The Washington times., 1917-06-10

Her Underhand Work.
"Of what do you wish to speak," in
quired the Emperor
"of the Reitschel affair" was the
old woman's low reply.
At her words the Kaiser frowned
slightly, and dismissed me. / bowed
myself out. and closed the door upon
the Emperor and his clever female
spy.
That she should have at that late
hour come from Potsdam-for, look
ing down into the courtyard, ! saw
the lights Of her big Mercedes-show-
ed that some underhand work was
in progress.
By handling, as I did, hundreds OF
secret reports which reached the En-
peror, l had learned much concern
ing Herr Anton Reitschel and from
old Won Donaustauf, master OF cere-
monies. / had also been able to OBJ
tain certain missing links concerning
the intrigue.
Reitschel, a burly. round-faced,
fair-haired Prussian of quite superior
type, held the position Of chief di-
rector of the German Ottoman Bank
in Constantinople. His duty for the
past three years had been TO concil-
ate the SULTAN ana 10 lGHu ANA hao-H
money to any Industrial enterprise in
which any grain OF merit could pos
sibIy be discovered. He had heen
singled out, taken from the Dresden
Bank, and sent to Constantinople oy
the Kaiser in order to play Germany
secret game in Turkey-especially
that OF the Bagdad railway-and to
combat with GermaA gold Great briE
aims diplomacy with Tewfik Pasha
and old Abdul Hamid, in view OF tine
day" which the Emperor had long
ago determined should soon dawn
GermanIEinE Turkey.
A old Won Donaustauf had put II:
"our employer intends that. notwith-
standing Britain's policy in the Near
East, Germany shall soon rule from Ber-
lin TO BaEdad. Herr Reitschel Is In
reality charged with the work OF Ger
maniIinE' the Ottoman Empire. Ihat
1 already knew by the many secret re-
ports Of his which arrived so constantly
from Constantinople-
Truly the game which the emperor
was playing in secret against the otner
powers OF Europe was desperate one
On the one hand the Kaiser was makhs
pretense of fair dealing with Great brl-
agent, Herr Reitschel. was ever busy
lending money In all directions In order
J to secure favor in Germany's interest
Yet a further game was being played
namely. that while the Kaiser was max
ing pretense OF being ehe best friend OF
the Sultan Abdul Hamid. visiting Con-
, stantInople and Palestine. building foun-
! tains endowinE Institutes. yet he was
also secretly supporting the young TURK
marty SO as to effect the Sultan's down
fall
Herr Anton had been paying a number
Of flying visits to Berlin. and had had
many private audiences Of both KAISER
and Sultan.
Suddenly all OF US were surprised by
the announcement that the Kaisers faV-
ored civilian in Turkey had married
MademoiseIle Julie de Yagarenne. daugh-
ter Of Paul de Lagarenne, son OF the
great French sugar rehner. and secre-
| tary Of the French embassy at Rome.
| A week after that news was spread 1
met them both in KranLler's In Unter
den Linden, and there he introduced me
| 10 a pretty, dark-haired viyacious young
French woman. who spoke German wen,
| and who told me that her husband had
already given in her name for presenta-
ton at the next court
Frau KIeIst'G Son n Spy.
That was about a month prior to Or
Vile wright's flight and the midnight
visit Of Frau Kleist to the Emperor.
Truth TO tell. the old woman's mention
~ Herr ReitscheTs name caused me con-
adorable misgivings. because three weeks
before l had gathered certain strange
facts from a secret report of spy who
in Constantinople had been set to watch
Herr ReitcheTs doings- That spy was
Frau Kleist's son.
The Kaiser trusts nobody. Even
his favorites and most intimate cron-
les are spied upon. and reports upon
those familiar blue papers are fur
nished regularly. In view Of what
had read IN that report from Karl
Kleist l stood amazed when, at the
grand court a week later. / had wit
| messed Herr Reitschers French wife
| bow before the Emperor and Empress
and noticed how graciously the hals-
er smiled upon her.
Nearly three months passed.
Herr Reitschel often came
from ConstantinopIe, 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
/ dancer's Son-who, by the way, lived
| in Constantinople in the unsuspicious
guIse OF a carpet-dealer, and unknown
| to the bank director.
Makes Trip To IImennu.
The latter had, assisted by his wlfe's
fortune, inherited from her grand
mother, purchased the Schloss Lang
enberg, the splendid ancestral castle
and estates OF the Princes Of LanEen-
berg. situated in the beautiful Thur
InEian Forest, and acknowledged to
| be one Of the most famous shooting
estates in the empire. 1t was not,
| therefore, surprising that the En-
! peror. to mark his favor, should eX-
press a desire to shoot capercailzie
| there-a desire which. OF course, de-
/ lighted Herr Reitschel, who had only
a few days before been decorated
with the order OF the Black Eagle.
One afternoon in mid-autumn the
Emperor, 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, Reitschel and his pretty
wife. with the head and '.nder forest
ers. and all sorts Of civil officials in
black coats and white ties bowed low
as the aIl-highest stepped from his
saloon. The Kaiser was most gra-
cIous to HIS host and hostess.
The Emperor had complained OF a
slight cold, and. in consequence just
before we left Berlin, ] had been in,
structed to summon by telegraph a