The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-06-30

After all, imperial Germany DOS.
sessed numbering sense of the the.
atricaL 1t had realized that the little
newborn town OF Hopewen, Va, shell
tered hundreds of men drawn from
the iaboring classes, uneducated, ig.
norant save OF the work they were
pald Tor, foreign to a large extent,
ana among these men were those in
whose minds ran the superstitious
strain which breeds faith in the
occult and fortune tellers.
IN the hands of a clever fortune
teller these men might be made to
tax without realizing that they were
giving away information TO the hid
den enemy Of America. This was the
explanation of the presence of Bar
oness Theresa Verbecht in HopeweIl
as arbitress Of destinies. in the guise
Of Madame LaVere, mystic.
Germany Interested in Hopewen
Hopewen held much of interest for
Germany. Little more than a year
before its site had been unplowed
aelds. over which the winds blew in
broad sweeps, bending the green
grasses in soft fluctuations and bob
bling the heads OF wild flowers that
dotted the fields Soon with wars
eAoAS"G bAO"Au6 deeper over Europe,
the call had come from the allies for
explosives. The fields had been
cleared and 4 great guncotton factory
spread its broad stretches over the
ground where the wild flowers had
bodied.
The town was a hft-and-miss AFFAIR,
q stmilitude of Western towns which
sprang up overnight in the days OF
the gold rushes. Its streets a crowd
ed mass OF implanted shacks. lean-tos,
and teutss cheap hotels, sub rosa gam
bling places; in fact, all the attributes
of the town Of mushroom growth
peopled with the polygiot population
Of a manufacturing town of America
the melting pot OF races.
The day that Madame Stephan and
Won Lertz. fleeing from Exeter, re-
allied that the plot which they had
Unanswered TO what seemed unques-
tionable success, had failed, Franz
Won Papen received a telegram from
Madame La We're.
Everything O. K Send me good
EIan for dangeroqs work"
The telegram so tersely worded
meant more than words could convey. |
1t meant that after weeks of work
Baroness Verbecht had learned as |
much as possible about the guncotton |
factory, its orders, its guards, its |
shipments, and its most vulnerable |
points.
A week passed before the baroness |
received a reply in any form. Then |
one morning the tapestry curtains of /
her fortune-tellinE parIor parted to /
admit none other than the sancti- |
m0nious J. b Dollings. Dollings had /
closed UP his undertaking establish
ment in Exeter.
Captain Won Papen regrets the de-
lay in complying with your teIe-
grGphed request" DolIings assured /
the baroness, who showed a tendency l
70 be a little angered over the time
lost Canada was engaging his at
tentfon to such an extent that he
could find no one to send here. but
now that I have arrived he
smiled an fngratiating smile. and the
frown on the face OF the baroness
faded a little, II am ready for any
thing your highness may suggest"
1T is WELL" she answered briefly;
we will lose no more time"
Won Lertz and Mime. stephan
During the week the ring OF con-
sptators was completed by the ar
rival of Airoe- Stephan and Won Lertz
in Richmond, upon orders from Won
Papen that they be at hand and ready
TO assist m operations in case they
were needed in bringing the plot for
the destruction of Hopeweu to a sue
cessful climax
Dixie Mason. returning to her