The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-06
A Woman on My Track.

A Woman on My Track.
 Here and there beneath gloomy
 lamps a few Bosaians would be gath
 cred together to speak in hushed
 whispers of the awesome events of
 the day. There were groups of Aus
 tr3an soldiers everywhere, and the po-
 lice had reappeared- The visit of the Arohdulne Ferdinand was naturally
 attended in Bosnia by the journalists of many countries, and of those some
 have no doubt whatever, were also
 spies To the fact that one of them "a woman upon the staff of a Vien-
 na paper-detected me in the act of
 leaving my friend the diplomatist's
 apartments, I shall always attribute
 the exciting Journey which I was to make before my precious despatch
 could be delivered to Lord -
 The first intimation had that any
 thing was wrong was the curious fact
 that quite 8 number of people seemed inqutsihve about me directly the rail-
 way journey had begun. Those who
 have travelled from Serajevo to tn
 Adriattc will rem enlber that you
 by a, wonderful narrow gauge railway to the city of Mostar, which is the capital of Herzegovina Thence it is but an hours run to the sea. The
 carriages are ridicuIously small, and the train stops with an irritating fre- quency.
 The lady, I may say, was well ia vored, and would have been remark
 able in any company. She was one
 of those exceedingly fair Austrian
 women who at first glance almost
 suggest the Circa.ssian, while her
 dress obviously had come from Paris.
 To help the deception of French ex- traction, she began to talk to me in that language with great fluency, and as it is my business to speak it with | some ease, was able to say that she had hardly a trace of accent, and might have claired with some sue cess to be a real Parisienne.
 Trying to F1irt.
 This woman was obviously a, spy, but she was not a clever spy. Her ob- ject was practically declared in her conversation She was trying to get
 up o quick filtration which would end in more or less riotous feasting al
 Mostar, and thence should take us as boon companions on board the Aus
 trian Lloyd steamer. A novice, per haps. would given himself away at
 this interesting stage, either by a com
 plete submission to the lady's pro-
 posals, or by such a rejection of them
 as might have been suspicious
 Tor myself. T divined the situation | in a flash. The dipIomatist, whose
 rooms I had visited, was a. man
 greatly feared by the Austrian Gov
 ernment for his sagacity, and the fact that had been in communica-
 ton with him on the eve of my de-
 parture had aroused the suspicion of
 the Secret Service. This woman had
 been sent to follow me, and her bus
 mess was to find out what carried
 and to possess herself of the docu- msnts if she could.
 A tart rejoinder of her f1ippancies would have convinced her that I had something to conceal. An immediate happy-go-1ucky willingness might have led her to fear that I was more | dangerous than she supposed 8 practised hand and a master of pre- l tence- So T just fell, as far as I | could, into the habit of a travelling | gentleman who has seen something of l the world took her jokes with a laugh made idle responses to her questions, 1 and generally tried to appear as big a fool as possible. She asked me to what hotel I was going in Mostar, and l immediately stated my destination correctly. Then, when we had ex- 1 hausted the comnoner topics, I sug- gested that we should sleep, and suit l ing the action to the word, I stretch l ed myself upon the seat and closed
 my eyes.
 Really, it was curious to see the | way in which these two acted during 1 the hour which followed. The dipIo-
 matists letter, may say, had been | hidden in the double lining of my | coat sleeve, and l was not at all sure | that they could not discover it if I I slept. But I had not intended to | sleep. and, half turning on my back ! to the woman, so poised my head i that l could watch her and the man. Conspirators.
 l For a fell half-hour, I suppose, not
 a sign passed between them. Then he | pretended to embarass her by his ef- | fcrts to rest. and said, Pardon.
 Mada me-" leaning towards her as he l>spoke. In that instant a scrap of | paper passed from one to the other. | What it was, I shall never know: | but the woman immediately settled 1 down to read the newspaper, and l looking over the top of it. she was | obviously examining with a critical | eye such of my baggage a was in the : rack. From that her hard gaze rass- | ed to the clothes I was wearing T. 1 was a terribly hot night, and I had hung a dust-coat over the rail by the window. She looked at 1t for a little
 while with fond eyes. and then seem
 ed to reject it as hopeless.
 The man himself. meanwhile, was