The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-06-01
(Continuedl

The second thing was that this war was going to come as a mighty sur prise to Britain. Karolide's death would set the Balkans by the ears, and then Vienna would chip in with an ultimatum. Russia wouldn't like that, and there would be high words.
 But Berlin would play the peace maker and pour oil on the waters till suddenly she would find : good cause for quarrel. Our coast would be silently ringed with mines, and sub marines would be waiting for every battleship.
 But all this depended upon the third thing, which was due to happen on June 15. I would never have grasped this if I hadn't once happened to meet French staff officer, coming back from West Africa, who had told me lot of things.
 One was that in spite of all the non sense talked in parliament there was a real working alliance between France and Britain, and that the two general staffs met every now and then and made plans for joint action in time of war. We'll, in June M Rover, the French minister of marine, was com ing over from Paris, and he was go- ing to get nothing less than a state ment of the disposition of the British home fleet on mobilization
 At least I gathered it was some thing like that. Anyhow, it was some thing uncommonIy important. But on the 10th day of June there were to be others in London-others at whom I could only guess. Scudder was con tent to call them collectively the Black Stone.
 -4<.5 E>x1< our deadly foes, and the information, destined for France, was to be divert ed to their pockets. And it was to be used, remember-used a week or two later-wfth great guns and swift tor pedoes suddenly in the darkness of a summer night.
 This was the story I had been de ciphering in a back room of a country inn overlooking a cabbage garden. This was the story that hcmmed in my brain as I swung in the big tour ing car from glen to g'an-
 My first impulse hal been to write a letter to the prime minister, but a little reflection convinced me that that would be useless. Who would believe my ta1e2
 Above all must keep going myself, ready to act when things got riper, and that was going to be no light job, with the police of the British isles in full cry after me and the watchers of the Black Stone running silently and swiftly on my trail.
 I had no very clear purpose in my Journey, but I steered east by the sun, for I remembered from the map that if I went north I would come into region of coal pits and industrial towns. Presently was down from the mooriands and traversing the broad haugh of river.
 For miles ran alongside a park wall and in break of the trees I saw great castle.
 I swung through little old matched streams and past gardens blazing with hawthorn and yellow Iaburnum.
 The land was so deep in peace that I could scarcely believe that some where behind me were those who sought my life; aye, and that in months time, unless I had the al mightiest of luck, these round, country faces would be pinched and staring and men would be lying dead in Eng fish fields.
 It was hard to conceive that shortly an act would be committed which would set the world adame with the most terrible of all wars. And as I look back now and think of the tre- mendous secret that I possessed wonder how I shouIdered the respon- sibility.
 But had no time to think seriously of the. futu~c in those strenuous da.-s. It was action, and immediate action, that was demanded It was impera- tive that get in touch with our gov ernment by the 10th of June.
 About midday entered a long, strag- g1ing village and had a mind to stop and eat. Halfway down was the postof1ce. and on the steps of it stood the post mistress and a policeman hard at work ccnning a telegram.
 When they saw me they wakened up, and the policeman advanced with raised han1 and cried on me to stop.
 I nearly was fool enough to obey. Then it flashed upon me that the wire had to do with me, that my friends at the inn had come to an understanding and were united in desiring to see more of me and that it had been easy enough for them to wire the descrip- tion of me and the car to thirty will lages through which I might pass.
 released the brakes just in time. As it was the policeman made claw at thc hood and only dropped off when he go: my left in his eye.
 I saw that main roads were no place for me and turned into the byways. It wasn't an easy job without a map, for there was the risk of getting on to a farm road and ending in a duck pond or stable yard and I couldn't afford that kind of delay.
 began to see what an ass had been to steer the car
 The big green brute would Be the mafest kind of clew to me over the