Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-12-21
DAILY

that l did not love her at all-that ]
hated herl / saw into the blaekness of
her heart.
1t was, think now, the figure of the
kaiser lying in an apparently drunken
sleep that helped to destroy the last
little bit of illusion.
For, although he was, to me at any
rate, no longer great man on a pima
Icle, still he was the representative of
the German people, of our German Fa-
therland and this woman had worked
havoc with his soul.
A Slave to Opium.
| "He's in my hands now, he's in my
Ipower,'' she went on, pointing again
to the sofa. eff only l were to let it
be known what--what-well, what he
does, the Crown Prince and his party
would have him off the throne in a
few weeks, for, Schroeder, he is slave
Ito opium. 1 have long known. it, long,
long. 1t is that which accounts for his
strange speeches, his strange ways at
times, and those curious looks in his
'leyes. Tonight ! saw that he took doub-
lie his usual dose, and that-that is the
result. He II sleep now until twelve
too late to countermand the order ne
has given, even if he remembers hav-
ling given it. Once the machinery to
execute that order is set in motion moth
ing can stop it. And now to the Admir-.
ais room at the Marin Amt
The Admirals' room at the .sl,H. of.
fiees was large room, where the ad,
mirals and chiefs of the navy were en-.
gagged in conference. At first | had
some little difficulty in obtaining ad-
mission, but at length found myself
before them, and presented the sealed
envelope from the Baroness to the chief
man there.
Gentlemen he cried, springing to
his feet after reading the message, To
the Day! We go out to battlel"
Then he read the message aloud, and
every one present sprang to his feet,
and Hoch Hochl Hochl resounded
through the room.
Thus the great machine, Germany IS
navy, was set in action, and the Battle
of Jutland was the result.
i l returned at once to the Hotel Ger
mania, the Baroness having told me to
be outside the door of her sitting room
at twelve CLOCK.
i ''HeI wake up" she explained to
me, fresh, and with his braiL clear. /
shall remind him then of what he u
done. He may have forgotten. lie .-oes
forget sometimes when under the influ
ence of the drug So look out for
squalls, Schroeder"
i Shortly after twelve clock the kai
ser came out Of the sitting room with
the Baroness, and, to my surprise, in
stead of looking troubled or gloomy, he
had quite pleasant smile on his face,
"Ah, the faithful Schroederl' he
said, Schroeder, you shall walk home
with me. l want some fresh air.
j The Kaiser's Surprise.
\ So the car, which had been stolidly
waiting in the same spot ever since his
arrival, was sent away, and walked
back with the kaiser to his residence, a
large private house taken for the occa.
sion.
As the two sentries outside sprang
stifflv to attention, he turned to biz
me good night, and suddenly he took
me by the arm and led me under gas
lamp.
"Where did you get that from, Sch.
roedera" he said, sternly, pointing to
the Iron Cross he himself had pinned
upon my breast.
The events of the past two hours .ud
been So bewildering to me that I really
hadn It taken time and trouble to exam.
inc the cross very carefully. 1t had
seemed to me that it was just an ordi.
nary Iron Cross which the kaiser him.
self was in the habit Of wearing some.
times to show that he appreciated the
Order. But now that l looked at il
more closely l became aware OF diff.
erence.
1t certainly was an Iron Cross, but
along the two centre horizontal arms
there ran some lettering. This / noticed
as the kaiser took the cross in his fling
ers. But even then did not under.
stand what it meant till he unlocked
1t and held it up for me to look at,
There were three words engraved on
} 1t, and they ran-in German, of
course
To The Bravest.
gasped. | had only heard of this
decoration; had never yet seen it. but
l knew that it was the highest Order
IN the land to which a German soldier
could belong. The Sovereign himself be.
: longed to it by hereditary right, and il
was, of course, in his power to bestow
! 1t for any special deed of valor, Though
sometimes it was given to those who
mad distinguished themselves in other
walks of life apart from military. Tn
the F'ranco-German War of 1870-7l
J there had only been three of these Ger.
man crosses bestowed and not one in
this present war, and yet here was
with one in my hand nowl
"ButI-I-Your Majesty gave it ia
me yourself but short time agol You
pinned it On my breast yourself"
The Kaiser looked at me hard and
long.
All, yes, rememberl" he said. NOV.
ing still closer to me. "It was q bsave
deed, Won Schroeder, and it shall be
reported in the official papers tomor.
row. You're fortunate man, Won
Schroeder, a very fortunate young
man"