Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-03-22

L nave nedTu lIdI I'LL tutSe things nave
one basis, and a simple one"
The concierge considered. Then he
rose. 1T Is worth trying" he OBJ
served.
He thrust the letter into his pocket,
and the two conspirators went out into
the gloomy hall. There, on a ledge,
lay white tapers, and one he lighted,
shielding 1t from the draft In the hol-
low of his great hand. Then be led
the way to the top of the house.
Here were three rooms. One. the
< was Herman Spier's, a poor
thing at that. Next to 1t was old Adel-
bert's. At the extreme end of the mar
row corridor, in a passage almost
blocked by old furniture, was another
room, a sort of attic, with a slanting
roof.
Making sure that old Adelbert did
not hear them, they went back to this
door, which the concierge unlocked.
Inside the DON was dark. The taper
showed little. AS their eyes became
accustomed to the darkness, the out
lines of the attic stood revealed, a junk
room, piled high with old trunks, and
in one corner a bed.
Black Humbert, taper In hand, ap-
preached the bed. Herman remained
near the door. Now, with the candle
near, the bed revealed a man lying
on 1t, and tied with knotted ropes; a
young man, with sunken cheeks and
xraoru dacnarofa arn, Decide htpo
on a chair, were the fragments of a
meal, a bit of broken bread, some cold
soup, on which grease had formed a
firm coating.
Lying there, sleeping and waking
and sleeping again, young Haeckel,
one time of his majesty's secret serv-
Ice and student in the university, had
lost track of the days. He knew not
how long he had been a prisoner, ex-
cept that 1t had been eternities. Twice
q day, morning and evening, came his
jailer and loosened his bonds, brought
food, of a sort, and allowed him, not
out Of mercy, but because twas the
committees pleasure that for a time
he should live, to move about the room
and bring blood again to his numbed
limbs.
The concierge united him, and stood
back. snow" he said.
But the boyle was no mOre-lay
STILL He made one effort to rise, and
fell back.
up withsyout" said the concierge,
and jerked him to his feet. He caught
the rail of the bed, or he would have
fallen. "Now-stand like a man."
He stood then, facing his captors
without defiance. He had worn all
that out in the first days of his i'm
prisonment.
"Well?" he said at last. II thought
you've been here once tonight"
Fright, my cuckoo. But tonight I
do you double honor"
But seeing that Haeckel was sway
ing, he turned to Herman Spier. go
down." he said, "and bring up some
brandy. He can do nothing for us in
this state"
He drank the brandy eagerly when
1t came, and the concierge poured him
a second quantity. What with weak
ness and slow starvation, it did what
40 threat of personal danger would
have done. 1t broke down his resist
ance. Not Immediately. He fought
hard. when the matter was first
preached to him. But in the end he
took the letter and, holding it close to
the candle, he examined 1t closely.
His hands shook, his eyes burned.
The two terrorists watched him.
Brandy or no brandy, however, he
had not lost his wits. He glanced up
suddenly. Tell me something about
this" he said. "And what VII you do
for me If I DECIDE itp
The concierge would promise any
thing, and did. Haeckel listened, and
knew the offer of liberty was a lie.
But there was something about the
story of the letter itself that bore the
hall marks of truth.
"You see," finished Black Humbert
cunningly, "she-this lady of the court
lis plotting with some one, or so we
suspect. If 1t is only a liaison-r"
He spread his hands. IF, as Is pos
sible, she betrays us to Karnia, that
we should find out. 1t is not" he
added, "among our plans that Karnia
should know too much of us"
The brandy was still working, but
the spy's mind was clear. He asked
for a pencil, and set to work. After
all, If there was a spy of Karl's in the
palace, 1t were well to know 1t. He
tried complicated methods first, to find
that the body Of the letter, after all,
was simple enough. BY reading every
tenth word, he got a consistent mes
sage, save that certain supplies, over
which the concierge had railed,, were
special code words for certain regi-
ments. These he could not decipher.
"Whoever was to receive this" he
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