The Glenwood post., 1917-10-27
HE emperor commands yo'
~ to audience ut once in tn
private dining room," salt
- ono of tho inlOpria1 Spry

Gle VI tue ilHpCilu SSA'
ants, 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 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. 4l-5.
"To, Thorn. His imperial highness
inspects the garrison there on Thurs
day,"I said. -'a'1t g r.sal' T.. s
"Ah OF. course I intended to 60.
but 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.
IT know Count Won Minckwitz, grand
master of the court of the duke Of
Saxe-Altenburg," was my reply.
"No This is man, Wilhelm Minck-
witZ, who poses as musician"
shook my head.
"You are quite certain that you have
never heard the name? Try to recol-
lect whether the crown prince has
ever mentioned him in your presence"
endeavored to recall the circum-
stance, for somehow very gradually l
felt distinct recollection Of having
once heard that name before.
"At the moment fail to recall any
thing, your majesty" was my answer.
The emperor knit his brows as
though annoyed ut 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 l will
cancel the inspection Mt Thorn. Tell
the crown prince that I wish to see
him tonight Immediately upon his re-
turn" .-t
Then, noticing for the first time that
the emperor held paper in his hand,
I realized by Its color that 1t was one
of those secret reports furnished for
the kaiser's eye alone-a report of one
of the thousands of spies of Germany
spread everywhere. .... .r..'.
Minckwitz! I 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 over
the private wire to "Willie" at Al
tona, repeating his majesty's orders,
and recalling him at once. Quite well
I knew that such an unusual message
. would arouse his highness' apprehen-
sion that for some offense or other he
was about to receive paternal cas-
tigation. But could not be explicit,
because l had no knowledge Of the
reason the emperor was canceling our
engagement at Thorn. Na'~
.ph1pld He Ask You That7"
At nine O'Clock that night the crown
prince burst into the room wherein !
was attending to the correspondence.
"What in the name Of fate does all
this mean, Heltxendorff3" he demand
ed. "Why did the emperor fall to re-
ply to my messager
"I delivered It," I said. And then /
described what took place In the en-
peror's private dining room. When
/ mentioned the name Of Mlnckwits the
crown princes cheeks blanched.
"Did he ask you thati" he gasped.
"Yes: I told him that the only per
son /, knew Of that name was Count
-XsjaaI.,,t.s lEu Wfflt"IHI ~
, "Ah, that little fat, old master Of tn