc., in +use by the principal Powers. I could even tell by the peculiar +whistle it made whether the torpedo that was being discharged was a +Whitehead or a Brennan. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was also drilled in the construction of every known kind of naval +gun. Dozens of model war-crafts were shown to me and explained. I +saw the model of every warship in the world. For days at a time I was +made to sit before charts that hung from the walls of certain rooms in +the Intelligence Department and study the silhouettes of every known +varying type of war-craft. I was schooled in this until I could tell +at a glance what type of a battleship, cruiser, or destroyer it was, +whether it was peculiar to the English, French, Russian or United +States Navy. As I shall show in relating one of my missions to +England, I was brushed up on the silhouette study of British warships, +for I had to be able to discern and classify them at long range. The +different ranking officers of the navies of the world, their uniforms, +the personnel of battleships, the systems of flag signals, and codes, +were explained to me in detail. I was given large books in which were +colored plates of the uniforms and signal flags of every navy in the +world. I had to study these until at a glance I could tell the rank +and station of the officers and men of the principal navies. The same +with the signal flags. I pored over those books night after night +into the early hours of the morning. My regular hours for tuition +were from ten to twelve in the forenoon and from two until six in the +afternoon. But it was impossible to compress all the work into that +time. I was anxious to get my first mission, and I presume I did a +great deal of cramming. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My study was not all in Berlin. I spent most of my time there at +Koenigergratzerstrasse 70 and at the Zeughaus, the great museum of the +German General Staff. But there were side trips to the big government +works at Kiel and Wilhelmshafen. There I was taught every detail of +the mechanics of naval construction and I was not pronounced equipped +until I could talk intelligently about every unassembled part of a +gun, torpedo tube, or mine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the course of my five months' instruction under the various experts +of the Prussian Service I had many opportunities to observe the +exhaustive thoroughness and the minuteness of detail which the German +General Staff possesses. I did not lose the chance of this +opportunity. I really did observe and see more than was intended for +me to see. Of the amazing amount of labor, time and money that has +been spent to gather the information contained in the secret archives +of the German General Staff, the marvelous system of war that has been +perfected in the German Empire, I shall tell when I consider the +secrets of the War Machine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Naturally, I soon came to know still other things than what they +taught me. I began to consider the whole proposition of Secret +Service, and before relating my first important mission for Germany I +shall tell you some of the general secrets of the System. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are four systems of Secret Service in Europe, the four leading +powers each possessing one. First in systematic efficiency is the +German, next comes the Russian, then the French, and English. England +has a very efficient service in India and her Asiatic possessions, but +has only lately entered the European field. Last but not least comes +the International Secret Service Bureau with headquarters in Belgium, +a semi-private concern which procures reliable information for anyone +who will pay for it. This service is generally entrusted with the +procuring of technical details, such as the plans of a new kind of gun +or data on a new and minor fortification. Mr. Vance Thompson has also +cited special missions like this one that follows. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not often does the chance come to leave the regular channels of +espionage and go forth upon a mission out of the ordinary. That +chance came a few years ago to the Russian agents in Brussels. In +St. Petersburg the chiefs were desirous of knowing the identity and +names of a group of revolutionists who had formed a sort of colony in +Montreux, Switzerland. A French woman, known sometimes as Theresa +Prevost (the last I heard of her she was in prison) was detailed to +the mission. Young and clever was Theresa; likewise the man who was +ordered to accompany her, posing as a "brother," Charles Prevost. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The chief of these Russian fugitives, who were down around the lake of +Geneva, brewing their dark plans, was known. He was Goluckoffsky, and +he had a son twenty-two years of age--an impressionable Russian son. +Hence the young and pretty Theresa. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was decided by her Brussels chiefs that she assume the rôle of +an heiress from Canada. Five thousand francs for preliminary expenses +were handed over to her and with Charles, the brother, she descended +upon Montreux. If you were there at the time you will recall the +social triumph made by the young Canadian heiress. You may even +remember that she seemed to be infatuated with the young +impressionable son of old Goluckoffsky. The day long they were +together. They were going to be married, and Charles Prevost the +"brother," stood in the background, chatted amiably with old +Goluckoffsky and his friends and smiled. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Then as an heiress should, Theresa and her "brother" invited +Goluckoffsky, his family and friends, to a pre-nuptial luncheon. No +expense was spared, for the wires had moaned with requests sent to +Brussels for money. Young Goluckoffsky was delighted with his +fiancé. She was insistent that <i>all</i> his friends should be +there, all the revolutionaries--although of course his dear Theresa did +not know that. How the spelling of their names puzzled her. With gay +heart young Goluckoffsky wrote out all their names on a slip of paper +so she could send their invitations properly--the names St. Petersburg +wanted to know. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Came the day of the luncheon, a gala affair in the banquet room of the +hotel. Theresa looked charming; even the grimmest of the old +revolutionists were taken with her. Old Goluckoffsky beamed upon this +sparkling febrile woman, rich too, who was to marry his son. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ices had been served when Theresa, her pretty face in smiles, declared +that she had a surprise for her guests. To her it was the day of +days. What better than a group photograph of her dear and new +friends? How she would treasure it! Strangely enough this did not +please the guests. Photographs were dangerous. Suppose, in some way, +the <i>Okrana</i> got hold of them. They breathed easier, though, when +Theresa, calling in the photographer--the best in Lausanne, she +assured them--instructed him to deliver all copies to Mr. +Goluckoffsky, her dear father-in-law to be. So the revolutionists +grouped themselves on the hotel lawn; the photographer pressed the +bulb; and everybody laughed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As quickly as the photographer could print his proofs they were +delivered to Theresa; that night she and her "brother" left Montreux. +In two days the names of all the revolutionists in young +Goluckoffsky's handwriting and their pictures were delivered to the +chief in Brussels. A substantial fee was paid Theresa, besides, and +she must have smiled; some of those young Russians are delightful. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +So much for an example of the clever work done by Brussels. The +German Service, in which I served on and off for twelve years, has +three distinct branches--the Army, Navy and Personal, each branch +having its own chief and its own corps of men and women agents. The +Army and Navy division is controlled by the General Staff of Berlin +(Grosser General Stabe), the most marvelous organization in the world. +The Political and Personal branch is controlled from the +Wilhelmstrasse, the German Foreign Office, the Emperor in person, or +his immediate Privy Councilor. The Army and Navy divisions confine +themselves to the procuring of hidden and secret information as +regards armaments, plans, discoveries, etc. The political branch +concerns itself with the supervision of meetings between potentates, +cabinet ministers and so forth. The Personal branch, under the direct +control of the Privy Councilor, is used by the Emperor for his own +special purposes and service in this branch is the <i>sine qua non</i> of +the service. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Personal consists of all classes of men and women. Princes and +counts, lawyers and doctors, actors and actresses, mondaines of the +great world, demi-mondaines of the half world, waiters and porters, +all are made use of as occasion arises. It may well happen that your +interesting acquaintance in the salon of an express steamer or your +charming companion in the tearoom of the Ritz is the paid agent of +some government. Great singers, dancers and artists, especially of +Russian and Austrian origin, are often spies. Notably Anna Pavlowa, +famous for light feet and nimble wit, said wit being retained by the +Russian government at 50,000 rubles per annum. When Mlle. Pavlowa +travels in Germany, she has the honor of a very unostentatious +bodyguard, the government being anxious that nothing should happen to +<i>them</i>. Perhaps Mademoiselle may remember a little incident at the +Palais de Dance in Berlin--Anna <i>vs.</i> He of Lichtenstein. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Or perhaps Mademoiselle will recall a little episode in the Eis Arena +in Berlin during a certain New Year's Eve carnival when the +restoration--not the loss--of her magnificent gold chatelaine bag +caused her much embarrassment. The chatelaine in question being +dexterously commandeered by an expert in such matters of the Secret +Service squad. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It happened that the Personal Branch of the German Secret Service was +exceedingly interested in that gold bag. Mademoiselle had been +carrying on an affair with a young ordnance officer of the Potsdam +garrison. Now the Service does not like to see officers, especially +those of the ordnance, becoming involved with ladies like the Pavlowa. +On this particular night he had presented her with the new bag and she +had been injudicious enough to have kept in the golden receptacle a +dangerously compromising letter that he had enclosed. Injudicious, +dear lady! Corsage or stockings, Mademoiselle; but vanity bags--never! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I have reason to believe that the following incident cost the +Pavlowa a rather remunerative engagement in Berlin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Celebrating the coming of the New Year, Mademoiselle and her party +were feasting in the Ice Arena. I happened to be at near-by table, +and saw everything; as well as later hearing the inside of it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The gold chatelaine lay on the table at her elbow. Upon observing its +position, the waiter--a secret agent on the case--deliberately tipped +over a champagne glass that stood within a few inches of the bag. Of +course, Mademoiselle was worried lest the wine run over on her gown +and while thus preoccupied, the waiter, stammering apologies, mopped +up the table cloth with his serviette--mopped up the wine and cleverly +covering the bag folded it in the napkin and hurried away. In two +minutes he had opened it, abstracted the letter from the young +ordnance officer; and was back, apologizing to the Pavlowa. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Your pardon, Mademoiselle," he said, handing her the gold +chatelaine. "In my haste I picked up this bag by mistake. I suppose +it is yours." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With a slight start she said "yes," took the bag and hurriedly opening +it felt for the letter. To her dismay it was gone. I saw her eyes +narrow a little and then I marveled at time cleverness of the woman. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"No," she suddenly said, "that is not my bag. I never saw it before. +I advise you to find the owner." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Clever Anna! You sacrificed the costly gift, but you went over the +frontier just the same. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The necessary qualifications of an agent vary of course with the class +of work to be done. We can dismiss the waiter and porter class, as +they never receive independent commands and work only under direct +supervision on minor details without knowing why. The trusted agent +handling important matters and documents must needs be a person of +intelligence, tact and address. He must be a linguist and, above all, +a man of resource and a close student of his fellow men. In the woman +agent charm and tact, beauty and manners, <i>à la grande dame</i>, +knowledge of the world and men are essential. The pay varies, but is +always good. Expenses are never questioned, the money being no +object. For instance, I spent on a mission through the Riviera 20,000 +marks in fourteen days. My fixed salary towards the end was 10,000 +marks a year, besides twenty marks a day living expenses when not at +work, which was automatically tripled irrespective of expenses when +out on work. Besides, there is a bonus set out for each piece of +work, the amount of which varies with the importance of the case in +hand. I received as much as 30,000 marks ($7,500) for a single +mission performed successfully. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The risks are great, so are the rewards--if successful. If not, then +one pays the usual price of failures, in this case only more so. For +in the event of disaster no official help or protection could or would +be granted and quarter is neither asked nor given. The work is +interesting and fascinating to those of an adventurous turn of mind +and not overly nervous about their health or squeamish in regards to +established ethics. I would not suggest the Secret Service as a means +of livelihood for a nervous person. At times it is arduous and +strenuous work and mostly undertaken by men and women who fear neither +man nor devil. It is not compatible to longevity. As a rule, the +constant strain of being on the <i>qui vive</i>, playing a lone hand +against the most powerful influences often unknown, having one's plans +upset at the last moment and continually pitting one's own brain +against some of the acutest and shrewdest minds of the world, the +knowledge that the slightest blunder means loss of liberty, often of +life, is wearing, to say the least. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I have known men and women, courageous to a degree, who have broken +down under the strain; sooner or later one is bound to succumb. I +have known of a dozen men and women who have mysteriously disappeared, +"dropped out of sight," caught or killed--<i>not always by their +opponents</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To cite but two cases, one of a woman, the other of a man. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Olga Bruder was a spy. She worked for Germany and for the Service +Bureau in Brussels. A few years ago it was announced in the European +newspapers that a woman known as Olga Bruder had committed suicide in +a hotel at Memel on the Russian border. Fräulein Bruder had been +sent after the plans of a Russian fort. In Berlin they learned that +she had obtained them, but becoming involved in a love affair with a +Russian officer was holding them out, planning to restore them to him. +Also, contrary to the service regulations, she knew four foreign +agents well. Later reports from Danzig revealed the fact that she had +become enamored with a sectional chief of the Russian Service and that +she was about to give up everything to him. So Olga Bruder committed +suicide. <i>She was poisoned</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As for Lieutenant von Zastrov, an ex-army officer in the German Secret +Service, he was killed in a duel. Zastrov was suspected of flirting +with Russian agents--only suspected. He knew too much to be +imprisoned. He was a civilian and under the German law entitled to a +public hearing. Had he still been a military man, a secret tribunal +would have been possible, but being the scion of an old aristocratic +house and knowing official secrets, it was not wise to put him in +against the regular machinery of elimination. So Zastrov was +challenged to a duel. He killed the first man the Service chiefs sent +against him, yet no sooner was that duel over than he was challenged +again. In half an hour Zastrov was dead. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Yes, your own employers often think it advisable at times to eliminate +a too clever or knowing member of their service, unless that same +member has procured for himself a solid good "life insurance" in the +nature of documentary evidence of such character that to meddle with +him brings danger of disclosure. Of late there have been no attempts +on my life. +</p> + +<h2><a name="III">III</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">INTO THE EAST</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Reclining in my deck chair on the N. D. L. liner <i>Bayern</i>, bound +for Singapore, I was smoking a pipe and idly speculating. I had +cultivated the acquaintance of my table neighbor, a Japanese, Baron +Huraki, and was at the moment, expecting him to come up the +companionway and take his place in his deck chair beside me. Instead +came two officers of the Second Siberian Rifles, strolling along the +deck. It was obvious that, although it still lacked three hours of +noon, these gentlemen had been quite frequently to the shrine of +Bacchus. I had no fault to find with that, as long as they did not +interfere with my own personal comfort. When they began tacking +along, talking at the top of their voices on that part of the deck +known by experienced travelers to be reserved for repose and reading, +however, they began to irritate me. When one of them threw himself +into the Baron's chair and displayed that beastly annoying habit of +continually wriggling and creaking the chair, meanwhile shouting to +his companion at the top of his lungs, I lost all patience. It only +needed Baron Huraki's appearance and quiet request for the evacuation +of his deck chair, and the insolent stare and non-compliance of the +Russian, to make me chip in with: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Damn it, sir! You don't own the whole world yet." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I went on in terse military German which eighty per cent. of all +Russian officers know and the trend of which is never misunderstood. +I pointed out that any further encroaching would be resented in a +most drastic and sudden manner. The usual farcical exchange of cards, +permitting all sorts of bluffs, does not impress a Russian, but the +imminent chance of blows from fists does. A pair of astonished +bulging eyes, a muttered apology and quietness reigned. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With a mild smile Baron Huraki dropped into his chair, but I did not +like the expression in his eyes. Knowing the prowess of the Baron as +an exponent of his national system of self-defense (I had seen him +harmlessly toss about the biggest sailor on the <i>Bayern</i>, the +chief butcher, who was as strong as an ox), I said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It's a wonder to me, Baron, that you didn't throw that boor half +way across the deck." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I shall never forget his answer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We of the Samurai never fight when there is nothing behind it. It +is not the time." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I did not like the expression in his eyes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All this transpired because I was on the road to Singapore, away +from Berlin, on my first important mission in the German Secret +Service. The Intelligence Department had instructed me to ascertain +the extent of the new docks and fortifications in course of +completion in the Straits Settlements--an assignment calling for +exact topographical data, photographs and plans. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Leaving port, I had found the <i>Bayern</i> comfortably crowded. In +the East war clouds were gathering and among the passengers were a +number of Japanese called home, as I afterwards learned, for the +impending struggle. At Port Said we had taken on a Russian contingent, +quite a few of whom were officers bound for Port Arthur, Dalny and +Vladivostock, and in view of the gathering conflict I found the +relative conduct and bearing of representatives of these races that +were soon to clash, vastly interesting. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +And after my experience with the Russians, I was to know more. From +that time on, I began to notice a subtle change in Baron Huraki's +attitude toward me. Quite of his own accord he discussed with me the +customs, ideals and aspirations of his caste and country. Wrapped in +a Shuai kimono, his gift to me, we spent many hot and otherwise +tedious nights, sprawled in our deck chairs, discussing unreservedly +the questions of the East. What I learned then and the insight I got +into the aims and character of Nippon, were invaluable to me. Baron +Huraki, now high in the services of the Mikado, is my friend still. +Once a year he sends me <i>Shuraino-Ariki</i>, a wonderful spray of +cherry blossoms, the Japanese symbol of rejuvenating friendship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A Secret Service agent, although making no friends or acquaintances, +always makes it his business to converse with and study his fellow +travelers. Following my usual habit, I went out of my way to +cultivate the acquaintance of the Japanese, particularly Huraki. A +scholar of no mean attainments was the Baron. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Quietly, without being didactic, he upheld his end in most discussions +on applied sciences or philosophic arguments, putting forth his deep +knowledge in an unobtrusive way. I found this trait to be an +invariable rule with most of the Japanese with whom I came in contact. +Once or twice during our lengthy and pleasant chats I tried to veer +the subject round to the all-engrossing Eastern question, only to be +met with the maddening bland smile of the East. I was rather +inexperienced in the fathomless, undefinable ways of the Orient, but +on the <i>Bayern</i> I learned rapidly the truths that Western methods +and strategy are absolutely useless against the impenetrable stoicism +of an Asiatic and that only personal regard and obligation on their +part will produce results. In striking contrast to the Japanese, small +and sinewy, any two of them weighing no more than one Russian, quiet, +taciturn, genial and abstemious, were the children of the "Little +White Father." The Russians were an aggressive, big, well set up, +heavy type of men, by no means teetotalers, talkative, with +overbearing swagger, always posing, talking contemptuously about the +possible struggle in the East, invariably referring to the Japanese as +"little monkey men." Fortunate for me was it that the <i>Bayern</i> was +carrying both Russians and Japanese; the knowledge I acquired from +Baron Huraki of the Asiatics was invaluable in Singapore; what I +learned of Russians, I needed at Port Arthur. But I am anticipating +my narrative. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Arriving in Singapore, I put up at the Hotel de la Paix on the Marine +Parade. I posed as an ordinary tourist with a leaning toward hunting +and a fad of doing research work in tropical botany. I gradually +became acquainted with a number of English officers and was introduced +at their clubs. The information obtained through these channels about +the new naval base was merely theoretical and I soon found that to +obtain practical results I would have to get in touch with the native +clerks. In the English Eastern possessions, you see, most clerical +and minor mechanical positions are held by natives. It soon was +brought home to me, though, that this cultivating natives was by no +means easy and a rather dangerous thing to do. To be in any way +successful, I had to find a native of a higher caste, one with +sufficient influence to command the clerks. If I could get hold of +one of the numerable discontented petty rajahs, for instance, there +might be a chance of obtaining what I sought. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In one of the clubs, I found a clue. A young Rajah, one of the +numerous coterie of petty princes--fair play compels me to withhold +his name--had got himself into some trouble and the paternal +government had promptly suspended his income. Here was my chance. I +soon ascertained young Rajah's haunts and made it my business to +frequent them. One day I found him on the veranda of the Marine Hotel +and asked him for a match, making a return compliment of a cigarette. +This was a procedure against established British social usage in the +East, where it is considered <i>infra dig</i> to meet a native on a +social footing. Herein lies a grave danger to English colonial policy. +Your semi-European educated native, having partly absorbed European +manners, resents this subordination and ostracism. So, with this +high-spirited, rather clever young rajah. I accepted his invitation +to whiskey "pegs" and subsequent dinner at his bungalow. One visit +led to another and we were soon rather intimate. The young Rajah, +having the usual native taste for luxury well developed and his income +stopped, I became of some monetary assistance to him. Also, +judiciously fostering his discontent against the government, I soon +had him in a desired frame of mind. Through his influence on the +native clerks, I was able to gain all the plans, data and photographs +of England's new naval base in the Straits Settlement. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By this time my close association with this notorious young Rajah was +marked and I found it advisable to pull up stakes, which I did in +short order, arranging passage on the N. D. L. liner <i>Sachsen</i>, +homeward bound. Having a week to spare and finding that by leaving +the <i>Sachsen</i> at Colombo, I could catch the <i>Prinz Regent +Leopold</i> of the same line, coming up from Australia en route for +Europe, I had my ticket transferred. This would give me a ten-day +vacation in Ceylon, where I had a number of acquaintances, having +hunted there during my early travels. Accordingly, at Colombo I put +up at the Galle Face Hotel, and the first man I met was Allan +MacGregor, one of Lipton's tea estate managers, in Kandy and Newara +Elya. MacGregor and I were old pals, having done much hunting and +bridge playing in days gone by. I planned to spend a week with him +and go after some leopards. By the by, I'd like to see the MacGregor's +face when he learns that his quondam friend and boon companion was an +international spy! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Dinna get sair, Mac. You're no the only chiel what'll tak a wee +surprise." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was just arranging a hunting trip with MacGregor when Bill Peters, +manager of the hotel, another old acquaintance, handed me a cable +knocking all my plans to bits. It was a cipher message from Captain +von Tappken, and shortly I was again on the high sea, bound not for +home, but for Port Arthur. My orders were to ascertain how far the +Port Arthur fortifications were completed and to report on the general +conditions as I found them. I wondered not a little at this mission, +as I could not then see what close interest Germany could have in a +possible war between Russia and Japan. Also, I by no means relished +the assignment, for it was a perilous business and I judged the +Russians to be extremely suspicious--which I afterwards learned they +were not. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I decided to travel under the cloak of a doctor of natural history and +botany, my medical training giving me the necessary knowledge to +impersonate the character. The reader will understand that if Doctor +Franz von Cannitz is subsequently mentioned, it refers to me. Almost +everybody, especially my government, knew that war between Russia and +Japan was inevitable. I say, all, except Russia. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To make this situation clear, let me hark back a little. Japan, +beating China in the war of 1895, took and occupied Port Arthur. +Japan later, compelled by hostile demonstrations on the part of Russia +backed up by France and Germany, restored Port Arthur to China. Note +the holding aloof of England here. The actual text of the ultimatum +delivered was that the possession of ceded territory by Japan would be +detrimental to the lasting peace of the Orient. Japan was bitterly +humiliated and an Asiatic never forgets or forgives. Japan bided her +time. Russia's duplicity in the Boxer Campaign, and her seizure of +Port Arthur, gave Japan the needed <i>casus belli</i>. Result, the +Russian-Japanese War. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Arriving in Port Arthur, I established myself at the Hotel l'Europe +and with prospecting spade, botanical trowel and butterfly net, I +sallied forth around the hills of Port Arthur. The first thing which +struck me was the enormous number of Chinese and Chunshuses (bad +Coolies) employed everywhere. I came to know that they were not all +Chinese Coolies and that almost every tenth man was a disguised +Japanese. To an observer, trained in the facial characteristics of +the Oriental, it was not difficult to pick out the Japanese from the +mass of Coolies. They fairly swarmed in Port Arthur right under the +very noses of the Russians. As Baron Huraki had told me during our +passage on the <i>Bayern</i>, his countrymen were actually employed +in the building of the Port Arthur defenses! These Japanese were +later able to give invaluable information in directing the Japanese +batteries. Numerous other alleged Coolies were acting as servants to +Russian officers. I also found that on the Lioa Teah Shan Railway and +at Pidgeon Bay the very porters were Japanese. In fact, the entire +Russian stronghold was infested with them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This carelessness, lack of knowledge or suspicion, with a total lack +of belief on the part of the Russian officers, that the "little monkey +men" would ever dare attack, is in my opinion the chief cause of the +comparatively quick fall of Port Arthur. For even with the +incompleted defenses the place was tremendously strong. Everywhere I +could see the most elaborate plans incomplete. For instance, as I +wandered through the hills seeking my botanical specimens, I found +that the chain of forts on the hills of the Quang Tong peninsula south +and west of Dalny, were totally unfinished and that the Kuan Ling +section of the Port Arthur and Dalny railway was not even adequately +protected from capture by a hostile force. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The lack of adequate supervision and the general slovenliness +prevailing made it easy for me to go about unchallenged. I mixed +freely with officers and men. The expenditure of a few rubles +on <i>vodka</i>, in the case of the men, and the never-rejected +invitation on the part of most officers to join in a jamboree, +made me a very popular figure indeed. Through them I learned that +the provisions of Port Arthur were in a most deplorable state. To +use but one instance: Out of 1,420,000 pounds of flour, nearly +one-half was bad with sour cords, which caused part of the enormous +amount of sickness even then prevailing in the Port Arthur garrison. +During the war forty-five per cent. of the troops were incapacitated +because of unsanitary food. I found 600,000 pounds of maize were +wormy and over 700,000 pounds of corned beef were putrid. Women +and wine, however, abounded. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Never in any place--and I know all the gayest and fastest places on +earth--have I seen, comparatively speaking, such an enormous amount of +wine in stock, or such a number of demi-mondaines assembled. Most of +the officers had private harems. I often sat in the Casino and +watched the officers of the First Tomsk Regiment, the Twenty-fifth and +Twenty-sixth Siberian Rides practicing with their newly supplied +Mauser-pistols on tables loaded with bottles containing the most +costly vintage wines and cognacs. At such times the place literally +ran ankle deep in wine. There were over sixty gambling houses and +dancing halls supporting more than a thousand <i>filles de joie</i>. +In fact, the general intemperance was such that on the night of Admiral +Togo's attack more than half the complement of the Russian fleet was +ashore, dead drunk, in honor of one of the tutelary Russian saints. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The harbor defenses comprising submarine mines and searchlight +stations, etc., I found to be in the worst condition. In pottering +around, I visited many of the switchboard stations controlling the +submarine mine fields. Everywhere the eye met evidences of defective +work--rusty contacts, open insulations and exposed connections. There +were carelessly exposed buoys betraying to the naked eye supposedly +invisible submarine mines. The whole mine field was so badly laid +that the Japanese were subsequently able to drag and explode three out +of every five mines. This explains the astounding fact that during +Admiral Togo's five dashes, some of them lasting thirty-six hours, all +that he lost from torpedoes and mines was one ship, the <i>Hatsuse</i>, +which struck a floating mine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I did a great deal of investigating the composition and geological +formation of the ground surrounding Port Arthur. I found most of the +ground consisting of loose layers of lava scoræ. The comparative +easy capture of the otherwise immensely strong 203 Metre Hill did not +surprise me. The texture of the ground, besides having a deadening +effect on shell fire, made the approach to the forts by means of +parallels surprisingly easy. The Japanese, by the way, also knew this +peculiarity of the ground and used it to great advantage in their +advances. I also found the forts on 174 and 131 Metre Hills as well +as the north fort of East Rekwan in an incompleted state. The +commander of the forts, General Smyrnoff, was using strenuous efforts +to complete the work, but the personal animosity of General +Krondrachinko, the commander of the general defenses, vetoed most of +his suggestions. The vast sums of money which the Russian central +government appropriated for the fortification of Port Arthur, honestly +used, would have made the place completely impregnable. It is not too +much to say--and this will be borne out by any trained observer and +student of the conditions then existing in and around Port +Arthur--that sixty per cent. of the money for defense purposes +disappeared mysteriously. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All the Russian officers, however, were not grafters and drunken +libertines. Among them I did find men of alert and earnest character +who were quite aware of the frightful conditions existing, but who +were so used to them right through Russia that they viewed things with +true Slavonic composure. I even found the searchlight stations back +on the hills to be in a deplorable state. Indeed, on the night of +Togo's second attack on Port Arthur the power plant was out of order +and the searchlights which should have flooded the harbor with light +were dark. The plant was subsequently repaired under enormous +difficulties and cost, but of no avail. Coolie spies had procured the +exact location of the power house and searchlight stations and thus +aided, the Japanese gunners riddled them with shell. A great deal has +been said about the wonderful marksmanship of the Japanese, but for +the most part it was due to data on exact distances and locations, +furnished by their spies. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although the officers were a careless, thoughtless lot, I found that +the personnel of the garrison contained, on the whole, a good type of +Russian soldier. They were not brilliant but faithful and obedient. +A Russian regiment is never routed. They stand and are killed, being +too stolid to run. I found most of the officers of Port Arthur to be +brilliant dashing men of the world, personally of high animal courage, +but self-indulgence, neglect, disbelief in hostilities and +underestimation of their foe, undermined them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Among the high officials at Port Arthur, Colonel Reiss, Commander of +the Ordnance Service, stood out alone. He was the only officer, not +excepting General Stoessel himself, who seemed to realize the gravity +of the whole situation. In long chats which I had with him, he more +than hinted at the lamentable state of his ammunition. Once I asked +him why these conditions were not changed and he said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The Little Father (the Czar) is far away,"--he shrugged +expressively. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Officers told me that tons and tons of ammunition bags did not contain +full weight. Whole ammunition trucks had only a double layer of +powder bags on top, the rest containing sand bags to be used only for +bastions and escarpions, the money flowing into the pockets of the +army contractors. I met General Stoessel at the Casino twice, and +neither time did he impress me as a military genius. A soldier of the +Buller type, he was bluff, hearty, courageous and stupid. His florid +bearded face, thick-set figure and his deep guttural growls reminded +me of a Boer <i>Dopper</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Among all the Russians I met at Port Arthur, the most interesting +figure was to me the great battle painter Verestshagin. I am proud to +be able to say that he called me "friend." I happened to be of some +assistance to him in alleviating an attack of malaria. This, with a +similar taste in the arts and literature, soon put us on a friendly +and intimate footing. I have met many men of letters, artists and +statesmen, but never one who impressed me so much with the profundity +of his learning and thought as did Verestshagin, and I am not easily +impressed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One night we were sitting on the Casino veranda overlooking the +wonderful Harbor of Port Arthur. It was one of those quiet, balmy, +semi-tropical nights for which this part of the world is famous, one +of those crystal, clear, soundless nights, and the silhouettes of +Russia's grim silent battle monsters riding at anchor were sharply +outlined on the moonlit waters of the bay. We were smoking our pipes, +having just finished a long chat about the history of these +regions--the old Manchu and Tartar dynasties, how far they had +influenced and still influence the history of the world, the +<i>Volker-Wanderung</i>--of the Huns, the Goths, and Vandals--a +subject on which Verestshagin disclosed a deep store of knowledge. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As the night was far advanced, I suggested that I had probably +trespassed long enough on his kindness and hospitality. He turned +around in his chair and placing his hand on my shoulder said in his +soft deep voice: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"No, Doctor Cannitz, you are doing me a service instead. I am +restless to-night. I have a curious presentiment that before long +these lovely hills will hear the roar of guns in earnest." Dreamily +speaking as if to himself he continued, "And Russia will lose... +but I shall not see it." Abruptly he looked up, sat erect in his +chair and shook himself as if throwing off something that oppressed +him. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Do you believe in premonition. Doctor? I <i>know</i> I shall find +my death here soon." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +An indescribable shuddery sensation seemed to pass over me. I am by +no means sentimental or easily moved, nor am I overly superstitious; +but I have encountered one or two things in the course of my life +which cannot be explained by rule and line. Throwing off my sudden +strange mood, I told Verestshagin that his morbid fancies were due to +his still feverish condition, and the depressing effect of over-doses +of sulphate of quinine. He rose and smiled, and said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Of course you are right, Doctor." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Before parting, he gave me a little sketch of Port Arthur which I have +still. I keep it as a treasured memento of one of the few really good +men I have met, and one of the few from whom I had been able to part +without harming. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Verestshagin's premonition was fulfilled. He died--a hero's death, +going down with Admiral Marakoff on the flagship of the Russian +squadron six weeks later. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I remained at Port Arthur for another five weeks, and exactly seven +days before Togo's first night attack I received a cable from my +government. It was in cipher, of course, and I was ordered to leave +Port Arthur immediately and make my way home as there was danger of +my being bottled up at any minute. It is significant that in the +Intelligence Department at Berlin they knew an attack was imminent, +although they did not know it at Port Arthur. Furthermore, Russian +securities dropped eighteen points on the New York Stock Exchange, +hours before the official knowledge of the attack came through. This +information leaked out through the German Embassy in Washington. +Seven days after I left, Togo made the torpedo attack in which he sank +the <i>Czarevitch</i>, <i>Retvitsan</i> and <i>Palada</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Before I took the steamer back to Europe, I went to Kiou-Chau, the +German colony in China, and filed a long report by cipher cable. Six +months later I had the satisfaction of having a talk with numerous +officers of the German General Staff and of receiving compliments on +the correctness of my observations, reports and predictions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Later I learned the reasons why I had been sent to Port Arthur. +Germany desired to ascertain the exact relative strength of the +Port Arthur defenses and Russian positions in the Far East for +the following reasons: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Since the time of Frederick the Great, the only power on the Continent +which Germany has feared and has always been loath openly to quarrel +with, is Russia. Through the setback she received in the Far East in +1905, her influence steadily decreased in the Balkans and the recent +fiasco of Russian machinations during the Balkan war, has made her +become a secondary factor for decades to come. Germany, through her +keen Intelligence Department, foresaw the result of the Russo-Japanese +conflict and immediately set about to undermine and destroy Russian +influence south of the Austrian border. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By Russia's defeat in the East, the balance of the power was +completely shifted. It gave Germany and Austria the desired +opportunities and a free hand in the Balkans and Turkey. Had Germany +through her Intelligence Department found Russia invulnerable in the +East, the map of the Balkans would have to be painted in different +colors--as you will see. +</p> + +<h2><a name="IV">IV</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">AT THE SUBLIME PORTE</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was back in Berlin from my mission to the Far East on March 10, +1905. The next four months were rather commonplace--odd little +commissions of no particular interest or importance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On July the 5th, however, there came a hurried summons from Captain +von Tappken for me to report at Koenigergratzerstrasse 70. I lost no +time in getting around, nor did I have to wait to be ushered up. I +was shown direct to the Captain's office and as he received me, I +noticed that he was in a rather excited frame of mind. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Verdammt! Doctor! I am going to lose you. I am requested by the +Wilhelmstrasse to hand you over to them. Very annoying. I do not +like to lose you from our branch here. But we must obey." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I expressed my regrets. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Doctor, you are bettering yourself. It is seldom that they over +there take any notice of us over here, or request the services of any +of my men. But your work has attracted some attention. I shall +request that your services are not entirely lost to this department. +Herr Stammer will take you over. Good-by and good luck!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He gave me a hearty handshake and my connection with the Intelligence +Department of the Imperial Navy came to an end. Stammer and I hailed +a taxi and drove to the Wilhelmstrasse, where the doorkeeper put me +through an official ceremony similar to the procedure of +Koenigergratzerstrasse 70. Stammer gave the commissaire his card and +we were shown into a chamber and bidden to wait. I was frankly +curious about what was in store for me, but I knew better by now than +to ask questions. Presently there entered a tall, thin, iron-gray +gentleman, the very type of a Prussian bureaucrat. Walking with quick +nervous steps to his desk he acknowledged our bows with a curt nod and +turning to Stammer he said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Stammer?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"This is Dr. Graver, your Excellency." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Ah, yes. Sehr schön. Convey my thanks to Captain Tappken, +Stammer." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Stammer then bowing himself out, I was asked to step into an +anteroom. There a secretary took me in hand and informed me that +the tall, thin, iron-gray gentleman was Graf Botho von Wedel, +Wirklicher Geheimrat and Vortragender Rab Botho Kaiser--(Privy +Councilor to the German Emperor). +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +So--Count Wedel. H'm! Although this was the first time I had seen +the Count, I had heard a great deal about him. The Emperor's Privy +Councilor and right hand was the head of the political sections of the +Secret Service. This promised to be interesting. I wondered what the +likely upshot would be, but I was interrupted in my soliloquy by a +summons to reenter the Count's chamber. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was shown to a seat. Graf Wedel looked me over carefully and +minutely for a considerable length of time with a frank stare of +appraisal. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How old are you, Doctor?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I must confess my extreme youth always made this question one +of secret annoyance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Twenty-five, your Excellency." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Very young, very young." He stared at me again and after a pause +said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yet the reports about your work are satisfactory and show discretion +and intelligence above your years." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I bowed in acknowledgment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You will from now on," he said, "become attached to this section of +the Service. You will be trusted with some very grave and important +matters. You will receive your orders and instructions only from me. +You will report only to me direct. On no account will you see any +subordinate or any person, no matter what his official status, without +my expressed permission. Verstehen sie?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, sir." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"For funds," he continued, "you will apply to my secretary. Of your +expenses you will furnish a monthly account. How soon can you be +ready to go on a mission?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I told him in two hours. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Good!" he exclaimed; "the sooner the better. This is what I want you +to do. You will go at once to Constantinople and find out which of +the court officials are in French and Russian pay. You will find out +the favorites of the high officials and officers, especially the +nationality of these women. I will not give you any points of +introductions. They might lead you to be suspected. They are a +crafty lot down there. Be careful and take your time. You know +nothing can be done in a hurry down in that country,"--he paused as if +waiting for questions from me. We discussed a few minor points then +he said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Your official number with us from now on will be 1734. You will +always use 17 to sign personal cipher messages sent to me. You will +use 34 in signing official reports and communications." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The necessary arrangements for my preliminary expenses were discussed +with one of his secretaries and I then went back to my quarters to +think over a plan of campaign and prepare myself for the mission. The +transfer from Captain Tappken's department pleased me for I knew that +at the Wilhelmstrasse I would be in closer touch with the bigger +affairs of diplomacy. Tappken had hinted at my finding favor with the +Wilhelmstrasse and I guessed that coming on top of my Port Arthur +success a delicate private mission was responsible for it. To cite +the case: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Germany keeps a watch on all her officers. When one of them is +spending more money than his income, he is promptly investigated. I +recalled how they had sent me to the Spandau Garrison to inquire into +the affairs of an officer who was too lavish with his money to suit +the Intelligence Department. He was an ordnance officer in a small +arms factory at Spandau and it was the natural conclusion that he was +obtaining this extra money by selling state secrets. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I encountered, however, an entirely different situation. I learned +that he was absolutely innocent on that score but that he was +receiving money from a certain princess who had become infatuated with +him. She was of a very high house and I realized that her name could +not be mentioned in a report to Captain Tappken. This situation +required delicate treatment. I solved the dilemma by reporting to +Tappken that the ordnance officer was guiltless of any act of treason +against his country. I then made a private report, covering the +intimate facts, which went direct to officials of higher +responsibility. The princess' name did not appear as far as +subordinates were concerned and the whole affair was hushed up. My +fortunate discretion in this matter undoubtedly strengthened my +standing with the Wilhelmstrasse. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By this time I had installed myself in quiet quarters on the +Mittelstrasse, and Kim, who had been transformed from a Basuto boy +into an efficient man servant, looked after my comforts. To secure +myself from the questions of prying neighbors, I had caused it to be +known that I was a retired South African planter inclined to poor +health. This was the most likely explanation for my curious mode of +living and my sudden periodical disappearances, for I was away from +the Mittelstrasse for months at a time. Presumably I was traveling +about to the different watering places on the Continent for my health. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My mission to Constantinople called for some considerable thought in +selecting the most advisable character to impersonate. A tourist came +first to mind. A tourist was out of the question, because tourists do +not stay long in one place and I expected to be three or four months +in Turkey. There was nothing to study in Constantinople. I thought of +a student of botany, the rôle I had used at Port Arthur. But that +would not do. The idea of a merchant came to me, but I dismissed the +idea of a prosperous merchant, for it would necessitate making +business connections, a careful and slow process, the fulfillment of +which would consume entirely too much time. I finally decided to +travel as a physician, or to use the Turkish word a <i>Hakim</i>. A +<i>Hakim</i> is always accorded respect, even reverence, by Turks and +Arabs. This character determined upon, I went to the telephone and +requested the Service Intelligence Department to give me letters of +introduction to the German hospital and the Pera Hospital in +Constantinople. They were sent to me signed by the authorities of the +Charitee in Berlin and described that I was going to study tropical +and Asiatic diseases and requested that the hospitals give me every +facility for research work. I had Kim pack a case of medical +instruments and told him to have everything in readiness to leave +Berlin that night, on the Orient Express. He was necessary to my +plans and was to accompany me. A messenger from Wedel brought a few +final verbal instructions, my funds and sealed instructions. I was +bidden to keep away from all official German intercourse in +Constantinople. Wedel might have saved himself the trouble of that +word of caution for I knew enough of the subtle Oriental mind to keep +away from anything that would raise the slightest suspicion in regard +to my identity. If I pride myself on anything, it is a knowledge of +Eastern character. With the instructions were a thousand marks cash +and a draft for 5000 marks on the Ottoman Bank of Constantinople that +had been deposited in my name. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It may strike the reader as curious that I took Kim with me, but I +knew he could be of tremendous use to me in Constantinople. In +addition to speaking his <i>Kaffir</i> dialects, he knew Arabic. Any +negro boy who could speak Arabic could learn almost anything in +Constantinople, which abounds in black men of all tribes and +nationalities. Among the servants of every household, Kim would find +many compatriots from whom he could get information, impossible for +any European to obtain. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After an uneventful trip to Constantinople, I took preliminary +quarters in the Brasserie Kor, a quiet, second-rate hostelry on the +Rue Osmanly. I went to an unpretentious place to avoid attracting any +particular attention. Had I put up at an expensive hotel there would +immediate]y bave been queries about me. Who is this stranger? He +seems to have money. If it isn't his money, whose money is he +spending? It is not well to invite a Turk's suspicion. As I was +totally unacquainted with Constantinople, I used the first week for +getting familiar with the geography of the city. It was necessary +that I learn the location of the various legations and the residences +of high court officials. The next week I found lodgings in the very +center of the district of court residences and began to seek out the +haunts and places of rendezvous of demi-mondaines, favorites and +hangers-on of the Turkish officials. On the second day of my arrival, +I had presented my credentials and letters at the German Pera +Hospital, and had my name entered as a visiting honorary surgeon. +Every day thereafter, rain or shine, I made it a point to spend some +time at these hospitals, and it was well that I did. Once a day and +often twice I would sign the book at the hospital and I believe that +the signature Dr. Franz von Graver appears on the record books of the +Pera and German Hospitals in Constantinople, at least one hundred +times. Was I not fulfilling my duties as a physician doing research +work? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I finally located myself in the residential district of Pera where I +rented a small residence, typical of the well-to-do Turk of the middle +class and quite in keeping with my assumed character. An elaborate +residence would have aroused immediate suspicion, for there is no +country on earth where curiosity and suspicion is so easily roused as +in Turkey. Kipling, who knows the East so well, portrayed Port Said +as the dwelling place of concentrated wickedness. He is right, but I +do not think he has ever visited Stamboul. In Stamboul there is with +no exception the most conglomerate mixture of nondescript +nationalities on the face of the earth. Not only are all +nationalities represented but breeds of men that defy all pathological +research, hideous in their conglomerate intermixtures. If an Albanian +bandit, himself a mixture of Greek and Nubian mulatto, has issue by an +Arab woman with French blood--find the genealogy. Can you imagine a +more difficult field of operations for an Occidental and a stranger? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the course of my preliminary observations, I found Constantinople +to be a city of sharp contrasts. The quarters inhabited by your true +Ottoman are characteristically clean and comfortable. The remainder +of the city except foreign quarters is intolerably dirty. With true +Oriental tolerance, the Turk lets things gang their ain gait. The +casual observer and traveler always confounds the Turk with the rest +of the nondescript mass of humanity that swarms in Constantinople. +That is a crass mistake. Your true descendant of Ossman is a clean, +dignified, easy-going gentleman with a deep philosophical strain in +his make-up, contaminated by hundreds of years of contact--not +association, for your true Turk does not associate--with the outcast +Mischling of southern Europe and Asia Minor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My mission was indeed a difficult one and only by tedious, painstaking +work, observing the life of the city and its character, I succeeded in +isolating the individual who gave me the key to the circumventuous +political life and the government of Constantinople. It took me a +full month of night work to become familiar with the innumerable +demi-mondaines. They were of French, Russian and Circassian birth and +extraction, and were identified with the various Turkish court +officials from the Grand Vizier down to an officer in the +Ganitsharies. This preliminary work is always exhausting, but it is +so necessary on a mission of this kind. One blunder, one step in the +dark, and you are gone. One spends months without any tangible +results, often going on the wrong track. One has to be excruciatingly +circumspect in one's inquiries. To use a hunter's expression, there +is no quarry so wary, sharp-sighted and keen at smelling the wind as a +political demi-mondaine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In this work Kim was of inestimable value to me. In fact, without him +I would not have succeeded at all. All the households kept by the +Turkish officials and their favorites swarm with negroes of the +various types. A white man has not the slightest chance of finding +the way into their confidences. The universal golden key does not +unloose tongues in such cases in the Orient. But Kim as a member of +the once mighty Zulu nation (he was really a descendant of a prince +of the house of Dingnan) was able, through a mysterious free masonry +still existing among colored races the world over, to obtain most +valuable information. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My method of campaign was to ascertain the name of one of the +favorites of the Turkish officials, to locate her residence and then +put Kim to work. Finally locating one of these women, I would manage +to learn her name and where she lived. Then it was time for Kim. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Kim," I said, "I want you to find out who comes to see her, whether +it is always the same official and if so, how frequently. I want you +to learn everything you can about any letters she may receive. I want +to know just where she gets her money from, if she has any outside +sources of revenue, other than in Constantinople. I want every scrap +of any kind of information about her." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +And Kim would go his way, seek out the servants in that household +and he would generally come back with all this information. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Now I noticed that a certain Mlle. Balniaux was very much in the +company of Abdulla, who was at that time the influential adviser of +the Grand Vizier. It was known in Berlin that the Grand Vizier had +lately become very deaf and antagonistic to German influence. The +Wilhelmstrasse knew that France and Russia were at work, but were in +the dark as to the channels. Therefore I sent Kim to ascertain if +Mlle. Balniaux was visited by Abdulla at her private residence. I +told him to learn the exact hour of arrival in each instance and the +length of the visits. The bare fact that Abdulla might be seen in her +company in public bore no particular significance. These women are +always accompanied by a whole retinue of officers and young Turkish +noblemen. It is part of their work. Their method of procedure is to +bewitch young officers and officials, attach them to their person, +make them spend huge sums of money and then play their card. I +noticed that the money Turkish officers squandered on these women +compared to their pay and income was tremendous. They think nothing +of going ahead blindly and buying the most expensive jewels; I have +seen them even buy motorcars. The result is not difficult to +forecast. The young officer soon finds himself head over heels in +debt. Two courses are open to him. Either he must pay the debt or be +transferred to some dreary interior post, and a Turk who has been in +the gay life of Constantinople would rather commit suicide than go to +any inland garrison. Those women then pay the debts, exacting state +secrets as the price of their timely assistance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Abdulla, therefore, might only be one of these hangers-on. Kim +established connections with Mlle. Balniaux's household and soon I +had the required information. He brought me letters and scraps of +paper that Mlle. Balniaux's dark skinned servants had stolen for him. +He supplemented this by conversations that the servants had overheard +and told to Kim. All this showed me that more by good luck I had +stumbled upon the hotbed of the prime mover of the whole intrigue, +Mlle. Balniaux. There was not the slightest hope of intimidating or +buying over this particular lady's allegiance. I had to learn exactly +who was subsidizing her machinations and there was no possibility of +obtaining the clew from her. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I must find the accessible person among her intimate friends. From +time to time I had seen her with a pretty little dark-haired girl who +danced in the Folies Arabic. I learned her name was Cecelia Coursan. +I began to frequent the Folies, a kind of cabaret crowded every night +with Turkish officers. Admiration was no longer a delight to her and +she accepted it with a wooden smile. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Folies is quite dissimilar from its European or American +prototypes, by reason of its Oriental atmosphere. Most of the year +round it is conducted in the open. Picture a large court, the center +of which is covered with a priceless Smyrna carpet. Seated around on +little divans and silk cushions are the principal native performers, +Neulah girls wearing the teasing Yamashk, covering half their faces +although the rest of their figures are visible through gauzy Damascene +shawls. The European performers, dressed in the latest and most +startling Paris creations, flirt and flitter among the +audience--seated round on dainty marble-topped bamboo tables, +inhaling, in the case of Madame, a dainty "Regie," or if Bey or +Effendi, a Tshibuk or Narghile, gravely drawing on the amber +mouthpiece and slowly exhaling the perfumed smoke. The gorgeous +officers' uniforms, mostly a vivid red, blue and gold; the picturesque +flowing robes and burnouses, with here and there a six-foot stalwart +silk trousered Albanian with gold and silver inlaid daggers and +pistols thrust in his sash, make a picture reminding one of the +Sheherezade. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Observing that everybody was bent on spoiling this popular little +houri by emphatic admiration, I made myself conspicuous by a +peculiarly British stony indifference. Nor was I wrong in my tactics. +The piqued little dancer was not to be ignored. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One night she approached my table and challenged me in French, at +which I gave a noncommittal smile. I pretended that I did not know +French. Then she tried indifferent German and I looked at her with +puzzled blankness. Finally she spoke to me in a piquant English and I +answered. She spoke English extremely well and it developed that she +had been a choriphyée at the London Empire. I let the acquaintance +grow leisurely. One night I found her in a fit of despondency, over a +quarrel with her friend, Mlle. Balniaux. My subterfuge getting +effective, I was just beginning to ply her with questions when a +Turkish officer full of cognac wandered by and dropped a remark to her +in French. It went against the grain for those swine to cast +innuendoes to a white woman and forgetting my play acting, I told him +his comments were uncalled for and advised him to draw in his horns a +bit. After a little bluster to which I angrily replied in French, he +disappeared, and, as I sat down at the table, Cecelia was looking at +me with a queer smile. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I thought you did not understand French," she said. "I observe you +have a pretty good Parisian accent." Then the full significance of my +blunder came to me and I felt like the classic capricornus, meaning +goat. She said she was tired of the Folies that night and suggested a +drive. I called a careta and as we were driving down the boulevard I +said to her: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Is this existence always pleasant? Is it not as it was with that +officer, often unendurable?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She replied in a bantering tone, only half hiding a hurt undernote. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I'm getting used to it," she said. "A Turkish pig is no worse than +an English cad or a German boor." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The typical, philandering Broadway or Bond Street masher makes the +physiological mistake of undervaluing the innate sense of decency +inherent in every woman. Gentle courtesy and manners impress a +courtesan by reason of the novelty. The inverse is often useful in +dealing with a pampered society woman. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Much to the annoyance of the Turkish officers, I often thereafter took +the pretty Cecelia away from the Folies, after her performance, for a +drive, and I began to compare her small confidences with certain bits +of information that Kim had given me. I knew, or I could pretty well +guess, that she was not staying in Constantinople, enduring the +insults of those Turkish officers, simply for the money she could earn +as a dancer. Then I made my second dramatic play for confidence. I +suddenly stopped going to the Folies. I suppose it was rather +lonesome in Constantinople and a man who was not a Turk was a novelty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One afternoon she sent for me and I was confronted with a human +situation which I must in this narrative of Secret Service operations +treat as impersonal though it is full of pathetic implications. I +found her with her luggage packed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Why haven't you come to the Folies lately?" she demanded with +a pretty air of bossing the situation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I told her my work at the hospital had made heavy inroads upon +my time. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Oh!" she began, tapping a little boot impatiently on the floor; +after a pause, "I have to leave for Paris.... Well?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"That is most unfortunate." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Is that all?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"To say anything more would only be painful, Machere Cecelia." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"But there is no need of our being blue. Why not make the occasion +a happy one? Why not come along to Paris?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She looked up at me with an impudent little smile. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"My dear little girl," I said, "I am no man of means and I cannot go +gadding about Europe. Besides, I have my work here. I will be busy +at the hospital for another month." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That seemed to displease her. She looked at me carefully, +unconsciously her manner changed. She became somewhat appraising. It +seemed as though a different woman was speaking, +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Franz," she said, "a man like you is wasting his time pottering +around a hospital with your evident knowledge of the world and +people. With your education and travels you ought to be very +valuable to certain men back in Paris." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I felt what was coming, but I asked her to explain. She did so and +from her I received a tentative offer to enter the French Secret +Service. I had difficulty in mastering the muscles of my face to keep +from betraying the laughter that was almost ready to break out. Very +gravely I asked her to tell me more about Secret Service. Proudly, +Cecelia showed me letters that she had received from Paris. From the +addresses and the signatures I thus learned the individuals in direct +control of the system that was undermining German influence by using +demi-mondaines such as Mlle. Balniaux. I gathered that Cecelia +Coursan was only a go-between for Mlle. Balniaux in making her +reports to the French government. I asked her some more questions, +exclaiming that her proposal interested me tremendously. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I pretended to be particularly anxious as to what pay I would receive +were I to come to an understanding with "her friend in Paris." She +assured me it was liberal and urged me to hasten to Paris. I told her +that as soon as I finished my work at the hospitals I would do so. +She then asked me to take charge of her mail and to forward any +letters that might come for her. I did--to the Wilhelmstrasse. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That incident is one of those in my Secret Service work of which I am +not entirely proud. Of course from my viewpoint Cecelia Coursan was +not a woman, she was simply the paid agent of another government and +it was a case of her wits against mine; at least with this sophistry I +quieted my doubts. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Three years later I found the same little woman in an obscure café +in Antwerp. She was no longer in the French Service. I concluded that +her blunder in Constantinople had "broken" her, for she seemed to have +gone down the ladder. She did not recognize me, but as she seemed to +be in straitened circumstances, I found a way to assist her to at +least three months' board and lodging by sending her anonymously 500 +francs. It was conscience money. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When I had thus located and coupled up the chiefs of the French Secret +Service with the situation in Constantinople, I began quietly to +cultivate the acquaintance of the average Turkish officer. I had to +learn the tendency of their thoughts. I met officers and merchants, +administrators and students. From them all I learned that they were +sick of the intrigues and wire-pulling of the harems. I learned of +the discontent of the Young Turk party. I gathered that the time was +ripe for an overturning of the government. In my report I made a +correct forecast of the trend of affairs. I drew attention to Enver +Bey, who was even then considered clever, even dangerous, by the Grand +Vizier. As a most aggressive Young Turk, they had sent him to an +obscure post in Thessalonia, but upon sounding out the younger +officers I found that he was still regarded highly. Without doubt my +reports in addition to the reports made by von der Golz, the +accredited German instructor of the Turkish Army, helped to shape the +policy of the German Foreign Office. I learned beyond all doubt that +the Sultan Abdul Hamid was nothing but a figurehead, that the Grand +Vizier, bought by Russian and French gold, was running the government +in a way that was antagonistic to German influences and that the +swarms of demi-mondaines in French and Russian pay were corrupting the +higher Turkish officials to their cause. All these things I included +in my report and after four months I was back in Berlin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To better understand the diplomatic significance of this mission, I +shall recast the political situation. The modern German policy in +the European Orient, inaugurated by Bismarck as a defense and check +against Russia, has always been keen on the friendship and good will +of the Turk for reasons which will be obvious enough later. During +the Caprivi Chancellorship, the relation between the two empires +became rather lax. Wilhelm II with his keen farsightedness set about +to remedy this. In his usual spectacular, but in most cases +efficient, manner, he went with his royal consort in state to +Palestine, calling first on the Sultan. The tremendously enthusiastic +reception that the Moslem countries accorded him is a matter of +contemporary history. This was really a master stroke of diplomacy +although sharply criticised at the time. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Until the Kaiser's visit, France, with more or less right, considered +herself protector general of all Mohammedans. From now on this began +to change. The immediate result of the Emperor's visit was a close +understanding between the Wilhelmstrasse and the Sublime Porte. The +buying of vast quantities of guns, ammunition, and the influx of +Prussian officers and drilling instructions, besides huge orders of +all sorts of German goods was significant. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The always uneasy jealousy of France and Russia was at once aroused, +England, in this instance, not taking any decided stand in affairs. +England had spent many lives and much money, notably in the Crimean +War, to keep Russia out of Turkey and was averse to encouraging +Russo-French influences at the Sublime Porte. How far England would +like either Germany or France to acquire control of the Dardanelles +remains to be seen. With Russia, it has been bloody wars and grim +struggles since the days of Catherine, misnamed the Great, to gain +control of the Dardanelles. Unceasing intrigues have been and are +still going on in Stamboul. Russia's influence has been steadily +undermined by Germany, in Turkey and Asia Minor. Since the disastrous +campaign against Japan, Russia has made strenuous efforts to recoup +her sphere of influence through her coalition of the principal Balkan +States. Of this you will learn later. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Germany, always including Austria (the external policy of both +countries on all these questions is synonymous), found French-Russian +influences at work. Through their marvelous, efficient Intelligence +System, Germany soon learned who were the prime movers and puppets; in +this instance the Grand Vizier and the Seraglio officers; the then +sultan, Abdul Hammid, "The Damned," being completely cowed and under +the thumb of his Grand Vizier, could not be relied on for a moment. +After my mission they knew in Germany that the time was ripe for a +radical change, and they engineered it. Result: A revolution and the +Young Turks in power, with Enver Bey, Tuofick Pasha, Ibrahim Mander +Bey and similar men, with German training and learning, directing +affairs. Germany regained complete sway and is to-day easily the most +powerful influence in Turkey. What significance this has on the +general bearing of European politics, I shall discuss in a later +chapter. +</p> + +<h2><a name="V">V</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">THE GRAND DUKE'S LETTER</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After a number of more or less strenuous missions, I felt thoroughly +run down. During the Boer War I had been shot through the left lung +and now I began to experience trouble. A series of hemorrhages +brought about by unchecked cold and exposure, led me to consult +Professor Bayer, the noted specialist in Berlin. He advised me to +get away from everything for a month at least, recommending the pine +ozone. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is no lack of pine forests in Germany or Norway; and I had +plenty of acquaintances in both countries. To any one of them I +would have been welcome, but this would have entailed social +obligations and I wanted to be absolutely alone. There were but +two of my friends at whose places I could do exactly as I wished, +where man and beast knew me. One, whose place was in the Pushta, +Hungary, was probably away on a hunting trip and Hungary was too +remote. The other, a schoolmate of mine, lived near Furstenwalde, +about fifty-eight kilometers from Berlin. Furstenwalde, I decided, +was an ideal spot, near Berlin, yet isolated enough and in the +heart of one of the largest of the well-cared-for Prussian domain +forests. So Ehrenkrug, the seat of the <i>Koenigliche Ober +Forsterei</i> and the family seat of the Freiherren von Ehrenkrug, +was the place I selected. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had enjoyed three weeks of rest and quietness, doing some desultory +fishing and shooting but spending most of my time in a hammock +slung under some of the giant Fichten, when my sylvan idyl was +disturbed by the red-faced, stub-nosed post boy of the Forsterei. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He brought me a letter from Graf Wedel, an astonishing missive. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +<i>Dear Graves:</i> +</p> + +<p class="letterin"> +I hope your health has improved sufficiently for you to attend +to this matter. Be pleased to understand that this is by no means +an official command. However, I need not point out to you the +advantages, accruing to you through your assistance in the case. +The matter briefly is this. I have been approached by the Grand +Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerein to assist him in the solving of a +rather delicate private affair. It is outside the usual routine +but we find it advisable to comply. The mission is delicate and +leads into England, for which reasons I have decided to let you +undertake the affair if willing. In case of acceptance, all +necessary leave of absence will be arranged. This is not a command +but let me again point out the advisability of your showing +compliance. +</p> + +<p class="letterrt"> +Truly yours,<br> +V. Wedel. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Three weeks in the pine forests had been better than all the +physicians in Berlin. Besides, I was tired of the monotonous country +life and was hungry for the fleshpots of Egypt. Between the lines of +Wedel's letter I could read the opportunities for earning a handsome +fee. I wrote Wedel that I had no objections, providing the mission +was something I could accomplish, for I was still in the dark as to +its nature. I knew that intruding into the private affairs of ducal +and princely houses is often a most unthankful business. I have ever +found it more satisfactory and less nerve racking to undertake a +mission into some foreign country than to become involved with some +petty local affair of royalty. For some such affair I judged to be +the dilemma of the house of Mecklenburg-Schwerein. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Within two days there came another communication from Wedel asking +me to be at Mecklenburg-Schwerein on a certain immediate day. +Taking leave of my friends, and thanking them for their hospitality, +I left for Schwerein. Upon my arrival at the seat of the dukedom I +was met by a quiet landau of the Grand Ducal stables. Two flunkies +in the Grand Duke's livery took my luggage, escorted me to the +carriage and I was driven up to the old castle. The landau took me +to a side entrance and I was promptly shown into an austere and +unpretentious chamber. Scarcely had I entered when a quiet, elderly, +benevolent-looking gentleman dressed in a shooting jacket appeared +in another doorway, evidently much perturbed. I at once recognized +him as the old Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerein. He appraised +me for fully a minute; then as if to himself he said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You're only a boy, but I suppose they know," shaking his great gray +head. "Strange times. Strange times." Then suddenly realizing his +inhospitality, he urged me to be seated. "Take a seat, take a seat." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Unlike the gentlemen of the Wilhelmstrasse, he did not plunge +immediately into the subject at hand. He began a chat with me about +purely personal affairs. Finally the conversation drifting around +to the cause of my visit, he said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Can you fulfill this mission?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I told him I could not say until I had learned what it was. I +requested that he give me the privilege of refusal should I find +myself unable to negotiate it successfully. He agreed that it was +fair and when he looked at me again he seemed to suggest that he +did not believe me so young after all. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"There's rather an unhappy and most inconvenient entanglement in my +household," he began. "My nephew, the young Grand Duke, is tangled up +and ensnarled with a certain lady in England whom he wishes to marry. +It is unfortunate that she is of too high a social status to be +entirely ignored or roughly bought off. Still, she is not eligible +for admission into our house. For more than political reasons, it +is impossible that she enter into an alliance with us." His eyes +flashed. "This lady has lately threatened to make trouble through +my persistent refusal to countenance her desired relationship." He +frowned. "She has in her possession compromising letters and +documents which my nephew was foolish enough to give her. These must +be returned to my hands. Monetary questions need not be considered +for a moment. Pressure and influence have been tried on both my +nephew and the lady. But of no avail. The means I leave to you. But +force and publicity must at all cost be avoided. I can give you very +little help as to procedure and information. What do you think of +the chances?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It has ever been my way to he conservative in making promises +and I said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I hope your Highness will pardon me, but I find it often undesirable +to voice my thoughts until I have reached a certain stage of my +investigations." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This appeared to impress him and he rose saying: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I am entirely in your hands. Communicate direct with my chamberlain, +or if necessary to use cable, I shall arrange with your chief in +Berlin for forwarding facilities. Be good enough to wait and I shall +send you my secretary." Slapping me on the shoulder, "You'll not +regret it, helping us out of this quandary." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Neither did I. The Grand Duke stalked out. A flunky appeared and +conducted me to a private little dining-room where cold game and wine +were served and at the end of which the secretary came in and handed +me an envelope with the Grand Duke's compliments and a request to +start at once on my mission. Assuring him I would be on the road that +same night, I returned to Berlin. I got Stammer of the Wilhelmstrasse +on the telephone and requested a preliminary two months' leave of +absence. I then caught the Hook of Holland Express en route for +London. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Upon opening the Grand Duke's letter I had found it contained three +bank notes of 1000 marks each and a draft for 500 pounds on the +English, Scottish and Colonial Bank, with a note saying that any +future request would be honored at three days' notice to the same +bank. Thus I would have all the money I wanted in London. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the way over, I followed my usual custom and considered the +situation in detail. The lady in question was in society and the +first thing to do was to try to get in touch with the little circle +or clique in which she moved. This might have been difficult in any +other city but London. But a man of appearance, culture and money, +setting his stage right, can with tact and persistence force an entry +into any clique of London society. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The only thing I had to worry about was a setting of my stage. I was +undecided about it. One often has to leave things to circumstances, +being guided by any momentary points that may arise. My first task +was to create an impression, something that would get people talking +about me. I did not want to show any sensational parvenuism; London +is not impressed by that. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Rather, I must become known for some eccentricity that would arouse +legitimate curiosity. Your Britisher, the women included, are always +interested in a man of travel, a hunter, a desultory globe-trotter; +and nothing attracts the English mind so quickly as a well-bred +eccentricity in manner or habit. The broad lines of my plan +determined upon, I left the precise setting of the stage until the +last minute. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I quartered myself at first at the Russel Square Hotel, in a few days +transferring to the patrician Langham. I began by making tentative +inquiries. I purchased all society papers which I read from cover to +cover, and then carefully feeling my way put further questions that +would locate the set in which my lady was a central figure. From +acquaintances I made around the hotel, from the society reporters of +newspapers, I began to get little scraps of information. Fortunately +it was the season in London and everybody was coming into town. I +soon knew who the Lady's intimates were and their favorite rendezvous. +The next step was to become familiar with the personality of the lady +and to gain some idea as to her habits, her likes and dislikes. I +heard that the lady was in the habit of going horseback riding in Hyde +Park. Every day I made it my business to take a two-hour canter along +the bridle path. My patience was rewarded on the fifth morning, for I +saw her galloping by with a party of friends. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The next morning I was on the bridle path at the same hour. Finally +she came galloping along with the same group, and after they had +almost gone from sight, I galloped after them. I found out where they +kept their horses and after they had dismounted I sauntered up to the +stable and made inquiries. I learned that they always went out at the +same time of day. Thereafter I made it my business to pass the lady +on the bridle path day after day. I pride myself on few things, but +my horsemanship is one of them. Many a hard tussle and bleeding nose +I got riding Brumbies across the wild tracks of Australia. I also +learned a trick or two among my Tuareg friends which I exhibited for +the lady's benefit on various occasions. I did not hope to gain an +introduction, but only to attract attention and familiarize her party +with my appearance, applying one of the test points of human +psychology. I employed the theory of the subconscious attraction of +an often-seen, though unknown face. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I soon ascertained that my lady and her friends followed all the whims +of London society. One in particular interested me. They were in the +habit of frequenting Carlton Terrace between three and four every +afternoon and eating strawberries. I also went to eat strawberries. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Carlton Terrace during the strawberry season is an exquisitely colored +fashion plate of life's butterflies and drones. This throng of +fashion and beauty, marked with its air of distinction carelessly +abandoned to pleasure, ever murmuring pleasant nothings and tossing +light persiflage from table to table, is truly an interesting study of +the lighter sides of life. One sits on a magnificent markee-covered, +glass-enclosed terrace, overlooking the Thames with its ever-changing +scenes of fussy tugs and squat barges. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Carlton Terrace one pays well for the subtleties of eating. By +courteous consideration of the waitresses I managed to secure a +much-coveted outside corner table, near to the one reserved for the +lady and her party. I always made it a point to withhold my entrance +until the lady was in the terrace; then I would stroll in alone, take +a seat alone, and show a desire to be alone. They have a very clever +way of serving strawberries at the Carlton. A vine, growing from ten +to twelve large luscious berries is brought on in a silver pot. It is +the acme of luxury. You pick the fresh berries from the vine on your +table, the Terrace supplies quantities of cream, and you pay half a +sovereign--$2.50--for a dish of strawberries. One dish is enough for +the average customer. Every afternoon I ordered five! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Day after day I consumed in strawberries two sovereigns and a +half--$12.50--of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerein's money. +Always tipping the girl a half sovereign which made my daily +strawberry bill come up to three sovereigns ($15). For about ten days +I did this, always at the same time, always being careful to make my +entrance after the lady's party was seated, always ordering the same +number of portions, always giving the girl the same tip. It wasn't +long before I began to be observed. I soon saw that not only the +attendants but the patrons of the Terrace were becoming interested in +my foible. One day as I passed I heard someone say: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Here comes the strawberry fiend." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was satisfied. I knew it would be easy now to effect an entrance to +the lady's set. I had been marked as something out of the usual in +the restaurant which from three to four in the afternoon at that time +of the year is the most fashionable in London. Now, a woman like my +lady does not flirt. If you glance at her under favorable conditions, +such as my strawberry "stunt" had created for me, she will return the +glance. You both half smile and do not look at each other again that +afternoon. That is not flirting. Splitting hairs, we shall call it +psychic interest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I continued my strawberry festival and one day a manager of Carlton +Terrace told me that people were making inquiries about me. Several +men had wanted to know who I was. Under questioning, he told me that +one of the men was a member of the lady's set. It was easy to put +together two and two. Obviously the inquiry had been inspired by her. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Meanwhile I had sent several communications to the Grand Duke, +insisting that pressure be brought to bear upon his nephew and to +keep him away from London; not even permitting him under penalty of +stopping his allowance, to write the lady in the case until the Grand +Duke gave his permission. By now, London had gradually filled and the +season was at its height. I went the rounds of the theaters from +Drury Lane to the Empire, and I visited the clubs. I found here men +whom I had met previously and presently I rounded up two or three +fellows with whom I had been fairly intimate at one time or another on +hunting expeditions and at continental watering-places. I made them +introduce me to different sets. Dexterous maneuvering obtained me +invitations to afternoon teas and at-homes in the same circle +frequented by my lady. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was introduced to her at an afternoon reception. She was a typical +outdoor Englishwoman. Not particularly handsome, hut possessing to +the full the clearness of skin and eyes and strong virile health, +that is the hereditary lien of Albion's daughters. Tall, willowy and +strong, of free and independent manners and habits, she was the direct +antithesis of the usual German woman. I reasoned that this was +probably the reason of the young Duke's infatuation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How do you do, you wild Colonial boy. Still as fond of strawberries +as ever?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We both burst out laughing. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"So your ladyship observed and classified my little maneuvers." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Of course," with a toss of her head. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Unforced and pleasant chatting followed. I could more and more +understand the Grand Duke's infatuation; in fact, considered him +quite a "deuced, lucky beggar." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From that day on I made it a point to be present whenever she attended +public places, such as the theater, concerts or restaurants. +Gradually and imperceptibly, by little services here and there, I won +her confidence. There was an after-theater supper, in the Indian room +of the Windsor, and I was invited. By this time people had come to +know something about me. I was a globe-trotter, a man of leisure, +interested as a hobby in research work in medicine. I discovered that +her affair with the young Grand Duke was a fairly open secret in her +set; also, that she was expecting him in London almost daily. +Gradually I hinted that I knew the young Grand Duke. As I gained her +confidence further, I invented amorous affairs for him and hinted to +her about them. In this way I finally managed to induce her to talk. +Subtly I instilled a vague resentment against him, which was +accentuated by his non-appearance in London society up to now. His +Highness having been kept away by his Serene Uncle, the serene one +having been cautioned to do so by me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Two months passed before I was invited to the lady's home in Mayfair +and by that time, partly because I pretended to know the young Grand +Duke, I was on a more intimate footing. I had learned that she had +met him at a hunting party at the Earl of Crewes' shooting box in +Shropshire. Later, she intimated that this was but their official +meeting and that their acquaintance actually dated from a mountain +trip she had taken to Switzerland, the universal playground of royalty +traveling <i>incog</i>. I learned too that her heavy bridge gambling +had cost her a lot of money. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The information that the lady was in debt did not come easily. To +obtain it, I had to work on her maid. Whenever the occasion arose, I +made it my business to tip the maid liberally. I contrived to do a +number of little things for her. Knowing the lady to be out, I called +at the house one day and while pretending to be waiting for my +hostess, I put some leading questions to the maid. I learned that her +mistress was pressed for money. That was an opening worth working on. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Thereafter I contrived to be present whenever there was a bridge party +at the lady's. They are pretty high gamblers, those English society +women, and I came to see that the lady was generally a heavy loser. +It was my good fortune for her to lose to me one night. Now, it is +the custom at these gatherings not to hand over cash; instead, the +unlucky one pays with what corresponds to an "on demand note." I took +her note that night and with others--the whereabouts of which I +learned from the maid and which I indirectly purchased from the +holders--I took all these to a notorious money-lender and made a deal +with him. He was to take the notes and press the lady for payment, of +course keeping my name out of it. It is obvious that, trying as I was +to win her confidence, I could not go myself and hold these +obligations over her head. That same day the money-lender paid the +lady a call. He paid her a good many other calls, harassing her, +threatening legal action and driving her until she was almost to a +state of nervous collapse. Well-placed sympathies soon made her talk +and she burst out pettishly that she was in debt and that most of her +acquaintances were in debt--nothing unusual in that set. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This was an opportune chance to be of material benefit to the lady. +Seriously we talked over her affairs. I found them pretty well +entangled. We discussed the young Grand Duke. I gradually persuaded +her that there was no hope of a legitimate marriage with the house of +Mecklenburg-Schwerein, but because of her association with the young +Grand Duke and the fact that she had been betrothed to him, it was +only right that the Duchy provide her with some means of assistance. +The ice was perilously thin, for the lady is a high-spirited woman of +ideals and I had to be careful to word my language so that it would +not appear as though she were blackmailing. In justice to her, I +believe that if she had taken that view of it she would have dropped +the entire matter, and retired from society for the season rather than +go through with my plan. Finally I said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Have you any means by which you could compel the ducal house +to make adequate acknowledgments and redresses to you?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After a long hesitation, she jumped up, swept from the room and +returned presently with a handful of letters. I saw on some of them +the Grand Duke's coat of arms. The young fool had been careless +enough for that! She shook the letters in a temper and cried: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I wonder what Franz's uncle would say to these? Why, I could compel +him to marry me." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Here was the chance. The iron--in this case my lady's temper--was hot. +I suggested that we sit down and talk it over. As an introductory +attack, to create the impression that I knew what I was talking about, +I hinted that I was connected with a leading family in Germany and +that I was in London <i>incog</i>. I approached the situation from +the viewpoint that I was her friend, not a friend of the house of +Mecklenburg-Schwerein, but that, by knowing them and their ways, I +could be of great assistance to her. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It is regrettable," I consoled; "but you have no chance for a +legitimate, even a morganatic alliance with the young Grand Duke. I +consider their entire attitude toward you utterly unfair. In view of +your understanding with him, you are most certainly entitled to +adequate recompense from his house. If you went into court you could +obtain this on grounds of breach of promise, but I can understand your +feelings. Such a step would only cast odium upon an old and noble +family such as yours." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That seemed to her liking. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"But what can I do?" she said. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"In view of my friendship for you," I told her, "I would consider it +an honor if you would permit me to act on your behalf. I think I can +negotiate with the young Grand Duke's uncle and I promise that he will +regard the matter in a fair light. I appreciate the extreme delicacy +of the situation and you must observe the necessity of a man handling +this affair." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She shook her head and tapped the letters nervously. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"No. It is intolerable," she said. "Not to be thought of." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I saw that I had to make it stronger. I thereupon invented the most +ingenious lies it has ever been given me to tell. In about five +minutes I had painted the young Grand Duke in such colors that the +adventures of Don Juan were saintly compared to the escapades of his +ducal highness. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Why, consider it yourself," I said. "He was to be over here with you +during the season. He has not come. You told me yourself that he has +not even answered your letters. Well, that's all there is to it. +Your ladyship, he and his house deserve any punishment that you can +visit upon them." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The idea of punishment appealed where the other had failed. The +outraged pride of woman, especially an Englishwoman, is a terrible +thing. Soon after that I made haste to take my leave. At my quarters +I wrote two letters to myself and signed the Grand Duke's name to +them. In these I offered to pay her ladyship's debts. They were +addressed to me and after allowing a reasonable time to elapse, I +again went out to Mayfair and read them to her. She was now cold and +hard and gave me full permission to go ahead and make any arrangements +I deemed advisable. I thereupon went to the Grand Duke's bank in +London and notified them that I must have 15,000 pounds ($75,000). +In four days I had the money. The rest of the transaction was +commonplace. She handed over all the letters and documents and I +gave her the 15,000 pounds. I know to-day that her ladyship travels +extensively in a very comfortable manner on the yearly appanage +allowed her by the old Grand Duke. I do not know whether she still +goes to Carlton Terrace to eat strawberries, but I flatter myself that +her present good fortune is partially due to the fact that she once +went there. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the time of closing our little transaction, she took the precaution +to protect adequately and seal all letters and documents from my +perusal. Of course that was a disappointment. I put the packet away +carefully, closed up my affairs in London and went back to Germany, +going direct to Mecklenburg-Schwerein where I delivered the package to +the old Grand Duke in person. He seized it eagerly and opened it in +my presence. I noticed as he ran through the letters that he did not +stop even to glance at them. He did, however, stop and pick out from +the pile an official looking document, at the sight of which a +tremendous sigh of relief seemed to escape him. The document had a +decidedly close resemblance to a marriage license as issued in +Switzerland. Of course I only got a fleeting, cursory glance at it, +but the eagerness of the Grand Duke in pouncing upon that one document +and ignoring the letters, and hints previously dropped by her +ladyship, embellished by rumors I later heard in Switzerland, all +leave very little doubt in my mind that a clandestine marriage did +actually take place between this lady of the English nobility and the +young Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerein. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +His Royal Highness must have been satisfied, for besides a fee of +5000 marks, I received a few days later through Wedel a diamond +pin and a magnificent gold watch and chain inscribed with the +Grand Ducal arms of Mecklenburg-Schwerein inscribed: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<i>"For services performed faithfully to my house."</i> +</p> + +<h2><a name="VI">VI</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">THE INTRIGUE AT MONTE CARLO</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Back in Berlin from a mission to Vienna, my dispatches delivered, once +more comfortably ensconced in my quarters, on the Mittelstrasse, I was +looking forward to an evening at the Pavilion Mascotte. I was just +getting into my dinner coat when my man bowed an orderly through the +door and at once all my plans took swift flight out the window. The +orderly brought a command for my immediate attendance at the +Wilhelmstrasse. Now the gentlemen of the Wilhelmstrasse are never +kept waiting and do not accept excuses. Within twenty minutes I was +shown into the chambers of Count von Wedel; in thirty minutes I was +out again, having complete orders. They know what they want at the +Wilhelmstrasse and they generally get it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As I hurried back to my rooms I went over what von Wedel had said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You are to be ready to take the midnight express to Monte Carlo. You +will there keep watch on and report any possible meeting between the +Russian, French and English ministers, at present traveling about the +Riviera. You will have the assistance, if necessary, of the Countess +Chechany. If you need her, send her this card" (he had given me the +card with his signature across it, a reproduction of which is +presented on this page)." If meetings or conferences take place, you +must obtain the tenor thereof. Here is an order for your primary +expenses." He had flicked an order for 3000 marks, about $750, across +his desk. "Anything you wish elucidated?" +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border=0 class="center" width="322"> +<tr><td class="center"> + <img src="fig003.jpg" width="322" height="161" alt="Fig. 3"> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="center">For secret purposes Count Wedell signs himself +Udo, and Wedell, in case an agent is captured with a card on +him.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td class="center"> + <img src="fig004.jpg" width="267" height="54" alt="Fig. 4"> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="center">The back of Wedell's card.</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Not having met the Countess, I had requested her description. Pushing +a button, Count von Wedel had given the answering secretary an order; +within three minutes I was shown the photograph of the lady and her +signature, of which I took a copy. Having no further requests I had +bowed myself out. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My first act was to cash the order; second to decide and prepare the +character I wished to assume in Monte Carlo. I decided on a South +African mine owner. I know considerable about mining, and being well +acquainted with South Africa, the Rand and Transvaal, I had the +advantage of knowing my locality first. A Secret Service agent is +always careful to choose a character with which he is fully familiar. +One is certain to meet, sooner or later, men in the same walk of life; +and unless one be well primed, one is bound to be "bowled out." I +knew there would be South African mining men at Monte Carlo. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Procuring necessary papers, such as mining journals, quotations, a +couple of South African newspapers and photographs, I went home and +had my man carefully select and pack my wardrobe. I caught the +midnight Lloyd Express. Selecting a pleasant middle compartment, and +getting my seat registered, I made myself comfortable and began to map +out a campaign. This was rather a tough problem. To be in the +slightest degree successful, I had to get near, and if possible in +touch with the ministers that Count von Wedel had designated. How is +this to be done? I knew it was far from easy, almost impossible, to +make their casual acquaintance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I began to cast the personality of the three men over in my mind. +There was Prince Kassimir Galitzin, at that time high in the favor of +the Czar. There were Delcasse of France and Sir Edward Grey of +England. All three were gyrating about the Riviera and the +Savoy--ostensibly it was for their health, possibly for other reasons. +In any case the health of these gentlemen seemed a matter of some +concern to the German emperor. Health trips of more than one +statesman in or about the same locality are looked upon with much +suspicion and promptly investigated; more so when there is any extra +political tension. At that time--it was in 1910--the air was tense, +Germany was in the dark, unable to distinguish friend or foe. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sir Edward Grey's habits were unknown to me. With Delcasse's I was +somewhat familiar. Prince Galitzin--ah, yes! I knew him pretty well, +<i>bon vivaint</i>, extremely fond of a pretty face. Um! I began +to see light. Here is where the Countess might come in. By her +photograph, an extremely beautiful woman; but photographs often +flatter and do not give an indication as to personality. <i>Festina +lente</i>. I could see. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Five forty-five the next afternoon and I was installed at the Hotel +Metropole in Monte Carlo. After a refreshing bath, I had supper +served in my room, and sent for the hotel courier--this an old +globe-trotter trick. Hotel couriers or dragomen are walking +encylopædias. They are good linguists, observant and shrewd. +They are masters of the art of finding out things they should not +know, and past grand masters in keeping their mouths shut unless +you know how to open them. Not with palm oil. Oh, no, nothing so +crude! You would never get any truths or anything worth while, with +bribery. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had to find out local intrigues and gossips, who was in Monte Carlo +and what was doing, who were the leading demi-mondaines and gamblers? +Were there any possible Secret Service men? Hence the courier, a +Swiss from Ober Arau, a district of Switzerland, I luckily knew well. +When he knocked at the door, I cheerily bade him come in. I made my +manner as good natured as possible. I offered him a real Medijeh +cigarette. As befitting his station, he was slipping the cigarette +in his pocket. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Oh, no!" I said. "Light it, won't you? Have a little smoke with me +here. I'm a bit lonesome. I want to get my bearings. Won't you join +me in a glass of wine?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That was my first oar in. After some commonplace conversation, as to +how the season was, I asked: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Anybody of interest here?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I winked knowingly. Possibly it pleased the courier to have someone +to chuckle over a secret. All my oars were in. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"At the Grand Hotel de Londres," he said slyly, "there is a gentleman +who does not fool me." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I offered him another cigarette, helped him to another glass of +wine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"He is registered there as Count Techlow, but he can't fool me. He is +the Prince Galitzin." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What's he doing; gambling a lot?" (I knew he wasn't.) +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"No," replied the courier, "he's keeping pretty quiet." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Is there a Countess Techlow?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The courier shook his head. <i>Buenno!</i> The coast seemed clear. I +knew it was extremely awkward and often dangerous to tempt the quarry +away from a demi-mondaine, especially at Monte Carlo. After chatting +some more I bid the courier good night. I would see the Countess the +first thing in the morning. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Along toward noon I called at the Nouvel Hotel Louvre where von Wedel +had told me I would find Countess Chechany. I sent in my own card +bearing the name of H. Van Huit, Doorn Kloof, Transvaal (the reader +will recall my experience at Doorn Kloof); also von Wedel's card with +his signature. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had to wait for some time, but finally the Countess received me in +her boudoir. She was in bewitching negligée. From the photograph +I was prepared to find a very handsome woman, but shades of Helen! This +was Venus, Juno and Minerva--the whole Greek and any other goddesses +rolled into one! Tall and willowy, superb of figure, great dark-blue +eyes, masses of blue-black wavy hair, full red lips forming a perfect +Cupid's bow. But why go on--I might get too enthusiastic, and mislead +the reader. After my adventure I never saw the Countess again. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I knew that by birth the Countess Chechany was a high Hungarian +noblewoman. By marriage she was related to the Counts of Tolna +Festetics, a leading house in Hungary. Also, she was one of those +marvelously beautiful women peculiar to that country. Waving a small +jeweled hand, she begged me to take a chair beside her. A cigarette +was daintily poised in her fingers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Be seated, Mr. Van Huit of Transvaal," gazing at me with a roguish +grin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We both burst out laughing. Of course she knew what I was. Von +Wedel's card showed her that. But, as her next words plainly showed, +she knew a great deal more. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I've got a badly sprained ankle, Doctor. Can you do anything for +me?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I must have shown a pretty stupid face, for she laughed amusedly +again. I certainly was surprised, for up to now I had never met her, +and my being a doctor was known only to one or two persons in the +Service. Besides, it is strictly a rule of the Imperial Secret +Service never to discuss or divulge personal matters. Her attitude +by no means pleased me. I cordially hate anyone, especially women, +knowing more than I do. One never knows where one is standing in a +case like this. I decided not to show my curiosity, but I was +determined to learn how she knew about me. Coolly I said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Countess, you have somewhat of an advantage. But if I can be +of any assistance to you, pray command me." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As answer, she sprang up, and pirouetting around the room, exclaimed: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Now, why be peevish. If you're good and nice, I shall tell you +sometime all about it." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She never did, for with all her ingenuous mannerisms, my lady was +about the deepest and least fathomable bit of femininity I have ever +met--besides being the possessor of a devil of a temper. After some +more banter, which I instigated to become somewhat acquainted with my +prospective partner, I came to business. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Do you know, Countess, the object of my mission?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Nothing beyond the intimation of your coming and the command to +coöperate with you if necessary. So you had better enlighten +me, mon chère." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I did so with some reservation, it being my habit not to let anyone +into a thing too much, least of all a woman. I suggested that our +first object was to make Prince Galitzin's acquaintance. As his +Serene Highness resided at the Hotel de Londres, we agreed to dine +there. After accepting a dainty cup of chocolate I departed, +purposely returning home by way of the Londres. Here, with a little +diplomacy, I managed to reserve for dinner the table I wanted, one +next to the Prince. Well pleased, I later dressed, armed myself with +a bouquet of La France roses, and called on my partner. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had the roses sent up and waited. The Countess sent word that she +would be down shortly. I smoked three cigarettes. Still no Countess. +I have yet to meet a woman who could or would be punctual. Finally I +heard the soft swish and frou-frou of silk garments and looking up +saw her ladyship coming down the grand stairway. She was brilliantly +robed, jewels flashed at her neck and wrists. She was of that type +of beauty difficult to classify, although assured of approval in any +quarter of the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Tired of waiting, mon ami?" tapping me playfully on the arm. "See, +in return for your patience I am wearing your roses." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She had them pinned on her corsage. We entered our carriage and drove +to the Hotel de Londres, discussing the parts we were going to play. +Would the Russian Bear be caught? I wondered. When we arrived, I saw +that the hotel was pretty well filled. Everybody who was anybody +seemed to be there. I noticed a number of prominent American society +ladies. Experience has taught me that there are three places where +you meet sooner or later every known person in the world,--Piccadilly +Circus, the terrace of Shephard's Hotel, Cairo, and Monte Carlo. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Remembering our diplomatic conversation of the afternoon, the +maître d'hôtel came rushing forward and with profound bows +directed us to our table, which was tastefully decorated with La +France roses, the Countess' favorites (charged to expenses). As we +walked slowly down the passage to our table, many eyes were turned +toward us. The Countess appeared unconscious of it all. Lazily, half +insolently observant, yet wholly unconcerned, she was without doubt +the most strikingly beautiful woman in the assembly; this, though the +society of the world seemed to fill the Londres that night. Poor +Galitzin! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As we seated ourselves, a hush fell about the immediate table to our +right and left. It was followed by a low buzzing of curious or +interested, wise or ignorant, human bees. On our right I saw the +Prince Galitzin. From the moment of our entrance he had kept looking +at the Countess. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, and +abruptly he changed seats with one of the gentlemen at his table. +Obviously his view of the Countess' face was not at the angle he +wished. Screwing his monocle in his eye, he began to stare pretty +consistently. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of course this delighted me. The avidity with which his Serene +Highness was swallowing the bait promised much. I thought it +advisable, however, to create a little diversion, something that +would drive away a possible suspicion that this was a "plant." It +was perfectly obvious to all that the Prince was becoming fascinated. +Also, he was losing his head, for he was showing his fascination in a +rather rude manner. His staring began to attract some attention. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That was the opportunity I was looking for. Calling the maître +d'hôtel, I requested him, pitching my voice so that it would be +easily audible at the surrounding tables: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Persuade the gentleman on our right to discontinue his annoying +stare." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I saw that the Prince had heard my request. Flushing deeply red, he +abruptly rose and with a bow to the Countess went out of the room. It +was as I wished. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We finished our exquisite and excellently well-served dinner, and +went out to the Terrace Gardens to have our café Turc and +cigarettes. This, to my mind, is the most enjoyable hour of the +day, especially in a place like Monte Carlo, well groomed, well +fed, surrounded by an ever-varying throng of interesting people, +beautiful scenery, exquisite music, the ideal <i>dolce far +niente</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Slowly inhaling the smoke of my excellent Medijeh, I fell into a sort +of contemplative reverie while waiting for the Prince. I knew he +would come. Back and forth in front of me wandered humanity, all +grades and shades. Here a prince, scion of a noble house, there a +parvenu, fresh from his latest stock-jobbing victory. Here a +mondaine, a demi-mondaine with a reputation in half a dozen countries. +Here a group of famous lights of the stage, there a couple of eminent +statesmen. Truly, a cosmopolitan crowd. What if the antecedents of +some of the pleasure seekers here were known? I recognized many and +it being my business to know such things, their stories came back to +me magically. Skeletons at the feast? Oh, yes, grewsome ones, too. +Just as well, an all-wise Providence has ordained our inability to +see behind the veil. I knew that the woman opposite me could no more +afford to lift her veil than I could mine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Then one of the gentlemen from the Prince's table came up and +addressed me. First, however, he handed me a card, which I saw bore +the name of Prince Kassimir Vladimir Galitzin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Monsieur," said the Prince's companion, "I'm deputed by the +Prince to convey his regrets, should he have caused Madame or +you any annoyance. The Prince begs permission to make his apology +to Madame in person." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I replied in words to the effect that Madame being a free agent +and only an acquaintance of mine, must decide this for herself. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Personally," I added, "I have no objection." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Countess simply nodded. The Prince's envoy bowed and went away. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He returned in a few minutes with the Prince. Mutual introductions, +general chatting, the Prince confining himself exclusively to the +Countess. About half an hour's talk, refreshments, and there came an +arrangement for luncheon the next day at which the Countess and myself +were invited to be the guests of the Prince. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The luncheon was duly gives at the Hotel Londres and the Prince was +a princely host. Having been invited, I had to attend. There was a +theater party that evening however, to which I was not invited, and +supper after, to which I was not invited. Indeed, when I met the +Prince Galitzin on the grand promenade the next day, he gave me a very +princely stare and kept on walking. All of which suited me perfectly +well. He was in the hands of the Countess. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From afar I watched him become daily more infatuated. They were +constantly driving and attending theaters together. The Prince was +showering valuable presents right and left. In the midst of this, I +received information that Delcasse had arrived at Nizza. The Countess +had her eyes on the Prince, so this left me free to take care of +Delcasse. My work was now to learn if the French minister held any +meetings with Sir Edward Grey or Winston Churchill, ministers from +England, who were shortly expected also to arrive at Nizza. +Subsequently I guessed there would be a final meeting with the Prince. +I continually and unobtrusively followed Delcasse everywhere, but +nothing eventuated owing to unforeseen circumstances in the House of +Commons, and the Cabinet of England, Sir Edward and Churchill were +unable to take their "vacation trips" in person. So they sent an +emissary with important documents to Delcasse, one of which came to +light in his subsequent meeting with Prince Galitzin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the night of the ninth of November I received a wire from the +Countess. It was delivered at the Hotel Anglais, Nizza. Opening it, +I read: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Return. De Camp here. Meeting our friend." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of course by De Camp she meant Delcasse. Clearly he had slipped away +from me. "Our friend" referred to the Prince. This was news indeed! +Hiring an automobile I made record time for Monte Carlo. I arrived at +my hotel about three o'clock in the morning of the tenth and found +awaiting me in my room, the Countess' maid. She delivered part of an +important conversation which had taken place between Delcasse and the +Prince, and of which I shall presently give the substance and its +explanation. Instructing the maid to inform her mistress that I +wished to see her at ten A. M. at the Casino, in the Salle des +Estranger, I dismissed her. I chose the Salle des Estranger because +it was the most frequented and for that reason the least suspicious +meeting place. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We met as appointed and the Countess confirmed the maid's report. For +about three hours on the evening of the ninth, Delcasse, of France, +and Prince Galitzin of Russia were in conference in the Prince's +chamber at the Hotel de Londres. Having changed her hotel and being +in a chamber adjoining the Prince's, the Countess had managed to +overhear most of this conversation. In her report there were +naturally some blanks. She had not been able to hear every word +uttered. But the purport and trend showed me it was of tremendous +importance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was evidently an arrangement between France and Russia, with the +understanding of England, to force Germany into an abject isolation. +Going further, they were trying through a closer alliance of these +three great powers to curtail the activities of German expansion and +completely coup her up diplomatically. The Countess told me that +Prince Galitzin and Delcasse were going to meet again that same +afternoon about five o'clock. As it was absolutely imperative to +obtain knowledge of the rest of the conversation I enjoined the +Countess to exert all her skill to secure the details at this most +important interview, and to meet me once more in a corner of the Salle +des Estrangers, this time at seven o'clock. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I returned to my hotel, settled my bill and had my grip taken over to +the railway station; I got a ticket for Milan. It is always advisable +to lay your plans carefully for a possibly very hurried exit, the +nearest friendly border in this instance being Italy. In the event of +trouble arising, hurrying through France would have been out of the +question. Switzerland is an independent country which would have held +me up officially on being requested to do so, although they do not +extradite for political offenses, but being held up is bad enough. +But once across the Italian border, I was safe enough. A +semi-official hint from the Wilhelmstrasse to the Quirinal would +always procure an open sesame for me--no danger of being held up +there. Hence the ticket for Milan. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The intervening hours I spent on the outskirts of Monte Carlo, +dropping into many a quaint little wine cellar. At dusk I entered the +Salle des Estrangers of the Casino and settling myself comfortably in +the appointed corner, awaited developments. It was a trying wait. I +sat there from seven to ten-thirty, smoking incessantly. I was just +finishing my last cigarette and I had about come to the end of my +resources in entertaining myself. One has ample time to conjecture +all sorts of possible mishaps, and mishaps are deucedly uncomfortable +in this sort of work. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not to create curiosity or suspicion, by my long occupation of this +particular corner, I had started a tremendous flirtation with a rather +plain, rather rotund lady of the English Cook's Tour type. Her return +glances and smiles attracted the amused attention of most of the +passers-by, especially the attendant of that part of the Salle. This +was rather good, for if one does not gamble or flirt in the Casino he +is regarded by the commissaires as a Chevalier d'Industrie, in other +words "confidence man." +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<img src="fig005.jpg" width="320" height="149" alt="Fig. 5"> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Just then I saw the Countess' maid making a signal to me from the +entrance door and without as much as by your leave I hurried after +her. In about ten strides, I overtook the girl. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Have you got anything for me?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"No, sir," she replied. "But her Ladyship wishes to meet you. You +are pleased to make a rendezvous." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This was clever and suited me; knowing that she must have procured +something of importance, I selected a little café, the Boulanger, +close to the station, and after giving the girl a louis, I jumped into +a carriage and drove there. In a short time I was joined by the +Countess who had thrown a hooded mantle over a brilliant evening gown. +Quietly slipping into a chair next to me she took some folded papers +out of her glove, and while fastening a little rosebud into my lapel +slipped them into my pockets with the words: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"All I could obtain, but you'll find it sufficient. I'm leaving for +Rome to-morrow night. Bon voyage!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I looked at my watch and saw I had time to catch the train for Milan. +No sooner was I locked in my coupé and the train in motion, +when I had a good look at the papers. They were two half sheets of +note paper, embossed with the princely coat of arms and containing +abbreviated sentences of dates, and names and a route, all in the +handwriting of Delcasse and the Prince. The whole gist with her +repeated, overheard snatches of conversation showed clearly an +intended secret visit of the President of France to the Czar of +Russia, the names of the officials to be present and the meeting +place, the Czar's yacht, the <i>Staandart</i>, off Kronstadt. This +meeting, however, did not take place, the Kaiser forestalling it by +his quick action on the Moroccan situation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From Milan I went to Berlin and within forty-eight hours the documents +were delivered into the hands of Count von Wedel, and then into the +hands of the Emperor. Their significance was this: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Moroccan trouble was very ominous. Germany was in a position +where, sooner or later, she would be forced to act. Before this +mission the Kaiser was in the dark. France, Russia and England did +not have their cards on the table. He did not know which countries +would remain neutral in case of war with France. He had suspected +that there was some sort of an understanding brewing against him. +The results of my mission--learning of Sir Edward Grey's message to +Delcasse, Delcasse's meeting with Prince Galitzin of Russia--confirmed +this beyond all doubt. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But how strong was this alliance? How close would England stick to +France? This he did not know. He only knew that there was a sort of +an agreement, and to find out just how strong was the bond between +England and France, he used a master stroke of diplomacy. He brought +the Moroccan question to a crisis, long before it was anticipated; he +sent the warship <i>Panther</i> into Agadir Harbor and forced England +and France to show their hands. How close war was averted, only four +persons knew at that time--the Captain of the <i>Panther</i>, von Wedel, +the Kaiser and myself. And how Europe just missed being plunged into +a tremendous war I shall tell of in my secret mission that nipped war +in the bud. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I came near forgetting. For his discretion at Monte Carlo, the Czar +rewarded Prince Galitzin by transferring him to a province in Siberia. +</p> + +<h2><a name="VII">VII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">THE KAISER PREVENTS A WAR</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was Kaiser weather in Germany. Back from a five months' trip to +the Far East, Berlin seemed to me like Heaven. I had finished a +secret diplomatic mission for the Kaiser and as a result my pocketbook +was full. Days and days in the Orient make a man try to crowd into +the first twenty-four hours home, all the enjoyments that his city +offers. Accordingly, with money running through my fingers like sand, +I planned a long ride in the Grunewald; I saw myself ordering the few +special dishes one gets at Kempinsky's; I would buy a good seat at the +Metropole and to wind up I would look in at the Admiral's Palace when +the performers were mingling in the audience. It being my first day +back in Berlin, that programme appealed to me a lot more than did the +European diplomatic tangle. I had been idling the early afternoon +hours at the Café Bauer, Unter den Linden, but my programme for +the rest of the day finally chosen, I got up, paid my bill and strolled +home. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My boy Kim must have been on the lookout for me; before I could +use my key the door flew open. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Master!" he exclaimed in his heavy, jerky voice. "You are wanted on +the telephone." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had an uneasy suspicion of what that meant, which was confirmed +when my boy added, "Number A 11 wants you." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bismillah! That settled it! That ended my Grunewald, Kempinsky's, +the Metropole, the Admiral's Palace. It meant the highway away. It +always means that when a man of my position is in Berlin and somebody +says to call up that number, A 11. Whenever A 11 summons it is wise +to be prompt. It is the number of the Wilhelmstrasse, the foreign +office of Germany. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I lost no time in getting a connection and I was told to report at +the Wilhelmstrasse at 10.30 that night. I was to hold myself ready +for instant service. I must come prepared possibly for a long +journey. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I gave orders for my boy to have me dressed by ten o'clock. I decided +to take a nap, for I knew that midnight interviews with the gentleman +at the Wilhelmstrasse often led to some mighty unexpected and +protracted traveling. Before going to sleep, however, I went over the +European situation. What had loomed big? I hoped it was something +big, for while a Secret Service agent doesn't get blasé, he +likes to work when thrones or the boundaries of empires are involved. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I reflected that June--it was in 1911--had been a decidedly strenuous +month for more than one cabinet in Europe. Germany and France were +snapping and snarling. France was going around with its chest stuck +out; its attitude decidedly belligerent. Of course, this cockiness +was due to the fat fingers of honest John Bull; indeed, England had +more than ten fingers in this pie that was baking. I knew that the +air was full of Morocco and war talk. I knew that there was a certain +faction in Germany that was trying to push the Kaiser into a war. +This clique, composed of army and navy men and the junker, the "Jingo" +party, the big gun interests, backed by public opinion, were trying +their utmost to urge war with France. What was the latest at the +Wilhelmstrasse? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the stroke of 10.30 I was there. I handed my number to the +commissaire. This number is important. All German secret agents are +known by number, all carry little cards and a photograph of mine is +published between these covers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Presently the commissaire returned and showed me into the chambers of +Graf von Wedel, Privy Councilor to the German Emperor. With another +man in evening dress, I was told to wait in an antechamber. We bowed, +and although we took pretty good stock of each other, neither spoke. +It is an unwritten law not to hold unnecessary conversation in the +Imperial Secret Service. After about half an hour's wait, we were +shown into the Count's private room. This rather astonished me, for +the usual rule at the Wilhelmstrasse is to interview only one man at +a time. Clearly something out of the ordinary was in the air. After +the Count greeted us, he inquired if we were known to each other. +Receiving a negative, he introduced us. My companion was a Herr von +Senden, ex-officer of the Zweite Gaarde Dragona. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You will both be taken at half-past eleven to a certain room," said +the Count. "You will advance to the middle, wheel to your right, face +the portière and stand at attention. You will answer all +questions, but make no comments or queries yourself. I need not enjoin +you to total silence. You understand?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We bowed. Just then a gong boomed somewhere below us. A last word +from the Count, "Be ready!" He left us. Reappearing almost +immediately, he beckoned us to follow him. We noticed that he seemed +even more grave than usual. Down a flight of stairs along a great +corridor we made our way, no one speaking a word. At the end of the +corridor we saw two sentries; then, a big solid oak door, guarded by +an attendant in the livery of the Royal Household. At a sign from the +Count we halted; he knocked. The door was opened by an officer of the +Erste Gaarde du Corps and, remembering our instructions, we entered +and came to attention in the middle of a large room, facing an +adjoining chamber, the portières to which were divided. The +room in which we stood was brilliantly lighted, but the other was +dark, save for a green glow that came from a shaded reading lamp on +a big writing desk. Senden looked at the desk and gave a sort of gasp. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Then I quite understood his emotion. For seated behind that heavy, +old-fashioned desk, was Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We stood at a rigid attention, absolutely silent, for full five +minutes. The dimly lit, solitary figure at the desk made no sign but +went on writing. I am not a timid or a nervous man, the sort of work +I was doing seasons one pretty thoroughly. But this began to get on +my nerves. Drawn up in front of the Emperor and waiting, waiting. +Contact with the great ones of the earth, especially through Secret +Service, can take some almighty queer turns and a short circuit is +confoundedly unhealthy for the negative wire. The more I looked at +that silent, lonely figure, War Lord of Europe, the more I began to +feel a great big longing for the African Veldt, a thousand miles +north of Port Natal, preferably. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Suddenly the Emperor made a move, and there came a sharp, rather +high pitched voice, saying, "Wedel, I will see the doctor." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At once Herr Senden was shown from the room; obviously the mission, +whatever it was, was not for him. I never saw him again. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was bidden to step to within three paces of the Emperor; the officer +who escorted Herr von Senden from the room attempted to return, but +was waved out. There were just the three of us: Count Wedel, standing +at the corner of the desk on the right, the Kaiser and myself. I had +seen the Emperor on many occasions, but never so close before. He +appeared to be lost in some document. He looked well but older than +any of his portraits. Tanned, almost dark, his rather lean face bore +a striking likeness to Frederick the Great; more so than ever, for he +is getting gray. I realized that none of his portraits do his eyes +justice. Of a bluish-steel gray, they have an icy, impersonal, +weighing look in them. It is hard to define. It struck me in that +moment that Lord Kitchener, Teufick Pasha, Cecil Rhodes, and Li Hung +Chang had exactly those same eyes--the eyes of men who feel it in +them to master the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Presently His Majesty looked up, and in that same, rather shrill +voice, asked: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How long are you in the Service?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Three years, sir." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You know Morocco?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Morocco! So that was it. France and Germany quarreling over the +bone, at the point of war! I replied: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, sir!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How long were you in Morocco?" continued the Emperor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"About twelve months, sir." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On this he seemed to hesitate. Frankly, I was nervous, so instead of +thinking about Morocco, I noticed that the Kaiser wore the undress +uniform of a Colonel of the Grenadier Guard with the star of the Order +Pour le Merite, dangling from his coat button. As if making up his +mind, he turned again on me those gray eyes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You know Kaid MacLean?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, sir." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How did you get to know him?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I happened to be of assistance to Sir Harry Kaid MacLean who +was at that time Commander-in-Chief and Man-of-Affairs to the +Sultan of Morocco." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My answer seemed to please the Emperor, for his eyes gleamed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Any likelihood of his remembering your services?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I hesitated, then said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I cannot vouch for another man's memory, sire. Besides, I do +not care to put the Kaid to the test." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Emperor looked at me queerly, but, evidently satisfied with +my answer, he turned to Count Wedel, saying: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"He will do. Have the dispatches ready." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At once the Count hurried noiselessly into an adjoining room. The +Kaiser, making one of his characteristic sudden movements, flung +himself back into the chair, looked steadily at me, and added: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Besides the official dispatches you will memorize these commands, +for the Captain of the warship <i>Panther</i>." He handed me a note, +which I did not immediately look at, for he continued: "Outside of +Count Wedel, no one is to know anything of your mission. No one is +to know that you are carrying a verbal message from me to the +Captain of the warship <i>Panther</i>. Understand?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, sir." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Emperor as abruptly drew himself forward, and propping his head +with his hands, fell into a deep study, gazing fixedly at nothing. He +seemed in that moment to be considerably older. His face, even for +the tan, had that grayish look of a man who is carrying some +tremendous responsibility. It came to me swiftly, the popular clamor +for war, <i>Panther</i>!--the <i>Panther</i> was lying off Spain +ready to steam across the Mediterranean to Morocco. And I was to bear +secret orders from the Emperor to the <i>Panther's</i> captain. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Then I opened the note that the Emperor had given me, and began to +memorize its contents. Amazement must have shown on my face. A blow +with a feather would have knocked me down. So wonder Wilhelm II was +staring blankly, no wonder this message had to be delivered verbally. +Hurriedly I began to memorize it. Presently, I saw Count Wedel come +in and he and the Kaiser began to talk in whispers. Then Wilhelm +looked up and said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Have you memorized it?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, sir!" Taking the note from me, he at once struck a match and +held it under the paper until it was reduced to ashes. Then making a +curt gesture of dismissal, Wedel gave me a signal to retire and we +backed toward the door. I was in possession of a secret known only to +the Emperor himself and which at that moment the cabinets of France +and England and the financiers of the world would have given hundreds +of thousands of dollars to possess. Out into the hall we backed, +always being careful never to commit the discourtesy of turning our +faces away from the Emperor, and the last I saw of him, was that +lonely figure seated at his desk, the greenish light playing over him, +around and beyond him darkness and his face illuminated against that +background, grayish, old. There he was, at his desk at midnight, in +an underground chamber of the Foreign Office, the Emperor of Germany, +working in solitude, while most of his subjects slept, tirelessly +mapping out a policy the trend of which he dared discuss with no man +save Wedel and possibly his oldest son. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bowing, we were out in the hall; the big oaken door closed. Wedel +led the way to his private chamber. He produced a package of sealed +papers and handing it to me, said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Doctor, this is a most important affair. There is a most serious +trouble brewing somewhere--trouble about war. We have our suspicions +as to what power is behind all this and we are going to find out. You +are well enough acquainted with the situation to require no further +illustration. You know how here at home they are also trying to force +the Emperor into a war--You will leave this package at the Embassy in +Paris. It must be there at the Rue de Lille to-morrow noon. To do so +you will have to catch the Orient Express at half-past three this +morning. At the Paris legation you will receive another package which +you will take on to Madrid. After delivering this, you have <i>carte +blanche</i> to make your way to the <i>Panther</i>, which you will +find off Barcelona. Also, you will visit Gibraltar and inform yourself +of the strength and state of preparation of the British Naval Squadron +there." He paused. "This time you will not apply at the cashier's +desk. Your expenses are borne this time out of the Emperor's private +chatulle. In a few hours time I will have French and Spanish money +ready for you and send it to your lodgings. You thoroughly understand +your instructions? Of course, you have not forgotten the message that +you memorized before the Emperor?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I assured him I had not and after a cordial handshake I bowed myself +out and hurried back to my quarters. Here I found that my boy had my +traveling bag ready with his usual completeness. One does not take +much baggage on these trips. Pajamas, slippers, smoking cap, tooth +brush, have seen me three-quarters around the globe, and I never +carried a six-shooter in my life. In all my experience I have seen +few secret agents who do carry it. The only protective article I ever +carried was a little silk bag containing a mixture of cayenne pepper, +snuff and certain chemicals. It is very effective to throw into the +faces of those who attack you. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Soon there came a messenger from Wedel with the promised funds, a +thousand francs and two thousand pesos. It lacked a half hour to +three-thirty, so I made my way to the Friedrichstrasse depot on +foot. Experience has taught me that the Orient Express is generally +overcrowded and that unless one reaches the depot early and uses a +good deal of palm oil, it is impossible to secure a decent seat. A +judicious oiling of palms enabled me to get a very pleasant window +seat in the middle compartment. After making myself at home I took a +tour through the train. It is my invariable custom to take stock of +my fellow travelers and in this case it was most imperative. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nothing happened until we pulled in at Frankfort-on-the-Main, the +second last stop for the express in Germany. Glancing out of the +window I saw a party of three entering the carriage. They selected +the compartment next to mine. Obviously they were traveling together, +equally obvious was it that there was plenty of room in their own +compartment. The train was hardly in motion, however, when the woman +of the party entered my compartment. She started to complain about +being annoyed by the man next door and to ask my protection. As a +matter of course, I got up and offered my assistance to remove her +belongings into my compartment. I had, up to now, not the slightest +doubt as to there being anything fishy in her request. I had, in +fact, no reason to be apprehensive of any interference, because only +two people besides myself--Wedel and the Emperor--knew my mission. Of +course, there were others who would have given anything to know of it, +who would have done anything to prevent my reaching my destination. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had hardly entered the compartment and tried to remove the +traveling bag indicated by the lady as hers, when one of the men +exclaimed: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How dare you remove my wife's property?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The lady in question stood in the corridor of the carriage. I had my +back to her but I could see her by means of the looking-glass with +which the sides of the compartment were framed. I noticed her make a +sign to the man. Of course, this put a different light on the affair. +It was preconceived. For the life of me, though, I could not see how +they could use the situation to advantage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Presently I was enlightened. When the conductor came along, the +"husband" coolly requested my detention on grounds of interference +with his wife's luggage. He was stanchly supported by the other man +and by the lady who had come to me for assistance. I attempted to +explain, but it didn't go down with the conductor. Pending our +arrival at Cologne, he locked me up in my compartment and leaving me, +said that he intended to hand me over to the station master here. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had time to ponder over my situation. I was thoroughly angry, +chiefly with myself. Here I was, an old, and presumably experienced, +secret agent and I was caught by a simple device. But the simplicity +got me! When one is prepared for elaborate schemes, the simplest +trick lands one high and dry. Still I could see no daylight. They +could not hope to keep me on this preposterous charge. A single wire +to Berlin would settle the matter, but then there would be a delay. I +would not reach Paris until six o'clock at night. Wedel had insisted +that I be there at noon. Hum! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Delays at this time were of tremendous importance. A difference of +six hours might mean war. Powerful influences in Germany were all for +war. It filled the air. It needed only a false or overstep on the +part of any government official to bring about an explosion. France +seemed fairly itching for a fight. My verbal message to the captain +of the <i>Panther</i> must be delivered on schedule or the explosion +might occur. I began to see what they hoped to gain by the trick of +detaining me, but how they got word of my mission I have never been +able to learn. I must have been shadowed from my lodging to the +Wilhelmstrasse and subsequently lain in wait for on general +principles. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +According to the time-table, the Orient Express stops at Cologne nine +minutes. This time it stopped eleven. The station master held it up. +After the party in the next compartment made their charge, we all +hurried to his office. I called the station master aside and showed +him my Secret Service card. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I showed him a package addressed and sealed to the German Embassy at +Paris. It was an official linen envelope tied with a black and white +silk cord and with the Foreign Office seal on the back. He was +impressed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"This is a ridiculous charge," I declared. "Telephone the +Wilhelmstrasse at my expense. Detain me and you do so at your own +peril. That is all. I have given you the facts. I put no obstacle +in the path of your duty. I judge, though, that you are a man of +discretion." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The station master <i>was</i> a man of discretion. I could imagine +what was going through his mind: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"This fellow who says he is the Emperor's messenger," he doubtless +thought, "has three more hours on that train before he crosses the +German border. If he isn't what he claims to be, we can catch him at +the Frontier. If he is what he claims to be and I hold him here, I +will get in trouble." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Finally, he told the others that their charge was too thin and they +hurriedly left his office. I never saw them again. The station +master escorted me to my compartment and I noticed that from Cologne +to the French Frontier I had no other traveling companions. My +arrival and what I accomplished in Paris is commonplace. Arriving in +the Gare du Norde, I took a taxi to the German Embassy on the Rue de +Lille, where an under-secretary signed for my dispatches and handed me +two letters addressed to the Embassy in Madrid. I immediately posted +his receipt to the Wilhelmstrasse, something German secret agents +always must do--mail the Foreign Office signatures for documents as +soon as they are delivered. Without further adventure I reached +Madrid. As the train was four hours late I did not present myself at +the Embassy. I was met by a commissaire at the station, delivered him +the paper, received his signature, posted it to the Wilhelmstrasse, +and made connections for Barcelona. Somewhere off the city, on the +open sea, the <i>Panther</i> was waiting. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With the utmost difficulty I chartered a tug and in the twilight set +off to find the <i>Panther</i>. It was coming night when we finally +saw her dark trim hull lying against the horizon. Well named the +<i>Panther</i>, for in this case a false spring by her meant war. As +we steamed up alongside a sentry hailed us from the deck. I shouted +that I had come to see the Captain, but he told us to stand off. +Finally, after persistently hailing the warship, the officer of the +watch came to the rail and held parley with me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I have Imperial orders to see the Captain," I shouted. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Apparently this satisfied him, for he let me come on board. Without +further delay I was shown into the Captain's room. Very important, +the Captain. Picture him, a man in the forties, straight-backed, +rather jolly, and with one of those German naval beards. The +slightest mistake by the Captain of the <i>Panther</i> and England +and France would have flung themselves into war with Germany. He +stood for a moment regarding me, then he said, +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, what is this? What is your Wilhelmstrasse number?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Seventeen," I told him. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That appeared to satisfy the Captain. I knew that the Wilhelmstrasse +had wired him that "Number Seventeen" was coming. Still he was +careful. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Where were your first instructions received?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"From Wedel." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Subsequently?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I felt him looking at me sharply. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Confirmed by the Emperor," I replied, "and I deliver you herewith the +following message. You are requested to use the private service code +as soon as I have delivered this message to you and repeat it at once +direct to Count Wedel." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Captain got up and, moving noiselessly to the door, opened it +swiftly. There was no one about. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"All right," he said, "let me have it." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I repeated what I had memorized, what the Emperor had given me in the +secret chamber and immediately afterward destroyed all visible trace +of. I said: "On no account, it does not matter what official commands +you have received or may receive, are you to use open force when the +<i>Panther</i> goes to Agidir. No matter what stress is brought to bear +upon you by arising conditions, no matter what affront may be done +your code of naval honor, you are under no circumstances to use any +force against France or England." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Like myself, when the Emperor gave me that message, the Captain of +the <i>Panther</i> was dumbfounded. It was a direct contradiction of +the official orders he had received from the Foreign Office to go to +Morocco and make a demonstration against the French and the English +interests. Those previous orders had been to create war, this verbal +message was to stop war. Could the German "jingos," the big gun +manufacturers, the shell people, the army and navy men, the powerful +feudal faction have heard me deliver that message to the Captain of +the <i>Panther</i>, they would have bellowed in rage. The whole empire +wanted war, but the tired, swarthy faced man in the little underground +chamber at the Wilhelmstrasse, not "absolutely absolute" as he is +popularly supposed to be, deemed it wise not to fly in the face of +public opinion at the time and countermand the official orders to the +<i>Panther</i>. So he had done so in the dark, verbally, by me, +knowing that so he served the best interests of his empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The rest is contemporary history. You remember how, on Sunday +morning, July 7, the <i>Panther</i> steamed to Morocco, how it forced +its way into the harbor of Agadir and created an international +sensation by remaining there more than two weeks. You remember how a +French and an English warship came simultaneously, how they formed +in what was equivalent to common line and how, with officers and +everybody itching to open fire, war just missed being precipitated. +You may not know that the British and French officers sent an +ultimatum to the Captain of the <i>Panther</i>. Unless he left Agadir +he would be forced to leave. That meant war. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Now, had the Captain of the <i>Panther</i> not received the private +message from the Emperor, he would have been forced by his naval code +to resist this ultimatum by force. Had he gone there acting under the +original official orders, red war would have blazed across in Agadir +Harbor. The slightest slip would have caused it--the report of a +rifle. But the <i>Panther</i> steamed away. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +And this is the cleverest part of the Emperor's scheme; he knew that +France and England were allies, he didn't know, though, just how +sincere this alliance was. By sending the <i>Panther</i> into Agadir +he learned that the <i>entente cordiale</i> really meant something, +that England and France were allies, that they were prepared to resist +Germany shoulder to shoulder in war. It took a master stroke to bring +the situation up to the point of war--for it was a dangerous business, +with all Germany roaring for war--and then avert war when England and +France were on the verge of it. But with his verbal message the +Emperor shrewdly accomplished it. The results were before him. By +creating the situation he knew that he had two powerful nations +opposed to him. Good! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +What he would do now would be to try to take one nation and secretly +ally himself with it, leaving the other out in the cold. Then began +the intrigues which planned the isolation of France, an amazing +situation, a bombshell in present day international diplomacy, that +I shall discuss fully in the next chapter. +</p> + +<h2><a name="VIII">VIII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">THE ISOLATION OF FRANCE</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After my experiences with the earlier stages of the French, English, +and German situation, I was quite prepared for the most unexpected +developments. What occurred in the middle of October, 1911, was, +however, beyond what I had imagined. The Morocco incident had shown +the German Emperor that the <i>entente cordiale</i> was indeed solid. +England and France would stand shoulder to shoulder in war. Being +used to the ways of German diplomacy, I knew that from the +Wilhelmstrasse would come a quick countermove. I guessed, too, that +when it came I would be employed. It stood to reason that, knowing +so much of the trend and importance of the affair--I had seen the +intrigue grow step by step--I was the logical choice. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nor was my reasoning at fault. I soon received the expected summons, +and it brought me into the most amazing of my diplomatic adventures--a +mission which showed me the utter ruthlessness that characterizes +foreign ministers, particularly when the vital interests of their +countries are concerned. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Word to appear at the Wilhelmstrasse came when the autumn holidays +were in full swing. The usual procedure of the Foreign Office having +been observed, I found myself in Count von Wedel's private study. +After an invitation to be seated, the Count surprised me. He +complimented me on my previous missions on the <i>entente cordiale</i> +situation, and handed me a pretty substantial check. It was actually +10,000 marks--$2,500--which the stubs of the royal check book will +show. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As I took the money he remarked "Seine Majestät"--Foreign +Office brevity for conveying that His Majesty was satisfied. Without +more ado, von Wedel plunged into the subject. Leaning back and +crossing his legs, he began to talk in his abrupt way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I want you to go with his Excellency, Herr von Kinderlen-Waechter, +as his private attendant and secretary," began von Wedel. "I have +selected you because of your knowledge of English and your insight +into the whole matter in hand. There is to be a meeting of certain +statesmen in a certain spot in the range of the Schwarzwald. You +are to be the sole attendant of these gentlemen. You'll see to it +that nothing of their identity becomes known. You will look after +them in every way. You will destroy all writing, such as paper and +blotters. You will burn any such things in the presence of Herr von +Kinderlen-Waechter." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He paused impressively, and I found my mind in a whirl. What his +words portended I could guess. This mission promised to be very +interesting indeed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I want you to be at the place of meeting," von Wedel continued, +"three days before the arrival of these gentlemen. You will have to +make arrangements as regards catering and so forth. You'll be the +only attendant. Means have been taken to assure strict privacy in the +district. Understand that we want this to be thoroughly cloaked. I +suggest to you the idea of a hunting party. The details I leave to +you. The gentlemen in question may or may not be known to you. I +shall write you their names." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +His pen began scratching across a piece of paper, and I had a moment +in which to realize the grave importance of this mission: the future +of Germany menaced, complete isolation was in the making between +England, France, and Russia; and the Kaiser was about to save Germany +by a master stroke of diplomacy. Of what tremendous importance it +was, however, I did not learn until I had gone down into the forest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Looking up, von Wedel tossed a piece of paper across the desk to me +(the identical paper which has been reproduced in connection with +this article). It bore these names in his handwriting: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Viscount Haldane, Winston Spencer Churchill, Admiral von Tirpitz, +General von Heeringen, General Moritz Ritter von Auffenberg, Herr +von Kinderlen-Waechter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I suppose, had it been my first Secret Service mission instead of the +climax of eleven years in the service, I could not have controlled my +surprise. These men, all meeting in a lonely spot in Taunus Hills +region, foretold a grave situation. Especially was this true in view +of the newspapers of Europe. Here was all the press having Germany +and England ready to rush at each other's throats in war. It was the +time of the German spy scare in England. And now here were the two +powerful members of the English Cabinet meeting the Kaiser's Minister +of War secretly. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I also knew of a secret visit Churchill and Haldane had made at the +Foreign Office's invitation. Significantly these English diplomats +had been shown certain of Germany's preparations for war, notably +war in the sky. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But von Wedel was not yet through. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"These gentlemen," he said, "will meet at Schlangenbad about the +middle of this month. You know the place, in the Taunus Hills--one +of the Emperor's hunting lodges. I suggest that you get down there +to-morrow and have everything ready. You thoroughly know what is +required of you, Doctor?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On my assenting I was dismissed. I lost no time in getting home to +my quarters and into comfortable togs. This mission needed some +thinking out. And after I told my Basuto boy to pack my bag, I +glanced again at the list von Wedel had given me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Haldane, Lord Chancellor of England, persona grata with the +Kaiser--in fact, a personal friend. Churchill, First Lord of the +British Admiralty. Waechter, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs +and, despite court opposition, the trusted man of the Kaiser. +Tirpitz and von Heeringen, chiefs of the German navy and army +staffs, the latter a second Moltke. When I came to von Auffenberg's +name I whistled. Von Auffenberg was Minister of War and the +right-hand man of the Chancellor of the Austrian Empire. Thus three +great powers were represented. Six men of this eminence, the brains +and force of three nations, to meet in secret in a little obscure +hunting lodge in the forest! It portended darkly for France; but +how darkly I could not then conjecture. It interested me +tremendously, but I consoled myself that I would probably know +all when the party gathered in that secluded hunting lodge. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +According to instructions, I presented myself early next morning +at the residence of Herr von Kinderlen-Waechter. It was in the +Thiergartenstrasse. Without delay I was shown into his Excellency's +room. He was seated at his desk, and while we exchanged a few +perfunctory words I permitted myself a moment's brief conjecture. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border=0 class="center" width="380"> +<tr><td class="center"> + <img src="fig006.jpg" width="375" height="401" alt="Fig. 6"> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="center">"Looking up von Wedel tossed a piece of +paper across the desk to me. It bore these names in his +handwriting."</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Judging from appearances, you would never have taken this portly, +rubicund, iron-gray, bushy-browed gentleman for a statesman. But a +statesman he was for all that, and the Emperor and Germany miss him +sorely. I would have taken him for a Boer Dopper or an English +yeoman. This suggestion was supported by his atrocious taste in +fancy waistcoats. The one he had on still sticks in my memory. It +was a lurid peach-blossom creation, spotted with green. But once +his steel-gray, deerhound eyes looked you up and down you forgot +all about the fancy waistcoat and got right down to business. I +told his Excellency I had come for his personal instructions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Besides telling me to "halt my maul" (a German military expression +literally meaning to keep your mouth shut, but implying the need +for utmost secrecy) he gave me certain general instructions. But +from them I could gain no idea of just what was going to happen. +I could only guess. How big was the gathering storm he never even +hinted. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Remembering von Wedel's suggestion about the hunting party, I +procured some guns and reached the station in time to catch the +12.30 express for Schlangenbad. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was early in October when I went to the Kur Hotel and registered +as Herr Bamberger from Berlin. If you ever go to Schlangenbad, look +up the register. Schlangenbad is a mineral watering place in +Prussia, near the Black Forest, and within easy distance of our +ultimate meeting place, the hunting lodge that von Wedel had +mentioned. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was alone at the hotel for several days. Then, traveling incognito, +the dignitaries began to drift in. First came the Austrian, General +Moritz Ritter von Auffenberg. A distinguished, quiet, unassuming +gentleman, he is known to be high in the confidence of Francis +Joseph. I found the War Minister very fond of salmon fishing, and +got quite into his good graces by enthusiastic tales of fly fishing +in New Zealand. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Admiral von Tirpitz and General von Heeringen came next. The +Admiral is typical of the German sailor, a big man, six feet, wide +of shoulder, blue-eyed, and full bearded. His manner I found genial +and courteous. His exact opposite was von Heeringen, thin, almost +crooked of body, stoop shouldered, unusually taciturn, and possessing +deep-sunken, smoldering black eyes. He struck me as an animated mummy +of the Rameses dynasty--come to think of it, he much resembles Rameses +II. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The exact date of the meeting, as I recall it, was October 12, and +the place a shooting lodge, named Ehrenkrug. On the morning of the +twelfth I hired a vehicle and, loading provisions, wine, and other +necessaries aboard, drove to the lodge, sixteen miles into the +forest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No farmhouse or other human habitation was within a radius of several +miles. It was a large stone and brick building, somewhat similar to +your colonial style. It had five or six guest rooms, a large general +meeting hall, and a morning room. It being the property of the royal +family, I found two old pensioners of the Imperial Forest Service in +charge. They had a good fire going in the grate, which was welcome, +for it was still a little damp and chilly, especially in this wet +mountain forest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Patroling both ends of the road were a number of gendarmes. They were +scattered through the woods, too, forming a cordon through which no +one could come. Indeed, they had challenged me. About three o'clock +in the afternoon the German and Austrian envoys came out from the +hotel, and at a quarter to four (I remember Waechter remarking +"They're three-quarters of an hour late!") the chug of a motor +announced the others, Lord Haldane and Winston Churchill. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had never happened to meet Haldane before, and I found him the +English gentleman personified--polished and reserved. Yet his +reserve, tempered by age, blended into a genial mellowness. The +usual English arrogance had evidently been subdued by reason of +his training and cosmopolitan knowledge. In speech and action he +was a Chesterfield, but in appearance he was not unlike a canon +or a bishop, a little ascetic looking, and rather bald. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Quite the other type of Anglo-Saxon, still boyish in looks, +high-strung and nervous, erratic in speech and action, just a bit +self-conscious, Winston Churchill was the youngest member of this +remarkable gathering. I had met him during the Boer War, and as +he took off his motoring coat he looked at me closely. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I believe I've seen you before," he said. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I met the right honorable gentleman in the Bloemfontein Field +Hospital during the war." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Ah, yes," said Churchill, his face lighting up. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He had had his wound dressed there; his recognition showed his +remarkable memory. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After refreshments the envoys immediately adjourned to the big +morning room, and I was posted outside to see that no gendarme +or forest pensioner carne within earshot. I was not present at +the beginning of the conference, but after an hour had passed I +was summoned. My first impression as I opened the door was of an +air of tenseness. It was obvious in the way Churchill was staring +across the table at Haldane. It was an ordinary large German oak +dining-room table, and in the middle were two big shaded lamps. +It was growing dusk, and after lighting the lamps, I backed away +to a corner of the room. I had a distinct impression of the +features of the six men who were making history round that table. +There were writing materials, stacks of paper, and documents at +every place. Sheets and sheets of paper were covered with their +handwriting. Only in front of von Heeringen were the sheets +blank, for he never makes a note of anything, carrying everything +in his marvelous memory. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Obviously what were the last words of a speech came from Moritz, +the Austrian, as I entered: "And to make this all possible," +he was saving, "we must break the Russian Federation in the +Balkans." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From his place at the head of the table the iron-gray-haired +Kinderlen-Waechter rose slowly. I noticed he wore another of those +atrocious vests. Turning on his left he gazed at Churchill and +Tirpitz; his careful measuring eyes then met Moritz, an expectant, +slightly nervous figure at the other end of the table awaiting the +reply to the point he had raised. And Waechter's eyes turned from +him to Heeringen, to Haldane; then he spoke. I recall distinctly +the import of his remarks. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Gentlemen," he said, "the point raised by General Moritz must stand, +and, of course, it needs the sanction of our respective heads. As +Lord Haldane has pointed out, it does complicate matters to some +extent. The Balkans concern Austria most; to my way of thinking it +is quite within reason to accede this point. [As I write I recall +vividly how grave they had all become. They knew what this meant--war +in the Balkans.] On all main points," said Kinderlen-Waechter, "we +are agreed. As indicated by his Imperial Majesty, the primary reason +of our meeting is to come to a tacit understanding in regard to +technical details. This we have done. It is unfortunate, however, +that this possible phase, the Balkan point, has not been gone into +before. I suggest that we adjourn, to inform our respective +Governments of this point. If necessary, we will meet again on +Wednesday." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This second meeting, by the way, was not necessary, all the +Governments represented tentatively agreeing with Austria. The +treaty, however, was subject to signatures and if it was officially +closed, I cannot tell. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Apparently the conference was at an end. But what had they +accomplished? From the general tenor of their conversation it was +obvious that they all agreed. But what were the terms of their +bargain? Presently I was to know. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Bamberger," said Kinderlen-Waechter, addressing me by the name +I had taken, "gather up any pieces of paper on the table and +consign them to the fire." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I replied: "Yes sir." Then turning to the others, he continued: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Gentlemen, select the memoranda you wish to keep. The rest is going +to be destroyed immediately." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While they ran over their papers, saving necessary scraps, I stood +back from the table. It was characteristic of the men that Winston +Churchill should have taken the most voluminous notes, while Heeringen +had not put down a line. I then gathered up every scrap of paper left +on the table--blotters, little note pads, foolscap--used or unused. +Everything was to go into the fire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I went about this slowly and deliberately, taking care to glance at +everything before I carried it over to the grate. I wanted to make +sure that nothing of value was destroyed. Here and there came a good +chance to read some of the contents. Piece by piece from the +memoranda the different men had made, always being careful not to +confuse individual notes, thus learning one by one their train of +thought, the thing began to piece itself together for me. There were +extensive notes on army and navy matters. Churchill, for instance, +had carefully noted the full strength that Austria and Germany could +muster in case of war. Kinderlen-Waechter had recorded the full +strength of England and Austria as given by Churchill and Moritz. So +had Moritz taken down German and English statistics. Obviously it was +a triangular alliance, each noting to what extent dependence could be +placed upon the other. Then there were data on the French and Russian +armies and navies. The significance of that was apparent. What +puzzled me, however, were numerous statistics on Holland and Belgium. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not until Kinderlen-Waechter and Churchill, squatting down by the +fireplace and poking the burning papers with old-fashioned irons, not +until then, when there began a conversation and other pairs conversed +on certain points all around the room, did I gain a clear idea of just +what had happened. What they said, the vital scraps of their +conversation as they drifted to me while I moved to and from the table +and fireplace, I shall now present as close to the words of the men +involved as I am able. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Heeringen, who had drawn Haldane aside, said: "We are ready at any +time with 3,500,000 men without any further straining of our reserves. +According to our latest agreement Austria will support us with +2,000,000 more men. The financial aspect of this is, of course, out +of my hands." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Haldane mumbled something that sounded like "that is very +satisfactory." At any rate, he nodded an affirmative. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By this time the positions had changed somewhat, and Churchill drew +Tirpitz aside. Churchill spoke German only indifferently, so they +conversed in French and partly in English. I heard Tirpitz say: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We could bottle up the Baltic in twelve hours. Russia would not have +a chance to stir. Of course, in the event of any outside situation +arising, we shall look to England to take care of such new conditions. +That seems to rest clearly with your navy." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Churchill became a little cautious. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"There is a certain contingency that might arise," he said. "Suppose, +under stress of circumstances the United States should take a definite +stand against us in this matter?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The reply of the Admiral was the very expressive German +word--<i>Quatsch</i>! He further intimated that the United States was +so interested in its own internal affairs that it would not be drawn +into the question, and that in any event its navy would be needed for +its own immediate protection. He had a disposition, however, to put +the entire situation up to Churchill. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kinderlen-Waechter and Moritz were deep in the Balkan question, +and I sensed then the coming Balkan imbroglio. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Without doubt," Moritz said, "we will bring that to an issue within +a few months." I knew he meant that Austria would precipitate the +Balkan question. Kinderlen-Waechter was serious. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It has got to be done." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There were other snatches, all bearing on the same subject, and +gradually the situation began to clarify in my mind. It was not, +however, until I had noted the contents of certain documents before +destroying them that the tremendous importance of the big stakes they +were all playing for became apparent. What I shall now do is to +reveal the substance of these documents, coupling them with overheard +conversation, thus interpreting the full significance of the +conference. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Within the last twenty-five years Germany has so enormously advanced +in commerce that she urgently needs some further outlet on a northern +seacoast. This means Holland and Belgium. Hamburg and Bremen are the +only two practical harbors that Germany possesses for the distribution +of her enormous export. The congestion in both places is such that +steamers wait for weeks to load. One-quarter of Germany's exports +goes through Antwerp. Germany must have Antwerp. Practically the +whole of southern Germany's commerce, especially along the Rhine and +the highway of the Rhine, pours into a foreign country at present. +Germany must have Antwerp--in fact, the whole coast, Amsterdam and +Rotterdam included. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The empire wants harbors, not colonies. The colonizing idea is a +fallacy. Germany is, first and last, a manufacturing country. It +never was and never will be, for a long time to come, a successful +colonizer. At present all that Germany wants is markets, and +facilities for extending her markets. These markets Germany will +always be able to command because of her intense scientific +application to all branches of manufacture. But these products need +outlets. Germany is quite willing to let the others colonize so long +as she has a chance to get her goods in. So much for the German +situation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +England, in her vast oversea domains and possessions, wants rounding +up. England has not been able in the past, and certainly is not at +present able, to supply herself and her colonies. In Germany she has +a first-class workman. Germany manufactures what England needs. +Germany's building of her navy was never meant as a real menace to +Great Britain. It was solely a means to impress the English that +Germany would make a powerful and valuable ally in every shape and +form. Conversely, it was a threat that she would be a dangerous +opponent. This is clearly understood in the English and German +Cabinets. Public opinion is being rapidly educated up to this in both +countries. All the war-scare talk between Germany and England has +been and is only a means to an end. The end is to throw dust in the +eyes of the rest of the world. Germany and England will never +willingly war. Destruction of one would mean the destruction of the +other. They are too equally powerful to be able to fight each other; +their real interests run too close together. Indeed, they are mutual. +Germany manufactures, England uses. Only a miracle would separate +them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Shoulder to shoulder, Germany and England (Germany, of course, +including Austria, and possibly Italy) could dictate to the rest +of the world. There is one stumbling-block. This is France. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Well-informed Frenchmen have known and feared this for a long time. +They have, of course, never mentioned it in public. Shrewd French +statesmen have long kept it in the seclusion of their own minds. It +would be political and possibly physical death openly to assert that +France is doomed. But doomed she is. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With all her gallantry, hysterical patriotism, and wealth, she would +never be able to hold out against Germany alone. Her attempts at +alliances have been frenzied. To secure Russia's friendship she has +loaned enormous sums of money. But the Japanese war and internal +troubles have eliminated Russia as a high-class ally. She was at the +time of the Black Forest conference but a secondary power. She is +to-day balanced by Turkey and Austria. The Balkan States are smashed. +So France did her utmost to solidify the <i>entente cordiale</i> +fostered by the late King Edward VII under the stress of public +opinion in England. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To what extent she met success we have seen. The Moroccan question +showed England ready to back up France in war, but now comes this +meeting in the Black Forest. Germany has shown England the greater +advantage of a German-English coalition, and France is frozen out. +England, with her shrewd alertness to make the most profitable deal, +entertained if did not close the German proposition. In a nutshell, +it is this: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Germany must have the lowland ports. Holland is not adverse to coming +into the German Federation. Belgium is adverse, but could be snuffed +out as easily as a candle. But French public opinion would never +tolerate under any circumstances this German aggression. France would +fight, even though knowing it to be a losing fight. If only she would +let Germany have what she wants, there would be no war. But the +French temperament, public opinion, years of decorating with flowers +that Alsace-Lorraine symbol, the Strasbourg statue in Paris, have not +been conducive to fostering a submissive spirit in France. To resent +Germany's inevitable aggression is equally inevitable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +So much for what Germany gets out of it. Austria wants to round up +her empire in the Balkans. Austria has to have outlets in the +Mediterranean. England, if she stands by Germany, will be rewarded +with French Northern Africa and the Dutch East India possessions. +What will become of France? Reconstruction, partitioning, possibly a +little kingdom, probably under the Orleans régime. France is +in the lap of the gods. I know these things, for I possess them in +black and white. +</p> + +<h2><a name="IX">IX</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">IN THE BALKAN COUNTRY</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After my mission in the Black Forest, I went to Albeck, a well-known +seaside resort on the Baltic. For more than a year the gentlemen at +the Wilhelmstrasse had kept me on the run, and a vacation at +Albeck--much like your Atlantic City only smaller--was not only +welcomed but needed. I was just settling down to a period of quiet in +and around the Kurhaus when there came a wire for my attendance at the +Wilhelmstrasse. "At your earliest convenience" was the phrase which, +of course, meant at once. Germany's language to her Secret Agents is +always polite. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I am very frank to confess that the message put me a little out of +sorts. All my plans for resting at Albeck went to smash. I knew that +something big must be in the air else I would never have been recalled +from a vacation that was only beginning. Wiring a reply I stated that +I would arrive in Berlin on the 7.30 train and that any further +commands would receive attention at my standing quarters in the +Mittelstrasse. In a few hours I had caught a train and was being +whirled south. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During the three-hour run I speculated on what was likely to be +required from me. An inside rumor then current among us Secret +Service men gave me the clew. I marshaled past events and ran them +over in my mind. I knew that the Kaiser's diplomatic master stroke +undermining the <i>entente cordiale</i> and tentatively holding off +Great Britain, left the way clear for the execution of Austro-German +policies in the Balkans. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As the express hurried me toward Berlin, I reflected that since the +Russian-Japanese War, Russia, weakened as she was, felt her influence +in European affairs waning. I knew it was about time for her to make +a desperate effort to regain European prestige. I recalled that upon +Russia's plight after the Japanese war, Austria immediately annexed +Herzegovina and Bosnia. She did this with the tacit understanding and +backing up of Germany. I knew that as a result of this, Russia was +again at work in the Balkans. Greeks, Servians, Bulgarians, and +Montenegrins, up till now suicidal enemies, were arriving at an +understanding. There are as many differences of nationalities, castes +and opinions in the Balkans as there are in India and it took clever +manipulation, much money, and strenuous efforts on the part of Russia +to unite these countries under Russian influence. The visit of the +Crown Prince of Servia to Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, was engineered +by Russia, and was a triumphant success in bringing about an +understanding between Bulgaria and Servia. It absolutely unified +Servia and Bulgaria. Why then the completely changed attitude of +Servia and Bulgaria after their mutual successes against the Turk? +Presently I shall show you the vast undercurrent forces forever moving +beneath the Balkan situation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I recalled having heard high Servian officials speculate as to their +chances of reviving the ancient empire, so with the Bulgarians. After +the reunion of Wallachia and Moldadia, I heard Roumanian officials +express the wish to gain Dacia through the addition of Transylvania, +Bukovina and the Banate of Ternesvar. This longing can easily be +understood when one remembers that each of these States maintains +royal court legations and an army the quality of which in the case of +the Allies has just been tested and shown in their splendid fighting +and sacrifices, but which is all out of proportion to their individual +sizes and resources. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I knew there were armies mobilizing in the Balkans at a high mark of +efficiency. They were equipped in a way totally beyond the means of +such little countries. Who was supplying this driving force, the +money, officers? They were but pawns, the Balkan States on an +international chessboard. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Now before I relate my mission, consider these test points: The +alliance of States usually hereditary enemies; the downfall of an +empire, a background of the world's powers pulling the strings; +the success of the Balkan Allies. Then the most amazing part of it +all. Turkey, well thrashed, lost little save a few islands in the +Ægean Sea, some of which it has already regained. The Allies +gained nothing but debts--debts and empty honor which leaves them +so exhausted that they can be no real factor in the world's politics +for decades to come--and there lies the key. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Arriving in Berlin I made my way to my quarters in the Mittelstrasse. +It was about eight o'clock when I put my key in the door. I found Kim +very much awake and somewhat excited. At this unseemly hour there was +a visitor! This was all the more unusual for I was not in the habit +of receiving my most intimate friends or acquaintances at my private +quarters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"<i>Koom</i>, massa!" (Salute, master!) "Gentleman him here to see +you. Kim him don't know if he do right, maybe wrong; but gentleman +said it all right that him come in." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All apologies, Kim was fretting himself almost into a nervous collapse +over the visitor. Rather curious, I walked into the sitting-room and +found a man I had seen pretty often at the Wilhelmstrasse. I knew him +to be Herr von Stammer, the right hand man of von Wedel. Although we +were well known to each other by sight, we hardly conversed ten words +outside of official business. At the time I thought it a little odd +that the usual procedure was not observed, that someone came to my +room instead of my going to the Wilhelmstrasse, seemed a bit unusual. +As things developed, however, I saw a possible reason why. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Your quarters are pretty well guarded here, Doctor," said Herr von +Stammer. "Your Cerberus didn't want to let me in." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I half smiled. I could imagine what a battle a stranger must have to +get by Kim. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We received your wire from Albeck and as the Count is inaccessible, +your orders will come through me this time." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There was an interruption, for Kim had appeared with cigarettes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The Count," continued von Stammer, driving direct to the point, +"wishes you to go to Belgrade and get in close touch with existing +conditions there. We wish you to ascertain the undercurrent +situation. The official status is, of course, well known to us. But +we want definitely to find out just how far Russian influences are at +work in Bucharest and Sofia, just how far they have progressed and how +far they are prepared to go in this Balkan affair. If you cannot get +in Belgrade the wanted information--and absolute accuracy is +imperative--go to the Bulgarian capital. But--and this is +important--no time must be lost. A definite insight into the inner +workings of the situation must be in my hands at the earliest possible +moment." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Here indeed was a task. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Understand," continued von Stammer, "you will have the assistance in +this case of Austrian Secret employees. But, as I need not point out +to you, it is inadvisable to take any of them with you, as all the +Austrian agents are known to the Russian agents down in the Balkans. +I suggest that you stop at Budapest and get all connecting links of +possible help to you. You will obtain these from Kasimir Kowalsky, an +Austrian agent whom you will find at Donaustrasse 24. By the way, do +you know him?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I said no. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"In this case," went on von Stammer, "I shall give instructions to +facilitate matters. It is necessary for you to have passports. Have +you any reason to fear your previous mission to the Balkans?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He referred to that incident in 1903, current with the assassination +of King Alexander and Queen Draga of Servia--an incident I don't +like to think of, for it landed me on a blank wall looking into +twelve ugly Mauser tubes, as you will recall from a previous +chapter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I considered that there were only two men in the Balkans who could +have placed me from the 1903 incident. One Colonel Niglitch was dead, +slain at the time of the Alexander assassination; the other was +Stamboul and he was no doubt moving in the circles where my mission +would take me. Were I to meet him it would mean recognition, a +possible knife in the back. No, I was in no way keen to undertake +this mission. My previous experience in the Balkans and all that ilk +had given me a thorough distaste of the people there. There is no +mixture of races so dangerous. Nearly every man is for a small sum a +traitor and potential assassin. I had had a taste of their methods +and I didn't want another. Von Stammer must have noticed my +hesitation, for he grinned and said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Nervous about it?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I frankly was. I told him so. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, I understand your attitude." [I had been on the go for over +five months solid and I wanted a rest.] "I beg of you to consider +though that you are the only man we have at our disposal who can +see this thing through." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He then began to hint in such a way that it became obvious to me +that refusal on my part would not be at all to the liking of the +Wilhelmstrasse. Refusal would mean loss of favor and with it the +choice jobs. As an added inducement, von Stammer promised double the +usual remuneration. Frankly this was a point. I considered that the +mission would not take me over three or four weeks and he had agreed +to pay me $2,500, aside from the bonus always attached to successful +and quick work. Still, I wasn't sure that I wanted to go. I knew +there was the danger of recognition, and I knew the kind of +irresponsible, hotheaded, temperamental people I was going among. It +was far more difficult, far more hazardous, than any mission I had +ever undertaken, in England or France; even the tremendous +responsibilities of the affair in the Black Forest carried with them +none of the personal dangers that this did. When he pressed me for a +decision I requested some little time to think things over. Asking me +to telephone his home before midnight and let him know what I was +going to do, he departed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I hope I am still a Christian, but contact and intercourse with the +mysticism of Africa and India has made me superstitious. I have a +curious habit at momentous times of indecision of taking two full +packages of cards and playing Napoleon's solitaire. If I get it out +once in three times, I generally go into the matter in hand without +question. It never has failed me. Twice in my life I went against +it; twice I had bitter cause of regret. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Well, I didn't give von Stammer his decision on the moment because +I wanted to try the old test. Kim produced the cards and I began to +play. I got it out the second time. Going to the 'phone I called von +Stammer and told him I would undertake the mission. He asked me to +come at once to his house, and there I received final instructions +and passports, the latter essential south of the Austrian frontier. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At three o'clock in the morning I boarded the Orient Express via +Vienna and made a stop over of a day at Budapest. I went immediately +to Donaustrasse 24 and saw the Austrian agent Kowalsky. From him I +gained points that were invaluable to me. For instance, he gave me +the names of men who frequented certain places in Belgrade, men who +would be of use to me. He also warned me of certain persons, +especially women whom he knew to be in Russian employ. That night I +caught a train for Belgrade, well satisfied with the results of my +visit to Kowalsky. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Before dinner time the next day, I was installed at the Hotel de +Paris in Belgrade. My rooms had been engaged for me beforehand and +they were the most expensive in the hotel--for a reason. I found +myself in an elaborate suite on the first door, known as the suite +Des Princes. This was a necessary move of the parvenu as money is +the first and last word in the Balkans. Belgrade and everybody in +it pride themselves on their up-to-date Parisian style. Everybody +lives in the Parisian way. Army officers, whose pay is infinitesimal, +all live like Russian Grand Dukes. How they are able to manage this +on the official Servian army salaries of 65 cents a day would +naturally puzzle an outsider. The answer is, Russian gold. It buys +anything and everything south of Budapest. It cannot buy in Montenegro +where patriotism is supreme, nor can it buy what it wants among the +Osmans. To be sure it can buy the Turk; but there is a vast difference +between an Osmanly and a Turk. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Through my lavish expenditure of money, I soon was a marked person and +courted by all the gay officers of the capital. One of their number +was a Major Schuvealoff. A <i>bon vivant</i> and gambler, was Major +Schuvealoff, with the tastes of a Grand Duke. On a mission of this +kind a secret agent always likes to find a man who is "fast." I knew +the Major to be in the Russian pay. Kowalsky tipped me off to that. +I knew that it was from him I could get everything I wanted, even +though he was taking the Czar's gold. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Into the gay life of Belgrade I plunged a-hunting, the Major the +quarry. I gave a series of dinners at the Hotel de Paris. After the +dinners there was gambling. I always lost to the Major. He lost to +others but I was careful never to win from him. He fell into the way +of dropping around at my quarters. Like most of his set, the Major +was a heavy drinker. When his face would become very flushed and his +tongue very glib, I would try to draw things out of him, but I never +could get anything worth while. The slightest suspicious question +made him close up as tight as an oyster. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had seen him often in the company of a French lady, a Mlle. Rene +Valon. It was obvious that she and the Major were on pretty good +terms. Little incidents, things that happened in a room full of +people, led me to guess that she was extremely fond of him. I made it +my business to cultivate her acquaintance, for experience had often +shown me that where gold and myself failed, a pair of flashing eyes +and other felicities will often succeed. Like all the other women of +that set in Belgrade, Mlle. Valon was woefully extravagant. She +gambled heavily and one night I assisted her with a loan of 500 +francs. I came to know her fairly well. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had no previous indication of her being in any way connected with +any foreign service. Indeed everything pointed to the contrary. But +when on these missions, one is always on the <i>qui vive</i>. Mlle. +Valon's French was perfect. She looked French, her mannerisms were +French. Still I wasn't satisfied. In a case like this, it is wise to +be suspicious of every one. I began to make the most delicate +inquiries. In conversation I tried to draw out little things. I felt +she was playing a rôle. I used outside sources, but everything +bore out the French origin. Still I wasn't satisfied. Subsequently +my <i>quasi</i> suspicions proved to be correct. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One night Mlle. Valon gave a supper party in her apartments in the +Hotel de Paris. After the supper there was gambling among the guests. +Here in the privacy of her rooms was an opportunity to discover some +little thing that would either confirm her French claims or confirm my +suspicions. I kept my eyes open, but they could find nothing that +would show any connection with Russia. That is, they found nothing +until Mlle. Valon got up from the table, went to her boudoir and +returned nibbling on a piece of candy. It was the candy that gave her +away. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I saw at once it was a particular brand of Russian candy quite +distinct from similar confections in France and Turkey. In reality +they are natural flowers such as roses and violets with their +fragrance and natural taste in a champagne-colored, crystal substance, +the nature of which is a secret. Made solely by Demitrof and Sons of +Moscow, they are usually appreciated only by a born Moscovite. The +taste for them must be acquired. Only a Russian or one who had for +years lived in Russia would have it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although Mlle. Valon was personally unknown to me, five out of every +ten of these women were invariably known to the Secret Service branch +of the Continental police. My suspicions as to her confirmed, it was +an even chance that I might be able to place her. I procured two +snapshots of her and a specimen of her handwriting. These I forwarded +to the chief of the sections in Vienna and Berlin, with a request to +wire any possible information about her. Within forty-eight hours I +had a reply. Mlle. Valon was well known to the Austrian police as a +one-time keeper of a fashionable gambling resort in Galicia. She had +left the country hurriedly after a stabbing affray. She was known in +Crakau as Paula, and she was wanted by the police. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I engineered my next meeting with Mlle. Valon to be alone. After +presenting her with a box of perfumes, I said abruptly: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"This is a change from Crakau, Paula." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is always wise to smash right out, and not to put the other on +guard through leading questions, and the trick had the desired effect. +She recoiled. To your high American standards of chivalry, it may +seem brutal to take advantage of a woman in this way, but it had to be +done. Moreover, these women are absolutely conscienceless themselves. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Grand Dieu! Who are you?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"That does not concern you ma fille, I know that and a good deal more. +Austria would be very glad to know where you are. Shall I tell them?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She had recovered to an extent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What is your price for not telling?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I replied: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Let Russia slip this once, gain me the information I seek and +nothing further shall be said." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Her air of surprise was perfect. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Russia? I know nothing at all about Russia." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I smiled, walked to her desk where there was a silver tray, and +picked up a sugared rose. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You're clever, Paula, but careless. Know nothing about Russia, +yet have acquired a taste for the fine candies of the Moscovites? +Remarkable, Paula." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She bit her lips. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What do you want?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Now before we begin, Paula,"--that name seemed to vex her--"let it be +understood that there is to be no double dealing here. It would be an +easy matter for you to have me legitimately assassinated." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She would do that in this way: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +She would tell one of her many admirers that I had insulted her. One +morning I would come downstairs to be slapped in the face before a +hotel full of people and what could I do? It would be a case of +pistols and I would get a bullet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Remember," I cautioned her, "if anything happens to me here--and if +they in Vienna do not hear from me every six hours, on the seventh you +will be arrested. You will be arrested on an Imperial Austrian +warrant. Your friends in here, army officers, though they are, will +not dare to help you. Servia will not take the chance of angering +Austria by refusing to acknowledge the imperial warrant. Remember, +Paula, there is now an Austrian army on the Servian border." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The look she gave me was venomous. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Now I'll tell you what I want," I continued. "Major Schuvealoff is +in the Russian pay. He has got the key to the Russian influence here. +He knows just how far they are prepared to go. I want that key. +You've got to get it. I have the Major pretty well sounded. Money +would be very acceptable to him. He is half-willing to sell out +Russia, but he fears your supervision. I know that you were sent here +by Russia, Paula, just to keep your eye on agents in Russian pay, +principally on our friend Schuvealoff. I know you have not the +situation in hand like he has. If you had, I wouldn't bother going +any further, I'd get it from you... Now your part is to give him +to understand that he has nothing to fear from you. No lapse by him +will be reported. You're rather fond of him already, aren't you? If +you value his safety you'd better do as I ask. Otherwise I shall also +let him go up. I hold something over his head too." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This last shot in the dark seemed to bear the most weight with +her. She said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What guarantee have I that you'll keep your side of the bargain?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I said none, for the simple reason I couldn't give any. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Your own sense," I explained, "and knowledge of the work you're doing +should tell you that it is to my interest to get results, and not +trouble about other things. I'll promise you, however, no further +interference for this affair in Crakau. There will also be the price +of a diamond collar in it for you." (I subsequently filed a +requisition for $1,000 to be paid her, but I think she got more.) "You +agree? Good!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The agreement closed, I went back to the hotel well satisfied +with the night's work. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Early the next morning a very perturbed Major Schovealoff was shown +into my chamber. I greeted him cordially and opened fire with the +remark. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I see Mlle. Valon has conferred with you." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He started. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How did you know?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Mon cher Major, this early visit, your sobriety, your nervous manner +are indications enough. My time is valuable, and although your petite +Paris here is very entertaining, I prefer the Baltic seashore. If you +have anything to say to me, say it quickly, and to the point. I leave +this afternoon for Vienna. It may interest you to know that you are +absolutely safe. I put no stop to your no doubt valuable service to +your employer. In fact, it's no affair of mine what you do after I +leave. But I want the whole of your knowledge of Russian activity +here and in Roumania." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He replied: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I know very little about Roumania." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I shook my head. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"This will not do, Major, you know about as much of Russian intrigues +in Roumania as you do of them here. I want the whole or nothing. As +Mlle. Valon--Paula--doubtless has told you, neither you nor she are +in a position to hold back a single thing." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Without further attempt to bluff it out, he told me what I wanted. +The gist of it was this: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With the aid of French money, Russia was heavily subsidizing Bulgaria +and Servia against Turkey. Numerable non-commission Russian and +French officers were pouring into Belgrade and Sofia. They were ready +to take the field in the armies of the Allies. Most of the leading +officers and men of affairs of the Allies were in the Russian pay. In +fact, a systematic Russianization was in progress. The armies of the +Allies were being equipped with a new kind of French gun. Bulgarian +and Servian troops were being paid by Russian and French gold. +Obviously the menace of the Czar abetted by France was to be a +tremendous factor in the situation. Russia was in so deep that there +was no pulling out. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This, of course, had been suspected by the cabinets of Germany and +Austria. But how far and how thorough the actuality was, I had been +sent to find out. The results of my mission showed beyond all doubt +the urgent need for Germany and Austria to begin their machinations to +off-set the rising power of Russia in the Balkans. I took the night's +Orient Express for Berlin direct and I made my report to von Stammer, +as Wedel was still inaccessible, being away with the Kaiser. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At once Austria and Germany set about to smash the threatening +predominance of Russian influence in the Balkans. A solid coalition +of Bulgaria, Servia and Montenegro with a Russian dominance would have +played a solid factor in the policies of Germany, Austria and England. +It would have interfered with the plans made for the isolation of +France at that secret meeting in the Black Forest. This coalition had +to be broken up. It <i>was</i> broken up. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the crucial stage of the Balkan war, experts in Eastern questions +turned curious eyes toward Roumania, the most advanced and the +strongest of the Balkan States. The sway and influence behind +Roumania controls the situation in the Balkans. Who is the power +holding this key to the situation? Germany and Austria. The +appearance of an army on Roumania's southwestern frontier would have +made a vast difference in the success of the Balkan arms against the +Turk. This army, however, did not appear until the Allies had +finished fighting Turkey and had begun to fight themselves. I shall +show you why this army was withheld. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The ruling house in Roumania is closely allied and related to the +house of Hohenzollern. I need only mention Carmen Sylva, the Queen of +Roumania, and King Charles, both German by birth. The direct +commercial relationship between Germany and Roumania is also very +great. Roumania, of all the Balkan countries, has least felt the yoke +of the Turk and the intense hatred of the Turk rampant in the rest of +the Balkan States is not characteristic of Carmen Sylva's domains. +Russo-French machinations producing tangible results in Bulgaria, +Servia, Montenegro and Albania met with only indifferent success in +Roumania. If Russian persuasion and gold could have induced Roumania +to throw her armies into the field against the Turk, the map of the +Balkans would show some mighty changes. A Roumanian army corps, +menacing Turkey's northwestern frontier during her struggle with +the Balkan Allies, would certainly have seen the occupation of +Constantinople by the allied forces. But those army corps were +withheld through Austro-German influence and pressure on Roumania. +Ready they were and they came in handy and were made use of by +Germany and Austria in keeping Servia and Bulgaria in check. Bulgaria, +Servia and Montenegro, stanchly believing Russia's promises in +securing ratification of their successes and territory, found +themselves left to their own resource, Russia being unable through +force of circumstances to exert her pledged influence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Humanity has been staggered by the results of the wars in the +Balkans, but to those who were behind the scenes the results did +not come as a surprise. Bulgaria alone had enough successes against +the Turk to warrant great acquisitions of territory, so with her +allies. Under ordinary circumstances there would have been no +return to the <i>status quo ante-bellum</i>. Why this return? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When little countries previously hereditary enemies are welded +together by an outside power and the influence of this power +subsequently wanes, there is an inevitable outcome. The individual +cupidity and jealousies will break forth, especially when judiciously +fostered as they were in this instance by the counter influence of +Germany and Austria. The result is well known. Servia was jealous of +Bulgaria; Bulgaria was jealous of Montenegro; Greece was jealous of +the lot and Roumania, instigated by her wirepullers, would not permit +any of them to have anything. But through sheer exhaustion and +disgust and a stoppage of Franco-Russian money we would have had one +of the finest all around throat-cutting competitions the world has +ever seen. In the meantime, the mutual jealousy and inability to +divide the spoil was beneficial to Turkey, who really lost nothing +worth speaking about, commensurate with the reverses received. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That and the breaking up of any possible coalition or federation of +Balkan States under Russian influence was just what the +German-Austrian Balkan policy demanded. A broken and prostrated +Turkey, a united and strong central Balkan Federation able to put a +million efficient fighters in the field, probably under Russian sway, +would make a vast difference to German aims and aspirations in central +Europe. A million soldiers coöperating with Russia would in the +event of a European war take practically the whole of the Austrian +forces, leaving Germany the sole care of the Russian battalions, which +would mean quite half her available fighting force, weakening her +operations by that half on her Franco and lowland border. As it stands +now, the Balkans eliminated for decades to come; Turkey as a potential +fighting stronger today than ever, would and will be used by Germany +against any possible Russian interference; and the Turkish army, +three-quarters of a million strong, in conjunction with the Austrian +armies provides the needed guard against Russia, joining in or making +capital out of any war Germany is likely to enter into in the near +future. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves is not known in the Balkans, <i>but</i> +among the gay extravagant army officers of Belgrade, "Count Arthur +Zu Wernigrode" is. +</p> + +<h2><a name="X">X</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">MY MISSION AND BETRAYAL IN ENGLAND</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During 1911 my diplomatic missions piled one upon the other. Of +recent years it was the most tempestuous in European cabinets. The +drama that began with my mission to Monte Carlo and developed through +the swift climaxes of the Moroccan affair, the secret conference +between Germany, Austria and England in the Taunus, that rushed on +through the intrigues that preceded the Balkan War, had now lulled, +gathering its forces perhaps for the final catastrophe, the general +war of all the Powers, which may come this year--or next. To be sure +the terms that the English, German and Austrian ministers had agreed +upon in the Black Forest were now awaiting ratification by their +respective governments. Bear this in mind--"were waiting +ratification"--for it explains the mission that I was called upon to +undertake on November 18, 1911. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I received the usual summons to report at the Wilhelmstrasse. +Instead of being brought before Count von Wedel, I was taken over +to Koenigergratzerstrasse 70, to the German Admiralty Intelligence +Department. Here I met my old Chief Captain Tappken, head of the +naval branch of the Intelligence Department. The Captain briefly +informed me that it had been deemed advisable to send me to +England--unwelcome news, this, as you will see. In the usual curt +yet polite manner of German officers, the Captain introduced me to +three naval experts. One was a construction officer, another in the +signaling department, the third, an expert on explosives and mines. +One at a time they took me in hand, grooming me in the intricacies of +their respective fields. It was like a rehearsal in the grooming I +had received years ago when taken into the Service and trained for +months. I sat for hours over diagrams with a naval officer on each +side. They brought me before charts that were as big as the wall of +the room. These charts gave the exact dimensions and type of every +vessel in the British navy. Not only that, I was made to study the +silhouettes of all the new and different types of English +warships--why you will see. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Obviously this special training was significant. Part of my mission +to England was to watch the preparations and maneuvers of British +warships at the naval bases on the Scottish coast. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As you may surmise, the situation between England and Germany was +peculiar. The secret treaty of the Black Forest was awaiting +ratification by the heads of the two governments. Of course the mass +of subjects--indeed not ten men in each country--knew aught of what +had transpired near Schlangenbad. Politicians had worked up a war +scare to such pitch that the people of the two nations were ready to +rush into conflict. Only a spark was needed to fire the situation. +Realizing that under the menace of existing conditions, the unforeseen +might happen, the Kaiser was not lessening his secret diplomatic +intrigues; rather he was increasing them. It is a fact that even +though two nations have a secret treaty, they each remain suspicious +of the other. After all, secret treaties have been ruthlessly torn +up. The vigilance of European cabinets must be eternal. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Hence my mission. It was included in my instructions to watch the +movements of British warships off the Scottish coast and promptly +cable the German Admiralty Intelligence Department concerning them. +This is where a study of the silhouette charts would be invaluable. +At night or in a fog or early in the morning I would not be able to +distinguish the British ships by name. But knowing the silhouettes of +all the naval types--for example, certain kinds of dreadnaughts, +powerful cruisers, torpedo boat destroyers--I would be able to tell +what ships were putting to sea. When I had memorized all the charts, +they covered the names of the battle ships thereon and made me repeat +the types. For instance, I would say, "That is a <i>Queen Mary</i> +type of battle cruiser. The other is of the <i>Ajax</i> type. That +destroyer is of the <i>Viper</i> type." And so on. There are +well-defined architectural lines to every group of ships in the +British navy and these silhouettes I learned to know by heart before +I was permitted to leave Berlin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Moreover, I had to brush myself up in topography and trigonometry. In +England--so I learned from my instructions--it would be necessary to +calculate distances, to take observations on the exact nature of the +newly reconstructed Rossyth base near Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth; +besides keeping in touch with things in Cromarty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was to watch especially the new Rossyth base and to report progress +on armaments, new equipment, anything of use to the German Admiralty. +I was to keep tab on all the British Beet maneuvers then in progress +on the Scottish coast. It must be understood that the bases at +Rossyth and Cromarty were Great Britain's answer to Germany's powerful +naval base at Helgoland. So far as Germany's northern coasts are +concerned, the Scottish coast is the most convenient point of attack +for Great Britain. Fearing the unforeseen spark firing the hostile +minds of the people of the two nations, Germany was thus preparing to +be instantly informed of any sudden demonstration by the English +fleets off Scotland. Not a ship could leave either Rossyth or +Cromarty without an immediate cable being sent by me to Berlin, +reporting how many war vessels and of what type had put to sea, also +if possible the reason for the movement. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the Intelligence Department, I was given carte blanche as to how to +go about my mission. I am frank to say I did not care at all for it. +I had good reason to be wary. The suspicious state of England at the +time, and a stringent law just passed, made this mission very +dangerous as far as your liberty was concerned. There was no danger +of a knife thrust as in the Balkans, but there was of jail. Contrary +to all precepts of British law, there had been rushed through the +House of Commons, the Official Secrets Act, a clause so elastic and +convenient for convictions that a judge could charge a jury to find +a man guilty on suspicion only. As I recall it the gist of it was: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Any person or persons making or obtaining any document whatsoever, +endangering or likely to endanger the safeguards of Great Britain can +be found guilty notwithstanding there being no consequent proof of +any actual offense. A sentence of seven years penal servitude will be +given the offender." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It does not need a lawyer to point out the tremendous power of +prosecution that this added clause to the statutes put in the hands of +the English government. As I stated, it was rushed through the House +of Commons, but it was necessary. One has to admit that to be fair. +Within six months three German spies had been arrested in England. +There was a plague of them. Knowing this and also knowing the general +efficiency of England's public servants and system, I was rather loath +to stick my head into it. That penalty for being caught--seven years' +penal servitude--loomed ominously, for penal servitude in England is +plain hell. Also, I knew that although no passports are required in +England, they still know pretty well what is going on, especially in +regard to foreigners. It is easy to get into England, but deuced hard +to get out. Also, knowing the secret understanding between the two +governments, I had an uneasy premonition that everything was not quite +right in the state of Denmark. Subsequent events proved to me that +this feeling of mine, very seldom at fault, was correct. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +However, strong pressure and great inducements were brought to bear +on me and I undertook the mission, against my better judgment. When +I left Berlin I was thoroughly equipped to carry out instructions. +Every war vessel of the British navy, every fortification, naval +base and depot of supplies was coded in Secret Service ciphers. +Arrangements had been made with the Intelligence Department to +transmit telegrams to addresses in Brussels, Copenhagen and Paris. +In the event of the Brussels channel of communication being closed, +I could resort to either of the others. The Brussels address was +C. V. Noens, Rue de Venise, 34. Noens had instructions to forward any +communications from me to the proper authorities in Berlin, and all +letters from Berlin went from him to a little tobacconist's shop in +London and were there remailed to me in Scotland. Six hours after my +subsequent arrest in Glasgow, Scotland Yard detectives sought the +tobacconist but found him not; nor did they find Noens. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As for the Copenhagen address, that was the proprietor of the Hotel +Stadtkiel. Having had him at my beck and call during a mission to +Copenhagen, I knew him to be in German pay. Marie Blanche, who +conducted a modiste and lingerié shop on the Rue de Rivolie, +handled all my communications to Paris. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I went to Edinburgh by way of Hook of Holland and Folkstone. I went +by way of March, not going through London for a reason. The reason is +that at all times and more especially with the air surcharged with war +scares, all continental steamers and expresses entering London are +closely watched. The general traveler does not know that every Dover, +Calais and Flushing Express is met and watched not only by Scotland +Yard detectives but by special government officers. As a rule, very +little escapes them. Anyone not an Englishman is upon landing likely +to notice an elderly, gray-haired, high-hatted English gentleman who +looks like a retired army officer or cleric and who generally carries +an umbrella. If this clerical looking gentleman decides a foreigner +is suspicious, he is closely shadowed from the moment he enters +London. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Circumventing this by going via March, I arrived in Edinburgh and +put up at the old Bedford Hotel on Prince's Street, a quiet select +Scottish hostelry. I registered under my <i>quasi</i>-correct name +of A. K. Graves, M. D., Turo, Australia. My "stunt" was to convey +the impression of being an Australian physician taking additional +post-graduate courses at the famous Scottish seat of medical learning. +After a few days' residence at the Bedford, I installed myself in +private quarters at a Mrs. Macleod's, 23 Craiglea Drive, Edinburgh. +The ordinary expense provided for my residential quarters was $75 a +week. This of course did not include "extras," such as entertaining, +motors, etc. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For the first fortnight I quietly took my bearings, creating a +suggestion that I was a semi-invalid. Having by this time +familiarized myself with Edinburgh and surroundings, I made frequent +trips to the Firth of Forth upon which was located the Rossyth base. +Now across the Firth there is a long bridge. It is between the +Rossyth base and the North Sea. Warships going to and from the naval +station pass under it. But more about this bridge later--something +for the benefit of the English Admiralty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Gradually I worked myself into the confidence of one of the bridge +keepers. I shall not give the man's name for to do so would injure +him and quite unwillingly he gave me facilities for studying the naval +base and furnished me with scraps of information that I wanted to +know. For this he received no money and he was not a traitor to his +country. Through the little acquaintance I struck up with him, I was +able to make a thorough study of the bridge and its structure--a +strategic point, the bridge. Also, through the offices of my good +friend the keeper, I was introduced to some of his "pals" in the +waterguard. Because of my intimate knowledge of Robbie Burns, Walter +Scott, "inside" history of Prince Charlie, and--ahem!--Scottish +proclivity for a drop o' whisky, they accepted me as a half Scotchman. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the waterguard I obtained more definite information regarding +the Rossyth base. So much for the topographical knowledge which could +only be obtained through personal contact with men who actually knew +every inch of the ground. The charts back in Berlin could not give me +that exact information. The higher scientific data of the +fortifications and the base, I obtained by social intercourse with +high placed officials--officers and engineers at Rossyth--whom I +entertained at various times. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The schooling I had received in the silhouettes presently came in +handy. One night my friend, the bridge tender, learned that the fleet +was getting up steam. Accordingly, I stood on the bridge that night +and waited. At five o'clock in the morning a gray, rainy, foggy +morning, through which the ships moved almost ghost-like, I made +out sixteen war vessels. From their silhouettes, I knew them to be +dreadnaughts, cruisers, and torpedo boat destroyers. At once I filed +a cable by way of Brussels, informing the Intelligence Department of +the German Navy that an English fleet sixteen strong had put to sea. +Subsequently I learned that in describing the sixteen ships I had made +only one mistake. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I may here draw attention and in return for England's fair treatment +of me during my trial, give them gratis, this information. <i>The +Firth of Forth Bridge constitutes a grave danger to the Rossyth Royal +naval base.</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For this reason: Its location between Rossyth and the sea is a decided +menace. In the event of hostilities, in fact before the outbreak of +war, it is no ways impossible to blow up the Firth of Forth Bridge and +bottle all war vessels concentrated at the Rossyth base. They could +thus be bottled up for several days powerless, while a foreign fleet +swept at the Scottish coasts. The British foreign office will +understand what I mean by this: <i>Look to the middle island.</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I found it to be partly intervened with soft, soapy neiss, making +natural ruts and cavities that were ideal for the placing of +explosives. I learned also that along the Edinburgh approach to the +Firth of Forth Bridge were two pieces of ground and houses in reality +owned by Germans although the deeds stood in Scottish names. +Moreover, little fishing hamlets on either side of the bridge harbored +more than one supposed Swedish fisherman but who in reality had his +name still on the German Naval register. In the event of trouble +these men, using explosives stored in the two houses in question, +could have blown the Middle Island to atoms. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After about three weeks I began to be suspicious of being followed. +Arriving home one night I noticed that my dress suit was arranged +in a different way to what I had left it. I called my landlady and +casually inquired if my tailor had been there. She said, "No, +Doctor." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well," I replied. "What reason have you then to rearrange my +clothes?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Her face reddened and she seemed flustered. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I wasn't in your room," she faltered. "I remember now. I believe +the tailor was here. One of the servants let him in." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I have no reason to shield Mrs. Macleod, for with true Scottish +thrift she got as much out of me as she could and then afterwards +declared in court that she thought I was a German spy a fortnight +after I had been in her house. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I made it my business to go around to my tailor's within an hour's +time and he contradicted her story. He had not been at the house. To +completely verify my suspicions that I was being shadowed, I went the +next day into the "F and F," a well-known caterer on Prince's Street. +In the writing-room I wrote some letters, one of which I purposely +dropped on the floor. I withdrew to the washroom and returning in +about fifteen minutes noticed that the letter had disappeared. Making +inquiries of "buttons" and of the "desk girl" I learned that a +gentleman had quietly picked up the letter and without reading it had +put it in his pocket and walked away. That settled it. They were +after me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I hope this particular detective or his superior could read Greek. +For they, or whoever spent their time translating my letter, +read an ancient Greek version of "Mary had a Little Lamb." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I recognized it as an occasion where I had to make a right royal +bluff. I went at once to police headquarters in Edinburgh. I asked +for Chief Constable Ross, and sent in my card bearing Dr. A. K. +Graves, Turo, S. Australia. Presently I was shown into the chief's +room and was received by a typical Scottish gentleman. I opened +fire in this way: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Have you any reason to believe that I am a German spy?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I saw that it had knocked him off his pins. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Why, no," he said, startled. "I don't know anything at all about +it." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It's not by your orders then that I am followed?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Certainly not," he replied. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Chief, it's hardly likely that anything of such importance +would transpire without your notice." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What reason have you to believe that you were followed?" he asked. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Reason in plenty," I replied. "Some agent had even the audacity to +enter my apartments and search my effects. This, as you know, is +absolutely against English law, a warrant being necessary for such +procedure. If you have any reason to take me to be a German spy, go +right ahead now, or let these rather nonsensical persecutions cease. +I have taken this up to now to be rather a good joke, but my sense of +humor has its limit." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chief Constable Ross became serious, and very bravely said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Doctor, you know we've got to obey orders. I'm quite satisfied +though that there has been a mistake made and you shall no further be +annoyed." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He bowed me out. Of course I knew I still would be shadowed which I +did not mind in the least. I reasoned that my visit to the police +might make them slow down a bit. Right along I communicated by cables +and letter with Berlin and went the even tenor of my way. About a +week after my experience with Constable Ross, I received information +that William Beardmore & Co., of Glasgow, were constructing some +new fourteen-inch guns for the British government. That meant a +change of base. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I at once made it my business to go to Glasgow and get particulars. +I installed myself in the Central Station Hotel, and in a few weeks +gained all the information I wanted. It would take too long to detail +how this was done, but you have a very expressive American saying, +"money talks." I had the plans, firing systems, everything of +interest about the new fourteen-inch turret guns. While in Glasgow I +received letters addressed to me as James Stafford. I received two +such letters, and upon my calling at a General Post-Office for a +third, I was informed that there was a letter for A. Stafford. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Oh yes, that is my letter," I said. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The clerk demurred and replied: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You asked for James Stafford. Under those circumstances I cannot +hand you this letter. It is against the postal law." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not being in a position to raise a question I let it go at that, never +for a moment thinking that my employers would be so culpably careless +as to put any incriminating evidence in the mail. Events proved that +that is just what they did. Moreover, I later came to know why that +particular letter was addressed not to James but to A. Stafford. All +my previous letters were addressed to me as Dr. A. K. Graves and were +enclosed in the business envelope of the well-known chemical firm of +Burroughs & Wellcome, Snowhills, London, E. C.--which paper had +been fabricated for the purpose. Of course the letters were sent from +the Continent to London and there reposted. The stationery of this +chemical firm was fabricated so as to disarm any possible suspicion, +for European post-offices are taught to be suspicious. It would be +perfectly natural for me, a physician in Edinburgh, to receive a +letter from a very well-known chemical concern. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When I left Edinburgh to find out about the fourteen-inch guns, I +gave our people in London instructions to use plain envelopes and +to address them to James Stafford, G. P. O., Glasgow. The first +two letters were addressed correctly and plain envelopes were used. +<i>The third was not only misaddressed but was enclosed in one of +the B. & W. envelopes</i>--this as I later learned, for a reason. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No one having called for it, the letter was returned to the chemical +company. At their office it was opened and found to contain a +typewritten letter in the German language and five ten-pound notes on +the Bank of England. The contents of the letter, was such as to lead +the firm to call in the police. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the evening of April 10, I had just put on my evening clothes and +gone to the upstairs writing-room. I was awaiting a party of +gentlemen who were coming to dine with me in the hotel. There came a +"buttons" who announced: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"There's a gentleman downstairs to see you, Doctor." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A premonition stole over me. I knew that my guests would not have +sent for me to come down but would have been announced. I realized +that if I was going to be caught there was no avoiding it. Secret +Service makes a man a fatalist. I took the precaution, however, to +slip inside my dinner coat just under the arm, my little bag of +chemicals, so often handy in an emergency. Then I went downstairs, +one hand was thrust in my pocket, the other folded across my breast +so that I could snatch the little bag of chemicals in an emergency. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had hardly reached the last step of the grand stairway when four big +plain-clothes men, pounced upon me. I had to do some swift thinking. +I could have flung the chemicals in their faces and escaped, but I +knew I could never get outside of the British Isles without being +caught--outside of Glasgow for that matter. Such resistance would +only incriminate matters still more, so I let my hand fall down to my +side. More for the fun of it than anything else, I guess, I got on my +horse and demanded to know what was the matter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You'll soon know," Inspector French declared. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It seems that a woman had just called me on the telephone and the +Inspector, hurrying to the wire, pretended that he was I and tried +to learn something. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He then ordered his men to search me and seemed amazed when they +couldn't find any six shooters, daggers or bombs. I was taken back to +my room and there he began going through my effects, and bundling them +up. I knew I was up against it; but I wasn't going to make it any +easier for them. I requested Mr. Morris, then manager of the hotel, +and another witness to be called into my room. These gentlemen were +kind enough to put down on paper a description of all my effects that +were being taken away by the police. I was extremely careful to see +that they noted and described all papers and written matters of any +kind. There are often produced in court documents that are not found +on a Secret Service agent at the time of his arrest. Inspector +French--I recall him as an uncouth, illiterate bungler who +subsequently tried to get a lot of publicity out of my arrest as if +he himself had detected the whole concern, instead of having it thrust +under his nose by the London chemical company--was preparing to ride +over me roughshod. I insisted that he read the warrant for my arrest +and with much grumbling he finally did so. It had been issued under +the Official Secret Act that had been rushed through the House of +Commons. I was charged with endangering the safeguards of the British +Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I spent the night in the Glasgow City Prison, and was taken the next +day before a magistrate and formally committed to a sheriff's court. +On July 12 my case came up before the Sheriff's court. Waiving +preliminary examination, I was committed for trial to the Edinburgh +High Court. It is significant that the extreme length of a committal +without trial under British law is one hundred and five calendar days, +which hundred and five days up to the last minute I certainly waited. +They were trying to find out my antecedents but they did not succeed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A letter from the Lord Provost informed me that all material for my +defense should be in his hands a day before the trial. I had no +defense. I neither denied nor admitted anything. I replied to his +Lordship that as I was unaware of any offense there was no need of any +defense. My attitude was a profound puzzle--which was as I wanted. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If you care to look over the back files of the English and Scottish +newspapers of the time you will read that my trial was "the most +sensational court procedure ever held in a Scottish court of +justice." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Now I shall reveal every circumstance of it. For the first time I +shall explain how, why and by whom I was secretly released. Until I +revealed myself in the United States, even the German Foreign Office +thought me in jail. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Against me the crown had summoned forty-five witnesses. They included +admirals, colonels, captains, military and naval experts, post office +officials--I cannot recall all. The press from all parts of +Europe--for all Europe was vitally concerned in this trial--was +represented. My memory shows me again the crowds that packed the big +supreme court building at Edinburgh on the first day of the +proceedings. The imposing names connected with the trial, the strange +circumstances, a spy, moreover a German!--These things brought the +excitement to fever heat. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Presiding was the Lord Justice of Scotland, himself no mean expert in +military matters. The Solicitor General of Scotland, A. M. Anderson, +who prosecuted for the crown, was supported by G. Morton, Advocate +Deputy. The government had indeed an imposing array of bewigged, +black-gowned, legal notables marshaled against me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Those familiar with English court procedure know the impressive manner +with which justice is dispensed. Punctually at ten on the morning of +July 22, 1912, my trial opened. Clad in his royal red robe with the +ermine collar of supreme justice, the Lord Justice entered the court. +Before him walked a mace bearer, intoning "Gentlemen, the Lord +Justice! Gentlemen, the Court!" After the impressive ceremonies had +been observed, the jury was quickly empaneled, I making several +challenges. Twelve years in the Secret Service naturally has made me +know something of men. I knew that those twelve hard-headed, cautious +Scottish jurymen would demand pretty substantial proof before +convicting. At the time I am frank to say that I did not think there +was a chance of a verdict of guilty being brought in. The evidence +against me was too vague. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Expressing astonishment at my refusal to accept counsel--which was +subsequently forced on me--His Lordship promised to guard my interest +on legal points; and guard it he did. Repeatedly he ruled against the +Solicitor General and challenged him on more than one point. I am +frank in my admiration of British justice. My trial was a model of +fairness. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the first day I waived examination on all witnesses but the naval +and military experts. I directed my fire against Rear Admiral T. +B. Stratton Adair, who superintended the ordnance factories of the +Beardmore Gun Works in Glasglow. The Admiral, a typical English +gentleman of the naval officer type, long, lank with a rather ascetic, +clear-cut Roman head, not unlike Chamberlain in general appearance, +even to the single eye-glass, did not make much of a showing as an +expert witness for the prosecution. The Admiral was called in on +testimony concerning the new fourteen-inch gun. The point they were +trying to establish was that it was impossible for a man to have my +knowledge of these guns unless he had obtained it first hand from the +works in Glasgow. Of course that brought the testimony into +technicalities. I managed to involve the Admiral in a heated +altercation on the trajectory and penetrating power of the so-much +disputed fourteen-inch gun. One word led to another and +notwithstanding that he ranked at that time as a rear admiral of the +British Navy, the Admiral showed that he did not know as much about +his own guns as I. Backed into this corner he was about to divulge +things in support of his knowledge when he recovered himself, pulled +up suddenly and appealed to the Court. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Your Lordship, it is against the British Government to have any +more questions on this point in open court." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I maintained that my knowledge of guns was such that I did not need +to spy at Beardmore to obtain the things I knew. Subsequently after +being cross-examined by me another of the government's naval experts +told the court: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It is quite possible for one with a ballistic knowledge such +as the defendant's to be able with very little data to arrive +at accurate conclusions regarding our new fourteen-inch guns." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<i>A word of advice to the Admiral.</i> Do not talk so much when you +go motor boating with pretty young musical comedy girls. You see, +Admiral, I made it my business to see those young ladies in Glasgow. +What an interest they took in you--a great Admiral! It is you, +Admiral, whom I thank for aiding me in securing the right persons +from whom the secrets of your new fourteen-inch guns could be +obtained. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A note they found in my effects was introduced as evidence. It read +as follows: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The firm of William Beardmore and Co., Parkhead, Glasgow. B first +orders F new 13.5 guns F, Navy. Length 51 feet, weight 73 tons. One +foot longer than 12-inch, but 12 tons heavier. Weight of shot, 1,250 +lb., 400 lb. more than the 12-inch gun." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The upshot of it was that the first day of the trial ended with +everybody positive that I would not be found guilty on the charge +of obtaining secret information about their guns. Of course all +this information I had obtained. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the recess I was pleasantly surprised when a court orderly brought +me refreshments from the judge's own table with his Lordship's +compliments. It struck me that I was being treated more like a guest +than a prisoner. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The second day of the trial brought the Burroughs & Wellcome +letter into the testimony--the letter that had been refused me and +had in turn gone back to the Chemical Company. Very gravely Sir +Anderson, Crown Prosecutor, read the contents of this letter aloud. +As I recall the exact wording it was: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +<i>Dear Sir:</i> +</p> + +<p class="letterin"> +We are pleased to learn of your successful negotiation of the +business at hand. Be pleased to send us an early sample. As regards +the other matter in hand I do not know how useful it will be to us: +In any case my firm is not willing to pay you more than 100 in this +case. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was unsigned. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While reading, Sir Anderson held the five ten-pound notes in his +hand. Upon finishing he began a vigorous indictment which in +substance he declaimed in this way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"On the face of it, this letter does not seem suspicious. But if you +gentlemen will recall the times of Prince Charles' insurrections, +periods whenever intrigues were going on, you will remember that in +communications of this sort a government was always referred to as a +'firm.' If this was an honest business letter why was it enclosed in +the envelope stationery of a company that knew nothing about it? Why +was this letter unsigned? Why was cash enclosed, with it? What was +his firm willing to pay 100 pounds for? Gentlemen, the reasons for +all these things are obvious." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But the letter puzzled not only the court, the jury, the newspapers, +but all England. For the first time I shall now explain it: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was from the German government. By the "business at hand" they +meant a new explosive and slow-burning powder that was to be used in +the new type of fourteen-inch turret guns being made in Glasgow. Some +of that explosive was in my possession. The fact that it was not +discovered in my effects, nor was anything else incriminating found on +me is because the Secret Agent who knows his business leaves nothing +about; but he "plants" things, that is to say, leaves them in a safe +deposit vault with the key in the hands of a person with power of +attorney. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By the "sample" in the letter was meant a sample of the explosive. +The "other business at hand" was spoken of as of tremendous +importance, more vital to the safeguards of Britain than the other +points mentioned in the letter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There were sub-agents working at Cromarty. I did not know who they +were; they simply made their reports to me, signing their German +Secret Service number. I took up their points with Berlin. Well, the +"other business in hand" was to put a certain British army officer +under a monthly retaining fee of 100£ for which in the event of +war he was to commit an act of unspeakable treason and treachery on a +certain harbor defense. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I had judged my jurymen right, for they were very little impressed +by this letter. It was all too vague and even the fluent language of +a Crown Prosecutor does not impress a hard-headed Scotchman. I was +feeling in high spirits indeed, when I saw one of the attendants +approach Sir Anderson and deliver a document that had been handed into +court. I at once recognized it and my heart dropped into my shoes. +The Solicitor General read the document and smiled. I knew they had +me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In addressing the court the Solicitor General produced two pieces +of thin paper--the same that had been brought in on the previous +afternoon. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I have got to show the court," he said impressively, "the most +deadly code ever prepared against the safeguards of Great Britain." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +And it certainly was. It contained the name of every vessel in the +British Navy, every naval base, fortification and strategic point, +in Great Britain. There were over ten thousand names and opposite +each was written a number. For example, the battle cruiser <i>Queen +Mary</i> was number 813. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As I have confessed, I am superstitious. And have I not reason to be? +It was the Burroughs & Wellcome letter that got me caught in the +first place. And my secret code was written in a book issued for the +use of physicians by Burroughs & Wellcome! Both times the B & +W mark was upon me. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Using a magnifying glass I had written in tiny characters my code. +There were so many names it was impossible to memorize them all. Two +opposite sheets of the little memoranda book were used, then the +edges of the pages were pasted together. Whenever I learned the +British warships were going to put to sea, I slipped the book in +my pocket, went to a position of vantage where I could make out the +silhouettes of the warships, classified them in my mind, and then +writing out a cable put down the code numbers, say in this way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +214, 69, 700, 910, 21--(Necessary words were filled in by the +A. B. C. code). +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This message was sent by way of Brussels or Paris to the Intelligence +Department of the German Admiralty in Berlin and told them what +warships were putting to sea or arriving at Rossyth. The code +contained such phrases as this: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Current rumors." "Incoming." "Outgoing." "Clearing for action." +"Have lowered defending nets." "Land fortifications are manned." +"Protective maneuvers are being carried out at sea." "Coal being +carried by rail." "Remarkable influx of Reservists." "Mine flelds +being laid." "All is quiet; nothing important to report." "Liners +are appearing." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The accidental finding of this code of course settled all further +argument. I called no witness for the defense except two or three +personal acquaintances to each of whom I put this question: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What is your knowledge of my attitude as regards England?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They all declared that even if I was a spy in the pay of any +foreign government I certainly had never shown any personal feeling +or animosity toward Great Britain. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All of which I figured might aid the cause of clemency. The jury was +not out more than half an hour. I was found guilty of endangering the +safeguards of the British Empire and under the new law that had been +aimed against German spies I was liable to seven years' penal +servitude. Even then my spirits were not down. I had what Americans +call "a hunch." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Just before his Lordship, the Chief Justice, summed up, an +aristocratic, gray-clad Englishman, who never had been in the court +room before, appeared and was courteously, almost impressively, +conducted to the bench. I noticed that the Chief Justice bowed to him +with unction and they had about two minutes' whispered conversation. +His Lordship was nodding repeatedly. This worried me. I felt I was +going to get it good. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But, in substance, his Lordship's verdict was: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Taking all the circumstances into consideration, the court +pronounces a sentence of eighteen months' imprisonment." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I smiled and said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Exit Armgaard Karl Graves." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A murmur of astonishment was audible. Everybody in court was +surprised. I heard gasps all around me, especially among the foreign +newspaper reporters. With everybody expecting seven years of penal +servitude, eighteen months of plain imprisonment was a bombshell. +Why? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was taken first to Carlton Hill Jail, Edinburgh, and transferred +after two weeks to Barlinney Prison near Glasgow. Considering the +circumstances, I was treated with surprising consideration. The +conditions that had characterized my trial prevailed in the prison. +I soon perceived that the Barlinney prison officials were trying to +sound me in a canny Scotch way--with no result. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You're foolish to stay in here--You must have something worth +while--Why don't you get out?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That was the gist of their talks with me from the warders up. I kept +my mouth shut. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Now I shall present information that was denied the House of Commons +upon the occasion of an inquiry into my case. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the fifth week of my imprisonment I was taken to the office of +the Governor of the prison. As I entered I saw a slight, soldierly +looking English gentleman of the cavalry type--(a cavalry officer +has certain mannerisms that invariably give him away to one who +knows). The Governor spoke first: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Graves, here is a gentleman who wishes to see you." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The stranger nodded to the Governor and said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I may be quite a while. You have your instructions." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"That's all right, sir," replied the Governor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Governor left and we were alone. The stranger rose. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"My name is Robinson, Doctor. Please take a seat." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of course, being a prisoner, I had remained standing. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Robinson began some casual conversation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How are they treating you?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I have no complaints to make." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Is the confinement irksome to you?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Naturally." I looked him straight in the face. "I am a philosopher. +Kismet, Captain." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Oh--ho" he exclaimed. "You address me as Captain. Wherefor this +knowledge? We have never met." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"No," I replied. "But I have associated too long with various types +of army officers not to be able to detect a British cavalry officer. +Formerly of an Hussar regiment, I take it?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He laughed for some time. He continued feeling his way in this +manner. Then suddenly he changed front. Point blank he asked me: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Now, old chap, we know that you worked for Germany against us. We +also know that you are not a German. Is there any reason why you +should not work for us? Any private reason?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Captain," I said, "you of all men ought to know that the betrayal +of your employers for a monetary or a liberty reason alone is never +entertained by a man who has been in my work. We go into it with our +eyes open, well knowing the consequences if we are caught. We do not +squeal if we are hurt." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For a time he looked at me very earnestly. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"H-m," he said. "That just bears out what we have been able to +ascertain about you. It puzzled us how a man of your known ability +acted the way you did. From the moment you landed in England, all the +time you were doing your work, even after your arrest, in prison and +in court you show a sort of listless, almost an indifferent attitude. +If I may put it this way, you seemed in noways keen to go to extremes +in any possible missions you might have had," he paused. "We think +you could have done more than you did... The mildness of your +sentence, has it surprised you?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I grinned. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Nothing surprises me, Captain." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +His manner became very earnest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Supposing," he said, "we show you that it was a +<i>quasi</i>-deliberate intention on the part of your employers +to have you caught--what then?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This did not startle me either. I had an idea of that all along. It +is why I played my cards so quietly, why I did not accomplish in +England everything I had a chance to accomplish. I did not grin this +time. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Under those circumstances," I said, "I am open to negotiations. But +I am rather deaf and my vision is very much obscured as long as I see +bars in front of my window." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Captain smiled: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Doctor, I may see you again soon." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Captain, I have not the slightest doubt but that you will. But let +it be understood, please, that it's a waste of time as long as I am +behind bars." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Leave that to me," he said and we shook hands. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was taken back to my cell. I am frank to admit that I didn't sleep +much for the next two or three nights. All through my trial and in +Barlinney I had been playing a part. When the occasion demanded I +could be as cool as I was with Captain Robinson. But that was a +strain and it took it out of me. During these following days I was +nervous; I had insomnia; I paced my cell at night. The feeling of a +jail is cold and thick. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But as I expected, another week brought Captain Robinson again. This +time it was late in the evening after all the prisons were shut up +tight. The Lieutenant-governor himself took me into the Governor's +office. No other warder or prison official observed us. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Doctor," was the way Robinson greeted me. "I have something +definite to propose to you. You can be of use to us. You have still +sixteen months of your sentence to serve. Are you willing to give +these sixteen months of your time to us--terms to be agreed upon +later? I am prepared to supply you with proofs that you were +deliberately put away, betrayed by your employers, the German +government." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He did so to my complete satisfaction. As I guessed, I had come to +learn so much of Germany's affairs that I was dangerous. To betray +me in such a way that I would not suspect and squeal was a clever +way to close my mouth for seven years in jail or until the Black +Forest plans had matured. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How would you suggest that we go about it?" he asked. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"To be of the slightest degree of use to you, nobody must know of +my release," I added. "Here is my suggestion. I must leave the +execution of it to you. The impression I conveyed around Edinburgh +was that my health is rather indifferent. So it is also believed here +in the prison. On those grounds it should be an easy matter for you +to have me ostensibly transferred to another prison; instead of which, +have me taken wherever you wish to. I see no necessity that outside +the Lieutenant-governor, the Governor and yourself, any one need know +of it." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, yes," said Robinson. "That coincides with my own ideas and +plans." Presently he departed and I went back again to my cell. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At half-past five the next morning, I was aroused by the +Lieutenant-governor. He was alone. There were no warders in sight. +In the Governor's office I found all my clothes and effects ready +and laid out for me. These I addressed and left with the +Lieutenant-governor. We took a taxicab for the Caledonian Station +in Glasgow. Few people were abroad in Glasgow at that time of day +and there was no danger of recognition. The trip to London was +uneventful. At Euston Station we were met by Captain Robinson. We +went into a private waiting-room where Captain Robinson signed a +paper for the Lieutenant-governor. It was what amounted to a +receipt for the prison's delivery of me into his hands. Then the +lieutenant-governor left us; then Robinson left, after handing +over an envelope containing cash and instructions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was alone and free. I could then and there have disappeared. +Obviously the English government trusted me fully. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My first move was to register at the Russel Square Hotel. Opening +the envelope in my rooms, I found it contained ten pounds and the +following instructions: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Telephone at 10.30 to-morrow morning, this number Mayfair--" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I telephoned the Mayfair number and was told to hold the wire. Then +Captain Robinson got on the phone and told me to meet him at luncheon +that day at one o'clock at the Imperial Hotel. There another +gentleman joined us--a Mr. Morgan, whom I easily judged and afterwards +knew to be of the English Secret Service. Presently Morgan told me +that I was to drive with Captain Robinson to Downing Street that +afternoon. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"One of our ministers wishes to see you," he explained. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We drove to Downing Street, Captain Robinson and I, and stopped before +the historic governmental building. After we had signed the book that +all visitors to "Downing Street" must sign, I was ushered into an +anteroom and Robinson took his leave. My name appears on this book as +Trenton Snell, and if the English government challenges a statement +that I shall subsequently make, let them produce the "Downing Street" +book for the date I shall mention, let them have a handwriting expert +compare the name "Trenton Snell" with my handwriting. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I make this statement for what followed is of tremendous importance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After a twenty-minute wait, which impressed me as being different from +the slam-in-and-slam-out methods of the Wilhelmstrasse, I was shown up +a flight of stairs. The attendant knocked on the door, opened it and +announced "The gentleman." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was facing Sir Edward Grey. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He was seated behind a big green-covered mahogany desk. I noticed +that the room seemed like a private library; books, memorandas, +letters and dispatch cases littered not only the desk but the tables +and chairs. The eye was struck by a huge piece of furniture, a tall +leather-covered easy chair. I present these details for obvious +reasons. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sir Edward, looking small in the big armchair, was seated with his +legs crossed. He was reading some document and without a sign of +recognition he kept me standing there, it must have been ten minutes. +I noticed that he glanced at me now and then above the top of the +paper. Abruptly he told me to have a seat. When I said that I +preferred to stand, he nodded and pulling open a drawer took from it a +folder that, as subsequent events verified, I suspected to be a report +on me. There was another period during which he seemed to be unaware +of my presence, and I took advantage of it to size up my man. He +impressed me as being one of those intolerable, typically English +icicles, which only that nation seems able to produce in her public +servants. Presumably through a century-long contact with the races of +the East, the English diplomat of the Sir Edward Grey type presents +the bland, imperturbable, non-committal, almost inane expression of +the Oriental that hardly gives one any criterion of the tremendous +power of perception and concentration beneath the mask. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After twirling his fingers, he said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I presume you are familiar with Germany's naval activity." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Up to a certain point, sir." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What point?" he asked quickly. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I am familiar only with the Intelligence Department of the +Admiralty," I replied. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Their system?" he asked. "Is it so extensive and efficient as we +have been led to believe?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"That cannot be exaggerated." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At this Sir Edward began to throw out innuendoes to which I replied +in like vein. The interview was not progressing. Finally he came out +with what was in his mind. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Do you know if any officials or naval officers are selling or +negotiating to sell information to Foreign Intelligence +Departments?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although he had not said English officers or officials, I knew +what he meant, but I made up my mind not to tell everything I +knew. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"There are such," I replied. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It had the effect of making him look at me in a most startled +manner. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How do you know that? On what grounds do you make that assertion?" +His agitation was ill-concealed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I have no specific proof," I replied--(which I had)--"but from +information that has been gained, from plans that have been +secured--plans like those of your battleships <i>Queen Mary</i> +and <i>Ajax</i>--it is obvious that these things have been done +with the cooperation of high officials of your country." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He pressed me for further details, but I withheld them. I could have +told him a pretty story about the plans of the <i>Queen Mary</i> and +<i>Ajax</i>. He fell to studying a rather voluminous report; then he +began anew with his innuendoes. I guessed what was coming. Although +his speech was more prolonged than I shall now present it, this is +the gist of what he asked: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Were you ever present at conferences attended by high officials? +Were you, for instance, at the Schlangenbad meeting? Have you any +data? Any documentary evidence of having been there?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was not a bit startled. I had guessed it would be that. His very +question showed that it was useless for me to deny that I had been at +the Black Forest conference. Possibly Churchill, recalling my meeting +him during the Boer War, had dropped a word about this coincidence to +his Lordship. Naturally I told him I possessed no such data. Still I +did not like the trend of his talk. I began to suspect that this +British Minister was doing one of two things. Either he did not know +everything about the Black Forest meeting--(not at all improbable with +the conditions existing in England's cabinet at that time)--or else he +wanted to learn if I knew the tenor of that conference. In either +ease it was one of those occasions where I deemed it wise to keep my +own counsel. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After many searching questions upon the French system and her army +and navy, he began to try to lead me to make comparisons between +their strength and England's, these being based upon my personal +observations. This, and the whole trend of his thought, led me to +suspect that Sir Edward Grey was in noways sure in his own mind or +favorable to the German-English alliance. With men like his Lordship, +personal antipathy plays a powerful part in such matters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He then began to try to make me divulge the contents of any personal +dispatches I had carried for the German Emperor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Do you know," he asked abruptly, "if the German Emperor ever +communicates with Viscount Haldane?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Yes, sir." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He leaned forward eagerly. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"How and under what circumstances?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Why, I thought it common knowledge that they often correspond. They +are good friends." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Not that. I mean direct secret communications between them, +concerning affairs of the state." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I denied any knowledge of this, although I knew it to be so. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He began his fishing around again and his hints found me very +stupid. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My unsatisfactory answers seemed to displease Sir Edward Grey, +for with true British discourtesy he abruptly began working at +something on his desk and without even saying good day, let a +commissaire bow me out. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A few days later I received definite instructions from Captain +Robinson. I was to go on my first mission in the interests of the +British Secret Service and subsequently another mission brought me +to New York, where I resigned from service permanently. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XI">XI</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">TO NEW YORK FOR ENGLAND</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was in December, 1912, that I again felt the thrill of the old game +as I moved about London under the plausible name of "Trenton Snell," +engaged in guarding or obtaining state secrets, but this time for a +new master. English secret agents are allowed liberal expense money +and my work in London and other points in the British Isles was not +so arduous as to prevent my taking frequent holidays. I judged that +Downing Street was holding me for something big should the occasion +arise. In London, my chief work for a time was counteracting the +machinations and influences of German agents, forever infesting the +British capital. Many a neat little plan inspired by the gentlemen of +the Wilhelmstrasse went wrong during those next few weeks and back in +Berlin they began to think that their spies had lost their cunning. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During this period I was under the direct orders of Captain Robinson, +who, you will recall, had been the go-between for Downing Street in +closing the bargain for my release from Barlinney Prison. Robinson, +an ex-captain of the Hussars, was well up in subterranean affairs +and to him Sir Edward Grey was no stranger. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border=0 class="center" width="328"> +<tr><td class="center"><img src="fig007.jpg" width="323" height="577" + alt="Fig. 7"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="center">GENERALS VON HEERINGEN AND VON MOLTKE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center">Two famous military men who figured largely in +Germany's war plans during Dr. Graves' service.</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Along in January there came to the ear of Downing Street rumors of a +possible meeting between German and Japanese envoys. Moreover, the +meeting ground was to be the United States. It may surprise Americans +to learn that of late years their country has become a favorite +meeting place for European diplomats, secret and otherwise. These men +invariably sail from Europe, remarking something about taking a trip +to the Rockies or visiting some noted fishing streams. They may be +going into Canada or the Western States for the shooting; and when +these gentlemen leave Europe on these little "vacations" they are +generally shadowed, or attempts are made to shadow them. In the +course of a few days after the English foreign office learned of the +supposed meeting of German and Japanese agents to be held in America, +I received official instructions. They were sharp and very much to +the point. I was to find out what the meeting in the United States +was about, and, if possible, to learn the nature of the diplomatic +proposals likely to be considered by Japan and Germany. England +herself having an alliance pending with Germany, was decidedly wary +of this new diplomatic conversation with the yellow empire of the +Pacific. What was in the wind? Why was Germany conniving secretly +with Japan? What effect would it have on the English-Austrian-German +alliance secretly discussed in the Taunus Hills only the autumn +before. Obviously the mission was an important one. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The first step was to locate one of the German envoys. To do this I +had to cross to the Continent, a dangerous proceeding, at best, for +there were abundant possibilities of recognition. Especially was it +sticking one's head in the mouth of danger to be seen in Germany. +Nevertheless to Germany I had to go to locate my man. It must be +understood that the big missions of Secret Service are accomplished by +many coöperating agencies. True, Great Britain had been rather +slow in perfecting a continental system of espionage, but by 1913 the +machinery was operating well. Downing Street had special lines of +intelligence from all the European capitals. I lost no time in making +use of the resources of these lesser agents, in fact a system of +spying on spies, and soon had information at my disposal that led me +to go to Berlin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was in Berlin that I learned that a man known as Carl Schmidt would +be the messenger for the Wilhelmstrasse, bearing the instructions too +important to be trusted to transatlantic cable cipher. Exercising +infinite care and tremendous patience--for should I be recognized in +Berlin, the German Foreign Office would have been thrown into +consternation: "What's this? A man we believed safely looking through +the bars of an English prison is at large in our own capital. +Hm"--completely effacing myself so far as possible, I managed to keep +track of the whereabouts of Carl Schmidt. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was drawing near to February 4, the sailing day of the <i>Kaiser +Wilhelm II</i>, and I kept the quarry in sight night and day. It was +with the most satisfied of smiles therefore that I ascertained the +purchase of railroad accommodations by Carl Schmidt for Bremen, the +sailing port of the big North German Lloyd liner. Taking care to +secure a seat in the same compartment with Herr Schmidt, I watched him +all the way from Berlin to Bremen. Now, whenever I have carried a +document of any description while traveling for any length of time, I +have always let my hand wander toward its hiding place to assure +myself that it was still there. Sometimes I fished in my pockets for +a match, or used any pretext to locate the paper without betraying +myself. There is not a human being who will not give some little sign +of concern, perhaps only once an hour, but often enough to betray +himself to the trained observer. Accordingly I set myself to watch +Carl Schmidt's hands. Not for a minute did I relax my vigilance, yet +not once on the way to Bremen did the German envoy betray himself by +an apparent motion. Whereupon I became positive that Herr Schmidt had +not the document upon his person. Where then was it? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was an easy matter at the steamship offices to find out the number +of Schmidt's stateroom. He had engaged room 48 on the first promenade +deck. I immediately asked for the rooms on the other side, and by a +judicious use of my favorite "palm oil" I secured them. It was +imperative now to board the steamer and keeping out of sight until +she left port. I had made up my mind to try and obtain the document +between Bremen and Cherbourg. This being successful I should be able +to leave the ship at the latter port and return at once to London. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the moment the big North German Lloyd liner steamed out of port, +I kept a close watch on Schmidt, still to no purpose. There was only +one moment day or night, when the messenger left his dispatch box +unguarded and when I finally got at it, I found no document. +Obviously the dispatch box was a blind. Herr Schmidt was not guilty +of a single piece of carelessness that would betray the hiding place +of the <i>dossier</i>. All this had to be done between Bremen and +Cherbourg, and when the liner pulled into the French harbor nothing +had been accomplished. It was a question of remaining on board and +solving the problem before reaching New York. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Now it was risky business to attempt anything for the next few days +for I was traveling on a ship of a line that was subsidized by the +German government. Once Herr Schmidt realized that there was anything +in the wind, it would mean a check to my activities. Schmidt could +send a wireless message to the Wilhelmstrasse, and back would be +flashed a message to the captain of the <i>Kaiser Wilhelm II</i> +authorizing any action Schmidt deemed advisable. Thus could he easily +put me under custody on some trumped-up charge. Still, there was no +risk involved in watching Schmidt to locate a possible confederate who +was carrying the dossier. I watched him unceasingly but confederates +there were none. Only one play remained and to make it I must wait +patiently until the ship was almost at its dock in New York. Then +Herr Schmidt could use the wireless and command the captain's +assistance to his heart's content. It would be too late. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During the few days immediately following, I kept my activities +well concealed. In fact, I made it my business to avoid Schmidt. My +method of handling the situation did not necessitate my striking up +an acquaintance with the man. On the contrary to disarm him of all +possible suspicions I shunned him. I even contrived not to sit at +Herr Schmidt's table in the dining salon. Meanwhile, Robinson, back +in Downing Street, kept his hands on the situation, sending me two +wireless messages on board the steamer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All dispatches sent to "Buzzing" London, find their way to Downing +Street. It was very probable that being in the diplomatic service, +Herr Schmidt would know this term "Buzzing." I thought it unwise to +risk a reply. So I kept in the dark waiting for my chance. During +the voyage nothing had occurred to arouse the suspicions of Herr +Schmidt and he began to relax his vigilance after the ship was four +days out. But I was careful not to take the slightest advantage of +his ease at this point. I would wait until the ship was almost in +port; then make my play. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To prepare for this I had days ago begun to cultivate the acquaintance +of one of the baggage men. This man at once attracted me by his +shifty eyes and unhealthy red complexion. It hag often been a Secret +Service precept with me: "Give me a hard drinker or a man who is fast +and I'll land him nine times out of ten." Well, the baggage master +was no exception. I decided to ply him with liquor to make his tongue +run away. I made it my business to see that this particular baggage +man was in an incompetent state afternoon and night. One night as he +was chin-chucking a stewardess with whom he was infatuated, this +red-faced gentleman said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Well, Doctor, we're going to get married, the little lady and I. +We're going to set up in business. Do you know of any small hotel +that we could bug cheap?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At this I was all attention; I had been waiting for some lead +of this sort. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Ho, friend," I said; "ready to buy a hotel eh? There must be plenty +of gold in your job." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The lout winked heavily. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Sure," he said. "Just as we are about to reach port we ask everybody +on board to prepare for us a statement of the things they have to +declare. We give it to the customs officers when they come on board +in the Lower Bay of New York. Well, some of those fancy rich people +always want to do a bit of smuggling and don't declare lots of things. +I have known that for years. What do I do?" Becoming boastful, he +patted the stewardess on the shoulder, at which she glanced at me a +little frightened. She seemed to realize that her future spouse was +talking too much. She tried to remonstrate with him but he was too +full of his theme and good spirits. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Nonsense, my girl; I will tell my friend. Aren't we all drinking +together?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Turning once more to me he said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What do I do, Doctor. Well, first I look over the lot of +declarations. Then I pick out two or three that look pretty good. I +make a list of the things they claim to have in their trunks. Then +I get at their baggage and give it a smash, accidentally of +course--things are apt to be broken in the hold you know, the boat +pitching, carelessness by the porters and all that. So the luggage of +my fancy folks is broken open. We look it over. If my lady has held +out anything from her declaration, out of the trunk that comes and +into my private quarters." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I winked knowingly as if to praise his cleverness. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We reach the bay; the customs officers come on board. We give them +all the declarations. The fancy folks are standing round their +baggage waiting for the customs man to get through. Suddenly one of +them cries: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"'Oh, my sealskin coat is gone!' +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I step up and politely say: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"'But you must be mistaken. Madame said nothing about a sealskin coat +on her declaration so she could not have had one.' +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Ha! Ha! The customs man hears this so she can say nothing. Finish! +Ah yes, your old friend baggage man knows a thing or two." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Needless to say this was all grist to my mill. It was just what I +wanted. When the ship was a day from New York, I said to the rascal: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"My friend, I want to look at the luggage of Carl Schmidt for ten +minutes. It is check number 31694 and is a <i>kiste</i>." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The baggage man was very sorry but that could not be done. If it were +found out he would lose his position. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Either I get at that kiste," I said, "or up you go." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The baggage man attempted to bluster. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"No heroics now, my friend," I smiled. "I know enough about you and +your little ingenious piece of graft to tell a pretty story at the +North German Lloyd offices in New York. Now do I get a look at Herr +Schmidt's kiste?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With a growl the baggage man yielded, whereupon I gave him $75 to bind +the bargain and handed the stewardess $25 so as to assure her support. +Still, it would not do to meddle with the chest until the liner was +steaming into port, for were Schmidt to discover that his luggage had +been tampered with and the dispatch abstracted, since by the process +of elimination I concluded it must be there, the alarm would go +throughout the ship and every passenger would be searched. Remember +this was a German reserve ship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The chance came after the <i>Kaiser Wilhelm II</i> had steamed past +Sandy Hook and was moving up the Lower Bay of New York. With his +destination in sight, with no signs in any way suspicious during the +trip over, Herr Schmidt had become very easy in mind. With many of +the other passengers be went forward and from the deck watched the +looming horizon of New York's skyscrapers. A most interesting sight +the skyline, something to engross your attention. I was interested in +something else. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was interested in the luggage that was being prepared for the +customs officers. On a lower deck the kiste of Carl Schmidt had been +conveniently set apart from the other trunks and boxes and the German +agent himself was waiting for the customs man to pass upon it. This +done, Schmidt was guilty of an unwarrantable piece of carelessness. +He tipped the baggage master and left him to lock up the kiste while +he went up on the promenade deck to enjoy the view. This did not +surprise me, for I had been expecting some such blunder to make my way +easier. I had conjectured as nothing had occurred during the entire +voyage to excite Schmidt's suspicions that he would be careless as his +destination was neared. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Accordingly, when I saw him leave his luggage to the mercies of the +baggage man, I stepped forward. Quite unconcernedly in view of the +other passengers who were still standing waiting their turn, acting +entirely as if it were my own, I opened the unlocked kiste and +rummaging among its contents soon brought to light a plain, large +envelope sealed with wax. Breaking the seal I took out the only paper +it contained, glanced at it, smiled to myself and went to work--swift +work, for at any moment Schmidt might return. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If I had not made my plans long ahead, the simple taking of the +document would only have added to the problem. Understand, I did not +want to steal the document, merely its contents. Now, in the brief +minutes that I had beside the luggage, it was impossible to memorize +all the contents of the document. So I judged would be the case and I +had come prepared. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Under my arm was a popular novel and between the pages of this lay a +sheet of special lotion paper, chemically treated in a way known only +to the German Secret Service and capable of taking a quick clean print +of anything written in pencil or ink. As I lifted the dossier from +the kiste I noticed that it was embossed on a greenish white paper, +not unlike a bank of England note in color. It was written in German +and signed with a foreign office cipher, the letters W and R +intertwined. Following this was the numeral 24, the Wilhelmstrasse +serial number of the document. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Taking a chance that Herr Schmidt would be fascinated just a minute +longer by the magic skyline of New York, I slipped the dossier against +the special lotion paper and took an accurate print by sitting on it +for two minutes. I then replaced the document in the dispatch +envelope and being sure to leave everything appearing as it was, even +to fixing the broken seal as best I could, lest by chance Herr Schmidt +should return and glance at his kiste. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was a case now of getting safely off the ship and reaching the +nearest cable office for had Schmidt suspected anything, the boat +would never have docked until everybody on board had been searched. +There was small danger of this, however, for nothing had occurred to +alarm Herr Schmidt. The lotion paper used by the German Secret +Service has been perfected to such an extent that when taking the +print it does not leave any signs on the original. Accordingly, there +would likely not have been a clew--only on close scrutiny would it be +seen that the seal had been tampered with--even had Schmidt examined +his kiste again before landing. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My luggage passed, I made my way to the nearest cable office outside +the zone of the steamship offices. At Fourteenth Street and Broadway +I entered a Western Union office and wrote out this message to +"Buzzing" London. A copy of this being herewith reproduced: +</p> + +<p class="letterrt"> +February 12, 1913. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Buzzing, London. +</p> + +<p class="letterin"> +Obtained sample. Letter most important. Not safe writing. Will take +to-morrow night's steamer Queenstown. Not sufficient fare. Wire +twenty-five pounds W. Union, Broadway 14th. +</p> + +<p class="letterrt"> +TRENTON SNELL. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It may be of interest to note that at the time of my announcing +my presence in this country through the medium of the <i>New +York American</i> that a copy of this dispatch was secured from +the cable company; also that Hearst reporters identified me at +the cable office as "Trenton Snell." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When I presented myself at the Fourteenth Street office the next +day I received this message: +</p> + +<p class="letterrt"> +London, Eng., February 13, 1913. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Trenton Snell,<br> + W. U. 14 Bway. +</p> + +<p class="letterin"> +Cable some details if possible, come London, can't meet you +Queenstown. +</p> + +<p class="letterrt"> +ROBINSON. +</p> + +<p class="letterin"> +(The above message accompanies Cable remittance this date.) +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The British Foreign Office replying to my request for further funds +had cabled the twenty-five pounds which less exchange came to $121.75. +At the Western Union office at Fourteenth Street I was paid cheek +number 962 to the order of Trenton Snell from "Rob Robinson" London. +Now being on alien territory, I refrained from sending a copy of the +stolen dispatch by cable. There would be no aid of secrecy from the +cable company. I had planned to enclose the copy by registered mail; +sending it to Box 356, G. P. O., London, which was the address of the +department of the Foreign Office for which I worked, but Robinson +demanded immediate details. Accordingly I sent back this wire: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Buzzing, London. +</p> + +<p class="letterin"> +Right. Will wire from Canada. British Territory. +</p> + +<p class="letterrt"> +TRENTON SNELL +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That was imperative, for only in Canada could I secure a guarantee of +secrecy for so important a message as that which I would send. Before +cabling the details and mailing the original, I made a copy of the +document. It was not worded in the official diplomatic form. Rather +it appeared to be a note of memoranda and instruction that was to +guide the German envoys in their meeting with the Japanese--which +meeting was subsequently held at the Hotel Astor, in New York City, +and to which meeting went the German envoys, instructed by the +document which Herr Schmidt thought he delivered so secretly and +trustworthily. This is it; word for word, as it was copied from the +print taken in the Herr Schmidt's stateroom: +</p> + +<p class="letterin"> +Germany sanctions and will not obstruct Japan in any colonization +intention Japan entertained as regards the Far East, and would not +obstruct the acquiring of coaling stations in the South Seas other +than New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Germany would not +prevent the acquisition of Germany vessels by Japan providing such +vessels were not auxiliary cruisers of the Imperial German Navy. +</p> + +<p class="letterin"> +Germany wishes it understood that in the event of a conflict between +Japan and another nation, Germany will maintain a strict neutrality +in any event not affecting Germany itself. Germany expresses a higher +regard for the Japanese nation and desires closer contact with Japan. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This document, as has been stated, was initialed with the letters W +and R, which is sometimes the way the Kaiser O. K.'s any diplomatic +document. In any event it had a regular serial number; in this +instance number twenty-four of the German Foreign Office. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of course the acquisition of this document by Great Britain relieved +the minds of the English statesman. There was not as they had feared +a possible menace in understanding between Germany and Japan. It was +simply an agreement by Germany not to intervene in any colonization +scheme of the Japanese in the islands of the Pacific. In return for +this it was understood that Japan was to do even more thoroughly what +she has done in the past. In other words, she must go on playing the +rôle of bogieman for the United States. A word about this may +not be out of place. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Germany, that is official Germany, is rather friendly toward the +United States. Japan, the "yellow peril" is a great war dirigible +that is inflated with war scares and hysteria. This aims to keep the +United States preoccupied on their Western coastline, so they will not +have any desire to meddle with certain plans that may eventuate in +Europe within the next few years. The Japanese question is fostered +by Europe to keep America's hands full in the event of the coming +European war. It is all bluff and occasionally Japan must be rewarded +for keeping up the bluff. In this instance Germany permitted Japan to +colonize and permitted her to buy all the German ships she wanted with +the exception of those big transatlantic liners that are auxiliary +cruisers of the German navy, ships which in time of war may be +transformed at short notice into good fighting machines. Let me +emphasize with all due knowledge of the alarmist's fears that United +States need never fear the "Yellow Peril" as long as she does not +antagonize the dominant powers of Europe. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XII">XII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">"THE GERMAN WAR MACHINE"</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The numerical strength, disposition and efficiency of the German army +are more or less well known. The brain and all prevailing power +controlling its fighting force of four and half a million men--or +taking the Triple Alliance into consideration--the forces of which +would in the event of war be controlled from Berlin--a force in round +numbers of 9,000,000 men is, however, not known. Here for the first +time is published an account of the inside workings of the German War +Machine as far as is possible for any one man to give. Through my +intimate connections with the German and other Secret Service systems; +through constant contact with prominent army and navy officers, I had +special facilities of which I availed myself to the full, to gain the +inside knowledge which I here commit to paper. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most efficient and elaborate system ever devised by the ingenuity +of man, used not only for war and destruction but as an intelligence +clearing house for the whole of the Empire, is the German War Machine. +Conceived by General Stein in the days of the Napoleonic wars, added +to and elaborated by successive administrations, solely under the +control of the ruling house, its efficiency, perfect and smooth +working is due to the total absence of political machinations or +preferences. Brains, ability, and thorough scientific knowledge are +the only passports for entrance in the Grosser General Stab, the +General Staff of the German Empire. You will find blooded young +officers and gray-haired generals past active efficiency, experts +ranking from an ordinary mechanic to the highest engineering expert, +all working harmoniously together with one end in view, the acme of +efficiency. Controlled and directed by the War Lord in person through +the Chef des Grossen General Stabs, in my time General Field Marshal +von Heeringen, this immense machine, the pulsing brain of a fighting +force of four and half a millions of men, is composed of from 180 to +200 officials. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the Peace of Tilsit, after the crushing defeat of the Prussian +armies at Prussian Eylau and Friedland, Bonaparte had Prussia and the +whole of Central Europe at his mercy. Contrary to the advice of his +generals, especially the succinct advice of his often unheeded mentor +Talleyrand, to completely disintegrate Prussia, Napoleon through his +fondness for pretty women let himself be tricked by Louise of Prussia. +The interesting historical story of this incident may be apropos here, +showing how the world's history can be changed through a kiss. At the +Peace Conference in Tilsit, Napoleon, on the verge of disintegrating +Prussia, met the beautiful Queen Louise of Prussia. Through her +pleadings and the imprint of Napoleon's kiss on her classic arm +Bonaparte granted Prussia the right to maintain a standing army of +12,000 men. That in itself did not mean much but it gave able and +shrewd Prussian patriots the opportunity to circumvent and hoodwink +Bonaparte's policy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Prussia has always been fortunate in producing able men at the most +needed moments. A man arose with a gift for military organization. +He had every province, district, town, and village in Prussia +carefully scheduled and the able-bodied men thereof put on record. He +selected the 12,000 men permitted Prussia under the Napoleonic decree +and drilled them. No sooner were those men drilled than they were +dismissed and another 12,000 called in. From this point dates modern +conscription--the father of which was General Stein--and this also +inaugurated the birth of the War Machine. In the three years Prussia +had 180,000 well-drilled men and 120,000 reserves, quite a different +proposition from the 12,000 men Napoleon thought he had to face on +his retreat from Moscow, and which played a decisive factor in the +overthrow of the dictator of Europe. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Through the wars of 1864 and 1866 to 1870, the Franco-Prussian War, +the War Machine of Prussia was merged into that of the German Empire +and is a record of increasing efforts, entailing unbelievable hard +work and a compilation of the minutest details. The modern system of +organization, especially the mobilization schedules, are Helmuth von +Moltke's, the "Grosse Schweiger," the Great Silent, the strategist of +the 1871 campaign. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is curious that there is a great similarity between the late Moltke +and Heeringen. They have the same aquiline features, tall, thin, +dried-up body, the same taciturn disposition, even to their +hobbies--Moltke being an incessant chess player, Heeringen using every +one of his spare moments to play with lead soldiers. He is reputed to +have an army of 30,000 lead soldiers with which he plays the moment he +opens his eyes--much in the same manner as Moltke, who used to request +his chess-board the first thing in the morning. In military circles +Heeringen is looked upon with the same respect and accredited with +quite as much strategical knowledge as Moltke was. It is a +significant fact, that, whenever there is any tension in Europe, +especially between Germany and France, General von Heeringen or his +comrade in arms, General von Thulsen Haeseler--also a great strategist +and iron disciplinarian, immediately takes command of Metz, the most +important base and military post in the Emperor's domain. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is no man alive who knows one-half as much about the strategical +position of Metz and the surrounding country as General von Heeringen. +Often on stormy, bitter cold winter nights, sentries on outposts +stationed and guarding the approaches of Metz are startled to find +a gaunt, limping figure, covered in a gray army greatcoat with no +distinguishing marks, stalking along. Accompanied by orderlies +carrying camp stools and table, night glasses and electric torches, +halting repeatedly, hidden men taking down in writing the short, +croaking sentences escaping between the thin compressed lips, the +"Geist of Metz" prowls round measuring every foot of ground fifty +miles east, west, north, and south of his beloved Metz. The steel +tipped arrow ever pointing at the heart of France is safe in the hands +of such guardians. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The visible head of this vast organization is called Der Grosse +General Stab with headquarters in Berlin. Each army corps has a +"kleine General Stab" who sends its most able officers to Berlin. +These officers in conjunction with the most able scientists, engineers +and architects the Empire can produce, compose the Great General +Staff. The virtual head is the German Emperor. The actual executive +is called "Chef des Grossen General Stabs." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is a small, dingy, unpretentious room in the General Staff +Gebaude where at moments of stress and tension or international +complications, assemble five men. His Majesty, at the head of the +table; to the right the Chef of Grossen General Stab; to the left his +Minister of War; then the Minister of Railways, and the Chief of +Admiral Stab. You will notice the total absence of the Ministers of +Finance and Diplomacy. When those five men meet the influence of +diplomatic and financial affairs has ceased. They are there to act. +The scratching of the Emperor's pen in that room means war, the +setting in motion of a fighting force of 5,000,000 men. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Here is another instance: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When the feeling and stress over the Moroccan question was at +its height General von Heeringen on leaving his quarters for +his usual drive in the Thiergarten was eagerly questioned by a +score of officers, awaiting his exit. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Excellency! Geht's los?" ("Do we begin?") +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Grimly smiling, returning their salutes and without pause, limping +to his waiting carriage came his answer: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Sieben Buchstaben, meine Herren!" ("Seven letters, gentlemen!") +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In Germany military parlance this means the Emperor's signature, +Wilhelm II, to the mobilization orders. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In order to give the reader a fairly correct view of this mighty +organization, I have to explain each group separately. The whole +system rests on the question of mobilization, meaning the ability to +arm, transport, clothe, and feed a fighting force of four and +one-half million men, in the shortest possible time on any given point +in either eastern or western Europe. For let it be clearly understood +that the main point of the training of the German armies is the +readiness to launch the entire fighting force like a thunderbolt on +any given point of the compass. Germany knows through past experience +the advisability and necessity of conducting war in an enemy's +country. The German army is built for aggression. There are four +main groups: +</p> + +<p> +1. Organization.<br> +2. Transportation.<br> +3. Victualization.<br> +4. Intelligence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Each of these groups is, of course, subdivided into numerous branches +which we shall go into under each individual head. +</p> + +<h3>ORGANIZATION</h3> + +<p class="indent"> +First comes organization. The German army is composed of three +distinct parts: the standing army, the reserves, and Landwehr. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The standing arm comprises 790,000 officers and men. This body of men +is ready at an instant. It is the reserves who need an elaborate +system of mobilization. The reserves are divided into two classes, +first and second reserves. So is the Landwehr, having two levies--the +first and second Aufgebot. Every able-bodied man on reaching the age +of twenty-one can be called upon to serve the colors. One in five +only is taken, as there is more material than the country needs--the +fifth being selected for one of five branches: infantry, cavalry, +artillery, Genie corps, or the navy. The time of service in the +infantry is two years; in the cavalry three, in the artillery three, +in the Genie corps two, and in the navy three. Well-conducted men get +from two to four months of their time. This is by no means a charity +on the part of the authorities, but a well-thrashed and deep-laid +scheme to circumvent the Reichstag as it gives the Emperor another +75,000 men. A certain class of men passing an examination called +Einjahriges Zeugniss or possessing a diploma called Abiturienten +Examen (the equivalent of a B. A.) serve only one year in each branch. +This class provides most of the reserve officers. The active +officers, usually the scions of an aristocratic house or the sons of +the old military or feudal families in Germany, are mostly educated in +one of the state Kadetten-Anstalten, military academies, of which +Gross-Lichterfelde bei Berlin is the most famous. The real backbone +and stiffening of the German army and navy is the noncommissioned +officers recruited from the rank and file. In fact, this body of men +is the mainstay of the thrones in the German Empire, especially of +Prussia. These men, after about twelve years of service in an army +where discipline, obedience, and efficiency are the first and last +word, are then drafted into all the minor administrative officers of +the state, such as minor railway, post, excise, municipal, and police. +The reader will see the significance of this when it is pointed out +that not only the Empire but the War Machine has these well-trained +men at its beck and call. The same thing applies to the drafting of +officers to hold the highest administrative positions in the state. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are twenty-five army corps all placed in strategical position. +The strongest is in Alsace-Lorraine and along the Rhine; the second in +importance garrisoning the Prussian-Russian border. The whole country +is subdivided into Bezirks commandos (districts posts) whose business +is to have on record not only every able-bodied man--reservists--but +every motor, horse, and vehicle available; also food and coal +supply--in fact, everything likely to be wanted or useful to the army. +Every German reservist, or otherwise, knows the reporting place of +his district and has to report there when notified within twenty-four +hours. The penalties for noncompliance are high even in peace times. +In the event of war or martial law they are absolutely stringent. The +commandos are so placed that they could forward their drafts of men +and material to their provincial concentration points at the quickest +possible notice. These provincial concentration points, being railway +centers, are so located that the masses of men and materials pouring +in from all sides can be handled and sent in the wanted and needed +direction without any congestion. How this is done I shall explain +when I come to transportation. In each of those district commandos +are depots, Montirungs-Kammern (arsenals), where a full equipment for +each individual on the roll is kept. The marvelous quickness with +which a civilian is transferred into a fully equipped military unit +must be seen to be believed, and is only made possible through +systematic training and constant maneuvers. These maneuvers are +costly, but have long been recognized in German military circles as +essential in training the units and familiarizing the commanders with +the handling of enormous masses of men. In the last Kaiser maneuvers +over half a million men were concentrated and massed; in fact, +shuttlecocked from one end of the Empire to the other without a hitch. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The control of the army in peace or in war lies with the Emperor. He +is the sole arbiter and head. No political or social body of men has +any control in army matters. No political jealousies would be +permitted. Obedience and efficiency are demanded. Mutual jealousies +and political tricks such as we have seen in the Russian campaign in +the East and lately in France are impossible in the German system, for +the Emperor would break instantly, in fact has done so, any general +guilty of even the faintest indication of such an offense. And there +is no appeal to a Congress, a Chamber of Deputies, or political organ +against the Emperor's decision. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Last but not least, under the heading of the organization comes the +financial aspect. Out of the five milliards of francs, the war +indemnity paid by France to Germany in 1871, 200,000,000 marks in +gold coin, mostly French, were put away as the nucleus of a ready war +chest. In a little medieval-looking watch tower, the Julius Thurm +near Spandau, lies this ever-increasing driving force of the mightiest +war engine the world has ever seen. Ever increasing, for quietly and +unobtrusively 6,000,000 marks in newly minted gold coins are taken +year by year and added to the store. On the first of October each +year since 1871, three ammunition wagons full of bright and glittering +twenty-mark pieces clatter over the drawbridge and these pieces are +stored away in the steel-plate subterranean chambers of the Julius +Thurm, ready at an instant's notice to furnish the sinews to the man +wielding this force. This is a tremendous power in itself, for there +are now close to 500,000,000 marks ($120,000,000) in minted gold +coinage in storage there. This provides the necessary funds for the +German army for ten calendar months. The authorities have no +necessity to ask the country, warring politicians--in this instance +the Reichstag--for money to start a campaign. They have got it ready +to hand. Once war is declared and started, if needed they'll get the +rest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This money is under the sole control of military authorities. It has +often been declared a myth. I know it to be a fact. Notwithstanding +the financial straits Germany has gone through at times or may go +through, this money will never be touched. It is there for one +purpose only and that purpose is war. Needless to say, it is amply +guarded. Triple posts in this garrison town, devices to flood +instantly the whole under fifteen feet of water from the river Havel, +are but items in the system of protection. Twice a year the Emperor +in person, or his heir apparent, personally inspects his war chest. +Mechanical-balanced devices are employed to check the correct weight. +It is a marvelously simple mechanism by means of which in less than +two hours the whole of this vast hoard of gold can be accurately +checked and the absence of a single gold piece detected. +</p> + +<h3>TRANSPORTATION</h3> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the most important parts of the organization is the question of +transportation. Hannibal's campaigns against Cæsar and Napoleon's +central European wars owed their success in a great measure, if not +wholly, to their quickness of motion. This applies about tenfold in +modern warfare. In actual armament the leading powers in Europe are +practically on a par. The personnel, as regards personal courage, +stamina, <i>elan</i>, or whatever you wish to call it, is fairly equal +also. There is little difference in the individual prowess of French, +Russian, English, and German soldiers. This is well known to military +experts. The difference is mainly a question of discipline, technique, +and preparedness, the main factor being, as indicated, the ability to +throw the greater number of troops in the shortest possible time +against the enemy at any given point, without exhausting man and +beast unnecessarily and enervating the country to be traversed. It is +therefore necessary to have numerous arteries of traffic at disposal. +This will lead us later to the question of victualization, Germany +following closely one of Moltke's axioms: "March separately, but fight +conjointly." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Only in a country where all railroads, highways, and waterways, and +where post and telegraph are owned and controlled by the state, is it +possible to evolve and perfect a system of transportation such as is +at the disposal of the German General Staff. Every mile of German +railroads, especially the ones built within the last twenty years, has +been constructed mainly for strategical reasons. Taking Berlin as the +center you will find on looking at a German, more especially a +Prussian, railroad map, close similarity to a spider's web. From +Berlin you will see trunk lines extending in an almost direct route to +her French and Russian frontiers. Not single or double, but treble +and quadruple lines of steel converging with other strategic lines at +certain points such as Magdeburg, Hanover, Nordhausen, Kassel, +Frankfort-on-the-Main, Cologne, or Strassburg--to name but a few. +Places such as enumerated are invariably provincial commandos, having +garrisons, arsenals, and depots on a large scale. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The capacity of the railroad yards for handling large bodies of men +and vast amounts of goods swiftly is judiciously studied. At any +given time, especially at tense political moments, at every large +strategical railway center in Germany there are a certain number of +trucks and engines kept for military purposes only--sometimes, as in +the Rhine division during the acute period of the Morocco question, +with steam up. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As previously related, 90 per cent. of all the railway officials are +ex-soldiers. Five minutes after the signing of the mobilization +orders by the Emperor, the whole of the railway system would be under +direct military control. Specially trained transportation and railway +experts on the General Staff would take over the direction of affairs. +Besides this, there exists in the German standing army a number of +Eisenbahn Regimenter (railway corps)--all trained railroad builders +and mechanics. Elaborate time-tables and transportation cards are in +readiness to be put into operation on the instant of mobilization, +superseding the civil time-tables of peace. Theoretically and +practically the schedules are tested twice a year during the big +maneuvers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The same applies to the waterways and highroads of the Empire. A keen +observer will often wonder at the broadness, solidness, and excellent +state of repair of the chaussees and country roads, out of all +proportion to the little traffic passing along. They are simply +strategical arteries kept up by the state for military purposes. The +heads of the transportation and railway corps in Berlin sit before the +huge glass-covered tables where the whole of the German railway system +to its minutest detail is shown in relief, and they by pressing +various single buttons can conduct an endless chain of trains to any +given point of the Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To show the accurate workings of this system I shall relate an +incident. During the Kaiser maneuvers in West Prussia a few years ago +I happened to be at headquarters in Berlin delivering some plans and +records of the English Midland Railway system when a General Staff +Officer entered the signal hall and made inquiries as to the +whereabouts of a certain train having a regiment on board destined to +a certain part of the maneuver field. One of the operators through +the simple manipulation of some ivory keys in the short space of two +and a half minutes (as I was keenly interested, I timed it) could show +the exact spot of the train between two stations, the train being over +310 miles distant from Berlin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As every class A1 vessel in the merchant marine of Germany, especially +the passenger boats of the big steamship lines, can be pressed into +government service, so can all motor vehicles, taxis, and trucks owned +either privately or by corporations be called upon if considered +necessary. Through this vast and far-reaching system of transportation +Germany is enabled to throw a million fully equipped men on to either +of her frontiers within forty-eight hours. She can double this host +in sixty hours more. +</p> + +<h3>VICTUALIZATION</h3> + +<p class="indent"> +Napoleon's dictum that an army marches on its stomach is as true +to-day as it was then, adequate provisions for man and beast being +the most important factor in military science. The economic feeding +of three-quarters of a million men in peace time is work enough. It +becomes a serious problem in the event of war, especially to a country +like Germany which is somewhat dependent on outside sources for the +feeding of her millions. The authorities, quite aware of a possible +blockading and consequent stoppage of imports, have made preparations +with their usual thorough German completeness. At any given time +there is sufficient foodstuff for man and beast stored in state +storehouses and the large private concerns to feed the entire German +army for twelve months. This might seem inadequate, but is not so, +the authorities being well aware that war in Europe at the present +time could and would not last longer than such a period. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Once a year these storehouses are overhauled and perishable or +deteriorating provisions replaced. Tens of thousands of tons of +foodstuffs, especially fodder, are sold far below their usual market +prices to the poorer classes, notably farmers. Likewise the material +used by the army is as far as possible supplied by the farmer direct. +The total absence of bloated, pudgy-fingered army contractors in +Germany is pleasant to the eyes of those who know the conditions in +some other countries I could mention. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Besides, the whole of the German fighting machine is so organized that +in all probability decisive battles would be fought in the enemy's +country, in which case the onus of feeding the troops would fall on +the enemy, called in military parlance "requisitioning and +commandeering." In this, German, and especially Prussian, +quartermasters are in no way behind their English confrères of +whose activity in the Boer War I know from personal experience. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To give but another instance of the scientific thoroughness in detail, +take a single food preparation--the Erbswurst (pea-meal sausage), a +preparation of peas, meal, bacon, salt and seasoning, compressed in a +dry state into air- and water-tight tubes in the form of a sausage, +each weighing a quarter of a pound. Highly nutritious, light in +weight, practically indestructible, wholesome, this is easily prepared +into a palatable meal with the simple addition of hot water. Of this +preparation huge quantities are always kept in stock for the army. +</p> + +<h3>INTELLIGENCE</h3> + +<p class="indent"> +Without doubt the most important division of the General Staff and +upon whose information and efforts the whole machine hinges is the +Intelligence Department--really covering many different fields--for +instance, general science, especially strategy, topography, +ballistics, but mainly the procuring of information data, plans, maps, +etc., kept more or less secret by other powers. In this division the +brightest young officers and general officials are found. The +training and knowledge required of the men in this service are +exacting to a degree. It requires in most cases the undivided +attention--often a life study--to a single subject. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It has been the unswerving policy of the Prussian military authorities +to know as much of the rest of the European countries as they know of +their own. In the war of 1870-71, German commanders down to a +lieutenant leading a small detachment had accurate information, charts +and data of every province in France, giving them more accurate +knowledge of a foreign country than that country had of itself. It +is a notorious fact that, after the defeat of the French armies at +Weissenburg and Worth and later at Metz, the French commanders and +officers lost valuable time and strategical positions through sheer +ignorance of their own country. This is impossible under the Prussian +system. To-day there is not a country in Europe but of which there +are the most elaborate charts and maps, topographically exact to the +minutest detail docketed in the archives of the General Staff. This +applies as a rule to the General Staff of most nations, but not to +such painstaking details. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While undergoing instructions in the Admiral Stab in the +Koenigergratzerstrasse 70, previous to my being sent on an English +mission, a controversy arose between my instructor and myself as to +the distance between two towns on the Lincolnshire coast. He pushed a +button and requested the answering orderly to bring map 64 and the +officer in charge. With the usual promptness both map and officer +appeared. The officer, who could not have been more than twenty-five +years of age, discussed with me in fluent colloquial English the whole +of this section of Lincolnshire. Not a hummock, road, road-house, +even to farmers' residences and blacksmith's shop of which he did not +have exact knowledge. I expressed astonishment at this most unusual +acquaintance with the locality, and suggested that he must have spent +considerable time in residence there. Conceive my astonishment when +informed that he had never been out of Germany and the only voyage +ever taken by him led him as far as Helgoland. Subsequently through +careful inquiries and research--my work bringing me into constant +contact with the various divisions--I found that the whole of England, +France and Russia was carefully cut into sections, each of those +sections being in charge of two officers and a secretary whose duty it +was to acquaint and make themselves perfectly familiar with everything +in that particular locality. Through the far-reaching system of +espionage, the latest and most up-to-date information is always +forthcoming, and time and again I myself, often returning from a +mission like one of those to the naval base in Scotland, have sat by +the hour verbally amplifying my previous reports. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A part of the intelligence system is the personality squad, whose duty +it is to acquaint themselves with the personality of every army and +navy officer of the leading powers. I have seen reports as to the +environments, habits, hobbies, and general proclivities of men such as +Admiral Fisher, commanding the Channel Squadron of the British Navy, +down to Colonel Ribault, in charge of a battery in Toulouse. To +military or naval officers and men of affairs, the reason and benefit +of such a system are obvious. The general reader, however, may not +quite see the point. The position of a commander in the field is +analogous to the executive head of a big selling concern. A +semi-personal knowledge of the foibles and characteristics of his +customers without doubt gives him an advantage over a rival concern, +neglecting the personal equation being really more important than is +generally understood. This has long been recognized and fully taken +advantage of by the German Army authorities. +</p> + +<h3>AËRIAL</h3> + +<p class="indent"> +Within the last few years an entirely new and according to German +ideas most important factor has entered and disturbed the relative +military power of European nations. This is the aërial weapon. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Since the days of Otto Lilienthal and his glider it has been the +policy of Germany to keep track of all inventions likely to be +embodied and made use of in the War Machine. It is a far cry from +Lilienthal's glider to the last word in aërial construction such +as the mysterious Zeppelin-Parseval sky monster that, carrying a +complement of twenty-five men and twelve tons of explosives, sailed +across the North Sea, circled over London, and returned to Germany. +Lilienthal's glider kept aloft four minutes, but this new dreadnaught +of Germany's dying navy was aloft ninety-six hours, maintaining a +speed of thirty-eight miles an hour, this even in the face of a storm +pressure of almost eighty meters. Such feats as these are significant. +They are at the same time the outcome and the cause for the +development of this part of the War Machine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is my purpose here to tell you how far Germany has advanced and +progressed in this struggle for mastery of the sky. I shall disclose +facts about her system that have never appeared in print--that have +never been heard in conversation. They are known only to the General +Staff at Berlin, not even in the cabinets of Europe. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Germany without doubt has the most up-to-date aërial fleet in +the world. The Budget of the Reichstag of 1908-1909 allows and +provides for the building and maintenance of twelve dirigibles of +Zeppelin type. As far as the knowledge of the rest of the world is +concerned this is all the sky navy that Germany possesses. It is +a fact, though, that she has three times the number which she +officially acknowledges. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The dirigible balloon centers in Germany are five and they are +situated at vitally strategic points. There are two on the French +border, one on the Russian border, one on the Atlantic Coast, and a +central station near Berlin. The exact places are Strassburg, +Frankfort-on-the-Main, Posen, Wilhelmshafen, and Berlin. This does +not include the marvelous station at Helgoland in the North Sea, +this being a strategic point in relation to Great Britain. Nothing +is known about this Helgoland station. No one but those on official +business are permitted within a thousand yards of it. I shall tell +things concerning it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Besides these purely military posts, there are a number of commercial +stations necessary as depots of the regular transportation +aëerial lines that operate for the convenience of the public. +Like Germany's commercial steamers, however, they are controlled and +subsidized by the Government. At a few hours' notice they can be +converted and made use of for Government purposes. Taking these +transportation lines into consideration, it is safe to state that +by summer of the present year Germany could send fifty huge airships +to war. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It may be a puzzle to Americans why, in the face of disasters and +accidents to these Zeppelins, Germany is spending about $4,000,000 on +her aërial fleet. Now we come to a very significant point. I +know and certain members of the German General Staff know, as well as +trusted men in the aërial corps, that there are two conditions +under which airships are operated in Germany. One is the ordinary more +or less well-known system which characterizes the operation of all the +passenger lines now in service in the Empire. It is the system under +which all the disasters that appear in the newspapers occur. Airships +that are used in the general army flights and maneuvers are also run +under the same system as the passenger dirigibles--for a reason. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The other system is an absolute secret of the German General Staff. +It is not used in the general maneuvers, only in specific cases, +and these always secretly. It has been proved to be effective in +eliminating 75 per cent. of the accidents which have characterized +all of Germany's adventures in dirigibles and heavier-than-air +machines. These statistics are known only by the German General +Staff office. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Let us go into this further. Critics of the German dirigible who +foolishly rate the French aëroplane superior point out that +the Zeppelins have three serious defects--bulk and heaviness of +structure, inflammability of the gas that floats them, and +inability to store enough gas to stay in the air the desirable +length of time without coming down. The secret devices of the +German War Office have eliminated all these objectionable +features. They have overcome the condition of bulk and heaviness +of structure by their government chemists devising the formula +of a material that is lighter than aluminum, yet which possesses +all of that metal's density and which has also the flexibility +of steel. Airships not among the twelve that Germany admits +officially are made of this material. Its formula is a +government secret and England or France would give thousands of +dollars to possess it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The objection of inflammability of the lifting power has also been +overcome. The power of the ordinary hydrogen gas in all its various +forms has been multiplied threefold by a new dioxygen gas discovered +at the Spandau government chemical laboratory. This gas has also the +enormous advantages of being absolutely noninflammable. I have seen +experiments made with it. It cannot be used for illuminating +purposes. Dirigibles that are equipped with it are not liable to the +awful explosions that have characterized flights under the ordinary +system. The new gas has also the enormous advantage of having a +liquid form. To produce the gas it is only necessary to let the +ordinary atmosphere come in contact with the liquid. Carried in +cylinders two feet long and with a diameter of six inches it is +obvious that enough of this liquid can be carried aboard the big war +dirigibles to permit their refilling in midair. So, you see, all the +objections to the commonly known system of operation have been +overcome by the War Office. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The last dirigible tried by the War Office in 1912, the mysterious +Zeppelin X, made a continuous trip from Stettin over the Baltic to +Upsala in Sweden, thence across the Baltic again to Riga in the Gulf +of Finland, where it doubled and sailed back to Stettin. This was a +journey of 976 miles. The airship had a complement of twenty-five +men and five tons of dead weight. It traveled under severe weather +conditions, the month being March, and snow-storms, hail and rain +occurring throughout the voyage. The significance of this flight can +be easily understood if you consider the distance from Strassburg or +Düsseldorf to Paris or other strategical points to France is +approximately 298 miles. A ship like the Zeppelin X could sail over +the French border, dynamite the fortifications around Paris and +return, the journey being roughly 900 miles--76 miles less than the +actual trip made by the Zeppelin X. Moreover, the German military +trials have shown the possibility of an aërial fleet leaving +their home ports and cruising to foreign lands and returning without +the necessity of landing to replenish their gas tanks or fuel. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Let me show you how the German aërial corps is made up. It is +called the Luftschiffer Abteilung and is composed of ten battalions, +each consisting of 350 men. They are all trained absolutely for this +branch of the service. Only the smartest mechanics and artificers are +selected. In the higher branches the most intelligent and bravest +officers hold command. Considering the usual pay in continental +armies, the wages of the men in the General aërial corps are +exceptionally high. In fact they are the highest paid in the German +army. They are not ordinary enlisted men, meaning that they serve +only their two years' time. Most of them have agreed to serve a +lengthy term. Married men are not encouraged to enroll in this branch +of the service. It is obvious from the nature of the work that the +hazards are often great. The wonderful system of the German War +Machine has been installed with rare detail in the aërial corps. +The equipment of the different stations is really marvelous. For +everything human ingenuity has been able to devise concerning the +dirigible you will find in application. Each station is fully +equipped and is an absolutely independent center in itself. Take +the base at Helgoland. It is the newest and the one that is always +cloaked with secrecy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the extreme eastern corner of the island of Helgoland one sees, +amid the sandy dunes, three vast oblong, iron-gray structures. At +a distance they are not unlike overgrown gasometers. I say at a +distance, for it is impossible for any visitor to get within a +thousand yards of the station. The solitary approach is guarded by +a triple post of the marine guard. If you walk toward the station, +before you come within a hundred yards of the guard, you will find +large signs setting forth in unmistakable and terse language that +dire and swift penalties follow any further exploration in that +direction. Not only English but German visitors to Helgoland have +found out through their course that even the slightest infringement +of the rules of these signs is dangerous. I shall however, take you +a little closer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Walking on until you are within fifty yards of the great balloon +sheds, you pause before a tall fence of barbed wire, this connected +with an elaborate alarm-bell system that sounds in the two guard +houses. For instance, if an enterprising secret agent of France were +to try to steal up on the station, if he came by night and cut through +the barbed wire, a series of bells would immediately sound the general +alarm. Having passed through the six strands of barbed wire a tall +octagonal tower meets the eye. In this tower are installed two +powerful searchlights as well as a complete wireless outfit. All the +Zeppelins carry wireless. By means of elaborate reflectors, it is +possible with the searchlights to flood the whole place with daylight +in the middle of the night. Thus ascensions can be made safely at any +hour of the twenty-four. The three oblong sheds stand in a row, the +middle being the largest, having spaces for two complete dirigibles, +while the other sheds house but one each. They are about 800 feet +long, 200 feet broad and 120 feet high. The whole structure itself +can be shifted to about an angle of forty degrees, this being worked +on a plan similar to the railroad engine turntable. The reason for it +is that with the veering of the wind the sheds are turned so that the +doors will be placed advantageously for the removal of the airship +from its place of shelter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The whole layout and the vast area of space show that it is the +Government's intention to still further increase the plant. In fact, +on my last visit to Helgoland--and it was more than two years ago--I +saw the evidence of another shed about to be built. At the station is +the most efficient meteorological department of all the stations. The +most up-to-date and sensitive instruments connected with this science +are there in duplicates and the highest experts such as only Germany +can produce are in charge of the department. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When I was at Helgoland I noticed a vast difference in the strength of +the fortifications compared to what they had been. They used to be +tremendous, but since the addition of the naval base they have become +secondary. Half the soldiers on duty there have been transferred +elsewhere; so with the big guns. There is no longer any need for +them. As I stated, I saw a fourth big balloon shed in the course of +construction. I have not been on the island for two years. Nobody +has been near the extreme eastern end except those closely identified +with the service. Considering that Germany has not built more than +one extra shed, that means five dirigibles, and there is nothing on +earth that could stand up against them. Helgoland does not need forts +any more. The new forts float in the sky and can rain death. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Helgoland has always been a sore spot of British diplomacy. +Originally England owned the island; now it is a menace to England. +When Lord Salisbury was Prime Minister of England, he conceived +what he believed to be a shrewd diplomatic move. He offered +Bismarck the island of Helgoland in exchange for some East African +concessions. Helgoland is now the key and guard of Germany's main +artery of commerce, being the key to Hamburg. With the dirigible +station of Helgoland to guard her, Hamburg is impregnable and on +England's northern coast they have a way of looking out across the +North Sea with troubled eyes, for who knows when those terrible +cartridge-shaped monsters will rise into the air and sweep over +the sea? Stranger things have happened, even though the countries +have their secret diplomatic understandings. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Let us consider one of these new war monsters, the latest and most +powerful, the X 15. The latest Zeppelins, charged with the newly +discovered dioxygenous gas, giving these sky battleships triple +lifting capacity; the perfecting of the Diesel motor, giving enormous +consumption (fifty of these Diesel engines, their workings secret to +the German Government, are stored under guard at the big navy yards +at Wilhelmshafen and Kiel, ready to be installed at the break of +war into submarines and dirigibles), have given the German type of +aircraft an importance undreamed of and unsuspected by the rest of +the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The operating sphere of the new balloons has extended from 100 to +1,200-1,400 kilometers. Secret trial trips of a fully equipped +Zeppelin like X 15, carrying a crew of twenty-four men, six +quick-firing guns, seven tons of explosive, have extended from +Stettin, over the Baltic, over Swedenburg in Sweden, recrossing the +Baltic and landing at Swinemunde, with enough gas, fuel, and +provisions left to keep aloft another thirty-six hours. The distance +all told covered on one of these trips was 1,180 kilometers. This +fact speaks for itself. The return distance from Helgoland to London, +or any midland towns in England, corresponds with the mileage covered +on recent trips. In the event of hostilities between England and +Germany, this statement needs no explanation. That is why I mentioned +that the latter-day Zeppelins were a powerful factor in bringing +about an amiable understanding between those two powerful countries. +For neither the historic wooden walls of Nelson's day nor the steel +plates of her modern navy could help England or any other nation +against the inroads of the monsters of the air. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The capacity of seven tons of explosive does not exhaust the +resources of this type of weapon. I have it on good authority that +the new Zeppelins can carry double that quantity of explosive if +necessary. As the size of these vessels increases, so does the +ratio of their carrying capacity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Picture the havoc a dozen such vultures could create attacking a city +like London or Paris. Present-day defense against these ships is +totally inadequate. In attacking large places, the Zeppelins would +rise to a height of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet, at which distance these +huge cigar-shaped engines of death, 700 feet long, would appear the +size of a football, and no bigger. I know that Zeppelins have +successfully sailed aloft at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Picture them +at that elevation, everybody aboard in warm, comfortable quarters, +ready to drop explosives to the ground. The half informed man--and +there appear to be many such in European cabinets, which recalls the +proverb about a little knowledge being a dangerous thing--likes to say +that a flock of aëroplanes can put a dirigible out of business. +Consider now an aëroplane at an elevation of 6,000 feet and +remember that the new Zeppelins have gone thousands of feet higher. +An aviator at 6,000 feet is so cold that he is practically useless +for anything but guiding his machine. How in the world is he or his +seat-mate going to do harm to a big craft the size of the Zeppelin that +is far above him? An aviator who has ever gone up, say 8,000 feet, will +tell you when he comes down what a harrowing experience he has had. +What good can an individual be, exposed to the temperature and the +elements at such an altitude, in doing harm to the calm, comfortable +gentlemen in the heated compartments of the Zeppelin?--Quatsch! which +is a German army term for piffle! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At 8,000 feet the small target a Zeppelin affords would move at a rate +of speed of from thirty-five to sixty miles an hour. The possible +chances of being hit by terrestrial gunfire are infinitesimally small. +This does not take into account the vast opportunities that a +dirigible has for night attacks or the possibility of hiding among the +clouds. The X 15, sailing over London, could drop explosives down and +create terrible havoc. They don't have to aim. They are not like +aviators trying to drop a bomb on the deck of a warship. They simply +dump overboard some of the new explosive of the German Government, +these new chemicals having the property of setting on fire anything +that they hit, and they sail on. They do not have to worry about +hitting the mark. Consider the size of their target. They are simply +throwing something at the City of London. If they do not hit +Buckingham Palace they are apt to hit Knightsbridge. And remember +that whatever one of the new German explosives strikes, conflagration +begins. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Aëroplanes, biplanes, monoplanes, and the other innumerable host +of small craft so often quoted as a possible counterdefense against +the Zeppelin, are overrated, and are in any case theoretical. The +German authorities have made vast and exhaustive trials in these +matters. The strenuous efforts on the part of this Empire to increase +its dirigible fleet is to my way of thinking answer enough. The +German General Staff at Berlin tries out more thoroughly than any +nation in the world every new device of warfare. They have tried the +aëroplane and the dirigible. I have heard the leading experts +and aviators who have been assigned to both types agreeing that the +Zeppelins of the X 15 type have nothing to fear from any present-day +flying machine--and that is good enough for me. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XIII">XIII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle">ARMING FOR PEACE OR WAR</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The map of Europe is certain to undergo some very decided changes +within the next decade, very possibly in less time. Social and +economic conditions, let alone the paramount political ambitions of +the individual rulers, must bring about a decided alteration in state +boundaries in Central Europe. This will be accomplished either with +or without war--with bloodshed most likely. History and human +propensities have shown the inability to settle any vital points by +peaceful arbitration and the more one comes in contact with the +forces, obvious and otherwise, directing human affairs, the more one +learns the rather disheartening fact that the millennium is as far off +as ever. The prophecies of the old Biblical prophets about wars and +rumors of wars are as pertinent to-day as before the advent of Christ. +The methods may have changed since the conception of the Christian +religion but the results will be attained now as ever by the right of +a mighty sword arm. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most virile and aggressive power in the center of Europe is +Germany proper--this term of Germany, including the whole of the +Teutonic races, such as the German-speaking portion of Austria, +Hungary (for your true Hungarian is a keen admirer of strength and +force), Holland, Switzerland and in all probability the Norsemen and +Viking branches of the Teutonic clan, meaning Sweden, Norway and +Denmark. Social and commercial aims and aspirations in Sweden, Norway +and Denmark, independent as they are and probably always will be, +still show a decided trend to Central Germanic cohesion. The whole of +Europe is roughly divided into three dominant races--the Teutonic, +the Latin and the Slavish. The Teutonic has Anglo-Saxon, Germanic +and Norse subdivisions. The Latin, Gallic, has the French, Italian +and Spanish nations; and the Slavonic comprises the Slavs and +Romanic races with their innumerable subdivisions such as Moscovite, +Chech, Pole, Croat, Serb, Bulgar, Bojar, etc. These three groups are +distinctly different in habits, thoughts, manners and ambitions. +Through race and religion they are also deeply antagonistic by +reason of its higher commercial development (I do not say education, +and art, music or literature, for there your Latin or Slav excels), +the Teutonic races have outstripped the other two. Commercialism +means consolidation and concentration and since the Napoleonic wars +the Germanic races--at the beginning slowly but within the last +twenty-five years rapidly--have drawn together at an astonishing +pace. In countries such as Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Switzerland, +each possessing their own petty machinery of expensive government; +existent only through the mutual jealousies of their bigger +neighbors, there has grown up a decidedly incorporating spirit. +Notwithstanding the natural disinclination of the ruling factions +of that country, the general mass of the people are by no means +averse to become members of a vast central European empire, the +unswerving ambition of the house of the Hohenzollerns. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Since the days when the Counts of Nuremburg became electors of +Brandenburg, from the grosse Kurfurst, Frederick the Great, to the +present Emperor, the house of Hohenzollern has shown itself to be +the most virile dynasty in modern history. Not always clever, they +possessed the rare faculty of finding, developing and using men +having the necessary ability to execute their current policies. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In thoroughly feudal and aristocratic countries such as comprise +Central Europe, especially Germany, decided, unswerving aims are +necessary. If these policies are conducted in a clear, level-headed +manner, judiciously developing the wealth and culture of the general +masses, the stability of such a government or throne is well-nigh +unshakable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It has often been spoken and written that in countries such as Germany +and Austria, Socialism, to quote but one of the numerous "isms," has +undermined existing governmental powers. To a close student, these +assertions are absolutely wrong. Teutonic Germanic races have ever +been given to deeply analytical, philosophical studies, criticising +and dissecting, the policies of their rulers. But underlying, you +will find a deeply practical sense and appreciation of material +benefits. The German Socialist is in fact a practical dreamer, quite +in contrast to his mercurial, effervescent Latin prototype. The +rulers of Germany have learned the lesson that the stability of a +throne rests in the welfare of her people and everyone must admit +that they have succeeded in this respect better than any other +dynasty known to history. Germany without doubt is the most uniformly +prosperous and civilized country in the world. And therein lies the +danger, as no sane and prosperous business can afford to stand still. +Neither can a solvent virile nation such as Germany, mark time. For +this reason: Two things must happen in the near future. Germany must +expand peacefully in Europe, to the northeast and west; or there will +be war. The reasons for this I gave in the chapter on "The Isolation +of France." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +And that the chances of peaceful and really sensible adjustment are +thoroughly discounted among German men of affairs, must be pretty +obvious to the careful reader. An intensely practical and saving +people such as the Germans would not spend billions in money, a vast +amount of time and labor, in perfecting and keeping up a fighting +machine without being thoroughly convinced of the necessity of this +investment. Strong, wealthy and powerful as Germany is to-day, the +strain is tremendous and for this reason alone existing political +and geographical conditions in Europe must undergo a decided change. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +These changes are bound to occur but it is hard to set a correct +time. It may be to-morrow; it certainly will not be more than a +decade hence. The death of the Emperor Francis Joseph will +precipitate it at once--and he is old and feeble. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Secondly, the Church. The mainstay of the Catholic Church rests with +the Austrian monarchy and with the death of the old Emperor, it +would--in fact have to--look to some other country and ruler for +protection. There is no Catholic ruler in a Catholic country to-day +able to support and protect the dignity of the Church. The German +Emperor is a Protestant monarch, but he is first and last a Christian, +and thanks to his usual keen and far-sighted policy, backed up by +strong spiritual convictions, religious dissensions are almost unknown +in his empire. The Catholic religion enjoys in no country, save the +United States, more real freedom from persecution than it does in +Germany. And the Emperor's personal standing with the Vatican is +excellent. I need only remind the reader of his perennial visits to +the King of Italy when he never fails to visit the Vatican, paying +his respects as the ruler of twenty-seven millions of Catholics, if +you please, to the keeper of Peter's keys. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In my work, I have met eminent dignitaries and princes of the +Catholic Church who voiced pretty freely--that is for +churchmen--their confidences, willingness of their support to +the Emperor's general policies. +</p> + +<h3>THE BUFFER STATE OF THE NORTH</h3> + +<p class="indent"> +As Germany has provided herself with a buffer state and ally in +Southern Europe, meaning Turkey, so she has cleverly succeeded in +creating a similar condition in the extreme north of Europe. Sweden +and Norway, at no time friendly to the Moscovite--you need only recall +the days of Charles XII--have within the last few years developed a +strong martial feeling against Russian aggression. Both countries are +intensely patriotic and independent and would not on any account +tolerate incorporation. Germany does not want Norway and Sweden, and +Scandinavia knows that. They also know that Russia, having a free +hand, does want them. Hence they are looking towards Germany to keep +a national independence. With German help, Sweden and Norway could +maintain, transport and place three-quarters of a million of +first-class fighting men in the field and that at strategical and +crucial points of the Russian Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The personal domination of the house of Hohenzollern even outside +political matters is tremendous, by virtue of great wealth and +marriages,--the Emperor's sons having married the most wealthy +princesses in Europe--besides the privately invested fortunes +of the Emperor, giving him a tremendous influence in commercial +affairs. Wilhelm holds the thunderbolt that will shake the world. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE END +</p> + +<pre> + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SECRETS OF THE GERMAN WAR OFFICE *** + +This file should be named 6948-h.htm or 6948-h.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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