Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-01-01
Continued from last week
Kaiser Led to False Belief He
Had Won England From
Triple Entente.

tTlpiE EIlkCiilCs
After my experiences with the ear
Tier stages of the French, English and
German situation | was quite prepared
for the most unexpected Developments.
What occurred In the middle OF Oc-
Itober, 1911, was, however, beyond
swhat ! had imagined.
The Morocco incident had shown the
German emperor that the entente o
dale was indeed solid. England and
France would stand shoulder to shout.
der In war. Being used to the ways
of German diplomacy, ! knew that
from the Wilhelmstrasse would come
a quick countermove. ] guessed, too,
that when 1t came I would be EN-.
ployed. 1t stood to reason that, know.
ing so much OF the trend and impor
lance Of the AFFAIR." had seen the IN
trigue grow step by step-I was the
logical choice.
Nor was my reasoning at fault. ]
soon received the expected summons,
and it brought me into the most amaz
ing Of my diplomatic adventures-a
mission which showed me the utter
ruthlessness that characterizes en-
perors and kings, particularly when
the vital interests of their countries
are concerned.
The Black Forest Summons.
Word to appear at the Wilhelm
strasse came when the autumn holi
days were in full swing. The usual
procedure OF the foreign office having
been observed, l found myself In Count
Won WedeITs private study. After an
invitation to be seated, the count sur
prised me He complimented me on
my previous missions on the entente
cordiale situation, and handed me a
pretty substantial check. 1t was actu.
ally 10000 marks-$2,5 00-which the
stubs of the royal check book will
show.
AS / took the money he remarked
"Seine Majestat"-foreign Office brew
ity for conveying that his majesty
was satisfied. Without more ado, Won
WedelI plunged into the subject. Lean.
ing back and crossing his legs, he be.
gan to talk In his abrupt way.
II want you to go with his ~excellen-
cy, Herr Won Kiderlin-Waechter as his
private attendant and secretary" be.
gan Won Wedell. Il have selected you
because Of your knowledge Of English
and your insight into the whole mat
ter in hand. There is to be a meeting
of certain statesmen in a certain spot
in the S~chwarzwald (the Black For
est). You are to be the sole attendant
of these gentlemen. You'll see to 1t
that nothing of their identity becomes
known. You will look after them in
every way. You will destroy all writ
ing, such as paper and blotters. You
will burn any such things in the pres
ence of Herr Won Observation-Disclosures"
He paused impressively and | found
my mind in a whirl. What his words
portended / could not guess. This
mission promised to be very interest
Ing indeed.
Il want you to be at the place of
meeting" Won Wedell continued,
"three days before the arrival of these
gentlemen. You will have to make
arrangements as regards catering and
so forth. You'll be the only attendant.
Means have been taken to assure
strict privacy in the district. Under
stand that we want this to be thor
oughly cloaked. l suggest to you the
idea Of a hunting party. The details
] leave to you. The gentlemen in ques-
fion may or may not be known to you.
! shall write you their Names"
The Tremendous Import.
His pen began scratching across a
piece Of paper. and | had a moment
in which to realize the grave impor-
ttance of this mission: the future of
Germany menaced; complete isolation
wac in the making between England,
France and Russia; and the kaiser
was about to save Germany by a mas
ter stroke OF diplomacy. or what ire
mendous Importance 1t was. however,
i did not learn until l had gone down
into the forest.
Looking up, Won Wedell tossed a
piece Of paper acros the desk to me.
II bore these names in his handwrit-
ing:
Viscount Haldane, Winston Spencer
Churchill, Admiral Won Tirpitz. Gem
Ieral Won Heeringen, General Moritz
Ritter Won Nuremberg, Herr Won Kider-
1en-Waechter.
suppose. had 1t been my first Sc
lcret-service mission instead of the
climax of eleven years in the service,
II could not have controlled my sur
prise. These men, all meeting in a
lonely spot in the Black Forest range.
foretold a grave situation. Especially
was this true in view of the newspa-
ipers of Europe. Here was all the
press having Germany and England
ready to rush at each others throats
dn war. 1t wal the time OF the Ger
man spy scare in England. And now
here were the two DoWerful menhere