Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1918-01-11
Curiosity Aroused by Actions Of
Foreign Gentleman on Aber-
deem Express.
DOES SOME SWIFT THINKING
Looking Stupid Is Her Specially, and
When officers Grab the Spy He
Looks at Old Lady
and Signs.

London.-The best spy story in a
long time comes from medical off,
Ger. one Of the big guns Of his corps
and profession. II Is all about the
Aberdeen Express, one of the worlds
quickest long-distance runs. You leave
London after the theater, 20 to bed
In the train, have cup Of tea In bed
ut Edinburgh, and breakfast In Aber-
deem, 600 miles from town. North.
ward from Edinburgh there are stops
n while on the Forth bridge. from
whence you look down onto the decks
Of first-class battleshlps, and at Dun
dee, and Montrose.
The old lady boarded the train Mt
Edinburgh and the porter showed her
Into non-smoklng compartment Of
the dry coach. The other passenger
was foreign gentleman--of what ma
tlonallty II would he hard to say. but
foreign. As to the lady, she seemed
harmless old thing some fifty.three
years OF age. The point is that one
Of the two was really a German spy
and anyones first suspicion would
point to the old lady. She owned up
frankly that she enjoyed n gossip anu
found the foreign gentleman quite
hood fellow. As to his nationality.
the accent gave no clue. She pumped
him perseverlngly.
A few stops from Edinburgh the
train stopped on the Forth bridge.
From the trains one looks down upon
naval base Of frst.rate consequence.
A spy, making rapid summary Of the
capital ships In full view. might pick
up important information.
The foreign gentleman stood up.
filling the window, shutting out the
view, md annoyed the old lady. who
also wanted to have look. More
over, she saw him 90 through long
fumbling procedure which puzzled her
extremely. What on earth was he up
to? The only thing she saw was the
last swift movement which emptied
the bulgy part Of his overcoat. And
she caught the glimpse OF n wing. Now
the whole thing was clear; there must
have been II message scribbled rapidly,
folded and made fast and then sud
den release OF carrier pigeon.
The Old Lady's Speciality.
And then the foreigner flashed
round to see II the lady had noticed
anything. No. evidently not. She
looked vacant, nodding and half
asleep.
81 looked stupid" she said after
ward. "but that's my speciality"
She must have done some very swift
thinking before he had time to turn
round. Her first impulse was to run
along the corridor and find the guard
or rouse the first soldier she saw. But
then the foreigner would see by her
first movement he was In danger and
she did not want to be strangled
thrown out of the window. and
drowned In the Forth estuary. She be-
came affable, wondering what had de-
layed the .ran so long, He expressed
noble sentiments concerning the allies
and contempt for Germany.
But ms the train pulled into Dundee
the old lady expressed her conviction
that the morning papers would be for
sale by this time at the bookstalls. She
felt that little run on the platform
would ease her limbs after the cramped
compartment. She would buy a paper
for the foreign gentleman also.
Halfway to the bookstall she met
n porter. II would be natural to ask
him how Ions the train stopped.