The Washington times., 1918-12-16

not wait till the shops opened
without missing the train for Ger
many.
paid my bill and drove on to
the Central Station through the
dark streets with my two bags.
The clocks were striking 8 as /
entered under the great glass doms
Of the station hall.
went straight to the booking Of
fce, and bought n hrst-class ticket.
single, to Berlin. One never knows
what may happen, and had sew
eral things to do before the train
went.
The bookstaI was just opening.
I purchased a soyereigR's worth OF
books and magazines, BnxIIsh.
French and German, and erammsd
them, Into the bag 4 had procured
at the cafe. Thus laden, I ad-
journed to, the station buffet
There L set about sexeeutinr a
scheme ! had evolved for leaving
the document which Semlin had
brought from England Ia a place OF
safety. whence II could be recov-
cred without difficulty, should any
thing happen to me. knew no. one
in Holland. save Dicky. andfcould
not send him the document. for
did not trust the post For the
same reason would not port
the document home 70 my
bank in England; besides. I knew
no one could register letters
until s o'clock. by which hour
honsd to be well on my way int
Germany
No. my bag. conveniently weight
mil ~
station cioal<room, should be- INV
safe. The comparative security 81
station cloak rooms as safe de-
posits has long been recognized. By
Jewel thieves and the like. ana this
Ilt ans of leaving my document be-
hiad in safety seemed to me to be
better than any other could think
OF
So I dived into my bag and from
the piles OF literature u CONTAINED
picked up book at random. 1t was
a German brochure, eGotf strafe
England" by Prof. DR.. Hugo Biseh-
of. OF the University of Gottineen.
The irony OF the thing appealed to
my sense OF humor $50 be itFs
said. 'The worthy professors full
limitations against my country shall
have the honor of harborinr the
a. cument which Is. apparently. Of
such value to his countryp And I
tucked the little canvas case away
inside the pages OF the pamphlet,
stuck the pamphlet deep down
bag.
Seeing its harmless appearane.
the cloakroorn receipt-I caIcuIat-
ed-would. unlike Sem1in's docu-
nient, attract no attention II. by
any mischance. II fell into wrong
hands en- route. / therefore did not
scruple to commit II to the post.
Before taking my bag OF books to
the cloak room I wrote two lat
ters. Both were to Ashcroft-
Ashcroft OF the foreign office. whs
got me my passport and permit to
come to Rotterdam. Herbert Ash
croft and I were old friends. I
addressed the envelopes to his pri-
Vate house in London. The postal
censor, knew, keen though he
always is after Ntters from ueu-
trail countries, would leave old Her
bert's correspondence alone.
The first letter was brief. Dear
Herbert" I wrote. would you
mind looking after the enclosed un-
I'll you hear from me again? Filthy
weather here. Yours d. D." This
letter was destined to contain the
cloak-room receipt. To conceal the
Importance OF ap enclosure, II Is al
ways a good dodge to send the COW
ertng letter under separate cover.
Dear Herbert" I said in my
second letter, "If you don't hear
from me within two months OF this
date regarding the enclosure you
viii have already received, please
send some one, or, preferably. 80
yourself and collect my luggage At
the cloakroom OF the Rotterdam
Central Station. I know how busy
you always are. Therefore YOU win
understand my reasons for making
this inordinate olaim upon your
time. Yours, d. o." And. by way
OF clue, added. inconsequently
enough: "Gott strafs Euglandw
1 chuckled inwardly at the
thought OF Heroert's face on re-
ceiving this preposterous demand
that he should abandon his dusty
desk in Downing street and betakO
himself across the North Sea to
fetch my luggage. But he'd 60 an
right knew my Herbert, duh
and dry and conventional, but .
most faithful friend.
l called porter at the entrance
" Nho OuhVl anu uAnulnB MIN SeIH-
Inns bag and overcoat, bade him
hnd me a first-class carriage in
the Berlin train when it arrived
I would meet him on the platform.
Then, at the cloakroom opposite. I
gave In my bag OF books. put the
receipt in the first letter and post
ed II in the letter box within the
station. / went out into the streets
with tho second letter and posted 1t
in letter box let into the wall OF
a tobacconist's shop in a quiet
street few turnings away. By
this arrangement reckoned Her
bert would get the letter with the
receipt before the covering letter
arrived.
Returning to the railway station
noticed kind OF slop shop which.
despite the early hour. was already
open. Afat Jew in hi sshirt sleeve1.
his thumbs IN his waistcoat pock-
etc, stood at the entrance framed
in hanging overcoats and hats and
boots. l had no umbrella, and It
struck me that a waterproof OF
some kind might not be a bad ad-
dition TO my extremely scanty
wardrobe. Moreover, reflected
that with the rubber shortage rain
coats must be at a premium in Ger
many. 4
So I followed the bow ing son of
Shem into his dark and dirty shop
and emerged presently wearing an
appalling ugly green macintosh
reeSing hideousi- Of rubber. Il was