The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-09-01
AND CROWN PRINCE AS

tears yelling in her fine dark eyes. =
I'm that case, then, please leave
the matter entirely In my hands," r
/ said.
That same night, about ten O'Clock, !
the emperor entered the room to which !
l had just returned to work. !
"Send Frau Kleist to me-" he
snapped. "And l will summon YOU
later when I want you, H%eltzendorff.' .
Frau Kleist! l had no idea the wom-
an had arrived at the castle. But 1 dis
patched n of the servants to search
for her, and afterwards heard her high
pitched voice as she assembled the
stairs to hold secret counsel with his
majesty.
Below I found the fat, f~air-haired
little doctor from Augsburg, who was
still an enigma, but eager to see his
imperial patient.
Suddenly n of the imperial fun
keys bowed at the door, commanding ]
the doctor to the royal presence, and
he left me, hot and flurried.
, Had the emperor called the unknown
doctor into consultation with Frau
Kleist?
Inquiries I had made concerning the
doctor from Augsburg showed that he !.
was quite a well-known specialist
, mental diseases, and he had also VI
ten a textbook upon bacteriology8
the brain. Why had the kaiserf
moned him? He required no
specialist.
eve leave tomorrow at noon," TIL ]
emperor exclaimed brusquely when, am
hour later, l was summoned to his !
room. This amazed me, for our ar \
rangements were to remain three days
longer. | recollected Madam Reit-
schel's words.
81 do not feel at all WE'LL" his majes-
ty added, "and this Doctor Vo%llerthun
orders me rest at Potsdam.''
In silence l bowed, and then VEN
tured to refer to what was uppermost
in my mind.
MAY l be permitted to speak to your
majesty upon a certain confidential
subject?" 1 begged.
"What subject?" snapped the en-
peror.
"Your majesty's negotiations with
the sultan of Turkey. Frau Reit- 4
schel has learned of them, but she is
eager to come before you and take
an oath of entire secrecy"
The kaiser's eyes narrowed and
glowed in sudden anger.
A Woman's Oath.
"a woman's oath !" he cried. "Bahi
Never have I believed in silence i'm
posed upon any woman's tongue
more especially that of a born enemy!
l appreciate your loyalty and acumen,
Won Heltzendorff, but l have, fortu-
nately, known this for some little time,
n in Strictest secrecy ave taken GER
tain measures to combat it. Remem-
Der that these words have never been
uttered to you'll Remember that! You
are adjutant, and / am emperor. I'm
derstand! l fully appreciate and note
your royal report, but it is not woman's
sphere to enter our diplomacy, except
as a secret agent of III fatherland.<
Let us say no more"
Ten minutes later, being dismissed,
I wandered back through the great ST.
lent, echoing corridors of the ancient
CdSllc W NY OWu IOUUu. "A great uuLudn
drama, greater than any ever placed
pom the stage, was now being en-
acted.
The emperor was plotting the down. /.
fall of the Turkish empire and the
overthrow of Islam in Europe. Be
tween the a~ll-highest one and the real
ization of those plans for world power
stood one frail little Parisienne, the
vivacious, well-meaning Madam Reit-
schel!
Next day we left the Schloss Langen-
berg, but before doing so we heard
with regret that our charming littlet
hostess had been suddenly taken i'll ;
during the night, and the kaiser, as a
mark of favor, had ordered his doctor,
Vollerthun, to remain behind to attend
her. That Herr Reitschel was in great
distress | saw from his face as he
stood on the little platform at Ilmenau.
Back in Berlin, l wondered what was :
in progress in that far-off schloss In
Thuringia, but a week later he trutl
became wildly apparent when 1 reaSt
in the Staats-Anzeiger an
ment that Frau Reitschel, the young
wife of the famous Anton Reitschel of
Constantinople, had been seized by a
sudden and mysterious illness and had 5
developed insanity to such a hopeless
degree that 1t had been necessary to
confine her in the Rosenau private asy- :
lum at Coburg.
In a second I thought of the dancipe I
mistress and the mental special
from Augsburg. j
Poor Madam Reitschell She die{
early In 1913, a raving lunatic. Her
devoted husband, having served the
emperor's purpose, had been recalled
to Berlin, where, bereft of the kaiser's
favor, he predeceased her by about six
months, broken-hearted.
Copyright, 1917, William lLeQueux.)