The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-19
(An American Governess in the Ex-
 Kaiserins Household)

Below we publish a remarkable story of successive plots to aSsas- sinate the Ex-Kaiserin, who is at present residing in Il little vil- 1age of Idnstedt, not far from the Neiu Palais at Potsdam. Already the favorite friend of the IEx- Empress, the beautiful Countess von Rantzau, has been done to death. her headless body being discovered recently in the Rhine. The ex-Kaisertn lives in terror of her life because of the tntrigues and machinationS of desperate circle of revolutionaries, known 10 the Berlin police as, '@The Scar let Mask.' who are waiting an opportunity to wipe out the Ex- Kaiserin, her children and those about her.)
 (1Zhis amazing story is told by Miss Brenda Alina Harrington, an American governess in the Ex- kaiserin's household, who is now in London awaiting the next boat to America.)
 The condition of Germany today Is positively appalling. The popula- ton Is. in the grip of a gigantic an- archistic movement, which~is sweep | Ing westward at an alarming rate. Beyond these observations I have no desire to touch the political side. What I want to make public is the plot which is afoot to wipe out the German ex-royal family. l have just returned from Linstedt, where the German ex-E,m press is at present dragging out a wretched d existence. I had long talk with the ex-Kaiserin, in whose household have been for several years in the capacity of 8 governess. The plight of this woman, shorn of | her throne is pitiable. She has aged beyond recognition in recent months, l and today her features are haggard and care worn, and she lives in terror of her life. The stateliness and maj esty which made her such a digni- fled and majestic figure at the Court in days which are now memory gone, and the Ex-kaiserin is bent with grief and a broken heart It was in response to an urgent
 letter that I paid my farewell visit
 to the Ex-Kaiserin at Linstedt, the
 little village which in happier times
 was the summer residence of the Im-
 perial family. .- ..-..-.--
 Life a Horrible Nightmare
 Hehe is the letter written to me
 at the end of February
 My dear Miss Tarkington,
 I am grateful for your kind wishes
 and to. have this fresh proof of your
 affection and loyalty.
 My heart Is too full too heavy
 to write you at any length.
 I am unutterably- miserable at this
 time. The most sinister rumors reach
 me daily, accompanied by all anony-
 nous correspondence containing all
 kinds of dreadful threats and penal
 ties.
 I had hoped to spend the few re-
 maining years of my life in peace and
 quiet, but the same hands which put
 Czar Nicholas and his family to death
 are ready when an opportunity of
 fers to remove me and mine also
 My life, indeed, is a horrible night
 mare. The awful tidings and warn
 ings which come to me almost every
 hour of the day have completely
 shattered my always poor nervous
 system.
 I have not forgotten Russia, and something within me seems to tell me ed to a. like fate.
 I have had great news from Hol- land. The ex-Emperor is in low health unable to rest sleep. One does not know what the mor- row may bring forth I am prepar- ed for anything.
 I would like to see you before your departure for America. With every assurance of my deep regard,
 Sincerely yours, Victoria I. R.
 Conspiracy Which She Feels Will End Her Days. On receipt of this letter I hurried to Linstedt, and the ex-kaiserin re- ceived me in her boudoir. The ex-Kaiserin greeted me warm 1y, but, the moment our eyes met, I felt was in the presence of a woman
 who was visibly wasting away and l unable to survive the events lead ing up to and following her exile. Always a bright conversationaIfst the ex-Empress was now dull, depres- sing and not a shred of her former self.
 1T am so happy your happy per- son is with me-" she said sadly, be cause it would hurt me had I not had the pleasure of a. final interview be- fore you leave Germany. Do sit down. | as there are many things I want you to know" The ex-Kaiserin then unburdened her soul to me and told me of the conspiracy which she fears will end her days
 Miss Tarkington,'' she began in emotional terror. you cannot ima.- | zine the ordeal through which I have passed during the last fourteen l m onths. had hoped that the ex- | Kaiser's abdication into Holland | would ease matters in Berlin, but things have gone from bad to worse
 As told you in my letter, the dark 1 est stories reach me every day indeed, | seldom an hour passes that someone does not bring tidings of a fresh plot. l Countess Done to Death. '-The tragic death of Countess von
 Rantzau shocked me deeply. I couid
 not believe the awful news of her | murder. The assassins seemed to have | lured her to her doom, and then. having stabbed her to death, weighted l the body with lead and threw it into | the Rhine. They hoped it would sink ! to the bottom of the river and that | the fate of the Countess. who, as you | know, was one of my most intimate friends, would never be discovered.
 The plight, however, was discovered | by the police. when they found the | body in the sack two days later near