"Yet I had to get so near the Russian that I could seize him by the
throat at one jump. He must not be able to cry out.
"And that was the hardest part of my task; compared to it, all the rest
was only child's play. For when one man is so near another man, the
other must either see or hear him. I breathed as softly as a dying man,
but kept pushing forward.
"And when one is so impatient he imagines everything possible. It
seemed to me as if each movement I made caused a frightful disturbance.
But that was only the hot beating of my blood.
"At last there was nothing which should have hidden me from the vision
of the Russian. I saw him distinctly when he came in my direction. The
snow beat in my eyes, but I could not turn my gaze away from him.
"He was a tall Siberian and wore a snow cap. His cheek bones stood out
like those of a heathen, which he probably was. He was thinking of
nothing; sleeping as he stood, like a rabbit with open eyes.
"That was my luck and his misfortune. That made me bold. I ventured a
quicker movement, sliding a whole pace forward. He stood there, half
turned toward the wood. He must suddenly have sensed my presence, for
he became at once more wide awake and uneasy, walking quickly to and
fro with a restless movement, like a hen when she sees a hawk above her.
"He lifted his gun as though to shoot; but not at me, for I was almost
at his feet. I think that he did not dare to look ahead--at me--for the
fright would have been too great for him; he would have died of it.
"Then he turned to the other side to see whether an enemy might be
creeping up from that direction. That was my moment--my time to do what
I intended to do.
"Like a flash I started for his yellow, pock-marked face. It seemed to
me that I already had my hands about his throat. The way I did it did
not surprise me--I had thought it out so carefully beforehand.
"It is frightfully hard to spring up after one has crawled or lain
so long motionless on the snow. I had thought--I knew--that I must
cause him no pain, that it must happen in a second, in order that he
might not recover from his surprise and cry out. Therefore it was a
frightful moment for me. Surely death itself is not so frightful. Every
muscle in my body was strained and broken, it seemed to me. I cannot
tell all that I suffered, thought, felt, in that tiny space of time.
"He had turned around toward me, and in his face was already the
presentiment that he was going to die. Never have I seen anything so
grewsome as his horrified look, even before I got my hands on his
throat.
"He was, as it were, paralyzed. He did not think of defending himself.
He was too weak even to raise a cry. I held him fast; that you can
believe, for he sank slowly in the snow without a sound.
"The other one under the trees slept soundly and his throat rattled in
his sleep. I went at him with the bayonet.
"Afterward I hurried back and gave the sign agreed upon. Ten minutes
later the three companies surrendered. Thus I won my medal."
* * * * *
As I shook the hand of this hero in parting I felt that there remained
in his own eyes something of the terror of the Siberian whom he had
throttled, and that that look of terror would never leave his face.
"MY TEN YEARS OF INTRIGUE IN THE KAISER'S SECRET SERVICE"
_The Plot to Dynamite the Welland Canal_
_Related by Horst Von Der Goltz, alias Bridgeman Taylor, Welland Canal
Dynamite Plotter_
Horst Von Der Goltz claims to be a secret agent of the German Empire.
He stated in court that his real name is Wachendorf. In the trial of
the so-called Welland Canal conspiracy in the United States Court
he was proved to have been the emissary of Capt. von Papen, German
military attaché, who seems to have entrusted him with a mission to
blow up the canal locks with dynamite. From Buffalo Von der Goltz
returned to New York, and on Oct. 3 sailed for Genoa under a passport
issued on behalf of Bridgeman Henry Taylor. His next appearance,
according to the endorsements on his passports and other documents,
was in Berlin. He entered England from Holland in November, 1914,
and was imprisoned under suspicion as a German spy. Among the papers
taken from Capt. von Papen in January, 1916, a check was found
for $200 in favor of Bridgeman Henry Taylor, and confronted with
this, Von der Goltz confessed complicity in the canal plot and was
subsequently requisitioned by the United States Government to give
evidence at the trial of Hans Tauscher, American representative of
the Krupps, and others indicted for plotting against the peace of the
United States. Further, confirmatory of Von der Goltz's relations
with the German Government, are documents set forth in the British
Government's official report of April, 1916--a letter from Capt. von
Papen requesting Consuls in Baltimore and St. Paul to give Bridgeman
Henry Taylor "all the assistance he may ask for," and a letter signed
Dr. Kraske, German Vice-Consul in New York and addressed to Baron
von der Goltz, mentioning having called on him at the Holland House
and inviting him to call next day at the German Consulate to meet
a gentleman "who is interested in you." At the trial of Tauscher,
which involved international issues of the most serious nature,
the defense bitterly attacked the character of Von der Goltz, who
appeared as chief witness against the accused. Witnesses they brought
from New Mexico and El Paso assailed his personal character and
integrity and the proceedings ended in Tauscher's acquittal. In a
series of articles published in the _New York World_, Von der Goltz
tells what purport to be his adventures as a German secret agent.
These confessions have further been preserved in a book published by
_Robert M. McBride and Co._