THEY CALL FOR ASSISTANCE
The next morning everything was perfectly quiet on the outside of the
Embassy. The soldiers had apparently settled down for a siege. They
contented themselves with singing hymns and drinking songs, and with
mock reverence rendering the “Star Spangled Banner,” closely followed by
the “Marseillaise,” and “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.”
But there was mutiny within the walls. Mrs. Jones had flatly refused to
leave the Embassy. She said that she had not the slightest idea of
going up in Jack’s foolish flying machine, to be shot at by the soldiers
or dropped into the middle of the ocean; that for her part she intended
to stay exactly where she was. The Secretary might go if he wished to
risk his life in a balloon or if it was his duty, but she thought she
was safer in the Embassy. She was perfectly sure that the Germans would
not dare to shoot at it while the United States flag was flying over it,
and there were women inside.
The Secretary seemed to agree with her, and said: “It was only on your
account, my dear, that I was going. As long as the flag flies above this
roof, my duty is here, and I sincerely hope that you are right.”
“But we are now at war with these people,” said Edestone, “and they may
take it into their heads to shoot that flag away, and they have plainly
shown that they will kill and burn women and children if in their
judgment one single point, however small, can be gained in their
national game of war. It is a ruling passion with them, and they think
that all of the nicer feelings of honour, humanity, and even religion
must be crushed, and that these sentiments are foolish and are for women
and weaklings only.”
At which Mrs. Jones seemed worried. She preferred, however, she said, to
stay and take a chance rather than go to certain death with Edestone.
“I think,” said he, “that if we were dealing with any of the other
civilized nations, the Embassy would be perfectly safe, even if war had
been declared or forced upon us without any formal declaration, but with
the Germans in their present state of nerves, it is quite
different. They have a strange method of retaliation, not for an injury
to themselves, but for the failure on their part to inflict one upon
others, which can only be accounted for by their savage passion for
revenge. The real danger, however, will be before this while they are
trying to prevent my escape.”
The Secretary was anxious to remain at his post as long as possible, so
he was glad to side with Mrs. Jones. Lawrence begged for and obtained
permission to go with Edestone.
“You can take absolutely nothing in the way of luggage,” said
Edestone. “I can fit you out when we get on board. I have just told
Black, Stanton, and James the same thing, and I suppose your boy would
like to go with you also.”
“Certainly,” said Lawrence.
With no preparations to make, there was nothing to do but wait. Lawrence
was the only one who was willing to go out on the streets and stand the
ugly looks that were given by all those who in some way or another knew
that they were Americans.
On his return he reported that the papers were silent on the subject of
the Kaiser’s call at the Embassy the night before. One of the afternoon
papers, he said, did report that a very large Zeppelin had been seen
flying over Berne at 9 o’clock in the morning, at about 5000 feet,
judging by her size. At first it was thought that she was on fire from
the clouds of smoke that she was emitting, but she continued on her way
in the direction of Berlin at about fifty miles an hour. She was up too
high, the papers stated, to be identified, but as the Swiss Government
knew that none of the Allies had Zeppelins, it was suggested that a
protest would soon come from Switzerland for a violation of her
neutrality.
Lawrence said that evidently the German General Staff had received some
information, for he found no officers at the Club, and troops with
anti-aircraft guns and mortars with their two-wheeled trailers were
moving in all directions.
The general public, however, as usual, seemed to have no information,
and were going about their duties in their usual stolid manner.
The troops around the Embassy had been reinforced and were showing great
activity. He thought that the Kaiser was making a personal inspection
judging by the number of high officers he saw going and coming.
The soldiers were most insulting in their manner and kept him moving,
and would not allow him to go anywhere near the mortars which were
stripped for action. The covers over the two-wheeled drums were
unstrapped so that they could be thrown off at a moment’s notice.
“You are right,” said Edestone, as he and Lawrence stood looking out of
one of the windows of the Embassy at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
“They have heard something. I am surprised that we have heard nothing
from them today. You can depend upon it, they will try to get me without
an actual fight. They know that they can bamboozle our Government, but
fear the temper of our people will not stand for any killing, which they
certainly intend to do if necessary. I do wish Mrs. Jones was not here.
“If ‘Specs’ was over Berne at 9 o’clock,” he went on, “and he wanted to,
he could have been here hours ago. He is evidently jogging along
slowly. He cannot now be more than fifty miles away; he is perhaps just
about at Leipsic. I think we had better speak to him and tell him to go
higher up and not to come over Berlin before dark. You know he does not
know what is going on here. I am afraid to warn him about the wires,
for if by chance they should intercept our message they would know that
they had struck a very good answer to my ‘Little Peace Maker.’”
“You don’t mean to say,” cried Lawrence, “that there is any chance of
their pulling you down with those wires?”
“It all depends,” replied Edestone. “It would take me some time to
calculate the amount of metal it would require to take the current that
would wreck us, but if they do get that amount in contact with us and
the earth at the same time we will come down.”
“My God!” said Lawrence.
“Well, that is the reason that I do not want to take any chance by
mentioning wires at all. They don’t know now that one wire will not do
the trick, and if they get the idea that it is a question of the largest
possible number, they will double up on us. As it is, they have sixteen,
and we have a fighting chance. At any rate, I will speak to ‘Specs’ and
tell him not to come over the Embassy until after dark.”
“Won’t he have some difficulty in finding the Embassy?” asked Lawrence.
Edestone laughed. “You do not know old ‘Specs.’ In the first place he
studied for six years in Berlin and knows it from end to end. Besides,
he has all of the cities of Europe plotted, and he can get his bearings
from a dozen different points. He will feel very badly unless Capt. Lee
puts him within a few inches of where his calculations tell him he
should be. Why, you should see him calculating! He used a 6 H pencil,
and he can cover a large sheet of paper with microscopic figures before
you have even sharpened yours! It will be just like ‘Specs,’ if it is a
still night, to drop a plumb line and check himself. When you see him
coming down slowly, you can be sure that he is going to drop his ladder
at exactly the right spot.
“You see to it that the servants are all out of the way. If necessary,
lock them all down in the basement. I will work out the message.”
When Lawrence returned and stated that everything was clear, Edestone
said to him: “Send this. It says:
“Stand by at 50, up 10,000. After dark follow orders. If called
come quickly.’”
They then took the elevator and went together to the roof, where with
powerful glasses they searched the south-western sky. On all sides they
could see Taubes, which like great birds were circling in all
directions.
Edestone was startled by seeing something that looked like the “Little
Peace Maker,” but it turned out to be one of the largest German
Zeppelins.
“Why, my boy,” laughed Lawrence, “Captain Lee could make that fellow
look like an _ante bellum_ picnic in a thunderstorm, all hoop
skirts and bombazine, before Count Zeppelin could get it under the
shelter tent.
“It is circling now,” he exclaimed; “he must have his eye on a Belgium
baby, the old buzzard!”
After Edestone had gotten Lawrence to his wireless instrument by first
running the car down until the top was at the level of the roof, and
after Lawrence had stepped on running it up to the top of the penthouse,
he then dropped the car down and came out on the roof again.
He looked about with his glasses; and was not surprised to see soldiers
on the roofs of the other buildings where they had stationed powerful
anti-aircraft guns and searchlights.
“I am rather glad Mrs. Jones is not coming with us,” he thought. “It is
going to be pretty hot here for a little while. We shall be under fire
for about ten feet; Captain Lee will not dare come down any closer.”
When Lawrence came down, he said: “I got him and he answered me. I am
sure someone was trying to cut in. I could not tell whether he could get
us or not, but he was trying to mix us up.”
Edestone worked with his little book for a few minutes, and then read
aloud:
“Passed over Leipsic up 5000. Have been seen. Will stand by at 30,
up 10,000.”
“That means that he is about over Dessau, and could get here in fifteen
minutes easily if called. So far so good. But those machine guns are
worrying me. I did not want to make any show of force, but self
protection may drive me to it.
“Run the elevator down, Lawrence, and come back by the stairs. We can
walk down. I want to look over my ground and plan my campaign.”
“How foolish,” he thought, “not to have remembered the machine guns on
the roofs. The only protection we have on the Embassy are the chimneys
and the penthouse, and they will protect only halfway up the landing
ladder. There is always that ten feet in which we will be exposed on all
sides to a fire under which nothing could live for half a minute.”
He then examined the door to the bulkhead at the head of the stairs. It
was strong, but there was no way to fasten it on the outside. There was
another door at the bottom of the stairs that could be locked, but it
was an ordinary door and could easily be broken down. He found only one
place on the entire roof where there was what might be called a zone of
safety, and that was by no means perfectly safe.
He carefully worked out the plan of defence, giving to his enemy the
part to play which he thought they would naturally take.
When Lawrence came up he explained his plan to him. He said: “When they
see that we are attempting to escape by the roof, they will rush us by
coming up those stairs. I do not intend to allow my men to fire unless
it is absolutely necessary.”
“Oh, just shoot me one little one,” begged Lawrence.
Edestone frowned disapprovingly. “When they have broken through the
lower door, we can stand here between the penthouse and the chimneys,
and by keeping down below the parapet be comparatively safe. I will then
tell them that I have a machine gun trained on the bulkhead door, and
that it will be certain death for them to attempt to come out that
way. If they fire on the Embassy, I will order my large guns to silence
every gun that bears on it.”
As they went downstairs the sun was just setting.