Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1918-01-19
Curiosity Aroused by Actions OF
Foreign Gentleman on Aber-
deem Express.
DOES SOME SWIFT THINKING
Looking Stupid Is Her Speciality, and
When Officers Grab the Spy He
Looks at Old Lady
and Signs.

London.--1ale best spy story In a
long time comes from medical Off
GER, one of the big guns of his corps
and profession. 1t Is all about the
Aberdeen Express, one of the worlds
quickest long-distance runs. You leave
London after the theater, go to bed
In the train have a cup Of tea In bed
at Edinburgh, and breakfast in Aber-
deem, 600 miles from town. North
ward from Edinburgh there are stops
while on the Forth bridge, from
whence you look down onto the decks
Of first-class battleships, and at Dun
dee, and Montrose.
The old lady boarded the train Mt
Edinburgh and the porter showed her
into non-smoking compartment OF
the day coach. The other passenger
was foreign gentleman-of what ma
tionality 1t would be 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 anyone's first suspicion would
point to the old lady. She owned up
frankly that she enjoyed a gossip, and
found the foreign gentleman quite a
good fellow. AS to his nationality
the accent gave no clue. She pumped
him perseveringly.
A few stops from Edinburgh the
train stopped on the Forth bridge.
From the trains one looks down upon
Il naval base of first-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, and annoyed the old lady, who
also wanted to have look. More
over, she saw him go through a long
fumblng procedure which puzzled her
extremely. What on earth was he up
to? The only thing she saw was the
Inst swift movement which emptied
the bulgy part Of his overeoat. And
she caught the glimpse Of wing. Now
the whole thing was clear there must
have been message scrubbed rapidly
folded and made fast and then sud
den release of carrier pigeon.
The Old Ladys Speciality.
And then the foreigner flashed
round to see If the lady had noticed
anything. No, evidently not She
looked vacant, nodding and half
asleep.
"I 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-
Iayed the train so long. He expressed
noble sentiments concerning the allies
and contempt for Germany.
But as the train pulled into Dundee
tie 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 paper
for the foreign gentleman also
Halfway to the bookstall she met
porter. 1t would be natural to as,
him how long the train stopped.