The Irish standard., 1915-02-27

Germany to seek aid for an Irish re.
bellion and that he was a traitor to
England. He showed him copies of
cablegram which he said Christensen
had sent to America for Easement,
and of telegram he had sent to his
own father in Norway Then the Min
lister offered to reward him handsome
ly If he would spy on Easement and re.
port all his movements to him.
Christensen promised to consider
the proposition, returned to the hotel
and told Sir Roger Easement all about
it. Easement told him to pretend to
be considering the matter and to draw
Findlay out and get the proposition
from him in more definite terms. So
far, the story rested solely on the YER
acfty of the Norwegian, but soon cor
roboration began to come. The Ger
man Legation took hand and the man
who brought Christensen to see Find
lay was identified as an employee of
the British Legation. Either later on
the same day or the next day another
employee of the British Legation came
for Christensen and took him in an
automobile to see Findlay. This time
they were Swallowed by the men from
the German Legation, and the man
identified, so there could be no mis-
take that Christensen was taken to
the British Legation by one of its en-
ployees. The visit was timed and all
the circumstantial evidence recorded.
Offered $4,000 for the Job.
When Christensen was taken into
the room in which the Minister was
the latter locked the door and put fifty
Norwegian crowns into his hand. This
was two and half times the amount
of his first gratuity and Findlay was
CORRESPONDENCE more nervous and ex-
cited. So nervous was he that when
in the course of an interview Christen-
son put his hand to his right hip
pocket for his tobacco box and gave it
click in taking it out, Findlay start
ed, half rose, and put up his hands.
ooh, you needn't be afraid" Christen-
ton treasured him, cts only tobacco
box"
The Minister kept Christensen a
much longer time than on the occasion
of his first visit and went into greater
detail. He told him it was folly for
him, Norwegian, to have anything to
do with an Irish conspiracy against
England, that every attempt the Irish
had made to get foreign help had
failed, notably the effort to obtain aid
of France in 1889, and they would fail
again this time. England would win
in this war, he said, and Christensen
ought not to help his enemies. He
then proposed to him to lure Easement
out on an automobile ride to a certain
point on the coast and knock him on
the head" He would give him $4,000
for the job. Christensen protested to
be shocked at the proposition and
Findlay then suggested that he could
drug him and deliver him up to a land.
ing party from an English warshir
which would be sent to take Easement
dead or alive.
Christensen Led FindIay On.
Christensen fenced with Findlay
told him he was asking him to com
NIT terrible crime in his own coun
try that would disgrace him forever;
that he had no guarantee that the
money would be paid, that he would
be defended if put on trial, or that his
poor old father would get the money
if he was hanged, or if he should be
killed in the attempt. Findlay assured
him that the British Government never
deserted any man who did it service
and that he would guarantee him the
money and that if he did not like to dc
the job in Norway he could do it in
Denmark. He could, after they got to
Copenhagen, get him into an automo
bile, drug him and take him to point
he named on the coast, and if they had
to send the whole British fleet they
would take Easement off, dead or alive
After a good deal of parleying
Christensen pretended to agree to this
and Findlay arranged a cipher that
was to be used in communicating with
him. He wrote-or rather printed with
pen-a letter describing an ordinary
pleasure trip, in which every fourth
word was to be used to convey the real
message. Any handwriting expert can
identify that kind of handwriting, al.
most as we'll as If the writer did it in
his ordinary hand, and the writing was
plainly Findlay's. But it did not con.
tain the proposition to kill or kidnap