PLANS ARE MADE TO MEET TED
In a room in one of the West Side streets of Chicago, in an
old-fashioned office building, which also rented rooms to lodges and
societies, eight men were engaged in earnest conversation.
“You are wrong, O’Reilly,” said one of them. “England will not dare
come into it. There are men in England who would want the country to
war against my land. But the powers that be, and the people, too, will
be against it.”
“I hate England, Berman,” said O’Reilly. “There are Irishmen who are
willing to lick the hand that has beaten them and has held them in
subjection, but they are not true sons of Erin. I am against England,
but I do not despise the English as you Germans do. Once they are
aroused, mark my words, slow as they may be at the start, they will be
a mighty force.” His eyes flashed. “Many people call me a traitor, but
Ireland, not England, is my country, and all Irishmen should be against
the country that holds it slave.
“But to business, gentlemen. Will you, Mr. Schmidt, explain the call
for this meeting?”
“That I will,” answered he who had been addressed. “There are two
things for us to take up--the less important first. I have a telegram
from our good friend Pfeffer up in Wayland, in Alberta, Canada, where
he is doing our work, but is presumably a German instructor. Ah, here
it is--”
He drew out the coded wire that Pfeffer had sent. “I have figured out
the code and it reads as follows:
“‘Ference eld erecon urday h atch h oysat ed w arsh b adian t cific M
eftcan erepa en l am h alledsev ome y c ther h pect b emo ssus n h ay i
ee o trong w haps s as s persper ay h eekpa formation m atchin s w.’
“‘Conference held here Saturday. Watch boy Ted Marsh, Canadian Pacific,
left here seven A.M. Sunday. Called home by mother. Suspect he is
on way to see Strong. Perhaps he has papers, may seek information.
Watch.’”[A]
There was a discussion as to the telegram. “Who is Strong?” asked
O’Reilly.
“He is the chief operative--secret service man--stationed in Chicago
by the Government at Ottawa. We have him watched. We have even
instructions out that if he becomes dangerous he will disappear very
suddenly.”
“That is bad business,” said a little man named Heinrich.
“Bad business nothing!” answered Schmidt. “No one must stand in the
forward way. Germany first, last, forever. What is Strong, what are
you, what am I--poof, nothing! But Germany--ah--” the speaker’s eyes
gleamed.
“It will give those who are suspicious ground for proof that their
suspicions are more than suspicions,” answered Heinrich.
“Let us not wander from the point, gentlemen,” another man
interrupted. “As I gather from the telegram, this boy may be coming to
see Strong. Now, we must first make sure of that fact, then find out
what it is he is coming for and stop him in his attempt, if it concerns
us.”
“O’Reilly,” asked Mr. Winckel, a man with spectacles which carried
thick lenses, “can you or one of your friends, perhaps, meet the boy
and pose as this man Strong? Schmidt, you or Feldman had better go to
Milwaukee and try to place the boy and get such information as you can.
But do not let him suspect you.”
“I’ll go,” said Schmidt.
“When is he due?” asked Mr. Winckel.
“Why, I should think it would be some time tonight,” answered Schmidt.
“I’ll look and make sure.”
“Find out his home address,” added Winckel. “Telegraph it to us and one
of us will hurry up and find out if his mother really expects him. How
about your part, O’Reilly?”
“I’ll see to it,” answered the Irishman.
“That is finished now. Oh, yes, one more thing, Schmidt, better have
Strong watched even more closely. What is the other business?” It could
be seen that Mr. Winckel was the moving spirit.
“Tomorrow, eight o’clock, here--the chief will come from Washington.
When Captain Knabe comes, he will tell us just when the day will be. It
is very soon, very soon; the long wait is over. Then, too, he will tell
us what we shall do. You will all be here? Now we shall go to our work.”
They broke up. They were very thorough, each man had his work assigned
and would see it carried through.
We shall turn to John Strong, who early that morning had been slipped a
memorandum in code by the waitress serving breakfast to him, announcing
that Ted was to come and to meet him. Also, Ted’s home address.
John Strong was a clean-cut Canadian, hair graying at the temples. No
one knew better than he how carefully he was watched. That he was able
to be as useful to his government as he was, showed his ability.
He decided at once that he would not meet Ted. That would show one
thing--the important thing to those who would want to know. How could
he get to the boy’s mother without being observed?
To the girl who waited on him he whispered that he wanted her to
arrange for two cars to wait at the main entrance of the Hotel La Salle
at ten o’clock.
He strolled out and immediately felt himself shadowed. He reached the
hotel, looked at the register very carefully, as if there was something
there he wanted to see, then turned to the cigar-stand. Turning around,
he saw another man looking just as carefully at that register. He
smiled. Now he knew one of those who were watching him. He pulled out
some memorandum slips from his pocket and made some notations. As if
by accident he left one of the slips on the case, lighted his cigar,
bought a newspaper, and sat down and lounged.
Another man came to the cigar counter, also bought some cigars, picked
up some matches, and with it the slip of paper.
So there were two.
At five minutes past the hour Strong strolled to the door, made a
frantic dash for the machine, which seemed very slow to start. A
moment later two men entered the machine immediately next, gave the
driver instructions to follow the first machine, which by now had
dashed off.
The first car went south. You may remember that Mrs. Marsh lived north.
The second car followed. The occupants could never suspect the innocent
appearing chauffeur of that second car, as he swore and raved at the
policeman who had ordered him to stop to let the east and west traffic
go by at the side street. The frantic men inside were assured that he
would make up the lost time; that he knew the number of the car he was
following. But he never found that car. He became very stupid, although
always pleasant.
John Strong reached the home of Mrs. Marsh, certain that he had eluded
the pursuit.
“Mrs. Marsh, I believe?” he asked as she opened the door.
“I am Mrs. Marsh,” she answered.
“I am a friend of some friends of Ted. The main reason for his coming
down to Chicago is to see me, although I am sure he will think that
seeing you will count for even more than that.”
“Did you get word from him?” further asked Strong.
“Yes, I got a telegram. It said he was coming to see you, but that I
was to let anyone else who might ask think that he was coming because I
sent for him. I do not understand.”
Very carefully Strong explained it all to Mrs. Marsh.
“It is important that these people should not suspect that he is coming
to see me, only that he is coming home, nothing more. It may even be,
that one of them will be here to see you, sometime today. They surely
will if they find out anything about his coming, and where you live.
I will say this, that I feel I am speaking for Mr. Dean when I say it
will be a great service to him and to his country.”
“I shall be glad to do anything for Mr. Dean. You can count on me. I
think I understand and perhaps will be able to help. Perhaps, too, my
daughter, Helen, even more so.”
“Will you have your daughter come and see me right after supper. The
train comes in at 9:10 tonight, and she will meet you afterward at the
station. She will go there from my office. Possibly, as you say, she
can help.”
He left Mrs. Marsh, confident that she understood and that she had the
ability and willingness to carry her part through.
[A] Readers will find it interesting to study out the simplicity of
this code. There is special pleasure in their working it out for
themselves. It is simple and unweaves itself once you have the key.
For those who do not wish to decipher the code, they can use the
following method. The first syllable of any word of more than one
syllable is attached to the third word following. Of one syllable
words the first letter is found by itself after the second word. In no
case is a single letter considered a word.