RASPUTIN AND THE KAISER
THE secret visit of Rasputin to Berlin and his second audience with the
Kaiser were stoutly denied at the time, but as I accompanied the "saint"
upon his adventurous journey I am in a position to know the exact facts.
He, dressed as a Dutch pastor, and calling himself Pastor van Meuwen, and
I, calling myself Koster, arrived at a small quiet hotel called the
Westfälischer-Hof, in the Neustadische-strasse, on the north of the
Linden. We had travelled by way of Helsingfors, Stockholm, and Hamburg,
Rasputin being bearer of letters from the Tsaritza to the Kaiser and
Kaiserin, assuring them of her continued good wishes and her efforts to
secure a German conquest.
Hardly had we been in the rather dismal hotel an hour when a waiter
introduced into our private sitting-room, where I stood alone, a tall,
dark, middle-aged man, who clicked his heels as he bowed elegantly before
me.
Smiling, and without uttering a word, my visitor handed me half of a
plain visiting-card that had been roughly torn across, after I had
scribbled my signature across the back. From my cigarette-case I took the
other half, and placing them together, ascertained that they fitted. The
torn portion that the Baron von Hausen--for that was his name, I
learnt--had handed to me had been conveyed to Berlin by Hardt a month
before, in order that we might repose confidence in any person who called
upon us and bore it as the credential of the Königgrätzerstrasse.
My visitor was a pleasant, shrewd-eyed man, well dressed and wearing a
fine diamond in his black cravat, who, when he had seated himself at my
invitation, glanced to see if the door was closed, and then exclaimed:
"Well, Herr Koster, I trust that the Father and yourself have had a
comfortable journey."
"Quite," I replied. "But, of course, it is a very roundabout route."
"I expected you two days ago," said the baron, who at that moment rose at
the entry of Rasputin and greeted him.
The appearance of the monk in Berlin was very different from the figure
he presented in Petrograd. His hair and beard had been trimmed, he had
washed, and in his clerical garb he looked a typical Dutch pastor.
I introduced the pair, whereupon the baron said:
"His Majesty the Emperor wishes you to come to Potsdam at four o'clock
to-morrow afternoon. You are to meet the Chancellor."
To this the monk agreed, saying in his halting German:
"It is not the first time I have been received by His Majesty. I shall
bring Féodor."
"As you wish. But I question if His Majesty will allow him to be present
at the audience."
"In that case, Baron, tell His Majesty that I shall not come," remarked
the "saint" bluntly. "His Majesty the Tsar permits the presence of my
secretary, therefore why should your Emperor object? Give him that
message," he said, adding: "I have little time to spare here in Berlin,
and am returning to Petrograd almost at once."
The Baron von Hausen demurred, but Rasputin insisted on his message being
given to the Kaiser.
Then, when our visitor had left, the monk helped himself to a stiff glass
of brandy, and laughing said:
"The only way to treat these Germans is with dignity, Féodor. I want you
to note all he says and translate the most important into Russian for
me. Why does Bethmann-Hollweg want to be present, I wonder?"
"To advise the Kaiser, no doubt."
"About what? I will deal with His Majesty himself, and nobody else," he
snapped.
Even while we were discussing the situation another caller came, a
German, also dressed as a pastor, who gave the name of Schwass. In a
moment Rasputin, recognising him, locked the door and, turning quickly,
asked in Russian:
"Well, how do things go? You are not suspected?"
"Not in the least," was the reply of the man, who had been an agent of
the Russian Secret Police, and who was now a spy living in Berlin under a
clerical guise.
"You have a letter for me, I believe, Father, from the Minister
Protopopoff, have you not?" he asked.
I unlocked the small attaché case and from among a number of other
letters which we had brought from Russia was one in a plain envelope
addressed to the Pastor Wilhelm Schwass.
The spy tore it open, read it through carefully three times, and then
placed it in the fire and watched until it was consumed. What the
instructions were we knew not. They were evidently unwelcome, for the
man's face went grey, and scarcely uttering another word he turned and
left us.
After dinner, which we took together in our sitting-room, we went out for
a walk in the Linden. Rasputin was eager to go to one or other of the
variety entertainments, but I dissuaded him from such an action, he being
in clerical attire.
"If you go you may arouse the curiosity of some stupid policeman, and
inquiries might be made concerning us. No, while in Berlin it will be
necessary for you to remain very quiet," I urged. "Remember, the baron
and certain of his friends are watching us."
So we idled along to the Café Bauer, where we spent an hour watching the
gay crowd, among whom were a number of convalescent officers with those
in the capital on leave from Flanders. Berlin life seemed quite
unchanged, and the war had not by any means checked the spirit of gaiety
in its "night life." There had been a successful attack upon the British
that day, and the "victory" over the hated English was upon everyone's
lips.
For another hour we wandered, noting the merriment and confidence in
conquest on every hand.
"Truly," declared Rasputin, "these Germans spread reports of their own
distress for propaganda purposes. Ah, they are indeed a great people,
with a great leader!"
I differed from him, for I have never had a liking for Germans. At heart
Rasputin had, I knew, no great liking either. He admired them and
assisted them because he was a born adventurer, and as the tool of the
Kaiser was well paid for his services, while at the same time he had
succeeded in placing himself in the position of autocrat over the Tsar
himself.
After an expensive supper at a small place near the Rosenthal Thor, where
two scantily-clad girls danced while the patrons ate, we retraced our
steps to the Neustadische-strasse.
On re-entering the hotel the hall-porter gave me a message asking me to
ring up Herr Weghinger at No. 2862, Potsdam.
This I did from our sitting-room, asking for Herr Weghinger.
"Yes," came the voice. "Are you Herr Koster?"
I replied in the affirmative, recognising the voice of Baron von Hausen,
who said:
"Will you please tell your friend that I have arranged for your visit
here, and that you will be welcomed. Be outside the French Embassy at
three o'clock, when a yellow car will drive up. Enter it, and you will be
brought here. I shall await you." And then he wished me good night.
The wire over which I had spoken was, I knew, one of the private ones to
the Neues Palais at Potsdam.
Rasputin had again triumphed. When I told him he laughed coarsely,
remarking:
"People are too apt to regard this Kaiser fellow as lord of the world. He
will never work his will upon Gregory. Nicholas tried, and failed. Let
William try, and he will discover that at least one man is his equal--and
more!"
On the following day at three o'clock we both stood upon the kerb in the
Pariser Platz, opposite the closed French Embassy, when suddenly from the
Sommerstrasse a big yellow car approached us and drew up. The driver, who
had evidently been given our descriptions, got down, saluted, and opened
the door for us. Then a minute later we were on our way out of Berlin on
the Potsdam road. The papers that day had reported that the Emperor was
in Brussels, but such misleading statements are permissible in war.
When we had come down the hill to the Havel and passed over the Glienicke
Bridge, we sped through the pleasant town of Potsdam, until at last we
entered the great Sanssouci Park, driving past the fountains straight up
the tree-lined Hauptweg till we pulled up before the private door of the
palace, that used by the Imperial family.
The baron, in uniform and all smiles, was there to meet us, as he had
promised.
"I had a difficulty with the Emperor," he whispered to me. "But as the
Father insists, His Majesty has given way."
Rasputin overheard his words, and I saw upon his bearded lips a sinister
smile.
Through rooms with painted ceilings we were conducted, through the Shell
Salon--the walls of which were inlaid with shells, the friezes being of
minerals and precious stones--across the Marble Room, and then along an
endless, thickly carpeted corridor, which reminded me of one at Peterhof
leading to the Empress's private apartments, until the baron saluted a
sentry, passed him, and a little farther on knocked discreetly at a
polished mahogany door, that of the Kaiser's private workroom.
A moment later we were ushered into a rather small room, plainly
furnished, very much like an office. In a chair by the fire sat the
grey-bearded Chancellor smoking a cigar, and standing with his back to
the English grate was the Emperor William, looking grey and worn, dressed
in a drab suit of tweeds.
"Ah, Gregory!" exclaimed His Majesty, who took no notice of my
unimportant self, "I do not forget our last meeting. Well, you have done
well--excellent work for our Fatherland!" And he introduced the monk to
the Imperial Chancellor, who, I thought, greeted the charlatan somewhat
contemptuously.
Now, Rasputin, wearing clothes to which he was unaccustomed, and devoid
of his gold chain and jewelled cross, which he had so constantly fingered
when he granted audiences to those who wished to bask in his
smiles--which, of course, always meant great pecuniary advantage or
official advancement--seemed at the first moment ill at ease.
"I have done the bidding of my Imperial sister," was his reply. "I have
for thee letters from her, also letters for thy wife," and from the
pocket of his clerical coat he drew four letters, rather crumpled.
The Emperor hastily scanned the two which Alexandra Feodorovna had
addressed to himself, and I noticed a smile of satisfaction flit across
his grey, mobile features.
Then, placing them upon his littered writing-table, he gave us seats, and
around the fire we sat to talk.
Truly, that council of treachery was an historic one, and cost the lives
of many innocent non-combatant women and children.
The Kaiser began by chaffing Rasputin as to his disguise, saying with a
laugh:
"Really, you might pass unsuspected anywhere, Father! The baron has been
telling me that you are at this moment the very reverend Pastor van
Meuwen, from Utrecht. My police have no knowledge that you are Russian
and an enemy. But there, you are clever, and your services to me are
worthy far greater reward than you have yet received. Now tell me," he
added, "how is Stürmer? I sometimes wonder whether he is acting straight
or crooked. Only the other day he telegraphed to Downing Street that you
Russians would never agree to a separate peace to isolate Britain. This
is most annoying."
"Thou art misled, as is all the world," replied the monk with a meaning
smile. "That telegram was sent to London only after many conferences, in
which Alexandra Feodorovna took part with Nicholas, Stürmer, Fredericks,
and Protopopoff. The British Press was growing dubious as to our
determination in winning the war, hence Stürmer's assurance to bamboozle
the world was highly necessary."
"That relieves us of much anxiety," remarked Bethmann-Hollweg, chewing
the end of his cigar. "We were beginning to fear that Stürmer might be
leaning towards England."
Rasputin made a gesture in the negative.
"Stürmer is ever a good friend of the Fatherland," was his slow reply,
his eyes fixed upon the Emperor.
"There must be famine in Russia," declared the Kaiser impatiently. "Your
friend Protopopoff has not yet created it, as he promised when he saw me.
Famine will bring Russia quickly to her knees, as it will eventually
bring Britain. Our U-boats are doing marvels. Happily we warned the
British, therefore we are contravening no convention."
"Soon our friends in London who have sworn never to sheathe the sword
until we are wiped from the face of the earth will begin to squeal,"
remarked the Imperial Chancellor with a laugh. "And especially if we can
carry out Professor Hoheisel's plan and create a pestilence. It must be
tried in Russia first, and then in England," Bethmann-Hollweg went on.
"The bacteria of anthrax, glanders, and bubonic plague must be sown in
various parts of Russia, Gregory. Before you leave Berlin the plan will
be explained to you."
"The plan by which we sought to propagate cholera by sending infected
fruit to various charitable institutions broke down because the delivery
of the fruit was delayed, and it arrived at its destination in an
uneatable condition," replied Rasputin. "No one would touch it, hence all
our plans were upset."
"The distribution of presents to charitable institutions must be
repeated," declared the Chancellor, to which the Emperor agreed.
"To-morrow you will be told our wishes in that direction," the Chancellor
went on.
"Yes," exclaimed the Emperor, "this military offensive must stop, and at
once, if we are successfully to invade England. As soon as Russia makes
peace our hands will be free to strike a staggering blow at John Bull.
Not till then."
"As soon as we bring Russia to her senses then we shall begin to twist
the tail of the British lion," said the Chancellor. "All our plans are
complete. As soon as there is quiet on the Russian front we can, within
forty-eight hours, if we wish, put six army corps into East Anglia
between the Tyne and the Blackwater," he added boastfully.
"Hindenburg will lead them into London one day, never fear," declared the
Emperor in the most earnest confidence.
I sat in silence, listening to this strange talk of what was to happen to
England when Russia was crushed.
"The charges against Soukhomlinoff ought never to have been made," the
Emperor went on, addressing the monk. "I understood from your report to
Steinhauer that you were arranging that the Tsar should hush up the
inquiry?"
"The Emperor gave orders to that effect, in consequence of the advice of
the Empress, but the charges were so very grave that Stürmer urged him to
cancel his orders lest the public should suspect him of any intention of
suppressing a scandal."
It was true that the charges against the Minister of War were astounding.
A high official in the Ministry, named Kartzoff, had betrayed his chief,
whereupon Colonel Tugen Baranovsky, late Chief of the Mobilisation
Department of the Russian General Staff, had declared that the
mobilisation plans drafted by the general were full of wilful errors,
while rifles, machine-guns, and field and heavy guns were all lacking.
Allegations had been made by General Petrovsky, later Chief of the
Fortifications Department, to the effect that the general had only twice
visited the artillery administration during the whole time he held his
portfolio as Minister, while Colonel Balvinkine, one of the heads of the
Artillery Administration, had asserted that Soukhomlinoff had insisted
upon important contracts for machine-guns being given to the Rickerts
factory at a cost of two thousand roubles each, while the Toula factory
could turn out excellent machine-guns at nine hundred roubles.
Such were the charges whispered loudly from end to end of Russia.
"It would be best for that fellow Kartzoff to disappear," declared the
Kaiser. "His mouth should be closed, as he may become an awkward witness.
Tell Protopopoff from me that it would be judicious to send him to some
unknown destination, and that I shall expect to hear early news that he
is missing."
"I will carry out thine order," said Rasputin gravely. "I agree with thee
that Kartzoff is highly dangerous. Besides, he is a friend of my worst
enemy, Purishkevitch, the member of the Duma who has been agitating
against the events at the front."
Rasputin, by the way, did not fail to give Protopopoff the Kaiser's
message, and three days after our return to Petrograd Kartzoff was
enticed away from there by means of a forged telegram, a week later his
body being found in a wood near Kislovodsk, in the North Caucasus, while
two other witnesses against the Minister of War were arrested, and died
later in the island fortress of Schlüsselburg.
The Kaiser seemed unusually cordial towards the monk, much more so than
on the occasion when they met in Silesia. The Chancellor seemed to be
watching the "holy" man, taking note of his every gesture and every
remark.
The Kaiser agreed entirely with his Chancellor's views, and was insistent
upon the creation of a pestilence in Russia.
"Cholera or plague could work more for our ends in Russia in a month than
we can effect by military force in a whole year," he declared as he lit a
cigarette, afterwards tossing the match carelessly into the fire. "What
are the views of Alexandra Feodorovna?"
"The same as thine own," the monk replied. "Unfortunately all our efforts
failed. A man named Tsourikoff by some means obtained knowledge of what
was intended. Her Majesty heard of it, hence I had him removed two days
later. He was met by a certain dancer, and had supper with her at
Pivato's, in the Morskaya. An hour after they parted Tsourikoff died
mysteriously."
"The dancer was a friend of yours, eh? Perhaps a sister-disciple?"
remarked the Emperor with a meaning grin.
"Thou hast guessed aright," answered the monk. "But after that we did not
dare to carry the infection further."
"It must be done. I have some ideas. The baron will explain them to you
to-morrow, and I shall expect you to carry them out," said the great War
Lord. "In Russia there must be revolt and disease, in England invasion,
and in France--well, we know how we shall conquer both France and Italy,"
he added, smiling mysteriously.
He spoke as one who believed that he held the destinies of Europe in the
hollow of his hand.
"Middle Europe will conquer the world, of that I have no doubt. All is in
God's hands," agreed the "saint" in bad German, crossing himself with a
mock piety which seemed to amuse both the Emperor and his Chancellor.
"Listen to-morrow to Hoheisel's scheme, which I have approved," said the
Emperor, passing to his visitor another cigarette from the heavy golden
box. "The professor will call on you with the baron and explain. Act
boldly, dear friend Gregory, for recollect that you have behind you the
whole resources of Prussia and the good will of myself."
The monk, who had only on the previous day declared that he would subject
the Kaiser to his influence, had fallen so completely beneath the thrall
of the German Emperor's curious hypnotism that he sat ready and eager to
do his bidding.
"The letters you have brought to me from Tsarskoe-Selo are satisfactory
so far as they go, but there is still much to be done," said the Kaiser.
"Tell the Empress that I will reply to her by courier, but that she is to
continue her efforts, and that you both have my full and complete
support. The prosecution of Soukhomlinoff must be at once suppressed, and
those hostile statements in the Duma from time to time directed against
us must be made a penal offence punishable by deportation. Kartzoff must
go, and Purishkevitch, who is so constantly speaking in the Duma against
yourself and others, should be suppressed without delay. Perhaps he will
come to a sudden end!" suggested the Emperor. "At least we can hope so."
Next day at noon the baron brought to us a short, stout, yellow-haired
man in gold spectacles, the famous German bacteriologist, Professor
Hoheisel, of the Friedrichshain Hospital.
With the door locked, we all four sat down while the deep-voiced
scientist unfolded his plan for the devastating of certain populous areas
in Russia by the dissemination of a newly discovered and highly
infectious disease.
"The disease was discovered a year ago by Gerhold, at the Alt-Moabit, and
is closely allied to bubonic plague. It is more highly infectious than
anthrax or smallpox, and inevitably proves fatal," the professor said,
seated at the head of the small table. "Curiously enough, infants seem to
be immune up to six years of age. Now, my proposal, to which both the
Emperor and the Chancellor have agreed, is that the cultures which I
have prepared, and of which a large quantity is already in Stockholm
ready to be utilised, should be introduced into a consignment of meat
extract and tinned beef which has come from South America, and which is
being held back by a certain firm in Stockholm friendly to ourselves."
"How do you propose to infect it?" asked the monk, the devilish plot
appealing at once to his cunning and unscrupulous mind.
"By puncturing the tins and introducing the culture by means of a
hypodermic syringe, and closing up the hole with a spot of solder. The
bottles will be treated by puncturing the corks with the needle and
closing the hole with melted resin."
"I might say," added the baron, "that the cargo has been purchased by our
friends, Messrs. Juel and Ehrensvard, who are awaiting instructions
before re-shipping it. When the meat is prepared it will be your work,
Father, to see that it is distributed in the two cities in which we want
to experiment, namely, Nijni-Novgorod and Vologda."
"They are doomed cities, eh?" I remarked.
"We intend them to be so," the professor said. "When once the disease is
released it will spread everywhere, and no precautions can be taken
because, up to the present, it is known to only half-a-dozen of us in
Berlin, and we have no knowledge how to treat it successfully."
Rasputin was silent.
"It will certainly be far more dangerous than cholera or
plague--dangerous to ourselves, I mean," he remarked.
"Of course the epidemic must not be allowed to break out in Petrograd or
in any of the army centres--at least, not at present. We must first watch
the effect in Vologda and Nijni."
"Well," said the monk, "what do you wish me to do?"
"You are returning by way of Stockholm," replied the baron. "His Majesty
wishes the professor to accompany you, and in the warehouse of the firm I
have named you will see the canned goods and bottles. The professor will
show you that the tins have been repainted and are labelled with the mark
of a well-known firm, so that there can be no suspicion of them. Only the
paint is a much brighter blue than that usually employed. The reason of
this is that they can easily be identified by any in the secret, and
prevented from being opened in any area save those two towns I have
named."
"When do you leave?" asked the deep-voiced demon in human form.
"On Friday next. I have still a number of persons to see."
"Then I shall be ready to travel with you, Father," declared the
professor; and then, after taking some brandy and soda-water, the
conference ended.
The devilish ingenuity of the whole scheme appalled me. The sowing of
cholera germs by means of infected fruit had happily failed, but now
Germany intended to strike a blow at the civil population of Russia upon
a scale more gigantic than I had ever imagined.
Next day, a man who gave the name of Emil Döllen brought Rasputin a
letter, which I opened.
It was, I found, a code message which had been received at the great
German wireless station at Nauen, having been dispatched from Petrograd,
ostensibly to the warship _Petropavlovsk_ in the Baltic, as Rasputin had
arranged before he left Russia.
When I decoded it, I found it to be from the Minister Protopopoff,
containing certain further instructions, as well as a message from the
Tsaritza--which necessitated the monk having a second audience with the
Kaiser.
In reply--while the secret messenger Döllen retired for an hour--I sat
down and wrote, at the monk's dictation, a long dispatch, in which he
made brief allusion as to the proposed dissemination of disease, and
stating his intention to remain some days in Stockholm.
"All is well," he dictated. "The Emperor William sends his best
greetings and acknowledgments of your dispatch of the 3rd inst.
It has been found necessary to recall the troops who have been
held ready at Hamburg and Bremen for the invasion of Britain. The
German General Staff have, after due consideration, decided that
an invasion before Russia is crushed might meet with disaster,
hence they are turning their attention to submarine and aerial
attacks upon Britain in order to crush her. I have learnt from a
conversation with the Kaiser that London is to be destroyed by a
succession of fleets of super-aeroplanes launching newly devised
explosive and poison-gas bombs of a terribly destructive
character. Urge S. [Stürmer] to disclaim at once all knowledge of
the Rickert contracts. The action taken against General S. is
again ordered to be dropped. See the Emperor and persuade him.
Blessings upon you.
"GREGORY."
Then I proceeded to put it into the special code which Rasputin and
Protopopoff alone used, and when Döllen called it was ready for
transmission from Nauen back to the Russian battleship, to which I had
addressed it, to be "picked up" by the wireless station in Petrograd.
The "holy Father" greatly enjoyed himself in a quiet way in Berlin.
Indeed, he purchased a ready-made suit of clothes, and, attired in them,
he went out on two occasions and did not return till dawn, and then half
intoxicated. On the second occasion the baron called and remonstrated
with him, pointing out that he was running great risk.
"We have been watching you in order to avoid any unwelcome inquiries by
the police. But if you continue we can accept no further responsibility,"
he said. "You see, you pose as Dutch without being able to speak a word
of the language!"
After that Rasputin became more discreet, but I was nevertheless glad
when one night we met Professor Hoheisel at the station and left for
Hamburg, duly arriving at Stockholm two days later, where we lost no time
in visiting the premises of Juel and Ehrensvard.
Indeed, Mr. Juel, the head of the Hun firm which was doing a large export
business between Sweden and Germany, called upon us at the Grand Hotel
within an hour of our arrival, and together we all went to a narrow
street off the Fjellgatan, not far from the Saltsjöbanans station, where
we found a great warehouse filled to overflowing with tins of corned beef
and cases containing bottles of beef extract, which had come from
America, destined for Germany, but which had been held up to be diverted
to Russia after being treated with disease germs.
We were shown stacks upon stacks of tins of one pound, two pounds and six
pounds of beef, all bearing a well-known label, but all painted a
peculiar blue for identification purposes. In the store we were met by
four German laboratory assistants of the fat professor, ready to commence
work upon the tins.
"I will show you what we shall do," said Hoheisel. "The manipulation of
the tins is quite easy."
He conducted us to a small room on the top floor, which I at once saw was
fitted as a laboratory, and which contained microscopes, incubators,
stands of test-tubes, and all the other apparatus appertaining to the
bacteriologist.
One of his assistants had carried up four small tins of beef, with a
couple of bottles of beef extract. These he placed on the table, and as
we stood around he took a small bradawl, and having punctured the tin at
the large end close to the rim, he took from one of the incubators a
test-tube full of a cloudy brown liquid gelatine. Then filling a
hypodermic syringe--upon which was an extra long needle--he thrust it
into the contents of the tin and injected the virus into the meat.
Afterwards, with a small soldering-iron he closed the puncture.
"That tin, infected as it is, is sufficient to cause an epidemic which
might result in thousands of deaths," declared the Hun professor proudly.
His assistant then took a bottle of beef extract, which in Russia is
popular with all classes in preparing their cabbage soup, and refilling
the syringe, plunged the needle through the cork, afterwards placing a
spot of melted resin upon the puncture.
"You see how simple it is!" laughed the professor, addressing the
"saint." "All that now remains is for a firm in Petrograd to buy the
consignment and arrange for it to be sold to wholesale dealers in Vologda
and Nijni. This we expect you to arrange."
"I certainly will," replied Rasputin promptly. "Truly, the idea is a most
ingenious one--a disease which is as yet unknown!"
We remained in Stockholm for four days longer. The professor and his
assistants were working strenuously, we knew, preparing death for the
population of those two Russian towns.
One afternoon, after he had lunched with us at the hotel, he said:
"If our experiment is successful, then we mean to repeat it from South
America to England. It is therefore most important that news of the
epidemic does not reach the ears of the Allies. You will point out that
to the Minister Protopopoff. When the plague breaks out the censorship
must be of the strictest."
Rasputin nodded. He quite understood. He hated the British just as
heartily as did the Tsaritza.
A week later we were back at Tsarskoe-Selo, and the monk--who pretended
to have been on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Tver--made to the Empress a
full report of his journey to Potsdam. He also told her of the diabolical
plot to sweep off the population of Vologda and Nijni as an experiment,
in order to see how Hun "science" could win the war.
Protopopoff came to Rasputin's house half-a-dozen times within the next
three days, and it was arranged that a firm of importers, Illine and
Stroukoff, of Petrograd, should handle the consignment of preserved meat.
Both partners in the firm were in the pay of the Ministry of the
Interior, hence it was not difficult to arrange that the whole cargo
should be sent to Vologda and Nijni to relieve there the growing shortage
of meat.
I strove to combat the clever plot, but was, alas! unable to do so. Every
precaution was taken against possible failure. The cargo arrived, and was
at once sent on by rail to its destination, payment being made for it
through ordinary channels, and nobody suspecting. Food was welcomed
indeed in Russia in those days of 1916.
In the stress of exciting events that followed I forgot the affair for
several weeks. One night, however, Rasputin, on returning from Peterhof,
where the Court was at that moment, received Protopopoff, and the pair
sat down to drink together.
Suddenly His Excellency exclaimed, with a laugh:
"Your mission to Berlin has borne fruit, my dear Gregory! For the past
four days I have been receiving terrible reports from Vologda, and worse
from Nijni-Novgorod. The inhabitants have been seized by a mysterious and
terribly fatal disease. A medical commission left Petrograd yesterday to
study it."
"Let them study it!" laughed Rasputin. "They will discover no mode of
treatment."
"Both towns are rapidly becoming decimated. There have been over thirty
thousand deaths, and the mortality is daily increasing."
"As I expected," remarked the monk. "The professor knows what he is
doing. Later on we shall be sending the infection into England and cause
our John Bull friends a surprise."
"But the position is terribly serious," said His Excellency.
"No doubt. Berlin is watching the result. One day they may deem it wise
to infect our army. But that must be left to their discretion."
Truly the result of that devilish plot was most awful. In the three
months that followed--though not a word leaked out to the Allies, so
careful were Protopopoff and the camarilla to suppress all the
facts--more than half the population of the two cities died from a
disease which to this day is a complete mystery, and its bacilli known
only to German bacteriologists.