The Somerset reporter., 1900-01-11
DIPLOMATIC
ADVENTURE.
Xx2

S3
How an Effort Was Made to OBJ
tain Possession of an Impor-
tant Letter and the Re
suit Thereof.

of a London exhibition one evening
when short, foreign looking man,
clothed in evening dress. approached
me and said in low tone:
Have the honor of addressing Mr..
Godfrey vance,"
He handed me a letter. saying alb
ruptly: BE good enough to read this
letter. 1t will serve to introduce me-
The communication was from Count
Antonio Delarocca of Milan. whom !
had aided some months before by car
rying Off for him a famous Greek
statue from an English country house.
1t was very brief and merely said
Sir-Ths letter will introduce to you my good
! friend, Herr Fritz Moskovitz, who ia anxious Tor
you to undertake for him difficult mission
have told him that you the one man in Eng
land who can hope to carry out such work with
s,1ccess and wishing you all good fortune, be-
lieve me- yours, DELARoccA'
We left the exhibition grounds at
once. going to my abode.
"In the first place, my good sir, he
exclaim talking In an excited under
tone-"n the first place must tell you
that this business Is difficult almost to
the point of impossibllty. Friday morn
ing next about 3 o'clock Count Rode
boltz will cause TO be posted or post
with his own hand at the pillar box
facing his house In Percy street. May
fair. certain letter addressed to the
Berlin foreign office. 1t is absolutely
vital to me aud to the cause ! represent
that that letter should never reach It's
destination. and | am commisslop"d TO
pay $4,000 to the man who will hama
that letter to me intact-eNactly a. IN"
finds it,
lis not 3 n. III, rather an UNUSUAL
hour for the dispatch of diplomatic
communications
Most certainly it Is. but the count
is not like other men. For the past
four years--in fact, since he first cam"
to the embassy-he has been IN iF
habit of posting this document between
and O'Clock Friday mornings.
81 presume that the obvious and OLD
fashioned method of obtaining the let
ter by force is out of the question.
Otherwise we might waylay the per
son posting the letter. oyerpower him
and depart with the document,
USELESS, quite useless. for it would
simply mean that the outrage would
be discovered almost Immediately and
then the contents Of the letter would
be telegraphpd to Berlin. defeating our
plans most entirely. No: the essence
of the whole affair, my good sir, Is that
the letter should be removed and hand
ed TO me without the embassy people
having the slightest knowledge of the
fact"
Next morning went to Percy street,
Mayfair. to survey the ambassador
house. Thlrty-one Percy street the
mansion In question, was dull look
Ing. gray abode exactly similar to the
other houses in the street Facing the
house on the other side of the street
was a pillar boX-the receptacle, II
seemed. where the count was in the
habit of posting his communications to
Berlin.
Had the pillar box been a receptacle
easily shifted the matter would have
been as easy as smoking cigarette
for we should simply have had TO di
vert the policeman on the bent away
: from the street by means of a fictitious
drunken disturbance. and then we
could have driven up in van and
carted the box away, But must thiEH
OF something else
And then of sudden there flashed
upon me an idea. coming whence
knew not. but II seemed to me that 4
voice spoke in my care and this Is
what II said.
Substitute another pillar box on tho
, opposite side of the street. Placarc
: the genuine box with a notice saying
that II is temporarily disused and thai
letters are to beposted opposite Clea;
t the streets of the police by means OF
a row and wait with van at the cor
ner of the street till the document Is
posted Swoop down, collar the hoN
and drive off"
. Jumped into n cab and drove TO ,
1 rertain hostelry In the East End where
: | knew should find plenty of my pals
! who for a few dollars would throw
themselves into any adventure Of the
: kind.
. In few words | conveyed to then
what | wanted done Two of the men
bury fellows. known as Jim Thursda
and Bill East. were to devote thci
powers to quarreling and getting ''ru'
3, in at the corner of Percy street whiit
i another two were TO keep watch at th'
corners of the street. The remaining
man, Tom Rogers. was to assist me Ii
deposting the pillar box and removing
II when the time came.
Then new difficulty arose. How
). was the pillar box to be obtained?
"What Is to he done about getting
bpx?" asked the men. There was 81
leuce for a moment and then East
: scratching his head. said gruffly:
"rry old Bennett. the iron found
!, er In Goodge street. wot got fiv'
years stretch for passin flash coin
!, 'E's out on ticket now and is up t.
maxim fancy pillar box as soon a