The Washington times., 1938-01-27


face the speaker please, madam,
the girl-very distracted and OBJ
viously Engllsh-continued, ''it i:
my great-aunt, Fidelia. She is
travelling to Switzerland, and there
were some friends of ours who
promised to look after her, but
they have failed us at the last
minute, and I do not know what tc
DO. She wrung her hands anc
looked al me pleadingly.
Meanwhile. formidable figure
loomed behind her: something
really choice in early Victorian
spinsters, as Captain Serisay said
later. ShH was tall and STOPPING
with a long horse face and pro
truding teeth.
She sported a lorgnette and car
ried a tapestry bag of the genus
"cabas." Her garments were rich
and she led fIiSky fox terrier on
a silver chain.
took in the picture and pre-.
pared to say that l disclaimed all
response oility for great-aunt Fl
della when that lady joined in the
conversation:
You don't look as Tightly as all
these present-day young women
my deah, she draWled in a throaty
voice, pointing bony finger at
me. That's quite a sensible trav.
cling outfit you have on. Now,
when I was girl :"
"Oh, please, please, great-aunt
let me explain to the lady" the
girl pleaded distractedly. And she
explained again, at some length
adding that great-aunt did not
know a word of French, and was,
moreover Cthis in a lowered voice.
rather difficult to handle, being
terribly self-wil!ed; besides, there
was Blinky, the dog, and great
aunt would insist on getting down
at every station to give him a run
and a drink. =.
Jane, my girl, you are wasting
your BREATH" the old lady rumbled.
with a vicious glance at me, "as if
a modern young woman would
ever bother herself with an old
lady, on a journey! Now, when
was a girl, I was taught to respect
my elders . =. Faugh!" She Snorted.
1t was, I suppose, foregole
conclusion that I should eventu-
ally agree to look after great-aunt
as far as Geneva and deliver her
safely into the hands of the rela-
tives who we're to receive her J.. .
Great-aunt's gibes and contempt
uous innuendoes did the trick, not
only with me, but with my two
companions, who were obviously
impressed by the formidable Eng.
uShness" of her.
Well look after the old goat,
never fear" Captain Serisav whiS-
pered to me, "and after all she's
English, an ally, we can't do less.
] bet you she sleeps all the way"
But she did not. She spread her
self all over our compartment, with
her rugs, hot-water bottles, travel
ing pillows and sundry provisions
and stimulantS. She produced a
flask of brandy and slipped from
it, complaining of "a funny, sink
ing feeling. She told US endless
stories about "deah Mamma" and
"deah Papa" And intermingled
with it all. was a constant denun-
citation of the manners and morals
Of our generation.
My two companions had but
little English, so that the task of
entertaining Great-aunt Fidelia
fell mostly to me. The two officers
bore up nobly under the strain
and became somewhat reconciled
to our strange companions liveli-
ness, when, sometime in the mid
die of the night, she produced a
spiritlamp, a tea-kettle and vari-
Gus paraphernalia, unpacked a
large pate de foie gras, soft rolls,
q cold chicken and a bottle of
champagne, and invited us to "a
0GO1C SL4dNhS lily NCd4A.
Finally, replete with food, great
aunt disposed herself on the whole
Of one seat, leaving the other to
the three of us, gave us minute
instructions how to take out "deah
little Binky" at every stop and
said: goodnight" We were
frankly worn out, but there were
some questions to discuss.
GERMAN SPY
50 we talked, in cautious WhiS-
pers and in rapid French, secure
In the knowledge that great-aunt
did not understand word of our
language.
We had been on a special assign
ment in provincial France and we
had failed E. 1t was a weird story
we had tried to unravel; six
months earlier. the frontier serv
Zee. in Annemasse, had made
new recruit, a brilliant daredevil
Of AlSatian parentage. who had eS-
capped from Germany and had
put his knowledge and skill at the
service of France. 1t had taken III
six months to discover that the
brilliant new agent was none
other than Haup tman Won
Schreck. an almost legendary fig
ure in the German secret service
and that he had played with us
deftly extracting information and
money, during all these months
When the discovery came, Vor
Schreck was actually in France
but ere the net could close, had
a,naaiannd irnfn thin q ir