The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-04-09

rman agents to get the manu-
NJ" Bristol Hotel, Berlin.
1 accordingly answered the adver-
tisement, briefly stating my qualifica-
tons and asking for an appointment.
The next day brought me a reply
which ran as follows:
Herr Paul Muller requests Frau
lein o. Won Kopf to call upon him to-
morrow morning promptly at eleven
o'clock at the Bristol Hotel.
And promptly 1 was there. Herr
Muller. however, I found was engag-
ed. was shown by an attendant into
a private waiting room, which COM
manded a view of Herr Muller's
study" Presently the door opened,
and a flashily dressed woman emery
ed and brushed past me rudely. I
knew the woman by sight. She was
anything but legitimate applicant
for a secretaryship, I felt sure. Then
a mans voice called through the half
open door. Come in, please" 1 enter
ed the room and there found a young
ish elderly man reclining in an easy
chair smoking a, heavy smelling cigar.
He Immediately rose and offered
fat ringed hand. Somehow or other
his handshake disagreeably impress
ed me-my small fingers seemed to
sink into his palm as into a feather
bed. With the blandest of smiles Herr
Muller begged me to be seated, him
self standing, putting at his cigar.
'Fraulein Won Kopf, I presume"
1 nodded acquiescence.
What Is your nationality?'
81 always consider myself English"
I replied,
But you give me a German name"
my mother was English, and my
fathers mother was English, too"
retorted sharply.
Herr Muller laughed loudly, as If
he thought my somewhat naive state
ment an excellent joke. Are you
ashamed of being considered a Ger
man woman?"
"I prefer to consider myself Eng
lish," 1 replied.
sume?"
when speak English am gener-
ally taken for an Englishwoman.'
You have been in England?"
MANY times"
| Have you friends there ?"
"Yes-friends of my mothers prin-
cipally."
Would you care to give me their
names?"
Colonel and Mrs. B., Major
F, and Mr.. s., who Is a mem
Der of Parliament" Herr Muller
seemed lost in thoughtfor few mo-
ments. At length he said, 'I seem
to have met the Colonel you name.
Wasn't he stationed at the Tower of
London"
mo" 1 blurted out innocently, lit
tie guessing the drift of his converse
ton, 1.-The Colonel is at Woo1wich."
At this Herr Muller jotted a few
words down on his writing pad.
| 1 replied that I had a French gov
erness for three years.
Have you and friends in Paris? %
"a few English residents there who
knew my mother"
mo persons of high social stand
ing-say government officials, depu-
ties, or military offIcers?"
Wondering what officials, deputies
or military officers in Paris had to do
with my application for an engage
ment as private secretary to a Ger
man, 1 answered that my mother
friends in the French capital were
private persons. Again Herr Muller
wrote down few words on his writ
ing pad.
Are you fond of travel?" he ask
ed.
Very"
Where have you traveIled?"
''I stayed three months in st. Pc
ltersburg. and three in Rome. 1 know
Paris fairly well. London very we'll.
II know parts of Scotland and the
English Lake District, and 1 stayed a
summer in the Isle Of Wight, with
English friends"
Again Herr Muller stopped to use
his pencil. Stealing a glance at his
table found he was writing a kind OF
tcypher, or it may have been short
hand. Suddenly Strengthening him.
self. jerking back his head and fold
ing his arms across his chest, he ask.
ed me If I had any capacity for
sketching- I thereupon told him OF
my five-pound picture I sold in the
, Friedrichstrasse.
Good" cried Herr Muller, AGAR
using his pencil. 81 suppose you know
AOIAiAi6 cUOul IIidCllIlISTy-yOu cOulC
? not make sketches of it?"
Somehow or other machinery had
always had a curious fascination fol
me. I had on one occasion spent al
, hour in the engine room of a Chan
mel steamer, wondering at the won
q derful mechanism of the thousand
! and one pieces of steel and brass OBJ
served about me.
'T am afraid I don't understand
= machinery; yet to me it appears t,
= be solidified logic. Every part is 'reas
j enable and necessary; but 1 thinl
I with a little study and practice, ="
t went on-'wen,-I could draw any
thing"
: Ny remarks seemed to please Her
e Muller, for he stood upright again
e smiled broadly, caressed the Iapels O
e his English-cut morning coat, and pu
r aside his cigar.
"Ah, young lady, there is nothins
e life self-confidence. Without conf
It dence no one does anything worth do
e ing in the world. I am sure you ar
= not of the hesitating type"
) I boldly assured him that I wa
: very prompt in action. quickly mao
) up my mind, and that I had neye
l. suffered with timidity-to my ow
e knowledge at any rate.
d And now. Fraulein Won kopr. u