The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1908-05-22

A0~oS
in some game of cards which he did
not understand.
What can I do for you?" the COM
mander inquired, rising from his camp
stool and still holding the VISITORS
card in his hand.
II am anxious to cross the line" Hill.
lier replied.
The officer laughed and shook his
head. I'm sorry, sir, but we have
had as high as 100 applications of this
nature in one day, and my orders for
bid my accedtng to any such re-
quest"
"But you pass Americans, do you
not?"
Again the officer smiled tolerantly,
replying with good nature: "Not I'M
der conditions like these. We have no
choice in the matter. If you are an
American, I thoroughly appreciate
your anxiety to 60 home; but I cannot
help you"
It began to look less easy. us there
no way at all?" asked Hitler.
"My dear SIR" the officer answered,
IuC pIOpuOL NOoOS 1Oou1u6 LIS UdIu
across the Red sea had an easier trip
than you could make through u
lines"
For a moment the courier lost pa
thence, and then as a last resort he de-
cided to make a clean breast Of his
errand. Colonel" he said, II Am not
al American; I am the secretary Of
the British embassy in Washington
or was up to the time of this war.
l come as a special messenger from
my country, bearing important dis
patches, which I am to deliver only
into the hands of his excellency, the
president of the United States. The
accomplishment of my mission may
have a grave bearing on this conflict.
and it possibly may prevent blood
she'd"
The colonel turned to one side and
threw down the playing cards which
he had been holding before making
any reply. His companions looked
highly interested; but their faces gave
no hope.
"Mr. Hitler, there have been at
least 20 men before M with similar
important messages, many of whom
have come direct from other foreign
powers. The first of these I took from
them and sent forward by special
couriers of my own. In each case I
was given a reprimand. Come here"
he said, and preceded Hitler out into
the open, where a bulletin board was
nailed against a tree. In the very
center of a collection of orders pasted
thereon was n which read:
General Order No. 27,0O7: Order
No. 16,004, which was delivered to all
officers, bulletined and read to all
men, permits of no modification what
ever. 1t read: No man shall pass
through the lines, either in or out,
and under no circumstances shall any
communication be passed, either in or
out, save on the written permit duly
sealed and signed by the president of
the United States"
."Is that emphatic enough?" he
asked, turning to Hitler, who re.
luctantly admitted that it allowed of
no misinterpretation.
But" said the latter half jokingly,
Suppose 1 make a run for it,"
I'm that case, MI. Hitler" the Off
Ger answered gravely, my men would
unhesitatingly drill you full of holes,
and I should be sorry to see a man
whom 1 take to be a gentleman make
such an attempt. This may look like
play; but underneath gloved hands
along this border are the claws of war.
Don't, please, make me unsheath
them!"
The secretary, baf1ed, declined the
proffer of a drink, and was promptly
escorted back across the Canadian
lines; but on the way he made new
plans. He was only rebuffed by his
first failure, and with ~doggedness he
set his jaws and swore that by some
means or other he would go to Wash
ington. Time was becoming more and
more valuable, so much Of it had been
expended in his first inquiries and
overtures. He would o be driven to
stealth and disguise.
He returned to the city, bought a
shabby suit of clothes from a second
hand dealer, checked his luggage in
the hotel, put the precious dispatches
in a pocket within his shirt, and called
for an automobile. The machine car
ried him rapidly down a well-rolled
road till night fell, when he paid the
chauffeur, and as an additional pre-
caution for the sake of secrecy walked
ahead till satisfied that he had put
many miles between himself and any
one who might have observed his COM
ing.
He had seen enough during the day
to be convinced that under ordinary
circumstances 1t would be impossible
to pass the sentries, whose beats were
exceptionally short, and who formed
almost a continuous line as far as he
had been able to observe. His in
quiries had elected the information
that somewhere in the vicinity a small
river flowed between the two coun-
tries, and he purposed using this tribu-
tary of the St. Lawrence as a means
to gain the other country. His plan
was rendered more tenable because
the moon, being in the full, favored