The Washington times., 1918-12-17

Outside the shop nearly ran into
q little man who was loafing In the
doorway. He was a wizened.
scrubby old fellow wearing dirty
peaked cap with a band of tarnished
gold. I knew him at once for one
OF those guides. half tout. half
bully. that infest the railway term
ini OF all great Continental cities.
want q guide, sir?" the man said
in German.
1 shook my head and hurried on.
The man trotted beside me. 'sWant
a good, cheap hotel, sir? Good, re-
spectacle house Want 4
s0
"Aehl gehen Sic yum Teufell'
cried angrily. But the man per-
sisted. running along beside me and
reeling on his tout's patter in a
wheezing, asthmatic voice. struck
or bIindly down the first turning
we came to, hoping to be rid OF the
fellow, but In vain. Finally,
stopped and held out a gulden-
Take this and go awayr' I said
The old fellow waved the coin
aside.
'Danle. danke," he said nonchal-
antly, looking at the same time TO
right and left
Then he said in a calm. English
voice, utterly different from his
whining accents of a moment be-
fore: you must be dam cool
handi"
But he didn't blum me. staggered
though 1 was said quickly. in
German:
what do you want with me? /
don't understand you. II you an
noy me any more I shall call the
police!7
Again he spoke in English. and
II was the voice OF q well-bred
Englishman that spoke:
You're either q past master at
the game or raviug mad Whyi the
whole station is humming after you'll
Yet you walked out Of the buffet
and through the whole lot OF them
without turning hair. No wonder
they never spotted your
Again answered in German:
'1ch verstehe nichtI''
But he went on in English, with
out seeming to notice my observa-
ton:
Hang 1t all. man. you can't 60
into Germany wearing a regimental
tie
Ny hand flew to my collar and
the blood to my head. What a
cursed amateur J was. after ALI
had entirely forgotten that / was
wearing my regimental colors.
wascrimson with vexation, but also
with sense OF relief. felt might
trust this man. 1t would be sharp
German agent who would notice q
small detail like that
Still I resolved to stick to Ger
mani would trust nobody.
But the guide had started HIS
patter again. saw two workmen :
approaching. When they had pass
ed he said, this time in English:
You're quite right to be cautious
with a stranger like me. but want
to warn you. Why. I've been fol-
lowing you round all the morning.
Lucky for you IL was me and not
one Of the others.
stin was silent The little man
went on:
"For the past half hour they have
been combing that station for you.
How you managed to escape them
] don't know, except that none OF
them seems to have a very clear
idea Of your appearance. You don't
look very British. grant you, but
I spotted your tie and then I recog-
nised the British officer all right.
~No, don't worry to tell me any
thing about yourself-it is none of
my business to know, any more
than you will find out anything
about me. I know where you are
going, for heard you take your
ticket. but you may as well under
stand that you have as much chance
OF getting into your train IL you
walk into the railway hall and up
the stairs in the ordinary way as
you have OF flying across the from
tier"
'But they can't stop me" said
%This isn't Germany. ."
"Bah!" said the guide. you will
be jostled, there will be an alterca-
tion. a false charge. and you will
miss your traini They viii attend
to the rest.
damn it. man" he went on, "T
know what I'm talking about Here,
come with me and I'll show you.
You have twenty miputes before the
train goes Now start the German
again"
We went down the street together
for all the world like a "mug7 IN
tow OF one of those blackguard
guides. As we approached the sta
tion the guide said in his whining
German:
"Pay attention to me now.
shall leave you here. Go to the
suburban booking office-the en-
trance is in the street to the left of
the station hall. Go into the first-
class waiting room and look out OF