Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-11-09
THE MAN WITH THE CLUB sFOOT
By VALENTINE WILLIAMS w a aMN A
By VALENTINE WILLIAMS


place. The cupboard was roomy enough, -
l thought | would put on the overcont. wne
carrying. As stretched out my arm. nv
hand struck hard against some kind Of pro-
jectIng hook I'm the wall behind me.
Damn" I swore savageiy under my
breath. but I put out my hand again 10
find out what had hurt me. My fingers en-
countered the cold iron Of latch. ifessed
it and it gave. fs
door swung open and found myself II
another little area with a flight OF stone
steps leading to the street ~
was In a narrow lane driven between the
tall sides OF the houses. II was a cul-de-sac.
At the open end ! could see the eliinmer Of
street lamps It had stopped raining. and
the air was fresh and pleasant Carrying my
bag | walked briskly. down the lane and
presently emerged in a quiet thoroushfars
traversed by canal-probaby the street.
thought that had seen from the windows
OF my bedroom. The Hotel sixt lay. 10 the
right of the lane: / struck out to the left
and in few minutes found myself An an
open square behind the Bourse ~
There found cab-rank with three or
tour cabs drawn up in line. the horses SOM
vehicles. I stirred up the first and babe. the
driver take me TO the Cafe Tarnowskf.ss
Every one who has been to Holland R7{ws
the Cafe Tarnowski at Rotterdam. II h an
immense place with hundreds OF rpnrhle-
topped tables tucked away among palms
under n vast glazed roof. Day or night II
never closes the walters succeed each other
In shifts: day and night the great hall re-
sounds to the cry of orders. the patter Of
the walters feet. the click of dominoes on
the marble tables. ~
Delicious Dutch cafe au lait a beefst{Ak
and fried potatoes. most succulent of all
Dutch dishes crisp white bread, hot from
the midnight baking, and appetzing Dutch
butter. largely compensated for the .thrills
of the night. Then ] sent for some more
:onee, black this time. and a railway .gptis,
and lighting cigarette began to frame my
plan Of campaign, 'toEH
The train for Berlin LEFT Rotterda nj at
soNen In the morning. 1t was now ten Aunir-
utes past two, so had plenty of time from
that night onward. | told myself. I waa
German, and from that moment I set myself
assduously to feel myself German az Wen
as enact the part ~
ITS no use dressing a part" Francis sst6ed
10 say TO me- you must feel IL AZ we11.~
II |, were going TO disguise myself az,
serllner, | should not he content to shave
my head and wear n bowler hat with aefii6fn-
lnE coat and get my nails manicured .xf5,I
! should begin by persuading myself that
was the lord OF creation. that bad man
ners is sign OF manly strength ana that
dishonesty is the highest form of diplomacy.r
Poor old Francis How shrewd he We
and how well he knew his Berlners ~
There is nothing like newspapers for kiyine
one an idea of national sentiment had not
| spoken to a German, save to few t6ifffed
! German rats. prisoners Of war In Frames
since tho beginning of the war and l knew
mat my Nnowledse OF German thought- sgpst
| be rusty. SO ! sent the willing walter for1 an
! the German papers and periodicals. he Gould
| lay his hands on. He returned with stacks
| or them, Berner Tagebatt, Kolnische Eei-
| tung, Norwaerts; the alleged comic p86ero,
kladderadatsch, Lustige Blatter and 'gim-
| phcissimus; the illustrated press. Leipxif<r
| lllustrirte Zeitung Der Weltkrieg Ina : MIA
and the rest that remarkable cafe even took
! in such less popular publications as HArdef's
| Aukunft and semiblackmailing rags like Der
| Roland Won Berlin. ar. 4
| For two hours saturated myself with Ger
| man contemporary thought as expresRed, II
! the German press. } deliberately laid my
| mind open to conviction | repeated to ffiyb4I|
| over and over again: We Germans are NGht
ing a defensive war; the scoundrely Grit
made the world-war: Gott strafe England !!
Absurd as this proceeding seems to me ,whsl
| ! look back upon it, would not laugh atefdy
+, self at the time. ] must be German J. Urlisi
| feel German. | must think German on thai
would my safety in the immediate fututs de
| pend. v'ssAA
| I laid aside my reading in the end with :
| feeling of utter amazement In every Qpe of
| these publications. in peace-time SO widely
| dissimilar in conviction and trend found
! the same mentality. the same outlook, the
| same parrot-like cries What the Cologne
| Gazette shrieked from its EDITORIAL colupsns,
| the comic God save the mark) press echoed
| In foul and hdeous caricature. Here was
| organization with vengeance, the mobilfzA-
| ton of national thought. series Of gramo-
| phone records fed into II thousand dif7erent
| machines SO that each might play the seif-
| same tune t.sf
! ~
rrO BE CONTINUED