IN THE HANDS OF THE GERMANS
The next morning Sir Egbert Graves called. He touched first upon the
occurrences of the evening before at Rebener’s dinner, and Edestone
was surprised to learn how fully the Government was informed
concerning all that had transpired.
“His Majesty begs that you will, if possible, forget the whole
distasteful episode,” Sir Egbert said, with a stern face, and a flash
of contempt in his eye. “His Royal Highness has been relieved of his
commission and is in retirement, and the Duchess of Windthorst
together with Princess Wilhelmina is leaving to join the Princess
Adolph, in Berlin. By these means, and of course with your silence,
upon which he counts, His Majesty hopes to keep England in ignorance
of the fact that such rottenness exists in his immediate household.”
“And so that pretty young girl who crossed with me on the
_Ivernia_ is in the mire too,” thought Edestone; for it seemed to
him that the King’s order of exile against the Duchess and herself
could mean nothing else. Yet somehow his feeling of disdain and
aversion for the traitor did not extend to the feminine members of the
family. For them he had only sorrow and sympathy.
Meanwhile, Sir Egbert, as if glad to be rid of so disagreeable a
subject, had taken up the direct purpose of his call.
He said that, whereas the King was unwilling to offer any terms of
settlement that Germany in her present mood would be apt to consider,
His Majesty thought that after she understood the position of the
United States, and after her spies had reported the nature of
Edestone’s reception in London, and especially after the inventor
should have had an interview with the Emperor, the Berlin Government
might suggest something which could serve as a basis upon which to
open negotiations. In such a case, His Majesty was of the opinion that
Edestone, if he were willing to undertake the delicate task, would be
the most suitable person to act as a go-between.
The Foreign Minister made it plain that England could promise nothing
at that time; but that he had her friendly interest upon his mission,
and that she would listen in the most conciliatory spirit to any
proposition he might bring back.
He brought letters to the President of France, General French, General
Joffre, and others, which would guarantee Edestone’s safety up to the
German line; but suggested that it would be well not to show the
French too much, since they were such a volatile nation that they
might readily decide to retire from the field and allow the United
States and England to settle the matter. On account of the long and
sincere friendship which had existed between the French people and
those of the United States, France might feel that she could depend
upon the United States to recover her lost territory, together with
Alsace and Lorraine, and that was all she wanted.
In leaving, Sir Egbert, upon behalf of the King, insisted on placing a
torpedo boat at Edestone’s disposal. Then, with the assurance that
anything he might have to communicate to the British Government would
be given most careful consideration, the Foreign Minister bowed
himself out.
Edestone could not but compare this interview with the one he had held
with Lord Rockstone--the opening gun of his campaign. Verily,
twenty-four hours had made a vast change in the attitude of the
British Cabinet.
His journey to Paris was uneventful except for one incident.
In the middle of the Channel, as he leaned against the rail, gazing
back toward the white cliffs of Dover, he drew the Deionizer from his
pocket and quietly dropped it overboard. With scarcely a splash the
little instrument, for which the warring nations were willing to
barter millions and commit almost any crime, disappeared beneath the
waves.
He did not, however, intend giving any further demonstration until his
arrival in Berlin, and there he thought he might have a larger and
better one; while, in the meantime, and especially since his encounter
with Count von Hemelstein had shown him how far the Germans were
prepared to go, he did not feel like taking any unnecessary chances.
At Calais, he was received by the representative of the President and
other high officials, and when they had seen some of his photographs,
and had heard an outline of his plans, they readily followed the lead
of England in accrediting him as a sort of unofficial peacemaker.
Indeed, the Frenchmen looked upon Edestone as someone almost
superhuman--a being who had come to establish on earth the dream of
their philosophers, “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité”--and they gloried
in the good fortune of their sister Republic in having produced and
sent to their rescue such a son.
When he left for Berlin, he was conducted to the Swiss frontier like a
conquering hero, and, with prayers that he would be careful while in
the land of the Huns, was turned over to the Swiss Government. The
latter also accorded him every consideration and courtesy; but when he
finally left their outposts behind and arrived on German soil, he
found a different story.
Here, he was immediately taken in charge by the frontier military
authorities, and practically held a prisoner for three days under the
excuse that instructions in regard to him had to be asked for from
Berlin.
He was incensed at the petty annoyances to which he was subjected by
his jailer, a fat old German martinet.
Under one pretext or another he and his men were constantly being
interrogated, and his baggage, which they insisted upon opening, was
thoroughly and repeatedly searched.
When they discovered among other things something that suggested a
miniature wireless plant, they would not let him or any of his men out
of their sight. His letters were so strong, however, that they would
not dare to do anything with him without instructions.
He let it be known that he had absolutely nothing hidden on his person
by taking off all of his clothes and going to bed, and would
apparently sleep while watching the spies go through them. They seemed
to enjoy this little game so much that he would sometimes play it once
or twice a day, varying it by taking a bath or having James give him
massage.
They never seemed to suspect that he was playing with them, but would
stand around and pounce down on his clothes, each time searching them
thoroughly as if they had discovered something entirely new, when they
had just turned the same things inside out within an hour.
While waiting here, too, he came to learn how intensely bitter was the
feeling against Americans among Germans of all classes. They regarded
themselves as superior beings, he found, and when they first noted his
splendid physique, would not believe but that he must have German
blood in his veins. When he convinced them, however, that he was of
pure Anglo-Saxon stock, Virginia bred--a thorough-paced “Yankee,” as
they called it--even the peasants treated him as the dirt beneath
their feet.
But at last word came from the German General Staff. He was “sealed,
stamped, and marked, ‘not to be opened until after delivery in
Berlin.’” He was shown greater consideration now; but it was a
consideration which rather unpleasantly reminded him of that shown by
the keeper to a condemned prisoner in presenting him with his new
clothes in which to be executed.
He and his men and all his belongings--the latter carefully listed in
triplicate--were put into a private car, and locked in, like a rich
American with the smallpox whom they were sending out of the country;
while, to add to his comfort, he was told that Count von Hemelstein
was to act as his escort.
As they started on the journey, Edestone had an opportunity of seeing
in his true character for the first time the man whom he had so
cleverly outwitted in the telephone booth, and he found it hard work
to identify the smart cavalry officer as the grimy London taxi-driver
of a few days before.
The Count was a big, splendid-looking fellow, who rather affected an
American manner in order to hide the fact that he had been educated
both at school and college in England. Without his uniform, he would
have been taken anywhere for an Englishman, blond, blue-eyed giant
that he was, with as beautiful a moustache and as winning a smile as
was ever given to the hero of a love story. He wore the uniform of a
Colonel of Uhlans, which well set off his handsome figure. In fact, he
was as noble-looking an Uhlan as ever, either before or after
marriage, broke the heart of a rich brewer’s daughter.
“Delighted to meet you again, Mr. Edestone,” he grasped the American’s
hand, with a hearty laugh. “Ever since our last encounter, I have been
wanting the opportunity of asking how you knew that I would keep my
word and release you, when you divulged to me the whereabouts of your
instrument there in the telephone booth? Didn’t you realize that, by
‘putting you out,’ and then having the switchboard man raise an alarm,
I could in the resultant confusion, easily have secured the
instrument?”
“But I also realized that I was dealing with a soldier, not a burglar;
and I took a chance,” said Edestone with a smile.
“Well,” said the Colonel, “now that you are safe in Germany what
difference does it make? We mean to keep you here.”
“The United States might have something to say to that,” suggested
Edestone.
“The United States? Bah! One more country to fight; what difference
would it make to Germany, especially one that could make so little
showing? You have no army. Your navy could do no more than England is
already doing. We are at present cut off from your supplies as much as
if we were at war with you. Finally, the German-Americans would put
the brakes on you, now that another Presidential election is
approaching.
“No, Mr. Edestone,” he shook his head triumphantly; “you are making a
bad mistake, if you are relying on the protection of the United
States, now that you have stuck your head into the tiger’s mouth.”
“Do I understand, Count von Hemelstein, that Germany proposes to hold
me a prisoner? Are you telling me that she would dare do such a
thing?”
“Ah, do not put it so crudely.” The Count raised his hand a trifle
mockingly. “Let us say, rather, that we expect you to become so
convinced of the righteousness of our cause that you will gladly turn
over your instrument and render us any other aid you can toward the
crushing of our enemies.”
The smile faded from his lips, and for a moment he, “showed his
teeth.”
“Take my advice, my friend,” he said sharply. “Don’t try to frighten
the Wilhelmstrasse with your moving pictures and your covert threats
of intervention by the United States as you did at Buckingham Palace.
We are made of sterner stuff here. We know the nature of your
invention, and just what you can accomplish with it; and our gifted
men of science are now hard at work in the effort to duplicate your
achievement.
“My brother brought back word a year ago,” he disclosed, “that you
were building a super-dreadnought 907 feet long, 90 feet beam, 35 feet
draught, 40,000 tons displacement. We also know that you are now
working full blast night and day at your ‘Little Place in the
Country.’ We know about the tricks you played with that flunkey in
your audience with the King. A hint to us Germans is all that is
needed.
“We know further,” he went on in a sterner voice, “the sentiments of
love and devotion toward England that you expressed to the English
King, and we know the tenor of the answer that was returned to your
proposition.
“But do you imagine that you can come here, sir, and dictate terms to
our Emperor, or arrange a peace for us, which would mean anything less
than the absolute humbling of England? Do you think we would run the
slightest risk of letting this invention of yours fall into England’s
hands?
“Your question was expressed very undiplomatically, Mr. Edestone, for
one who is arrogating to himself the prerogatives of an envoy and
ambassador. Nations in speaking to one another use language that is
lighter than fairy’s thought, and sweeter than a baby’s dream, but
more deadly than a pestilence. But I will answer you on this occasion
just as bluntly and baldly.
“We do propose to hold you virtually a prisoner on German soil until
such time as our men of science have completed their labours. If they
succeed in solving the secret of your discovery, we shall be ready to
try conclusions with the United States, and shall deal with you
personally as may seem most advisable, dragging you by force from the
very Embassy itself, if you attempt to take refuge there. If, on the
other hand, our men of science fail, your position will be in no way
preferable. We will simply compel you to disclose your secret to us,
and, as I told you once before, we stop at nothing to gain our ends.
Your best plan, therefore, and I believe I am your sincere friend when
I tell you this, is to sell to my Government at once.”
A slightly amused smile flitted over Edestone’s lips from time to time
as he listened; but when he spoke it was quite seriously.
“I have no doubt,” he said, “that everything you tell me is absolutely
true. Germany is undoubtedly thorough, whether her thoroughness take
the form of the destruction of Louvain, or of sewing two buttons where
only one is needed on the trousers of her soldiers. But I pity her for
not finding a larger way to gain her ends in the first place, and for
her conceit in thinking that a lot of little thoughts and extra
buttons when added together make a great nation. Germany may know
exactly how many gold and how many amalgam fillings there are in the
teeth of the German army, but she does not know that thousands of men
leave Germany and come to the United States simply because they do not
want their teeth counted. Germany may know what I have done and am
doing at my place on the Hudson, but she does not know that she has so
incensed me by her methods of obtaining this information that it were
better for her if she had never known, or you so boastful as to have
told me of it.
“Yes,” and he spoke almost with the fervour of an inspired prophet;
“Germany may know her alphabet of war from end to end, forward and
backward, but she does not know that she and it are doomed to
destruction, because she thinks that she can drive the intelligent
modern world with a spear, as her forefathers did the wild beasts of
the Black Forest.”
Von Hemelstein started and laid his hand indignantly to the hilt of
his sword. His instructions to bring Edestone safely to Berlin alone
prevented him from punishing then and there such insult to his country
and his Emperor.
“My orders prevent me from killing you!” he said hoarsely, as he
straightened up and, drawing his heels together with a click, turned
and stalked away.
He took a seat at the other side of the car, and as if utterly
oblivious that such a creature as Edestone existed, produced and
deliberately adjusted the two parts of a very long and handsome
cigarette holder, and with much straining of his very tight uniform
restored the case to the place provided by law for its concealment on
his glittering person. He then took out his cigarette case, and after
selecting a cigarette, he gently tapped it on the gold cover, glaring
all the time quite through and beyond the unspeakable American. With
more absurd contortions the cigarette case was disposed of, and
matches produced. Then, stretching out his beautiful patent-leather
boots, he finally lighted his cigarette.
He took a deep inhalation, and blew from the very bottom of his lungs
a thin cloud of smoke in Edestone’s direction, while with much
rattling he unfolded a newspaper, and pretended to read it.
Edestone, who was with difficulty keeping a straight face, sat all
this time solemnly watching him with the expression of a schoolgirl
looking at her matinee idol at about the juncture in the last act when
that hero puts on his kingly robes which have been hidden for a
hundred years in the moth closet of his twenty-story apartment house
on upper Riverside Drive.
When the Count finally peeped cautiously over the top of his paper to
see what effect he was producing, he felt almost tempted to applaud
and blow him a kiss.
“Count von Hemelstein,” he said lazily, when finally the Prussian had
put down his paper, and was sitting glaring in front of him, “I was
just thinking what a stunning book-cover you would make for a cheap
novel, or how many thousands of bottles of beer your picture would
sell in Hoboken. Hoboken, you know, is the headquarters of the
German-American standing army, and your second largest naval base. Or
you might serve as----”
He halted in some anxiety, for it seemed as if the Count were about to
choke to death.