Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1917-08-18

W.
"Of course, of course" replied the
emperor, turning in his chair. Come
in and close the door. 1t has turned
quite cold tonight. Well?" he asked,
looking at her inquiringly.
The court dancing mistress hesitated
for second. Their eyes met, and IN
that glance | saw complete understand
ing.
"May I speak in confidence with your
majesty?" she asked, advancing into
the room. Except the court ladies she
was the only female at court whom
the sentries stationed at the end OF
the corridor allowed to pass to his
majesty's private cabinet.
But Frau KleiSt had access every
where. Her eyes were the eyes of the
emperor. Many a diplomat, financier
military or naval commander has been
raised to position Of favorite because
he first secured the good graceS OF the
ex-ballerina. And, alas! many a good,
honest man has been cast out of the
POtsdam circle into oblivion because
Of the poisonous declaration Of that
smiling, bejeweled old woman.
"Of what do you wish to speak, in
qured the emperor.
"Of the Reitschel affair."" was the
old wOman'S low reply.
At her words the kaiser frOwned
slightly, and dismissed me. l 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, looking
down into the courtyard, l saw the
lights of her big Mercedes-showed
that some underhand work was in
progress.
By handling, as l did, hundreds of
secret reports which reached the EN-
peror l had learned much concerning
Herr Anton Reitschel, and from old
Won DOnaustauf, master of ceremonies,
l had also been able to obtain certain
missing links concerning the intrigue.
Reitschel, a burly, round-faced. fair
haired Prussian of quite superior type,
held the position of chief director of
the German Ottoman bank in COnstan-
tinople His duty for the past three
years had been to cOnciliate the sultan
and to lend German money to any in
dustrial enterprise in which any grain
% ,>nc,cih1x no 6iSRnVprpG
He had been singled out, taken from
the Dresdner bank, and sent to Con-
stantinople by the kaiser in order to
play Germany's secret game in Turkey
especially that of the Bagdad rail
way-and to combat with German gold
Great Britain's diplomacy with Tewfik
Pasha and old Abdul Hamid. in view
of "The Day" which the emperor had
long ago determined should soon dawn.
AS old Won DOnaustauf had put it:
"Our employer intends that, notwith-
standing Britain's policy in the near
East, Germany shall soon rule from
Berlin to Bagdad. Herr Reitschel Is
in reality charged with the work of
'Germanizing' the Ottoman empire.
That l already knew by the many Sc
cret reports of his which arrived so
constantly from COnStantinOple.
Truly the game which the emperor
was playing in secret against the other
powers of Europe was desperate one.
On the one hand, the kaiser was max
ing pretence of fair dealing with Great
Britain and France, yet on the other
his agent, Herr Reitschel, was ever
busy lending money in all directions in
order to secure favor in Germany's 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-
stantinople and Palestine, building
fountains, endowing Institutes, yet he
was also secretly supporting the Young
Turk party so as to effect the Sultan'S
downfall.
Herr Anton had been paying num-
Der Of flying visits to Berlin, and had
many private audiences of both kaiser
and sultan.
Suddenly all Of us were surprised by
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 1 met them both in Kranzler's
in Inter den Linden, and there he in
PRODUCED me to a pretty, dark-haired,
vivacious young Frenchwoman, who
spoke German well, and who told me
that her husband had already given
in her name for presentation at the
next court.
That was about month prior to
Orville Wright's flight and the mid
night visit of Frau Kleist to the en-
peror.
Truth to tell, the old wOman's men,
ton of Herr Reitsche's name caused
me considerable misgivings, because
three weeks before had gathered GER
tain strange facts from a secret report
of a spy, who in ConstantinOple had
! been set to watch Herr Reitschels do