Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1917-12-27
EYES ARE NOT !BANDAGED
eazes Calmly at Execution Squad
Awaiting Order to Fire Fatal Vol
ley-confesses She Was in
the Pay Of Germany.

946AO AASAA SAASA& AAS
and the sharp crack of the z%ouaves'
rifles cut the early morning air. The
woman fell backward to the ground,
her face upturned to the sky. Mata-
Hari, the dancer whose charms had
captivated the capitals Of Europe, had
paid the price of being found out. She
died convicted Of being a spy in the
service of Germany, of having be-
trayed for money the country that had
sheltered her and had applauded her
art.
Mata-Hari died as she had lived
mistress of herself and her emotions.
When awakened on the fatal morning
in her cell at Saint Lazare she knew
that the end was at hand. She quick
ly attired herself in a dark dress
trimmed with fur, which she had worn
at her trial. Putting on a long coat
and a large felt hat, she announced
that she was ready. The little process
sion passed through the dark corridors
to the Office of the warden. Here
Mata-Hari wrote two long letters. She
was the least affected by the suspense
Of any in the party.
Says Last Good-Bys.
Handing the letters to her lawyer
she babe the prison officials good-by
and, escorted by the prison guards.
she entered a military automobile &C.
companied by the two nuns and Cap
tain Bo%urchardon. Arriving at the
fortress Of Vincennes she calmly
stepped out of the motor, turning to
help one of the nuns to alight. Then
the condemned woman was taken to.
the office of the governor, where the
last formalities were quickly gone
through, after which Mata-Hari again
entered the automobile, which started
for the rifle range, this time escorted
by a squadron of dragons.
On the range all preparations. for
the execution were ready. A detach-
ment of infantrymen in their blue-gray
uniforms were drawn up, forming a
hollow square-the targets being at
the further end. The firing platoon Of
q was in the center, the men
standing at attention. The automobile
stopped at the entrance to the square
and Mata-Hari stepped out. She gazed
unmoved, almost disdainfully, at the
setting prepared for her final appear
ance, in much the same manner as
she had regarded the audiences that
had a%pplauded the exotic dances with
which she had startled Paris. In the
background stood a group of officers
from the Vincennes garrison, many Of
whom had been witnesses of the con-
demned woman's stage triumphs. With
her lawyer on one side and one of the
nuns on the other she passed I'M
shaken In front of the silent, waiting
troops.
Embraces Nun.
Arriving in front of the targets,
Mata-Hari babe these two good-by,
embracing the nun as she stretched
out her hands to a waiting gendarme
who held the cord with which they
were to be bound. The commander
Of the platoon raised his sword and
the volley rang out, the corpse was
taken to a military cemetery and
buried in a section set apart for the
interring Of executed criminals.
Mata-Hari, whose name was Mar
guerite Gertrude Zelle, gave Paris a
new sensation to talk about when
some fifteen years ago she made her
first appearance at the house of a
well-known opera singer, where in a
mystic dance she Invested herself of a
number of wells which were the only
garments she wore She was a re
markably handsome woman, tall and
dark, with a skin that was almost
bronze in color. This gave rise to the
statement that she was a Jayanese.
but she was Of Dutch parentage and
had married in her youth a Dutch
army officer, from vhon she was di.
voPced.
At her trial her guilt was so conclu.
sively proved that she finally con
fessed she had been in the pay of the
German secret police for a number OF
years. She haG utilized her wide ac
qu~aintanceship in France to collect in
formation Of military value which she
transmitted through secret channels tx
Berlin, receiving in return large sum
of money.