The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1916-12-16

20 me that no objection was raised at that
time"
"a great many things have happened
since then, :" he explained. "These islands
are unprotected by Notifications Of any
kind, and we have to rely on warships tt,
guard our coast We have been greatly
annoyed by reports Of enemy submarines
and warships being off our coast from time
to time. There are about fifty British
warships guarding us right now. and I
think you can easily understand the an
noyance such craft as yours would cause
these ship: If you were discovered on the
high seas
"But, she is absolutely harmless
argued
II do not deny this. but she weuld make
an excellent decoy. do not know who
you are. You have presented no Gre
dentials to US, and we have no right to
accept your explanation of yourself You
may be an agent of the German govern
ment, sent over here to take that craft
out on the high seas for the purpose Of
attracting the attention of our warshIps
from the coast. II would be simple
matter for any enemy ship to capture one
OF these islands while you were being
investigated You have caused us great
deal of annoyance already, and several
of our ships had been sent out to hold you
up il you continued on your way Two Of
these ships were not far from you when the
pilot boat reached you From the day you
We have had plain-clothesmen watching
your every movement, while the pilot
boat has been constantly watching the
movements of you and your men This
has cost us considerable time and expense
you say you are an American. but
your name signifies Dutch extraction.
You are anonymous as far as we are con-
cerned, until you have identified yourself
The submarine must not move from where
she is at present II you attempt to
take her out we shall haye to interne you
until the end Of the war
Your Excellency, did not come down
here with any Misrepresentation" said
somewhat hotly u am an American
Americans for the past two hundred years
you who ] am You have two banks
here Both OF them will accept my sig
nature for anv amount. ! am not lying
to youF
"You may be what you say you are, but
your movements have been very mysterI-
GUS" he argued, "The Ranger. has acted
very strangely All last week she acted
very peculiar. rushing down to the bar,
then turning around and rushing back
again late at night
"1 have not been responsible for the
movements of the Ranger" remarked
"The owner of this yacht is engaged to be
married. We have had some beautiful
weather recently, and what would be more
natural than for hifn to take his fiancee for
a sail. ] can prove to you that ! did not
nka, Al..a Do M h. lax hAf1
] sailed What she did previous TO then
does not concern me at all
well, all ! can say is that these things
and many more could cite-looked very
suspicious to us" said His Excellency
81 think that rs all have to say. isn't it.
Mr. Attorney General?"
THIS high Official merely nodded his
head In reply
"Then. there Is no hope Of my getting
thus boat out Of here3" / inquired
II cannot discuss the question further
with you until you have proved to me
you are what you say you are. and. even
then ] cannot offer you much encourage
ment, for there Is local law now which
prevents any such craft from leaving this
harbor," he said proudly ut was made
especially to cover this craft Of yours. ]
think that IS ALL" Then he arose.
saw the interview was at an end, and,
so departed learned, on the way out,
that the middle-aged man was the Colonial
Secretary.
The speed which took me to the Consul
Generals office would have made the
Twentieth Century resemble a tramp
steamer with the current running against
her. He was so nice Pm going to mention
his name-Loty. / can't imagine why
the United States sends a consul to such
place, unless it is for punishment.
"It's rather an extraordinary case"
Mr. Lofty began. "But the fact that you