Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-06-29


one of the imperial serv-
lnts, entering the kaiser's study, where
was awaiting him.
As / passed downstairs to the room,
to which entrance was forbidden even
to the crown prince himself, l natur-
ally wondered why l had been COM
manded to audience there.
"Have you any knowledge Of the
contents of the letter which you have
brought from the crown prince?" the
emperor asked bluntly.
replied in the negative.
"Where are you going now?" he ask
ed suddenly.
ITO Thorn. His imperial highness
lnspects the garrison there on Thurs
day." / said.
"Ahi OF course. intended to go,
out 1t is impossible"
Then after a pause, the, emperor
looked me straight In the face and
suddenly said:
"Heltzendorff, have you any knowl-
edge Of any man called Minckwitz?"
reflected.
81 know Count Won Minckwitz, grand
master of the court of the duke of
Saxe-Altenburg," was my reply.
"No. This is a man, Wilhelm Minck-
witz, who poses as a musician"
shook my head.
"You are quite certain that you have
never heard the name? Try to recol-
Iect whether the crown prince has
ever mentioned him in your presence"
/ endeavored to recall the circum-
stance, for somehow very gradually
felt a distinct recollection Of having
once heard that name before.
"At the moment fall to recall any
hing, your majesty" was my answer.
The emperor knit his brows as
though annoyed at my reply, and then
grunted deeply In dissatisfaction.
"Remain here In Potsdam," he said
Telegraph to the crown prince re-
calling him at my orders, and 1 will
cancel the inspection at Thorn. Tel
the crown prince that wish to see
him tonight Immediately upon his re
turn"
Then, noticing for the first time thai
the emperor held a paper in his hand
realized by Its color that 1t was ont
Of those secret reports furnished fol
the kaiser's eye alone-a report of on'
Of the thousands of spies of Germany
spread everywhere.
Minckwitzl impressed that name
upon my memory, and, being dismissed
bowed myself out of the imperial pres
ence.
Returning to the Marmor palace
sent a long and urgent message ovel
the private wire to willie" at AL
tona, repeating his majesty's orders
and recalling him at once. Quite wei
[ knew that such an unusual messag,
would arouse his highness' apprehen
sion that for some offense or other h
was about to receive q paternal cas-
tigation. But l could not be explicit
because / had no knowledge of tn
reason the emperor was cancellng ou
engagement Mt Thorn.
"Did He Ask You That"
At nine o'clock that night the crow
prince burst into the room wherein
was attending to the correspondence
what In the name of fate does al
this mean, Heltzendorff? he demand
ed. "Why did the emperor fail to re
ply to my message"
III delivered It," 1 said. And then
described what took place In the en-
peror's private dining room. Whe
mentioned the name of Minckwitz tn
crown princes cheeks blanched.
"Did he ask you that7" he gasped.
"Yes. / told him that the only pei
son l knew Of that name was Coun
von Minckwitz."
"Ah, that little fat, old master of tn
:ourt. Obi The emperor knows hill
well enough. 1t Is somebody else b
B referring to-"
'His majesty wishes to see you {
)nce," urged, full of wonder.
1 could plainly see that his imperi,
Sighness had been much upset at mel
lion Of the mysterious person calle
hinckwitz. What could the empert
know Of him? Was there some seal
aal at the root of 1t all, some fac
which the crown prince feared migl
De revealed?
Travel-stained and without changir
hAe tunic, willie" went to the tel
Aone and ordered KDof to bring baC