Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-02-05

looked me over carefully and infinitely
for a considerable length of time with
a frank stare of appraisal
How old are you, Doctor?"
l must confess my extreme youth
always made this question n Of
secret annoyance.
twenty-five, your Excellency."
Very young very young" He stared
at me again and after a pause said:
yet the reports about your work
are satisfactory and show discretion
and intelligence above your years"
bowed in acknowledgment.
you will from now on" he said,
become attached to this section of
the service. You will be trusted with
some very grave and important mat
tiers. You will receive your orders
and instructions only from me. You
will report only to me direct. On no
account will you see any subordinate
or any person, no matter what his Off
cial status. without my expressed per
mission. Verstehen Sie?"
Yes, Herr Geheimrat."
For funds" he continued, you will
apply to my secretary. OF your ex-
penses you will furnish a monthly &C.
count. How SOC can o be ready to
go on a mission?"
told him in two hours.
Good" he exclaimed; "the sooner
the better. This is what I want you to
do. You will go at once to Constanti-
nop1e and find out which of the court
officials are in French and Russian
pay. You will find out the favorites
Of the high officials and officers, es-
pecially the nationality Of these
women / will not give you any points
of introductions. They might lead you
to be suspected. They are a crafty
lot down there. Be careful and take
your time. You know nothing a be
done in a hurry down in that
try."-he paused as II waiting for
questions from me. We discussed a
few minor points, then he said:
Your official number with us from
now on will be 1874. You will always
use IL to sign personal cipher mes
sages sent to me. You will use "a in
signing official reports and commun-
~ications."
A Fortunate Discretion.
The necessary arrangements for my
preliminary expenses were discussed
with one OF his secretaries and | then
went back to my quarters to think
over a plan of campaign and prepare
myself for the mission. The transfer
from Captain Tappken's department
pleased me for / knew that at the
Wilhelmstrasse / would be in closer
touch with the bigger affairs of diplo-
macy. Tappken had limited at my
finding favor with the Wilhelmstrasse
and l guessed one cause for this.
Germany keeps a watch on all her
officers. When one Of them Is spend
ing more money than his income, he
is promptly investigated. recalled
how they had sent me to the Spandau
garrison to inquire into the affairs of
an officer who was too lavish with his
money to suit the intelligence depart
ment. He was an ordnance officer in
a small arms factory at Spandau and
it was the natural conclusion that he
was obtaining this extra money by
selling state secrets.
/ encountered, however, an entirely
different situation. / learned that he
was absolutely innocent ON that score
but that he was receiving money from
a certain princess who had become in
fatuated with him. She was of a very
high house and / realized that her name
could not be mentioned In a report to
Captain Tappken. This situation re-
quired delicate treatment. / solved
the dilemma by reporting to Tappken
that the ordnance officer vas guiltless
of any act of treason against his
country. then made a private report,
covering the intimate facts, which
went direct to officials of higher re-
sponsibility. The princess name did
not appear as far as subordinates
were concerned and the whole affair
was hushed up. My fortunate discre-
tion in this matter undoubtedly
strengthened my standing with the
Wilhelmstrasse.
By this time / had installed myself
in quiet quarters on the Mittelstrasse,
and Kim, whom / had brought from
South Africa with me, and who had
been transformed from a Basuto boy
into an efficient man servant, looked
after my comforts. To secure myself
from the questions of prying neigh
bors, ! had caused 1t to be known that
/ was a retired South African planter
inclined to poor health. This was the
most likely explanation for my curious
mode of living and my sudden period
ical disappearance, for | was away
from the Mittelstrasse for months at
a time. Presumably / was travelling
about to the different watering places
on the continent for my health.
Decide on My Role.
My mission to C~onstantinople called
for some considerable thought in Sc