Tombstone epitaph., 1917-07-08

A short, thickset man in uniform tot tight for him entered the cabin. bow ing. To him the emperor complained !. of an undue expenditure in regard tt [ the last court ball. whereupon Vol 1 Wedell pointed out that while huge sums were spent upon his majesty. journeys little was spent at home. In a moment the emperor, with his keen brows narrowed, silenced him by exelaiming:
 "But I thought you liked to be min. ister of the royal house, ehf" Von Wedell bowed. and a second later retired.
 The emperor's egomania asserted 1t. self that afternoon.
 4 Scene on the Hohenxoliern.
 On that calm blue summer sea that afternoon an incident occurred upon the Hohenzollern which accentuated the Imperial egomania towards me nials. There occurred a grave scandal, which has ever since been whispered up and down the fjords of Norway, with all kinds of ridiculous embroidery manufactured by the all-powerful in- fiuence of German gold.
 As happened to be one of the prin- cipal actors in the drama. may per haps be permitted to here place the real truth upon record.
 Herr von Wedell having bowed him. self out of the imperial presence. his majesty with all good grace signed some papers put before him. Sigh ing. he rose. and with his gioved hand drew away his chair.
 "Abominable cried the emperor. "Von Wedell, of all men, dares to contradict mel"
 The all-highest ascended to the up- per deck. and I followed. for 1t was his habit on a warm afternoon to sit on a lounge chair beneath the awning and dictate orders and dispatches. At that time. the Telefunken system of wireless telegraphy had just been in- stalled upon the imperial yacht. The two operators had & cabin to them- selves. full of accumulators. detectors, and other paraphernalia. and were. at
 
 admiralty station at Norddeich.
 On the deck, the emperor, instead of seating himself in the cozy nook sheltered from the wind, which the empress had only few minutes be- fore vacated. strode into the wireless cabin. sYhile I was compelled by eti- quette 10 remain outside.
 stood gazing out upon the blue distant coast of Sweden, for We were still within sight of that broken land, with the Skaw on one side and His singen on the other. steering due west into the Skager Rack. towards the Nase, the most southernly point of Norway.
 The kaiserin set close by, deeply en- gagged in conversation with the old Countess yon Stoecker. wife of the court chaplain, and laughing with her.
 At last the emperor came forth from the wjreiess room and, motioning me to f>iow. descended again to the cabin In which we hao Heen working.
 On entering he rang ms bell and summoned the captain. who in a few moments appeared. cap in hand. as be came him.
 "we will go farther east" said the all-highest. "We are too far out"
 -Johannsen. the Norwegian pilot. Is in charge, your majesty" replied the captain. lowing.
 Then tell the man Johannsen." said the emperor. and he turned to his table. disnissing the captain of the imperial yacht.
 The Defiant Norwegian Pilot.
 Three minutes later there came loud raps upon the door. and the emperor himself gave the order to enter, where upon a short, thick-set seaman in blue jersey and seaboots, a typical North Sea pilot, came in.
 "we are too far out; get nearer in to the coast" his majesty commanded in imperious tones.
 "we are not too far out" replied the man in German.
 "who are you to dictate to me?'' shouted the emperor in fury.
 "You are emperor on land, but I, Carl Johannsen of Ekersund. am in charge of this vessel while she is in Norwegian waters, and I take orders from nobody"
 And with that the man cooIly turned upon his heels and. saluting. left. The emperor was white with rage at the rebuff. He flung the papers from him and paced the cabin in silent anger. Yet an hour later he ascended to the bridge and presented the man with a scarfpin with the imperial crown and cipher in diamonds. fact duly reported to Baron von Richlofen, the kaiser's press cossack (press rgent), who duly gave an account of the emperor's munincence without, oi course, referring to the defiance of the imperial command.
 | On that same night. after the kai. serin had retired. found the emperor walking the deck alone and behaving very strangely. He was capless, way. ing his healthy arm wildly above his head, and grooming. Then he would break out into fearful imprecations agninst all and sundry.