It was in December, 1912, that I again felt the thrill of the old game
as I moved about London under the plausible name of "Trenton Snell,"
engaged in guarding or obtaining state secrets, but this time for a
new master. English secret agents are allowed liberal expense money
and my work in London and other points in the British Isles was not so
arduous as to prevent my taking frequent holidays. I judged that
Downing Street was holding me for something big should the occasion
arise. In London, my chief work for a time was counteracting the
machinations and influences of German agents, forever infesting the
British capital. Many a neat little plan inspired by the gentlemen of
the Wilhelmstrasse went wrong during those next few weeks and back in
Berlin they began to think that their spies had lost their cunning.
During this period I was under the direct orders of Captain Robinson,
who, you will recall, had been the go-between for Downing Street in
closing the bargain for my release from Barlinney Prison. Robinson,
an ex-captain of the Hussars, was well up in subterranean affairs and
to him Sir Edward Grey was no stranger.
Along in January there came to the ear of Downing Street rumors of a
possible meeting between German and Japanese envoys. Moreover, the
meeting ground was to be the United States. It may surprise Americans
to learn that of late years their country has become a favorite
meeting place for European diplomats, secret and otherwise. These men
invariably sail from Europe, remarking something about taking a trip
to the Rockies or visiting some noted fishing streams. They may be
going into Canada or the Western States for the shooting; and when
these gentlemen leave Europe on these little "vacations" they are
generally shadowed, or attempts are made to shadow them. In the
course of a few days after the English foreign office learned of the
supposed meeting of German and Japanese agents to be held in America,
I received official instructions. They were sharp and very much to
the point. I was to find out what the meeting in the United States
was about, and, if possible, to learn the nature of the diplomatic
proposals likely to be considered by Japan and Germany. England
herself having an alliance pending with Germany, was decidedly wary of
this new diplomatic conversation with the yellow empire of the
Pacific. What was in the wind? Why was Germany conniving secretly
with Japan? What effect would it have on the English-Austrian-German
alliance secretly discussed in the Taunus Hills only the autumn
before. Obviously the mission was an important one.
The first step was to locate one of the German envoys. To do this I
had to cross to the Continent, a dangerous proceeding, at best, for
there were abundant possibilities of recognition. Especially was it
sticking one's head in the mouth of danger to be seen in Germany.
Nevertheless to Germany I had to go to locate my man. It must be
understood that the big missions of Secret Service are accomplished by
many coöperating agencies. True, Great Britain had been rather slow
in perfecting a continental system of espionage, but by 1913 the
machinery was operating well. Downing Street had special lines of
intelligence from all the European capitals. I lost no time in making
use of the resources of these lesser agents, in fact a system of
spying on spies, and soon had information at my disposal that led me
to go to Berlin.
It was in Berlin that I learned that a man known as Carl Schmidt would
be the messenger for the Wilhelmstrasse, bearing the instructions too
important to be trusted to transatlantic cable cipher. Exercising
infinite care and tremendous patience--for should I be recognized in
Berlin, the German Foreign Office would have been thrown into
consternation: "What's this? A man we believed safely looking through
the bars of an English prison is at large in our own capital.
Hm"--completely effacing myself so far as possible, I managed to keep
track of the whereabouts of Carl Schmidt.
It was drawing near to February 4, the sailing day of the _Kaiser
Wilhelm II_, and I kept the quarry in sight night and day. It was
with the most satisfied of smiles therefore that I ascertained the
purchase of railroad accommodations by Carl Schmidt for Bremen, the
sailing port of the big North German Lloyd liner. Taking care to
secure a seat in the same compartment with Herr Schmidt, I watched him
all the way from Berlin to Bremen. Now, whenever I have carried a
document of any description while traveling for any length of time, I
have always let my hand wander toward its hiding place to assure
myself that it was still there. Sometimes I fished in my pockets for
a match, or used any pretext to locate the paper without betraying
myself. There is not a human being who will not give some little sign
of concern, perhaps only once an hour, but often enough to betray
himself to the trained observer. Accordingly I set myself to watch
Carl Schmidt's hands. Not for a minute did I relax my vigilance, yet
not once on the way to Bremen did the German envoy betray himself by
an apparent motion. Whereupon I became positive that Herr Schmidt had
not the document upon his person. Where then was it?
It was an easy matter at the steamship offices to find out the number
of Schmidt's stateroom. He had engaged room 48 on the first promenade
deck. I immediately asked for the rooms on the other side, and by a
judicious use of my favorite "palm oil" I secured them. It was
imperative now to board the steamer and keeping out of sight until she
left port. I had made up my mind to try and obtain the document
between Bremen and Cherbourg. This being successful I should be able
to leave the ship at the latter port and return at once to London.
From the moment the big North German Lloyd liner steamed out of port,
I kept a close watch on Schmidt, still to no purpose. There was only
one moment day or night, when the messenger left his dispatch box
unguarded and when I finally got at it, I found no document.
Obviously the dispatch box was a blind. Herr Schmidt was not guilty
of a single piece of carelessness that would betray the hiding place
of the _dossier_. All this had to be done between Bremen and
Cherbourg, and when the liner pulled into the French harbor nothing
had been accomplished. It was a question of remaining on board and
solving the problem before reaching New York.
Now it was risky business to attempt anything for the next few days
for I was traveling on a ship of a line that was subsidized by the
German government. Once Herr Schmidt realized that there was anything
in the wind, it would mean a check to my activities. Schmidt could
send a wireless message to the Wilhelmstrasse, and back would be
flashed a message to the captain of the _Kaiser Wilhelm II_
authorizing any action Schmidt deemed advisable. Thus could he easily
put me under custody on some trumped-up charge. Still, there was no
risk involved in watching Schmidt to locate a possible confederate who
was carrying the dossier. I watched him unceasingly but confederates
there were none. Only one play remained and to make it I must wait
patiently until the ship was almost at its dock in New York. Then
Herr Schmidt could use the wireless and command the captain's
assistance to his heart's content. It would be too late.
During the few days immediately following, I kept my activities well
concealed. In fact, I made it my business to avoid Schmidt. My
method of handling the situation did not necessitate my striking up an
acquaintance with the man. On the contrary to disarm him of all
possible suspicions I shunned him. I even contrived not to sit at
Herr Schmidt's table in the dining salon. Meanwhile, Robinson, back
in Downing Street, kept his hands on the situation, sending me two
wireless messages on board the steamer.
All dispatches sent to "Buzzing" London, find their way to Downing
Street. It was very probable that being in the diplomatic service,
Herr Schmidt would know this term "Buzzing." I thought it unwise to
risk a reply. So I kept in the dark waiting for my chance. During
the voyage nothing had occurred to arouse the suspicions of Herr
Schmidt and he began to relax his vigilance after the ship was four
days out. But I was careful not to take the slightest advantage of
his ease at this point. I would wait until the ship was almost in
port; then make my play.
To prepare for this I had days ago begun to cultivate the acquaintance
of one of the baggage men. This man at once attracted me by his
shifty eyes and unhealthy red complexion. It hag often been a Secret
Service precept with me: "Give me a hard drinker or a man who is fast
and I'll land him nine times out of ten." Well, the baggage master
was no exception. I decided to ply him with liquor to make his tongue
run away. I made it my business to see that this particular baggage
man was in an incompetent state afternoon and night. One night as he
was chin-chucking a stewardess with whom he was infatuated, this
red-faced gentleman said:
"Well, Doctor, we're going to get married, the little lady and I.
We're going to set up in business. Do you know of any small hotel
that we could bug cheap?"
At this I was all attention; I had been waiting for some lead of this
sort.
"Ho, friend," I said; "ready to buy a hotel eh? There must be plenty
of gold in your job."
The lout winked heavily.
"Sure," he said. "Just as we are about to reach port we ask everybody
on board to prepare for us a statement of the things they have to
declare. We give it to the customs officers when they come on board
in the Lower Bay of New York. Well, some of those fancy rich people
always want to do a bit of smuggling and don't declare lots of things.
I have known that for years. What do I do?" Becoming boastful, he
patted the stewardess on the shoulder, at which she glanced at me a
little frightened. She seemed to realize that her future spouse was
talking too much. She tried to remonstrate with him but he was too
full of his theme and good spirits.
"Nonsense, my girl; I will tell my friend. Aren't we all drinking
together?"
Turning once more to me he said:
"What do I do, Doctor. Well, first I look over the lot of
declarations. Then I pick out two or three that look pretty good. I
make a list of the things they claim to have in their trunks. Then I
get at their baggage and give it a smash, accidentally of
course--things are apt to be broken in the hold you know, the boat
pitching, carelessness by the porters and all that. So the luggage of
my fancy folks is broken open. We look it over. If my lady has held
out anything from her declaration, out of the trunk that comes and
into my private quarters."
I winked knowingly as if to praise his cleverness.
"We reach the bay; the customs officers come on board. We give them
all the declarations. The fancy folks are standing round their
baggage waiting for the customs man to get through. Suddenly one of
them cries:
"'Oh, my sealskin coat is gone!'
"I step up and politely say:
"'But you must be mistaken. Madame said nothing about a sealskin coat
on her declaration so she could not have had one.'
"Ha! Ha! The customs man hears this so she can say nothing. Finish!
Ah yes, your old friend baggage man knows a thing or two."
Needless to say this was all grist to my mill. It was just what I
wanted. When the ship was a day from New York, I said to the rascal:
"My friend, I want to look at the luggage of Carl Schmidt for ten
minutes. It is check number 31694 and is a _kiste_."
The baggage man was very sorry but that could not be done. If it were
found out he would lose his position.
"Either I get at that kiste," I said, "or up you go."
The baggage man attempted to bluster.
"No heroics now, my friend," I smiled. "I know enough about you and
your little ingenious piece of graft to tell a pretty story at the
North German Lloyd offices in New York. Now do I get a look at Herr
Schmidt's kiste?"
With a growl the baggage man yielded, whereupon I gave him $75 to bind
the bargain and handed the stewardess $25 so as to assure her support.
Still, it would not do to meddle with the chest until the liner was
steaming into port, for were Schmidt to discover that his luggage had
been tampered with and the dispatch abstracted, since by the process
of elimination I concluded it must be there, the alarm would go
throughout the ship and every passenger would be searched. Remember
this was a German reserve ship.
The chance came after the _Kaiser Wilhelm II_ had steamed past Sandy
Hook and was moving up the Lower Bay of New York. With his
destination in sight, with no signs in any way suspicious during the
trip over, Herr Schmidt had become very easy in mind. With many of
the other passengers be went forward and from the deck watched the
looming horizon of New York's skyscrapers. A most interesting sight
the skyline, something to engross your attention. I was interested in
something else.
I was interested in the luggage that was being prepared for the
customs officers. On a lower deck the kiste of Carl Schmidt had been
conveniently set apart from the other trunks and boxes and the German
agent himself was waiting for the customs man to pass upon it. This
done, Schmidt was guilty of an unwarrantable piece of carelessness.
He tipped the baggage master and left him to lock up the kiste while
he went up on the promenade deck to enjoy the view. This did not
surprise me, for I had been expecting some such blunder to make my way
easier. I had conjectured as nothing had occurred during the entire
voyage to excite Schmidt's suspicions that he would be careless as his
destination was neared.
Accordingly, when I saw him leave his luggage to the mercies of the
baggage man, I stepped forward. Quite unconcernedly in view of the
other passengers who were still standing waiting their turn, acting
entirely as if it were my own, I opened the unlocked kiste and
rummaging among its contents soon brought to light a plain, large
envelope sealed with wax. Breaking the seal I took out the only paper
it contained, glanced at it, smiled to myself and went to work--swift
work, for at any moment Schmidt might return.
If I had not made my plans long ahead, the simple taking of the
document would only have added to the problem. Understand, I did not
want to steal the document, merely its contents. Now, in the brief
minutes that I had beside the luggage, it was impossible to memorize
all the contents of the document. So I judged would be the case and I
had come prepared.
Under my arm was a popular novel and between the pages of this lay a
sheet of special lotion paper, chemically treated in a way known only
to the German Secret Service and capable of taking a quick clean print
of anything written in pencil or ink. As I lifted the dossier from
the kiste I noticed that it was embossed on a greenish white paper,
not unlike a bank of England note in color. It was written in German
and signed with a foreign office cipher, the letters W and B
intertwined. Following this was the numeral 24, the Wilhelmstrasse
serial number of the document.
Taking a chance that Herr Schmidt would be fascinated just a minute
longer by the magic skyline of New York, I slipped the dossier against
the special lotion paper and took an accurate print by sitting on it
for two minutes. I then replaced the document in the dispatch
envelope and being sure to leave everything appearing as it was, even
to fixing the broken seal as best I could, lest by chance Herr Schmidt
should return and glance at his kiste.
It was a case now of getting safely off the ship and reaching the
nearest cable office for had Schmidt suspected anything, the boat
would never have docked until everybody on board had been searched.
There was small danger of this, however, for nothing had occurred to
alarm Herr Schmidt. The lotion paper used by the German Secret
Service has been perfected to such an extent that when taking the
print it does not leave any signs on the original. Accordingly, there
would likely not have been a clew--only on close scrutiny would it be
seen that the seal had been tampered with--even had Schmidt examined
his kiste again before landing.
My luggage passed, I made my way to the nearest cable office outside
the zone of the steamship offices. At Fourteenth Street and Broadway
I entered a Western Union office and wrote out this message to
"Buzzing" London. A copy of this being herewith reproduced:
February 12, 1913. Buzzing, London.
Obtained sample. Letter most important. Not safe writing. Will take
to-morrow night's steamer Queenstown. Not sufficient fare. Wire
twenty-five pounds W. Union, Broadway 14th.
Trenton Snell.
It may be of interest to note that at the time of my announcing my
presence in this country through the medium of the _New York American_
that a copy of this dispatch was secured from the cable company; also
that Hearst reporters identided me at the cable office as "Trenton
Snell."
When I presented myself at the Fourteenth Street office the next day I
received this message:
London, Eng., February 13, 1913.
Trenton Snell, W. U. 14 Bway.
Cable some details if possible, come London, can't meet you
Queenstown.
Robinson.
(The above message accompanies Cable remittance this date.)
The British Foreign Office replying to my request for further funds
had cabled the twenty-five pounds which less exchange came to $121.75.
At the Western Union office at Fourteenth Street I was paid cheek
number 962 to the order of Trenton Snell from "Rob Robinson" London.
Now being on alien territory, I refrained from sending a copy of the
stolen dispatch by cable. There would be no aid of secrecy from the
cable company. I had planned to enclose the copy by registered mail;
sending it to Box 356, G. P. O., London, which was the address of the
department of the Foreign Office for which I worked, but Robinson
demanded immediate details. Accordingly I sent back this wire:
Buzzing, London.
Right. Will wire from Canada. British Territory.
Trenton Snell
That was imperative, for only in Canada could I secure a guarantee of
secrecy for so important a message as that which I would send. Before
cabling the details and mailing the original, I made a copy of the
document. It was not worded in the official diplomatic form. Rather
it appeared to be a note of memoranda and instruction that was to
guide the German envoys in their meeting with the Japanese--which
meeting was subsequently held at the Hotel Astor, in New York City,
and to which meeting went the German envoys, instructed by the
document which Herr Schmidt thought he delivered so secretly and
trustworthily. This is it; word for word, as it was copied from the
print taken in the Herr Schmidt's stateroom:
Germany sanctions and will not obstruct Japan in any colonization
intention Japan entertained as regards the Far East, and would not
obstruct the acquiring of coaling stations in the South Seas other
than New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Germany would not
prevent the acquisition of Germany vessels by Japan providing such
vessels were not auxiliary cruisers of the Imperial German Navy.
Germany wishes it understood that in the event of a conflict between
Japan and another nation, Germany will maintain a strict neutrality in
any event not affecting Germany itself. Germany expresses a higher
regard for the Japanese nation and desires closer contact with Japan.
This document, as has been stated, was initialed with the letters W
and R, which is sometimes the way the Kaiser O. K.'s any diplomatic
document. In any event it had a regular serial number; in this
instance number twenty-four of the German Foreign Office.
Of course the acquisition of this document by Great Britain relieved
the minds of the English statesman. There was not as they had feared
a possible menace in understanding between Germany and Japan. It was
simply an agreement by Germany not to intervene in any colonization
scheme of the Japanese in the islands of the Pacific. In return for
this it was understood that Japan was to do even more thoroughly what
she has done in the past. In other words, she must go on playing the
rôle of bogieman for the United States. A word about this may not be
out of place.
Germany, that is official Germany, is rather friendly toward the
United States. Japan, the "yellow peril" is a great war dirigible
that is inflated with war scares and hysteria. This aims to keep the
United States preoccupied on their Western coastline, so they will not
have any desire to meddle with certain plans that may eventuate in
Europe within the next few years. The Japanese question is fostered
by Europe to keep America's hands full in the event of the coming
European war. It is all bluff and occasionally Japan must be rewarded
for keeping up the bluff. In this instance Germany permitted Japan to
colonize and permitted her to buy all the German ships she wanted with
the exception of those big transatlantic liners that are auxiliary
cruisers of the German navy, ships which in time of war may be
transformed at short notice into good fighting machines. Let me
emphasize with all due knowledge of the alarmist's fears that United
States need never fear the "Yellow Peril" as long as she does not
antagonize the dominant powers of Europe.