Williams news., 1917-08-02


 
 that I have to attend to. It would be as well to tell them at my office that I have been called to Hamburg. Can you hear meT
 Perfectly" was my reply. q quite understand your orders, sir, and will attend to them at once. l shall leave for The Hague tomorrow night"
 "Good. And bring me another suit of civilian clothes"
 Then there was a sudden buzzing in the instrument, a sharp click, and all was again silence.
 I put down the receiver in wonder. I saw that to telephone to me at the palace was impossible, as 1t would go through the exchange there, and some body might be listening. For that req son he had sent me to the Adlon, and from his conversation he was evidently representing himself at The Hague to be a prosperous German merchant, as he had done at Nice and other places. At nearly two o'clock in the morn ing I passed the sentries on duty, and re-entered the Potsdam palace. It was then too late to give the kaiserin her husbands message, therefore waited till morning, and gave it to her yer bally when alone with her in her break fast room.
 The empress seemed greatly relieved when told her of the telephone con- versation, and during the day wrote me a note to hand to the emperor on my arrival at The Hague. That night I left for Holland, and next morning duly inquired at the Hotel des Indes for Herr Teller. I was conducted to small suite of rooms on the first floor, where, dressed in gray suit, his ma jesty rose to meet me, smiling at my astonishment.
 'Well, you heard me plainly on the telephone, eh?" he asked. "Ah, I see you are surprised that am here. 1. too, am equally surprised to find my self here. And, further, do not know how long shall remain"
 q have brought the clothes," re- marked, and afterwards drew the en- press letter from my pocket and hand ed 1t to him.
 "Her majesty should have left for Prague yesterday" he said. '.Did she go?
 "No. She was still at the palace when left at eight o'clock last night" The emperor gave vent to grunt of dissatisfaction. From the books lying about his room gathered that he passed his time in reading, preferring not to go out in the day time for fear of being recognized. Apprehension on that score was unnecessary, for the kaiser, shorn of his uniform and deco rations, presents in civilian attire a very ordinary appearance and not readily recognizable by the man in the street. For that reason he was often able to spend a week in Paris, Nice, or on the Italian Riviera without any body being the wiser.
 Mystery of the Royal Scheme.
 engaged a room close to that of Herr Zeller, and for some hours re- mained with him while he signed a number of state papers which had brought with me. He seemed strangely absent-minded, thought, but present ly he took up one of the formidable blue documents which, by the heading, saw was an urgent report from the imperial chancellor.
 Look, Heltzendorffl Look at this I'' cried the emperor.
 "The chancellor reports that the edi- tor of the Cologne Gazette has called at the chancellery and inquired how long it was intended that should re- main out of the country? Think of it. My absence is known!'
 "That may be so," responded, ''but your majesty's whereabouts is un- known to all save her majesty the en- press"
 "Yes, yes," said the emperor impa- tiently. "But our police will commence making inquiries, and shall be traced here"
 "Why not leave at once," suggest ed, in the hope of elucidating the truth.
 "Ah! That is just the unfortunate point. I am unable to leave" he re- piled. "I must remain-and I do not know for how longP
 Further than that he would tell me nothing. The fact that his absence from Germany was known greatly up- set him. It seemed to me as though by that truth leaking out, some clever secret plan of his had been thwarted.