Tombstone epitaph., 1917-08-19

F'"'i> "a Europe Was desperate one.
On the one hand. the kaiser was max.
Ing pretence Of fair dealing with Grea,
Britain and France. yet on the other
his agent. Herr Reitschel. was ever
| busy lending money In all directions in
4 order 10 secure favor In Germanys In.
| terest
| Yet a further game was being played
namely, that while the kaiser was max
| ing pretence OF being the best friend of
the sultan Abdul Hamid. visiting Con
I stantlnople and Palestine. building
fountains, endowing institutes. yet he
/ was also secretly supporting the Young
I Turk party So as 20 effect the sultan
l downfall.
| Herr Anton had been paying n num-
Der Of flying visits 10 Berlin. and had
many private audiences OF both kaiser
/ and sultan.
] suddenly all OF Us were surprised by
I the announcement that the kaIser's ia
vored civilian In Turkey had married
/ Mademoiselle julie de Lagarenne.
daughter OF Paul de Lagarenne, son OF
| the great French sugar refiner, and
secretary OF the French embassy at
/ Rome A week after that news was
| spread met them both In Kranzler's
/ in Inter den Linden, and there he in
/ troduced me 10 a pretty. dark-haired.
/ vivacious young Frenchwoman. who
\ spoke German we'll and who told me
T that her husband had already given
in her name for presentation al the
next court.
That was about a month prior TO
! Orvllle Wright's flight and the mid
night visit OF Frau Kleist 10 the en-
l peror.
Truth 10 tell. the old woman's men,
/ ton OF Herr ReItschers name caused
me considerable miSgivlngs. because
three weeks before had gathered GER
( tain strange facts from a secret report
Of a spy. who in C"nstantiuople had
| been set to watch Herr Reitsche's do
| ings. That spy was Frau Kleist's son.
/ The kaiser trusts nobody. Even his
I favorites and most intimate cronies are
/ spied upon, and reports upon those ia
miliar blue papers are furnished regu-
larly. In view of what had read in
I that report from Kari KleIst, I stood
amazed when. at the grand court a
week later. had witnessed Herr Reit-
/ schel's French wife bow before the
emperor and empress and noticed how
/ graciously the kaiser had smiled upon
/ her.
Nearly three months passed.
The Trip to Iimenau.
! Herr Reitschei often came from Con-
stantinople. and frequently brought his
handsome young wife with him. for he
was persona grata at court. To me
/ this was indeed strange In view Of the
/ reports Of the ex-opera dancers son
who. by the way, lived in CONSTANT
nople In the unsuspicious guise Of a
carpet dealer. and unknown to the
bank director.
The latter had. assisted by his wife's
| fortune. inherited from her grand
mother. purchased the Schloss Langen-
berg. the splendid ancestral castle and
estates of the princes Of Langenberg.
| situated In the beautiful Thuringian
! forest. and acknowledged to be one OF
the most famous shooting estates in
the empire. II was not. therefore. sur
prising that the emperor. to mark his
favor, should express a desire to shoot
capercailzie there-a desire which. Of
course. delighted Herr Reitschel. who
had only a few days before been dec
grated with the Order Of the Black
Eagle.
One afternoon in midautumn the en-
peror, accompanied by the crown
prince and myself. together with the
suite. arrived by the imperial train at
the little station Of Ilmenau, where. OF
course. Reitschei and his pretty wife.
with the head and underforesters. and
all sorts OF civil officials In black coats
and white ties bowed low us the all
highest stepped from his salon. The
kaiser was most gracious to his host
and hostess.
The emperor had complained OF a
slight cold. and In consequence. just
before we left Berlin, I had been In
structed to summon by telegraph GER
tain Doctor vollerthun from Augsburg,
who was a perfect stranger to us all.
but who had. supposed. been recon-
menGed TO the emperor.
While the emperor and HIS host were
out shooting ! remained alone In Q