The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1917-08-17

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powers of Europe was a desperate one.
On the one hard. 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 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 sultans
downfall.
Herr Anton had been paying a num-
Der of flying visits to Berlin, and had
many private audiences of both kaiser
and sultan.
Suddenly all of US We're surprised by
the announcement that the kaisers ia
vored civilian in Turkey had married
Mademoiselle Julie de Lagarenne,
E daughter of Paul de Lagarenne, son of
4 the great French sugar refiner, and
f secretary of the French embassy al
d Rome. A week after that news was
spread 1 met them both in Kranzler':
n in Inter den Linden, and there he in
troduced me to a pretty, dark-haired
q vivacious young Frenchwoman, VIII
% spoke German well, and who told m
4 that her husband had already give
! in her name for presentation at tn
next court.
d That was about a month prior t
n Orville Wrights flight and the mid
l. night visit of Frau Kleist to the EN-
peror.
r Truth to tell. the old woman's men
o ton of Herr Reitschel's name caused
g me considerable misgivings because
q three weeks before 1 had gathered Ger.
f tain strange facts from a secret report
5 of a spy, who in Constantinople had
been set to watch Herr Reitschel's do
: ings. That spy was Frau Kleist's son,
q The kaiser trusts nobody. Even his
favorites and most intimate cronies are
n spied upon, and reports upon those ia
! miliar blue papers are furnished regu-
a larly. In view of what l had read in
! that report from Karl Kleist, stood
q amazed when, at the grand court a
q 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 Ilmenau.
d Herr Reitschel often came from Con
d stantinople, and frequently brought hi
N handsome young wife with him, for HI
v. was persona grata at court. To M
Ee this was indeed strange in view of thu
lg reports of the ex-opera dancers SON
lie who, by the way, lived in CONSTANT
ID nople in the unsuspicious guise Of
in carpet dealer, and unknown to tn
bank director.
Of The latter had, assisted by his wife
n fortune, inherited from her grand
~ mother, purchased the Schloss Langen
Id berg, the splendid ancestral castle AM
IS, estates of the princes of Langenbera
in situated in the beautiful Thuringia
e. forest, and acknowledged to be one O
IT. the most famous shooting estates i
,e, the empire. 1t was not, therefore, SUI
of prising that the emperor, TO mark hi
n favor, should express a desire to shoe
ee capercailzie there-a desire which, {
an course, delighted Herr Reitschel, VIII
n had only a few days before been de-
in grated with the Order of the Blac
ID. Eagle.
I'M One afternoon in midautumn the en-
IN peror, accompanied by the crow
to prince and myself, together with tn
ey suite, arrived by the imperial train
IL the little station of Ilmenau, where. {
Id course, Reitschel and his pretty wifi
TX with the head and underforesters, an
ew all sorts of civil officials in black coat
ad and white ties bowed low as the al
IN. highest stepped from his salon. III
kaiser was most gracious to his ho
tn and hostess.
ar The emperor had complained of
I'm slight cold, and in consequence, jul
is before we left Berlin, had been il
of structed to summon by telegraph ce
e." tain Doctor Vollerthun from Augsbur
Sc who was a perfect stranger to us a
so but who had, supposed, been recon
mended to the emperor.
-or While the emperor and his host wei
Ter out shooting I remained alone in