The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-08-25

angrily declared his intention to leave
Dresden, because Of Won Fritsch's sug-
g%estion. This course, I saw, would be
unfortunate for our plans, therefore I
urge the king to induce Louisa to re-
quest him to remain. She has done so,
but to no avail, and Giron left for
Brussels tonight. May l be permitted
to come to discuss with your majesty
a further elaboration of the plans?-
| Won Metzsch."
The emperor read the secret mes
sage twice.
"We go to Erfurt tomorrow, do we
not?" he said. Telegraph in cipher
to Won Metzsch to meet us there to-
morrow evening at seven. And de-
stroy that message" he added.
I obeyed his orders, and afterward
continued to deal with the state pa
pers, much enlightened by the news
transmitted by the emperor's creature.
I confess that 1 felt the deepest
sympathy for the helpless victim. At
the Schloss, high above the old-wOrld
town of Erfurt, Won Metzsch had a
long conference with the emperor, but
1 was unable to overhear any word of
it. All l know is that the controller
of the Saxon household left Erfurt for
Dresden by special train at midnight.
Poor, d~efenseless Louisa! You, my
dear LeQueux, to whom the princess a
few months afterward fed for advice,
know well how sterling, how womanly
! and honest she was; how she was n
victim of many of the INSCRIPTIONS
intrigues by which the arrogant war
lord of Germany has until the present
managed to retain his throne.
The Crisis.
Well, 1 watched the course of
events; watched eagerly and daily.
Twice l had received letters from her
imperial highness, short notes in her
firm, bold handwriting.
From Won Metzsch came several
cipher messages to the emperor after
we had returned to Potsdam, but Zorn
Won Bulach, my colleague, deciphered
all of them, and, as he was not my
friend, 1 did not inquire as to their
purport. l knew, however, that mat
tiers in Dresden were fast approaching
a crisis, and that the unfortunate
Hapsburg princess could no longer sus-
tain the cruel and unjust pressure be-
ing put upon her undoing. That a hun
dred of Germany's spies and agents
provocateurs were busy I realized
from the many messages by telephone
and telegraph passing between Berlin
and Dresden, and l felt certain that
the ruin of poor Princess Louisa was
nigh.
A significant message came to Pots
dam late one December night-a mes
/ sage which, when l deciphered it and
handed it to the emperor, caused him
to smile.
The princess had left Dresden!
Three days later, on December 9,
a further cipher telegram came from
Won Metzsch, in Dresden, which read:
Louisa has learned of the Sonnen-
stein project, and has left Salzburg
for Zurich, her brother accompanying.
Won Metzsch."
~Sonnenstein That was a private
lunatic asylum!
In a few moments the kaiser had
summoned, by his private telephone,
Koehler, her chief of the Berlin Sc
cret police, and given orders that the
princess be watched in Switzerland.
Half an hour later three police agents
were on their way to Zurich to follow
the poor, distracted woman, even be-
yOnd the confines of the empire.
She was, no doubt, in deadly fear
Of hnfpu Cont RI a 1iuinn fornh GO that
her mouth should be closed forever.
And seeing herself surrounded by enc
mics and spies IN every hand-for
even her brother Leopold, with whom
she had Travelled to Switzerland, now
refused to assist her-she adopted the
only method of further escape that at
the moment presented itself.
Alone and without anyone to advise
her, she, as you know, took a desper-
ate resolve, one alasl fraught with
disastrous consequences.
The iron had indeed entered the
poor princess soul.
Note by William LeQueux.
The denouement of this base in
trigue will be best related in her i'm
perial highness' own words. In one
of her letters, which / have on nv
table as l write, she says:
Il saw before me in those never-Vlo
b~e-forgotten days all AIe horrors OF : .
'Maison de Sante.'< What could I,TN,
/ was friendless in a strange hos
Even Leopold seemed disinclined
be further troubled by a runaway SIS
ter. | knew Frau Won Fritsch had ac-
cused me falsely of having secret love
affairs, and that the emperor had d.
rected the whole plot which was to
eliminate in my confinement in an
asylum. Suddenly a solution occurred
to me. / remembered Monsieur Giron.
who had already suffered great
ly through his friendship with me. II
he Joined me, then my flight from
Dresden would be considered as an
elopement, and l should escape a liv-