Evening star., 1928-09-23

They found the sheath of pocket
knife, a little sack of gray suede.
But at the Kaiserhof Cafe they found
no one but the walters. And no one
had come there within an hour and
half.
Again the detectives bewailed their
luck and again luck favored them.
| Near the cafe was taxi rank. An old
man who got small coins for opening
carriage doors remembered that gen.
! t'aman had taken a taxi there some 2O
minutes before and Hotel Klomser was
where the gentleman told the taxi
driver to take him.
To the Hotel Klomser, therefore, went
tho two detectives.
One of them sat down at table OF
periodicals near the door and pretended
| to read. The other approached the
| dienitary who presideS at the entrance
| to every Continental hotel, the porter.
Had any one arrived at the hotel
within the half hour? asked the de-
| tective.
Eyes, several people" replied the
porter. 1.-The couple for room 5, Herr
Womser of No. IL and the young lady
| in No. 2. oh, yes, Col. Redl also ar
rived. He has his usual room, No. l."
do you mean the Col. Redl?" one
| of the detectives asked.
"Col. Redl of Prague is all know OF
! him"
The detective almost blushed as he
| thought again of what Col. Redl would
say if he learned how he and his part
ner had blundered that day.
He stopped and pretended to pick
| something up from the floor.
"Some one seems to have lost this
| little pocket knife sheath" he said,
| ~, To Y11iOhf
whose it isl
Then the detective leisurely strolled
out of the motel and crossing the street
gave himself over to an idle study of
the weather.
His partner inside seemed to be AS
idly engrossed in a copy OF Simpllcls-
simuss, smiling at what he read.
From the interior of the hotel dap
perly dressed gentleman strolled over to
the portier's desk and laid down the
key to No /. The PORTER touched his
gold-braided cap.
Pardon, colonel, but have you per-
haps lost this pocketknife sheath?" he
| asked.
The gentleman looked at it and took
it. "Yes, thanks, must have dropped
tt" There was only look OF idle
speculation as he began. His leisure, his
whole manner was that of man very
much at ease in this world.
| But suddenly the detective over the
top of his Simplicissimuss, saw the face
of the gentleman grow deathly white. :,
He remembered now where he had
lost that sheath--in the taXicab where
he had used his penknife in opening
the envelope he had called for at the
post office. Later, when in the second
cab, he took out his penknife again he
| ~ &INA chn
If now the PORTER gave 1t to hlm,
what did 1t all mean? Who was it knew
enough to bring the sheath to the Hotel
Klomser after such pains as he had
taken to throw possible Shadowers OH
his trail by changing to another CAB
near the Kaiserhof Cafe?
** X y
LIS posture perhaps little too still
for one who was trying to appear
at ease, the gentleman strolled out OF
the hotel.
With the alertness of the born detec-
tive, he had noted the stranger reading
Simplicissimuss He would have Won
dered, had he noted the further fact
that the reader of the famous satirlcal
weekly had himself turned pale.
+; AS soon as the gentleman had lett
the hotel this detective hurried to the
telephone booth and tightly closed the
door.
"l2334Os!"
He was given his telephone number
| quickly, for it was that Of the Kund-
schafts-Stelle.
! Capt. Ronge, successor to Col. Redl,
himself answered the telephone. What
| he heard made him snap.
I "Blockhead! Do you realize Wnat
| you are trying to make me believer
Nevertheless, 1t was Capt Ronge NM
self who rushed in a taxi to the gen.
eral poStoffice. Here he secured the
receipt signed by the man to whom had
been delivered the envelope marked
Opera Ball, 49,"
The name signed was unknown to
Capt. Ronge. That didn't matter; a
false name was to be expected. Back
to the Kundschafts- Stelle Capt. Ronge
drove.
From a we'll hidden file ne took down
several handsomely bound little books
in manuScript-the books written IN
Col Redl's own hand.
Capt. Ronge opened one Of them en-
titled Organization der AuSkund-
schaftung fremder Militarverhaltnisse
und die Abwehr fremder Spionage i'm
Inlande."
On leaf Of this book telling how
to guard Austro- Hungarian military
secrets and at the same time ferret the
secrets Of other war colleges. Capt.