Evening star., 1928-10-21
IRON Chanceos Great Spy Chief Commanded Force of 10000

the disposition Of the French troops
and what food and war material were
available for the invader.
But once cloSeted with the Prussian
inquisitors, the peasant" made his re-
port without the least coercion, for
while the beating he had received in
public was genuine, the need for 1t was
not, except to fool the French.
Meanwhile through the town chalk
ed crosses and other symbols mysteri-
ously appeared on various doors. One
mark meant suitable quarters for Of
ficers; another, that provisions were
hidden there by the French; third
showed where horses could be stabbed;
fourth how many soldiers the house
could accommodate.
Hastily the French threw their armies
together and tried to stem the advance.
But battle after battle went to the
PruSsians.
Meanwhile Stieber was in his ele-
ment. The machine he had set up on
French soil had paved the way with
a success indeed machinelike. And now,
like some motor-driven harvester of to-
day. 1t was delivering its SheaveS OF
information to the general staf--in-
formation that worked as much havoc
as If Stieber's 10000 we're armed with
guns and cannon.
n Il
TN a hut at Falquemont one night
Bismarck was host to his generals,
and Stieber was present. The mood
was an exultant one. Bismarck himself
was serving coffee to his guests and
was uttering prophecies as precise as
military commands.
We'll take AlSace and Lorraine and
not return them," he said
''Our army is invincible" exclaimed
jubilantly an officer on the headquarters
staff.
Stieber was the only one who was
not enjoying his evening. The cause
for his discomfort went as far back
as the time when his spies of the
interior" had made Stieber many pow
erful enemies. Some of them were
/ high in military councils. And the more
indispensable the spy master came to
Bismarck the more these military men
Snubbed him.
From social feud there developed
jealousy on the part of the military men
of Stieber's influence with Bismarck
Then, too, there was the old-faShioned
contempt the soldier who fights In the
open feels for the spy.
Stieber had long smarted under this.
And now here was an officer whose
family had snubbed Stieber, exclaim-
ing, "Our army is invincible!"
Stieber boiled over
'You should say our armiesl For
my army preceded yours by many
months. Make no mistake about this
my army prepared victory for you as
surely as if with cannon!'
His outbreak was met with an Icy
silence in the room.
The feud placed Bismarck In a diff
ficult position. 1t would be useless to
try to compel peace between his es-
pionage and military forces; even an
iron chancellor cannot force the human
heart to feel according to his bidding.
But peace there had to be.
If Bismarck should take the side Of
his generals Stieber would lose heart;
If he gratified Stieber the generals
would sulk. Whereupon Bismarck
handled the situation with one of those
touches Of deftness which he used as
| effectively as his fist of mail.
He held his tray Of coffee cups with
his right hand. Then he strobe over
to Stieber and held out his left hand.
His eyes said all that stieber would
have liked to hear in words. So the
spy master grasped Bismarck's hand
with both his.
And the military men noticed that
it was the left hand Bismarck gave
St1eber: and they derived therefrom
what Bismarck meant to convey to
them and hide from Stieber. And
Stieber, the hawk-eyed, in his hunger
ior Bismarck's handclasp, for once was
blind.
On rolled the ruthless Prussian ad-
vance until at Sedan the backbone of
French resistance broke.
In IL QdVS We are CiIn nt Uar~oiI1ae
/ Stieber said to Zsrnicki at the end Of
august There in the palace Of the
BourbonS We will crown our King of
Prussia as the Emperor of Germany.
Go and prepare Versailles for us!"
| Zernlcd and Kaltenbach went. Be.
tween them and their network of spies
al over France word was flashed to
tne spies In the departments Of
| Meurthe, Mcselle. Eaut-3llin. Jura,
Vosges. Doubs, Ardennes, Haute-Saone
and Nord.
Report at Versailles!"
| Three thousand men and women
| Hooked into. the city of the royal palace
of the Bourbons.
| And to the hour at the end of IL
| days down the road to Versailles came
the triumphant army OF the King and
Bismarck at its head Along the road
hundreds Of men and women frantically
"S@SN1AANA bAAO EIOjCSSlDl. 1U Tie WOTIQ
! at large 1t would seem they were
French; but they were Stieber's agents.
THROUGH the city went the con-
querors, and thousands of French
men apparently cheered the spectacle.
It Is reliably reported that many of
these were really French, each hired
Dy Stieber at franc or two per day
to stage the welcome"
10 what an extent the City Of YER
Sallies was enmeshed in espionage may
pc gauged by this incident. Stieber
asked zernicki one day:
What did the mayor do this morn
ing?" ''''-' '''''
Zernicki took slip out of his port
folio and read in the monotone O., q
sergeant reporting to his captain:
M. Rameau, the mayor, reached his
once at 10 minutes past 8. He double
locked his doors. In his private office
ne read his mail. Then he inter-
viewed" Followed list Of mu-
nicipal councillors. "They said" A
verbatim report Of conversation.
Here are copies of the letters he an
sWered and the replies thereto. His
lunch consisted of veal outlets, salad
and piece of cheese"
The dark hour for French pride was
the hour In which the King Of Prussia
was crowned Emperor Of Germany In
the palace where so many French
triumphs had been celebrated.
With the coronation went the loss
OF AlSace and Lorraine to France
loss regained only in the World War
so years later
In January, after the coronation,
Jules Favre was sent to Versailles to
draw up treaty with Bismarck. The
chancellor wanted to know what in
structions Favre carried in his portfolio.
Find out" he said to Stieber.
When Favre got of his train at