The Ordway new era., 1914-10-30

Balkan affair. II you cannot get In
Belgrade the desired information
and absolute accuracy is imperative
go to the Bulgarian capital. But-and
this is important-no time must be
lost--not an hour. A definite insight
Of the inner workings OF the situation
must be in my hands at the earliest
possible moment-the very earliest
Here, indeed, was task.
Understand" continued Won STAN
mer. you will have the assistance In
this case of Austrian secret service
employees. But. as need not point
out to you, 1t is inadvisable to take
any of them with you. as all the Aus
trian agents are known to the Rus
sian agents down in the Balkans. l
suggest that you stop at Budapest and
get all connecting links Of possible
help to you. You will obtain these
from Kasimir Kowalsky. an Austrian
agent whom you will find at Donau-
strasse a.. BY the way. do you know
him?"
said no.
Mission That Did Not Appeal.
"In this case" went on Won STAN.
mer, II shall give instructions to facil-
itate matters. It II necessary for you
to have passports. Have you any
reason to fear your previous mission
to the Balkans!"
He referred to an incident In 1903.
q week previous to the assassination
Of King Alexandra and Queen Draga
- A4psf vtkA tn
think of, for 1t landed me against .
blank wall looking into six ugly Man.
ser tubes. 4 Ilt
l considered that there were only
two men in the Balkans who could
have placed me from that incident.
One, Colonel Niglitch, was dead. He
was slain at .he time Of tho double
assassination. the other was STAN
boulof, and he was NO doubt moving
In the circles where my mission
would take me. No, l .was in NO way
keen to uhdertake this mission, Ny
previous experience in the Balkans
had given me . thorough distaste OF
the people there. There Il no mix
ture of races 30 dangerous. Based
on my experiences. nearly every man
there is for . small sum a'traator and
a potential ASSASSIN. l had had .
taste Of Balkan methods, and didn't
want another. III
Won Stammer must have noticed my
hesitation. for he grinned and said:
Nervous about it,"
was. and frankly told him 10.
"Yes, / understand your attitude.
Besides, you have been on the go for
quite several months and should have
q rest. beg Of you TO consider.
though. that you are the only man We
have at our disposal who can see this
thing through"
He then began to hint In such .
way that It became plain to me that
refusal on my part would not be 1t
all to the liking Of the Wilhelm ,trasse.
Refusal would mean loss Of favor and
with 1t the choice jobs. As an added
inducement, Won Stammer promised to
double the. usual remuneration. Frank
iy, this was point. considered that
the mission would not take me over
three or four weeks and he had
agreed to pay me $500 aside from
t06 OOuu8 oAWAyb hStACh0A " euSSoe@
full and quick work.
Still. I wasn't sure that wanted to
20. I knew there was the danger Of
recognition, and knew the kind Of
hot headed people was going among.
II was far more dimcult, far more ha1-
ardous, than any mission had ever
undertaken in. England or France.
even the tremendous 'responsibilitie
of the affair in the Black Forest car.
He'd with them none of the personal
dangers that this did. Pressed for q
decision, I requested some little time
to think things over. Asking mo to
telephone his home before one o'clock
at the latest and let him know what
was going to do. Won Stafnmer de-
parted. as4t.N.t
Matter os Solitaire.
hope am still Christian. but
contact and intercourse with the
mysticism of Africa and India have
made me superstitious. have
curious habit at momentous times Of
indecision of taking two full packages
Of cards and playing Napoleon's soil
taire. II get 1t out once in three
times l generally go Into the matter
In hand without question. It never
has failed me. Twice in my life I
went against It: twice had bitter
cause for regret -
Well. didn't give Won Stamer his
decision on the moment because I
wanted to try the old test. Kim pro
duced the cards and began to play.
got 1t out the second time. Going
to the telephone. called Won Stam-
mer and told him I would undertake
the mission. He asked me to come
at once to his house, and there re-
ceived nnal instructions and pass
ports, the latter essential south Of the
Austrian frontier.
At three o'clock In the morning l
boarded the Orient exprels. via Yien.