Evening star., 1928-09-23
HE WAS HANDED A REVOLVER. YOU" REDL SAID
"COOD NIGHT. GENTLEMEN"

written by him. They were all in manu-
script and were not in the least for gen.
eral circulation. They were manuals ON
how to trap foreign spies; and how to
keep from being trapped while spying
on foreign soil.
Then he took his new and lofty place
in the war college of Austria Hungary.
WE come now to the year before
w the worldwide explosion of 1914.
The studies in the various European war
colleges were ripening with their dev-
astating projects.
The atmosphere of Europe, as the
world learned only too Soon-and too
late-was as dangerous as vast store
house of dynamite. A spark, revolver
shot would set the whole thing off.
In Vienna the secret service was
watching the mails. The postal au-
thoritieS we're told that the government
was on the lookout for great orgari-
zation of smugglers.
This was the reason given why secret
service men opened private letters in the
general post office, read them. and seal
Ing them up again let the mail proceed.
What was really going on was hunt
One day the secret service men opened
an envelope addressed rather oddly
Opera Ball, Is,
PoSte ReStante,
General Post Office,
Vienna.
Inside was found about $4,000 in Aus
trian kronen-and not word OF eXp!a-
nation.
The postmark was Eydtkuhnen, in
East Prussia, tiny town on the Russian
frontier. Eydtkuhnen! Known to tic
secret service as the corridor most ia
vored by spies of half dozen countries
for passing from one country to another.
The envelope was sealed up again and
put back in its place to await its owner.
An electrician was called. Under the
ledge over which the letter would he
handed by the postal clerk to the pe--
son who should call for Opera Ball, IS"
push button was installed. From it a
wire led across the street to branch
police station ir the Fleischmarkt.
1.-The moment the letter is called for, -
the postal clerk was instructed, push
this button and be as slow as you can
in handing over the letter"
In the police station two secret service
detectives were assigned to do nothing
but wait for the newly installed electric
bell to ring.
They waited. They waited week, two
weeks, three, a month. Not ring from
the post Office. April passed. May was
almost gone Still not sound. And
there in the post Office still lay un-
claimed an envelope with $4,000 in 1t.
Had news of the trap leaked out?
On the eighty third day of waiting
one of the secret service men was negli-
gent enough to go out for cup of cof-
fee several doors from the station house.
The other was also out of the room
washing his hands in the corridor.
But to his ears came sound that
shocked him. The little electric bell was
ringing.
Dashing back into the room to make
sure, he Snatched up his coat and hat
and started for the general delivery
window of the post office. But he made
a slight detour to call out to his partner
at the cafe.
Both hurried breathlessly to see who
had called for Opera Ball, 13. They
found no one but the clerk at the
window.
You've missed your mani" exclaimed
the clerk. "He left by that door about
half minute ago."
The detectives rushed to the street
just in time to see taxi turn the
corner. And not another taxi in sight!
The two men looked at each other
in dismay. Assigned to such a simple
task. with so much depending on 1t,
they had bungled and failed!
The fact that they had caught the
number on the taxis license plate
cheered them but little. The fox would
know enough to double on his trail at
the first convenient corner. What
! would Col Redl have said to such
| bungling What rotten luckl
But it turned out that the two men
had little reason to complain OF their
| luck that day. AS one of them later
expressed it when / talked to him in
| Innsbruck, I'VE had hunters luck that
| day-Jagergluck"
For 20 minutes later, taxi rolled by
them and there on the license plate
was the number they had noted.
They hailed the taxi. Il saw you
driving by with my brother-in-law 20
minutes ago." said one Of the detectives
to the driver. Where did you take
him?"
"To the Kaiserhof Cafe" the driver
said
Take us there"
n II X X
| ON the way to the Kaiserhof the
~ two men searched the taxi. They
were products of Redls system of train
| ing detectives, and though they had
| little reason to hope for results in this
| case, they burrowed between the cush-
] ions of the taxi, largely from force OF
habit, the habit of minute search.