FIGHTING GERMAN AGENTS WITH FAKED WEAPONS
DANGER WARNING--DISGUISED TEUTONS--HAIR TESTS--OBSERVATION FROM
WITHOUT--CLEVER FEMALE GUARD--DEPORTED HUN AGENTS--TOO MANY
WRECKS--BOOT CHANGE TRICK--FLIGHT--PATIENCE UNREWARDED--NIGHT WORK
AT THE DOCKS--A SUDDEN ATTACK--ODDS OF THREE TO ONE--PIPE-FAKING
FOR MAKE-BELIEVE REVOLVER--A STERN CHASE--AMERICAN RUSE BAFFLES
PURSUERS--THE SANCTUARY OF CONVIVIALITY.
The sudden transportation and exile of an alleged invalid German officer
back to the home of his fathers had been a distinct secret score for the
British Foreign Secret Service Intelligence Department, although
probably no one was aware of this except those in the innermost circles
of the Service of the two countries directly concerned.
As a necessary precaution for my own safety I had very discreetly
removed myself some hundreds of miles in another direction as soon as it
was certain that my trap had been properly sprung. With my mind
concentrated on other matters I had almost forgotten the episode, when a
whisper echoed and re-echoed from the south that the full fury of the
Northern German espionage bureau had been invoked upon my fortunate or
unfortunate head, and that I must beware of a certain Baron
Nordenpligt,[8] which irate Teuton had started hot on my trail, vowing
the direst vengeance imaginable. "Nordenpligt" in English means "the
North duty or obligation," and I was at no loss to comprehend the full
force of the hinted warning thus so auspiciously conveyed to me.
Whilst musing over events under the benign influence of my usual black
cigar, some stir became apparent in the entrance hall of the hotel at
which I was then stopping. Several new-comers had arrived. One very fat
lady appeared over-concerned regarding the handling of her many
belongings. A wheezy, consumptive-looking weakling of humanity was
trying to assist her. Most probably he would have been crushed under an
iron-bound trunk which a porter was lowering from the roof of the hotel
bus had not another traveller, seeing the danger, rushed forward to his
assistance. As he did so he involuntarily ejaculated the short
exclamation, "Mein Gott!" My ears tingled at once. The Teutonic oath had
given away the nationality of this individual, at all events. It became
my immediate business to ascertain who he was, and what his business
might be. Without a moment's hesitation I also sprang to the rescue.
The result of too many persons concerning themselves with the matters of
one led to a natural tangle and considerable jostling in which the
German gentleman lost his pince-nez. In stopping to recover them a
leather case fell from his inside breast pocket. But before he could
reach it I had anticipated his desire, picked up the article in
question, and handed it to its owner. In so doing I observed that on one
corner was an embossed gold coronet and monogram, in which the letter
"N" was prominent.
My room was on the first floor. I had registered my occupation as that
of a fish merchant of Scandinavian origin, which, on a strict
investigation, might have been held not too remote. The German baron,
for such he undoubtedly was, had registered as a commercial traveller
from an inland town in Denmark, whilst he obviously knew the language of
that country as well as he did his own. It was ominous that he
subsequently contrived to secure a bedroom adjoining mine, whilst the
fat lady sandwiched herself into possession of another apartment which
was situated on the other side.
After supper I placed three hair tests on my belongings, and lighting
the inevitable weed strolled out to give matters a chance to develop.
At the back of the hotel was a large heap of moss-bedecked boulders,
behind which was a rocky hill, in the crevasses and hollows of which
some scant vegetation had collected and a few scraggy fir-trees formed
an arboreal retreat where in the summer months loiterers could sit and
enjoy the view with the added pleasure of light refreshments from the
hotel.
This arbour commanded a full view of the windows of the back rooms, the
centre one of which was for the time being in my occupation.
The hair test is a useful expedient for gauging the inquisitiveness or
prying proclivities of one's immediate neighbours. It is affixed by
tension from two notches, or with the aid of a little wax. Either method
will be found equally efficacious. Human hairs a few inches in length
are easily procurable; a single one is practically invisible to the
naked eye, and a slight strain will snap it. If cunningly placed across
the two covers of a box, on the lid of a box, over an unlocked bag,
trunk, suit-case or elsewhere, few Paul Prys would ever dream of
suspecting its presence, and the precaution inevitably tells its own
tale.
A very clever investigator would probably be on the lookout for anything
of this kind, but an equally clever actor would so place at least one of
his precaution signals that it would be impossible to touch the object
it protected without a break or disturbance sufficient to notice.
When night fell it was dark, cold, and raw, with a nasty wind blowing,
and I found the draughty arbour none too cosy for my liking, but I
stayed there for upwards of an hour in the belief that something was
going to turn up. Meanwhile half a gale whistled through leafless
branches and howled round the crevasses and protuberances of the rocky
background. Just as I was on the point of quitting I observed a faint
flicker of light upon the blind of my room, and I knew that evil agents
were abroad.
An attempt to ascend the stairway behind a couple of other visitors
whereby I could gain my apartment unobserved was frustrated by the stout
lady before mentioned. She, by an extraordinary coincidence, started to
come downstairs just as my foot had gained the last step of the ascent.
In her haste she jostled first one and then the other of the gentlemen
meeting her, for which she apologised most profusely and in a loud,
jovial, bantering manner.
I leaned against the wall and laughed. It was my custom to take
everything as it came, never to meet trouble half-way by worrying, and
even to attempt the credit of gaining happiness under almost impossible
conditions.
In the present instance the fortune of war favoured me, although
conditions were adverse. A large mirror hung upon the landing, the
reflection field of which embraced wide angles. I, happening to glance
upwards and beyond the little pleasantries going on above, observed a
shadow darken the surface of the glass, but the noise made by the
merry-makers on the stairhead prevented any slighter sounds from being
heard.
Later on, when I had entered and was alone within the privacy of my own
apartment, examining the test traps at my leisure, all possible doubt of
an interest having been taken in my belongings was removed.
What would happen next?
The veiled secret warning that had been given me portended mischief. It
was hardly reasonable to suppose one's natural enemy would take a
knock-down blow without reprisals. They were more than hinted at in the
urgent message I had received. I was not deceived for one moment. I felt
myself within the claws of the pincers and it was up to me to wriggle
out before they could be closed. There must be no hesitation, no delay,
and no "wait and see" about my decisions. I must quit, and that at once,
or the worst might befall.
Having supped in the restaurant common to all guests of the hostelry, I
retired early, but instead of undressing I lay upon the outside of the
bed and smoked and read until the early hours of the morning, between
whiles turning over many matters of more or less moment in my mind.
I remembered that the latest ejected one from that hospitable country
was by no means the only one who had unceremoniously been pushed out by
reason of information which had reached the authorities in a roundabout
untraceable way. The origin had never come to light, but the inmates of
Koenigergratzerstrasse No. 70 probably had a shrewd suspicion whom they
could credit for the attention. S---- was another very active German
agent who had recently been expelled the country; he returned almost
immediately under another name and disguise. He successfully crossed the
frontier and would in all probability have escaped identification had
not certain strings been pulled whereby he was located and ejected
again, within forty-eight hours of his arrival. Most annoying to him, of
course, but then these small matters had of necessity to be attended to.
It was unpleasant to remember that the number of wrecks along the coast
was abnormal. The majority of these unfortunate vessels were or had been
cargo carriers to Germany. Perhaps it was a just retribution that they
should sink or encounter disaster preventing their further assistance to
direct acts of barbarism by the mad dogs of Europe. Be that as it may,
Germans in that particular neighbourhood would hardly have agreed with
any such sentiments; nor were they sympathetic towards the invective
which was raised by the local police and others interested--although
breathed _sub rosa_--against fellow-countrymen of theirs who were
suspected of having fired several vast timber-stacks supposed to have
been sold to England.
Taking one consideration with another no love was lost between
travellers from England and Germany.
At 2 a.m., as the silent corridors of the hotel were awakened by the
cuckoos from a Swiss-made clock on the landing, I stealthily emerged
from my apartment. Tiptoeing along past several of the adjoining
bedrooms, I changed the boots standing outside their respective doors,
placing large for small and _vice versâ_. But one pair I selected from
the extreme end of the corridor as being as nearly as I could judge a
fair match in size to my own. These I brought along, and not being an
obstinate, blind-to-all-home-principle-Free-Trade Britisher, I dumped
them down outside my own door. It should have become obvious to the
reader that I was contemplating my departure. There had been former
occasions when I had been compelled to leave my own boots behind me,
whereby thoughtful hotel attendants and others had been deceived into
believing me to be a very late riser, and I had been thereby enabled to
cover many a league before the simple deception had been exposed.
But on the occasion in question, in the course of my calm, contemplative
meditations upon the bed, I had evolved the comforting conclusion that
it would be better far to borrow the foot-gear of some other traveller
in order to carry into effect my playful little deception, rather than
sacrifice any more boots of my own. The ruse would assuredly work
equally as well, whilst past experiences had taught me that it was a
much easier matter to remove a pair of boots from a neighbouring doorway
than to leave my own behind, necessitating the trouble and expense of
their subsequent replacement.
"Shooting the moon" in this manner is a pastime which I may add is not
usual with me, but there are occasions in the career of everyone when
discretion and retirement are undoubtedly the better part of valour.
Next morning I was chuckling to myself at about 10 o'clock, and
picturing the confusion and the language likely to be used by the
parties mostly concerned, at the small hotel I had quitted so suddenly
overnight.
What a sell it would be to His Excellency the Baron to find that his
bird had once more flown, and what a head-aching task he would have of
it if he tried to trail his quarry Indian fashion instead of relying
upon the surer and less worrying methods known to the Secret Service
agents of all nations.
At least I knew I was safe for another week certain, and much could be
done in that time. So I journeyed away in an exulting frame of mind to a
colleague who I knew had some very interesting investigations which he
was following up in the neighbourhood of one of the largest and most
important docks on the Baltic Sea.
Within a couple of hours of my arrival I was in harness again. Some
important particulars from the manifest and bills of lading of a big
steamer were wanted. The captain was a convivial soul with a great
weakness for sport of all kinds; and it was suggested that I, being a
sportsman myself, might be able to succeed in drawing him, although so
far no one else had been able to do so.
A bottle of whiskey and a bundle of cigars were calculated to be
sufficient to move the information required. But they failed. Patience
and perseverance rarely fail. On this occasion both seemed useless.
From 2 p.m. until 2 a.m., twelve solid hours, I sat listening, talking,
complimenting, criticising, flattering, cajoling, and arguing in such
manner that at first I entirely disagreed, then allowed myself to be
talked round to absolute approval. In short, no artifice that calculated
cunning could suggest was omitted, yet results proved fruitless. Thus at
2 a.m. I was forced to abandon my objective of the day, and I agreed it
was time to turn in.
Perhaps the disappointment of failing to achieve a purpose influenced my
judgment. Perhaps it was the weather. Perhaps it was the mellowing
effects of some decent whiskey which made me feel devil-may-care and
careless. Anyhow, I was foolish in the extreme not to have accepted the
proffered and pressed invitation of a berth on board the ship I was then
visiting in preference to the more or less dangerous passage of the
docks which was my only alternative.
That there was any real danger never entered my head. Had it done so it
would probably have made little difference, excepting that I might have
borrowed a stick, or some weapon of defence. It was not until I was
actually cornered that I remembered I had left my revolver at home. The
incident was so sudden there was no time to think. Spontaneous action
alone was capable of saving what might have proved a remarkably awkward
position.
Hanging on to a rope guide I slid down the gangway which was covered
some inches thick with a coating of ice. Groping a pathway as best I
could across the quay in the dark, amongst innumerable stacks of
freighted goods and merchandise of every description, was no easy
matter. Nor were my difficulties lessened by a snowstorm which raged at
the time. Passing between some sheds, and stack after stack of cotton
bales, destined for the land of barbaric "kultur," I made my way towards
the only faint glimmering light which flickered its bilious rays from
the one solitary lamp-post in that immediate neighbourhood.
Just as I reached it I heard a voice. At the same time I observed two
shadows which seemed to appear and disappear somewhere near the piles of
cotton. No complete sentence reached my ears, only two words, "Das vas,"
uttered in a high-pitched key and with startling suddenness. The
remaining words were lost in the lowered tone. Those words, however,
were quite enough. I had been privately informed, only that morning, by
an interesting conveyer of intelligence newly arrived, from Berlin, that
some rather important German officials were taking a kindly interest in
my welfare; certainly to the extent that they had offered quite a
substantial sum of cash (not paper or cheques) for my delivery in their
country, condition no object. The sum named was far and away beyond what
I would ever have imagined my uninteresting carcase was worth. In a
flash the situation became clear to me. It was a plant to kidnap. Great,
blundering, self-satisfied, careless, conceited ass that I undoubtedly
was, I had walked right into the spider's web without so much as a
toothpick on me with which to put up a fight.
Immediately in front of where I was standing was an open space, some
forty yards across. The ground was covered a foot deep or more with
snow. Concealed thereby and beneath it were railway lines, points,
uneven places, bits of wood, parts of packing-cases, hoops, and
innumerable obstacles of all kinds, which I knew of too well, having
been frequently tripped by them on former occasions. To attempt to rush
it would be courting disaster.
The shadows, hardly discernible in the feeble light, seemed to flicker
nearer and nearer. Then I observed a third, and silently I wondered how
many in all I should have to contend with. Only one thing was
absolutely definite in my mind, that was, come what might, I had not the
slightest intention of having my liberty curtailed without a fight to a
finish.
As before stated, I had reached the only lamp-post anywhere around. My
movements were observable, whereas those who were hunting me were
concealed by the shadows. Involuntarily I dived my hands deep into the
pockets of the thick overcoat I was wearing. I felt a pipe and tobacco
pouch--common enough objects, but the former was never more welcome.
Somewhere in the dim and distant past I had heard or read of highway
robbers, or burglars, or other rough people, having been tricked by the
use of a wooden tobacco pipe as a make-believe for a revolver. Why not
try it now?
There was just a chance the bluff might come off. Anything was better
than to be caught and ill-treated by Germans.
The thought was mother to the action. Backing a few yards to a veritable
rampart of cotton, I half bobbed down and suddenly whipped out the pipe
in my hand from the right coat pocket. It was of ordinary briar-wood,
having a silver band, and holding it close to the pit of my stomach I
slowly moved it round _à la_ American up-to-date methods. Probably the
small silver mounting showed some glint from the straggling rays of the
solitary lamp. Anyhow, I saw the shadows, which had appeared well
separated before, fading away and concentrating in the rear. This gave
me a chance which I was not slow to avail myself of. Moving as rapidly
as I conveniently could I crossed the open space towards the warehouses
beyond. I had covered half the distance when I saw that I was being
pursued in force. Risking all possibilities of a trip and a fall, I
raced for my life to the first street turning into the town proper. I
had obtained a bit of a start and had the great advantage of thoroughly
knowing the ground. The leading German fell. I heard him swear. The
language was distinctly Teutonic.
When I reached the corner of the street I was not more than twenty yards
ahead of those behind me. Here again a practical knowledge of the tricks
and ways of sportsmen of the Western States of America stood me in good
stead. In fact, it saved the situation and pulled me through. Instead of
dashing at full speed up the street after I had negotiated the corner,
when I should for certain have been caught and pulled down within about
fifty yards, I stopped short and peeped round, exhibiting my nose, one
eye, and part of my hat; also the hand holding the spoof pipe-revolver.
The effect was electrical, not to say humorous. The two Prussian
sleuth-hounds who were racing full pelt after me pulled up dead in their
tracks: so suddenly, in fact, that the third, who was rapidly making up
lost way behind, bumped into them, and all three sprawled in the snow.
As soon as they could pick themselves up they cautiously opened-out the
corner, fearing that their quarry was waiting behind it to pot them off
one at a time as they came round. Imagine their disgust when they
discovered the ruse and saw me in the distance scooting far away up the
deserted street with a good long lead. As I turned the next corner
leading into a diverging street I bumped into a crowd of merry-makers
which poured out from some large, brilliantly-illuminated building.
Every one of them was very exuberant and seemed to be embracing everyone
else. Every one of them appeared to be supremely happy and good-natured,
whilst every one of them was without doubt most gloriously drunk.
What a haven of refuge to a hunted being almost at his last gasp,
fleeing from unknown terrors, from capture, torture, imprisonment, or
possible death! Before they realised my presence I was in the very heart
of the crowd, where I was at once embraced. Needless to add that I
returned the endearments with a vigour and sincerity that I had never
before equalled in all my life. Nor did I attempt to go further until I
had linked up with a convoy of homeward-bound convivial souls, far too
intoxicated to know whether I was myself or one of them, or some other
person.
FOOTNOTE:
[8] A fictitious name, but near enough to give the desired clue.