Smyrna times., 1900-02-21
S*"&S2

was wandering through the grounds
of a London exhibition one evening
when a 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 famous Greek
statue from an English country house
1t was very brief and merely said:
Sr-This letter will introduce to you my good
FRIEND Herr Fritz Moskovitz, who is anxious for
you to undertake for him difficult mission.
have told him that you the man in Eng
land who can hope to carry out such work with
success, and. wishing you all good fortune, be-
heve me, yours. DELARoccA
We left the exhibition grounds at
once, going to my abode.
''In the first place, my good sir" he
exclaimed. talking in an excited under
tone-'in the first place | must tell you
that this business is difficult almost to
the point of impossibility. Friday morn
ing next about o'clock Count Rode
holtz 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 and to the cause represent
that that letter should never reach its
destination. and | am commissioned to
pay $4,000 TO the man who will hand
that letter TO me intact-exactly as he
finds it,
''ls not 3 a. m. 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 came
to the embassy-he has been in the
habit of posting this document between
3 and 4 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. overpOwer 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 telegraphed 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 embasSadOr's
house Thirty-One Percy street. the
mansion in question. was a 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. il
seemed. where the count was in the
habit Of posting his communications tC
Berlin.
Had the pillar box been a receptacle
easily shifted the matter would have
been as easy as smoking a cigarette
for we should simply have had to di
vert the policeman on the beat away
from the street by means of a ficttiou:
drunken disturbance. and then We
could have driven up In a van ant
carted the box away. But ! must thinl
of something else.
And then of a sudden there flashed
upon me an idea. coming whence
knew not. but it seemed to me that {
voice spoke in my ear. and this i
what it said:
Substitute another pillar box on tn,
opposite side of the street. Placar,
the genuine box with a notice sayin;
that it Is temporarily disused and tina
letters are to be posted opposite. Clea
the streets of the police by means o
a row and wait with van at the cor
ner of the street till the document i
posted. Swoop down. collar the bo,
and drive Off"
| Jumped into a cab and drove to
certain hostelry in the East End wher,
knew should find plenty of my pals
who for a few dollars would throw
themselves into any adventure of th'
kind.
In a few words | conveyed to then
what wanted done. Two of the men
burly fellows. known as Jim Thursda.
and Bill East. were to devote thel
powers to quarrel!ng and getting ''rui
in" at the corner Of Percy street. Will
another two were to keep watch at tn
corners of the street. The remaining
man. Tom Rogers. was to assist me 4
deposlting the pillar box and removln
1t when the time came.
Then a new difficulty arose. Hoy
was the pillar box to be obtained?
"What is to be done about getting