Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-02-09
Running
Gantlet
BY WILLARD BRAKEMAN

II SueZ cdudl Witch one Oh Iuem Sdlu'
'"They may be able to take 1t away
from us by force of arms, but they
can't do 1t by process of law"
"How sop asked one of the party.
81 was a member of the British en-
bassy at Berlin when the ambassador
received a cipher telegram from Lon
don saying that a big block of stock of
the Suez canal had been offered for
sale at Cairo. He was directed to send
some one there to make the purchase
at any price. He called mi into his
private office, showed me the dispatch
and told me to leave at once to do the
job. He said further that every large
power would be glad to control the
canal in this way, and If 1t were
known to the others there would be a
race as to who would get there first to
make the purchase. The Germans
would be surely after it. If 1t were
known that l vas going to Cairo l
might be waylaid by the German Sc
cret service. | considered this highly
probable, and instead of leaving Berlin
In my own proper person 1 stole out
after dark.
1.-THE route l chose was by rail to
Genoa, thence by sea to Cairo. On the
train in the same compartment with
me was a lady who from her cast Of
features, her dark eyes and hair l set
down as being Turkish. She was
certainly Of an oriental type and a
very beautiful m 1t Is quite a
Journey from Berlin to Genoa, and the
lady and l were In the same compart-
ment together for a long while. Smok
ing was not allowed in the compart-
ment, but when at a certain time all
had left it but she and | h took out
a box of cigarettes and asked me In
F~rench-the medium between different
nationalities on the c~ontinent-if l OBJ
1ected to her smoking. | said no, and
she offered me the box. l declined the
offer, whereupon she took out one,
lighted it and began to smoke.
my suspicious were aroused by see
ing her every few moments apply her
handkerchief to her mouth and nose, l
fancying that she did so to inhale
something on 1t that would counteract
an effect. My suspicious were con-
firmed by a peculiar odor In the smoke
and q languor stealing over me. l at
tempted to lower a window beside me,
but was already so benumbed that
couldn't get it down. l had just
enough command of my forces to
smash the glass with my fist. The
fresh air revived me, and when l turn
ed again to the Turkish lady she, In
well affected surprise, said:
"tMonsieur Is sensitive to tobacco
smoke?
Very l replied.
ST was satisfied that she had been
sent to delay me, and since by my man.
guard she made no further attempt to
interfere with me. When we left the
train at the border to take another !
kept my eye on her and saw her head
ing for q telegraph office. l did not
doubt that she would send a message
to announce her failure, and some one
else who stood ready would take up
her work where she had left off.
1.-THE first night out from Genoa was
walking the deck, taking my usual
smoke before turning In. 1t was quite
late, and there were but a few persons
still up. I was near the stern of the
vessel when a gentleman came from
the taffrail and as he reached me stop
ped and said in French with an Italian
accent:
"'The PHOSPHORUS illumination in
the wake of the ship Is very beautiful
"Without forethought l went the few
yards between me and the taffrail and
was looking over when the man who
had followed me seized me and lifted
me to throw me over Luckily for me
l had been an athlete at home, being
fond of cricket, rowing and especially
wrestling. My man was very strong,
but l withstood his efforts.
1.-THE next morning.
Hold. on. What did you do with the
other fellow?" asked one of the lis
teners.
when 1 tell a story" replied the
narrator, ~ tell the story as l wish
to tell it, and L don't feel obliged to
answer questions"
"Oh, go on!'
1.-THE next morning and all the rest
of the time that l was on the ship /
kept my room. 1 had become satisfied
that some power-mind you, l don't
say it was German-had let loose its
bloodhounds to tear me to pieces If
necessary to keep me from Cairo, and
1 didn't care to give any more of them
an opportunity.
II reached Cairo at night and, going
to a hotel, went to bed thankful that l
was not tossed about a corpse in Medi-
t%erranean waters. l would have en-
joyed a good sleep had l not feared
some spy with murderous intent was
under my bed. AS it was, l merely
dozed and the next morning after
breakfast went out to get a convey
ance to take me to my destination. A