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diff --git a/33298-h/33298-h.htm b/33298-h/33298-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb4ecb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/33298-h/33298-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13002 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Spies of the Kaiser, by William Le Queux. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:30%; + text-align: left; +} + +ins {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;} +.tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; +margin-right: 10%;padding-bottom: .5em; +padding-top: .5em; padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; +} + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Spies of the Kaiser, by William Le Queux + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Spies of the Kaiser + Plotting the Downfall of England + +Author: William Le Queux + +Release Date: July 31, 2010 [EBook #33298] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPIES OF THE KAISER *** + + + + +Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1> +<i>Spies of the Kaiser<br /> +Plotting the Downfall of England</i><br /> +</h1> + +<h2> +<i>By William Le Queux: Author of<br /> +"The Invasion of 1910"</i><br /> +</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<h3>Contents</h3> +<p><a href="#IF_ENGLAND_KNEW"><b>IF ENGLAND KNEW</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#THE_PERIL_OF_ENGLAND"><b>THE PERIL OF ENGLAND</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#SPIES_OF_THE_KAISER"><b>CHAPTER I: HOW THE PLANS OF ROSYTH WERE STOLEN</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II: THE SECRET OF THE SILENT SUBMARINE</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III: THE BACK-DOOR OF ENGLAND</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV: HOW THE GERMANS ARE PREPARING FOR INVASION</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V: THE SECRET OF THE NEW BRITISH AEROPLANE</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI: THE SECRET OF THE NEW ARMOUR-PLATES</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII: THE SECRET OF THE IMPROVED "DREADNOUGHT"</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII: THE GERMAN PLOT AGAINST ENGLAND</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX: THE SECRET OF OUR NEW GUN</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X: THE SECRET OF THE CLYDE DEFENCES</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI: THE PERIL OF LONDON</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII: HOW GERMANY FOMENTS STRIFE</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII: OUR WIRELESS SECRETS</b></a></p> +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV: PLAYING A DESPERATE GAME</b></a></p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + +<p><br/></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + +<div class='center'>HURST & BLACKETT'S</div> + +<div class='center'>FAMOUS 1/3<sup>NET</sup> NOVELS</div> + +<div class='center'>Each <span class="u">cloth bound</span>, with picture +wrapper in colours.</div> + +<div class='center'>The Publishers have pleasure in announcing the issue in<br /> +popular form of the very successful novels of</div> + +<div class='center'>GERTRUDE PAGE</div> + +<div class='center'>of which</div> + +<div class='center'><i>Over a million copies have already been sold.</i></div> + +<p>THE EDGE O' BEYOND 275th Thousand<br/> +PADDY, THE NEXT BEST THING 246th Thousand<br/> +LOVE IN THE WILDERNESS 188th Thousand<br/> +THE SILENT RANCHER 135th Thousand<br/> +THE GREAT SPLENDOUR 140th Thousand<br/> +THE RHODESIAN 139th Thousand</p> + +<p>By AMÉLIE RIVES<br/> +(Princess Troubetzkoy)<br/> +World's End</p> + +<p>By MAURICE LEBLANC<br/> +The Teeth of the Tiger</p> + +<p>By RICHARD STARR<br/> +Married to a Spy</p> + +<p>By MARGARET<br/> PETERSON<br/> +To Love<br/> +Butterfly Wings</p> + +<p>By WILLIAM LE QUEUX<br/> +The Man from Downing<br/> Street</p> + +<p>By WILLIAM LE QUEUX<br/> +Secrets of the Foreign<br/> Office<br/> +The House of the Wicked</p> + +<p>By BEATRICE GRIMSHAW<br/> +Red Rob of the Islands<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A Story of New Guinea</span></p> + +<p>By <ins title="A grave accent has been changed to an acute accent +assuming this is a typo for the Polish letter.">COUNTESS BARCYŃSKA</ins><br/> +The Honey Pot</p> + +<p>By EDNA LYALL<br/> +Donovan 300th Thousand<br/> +We Two 250th Thousand</p> + +<p>London: HURST & BLACKETT Ltd., Paternoster House. E.C. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<h1> +<i>Spies of the Kaiser<br /> +Plotting the Downfall of England</i><br /> +</h1> + +<h2> +<i>By William Le Queux: Author of<br /> +"The Invasion of 1910"</i><br /> +</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/emblem.png" width="150" height="121" alt="emblem" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><br/></p> + +<div class='center'> +<i>LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LTD.<br /> +PATERNOSTER HOUSE, E.C.</i></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IF_ENGLAND_KNEW" id="IF_ENGLAND_KNEW"></a>IF ENGLAND KNEW</h2> + + +<p>No sane person can deny that England is in grave +danger of invasion by Germany at a date not far distant.</p> + +<p>This very serious fact I endeavoured to place vividly +before the public in my recent forecast, <i>The Invasion of +1910</i>, the publication of which, in Germany and in +England, aroused a storm of indignation against me.</p> + +<p>The Government, it will be remembered, endeavoured +to suppress its publication, because it contained many +serious truths, which it was deemed best should be +withheld from the public, and on its publication—in +defiance of the statements in the House of Commons, +and the pressure brought upon me by the Prime +Minister—I was denounced as a panicmonger.</p> + +<p>But have not certain of my warnings already been +fulfilled?</p> + +<p>I have no desire to create undue alarm. I am an +Englishman, and, I hope, a patriot. What I have +written in this present volume in the form of fiction +is based upon serious facts within my own personal +knowledge.</p> + +<p>That German spies are actively at work in Great +Britain is well known to the authorities. The number +of agents of the German Secret Police at this moment +working in our midst on behalf of the Intelligence +Department in Berlin are believed to be over five +thousand. To each agent—known as a "fixed-post"—is +allotted the task of discovering some secret, or of +noting in a certain district every detail which may be +of advantage to the invader when he lands. This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +"fixed-agent" is, in turn, controlled by a travelling +agent, who visits him regularly, allots the work, +collects his reports, and makes monthly payments, +the usual stipend varying from £10 to £30 per month, +according to the social position of the spy and the work +in which he or she may be engaged.</p> + +<p>The spies themselves are not always German. +They are often Belgians, Swiss, or Frenchmen employed +in various trades and professions, and each +being known in the Bureau of Secret Police by a number +only, their monthly information being docketed under +that particular number. Every six months an "inspection" +is held, and monetary rewards made to those +whose success has been most noteworthy.</p> + +<p>The whole brigade of spies in England is controlled +by a well-known member of the German Secret Police +in London, from whom the travelling agents take +their orders, and in turn transmit them to the "fixed-posts," +who are scattered up and down the country.</p> + +<p>As I write, I have before me a file of amazing documents, +which plainly show the feverish activity with +which this advance guard of our enemy is working to +secure for their employers the most detailed information. +These documents have already been placed +before the Minister for War, who returned them without +comment!</p> + +<p>He is aware of the truth, and cannot deny it in face +of these incriminating statements.</p> + +<p>It is often said that the Germans do not require to +pursue any system of espionage in England when +they can purchase our Ordnance maps at a shilling each. +But do these Ordnance maps show the number of +horses and carts in a district, the stores of food and +forage, the best way in which to destroy bridges, the +lines of telegraph and telephone, and the places with +which they communicate, and such-like matters of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +vital importance to the invader? Facts such as these, +and many others, are being daily conveyed by spies +in their carefully prepared reports to Berlin, as well +as the secrets of every detail of our armament, our +defences, and our newest inventions.</p> + +<p>During the last twelve months, aided by a well-known +detective officer, I have made personal inquiry +into the presence and work of these spies, an inquiry +which has entailed a great amount of travelling, much +watchfulness, and often considerable discomfort, for +I have felt that, in the circumstances, some system +of contra-espionage should be established, as has been +done in France.</p> + +<p>I have refrained from giving actual names and +dates, for obvious reasons, and have therefore been +compelled, even at risk of being again denounced as a +scaremonger, to present the facts in the form of fiction—fiction +which, I trust, will point its own patriotic +moral.</p> + +<p>Colonel Mark Lockwood, Member for Epping, sounded +a very serious warning note in the middle of 1908 when +he asked questions of the Minister for War, and afterwards +of the Prime Minister, respecting the presence +of German spies in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and elsewhere. +He pointed out that for the past two years +these individuals, working upon a carefully prepared +plan, had been sketching, photographing, and carefully +making notes throughout the whole of East Anglia.</p> + +<p>With truth, he declared that this organised system +of espionage was for one reason alone, namely in +preparation for a sudden raid upon our shores, for +"the Day"—as it is known in Germany—the Day +of the Invasion of England.</p> + +<p>The replies given by His Majesty's Ministers were +colourless, though they both actually confessed themselves +unable to deal with the situation! Under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +our existing law it seems that a foreign spy is free to +go hither and thither, and plot the downfall of England, +while we, ostrich-like, bury our head in the sand at +the sign of approaching danger.</p> + +<p>The day has passed when one Englishman was worth +ten foreigners. Modern science in warfare has altered +all that. All the rifle-clubs in England could not +stop one German battalion, because the German +battalion is trained and disciplined in the art of war, +while our rifle-clubs are neither disciplined nor trained. +Were every able-bodied man in the kingdom to join +a rifle-club we should be no nearer the problem of +beating the German invaders if once they landed, +than if the spectators in all the football matches held +in Britain mobilised against a foreign foe. The Territorial +idea is a delusion. Seaside camps for a fortnight +a year are picnics, not soldiering. The art of navigation, +the science of engineering, or the trade of carpentering +cannot be learned in fourteen days annually—neither +can the art of war.</p> + +<p>In response, we have held up to us the strength +of our Navy. But is it really what it is represented +by our rulers to an already deluded public?</p> + +<p>Only as recently as March 29, 1909, Sir Edward Grey, +replying to Mr. Balfour's vote of censure in the House +of Commons, was compelled to admit that—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A new situation is created by the German +programme. When it is completed, Germany, a +great country close to our own shores, will have +a fleet of thirty-three Dreadnoughts, and that +fleet will be the most powerful which the world +has ever yet seen. It imposes upon us the necessity +of rebuilding the whole of our fleet. That is +the situation."</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<p>Germany is our friend—for the moment. But Prince +Buelow now admits that the Kaiser's telegram to +President Kruger was no personal whim, but the outcome +of national policy!</p> + +<p>What may happen to-morrow?</p> + +<p> +WILLIAM LE QUEUX.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_PERIL_OF_ENGLAND" id="THE_PERIL_OF_ENGLAND"></a>THE PERIL OF ENGLAND</h2> + +<h3>WHO IS RIGHT?</h3> + + +<p>SIR EDWARD GREY</p> + +<p><i>In the House of Commons, +March 29, 1909.</i></p> + +<p>We have been informed +verbally, but quite definitely, +that Germany will +not accelerate her naval +programme of construction, +and will not have thirteen +ships of the <i>Dreadnought</i> +type, including cruisers, till +the end of 1912.</p> + + +<p>PRINCE BUELOW</p> + +<p><i>In the Reichstag, March 29, +1909.</i></p> + +<p>Great Britain has never +made any proposals which +the German Government +regarded as a suitable +basis for negotiations. +Germany regards the question +of limitation of armaments +as outside the range +of practical politics.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">WHAT THE KAISER SAYS:</span></p> + +<p>His Imperial Majesty the German Emperor declared:—</p> + +<p><i>The prevailing sentiment among large sections of the +middle and lower class of my own people is not friendly +to England.—Daily Telegraph, October 28, 1908.</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="SPIES_OF_THE_KAISER" id="SPIES_OF_THE_KAISER"></a>SPIES OF THE KAISER<br/><br/> +CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>HOW THE PLANS OF ROSYTH WERE STOLEN</h3> + + +<p>"But if the new plans for our naval base at Rosyth +have already been secured by Germany, I don't see +what we can do," I remarked. "What's the use of +closing the stable-door after the horse has been stolen?"</p> + +<p>"That's just what we generally do in England, my +dear old Jack," replied my friend. "We still think, +as in the days of Wellington, that one Englishman is +worth ten foreigners. But remember the Boer War, +and what our shameful ignorance cost us in men and +money. Now, as I explained last night in London, the +original plans of Rosyth leaked out some time ago, +and were actually published in certain Continental +papers. In consequence of this, fresh plans have +been prepared and adopted by the Lords of the Admiralty. +It is one of these which Reitmeyer informs +my father is already in German hands."</p> + +<p>"But is not Reitmeyer a German himself?" I +asked.</p> + +<p>"He's a naturalised Englishman," replied my friend +Ray Raymond, drawing hard at his pipe as he stretched +himself lazily before the fire of the inn-parlour. "It +was he who gave the guv'nor a good deal of the information +upon which he based those questions he +asked in the House."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The Government refused to admit that German +spies are at work in England," I said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Jack. That's just why I'm down here on the +Firth of Forth—in order to accomplish the task I've +set myself, namely, to prove that German secret agents +are at this moment actively at work amongst us. I +intend to furnish proof of the guv'nor's statements, and +by exposing the methods of these inquisitive gentry, +compel the Government to introduce fresh legislation in +order that the authorities may be able to deal with +them. At present spies may work their will in England, +and the law is powerless to prevent them."</p> + +<p>I was standing with my back to the fire facing my +friend, who, a barrister like myself, shared with me a +set of rather dismal chambers in New Stone Buildings, +Lincoln's Inn, though he had never had occasion to +practise, as I unfortunately had.</p> + +<p>As he sat, his long, thin legs outstretched towards +the fire, he presented the appearance of the typical +athletic young Englishman, aged about thirty, clean-shaven, +clean-limbed, with an intelligent and slightly +aquiline face, a pair of merry grey eyes, and light +brown hair closely cropped. He was an all-round +good fellow, even though his life had been cast in +pleasant places. Eldest son of Sir Archibald Raymond, +Bart., the well-known Cardiff coal-owner who +sat for East Carmarthen, he had been with me at +Balliol, we had read together, and though he now +shared those dingy London chambers, he resided in a +prettily furnished flat in Bruton Street, while I lived +in rooms round in Guilford Street, Bloomsbury, in my +lonely bachelordom.</p> + +<p>He had been adopted as candidate for West Rutland +at the next election, and his party predicted of him +great things. But the long-wished-for General Election +was still afar off, therefore, with commendable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +patriotism, he had taken up the burning question of +German spies in England, which had been so lightly +pooh-poohed by both the Prime <a name="minister" id="minister"></a><ins title="Minsister changed to Minister">Minister</ins> and the +Minister for War. His intention was, if possible, to +checkmate their activity, and at the same time reveal +to the public the fool's paradise in which we are living +now that "the Day"—as they call it in Germany—is +fast approaching—the day of the invasion of Great +Britain.</p> + +<blockquote><p>— Miles N.E. of Dockyard. Half-closed redoubt +for infantry—Platforms for machine-guns +at angles—Wrought-iron palisading at bottom +of ditch.</p> + +<p>G (in plan.) "Ferry Hills" Fort—Earth and +concrete—Very deep ditches, flanked by counterscarp +galleries and a stone caponier—Casemated—Probable +armament—Two 9.2-inch guns, six +7.5-inch guns—Wrought-iron fraise below counterscarp.</p> + +<p>H (in plan). Evidently intended for use against +torpedo-boats and destroyers—To mount ten 4-inch +quick-firing guns—Wrought-iron palisading in +ditch well covered from seaward—Gorge closed +by stone wall (two tiers of loopholes for musketry), +flanked by caponiers with machine-guns.</p> + +<p>I. A large and formidable work armed with—</p> + +<p>Portion of translation of the German spy's report upon the +new naval base at Rosyth.</p></blockquote> + +<p>After Sir Archibald had put the questions in the +House, the purport of which most readers will remember, +he had been the recipient of many letters pointing out +the presence of spies—letters which, if published, +would have no doubt created a great sensation. Many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +of these statements Ray and I had, during the past two +months, closely investigated on the spot, and what +we had discovered held us both amazed and alarmed. +Indeed, we had secured evidence that although spies +were openly at work in certain of our eastern counties +collecting all sorts of information which would be of +incalculable importance to an invader, yet the chief +constables of those counties had actually been instructed +from head-quarters to close their eyes to the +movements of inquisitive foreigners!</p> + +<p>In the investigations upon which Ray Raymond had +embarked with such enthusiasm, and which I am now +permitted to chronicle in these pages, he had taken +only two persons into his confidence—myself and +Vera, the pretty, fair-haired daughter of Vice-Admiral +Sir Charles Vallance, the Admiral-Superintendent of +Portsmouth Dockyard, to whom he was engaged.</p> + +<p>Indeed, from the first I suspected that it had been +her influence that had roused him to action; she who +had promised him her assistance, and who had pointed +out how, by watching and unmasking the spies, he +might render his King and country signal service.</p> + +<p>At dusk that day we had, on arrival from King's +Cross, left our baggage with the hall porter of the +North British Hotel in Edinburgh, had travelled from +the Waverley Station to Dalmeny, and descending the +hundred or so steps to the comfortable Hawes Inn, +at the water's edge, had dined there. Thence we had +taken the old ferry-boat over to North Queensferry, +on the opposite shore, where, in the rather bare parlour +of the little Albert Hotel, directly beneath the giant +arms of the Forth Bridge, we were resting and +smoking.</p> + +<p>Outside the November night was dark and squally +with drizzling rain; within the warmth was cheerful, +the fire throwing a red glow upon the old-fashioned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +mahogany sideboard with its profuse display of china +and the two long tables covered with red cloths.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a href="images/i-015-big.png"> +<img src="images/i-015.png" width="600" height="440" alt="PORTIONS OF MAP OF NEW NAVAL BASE AT ROSYTH DISCOVERED IN +POSSESSION OF A SPY. +The notes, here translated from German, were written on the British Ordnance Map." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">PORTIONS OF MAP OF NEW NAVAL BASE AT ROSYTH DISCOVERED IN +POSSESSION OF A SPY.<br /> +The notes, here translated from German, were written +on the British Ordnance Map.</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p>From my boyhood days, I, John James Jacox, +barrister-at-law, had always been fond of detective +work; therefore I realised that in the present inquiry +before us there was wide scope for one's reasoning +powers, as well as a great probability of excitement.</p> + +<p>I was thoroughly wiping my gold pince-nez, utterly +failing to discover Ray's reason in travelling to that +spot now that it was admitted that the Germans had +already outwitted us and secured a copy of at least +one of the plans. Suddenly, glancing up at the cheap +American clock on the mantelshelf, my friend declared +that we ought to be moving and at once struggled +into his coat and crushed on his soft felt hat. It then +wanted a quarter to ten o'clock.</p> + +<p>In ascending the short, steep hill in the semi-darkness, +we passed the North Queensferry post office, beside +which he stopped short to peer down the dark alley +which separated it from the Roxburgh Hotel. I +noticed that in this alley stood a short, stout telegraph-pole, +carrying about sixty or so lines of wire which, +coming overhead from the north, converged at that +point into a cable, and crossed to the south beneath +the mile-broad waters of the Forth.</p> + +<p>Ray was apparently interested in them, for glancing +overhead he saw another set of wires which, carried +higher, crossed the street and ran away to the left. +This road he followed, I walking at his side.</p> + +<p>The way we took proved to be a winding one, which, +instead of ascending the steep hill with its many +quarries, from the summit of which the wonderful +bridge runs forth, skirted the estuary westward past +a number of small grey cottages, the gardens of some +of which appeared to run down to the broad waters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +whence shone the flashing light of the Beamer and +those of Dalmeny, the Bridge, and of South Queensferry.</p> + +<p>The rain had ceased, and the moon, slowly struggling +from behind a big bank of cloud, now produced a most +picturesque effect of light and shadow.</p> + +<p>The actions of Ray Raymond were, however, somewhat +mysterious, for on passing each telegraph-pole +he, by the aid of a small electric torch he carried in his +pocket, examined it carefully at a distance of about +six feet from the ground.</p> + +<p>He must have thus minutely examined at least +fifteen or sixteen when, at the sharp bend of the road, +he apparently discovered something of which he was +in search. The pole stood close beside the narrow +pathway, and as he examined it with his magnifying-glass +I also became curious. But all I distinguished +were three small gimlet holes set in a triangle in the +black tarred wood about four inches apart.</p> + +<p>"Count the wires, Jack," he said. "I make them +twenty-six. Am I correct?"</p> + +<p>I counted, and found the number to be right.</p> + +<p>Then for some moments he stood in thoughtful +silence, gazing away over the wide view of St. Margaret's +Hope spread before him.</p> + +<p>Afterwards we moved forward. Passing along, he +examined each of the other poles, until we descended +the hill to the Ferry Toll, where the high road and +wires branched off to the right to Dunfermline. Then, +taking the left-hand road along the shore, where ran +a line of telephone, we passed some wharves, gained +the Limpet Ness, and for a further couple of miles +skirted the moonlit waters, until, of a sudden, there +came into view a long corrugated-iron building lying +back from the road facing the Forth and fenced off by +a high spiked-iron railing. The entrance was in the +centre, with nine long windows on either side, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +at a little distance further back lay a small bungalow, +evidently the residence of the caretaker.</p> + +<p>"This," exclaimed my friend without halting, "is +the much-discussed Rosyth. These are the Admiralty +offices, and from here the tracing of that plan was +obtained."</p> + +<p>"A rather lonely spot," I remarked.</p> + +<p>"Over yonder, beyond that ruined castle out on +the rocks, where Oliver Cromwell's mother was born, +is the site of the new naval base. You'll get a better +view from the other side of the hill," he said in a low +voice.</p> + +<p>"Who lives in the bungalow?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Only the caretaker. The nearest house is on top +of the hill, and is occupied by the second officer in +charge of the works."</p> + +<p>Continuing our way and passing over the hill, we +skirted a wood, which I afterwards found to be Orchardhead +Wood, passed a pair of lonely cottages on the +right, until we reached a lane running down to the +water's edge. Turning into this lane, we walked as +far as a gate which commanded the great stretch of +broad, level meadows and the wide bay beyond. +Leaning over it, he said:</p> + +<p>"This is where the new naval base is to be. Yonder, +where you see the lights, is Bruce Haven."</p> + +<p>"Tell me the facts regarding the stolen plan as far +as is known," I said, leaning on the gate also and +gazing away across the wide stretch of moonlit waters.</p> + +<p>"The facts are curious," replied my friend. "As +you know, I've been away from London a fortnight, +and in those fourteen days I've not been idle. It +seems that when the first plan leaked out and was +published abroad, the Admiralty had two others prepared, +and into both these a commission which came +down here has, for several months, been busily at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +work investigating their feasibility. At last one of +the schemes has been adopted. Tracings of it are +kept in strictest secrecy in a safe in the offices down +yonder, together with larger-scale tracings of the +various docks, the submarine station, repairing docks, +patent slips, and defensive forts—some twenty-two +documents in all. The details of the defensive forts +are, of course, kept a profound secret. The safe has +two keys, one kept by the superintendent of the works, +Mr. Wilkinson, who lives over at Dunfermline, and +the other by the first officer, Mr. Farrar, who resides +in a house half a mile from the offices. The safe cannot +be opened except by the two gentlemen being present +together. The leakage could not come from within. +None of the plans have ever been found to be missing +and no suspicion attaches to anybody, yet there are +two most curious facts. The first is that in July last +a young clerk named Edwin Jephson, living with his +mother in Netley Road, Shepherd's Bush, and employed +by a firm of auctioneers in the City, was picked +up in the Thames off Thorneycroft's at Chiswick. At +the inquest, the girl to whom the young man was +engaged testified to his strangeness of manner a few +days previously; while his mother stated how, prior +to his disappearance, he had been absent from home +for four days, and on his return had seemed greatly +perturbed, and had remarked: 'There'll be something +in the papers about me before long.' On the body +were found fourteen shillings in silver, some coppers, +a few letters, and a folio of blue foolscap containing +some writing in German which, on translation, proved +to be certain details regarding a fortress. A verdict +of suicide was returned; but the statement in German, +placed by the police before the Admiralty, proved to +be an exact copy of one of the documents preserved +in the safe here, at Rosyth."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then the Admiralty cannot deny the leakage of +the secret?" I remarked.</p> + +<p>"No; but the mystery remains how it came into +the young fellow's possession, and what he was about +to do with it. As far as can be ascertained, he was +a most exemplary young man, and had no connection +whatever with any one in Admiralty employ," replied +Ray; adding, "the second fact is the one alleged by +Reitmeyer, who was, in confidence, shown a photograph +of one of the larger plans."</p> + +<p>"Then spies are, no doubt, at work here," I said.</p> + +<p>"That cannot be denied," was his reply. "This +neighbourhood opens up a wide field of investigation +to the inquisitive gentry from the Fatherland. Knowledge +of the secrets of the defences of the Firth of +Forth would be of the utmost advantage to Germany +in the event of an invasion. The local submarine +defences and corps of submarine miners have been +done away with, yet the entrance of the estuary is +commanded by strong batteries upon the island of +Inchkeith, opposite Leith; the Forth Bridge is defended +by masked batteries at Dalmeny at the one +end and at Carlingnose at the other, while upon Inchgarvie, +the rock beneath the centre of the bridge, is +a powerful battery of six-inch guns. The true strength +of these defences, and the existence of others, are, of +course, kept an absolute secret, but Germany is equally +anxious to learn them, as she is to know exactly what +our plans are regarding this new naval base and its +fortifications."</p> + +<p>"But if the new base were established, might not +the Forth Bridge be blown into the water by the +enemy, and our fleet bottled up by the wreckage?" +I ventured to remark.</p> + +<p>"That's just the point, Jack," my friend said; +"whether the Rosyth works are carried out or not,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +the Germans would, without doubt, use their best +endeavours to blow up the bridge; first in order to +cut direct communication between north and south, +and secondly, to prevent British ships using St. Margaret's +Hope as a haven of refuge."</p> + +<p>"And even in face of the document discovered upon +the auctioneer's clerk, the Government deny the +activity of spies!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Ray in a hard voice. "A week ago +I was up here, and examined the safe in the offices +we've passed. I was only laughed at for my pains. +I must admit, of course, that no document has ever +been missing, and that the safe has not been tampered +with in any way."</p> + +<p>"A complete mystery."</p> + +<p>"One which, my dear Jack, we must solve," he +said, as we retraced our steps back to North Queensferry +station, where we luckily caught a train back +to Edinburgh.</p> + +<p>Next morning we travelled again to Dalmeny, and +in the grey mist hired a boat at the slippery landing-stage +opposite the Hawes Inn. Refusing the assistance +of the boatman, Ray took off his coat and commenced +to row to the opposite shore. His action +surprised me, as we could easily have gone over by +the steam ferry. It was high tide, and by degrees as +we got into mid-stream he allowed the boat to drift +towards one of the sets of four circular caissons in +which the foundations of the gigantic bridge, with its +bewildering masses of ironwork, were set.</p> + +<p>Against one of them the boat drifted, and he placed +his hand upon the masonry to prevent a collision. +As he did so, his keen eyes discerned something which +caused him to pull back and examine it more +closely.</p> + +<p>As he did so, a train rumbled high above us.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>With curiosity I followed the direction of his gaze, +but what I saw conveyed to me nothing. About two +feet above high-water mark a stout iron staple had been +fixed into the concrete. To it was attached a piece +of thin wire rope descending into the water, apparently +used by the bridge workmen to moor their boats.</p> + +<p>Having carefully examined the staple, Ray rowed +round to the other three caissons, a few feet distant, +but there discovered nothing. Afterwards, with my +assistance, he pulled back to the Dalmeny side, where, +at the base of one of the high square brick piers of the +shore end of the bridge, the third from the land, he +found a similar staple driven. Then we returned to +the pier and crossed to North Queensferry.</p> + +<p>My friend's next move was to enter the post office +and there write upon a yellow form a telegram in +German addressed to a person in Berlin. This he +handed to the pleasant-faced Scotch postmistress, +who, on seeing it in a strange language, regarded him +quickly.</p> + +<p>Ray remarked that he supposed she did not often +transmit messages in German, whereupon she said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. The German waiter up at the Golf Club +sends them sometimes."</p> + +<p>"Is he the only German you have in North Queensferry?" +he inquired casually.</p> + +<p>"I've never heard of any other, sir," replied the +good woman, and then we both wished her good-day +and left.</p> + +<p>Our next action was to climb the Ferry Hill at the +back of the post office, passing the station and Carlingnose +Fort, until we reached the club-house of the +Dunfermline Golf Club, which commands a fine prospect +over the wide estuary eastward.</p> + +<p>No one appeared to be playing that morning, but +on entering the club we were approached by a fair-headed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +rather smart-looking German waiter. His +age was about thirty, his fair moustache well trained, +and his hair closely cropped.</p> + +<p>I made inquiry for an imaginary person, and by that +means was enabled to engage the man in conversation. +Ray, on his part, remarked that he would be staying +in the neighbourhood for some time, and requested +a list of members and terms of membership. In +response, the waiter fetched him a book of rules, which +he placed in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Well?" I asked, as we descended the hill.</p> + +<p>"To me," my friend remarked, "there is only one +suspicious fact about that man—his nationality."</p> + +<p>The afternoon we spent out at the naval offices, +where I was introduced to the Superintendent and +the second officer, and where I stood by while my +friend again examined the big green-painted safe, +closely investigating its lock with the aid of his magnifying +glass. It was apparent that those in charge +regarded him as a harmless crank, for so confident +were they that no spy had been able to get at the +plans that no night watch had ever been kept upon +the place.</p> + +<p>Through five consecutive nights, unknown to the +caretaker, who slept so peacefully in his bungalow, +we, however, kept a vigilant watch upon the place. +But in vain. Whatever information our friends the +Germans wanted they seemed to have already obtained.</p> + +<p>Ray Raymond, however, continued to display that +quiet, methodical patience born of enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"I'm confident that something is afoot, and that +there are spies in the neighbourhood," he would say.</p> + +<p>Nearly a fortnight we spent, sometimes in Edinburgh, +and at others idling about North Queensferry +in the guise of English tourists, for the Forth Bridge +is still an attraction to the sightseer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>Upon the German waiter at the Golf Club Ray was +keeping a watchful eye. He had discovered his name +to be Heinrich Klauber, and that before his engagement +there he had been a waiter in the basement café +of the Hôtel de l'Europe, in Leicester Square, London.</p> + +<p>His movements were in no way suspicious. He +lived at a small cottage nearly opposite the post office +at North Queensferry with a widow named Macdonald, +and he had fallen in love with a rather pretty dark-eyed +girl named Elsie Robinson, who lived with her +father in the grey High Street of Inverkeithing. As +far as my observations went—and it often fell to my +lot to watch his movements while Ray was absent—the +German was hardworking, thrifty, and a pattern +of all the virtues.</p> + +<p>One evening, however, a curious incident occurred.</p> + +<p>Ray had run up to London, leaving me to watch +the German's movements. Klauber had returned to +Mrs. Macdonald's about eight, but not until nearly +eleven did he come forth again, and then instead of +taking his usual road to Inverkeithing to meet the +girl Robinson, he ascended the hill and struck across +the golf-course until he had gained its highest point, +which overlooked the waters of the Forth towards the sea.</p> + +<p>So suddenly did he halt that I was compelled to +throw myself into a bunker some distance away to +escape detection. Then, as I watched, I saw him +take from his pocket and light a small acetylene lamp, +apparently a bicycle-lamp, with a green glass. He +then placed it in such a position on the grass that it +could be seen from far across the waters, and lighting +a cigarette, he waited.</p> + +<p>The light on the Oxcars was flashing white and red, +while from distant Inchkeith streamed a white brilliance +at regular intervals. But the light of Heinrich +Klauber was certainly a signal. To whom?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> + +<p>He remained there about half an hour, but whether +he received any answering signal I know not.</p> + +<p>Next night and the next I went to the same spot, +but he failed to put in an appearance. Then, in +order to report to Ray, I joined the morning train +from Perth to London.</p> + +<p>On arrival at New Stone Buildings I telephoned to +Bruton Street, but Chapman, his valet, told me that +his master had slept there only one night, had received +a visit from a respectably dressed middle-aged woman, +and had gone away—to an unknown destination. +Therefore I waited for a whole week in anxiety and +suspense, until one morning I received a wire from +him, despatched from Kirkcaldy, urging me to join +him at once at the Station Hotel in Perth.</p> + +<p>Next morning at nine o'clock I was seated on the +side of his bed, telling him of the incident of the +lamp.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he exclaimed after a pause. "My surmises +are slowly proving correct, Jack. You must +buy a bicycle-lamp down in the town and a piece of +green glass. To-night you must go there at the same +hour and show a similar light. The matter seems +far more serious than I first expected. The enemy is +no doubt here, in our midst. Take this. It may be +handy before long," and he took from his kit-bag a +new .32 Colt revolver.</p> + +<p>By this, I saw that he had resolved upon some bold +stroke.</p> + +<p>That evening, after an early dinner at the hotel, +we took train to North Queensferry, and on alighting +at the station he sent me up to the golf-links to show +a light for half an hour; promising to meet me later +at a certain point on the road to Rosyth.</p> + +<p>I gained the lonely spot on the golf-course and duly +showed the light. Then I hastened to rejoin my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +friend at the point he indicated, and found him awaiting +me behind some bushes.</p> + +<p>Almost at the moment we met, a female figure came +along beneath the shadow of a high wall. She was +a poorly dressed girl, but the instant she addressed +my friend I recognised by her refined voice that it +was Vera, the dainty daughter of the Admiral +Superintendent.</p> + +<p>"Elsie is waiting down by the Ferry Barns," she +said quickly, in a low whisper, after greeting me. +"Heinrich has not kept his appointment with her."</p> + +<p>"You have the note?" he asked. "Recollect +what I told you concerning the man Hartmann."</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied. Then, addressing me, she said, +"Take care of these people Mr. Jacox. They are +utterly unscrupulous"; and she again disappeared +into the darkness.</p> + +<p>Ray and I turned and again walked back in the +direction of Rosyth. But when we had gone a little +distance he told me to approach the naval offices +carefully, conceal myself in the bushes, and watch until +he joined me. On no account was I to make any sign, +whatever I might witness.</p> + +<p>Though intensely cold the night was not very dark, +therefore I was not long in establishing my position at +a spot where I had a good view of the offices. Then I +leaned upon a tree-trunk and waited in breathless expectation. +I touched my father's old repeater which +I carried and found it to be a quarter past midnight.</p> + +<p>For over an hour I remained there, scarce daring +to move a muscle.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, however, upon the mud at the side of the +road I heard soft footsteps, and a few moments later +two figures loomed up from the shadow. But when +about forty yards from the offices they halted, one +of the men alone proceeding.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> + +<p>With great caution he climbed the spiked railing, +and crossing rapidly to the main door of the offices +he unlocked it with a key and entered, closing the +door after him. As far as I could distinguish, the +man wore a short beard, and was dressed in tweeds +and a golf cap. Holding my breath, I saw the flashing +of an electric torch within the building.</p> + +<p>Fully twenty minutes elapsed before he reappeared, +relocked the outside door, and clambering back over +the railings, rejoined his waiting companion, both +being lost next second in the darkness.</p> + +<p>I longed to follow them, but Ray's instructions had +been explicit—I was to wait until he arrived.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, hearing his low whistle, I emerged +from my hiding-place to meet him and tell him what +I had seen.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "I know. We have now no time to +lose."</p> + +<p>And together we hurried back over the road towards +North Queensferry.</p> + +<p>At the same spot where Vera had met us, we found +her still in hiding. My friend whispered some words, +whereupon she hurried on before us to the sharp +bend in the road where stood the telegraph-pole +which had attracted Ray on the night of our first +arrival.</p> + +<p>We drew back in the shadow, and as we did so I +saw her halt and pull the bell beside a small gate in a +high wall. Behind stood a white-washed cottage, +with a good-sized garden at the rear. One end of the +house abutted upon the pathway, and in it was one +small window commanding a view of the road.</p> + +<p>Vera, we saw, had some conversation with the old +woman who answered her ring, and then went in, the +gate being closed after her.</p> + +<p>Together we waited for a considerable time, our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +impatience and apprehension increasing. All was +silent, except for a dog-cart, in which we recognised +Mr. Wilkinson driving home from the station.</p> + +<p>"Curious that Vera doesn't return," Ray remarked +at last, when we had waited nearly three-quarters of +an hour. "We must investigate for ourselves. I +hope nothing has happened to her."</p> + +<p>And motioning me to follow, he very cautiously crept +along the muddy path and tried the gate. It had been +relocked.</p> + +<p>We therefore scaled the wall without further ado, +and, standing in the little front garden, we listened +breathlessly at the door of the house.</p> + +<p>"Get back there in the shadow, Jack," urged my +friend; and, as soon as I was concealed, he passed +his hand along the lintel of the door, where he found +the bell-wire from the gate. This he pulled.</p> + +<p>A few moments later the old woman reappeared at +the door, passing out towards the gate, when, in an +instant, Ray and I were within, and flinging open a +door on the left of the narrow passage we found ourselves +confronted by the exemplary waiter Klauber +and a companion, whose short beard and snub nose I +recognised as those of the man who so calmly entered +the naval offices a couple of hours before.</p> + +<p>For them our sudden appearance was, no doubt, a +dramatic surprise.</p> + +<p>The elder man gave vent to a quick imprecation +in German, while Klauber, of course, recognised us +both.</p> + +<p>In the room was a large camera with a flashlight +apparatus, while pinned upon a screen before the +camera was a big tracing of a plan of one of the chief +defensive forts which the spies had that night secured +from Rosyth, and which they were now in the act of +photographing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A lady called upon you here an hour ago," exclaimed +Ray. "Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"No lady has called here," replied the bearded +German in very good English, adding with marvellous +coolness, "To what, pray, do we owe this unwarrantable +intrusion?"</p> + +<p>"To the fact that I recognise you as Josef Scholtz, +secret agent of the German Naval Intelligence Department," +answered my friend resolutely, closing the +door and standing with his back to it. "We have met +before. You were coming down the steps of a house +in Pont Street, London, where lives a great friend of +yours, Hermann Hartmann."</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked the German, with feigned unconcern, +and before we could prevent him he had torn the tracing +from the screen, roughly folded it, and stuffed it into +his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Hand that to me," commanded my friend quickly.</p> + +<p>But the spy only laughed in open defiance.</p> + +<p>"You intended, no doubt, to replace that as you +have done the others after photographing them. Only +we've just spoilt your game," Raymond said. "Both +Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Farrar are, I see from the list, +members of the Golf Club where you"—and he looked +across to the waiter—"are employed. On one occasion, +while Mr. Wilkinson was taking a bath after a game, and +on another while Mr. Farrar was changing his coat and +vest, you contrived to take wax impressions of both +the safe keys and also that of the door of the offices. +The keys were made in Glasgow, and by their means +the plans of our new naval base and its proposed +defences have been at your disposal."</p> + +<p>"Well—there's no law against it!" cried Scholtz. +"Let me pass."</p> + +<p>"First give me that tracing," demanded my friend +resolutely.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Never. Do your worst!" the German replied, +speaking with a more pronounced accent in his excitement, +while at the same moment I saw that he held +a revolver in his hand.</p> + +<p>In an instant Ray drew his own weapon, but, instead of +covering the spy, he pointed it at a small, strong wooden +box upon the floor in the opposite corner of the room.</p> + +<p>"Gott—no!" gasped the man, his face blanching +as he realised Ray's intention. "For Heaven's sake +don't. I—I——"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" laughed my friend. "So it is as I thought. +You two blackguards, with some of your friends, I +expect, have been secretly preparing for the destruction +of the Forth Bridge on 'the Day'—as you are so fond +of calling it. The staples are already driven in, and +the unsuspicious-looking wire ropes, attached to which +the boxes of gun-cotton and other explosives are to +be sunk between the four caissons, are all in readiness. +The boat from a German merchant vessel off Leith, +signalled at intervals by your assistant Klauber, has +been bringing up box after box of that dangerous stuff +and landing it at the bottom of this garden; so that +within an hour of receiving the code-word from your +chief, you would be able to wreck the whole bridge +and blow it into the water!"</p> + +<p>The spy endeavoured to pass, but seeing Ray's determined +attitude, held back, and my friend compelled +him to lay down his weapon.</p> + +<p>"Jack," said my friend, "just see what's in that +box."</p> + +<p>I at once investigated it, and discovered within only +innocent-looking tin boxes of English biscuits. The +three tins at the top I lifted out and placed on the +floor, but those below I found were filled with circular +cakes of what looked like felt, about an inch in thickness, +each with a hole through it, and with a small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +cavity for the reception of the detonator. I showed +it to Ray, pointing out that, packed with it, were several +smaller tins, like boxes of cigarettes.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I see!" he exclaimed as I opened one. +"Those are the detonators, filled with fulminate of +mercury."</p> + +<p>"Let us pass!" cried both the spies.</p> + +<p>"Not before you are searched shall you leave this +house!" was the quick reply. "If you resist, I shall +fire into one of those boxes of detonators, and blow +you to atoms."</p> + +<p>"And yourselves also!" remarked Klauber, his +face pale as death.</p> + +<p>"It will at least prevent our secrets falling into your +hands, and at the same time bring the truth home to +the British Government!" was my friend's unwavering +answer.</p> + +<p>Next moment both men made a dash towards the +door, but I had drawn my weapon and was upon my +guard. There was a flash, followed by a deafening +report, as Ray fired at the box, aiming wide on purpose.</p> + +<p>Then the two spies, seeing that they had to deal with +a man who was a patriot to his heart's core, realised +that their game was up.</p> + +<p>Sullenly Scholtz put down his weapon, and I searched +both men.</p> + +<p>From the pocket of the exemplary waiter I drew +forth a rough plan, together with some scribbled notes +in German, which afterwards proved to be a description +of the forts on Inchkeith, while from the pocket +of Scholtz I secured the tracing he had stolen from +Rosyth.</p> + +<p>Then we allowed both the secret agents of the Kaiser +to pass out, much to the consternation and alarm of +the deaf old Scotchwoman, who had, at their request, +posed as the occupier of the cottage, but who, in perfect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +ignorance of what was in progress, had acted as their +housekeeper.</p> + +<p>A swift examination of the premises revealed no +trace of Vera. But we found in the cellar below the +room where we had found the spies a great store of +gun-cotton and other high explosives of German +manufacture, intended for the wrecking of the bridge; +while in an old battered portmanteau in one of the +upstairs rooms we also found, all ready for conveyance +to Germany, a quantity of prints from the photographic +negatives in the room below—photographs of nearly +the whole of the plans of Rosyth, and more especially +of its proposed forts—which the men had been in the +habit of abstracting at night and replacing in the safe +before dawn.</p> + +<p>Ray Raymond was in active search of something +else besides, and at length discovered what he sought—two +German military telegraph instruments, together +with a complete and very ingenious arrangement for +the tapping of wire.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" exclaimed my friend, who took a keen +interest in all things electrical. "This will now come +in very handy!"</p> + +<p>And on going outside to the telegraph pole against +the wall, he clambered up it and attached wires to two +of the insulators. Then descending, he screwed a little +brass box upon it into those same three holes in the +black wood which had attracted him on the night of our +arrival, and a moment later began manipulating the key.</p> + +<p>"Good!" he exclaimed at last. "I've picked up +Inverkeithing, and asked them to send the police over +at once. We mustn't leave the place and risk the spies +returning for any of their paraphernalia. The disappearance +of Vera, however, worries me. I sent her +here with a note purporting to come from the chief +of the German Secret Service in England, Hermann<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +Hartmann; but she has vanished, and we must, as +soon as the police arrive, go in search of her."</p> + +<p>So completely had we unmasked the spies that I +stood puzzled and amazed.</p> + +<p>Ray, noticing my attitude, made explanation.</p> + +<p>"Several of my surmises in this case proved entirely +correct," he said. "My first suspicion was aroused +that if spies were about, they would probably prepare +for tapping the telegraph lines, and, as you know, I +soon discovered evidence of it. Then those staples +in the foundations of the bridge gave me a further +clue to the work in progress, a suspicion greatly +strengthened by the signal light shown by the man +Klauber. The two men who held the safe keys being +members of the Golf Club aroused a theory which +proved the correct one, and on tracing back the career +of the waiter I made a remarkable discovery which +left no doubt as to his real profession. It seems that +while employed at the Café de l'Europe in London, he +lodged at the house of Mrs. Jephson, in Shepherd's +Bush, and became extremely friendly with the widow's +son. Now you'll remember that a few days before +the poor fellow's death he was absent mysteriously, +and on his return he told his mother in confidence +that there would shortly be something in the papers +about himself. Well, the truth is now quite plain. +During his absence he evidently came up here. Young +Jephson, who knew German, had found out that his +German friend was a spy, and had no doubt secured +the document afterwards found upon him as evidence. +Klauber was ignorant of this, though he suspected +that his secret was out. In deadly fear of exposure, he +then plotted to silence the young Englishman, inducing +him to walk along the towing-path between Hammersmith +and Barnes, where he no doubt pushed him into +the river. Indeed, I have found a witness who saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +the two men together in King Street, Hammersmith, +on the evening of the poor fellow's disappearance. +The plan which Reitmeyer saw is, I find, fortunately +one of the discarded ones."</p> + +<p>"Extraordinary!" I declared, absorbed by what +he had related. "But while you've wrested from +Germany the secrets of some of our most important +defences, you have, my dear Ray, temporarily lost +the woman you love!"</p> + +<p>"My first duty, Jack, is to my King and my country," +he declared, sitting on the edge of the table in the +spies' photographic studio. "I have tried to perform +it to-night, and have, fortunately, exposed the German +activity in our midst. When the police arrive to +view this spies' nest, we must at once search for +her who is always my confidante, and to whose +woman's wits and foresight this success is in no small +measure due."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRET OF THE SILENT SUBMARINE</h3> + + +<p>"It's a most mysterious affair, no doubt," I remarked. +"Has anything further been discovered?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Jack," replied my friend Ray Raymond, +rolling a fresh cigarette between his fingers. "On +investigation, the mystery grows more complicated, +more remarkable, and—for us—much more interesting."</p> + +<p>We were seated together in our dismal chambers in +New Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, one wet afternoon +about six weeks after the Forth Bridge affair. With +us, lolling in the shabby old easy chair beside the fire,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +sat Vera Vallance, in a big black hat, with her muff +and coat thrown aside. Her disappearance at North +Queensferry had been of only brief duration, for we +had discovered her hiding at the bottom of the long +garden, close to the water's edge, watching the landing +of two small boxes from a boat. It appeared that +the two men, Scholtz and Klauber, on receipt of the +note purporting to come from their director, Hermann +Hartmann, in London, had asked her to wait in an +adjoining room while they wrote a reply. But from +there she had slipped out, and concealed herself in the +garden to wait and watch.</p> + +<p>Half an hour ago she had come to my gloomy chambers +with her fiancé, in order, as he explained, to +consult with us. She was at present on a visit to her +married sister who lived in Argyll Road, near Kensington +High Street, hence they were daily in each other's +company.</p> + +<p>"You see, Jack, very little has been allowed to leak +out to the papers," Ray exclaimed as he lit his cigarette +and took up a position with his back to the fire. "As +soon as I read of the discovery I ran down to Scotland +Yard, saw Evans, and explained my theory. He was +inclined to agree with me, and at once gave orders +that no facts were to be given to the Press. Upon +complete secrecy, our success now depends."</p> + +<p>"I only know what I've read in the papers," I +remarked.</p> + +<p>"Tell us the whole facts, Ray," urged the pretty +fair-haired girl, who sat with her veil raised and her +long white gloves laid across her knees.</p> + +<p>"Well, dear, they are briefly as follows," he replied, +with an affectionate glance at her. "Last Thursday +afternoon, on the arrival at 4.51 of a train from Guildford +at Vauxhall, the ticket-collector discovered lying +on the floor of a third-class compartment a middle-aged,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +respectably dressed man in an apparently dying +condition. The police were called, and he was conveyed +to St. Thomas's Hospital, where it was found that he +was suffering from a severe fracture of the skull, the +wound having been inflicted probably with a loaded +stick or a life-preserver. There was a severe cut over +the right eye and a great gash down the left cheek. +The man was unconscious, and still remains so. The +doctors have grave doubts whether, even if he recovers, +his mind will not be permanently affected. +In all probability he will never regain his right +mind."</p> + +<p>"Terrible!" ejaculated Vera.</p> + +<p>"Yes. A case of attempted murder, no doubt," +he said. "But what first attracted my notice was +the statement that the man had been identified as +Max Steinheim, a German hairdresser employed in +a shop in New Bond Street, who had been missing for +nearly two months. He resided in Hargwynne Street, +Stockwell, and as he owed a considerable sum to his +landlady, she had given notice to the police of his +disappearance. It was she who had identified him +in the hospital."</p> + +<p>"That's as far as the information conveyed by the +newspapers carries the affair," I remarked.</p> + +<p>"Exactly. But we are able to proceed a little +farther, to a matter which must be closely investigated," +continued Raymond. "On the arrival of the +train at Waterloo the compartment, which showed +signs of a desperate struggle, was searched, and under +the seat was discovered a small piece of paper tightly +screwed up into a small ball as though somebody +wished to get rid of it unobserved. Upon it, in a +distinctly foreign hand, and in violet ink—which, by +the way, is seldom used by Englishmen—were traced +some cryptic memoranda, a copy of which I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +here," and he handed for our inspection a piece of +paper which presented this appearance:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">J 11864! 19505</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9.5em;">Kingscliffe</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">12.15 train St. Pancras</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">M.R. Weldon and Corby 1 mile</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Royal Pier 18</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">6.11</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">248 and 392</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">Harpur Street 2.30</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">? 8.88 M. 88</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Elmar 39 X clock.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"You've endeavoured to decipher it, of course," +I remarked, as both Vera and I gazed at the puzzling +array of numerals and words.</p> + +<p>"I have. For the past three days I've indeed done +nothing else. Unfortunately the result is not very +reassuring," he answered. "Deciphered by one of +the little-known codes, the figures 19505 stand for +'January 24th,' which is four days before the murderous +assault. Kingscliffe is the name of a village in +Northamptonshire, on the North Western line between +Peterborough and Rugby. The 12.15 from St. Pancras +is a restaurant train for Derby, and takes passengers +to Weldon and Corby station, by changing at Kettering, +and the distance '1 mile' would bring the traveller +to the village of Great Weldon."</p> + +<p>"Royal Pier sounds like the name of a hotel," I +remarked.</p> + +<p>"No doubt. But there are a good many Royal +Pier hotels in England, so there we are confronted +with a difficulty. To what 6.11 refers I cannot conceive, +while Harpur Street, which is off Theobalds +Road, I visited yesterday, but I find there are no such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +numbers as 248 or 392. The next line is unintelligible, +but if I read the last line aright it is an appointment +made beneath the clock at Charing Cross Station at +six."</p> + +<p>I drew hard at my pipe. That strange document +presented to me a very complicated puzzle.</p> + +<p>"It seems to refer to some district in Northamptonshire, +yet he was attacked coming up from Guildford, +on the South Western line!" Vera remarked. "Is +your only suspicion based upon the fact of the injured +man's nationality, Ray?"</p> + +<p>"That, combined with other circumstances," he +replied. "As soon as I read the first announcement +in the papers, I went down to Guildford and there +ascertained that the injured man arrived at the Angel +Hotel in a motor-car about one o'clock. The chauffeur +remarked to the ostler that he had come up from the +south coast, and after having a drink he started off +on the return journey. Steinheim had luncheon upstairs, +took his coffee and cigarette in the little room +below, and idled about, telling the lady bookkeeper +of the hotel that he was expecting a friend. The +friend in question did not, however, arrive, therefore +he walked down to the station, and left at 4.13 for +London. A porter remembers seeing him alone in +the compartment, and it seems quite certain that, on +starting from Guildford, he was still alone. The train +was an express, and timed not to stop anywhere from +Guildford to Vauxhall, but, from the railway officials, +I find that it was pulled up by signal about a mile +from Esher, in which time he may have been joined +by some one from the adjoining compartment."</p> + +<p>"Then your theory is that the man who attacked +this mysterious German got back again to his carriage, +and alighted at Vauxhall," I said.</p> + +<p>"I certainly think so, for the driver says that outside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +Clapham Junction the signals were against him, +and he pulled up."</p> + +<p>"It's a pity he has not sufficiently recovered to +make any statement."</p> + +<p>Ray smiled grimly.</p> + +<p>"He would never do that, I think," he said. "It +is to his advantage to conceal the facts, if my deductions +prove correct."</p> + +<p>"Are those all the known circumstances?" I inquired, +much interested.</p> + +<p>"There is one other. A week after the man's disappearance +from Stockwell, his landlady received a +letter bearing the postmark of Crawley in Sussex, +telling her not to trouble on his account. He wrote: +'I am engaged upon an important mission, but shall +return home within ten days, when I will pay all I +owe you. Do not trouble after me. Burn this letter +as soon as you have read it.—<span class="smcap">Max Steinheim.</span>' The +other fact I learned from the man's employer, an +Englishman in New Bond Street. It appears that +to the establishment there often came a stout, well-dressed, +prosperous-looking German gentleman who +waited for Steinheim to shave him, or cut his hair, +and on such occasions it was noticed that they exchanged +whispered words in their own tongue."</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked Vera, looking up at her lover.</p> + +<p>"The stout German's description tallies exactly +with that of Hermann Hartmann."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I see," I remarked. "You've certainly not +been idle, Ray." And with my eyes fixed upon that +puzzling array of figures and words, I added, "If we +could only decipher the whole of these we might +elucidate the truth."</p> + +<p>"The injured man's knowledge of Hartmann, the +crafty chief of the German Secret Service in London, +is certainly suspicious," Vera remarked. "But cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +some information be gathered from the landlady at +Hargwynne Street? He may have had visitors there."</p> + +<p>"And if he did, they would speak in German, which +the good lady could not understand," her lover replied +thoughtfully, contemplating the end of his cigarette.</p> + +<p>"There could be no harm in seeing the good lady," +the girl remarked. "I'll go over to-morrow and have +a chat with her."</p> + +<p>"And in the meantime Jack and I will pursue another +line of inquiry," remarked my friend.</p> + +<p>Vera rose, a tall, fair-haired, and sweet-faced figure +in black, and seating herself at the table, served us our +tea. She was no stranger at our chambers, and as +an Admiral's daughter, the question of German spies +in England, which her lover had taken up so strongly, +interested her most keenly. The Forth Bridge peril had +already impressed a great and serious truth upon the +Government, but Ray Raymond's success had only whetted +his appetite for further exploration and discovery.</p> + +<p>Therefore on the following morning I called at his +chambers in Bruton Street—a tastefully furnished +bachelor suite, the art green and blues of which were +scarcely in keeping with his serious, earnest character—and +together we drove in a taxi-cab to St. Thomas's +Hospital, where, in the accident ward, we stood at +the bedside of the mysterious Steinheim. His head +was enveloped in surgical bandages, but during the +night he had regained consciousness. To the questions +we put to him, however, we obtained no satisfactory +replies. His mind seemed to be a perfect blank as to +what had occurred.</p> + +<p>Ray read the copy of those cryptic figures upon the +scrap of paper found in the railway carriage. When +my friend pronounced the name of the station "Weldon +and Corby," the invalid's big grey eyes started from +his head as he exclaimed in German:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah! Yes—yes. At Weldon. She was at +Weldon!"</p> + +<p>Who was "she"? In vain we tried to wring from +him some reply to this question, but, alas! in vain.</p> + +<p>Mention of Hermann Hartmann, the ingenious and +fearless secret agent who controlled so cleverly the +vast army of German spies spread over our smiling +land of England, brought no responsive expression +to the man's white, drawn face. It was indeed apparent +that his intention was to hold back at all hazards the +truth regarding the murderous attack upon him. +Perhaps he himself was guilty of some offence, or +perhaps he intended to hold his peace then and to +retaliate at a moment when his assailant thought +himself most secure.</p> + +<p>He was a big, burly, strong-featured man, just the +type of heavy-limbed German who might be expected +to bear a murderous malice against any who did him +injury.</p> + +<p>"I feel more than ever convinced that Hartmann +is at the bottom of the curious affair," Ray declared, +as we walked together across Westminster Bridge +and I crossed with him to the St. Stephen's Club, at +the corner of the Embankment. "As far as I can +discover, the man was always in possession of ample +funds. Yet to his landlady he was careful never to +reveal that he had money. There was, no doubt, +some hidden reason for this, as well as for the letter +he wrote to the woman after his departure."</p> + +<p>"The mystery surrounding the affair grows more +fascinating as we proceed," I declared.</p> + +<p>"And if the deduction I have made this morning +proves to be the correct one, Jack, the mystery will +still increase. There's some very crooked business +in progress, depend upon it."</p> + +<p>That afternoon I had to make an application in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +Chancery Court, therefore it was not until after dinner +that I again sat in one of the green velvet chairs in his +art-green sitting-room.</p> + +<p>Contrary to his usual habit, he had not dressed, but +still wore the brown tweed suit which he had had on +in the morning.</p> + +<p>"You've brought what I asked you over the +'phone?" he inquired, as soon as I entered.</p> + +<p>"Yes," I replied, opening the well-worn leather +brief bag which I carried, and displaying a dark +lantern, a coil of strong silk rope, and a small but +serviceable jemmy. All that burglarious outfit belonged +to my friend.</p> + +<p>"Right," he exclaimed, stroking his smooth-shaven +chin. "Have a pipe. We'll leave here about ten. +We are going to spend the night in Pont Street." +And he pointed to a silver flask and a paper of sandwiches +upon the sideboard. "Vera has seen the landlady +in Stockwell, but can make nothing of her. She's +as deaf as a post. She returned home to Portsmouth +to-night."</p> + +<p>We smoked together until ten, he consuming cigarette +after cigarette in that quick, nervous manner +which showed the volcano of excitement raging within +him.</p> + +<p>"I can't think why the mention of Weldon and +Corby should have so excited our friend this morning. +To me it seemed as though he retained rather bitter +memories of the place."</p> + +<p>"And there was a woman in the case, without a +doubt."</p> + +<p>"I think, Jack, I shall go down there and have a +look round as soon as I have a chance. From the +ordnance map this place seems quite a small one. The +station is at Corby, while Little Weldon and Great +Weldon are about a mile distant."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There's just a chance, of course, that you might +pick up something there," I remarked.</p> + +<p>"And yet what I surmise leads me in entirely an +opposite direction. There are no defences or secrets +in Northamptonshire, remember."</p> + +<p>Once more he took from his writing-table the piece +of paper whereon was a copy of the strange array of +figures found in the railway carriage at Waterloo. +But at last he shook his head and laid it aside with a +sigh. The mystery remained as complete as ever.</p> + +<p>"There's a good deal that's suspicious about Hartmann. +I suppose that's why we are going to Pont +Street?" I remarked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. As I've explained, he's believed to be a money-lender +with an office in Cork Street, and is registered +as such, in order that no one should be surprised at +the constant callers at his house. He receives visits +from all sorts and conditions of men—and women, +but observation which I have placed upon the house +has convinced me that the majority of these people +are German agents of whom he is the guiding spirit +and paymaster, and among whom he is all-powerful. +Payment is made through him for all confidential +services rendered to the Fatherland."</p> + +<p>"And the police do not suspect it?"</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, have not the police received orders +from our Government to close their eyes to the doings +of these gentry? England is the paradise of the spy, +and will remain so until we can bring pressure to bear to +compel the introduction of fresh legislation against them."</p> + +<p>Soon after half-past ten a taxi-cab deposited us in +Sloane Street, and together we turned into Pont +Street, walking leisurely past a medium-sized red-fronted +house approached by a flight of steps leading +to a deep portico. There was a light in the first-floor +window of what was evidently the drawing-room<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +but the rest of the house of the arch-spy of Germany +was in darkness.</p> + +<p>As we passed the house, my friend examined its +highly respectable exterior. Then we passed on to +the end of the thoroughfare, in order to attract no +attention. A constable passed us, and in order to +avoid being noticed we walked together for some +distance. Presently, however, Ray turned back, and +gaining the house adjoining Hartmann's, ran swiftly +up the steps into the shadow of the portico, I following +at his heels.</p> + +<p>In a few seconds he had opened the door with a +latch-key he carried in his hand, and next moment +we were within the wide, echoing hall, for the house +was empty, and to let.</p> + +<p>"I called upon the agent, and had a look over this +place a few days ago," he explained. "On that +occasion, I had the key in my hand for a moment, +and obtained an impression of it," and switching on +his electric torch he showed the square hall with the +flight of stairs ascending from it.</p> + +<p>Gaining the big drawing-room, Ray crossed to the +long French window on the left and gazed cautiously +out upon the street below.</p> + +<p>As he did so I noticed the figure of a man in a dark +overcoat and felt hat cross from the opposite pavement +and ascend the stairs of the house next door. Ray +glanced at his watch, which he could see by the light +of the street lamp outside. Noticing the time, he +became reassured.</p> + +<p>"You see, Jack, that from here runs a balcony leading +to that of Hartmann's house. We must creep along +it and try and get a peep of our friend at home. I've +watched that drawing-room window for a long time, +and I believe that he makes it his business room."</p> + +<p>Carefully he unfastened the French window, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +bending low so as to escape the observation of any +person passing by, we both crept along the narrow +balcony until, by swinging from one balustrade to the +other, we found ourselves standing over Hartmann's +portico.</p> + +<p>Even from where we stood we could hear voices. +Forward we crept again until we were outside the +windows of the drawing-room, crouching so that no +inquisitive policeman could detect us.</p> + +<p>The blind of the window at which I listened did not +fit well, therefore, through the small crack, I was +enabled to peer within. The room was a large, well-furnished +one with a fire burning brightly; near it +stood a large roll-top writing-table at which sat a +fat, flabby, sardonic-faced man of about fifty-five. +He had grey eyes full of craft and cunning, a prominent +nose, and a short-cropped grey beard. Ray +whispered that it was the great Hartmann.</p> + +<p>Near the fire, seated nervously on the extreme edge +of a chair, was a respectably dressed man, a German +evidently, with his hat in his hand. The man presented +the appearance of a hard-working mechanic, and was +obviously ill at ease.</p> + +<p>We watched them in conversation, but could not +distinguish one single word of what was said. All +we could gather was that the fat man was overbearing +in his manner, and that the visitor was most humble +and subservient against his will.</p> + +<p>For a full half-hour we watched, but unable to gather +anything further, we were compelled to return to the +house next door and regain the street, where for still +twenty minutes longer we waited for the visitor's exit. +When at last he came forth we followed him to the +corner of Knightsbridge, opposite the Hyde Park Hotel, +where he boarded a motor-bus, from which he eventually +descended at the corner of Gray's Inn Road<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +walking thence to a house in Harpur Street, Bloomsbury, +where we later on discovered he lodged, under +the name of Leon Karff.</p> + +<p>The nature of the mission entrusted to this man, if +one had actually been entrusted to him, was a mystery, +yet it was a curious fact that "Harpur Street" appeared +upon that scrap of paper which to us was such +an enigma.</p> + +<p>Next morning at six o'clock, I was already idling, +at the corner of Harpur Street and Theobalds Road, +but not until three hours later did the foreigner emerge +and walk toward Holborn. Thence he took a motor-bus +back to Sloane Street, and calling upon Hartmann, +spent another half an hour with him.</p> + +<p>And afterwards he went straight home. It was then +about noon, and having an engagement in Court, I +was compelled to relinquish my vigil. But at a little +after five Ray entered our chambers, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"As I expected! That man Karff has been to see +Steinheim in the hospital. I was there awaiting him, +believing that he might visit him. Apparently the +injured man has given him certain instructions."</p> + +<p>"About what?"</p> + +<p>Ray shrugged his shoulders in blank ignorance. +Then he said, "We have advanced one step toward +the solution of the problem, my dear Jack. But we +have not gone very far."</p> + +<p>He took the copy of the cryptogram from my +writing-table and again examined it. The figures +"6.11" puzzled him. Many times he referred to them.</p> + +<p>Four days passed, during which we kept strict +observation upon Karff and followed him wherever he +went. On the fifth day, Ray having spent all the +morning watching him, to relieve him I walked along +the Theobalds Road a few minutes before one and +paused, as usual, before the oil shop at the corner.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +There was no sign of my friend, and though I waited +through the whole of that cold afternoon and evening, +continuing my wearisome vigil till midnight, yet he +did not come.</p> + +<p>Much surprised, I returned to New Stone Buildings, +where I found a telegram from Ray, sent from Waterloo +Station at three o'clock, telling me that all was +right, and urging me to await further information.</p> + +<p>This I did. For a whole week I possessed myself +in patience, not knowing where Ray was or what had +befallen him. That he was on the trail of a solution +of the mystery was evident, but he sent me no word +of his whereabouts.</p> + +<p>It was apparent, however, that he was no longer in +London.</p> + +<p>Eleven days after his disappearance I one afternoon +received another telegram, which had been handed in +at Chichester, asking me to go at once to the Queen's +Hotel at Southsea, where he would meet me at ten +o'clock that night.</p> + +<p>At the hour appointed I awaited him in my bedroom +overlooking Southsea Common and the harbour, and +at last he joined me. I saw by the serious expression +upon his face that something unusual had happened.</p> + +<p>"The fellow Karff has realised that I'm following +him, Jack. Therefore you must take the matter up. +He's in the service of a greengrocer in Queen Street, +close to the Hard. I haven't yet discovered his game."</p> + +<p>Thus there was left to me a very difficult matter, a +mystery which I exerted every effort to unravel. For +the next fortnight I watched the fellow incessantly, +being relieved sometimes by the pretty daughter of +the Admiral Superintendent, whose home was fortunately +in the Dockyard. In all weathers and at all +times we watched, but we failed to discover anything. +Ray remained at the hotel impatient and inactive,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +and I must admit that more than once I was inclined +to believe that he had been mistaken in his surmises. +Leon Karff was, as far as we could discover, a hard-working +foreigner, driven by force of circumstances +into adopting the lowly calling of a greengrocer's assistant. +His employer supplied with fruit and vegetables +the officers' messes of several of the ships in the Dockyard, +and on infrequent occasions he drove in the light +cart with his master when on his rounds taking orders.</p> + +<p>This round at last he was in the habit of making +three times a week.</p> + +<p>One Saturday morning, as I was idling along the +Hard, I saw Karff and his master, a man named +Mitchell, drive in past the policeman at the main +gate. But though I waited for over three hours to +watch their exit, they did not reappear.</p> + +<p>Much surprised at this, I walked round to the Unicorn +Gate, at Landport, where, on making judicious inquiries +of the policeman on duty, I learnt that Mitchell had +driven out—but alone! His assistant, he said, had +been sent back on foot with a message through the +main gate just when the dockyard men or "maties," +as they are called, were leaving work at midday.</p> + +<p>Now having stood at that gate when the throngs +had poured forth, I was quite certain he had not +emerged. But I kept my own counsel, and returned +to Southsea, deep in my own reflections.</p> + +<p>On taking counsel with Ray, he at once telephoned +to Vera at Admiralty House, and an hour later we all +three discussed the situation, it being arranged that +the Admiral's daughter should contrive to admit us +to the Dockyard that night, when all was quiet, in +order that we might institute a search for the missing +German.</p> + +<p>Therefore, just before half-past eleven, we halted +before the small private door in the Dockyard wall,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +used by the Admiral-Superintendent and his household, +and as the clock struck the door opened, revealing +Vera. Next instant we were within the forbidden zone.</p> + +<p>The night was frosty and a good deal too bright to +suit our purpose. Vera gave some instructions to her +lover, pointing to a row of long, dark sheds with sloping +roofs on the opposite side of the Dockyard, saying:</p> + +<p>"If he's inside, he's almost certain to be hidden +somewhere near No. 4 shed. But be careful of the +police; they are very watchful over yonder."</p> + +<p>And after refastening the gate she disappeared into +the darkness.</p> + +<p>In the deep shadows we both crept noiselessly forward, +negotiating in safety a pair of lock-gates in the open, +and pursuing our way until in the vicinity of the shed +which the Admiral's daughter had pointed out we +discovered an old boiler, in which we both secreted +ourselves.</p> + +<p>Hardly had we crept inside when we heard the +measured tramp of a policeman, who passed actually +within a few feet of us. From the round hole in which +we lay we could see Gosport—a pale row of lamps +across the harbour.</p> + +<p>We waited there, scarcely daring to whisper, until +at last the clock struck one. If Karff was in the +vicinity of that shed beside which we were secreted, +he made no sign. All was silent. Once the shrill +siren of a ship out at Spithead broke the quiet. Then +its echoes died away.</p> + +<p>"I really think we might have a careful look round," +Ray suggested after a long silence.</p> + +<p>With great care, therefore, we both emerged from +our hiding-place, and keeping well within the shadows, +passed round shed No. 4, which we found was completely +closed in from view, its door being strongly +barred and padlocked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<p>Unable to see anything, we decided to halt in the +darkness behind a heap of scrap-iron and to listen for +any sound of movement.</p> + +<p>The cutting wind chilled us both to the marrow, +for a white rime had gathered on the ground. The +only sound we heard was that of the measured footsteps +of another constable, which advanced and then +died away again. There was, however, no sign of the +German spy.</p> + +<p>"To get in by the door yonder would be impossible. +Therefore, he would try the roof," my companion +remarked.</p> + +<p>"You're right," I said. "You remain down here +and watch while I try and get up above."</p> + +<p>So I left him, and after considerable difficulty succeeded +in gaining the roof of the shed adjoining, +crouching in the gutter between the sloping roofs of +the two sheds.</p> + +<p>On each side of me sloped upwards skylights which +lighted the interiors of the building-sheds, but all +were thickly coated with a composition of dockyard +dust and soot, which had been poured forth from +many a warship's funnel as well as from the dozens +of furnaces around. All was dark below; therefore +I could see nothing.</p> + +<p>I had been in my elevated position for fully twenty +minutes before I was prompted to creep along to the +further end of the gulley, where, to my surprise, I +saw that close to where I stood two panes of glass had +been neatly removed and laid aside.</p> + +<p>Through the hole I gazed down into the interior +of the shed, when I was startled to see the small glow +of an electric lamp in the hand of the man of whom +we were in search.</p> + +<p>He was standing beside the long, spindle-shaped +hull of a new submarine boat which lay on a very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +elevated set of stocks on the far side of the shed. +Another boat similar, but not so nearly complete, lay +at the bottom of the dock alongside her.</p> + +<p>As Karff with his electric lamp moved slowly and +noiselessly along, carefully examining England's +newest submarine, which rumour had said was the +most silent and perfect craft of its kind, I was able +to make out vaguely that, differing considerably from +photographs of other submarines I had seen, the boat +on the elevated stocks had a bow which ran out into +a kind of snout, while instead of the usual small circular +or oval conning-tower she had what looked like +a long, narrow superstructure running along the +greater part of her length. This, however, was much +higher forward than aft. She seemed, too, to have +a great number of propellers.</p> + +<p>I watched the man Karff making some rapid +memoranda, and so occupied was he with his work +that he never looked upward. Had he done so, he +would certainly have detected my head against the sky.</p> + +<p>In a manner which showed him to be fully acquainted +with the construction of submarine vessels, he moved +to and fro, examining both boats. Then, after about +half an hour's minute investigation, he seated himself +upon a bench and with his little lamp shaded to throw +no reflection he took out a piece of paper and leisurely +made a rough sketch of England's newest war-craft, +both side and horizontal views.</p> + +<p>Leaving him thus occupied, I descended to Ray, +and finding him secreted near the water's edge, described +what I had discovered.</p> + +<p>"Good!" he exclaimed. "So I was not mistaken +in that cryptogram after all! We will allow the fellow +to complete his work and then compel him to disgorge his +notes. They will furnish us with very excellent evidence."</p> + +<p>So we waited, keeping our eyes fixed upon the spot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +where he must descend, and hardly daring to breathe +lest we should prematurely alarm him.</p> + +<p>The Dockyard clock chimed three, but the spy had +not emerged. After another half-hour of watchful +silence I saw that Ray began to be anxious. At last +the bell rang out four, and scarcely had the last sound +died away when we were startled by a splash near +us, and next moment discerned a man in white shirtsleeves +swimming away.</p> + +<p>"Why! That's him!" I gasped. "He's cut a +way out of the side of the shed!"</p> + +<p>But next moment a boat shot forth from the darkness +pulled by a woman who had apparently been +waiting close by. The woman was Vera!</p> + +<p>In a moment we were both down the steps and +pulling in the boat towards the swimming man, who, +we saw, was being rapidly approached by a second +boat which had also been in waiting until the chiming +of the clock.</p> + +<p>The spy was exerting every muscle to reach the +boat, but we soon overtook him.</p> + +<p>Ray called upon him in German to surrender, but +he refused, and kept on. Quickly, however, we cut +him off from the boat which he was trying to reach, +while the rower, seeing the discovery of his friend, +pulled away into the darkness.</p> + +<p>For some time the spy struggled on, but at last, +abandoned and exhausted, he was compelled to obey +us and come aboard in order to save his life.</p> + +<p>Half dead and helpless he submitted to our search, +when in his belt, preserved in an oilskin pocket, we +discovered the memoranda and the drawing which I +had seen him prepare.</p> + +<p>The man, sullen and half drowned, refused to make +any statement, though he could speak English well +and write it perfectly, as shown by the note on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +plan of the new boat; therefore we landed him at the +Stony Steps across at Gosport. Before we left him +we gave him to understand that if he did not at once +leave the country he would be arrested. Yet so absurd +is our law that I doubt whether we could have given +him in charge even though we had wished!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a href="images/i-053-big.png"> +<img src="images/i-053.png" width="600" height="181" alt="LEON KARFF'S ROUGH DRAWING OF THE NEW BRITISH SUBMARINE. + +The letters refer to the notes which were also found, and which ran as follows: AA, Conning Tower; BB, Telephone Buoys; +CC, Hatchways; D, Lifeboat (detachable); E, Rudder; FF, Wells with Horizontal Propellers; GG, Planes; H, Hatch from +Diving Chamber; II, Wheels in Recesses; K, Detachable Safety Weight in Recess; L, Tiller; T T T T, Torpedo Tubes; +P P P P, Propellers. + +I. Side View (in awash position). II. Horizontal position (from above). Scale, 1/2 inch to 12 feet." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">LEON KARFF'S ROUGH DRAWING OF THE NEW BRITISH SUBMARINE.<br /> + +The letters refer to the notes which were also found, and which ran as follows: AA, Conning Tower; BB, Telephone Buoys; +CC, Hatchways; D, Lifeboat (detachable); E, Rudder; FF, Wells with Horizontal Propellers; GG, Planes; H, Hatch from +Diving Chamber; II, Wheels in Recesses; K, Detachable Safety Weight in Recess; L, Tiller; T T T T, Torpedo Tubes; +P P P P, Propellers.<br /> + +I. Side View (in awash position). II. Horizontal position (from above). Scale, 1/2 inch to 12 feet.</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> + +<p>We rowed back across to the landing-stage at Portsmouth +Harbour Station, and after we had seen Vera +safely home we returned together to the "Queen's" +at Southsea, where, in the secrecy of Ray's bedroom, +we examined the spy's plan of the new submarine, +and read his memoranda, which were in German, but +which translated were as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">"Report by Leon Karff, late foreman-fitter +at Kiel Dockyard, on Submarine +'F 2,' now building in Shed No. 4, Portsmouth +Dockyard.</span></p> + +<p>"This boat would appear to me to be of about +700 tons displacement when complete, possibly +rather over. She is, as far as I am able to measure, +about 180 feet long with an extreme beam a little +forward of amidships of 20 feet. She is fitted +with three propeller shafts with three small four-bladed +propellers on each. As she is provided +with what appear to me to be some kind of turbine +engines, I imagine that the centre shaft is for +going astern only. The propellers on this shaft +seem to be attached in such a way that they could +be 'feathered' by suitable gearing on board so +as not to retard the vessel's way when going +ahead. The engines of this boat are of a type +which I have never before seen. I imagine that +they are a combination of the new 'gas-producer' +engine and the turbine system, the explosion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +the combined gas and air being split up and passing +into the turbine through a number of different +channels simultaneously. This would be a very +economical system if the necessary power can +be obtained, and would be much safer for use +below than petrol engines.</p> + +<p>"The boat is evidently intended to operate +a good deal in an 'awash' position, for there is +fairly thick armour-plating over the greater part +of the upper side of the bow, while the fore end +of the superstructure is made of two 6-inch Krupp +steel plates meeting at an acute angle, and so +forming a kind of stem when the boat is moving +in this way. The space enclosed between these +two plates is evidently intended to be used as +the conning-tower. Here there are a periscope, +steering-wheel, voice-tubes, and everything necessary +for the control of the vessel. There are +two horizontal propellers or fans, which seem to be +driven by electricity derived from an installation +of accumulators, and which are certainly intended +to secure horizontal immersion, so the vessel will +not plunge or dive, but immerse herself horizontally +by means of these propellers, which, by the +way, work in vertical shafts running completely +through the boat, one forward and the other aft, +as was the case in the <i>Nordenfeldt</i>, <i>Waddington</i>, +and other early submarines.</p> + +<p>"Forward there is an air-lock and diving-chamber, +as in the 'Lake' boats, so that divers +can get in and out of the vessel whilst under +water. It would also afford a means of escape +for the crew in the case of accident. This is +further provided for by a detachable boat or +caisson at the after end of the superstructure +capable of holding ten men, I should say, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +possibly a dozen. There are also appliances which +I suppose are telephone buoys for communicating +with the surface. There are six torpedo tubes +fitted, one forward, one aft, and the others two +on either broadside. And there seems to be provision +for six other torpedoes of the 18-inch type.</p> + +<p>"There is a long rudder for ordinary steering, +and four horizontal ones or planes which are +placed abreast the horizontal screws and which, +I imagine, act automatically in conjunction with +them, as they seem to gear up with the shafts +for these propellers. There is a big safety detachable +weight which fits loosely into a recess +amidships, and four broad wheels with ball bearings +which do not fold up as in the 'Lake' boats, +but always protrude nearly half their diameter. +After all they would not obstruct her way when +water-borne more than a keel—or very little +more. They are quite independent and unconnected +with the interior of the vessel, which +while resting on them would receive forward +impetus from her propellers. In the 'awash' +position she would offer a very small and almost +invulnerable target."</p></blockquote> + +<p>"Well," I said, marvelling at what we had translated. +"What induced you to believe that the cryptogram +had any reference to the new submarine."</p> + +<p>"Those figures '6.11' puzzled me greatly," he +replied; "but at last I deciphered them as 'F. 2'—F +being the sixth letter of the alphabet—the number +of our newest and most formidable submarine, which +was being kept such a strict secret by the Admiralty. +'Royal Pier' is the name of the hotel in which Steinheim +stayed at Southsea, and 18 the number of his +room. From facts I elucidated, it was made plain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +that Max Steinheim was about to embark upon the +investigation, being in secret communication with +Hartmann, and was to meet Karff at Charing Cross +Station. This Steinheim had already, by an ingenious +device, secured from a private of engineers named +James Ward—whom I have seen—certain information +regarding the new boom defences of Portsmouth +Harbour. Ward, whose home is at Great Weldon, +suddenly discovered to his horror that the man was +a German spy, followed him to Guildford, attacked +him in the train, and left him for dead. For that +reason Steinheim has refused to make any statement +to the police. When I saw Ward a week ago, he explained +how innocently he had fallen into the trap +which the cunning Steinheim had laid for him."</p> + +<p>"The evidence you have here in black and white +will surely prove convincing," I remarked. "You +will go and see Steinheim again, I suppose? He is +still in the hospital."</p> + +<p>"No. We shall remain silent. To show our hand +will only place Hartmann on the alert. To do that +is needless. We have prevented the plan of our new +submarine going to Germany, and for the present +that is sufficient."</p> + +<p>And my friend drew up the blind and gazed out +upon the rosy dawn across the water.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE BACK-DOOR OF ENGLAND</h3> + + +<p>"Well, that's rather curious," I remarked, closing +the door of the old oak-panelled smoking-room at +Metfield Park, and returning to where my friend Ray +Raymond was seated.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Was anyone outside the door?" he asked, quickly +on the alert.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Hill-Mason's German maid. You remember, +Vera pointed her out yesterday."</p> + +<p>"H'm! and she was listening—after every one +else has gone to bed!" he remarked. "Yes, Jack, +it's curious."</p> + +<p>It was past one o'clock in the morning. Two +months had passed since the affair down at Portsmouth, +but we had not been inactive. We were sitting +before the great open fireplace where the logs were +blazing, after the rest of the men had taken their +candles and retired, and had been exchanging confidences +in ignorance of the fact that the door remained +ajar. I had, however, detected the <i>frou-frou</i> of a +woman's skirt, and creeping across to the door had +seen the maid of one of the guests disappearing down +the stone passage which led to the great hall now in +darkness.</p> + +<p>Metfield Park, three miles from Melton Constable, +in Norfolk, the seat of the Jocelyns, was a fine old +Tudor place in the centre of a splendid park, where +the pheasant shooting was always excellent. Harry +Jocelyn, the heir, had been with us at Balliol, hence +Ray and I usually received invitations to the shooting +parties. On this occasion, however, Vera Vallance +with her aunt, Mrs. Mortimer, had been invited, much +to Ray's satisfaction.</p> + +<p>Among the party was a well-known naval officer, +captain of a first-class cruiser, two military officers, +and several smart women, for both Sir Herbert and +Lady Jocelyn moved in a very smart set. Several of +the ladies had joined us in the smoking-room for +cigarettes, and the conversation around the fire had +been mainly the usual society chatter, until at one +o'clock every one had left for bed except our two selves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> + +<p>Over the great fireplace were the arms of the Jocelyns +carved in stone, with the date 1573, and in the corner +near the window was a stand of armour upon which +the dancing flames glinted ever and anon. Through +the long uncurtained window shone the bright moon +from over the park, and just as I reseated myself the +stable clock chimed the half-hour.</p> + +<p>We had been there four days, and the sport had +been excellent. On the previous day Ray had excused +himself on account of the bad weather, and had spent +the hours mostly with Vera.</p> + +<p>It was of how he had employed his time that he +had been telling me when I had discovered the +eavesdropper.</p> + +<p>"I wonder why our conversation should prove so +interesting to that maid?" he remarked thoughtfully, +gazing into the fire. "She's rather good-looking for +a German, isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said. "But who is this Mrs. Hill-Mason? +She seems a rather loud and buxom person, fond of +the display of jewellery, dark, somewhat oleaginous, +and devoted to bridge."</p> + +<p>"Harry says his mother met her in Cairo last winter. +She's one of the Somerset Masons—half-sister to the +Countess of Thanet."</p> + +<p>"Oh, she is known, then?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. But we must get Vera to make some +inquiry to-morrow as to where she obtained her maid," +declared Ray. "The woman is interested in us, and +we must discover the cause."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I somehow mistrust her," I said. "I met +her crossing the hall just before dinner, and I detected +a curious look in her eyes as she glanced at me."</p> + +<p>"Merely your fancy, Jack, old chap—because she's +German," he laughed, stretching his long legs.</p> + +<p>"Well, what you were telling me about Vera and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +her discovery has alarmed me," I said, tossing away +the end of my cigar.</p> + +<p>"Yes, she only returned last week from Emden, +where she's been visiting her old German governess, +who, it seems, is now married to an official in the construction +department of the German Admiralty. From +her friend she was able to learn a lot, which will, no +doubt, cause our Lords of the Admiralty a bad quarter +of an hour."</p> + +<p>"What would the British public think if they were +told the truth—that Germany is rapidly building a +secret fleet?" I said.</p> + +<p>"Why, my dear fellow, the public would simply +say you were a liar," he laughed. "Every Englishman +fancies himself top-dog, even though British diplomacy—apart +from that of our excellent King—is the +laughing-stock of the Powers. No," he added, "the +truth is out. All yesterday I spent with Vera, preparing +the information which she forwarded to the +Admiralty to-night. I registered the letter for her +at the village post office. The authorities owe her a +very deep debt for succeeding in obtaining the information +which our secret service has always failed to get. +She, an admiral's daughter, is now able to furnish +actual details of the ships now building in secret and +where they are being constructed."</p> + +<p>"A matter which will, no doubt, be considered very +seriously by the Government," I said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I suppose they treat the whole thing lightly, +as they always do. We invite invasion," he sighed as +he rose, adding: "Let's turn in now. To-morrow we'll +keep an eye upon that unusually inquisitive maid."</p> + +<p>That night the eyes of the German maid haunted +me. I could not rid myself of their recollection. +Was it that this hunting down of German spies was +getting on my nerves?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<p>Next day we were shooting Starlings Wood, about +five miles distant, but Ray having "cried off" one +day, could not do so again. Therefore, at his suggestion, +I made an excuse and remained at home with +the ladies. The morning I spent walking through +the park with Vera, a smart, sweet-faced little figure +in her short tweed skirt and furs, with her bright and +vivacious chatter. From her I learnt some further +details concerning her visit to Emden.</p> + +<p>"Ray is most excited about it, Mr. Jacox," she +was saying. "Of course, I had to make my inquiries +with great caution and discretion, but I managed to +find out what I wanted, and I sent all the details to +the Admiralty yesterday."</p> + +<p>Then as we went along the wide beech avenue I +told her of the curious incident in the smoking-room +on the previous evening.</p> + +<p>"Ray was telling me about it just before breakfast," +she said, turning her splendid eyes to mine. "I have +already made some inquiries of Mrs. Hill-Mason, and +it appears that the maid Erna Stolberg was recommended +to her by a friend when she was in Dresden +last year. She's a most exemplary person, and has +a number of friends in England. She was previously +with a French <i>baronne</i>."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Hill-Mason often moves in a military set, +doesn't she?" I remarked. "Somebody last night +stated that she's the widow of a general, and is well +known down at Aldershot."</p> + +<p>"I believe so."</p> + +<p>"If Mrs. Hill-Mason visits at the houses of military +officers, as it seems she does, then this inquisitive +maid would be afforded many opportunities for +gathering information. I intend to watch her," I +said.</p> + +<p>"And so will I, Mr. Jacox," replied the admiral's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +daughter, drawing her astrachan collar tighter about +her throat.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later we drove in the wagonette out to +the shooting-party in the woods, where a merry luncheon +was served in a marquee. I, however, returned +to the house before the rest of the party and +haunted the servants' hall. With Williams the butler +I was on friendly terms, and finding him in the great +hall, began to make inquiries regarding the guests' +servants.</p> + +<p>"You've got a German woman among them, haven't +you?" I remarked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," was his reply. "A rather funny one +she is, I fancy. She goes out alone for walks after +she's dressed her mistress for dinner, and is out sometimes +till quite late. What she does wandering about +in the dark nobody knows. But it ain't for me to say +a word, sir; she's a visitor's maid."</p> + +<p>I held my own counsel, but resolved to watch.</p> + +<p>Tea in the great hall, over which Lady Jocelyn +presided, proved the usual irresponsible function, but +when I went to my room to dress for dinner I became +convinced that certain papers in my suit-case had +been turned over and investigated.</p> + +<p>That night I did not go in to dinner. I heard the +gong sound, and when the company had gone in, I put +on thick boots, overcoat, and cap, and passed through +the back way along the old wing of the house, through +the smoking-room, and out upon the drive.</p> + +<p>Behind some holly bushes where I could see any +one leave by the great paved courtyard where the +servants' entrance was situated, I concealed myself +and waited in patience. The night was dark and +overcast. The stable chimes had rung out half-past +eight, but I still remained until, about twenty minutes +later, footfalls sounded, and from out the arched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +entrance to the courtyard came a female figure in a +close-fitting hat and long dark ulster.</p> + +<p>She passed close by me, under the light of the lamp, and +I saw it was the fair-haired woman for whom I was waiting.</p> + +<p>Instead of walking straight down the avenue to the +lodge-gates, she struck along a footpath which led for +a mile across the park, first skirting the lake—the +fishpond of the monks who lived there before the +Dissolution; then, passing under the dark shadow of +a spinney, led to a stile by which the high park wall +could be negotiated and the main road to East Dereham +reached.</p> + +<p>As she went forward so I followed. I knew the +path well. I watched her ascend the stile and cross +the wall into the road. Then I crept up and peered +over into the darkness. She had turned to the right, +and I could discern her waiting at the roadside about +thirty yards away.</p> + +<p>From my place of concealment I could hear her slow +footsteps as she idled up and down in the darkness, +evidently waiting for some one.</p> + +<p>I think about ten minutes passed when I heard the +whir of a motor-car approaching, its big glaring headlamps +shedding a stream of white brilliance over the +muddy road. As it approached her it slowed down +and stopped. Then I distinguished it to be a big +Limousine, the occupant of which opened the door, +and she entered with a word of greeting.</p> + +<p>I stood peering into the darkness, in surprise and +disappointment at not catching sight of the person +with whom she was keeping these nightly appointments. +As soon as the door had banged the driver drove across +the road, backed, and turning, sped away in the direction +he had come.</p> + +<p>But while he was turning I had gained the road, +advancing beneath the hedgerow in an endeavour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +to see the number of the car. But I was baffled. It +was covered with mud.</p> + +<p>Afterwards, much disappointed, and certainly hungry, +I made my way back across the park to the Hall, where, +after managing to get a snack from Williams, I joined +the party at bridge.</p> + +<p>That night the woman Stolberg returned at five +minutes to eleven, and later, when Ray went upstairs +with me, I described what I had seen.</p> + +<p>Next night, instead of following her out, I waited +at the spot at half-past ten, when, sure enough, the +car returned ten minutes later and deposited her. +The number plates, however, were obliterated by the +mud both front and back—purposely it seemed to me. +The man within shook her hand as she alighted, but +I could not see his face. Was he some secret lover? +Apparently she went no great distance each evening, +going and coming from the direction of Holt.</p> + +<p>On the following day I took several opportunities +of watching the woman at close quarters. Her eyes +were peculiarly set, very close together, her lips were +thin, and her cheek-bones rather high. Otherwise +she was not bad-looking. Mrs. Hill-Mason had, of +course, no idea of her maid's nocturnal motor-rides.</p> + +<p>Whether the woman had any suspicion that she +was being watched I know not; but on the next night +when Ray took a turn at keeping an eye upon her, she +did not go out, but on the next she went, and Ray +followed her to the park wall, but saw nothing more +than I had done.</p> + +<p>All this time, of course, Vera was greatly interested +in the result of our observations. Through her own +maid, Batson, she discovered the room occupied by +the German, and to this I made my way, at considerable +risk, one morning while the maid was busy attending +upon her mistress. I had a good look through her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +belongings, finding in her trunk a small, flat tin box, +japanned dark green, strong, and secured by a lock of +well-known make. What, I wondered, did it contain?</p> + +<p>Could I have but seen the number of the mysterious +car I could have discovered the identity of her nocturnal +visitor.</p> + +<p>The same day that I discovered the tin box in her +trunk, Mrs. Hill-Mason, however, returned to London, +taking with her the mysterious Fräulein.</p> + +<p>Three days more went by, and I was about to dismiss +the affair as a combination of curious circumstances. +Vera and her aunt had left to pay a visit in Worcestershire, +and Ray I were due to go up to town that +morning, when he entered my room, saying abruptly:</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to London yet, Jack. I shall go +over to Cromer instead."</p> + +<p>"Cromer!" I echoed. "Hardly the time of year +for the seaside."</p> + +<p>That same grey chilly afternoon, in the grey falling +light, we sat upon one of the seats of the pier at Cromer +gazing seaward, towards where the German coast +lay beyond the indistinct horizon. The place was +deserted save for ourselves. On the cliff behind us +stood the long red façade and many gables of the +Hotel de Paris, where we had put up, while in the +background rose the square old church tower, the +landmark of mariners from Haisborough Gat to the +Dowsing.</p> + +<p>"There's just a chance of us falling upon something +interesting about here," Ray was saying, as he pressed +the tobacco into his pipe, and by the expression upon +his keen clean-shaven face I saw that he had scented +the presence of spies. "Has it never struck you," +he went on, "that the east coast, where we now are +is the most vulnerable spot in England, and the first +objective of the Kaiser's army? Every soldier and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +sailor in Germany dreams of 'the Day'—the day +when he will set foot upon this shore. For some years +past our Intelligence Department has known of the +German plans for our invasion. There are several, +but in each one a dash, and a surprise landing along +this coast of Norfolk and of Suffolk and Essex is the +first step. Knowledge of this prompted Lord Roberts +to resign his seat on the National Defence Committee +and make those stirring speeches pointing out our +country's peril."</p> + +<p>"And what thanks did the country give him?" I +interrupted. "People only laugh at him for his +trouble!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said my friend bitterly, "the public are +ignorant, therefore they do not heed. They talk +glibly about the strength of our navy, forgetful that +the German diplomacy is the cleverest and most cunning +in the world. When 'the Day' dawns there will +be no suspicion of war, and certainly no declaration +of hostilities. Before we have realised that war is +in the air, the enemy will have their feet firmly planted +upon British soil."</p> + +<p>"And if the enemy intend landing along this shore, +it is certain that spies are active here, gathering all +information likely to be of service to the invader."</p> + +<p>"That's exactly why I've come here, my dear Jack," +my friend said. "We know that our eastern counties +have been divided into districts by the Germans, and +in each one or more secret agents are busily at work +taking notes of food supplies, forage, blacksmiths' +shops, motor-cars for transport, the destruction of +telegraphs and telephones, positions for artillery, and +the best mode of advance south to London. One +may rest assured that the ordnance map is being very +much amplified just now."</p> + +<p>That evening we spent idly in the hotel, and next<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +day, hiring a motor-car, we drove through Runton +to Sheringham and over the hills three miles further +towards the back-door of England—the place neglected +by those responsible for our defences, and by the +public alike—Weybourne.</p> + +<p>The road from Sheringham ran down a steep hill, +called the Fox Hill, to the little village that lay cosily +at some distance from the sea. Passing the church +we turned sharply to the right, and in a few minutes +found ourselves against a large front with a wide open +beach beyond.</p> + +<p>Having alighted, we walked along beside the surf +for some distance, out of hearing of our chauffeur, +when my friend exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Here is one of the spots which the Germans have +chosen for landing. Look at it! Everything is in +favour of a hostile force. That range of hills we've +just come over at the back would be occupied by the +landing force at once, and thus they would command +the whole country from Kelling, which you see to +the right, away south beyond Cromer, down to Baxton +beyond Mundesley."</p> + +<p>With my back to the long rolling breakers I gazed +away landward at the long line of hills stretching in +each direction. It was, indeed, an ideal spot for an +enemy to effect a landing, with deep water right up +to the land.</p> + +<p>"Because of the confidence we have in our fleet +and our wonderful diplomacy this place is no longer +watched," Raymond remarked, standing beside me +muffled in his motor-coat, for the wind was intensely +cold. "Yet in days gone by, by reason of the facilities +which nature has provided for the landing of hostile +forces, it was carefully guarded whenever the invasion +of England was believed to be imminent."</p> + +<p>After we had strolled some distance along the beach,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +where the grey-green waters were breaking into foam, +my friend suddenly halted and, taking a piece of paper +from his pocket, stood with his back to the sea and +made a sketch of the irregular contour of the blue +hills facing him from the coastguard at Salthouse on +the right to the rising ground behind Upper Sheringham +on the left—the positions which are to be first +occupied by the enemy in their attack upon us.</p> + +<p>He made no explanation of the reason of his action, +therefore I stood by watching in silence.</p> + +<p>At last we returned to the car and drove inland to +Weybourne village, a sleepy old-world little place +from which the sea has receded. As we turned into +the main road he ordered the man to pull up, and, +descending, looked about him, first at the lines of +telegraph-wire running beside the road, and then we +both strolled through the village. My companion's +eyes were everywhere. He appeared to be making +mental notes of every feature of the obscure little +place.</p> + +<p>Just as we were returning to the car he suddenly +halted, saying:</p> + +<p>"You go on. A thought has just occurred to me." +And, turning, he walked back to the small village post +office situated next door to an inn, and was absent +for nearly a quarter of an hour.</p> + +<p>"As I suspected!" he remarked beneath his +breath as he rejoined me. "That inn is kept by a +German!"</p> + +<p>Then we travelled along to Cley-next-the-Sea, and +thence by way of Candlestick Hill and through the +wooded country around Holt, back to Sheringham, +where we lunched at the "Burlington."</p> + +<p>His manner had changed. He had again become +serious and thoughtful. A cycling map of the district +which he had bought in Cromer that morning he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +brought out, and as we sat together in the smoking-room +he spread it upon the table and began measuring +distances with a slip of folded paper.</p> + +<p>The car was at the door at four o'clock, and we were +in the act of moving off, when by mere chance I looked +up at the second floor of the hotel. What I saw caused +me to hold my breath.</p> + +<p>A face was at one of the windows watching us.</p> + +<p>I nudged my friend, and cried, "Look!"</p> + +<p>But when he raised his head it had gone. Indeed, +the white face had only showed there for a single +instant, yet it was a countenance that I too well +remembered, it was unmistakable—that of Fräulein +Stolberg!</p> + +<p>I told Ray as we whirled along into the town. But +he only grunted in surprise, and remarked that we +were going to Beccles.</p> + +<p>Why was that woman there instead of being with +her mistress, who, we had ascertained, was now visiting +at Cheltenham?</p> + +<p>Our way lay first back to Cromer, where we joined +the direct Norwich road by way of Aylsham, but about +four miles after passing Cromer the road divided. The +left-hand one ran to our destination, but at Ray's +orders we took the right-hand one, and in the darkening +twilight struck across a wide heath, which I afterwards +learnt was called Roughton Heath, until we passed +an old windmill, and entered the small crooked village +of Roughton. We passed beyond the place for a +quarter of a mile, and then descending, walked forward +until we came to a good-sized, comfortable, old-fashioned +house, probably of the days of Queen Anne, +that lay behind a high red-brick wall.</p> + +<p>Through the iron gates I noticed, as we paused, +a wide lawn in front, with steps leading up to a portico, +and behind a large orchard and meadow. The blinds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +were already down, but in several of the windows +lights showed, and the place looked well kept up.</p> + +<p>It differed but little from hundreds of other old-fashioned +houses in the country, but it evidently held +considerable attraction for Ray, because as we passed +beyond the gates, and out of sight of any one in the +house, he took out his electric torch and carefully +examined the muddy roadway.</p> + +<p>"See!" he exclaimed, pointing to tracks that ran +in and out of the gateway. "The car's home is here!"</p> + +<p>"What car?"</p> + +<p>"The car which used to meet the German maid at +Metfield," was his matter-of-fact reply. "For the +present we know sufficient. We must look sharp if +we are to be in Beccles before eight. If we're not +there before, it will be of no use."</p> + +<p>So we hurried back to our own car, and our driver, +by taking a by-path, brought us out upon the main +road again at Thorpe Market, and just after half-past +seven we pulled up before the hotel in the old Suffolk +market town of Beccles, under the shadow of the +stumpy square old church tower.</p> + +<p>The car was garaged, and after a drink we went +forth for a walk along the quiet old-world streets, +until suddenly upon a corner we came to the post +office, a large old-fashioned two-storied house with +steep tiled roof.</p> + +<p>"Wait about here," my companion said; "a +dark-haired man in a light grey overcoat and golf-cap +will probably come to post a letter just before +eight. He has a dark brown beard, and usually wears +a white muffler. When he comes follow him, and see +where he goes. He may know me, so I must keep out +of sight."</p> + +<p>Therefore I lit my pipe, and idled up and down, +keeping the letter-box in view. In the window,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +directly above it, was a clock which showed it then +to be a quarter to eight. I took a pretended interest +in the small shops near, until about four minutes to +the hour a closed motor-car swung round from the +direction of the Public Hail, and pulled up before +the post office.</p> + +<p>From it two men alighted—one a youngish fair-haired +man, and the other, dark-bearded and much +older, wore a thick grey overcoat and a white muffler. +He was the man of whom I was in search.</p> + +<p>I entered the office directly after the pair, on pretence +of buying stamps, but already the elder of the +two had handed in a letter to be registered, the address +of which I failed to discern.</p> + +<p>Both seemed to be in a great hurry, for as soon as +the receipt was written out they re-entered the car +and drove back in the direction they had come, leaving +me standing helpless on the opposite side of the road.</p> + +<p>Immediately I returned to the hotel where Ray was +waiting, and reported to him, whereupon he seized +his hat, and walking with me back to the post office +halted in the centre of the road examining the wheel-tracks, +which were still quite plain upon the damp +roadway.</p> + +<p>Then, as he walked back, he said:</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Jack, that this town Beccles has +been decided upon by the Germans as the head-quarters +of the Army Corps which lands at Weybourne? It's +a natural position, standing upon high ground and +commanding the whole of the surrounding country. +Signals made from that church tower yonder could be +seen very far afield."</p> + +<p>Then, as we sat together in the coffee-room of the +hotel, eating a hasty meal, he remarked:</p> + +<p>"We'll go back to Cromer to-night, but I shall go to +town to-morrow. You'll wait till my return, won't you?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + +<p>So I was left alone for nearly a week; and on his +return he announced that we must at once shift our +quarters to Lowestoft. So south we went that same +night, arriving at midnight, and putting up at the +many-balconied Empire Hotel.</p> + +<p>The town interested my companion not at all, but +from there we went forth each day on long motor +excursions, scouring the whole country as far south +as Aldborough and as far west as Bury St. Edmunds. +All the roads round Southwold, Bungay, Saxmundham, +Stow Market, and many other towns we reconnoitred, +apparently always with the same object—to discover +wheel-tracks of a mysterious car.</p> + +<p>The garages of every town Ray visited alone, but +his inquiries always met with the same negative result.</p> + +<p>Late one afternoon, however, when on the road +between Wymondham and Diss, he suddenly shouted +to the driver to stop, and jumping out, examined the +track of wheels. The road, however, was hard at +that spot, and it was some time before he could decide +whether the car had travelled north or south.</p> + +<p>"They've gone north!" he declared with satisfaction; +therefore we continued to follow them towards +Wymondham, where they had drawn up at the "Old +Green Dragon," and gone forth again, striking into +a by-road which led to Bracon Ash.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" he cried, when he saw this, "so they're +busy at work—that's plain!"</p> + +<p>But by this time the light had faded, and much to +our chagrin we were again compelled to give up the +hunt, and find our way over by Hempnall, and so +through Bungay back to Lowestoft.</p> + +<p>Next day we were early back again at the spot, +but heavy rain had unfortunately fallen all night, so +the tracks had been obliterated.</p> + +<p>After another week of unsuccessful journeying we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +were, one day, about half-way between Norwich going +towards Aylsham, when my friend's keen eyes caught +sight of a wheel-track coming out of a narrow by-road.</p> + +<p>We halted, and descending he examined them +minutely, declaring that they were what we were in +search of, and quite fresh.</p> + +<p>Therefore, considerably excited, we were soon upon +the trail, following the car through Aylsham and North +Walsham until, on the road that led towards the sea +at Happisburgh, it suddenly turned into another +byway.</p> + +<p>Here Ray decided to pull up and follow on foot, +which we did for nearly two miles, until we saw before +us the railway line which runs between North Walsham +and Yarmouth. We had left the road, for there, +pulled up before us, was the car I had seen at Beccles, +and on ahead were the two men, one of whom I recognised +by his grey coat and white muffler.</p> + +<p>They were beneath the railway bridge, carefully +examining it.</p> + +<p>"They're marking that down on their plan for +destruction," remarked Ray between his teeth. "All +these connections will be destroyed when they land. +But, by heaven! we'll be even with them yet!"</p> + +<p>We watched them in secret for a full half-hour, as +they examined the railroad at several points, and +when they had driven off we followed them along a +road where ran six lines of telegraph into Happisburgh.</p> + +<p>"Those wires," remarked Ray, "form one of the direct +cables to Germany. They pass through Beccles, so +you may rest assured that they've surveyed it well!"</p> + +<p>At Happisburgh the tracks turned to the left, and +thence again to the right to Walcot, but just as we +were passing over a low hill we saw that the car on +before us had stopped. The two men were photographing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +the country from Paston, inland towards +Witton.</p> + +<p>We drew up and watched their movements.</p> + +<p>Then they went on, and we followed, parting company +with their tracks at the cross-roads, they going +westward, while we struck north, until we found ourselves +once again in Cromer for the night.</p> + +<p>That evening we made an amazing discovery at the +hotel. Erna Stolberg was staying there alone under +the name of Madame Hirsch! Ray first saw her +seated in the reading-room, and called me. I peered +in at the door and recognised her in a pale blue silk +blouse and black net skirt, lying back in a chair reading +an illustrated paper. She was evidently quite unsuspicious +of our presence.</p> + +<p>Ray was sorely puzzled. Next morning he sent a +wire to Mrs. Hill-Mason's house in Charles Street, +and before noon had received a reply from her at +Bournemouth saying that Fräulein Stolberg had left +her service a fortnight before.</p> + +<p>"German spies are pretty active in East Anglia, +old chap, as you've seen with your own eyes," he +remarked to me.</p> + +<p>In order that the woman should not notice us, we +told the chauffeur to meet us out on the Norwich road, +after which we travelled to quaint old Aylsham, where +we idled away the day, spending the afternoon playing +billiards at the "White Horse."</p> + +<p>More than once during the day my companion +examined the road outside for traces of wheel-tracks, +but there were none like those of the car of those secret +agents of Hermann Hartmann.</p> + +<p>I noticed that Ray had brought with him a small +brown brief-bag, an unusual thing for him to carry. +But that morning he had placed it in the car with +instructions to the chauffeur to move it on no account.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> + +<p>At four o'clock that afternoon he received a telegram, +which he read through twice, and placed on +the fire, remarking:</p> + +<p>"From Vera. She's received the thanks of the +Admiralty for her report. They promise to make +inquiry. Probably they'll send somebody over who +can't speak a word of German!"</p> + +<p>We dined at half-past six off cold meat and pickles, +but not until midnight did we set out upon the road, +travelling north in the direction of Cromer, until we +came to the cross roads at Hanworth, where we halted +and Ray got down to examine the road. Wheel-tracks +were there leading back to Roughton, and +these we followed until, near the entrance to the village, +now in complete darkness, we descended, Ray lifting +out his precious bag.</p> + +<p>"You've got your revolver?" he asked, when we +had gone a hundred yards or so.</p> + +<p>I replied in the affirmative, for nowadays I always +carried it.</p> + +<p>"Well, we are going to get into that house at +Roughton I pointed out to you," he said. "I intend +to have a look round."</p> + +<p>"You mean to break in? Suppose we're caught!" +I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Bah! Spies are always cowards. Leave that +to me."</p> + +<p>So we went on until, having passed through the +silent village, we entered a road where the bare trees +met overhead, rendering it almost pitch-dark, and +presently approached the house.</p> + +<p>Not a light showed anywhere. Whoever were its +occupants, they had retired.</p> + +<p>For nearly half an hour we concealed ourselves in +the bushes opposite, watching in patience, for the +night was as yet young. In the distance we fancied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +we heard the sound of wheels, but they did not advance; +therefore we agreed that it was only fancy.</p> + +<p>After waiting what seemed to me hours, Ray switched +on his electric lamp to see the time. It was then nearly +two o'clock, so we decided to take another step forward.</p> + +<p>We crossed the road and tried the iron gate. It +was locked.</p> + +<p>There was nothing for it but to scale it, and as I +was in the act of clambering up I was startled by a +strange voice behind me—a woman's voice raising +an alarm!</p> + +<p>Ray, who was standing behind me, closed with the +unwelcome stranger in an instant, and placed his hand +forcibly over her mouth while I sprang back to assist +him. That moment was an exciting one.</p> + +<p>"Put your handkerchief in her mouth, man!" he cried. +"Don't you see who it is—the woman Stolberg!"</p> + +<p>Quick as thought I took out my handkerchief +and stuffed it into her mouth while he held her. Then +I gripped her arms, while Ray produced the thin silk +rope which he usually carried on such expeditions +and with it bound her tightly hand and foot.</p> + +<p>She struggled violently, cursing us in German the +while, but all in vain. So at length we disposed of her +comfortably against a tree-trunk in a field opposite, +to which Ray very deftly secured her. She had evidently +driven over from Cromer on some important +errand to her friends and had stopped the cart some +distance away from the house.</p> + +<p>Cautiously we negotiated the high iron gate, and +creeping noiselessly across the lawn, gained the window +on the left of the entrance. Ray flashed his light +upon it, and noting that the fastening was only an +ordinary one, promptly commenced work upon it +by inserting one of his burglarious tools between the +sashes. In a few moments it sprang back with a click,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +and lifting the sash slowly and pushing aside the holland +blind, he swung himself into a comfortably furnished +sitting-room, I following quickly at his heels.</p> + +<p>In that dead silence I could hear my heart throbbing.</p> + +<p>We were actually in the house of the spies!</p> + +<p>The room, which contained nothing of interest to +us, smelt strongly of tobacco, while upon the table +lay a big German pipe. Still gripping his leather +bag Ray carefully opened the door, and crossing the +wide old-fashioned hall, opened another door, when +we found ourselves in an old-fashioned dining-room, +the sideboard of which was decorated with some very +nice antique blue china. From this apartment we +visited the drawing-room and another smaller reception-room, +and then, creeping on tiptoe, we ascended the old +well staircase which once creaked horribly beneath me.</p> + +<p>Here we were confronted with a serious problem. +We knew not in which room the spies were sleeping.</p> + +<p>Ray halted at the top of the stairs to take his +bearings, and after some hesitation resolved to first +investigate the room over the one by which we had +entered. He tried the door. It was locked on the +inside. Somebody was within.</p> + +<p>So we crept across to the opposite side. Here the +door was also locked, but a flash from the torch revealed +that there was no key inside. It was a locked +room, and Ray determined to see what lay beyond.</p> + +<p>Therefore, with infinite care not to make a sound, he +drew from his pocket some skeleton keys, one of which +slid back the bolt, and in a moment we were within.</p> + +<p>The torch, an instant later, revealed an amazing +state of things. Pinned down to the large deal table +before the window was a huge map of the district from +Weybourne towards Yarmouth, about five feet square, +made up of various sections of the six-inch ordnance +map, and literally covered with annotations and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +amplifications in German, written in red ink. Upon +strings stretched across one end of the room were a +number of photographic films and prints in process +of drying, while strewn about the place were rough +military sketches—the result of the labours of many +months—a couple of cameras, measuring tapes, a +heliograph apparatus, a portfolio full of carefully +drawn plans with German explanations beneath, and +a tin box, which, when opened, we found to contain +a number of neatly written reports and memoranda +in German, all ready for transmission to Berlin!</p> + +<p>Ray seized a whole handful of these papers—a translation +of one of which is here reproduced—and stuffed +them into his pocket, saying:</p> + +<p>"These will prove interesting reading for us later +on, no doubt."</p> + +<blockquote><p>EAST COAST OF ENGLAND—DISTRICT VI.</p> + +<p>Memoranda by Captain Wilhelm Stolberg, 114th +Regiment Westphalian Cuirassiers, on special +duty February, 1906—December, 1908.</p> + +<p>WEYBOURNE—Norfolk—England. (Section +coloured red upon large scale map. Photographs +Series B, 221 to 386.)</p> + +<p>In Sheringham and Cromer comprised in this +District are resident forty-six German subjects, +mostly hotel servants, waiters, and tradesmen, who +have each been allotted their task on "the Day."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Arms:</span>—a store of arms is in a house at Kelling +Heath, where on receipt of the signal all will +secretly assemble, and at a given hour surprise +and hold up the coastguard at all stations in +their district, cut all telegraph and telephones +shown upon the large map to be destroyed, wire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +in pre-arranged cipher to their comrades at +Happisburgh to seize the German cable there, +and take every precaution to prevent any fact +whatsoever leaking out concerning the presence +of our ships.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Men:</span>—Every man is a trained soldier, and has +taken the oath of loyalty to your Imperial Majesty. +Their leader is Lieutenant Bischoffsheim, living +in Tucker Street, Cromer, in the guise of a baker.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Explosives for Bridges:</span>—These have been +stored at Sandy Hill, close to Weybourne Station, +marked on map.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Landing Place:</span>—Weybourne is the easiest +and safest along the whole coast. The coast-guard +station, on the east, has a wire to Harwich, +which will be cut before our ships are in sight. +In Weybourne village there is a small telegraph +office, but this will at the same time be seized +by our people occupying an inn in the vicinity, +a place which will be recognised by the display +of a Union Jack.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Wires:</span>—Eight important wires run through +here, five of which must be cut, as well as the +trunk telephone. Direct communication with +Beccles is obtained.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Beach:</span>—Hard, and an excellent road runs +from the sea to the highway south. For soundings, +see notes upon British soundings. Admiralty +Chart No. 1630 accompanying.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Forge:</span>—There is one at the end of the village.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Provisions:</span>—Grocers' shops in village are +small, therefore do not contain much stock. +There are plenty of sheep and oxen in the district +towards Gunton. (See accompanying lists of +amount of live stock upon each farm.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Motor-Cars:</span>—(List of owners and addresses +attached)...</p> + +<p>A specimen of the notes of German spies.</p></blockquote> + +<p>But just at that moment in stepping back I unfortunately +knocked over a frame containing some glass +negatives, which fell from a shelf with a loud crash.</p> + +<p>We both stood breathless. There was a quick +movement in the room adjoining, and we heard men's +voices shouting to each other in German.</p> + +<p>"Stay here," Ray said firmly. "We must not +show the white feather now."</p> + +<p>Almost as the words left his mouth we were confronted +by the two men whom we had seen surveying +the railway line.</p> + +<p>"Well!" cried Ray, gripping his precious bag +and facing them boldly, "you see we've discovered +your little game, gentlemen! Those notes on the +map are particularly interesting."</p> + +<p>"By what right, pray, do you enter here?" asked +the bearded man, speaking in fairly good English.</p> + +<p>"By the right of an Englishman, Herr Stolberg," +was Ray's bold reply. "You'll find your clever wife +tied up to a tree in the field opposite."</p> + +<p>The younger man held a revolver, but from his face +I saw that he was a coward.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" demanded the other.</p> + +<p>"I mean that I intend destroying all this excellent +espionage work of yours. You've lived here for two +years, and have been very busy travelling in your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +car and gathering information. But," he said, "you +were a little unwise in putting upon your car the new +Feldmarck non-skids, the only set, I believe, yet in +England. They may be very good tyres, but scarcely +adapted for spying purposes. I, for instance, noticed +the difference in the tracks the wheels made one +evening when you met your wife outside Metfield Park, +and that is what led me to you."</p> + +<p>"You'd destroy all my notes and plans!" he gasped, +with a fierce oath in German. "You shall never do +that—you English cur!"</p> + +<p>"Then stand aside and watch!" he cried, withdrawing +from the room on to the landing. "See, +look here!" and he opened his bag. This caused both +men to withdraw from the room to peer inside his bag.</p> + +<p>With a quiet movement, however, Ray flung a small +dark object into the centre of the room, and in an +instant there was a bright blood-red flash, and the +whole place was one mass of roaring flames, which, +belching from the door, caused us all to beat a hasty +retreat. In a moment the place was a furnace.</p> + +<p>The spies shouted, cursed, and fired their revolvers +at us through the thick smoke, but we were quickly +downstairs and out in the road.</p> + +<p>"That will soon drive out the rats," laughed Ray, +as we watched the flames burst through the roof and +saw the two men escape half dressed through the +window we had opened.</p> + +<p>And as, with the red glare behind us, we hurried +back to the spot where we had left our car, Ray +remarked, with a laugh of triumph:</p> + +<p>"Stolberg bought that place two years ago with +money, no doubt, supplied from Berlin, so he's scarcely +likely to come upon us for incendiarism, I think. It +was the only way—to make one big bonfire of the +whole thing!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>HOW THE GERMANS ARE PREPARING FOR INVASION</h3> + + +<p>"We're going down to Maldon, in Essex," Ray Raymond +explained as we drove along in a taxi-cab to +Liverpool Street Station late one grey snowy afternoon +soon after our return from Norfolk.</p> + +<p>He had been away from London for three weeks, +and I had no idea of his whereabouts, except that +one night he rang me up on the telephone from the +Cups Hotel, at Colchester.</p> + +<p>An hour ago he had returned to New Stone Buildings +in the guise of a respectable mechanic in his Sunday +clothes, and, full of bustle and excitement, urged me +to run across to Guilford Street and assume a similar +disguise. Then, each with his modest bag, we had +hailed a motor-cab and given the man instructions +to drive to the Great Eastern terminus.</p> + +<p>"You've read the affair in this evening's paper, I +suppose?" my companion asked; "the mystery at +Button's Hill?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I replied. "Are we about to investigate +it?"</p> + +<p>"That's my intention, my dear Jacox," was his +quick reply, as he handed me his cigarette-case. Then, +ten minutes later, when we were seated together alone +in a third-class carriage slowly leaving London, he +turned to me, and with a deep earnest look upon his +face, said:</p> + +<p>"There's much more behind what appears in the +papers regarding this curious affair—depend upon +it, old chap. I've wired to Vera to be prepared to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +come to Maldon on receipt of a telegram. The facts, +as far as are at present known, are these," he went +on as he slowly lit another cigarette: "At an early +hour this morning a farm labourer, on his way to work +between Latchingdon and Southminster, discovered, +lying in a ditch, the body of James Pavely, aged forty-three, +a well-known fisherman and pilot. His head +had been crushed by savage blows, his clothes were +soaked with blood, and he was nearly buried beneath +the snow. The labourer alarmed the police, and the +body was conveyed to Southminster. Pavely, who +was very popular at the waterside at Maldon, was +unmarried, and until recently had been rather well-to-do, +but for the past few months bad luck is said +to have persistently pursued him, and he had been +left without a boat, even without a share in a boat, +and more recently he had been out of a job altogether. +Now," he added, with a keen look, "I want to fix that +point in your mind. For months, ever since the +summer, he has been known to be on the verge of +starvation, yet the police have found in his trousers' +pocket a handkerchief in which, carefully tied up, +were forty-nine sovereigns!"</p> + +<p>"His savings?" I suggested.</p> + +<p>"No," declared my companion conclusively.</p> + +<p>"But if he was murdered, why wasn't the money +taken?" I queried.</p> + +<p>Ray smiled, his face assuming that sphinx-like +expression by which I knew that he had formed some +theory—a theory he was about to put to the test.</p> + +<p>"The reason we have to discover, Jacox," he said +vaguely. "The dead man is a pilot," he added; +"and in Maldon are many German spies."</p> + +<p>"But I don't see that the fact of Pavely pursuing +the honourable calling of pilot would arouse the enmity +of any secret agent," I remarked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We shall see," was my friend's response; and he +became immersed in his paper.</p> + +<p>On reaching the prosperous little town of Maldon +we left our bags in the cloak-room. The snow was +lying thickly, but it was no longer falling. A sharp +frost had set in, rendering the roads very slippery. +In the darkness infrequent lights glimmered here and +there in the quaint old streets and among the barges +and coasting vessels which lay along the Hithe. The +tide was nearly full, and the river covered with half-congealed +snow and ice. Few passengers were abroad +that wintry evening, but as we passed a small low-built +public-house called the "Goat and Binnacle," +at the waterside, we could hear that there were many +customers within, all of whom seemed to be talking +at once.</p> + +<p>The red-curtained windows reflected a ruddy chequer +upon the trampled snow, and men were coming up by +twos and threes from the river craft, one and all +wending their way to that low-browed house which +seemed to be doing such a roaring trade.</p> + +<p>"Let's take a look inside," Ray suggested in a +whisper. "We might hear something."</p> + +<p>So together we turned back, and entered the low-built, +old-fashioned place.</p> + +<p>Within, we found them all discussing the mysterious +death of Jim Pavely.</p> + +<p>Mostly English were the bronzed, weather-beaten +men of the sea and the longshoremen who were smoking +and drinking, and talking so earnestly, but a few +foreigners were among them. There were two or +three Frenchmen, dapper fellows in well-made pea-jackets +and berets, who had rowed ashore from the +big white yawl flying the tricolour, which had been +lying off Heybridge waiting, so we heard, for a change +from the present icy weather before going to sea again;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +and there were also a fair number of Swedes and Norwegians +from the two timber-ships whose spars, we +had noticed, towered above the rows of smaller and +stumpier masts belonging to the local and coasting +craft which lay alongside the Hithe. Then there +was the first mate of one of the timber-ships, supposed +by most of those present to be a German. At any +rate, he seemed to be trying hard to carry on a conversation +with the fair-haired landlord, an undoubted +immigrant from the Fatherland.</p> + +<p>From one of the seafaring customers with whom I +began to chat, I learned that the keeper of the place +was named Leopold Bramberger, and that he had +been established in that little river-side hostelry rather +more than a year, and was now a well-known and +more or less respected inhabitant of the borough of +Maldon. He had made a little money—so it was +generally understood—in the course of some years' +service at the Carlton Hotel in London as waiter. +And a good waiter he certainly was, as many people +living in that part of the country could testify; since +he found time to go out as "an extra hand" to many +a dinner-party; his services being much appreciated +and bringing him in quite a comfortable little addition +to what he made by the sale of drink down by the +Blackwater. But he did not seem very anxious to +talk with his compatriot; indeed, so frequent were +the demands made for "another pot of four 'arf," +"two of gin 'ot," "another glass of Scotch," and +other delectable beverages, that he and his better +half had all they could do to grapple with the wants +of their customers.</p> + +<p>From the conversation about us we gathered that +the dead man, though previously somewhat abstemious, +had lately become rather a constant frequenter of +the "Goat and Binnacle," and though no one had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +seen him actually drunk, there were not a few who +could testify to having seen him in a state very nearly +approaching, in their opinion, to "half-seas-over."</p> + +<p>"Well, I' give suthing to lay my 'ands on the blackguard +as 'as done for pore Jim," remarked a burly +longshoreman to his neighbour. "'E'd never done +no one a bad turn, as I knows on, and a better feller +there wasn't between 'ere an' 'Arwich."</p> + +<p>"No there wasn't," came quite a chorus. Jim +Pavely, whatever his misfortunes, was evidently a +favourite.</p> + +<p>"And no one wouldn't have any idea of robbin' +pore Jim," interposed another customer; "every +one knows that there's bin nothin' on 'im wuth stealin' +this many a day—pore chap."</p> + +<p>"Except that forty-nine pound," remarked the +German landlord, in very good English.</p> + +<p>"As for that," exclaimed a little man sitting in the +chimney-corner, "I see Belton, the constable, as I +were a-coming down here a quarter of an hour ago, +an' he says as how there wasn't no signs of any attempt +at robbery. Jim had his old five-bob watch in 'is +pocket, not worth pawnin'; the sovereigns and some +silver were in his trousers."</p> + +<p>"Ah! That's the mystery!" exclaimed more than +one in surprise. "Why no one wouldn't have thought +as Jim 'ad seen the colour o' gold this three months +past."</p> + +<p>"Come on in and shut the door," cried some one, +as a new-comer entered the tap-room, followed by an +icy blast and a shower of snow, which was again falling.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's Sergeant Newte!" exclaimed the +publican, as a burly man in a dark overcoat entered, +carefully closed the door, and moved ponderously +towards the bar. A sudden hush fell upon the assembly, +all eyes and ears being turned towards the representative<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +of the law. All felt that the plain-clothes man +bore news of the tragedy, and waited anxiously for the +oracle to speak.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," asked Bramberger, "and what can I +have the pleasure of serving you with? It isn't often +we have the honour of your company down here."</p> + +<p>"I won't have anything to-night, thanks," answered +the man. "It isn't a drink I'm after, but just +a little information that I fancy you, or some of these +gentlemen here, may be able to give me. Every one +knows that James Pavely was a pretty frequent customer +of yours, and what I want to find out is, when +he was last in here?"</p> + +<p>"Let me see. Last night about seven, wasn't it, +Molly?" returned the landlord, turning to his wife. +"No, by the by, he came in and had something about +a quarter to nine. That's the last we saw of him, poor +fellow."</p> + +<p>The sergeant in plain clothes produced his notebook. +"Who else was in the bar with him?"</p> + +<p>"Nobody in particular. Some of the hands from +the barges, I fancy. He just had his drink and passed +the time of day, as you may say, and was off in five +or ten minutes."</p> + +<p>"Eh, but you're making a mistake there, Mr. Bramberger," +spoke up a voice near by; and the officer +turned sharply in the direction of the speaker.</p> + +<p>Urged on by those standing round him, Robert +Rait, a big longshoreman, came slowly to the front. +All eyes were upon him, which caused him to assume +a somewhat sheepish aspect.</p> + +<p>"Well, Sergeant, true as I'm standing 'ere, I see +pore Jim come out of this 'ere bar just after twelve +last night along with that young gent as is learnin' +farming over Latchingdon way."</p> + +<p>At this every one grew interested.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Are you sure of what you say?" asked the officer +sharply.</p> + +<p>"Sartin sure. I were sittin' on my barge a-smokin' +my pipe, an' I 'eard the clock over at the church, +behind 'ere, strike twelve. I don't know why, but I +remember I counted the strokes. Five minutes later +out come Pavely with the young gent, who I've often +seen in this bar afore, an' they walked off round by +the Marine Lake. They never took no notice o' me. +They was too busy a' talkin'."</p> + +<p>As the policeman slowly rendered this into writing, +most eyes sought Bramberger, who, feeling that he +was the object of an attention perhaps not too favourable, +remarked:</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes. I believe I'm wrong, after all. It was +twelve o'clock I meant—not nine."</p> + +<p>"And what about this young gent?" queried the +constable quickly. "Who is he, anyway? Was he +here with Pavely?"</p> + +<p>"He might have gone out with him, I didn't take +particular notice of him," the German replied.</p> + +<p>"But who is he?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you know him well enough. He's often in +Maldon. It's young Mr. Freeman, who's learning +estate work with Mr. Harris, near Southminster. He +does drop in here now and again."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know him. A fellow-countryman of yours, +ain't he?"</p> + +<p>"No; he's English. I'd know a German well enough."</p> + +<p>"Well, I've heard him speak. Mr. Jones, the +schoolmaster, told me once he thought he spoke with +a German accent," replied the officer.</p> + +<p>"So he do, Sergeant," spoke up a sailorman, "now +you mention it. I'm often in Hamburg, an' I know +the German accent."</p> + +<p>"You don't know anything about that forty-nine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +pounds, I suppose?" asked the blundering local +sergeant of police, for, as is usually the case, the aid +of New Scotland Yard had not been invoked. The +police in our small country towns are always very loath +to request assistance from London, as such action is +admission of their own incompetence. Many a murder +mystery could be solved and the criminal brought +to justice by prompt investigation by competent +detectives. But after blunt inquiries such as those +now in progress, success is usually rendered impossible.</p> + +<p>Raymond exchanged glances with me and smiled. +How different, I reflected, were his careful, painstaking, +and often mysterious methods of investigation.</p> + +<p>"Those sovereigns in 'is 'andkerchief are a puzzle," +declared the man Rait, "but somehow I fancy there's +been a bit o' mystery about pore Jim of late. Teddy +Owen told me a week ago 'e see 'im up in London, a-talkin' +with a foreigner on the platform at Liverpool +Street."</p> + +<p>"Where is Owen?" asked the sergeant eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Gone over to Malmö on a Swedish timber-ship," +was Robert Rait's reply. "'E won't be back for a +couple of months, I dare say."</p> + +<p>This statement of the man Owen was to Raymond +and myself very significant and suspicious. Could +it be that the pilot Pavely had sold some secret to a +foreign agent, and that the money he carried with +him on the previous night was the price of his treason? +It was distinctly curious that the assassin had not +possessed himself of that handkerchief full of sovereigns.</p> + +<p>We lingered in the low-pitched inn for yet another +half-hour, my companion accounting for our visit by +telling one of the men a fictitious story that we had +been sent to install the electric light in some new +premises at the back of the old church. We heard +several more inquiries made by the sergeant, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +many were the wild theories advanced by those seafaring +loungers. Then, having listened attentively +to all that passed, we retraced our steps to the station, +obtained our bags, and drove to the King's Head Hotel, +where we duly installed ourselves.</p> + +<p>"There's something very big behind the cruel +murder of the pilot—that's my belief!" declared +Raymond before we parted for the night. "Nobody +here dreams the truth—a truth that will be found as +startling as it is strange."</p> + +<p>I told him of my suspicions that the publican Bramberger +was a spy. But he shook his head, saying:</p> + +<p>"Don't form any immature conclusions, my dear +Jacox. At present the truth is very cunningly concealed. +It remains for us to lift the veil and expose +the truth to the police and the public. Good-night."</p> + +<p>Three days passed. Ray Raymond remained +practically inactive, save that we both attended the +inquest at Southminster as members of the public and +listened to the evidence. The revelation that a man +apparently in a state of great destitution carried forty-nine +sovereigns upon him struck the coroner as unusual, +and at his direction the jury adjourned the inquiry for +a week, to allow the police to make further investigation.</p> + +<p>As soon as this was decided my companion at once +became all activity. He found the man Rait, a big, +clumsy seafarer, and questioned him. But from him +he obtained nothing further. With the publican +Bramberger he contrived to strike up a friendship, loudly +declaring his theory that the motive of the murder +of poor Pavely was jealousy, it being now known that +he had been courting the pretty daughter of an old +boatman over at Burnham.</p> + +<p>My position was, as usual, one of silent obedience. +Hither and thither I went at his bidding, leaving to +his, the master mind, the gradual solution of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +mystery. He was one of those secretive men who +delighted in retaining something up his sleeve. The +expression upon his face was never indicative of what +was passing within his mind.</p> + +<p>The adjourned inquest was held at last, and again +we were both present at the back of the room. The +police practically admitted their inability to solve the +mystery, and after a long deliberation the twelve tradesmen +returned a verdict of "wilful murder," leaving +the constabulary to further prosecute their inquiries.</p> + +<p>Nearly a fortnight had passed since the sturdy North +Sea pilot had been so cruelly done to death, and many +were the new theories advanced nightly in the smoke-room +of the "Goat and Binnacle."</p> + +<p>I still remained at the "King's Head," but Raymond +was often absent for whole days, and by his manner +I knew the spy-seeker to be busy investigating some +theory he had formed.</p> + +<p>He had been absent a couple of days, staying over +at the "White Hart" at Burnham-on-Crouch, that +place so frequented by boating men in summer, when +one afternoon I ran over to Chelmsford to call upon a +man I knew. It was about ten o'clock at night when +I left his house to walk to the station to catch the last +train, when, to my surprise, I saw close to the Town Hall +a smart female figure in a black tailor-made gown and +big black hat, walking before me, accompanied by a +tall, thin, rather well-dressed young man in breeches +and gaiters, who seemed to be something of a dandy.</p> + +<p>The girl's back struck me as familiar, and I crossed +the road and went forward so as to get a glance at her +face beneath the street-lamp.</p> + +<p>Yes, I was not mistaken. It was Vera Vallance! +Her companion, however, was a complete stranger to +me—a well-set-up, rather good-looking young fellow, +with a small black moustache, whose age I guessed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +to be about twenty-eight or so, and whose dark eyes +were peculiarly bright and vivacious. He walked with +swaggering gait, and seemed to be of a decidedly horsey +type.</p> + +<p>From their attitude it appeared that they were intimate +friends, and as they walked towards the station, +I watched his hand steal into her astrachan muff.</p> + +<p>The incident was certainly puzzling. Was this +man Vera's secret lover? It certainly seemed so.</p> + +<p>Therefore, unseen by her, I kept close vigilance +upon the pair, watching them gain the platform where +stood the train by which I was to travel back to Maldon. +He entered a first-class carriage, while she remained +upon the platform. Therefore it was evident that +she was not accompanying him.</p> + +<p>The train moved off, and, with a laugh, she actually +kissed her hand to the stranger. Then I sat back in +my corner greatly puzzled and disturbed. Surely +Ray Raymond could not know of these clandestine +meetings?</p> + +<p>I was well aware how devoted my friend was to her. +Surely she was not now faithless to her vow!</p> + +<p>It was not my place to speak, so I could only +patiently watch the progress of events.</p> + +<p>The dark-eyed man alighted with me at Witham, +but did not enter the Maldon train. Therefore I lost +sight of him.</p> + +<p>Three days later I caught sight of him in the main +street at Maldon, still in gaiters and riding-breeches, +and wearing a black and white check coat and crimson +knitted vest. Unnoticed, I watched him come forth +from a saddler's shop, and after making several purchases, +he strolled to my hotel, the "King's Head," +where he was met by an elderly clean-shaven man of +agricultural type, with whom he had luncheon in a +corner of the coffee-room.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ray was still absent. Would that he had been +present, and that I dared to point out to him the man +who had apparently usurped his place in Vera's heart!</p> + +<p>At three o'clock, after his friend had left, the young +man sat for some time writing a letter in the smoking-room, +and afterwards called the boots and gave it to +him, with orders to deliver it personally.</p> + +<p>Then he left for the station apparently on his return +to Witham.</p> + +<p>After I got back to the "King's Head" I sought +James, the boots, and inquired the addressee of the +letter.</p> + +<p>"I took it round to Mr. Bramberger at the 'Goat +and Binnacle,' sir," was the servant's reply.</p> + +<p>"You know the young gentleman—eh?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, sir. He's Mr. Freeman, from Woodham +Ferris. He's what they call a 'mud-pupil' of Mr. Harris, +Lord Croyland's agent. He's learning estate-work."</p> + +<p>"And he knows Mr. Bramberger?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so. I've often taken notes for him +to the 'Goat and Binnacle.'"</p> + +<p>I was silent, recollecting the curious allegation +made by the man Rait, that he had seen the dead man +in Freeman's company.</p> + +<p>Some other questions I put to the boots, but he +could tell me but little else, only that young Freeman +was undoubtedly a gentleman, that he spent his money +freely, and possessed a large circle of friends in the +district.</p> + +<p>I learned that he lived in a small furnished cottage +outside the dull little town of Woodham Ferris, and +that he had an elderly man-servant who generally +"did" for him.</p> + +<p>Had I been mistaken in Vera's motive? Had she +become acquainted with him as part of a preconceived +plan, some ingenious plan formed by that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +fearless hunter of the Kaiser's spies, who was my most +intimate friend?</p> + +<p>Yes, I could only think that I had sorely misjudged her.</p> + +<p>Hearing nothing from Raymond on the following +day, and noticing that the sensation caused by the +death of the pilot had, by this time, quite subsided, +I went again over to Chelmsford and lunched at the +old-fashioned "Saracen's Head."</p> + +<p>To my satisfaction, I learned that Vera had been +staying there for the past ten days, and was still there. +Whereupon I left the hotel and watched it during the +remainder of that afternoon.</p> + +<p>At dusk she came forth neat and pretty as usual, her +face with its soft fair hair half concealed by her flimsy +veil. At the door of the hotel she hesitated for a +second, then she strolled to the other side of the town, +where, at an unfrequented corner, she was joined by +the dark-eyed man Freeman.</p> + +<p>From the warm manner of his greeting it was apparent +that he was charmed by her, and together they strolled +along the quiet byways, she allowing him to link his +arm in hers.</p> + +<p>Knowing her ready self-sacrifice wherever the +interests of her lover were concerned, I could only +surmise that her present object was to watch this man, +or to learn from him some important facts concerning +the mystery which Ray was so silently investigating. +Therefore, fearing to be observed if I followed the pair +along those quiet thoroughfares, I turned on my heel, +and half an hour later left Chelmsford for Maldon.</p> + +<p>That same night, soon after eleven, Ray Raymond +returned to the "King's Head," arriving by the last +train from London.</p> + +<p>"We must keep a wary eye upon that publican +Bramberger, Jacox," he whispered when we were alone +together in my bedroom. "You must deal with him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +Frequent the 'Goat and Binnacle,' and see what's in +progress there."</p> + +<p>"Vera is at Chelmsford, I see," I remarked casually.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "she's already on friendly terms +with Freeman. You've seen her, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>I responded in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"Well, to-morrow I shall leave here again, to reappear +in Maldon as a river-side labourer," he said. +"You will retain your rôle of electrician, and patronise +the homely comforts of our friend Bramberger's house."</p> + +<p>He spoke with that clear decision which characterised +all his actions, for in the investigation of any +suspicion of the presence of spies, he first formed his +theory, and then started straight away to prove it to +his own satisfaction.</p> + +<p>Next day soon after one o'clock I re-entered the +low-built little river-side inn and found within a few +bargemen and labourers gossiping, as such men will +gossip. The landlord who served me eyed me up and down +as though half inclined to recognise me, so I recalled the +fact that I had been in his house a week or so ago.</p> + +<p>Whereupon he immediately became communicative, +and we had a friendly glass together. I told him that +I had concluded my job—in order to account for my +hours of idleness in the <a name="days" id="days"></a><ins title="day changed to days">days</ins> that were to follow—and +I then became a regular customer, seldom leaving +before the house closed.</p> + +<p>Bramberger was one day visited by the German +mate of the timber-ship which had just come in, the +man of his own nationality who had been in the bar +on the night of our arrival at Maldon, and who seemed +to be well known to his usual customers, for apparently +he made regular visits from across the North Sea.</p> + +<p>I noticed that during the afternoon they were closeted +together in the landlord's private room, and during +the evening they drank in company.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>The return of this German at once aroused my suspicions, +therefore at ten o'clock, instead of returning to +the "King's Head," I concealed myself at the waterside +and there waited. It was an intensely cold vigil, +and as the time crept by, and the church clock struck +hour after hour, I began to fear that my suspicions +were unfounded.</p> + +<p>At last, however, from the timber-craft lying in +the Blackwater came a boat noiselessly into the deep +shadow, and from it landed two men, each carrying a +heavy box upon his shoulder. They walked straight +over to the "Goat and Binnacle," the side door of +which opened noiselessly, and having deposited their +loads, they returned to the boat. This journey to +and fro they repeated four times. Then they rowed +away, and though I waited the greater part of the night, +they did not return.</p> + +<p>I reported this in a note I sent round to Ray at his +lodging in the poorer quarter of the town, and in reply +I received a message that he would meet me at the +river-side at eleven that night.</p> + +<p>Part of that evening I spent smoking in the inn, +and an hour after closing-time I came upon my friend +with whispered greeting at the appointed spot.</p> + +<p>"Have you seen Freeman?" was his first question, +and when I replied in the negative, he told me that +he had just been admitted by Bramberger.</p> + +<p>"You've got your revolver, I suppose?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I always carry it nowadays," was my reply.</p> + +<p>"Well, old chap, to-night promises to be exciting."</p> + +<p>"Why!" I exclaimed. "Look! There are three +men lurking under that wall over yonder!"</p> + +<p>"I know," he laughed. "They're our friends. +To-night we shall avenge the death of the poor pilot +Pavely. But remain silent, and you'll see!"</p> + +<p>I noted that the three dark figures concealed near<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +us were water-side labourers, fellows whose rough-looking +exteriors were the reverse of reassuring. Yet +I recollected that every man who worked on the Blackwater +or the Crouch was a patriot, ready to tear the +mask from the spies of England's enemies.</p> + +<p>We must have waited in patience fully three hours, +when again from the timber-ship lying in the Blackwater +came the laden boat, and again were similar +boxes landed and carried in the shadow up to the inn, +the door of which opened silently to receive them. +Wherever the Customs officers or police were, they +noticed nothing amiss.</p> + +<p>The two men had made their second journey to the +"Goat and Binnacle," when Ray Raymond suddenly +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"We're going to rush the place, Jacox. Have +your gun ready"; and then he gave a low whistle.</p> + +<p>In a moment fully a dozen men, some of whom I +recognised as Customs officers in mufti and police in +plain clothes, together with several longshoremen, +emerged from the shadow, and in a moment we had +surrounded the public-house.</p> + +<p>The door had closed upon the two men who carried +up the boxes, and a demand that it should be reopened +met with no response. Therefore a long iron bar was +procured from somewhere, and two policemen working +with it soon prised the door from its hinges.</p> + +<p>The lights within had all been suddenly extinguished, +but finding myself in the little bar-parlour with two +others of the party, I struck a vesta and relit the gas.</p> + +<p>Two of the mysterious wooden cases brought from +the ship were standing there.</p> + +<p>We heard loud shouts in German, and a scuffle upon +the stairs in the darkness, followed by a shot. Then +a woman's scream mingled with the shouts and curses +of my companions, and I found myself in the midst<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +of a wild mêlée, in which furniture and bottles were +being smashed about me. My friends were trying to +secure Bramberger and Freeman, while both were +fighting desperately for their lives.</p> + +<p>Ray made a sudden spring upon the young man +who had been so attracted by Vera Vallance, but for +his pains received a savage cut in the arm from a knife.</p> + +<p>The man stood at bay in the corner of the smoke-room +with half a dozen of us before him. The fellow had +set his jaws fiercely, and there was murder in his black +eyes. Bramberger, however, had already been secured, +and handcuffs had been slipped upon him by the +police.</p> + +<p>"Now," cried Ray Raymond, "tell your story, +Richardson. These two blackguards must hear it +before we hand them over." And I noticed that near +me were two policemen, who had covered Freeman +with their revolvers.</p> + +<p>From among us a rough man in a shabby pea-jacket, +whom I had seen once or twice in that inn, came +forward, and without a word of preliminary exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Jim Pavely, the poor fellow whom these accursed +foreigners murdered, was my brother-in-law. The +night before he was killed he slept at my house. He +was drunk, but he told me something that at first I +didn't believe. He told me that on the previous day, +spending so much time about this place, he had +stumbled on the fact that a certain German timber-ship +was in the habit of bringing up among its cargo +a quantity of saccharine which was smuggled ashore +at night and stored in the cellars below here. He had +had words with the landlord Bramberger, but the +latter had made him promise to keep his secret till +next morning, when he would pay him a certain sum +to say nothing to the Customs officers. Next afternoon +at four o'clock he went to the 'Goat and Binnacle'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +to receive the money, and I entered after him, intending +to assist him in getting all he could out of the German. +But that fellow Freeman, yonder—whom I know to +be also a German—was with his compatriot, and the +three had consultation together in the back room. +Half an hour later Jim Pavely came back to my house +and showed me fifty pounds, and a written agreement +signed by Bramberger to pay one hundred and fifty +pounds more in gold in Calais, on condition that he +remained abroad and held his tongue."</p> + +<p>Then the informer paused.</p> + +<p>"Go on," I urged. "What then?"</p> + +<p>"Pavely told me something—something he had +discovered. But I foolishly laughed his statement +to scorn. He added that he was to sail in a French +schooner that night, and that Freeman, who was in +partnership with Bramberger, was to go over to Latchingdon +with him that evening and introduce him to +the skipper, who would land him at Calais. When +he had gone, the story he had told me struck me as +very astounding; therefore I resolved to follow him. +I saw him come with Freeman out of this place just +after midnight, and I followed them. When they +got to Button's Hill, on that lonely stretch of road, +I saw with my own eyes Freeman suddenly attack him +with a life-preserver, and having smashed his skull +before I could interfere, he stole the German's undertaking +from his pocket."</p> + +<p>At this, the man accused, standing in the corner +covered by several revolvers, turned livid. He tried +to protest, but his voice was only faint and hollow +before the living witness of his crime.</p> + +<p>He had collapsed.</p> + +<p>"My first impulse was to denounce the assassin, +but what the dead man had told me caused me to +hesitate, and I resolved to first get at the truth, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +I have done with Mr. Raymond's aid," Richardson +went on. "The story of the schooner was true," he +added, "except that it was a steam schooner-rigged +yacht which was about to land some stuff for another +<a name="depot" id="depot"></a><ins title="depot changed to depôt">depôt</ins> at Burnham."</p> + +<p>"What stuff?" I asked quickly.</p> + +<p>"Ammunition ready for the German army when it +lands upon this coast. It was that fact which Pavely +had discovered and told me. After agreeing to keep +the secret of the saccharine, it seems that he discovered +that the boxes really contained cartridges, +a fact which he urged me to communicate to the War +Office after he had secured the German's bribe."</p> + +<p>"Yes," declared Raymond, "the extensive cellaring +under this place is packed to the ceiling with ammunition +ready for the Day of Invasion. See this, which +has just been brought!"</p> + +<p>After prising open one of the boxes, many rounds +of German rifle-cartridges were revealed. "That man +Freeman before you, though brought up in England +and passing as an Englishman, is, I have discovered, +a German agent, who, in the guise of estate-pupil, +has been busy composing a voluminous report upon +supplies, accommodation, forage, possible landing-places, +and other information useful to the invader. +His district has been the important country between +the Blackwater and the Crouch, eastward of Maldon +and Purleigh. Bramberger, who is also in the German +Secret Service, has been accumulating this store of +ammunition as well as forwarding his coadjutor's +reports and plans to Berlin, for, being German, it +excited no suspicion that he posted many bulky letters +to Germany. He is often in direct communication +with our friend in Pont Street. My secret investigations +revealed all this, Jacox, hence I arranged this +raid to-night."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You'll never take me!" cried Freeman in defiance. +But next moment these men, all of them constables +in plain clothes, closed with him.</p> + +<p>For a moment there was another desperate struggle, +when with startling suddenness a shot rang out, and +I saw Bramberger drop to the floor like a stone at +my feet.</p> + +<p>Freeman had wrested a weapon from one of his +assailants and killed his fellow-spy; while, next instant, +without reflection, he turned the revolver upon himself, +and, before they could prevent him, had put a +shot through his own brain, inflicting a wound that +within half a minute proved mortal.</p> + +<p>When we searched the cellars of the "Goat and +Binnacle" we found no fewer than eighty-two cases +of rifle cartridges; while next morning, in a small +cottage within a stone's-throw of the "White Hart" +at Burnham, we discovered sixty-odd cases of ammunition +for various arms, together with ten cases of gun +cotton and some other high explosives. Also we +found six big cases full of proclamations, printed in +English, threatening all who opposed the German +advance with death. The document was a very +remarkable one, and deeming it of sufficient interest, +I have reproduced it in these pages.</p> + +<blockquote><p>DECREE CONCERNING THE POWER OF +COUNCILS OF WAR.</p> + +<p>WE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF EAST +ANGLIA, by virtue of the powers conferred +upon us by His Imperial Majesty the German +Emperor, Commander-in-Chief of the German +Armies, order, for the maintenance of the +internal and external security of the counties +of the Government-General:—</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Article I.</span>—Any individual guilty of incendiarism +or of wilful inundation, of attack, or of +resistance with violence, against the Government-General +or the agents of the civil or military +authorities, of sedition, of pillage, of theft with +violence, of assisting prisoners to escape, or of +inciting soldiers to treasonable acts, shall be +PUNISHED BY DEATH.</p> + +<p>In the case of any extenuating circumstances, +the culprit may be sent to penal servitude with +hard labour for twenty years.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article II.</span>—Any person provoking or inciting +an individual to commit the crimes mentioned in +Article I. will be sent to penal servitude with hard +labour for ten years.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article III.</span>—Any person propagating false +reports relative to the operations of war or political +events will be imprisoned for one year, and fined +up to £100.</p> + +<p>In any case where the affirmation or propagation +may cause prejudice against the German +army, or against any authorities or functionaries +established by it, the culprit will be sent to hard +labour for ten years.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article IV.</span>—Any person usurping a public +office, or who commits any act or issues any order +in the name of a public functionary, will be imprisoned +for five years, and fined £150.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article V.</span>—Any person who voluntarily +destroys or abstracts any documents, registers, +archives, or public documents deposited in public +offices, or passing through their hands in virtue +of their functions as government or civic officials, +will be imprisoned for two years, and fined +£150.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Article VI.</span>—Any person obliterating, damaging, +or tearing down official notices, orders, or +proclamations of any sort issued by the German +authorities will be imprisoned for six months, +and fined £80.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article VII.</span>—Any resistance or disobedience +of any order given in the interests of public security +by military commanders and other authorities, +or any provocation or incitement to commit such +disobedience, will be punished by one year's imprisonment, +or a fine of not less than £150.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article VIII.</span>—All offences enumerated in +Articles I.—VII. are within the jurisdiction of +the Councils of War.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article IX.</span>—It is within the competence of +Councils of War to adjudicate upon all other +crimes and offences against the internal and external +security of the English provinces occupied +by the German Army, and also upon all crimes +against the military or civil authorities, or their +agents, as well as murder, the fabrication of false +money, of blackmail, and all other serious offences.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article X.</span>—Independent of the above, the +military jurisdiction already proclaimed will +remain in force regarding all actions tending to +imperil the security of the German troops, to +damage their interests, or to render assistance +in the Army of the British Government.</p> + +<p>Consequently, they will be PUNISHED BY +DEATH, and we expressly repeat this, all persons +who are not British soldiers and—</p> + +<p>(<i>a</i>) Who serve the British Army or the Government +as spies, or receive British spies, or +give them assistance or asylum.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote><p>(<i>b</i>) Who serve as guides to British troops, +or mislead the German troops when +charged to act as guides.</p> + +<p>(<i>c</i>) Who shoot, injure, or assault any German +soldier or officer.</p> + +<p>(<i>d</i>) Who destroy bridges or canals, interrupt +railways or telegraph lines, render roads +impassable, burn munitions of war, provisions, +or quarters of the troops.</p> + +<p>(<i>e</i>) Who take arms against the German troops.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article XI.</span>—The organisation of Councils +of War mentioned in Articles VIII. and IX. of +the Law of May 2, 1870, and their procedure are +regulated by special laws which are the same as +the summary jurisdiction of military tribunals. +In the case of Article X. there remains in force +the Law of July 21, 1867, concerning the military +jurisdiction applicable to foreigners.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article XII.</span>—The present order is proclaimed +and put into execution on the morrow of the day +upon which it is affixed in the public places of +each town and village.</p> + +<p>THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF EAST ANGLIA.</p> + +<p>Copy of the German Proclamation found in the Secret Store of Arms +at Burnham-on-Crouch.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The affair caused the greatest consternation at the +War Office, at whose instigation it was instantly hushed +up by the police for fear of creating undue panic.</p> + +<p>But the truth remains—a very bitter, serious, and +significant truth—of Germany's hostile intentions at a +<a name="not" id="not"></a><ins title="no changed to not">not</ins> distant date, a date when an Englishman's home +will, alas! no longer be his castle.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRET OF THE NEW BRITISH AEROPLANE</h3> + + +<p>"If we could only approach the Military Ballooning +Department we might, perhaps, learn something," +I remarked. "But I suppose that's quite out of the +question?"</p> + +<p>"Quite," declared Ray. "We should receive no +information, and only be laughed at for our trouble."</p> + +<p>"You don't think that the new Kershaw aeroplane +can be the one now being tried by the Royal Engineers +with so much secrecy on the Duke of Atholl's estate?"</p> + +<p>"I think not," was his prompt reply. "My reason +briefly is because I have discovered that two Germans +stayed at the Blair Arms Hotel, at Blair Atholl, for +six weeks last summer, and then suddenly disappeared—probably +taking with them the plans of the airship +about which there has been so much secrecy."</p> + +<p>"I don't quite follow you," I said.</p> + +<p>"No, there is still another fact. A month ago +there arrived in England a man named Karl Straus, +a lieutenant of the Military Ballooning Department +of the German Army stationed at Düsseldorf. He +paid several visits to our friend Hartmann in Pont +Street, and then disappeared from London. Now, +why did he come on a special mission to England? +For one reason. Because of the failure of Germany's +hope, the Zeppelin airship, combined with the report +that our new Kershaw aeroplane is the most perfect +of the many inventions, and destined to effect a revolution +in warfare. The Kershaw, which was only +completed at South Farnborough two months ago, +is now being tried in strictest secrecy. Vera was told<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +so by an engineer officer she met at a dance at Chatham +a short time ago."</p> + +<p>"And it is being tried here in the north somewhere," +I added, as together, seated in a "forty-eight Daimler," +we ascended Glen Garry from Blair Atholl—which we +had left a couple of hours before—and sped along over +the wild, treeless Grampians towards Dalwhinnie. The +March morning was bitterly cold, and snow covered +the ground, rendering the Highland scenery more +picturesque and imposing. And as we preferred an +open car to a closed one, the journey was very cold.</p> + +<p>Our inquiries in Blair Atholl had had a negative +result. In the long, old-fashioned Blair Arms Hotel +Ray had made a number of searching inquiries, for +though two officers of the Ballooning Department +lived there, and had been conducting the experiments +in Blair Park, it was plain that the machine had never +yet taken flight. So the pair of mysterious Germans, +whose names we discovered in the visitors' book, had +either obtained the details they wanted or had left +the neighbourhood in disgust.</p> + +<p>It was at my friend's suggestion that we had hired +the car from Perth, and had now set out upon a tour +of discovery in the wildest and least frequented districts +of the Highlands—some of which are in winter +the most unfrequented in all Great Britain. Something—what +I know not—had apparently convinced +him that the tests were still in progress.</p> + +<p>"And where the trials are taking place we shall, I +feel certain, find this inquisitive person Karl Straus," +he declared. "From Berlin, through a confidential +source, I hear that it was he who obtained the German +General Staff photographs and plan of the new French +aeroplane that was tried down in the Basque country last +May. He's an expert aeronaut and engineer, and speaks +English well; our object is to discover his whereabouts."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + +<p>In pursuance of this quest we visited the various +hotels on our way north. The "Loch Ericht" at +Dalwhinnie we found closed, therefore we went on +to Newtonmore, and by taking luncheon at the hotel +there ascertained that there were no visitors who might +be either British military officers or German spies.</p> + +<p>In the gloomy, frosty afternoon we, a month after +the affair down at Maldon, sped up the Speyside through +dark pine forests and snow-covered moorland till we +found ourselves in the long grey street of Kingussie, +where we halted at the Star Hotel, a small place with a +verandah, very popular in summer, but in winter +deserted.</p> + +<p>Leaving me to warm myself at the fire, Ray crossed +to the telegraph office to despatch a message, and +afterwards I saw him enter a small shop where picture +post-cards were sold. For a quarter of an hour he +remained inside, and then went to another shop a +few doors further down.</p> + +<p>Afterwards he rejoined me, and as we remounted +into the car I saw that his face wore a dark, puzzled +expression.</p> + +<p>"Anything wrong?" I inquired, as we sped away +through the firs towards Loch Alvie and Aviemore.</p> + +<p>"No," he replied. Then, after a pause, he asked, +"You once used to ride a motor-cycle, didn't you, Jack?"</p> + +<p>I replied in the affirmative; whereupon he said +that it would be necessary for me to hire one, an +observation which somewhat mystified me. And for +the next hour we roared along over the loose, uneven +road through Aviemore, where the chief hotel was, of +course, closed, and on over Dulnan Bridge, that paradise +of the summer tourist; then turning to the right +past the post office, until we were soon "honk-honking" +up the wide main street of Grantown.</p> + +<p>Here in summer and autumn the place is alive with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +tourists; but in winter, with its tearing winds and +gusty snowstorms, the little place presents a very +different appearance. The excellent "Grant Arms," +standing back from the road at the further end of +the town, is, however, one of the few first-class hotels +in the Highlands open all the year round. And here +we put up, both of us glad to obtain shelter from the +sleet which, since the twilight had faded, had been +cutting our faces.</p> + +<p>While I sat before the big smoking-room fire with +a cigarette, after we had been to our rooms to remove +the mud from our faces, Ray was bustling about the hotel, +eagerly scanning the visitors' book, among other things.</p> + +<p>Our quest was a decidedly vague one, and as I sat +staring into the flames I confess I entertained serious +misgivings.</p> + +<p>When I went forth into the hall to find my friend, +I was told that he had gone out.</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour later he returned, saying:</p> + +<p>"I've seen a garage along the street; come with +me and hire a motor-cycle. You'll probably want it."</p> + +<p>"Why?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Wait and see," was his response; therefore I put +on my hat and coat and walked with him to the garage, +about half-way along the street, where I picked out a +good strong machine which was duly wheeled back +to the hotel.</p> + +<p>That night, among the eight or nine guests assembled +for dinner, there was not one who had any resemblance +either to a German spy or an officer of the Military +Balloon Factory at South Farnborough.</p> + +<p>In the days following we used our map well, scouring +the whole of the Spey side to the Bridge of Avon, and +on to Rothes, while westward we drove by Carrbridge, +over the Slochd Mor to Loch Moy and across to Daviot. +We explored the steep hills of Cromdale and Glen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +Tulchan, surveyed the rugged country from the summit +of Carn Glas, and made judicious inquiry in all quarters, +both among village people, shepherds, and others. +Nowhere however could we gather any information +that any trials of an airship were in progress.</p> + +<p>Sometimes in leggings, mackintosh, and goggles, I +went forth alone on my motor-cycle, negotiating the +rougher byways and making confidential inquiry. +But the result was ever a negative one and always +disheartening.</p> + +<p>On one occasion I had been out alone and reached +the hotel, when, some hours later, our chauffeur returned +with the car empty, and handed me a hastily +scribbled note to explain that Ray had left suddenly +for the south and instructing me to remain at Grantown +till his return.</p> + +<p>By that I imagined that he had made some discovery. +Or had he gone south to see Vera, his well-beloved?</p> + +<p>Curiously enough, next day a foreigner—probably +a German—arrived at the hotel, and, as may be imagined, +I at once took steps to keep him under the +strictest observation. He was a quiet, apparently +inoffensive person about thirty-five, who, among +his impedimenta, brought a motor-cycle and box +camera. Before he had been in the place twenty-four +hours I had convinced myself that he was the spy +Straus.</p> + +<p>This fact I wired to Bruton Street in the code we had +long ago arranged, hoping that the message would +find my friend.</p> + +<p>To my surprise, all the reply I got was: "Be careful +that you have made no mistake."</p> + +<p>What could he mean? I read and re-read the +message, but remained much puzzled, while my excitement +increased.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<p>Each day the new arrival, who had written the name +of "F. Goldstein" in the visitors' book, went forth +on his cycle to explore the beauties of the Highlands, +the thaw having now cleared the roads, and on each +occasion I managed by dint of many subterfuges to +watch his proceedings. His gaze was ever in the +distance, and each time he gained high ground he +swept the surrounding country with a pair of powerful +prismatic field-glasses.</p> + +<p>I confess I was rather annoyed at Ray's conduct +in thus abandoning me at the very moment of my discovery, +for here was the ballooning expert Straus bent +upon seeing and photographing our newest arm of +defence.</p> + +<p>As the days passed I exerted every precaution, yet +I followed him everywhere, sometimes using the car, +and at others the motor-cycle.</p> + +<p>The spy, a bespectacled, round-faced Teuton who +spoke with a strong accent, was ever active, ever eager +to discover something in the air. Yet, to my intense +satisfaction, he seemed to be utterly unaware that +I was keeping so strict a watch upon his movements. +Purposely I avoided speaking to him in the hotel, for +fear of arousing his suspicions.</p> + +<p>One day Mr. Goldstein did not appear, and in response +to my inquiry the waiter informed me that he +had caught cold and was confined to his room.</p> + +<p>A spy with a cold! I laughed within myself, and +the afternoon being bright, I took a run south through +the Abernethy Forest down to Loch Pityoulish. On +my return I crossed Dulnan Bridge, where the turbulent +Dulnan River hurtles along over the stones +on its way down to the Spey. I dismounted, hot and +tired, and propped up my cycle against the parapet +to rest and admire the dark pine-clad gorge which +opened to the north.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + +<p>My reflections were suddenly cut short by a loud +humming sound which seemed to come from the road +which I had just traversed. Instinctively I looked +round for the approaching motor-car. The sound +came nearer, but instead of a car, I saw in the air, +above the tops of the firs against the distant hill in +the background, a splendid aeroplane with two men +aboard. Swiftly it swept over the stream with the +ease and majesty of an enormous albatross!</p> + +<p>Next instant it had disappeared from my gaze. +Yet in that brief moment I had had ocular demonstration +that the secret trials were in progress in the +neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>I waited on tiptoe with excitement. Again the +whirring sound came nearer, the occupants of the +neighbouring cottages being undisturbed, believing +it to be a motor-car. Once again I saw the new aeroplane +circling above the tree-tops to the north, after +which it turned suddenly and made off in a bee-line +south, in the direction whence I had travelled.</p> + +<p>I had actually seen the new invention!</p> + +<p>Scarcely, however, had I recovered from my surprise +when I heard, coming from the direction of Grantown, +the "pop-pop-pop" of a motor-cycle, and +across the bridge like a flash, in the direction the aerial +machine had taken, came the spy whom I had only +that morning left an invalid in bed.</p> + +<p>That evening, while writing a letter in the hotel, I +had a surprise; I was called to the telephone, and +heard Ray's voice asking me to send the car to him.</p> + +<p>He told me that he was staying as Mr. Charles Black +at the Star Hotel in Kingussie, about twenty-eight miles +distant, and promised to come over to see me shortly.</p> + +<p>I told him what I had seen that afternoon, and how +the spy had been on the alert, but to my surprise he +only replied:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good! Keep on the watch. If what I expect +is true, then we're on a big thing. Keep in touch +with me on the 'phone, and have a continuous eye +on your Mr. Goldstein."</p> + +<p>I replied that I would, and that our friend had just +returned.</p> + +<p>Then he rang off.</p> + +<p>Why was he at Kingussie, instead of assisting me?</p> + +<p>Next day I was early astir, and before luncheon +had covered many miles on the motor-cycle. Ray +had not asked me over to Kingussie. If he wanted +me, he would have said so.</p> + +<p>Goldstein had not appeared downstairs, therefore +after luncheon, I went forth again, taking the road +northward from Grantown, and just as I was passing +beneath the castellated railway-bridge about a mile +and a half from the hotel, I again suddenly saw straight +before me the wonderful Kershaw aeroplane. The +car looked like a long, thin cylinder of bright silvery +metal, which I took to be aluminium, and in it I discerned +two men.</p> + +<p>It travelled in a circle several times over the tree-tops, +and then, just as at Dulnan Bridge, it dived +straight away over the dark pine forest towards the +lonely moors of Cromdale. Without a second's hesitation +I mounted and rode full speed after her, keeping +her well in sight as I went towards Deva.</p> + +<p>Yet scarcely had I gone half a mile when I again +heard behind me the "pop-pop-pop" of another +cycle, and turning, saw to my satisfaction the man +Goldstein, who had evidently seen the aeroplane, +and was now bent upon obtaining all details of it.</p> + +<p>Going up the hill I drew away from him, but as +we descended he passed me, and in order to pose as +an excited onlooker, I shouted to him my surprise +in seeing such an apparatus in the air.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + +<p>He evidently knew more of the new invention than +I did. And yet Ray held aloof from me.</p> + +<p>Next day, having been out for a stroll, I returned +to the hotel about noon, when a few moments later +my friend entered the reading-room.</p> + +<p>"Let's go to your room," he suggested; therefore we +ascended the stairs, and I opened the door with my key.</p> + +<p>As soon as I had done so, he made a swift tour of +the apartment, examining both the carpet and the +red plush-covered chairs without uttering a word.</p> + +<p>Then he stood in the centre of the room for a moment, +and slowly selected a cigarette from his case. Ray +Raymond was thinking—thinking deeply.</p> + +<p>"Your friend Goldstein has a visitor," he remarked +at last.</p> + +<p>"Not to my knowledge," I said.</p> + +<p>"He occupies room No. 11 in this hotel," he went +on. "This is 16, therefore he must be quite near you."</p> + +<p>"But who's the visitor?"</p> + +<p>"A friend of Goldstein's. Downstairs you can +discover his name."</p> + +<p>I descended and found that on the previous evening +there had certainly arrived at the hotel a Mr. William +Smith, who occupied room No. 11.</p> + +<p>But how was Ray aware of it?</p> + +<p>I returned to my room, and found him staring out +of the window into the roadway below. I saw that +he was unusually agitated.</p> + +<p>"My dear Jack," he said, turning to me when I +told him the name of the occupant of No. 11, "how +horribly stuffy this room is! Do you never have +the window open?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," I said, crossing to open it as usual. +But I found that it had been jammed down tightly, +and that felt had been placed in the crevices by the +hotel people to exclude the draught.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ray noticed it, and a curious smile crossed his +aquiline countenance.</p> + +<p>"I'd remove all that, if I were you," he exclaimed. +"And I'd also pull out all that stuffing I see up the +chimney. You never have a fire here, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"I hate a fire in my bedroom," I answered. "But +what has that to do with our friend Goldstein?"</p> + +<p>"A good deal," was his reply. "Take my advice +and have a fire here;" and by his look I saw that +he had discovered more than he wished at that juncture +to tell me. Had I known the astounding truth, +I certainly should not have taken his words so calmly.</p> + +<p>He appeared to evince an interest in my room, its +position and its contents, but when I remarked upon +it he pretended unconcern. He rang the bell and +inquired of the waiter for Mr. Goldstein and Mr. William +Smith, but the man informed him that both gentlemen +were out. "I believe," added the waiter, "that +Mr. Goldstein is leaving us this evening or to-morrow, +sir."</p> + +<p>"Leaving!" I echoed as soon as the man had closed +the door. "Shall I follow?"</p> + +<p>"No. It really isn't worth while," Ray replied, +"at least not just at present. Remain here and have +a care of yourself, Jack."</p> + +<p>What did he mean? We ate a hasty lunch, and +then, mounting into the car, my companion ordered +the chauffeur to drive south again past Dulnan Bridge +to Duthil, where we turned up to the right and +ascended the thickly wooded hill of Lochgorm on that +stony road that leads out upon the desolate Muirs +of Cromdale. After we had cleared the wood he +ordered the man to pull up, for the road was so bad. +Descending, we climbed the steep ascent to the summit +of a hill, where, after sweeping the surrounding country +with a small pair of powerful glasses I carried, I at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +last discerned the aeroplane heading westward some +ten miles distant.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, however, the clouds came down +upon us, and we quickly found ourselves enveloped +in a gradually thickening Scotch mist, while the aeroplane, +soon but a faint grey shadow, quickly faded +from our gaze.</p> + +<p>Ray Raymond was ever a dogged person. He +decided to descend, and this we did, passing over the +other side of the hill for half an hour, progress of course +being slow on account of the clouds.</p> + +<p>Presently a puff of cold wind came up out of the +east, and patches of dun-coloured moorland began +to appear below through the rents of the fast-breaking +clouds; when presently our watchful eyes caught +the dull leaden gleam of a sheet of water about three +miles ahead, which a look at my map enabled me to +recognise as Lochindorb.</p> + +<p>And just as we were able to locate the spot we again +saw the big white-winged aeroplane as she swooped +down to the surface of the loch, upon which she floated +swanlike and majestic.</p> + +<p>"Well?" I asked, turning and looking him in the face.</p> + +<p>"Well, Jack, I've seen it in flight just as you have," +he said, "but I've never yet approached it. I've had +reasons for keeping away. After to-day, however, +there is no longer much necessity for hesitation."</p> + +<p>"I hardly follow you, old chap," I declared, my +eyes still fixed through the glasses upon the aeroplane +sailing along the surface of the distant lake.</p> + +<p>"Probably not," he laughed, "but you'll see the +motive of my actions before a few days are over, I +hope. Let's go back." And returning to the car +he carried me as far as the entrance to Grantown, +where he deposited me, and then turning, ordered +the man to drive with all speed back to Kingussie.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>When I re-entered my comfortable hotel I learnt +that Goldstein had left by the afternoon train for the +south. My interest therefore lay in the new arrival +in No. 11, but though I waited up till midnight, he +did not return.</p> + +<p>Just as I was returning to bed I made a curious +discovery in my room. Running from the top of +the high, old-fashioned mahogany wardrobe, with its +heavily ornamented cornice, was a long piece of strong, +black cord, which, passing down the side panel, was +placed close to the wainscoting, so as to avoid notice, +the end being placed beneath the mat outside the door.</p> + +<p>At once I suspected a practical joke, but on mounting +one of the old-fashioned chairs, I looked along +the top of the wardrobe, but discerned nothing.</p> + +<p>So I gathered up the piece of cord, held it in my +hand with curiosity for a few moments, and then +wondering who had any object in playing such a prank, +turned in and slept soundly till morning.</p> + +<p>I had scarcely sat down to breakfast in the small +upstairs coffee-room—which is used in winter—when +I was summoned to the telephone, where Ray predicted +that the mysterious Mr. Smith would soon +return, and if he did, I was to betray no interest in +him whatsoever, and above all, avoid any friendship.</p> + +<p>Such instructions mystified me. But I had not +long to wait for the return of the man who called himself +Smith, for he arrived just as it was growing dusk.</p> + +<p>After dinner I was seated in front of the blazing +fire in my room, smoking and reading the <i>Courier</i>, +when I heard a man in heavy boots pass my door, and +recognised his low, hacking cough as that of the +occupant of No. 11.</p> + +<p>I opened the door, and peering forth saw that he was +dressed in his loose mackintosh and cap and carried a +stout stick. He was going forth for a night walk!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + +<p>Therefore I slipped on my thick boots and coat +and followed. He had turned to the right on leaving +the hotel, but in the silence of the night it was difficult, +nay, almost impossible, to watch his movements +unobserved.</p> + +<p>For about two miles I went forward, following the +sound of his footsteps in the dark night in the direction +of Dava Moor, until we entered the forest of Glaschoile, +where the footsteps suddenly ceased.</p> + +<p>I halted to listen. There was a dead silence. The +man had realised that he was being followed, and +had plunged into the forest.</p> + +<p>So, disappointed, I was compelled to retrace my +steps to the hotel.</p> + +<p>I tried to telephone to Ray, but was told that late +the previous night he had gone out on the car and +had not returned.</p> + +<p>Therefore I remained there, impatient and helpless, +the mysterious Smith being still absent.</p> + +<p>At three o'clock that afternoon the car pulled up +before the door and Ray descended.</p> + +<p>"Put on your coat and come with me," he said +briefly. And a few minutes later we were tearing +along over the same road which the mysterious Smith +had taken in the darkness—the direct road which +leads north by way of Dava, away to Forres.</p> + +<p>Just past the little school house of Dava we left the +main road, and striking across the wide, bleak, snow-covered +moor for about a mile, suddenly came into +view of a wide and lonely expanse of dark water in +the centre of the desolate landscape. It was Lochindorb, +where, in the distance, we had seen the Kershaw +aeroplane alight and sail along the surface.</p> + +<p>As we reached the edge of the loch I saw out upon +a small islet in the centre a ruined castle, a long, almost +unbroken, grey wall of uniform height, without turrets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +or battlements, occupying the whole of the islet. +Below the walls a few bushes grew from the water's +edge, but it was as dreary and isolated a spot as I +had ever seen. Beyond stretched the big, dull sheet +of water, backed only by the low, uninteresting moorland, +the only break in the all-pervading flatness and +monotony being afforded by a few wind-stunted trees +on the right of the road, and a small dark plantation +ahead.</p> + +<p>When the car had stopped and we had got out and +walked a few yards, Ray said:</p> + +<p>"Yonder is the old castle of Lochindorb, Jack. +Behind those walls is the shed which shelters the +Kershaw aeroplane. Look!"</p> + +<p>And gazing in the direction he indicated, I saw a +skiff with three occupants coming across from the +shadows on the left towards the island. The man +steering was a corporal of engineers in khaki.</p> + +<p>"It appears," Ray went on, "that the machine +takes her flight from the open surface of the loch, +which, as you see, is about two miles long. She enters +and leaves the shed by water."</p> + +<p>As we were speaking, a bearded gillie of gigantic +stature came up from nowhere and promptly ordered +us away, an order which we were very reluctantly +compelled to obey.</p> + +<p>At last, however, we had discovered the obscure +spot where the secret trials were in progress.</p> + +<p>"I knew from the first that the tests must be in +progress in this district," Ray said, "for a month +ago that motor engineer in Grantown of whom you +hired your cycle made a small part of a new motor +for a man who was a stranger. The part was broken, +and the stranger ordered another to be made. I learnt +that the first night we were in Grantown."</p> + +<p>He resolved to spend that night at Grantown, therefore +we dined together, and when we rose from +table he went to his room in order to obtain his pipe.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-119.png" width="600" height="343" alt="THE NEW BRITISH ARMY AEROPLANE: ROUGH SKETCH DRAWN BY LIEUT. KARL STRAUS, +OF THE GERMAN SECRET SERVICE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE NEW BRITISH ARMY AEROPLANE: ROUGH SKETCH DRAWN BY LIEUT. KARL STRAUS, +OF THE GERMAN SECRET SERVICE.</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ten minutes later he returned, saying:</p> + +<p>"Just come with me for a moment, Jack."</p> + +<p>I rose and followed.</p> + +<p>We ascended the stairs, and passing along the corridor he +halted before the door of No. 11 and tapped at it quietly.</p> + +<p>It opened, and Smith stood upon the threshold.</p> + +<p>"I wish to speak with you a moment," Ray said, +facing him determinedly.</p> + +<p>The man's face fell. We both entered, but so surprised +was he that he could utter no protest.</p> + +<p>We saw that on the table beneath the lamp was +spread a number of photographs and papers.</p> + +<p>He had been writing upon a sheet of foolscap and +the writing was in German.</p> + +<p>"Yes," exclaimed Ray in a tone of satisfaction as +he bent over to glance at the first few lines. "I see. +You report: 'The upper plane is somewhat curved, +with an——'"</p> + +<p>"What's my business to do with you, pray?" the +man asked defiantly in excellent English.</p> + +<p>"Well, your business has interested me greatly, +Herr Straus," calmly replied my companion, "and +I congratulate you upon the ingenious method by +which you got a sight of the Kershaw aeroplane at +an early hour this morning. I was at Lochindorb +with you—and rather cold waiting, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>The man now recognised gave vent to a quick +imprecation.</p> + +<p>"I see you've just developed that photograph you +took in secret as she sailed within twenty yards of +you! But I shall trouble you to give it over to me, +together with the rough sketch I see, and your written +description of our new military invention," he said, +with mock politeness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't know you—and I shall do nothing of the +sort."</p> + +<p>"I know you, Karl Straus, as a spy of Germany," +exclaimed my friend, with a grin. "Your reputation +for ingenuity and cunning reached us from France"; +and snatching up the sheet of foolscap he turned to +me, saying, "Listen to this, Jack," and while the German +agent stood biting his lips in chagrin at being discovered +at the eleventh hour, my friend read aloud the spy's +report, as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The upper plane of the Kershaw aeroplane +is somewhat curved, with an upward curve at +the front. The side planes are composed of a +light framework covered with a number of small +squares of some light material, each stretched on +a light frame hinged to the main frame at the +rear end of each. To the front end is fastened +a strong silken cord. These cords are all fastened +at their lower ends to a large ring. To this is +attached a wire rope, which passes over a pulley-wheel +at the end of a species of outrigger, and +thence into the cigar-like body of the car. From +what I have observed when the machine is in +flight, it is evident to me that the steersman +(who sits at the fore part of the car) is able to +manipulate these by means of levers, so that +the numerous flaps forming the surface of the +side planes can be opened and closed at will.</p> + +<p>"Thus suppose the machine to be diving; +slackening these ropes, the pressure of the air +underneath causes the flaps to open. As soon +as this happens their inclination upwards tends +to make the machine rise so long as the propellers +are driving her forward, the angle of ascent being +controlled by the angle to which they are allowed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +to open. If the machine inclines to lean over to +right or left, the opening and closing of the flaps +on one side or the other can be used to counteract +it and restore the balance. With all kept tightly +closed she can go forward or dive. With them +open, and engines stopped, she dives quickly. +The rudder is of box-kite form, and fastened to +the after end of the cigar-like car, which apparently +contains the engines, petrol tanks, etc., +and enough air space to render the machine +buoyant when water-borne. The propellers, which +are placed on hollow shafts, whose bearings +are supported on horizontal braces between the +two V-shaped aluminium lattice girders attaching +the planes to the car, are driven by separate +endless chains, which come up out of the centre +of the cylinder. They seem to be made either +of aluminium, or more probably magnalium.</p> + +<p>"My drawing has rather exaggerated the diameter +of the cylindrical car. There is a light +wooden foot-board at either side, which also helps +to steady the machine when on the water and +two small floats at the end of the outriggers for +the same purpose. There are also three small +wheels fitted, I presume for facilitating ascent +from dry ground.</p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Karl Straus.</span>"<br /></p></blockquote> + +<p>The spy laughed a low, hollow laugh of defiance. +What could he say? He had been outwitted just at +the supreme moment of his success.</p> + +<p>"I admit, my friend, that you were extremely +clever in putting forward Goldstein as the spy, and +thus misleading my friend Jacox," Ray said in triumph, +as he laid his hand upon the rough sketch of the Kershaw +invention. "But for a very timely discovery,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +too, my friend would have met with the terrible fate +which you and your accomplice planned with such +devilish ingenuity. So if you don't wish to be arrested +for conspiracy and murder you'd better make yourself +scarce out of England quickly."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Ray?" I cried.</p> + +<p>"I'll show you," he answered as he gathered up +the whole of the spy's papers while the German stood +helpless. "Come along to your room with me."</p> + +<p>When inside he pointed to the old red-plush-covered +chairs, and said:</p> + +<p>"Do you recollect my arrival after Straus's visit? +I examined those chairs, and saw upon one the traces +of chalk. The shoes of the occupant of room No. 11 +had been chalked by the boots with his number, and +upon the chair I saw traces, and knew that he had +stood there to gain the top of your wardrobe."</p> + +<p>"For what reason?" I asked.</p> + +<p>For answer he turned up the gas and pointed to the +cornice of the ceiling behind the wardrobe, where I +saw that upon the leaden gas-pipe running along it +was a long, narrow strip of what looked like paper +which had been pasted.</p> + +<p>"Those men meant to kill you, Jack," he said. +"On the morning I came here Straus had entered, +climbed up to the gas-pipe, and with his clasp-knife +cut a hole in it. Over that he, as you see, placed +several thicknesses of medical plaster, attaching to +it a piece of strong black cord, and carrying it outside +the door. After that they plugged up your window +and chimney, so that when you were asleep all they +had to do was to just pull the string, which would +strip off the plaster, allow the gas to escape into the +room, and thus asphyxiate you. The plaster could +be dragged beneath the door into the passage outside."</p> + +<p>"Great heavens!" I gasped, staring astounded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +at the white medical plaster on the gas-pipe along +the cornice. "What a narrow escape I've had!"</p> + +<p>"Yes. While I was in London, Vera went up with +her maid and stayed at the 'Star' at Kingussie, where +she overheard the two men in conversation, and learnt +the clever trick they were playing with Goldstein as +the spy. She suspected that they intended to rid +themselves of your unwelcome surveillance, and returned +at once to me in London. Fortunately I +discovered the dastardly plot, and that morning I +cut the cord."</p> + +<p>"That fellow Straus is a much more desperate +character than he looks."</p> + +<p>"Yes. But we'll just go back and you can tell +him your opinion of him," he laughed.</p> + +<p>We went together along to No. 11. The spy had +already left, but ascending the stairs was Vera, in a +long travelling-coat, her maid following with the wraps.</p> + +<p>She had just arrived from London, and after she +had greeted us in her usual merry manner, told us +that she was the bearer of very important news—news +of the activity of spies in another quarter.</p> + +<p>We quickly told her how we had managed to outwit +Straus, while I, on my part, thanked her warmly for +having made that startling discovery which had, no +doubt, saved me from falling a victim to that dastardly +plot formed by one of the most ingenious of +the many unscrupulous spies of the Kaiser.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRET OF THE NEW ARMOUR-PLATES</h3> + + +<p>"I wonder if that fellow is aware of his danger?" +remarked Ray, speaking to himself behind the paper +he was reading before the fire in New Stone Buildings,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +one afternoon not long after we had returned from +Scotland.</p> + +<p>"What fellow?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Why Professor Emden," he replied. "It seems +that in a lecture at the London Institution last night, +he announced that he had discovered a new process +for the hardening of steel, which gives it no less than +eight times the resisting power of the present English +steel!"</p> + +<p>"Well!" I asked, looking across at my friend, and +then glancing at Vera, who had called and was seated +with us, her hat still on, and a charming figure to boot.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, can't you see that such an invention +would be of the utmost value to our friends +the Germans? They'd use it for the armour-plates +of their new navy."</p> + +<p>"H'm! And you suspect they'll try and obtain +Emden's secret—eh?"</p> + +<p>"I don't suspect, I'm confident of it," he declared, +throwing aside the paper. "I suppose he's a bespectacled, +unsuspicious man, like all scientists. <i>The +Times</i> is enthusiastic over the discovery—declaring +that the Admiralty should secure it at once, if they +have not already done so. It's being made experimentally +at Sheffield, it seems, and has been tried in +secret somewhere out near the Orkneys. Admiralty +experts are astounded at the results."</p> + +<p>"Who is Emden?" I asked. "Just look at 'Who's +Who?' It's by your elbow, old chap."</p> + +<p>Ray proceeded to search the fat red book of reference, +and presently exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"It seems he's a Fellow of the Royal Society, a very +distinguished chemist, and a leading authority on +electro-metallurgy and ferro-alloys. He has improved +upon the Kjellin furnace as installed at Krupp's at +Essen, and at Vickers, Sons, and Maxim's at Sheffield,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +and by this improvement, it seems, has been able to +invent the new steel-making process."</p> + +<p>"If he has improved upon any of the machinery +or processes at the Krupp works," remarked Vera, +glancing across at me, "then, no doubt, our friends +across the North Sea will endeavour to filch the secret +from him."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I agreed, "he certainly ought to be warned +of his danger. As soon as Hartmann sees the announcement +in the papers, there's certain to be a desperate +attempt to get hold of the secret."</p> + +<p>"That mustn't be allowed, my dear fellow," Ray +exclaimed. "With such steel as this the British Navy +will have a splendid and distinct advantage over that +of our friend 'William the Sudden.' This is a great +and important secret which England must keep at all +hazards."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," declared Vera. "Really, Ray, you ought +to see Professor Emden and have a chat with him."</p> + +<p>"His address is given at Richmond," was my +friend's reply, "but I have to go up to Selkirk early +to-morrow, and shall be away nearly a week."</p> + +<p>"Then shall I run down and see him this evening?" +I suggested. And agreeing with my idea, he wrote +the address for me. Then we made a cup of tea for +Vera, who always delighted in the rough-and-ready +bachelordom of a barrister's chambers. Afterwards +Ray took his fiancée home to her aunt's, while I went +back to my rather dismal lodgings in Guilford Street, +Russell Square.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock that evening I rang at a pleasant, +good-sized, modern house, which overlooked the +beautiful Terrace Gardens and the river lying deep +below at Richmond—a house which, perhaps, commanded +the finest view within twenty miles of London.</p> + +<p>The door was upon that main road which leads<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +from the town up to the "Star and Garter," but the +frontage faced the Gardens. The dark-eyed maid +who opened the door informed me that the Professor +was at home, and took my card upstairs. Then, a +few moments later, I was ushered up to a cosy den, +the study of a studious man, where I found the distinguished +scientist standing in expectation, with his +back to the fire.</p> + +<p>He was a strange-looking man of sixty-five, his hair +unusually white and slightly bald on top. Tall beyond +the average, he wore a moustache and slight pointed +beard, while his countenance seemed very broad in +the forehead tapering to a point. His face was, indeed, +almost grotesque.</p> + +<p>I commenced by apologising for my intrusion, but +explained that I had called on a purely confidential +matter. When the door was closed, and we were alone, +I said:</p> + +<p>"My mission, Professor, is a somewhat curious +one"; and I went on to explain our fears that German +secret agents might obtain knowledge of the new process +to which he had referred at the London Institution +on the previous night.</p> + +<p>For a moment he stroked his pointed white beard +thoughtfully. I detected that he was as eccentric +as he was curious-looking. Then, with a light laugh, +he replied:</p> + +<p>"Really Mr.—Mr. Jacox, I can't see your motive, +or that of your friends, in thus interfering in my private +affairs!"</p> + +<p>"But is not this splendid discovery of yours of +national importance?" I protested. "Will it not +give us an enormous advantage over our enemies? +Therefore, is it not more than probable that you have +already attracted the attention of these spies of +Germany?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My dear sir," he laughed, "I tell you quite frankly +that I don't believe in all these stories about German +spies. What is there in England for Germany to discover? +Nothing; they know everything. No, Mr. +Jacox, I'm an Englishman, a patriot, and I still believe +in England's power. We have nothing whatever to +fear from Germany."</p> + +<p>"Your theory is hardly borne out by facts, Professor," +I said, proceeding to tell him of our discovery +at Rosyth, and how we had outwitted the spies regarding +the new submarine, and also the airship at +Lochindorb.</p> + +<p>But the strange-looking old scientist, distinguished +as he was, only laughed my fears to scorn.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see any German trying to learn my +secret," he said defiantly.</p> + +<p>"Then I would urge you to take every precaution. +These agents employed by the German Secret +Police on behalf of the General Staff are bold and +unscrupulous."</p> + +<p>"And do you allege that there are actually German +spies in England?" asked the strange man.</p> + +<p>"Most certainly. We have in England and Scotland +more than five thousand fixed agents, men of +almost every nationality except German, and in every +walk of life, from humble labourers to men and women +in good positions, all of whom are collecting information +at the order of the German travelling agents, who +visit them from time to time, collect their reports, and +pay them their salaries. French, Swiss, and Italians +are mostly employed," I said. "At the present time +my friend Raymond has under observation a German +band, seven young fellows all army officers, who are +playing in the streets of Leeds, and at the same time +making a secret map of the water-mains of that city, +in order that when 'the Day' of invasion comes, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +enemy will be able to suddenly deprive a densely +populated area of water."</p> + +<p>"But have you any actual proof of this?" he +inquired.</p> + +<p>As he spoke the door opened, and there entered a +pretty dark-haired girl of twenty-two, wearing a light +skirt and a pale pink evening blouse.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dad!" she exclaimed, halting suddenly, "I'm +sorry I didn't know you had a visitor."</p> + +<p>"I shan't be a moment, Nella dear," the curious-looking +old man said, and after a quick, inquisitive +glance at me the girl withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Well," exclaimed the Professor, with a smile, +"I'm really very obliged to you for troubling to come +here to warn me, but I think, my dear sir, that warnings +are quite unnecessary. I haven't the slightest +fear that any attempt will ever be made to secure my +secret"; and he rose impatiently.</p> + +<p>"Very well," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I +have warned you, Professor Emden. The Government +will not admit the presence of spies amongst us, and for +that reason we are now collecting indisputable evidence."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he laughed, "and you want me to help +you, eh? Well, sir, I don't believe in a word of this +scare—so I must decline that honour."</p> + +<p>"And you will take no unusual precaution to keep +the truth out of the hands of our enemies, eh?"</p> + +<p>"I leave it to Joynson's of Sheffield," he said. +"They've paid me a large sum down and a royalty for +the secret of my process, and it is scarcely likely that +they'll allow it to fall into other hands, is it?"</p> + +<p>"They will not, but you, a private individual, +may," I said.</p> + +<p>"I think not," he laughed, and a moment later I +descended the stairs, passing his pretty daughter Nella +on the way out.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<p>That night I called on Ray at Bruton Street, but +he was out at the theatre with Vera. At half-past +eleven they called as they went back to the girl's aunt's, +and as they sat before the fire, Vera with her opera-cloak +thrown back revealing a pretty pale blue corsage +a trifle <i>décolleté</i>, I reported the non-success of my mission.</p> + +<p>"He's a pig-headed old ass!" I declared. "One +of millions of others in England. They close their +eyes to the dangers of this horde of spies among us, +and will only open them when the Germans come +marching up the street and billet themselves in their +houses. But he's a strange man, Ray, a very strange +man," I added.</p> + +<p>"You're right, Mr. Jacox," the girl declared. +"Instead of teaching boys how to scout and instructing +young men in the use of popguns, we should strike +first at the root of all things. Cut off the source of +this secret information which daily goes across the +North Sea. Such hidebound patriots as the Professor +are a peril to the nation!"</p> + +<p>"If he refuses to help himself, Jacox, we must protect +him ourselves," Ray declared. "I leave it to +you and Vera to keep an open eye until I return from +Selkirk next Monday. I'm bound to go down and +see my sister. She seems very ill indeed."</p> + +<p>And so a very important and delicate affair was thus +placed in my hands.</p> + +<p>Vera Vallance announced herself ready and eager +to assist me, and that night I walked back to Bloomsbury +much puzzled how next to act.</p> + +<p>That the Germans would attempt to secure the +secret of the new steel was absolutely certain. But +to us, success meant the keeping of it to Britain, and +the armouring of our new <i>Dreadnoughts</i> with a resisting +power eight times that of our enemies.</p> + +<p>Next day I journeyed down to Sheffield and called<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +upon the manager of Messrs. Joynson and Mackinder, +the great steel-makers, who, as you know, hold the +contracts for making the armour-plates of our improved +<i>Dreadnoughts</i>. He told me how the firm had +just constructed six of the new Emden electrical +furnaces, and had also taken over the wonderful new +process which the Professor had invented.</p> + +<p>He then courteously took me across to that portion +of the great grimy works, with its wonderful steel +melting and refining furnaces, to where the Emden +process was about to be carried out.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you have no fear of the new method +being learnt by any of your rivals—by any German +firm, for instance?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Not in the least," laughed the manager, a bluff, +grey-bearded man, speaking in his broad Hallamshire +dialect; "we take good care of that. Each workman +only does a part, the whole of the process being +only known to myself. It wouldn't do for us to give +Professor Emden forty thousand pounds for the secret +and then allow it to fall into foreign hands. The +Germans would, of course, give anything for it," he +added. "Emden is a patriotic Englishman even +though he is very eccentric, and if he liked he could +have got almost anything he cared to ask from +Krupp's."</p> + +<p>"That's just the point," I said; and then, as we +walked back to the office, I explained my fears. But, +like the Professor himself, he only laughed them to +scorn. So that evening I again returned to London +filled with anxiety and disappointment.</p> + +<p>Just before eleven that same night I strolled past +the house of Hermann Hartmann, in Pont Street, +vaguely wondering what I could do to prevent a theft +which must, I knew, shortly be committed. In all +probability the ingenious Hartmann already had a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +secret agent in Joynson's works, but even if he had, +he would certainly not be able to discover the secret. +I had quite satisfied myself upon that point.</p> + +<p>No, the peril lay in the Professor himself—the +strange old pig-headed patriot.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had I passed Hartmann's house, the exterior +of which I knew so well, when I heard the front door +close and saw a man coming down the steps. As he +walked in my direction I halted beneath a lamp to +light a cigarette, and by so doing I obtained a glimpse +of his face as he passed.</p> + +<p>He was a young, good-looking, smartly dressed +man, with dark eyes and hair and a rather sallow complexion. +I put him down to be an Italian, but I had +never set eyes upon him before. No doubt he was +one of Hartmann's travelling agents—a man who +went up and down England visiting the fixed spies +of Germany, or "letter-boxes," as they are known +in the bureau of secret police in Berlin—collecting +their reports and making payments for information +or services rendered.</p> + +<p>Knowing so much of the ways of the German secret +agent, curiosity prompted me to follow him. He +strolled as far as the corner of Sloane Street and +Knightsbridge, and then boarded a motor-bus as far +as Piccadilly Circus. Thence he walked to the German +beer-hall, the Gambrinus, just off Coventry +Street, where he joined a tall, thin, grey-moustached +man, an Italian like himself, who was seated awaiting +him. I idled across to a table close by, called for +beer, and sat smoking a cigarette and straining my +ears to catch their conversation, which was in Italian, +a language I know fairly well.</p> + +<p>I discovered the following facts. The thin-faced +man was called Giovanni, while the elegant young +fellow was Uberto, and they were discussing the arrival<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +of somebody. Giovanni seemed dubious about something, +while the man who had left Hartmann's seemed +enthusiastic.</p> + +<p>After a quarter of an hour Uberto glanced at his +watch, made some remark to his companion, and +they rose and went out together, driving in a +taxicab westward, I following in another, which I fortunately +found just in time. Through Kensington we went, +over Hammersmith Bridge, through Barnes, and +across the Common.</p> + +<p>Then I realised we were going to Richmond.</p> + +<p>The chase grew exciting. Before me I could see +the red back-lamp of the taxi as it sped forward, and +half an hour later we were crossing Richmond Bridge, +where, a short distance along the road to Twickenham, +they suddenly swung round to the left into St. Margaret's +and pulled up before a good-sized detached +house which stood back in its own grounds, in which +were several big trees. The thoroughfare was, I noted, +called Brunswick road.</p> + +<p>My taxi-driver proved himself no fool. I had told +him to follow; therefore, unable to pull up sharply, +he swept past, and did not stop until we were round +the bend in the quiet suburban road and thus out of sight.</p> + +<p>I ordered him to remain, and, alighting, strolled +back past the house in question. About its dark +exterior was a distinct air of mystery. The pair had +entered, and the taxi was awaiting them. The house +was an old-fashioned one, solid and substantial in +character, and apparently the residence of some prosperous +City man; yet I wondered why its owner should +have visitors at that hour. Surely great urgency had +compelled the pair to come all the way from Piccadilly +Circus to consult him.</p> + +<p>But a surprise was in store for me.</p> + +<p>After lurking about in the shadows with that expert<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +evasiveness which I had now acquired, I presently saw +the pair make their exit, but, to my surprise, they +were accompanied out to the kerb by a woman—apparently +a lady in black evening dress, the bodice +of which was cut low.</p> + +<p>About her shoulders she had wrapped a pale blue +shawl, and as the young Uberto entered the taxi I +heard her exclaim in Italian:</p> + +<p>"<i>Addio!</i> To-morrow at one then, at Prince's."</p> + +<p>As she moved I saw her countenance by the light +of the cab lamp, a handsome, well-cut face, typical +of a woman of Piedmont, for she had spoken in a dialect +unmistakably that of Turin. The Turinese are more +French than Italian, and are as different in both temperament +and language from those of the south as +the people of the Ardennes differ from those of +Paris.</p> + +<p>Both men shook hands with her warmly, bade her +"<i>Addio</i>," and entering the taxi, drove away back to +London, while I stood still watching.</p> + +<p>And as I gazed I saw as she walked back to the +house, in the doorway, silhouetted against the light, +an old man coming forward towards her.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dio!</i>" she cried, half in alarm at seeing him. +Then in Italian, she added, "Why do you risk being +seen, you imbecile? Why didn't you keep where +you were?"</p> + +<p>Then the door closed, and seeking my taxi I also +returned to Bloomsbury.</p> + +<p>But that incident had aroused a good deal of doubt +and suspicion within me. Who was that handsome +young Italian woman whom the spies had visited at +that late hour? And, above all, who was that man +with whom she had been annoyed for showing himself?</p> + +<p>Next day proved conclusively that some crooked +business was in progress, for while I sat alone eating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +my lunch in a corner of the big room at Prince's +Restaurant in Piccadilly, I was amazed to see the +well-dressed young Italian—the man whom I had +seen emerge from Hartmann's in Pont Street, enter +with no other person than Nella Emden.</p> + +<p>Surely the spies had already made considerable +progress! My indignation was such that I could +have walked over to the table where the pair had +seated themselves, and denounced that elegant Italian +as a spy of the Kaiser. But I foresaw that by patience +I might yet discover more that would be of interest.</p> + +<p>From my corner I watched the pair unnoticed. The +girl was certainly extremely good-looking, young, and +by her manner I could see that she was shy at being +with a male companion alone in a public restaurant. +He, on his part, was exercising over her all the fascination +of his nation. Once or twice I saw him smile +covertly across behind me, and when I had an opportunity +to glance round I realised, to my surprise, that +the man whom he had called Giovanni was lunching +with the handsome Italian woman from St. Margaret's.</p> + +<p>It seemed that they were watching the young pair. +For what reason, I wondered?</p> + +<p>I remained on the alert, but that day discovered +nothing more, though I followed the young pair back +to Richmond and saw the Italian part affectionately +from Nella Emden near her father's house.</p> + +<p>For some days I prosecuted an unceasing vigil, +for already I had recognised the seriousness of a secret +falling into the enemies' hands which would undoubtedly +give them the advantage in the coming +struggle.</p> + +<p>One afternoon Vera Vallance met me at Waterloo +Station, and together we went down to Richmond, +where I showed her the Professor's house, and together +we waited for the coming of Nella. Vera,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +enthusiastic as ever, and ingenious at keeping observation, +followed the girl, while in fear of being recognised +I went back to London.</p> + +<p>Next day she called at New Stone Buildings, smart, +neat, and altogether sweet and winning.</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Jacox," she said, seating herself by my +fire, "I had a curious experience after I left you yesterday +afternoon. Nella went first by tram to Twickenham, +and near the Town Hall there met the young +Italian, who had a companion—Hartmann himself!"</p> + +<p>"Hartmann!" I gasped. "Then our suspicions +are surely well grounded!"</p> + +<p>"Of course they are," she said. "I at once drew +back, fearing that our clever friend of Pont Street +should notice me. Fortunately he did not, therefore +I was able to watch and ascertain where they went—to +the house in St. Margaret's where you saw that +Italian woman. They apparently stayed there to +tea, for about half-past five the young man came out +and walked in the direction of Richmond Bridge. I, +however, remained behind, and though I waited for +hours, until long after dark, neither Hartmann nor +the girl made their reappearance. But at nine a very +remarkable incident occurred."</p> + +<p>"What?" I inquired eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Three men came along the road in the darkness +carrying something. When they drew near me and +turned into the gate of the house, I stood aghast. +Upon their shoulders was a coffin!"</p> + +<p>"A coffin!" I echoed, staring at her.</p> + +<p>"Yes. And though I waited until midnight, Hartmann +did not come forth, neither did the Professor's +daughter. What do you make of it?" she asked, +looking into my eyes.</p> + +<p>I admitted that the affair was a mystery, and suggested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +that we might ascertain whether Nella had +returned to her home.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said. "Go down to Richmond and see."</p> + +<p>This I did without delay. I watched the house +during that afternoon, and just at dusk saw the dark-eyed +maid-servant emerge to post a letter. I followed +her up the hill to the pillar-box, and by the application +of a couple of half-crowns obtained some +information.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," replied the girl, "Miss Nella's not come +home. The master's in a great state about her. She +went out for a walk yesterday afternoon, and though he's +been to the police, nobody seems to have seen her."</p> + +<p>"She was her father's assistant in his experiments, +I've heard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, she was. Ever since poor Mrs. Emden +died, two years ago, she's been her father's right hand."</p> + +<p>"Had she a lover?"</p> + +<p>"Well"—and the girl hesitated. "We in the +kitchen have our suspicions. Davis the cook saw +her last Sunday walking over in Teddington with a +dark young man, who looked like a foreigner. But," +she added, "why do you want to know all this?"</p> + +<p>"I'm trying to trace the young lady," I said, in +the hope that she would believe me to be a detective. +"Tell me," I urged; "does the Professor make any +experiments at home?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, sir; his laboratory is up on the top floor—fitted +up with an electric furnace and lots of funny +appliances."</p> + +<p>"Has he any friends who are foreigners?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of," was the girl's reply. And +I thought she regarded me rather strangely. Why, +I could not conceive. Her name was Annie Whybrow, +she told me, and then, unable to detain her longer +I allowed her to re-enter the house.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + +<p>Vera's story of the coffin being taken into that +mysterious house in Brunswick Road, combined with +the non-return of the pretty Nella, was certainly +mystifying.</p> + +<p>I returned to London, saw Vera, and we resolved +to wire to Ray at Selkirk asking him to return to +London as soon as possible.</p> + +<p>That night, and the next, I haunted the usual resorts +of foreigners in the West End, the underground Café +de l'Europe, the Spaten beer-hall in Leicester Square, +the Café Monico, the Gambrinus, and other places, +in order to discover the young Italian. On the second +evening I was successful, for I saw him in the Monico, +and on inquiring of a man I knew, I learnt that his +name was Uberto Mellini, that until recently he had +lived in Paris, and that at the present moment he +was staying in a house in Dean Street, Soho.</p> + +<p>At midnight, when I returned to Bloomsbury, I +found Vera and Ray anxiously awaiting me. The +latter had only arrived in London from Scotland an +hour before, and his fiancée had evidently told him +of the curious events which had transpired and the +sinister mystery surrounding the young girl's +disappearance.</p> + +<p>"I can see no reason for it at all," he declared, when +we commenced to discuss the situation. "It's quite +plain that our friends the enemy are actively at work, +but surely the fact that Nella is missing would put +the Professor upon his guard. This young Italian +Mellini is evidently a new importation, and has pretended +to form an attachment for Nella for some +ulterior object."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," I said. "But what do you make of +the incident of the coffin?"</p> + +<p>"There has been no funeral from that house in +Brunswick Road?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not as far as I can gather."</p> + +<p>"The Registrar of Deaths would be able to inform +us," he said reflectively. "We must inquire."</p> + +<p>Next day all three of us returned to Richmond, and +while Ray and Vera crossed the bridge to the opposite +side of the Thames to find the Registrar's office, I +lingered and watched in the vicinity of the Professor's +house.</p> + +<p>I waited for many weary hours in the wet—for rain +fell the whole day—but Ray did not return, which +caused me considerable misgivings. I was compelled +to resort to all sorts of subterfuges in order not to +attract attention; but as my friend had directed me +to remain and watch, I waited patiently at my post.</p> + +<p>Just after the street lamps were lit, a telegraph +messenger arrived, and ten minutes after he had gone +the girl Annie came out with hat and jacket on, and +turning to the left hurried in my direction.</p> + +<p>As she passed I spoke to her, and, recognising me, +she explained that she was going for a cab to convey +the Professor to the station.</p> + +<p>"Miss Nella is at Liverpool," she added excitedly. +"The master has had a wire from her, asking him to +go there at once. She's very ill, it seems. The poor +master is greatly excited. He's just telephoned to +the police saying that Miss Nella has been found."</p> + +<p>And then the girl hurried away, down the hill to +the foot of the bridge, where there was a cab-stand.</p> + +<p>Nella at Liverpool! What could possibly have +occurred?</p> + +<p>Later on I watched the Professor, carrying only a handbag, +enter a cab and drive rapidly to the station, while +Annie returned to the house and closed the front door.</p> + +<p>It was then about six o'clock, and I had been watching +there for nearly eight hours. Therefore I decided +to go in search of Ray, who was over at St. Margaret's,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +and who, I thought, would most probably be watching +the house to which the coffin had been taken.</p> + +<p>In this I was not mistaken, for I found him idling +at the end of that quiet, dark suburban road. He +was on the alert the instant he recognised me, and +in a few rapid sentences I told him what had occurred.</p> + +<p>It puzzled him greatly.</p> + +<p>"I've ascertained that Hartmann is back at Pont +Street," he said. "But why the coffin should be in +yonder house is still a mystery. The Registrar has +had no intimation of any death in Brunswick Road +for the past eight months. I've, however, found the +local undertaker, who says that a plain coffin was +ordered for a gentleman and that they duly delivered +it. They did not see the body, being told that the +funeral was to be undertaken by a big West End +firm, and that the body was to be conveyed for burial +somewhere near Leicester."</p> + +<p>"Have you found out anything further regarding +the occupants of the house?"</p> + +<p>"No, only that it was taken furnished by a gentleman +a month ago—a foreigner whose description +exactly tallies with that of Hartmann—for an old +man and his daughter—both Italians. They've kept +themselves very much to themselves, therefore the +neighbours know practically nothing about their +business."</p> + +<p>"Well, Nella Emden was enticed in there. I'm +certain of that," I said. "Yet the fact that she's +in Liverpool rather negatives my first theory of foul +play," I added.</p> + +<p>"Yes. But we must still remain watchful. Vera +has gone to make some inquiries for me over at Mortlake. +I expect her back in half an hour. You return +and keep a watchful eye upon the Professor's place. One +never knows what crooked business may be on hand!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + +<p>So back I went, and through the whole evening +waited there, chilled to the bone, in vain expectancy.</p> + +<p>I had noticed from Ray's manner that he had become +very suspicious. He somehow scented the +presence of spies at times when, I confess, I felt calm +and reassured. And his natural intuition was seldom, +if ever, wrong.</p> + +<p>The church bells across the river had chimed midnight, +the Professor's servants had put out the lights +and retired, and the thoroughfare was now deserted. +Hungry and tired out, I was contemplating relaxing +my vigil when Ray suddenly turned a corner and +joined me, saying breathlessly:</p> + +<p>"Uberto and his friend are coming up the hill with +another man. Vera and I have seen them call at +Brunswick Road, and they are now on their way here. +We must keep a strict watch. Something is up!"</p> + +<p>We separated, and concealing ourselves in the basements +of the houses opposite, we witnessed that which +caused our heart-beats to quicken.</p> + +<p>The three men came along in silence in the night, +for they evidently wore rubber heels on their boots. +The constable was then some distance down the hill, +therefore they passed him.</p> + +<p>As they approached the house, the man whom I +had heard addressed as Giovanni hurried forward, +and slipping suddenly into the narrow front garden, +approached the kitchen window. Inserting something +between the sashes, he pushed back the latch, carefully +drew back the blind, and was within the house +almost before the two others had entered the +garden.</p> + +<p>Then, without a sound, the pair followed him. +Indeed, the three spies had entered the premises so +quickly that we could scarcely believe our own eyes.</p> + +<p>"The police!" whispered Ray. "We must get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +the constable. Slip down the hill and tell him. We'll +make a fine capture this time!"</p> + +<p>Down the hill I sped, and five minutes later was +back with the constable, having briefly explained to +him our suspicions.</p> + +<p>"I don't know anything about German spies, sir, +but whoever's inside is liable for burglariously entering, +and we'll have 'em," whispered the officer.</p> + +<p>Silently we entered just as the spies had done, +passing through the kitchen, and up the stairs. The +laboratory was at the top of the house I knew, and +was always kept locked. Therefore we crept forward, +without the slightest sound.</p> + +<p>Once or twice, we listened. The spies were absolutely +silent—well trained to that sort of nocturnal investigation, +no doubt.</p> + +<p>As Ray and I got to the door of the big room, which, +by the light of the flash-lamp used by the intruders, +we could see was fitted with all sorts of appliances, +we witnessed through the crack that they had secured +a number of specimens of metals and were all three +at that moment engaged in drilling a hole in the big +dark green safe standing in the corner.</p> + +<p>"Now," whispered the constable, "let's rush them." +And with a loud shout we dashed in upon them, revolvers +in hand.</p> + +<p>In an instant we were in total darkness. Deep +curses in Italian sounded, and I heard a desperate +struggle taking place. Somebody grabbed at me, +but it was our friend the constable. Then, by the +red flash of a revolver which somebody fired, I distinguished +the flying form of one of the intruders +through the doorway.</p> + +<p>Next second, in the darkness, I felt a man brush +past me, and instantly I closed with him. We fell +together, and as I gripped the fellow's throat he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +ejaculated a loud imprecation in Italian. Then we +rolled over in desperate embrace, but as I forced him +beneath me, shouting to the constable, whose lantern +had been knocked from his hand and broken, I suddenly +felt a crushing blow upon the skull. I saw a +thousand stars, and then the blackness of unconsciousness +fell upon me.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>When I again grew cognisant of what was going on +about me, I found myself lying in bed in the Richmond +Cottage Hospital with a pleasant-faced nurse bending +eagerly over me. It was still night, for the gas was +burning.</p> + +<p>She asked how I felt, remarking that I had received +a nasty crack, and had lain there unconscious for +three whole days.</p> + +<p>Presently I felt the presence of some one else near +me, and gradually made them out to be Ray and Vera.</p> + +<p>At first they would tell me nothing, but after the +doctor had seen me, Ray in his cheery way said:</p> + +<p>"Yours was a bit of hard luck, old fellow. The +blackguards all got away—all three of them. But +we were just in time, for in that safe were the memoranda +of the Professor's experiments which, together +with the specimens of the new metal that could have been +analysed, would have undoubtedly placed the secret of +the new steel in the hands of the German Admiralty!"</p> + +<p>"Then we really prevented them?" I said eagerly, +feeling the bandages about my head.</p> + +<p>"Just in the very nick of time, old man," he replied. +"And we did more. We managed to save Miss Nella."</p> + +<p>"How?" I inquired eagerly.</p> + +<p>"She's here. She'll tell you herself." And next moment +I saw her standing before me with the Professor.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mr. Jacox," the girl said. "I have come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +to thank you. I was first approached by the young +Italian while crossing Richmond Bridge one day, and +later on he introduced me to his sister, who lived in +St. Margaret's. On the afternoon when I was induced +to go there I was given something in my tea which +at once rendered me unconscious. When I recovered, +I found myself lying in a coffin secured to rings inside, +while a villainous old man, a bearded German, and +an Italian woman were about to screw down the lid. +I screamed, but they took no notice, until in fear I +fainted. Ah! shall I ever forget those horrible +moments? I was alone, helpless in the hands of those +fiends, all because I had allowed myself to become +attracted by a stranger! They held me there for +days, trying to learn from me the secret of my father's +discovery. But I would tell them nothing. Ah! +how I suffered, believing every hour that they would +close down that lid. Then the brutes, finding me +defiant, and believing that no one was aware of their +existence, hit upon another device—sending a false +telegram to my father from Liverpool, and thus taking +him away from the house in order to be afforded a +clear field for their investigations. Of this I, of course, +knew nothing until your friends entered the house +forcibly with the police and found me still imprisoned—ah! +yes! ready for death and burial."</p> + +<p>And then the strange old Professor, stepping forward, +seized my hand warmly in his, saying:</p> + +<p>"To you and your two good friends, Mr. Jacox, the +country owes a great and deep debt of gratitude. I +was foolish in disregarding your timely warning, for +my dear daughter very nearly lost her life, because +the blackguards knew she had assisted me in my experiments +and had made the notes at my dictation, +while Britain very nearly lost the secret upon which, +in the near future, will depend her supremacy at sea."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRET OF THE IMPROVED "DREADNOUGHT"</h3> + + +<p>The road was crooked and narrow, and the car was a +nondescript "ninety," full of knocks and noise.</p> + +<p>By appointment I had, for certain reasons that will +afterwards be apparent, met, in the American Bar +of the "Savoy," two hours before, the Honourable +Robert Brackenbury, the dark, clean-shaven young +man now driving, and he had engaged me, at a salary +of two pounds ten per week, to be his chauffeur. I +had driven him out through the London traffic, until, +satisfied with my skill, he had taken the wheel himself, +and we were now out upon the Great North Road, +where he had a pressing engagement to meet a friend.</p> + +<p>Beyond Hatfield we passed through Ayot Green, +and were on our way to Welwyn, when suddenly he +swung the powerful car into a narrow stony by-road, +where, after several sharp turns, he pulled up before a +pleasant, old-fashioned, red-roofed cottage standing +back in a large garden and covered with ivy and +climbing roses.</p> + +<p>A big, stout, clean-shaven, merry-faced man, with +slightly curly fair hair, standing in the rustic porch, +waved his hand in welcome as we both descended.</p> + +<p>I was invited into the clean cottage parlour, and +there introduced to the stout man, who, I found, was +named Charles Shand, and by whose speech I instantly +recognised an American.</p> + +<p>"Good!" he exclaimed. "So this is the new +chauffeur, eh?" he asked, looking me up and down +with his large blue eyes. "Say, young man," he +added, "you've got a good berth if you can drive well—and +what's more important, keep a still tongue."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p>I glanced from one to the other in surprise. What +did he mean?</p> + +<p>Both saw that I was puzzled, whereupon he hastened +to allay my surprise by explaining.</p> + +<p>"My friend and I run a car each. He has a six-cylinder +'sixty' here, and we want you to look after +both. No cleaning. You are engineer, and will +drive occasionally. Come and see the other car." +And taking me to the rear of the premises, they showed +me, standing in a newly built shed, one of the latest +pattern six-cylinder "Napiers" fitted with every +modern improvement. It was painted cream, and +upon the panels an imposing crest. A big searchlight +was set over the splash-board. It was fitted +with the latest lubrication, and seemed almost new. +To me, motor enthusiast as I am, it was a delight to +have such a splendid car under my control, and my +heart leapt within me.</p> + +<p>"My friend, Mr. Brackenbury, will be liberal in +the matter of wages," remarked Shand, "provided +that you simply do as you are bid and ask no questions. +Blind obedience is all that we require. Our private +business does not concern you in the least—you understand +that?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," I said.</p> + +<p>"Then if you make a promise of faithful and silent +service, we shall pay you three pounds ten a week +instead of the two ten which we arranged this morning," +said Brackenbury.</p> + +<p>I thanked them both, and returning to the house +Shand produced some whisky and a syphon, gave me +a drink and a cigar, and told me that if I wished to +stroll about for an hour I was at liberty to do so.</p> + +<p>The afternoon was a warm one in July, therefore I +passed out into a field, and beneath the shade of a +tree threw myself down to smoke and reflect. For<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +nearly four months, though Ray and I had been ever +watchful, we had discovered but little. We had had +our suspicions aroused, however, and I had resolved +to follow them up. Both men seemed good fellows +enough, yet the glances they had exchanged were +meaning, and thereby increased my suspicions.</p> + +<p>When, an hour later, I re-entered the house and +knocked at the door of the room, I found the pair with +a map spread out on the table. They had evidently +been in earnest consultation.</p> + +<p>"Fortunately for you you are not married, Nye," +exclaimed the Honourable Robert, whom I strongly +suspected to be of German birth, though he spoke +English perfectly and had appeared to have many +friends among the habitués of the "Savoy." Nye +was the name I had given. "You'll have two places +of residence—here with Shand, and with me at my +little place over at Barnes. You know the main roads +pretty well, you told me?"</p> + +<p>"I did a lot of touring when I was with Mr. Michelreid, +the novelist," I said. "He used to be always +in search of fresh places to write about. We always +went to the Continent a lot."</p> + +<p>"Well," he laughed, "you'll soon have an opportunity +of putting your knowledge of the road to the +test. To be of any real service to us, you'll have to +be able to find your way, say, from here to Harwich +in the night without taking one wrong turning."</p> + +<p>"I've been touring England for nearly five years, +off and on," I said, with confidence; "therefore few +people know the roads, perhaps, better than myself."</p> + +<p>"Very well, we shall see," remarked Shand; "only +not a word—not even to your sweetheart. My friend +and I are engaged in some purely private affairs—in +fact, I think there is no harm in telling you—now +that you are to be our confidential servant—that we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +are secret agents of the Government, and as such +are compelled on occasions to act in a manner that +any one unacquainted with the truth might consider +somewhat peculiar. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," I said.</p> + +<p>"And not a word must pass your lips—not to a soul," +he urged. "For each success we gain in the various +missions entrusted to us you will receive from the +Secret Service fund a handsome honorarium as acknowledgment +of your faithful services."</p> + +<p>Then he walked away, gaily singing the gay chanson +of Magda at the Ambassadeurs:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +<span style="margin-left: -0.4em;">"Sous le ciel pur ou le ciel gris</span><br /> +Dès que les joyeux gazouillis<br /> +Des oiselets se font entendre,<br /> +Une voix amoureuse et tendre<br /> +Par la fenêtre au blanc rideau<br /> +Lance les couplets d'un rondeau;<br /> +C'est la voix d'une midinette<br /> +Qui fait, en chantant, sa toilette.<br /> +Ah! le joli réveil-matin,<br /> +Quand il faut partir au turbin!<br /> +Bientôt, de la chambre voisine,<br /> +Répond une voix masculine.<br /> +Paris! Paris! Gai paradis!<br /> +Voilà les chansons de Paris!"<br /> +</div> + +<p>Much gratified at securing such a post, I drove the +Honourable Robert back to London and waited for +him in the courtyard of the Hotel Cecil while he was +inside for a quarter of an hour. Then, getting up +beside me he directed me to drive to Hammersmith +Bridge, where, at a big block of red-brick flats overlooking +the river, called Lonsdale Mansions, we pulled +up, and he took me up to his small cosily furnished +flat, where William, the clean-shaven and highly-respectable +valet, awaited him.</p> + +<p>The "ninety" was garaged, I found, almost +opposite, and when I returned to the flat the Honourable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +Robert was at the telephone in the dining-room +talking to the man we had left near Welwyn.</p> + +<p>The elderly woman who acted as cook showed me +my room, gave me my dinner, and I sat smoking with +William for an hour or so afterwards.</p> + +<p>The valet was a very inquisitive person, and I could +not fail to notice how cleverly he tried to pump me +concerning my post. He, however, failed to obtain +much from me.</p> + +<p>"The guv'nor is one of the best fellows alive—a +thorough sportsman," he informed me. "Respect +his confidence, and don't breathe a word to any one +as to his doings, and you'll find your place worth +hundreds a year."</p> + +<p>"But why these strict injunctions regarding +silence?" I inquired, in the hope of learning something.</p> + +<p>"Well—because he's compelled to mix himself up +with queer affairs and queer people sometimes, and +in his position as the younger son of a peer it wouldn't +do if it leaked out. I simply act as he bids, and seek +no explanation. You'll have to do the same."</p> + +<p>Hardly had he ceased speaking when "the guv'nor," +in dinner-jacket and black tie, entered, and said:</p> + +<p>"William, I want you to take a letter for me to +Raven at Nottingham by the next train. It leaves +St. Pancras at 10.45. You'll be there at 2.30 in the +morning. He's at the 'Black Boy.' Get an answer +and take the 5.50 back. You'll be here again soon +after nine in the morning."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir," answered the valet, taking the +letter from his master's hand; and ten minutes later +he went downstairs to catch his train.</p> + +<p>This incident showed that Robert Brackenbury +was essentially a man of action. His keen, dark +aquiline face, bright, sharp eyes, and quick, almost +electric movements combined to show him to be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +man of nerve, resource, and rapid decision. The +square lower jaw betokened hard determination, +while at the same time his manner was easy, nonchalant, +and essentially that of a born gentleman.</p> + +<p>William returned next morning, and a few days +passed uneventfully. Both morning and evening each +day, at hours prearranged, he "got on" to Shand, +but their conversations were very enigmatical. Several +times I happened to be in the room, but could learn +nothing from the talk, which seemed, in the main, +to refer to the rise and fall of certain mining shares.</p> + +<p>Each day I drove him out in the "ninety." The +car, a four-cylinder, had no flexibility, and was a +perfect terror in traffic. The noise it caused was as +though it had no silencer, while the police everywhere +looked askance as we crept through the Strand, dodged +the motor-buses in Oxford Street, or put on a move +down Kensington Gore.</p> + +<p>While Bob Brackenbury—as he was known to his +friends of the "Savoy"—was out one day, I was in +his bedroom with William, when the latter opened +one of the huge wardrobes there. Inside I saw hanging +a collection of at least fifty coats of all kinds, some +smart and of latest style, others old-fashioned and +dingy, while more than one was greasy, out-at-elbow, +and ragged. I made no remark. Never in my life +had I seen such an extensive collection of clothes +belonging to one man. Surely those ragged coats +were kept there for purposes of disguise! Yet would +it not be highly necessary for a member of the Secret +Service to possess certain disguises, I reflected!</p> + +<p>William noticed my interest, and shut the doors +hurriedly.</p> + +<p>I drove Brackenbury hither and thither to various +parts of London, for he seemed to possess many friends. +Once we took two pretty young ladies from Hampstead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +down to the "Mitre" at Hampton Court, and on +another afternoon we took a young French girl and +her mother from the "Carlton" down to the "Old +Bridge House" at Windsor.</p> + +<p>To me it was apparent that Bob Brackenbury was +very popular with a certain set at the Motor Club, +at the Automobile Club, and at other resorts.</p> + +<p>My duties were not at all arduous, and such a +thoroughgoing sportsman was my master that he treated +me almost as an equal. When out in the country +he compelled me to have lunch at his table "for +company," he said. My people, I told him, had been +wealthy before the South African War, but had been +ruined by it, and though I had been at Rugby and +had done one year at Balliol College, Oxford, I hid the +fact now that I was compelled to earn my living as +a mere chauffeur. He had no idea that I was a barrister, +with chambers in New Stone Buildings.</p> + +<p>One morning after breakfast Mr. Brackenbury +called me into the little dining-room, wherein stood +his capacious roll-top desk against the wall, with the +telephone upon it, and inviting me to a seat opposite +the fireplace, said in a voice which betrayed just the +faintest accent:</p> + +<p>"Nye, I want to speak confidentially to you for +a few minutes. You recollect that the day before +yesterday when down at Windsor I was speaking +with a police-inspector in uniform, who called at the +hotel to see me, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He looked round the car and spoke to me. +I thought he'd come to take our name for exceeding +the limit on the Staines road."</p> + +<p>"You'd remember him again if you saw him?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," was my prompt reply.</p> + +<p>"Well, don't forget him," he urged, "because you +may, before long, be required to meet him. And if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +you should chance to mistake the man, a very serious +<i>contretemps</i> would ensue."</p> + +<p>"I'd recognise him again among a thousand!" I +declared.</p> + +<p>"Good. Now listen attentively to me for a few +minutes," he said, lighting a fresh cigarette and fixing +his dark, penetrating eyes upon mine. "I and my +friend Shand have a very difficult task. A certain +Colonel von Rausch, of the German Intelligence Department, +is, we have discovered, in England on a +secret mission. It is suspected that he is here controlling +a number of spies who had been engaged in +staff-rides in the eastern counties, and to receive their +reports. My object is to learn the truth, and it can +only be done by great tact and caution. I tell you +this so that any orders I give you may not surprise +you. Obey, and do not seek motive. Am I clear?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," I answered, interested in what he +told me. It was curious that he, undoubtedly a +German, was at the same time antagonistic to the +colonel of the Kaiser's army.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm leaving London in an hour. Await +orders from me, and obey them promptly," he said, +dismissing me.</p> + +<p>Through that day and the next I waited. He had +taken William with him into the country, and left +me alone in the flat. Once or twice the telephone +rang, but to the various inquirers I replied that my +master was absent.</p> + +<p>Inactivity there was tantalising. I was naturally +fond of adventure, and I had taken on the guise of +chauffeur surely for the unmasking of a foreign spy.</p> + +<p>On the third day, about two in the afternoon, I +received a trunk call on the 'phone. The post office +at Market Harborough called me up, and the voice +which I heard was that of my master.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh! that's you, Nye!" he said. "Well, I want +you to start in the car in an hour, and run her up to +Peterborough. When in the Market Place, inquire +the road to Edgcott Hall. It's about six miles out +on the Leicester road. Inquire for me there as Captain +Kinghorne—remember the name now. Do you hear +distinctly?"</p> + +<p>I replied in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"Recollect what I told you before I left. I shall +expect you about six. Good-bye," he said, and then +rang off.</p> + +<p>Full of excitement, I got out the car from the garage, +filled the petrol tank, saw to the carbide, and then +set out across the suspension bridge at Hammersmith, +and went through Kensal Green and Hampstead over +to Highgate, where I got upon the North Road.</p> + +<p>It had been raining, and there was plenty of mud +about, but the big, powerful car ran well notwithstanding +the terrific noise it created. Indeed, she +was such a terror and possessed so many defects that +little wonder its maker had not placed his name upon +her. As a hill-climber, however, she was excellent, +and though being compelled constantly to change my +"speeds," I did an average of thirty miles an hour +after getting into the open country beyond Codicote.</p> + +<p>Through crooked old Hitchin I slowed up, then away +again through Henlow and Eton Socon up Alconbury +Hill and down the broad road with its many telegraph +lines, I went with my exhaust open, roaring and +throbbing, through Stilton village into the quiet old +cathedral town of Peterborough. Inquiry in the +Market Place led me across a level crossing near the +station and down a long hill, then out again into a +flat agricultural district until I came to the handsome +lodge-gates of Edgcott Hall.</p> + +<p>Up a fine elm avenue I went for nearly a mile, until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +I saw before me in the crimson sunset a long, old +Elizabethan mansion with high twisted chimneys and +many latticed windows. The door was open, and as +I pulled up I saw within a great high wall with stained +windows like a church and stands of armour ranged +down either side.</p> + +<p>A footman in yellow waistcoat answered my ring, +and my inquiry for Captain Kinghorne brought forth +my master, smartly dressed in a brown flannel suit +and smiling.</p> + +<p>"Hulloa, Nye!" he exclaimed. "Got here all +right, then. Newton will show the way to the garage," +and he indicated the footman. "When you've put +her up, I want to see you in my room."</p> + +<p>The footman, mounted beside me, directed me across +the park to the kennels of the celebrated Edgcott +hounds, and behind these I found a well-appointed +garage, in which were two other cars, a "sixteen" +Fiat of a type three years ago, and a "forty" Charron +with a limousine body, a very heavy, ponderous affair.</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour later I found myself with the +Honourable Bob in a big, old-fashioned bedroom overlooking +the park.</p> + +<p>"You understood me on the 'phone, Nye?" he +asked when I had closed the door and we were alone. +"Shand is guest here with me under the name of +Pawson, while, as you know, I'm Captain Kinghorne, +<span class="smcap">D.S.O.</span> This is necessary," he laughed. "The name +of Bob Brackenbury would, in an instant, frighten +away our friend the German. The people here, the +Edgcotts, don't know our real names," he added. "All +you have to do is to remain here and act as I direct."</p> + +<p>A moment later the stout American entered and +greeting me, turned to his friend, saying:</p> + +<p>"I suppose Nye knows that Charles Shand is off +the map at present, eh?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I've just been explaining," my master replied.</p> + +<p>"And you'd better spread a picturesque story among +the servants, too, Nye," the American went on—"the +bravery of Captain Kinghorne at Ladysmith, +and the wide circle of financial friends possessed +by Archibald Pawson, of Goldfields, Nevada. The +Edgcotts must be filled up with us, and that infernal +Dutchman mustn't suspect that we have anything to +do with Whitehall."</p> + +<p>At that moment William, the valet, came in.</p> + +<p>"Von Rausch met a strange man this afternoon in +a little thatched inn called the 'Fitzwilliam Arms,' +over at Castor. They were nearly half an hour together. +One of the grooms pulled up there for a drink +and saw them."</p> + +<p>"Suppose he met one of his secret agents," remarked +my master, with a glance at his friend. +"We've got to have our eyes open, and there mustn't +be any moss on us in this affair. To expose this man +and his spying crowd will be to teach Germany a +lesson which she's long wanted. We shall receive the +private thanks of the Cabinet for our services, which +would be to us, patriotic Englishmen as we all are, +something to be proud of."</p> + +<p>"Guess two heads are better than one, as the hatter +said when twins entered his shop," laughed the broad-faced +American.</p> + +<p>We both agreed, and a few moments later I left +the room.</p> + +<p>The Edgcotts seemed to be entertaining quite a +large house-party, all of them smart people, for that +evening after dinner I caught sight of pretty women +in handsome dresses and flashing jewels. Being a +warm night, bridge was played in the fine old hall, +where the vaulted roof echoed back the well-bred +laughter and gay chatter of the party, which included<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +Mr. Henry Seymour, Civil Lord of the Admiralty, and +several well-known politicians.</p> + +<p>Essentially a sporting crowd, many of them were +men and women who hunted in winter with the Cottesmore, +the Woodland Pytchley and the Edgcott packs. +William and I peeped in through the crack of one of +the doors, and he pointed out to me a tall, fair-haired, +middle-aged man whose soft-pleated shirt-front and +the cut of whose dress-coat betrayed him to be a +foreigner. At that moment he was leaning over the +chair of a pretty little dark-haired woman in pale blue, +who struck me as a foreigner also, and who wore twisted +twice around her neck a magnificent rope of large pearls.</p> + +<p>"That's von Rausch," William explained. "And +look at the guv'nor!" he added. "He seems to be +having a good time with the thin woman over there. +He's talking in French to her."</p> + +<p>My eyes wandered in search of Pawson, and I saw +that he was seated at one of the bridge-tables silently +contemplating his hand.</p> + +<p>The German spy was evidently a great favourite +with the ladies. Perhaps his popularity with the +fair sex had gained for him entry to that little circle +of the elegant world. Two young girls approached +him, laughing gaily and slowly fanning themselves. +He then chatted with all three in English which had +only a slight trace of Teutonic accent.</p> + +<p>And that man was, I reflected, the head of a horde +of secret agents which the German War Office had flung +upon our eastern coast. To expose and crush them all +was surely the patriotic duty of any Englishman.</p> + +<p>The magnificent old mansion with its splendid +paintings, its antique furniture, its armour, its bric-à-brac, +old silver, and splendid heirlooms of the +Edgcotts rang with the laughter of the assembly as +two young subalterns indulged in humorous horse-play.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> + +<p>The appearance of the old sphinx-like family butler, +however, compelled us to leave our point of observation, +and for an hour I strolled with William out in +the park in the balmy moonlight of the summer night.</p> + +<p>"There'll be a sensation before long," declared the +valet to me. "You watch."</p> + +<p>"In what way?" I inquired, with curiosity.</p> + +<p>"Wait and see," he laughed, as though he possessed +knowledge of what was intended.</p> + +<p>Next day I drove my master and the German +Colonel over to Nottingham, where we put up for an +hour at the Black Boy Hotel. This struck me as +curious, for I recollected that William had been sent +down from London with a message to some person +named Raven staying at that hotel.</p> + +<p>All the way from Edgcott, through Oakham, Melton +Mowbray, and Trent, I had endeavoured to catch some +of the conversation between the pair in the car behind +me. The noise and rattle, however, prevented me +from overhearing much, but the stray sentences which +did reach me when I slowed down to change my speeds +showed them to be on the most friendly terms.</p> + +<p>Evidently the spy was entirely unsuspicious of +his friend.</p> + +<p>At the hotel, after I had put up the car, I saw my +master and the German speaking with a tall, thin, +consumptive-looking man in black, whose white tie +showed him to be a dissenting minister. He was +clean-shaven, aged fifty, and had an unusually protruding +chin.</p> + +<p>All three went out together and walked along the +street chatting. When they had gone I went back +into the yard, and on inquiry found that the minister +was the Reverend Richard Raven, of the Baptist +Missionary Society.</p> + +<p>He had been a missionary in China, and had addressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +several meetings in Nottingham and the neighbourhood +on behalf of the society.</p> + +<p>Why, I wondered, had Bob Brackenbury, so essentially +a man about town, come there to consult a +Baptist missionary, and accompanied, too, by the +man he was scheming to unmask?</p> + +<p>But the ways of the Secret Service were devious +and crooked, I argued. There was method in it all. +Had Ray and I been mistaken after all? So I, too, lit +a cigarette, and strolled out into the bustling provincial +street awaiting my master and his friend.</p> + +<p>After an hour and a half the trio came back and +had a drink together in the smoking-room—the missionary +taking lemonade—and then I brought round +the car, and we began the return journey of about +sixty-five miles.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it now?" asked my master of +his companion as soon as we were away from the hotel.</p> + +<p>"Excellent!" was the German's reply. "It only +now lies with her, eh?" And he laughed lightly.</p> + +<p>Dinner was over when we returned, and Captain +Kinghorne was profuse in his apologies to his host. +I had previously been warned to say nothing of where +we had been, and I heard my master explain that we +had passed through Huntingdon, where a tyre-burst +had delayed us.</p> + +<p>I became puzzled. Yes, it was certainly both +interesting and exciting. Little did the gallant +German Colonel dream of the sword of England's +wrath suspended above his head.</p> + +<p>Nearly a week passed. Captain Kinghorne, D.S.O., +and Mr. Pawson, of Goldfields, Nevada, shared, I saw, +with the Colonel the highest popularity among members +of the house-party. With Mr. Henry Seymour they +had become on particularly friendly terms. There +were picnics, tennis, and a couple of dances to which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +all the local notabilities were bidden. At them all +Kinghorne was the life and soul of the general merriment. +A good many quiet flirtations were in progress +too. Kinghorne seemed to be particularly attracted +by the pretty little widow whom I had first seen in +pale blue, and who I discovered was French, her name +being the Baronne de Bourbriac. She seemed to +divide her attentions between Mr. Seymour and the +German Colonel.</p> + +<p>From mademoiselle, her maid, I learned that Madame +la Baronne had lost her husband after only four months +of matrimony, and now found herself in possession of +a great fortune, a house in the Avenue des Champs +Elysées, a villa at Roquebrune, and the great mediæval +château of Bourbriac, in the great wine-lands along +the Saône.</p> + +<p>Was she, I wondered, contemplating matrimony +again? One evening before the dressing-bell sounded, +I met them quite accidentally strolling together across +the park, and the earnestness of their conversation +caused my wonder to increase.</p> + +<p>Careful observation, however, showed me that +Colonel von Rausch was almost as much a favourite +with the little widow as was the Honourable Bob. +Indeed, in the three days which followed I recognised +plainly that the skittish little widow, so charming, so +chic, and dressed with that perfection only possible +with the true Parisienne, was playing a double game.</p> + +<p>I felt inclined to tell my master, yet on due reflection +saw that his love affairs were no concern of mine, +while to speak would be only to betray myself as spying +upon him.</p> + +<p>So I held silence, but nevertheless continued to watch.</p> + +<p>Several times I took out Brackenbury, Shand, von +Rausch, and others in the car. Twice the widow went +for a run alone with my master and myself. Life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +was, to say the least, extremely pleasant in those +warm summer days at Edgcott.</p> + +<p>Late one afternoon the Honourable Bob found me +in the garage, and in a low voice said:</p> + +<p>"You must pretend to be unwell, Nye. I want to +take von Rausch out by myself, so go back to the +house and pretend you're queer."</p> + +<p>This I did without question, and he and the Colonel +were out together in an unknown direction until nearly +midnight. Had they, I wondered, gone again to +meet the consumptive converter of the Chinese to +Christianity?</p> + +<p>I took William into my confidence, but he was +silent. He would express no opinion.</p> + +<p>"There's no moss on the guv'nor, you bet," was +all he would vouchsafe.</p> + +<p>Thus for yet another four days things progressed +merrily at Edgcott Hall. William had been sent +away on a message up to Manchester, and I was +taking his place, when one evening, while I was getting +out "the guv'nor's" dress clothes, he entered the +room, and closing the door carefully, said:</p> + +<p>"Be ready for something to happen to-night, Nye. +We're going to hold up the spy and make him disgorge +all the secret reports supplied by his agents. Listen +to my instructions, for all must be done without any +fuss. We don't want to upset the good people here. +You see that small dressing-case of mine over there?"—and +he indicated a square crocodile-skin case with +silver fittings. "Well, at ten o'clock go and get the +car out on the excuse that you have to go into Peterborough +for me. You will find Shand's bag already +in it, so put your own in also, but don't let anybody +see you. Run her down the road about a mile from +the lodge-gates and into that by-road just beyond the +finger-posts where I showed you the other day. Then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +pull up, put out the lights, and leave her as though +you've had a breakdown. Walk back here, get my +dressing-case, and carry it back to the car. Then +wait for us. Only recollect, don't return to get my +bag until half-past ten. You see those two candles +on the dressing-table? Now if any hitch occurs, I +shall light them. So if I do, leave my bag here and +bring my car back. You understand?"</p> + +<p>"Quite," I said, full of excitement. And then I +helped him to dress hurriedly, and he went downstairs.</p> + +<p>We were about to "hold up" the spy. But how?</p> + +<p>Those hours dragged slowly by. I peeped into the +hall after dinner and saw the Honourable Bob seated +in a corner with the Baronne, away from the others, +chatting with her. The spy, all unsuspicious, was +talking to his hostess, while Shand was playing poker.</p> + +<p>Just before ten I crept out with my small bag, unseen +by any one, and walked across the park to the garage. +The night was stormy, the moon was hidden behind +a cloud-bank. There was nobody about, so I got out +the "ninety," started her, and mounting at the wheel +was soon gliding down the avenue, out of the lodge-gates, +and into the by-road which the Honourable +Bob had indicated. Descending, I looked inside the +car and saw that Shand's bag had already been placed +there by an unknown hand.</p> + +<p>In that short run I noticed I had lost the screw cap +of the radiator. This surprised me, for I recollected +how that evening when filling up with water I had +screwed it down tightly. Somebody must have +tampered with it—some stable lad, perhaps.</p> + +<p>Having extinguished the head-lights, I walked back +to the Hall by the stile and footpath, avoiding the +lodge-gates, and managed to slip up to my master's +room, just as the stable-clock was chiming the half hour.</p> + +<p>The candles were unlit. All was therefore in order.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +The dressing-bag was, however, not there. I searched +for it in vain. Then stealing out again I sped by the +footpath back to the car.</p> + +<p>Somebody hailed me in the darkness as I approached +the spot where I had left her.</p> + +<p>I recognized the spy's voice.</p> + +<p>"Have you see Herr Brackenbury?" he asked in +his broken English.</p> + +<p>I halted, amazed. The spy had, it seemed, outwitted +us and upset all our plans!</p> + +<p>Scarcely could I reply, however, before I heard a +movement behind me, and two figures loomed up. +They were my master and Shand.</p> + +<p>"All right?" inquired the American in a low voice, +to which the spy gave an affirmative answer.</p> + +<p>"Light those lamps, Nye," ordered my master +quickly. "We must get away this instant."</p> + +<p>"But——" I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Quick, my dear fellow! There's not a moment to +lose. Jump in, boys," he urged.</p> + +<p>And a couple of minutes later, with our lamps +glaring, we had turned out upon the broad highway +and were travelling at a full forty miles an hour upon +the high road to Leicester.</p> + +<p>What could it all mean? My master and his companion +seemed on the most friendly terms with the spy.</p> + +<p>Ten miles from the lodge-gates of Edgcott at a +cross-road we picked up an ill-dressed man whom I +recognised as the Baptist missionary, Richard Raven, +and with the Honourable Bob at my side directing me +we tore on through the night, traversing numberless +by-roads, until at dawn I suddenly recognised that +we were on the North Road, close to Codicote.</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour later we had run the car round +to the rear of Shand's pretty rose-embowered cottage, +and all descended.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> + +<p>I made excuse to the Honourable Bob that the screw +top of the radiator was missing, whereupon von Rausch +laughed heartily, and picking up a piece of wire from +the bench he bent it so as to form a hook, and with it +fished down in the hot water inside.</p> + +<p>His companions stood watching, but judge my +surprise when I saw him of a sudden draw forth a small +aluminium cylinder, the top of which he screwed off and +from it took out a piece of tracing-linen tightly folded.</p> + +<p>This he spread out, and my quick eyes saw that it +was a carefully drawn tracing of a portion of the new +type of battleship of the <i>Neptune</i> class (the improved +<i>Dreadnought</i> type), with many marginal notes in +German in a feminine hand.</p> + +<p>In an instant the astounding truth became plain to +me. The Baronne, who was in von Rausch's employ, +had no doubt surreptitiously obtained the original +from Mr. Henry Seymour's despatch-box, it having +been sent down to him to Edgcott for his approval.</p> + +<p>A most important British naval secret was, I saw, +in the hands of the clever spies of the Kaiser!</p> + +<p>I made no remark, for in presence of those men +was I not helpless?</p> + +<p>They took the tracing in the house, and for half +an hour held carousal in celebration of their success.</p> + +<p>Presently Brackenbury came forth to me and said:</p> + +<p>"The Colonel is going to Harwich this evening, and +you must drive him. The boat for the 'Hook' leaves +at half-past ten, I think."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir," I replied, with apparent indifference. +"I shall be quite ready."</p> + +<p>At seven we started, von Rausch and I, and until +darkness fell I drove eastward, when at last we found +ourselves in Ipswich.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, close to the White Horse Hotel and within +hailing distance of a police-constable, I brought the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +car to a dead stop, and turning to the German, who +was seated beside me, said in as quiet a tone as I could:</p> + +<p>"Colonel von Rausch, I'll just trouble you to hand +over to me the tracing you and your friends have stolen +from Mr. Henry Seymour—the details of the new battleship +about to be built at Chatham."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" cried the spy. "Drive on, +you fool. I have no time to lose."</p> + +<p>"I wish for that tracing," I said, whipping out the +revolver I always carried. "Give it to me."</p> + +<p>"What next!" he laughed, in open defiance. "Who +are you, a mere servant, that you should dictate to me?"</p> + +<p>"I'm an Englishman!" I replied. "And I'll not allow +you to take that secret to your employers in Berlin."</p> + +<p>The Colonel glanced round in some confusion. He +was evidently averse to a scene in that open street.</p> + +<p>"Come into the hotel yonder," he said. "We can +discuss the matter there."</p> + +<p>"It admits of no discussion," I said firmly. "You +will hand me the tracing over which you have so +ingeniously deceived me, or I shall call the constable +yonder and have you detained while we communicate +with the Admiralty."</p> + +<p>"Drive on, I tell you," he cried in anger. "Don't +be an ass!"</p> + +<p>"I am not a fool," I answered. "Give me that +tracing."</p> + +<p>"Never."</p> + +<p>I turned and whistled to the constable, who had +already noticed us in heated discussion.</p> + +<p>The officer approached, but von Rausch, finding +himself in a corner, quickly produced an envelope +containing the tracing and handed it to me, urging:</p> + +<p>"Remain silent, Nye. Say nothing. You have +promised."</p> + +<p>I broke open the envelope, and after satisfying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +myself he had not deceived me, I placed it safely in +my breast-pocket, as further evidence of the work +of the Kaiser's spies amongst us.</p> + +<p>Then, with excuses to the constable, I swung the +car into the yard of the White Horse Hotel, where +the spy descended, and with a fierce imprecation in +German he hurried out, and I saw him no more.</p> + +<p>At midnight I was in Ray's chambers, in Bruton +Street, and we rang up Mr. Henry Seymour, who had, +we found, returned to his house in Curzon Street from +Edgcott only a couple of hours before.</p> + +<p>In ignorance that spies had obtained the secret of +the <i>Neptune</i> or improved <i>Dreadnought</i>, he would not +at first believe the story we told him.</p> + +<p>But when in his own library half an hour later we +handed him back the tracing, he was compelled to +admit the existence of German espionage in England, +though in the House of Commons only a week before +he had scorned the very idea.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE GERMAN PLOT AGAINST ENGLAND</h3> + + +<p>"When last I had the pleasure of meeting mademoiselle, +both her nationality and her name were—well—slightly +different, eh?" I remarked, bending +forward with a smile.</p> + +<p>From her pretty lips rang out a merry ripple of +laughter, and over her sweet face spread a mischievous +look.</p> + +<p>"I admit the allegation, M'sieur Jacox," was her +rather saucy response in French. "But I had no +idea you would again recognise me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, mademoiselle, beauty such as yours is not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +universal, and is always to be remembered," I said, +with an expression of mock reproval.</p> + +<p>"Now, why do you flatter me—you?" she asked, +"especially after what passed at Caux."</p> + +<p>"Surely I may be permitted to admire you, Suzette? +Especially as I am now aware of the truth."</p> + +<p>She started, and stared at me for a moment, a neat +little figure in black. Then she gave her shoulders a +slight shrug, pouting like a spoiled child.</p> + +<p>There were none to overhear us. It was out of +the season in Paris, and on that afternoon, the 15th of +August, 1908, to be exact, we had driven by "auto" into +the Bois, and were taking our "five o'clock" under the +trees at Pré Catalan, that well-known restaurant in the +centre of the beautiful pleasure wood of the Parisians.</p> + +<p>I had serious business with Suzette Darbour.</p> + +<p>After our success in preventing the plans of the +improved <i>Dreadnoughts</i> falling into German hands, I +had, at Ray's suggestion, left Charing Cross in search +of the dainty little divinity before me, the neat-waisted +girl with the big dark eyes, the tiny mouth, and the +cheeks that still bore the bloom of youth upon them—the +girl who, at the Hôtel d'Angleterre, in Copenhagen, +had been known as Vera Yermoloff, of Riga, +and who had afterwards lived in the gay little watering-place +of Caux under the same name, and had so entirely +deceived me—the girl whom I now knew to be the +catspaw of others—in a word, a decoy!</p> + +<p>Yet how sweet, how modest her manner, how demure +she looked as she sat there before me at the little table +beneath the trees, sipping her tea and lifting her +smiling eyes to mine. Even though I had told her +plainly that I was aware of the truth, she remained +quite unconcerned. She had no fear of me apparently. +For her, exposure and the police had no terrors. She +seemed rather amused than otherwise.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> + +<p>I lit a cigarette, and by so doing obtained time for +reflection.</p> + +<p>My search had led me first to the Midi, thence into +Italy, across to Sebenico in Dalmatia, to Venice, and +back to Paris, where only that morning, with the +assistance of my old friend of my student days in the +French capital, Gaston Bernard, of the Prefecture of +Police, I had succeeded in running her to earth. I +had only that morning found her residing with a girl +friend—a seamstress at Duclerc's—in a tiny flat <i>au +cinquième</i> in a frowsy old house at the top of the Rue +Pigalle, and living in her own name, that of Suzette +Darbour.</p> + +<p>And as I sat smoking I wondered if I dared request +her assistance.</p> + +<p>In the course of my efforts to combat the work of +German spies in England I had been forced to make +many queer friendships, but none perhaps so strange +as the one I was now cultivating. Suzette Darbour +was, I had learned from Ray Raymond a few months +ago, a decoy in association with a very prince of +swindlers, an American who made his head-quarters +in Paris, and who had in the past year or two effected +amazing <i>coups</i>, financial and otherwise, in the various +capitals of Europe.</p> + +<p>Her age was perhaps twenty-two, though certainly +she did not look more than eighteen. She spoke both +English and Russian quite well, for, as she had told +me long ago, she had spent her early days in Petersburg. +And probably in those twenty years of her +life she had learnt more than many women had learned +in forty.</p> + +<p>Hers was an angelic face, with big, wide-open, +truthful eyes, but her heart was, I knew, cold and +callous.</p> + +<p>Could I—dare I—take her into my service—to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +assist me in a matter of the most vital importance to +British interests? The mission upon which I was +engaged at that moment was both delicate and difficult. +A single false move would mean exposure.</p> + +<p>I was playing a deep game, and it surely behoved +me to exercise every precaution. During the years +I had been endeavouring to prove the peril to which +England was exposed from foreign invasion, I had +never been nearer failure than now. Indeed, I held +my breath each time I recollected all that depended +upon my success.</p> + +<p>Ray Raymond, Vera Vallance, and myself had +constituted ourselves into a little band with the object +of combating the activity of the ingenious spies of +the Kaiser. Little does the average Englishman +dream of the work of the secret agent, or how his +success or failure is reflected in our diplomatic negotiations +with the Powers. Ambassadors and ministers +may wear smart uniforms with glittering decorations, +and move in their splendid embassies surrounded by +their brilliant staffs; attachés may flirt, and first +secretaries may take tea with duchesses, yet to the +spy is left the real work of diplomacy, for, after all, it +is upon the knowledge he obtains that His Excellency +the Ambassador frames his despatch to his Government, +or the Minister for Foreign Affairs presents a +"Note" to the Powers.</p> + +<p>We had for months been working on without publicity, +unheeded, unrecognised, unprotected, unknown. +A thankless though dangerous task, our only reward +had been a kind word from the silent, sad-faced Prime +Minister himself. For months our whereabouts had +been unknown, even to each other. Ray generally +scented the presence of spies, and it was for me to +carry through the inquiry in the manner which I +considered best and safest for myself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Suzette," I said at length, looking at her across +the rising smoke from my cigarette, "when we last +met you had the advantage of me. To-day we stand +upon even ground."</p> + +<p>"Pardon! I don't quite understand?" asked the +little lady in the sheath costume with just a slight +tremor of the eyelids.</p> + +<p>"Well—I have discovered that you and Henry +Banfield are friends—that to you he owes much of +his success, and that to you is the credit of a little +affair in Marienbad, which ended rather unpleasantly +for a certain hosiery manufacturer from Chemnitz +named Müller."</p> + +<p>Her faced blanched, her eyes grew terrified, and her +nails clenched themselves into her white palms.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Then you—you have found me, m'sieur, +for purposes of revenge—you—you intend to give +me over to the police because of the fraud I practised +upon you! But I ask you to have pity for me," she +begged in French. "I am a woman—and—and I +swear to you that I was forced to act towards you +as I did."</p> + +<p>"You forced open my despatch-box, believing that +I carried valuables there, and found, to your dismay, +only a few papers."</p> + +<p>"I was compelled to do so by Banfield," she said +simply. "He mistook you for another man, a diplomat, +and believed that you had certain important +documents with you."</p> + +<p>"Then he made a very great mistake," I laughed. +"And after your clever love-making with me you +only got some extracts from a Government report, +together with a few old letters."</p> + +<p>"From those letters we discovered who you really +were," mademoiselle said. "And then we were afraid."</p> + +<p>I smiled.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Afraid that I would pay Banfield back in his own +coin, eh?"</p> + +<p>"I was afraid. He was not, for he told me that +if you attempted any reprisal, he would at once denounce +you to the Germans."</p> + +<p>"Thanks. I'm glad you've told me that," I said, +with feigned unconcern. Truth to tell, however, I +was much upset by the knowledge that the cunning +American who so cleverly evaded the police had discovered +my present vocation.</p> + +<p>Yet, after all, had not the explanation of the pretty +girl before me rather strengthened my hand?</p> + +<p>"Well, Suzette," I said, with a moment's reflection, +"I have not sought you in order <a name="to" id="to"></a><ins title="o changed to to">to</ins> threaten you. +On the contrary, I am extremely anxious that we +should be friends. Indeed, I want you, if you will, +to do me a service."</p> + +<p>She looked me straight in the face, apparently much +puzzled.</p> + +<p>"I thought you were my enemy," she remarked.</p> + +<p>"That I am not. If you will only allow me, I will +be your friend."</p> + +<p>Her fine eyes were downcast, and I fancied I detected +in them the light of unshed tears. How strange +it was that upon her attitude towards me should depend +a nation's welfare!</p> + +<p>"First, you must forgive me for my action at Caux," +she said in a low, earnest voice, scarce above a whisper. +"You know my position, alas! I dare not disobey +that man who holds my future so irrevocably in his +hands."</p> + +<p>"He threatens you, then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. If I disobeyed any single one of his commands, +he would deliver me over at once to the police +for a serious affair—a crime, however, of which I swear +to you that I am innocent—the crime of murder!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He holds threats over you," I said, tossing away +my cigarette. "Describe the affair to me."</p> + +<p>"It is the crime of the Rue de Royat, two years +ago. You no doubt recollect it," she faltered, after +some hesitation. "A Russian lady, named Levitsky, was +found strangled in her flat and all her jewellery taken."</p> + +<p>"And Banfield charges you with the crime?"</p> + +<p>"I admit that I was in the apartment when the +crime was committed—decoyed there for that purpose—but +I am not the culprit."</p> + +<p>"But surely you could prove the identity of the +assassin?"</p> + +<p>"I saw him for an instant. But I had no knowledge +of who he was."</p> + +<p>"Then why do you fear this American crook? +Why not dissociate yourself from him?"</p> + +<p>"Because it would mean my betrayal and ruin. +I have no means of disproving this dastardly allegation. +I am in his power."</p> + +<p>"You love him, perhaps?" I remarked, my gaze +full upon her.</p> + +<p>"Love him!" she protested, with flashing eyes. +"I hate him!" And she went on to explain how +she was held powerless in the hands of the scoundrel.</p> + +<p>"You have a lover, I understand, mademoiselle?" +I remarked presently.</p> + +<p>She was silent, but about the corners of her pretty +mouth there played a slight smile which told the truth.</p> + +<p>"Why not cut yourself adrift from this life of +yours?" I urged. "Let me be your friend and assist +you against this fellow Banfield."</p> + +<p>"How could you assist me? He knows what you +are, and would denounce you instantly!"</p> + +<p>What she said was certainly a very awkward truth. +Banfield was one of the cleverest scoundrels in Europe, +an unscrupulous man who, by reason of certain sharp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +deals, had become possessed of very considerable +wealth, his criminal methods being always most carefully +concealed. The police knew him to be a swindler, +but there was never sufficient evidence to convict.</p> + +<p>To obtain Suzette's services I would, I saw, be compelled +to propitiate him.</p> + +<p>Alone there, beneath the softly murmuring trees, +I stretched forth my hand across the table and took +her neatly gloved fingers in mine, saying:</p> + +<p>"Suzette, what I am you already know. I am a +cosmopolitan, perhaps unscrupulous, as a man occupied +as I am must needs be. I am an Englishman and, I +hope, a patriot. Yet I trust I have always been +chivalrous towards a woman. You are, I see, oppressed—held +in a bondage that is hateful——"</p> + +<p>At my words she burst into tears, holding my hand +convulsively in hers.</p> + +<p>"No," I said in a voice of sympathy. "The professions +of neither of us are—well, exactly honourable, +are they? Nevertheless, let us be friends. I want +your assistance, and in return I will assist you. Let +us be frank and open with each other. I will explain +the truth and rely upon your secrecy. Listen. In +Berlin certain negotiations are at this moment in +active progress with St. Petersburg and New York, +with the object of forming an offensive alliance against +England. This would mean that in the coming war, +which is inevitable, my country must meet not only +her fiercest enemy, Germany, but also the United +States and Russia. I have reason to believe that +matters have secretly progressed until they are very +near a settlement. What I desire to know is the +actual inducement held out by the Kaiser's Foreign +Office. Do you follow?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," she said, at once attentive. "I quite +recognise the danger to your country."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The danger is to France also," I pointed out. +"For the past six months an active exchange of despatches +has been in progress, but so carefully has the +truth been concealed that only by sheer accident—a +word let drop in a drawing-room in London—I scented +what was in the wind. Then I at once saw that you, +Suzette, was the only person who could assist us."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"You are an expert in the art of prying into despatch-boxes," +I laughed.</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"In Berlin, at the Kaiserhof Hotel, there is staying +a certain Charles Pierron. If any one is aware of the +truth that man is. I want you to go to Berlin, make +his acquaintance, and learn what he knows. If what +I suspect be true, he possesses copies of the despatches +emanating from the German Foreign Office. And of +these I must obtain a glimpse at all hazards."</p> + +<p>"Who is this Pierron?"</p> + +<p>"He was at the 'Angleterre,' in Copenhagen, when +you were there, but I do not think you saw him. +The reason of my presence there was because I chanced +to be interested in his movements."</p> + +<p>"What is he—an undesirable?"</p> + +<p>"As undesirable as I am myself, mademoiselle," +I laughed. "He is a French secret agent—an Anglophobe +to his finger-tips."</p> + +<p>She laughed.</p> + +<p>"I see, m'sieur," she exclaimed; "you desire me to +adopt the profession of the spy with the kid glove, eh?"</p> + +<p>I nodded in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"Pierron knows me. Indeed, he already has good +cause to remember me in England, where he acted +as a spy of Germany," I remarked. "He is always +impressionable where the fair sex is concerned, and +you will, I <a name="feel" id="feel"></a><ins title="fell changed to feel">feel</ins> confident, quickly be successful if you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +lived for a few days at the 'Kaiserhof' as Vera +Yermoloff."</p> + +<p>She was silent, apparently reflecting deeply.</p> + +<p>"I am prepared, of course, to offer you a monetary +consideration," I added in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"No monetary consideration is needed, m'sieur," +was her quick response. "In return for the fraud I +practised upon you, it is only just that I should render +you this service. Yet without Banfield's knowledge +it would be utterly impossible."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because I dare not leave Paris without his permission."</p> + +<p>"Then you must go with his knowledge—make +up some story—a relative ill or something—to account +for your journey to Berlin."</p> + +<p>She seemed undecided. Therefore I repeated my +suggestion, well knowing that the sweet-faced girl +could, if she wished, obtain for us the knowledge which +would place power in the hands of Great Britain—power +to upset the machinations of our enemies.</p> + +<p>Mine was becoming a profession full of subterfuge.</p> + +<p>Her breast heaved and fell in a long-drawn sigh. +I saw that she was wavering.</p> + +<p>She sipped her tea in silence, her eyes fixed upon +the shady trees opposite.</p> + +<p>"Suzette," I exclaimed at last, "your lover's name +is Armand Thomas, clerk at the head office of the +Compte d'Escompte. He believes you to be the niece +of the rich American, Henry Banfield, little dreaming +of your real position."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>I smiled, telling her that I had made it my business +to discover the facts.</p> + +<p>"You love him?" I asked, looking her straight +in the face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," was her serious response.</p> + +<p>"And you have kept this love affair secret from +Banfield?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. If he knew the truth he would be +enraged. He has always forbidden me to fall in +love."</p> + +<p>"Because he fears that your lover may act as your +protector and shield you from his evil influence," I +remarked. "Well, Suzette," I added, "you are a +very clever girl. If you are successful on this mission +I will, I promise, find a means of uniting you with +your lover."</p> + +<p>She shook her head sadly, replying:</p> + +<p>"Remember Banfield's threat. Disobedience of any +of his commands will mean my ruin. Besides, he +knows who and what you are. Therefore how can +you assist me?"</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," I said, again extending my hand +to my dainty little friend, "I make you this promise +not only on my own behalf—but also on behalf of my +country, England. Is it a compact?"</p> + +<p>"Do you really believe you can help me to free +myself of my hateful bond?" she cried, bending +towards me with eager anticipation.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Suzette, that in return for this service +you shall be free."</p> + +<p>Tears again stood in those fine dark eyes. I knew +of her secret affection for young Thomas, the hard-working +bank clerk, who dared not aspire to the hand +of the niece of the great American financier.</p> + +<p>What a narrative of subterfuge and adventure the +delightful little girl seated there before me could write! +The small amount I knew was amazingly romantic. +Some of Banfield's smartest financial <i>coups</i> had been +accomplished owing to her clever manœuvring and to +the information she had gained by her almost childish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +artlessness. Surely the British Government could +have no more ingenious seeker after political secrets +than she. Women are always more successful as spies +than men. That is why so many are employed by both +Germany and France.</p> + +<p>In all the varied adventures in my search after spies +I had never met a girl with a stranger history than +Suzette Darbour. That she had actually imposed upon +me was in itself, I think, sufficient evidence of her wit, +cunning, and innate ability.</p> + +<p>When I rose from the table and strolled back to +where we had left the "auto," it was with the knowledge +that my long search had not been in vain. She +had taken my hand in promise to go to the "Kaiserhof" +in Berlin and pry into the papers of that foremost +of secret agents, Charles Pierron.</p> + +<p>At five o'clock next morning I was back again in +London, and at ten I was seated in conference with +Ray Raymond in his cosy flat in Bruton Street.</p> + +<p>"We must get at the terms offered by the Germans, +Jacox," he declared, snapping his fingers impatiently. +"It is imperative that the Foreign Office should know +them. At present our hands are utterly tied. We +are unable to act, and our diplomacy is at a complete +standstill. The situation is dangerous—distinctly +dangerous. The guv'nor was only saying so last +night. Once the agreement is signed, then good-bye +for ever to Britain's power and prestige."</p> + +<p>I explained that so carefully was the secret preserved +that I had been unable to discover anything. +Yet I had hopes.</p> + +<p>"My dear Jack, England relies entirely upon you," +he exclaimed. "We must know the plans of our +enemies if we are successfully to combat them. In +the past you've often done marvels. I can only hope that +you will be equally successful in this critical moment."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then after a long and confidential chat we parted +and a couple of hours later I was again in the boat +train, bound for the Continent. I recognised how +urgent was the matter, and how each hour's delay +increased our peril.</p> + +<p>The public, or rather the omnivorous readers of the +halfpenny press, little dream how near we were at that +moment to disaster. The completion of the cleverly +laid plans of Germany would mean a sudden blow +aimed at us, not only at our own shores, but also at +our colonies at the same moment—and such a blow, +with our weakened army and neglected navy, we +could not possibly ward off.</p> + +<p>Well I remember how that night I sat in the corner +of the <i>wagon-lit</i> of the Simplon Express and reflected +deeply. I was on my way to Milan to join a friend. +At Boulogne I had received a wire from Suzette, who +had already departed on her mission to Berlin.</p> + +<p>My chief difficulty lay in the unfortunate fact that +I was well known to Pierron, who had now forsaken +his original employers the Germans, hence I dare not +go to the German capital, lest he should recognise +me. I knew that in the pay of the French Secret +Service was a clerk in the Treaty department of the +German Foreign Office, and without doubt he was +furnishing Pierron with copies of all the correspondence +in progress. Both the French and German Governments +spend six times the amount annually upon secret +service that we do, hence they are always well and +accurately informed.</p> + +<p>At Milan next day the porter at the "Métropole," +the small hotel in the Piazza del Duomo where I always +stay, handed me a telegram, a cipher message from +Ray, which announced that his father had discovered +that, according to a despatch just received from His +Majesty's Ambassador at St. Petersburg, there was now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +no doubt whatever that the terms offered by Germany +were extremely advantageous to both Russia and +the United States, and that it was believed that the +agreement was on the actual point of being concluded.</p> + +<p>That decided me. I felt that at all hazards, even +though Pierron might detect my presence, I must +be in Berlin.</p> + +<p>I was, however, unable to leave Milan at once, for +Ford, whom I was awaiting, was on his way from Corfu +and had telegraphed saying that he had missed the mail +train at Brindisi, and would not arrive before the +morrow.</p> + +<p>So all that day I was compelled to hang about Milan, +drinking vermouth and bitter at Biffi's café in the +Galleria, and dining alone at Salvini's. I always hate +Milan, for it is the noisiest and most uninteresting city +in all Italy.</p> + +<p>Next afternoon I met Ford at the station and compelled +him to scramble into the Bâle express with me, +directly after he had alighted.</p> + +<p>"I go to Berlin. You come with me, and go on to +St. Petersburg," I said in reply to his questions.</p> + +<p>He was a middle-aged man, a retired army officer +and a perfect linguist, who was a secret agent of the +British Government and a great friend of Ray's.</p> + +<p>All the way on that long, tedious run to Berlin we +discussed the situation. I was the first to explain +to him our imminent peril, and with what craft and +cunning the German Chancellor had formed his plans +for the defeat and downfall of our Empire.</p> + +<p>As soon as he knew, all trace of fatigue vanished +from him. He went along the corridor, washed, put on +a fresh collar, brushed his well-worn suit of navy serge, +and returned spruce and smart, ready for any adventure.</p> + +<p>I told him nothing of Suzette. Her existence I had +resolved to keep to myself. In going to Berlin I knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +well that I was playing both a dangerous and desperate +game. Pierron hated me, and if he detected me, he +might very easily denounce me to the police as a spy. +Such a <i>contretemps</i> would, I reflected, mean for me +ten years' confinement in a fortress. The German +authorities would certainly not forget how for the +past two years I had hunted their agents up and down +Great Britain, and been the means of deporting several +as undesirable aliens.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, I felt, somehow, that my place was +near Suzette, so that I could prompt her, and if she +were successful I could read with my own eyes the +copies of the diplomatic correspondence from the +German Foreign Office.</p> + +<p>On arrival at Berlin I bade Ford farewell, having +given him certain instructions how to act on arrival +in Petersburg. During our journey we had made up +a special telegraph code, and when I grasped his hand +he said:</p> + +<p>"Well, good luck, Jacox. Be careful. <i>Au revoir!</i>"</p> + +<p>And he hurried along the platform to catch the +Nord Express to bear him to the Russian capital.</p> + +<p>At the "Kaiserhof" I took a sitting room and +bed-room adjoining. It was then about ten o'clock at +night; therefore I sat down and wrote a note to "Mdlle. +Vera Yermoloff," which I gave a waiter to deliver.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later I received a scribbled reply, requesting +me to meet her at half-past ten at a certain +café near the Lehrte Station.</p> + +<p>I was awaiting her when she arrived. After she +had greeted me and expressed surprise at my sudden +appearance, she informed me she had not yet met +Pierron, for he was absent—in Hamburg it was said.</p> + +<p>"I hear he returns to-night," she added. "Therefore, +I hope to meet him to-morrow."</p> + +<p>I explained the extreme urgency of the matter, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +then drove her back to the hotel, alighting from the +cab a few hundred yards away. To another café I +strolled to rest and have a smoke, and it was near +midnight when I re-entered the "Kaiserhof."</p> + +<p>As I crossed the great hall a <i>contretemps</i> occurred. +I came face to face with Pierron, a tall, sallow-faced, +red-bearded man with eyes set close together, elegantly +dressed, and wearing a big diamond in his cravat.</p> + +<p>In an instant he recognised me, whereupon I bowed, +saying:</p> + +<p>"Ah, m'sieur! It is really quite a long time since +we met—in Denmark last, was it not?"</p> + +<p>He raised his eyebrows slightly, and replied in a +withering tone:</p> + +<p>"I do not know by what right m'sieur presumes +to address me!"</p> + +<p>That moment required all my courage and self-possession. +I had not expected to meet him so suddenly. +He had evidently just come from his journey, for he +wore a light travelling-coat and soft felt hat.</p> + +<p>"Well," I said, "I have something to say to you—something +to tell you in private, if you could grant +me a few minutes." I merely said this in order to +gain time.</p> + +<p>"<i>Bien!</i> to-morrow, then—at whatever hour m'sieur +may name."</p> + +<p>To-morrow. It would then be too late. In an +hour he might inform the police, and I would find +myself under arrest. The German police would be +only too pleased to have an opportunity of retaliating.</p> + +<p>"No," I exclaimed. "To-night. Now. Our business +will only take a few moments. Come to my sitting-room. +The matter I want to explain brooks no delay. +Every moment is of consequence."</p> + +<p>"Very well," laughed the Frenchman, with a distinct +air of bravado. "You believe yourself extremely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +clever, no doubt, M'sieur Jacox. Let me hear what +you have to say."</p> + +<p>Together we ascended the broad marble steps to the +first floor, and I held open the door of my sitting-room. +When he had entered, I closed it, and offering +him a chair, commenced in a resolute tone:</p> + +<p>"Now, M'sieur Pierron, I am here to offer terms to +you."</p> + +<p>"Terms!" he laughed. "<i>Diable!</i> What do you +mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that I foresee your evil intention against +myself, because of my success in the Brest affair," +was my quick reply. "You will denounce me here +in Germany as a British agent, eh?"</p> + +<p>"You are perfectly correct in your surmise, m'sieur. +Here they have an unpleasant habit in their treatment +of foreign spies."</p> + +<p>"And does it not usually take two persons to play +a game?" I asked, perfectly cool. "Are you not +a spy also?"</p> + +<p>"Go to the police, <i>mon cher ami</i>, and tell them what +you will," he laughed defiantly. "Straus, the chief of +police here, is my friend. You would not be the first +person who has tried to secure my arrest and failed."</p> + +<p>His words confounded me. I saw that I alone was in +peril, and that he, by reason of his personal friendship +with the chief of police, was immune from arrest.</p> + +<p>I had walked deliberately, and with eyes wide open, +into the trap!</p> + +<p>"You see," he laughed, pointing to the telephone +instrument on the little writing-table, "I have only +to take that and call up the police office, and your +British Government will lose the services of one of +its shrewdest agents."</p> + +<p>"So that is your revenge, eh?" I asked, realising +how utterly helpless I now was in the hands of my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +bitterest enemy—the man who had turned a traitor. +I could see no way out.</p> + +<p>"Bah!" he laughed in my face. "The power of +your wonderful old country—so old that it has become +worm-eaten—is already at an end. In a month you +will have German soldiers swarming upon your shores, +while America will seize Canada and Australia, and +Russia will advance into India. You will be crushed, +beaten, humiliated—and the German eagle will fly +over your proud London. The John Bull bladder +is to be pricked!" he laughed.</p> + +<p>"That is not exactly news to me, M'sieur Pierron," +I answered quite coolly. "The danger of my country +is equally a danger to yours. With England crushed, +France, too, must fall."</p> + +<p>"We have an army—a brave army—while you +have only the skeleton that your great Haldane has +left to you," he sneered. "But enough! I have long +desired this interview, and am pleased that it has +taken place here in Berlin," and he deliberately walked +across to the telephone.</p> + +<p>I tried to snatch the transmitter from his hand, but +though we struggled, he succeeded in inquiring for +a number—the number of the police head-quarters.</p> + +<p>I was caught like a rat in a trap, fool that I was +to have come there at risk of my liberty—I who was +always so wary and so circumspect!</p> + +<p>I sprang at his throat, to prevent him speaking +further.</p> + +<p>"You shall not do this!" I cried.</p> + +<p>But his reply was only a hoarse laugh of triumph.</p> + +<p>He was asking for somebody—his friend, the chief +of police! Then turning to me with a laugh, he said:</p> + +<p>"Straus will undoubtedly be pleased to arrest such +big game as yourself."</p> + +<p>As he uttered the words there sounded a low tap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +upon the door, and next second it opened, revealing +the neat figure in pale blue.</p> + +<p>Pierron turned quickly, but in an instant his face +was blanched.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dieu! Suzette!</i>" he gasped, staring at her, +while she stood upon the threshold, a strange look +overspreading her countenance as she recognised him.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Look, M'sieur Jacox!" she shrieked a +second later. "Yes—yes, it is that man!" she went +on, pointing her finger at him. "At last! Thank +God! I have found him!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" I demanded. "This is +M'sieur Pierron."</p> + +<p>"I tell you," she cried, "that is the man whom I +saw at the Rue de Royat—the man who strangled +poor Madame Levitsky!"</p> + +<p>"You lie!" he cried, stepping towards her. "I—I've +never seen you before!"</p> + +<p>"And yet you have just uttered mademoiselle's +name, m'sieur," I remarked quietly.</p> + +<p>"He knows that I was present at the time of the +tragedy," exclaimed Suzette quickly, "and that he +was the paid assassin of Henry Banfield. He killed +the unfortunate woman for two reasons: first, in +order to obtain her husband's papers, which had both +political and financial importance; and secondly, +to obtain her jewellery, which was of very considerable +value. And upon me, because I was defenceless, the +guilt was placed. They said I was jealous of her."</p> + +<p>"Suzette," I said slowly, "leave this man to me."</p> + +<p>Then, glancing towards him, I saw what a terrible +effect her denunciation had had upon him. Pale to +the lips, he stood cowed, even trembling, for before +him was the living witness of his crime.</p> + +<p>I stood with my back to the door, barring his escape.</p> + +<p>"Now," I said, "what is your defence?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> + +<p>He was silent.</p> + +<p>I repeated my question in a hard, distinct voice.</p> + +<p>"Let's cry quits," he said in a low, hoarse tone. +"I will preserve your secret—if you will keep mine. +Will you not accept terms?"</p> + +<p>"Not those," I replied promptly. "Suzette has +been accused by Banfield, and by you, of the crime +which you committed. She shall therefore name her +own terms."</p> + +<p>Realising that, by the fortunate discovery of the +assassin of Madame Levitsky, she had at once freed +herself from the trammels cast about her by Banfield, +it was not surprising that the girl should stipulate as +a condition of allowing the spy his freedom that he +should hand over to me all the copies of the secret +diplomatic correspondence which he possessed.</p> + +<p>At first he loudly protested that he had none, but +I compelled him to hand me the key of his despatch-box, +and accompanying him to his room at the further +end of the corridor, we searched and there found within +the steel box a file of papers which he held ready to +hand over to the Quai d'Orsay—the actual information +of which I had been in such active search.</p> + +<p>The German inducements were all set out clearly +and concisely, the copies being in the neat hand of +the traitorous clerk in the Treaty Department.</p> + +<p>Pierron, the tables thus turned upon him, begged +me to allow him at least to have copies. This I refused, +triumphantly taking possession of the whole +file and bidding him good-night.</p> + +<p>In an hour we had both left the German capital, +and next day I had the satisfaction of handing the +copy of the German proposals and the whole correspondence +to the Minister for Foreign Affairs at +Downing Street.</p> + +<p>An extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet was held,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +and cipher instructions at once sent to each of His +Majesty's Ambassadors abroad—instructions which had +the result of successfully combating the intrigue at +Berlin, and for the time being breaking up the proposed +powerful combination against us.</p> + +<p>The bitter chagrin of the German Chancellor is +well known in diplomatic circles, yet to Suzette Darbour +our kid-gloved <i>coup</i> meant her freedom.</p> + +<p>In my presence she openly defied Henry Banfield +and cut herself adrift from him, while Charles Pierron, +after his ignominious failure in Berlin, and possibly +on account of certain allegations made by the rich +American, who wished to get rid of him, was dismissed +from the French Secret Service and disappeared, while +the pretty Suzette, three months afterwards, married +Armand Thomas.</p> + +<p>I was present at the quiet wedding out at Melun +in the first days of 1909, being the bearer of a costly +present in the form of a pretty diamond pendant, as +well as a dozen pairs of sixteen-button-length kid +gloves from an anonymous donor.</p> + +<p>She alone knew that the pendant had been sent to +her as a mark of gratitude by the grave-faced old peer, +the confirmed woman-hater, who was Minister for Foreign +Affairs of His Majesty King Edward the Seventh.</p> + +<p>More than once lately I have been a welcome visitor +at the bright little apartment within a stone's-throw +of the Étoile.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRET OF OUR NEW GUN</h3> + + +<p>Ray and I were in Newcastle-on-Tyne a few weeks +after our success in frustrating the German plot against +England.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> + +<p>Certain observations we had kept had led us to +believe that a frantic endeavour was being made to +obtain certain details of a new type of gun, of enormous +power and range, which at that moment was under +construction at the Armstrong Works at Elswick.</p> + +<p>The Tyne and Tees have long ago been surveyed by +Germany, and no doubt the accurate and detailed +information pigeon-holed in the Intelligence Bureau +at Berlin would, if seen by the good people of Newcastle, +cause them a <i>mauvais quart d'heure</i>, as well +as considerable alarm.</p> + +<p>Yet there are one or two secrets of the Tyne and its +defences which are fortunately not yet the property +of our friends the enemy.</p> + +<p>Vera was in Switzerland with her father.</p> + +<p>But from our quarters at the Station Hotel in Newcastle +we made many careful and confidential inquiries. +We discovered, among other things, the existence of +a secret German club in a back street off Grainger +Street, and the members of this institution we watched +narrowly.</p> + +<p>Now no British workman will willingly give away +any secret to a foreign Power, and we did not suspect +that any one employed at the great Elswick Works +would be guilty of treachery. In these days of socialistic, +fire-brand oratory there is always, however, +the danger of a discharged workman making revelations +with objects of private vengeance, never realising that +it is a nation's secrets that he may be betraying. Yet +in the course of a fortnight's inquiry we learned nothing +to lead us to suspect that our enemies would obtain +the information they sought.</p> + +<p>Among the members of the secret German club—which, +by the way, included in its membership several +Swiss and Belgians—was a middle-aged man who +went by the name of John Barker, but who was either<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +a German or a Swede, and whose real name most +probably ended in "burger."</p> + +<p>He was, we found, employed as foreign-correspondence +clerk in the offices of a well-known shipping +firm, and amateur photography seemed his chief +hobby. He had a number of friends, one of whom +was a man named Charles Rosser, a highly respectable, +hardworking man, who was a foreman fitter at +Elswick.</p> + +<p>We watched the pair closely, for our suspicions +were at last aroused.</p> + +<p>Rosser often spent the evening with his friend Barker +at theatres and music-halls, and it was evident that +the shipping clerk paid for everything. Once or twice +Barker went out to Rosser's house in Dilston Road, +close to the Nun's Moor Recreation Ground, and there +spent the evening with his wife and family.</p> + +<p>We took turns at keeping observation, but one +night Ray, who had been out following the pair, entered +my room at the hotel, saying:</p> + +<p>"Barker is persuading his friend to buy a new house +in the Bentinck Road. It's a small, neat little red-brick +villa, just completed, and the price is three +hundred and fifty pounds."</p> + +<p>"Well?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Well, to-night I overheard part of their conversation. +Barker actually offers to lend his friend half +the money."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" I cried. "On certain conditions, I +suppose?"</p> + +<p>"No conditions were mentioned, but, no doubt, +he intends to get poor Rosser into his toils, that he'll +be compelled to supply some information in order to +save himself and his family from ruin. The spies of +Germany are quite unscrupulous, remember!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I remarked. "The truth is quite clear.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +We must protect Rosser from this. He's no doubt +tempting the unsuspecting fellow, and posing as a +man of means. Rosser doesn't know that his generous +friend is a spy."</p> + +<p>For the next few days it fell to my lot to watch +Barker. I followed him on Saturday afternoon to +Tynemouth, where it seemed his hobby was to snap-shot +incoming and outgoing ships at the estuary, at +the same time asking of seafaring men in the vicinity +how far the boat would be from the shore where he +was standing.</p> + +<p>Both part of that afternoon and part of Sunday he +was engaged in taking some measurements near the +Ridges Reservoir, North Shields, afterwards going on +to Tynemouth again, and snap-shotting the castle +from various positions, the railway and its tunnels, +the various slips, the jetty, the fish quay, the harbour, +and the Narrows. Indeed, he seemed to be making +a most careful photographic survey of the whole +town.</p> + +<p>He carried with him a memorandum book, in which +he made many notes. All this he did openly, in full +presence of passers-by, and even of the police, for who +suspects German spies in Tynemouth?</p> + +<p>About six o'clock on Sunday afternoon he entered +the Royal Station Hotel, took off his light overcoat, +and, hanging it in the hall, went into the coffee-room +to order tea.</p> + +<p>I had followed him in order to have tea myself, and +I took off my own overcoat and hung it up next to his.</p> + +<p>But I did not enter the coffee-room; instead, I went +into the smoking-room. There I called for a drink, +and, having swallowed it, returned to the pegs where +our coats were hanging.</p> + +<p>Swiftly I placed my hand in the breast pocket of +his coat, and there felt some papers which, in a second,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +I had seized and transferred to my own pocket. Then +I put on my coat leisurely, and strolled across to the +station.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a href="images/i-189-big.png"> +<img src="images/i-189.png" width="600" height="462" alt="MAP OF THE NORTH SHIELDS RESERVOIRS, AND HOW TO CUT OFF THE +WATER SUPPLY, PREPARED BY THE SPY JOHN BARKER." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">MAP OF THE NORTH SHIELDS RESERVOIRS, AND HOW TO CUT OFF THE +WATER SUPPLY, PREPARED BY THE SPY JOHN BARKER.</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> + +<p>A train was fortunately just about to leave for +Newcastle, and I jumped in. Then when we had +moved away from the platform I eagerly examined +what I had secured.</p> + +<p>It consisted of a tipster's circular, some newspaper +cuttings concerning football, a rough sketch of how +the water supply of North Shields could be cut off, and +a private letter from a business man which may be of +interest if I reproduce it. It read as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p> +"Berkeley Chambers, +"Cannon Street, +"London, E.C., +"<i>May 3rd</i>, 1908. +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear John</span>,</p> + +<p>"I herewith enclose the interest in advance—four +five-pound notes.</p> + +<p>"Continue to act as you have done, and obtain +orders wherever possible.</p> + +<p>"Business just now, I am glad to say, leaves but +little to be desired, and we hope that next year your +share of profits may be increased.</p> + +<p>"We have every confidence in this, you understand.</p> + +<p>"Write to us oftener and give us news of your doings, +as we are always interested in your welfare.</p> + +<p>"It is unwise of you, I think, to doubt Uncle Charles, +for I have always found him to be a man in whom one +can repose the utmost confidence. He is, I believe, +taking a house near Tynemouth.</p> + +<p>"Every one is at present well, but the spring in +London is always trying. However, we are hoping +for warmer weather.</p> + +<p>"My wife and the children, especially little Charlie,</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> +<blockquote><p>Frederick, and Charlotte—who is growing quite a big +girl—send their love to you.</p> + +<p> +"Your affectionate cousin,<br /> +"<span class="smcap">Henry Lewis.</span>"<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>That letter, innocent enough upon the face of it, +contained certain instructions to the spy, besides enclosing +his monthly payment of £20.</p> + +<p>Read by the alphabetical instructions with which +every German secret agent is supplied and which vary +in various districts, the message it contained was +as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>(Phrase I) I send you your monthly payment.</p> + +<p>(Phrase 2) Your informations during the past month +are satisfactory.</p> + +<p>(Phrase 3) Your service in general is giving satisfaction, +and if it continues so, we shall at the next inspection +augment your monthly payment.</p> + +<p>(Phrase 4) We wish you, however, to send us more +detailed notes, and report oftener.</p> + +<p>(Phrase 5) Cease your observations upon Charles. +We have what we require. Turn your attention to +defences at Tynemouth.</p> + +<p>(Phrase 6) As you know, the chief (spring) is very +difficult to please, for at the last inspection we were +given increased work.</p> + +<p>(Phrase 7) Remain in negotiation with your three +correspondents—Charles (meaning the foreman, +Rosser), Charlotte, and Frederick—until you hear +further. You may make them offers for the information.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Thus it will be seen that any one into whose hands +this letter from "Henry Lewis" fell would be unable +to ascertain its real meaning.</p> + +<p>The fictitious Lewis, we afterwards discovered, +occupied a small office in Berkeley Chambers in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +guise of a commission agent, but was no doubt the +travelling agent whose actions were controllable by +Hermann Hartmann, but who in turn controlled the +fixed agents of that district lying between the Humber +and the Tweed.</p> + +<p>Most of these travelling agents visit their fixed +agents—the men who do the real work of espionage—in +the guise of a commercial traveller if the agent +is a shopkeeper, or if he is not, he will represent himself +as a client or an insurance agent, an auctioneer or a +house agent. This last <i>métier</i> is greatly recommended +by the German Secret Police as the best mode of concealing +espionage, and is adopted by the most dangerous +and ingenious of the spies.</p> + +<p>When I returned I showed my treasures to Ray, +who at once became excited.</p> + +<p>"The fellow is a fixed agent here in Newcastle, no +doubt," he declared. "We must watch him well."</p> + +<p>We continued our observations. The spy and +Rosser were inseparable. They met each evening, +and more than once the whole Rosser family went out +to entertainments at Mr. Barker's expense. He would +allow the foreman fitter to pay for nothing.</p> + +<p>Judicious inquiries at Elswick revealed the fact that +Charles Rosser was one of the most skilful fitters in +the employ of the firm, and that such was the confidence +placed in him, that he was at present engaged in the +finishing of the new gun which was to be a triumph +of the British Navy—a weapon which was far and away +in advance of any possessed by any other nation, or +anything ever turned out from Krupp's.</p> + +<p>It was ticklish and exciting work, watching the +two men and observing the subtle craftiness of the +German, who was trying to get the honest Englishman +into his power. But in our self-imposed campaign +of contra-espionage we had had many stirring adventures,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +and after all, our life in Newcastle was not +unpleasant. Barker was engaged at his office all day, +and we were then free. It was only at evening when +we were compelled to adopt those hundred and one +subterfuges, and whenever the watching was wearisome +and chill we always recollected that we were +performing a patriotic duty, even though it be silent, +unknown, and unrecognised.</p> + +<p>One night the pair were together in a bar in Westgate +Road, when, from their conversation, it was made +very clear to me that Barker had advanced his friend +one hundred and seventy-five pounds, and that the deeds +of the new house were to be signed next day. Rosser +was extremely grateful to his friend. Half the purchase-money +was to remain on mortgage—a mortgage made +over to Barker himself—just as we had expected.</p> + +<p>The men clinked glasses, and it was plain that Rosser +had not the least suspicion of the abyss opened before +him. There are some men who are entirely unsuspecting, +and perhaps the British workman is most of all.</p> + +<p>When I reported this to Ray and we had consulted +together, we decided that the time was ripe to approach +Rosser and expose his generous friend.</p> + +<p>It was now quite plain to us that Barker would +quickly bring pressure to bear upon the foreman fitter +to either supply a drawing and rough specifications +of the new gun, or else come face to face with ruin. +We had ascertained that, though an honest workman, +Rosser only lived upon his weekly wages, and had +nothing put by for the support of his wife and four +children. The patriotic scruples of a man are not +difficult to overcome when he sees his wife and family +in danger of starvation.</p> + +<p>On the next evening we followed Rosser from his +work up to Dilston Road and called at his clean and +humble home.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + +<p>At first he greatly resented our intrusion, and was +most indignant at our suggestion that he was about +to be made a cat's-paw by the Kaiser's spies.</p> + +<p>But on production of the letter, which we deciphered, +the plan of the Ridges Waterworks, and our allegations +concerning his generous friend, he began to reflect.</p> + +<p>"Has he ever asked you about the new gun now +being made at Elswick?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Well"—he hesitated—"now I recall the fact, he +has on several occasions."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" I said. "He intended to either ruin you, +Rosser, or compel you to become a traitor."</p> + +<p>"He'd never do that!" declared the stout-hearted +Briton. "By God! If what you tell me is true," he +cried fiercely, "I'll wring the blackguard's neck."</p> + +<p>"No," I said, "don't do that. He's paid the purchase +money for a new house for you, hasn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then leave him to us. We'll compel him to hand +back the mortgage, and your revenge shall be a new +house at the expense of the German Government," +whereat both Ray and he laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>Next night we faced the spy at his own rooms, and +on pain of exposure and the police compelled him to +hand over the new little villa to his intended victim +unconditionally, a fact which caused him the most +intense chagrin, and induced him to utter the most +fearful threats of vengeance against us.</p> + +<p>But we had already had many such threats. So we +only laughed at them.</p> + +<p>We had, however, the satisfaction of exposing the +spy to the firm which employed him, and we were +present on the platform of the Central Station when, +two days later, having given up his rooms and packed +his belongings, he left the Tyne-side for London, evidently +to consult his travelling-inspector, "Henry Lewis."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> + +<p>Several months passed. The attempt to obtain +details of our new gun had passed completely from +my mind.</p> + +<p>An inquiry which Ray and I had been actively +prosecuting into an attempt to learn the secrets of +the "transmitting-room" of our new <i>Dreadnoughts</i> +had led me to the south of Germany. I had had a +rather exciting experience in Dresden and was now on +my way back to London.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Your London is such a strange place. So +dull, so <i>triste</i>—so very damp and foggy," remarked +the girl seated in the train before me.</p> + +<p>"Not always, mademoiselle," I replied. "You have +been there in winter. You should go in June. In the +season it is as pleasant as anywhere else in the world."</p> + +<p>"I have no desire to return. And yet——"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"And yet I have decided to go straight on from +the Gare du Nord."</p> + +<p>"The midday service! I shall cross by that also. +We shall be fellow-travellers," I said.</p> + +<p>We were together in the night <i>rapide</i> from Berlin +to Paris, and had just left the great echoing station +of Cologne, with few stops between there and Paris. +Day was breaking.</p> + +<p>I had met Julie Granier under curious circumstances +only a few hours before.</p> + +<p>At Berlin, being known to the controller of the +Wagon-lit Company, I was at once given a two-berth +compartment in the long, dusty sleeping-car, those +big carriages in which I so often spent days, and nights +too, for the matter of that.</p> + +<p>"M'sieur is for Paris?" asked the brown-uniformed +conductor as I entered, and after flinging in my traps, +I descended, went to the buffet and had a mazagran +and cigarette until our departure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<p>I had not sat there more than five minutes when +the conductor, a man with whom I had travelled a +dozen times, put his head in at the door, and, seeing +me, withdrew. Then, a few moments later, he entered +with a tall, dark-haired, good-looking girl, who stood +aside as he approached me, cap in hand.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, m'sieur, but a lady wishes to ask a +great favour of you."</p> + +<p>"Of me? What is it?" I inquired, rising.</p> + +<p>Glancing at the tall figure in black, I saw that she +was not more than twenty-two at the outside, and +that she had the bearing and manner of a lady.</p> + +<p>"Well, m'sieur, she will explain herself," the man +said, whereupon the fair stranger approached bowing, +and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"I trust m'sieur will pardon me for what I am +about to ask," she said in French. "I know it is great +presumption on my part, a total stranger, but the +fact is that I am bound to get to Paris to-morrow. +It is imperative—most imperative—that I should +be there and keep an appointment. I find, however, +that all the berths are taken, and that the only vacant +one is in your compartment. I thought——" and +she hesitated, with downcast eyes.</p> + +<p>"You mean that you want me to allow you to travel +here, mademoiselle?" I said, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Ah, m'sieur! If you would; if you only would! It +would be an act of friendship that I would never forget."</p> + +<p>She saw my hesitation, and I detected how anxious +she became. Her gloved hands were trembling, and +she seemed agitated and pale to the lips.</p> + +<p>Again I scrutinised her. There was nothing of the +spy or adventuress about her. On the contrary, she +seemed a very charmingly modest young woman, for +in continuation of her request she suggested that +she could sit in the conductor's seat in the corridor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But surely that would be rather wearisome, mademoiselle?" +I said.</p> + +<p>"No, no, not at all. I must get to Paris at all +costs. Ah, m'sieur! You will allow me to do as I +ask, will you not? Do. I implore you."</p> + +<p>I made no reply, for truth to tell, although I was +not suspicious, I hesitated to allow the fair stranger +to be my travelling companion. It was against my +principle. Yet reading disinclination in my silence, +she continued:</p> + +<p>"Ah, m'sieur! If you only knew in what deadly +peril I am! By granting this favour to me you can"—and +she broke off short. "Well," she went on, "I +may as well tell you the truth, m'sieur," and in her +eyes there was a strange look that I had never seen +in those of any woman before, "you can save my life."</p> + +<p>"Your life!" I echoed, but at that moment the +sleeping-car conductor, standing at the buffet-door, +called:</p> + +<p>"<i>En voiture</i>, m'sieur. The train is just starting."</p> + +<p>"Do take me," implored the girl. "Do, m'sieur. +Do."</p> + +<p>There was no time for further discussion, therefore +I did as she requested, and a few moments later, with +a dressing-case, which was all the baggage she had, +she mounted into the <i>wagon-lit</i>, and we moved off to +the French capital.</p> + +<p>I offered her the sleeping-compartment to herself, +but she steadily refused to accept it.</p> + +<p>"No, m'sieur, certainly not," was her reply. "I +shall sit in the corridor all night, as I have already +said."</p> + +<p>And so, hour after hour, while all the passengers +had retired to rest, we sat at the end of the car and +chatted. I asked her if she liked a cigarette, and she +gladly accepted. So we smoked together, while she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +told me something of herself. She was a native of +Orleans, where her people had been wealthy landowners, +she said, but some unfortunate speculation +on her father's part brought ruin to them, and she +was now governess in the family of a certain Baron +de Moret, of the Château de Moret, near Paris.</p> + +<p>A governess! I had believed from her dress and +manner that she was at least the daughter of some +French aristocrat, and I confess I was disappointed +to find that she was only a superior servant.</p> + +<p>"I have just come from Breslau," she explained. +"On very urgent business—business that concerns +my own self. If I am not in Paris this morning I +shall, in all probability, pay the penalty with my life."</p> + +<p>"How? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>In the grey dawn as the express roared on towards +Paris I saw that her countenance was that of a woman +who held a secret. At first I had been conscious that +there was something unusual about her, and suspected +her to be an adventuress, but now, on further acquaintance, +I became convinced that she held possession +of some knowledge that she was yearning to betray, +yet feared to do so.</p> + +<p>One fact that struck me as curious was that, in +the course of our conversation, she showed that she +knew my destination was London. At first this +puzzled me, but on reflection I saw that the conductor, +knowing me, had told her.</p> + +<p>At Erquelinnes we had descended and had our early +<i>café complet</i>, and now as we rushed onward to the +capital she had suddenly made up her mind to go +through to London.</p> + +<p>"When we arrive in Paris I must leave you to keep +my appointments," she said. "We will meet again +at the Gare du Nord—at the Calais train, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Most certainly," was the reply.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah!" she sighed, looking straight into my face +with those dark eyes that were so luminous. "You +do not know—you can never guess what a great service +you have rendered me by allowing me to travel here +with you. My peril is the gravest that—well, that +ever threatened a woman—yet now, by your aid, +I shall be able to save myself. Otherwise, to-morrow +my body would have been exposed in the Morgue—the +corpse of a woman unknown."</p> + +<p>"These words of yours interest me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, m'sieur! You do not know. And I cannot +tell you. It is a secret—ah! if I only dare speak +you would help me, I know," and I saw in her face +a look full of apprehension and distress.</p> + +<p>As she raised her hand to push the dark hair from +her brow, as though it oppressed her, my eyes caught +sight of something glistening upon her wrist, half +concealed by the lace on her sleeve. It was a magnificent +diamond bangle.</p> + +<p>Surely such an ornament would not be worn by a +mere governess! I looked again into her handsome +face, and wondered if she were deceiving me.</p> + +<p>"If it be in my power to assist you, mademoiselle, +I will do so with the greatest pleasure. But, of course, +I cannot without knowing the circumstances."</p> + +<p>"And I regret that my lips are closed concerning +them," she sighed, looking straight before her +despairingly.</p> + +<p>"Do you fear to go alone?"</p> + +<p>"I fear my enemies no longer," was her reply as +she glanced at the little gold watch in her belt. "I +shall be in Paris before noon—thanks to you, m'sieur."</p> + +<p>"Well, when you first made the request I had no +idea of the urgency of your journey," I remarked. +"But I'm glad, very glad, that I've had an opportunity +of rendering you some slight service."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Slight, m'sieur? Why, you have saved me! I +owe you a debt which I can never repay—never." +And the laces at her throat rose and fell as she sighed, +her wonderful eyes still fixed upon me.</p> + +<p>Gradually the wintry sun rose over the bare, frozen +wine-lands over which we were speeding, when with +a sudden application of the brakes we pulled up at a +little station for a change of engine.</p> + +<p>Then, after three minutes, we were off again, until +at nine o'clock we ran slowly into the huge terminus +in Paris.</p> + +<p>She had tidied her hair, washed, brushed her dress, +and, as I assisted her to alight, she bore no trace of +her long journey across Germany and France. Strange +how well French women travel! English women are +always tousled and tumbled after a night journey, +but a French or Italian woman never.</p> + +<p>"<i>Au revoir</i>, m'sieur, till twelve at the Gare du +Nord," she exclaimed, with a merry smile and a bow +as she drove away in a cab, leaving me upon the kerb +gazing after her and wondering.</p> + +<p>Was she really a governess, as she pretended?</p> + +<p>Her clothes, her manner, her smart chatter, her +exquisite <i>chic</i>, all revealed good breeding and a high +station in life. There was no touch of cheap shabbiness—or +at least I could not detect it.</p> + +<p>A few moments before twelve she alighted at the +Gare du Nord and greeted me merrily. Her face +was slightly flushed, and I thought her hand trembled +as I took it. But together we walked to the train, +wherein I had already secured seats and places in the +<i>wagon-restaurant</i>.</p> + +<p>The railway officials, the controller of the train, +the chief of the restaurant, and other officials, recognising +me, saluted, whereupon she said:</p> + +<p>"You seem very well known in Paris, m'sieur."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm a constant traveller," I replied, with a laugh. +"A little too constant, perhaps. One gets wearied +with such continual travel as I am forced to undertake. +I never know to-morrow where I may be, and I move +swiftly from one capital to another, never spending +more than a day or two in the same place."</p> + +<p>"But it must be very pleasant to travel so much," +she declared. "I would love to be able to do so. +I'm passionately fond of constant change."</p> + +<p>Together we travelled to Calais, crossed to Dover, +and that same evening alighted at Victoria.</p> + +<p>On our journey to London she gave me an address +in the Vauxhall Bridge Road, where, she said, a letter +would find her. She refused to tell me her destination, +or to allow me to see her into a hansom. This latter +fact caused me considerable reflection. Why had +she so suddenly made up her mind to come to London, +and why should I not know whither she went when +she had told me so many details concerning herself?</p> + +<p>Of one fact I felt quite convinced, namely, that +she had lied to me. She was not a governess, as she +pretended. Besides, I had been seized by suspicion +that a tall, thin-faced, elderly man, rather shabbily +dressed, whom I had noticed on the platform in Paris, +had followed us. He had travelled second-class, and, +on alighting at Victoria, had quickly made his way +through the crowd until he lingered quite close to us +as I wished her farewell.</p> + +<p>His reappearance there recalled to me that he had +watched us as we had walked up and down the platform +of the Gare du Nord, and had appeared intensely +interested in all our movements. Whether my pretty +travelling companion noticed him I do not know. +I, however, followed her as she walked out of the +station carrying her dressing-bag, and saw the tall +man striding after her. Adventurer was written<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +upon the fellow's face. His grey moustache was +upturned, and his keen grey eyes looked out from +beneath shaggy brows, while his dark, thread-bare +overcoat was tightly buttoned across his chest for +greater warmth.</p> + +<p>Without approaching her he stood back in the +shadow and saw her enter a hansom in the station-yard +and drive out into Buckingham Palace Road. It +was clear that she was not going to the address she had +given me, for she was driving in the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>My duty was to drive direct to Bruton Street to +see Ray and report what I had discovered, but so +interested was I in the thin-faced watcher that I gave +over my wraps to a porter who knew me, exchanged +my heavy travelling-coat for a lighter one I happened +to have, and walked out to keep further observation +upon the stranger.</p> + +<p>Had not mademoiselle declared herself to be in +danger of her life? If so, was it not possible that +this fellow, whoever he was, was a secret assassin?</p> + +<p>I did not like the aspect of the affair at all. I ought +to have warned her against him, and I now became +filled with regret. She was a complete mystery, and +as I dogged the footsteps of the unknown foreigner—for +that he undoubtedly was—I became more deeply +interested in what was in progress.</p> + +<p>He walked to Trafalgar Square, where he hesitated +in such a manner as to show that he was not well +acquainted with London. He did not know which +of the converging thoroughfares to take. At last +he inquired of the constable on point-duty, and then +went up St. Martin's Lane.</p> + +<p>As soon as he had turned I approached the policeman, +and asked what the stranger wanted, explaining +that he was a suspicious character whom I was following.</p> + +<p>"'E's a Frenchman, sir. 'E wants Burton Crescent."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where's that?"</p> + +<p>"Why, just off the Euston Road—close to Judd +Street. I've told 'im the way."</p> + +<p>I entered a hansom and drove to the place in +question, a semicircle of dark-looking, old-fashioned +houses of the Bloomsbury type—most of them let +out in apartments. Then alighting, I loitered for +half an hour up and down to await the arrival of the +stranger.</p> + +<p>He came at last, his tall, meagre figure looming +dark in the lamp-light. Very eagerly he walked round +the Crescent, examining the numbers of the houses, +until he came to one rather cleaner than the others, +of which he took careful observation.</p> + +<p>I, too, took note of the number.</p> + +<p>Afterwards the stranger turned into the Euston +Road, crossed to King's Cross Station, where he sent +a telegram, and then went to one of the small uninviting +private hotels in the neighbourhood. Having +seen him there, I returned to Burton Crescent, and +for an hour watched the house, wondering whether +Julie Granier had taken up her abode there. To me +it seemed as though the stranger had overheard the +directions she had given the cabman.</p> + +<p>The windows of the house were closed by green +Venetian blinds. I could see that there were lights +in most of the rooms, while over the fanlight of the +front door was a small transparent square of glass. +The front steps were well kept, and in the deep basement +was a well-lighted kitchen.</p> + +<p>I had been there about half an hour when the door +opened, and a middle-aged man in evening dress, and +wearing a black overcoat and crush hat, emerged. +His dark face was an aristocratic one, and as he descended +the steps he drew on his white gloves, for he +was evidently on his way to the theatre. I took good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +notice of his face, for it was a striking countenance, +one which once seen could never be forgotten.</p> + +<p>A man-servant behind him blew a cab-whistle, a +hansom drew up, and he drove away. Then I walked +up and down in the vicinity, keeping a weary vigil, +for my curiosity was now much excited. The stranger +meant mischief. Of that I was certain.</p> + +<p>The one point I wished to clear up was whether +Julie Granier was actually within that house. But +though I watched until I became half frozen in the +drizzling rain, all was in vain. So I took a cab and +drove to Bruton Street.</p> + +<p>That same night, when I got to my rooms, I wrote +a line to the address that Julie had given me, asking +whether she would make an appointment to meet +me, as I wished to give her some very important +information concerning herself, and to this, on the +following day, I received a reply asking me to call +at the house in Burton Crescent that evening at nine +o'clock.</p> + +<p>Naturally I went. My surmise was correct that +the house watched by the stranger was her abode. +The fellow was keeping observation upon it with some +evil intent.</p> + +<p>The man-servant, on admitting me, showed me +into a well-furnished drawing-room on the first floor, +where sat my pretty travelling companion ready to +receive me.</p> + +<p>In French she greeted me very warmly, bade me be +seated, and after some preliminaries inquired the nature +of the information which I wished to impart to her.</p> + +<p>Very briefly I told her of the shabby watcher, whereupon +she sprang to her feet with a cry of mingled +terror and surprise.</p> + +<p>"Describe him—quickly!" she urged in breathless +agitation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> + +<p>I did so, and she sat back again in her chair, staring +straight before her.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she gasped, her countenance pale as death. +"Then they mean revenge, after all. Very well! +Now that I am forewarned I shall know how to act."</p> + +<p>She rose, and pacing the room in agitation pushed +back the dark hair from her brow. Then her hands +clenched themselves, and her teeth were set, for she +was desperate.</p> + +<p>The shabby man was an emissary of her enemies. +She told me as much. Yet in all she said was mystery. +At one moment I was convinced that she had told +the truth when she said she was a governess, and at +the next I suspected her of trying to deceive.</p> + +<p>Presently, after she had handed me a cigarette, the +servant tapped the door, and a well-dressed man +entered—the same man I had seen leave the house +two nights previously.</p> + +<p>"May I introduce you?" mademoiselle asked. +"M'sieur Jacox—M'sieur le Baron de Moret."</p> + +<p>"Charmed to make your acquaintance, sir," the +Baron said, grasping my hand. "Mademoiselle here +has already spoken of you."</p> + +<p>"The satisfaction is mutual, I assure you, Baron," +was my reply, and then we reseated ourselves and +began to chat.</p> + +<p>Suddenly mademoiselle made some remark in a +language—some Slav language—which I did not +understand. The effect it had upon the newcomer +was almost electrical. He started from his seat, +glaring at her. Then he began to question her rapidly +in the unknown tongue.</p> + +<p>He was a flashily dressed man of overbearing manner, +with a thick neck and square, determined chin. It +was quite evident that the warning I had given them +aroused their apprehension, for they held a rapid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +consultation, and then Julie went out, returning with +another man, a dark-haired, low-bred looking foreigner, +who spoke the same tongue as his companions.</p> + +<p>They disregarded my presence altogether in their +eager consultation; therefore I rose to go, for I saw +that I was not wanted.</p> + +<p>Julie held my hand and looked into my eyes in +mute appeal. She appeared anxious to say something +to me in private. At least that was my impression.</p> + +<p>When I left the house I passed, at the end of the +Crescent, a shabby man idly smoking. Was he one +of the watchers?</p> + +<p>Four days went by.</p> + +<p>One evening I was passing through the red-carpeted +hall of the Savoy Hotel when a neatly dressed figure +in black rose and greeted me. It was Julie, who +seemed to have been awaiting me.</p> + +<p>"May I speak to you?" she asked breathlessly, +when we had exchanged greetings. "I wish to apologise +for the manner in which I treated you the other +evening."</p> + +<p>I assured her that no apologies were needed, and +together we seated ourselves in a corner.</p> + +<p>"I really ought not to trouble you with my affairs," +she said presently, in an apologetic tone. "But you +remember what I told you when you so kindly allowed +me to travel by the <i>wagon-lit</i>—I mean of my peril?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. But I thought it was all over."</p> + +<p>"I foolishly believed that it was. But I am watched—I—I'm +a marked woman." Then, after some hesitation, +she added, "I wonder if you would do me +another favour. You could save my life, M'sieur +Jacox, if you only would."</p> + +<p>"Well, if I can render you such a service, mademoiselle, +I shall be only too delighted."</p> + +<p>"At present my plans are immature," she answered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +after a pause. "But why not dine with me to-morrow +night? We have some friends, but we shall be able to +escape them and discuss the matter alone. Do come!"</p> + +<p>I accepted, and she, taking a taxi in the Strand, +drove off.</p> + +<p>On the following night at eight I entered the comfortable +drawing-room in Burton Crescent, where +three well-dressed men and three rather smart ladies +were assembled, including my hostess. They were +all foreigners, and among them was the Baron, who +appeared to be the most honoured guest. It was +now quite plain that, instead of being a governess +as she had asserted, my friend was a lady of good +family, and the Baron's social equal.</p> + +<p>The party was a very pleasant one, and there was +considerable merriment at table. My hostess's apprehension +of the previous day had all disappeared, while +the Baron's demeanour was one of calm security.</p> + +<p>I sat at her left hand, and she was particularly +gracious to me, the whole conversation at table being +in French.</p> + +<p>At last, after dessert, the Baron remarked that, as +it was his birthday, we should have snap-dragon, and, +with his hostess's permission, left the dining-room and +prepared it. Presently it appeared in a big antique +Worcester bowl, and was placed on the table close to me.</p> + +<p>Then the electric light was switched off and the +spirit ignited.</p> + +<p>Next moment with shouts of laughter, the blue +flames shedding a weird light upon our faces, we were +pulling the plums out of the fire—a childish amusement.</p> + +<p>I had placed one in my mouth, and swallowed it, +but as I was taking a second from the blue flames, +I suddenly felt a faintness. At first I put it down to +the heat of the room, but a moment later I felt a sharp +spasm through my heart, and my brain swelled too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +large for my skull. My jaws were set. I tried to +speak, but was unable to articulate a word!</p> + +<p>I saw the fun had stopped, and the faces of all were +turned upon me anxiously. The Baron had risen, +and his dark countenance peered into mine with a +fiendish murderous expression.</p> + +<p>"I'm ill!" I gasped. "I—I'm sure I'm poisoned!"</p> + +<p>The faces of all smiled again, while the Baron uttered +some words which I could not understand, and then +there was a dead silence, all still watching me intently.</p> + +<p>"You fiends!" I cried, with a great effort, as I +struggled to rise. "What have I done to you that +you should—<i>poison—me</i>?"</p> + +<p>I know that the Baron grinned in my face, and that +I fell forward heavily upon the table, my heart gripped +in the spasm of death.</p> + +<p>Of what occurred afterwards I have no recollection, +for, when I slowly regained knowledge of things around +me, I found myself, cramped and cold, lying beneath +a bare, leafless hedge in a grass field. I managed to +struggle to my feet and discovered myself in a bare, +flat, open country. As far as I could judge it was +midday.</p> + +<p>I got to a gate, skirted a hedge, and gained the +main road. With difficulty I walked to the nearest +town, a distance of about four miles, without meeting +a soul, and to my surprise found myself in Hitchin. +The spectacle of a man entering the town in evening +dress and hatless in broad daylight was, no doubt, +curious, but I was anxious to return to London and +give information against those who had, without +any apparent motive, laid an ingenious plot to poison +me.</p> + +<p>At the old Sun Inn, which motorists from London +know so well, I learned that the time was eleven in +the morning. The only manner in which I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +account for my presence in Hitchin was that, believed +to be dead by the Baron and his accomplices, I had +been conveyed in a motor-car to the spot where I was +found.</p> + +<p>A few shillings remained in my pocket, and, strangely +enough, beside me when I recovered consciousness I +had found a small fluted phial marked "Prussic acid—poison." +The assassins had attempted to make it +apparent that I had committed suicide!</p> + +<p>Two hours later, after a rest and a wash, I borrowed +an overcoat and golf-cap and took the train to King's +Cross.</p> + +<p>At Judd Street Police Station I made a statement, +and with two plain-clothes officers returned to the +house in Burton Crescent, only to find that the fair +Julie and her friends had flown.</p> + +<p>On forcing the door, we found the dining-table just +as it had been left after the poisoned snap-dragon of +the previous night. Nothing had been touched. +Only Julie, the Baron, the man-servant, and the guests +had all gone, and the place was deserted.</p> + +<p>The police were utterly puzzled at the entire absence +of motive.</p> + +<p>On my return to Guilford Street I at once telephoned +to Ray, and he was quickly with me, Vera accompanying +him.</p> + +<p>I related the whole of the circumstances, while +my friends sat listening very attentively.</p> + +<p>"Well," Ray said at last, "it's a great pity, old +chap, you didn't mention this before. The Baron +de Moret is no other person than Lucien Carron, one +of Hartmann's most trusted agents, while Julie's real +name is Erna Hertfeldt, a very clever female spy, +who has, of late, been engaged in endeavouring to +obtain certain facts regarding the defences of the +Humber estuary. She was recalled to Berlin recently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +to consult Hirsch, chief of the German Intelligence +Department. You evidently came across her on her +way back, while the old man whom she met at the +Gare du Nord was Josef Gleichen, the spy whom I +told you was in association with Barker up at +Newcastle."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I remember," I cried. "I never saw him."</p> + +<p>"But he had evidently seen you, and again recognised +you," Ray replied. "It seems that he must +have followed you to London, where, having told +Lucien Carron, or 'the Baron,' of your return, they +formed a plot to avenge your action up at Elswick."</p> + +<p>"Then I was entrapped by that woman Julie, eh?" +I exclaimed, my head still feeling sore and dizzy.</p> + +<p>"Without a doubt. The spies have made yet +another attempt upon your life, Mr. Jacox," Vera +remarked.</p> + +<p>"But why did they take me out in a motor-car +to Hitchin?"</p> + +<p>"To make it appear like a case of suicide," Ray +said. "Remember that both of us, old chap, are +marked men by Hartmann and his unscrupulous +friends. But what does it matter if we have managed +to preserve the secret of our new gun? We'll be +even with our enemies for this one day ere long, mark +me," he laughed, as he lit a fresh cigarette.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRET OF THE CLYDE DEFENCES</h3> + + +<p>A curious episode was that of the plans of the Clyde +Defences. It was a February evening. Wet, tired, +and hungry, I turned the long grey touring car into +the yard of the old "White Hart," at Salisbury, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +descended with eager anticipation of a big fire and +comfortable dinner.</p> + +<p>My mechanic Bennett and I had been on the road +since soon after dawn, and we yet had many miles to +cover. Two months ago I had mounted the car at +the garage in Wardour Street and set out upon a long +and weary ten-thousand-mile journey in England, +not for pleasure, as you may well imagine—but purely +upon business. My business, to be exact, was reconnoitring, +from a military stand-point, all the roads +and by-roads lying between the Tyne and the Thames +as well as certain districts south-west of London, in +order to write the book upon similar lines to <i>The +Invasion of 1910</i>.</p> + +<p>For two months we had lived upon the road. Sometimes +Ray and Vera had travelled with me. When +Bennett and I had started it was late and pleasant +autumn. Now it was bleak, black winter, and hardly +the kind of weather to travel twelve or fourteen hours +daily in an open car. Day after day, week after week, +the big "sixty" had roared along, ploughing the mud +of those ever-winding roads of England until we had +lost all count of the days of the week; my voluminous +note-books were gradually being filled with valuable +data, and the nerves of both of us were becoming so +strained that we were victims of insomnia. Hence +at night, when we could not sleep, we travelled.</p> + +<p>In a great portfolio in the back of the car I carried +the six-inch ordnance map of the whole of the east +of England divided into many sections, and upon these +I was carefully marking out, as result of my survey, +the weak points of our land in case an enemy invaded +our shores from the North Sea. All telegraphs, telephones, +and cables from London to Germany and +Holland I was especially noting, for would not the +enemy's emissaries, before they attempted to land,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +seize all means of communication with the metropolis? +Besides this I took note of places where food could +be obtained, lists of shops, and collected a quantity +of other valuable information.</p> + +<p>In this work I had been assisted by half a dozen +of the highest officers of the Intelligence Department +of the War Office, as well as other well-known experts—careful, +methodical work prior to writing my forecast +of what must happen to our beloved country +in case of invasion. The newspapers had referred to +my long journey of inquiry, and often when I arrived +in a town, our car, smothered in mud, yet its powerful +engines running like a clock, was the object of public +curiosity, while Bennett, with true chauffeur-like imperturbability, +sat immovable, utterly regardless of +the interest we created. He was a gentleman-driver, +and the best man at the wheel I ever had.</p> + +<p>When we were in a hurry he would travel nearly a +mile a minute over an open road, sounding his siren +driven off the fly-wheel, and scenting police-traps, +with the happy result that we were never held up for +exceeding the limit. We used to take it in turns to +drive—three hours at a time.</p> + +<p>On that particular night, when we entered Salisbury +from Wincanton Road, having come up from Exeter, +it had been raining unceasingly all day, and we presented +a pretty plight in our yellow fishermen's oilskins—which +we had bought weeks before in King's +Lynn as the only means of keeping dry—dripping wet +and smothered to our very eyes in mud.</p> + +<p>After a hasty wash I entered the coffee-room, and +found that I was the sole diner save a short, funny, +little old lady in black bonnet and cape, and a young, +rather pretty, well-dressed girl, whom I took to be her +daughter, seated at a table a little distance away.</p> + +<p>Both glanced at me as they entered, and I saw that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +ere I was half through my meal their interest in me +had suddenly increased. Without doubt, the news +of my arrival had gone round the hotel, and the waiter +had informed the pair of my identity.</p> + +<p>It was then eight o'clock, and I had arranged with +Bennett that after a rest, we would push forward at +half-past ten by Marlborough, as far as Swindon, on +our way to Birmingham.</p> + +<p>The waiter had brought me a couple of telegrams +from Ray telling me good news of another inquiry he +was instituting, and having finished my meal I was +seated alone by the smoking-room fire enjoying a +cigarette and liqueur. Indeed, I had almost fallen +asleep when the waiter returned, saying:</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, sir, but there's a lady outside in great +distress. She wants to speak to you for a moment, +and asks if she may come in." He presented a card, +and the name upon it was "Mrs. Henry Bingham."</p> + +<p>Rather surprised, I nevertheless consented to see +her, and in a few moments the door reopened and the +younger of the two ladies I had seen at dinner entered.</p> + +<p>She bowed to me as I rose, and then, evidently in a +state of great agitation, she said:</p> + +<p>"I must apologise for disturbing you, only—only I +thought perhaps you would be generous enough, when +you have heard of our difficulty, to grant my mother +and I a favour."</p> + +<p>"If I can be of any assistance to you, I shall be +most delighted, I'm sure," I answered, as her big grey +eyes met mine.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, looking me straight in the face, +"the fact is that our car has broken down—something +wrong with the clutch, our man says—and we can't +get any further to-night. We are on our way to +Swindon—to my husband, who has met with an accident +and is in the hospital, but—but, unfortunately,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +there is no train to-night. Your chauffeur has told +our man that you are just leaving for Swindon, and +my mother and I have been wondering—well—whether +we might encroach upon your good nature and beg +seats in your car?"</p> + +<p>"You are quite welcome to travel with me, of course," +I replied without hesitation. "But I fear that on such a +night it will hardly be pleasant to travel in an open car."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we don't mind that a bit," she assured me. +"We have lots of waterproofs and things. It is really +most kind of you. I had a telegram at four o'clock +this afternoon that my husband had been taken to the +hospital for operation, and naturally I am most anxious +to be at his side."</p> + +<p>"Naturally," I said. "I regret very much that +you should have such cause for distress. Let us start +at once. I shall be ready in ten minutes."</p> + +<p>While she went back to her mother, I went out into +the yard where the head-lights of my big "sixty" +were gleaming.</p> + +<p>"We shall have two lady passengers to Swindon, +Bennett," I said, as my chauffeur threw away his +cigarette and approached me. "What kind of car +have the ladies?"</p> + +<p>"A twenty-four. It's in the garage up yonder. +The clutch won't hold, it seems. But their man's a +foreigner, and doesn't speak much English. I suppose +I'd better pack our luggage tighter, so as to give the +ladies room."</p> + +<p>"Yes. Do so. And let's get on the road as soon +as possible."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir," responded the man as he entered +the car and began packing our suit-cases together +while almost immediately the two ladies emerged, the +elder one, whose voice was harsh and squeaky, and who +was, I noticed, very deformed, thanking me profusely.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p> + +<p>We stowed them away as comfortably as possible, +and just as the cathedral chimes rang out half-past +ten, the ladies gave parting injunctions to their +chauffeur, and we drew out of the yard.</p> + +<p>I apologised for the dampness and discomfort of an +open car, and briefly explained my long journey and +its object. But both ladies—the name of the queer +little old widow I understood to be Sandford—only +laughed, and reassured me that they were all right.</p> + +<p>That night I drove myself. With the exhaust +opened and roaring, and the siren shrieking, we sped +along through the dark, rainy night up by old Sarum, +through Netheravon, and across Overton Heath into +Marlborough without once changing speed or speaking +with my passengers. As we came down the hill from +Ogbourne, I had to pull up suddenly for a farmer's +cart, and turned, asking the pair behind how they +were faring.</p> + +<p>As I did so I noticed that both of them seemed +considerably flurried, but attributed it to the high +pace we had been travelling when I had so suddenly +pulled up on rounding the bend.</p> + +<p>Three-quarters of an hour later I deposited them +at their destination, the "Goddard Arms," in Old +Swindon, and, descending, received their profuse +thanks, the elder lady giving me her card with an +address in Earl's Court Road, Kensington, and asking +me to call upon her when in London.</p> + +<p>It was then half an hour past midnight, but Bennett +and I resolved to push forward as far as Oxford, which +we did, arriving at the "Mitre" about half-past one, +utterly fagged and worn out.</p> + +<p>Next day was brighter, and we proceeded north to +Birmingham and across once again to the east coast, +where the bulk of my work lay.</p> + +<p>About a fortnight went by. With the assistance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +of two well-known staff-officers I had been reconnoitring +the country around Beccles, in Suffolk, which +we had decided upon as a most important strategical +point, and one morning I found myself at that old-fashioned +hotel "The Cups," at Colchester, taking a +day's rest. The two officers had returned to London, +and I was again alone.</p> + +<p>Out in the garage I found a rather smart, good-looking +man in navy serge chatting with Bennett and +admiring my car. My chauffeur, with pardonable +pride, had been telling him of our long journey, and +as I approached, the stranger informed me of his own +enthusiasm as a motorist.</p> + +<p>"Curiously enough," he added, "I have been wishing +to meet you, in order to thank you for your kindness +to my mother and sister the other night at Salisbury. +My name is Sandford—Charles Sandford—and if I'm not +mistaken we are members of the same club—White's."</p> + +<p>"Are we?" I exclaimed. "Then I'm delighted to +make your acquaintance."</p> + +<p>We lounged together for half an hour, smoking and +chatting, until presently he said:</p> + +<p>"I live out at Edwardstone, about ten miles from +here. Why not come out and dine with me to-night? +My place isn't very extensive, but it's cosy enough for +a bachelor. I'd feel extremely honoured if you would. +I'm all alone. Do come."</p> + +<p>Cosmopolitan that I am, yet I am not prone to accept +the invitations of strangers. Nevertheless this man +was not altogether a stranger, for was he not a member +of my own club? Truth to tell, I had become bored +by the deadly dullness of country hotels, therefore I +was glad enough to accept his proffered hospitality +and spend a pleasant evening.</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said. "I'll send a wire to my +housekeeper, and I'll pilot you in your car to my place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +this evening. We'll start at seven, and dine at eight—if +that will suit you?"</p> + +<p>And so it was arranged.</p> + +<p>Bennett had the whole of the day to go through the +car and do one or two necessary repairs, while Sandford +and myself idled about the town. My companion +struck me as an exceedingly pleasant fellow, +who, having travelled very extensively, now preferred +a quiet existence in the country, with a little hunting +and a little shooting in due season, to the dinners, +theatres, and fevered haste of London life.</p> + +<p>The evening proved a very dark one with threatening +rain as we turned out of the yard of "The Cups," +Sandford and I seated behind. My friend directed +Bennett from time to time, and soon we found ourselves +out on the Sudbury road. We passed through a little +place which I knew to be Heyland, and then turned off +to the right, across what seemed to be a wide stretch +of bleak, open country.</p> + +<p>Over the heath we went, our head-lights glaring far +before us, for about two miles when my friend called +to Bennett:</p> + +<p>"Turn to the left at the cross-roads."</p> + +<p>And a few moments later we were travelling rather +cautiously up a rough by-road, at the end of which we +came to a long, old-fashioned house—a farm-house +evidently, transformed into a residence.</p> + +<p>The door was opened by a middle-aged, red-faced +man-servant, and as I stepped within the small hall +hung with foxes' masks, brushes, and other trophies, +my friend wished me a hearty welcome to his home.</p> + +<p>The dining-room proved to be an old-fashioned +apartment panelled from floor to ceiling. The table, +set for two, bore a fine old silver candelabra, a quantity +of antique plate, and, adorned with flowers, was evidently +the table of a man who was comfortably off.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p> + +<p>We threw off our heavy coats and made ourselves +cosy beside the fire when the servant, whom my host +addressed as Henry, brought in the soup. Therefore +we went to the table and commenced.</p> + +<p>The meal proved a well-cooked and well-chosen +one, and I congratulated him upon his cook.</p> + +<p>"I'm forty, and for twenty years I was constantly +on the move," he remarked, with a laugh. "Nowadays +I'm glad to be able to settle down in England."</p> + +<p>A moment later I heard the sound of a car leaving +the house.</p> + +<p>"Is that my car?" I asked, rather surprised.</p> + +<p>"Probably your man is taking it round to the back in +order to put it under cover. Hark! it has started to rain."</p> + +<p>To me, however, the sound, growing fainter, was +very much as though Bennett had driven the car away.</p> + +<p>The wines which Henry served so quietly and sedately +were of the best. But both my host and myself drank +little.</p> + +<p>Sandford was telling me of the strange romance +concerning his sister Ellen and young Bingham—a +man who had come into eight thousand a year from +his uncle, and only a few days later had met with an +accident in Swindon, having been knocked down by +a train at a level-crossing.</p> + +<p>Presently, after dessert, our conversation ran upon +ports and their vintages, when suddenly my host +remarked:</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether you are a connoisseur of +brandies, but I happen to have a couple of rather +rare vintages. Let's try them."</p> + +<p>I confessed I knew but little about brandies.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll teach you how to test them in future," +he laughed, adding, "Henry, bring up those three +old cognacs, a bottle of ordinary brandy, and some +liqueur-glasses."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p> + +<p>In a few minutes a dozen little glasses made their +appearance on a tray, together with four bottles of +brandy, three unlabelled, while the fourth bore the +label of a well-known brand.</p> + +<p>"It is not generally known, I think, that one cannot +test brandy with any degree of accuracy by the palate," +he said, removing his cigar.</p> + +<p>"I wasn't aware of that," I said.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll show you," he went on, and taking four +glasses in a row he poured a little spirit out of each +of the bottles into the bottoms of the glasses. This +done, he twisted each glass round in order to wet the +inside with the spirit, and the surplus he emptied into +his finger-bowl. Then, handing me two, he said: +"Just hold one in each hand till they're warm. So."</p> + +<p>And taking the remaining two he held one in the +hollow of each hand.</p> + +<p>For a couple or three minutes we held them thus +while he chatted about the various vintages. Then +we placed them in a row.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "take up each one separately and +smell it."</p> + +<p>I did so, and found a most pleasant perfume—each, +however, quite separate and distinct, as different as +eau-de-Cologne is from lavender water.</p> + +<p>"This," he said, after sniffing at one glass, "is +1815—Waterloo year—a magnificent vintage. And +this," he went on, handing me the second glass, "is +1829—very excellent, but quite a distinct perfume, +you notice. The third is 1864—also good. Of the +1815 I very fortunately have two bottles. Bellamy, in +Pall Mall, has three bottles, and there are perhaps four +bottles in all Paris. That is all that's left of it. The +fourth—smell it—is the ordinary brandy of commerce."</p> + +<p>I did so, but the odour was nauseating after the +sweet and distinct perfume of the other three.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Just try the 1815," he urged, carefully pouring +out about a third of a glass of the precious pale gold +liquid and handing it to me.</p> + +<p>I sipped it, finding it exceedingly pleasant to the +palate. So old was it that it seemed to have lost all +its strength. It was a really delicious liqueur—the +liqueur of a gourmet, and assuredly a fitting conclusion +to that excellent repast.</p> + +<p>"I think I'll have the '64," he said, pouring out +a glass and swallowing it with all the gusto of a +man whose chief delight was the satisfaction of his +stomach.</p> + +<p>I took a cigarette from the big silver box he handed +me, and I stretched out my hand for the matches.... +Beyond that, curiously enough, I recollect nothing else.</p> + +<p>But stay! Yes, I do.</p> + +<p>I remember seeing, as though rising from out a +hazy grey mist, a woman's face—the countenance of +a very pretty girl, about eighteen, with big blue wide-open +eyes and very fair silky hair—a girl, whose eyes +bore in them a hideous look of inexpressible horror.</p> + +<p>Next instant the blackness of unconsciousness fell +upon me.</p> + +<p>When I recovered I was amazed to find myself in +bed, with the yellow wintry sunlight streaming into +the low, old-fashioned room. For some time—how +long I know not—I lay there staring at the diamond-paned +window straight before me, vaguely wondering +what had occurred.</p> + +<p>A sound at last struck the right chord of my memory—the +sound of my host's voice exclaiming cheerily:</p> + +<p>"How do you feel, old chap? Better, I hope, after +your long sleep. Do you know it's nearly two o'clock +in the afternoon?"</p> + +<p>Two o'clock!</p> + +<p>After a struggle I succeeded in sitting up in bed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What occurred?" I managed to gasp. "I—I +don't exactly remember."</p> + +<p>"Why nothing, my dear fellow," declared my friend, +laughing. "You were a bit tired last night, that's +all. So I thought I wouldn't disturb you."</p> + +<p>"Where's Bennett?"</p> + +<p>"Downstairs with the car, waiting till you feel quite +right again."</p> + +<p>I then realised for the first time that I was still dressed. +Only my boots and collar and tie had been removed.</p> + +<p>Much puzzled, and wondering whether it were +actually possible that I had taken too much wine, I +rose to my feet and slowly assumed my boots.</p> + +<p>Was the man standing before me a friend, or was +he an enemy?</p> + +<p>I recollected most distinctly sampling the brandy, +but beyond that—absolutely nothing.</p> + +<p>At my host's orders Henry brought me up a refreshing +cup of tea and after a quarter of an hour or +so, during which Sandford declared that "such little +annoying incidents occur in the life of every man," +I descended and found Bennett waiting with the car +before the door.</p> + +<p>As I grasped my host's hand in farewell he whispered +confidentially.</p> + +<p>"Let's say nothing about it in future. I'll call +and see you in town in a week or two—if I may."</p> + +<p>Mechanically I declared that I should be delighted, +and mounting into the car we glided down the drive +to the road.</p> + +<p>My brain was awhirl, and I was in no mood to talk. +Therefore I sat with the frosty air blowing upon my +fevered brow as we travelled back to Colchester.</p> + +<p>"I didn't know you intended staying the night, +sir," Bennett ventured to remark just before we entered +the town.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I didn't, Bennett."</p> + +<p>"But you sent word to me soon after we arrived, +telling me to return at noon to-day. So I went back to +'The Cups,' and spent all this morning on the engines."</p> + +<p>"Who gave you that message?" I asked quickly.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Sandford's man, Henry."</p> + +<p>I sat in silence. What could it mean? What +mystery was there?</p> + +<p>As an abstemious man I felt quite convinced that +I had not taken too much wine. A single liqueur-glass +of brandy certainly could never have produced +such an effect upon me. And strangely enough that +girl's face, so shadowy, so sweet, and yet so distorted +by horror, was ever before me.</p> + +<p>Three weeks after the curious incident, having concluded +my survey, I found myself back in Guilford +Street, my journey at last ended. Pleasant, indeed, +it was to sit again at one's own fireside after those +wet, never-ending muddy roads upon which I had +lived for so long, and very soon I settled down to arrange +the mass of material I had collected and write my +book.</p> + +<p>A few days after my return, in order to redeem my +promise and to learn more of Charles Sandford, I +called at the address of the queer old hump-backed +widow in Earl's Court Road.</p> + +<p>To my surprise, I found the house in question empty, +with every evidence of its having been to let for a year +or more. There was no mistake in the number; it +was printed upon her card. This discovery caused +me increasing wonder.</p> + +<p>What did it all mean?</p> + +<p>Through many weeks I sat in my rooms in Bloomsbury +constantly at work upon my book. The technicalities +were many and the difficulties not a few. +One of the latter—and perhaps the chief one—was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +to so disguise the real vulnerable points of our country +which I had discovered on my tour with military +experts as to mislead the Germans, who might seek +to make use of the information I conveyed. The +book, to be of value, had, I recognised, to be correct +in detail, yet at the same time it must suppress all +facts that might be of use to a foreign Power.</p> + +<p>The incident near Colchester had nearly passed +from my mind, when one night in February, 1909, I +chanced to be having supper with Ray Raymond and +Vera at the "Carlton," when at the table on the +opposite side of the big room sat a smart, dark-haired +young man with a pretty girl in turquoise-blue.</p> + +<p>As I looked across, our eyes met. In an instant I +recollected that I had seen that countenance somewhere +before. Yes. It was actually the face of that +nightmare of mine after sampling Sandford's old +cognac! I sat there staring at her, like a man in a +dream. The countenance was the sweetest and most +perfect I had ever gazed upon. Yet why had I seen +it in my unconsciousness?</p> + +<p>I noticed that she started. Then, turning her head, +she leaned over and whispered something to her companion. +Next moment, pulling her cloak about her +shoulders, she rose, and they both left hurriedly.</p> + +<p>What could her fear imply? Why was she in such +terror of me? That look of horror which I had seen +on that memorable night was again there—yet only +for one single second.</p> + +<p>My impulse was to rise and dash after the pair. Yet, +not being acquainted with her, I should only, by so doing, +make a fool of myself and also annoy my lady friend.</p> + +<p>And so for many days and many weeks the remembrance +of that sweet and dainty figure ever haunted +me. I took a holiday, spending greater part of the +time on a friend's yacht in the Norwegian fjords. Yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +I could not get away from that face and the curious +mystery attaching to it.</p> + +<p>On my return home, I was next day rung up on +the telephone by my friend Major Carmichael, of the +Intelligence Department of the War Office, who had +been one of my assistants in preparing the forthcoming +book. At his urgent request I went round to see him +in Whitehall, and on being ushered into his office, I +was introduced to a tall, dark-bearded man, whose +name I understood to be Shayler.</p> + +<p>"My dear Jacox," exclaimed the Major, "forgive +me for getting you here in order to cross-examine you, +but both Shayler and myself are eagerly in search of +some information. You recollect those maps of yours, +marked with all sorts of confidential memoranda +relating to the East Coast—facts that would be of +the utmost value to the German War Office—what +did you do with them?"</p> + +<p>"I deposited them here. I suppose they're still +here," was my reply.</p> + +<p>"Yes. But you'll recollect my warning long ago, +when you were reconnoitring. Did you ever allow +them to pass out of your hands?"</p> + +<p>"Never. I carried them in my portfolio, the key +of which was always on my chain."</p> + +<p>"Then what do you think of these?" he asked, +walking to a side table where lay a pile of twenty or +thirty glass photographic negatives. And taking up +one of them, he handed it to me.</p> + +<p>It was a photograph of one of my own maps! The +plan was the section of country in the vicinity of +Glasgow. Upon it I saw notes in my own handwriting, +the tracing of the telegraph wires with +the communications of each wire, and dozens +of other facts of supreme importance to the +invader.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Great heavens!" I gasped. "Where did you +get that?"</p> + +<p>"Shayler will tell you, my dear fellow!" answered +the Major. "It seems that you've been guilty of +some sad indiscretion."</p> + +<p>"I am attached to the Special Department at New +Scotland Yard," explained the dark-bearded man. +"Two months ago a member of the secret service in +the employ of our Foreign Office made a report from +Berlin that a young girl, named Gertie Drew, living +in a Bloomsbury boarding-house, had approached +the German military attaché offering, for three thousand +pounds, to supply him with photographs of a +number of confidential plans of our eastern counties +and of the Clyde defences. The attaché had reported +to the War Office in Berlin, hence the knowledge +obtained by the British secret agent. The matter +was at once placed in my hands, and since that time +I have kept careful observation upon the girl—who +has been a photographer's assistant—and those in +association with her. The result is that I have +fortunately managed to obtain possession of these +negatives of your annotated plans."</p> + +<p>"But how?" I demanded.</p> + +<p>"By making a bold move," was the detective's +reply. "The Germans were already bargaining for +these negatives when I became convinced that the +girl was only the tool of a man who had also been a +photographer, and who had led a very adventurous +life—an American living away in the country, near +Colchester, under the name of Charles Sandford."</p> + +<p>"Sandford!" I gasped, staring at him. "What +is the girl like?"</p> + +<p>"Here is her portrait," was the detective's reply.</p> + +<p>Yes! It was the sweet face of my nightmare!</p> + +<p>"What have you discovered regarding Sandford?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> +I asked presently, when I had related to the two men +the story of the meeting at Salisbury and also my +night's adventure.</p> + +<p>"Though born in America and adopting an English +name, his father was German, and we strongly suspect +him of having, on several occasions, sold information +to Germany. Yesterday, feeling quite certain of +my ground, I went down into Essex with a search +warrant and made an examination of the house. Upstairs +I found a very complete photographic plant, +and concealed beneath the floor-boards in the dining-room +was a box containing these negatives, many of +them being of your maps of the Clyde defences, which +they were just about to dispose of. The man had +got wind that we were keeping observation upon him, +and had already fled. The gang consisted of an old +hump-backed woman, who posed as his mother, a +young woman, who he said was his married sister, but +who was really the wife of his man-servant, and the +girl Drew, who was his photographic assistant."</p> + +<p>"Where's the girl? I suppose you don't intend +to arrest her?"</p> + +<p>"I think not. If you saw her perhaps you might +induce her to tell you the truth. The plot to photograph +those plans while you were insensible was certainly +a cleverly contrived one, and it's equally certain +that the two women you met in Salisbury only travelled +with you in order to be convinced that you really +carried the precious maps with you."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I admitted, utterly amazed. "I was most +cleverly trapped, but it is most fortunate that we +were forewarned, and that our zealous friends across +the water have been prevented from purchasing the +detailed exposure of our most vulnerable points."</p> + +<p>That afternoon, Gertie Drew, the neat-waisted girl +with the fair face, walked timidly into my room, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +together we sat for fully an hour, during which time +she explained how the man Sandford had abstracted +the portfolio from my car and substituted an almost +exact replica, prior to sending Bennett back to Colchester, +and how at the moment of my unconsciousness—as +he was searching me for my key—she had +entered the dining-room when I had opened my eyes, +and staring at her had accused her of poisoning me. +She knew she had been recognised, and that had caused +her alarm in the "Carlton."</p> + +<p>That Sandford had managed to replace the portfolio +in the car and abstract the replica next day was +explained, and that he had held the girl completely in +his power was equally apparent. Therefore, I have +since obtained for her a situation with a well-known +firm of photographers in Regent Street, where she still +remains. The hump-backed woman and her pseudo-daughter +have never been seen since, but only a couple +of months ago there was recovered from the Rhine at +Coblenz the body of a man whose head was fearfully +battered, and whom the police, by his clothes and +papers upon him, identified as Charles Sandford, the +man with whom I shall ever remember partaking of +that peculiarly seductive glass of 1815 cognac.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE PERIL OF LONDON</h3> + + +<p>Certain information obtained by Ray led us to adopt +a novel method of trapping one of the Kaiser's secret +agents.</p> + +<p>About six months after my curious motoring adventure +in Essex I sent to the <i>Berliner Tageblatt</i>, in +Berlin, an advertisement, offering myself as English +valet to any German gentleman coming to England,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +declaring that I had excellent references, and that I, +Henry Dickson, had been in service with several English +noblemen.</p> + +<p>The replies forwarded to me caused us considerable +excitement. Vera was with us at New Stone Buildings +when the postman brought the bulky packet, and we +at once proceeded to read them one by one.</p> + +<p>"Holloa!" she cried, holding up one of the letters. +"Here you are, Mr. Jacox! The Baron Heinrich von +Ehrenburg has replied!"</p> + +<p>Eagerly we read the formal letter from the German +aristocrat, dated from the Leipziger Strasse, Berlin, +stating that, being about to take up his residence in +London, he was in want of a good and reliable English +servant. He would be at the Ritz Hotel in four days' +time, and he made an appointment for me to call.</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried Ray. "You must ask very little +wages. Germans are a stingy lot. The Baron has +been acting as a secret agent of the Kaiser in Paris, +but had to fly on account of the recent Ullmo affair at +Toulon. He's a very clever spy—about as clever, +indeed, as Hartmann himself. Why he is coming +to England is not quite clear. But we must find out."</p> + +<p>For the next four days I waited in great anxiety, +and when, at the appointed hour, I presented myself +at the "Ritz" and was shown into the private salon, +the middle-aged, fair-haired, rather elegant man eyed +me up and down swiftly as I stood before him with +great deference.</p> + +<p>I was about to play a dangerous game.</p> + +<p>After a number of questions, and an examination +of my credentials, all of which, I may as well admit, +had been prepared by Ray and Vera, he engaged me, +and that same evening I entered upon my duties, +greatly to the satisfaction of Vera and her lover.</p> + +<p>Fortunately I was not known at the "Ritz," and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +was therefore able for the first week or so to do my +valeting, brushing my master's clothes, polishing his +boots, getting out his dress-suit, and other such duties, +undisturbed, my eyes, however, always open to get a +glimpse of any papers that might be left in the pockets +or elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Twice he drove to Pont Street and dined with Hartmann. +The pair were in frequent consultation, it +seemed, for one afternoon the chief of the German +spies in England called, and was closeted closely with +my master for fully two hours.</p> + +<p>I stood outside the door, but unfortunately the +doors of the "Ritz" are so constructed that nothing +can be heard in the corridors. All I knew was that, +on being called in to give a message over the telephone, +I saw lying on the table between them several English +six-inch ordnance maps.</p> + +<p>No master could have been more generous than the +Baron. He was tall, rather dandified, and seemed a +great favourite with the ladies. Hartmann had introduced +him to certain well-known members of the +German colony in London, and he passed as the possessor +of a big estate near Cochem, on the Moselle. He +told me one day while I was brushing his coat that he +preferred life in England to Germany. He, however, +made no mention of his residence in France and how +he had ingeniously induced a French naval officer to +become a traitor.</p> + +<p>From the "Ritz" we, later on, removed into expensive +quarters at "Claridge's," and here my master +received frequent visits from a shabby, thin-faced, +shrivelled-up old foreigner, whom I took to be a Dutchman, +his name being Mr. Van Nierop.</p> + +<p>Whenever he called the Baron and he held close +consultation, sometimes for hours. We travelled to +Eastbourne, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Edinburgh,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> +Glasgow, and other cities, yet ever and anon the shabby +old Dutchman seemed to turn up at odd times and +places, as though springing from nowhere.</p> + +<p>When absent from London, the Baron frequently +sent telegraphic messages in cipher to a registered +address in London. Were these, I wondered, intended +for Hartmann or for the mysterious Van Nierop?</p> + +<p>The old fellow seemed to haunt us everywhere, +dogging our footsteps continually, and appearing in +all sorts of out-of-the-way places with his long, greasy +overcoat, shabby hat, and shuffling gait, by which +many mistook him for a Hebrew.</p> + +<p>And the more closely I watched my aristocratic +master, the more convinced I became that Van Nierop +and he were acting in collusion. But of what was in +progress I could obtain no inkling.</p> + +<p>Frequently we moved quickly from one place to +another, as though my master feared pursuit, then +we went suddenly to Aix, Vichy, and Carlsbad, and +remained away for some weeks. Early in the autumn +we were back again at a suite of well-furnished chambers +in Clarges Street, off Piccadilly.</p> + +<p>"I expect, Dickson, that we shall be in London +some months," the Baron had said to me on the second +morning after we had installed ourselves with our +luggage. The place belonged to a wealthy young peer +of racing proclivities, and was replete with every +comfort. All had been left just as it was, even to an +open box of cigars. His lordship had gone on a trip +round the world.</p> + +<p>On the third day—a very wet and dismal one, I +recollect—the old Dutchman arrived. The Baron was +out, therefore he waited—waited in patience for six +long hours for his return. When my master re-entered, +the pair sat together for half an hour. Then suddenly +the Baron shouted to me, "Dickson! Pack my suit-case<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> +and biggest kit-bag at once. Put in both dress-coat +and dinner-jacket. And I shan't want you. +You'll stay here and mind the place."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," I replied, and began briskly to execute +his orders.</p> + +<p>When the shabby old fellow had gone, the Baron +called me into the sitting-room and gave me two cipher +telegrams, one written on the yellow form used for +foreign messages. The first, which he had numbered +"1" in blue pencil, was addressed "Zaza, Berlin," and +the second was to "Tejada, Post Office, Manchester."</p> + +<p>"These, Dickson, I shall leave with you, for I may +want them despatched. Send them the instant you +receive word from me. I will tell you which to send. +It's half-past eight. I leave Charing Cross at nine, +but cannot give you any fixed address. Here's money +to get along with. Wait here until my return."</p> + +<p>I was sorely disappointed. I knew that he was a +spy and was in England for some fixed purpose. But +what it was I could not discover.</p> + +<p>"And," he added, as though it were an afterthought, +"if any one should by chance inquire about +Mr. Van Nierop—whether you know him, or if he has +been here—remember that you know nothing—nothing. +You understand?"</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir," was my response.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later, refusing to allow me to accompany +him to the station, he drove away into Piccadilly +with his luggage upon a hansom, and thus was I left +alone for an indefinite period.</p> + +<p>That evening I went round to Bruton Street, where +I saw Ray, and described what had occurred.</p> + +<p>He sat staring into the fire in silence for some time.</p> + +<p>"Well," he answered at last, "if what I surmise +be true, Jack, the Baron ought to be back here in about +a week. Continue to keep both eyes and ears open.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +There's a deep game being played, I am certain. He's +with Hartmann very often. Recollect what I told +you about the clever manner in which the Baron conducted +the affair at Toulon. He would have been +entirely successful hadn't a woman given Ullmo away. +See me as little as you can. You never know who may +be watching you during the Baron's absence."</p> + +<p>On the next evening I went out for a stroll towards +Piccadilly Circus and accidentally met a man I knew, +a German named Karl Stieber, a man of about thirty, +who was valet to a young gentleman who lived in the +flat beneath us.</p> + +<p>Together we descended to that noisy café beneath +the Hôtel de l'Europe in Leicester Square, where we +met four other friends of Karl's, servants like himself.</p> + +<p>As we sat together, he told me that his brother was +head-waiter at a little French restaurant in Dean Street, +Soho, called "La Belle Niçoise," a place where one could +obtain real Provençal dishes. Then, I on my part, told +him of my own position and my travels with the Baron.</p> + +<p>When we ascended into Leicester Square again we +found the pavements congested, for Daly's, the Empire, +and the Alhambra had just disgorged their throngs.</p> + +<p>As he walked with me he turned, and suddenly asked:</p> + +<p>"Since you've been in London has old Van Nierop +visited the Baron?"</p> + +<p>I started in quick surprise, but in an instant recollected +my master's injunctions.</p> + +<p>"Van Nierop!" I echoed. "Whom do you mean?"</p> + +<p>But he only laughed knowingly, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"All right. You'll deny all knowledge of him, of +course. But, my dear Dickson, take the advice of +one who knows, and be ever watchful. Take care of +your own self. Good night!"</p> + +<p>And my friend, who seemed to possess some secret +knowledge, vanished in the crowd.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p> + +<p>Once or twice he ascended and called upon me, and +we sometimes used to spend our evenings together in that +illicit little gaming-room behind a shop in Old Compton +Street, a place much frequented by foreign servants.</p> + +<p>I noticed, however, though he was very inquisitive +regarding the Baron and his movements, he would +never give me any reason. He sometimes warned me +mysteriously that I was in danger. But to me his +words appeared absurd.</p> + +<p>One evening, in the third week of December, he +and I were in the Baron's room chatting, when a ring +came at the door, and I found the Baron himself, +looking very tired and fagged. He almost staggered +into his sitting-room, brushing past Karl on his way. +He was dressed in different clothes, and I scarcely +recognised him at first.</p> + +<p>"Who's that, Dickson?" he demanded sharply. +"I thought I told you I forbade visitors here! Send +him away. I want to talk to you."</p> + +<p>I obeyed, and when he heard the door close the +Baron, who I noticed was travel-worn and dirty, with +a soiled collar and many days' growth of beard, said:</p> + +<p>"Don't have anybody here—not even your best +friend, Dickson. You'd admit no stranger here if you +knew the truth," he added, with a meaning look. +"Fortunately, perhaps you don't."</p> + +<p>Then, after he had gulped down the cognac I had +brought at his order, he went on:</p> + +<p>"Now, listen. In a little more than a week it will +be New Year's day. On that day there will arrive +for me a card of greeting. You will open all my letters +on that morning, and find it. Either it will be perfectly +plain and bear the words 'A Happy New Year' +in frosted letters, or else it will be a water-colour snow +scene—a house, bare trees, moonlight, you know the +kind of thing—with the words 'The Compliments of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +the Season.' Upon either will be written in violet +ink, in a woman's hand, the words in English, 'To +dear Heinrich.' You understand, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, sir."</p> + +<p>"Good," he said. "Now, I gave you two telegrams +before I left. If the card is a plain one, burn it and +despatch the first telegram; if coloured, then send +the second message. Do you follow?"</p> + +<p>I replied in the affirmative, when, to my surprise +he rose, and instead of entering his bedroom to wash, +he simply swallowed a second glass of brandy, sighed, +and departed, saying:</p> + +<p>"Remember, you know nothing—nothing whatever. +If there should be any inquiries about me, keep your +mouth closed."</p> + +<p>Twice my friend Stieber called in the days that +followed, but I flattered myself that from me he learnt +nothing.</p> + +<p>On the morning of New Year's day five letters were +pushed through the box. Eagerly I tore them open. +The last, bearing a Dutch stamp, with the postmark +of Utrecht, contained the expected card, with the +inscription "To dear Heinrich," a small hand-painted +scene upon celluloid, with forget-me-nots woven round +the words "With the Compliments of the Season."</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, having burned the card according +to my instructions, I despatched the mysterious +message to Manchester.</p> + +<p>That evening, about ten o'clock, Stieber called for +me to go for a stroll and drink a New Year health. +But as we turned from Clarges Street into Piccadilly +I could have sworn that a man we passed in the darkness +was old Van Nierop. I made no remark, however, +because I did not wish to draw my companion's +attention to the shuffling old fellow.</p> + +<p>Had the telegram, I wondered, brought him to London?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ten minutes later, in the Café Monico, my friend +Karl lifted his glass to me, saying:</p> + +<p>"Well, a Happy New Year, my dear friend. Take +my advice, and don't trust your Baron too +implicitly."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" I asked. "You always +speak in enigmas!"</p> + +<p>But he laughed, and would say no more.</p> + +<p>Next day dawned. Grey and muddy, it was rendered +more dismal by my loneliness. I idled away the +morning, anxious to be travelling again, but at noon +there was a caller, a thin, pale-faced girl of fifteen or +so, poorly dressed and evidently of the working-class.</p> + +<p>When, in response to her question, I had told her +my name, she said:</p> + +<p>"I've been sent by the Baron to tell you he wishes +to see you very particularly to-night at nine o'clock, +at this address."</p> + +<p>She handed me an envelope with an address upon +it, and then went down the stairs.</p> + +<p>The address I read was: "<span class="smcap">4A</span> Bishop's Lane, +Chiswick."</p> + +<p>The mysterious appointment puzzled me, but after +spending a very cheerless day, I hailed a taxi-cab at +eight o'clock and set forth for Chiswick, a district to +which I had never before been.</p> + +<p>At length we found ourselves outside an old-fashioned +church, and on inquiry I was told by a boy +that Bishop's Lane was at the end of a footpath which +led through the churchyard.</p> + +<p>I therefore dismissed the taxi, and after some search, +at length found No. <span class="smcap">4A</span>, an old-fashioned house standing +alone in the darkness amid a large garden surrounded +by high, bare trees—a house built in the long ago +days before Chiswick became a London suburb.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p> + +<p>As I walked up the path the door was opened, and +I found the old man Van Nierop standing behind it.</p> + +<p>Without a word he ushered me into a back room, +which, to my surprise, was carpetless and barely furnished. +Then he said, in that strange croaking voice +of his:</p> + +<p>"Your master will be here in about a quarter of +an hour. He's delayed. Have a cigarette."</p> + +<p>I took one from the packet he offered, and still +puzzled, lit it and sat down to await the Baron.</p> + +<p>The old man had shuffled out, and I was left alone, +when of a sudden a curious drowsiness overcame me. +I fancy there must have been a narcotic in the tobacco, +for I undoubtedly slept.</p> + +<p>When I awoke I found, to my amazement, that I +could not use my arms. I was still seated in the +wooden arm-chair, but my arms and legs were bound +with ropes, while the chair itself had been secured +to four iron rings screwed into the floor.</p> + +<p>Over my mouth was bound a cloth so that I could +not speak.</p> + +<p>Before me, his thin face distorted by a hideous, +almost demoniacal laugh of triumph, stood old Van +Nierop, watching me as I recovered consciousness. At +his side, grinning in triumph, was my master, the Baron.</p> + +<p>I tried to ask the meaning of it all, but was unable.</p> + +<p>"See, see!" cried the old Dutchman, pointing with +his bony finger to the dirty table near me, whereon a +candle-end was burning straight before my eyes beside +a good-sized book—a leather-bound ledger it appeared +to be. "Do you know what I intend doing? Well, +I'm going to treat you as all English spies should be +treated. That candle will burn low in five minutes +and sever the string you see which joins the wick. +Look what that innocent-looking book contains!" +and with a peal of discordant laughter he lifted the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +cover, showing, to my horror, that it was a box, wherein +reposed a small glass tube filled with some yellow +liquid, a trigger held back by the string, and some +square packets wrapped in oiled paper.</p> + +<p>"You see what this is!" he said slowly and distinctly. +"The moment the string is burned through, +the hammer will fall, and this house will be blown to +atoms. That book contains the most powerful +explosive known to science."</p> + +<p>I could not demand an explanation, for though I +struggled, I could not speak.</p> + +<p>I watched the old man fingering with fiendish delight +the terrible machine he had devised for my destruction.</p> + +<p>"You and your friend Raymond thought to trap +us!" said the Baron. "But, you see, he who laughs +last laughs best. Adieu, and I wish you a pleasant +trip, my young friend, into the next world," and both +went out, closing the door after them.</p> + +<p>All was silence. I sat there helpless, pinioned, +staring at the burning candle and awaiting the most +awful death that can await a man.</p> + +<p>Ah, those moments! How can I ever adequately +describe them? Suffice it to say that my hair was dark +on that morning, but in those terrible moments of mental +agony, of fear and horror, it became streaked with grey.</p> + +<p>Lower and still lower burned the flame, steadily, +imperceptibly, yet, alas! too sure. Each second +brought me nearer the grave.</p> + +<p>I was face to face with death.</p> + +<p>Frantically and fiercely I fought to wrench myself +free—fought until a great exhaustion fell upon me.</p> + +<p>Then, as the candle had burned until the flame +was actually touching that thin string which held +me between life and death, I fainted.</p> + +<p>A blinding flash, a terrific explosion that deafened +me, and a feeling of sudden numbness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> + +<p>I found myself lying on the path outside with two +men at my side.</p> + +<p>One was a dark-bearded, thick-set, but gentlemanly-looking +man—the other was Ray Raymond.</p> + +<p>Of the house where I had been, scarcely anything +remained save its foundations. The big trees in the +garden had been shattered and torn down, and every +window in the neighbourhood had been blown in, to +the intense alarm of hundreds of people who were +now rushing along the dark, unfrequented thoroughfare.</p> + +<p>"My God!" cried Ray. "What a narrow escape +you've had! Why didn't you take my advice? It +was fortunate that, suspecting something, we followed +you here. This gentleman," he said, introducing +his friend, "is Bellamy, of the Special Department +at Scotland Yard. We just discovered you in time. +Old Van Nierop ran inside again when he met us in +the path. He thought he had time to escape through +the back, but he hadn't. He's been blown to atoms +himself, as well as the Baron, and thus saved us the +trouble of extradition."</p> + +<p>I was too exhausted and confused to reply. Besides, +a huge crowd was already gathering, the fire-brigade +had come up, and the police seemed to be examining +the débris strewn everywhere.</p> + +<p>"You watched the Baron well, but not quite well +enough, my dear Jacox," Ray said. "They evidently +suspected you of prying into their business, and plotted +to put you quietly out of the way. You have evidently +somehow betrayed yourself."</p> + +<p>"But what was their business?" I asked. "I +searched every scrap of paper in the Baron's rooms, +but was never able to discover anything."</p> + +<p>"Well, the truth is that the reason the Baron came +to England was in order to take a house in this +secluded spot. Aided by Van Nierop they have established<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +a depôt close by in readiness for the coming +of the Kaiser's army. Come with me and let us +investigate."</p> + +<p>And leading me to a stable at the rear of another +house about fifty yards distant, he, aided by Bellamy, +broke open the padlocked door.</p> + +<p>Within we found great piles of small, strongly bound +boxes containing rifle ammunition, together with +about sixty cases of old Martini-Henry rifles, weapons +still very serviceable at close quarters, a quantity of +revolvers, and ten cases of gun-cotton—quite a formidable +store of arms and ammunition, similar to +that we found in Essex, and intended, no doubt, for +the arming of the horde of Germans already in London +on the day when the Kaiser gives the signal for the +dash upon our shores.</p> + +<p>"This is only one of the depôts established in the +neighbourhood of the metropolis," Raymond said. +"There are others, and we must set to work to discover +them. Germany leaves nothing to chance, and +there are already in London fifty thousand well-trained +men of the Fatherland, most of whom belong to secret +clubs, and who will on 'the Day' rise <i>en masse</i> at the +signal of invasion."</p> + +<p>"But the Baron!" I exclaimed, half dazed. +"Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"They've just recovered portions of him," replied +Ray, with a grin.</p> + +<p>"But that New Year's card!" I exclaimed, and +then amid the excitement proceeded to tell Bellamy +and my companion what had happened.</p> + +<p>"The message you sent to Manchester was to +acquaint Hartmann, who is staying at this moment +at the Midland Grand Hotel, with their intended vengeance +upon you, my dear old chap. Nierop was a Dutch +merchant in the City, and his habit was to import<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +arms and ammunition in small quantities, and distribute +them to the different secret depôts, one of +which we know is somewhere near the 'Adelaide,' +in Chalk Farm Road, another is at a house in Malmesbury +Road, Canning Town, a third in Shepperton +Street, Hoxton, and a fourth is said to be close by +the chapel in Cowley Road, Leytonstone."</p> + +<p>"And there are others besides," remarked Bellamy.</p> + +<p>"Yes," remarked Raymond, "one is certainly +somewhere in Crowland Road, South Tottenham, +another near the Gas Works at Hornsey, and others +somewhere between Highgate Hill and the New River +reservoir. Besides, there are no doubt several in such +towns as Ipswich, Chelmsford, Yarmouth, and Norwich."</p> + +<p>The police had by this time taken possession of the +stable, but no information was given to the public, fearing +that a panic might be caused if the truth leaked out.</p> + +<p>So the newspapers and the public believed the death +of the German and the Dutchman to be due to a gas +explosion—at least that was what the police reported +at the inquest. Next day the arms and ammunition +were quietly removed in closed vans from the house +and stable which the spies had rented, and conveyed +to safe keeping at Woolwich—where, I believe, they +still remain as evidence of the German intentions.</p> + +<p>Londoners, indeed, sadly disregard the peril in +which they are placed with a hostile force already in +their midst—an advance guard of the enemy already +on the alert, and but awaiting the landing of their +compatriots from the Fatherland.</p> + +<p>No sane man can to-day declare that, with our +maladministered Navy, the invasion of England is +impossible. Invasion is not a "scare." It is a hard +fact which must be faced, if we are not to fall beneath +the "mailed fist."</p> + +<p>The peril is great, and it is increasing daily. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +Germans are strenuous in their endeavours to make +every preparation for the successful raid upon our +shores.</p> + +<p>As an instance, in February, 1909, what may well +be described as a careful, complete, and systematic +photographic survey of the coast between the Tyne +and the Tees was conducted, it is stated, by a party +of foreigners, three of whom were Germans.</p> + +<p>Every indentation of the coast, and especially those +in the neighbourhood of the <a name="dunes" id="dunes"></a><ins title="denes changed to dunes">dunes</ins> about Heselden +and Castle Eden, was faithfully recorded by means +of the camera, photographs being taken both at low +tide and at high tide at various points.</p> + +<p>Considerable attention was given to the entrances +to the Tyne, Tees and Wear, and also to the Harbour +entrances at Seaham Harbour and Hartlepool; whilst +the positions of the various coast batteries and coast-guard +stations were also photographed.</p> + +<p>Nor did the party, whose operations extended over +a period of several weeks, confine their attention solely +to the coast line. Railway junctions and bridges +near the coast, collieries, and even farm-houses were +photographed; in fact, the salient features of the +countryside bordering the sea were all included in +what was altogether a most exhaustive series of +pictures.</p> + +<p>A certain number of films were developed from +day to day at West Hartlepool, something like two +hundred pictures in all being dealt with, but these +formed only a tithe of the photographs taken, and +the undeveloped films, together with the prints from +those that had been developed, were despatched direct +to Hamburg and Berlin, while some were sent to the +head-quarters of the German espionage in Pont Street, +London.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>HOW GERMANY FOMENTS STRIFE</h3> + + +<p>Ray Raymond had been engaged watching the house +of Hermann Hartmann in Pont Street ever since our +discovery of the secret store of arms and ammunition +down at Chiswick.</p> + +<p>I had been absent at Devonport, keeping observation +upon the movements of two Germans who had +once or twice paid visits to Hartmann, and who had +evidently received his instructions personally. The +two men in question were known to us as spies, for +with two other compatriots we had found them, only +three months before, busily engaged in preparing a +plan of the water-mains of East London, in order that, +in case of invasion, some of the German colony could +destroy the principal mains and thus deprive half the +metropolis of drinking-water.</p> + +<p>In Leeds they had, we know, mapped out the whole +water-supply, as Barker had done at North Shields; +and again in Sheffield, the plans of which were in +Berlin; but fortunately we had discovered them at +work in London, and had been able to prevent them +from accomplishing their object. Two of the men +had returned to Germany on being detected, and the +other two were now at Devonport, where I had been +living for a month in irritating inactivity.</p> + +<p>One afternoon, on receipt of a telegram from Ray, +I immediately returned to London, and as I entered +the flat in Bruton Street, my friend said:</p> + +<p>"The great <i>agent provocateur</i> of the German Government, +our friend Hermann Hartmann, has left for +Russia, Jack. His employers have sent him there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +for some special reason. Would it not be wise for +you to follow, and ascertain the latest move?"</p> + +<p>"If you think so, I'll go," I said readily. "You +can take my place down at Devonport. I've been +there too long and may be spotted. Where has Hartmann +gone?"</p> + +<p>"First back to Berlin. He has been ordered to go +to Poland on a special mission."</p> + +<p>"Then I must pick him up in Berlin," I said.</p> + +<p>And thus it was arranged. Next morning I obtained +a special <i>visa</i> to my passport from the Russian Ambassador, +whom I chanced to know personally, and at +2.20 left Charing Cross for Calais, bound for Berlin.</p> + +<p>I was puzzled why Hartmann, the most trusted +agent of the Kaiser's secret police, should be so suddenly +transferred to Russian territory. It was only +temporarily, no doubt, but it behoved us to have knowledge +of what might be in the wind.</p> + +<p>It was winter, and the journey to the German +capital was cold and cheerless. Yet I had not been +there six hours before I had discovered that Hartmann +had left for a place called Ostrog, in Eastern +Poland.</p> + +<p>Therefore I lost no time in setting forth for that +rather obscure place.</p> + +<p>Yes, nowadays my life was a strange one, full of +romance and constant change, of excitement—and +sometimes of insecurity.</p> + +<p>For what reason had the great Hartmann been +sent so far afield?</p> + +<p>On leaving the railway, I travelled for two days in +a sleigh over those endless snow-covered roads and +dark forests, until my horses, with their jingling bells, +pulled up before a small inn on the outskirts of the +dismal-looking town of Ostrog. The place, with its +roofs covered with freshly-fallen snow, lay upon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +slight slope of a low hill, beneath which wound the +Wilija Goryn, now frozen so hard that the bridge was +hardly ever used. It was January, and that month +in Poland is always a cold one.</p> + +<p>I had crossed the frontier at the little village of +Kolodno, and thence driven along the valleys into +Volynien, a long, weary, dispiriting drive, on and on +until those bells maddened me by their monotonous +rhythm. Cramped and cold I was, notwithstanding +the big fur coat I wore, the fur cap with flaps, fur +gloves, and fur rug. The country inns in which I +had spent the past two nights had been filthy places +where the stoves had been surrounded by evil-smelling +peasantry, where the food was uneatable and where a +wooden bench had served me as a bed.</p> + +<p>At each stage where we changed horses the post-house +keeper had held up his hands when he knew my +destination was Ostrog. "The Red Rooster" was +crowing there, they said significantly.</p> + +<p>It was true. Russia was under the Terror again, +and in no place in the whole empire were the revolutionists +so determined as in the town whither I was +bound. I saw at once the reason why Hartmann +was there—to secretly stir up strife, for it is to the +advantage of Germany that Russia should be in a state +of unrest. To observe the German methods was certainly +interesting.</p> + +<p>Ostrog at last! As I stood up and descended unsteadily +from my sleigh my eyes fell upon something +upon the snow near the door of the inn. There was +blood. It told its own tale.</p> + +<p>From the white town across the frozen river I heard +revolver shots, followed by a loud explosion that shook +the whole place and startled the three horses in my sleigh.</p> + +<p>Inside the long, low, common room of the inn, with +its high brick stove, against which half a dozen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +frightened-looking men and women were huddled, I +asked for the proprietor, whereupon an elderly man, with +shaggy hair and beard, came forth, pulling his forelock.</p> + +<p>"I want to stay here," I said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, your excellency," was the old fellow's reply, +in Polish. "Whatever accommodation my poor inn +can afford is at your service"—and he at once shouted +orders to my driver to bring in my kit, while the women, +all of them flat-faced peasants, made room for me at +the stove.</p> + +<p>From where I stood I could hear the sound of desultory +firing across the bridge, and inquired what was +in progress.</p> + +<p>But there was an ominous silence. They did not +reply, for, as I afterwards discovered, they had taken +me for a high police official from Petersburg, thus +accounting for the innkeeper's courtesy.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," I said, addressing the wrinkled-faced +old Pole, "what is happening over yonder?"</p> + +<p>"The Cossacks," he stammered. "Krasiloff and +his Cossacks are upon us. They have just entered +the town and are shooting down people everywhere. +Hartmann, the great patriot from Germany, has +arrived, and the fight for freedom has commenced, +excellency. But it is horrible. A poor woman was +shot dead before my door half an hour ago, and her +body taken away by the soldiers."</p> + +<p>Tired as I was, I lost no time. With a glance to +see that my own revolver was loaded, I threw aside +my overcoat, and, leaving the inn, walked across the +bridge into a poor narrow street of wretched-looking +houses, many of them built of wood. A man limped +slowly past me, wounded in the leg, and leaving blood-spots +behind him as he went. An old woman was seated +in a doorway, her face buried in her hands, wailing:</p> + +<p>"My poor son!—dead!—dead!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p> + +<p>Before me I saw a great barricade composed of +trees, household furniture, paving-stones, overturned +carts, pieces of barbed wire—in fact, everything and +anything the populace could seize upon for the construction +of hasty defence. Upon the top, silhouetted against +the clear frosty sky, was the scarlet flag of the revolution—the +Red Rooster was crowing!</p> + +<p>Excited men were there, armed with rifles, shouting +and giving orders. Then I saw that a small space had +been left open against the wall of a house so that persons +might pass and repass.</p> + +<p>As I approached a wild-haired man shouted to me +and beckoned frantically. I grasped his meaning. +He wished me to come within. I ran forward, entered +the town proper, and a few moments later the opening +was closed by a dozen slabs of stone being heaped up +into it by as many willing hands.</p> + +<p>Thus I found myself in the very centre of the revolution, +behind the barricades, of which there were, it +seemed, six or seven. From the rear there was constant +firing, and the streets in the vicinity were, I saw +to my horror, already filled with dead and wounded. +Women were wailing over husbands, lovers, brothers; +men over their daughters and wives. Even children +of tender age were lying helpless and wounded, some +of them shattered and dead.</p> + +<p>Ah! that sight was sickening. Never had I seen +wholesale butchery such as that in which I was now +in the midst. I was looking about to find the German +<i>agent provocateur</i>, but I failed to find him. Perhaps, +having bidden the people to rise, he had himself +escaped. Most probably.</p> + +<p>Above us bullets whistled as the Cossacks came +suddenly round a side street and made a desperate +attack upon the barricade I had entered only a few +minutes before. A dozen of those fighting for their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +freedom fell back dead at my feet at the first volley. +They had been on top of the barricade, offering a mark +to the troops of the Czar. Before us and behind us +there was firing, for at the rear of us was another +barricade. We were, in fact, between two deadly fires.</p> + +<p>Revolver in hand, I stood ready to defend my own life. +In those exciting moments I disregarded the danger I +ran from being struck in that veritable hail of lead. +Men fell wounded all around me, and there was blood +everywhere. A thin, dark-headed young fellow under +thirty—a Moscow student, I subsequently heard—seemed +to be the ringleader, for above the firing could +be heard his shouts of encouragement.</p> + +<p>"Fight! my comrades!" he cried, standing close +to me and waving the red flag he carried—the emblem +of the Terror—"Down with the Czar! Kill the vermin +he sends to us! Long live Germany! Long live +freedom! Kill them!" he shrieked. "They have +killed your wives and daughters. Men of Ostrog—remember +your duty to-day! Set an example to Russia. +Do not let the Moscow fiasco be repeated here. Fight! +Fight on as long as you have a drop of life-blood in +you, and we shall win, we shall win! Down with the +Autocrat! Down with the——"</p> + +<p>His sentence was never finished, for at that instant +he reeled backwards with half his face shot away by a +Cossack bullet.</p> + +<p>The situation was, for me, one of greatest peril. I +had had no opportunity of finding the governor of the +town to present my credentials, and thus obtain protection. +The whole place was in open revolt, and +when the troops broke down the defences, as I saw they +must do sooner or later, then we should all be caught +in a trap, and no quarter would be given.</p> + +<p>The massacre would be the same as at Moscow and +many other towns in Western Russia, wherein the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +populace had been shot down indiscriminately, and +official telegrams had been sent to Petersburg reporting +"order now reigns."</p> + +<p>I sought shelter in a doorway, but scarcely had I +done so than a bullet embedded itself in the woodwork +a few inches from my head. At the barricade the +women were helping the men, loading their rifles for +them, shouting and encouraging them to fight gallantly +for freedom. And suddenly I caught sight of Hartmann's +evil face. He was calmly talking to a man +who was no doubt also in the German employ. The +rising was their work!</p> + +<p>A yellow-haired young woman, not more than +twenty, emerged from a house close by where I stood +and ran past me to the barricade. As she passed I +saw that she carried something in her hand. It +looked like a small cylinder of metal.</p> + +<p>Shouting to a man who was firing through a loophole +near the top of the barricade, she handed it up to +him. Taking it carefully, he scrambled up higher, +waited for a few moments, and then, raising himself, +he hurled it far into the air into the midst of an advancing +troop of Cossacks.</p> + +<p>There was a red flash, a terrific explosion which shook +the whole town, wrecking the houses in the immediate vicinity, +and blowing to atoms dozens of the Czar's soldiers.</p> + +<p>A wild shout of victory went up from the revolutionists +when they saw the havoc caused by the awful +bomb. The yellow-haired girl returned again and +brought another, which, after some ten minutes or so, +was similarly hurled against the troops, with equally +disastrous effect.</p> + +<p>The roadway was strewn with the bodies of those +Cossacks which General Kinski, the governor of the +town, had telegraphed for, and whom Krasiloff had +ordered to give no quarter to the revolutionists. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +Western Russia the name of Krasiloff was synonymous +with all that was cruel and brutal. It was he who +ordered the flogging of the five young women at Minsk, +those poor unfortunate creatures who were knouted +by Cossacks who laid their backs bare to the bone. +As every one in Russia knows, two of them, both +members of good families, died within a few hours, +and yet no reprimand did he receive from Petersburg. +By the Czar and at the Ministry of the Interior he +was known to be a hard man, and for that reason certain +towns where the revolutionary spirit was strongest +had been given into his hands.</p> + +<p>At Kiev he had executed without trial dozens of +men and woman arrested for revolutionary acts. A +common grave was dug in the prison yard, and the +victims, four at a time, were led forward to the edge +of the pit and shot, each batch being compelled to +witness the execution of the four prisoners preceding +them. With a refinement of cruelty that was only +equalled by the Inquisition, he had wrung confessions +from women, and afterwards had them shot and buried. +At Petersburg they knew these things, but he had +actually been commended and decorated for his loyalty +to the Czar!</p> + +<p>And now that he had been hurriedly moved to +Ostrog the people knew that his order to the Cossacks +was to massacre the people, and more especially the +Jewish portion of the population, without mercy.</p> + +<p>"Krasiloff is here!" said the man whose face was +smeared with blood as he stood by me. "He intends +that we shall all die, but we will fight for it. The revolution +has only just commenced. Soon the peasants +will rise, and we will sweep the country clean of the +vermin the Czar has placed upon us. To-day Kinski, +the governor, has been fired at twice, but unsuccessfully. +He wants a bomb, and he shall have it," he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +added meaningly. "Olga—the girl yonder with the +yellow hair—has one for him!"—and he laughed grimly.</p> + +<p>I recognised my own deadly peril. I stood revolver +in hand, though I had not fired a shot, for I was no +revolutionist. I was only awaiting the inevitable +breaking down of the barricade—and the awful catastrophe +that must befall the town when those Cossacks, +drunk with the lust for blood, swept into the streets.</p> + +<p>Around me men and women were shouting themselves +hoarse, while the red emblem of Terror still +waved lazily from the top of the barricade. The +men manning the improvised defence kept up a withering +fire upon the troops, who in the open road were +afforded no cover. Time after time the place shook +as those terrible bombs exploded with awful result, +for the yellow-haired girl seemed to keep up a continuous +supply of them. They were only seven or eight +inches long, but hurled into a company of soldiers +their effect was deadly.</p> + +<p>For half an hour longer it seemed as though the +defence of the town would be effectual, yet, of a sudden, +the redoubled shouts of those about me told me the truth.</p> + +<p>The Cossacks had been reinforced, and were about +to rush the barricade.</p> + +<p>I managed to peer forth, and there, surely enough, +the whole roadway was filled with soldiers.</p> + +<p>Yells, curses, heavy firing, men falling back from +the barricade to die around me, and the disappearance +of the red flag showed that the Cossacks were at last +scaling the great pile of miscellaneous objects that +blocked the street. A dozen of the Czar's soldiers +appeared silhouetted against the sky as they scrambled +across the top of the barricade, but the next second +a dozen corpses fell to earth, riddled by the bullets +of the men standing below in readiness.</p> + +<p>In a moment, however, others appeared in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> +places, and still more and more. Women threw up +their hands in despair and fled for their lives, while +men—calmly prepared to die in the cause—shouted +again and again, "Down with Krasiloff and the Czar! +Long live the revolution! Long live Germany! +Give us the Kaiser! Victory for the people's will!"</p> + +<p>I stood undecided. I was facing death. Those +Cossacks with orders to massacre would give no quarter, +and would not discriminate. Krasiloff was waiting +for his dastardly order to be carried out. The Czar +had given him instructions to crush the revolution +by whatever means he thought proper.</p> + +<p>Those moments of suspense seemed hours. Suddenly +there was another flash, a stunning report, the air was +filled with débris, and a great breach opened in the +barricade. The Cossacks had used explosives to clear +away the obstruction. Next instant they were upon us.</p> + +<p>I flew—flew for my life. Whither my legs carried +me I know not. Women's despairing shrieks rent +the air on every hand. The massacre had commenced. +I remember I dashed into a long, narrow street that +seemed half deserted, then turned corner after corner, +but behind me, ever increasing, rose the cries of the +doomed populace. The Cossacks were following the +people into their houses and killing men, women, and +even children.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, as I turned into a side street, I saw that +it led into a large open thoroughfare, the main road +through the town, I expect. And there, straight +before me, I saw that an awful scene was being enacted.</p> + +<p>I turned to run back, but at that instant a woman's +long, despairing cry reached me, causing me to glance +within a doorway, where stood a big, brutal Cossack, +who had pursued and captured a pretty, dark-haired, +well-dressed girl.</p> + +<p>"Save me!" she shrieked as I passed. "Oh, save<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +me, sir!" she gasped, white, terrified, and breathless +with struggling. "He will kill me!"</p> + +<p>The burly soldier had his bearded face close down +to hers, his arms clasped around her, and had evidently +forced her from the street into the entry.</p> + +<p>For a second I hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, save me! Save me, and God will reward +you!" she implored, her big, dark eyes turned to +mine in final appeal.</p> + +<p>The fellow at that moment raised his fist and struck +her a brutal blow upon the mouth that caused the +blood to flow, saying with a savage growl:</p> + +<p>"Be quiet, will you?"</p> + +<p>"Let that woman go!" I commanded in the best +Russian I could.</p> + +<p>In an instant, with a glare in his fiery eyes, for the +blood-lust was within him, he turned upon me and +sneeringly asked who I was to give him orders, while +the poor girl reeled, half stunned by his blow.</p> + +<p>"Let her go I say!" I shouted, advancing quickly +towards him.</p> + +<p>But in a moment he had drawn his big army revolver, +and, ere I became aware of his dastardly intention, he +raised it to a few inches from her face.</p> + +<p>Quick as thought I raised my own weapon, which +I had held behind me, and, being accredited a fairly +good shot, I fired in an endeavour to save the poor girl.</p> + +<p>Fortunately my bullet struck, for he stepped back, +his revolver dropped from his fingers upon the stones, +and, stumbling forward, he fell dead at her feet without +a word. My shot had, I saw, hit him in the temple, +and death had probably been instantaneous.</p> + +<p>With a cry of joy at her sudden release, the girl +rushed across to me, and raising my left hand to her +lips, kissed it, at the same time thanking me.</p> + +<p>Then, for the first time, I recognised how uncommonly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> +pretty she was. Not more than eighteen, she was +slim and petite, with a narrow waist and graceful +figure—quite unlike in refinement and in dress the +other women I had seen in Ostrog. Her dark hair +had come unbound in her desperate struggle with the +Cossack and hung about her shoulders, her bodice +was torn and revealed a bare white neck, and her +chest heaved and fell as in breathless, disjointed +sentences she thanked me again and again.</p> + +<p>There was not a second to lose, however. She was, +I recognised, a Jewess, and Krasiloff's orders were not +to spare them.</p> + +<p>From the main street beyond rose the shouts and +screams, the firing and wild triumphant yells as the +terrible massacre progressed.</p> + +<p>"Come with me!" she cried breathlessly. "Along +here. I know of a place of safety!"</p> + +<p>And she led the way, running swiftly for about +two hundred yards, and then, turning into a narrow, +dirty courtyard, passed through an evil, forbidding-looking +house, where all was silent as the grave.</p> + +<p>With a key she quickly opened the door of a poor, +ill-furnished room, which she closed behind her, but +did not lock. Then, opening a door on the opposite +side, which had been papered over so as to escape +observation, I saw there was a flight of damp stone +stairs leading down to a cellar or some subterranean +regions beneath the house.</p> + +<p>"Down here!" she said, taking a candle, lighting +it, and handing it to me. "Go—I will follow."</p> + +<p>I descended cautiously into the cold, dank place, +discovering it to be a kind of unlighted cellar hewn +out of the rock. A table, a chair, a lamp, and some +provisions showed that preparation had been made +for concealment there, but ere I had entirely explored +the place my pretty fellow-fugitive rejoined me.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This, I hope, is a place of safety," she said. "They +will not find us here. This is where Gustave lived +before his flight."</p> + +<p>"Gustave?" I repeated, looking her straight in +the face.</p> + +<p>She dropped her eyes and blushed. Her silence +told its own tale. The previous occupant of that +rock chamber was her lover.</p> + +<p>Her name was Luba—Luba Lazareff, she told me. +But of herself she would tell me nothing further. Her +reticence was curious, yet before long I recognised +the reason of her refusal.</p> + +<p>In reply to further questions she said: "The Germans +are our friends. Two men from Berlin have been +in Ostrog nearly a month holding secret meetings and +urging us to rise."</p> + +<p>"Do you know Hermann Hartmann?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Ah! yes. He is the great patriot. He arrived +here the day before yesterday to address us before +the struggle," she replied enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>Candle in hand, I was examining the deepest recesses +of the dark, cavernous place, while she lit the lamp, +when, to my surprise, I discovered at the further end +a workman's bench, upon which were various pieces +of turned metal, pieces of tube of various sizes, and +little phials of glass like those used for the tiny tabloids +for subcutaneous injections.</p> + +<p>I took one up to examine it, but at that instant +she noticed me and screamed in terror.</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir! For heaven's sake, put that down—very +carefully. Touch nothing there, or we may both +be blown to pieces! See!" she added in a low, intense +voice of confession, as she, dashed forward, "there +are finished bombs there! Gustave could not carry +them all away, so he left those with me."</p> + +<p>"Then Gustave made these, eh?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes. And, see, he gave me this"—and she drew +from her breast a small, shining cylinder of brass, a +beautifully finished little object about four inches +long similar to those used at the barricade. "He +gave this to me to use—if necessary!" the girl added, +a meaning flash in her dark eyes.</p> + +<p>For a moment I was silent.</p> + +<p>"Then you would have used it upon that Cossack?" +I said slowly.</p> + +<p>"That was my intention."</p> + +<p>"And kill yourself, as well as your assailant?"</p> + +<p>"I have promised him," was her simple answer.</p> + +<p>"And this Gustave? You love him? Tell me +all about him. Remember I am your friend, and +will help you if I can."</p> + +<p>She hesitated, and I was compelled to urge her +again and again ere she would speak.</p> + +<p>"Well, he is German—from Berlin," she said at +last, as we still stood before the bomb-maker's bench. +"He is a chemist, and, being an anarchist, came to +us, and joined us in the Revolution. The petards +thrown over the barricades to-day were of his make, +but he had to fly. He left yesterday."</p> + +<p>"For Berlin?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! How can I tell? The Cossacks may have +caught and killed him. He may be dead," she added +hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"What direction has he taken?"</p> + +<p>"He was compelled to leave hurriedly at midnight. +He came, kissed me, and gave me this," she said, +still holding the shining little bomb in her small white +hand. "He said he intended, if possible, to get over +the hills to the frontier at Satanow."</p> + +<p>I saw that she was deeply in love with the fugitive, +whoever he might be.</p> + +<p>Outside the awful massacre was in progress, we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +knew; but no sound of it reached us down in that +rock-hewn tomb.</p> + +<p>The yellow candle-light fell upon her sweet dimpled +face, but when she turned her splendid eyes to mine +I saw that in them was a look of anxiety and terror +inexpressible.</p> + +<p>I inquired of her father and mother, for she was +of a superior class, as I had from the first moment +detected. She spoke French extremely well, and +we had dropped into that language as being easier +for me than Russian.</p> + +<p>"What can it matter to you, sir, a stranger?" she +sighed.</p> + +<p>"But I am interested in you, mademoiselle," I +answered. "Had I not been I should not have fired +that shot."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes!" she cried quickly. "I am an ingrate! +You saved my life,"—and again she seized both my +hands and kissed them.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" I cried, startled. "What's that?" for +I distinctly heard a sound of crackling wood.</p> + +<p>The next moment men's gruff voices reached us +from above.</p> + +<p>"The Cossacks!" she screamed. "They have +found us—they have found us!" And the light died +out of her beautiful countenance.</p> + +<p>In her trembling hand she held the terrible little +engine of destruction.</p> + +<p>With a quick movement I gripped her wrist, urging +her to refrain until all hope was abandoned, and together +we stood facing the soldiers as they descended the +stairs to where we were. They were, it seems, searching +every house.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" they cried, "a good hiding-place this! +But the wall was hollow, and revealed the door!" +and next moment we saw the figures of men.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, my pretty!" exclaimed a big, leering +Cossack, chucking the trembling girl beneath the chin.</p> + +<p>"Hold!" I commanded the half-dozen men who +now stood before us, their swords red with the life-blood +of the Revolution. But before I could utter +further word the poor girl was wrenched from my +grasp, and the Cossack was smothering her face with +his hot nauseous kisses.</p> + +<p>"Hold, I tell you!" I shouted. "Release her, +or it is at your own peril!"</p> + +<p>"Hulloa!" they laughed. "Who are you?"—and +one of the men raised his sword to strike me, whilst +another held him back, exclaiming, "Let us hear +what he has to say!"</p> + +<p>"Then listen!" I said, drawing from my pocket +book a folded paper. "Read this, and look well at +the signature. I am a British subject, and this girl +is under my protection!"—and I handed to the man +who held little Luba in his arms my permit to travel +hither and thither in Russia, which the Ambassador +in London had signed for me.</p> + +<p>The men, astounded at my announcement, read +the document beneath the lamp-light and took counsel +among themselves.</p> + +<p>"And who, pray, is this Jewess?" inquired one.</p> + +<p>"My affianced wife," was my quick reply. "And +I command you at once to take us under safe conduct +to General Krasiloff—quickly, without delay. We +took refuge in this place from the Revolution, in which +we have taken no part."</p> + +<p>I saw, however, with sinking heart, that one of the +men was examining the bomb-maker's bench, and had +recognised the character of what remained there.</p> + +<p>He looked at us, smiled grimly, and whispered something +to one of his companions.</p> + +<p>Again in an authoritative tone I demanded to be taken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +to Krasiloff, and presently, after being marched as +prisoners across the town, past scenes so horrible that +they are still vividly before my eyes, we were taken +into the chief police-office, where the hated official, a +fat red-faced man in a general's uniform—the man without +pity or remorse, the murderer of women and children—was +sitting at a table. He greeted me with a grunt.</p> + +<p>"General," I said, addressing him, "I have to present +to you this order of your Ambassador, and to demand +safe conduct. Your soldiers found me and my——"</p> + +<p>I hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Your pretty Jewess—eh?"—and a smile of sarcasm +spread over his fat face. "Well, go on"—and +he took the paper I handed him, knitting his brows again +as his eyes fell upon the British royal arms and the visa.</p> + +<p>"We were found in a cellar where we had hidden +from the revolt," I said.</p> + +<p>"The place has been used for the manufacture of +bombs," declared one of the Cossacks.</p> + +<p>The General looked my pretty companion straight +in the face.</p> + +<p>"What is your name, girl?" he demanded roughly.</p> + +<p>"Luba Lazareff."</p> + +<p>"Native of where?"</p> + +<p>"Of Petersburg."</p> + +<p>"What are you doing in Ostrog?"</p> + +<p>"She is with me," I interposed. "I demand protection +for her."</p> + +<p>"I am addressing the prisoner, sir," was his cold remark.</p> + +<p>"You refuse to obey the order of the Emperor's +representative in London! Good! Then I shall +report you to the Minister," I exclaimed, piqued at +his insolence.</p> + +<p>"Speak, girl!" he roared, his black eyes fixed +fiercely upon her. "Why are you in Ostrog? You +are no provincial, you know."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She is my affianced wife," I said, "and in face of +my statement and my passport she need make no +reply to any of your questions."</p> + +<p>A short, stout little man, shabbily dressed, pushed +his way forward to the table, saying:</p> + +<p>"Luba Lazareff is a well-known revolutionist, your +Excellency. The German maker of bombs, Gustave +Englebach, is her lover—not this gentleman. Gustave +only left Ostrog yesterday."</p> + +<p>The speaker was, I afterwards discovered, one of +Hartmann's agents.</p> + +<p>"And where is Englebach now? I gave orders +for his arrest some days ago."</p> + +<p>"He was found this morning by the patrol on the road +to Schumsk, recognised, and shot, your Excellency."</p> + +<p>At this poor little Luba gave vent to a piercing scream +and burst into a torrent of bitter tears.</p> + +<p>"You fiends!" she cried. "You have shot my +Gustave! He is dead—<i>dead!</i>"</p> + +<p>"There was no doubt, I suppose, as to his identity?" +asked the General.</p> + +<p>"None, your Excellency. Some papers found upon +the body have been forwarded to us with the report."</p> + +<p>"Then let the girl be shot also. She aided him in +the manufacture of the bombs."</p> + +<p>"Shot!" I gasped, utterly staggered. "What do +you mean, General? You will shoot a poor defenceless +girl, and in face of my demand for her protection. I +have promised her marriage," I cried in desperation, +"and you condemn her to execution!"</p> + +<p>"My Emperor has given me orders to quell the +rebellion, and all who make bombs for use against the +Government must die. His Majesty gave me orders +to execute all such," said the official sternly. "You, +sir, will have safe conduct to whatever place you wish +to visit. Take the girl away."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But, General, reflect a moment whether this is +not——"</p> + +<p>"I never reflect, sir," he cried angrily, and rising +from his chair with outstretched hand, he snapped:</p> + +<p>"How much of my time are you going to lose over the +wench? Take her away, and let it be done at once."</p> + +<p>The poor condemned girl, blanched to the lips and +trembling from head to foot, turned quickly to me, +and in a few words in French thanked me, and again +kissed my hand, with the brief words, "Farewell; +you have done your best. God will reward you!"</p> + +<p>Then, with one accord, we all turned, and together +went mournfully forth into the street.</p> + +<p>A lump arose in my throat, for I saw, as the General +pointed out, that my passport did not extend beyond +my own person. Luba was a Russian subject, and +therefore under the Russian martial law.</p> + +<p>Of a sudden, however, just as we emerged into the roadway, +the unfortunate girl, at whose side I still remained, +turned and, raising her tearful face to mine, kissed me.</p> + +<p>Then, before any of us were aware of her intention, +she again turned, wrenched herself free, and rushed +back into the room where the General was still sitting.</p> + +<p>The Cossacks dashed after her, but ere they reached +the chamber there was a terrific explosion, the air +was filled with débris, the back of the building was +torn completely out, and when a few minutes later I +summoned courage to enter and peep within the +wrecked room, I saw a scene that I dare not describe +here in cold print.</p> + +<p>Suffice it to say that the bodies of Luba and General +Stepan Krasiloff were unrecognisable, save for the +shreds of clothing that still remained.</p> + +<p>Luba had used her bomb in revenge for Gustave's +death, and she had freed Russia of the heartless tyrant +who had condemned her to die.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the man Hartmann—the German "patriot," +whose underlings had stirred up the revolt—was +already on his way back to Berlin.</p> + +<p>As in France and Russia, so also in England, German +Secret agents are, we have discovered, at work stirring +strife in many directions.</p> + +<p>One is a dastardly scheme, by which, immediately +before a dash is made upon our shores, a great railway +strike is to be organised, ostensibly by the socialists, +in order to further paralyse our trade and render us +in various ways unable to resist the triumphant entry +of the foe.</p> + +<p>When "the Day" comes, this plot of our friends +across the North Sea will assuredly be revealed, just +as the truth was revealed to me at Ostrog.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>OUR WIRELESS SECRETS</h3> + + +<p>Something important was being attempted, but what +it was neither Ray Raymond nor myself could make out.</p> + +<p>We had exerted a good deal of vigilance and kept +constant watch upon Hartmann's house in Pont Street +since my return from Poland, but all to no purpose.</p> + +<p>Vera had been staying in London with her aunt and +had greatly assisted us in keeping observation upon +two strangers who had arrived in London about a +month ago, and who were staying in an obscure hotel +near Victoria Station.</p> + +<p>Their names were Paul Dubois, a Belgian, and +Frederick Gessner, a German. The first-named was, +we judged, about forty, stout, flabby-faced, wearing +gold pince-nez, while the German was somewhat +younger, both quiet, studious-looking men who seemed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> +however, to be welcomed by many of the prominent +members of the German colony in London.</p> + +<p>On five separate occasions we had followed the pair +to King's Cross Station and watched them take third +class tickets to Hull. They would remain there +perhaps two or three days, and then return to +London.</p> + +<p>After a while they had grown tired of their hotel, +and had taken a small furnished house at the top of +Sydenham Hill, close to the Crystal Palace, a pleasant +little place with a small secluded garden in which were +several high old elms. They engaged a rather obese +old Frenchwoman as housekeeper, and there they led +a quiet life, engrossed apparently in literary studies.</p> + +<p>I confess that when it came my turn to watch them +I became more than ever convinced that Raymond's +suspicions were ungrounded. They seldom went +out, and when they did, it was either to dine with +Hartmann, or to stroll about the suburban roads of +Norwood, Sydenham, and Penge.</p> + +<p>Late one afternoon, however, while I was down at +Sydenham, I saw them emerge from the house, carrying +their small suit-cases, and followed them to King's +Cross Station, where they took tickets for Hull.</p> + +<p>Instantly I rushed to the telephone and informed +Ray in Bruton Street of my intention to follow them.</p> + +<p>That same night I found myself in the smoke-grimed +Station Hotel in Hull, where the two foreigners had +also put up.</p> + +<p>Next day they called at a solicitor's office at the +end of Whitefriargate, and thence, accompanied by a +man who was apparently the lawyer's managing clerk, +they went in a cab along the Docks, where, at a spot +close to the Queen's Dock, they pulled up before an +empty factory, a place which was not very large, but +which possessed a very high chimney.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> + +<p>The managing clerk entered the premises with a +key, and for about half an hour the pair were within, +apparently inspecting everything.</p> + +<p>I was puzzled. Why they were in treaty to rent a +place of this description was an utter enigma.</p> + +<p>They returned to the hotel to luncheon, and I watched +them engaged in animated discussion afterwards, and +I also noticed that they despatched a telegram.</p> + +<p>Next day they called upon the solicitor, and by their +satisfied manner when they came forth from the office, +I guessed that they had become tenants of the place.</p> + +<p>In this I was not mistaken, for that same afternoon +they went together to the factory and let themselves +in with the key, remaining within for over an hour, +evidently planning something.</p> + +<p>That night I wrote a long report to Raymond, and +next morning spoke to him over the telephone.</p> + +<p>"Vera wants to know if you want her in Hull. If +so, she'll come," my friend said. "I'm just as puzzled +as you are. Those two men mean mischief—but in +what manner is a mystery."</p> + +<p>"If Miss Vallance can come, I'll be only too thankful," +I replied. "I fear the men know you, but they +don't know her. And she can greatly assist me."</p> + +<p>"Very well, Jacox," was his reply. "She'll leave +this evening. She'll wire to the hotel. She'd better +not be seen with you. So, to the hotel people, you'll +be strangers. Meet outside, and arrange matters. +'Phone me when you want me up there."</p> + +<p>"Right, old chap," I replied. "I'll ring you up at +eleven to-morrow and report. So be in. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>And I rang off.</p> + +<p>Vera arrived just before eleven that evening. I +was in the hall of the hotel when the porter entered, +carrying her dressing-case. She passed me and went +to the office, but I did not acknowledge her. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +wore a neat dark blue travelling gown, well cut by her +tailor, and a little toque which suited her face admirably. +She possessed perfect taste in dress.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later I sent a note up to her room by a +waiter, asking her to meet me outside on the railway +platform at ten o'clock next morning.</p> + +<p>She kept the appointment, and in order to escape +observation we entered the refreshment-room.</p> + +<p>"The numbers of the rooms occupied by the two +men are sixty-eight and seventy-two," I explained. +"Perhaps it will be as well if you watch them the +whole of to-day. They are at present in the writing-room, +so you can at once pick them up."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Mr. Jacox," she said. "Jack is intensely +anxious. He's very puzzled as to what they intend +doing."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I replied, "it's quite a mystery. But we +shall discover something ere long, never fear."</p> + +<p>Vera laughed as she sipped the glass of milk I had +ordered.</p> + +<p>Then I briefly explained all that I had discovered, +telling her how the two men had evidently taken the +factory on a lease, and how they were there every day, +apparently making plans for future business.</p> + +<p>"But what business do they intend starting?" +she asked.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" I said; "that's what we have to find out. +And we shall do so before very long, if we are careful +and vigilant."</p> + +<p>"Trust me," she said; "I am entirely at your orders."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall wait and hear your report," I said. +"When you return to the hotel send a line to my +room."</p> + +<p>And with that arrangement we parted.</p> + +<p>That day I spent idling in the vicinity of the hotel. +It was mid-August, and the atmosphere was stifling.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> +That district of Hull is not a very pleasant one, for +it is one of mean provincial streets and of the noise +of railway lorries rumbling over the granite setts.</p> + +<p>The afternoon I spent in playing billiards with the +marker, when about six o'clock a page-boy brought +me a note from my enthusiastic little friend.</p> + +<p>"I shall be in the station refreshment-room at +half-past six. Meet me.—<span class="smcap">Vera.</span>"</p> + +<p>Those were the words I found within the envelope.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, when I sat at the little marble-topped +table with her, she related how she had been +following the pair all day.</p> + +<p>"They were in the factory from half-past one until +four," she said. "They've ordered a builder to put +up ladders to examine the chimney. They appear +to think it isn't quite safe."</p> + +<p>She told me the name of the builder, adding that +the contract was to have the ladders in position during +the next three days.</p> + +<p>"They are leaving for London to-night by the last +train," she added. "I heard the Belgian telling the +hall-porter as I came out."</p> + +<p>"Then we'll wire to Ray to meet them, and keep +an eye upon them," I said. "I suppose you will go +up to town?"</p> + +<p>"I think so. And when they return I will follow +them down if Ray deems it best," replied the pretty +girl, who was just as enthusiastic in her patriotism +as ourselves.</p> + +<p>So still mystified I was compelled to remain inactive +in Hull, while Vera and the two foreigners whom we +suspected of espionage went up to London.</p> + +<p>For the next four days I heard nothing until suddenly, +at eight o'clock one morning, Ray entered my +bedroom before I was up.</p> + +<p>"I've found out one thing about those Johnnies!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +he exclaimed. "They've been buying, in Clerkenwell, +a whole lot of electrical appliances—coils of +wire, insulators, and batteries. Some of it has been +sent direct to the place they've taken here, and the +rest has been sent to their house down in Sydenham."</p> + +<p>"What can they want that for?" I queried.</p> + +<p>"Don't know, my dear chap. Let's wait and see."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, after all, they are about to set up in +business," I said. "Neither of them has struck me +as being spies. Save that they've visited Hartmann +once or twice, their movements have not been very +suspicious. Many foreigners are setting up factories +in England, owing to the recent change in our patent +laws."</p> + +<p>"I know," said my friend. "Yet their confidential +negotiations with Hartmann have aroused my suspicions, +and I feel confident we shall discover something +interesting before long. They came back by +the same train as I travelled."</p> + +<p>After breakfast, we both strolled round to the +factory. The ground it covered was not much, and +it was surrounded by a wall about twelve feet high, +so that no one could see within the courtyard. It +had, at one time, been a lead-mill, but for the past +eight years had, we learned, been untenanted.</p> + +<p>Even as we loitered near, we saw the builder's men +bringing long ladders for the inspection of the chimney.</p> + +<p>We watched for a whole week, but as each day +passed, I became more confident that we were upon +a false scent.</p> + +<p>The chimney had been inspected, the ladders taken +down again, and once more the German and the Belgian +had returned south to that pleasant London suburb.</p> + +<p>In order to ascertain what was really in progress +I called one morning upon the solicitor in Whitefriargate, +on pretext of being a likely tenant of the factory.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +I was, however, informed by the managing clerk that +it was already let to a firm of electrical engineers.</p> + +<p>Thus the purchase of electrical appliances was +entirely accounted for.</p> + +<p>Once again I returned to London. They seemed, +by the electrical accessories that had been delivered, +to be fitting up a second factory in their house in +Sydenham.</p> + +<p>That, being a private house, seemed somewhat +mysterious.</p> + +<p>They had become friendly also with a tall, rather +well-dressed Englishman named Fowler, who had the +appearance of a superior clerk, and who resided in a +rather nice house in Hopton Road, Streatham Hill.</p> + +<p>Fowler had become a frequent visitor at their house, +while, on several occasions, he dined with Dubois at +De Keyser's Hotel, facing Blackfriars Bridge.</p> + +<p>In consequence of some conversation I one evening +overheard—a conversation in English, which the +Belgian spoke fluently—I judged Fowler to be an +electrician, and it seemed, later on, very much as +though he had been, or was about to be, taken into +partnership with them.</p> + +<p>As far as we could discover, however, he had been +told nothing about the factory in Hull. More than +once I suspected that the two foreigners were swindlers, +who intended to "do" the Englishman out of his +money. This was impressed I upon me the more, +because one evening a German woman was introduced +to their newly-found friend as Frau Gessner, who had +just arrived from Wiesbaden.</p> + +<p>Whether she was really Gessner's wife I doubted. +It was curious that, on keeping observation that evening, +I found that the lady did not reside at Sydenham, +but at a small hotel in Bloomsbury, not a stone's-throw +from my own rooms.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was certainly some deep game in progress. +What could it be?</p> + +<p>Vera had watched Fowler on several occasions, +but beyond the fact that he was an electrical engineer, +occupying a responsible position with a well-known +telegraph construction company, we could discover +nothing.</p> + +<p>After nearly three weeks in London, Dubois and +Gessner returned to Hull, where, while living at the +Station Hotel, they spent each day at their "works." +They engaged no assistant, and were bent apparently +upon doing everything by themselves. They were +joined one day by a shrivelled-up old man of rather +seedy appearance, and typically German. His name +was Busch, and he lived in lodgings out on the +Beverley Road. He was taken to the works, and +remained there all day.</p> + +<p>A quantity of electrical appliances were delivered +from London, and Dubois and Gessner received them +and unpacked them themselves.</p> + +<p>Ray Raymond was down at Sheerness upon another +matter—a serious attempt to obtain some confidential +naval information—therefore I remained in Hull +anxiously watching. Vera had again offered her +services, but at that moment she was down at Sheerness +with Ray.</p> + +<p>Day by day old Busch went regularly to the factory, +and by the appearance of the trio when they came +forth, it was apparent that they worked very hard. +I was intensely inquisitive, and dearly wished to obtain +a glance within the place. But that was quite out of +the question.</p> + +<p>Busch, it seemed, had lived in Hull for a considerable +period. Inquiries of his neighbours revealed +that he was a well-known figure. He did but little +work, preferring to take long walks into the country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p> + +<p>One man told me that he had met him twice away +near Spurn Head, at the estuary of the Humber, and +on another occasion he had seen him wandering aimlessly +along the low-lying coast in the vicinity of +Hornsea. In explanation of this, it seemed that he +had once lived for a whole summer in Withernsea, +not far from Spurn Head, and had grown fond of the +neighbourhood. Everybody looked upon him as a +harmless old man, a trifle eccentric, and a great walker.</p> + +<p>That constant rambling over that low-lying district +of Holderness had aroused my suspicions, and I determined +to turn my attention to him.</p> + +<p>One day the old man did not go to the factory, but +instead went forth upon one of his rambles. He took +train from Hull to Hornsea, where the railway ends +at the sea, and walked along the shore for several miles; +indeed until he was three parts of the distance to +Bridlington, when he suddenly halted near the little +village of Barmston, and producing a neat pocket-camera +took a long series of snap-shots of the flat +coast, where I saw there were several places which +would afford an easy landing for the invader.</p> + +<p>The truth was in an instant plain. Old Busch was +a "fixed-agent," who was carrying on the same work +along the Yorkshire coast as his ingenious compatriots +were doing in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. The +remainder of that day I kept a sharp eye upon him, +and witnessed him making many notes and taking +many photographs of the various farms and houses +near the sea. He noted the number of haystacks +in the farmyards—for his report on fodder stores, +no doubt—and made certain notes regarding the houses, +of great use, no doubt, when the Germans came to +billet their troops.</p> + +<p>It was not until nearly midnight that I was back +at the hotel in Hull. Then, by judicious inquiry of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +the hall porter—who had become my particular friend—I +ascertained that Gessner had left for London by +the last train.</p> + +<p>Should I follow, or should I remain in Hull?</p> + +<p>I decided upon the latter course, and retired to +bed, thoroughly fagged out.</p> + +<p>Early next morning I went round to the telephone-exchange, +rather than use the instrument in the hotel, +and rang up Raymond.</p> + +<p>To my delight he answered my call. He was at home.</p> + +<p>I gave him a rapid digest of what I had discovered, +and told him that the German had returned to +Sydenham.</p> + +<p>"All right, old chap," came his voice over the wire. +"Vera will watch at this end, while you watch yours. +If what I guess is right, they're doing something far +more serious than surveying that flat coast north of +the Humber. Be careful not to betray yourself."</p> + +<p>"Trust me for that," I laughed. "Are you going +back to Sheerness?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'll be there all day to-day—and to-morrow +I hope to get one of our friends the enemy arrested. +That's what I'm trying for. Good-bye—and good +luck," and he rang off.</p> + +<p>Busch went to the factory where Dubois was already +awaiting him. As I stood outside that building of +mystery I wondered what devilment was being plotted +within. It had not been cleaned or painted, the +windows being still thick with soot, and several of +them, which had been broken, were boarded up. The +place had certainly not been cleaned down for years, +and no wonder they had been suspicious of the stability +of that chimney which towered so high towards the +murky sky.</p> + +<p>There was no sign whatever of activity within, or +of any business about to be carried on. Thus, day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +followed day, Busch and Dubois spending most of their +time within those high walls which held their secret.</p> + +<p>One curious thing was the number of telegrams +delivered there. Sometimes they sent and received +as many as fourteen or fifteen in a day. How I longed +to know with whom they were in such constant +communication.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, after the third day, the shoal of wires +entirely ceased. Busch and Dubois, instead of going +to the factory, spent the day in the country, taking +train to Patrington and walking through Skeffling +went out to Kilnsea, opposite Great Grimsby at the +entrance to the Humber.</p> + +<p>From the point where I watched I could see that +the old man with considerable gesticulation was +standing upon the shore facing seaward and +explaining something to his companion.</p> + +<p>The Belgian apparently put many questions to +him, and had become intensely interested. Then +presently his companion produced a paper from his +pocket—evidently a plan, for he pointed out something +upon it.</p> + +<p>They both lit their pipes, and sitting down upon +a rock discussed something quietly. Apparently +Busch was making an elaborate explanation, now and +then pointing with his finger seaward.</p> + +<p>Where he pointed was the channel through which +passed all the shipping into the Humber.</p> + +<p>Then, after a time, he rose from where he sat, and +seemed to be measuring a distance by taking paces, +his companion walking at his side over the level +expanse of sand.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he halted, pointing to the ground.</p> + +<p>Dubois examined the shore at that point with +apparent curiosity. With what object I could not +imagine.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p> + +<p>They remained there for fully an hour, and the sun +had already set when they returned to Patrington, +and took the train back to Hull.</p> + +<p>That old Busch was a spy I had proved long ago, +but what part Dubois and Gessner were playing was +not yet at all clear.</p> + +<p>On the following evening, about ten o'clock, I saw +Dubois near the Dock office, and on watching him, +followed him to the factory, which he entered with +his key. Beyond the gate was the small paved courtyard +in which rose the high chimney. Within the +factory he lit the gas, for I could see its reflection, +though from the street I could not get sight of the +lower windows.</p> + +<p>The night was bright and moonlit, and as I waited +I heard within the grinding of a windlass, and saw +to my surprise, a thin light iron rod about six feet +long and placed vertically rising slowly up the side +of the chimney stack, evidently being drawn up to +a pulley at its summit.</p> + +<p>Dubois was hoisting it to the top, where at last +it remained stationary, its ends just protruding beneath +the coping and hardly visible.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had this been done when Busch came along, +and I had to exercise a quick movement to avoid +detection. He was admitted by Dubois, and the door +was closed and locked as usual.</p> + +<p>I stood beneath the wall, trying to overhear their +words. But I could understand nothing.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a dull, crackling noise broke the silence +of the night, as though the sound was dulled by a +padded room.</p> + +<p>Again I listened. Then at last the truth dawned +upon me.</p> + +<p>The spies had put in a secret installation of wireless +telegraphy!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span></p> + +<p>Those intermittent sounds were that of the Morse +code. They were exchanging signals with some other +persons.</p> + +<p>Gessner was absent. No doubt the corresponding +station was at that house high upon Sydenham Hill +to the south of London, two hundred miles distant!</p> + +<p>I waited for a quarter of an hour, listening to those +secret signals. Then I hurried to the telephone, and +fortunately found Raymond at home. I told him +what I had discovered, and urged him to take a taxi +at once down to Sydenham and ascertain whether +they were receiving signals there.</p> + +<p>This he promised to do, telling me he would 'phone +me the result to the hotel at eight o'clock next morning.</p> + +<p>Therefore I returned to the factory, and through +the long night-hours listened to their secret experiments.</p> + +<p>At eight next morning the telephone rang, and Ray +briefly explained that Gessner, who had placed his +apparatus upon the high flagstaff in his garden, had +been receiving messages all night!</p> + +<p>"Have you seen anything of Fowler?"</p> + +<p>"No. But Hartmann has spent the night with +Gessner, apparently watching his experiments. +Couldn't you manage to watch your opportunity +and get inside the factory somehow? I'll come north +at noon, and we'll see what we can do."</p> + +<p>At five o'clock he stepped from the London express, +and together we walked down to the Imperial Hotel, +to which I had suddenly changed my quarters, feeling +that I had been too long in the close vicinity of the +spy Dubois.</p> + +<p>"It seems that they carry out their experiments +at night," I explained. "For in the daytime the +wireless apparatus is no longer in position. I see now +why they engaged a builder to examine the chimney<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>—in +order to place a pulley with a wire rope in position +at the top!"</p> + +<p>"But Gessner and Dubois are expert electricians, +no doubt. Members of the Telegraphen-Abtheilung +of the German army, most probably," remarked my +friend.</p> + +<p>"And who is Fowler?"</p> + +<p>"A victim, I should say. He appears to be a most +respectable man."</p> + +<p>"In any financial difficulty?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I can discover."</p> + +<p>"But why have they established this secret communication +between Hull and London?"</p> + +<p>"That's just what we have to discover, my dear +fellow," laughed Ray. "But if we are to get a peep +inside the place it's evident we can only do so in the +daytime. At night they are down there."</p> + +<p>"At early morning," I suggested, "after they have +left."</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said; "we'll watch them to-night, +and get in after they leave. I've brought a few +necessaries in my bag—the set of housebreaking implements," +he added, with a grin.</p> + +<p>"Well," I said, "neither of us know much about +wireless telegraphy. Couldn't we get hold of an +operator from one of the Wilson liners in dock, and +take him along with us? A sailor is always an +adventurer."</p> + +<p>Ray was struck with the idea, and by eight o'clock +that evening we had enlisted the services of a smart +young fellow, one of the operators in the Wilson +American service, to whom, in strictest confidence, we +related our suspicions.</p> + +<p>That night proved an exciting one. Fortunately +for us it was cloudy, with rain, at intervals. Murphy, +the wireless operator, listening under the wall declared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> +that we were not mistaken. The men were sending +messages in code.</p> + +<p>"Most probably," he said, "they have another station +across at Borkum, Wilhelmshaven, or somewhere. I +wonder what they're at?" he added, much puzzled.</p> + +<p>Through those long hours we watched anxiously; +but just before the dawn Dubois and Busch lowered +their apparatus from the top of the chimney, and a +few minutes later emerged, walking together towards +the hotel.</p> + +<p>As soon as they were out of sight we held a consultation, +and it was decided that, while Murphy and I kept +watch for the police, Ray should use his jemmy upon +the door and break it open. He would admit us and +remain himself outside to give us warning.</p> + +<p>Those moments were breathless ones.</p> + +<p>We parted, the wireless operator walking one way, +while I went in the opposite direction. Suddenly we +heard the cracking of wood, followed by a low cough.</p> + +<p>By that, we knew all was well.</p> + +<p>We hurried back, and a few seconds later were in +the courtyard of the disused factory. Ray had handed +me his jemmy, and with it I broke open the second +door of the empty place, flashing a light with the +electric torch I carried.</p> + +<p>We passed into the small office, but no second glance +was needed to show that the place was completely fitted +with a wireless installation of the most approved pattern.</p> + +<p>"We'll try it," suggested young Murphy, and taking +out the apparatus we hauled it up to the top of the +chimney. Then re-entering the office, he placed the +receiver over his ears, and listened intently, in his hand +a pencil he had found ready upon the paper pad.</p> + +<p>I stood watching his face. Apparently he heard +nothing.</p> + +<p>Then he touched the key of the instrument and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> +instantly a great blue spark, causing a crackling noise, +flashed across the room.</p> + +<p>He was calling.</p> + +<p>Suddenly his face brightened, and he was listening. +Then he grew greatly puzzled.</p> + +<p>Taking the receiver off his head he began to search +the table upon which were several books; but at that +instant I heard a light footstep behind me, and as I +turned I felt a heavy crushing blow upon the top of +my skull.</p> + +<p>Then the blackness of unconsciousness fell upon me.</p> + +<p>I knew no more till, on opening my eyes, I found +myself lying in bed with a nurse bending over me.</p> + +<p>I gazed around in amazement. There were other +beds in the vicinity. I was in a hospital with my head +tightly bandaged.</p> + +<p>For a whole day and night I lay there, the nurse +forbidding me to speak.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly there entered Ray, whose arm was +in a sling, accompanied by young Murphy.</p> + +<p>"The spies came back—unexpectedly, and went +for me before I could raise the alarm," Raymond explained. +"Dubois hit you over the head with a jemmy, +and by Jove! it's a mercy you weren't killed. He's +cleared out of the country, however, fearing a charge +of attempted murder. I've informed the police, and +they are looking for both him and Busch, as well as +Gessner, who is missing from Sydenham."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but why had they established these two +wireless stations?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Murphy, "it's a most ingenious +piece of work. By some unknown means both the +station here, and at Sydenham, had been tuned with +the one which I daresay you've seen stretched across +the top of the new Admiralty, in Whitehall, hence +they could read all the orders given to the Home and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +Channel Fleets and the reports received from them, +while I have to-day discovered that there is a similar +secret station existing somewhere near Borkum also +in tune with these, and with our Admiralty. Therefore +the Germans are aware of every signal sent to our +Fleet! The station at Sydenham was only temporary, +but the one here was evidently devised in order that +the German admiral in the North Sea, on seizing Hull +and establishing a base here, might have constant +knowledge of our Admiralty orders and the whereabouts +of our ships. When I was listening I was +surprised at the code, but the truth was made plain +by the discovery of a complete copy of the British +naval code lying upon the table. By means of this, +the spies could decipher all messages to and from our +ships. The Civil Lord of the Admiralty and three +officials have arrived in Hull, and I have been with +them down at the factory this afternoon. The chief +wireless engineer declares that the secret of the exact +tuning must have been learnt from somebody in the +office of the constructors."</p> + +<p>And both Ray and I then remembered the man +Fowler, who had, as we afterwards discovered, been on +the verge of bankruptcy, and had suddenly gone +abroad, a fact which was sufficiently instructive for +our purpose.</p> + +<p>Next day I was well enough to leave the hospital, +and I guided the superintendent of the Hull police and +two detectives to Busch's house, where, on searching +his room, we discovered a volume of plans and reports +of defences of the Humber and its estuary, estimates +of food and fodder supplies in the country north of +Hull, together with a list of the foreign pilots and their +addresses, as well as an annotated chart of the river, +showing the position where mines would be sunk at +the river's mouth on the alarm of invasion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p> + +<p>But what, perhaps, would have been even more +alarming to the general public, had they but known, +was the discovery of several great bundles of huge +posters ready prepared for posting up on the day of +invasion—the Proclamation threatening with death +all who dared to oppose the German landing and +advance—a copy of which I have given in these +pages.</p> + +<p>It shows, indeed, what careful preparation our +enemies are now making, just as the installation of +the secret wireless showed the tactful cunning of the +invader.</p> + +<p>For our exertions, Raymond, Murphy, and myself +received the best thanks of the Lords of the Admiralty, +at which, I confess, we were all three much gratified.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>PLAYING A DESPERATE GAME</h3> + + +<p>On the 20th of December, 1908, it rained incessantly +in London, and well I recollect it. After lunch I sat +in the club-window in St. James's Street, idly watching +the drenched passers-by, many of them people who were +up from the country to do their Christmas shopping.</p> + +<p>The outlook was a gloomy one; particularly so for +myself, for I had arranged to spend Christmas with +an aunt who had a pretty villa among the olives outside +Nice, but that morning I had received a telegram +from her saying that she was very unwell and asking +me to postpone my visit.</p> + +<p>The club was practically deserted save for one or +two old cronies. Every one had gone to country +houses, Ray was spending Christmas with Vera's +father at Portsmouth, and in view of the message I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +had received I felt dull and alone. It is astonishing +how very lonely a man may be at Christmas in our +great London, even though at other times he may +possess hosts of friends.</p> + +<p>I had received fully a dozen invitations to country +houses, all of which I had declined, and was now, alas! +stranded, without hope of spending "A Merry Christmas," +except in the lonely silence of my own bachelor +chambers. So I smoked on, looking forth into the +darkening gloom.</p> + +<p>The waiter switched on the light in the great smoking-room +at last, and then drew the heavy curtains at all +the long windows, shutting out the dismal scene.</p> + +<p>A man I knew, a hard-working member of Parliament, +entered, threw himself down wearily and lit a +cigar. Then, idler that I was, I began to gossip.</p> + +<p>He was going up to Perthshire by the 11.45 from +Euston that night, he remarked.</p> + +<p>"Where are you spending Christmas?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Don't know," I replied. "Probably at home."</p> + +<p>"You seem to have the hump, my dear fellow," he +remarked, with a laugh, and then I confided to him the +reason.</p> + +<p>At last, about six o'clock, I put on my overcoat and +left the club. The rain had now stopped, therefore I +decided to walk along to my rooms in Guilford +Street.</p> + +<p>Hardly had I turned the corner into Piccadilly, +when I heard a voice at my elbow uttering my name +with a foreign accent.</p> + +<p>Turning quickly, I saw, to my great surprise, a man +named Engler, whom I had known in Bremen. He was +a clerk in the Deutsche Bank, opposite the Liebfrauen-Kirche, +and popular in a certain circle in that Hanseatic +city.</p> + +<p>"My dear Meester Jacox!" he exclaimed in broken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +English in his enthusiastic way. "My dear frendt. +Well, well! who would have thought of meeting you. +I am so ve-ry glad!" he cried. "I have only been in +London since three days."</p> + +<p>I shook my friend's hand warmly, for a year ago, +when I had spent some time beside the Weser watching +two men I had followed from London, we had been +extremely friendly.</p> + +<p>I told him that I was on my way to my rooms, and +invited him in to have a chat.</p> + +<p>He gladly accompanied me, and when we were +comfortably seated in my cosy sitting-room he began +to relate to me all the latest news from Bremen and +of several of my friends.</p> + +<p>Otto Engler was a well-dressed, rather elegant +man of forty, whose fair beard was well trimmed, +whose eyes were full of fire, and who rather prided +himself upon being something of a lady-killer. He +was in London in connection with an important financial +scheme in which his brother and a German merchant +in London, named Griesbach, were interested. +He and his brother Wilhelm were over on a visit to +the merchant, who, he told me, had offices in Coleman +Street, and who lived in Lonsdale Road, Barnes.</p> + +<p>There was a fortune in the business, he declared, +which was the discovery of a new alloy, lighter than +aluminium, yet with twenty times the rigidity.</p> + +<p>That evening we dined together at the "Trocadero," +looked in at the Empire, and returned to the club for +a smoke.</p> + +<p>Indeed, I was delighted to have found an old friend +just when I was in deepest despair of the dullness of +everything, and of Christmas in particular.</p> + +<p>Otto Engler had one failing—his impudent inquisitiveness. +After he had left me it occurred to me +that all the time we had been together he had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +constantly endeavouring to discover my recent movements, +where I had visited of late, where I intended +spending Christmas, and my subsequent movements.</p> + +<p>Why did he desire to know all these particulars? +He was a busybody, I knew, and the worst gossip in +the whole of that gossip-loving city on the Weser. +Therefore I attributed his inquisitiveness to his natural +propensity for prying into other people's affairs.</p> + +<p>"Ah! my dear friend," he had said as he gripped +my hand on leaving me, "they often speak of you +in Bremen. How we all wish you were back again +with us of an evening at the Wiener Café!"</p> + +<p>"I fear I shall never go back," I said briefly. +"Business nowadays keeps me in London, as you +know."</p> + +<p>"I know—I know," he replied. "Remember, you +have always had a true friend in Otto Engler—and +you always will, I trust."</p> + +<p>Then he had entered the taxi which the hall-porter +had called for him.</p> + +<p>Next afternoon he called upon me at New Stone +Buildings, as we had arranged. Ray Raymond was +seated with me. I introduced him, and we spent a +pleasant hour, chatting and smoking. Ray had also +been in Bremen, and the two men had, they found, +many mutual friends. Then, when he had left, Ray +declared himself charmed by him.</p> + +<p>"So different to the usual German," he declared. +"There's nothing of the popinjay about him, nothing +of the modern military fop of Berlin or Dresden, men +who are, in my estimation, the very acme of bad +breeding and degenerate idiocy."</p> + +<p>"No," I said. "Engler is quite a good fellow. +I'm glad he's found me. I expected to be deadly +dull this Christmas."</p> + +<p>"So do I," replied my friend. "I've got a wire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +this morning from the Admiral saying he is down +with influenza, and the Christmas house-party is +postponed. So I shall stay in town."</p> + +<p>"In that case we might spend Christmas day together," +I suggested.</p> + +<p>This was arranged.</p> + +<p>My German friend Otto saw me daily. I was introduced +to his brother, Wilhelm, a tall, thin, rather +narrow-eyed man who, from his atrocious German, +I judged was from Dantzig. It was one evening in +the Café Royal that I first saw Wilhelm, who was +seated playing dominoes with a rather stout, middle-aged +man in gold-rimmed spectacles, Heinrich Griesbach.</p> + +<p>Both men expressed delight at meeting me, and I +invited the trio to my rooms for a smoke and a gossip.</p> + +<p>We sat until nearly two o'clock in the morning. +Griesbach had been many years in London, and was +apparently financing the scheme of the brothers +Engler, a scheme which, on the face of it, seemed a +very sound undertaking.</p> + +<p>All three were thorough-going cosmopolitans, cheery, +easy-going men of the world, who told many quaint +stories which caused my room to ring with laughter.</p> + +<p>Next day was Christmas Eve, and Griesbach suddenly +suggested that if I had nothing better to do +he would be delighted if I would join their party at +dinner on Christmas night at his house over at Barnes.</p> + +<p>"I regret very much," I said, "but I've already +arranged to dine with my friend Raymond, who shares +chambers with me in Lincoln's Inn."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Otto Engler, "I'm sure Herr +Griesbach would be very pleased if he came also."</p> + +<p>"Of course!" cried the German merrily. "The +more the merrier. We shall dine at eight, and we'll +expect you both. I'll send a note to Mr. Raymond, +if you'll give me his address."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> + +<p>I gave it to him, and nothing loath to spend the +festival in such jovial company, I accepted.</p> + +<p>I entertained a shrewd suspicion that by their +hospitality they wished to enlist my aid, because +I had one or two friends in the City who might, perhaps, +assist them materially in their scheme. And yet, after +all, Otto Engler had often been my guest in Bremen.</p> + +<p>Next day I heard on the telephone from Ray that +he would go down to Barnes with me, and would +call for me at six at Guilford Street. Curiously +enough, I had become so impressed by the possibilities +of the new alloy about to be exploited with British +capital, that I had really become anxious to "go in" +with them. Ray Raymond, too, was much interested +when I showed him the specimen of the new metal +which Engler had given me.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said he when he called for me at +six o'clock on Christmas evening, "I was about +town a lot yesterday and I'm quite certain that I was +followed by a foreigner—a rather big man wearing +gold spectacles."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" I laughed. "Why should you be +followed by any foreigner?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't nonsense, my dear Jacox," he declared. +"The fellow kept close observation on me all yesterday +afternoon. When I got back to Bruton Street, +I looked out half an hour afterwards and there he +was, still idling outside."</p> + +<p>"Some chap who wants to serve you with a writ, perhaps!" +I laughed grimly. "A neglected tailor's bill!"</p> + +<p>"No," he said. "He's watching with some evil +intent, I'm certain. I expect he's somewhere near, +even now," he added.</p> + +<p>"Why!" I laughed. "You seem quite nervy +over it! Next time you see him, go up to the Johnnie +and ask him what the dickens he wants."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then, half an hour later, I put on my hat and coat, +and together we took a taxi past Kensington Church +and Olympia, to Hammersmith Bridge, over which +we turned off to the right in Castelnau, into a long +ill-lit thoroughfare, running parallel with the river. +Bare trees lined the road, and each house was a good-sized +one, standing in its own grounds.</p> + +<p>Before one of these, hidden from the road by a high +wall, and standing back a good distance from the +road, the cab pulled up, and, alighting, we opened the +gate, and passing up a well-kept drive pulled the bell.</p> + +<p>Our summons was answered by a thin, rather consumptive-looking +German man-servant, who took our +coats and ceremoniously ushered us into a big well-furnished +drawing-room, where Griesbach and his +two friends were already assembled awaiting us. All +were smoking cigarettes, which showed that no ladies +were to be present.</p> + +<p>The instant Ray entered the room I saw that he +gave a start, and a few moments later he seized an +opportunity to whisper to me that the man who had +so persistently followed him on the previous day was +none other than our host Griesbach.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry over it, my dear old fellow," I urged. +"What motive would he have? He didn't even know +you!"</p> + +<p>And then the gossip became merry in that room so +seasonably decorated with holly, while Griesbach +assured us of his delight in having us as his guests.</p> + +<p>Dinner was served in the adjoining room, and a +most excellent and thoroughly English repast it was. +Our host had been long enough in England, he told +us, to appreciate English fare, hence we had part of +a baron of beef with Christmas pudding afterwards, +and excellent old port and nuts to follow.</p> + +<p>Two young Germans waited at table, and the party<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +was as merry a one as any of us could wish. Only +Ray seemed serious and preoccupied. He was suspicious +I knew—but of what?</p> + +<p>I now openly confess that I pretended a gaiety +which I certainly did not feel, for after Raymond +had told me that he had recognised Griesbach, a very +strange thought had occurred to me. It was this. +As we had entered the garden to approach the house, +I felt certain that I had caught sight of the figure of +a man crouching against one of the bushes in the +shadow. At the time I had thought nothing of it, +so eager was I to meet my friends. Yet now, in face +of Ray's whispered words, I grew very suspicious. +Why had that man been lurking there?</p> + +<p>When the cloth had been cleared and dessert laid, +the elder of the two servants placed upon the table +before our host a big box of long crackers covered with +dark green gelatine and embellished with gold paper.</p> + +<p>"These are German bon-bons," remarked Griesbach, +his grey eyes beaming through his spectacles. "I +get them each Christmas from my home in Stuttgart."</p> + +<p>The conversation had again turned upon the splendid +investment about to be offered to the British public, +whereupon I half suggested that I was ready to go +into the affair myself. Griesbach jumped at the +idea, just as I expected, and handed round the box +of crackers. Each of us took one, in celebration of +Christmas, and on their being pulled we discovered +small but really acceptable articles of masculine +jewellery within. My "surprise" was a pair of plain +gold sleeve-links, worth fully three or four pounds, +while Ray, with whom I pulled, received a nice turquoise +scarf-pin, an incident which quite reassured him.</p> + +<p>Our host refused to take one.</p> + +<p>"No," he declared, "they are for you, my dear +fellows—all for you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p> + +<p>So again the box was passed round, and four more +crackers were taken. That time Ray's bon-bon contained +a tiny gold match-box, while within mine I +found a small charm in the form of a gold enamelled +doll to hang upon one's watch-chain.</p> + +<p>As Ray and I pulled my cracker, I had suddenly +raised my eyes and caught sight of the expression +upon the face of my friend Engler. It struck me as +very curious. His sallow cheeks were pale, and his dark +eyes seemed starting out of his head with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Now, gentlemen," said our genial host, after he +had passed the box for the third time, first to his two +compatriots, who handed the remaining two bon-bons +across the table to us, "you have each a final bon-bon. +In one of them there will be found a twenty-mark +piece—our German custom. I suggest, in order to +mark this festive occasion, that whoever of you four +obtains the coin shall receive, free of any obligation, +five shares in our new syndicate."</p> + +<p>"A most generous proposal!" declared my friend +Engler, a sentiment with which we all agreed.</p> + +<p>The two Germans pulled their bon-bons, but were +unsuccessful. The prize—certainly a prize worth +winning—now lay between Ray and myself.</p> + +<p>At that instant, however, Griesbach rose from the +table suddenly, saying:</p> + +<p>"You two gentlemen must settle between yourselves. +It lies between you."</p> + +<p>And before we were aware of his intention he had +passed into the adjoining room, followed by his two +friends.</p> + +<p>"Well," I laughed to Ray when we were alone, +"here goes. Let's decide it!" And we both gripped +the long green-and-gold cracker. If the coin were +within, then I should receive a very handsome present, +worth a little later on, perhaps, several thousand pounds.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span></p> + +<p>At that instant, however, we were both startled +by a loud smashing of glass in the next room, curses +in German and loud shouts in English, followed by +the dull report of a revolver.</p> + +<p>We both sprang into the room, and there, to our +surprise, found that six men had entered through +the broken French window and were struggling fiercely +with our host and his friends.</p> + +<p>"What in the name of Fate does this mean?" I +cried, startled and amazed at that sudden termination +to our cosy Christmas dinner.</p> + +<p>"All right, Mr. Raymond," answered a big brown-bearded +man. "You know me—Pelham of Scotland +Yard! Keep an eye on those bon-bons in the next +room. Don't touch them at peril of your life!"</p> + +<p>"Why?" I asked.</p> + +<p>Then, when our host and our two friends had been +secured—not, however, before the room had been +wrecked in a most desperate struggle—Inspector +Pelham came forward to where Ray was standing +with me, and said:</p> + +<p>"My God, Mr. Raymond! You two have had +a very narrow escape, and no mistake! Where are +those bon-bons?"</p> + +<p>We took him into the dining-room, showed him the +remaining two, and told him we had been about to +pull them.</p> + +<p>"I know. We were watching you through the +window. Those men were flying from the house +when they ran into our arms!"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because they are a dangerous trio whom we want +on several charges. In addition, all three, and also +the two servants, are ingenious spies in the service +of the German General Staff. They've been busy +this last two years. They intended to wreak upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +both of you a terrible revenge for your recent exposures +of the German system of espionage in England +and your constant prosecution of their spies."</p> + +<p>"Revenge!" I gasped. "What revenge?"</p> + +<p>"Well," replied the detective-inspector, "both +these bon-bons contain powerful bombs, and had you +pulled either of them you'd both have been blown to +atoms. That was their dastardly intention. But +fortunately we got wind of it, and were in time to +watch and prevent it."</p> + +<p>"And only just in the nick of time, too!" gasped +Ray, pale-faced at thought of our narrow escape. +"I somehow felt all along some vague presage that +evil was intended."</p> + +<p>The three spies were conveyed to Barnes police-station +in cabs, and that was the last we ever saw +of them. The Government again hushed up the matter +in order to avoid international complications, I suppose, +but a week later the interesting trio were deported by +the police to Hamburg as undesirable aliens.</p> + +<p>And to-day, with Ray Raymond, I am wondering +what is to be the outcome of all this organised espionage +in England.</p> + +<p>What will happen? When will Germany strike?</p> + +<p>WHO KNOWS?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_END" id="THE_END"></a>THE END</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Printed_at_The_Chapel_River_Press_Kingston_Surrey" id="Printed_at_The_Chapel_River_Press_Kingston_Surrey"></a><i>Printed at The Chapel River Press, Kingston, Surrey.</i></h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3> +<p>Punctuation has been standardized.</p> + +<p>Hyphenation has been retained as it appears in the original publication.</p> + +<p>Additional title and chapter links added to the beginning of the file.</p> + +<p>Click on the illustrations on pages 15, 53 and 189 to see a larger +image.</p> + +<p>Corrections of the following typos are indicated by dotted +lines under the corrections. +Scroll the mouse over the word to see the correction.</p> + +<p>Page 13: "Minsister" changed to "<a href="#minister">Minister</a>" +(pooh-poohed by both the Prime Minister).</p> + +<p>Page 95: "day" changed "<a href="#days">days</a>" (in the days that were to follow).</p> + +<p>Page 100: "depot" changed to "<a href="#depot">depôt</a>" (another depôt at Burnham).</p> + +<p>Page 104: "no" changed to "<a href="#not">not</a>" (not distant date).</p> + +<p>Page 170: "o" changed to "<a href="#to">to</a>" (in order to threaten you).</p> + +<p>Page 173: "fell" changed to "<a href="#feel">feel</a>" (and you will, I feel).</p> + +<p>Page 241: "denes" changed to "<a href="#dunes">dunes</a>" (neighbourhood of the dunes).</p> + +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Spies of the Kaiser, by William Le Queux + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPIES OF THE KAISER *** + +***** This file should be named 33298-h.htm or 33298-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/2/9/33298/ + +Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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