The Washington times., 1918-12-23

he win conduct you back 10 ne
frontier. wish you clearly TO
understand that the lteutsnant =
responsible for seeing these ordeFs
carried out. ami will use all means
to that end. Have made myself
cIearF'
The old mans manner was inds-
scribably. threatening. y
"This u the. machine We are out
to smash. ~ had said TO myself
when I saw him aavaging his serv-
ant in the hall and ] repeated The
phrase 70 myself now. But to the
general I said: Perfectly, Your
Exceilencyr
Then let Us 80 to dinner said
the general.
It was nightmare meal. A faded
and shrunken female, to whom /
was NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. kind 81 rela-
tive who kept house for the gen
eral. suppoSed--was the only other
person present She never opened
her lips save. with eyes glazed
with terror. to give some whisperea
instruction to the orderly anent tia
generals food or wine. We dined
In . depressing room WIKI .defk
brown wallpaper decorated with
dusty stays antlers, an euormcafs
green-tiled stove DOMINATING every
thing The general and his son ars
solidly through the-courses white
the lady pecked furitlvely Al her
plate As for myself could NOS
eat for sheer fright. Every nert8
IN my body was vibrating at the
thought OF the evening before me.
II I could not avoid the interview.
! was resolutely determined to give
Master Won Boden the slip rati.fT
than return to the frontier empeyz
handed. had not braVed all thoss
perils to be packed off home with
out. at least, making an attempt 70
find Francis. Besides, I meant II
could to get the other half o.
that document
: There was some quite exceisent
Rhine wine. and I drank plenty nf
It. So did the general, with The
result that, when the veins start
ing purple from his temples pm
claimed that he had eaten to .epls-
ton. his temper seemed to nave i'm
Proved He unbent sufficiently 10
present me with quite the Worat
cigar I have ever smoked.
! smoked Il in silence WhifZ
father and son talked shop. Tha
female had faded away. Both men.
found 70 my. surprise, were furioos
and bitter opponentsof Hindsn6uri1
a. i have since learned most OF the
old school Of the Prussian amy are.
They spoke lite OF England: their
thoughts seemed to be eentered on
Russia as the arch-enemy.s Thar1
PINNED their Faith On FaikenhAynt
and Mackensen- They had no wofdsi
strong enough In their dsuncia-
ton Of Hindenburg, whom they al
ways referred to As the Drunk
ard e-der Saufer." Nor were
they sparing OF criticism OF what
they called the Kaiser's weakness
In letting him rise TO power.
The humming OF q car outside
broke up our gathering. Rememb2r-
ing that was but humble servant
before this great military luminary.
thanked the general with due
serViiity for his hospitality. Then
the count and ! went out to the ear
and presently drove forth into the
night
We entered Berlin from the west.
a. It seemed to me. but thea struck
on In q southerly direction and were
soon in the commercial quarter OF
the city. Then I caught q glimpse
OF lamps reflected In water. and the
next moment the car had STOPPED
on q bridge over q canal or river.
Ny companion sprang out and hur-,
rted me to q small gate In an iron
railing enclosing q vast edifice loom
ing black In the night. while the
car moved on into the darkness.
.
yards from II was small. slender
tower with q pointed roof Jutttng
out from the corner OF the building.
In the tower was q door which
yielded easily to my eompanlon's
vigorous push as q clock somewhere
within the building beat q double
ten.
The door led into . little vestI-
bule brilltantly lit with slectrie
light There . man vas waiting, .
nne, outstanding bearded fellow b
q kind OF green hunting costume
$50. Payer!" said the young M
Ian. Here Is the gentleman.
shall be at the west entrance aftsR-
wards. You will bring him down
to the car"
"JawohL Herr Graft" answered
the man In green. and the lieutenant
vanished through the door into ths
night
A terrifying. an incredible sus-
piscion that had overwhelmed me
I stepped out OF the ear
now came surging through my brain.
That vast, black edifice. that slender
tower at the corner-did ! not
know them
Mechanically. I followed the man
In green. Ny suspicious deepened
with every step. In q little. they
became certainty. Up a shallow and
stair, along q long and
broad corridor, hung with rich
tapestries. the polished parquet glis-
tening family in the dim light.
splendid suites OF gilded
apartments with old pictures and
splendid furniture here 4
lackey with powdered hair yawninK
on a landing. there q sentry in field
grey immobile before a door
/ was in the Berlin Schloss.
The castle seemed to sleep. A
hushed silence lay over all Every
where lights were dim. staircasss
wound down into emptiness. coFri-
doris stretched away into dusky soli-
tude Now and then an attendant
in evening dress tiptoed past US or
an officer vanished round a corner,
save for q faint elink
Of spurs.
Thus We travsrsed. as Il seemed
to me, miles of silence and OF twi-
light, and all the time my blood
hammered at my temples and my
throat grew dry as I thought OF
the ordeal that stood before me. To