Williams news., 1917-09-13
The Sec]etS Of he HOhnn7d)ernr
)F INNER LIFE OF KAISER AND CROWN PRINCE AS
T VON F1ELTZENDORFF TO WILLIAM LEQUEUX

In moment I understood. The pretty variety artiste was endeavorina to levy blackmail. But how could she, in her position, have learned the secret of the emperor's intentions?
 She was, found, living as Signorina Speroni, with her maid, at the Hotel Bristol over at Beaulieu, just across the blue bay of Villefranche, and as the days went on realized the imminent danger of exposure, and wondered If the kaiser knew of 1t.
 made a remark to that effect to his highness one morning, whereupon he replied:
 Don't disturb yourself, my dea, Heltzendorff have not overlooked the matter, for 1t is one that closely con cerns both the emperor and myself. The woman obtained the secret by opening the dispatch box of one who believed her to be his friend, and then she attempted to use her knowledge in order to drag me into her net. But ] do not think am very likely to be caught-eh?'
 At that moment Herr Schafer en- tered the room, therefore further dis cussion was out of the question.
 From inquiries I made later on ] found that the concert singer had sud- denly left the hotel, therefore I went over to Beaulieu and had an instruc- tive chat with the hall porter, a Ger man, of course. From him learned that the signorina had been staying there ever since the date when we had arrived at Nice and, further, that two gentlemen had been frequently in the habit of calling upon her. One was a smart young Frenchman who came in a motor car and the other was a Ger man. From the description of the lat ter I at once came to the conclusion that it was none other than Herr Scha. fer.
 "The one gentleman did.not know of the others visits," said the bearded porter, with laugh. "The signorina always impressed silence upon me, be cause she thought one would be jeal- ous of the other. The German gentle man seemed very deeply in love with her, and she called him Hans. He ac- companied her when she left here for San Remo."
 I reported this to his highness, but he made no remark. A week later some fishermen found upon the brown rocks near Capo Verde, beyond San Reno, the body of a woman, fully dressed, afterwards identified as that of Irene Speroni, the singer so popu- lar in Rome.
 It was proved that on the previous night she had been seen by two peas ants walking along the sea road near San Lorenzo, accompanied by a tall, thin man, who seemed greatly excited, and was talking in German. It was believed by the Italian police that the unknown German, in a fit of jealousy, threw her into the sea.
 From facts I gathered some months later I realized that the whole plot had been most cunningly conceived. Schafer, after his return from Ameri- ca, had met the woman Speroni, who was performing in London, and she had, unknown to him, opened his dis patch box and from some secret core spondence had learned the real truth regarding the proposed entente which the emperor contemplated.
 Schafer, alarmed at the woman's knowledge, and yet fascinated by her charms, had gone to the crown prince. and he, in turn, had seen the woman in Wiesbaden. Finding her so danger ous to the emperor's plans he first in. troduced her to young French mar quis, de Vienne by name, who pestered her with his attentions, and followed her to Beaulieu. Having so far sue ceeded, the crown prince went to Nice and played upon Schafer's love for the woman, pointing out that she was play ing a double game and urging him to watch.
 He did so and discovered the truth Then there occurred the tragedy Of jealousy, exactly as the police be lieved.
 Herr Schafer had, however, escaped to Germany, and the police of San Re mo are still in ignorance of his iden- tity.
 (copyright, 1917. William LeQueux)
 Rotten