Show c oo t 1 The Th e Montenegrin M Ciphers Ch Ip ers i ij I j Revelations of An I Large Ambassador i Transcribed by H. H M. M Egbert from the private papers of i ian i an Englishman who for a time v as an n unofficial diplomat i in the most t s secret t service of f the British i Government e e I i oj t I Copyright 1915 1916 by W W. Q G. Chapman l It is no diplomatic achievement o o omy my own that I have now to reci rec recd d d but the cleverest trick ever played in all the annals of international relations and by no less a personage than his highness Prince Niklas of r. r Montene Montenegro gro or as the inhabitants of f that barren district call their coun try Prince Niklas has always been forme for forme forme me at least one of the most fascinating ing lug personalities in Europe It is the complex nature of f the man that appeals appeals appeals ap ap- ap- ap peals to me that is to say the many characters that tha he possesses and that crop out in him at unexpected moments moments mo mo- i ments A warrior ruler bearing the i I scars of innumerable battles a poet of high r renown chivalrous ardent the hero of his little people little people he is also famed for his financial necessities and his willingness to accept monetary assistance assistance assistance as as- from any quarter in which it presents Itself The great greatest st coup of his reign was of course the arrangement of the marriage marriage marriage mar mar- of his charming and accomplished daughter Helena to the crown prince of Italy Victor Emmanuel now ruling as Victor Emmanuel III By this stroke master-stroke of policy he secured one of the great powers as a firm prop for his rather unstable throne and bound the dynasty of Italy securely to the wheels of the chariot of ot his own for for- tunes Ever since the marriage Victor Emmanuel Emmanuel Emmanuel Em Em- manuel has allowed his law in a certain fixed annual stipend There Is nothing indiscreet in mentioning this It is a matter of common knowledge When war between Germany and Austria on the one hand habd and France and aud England on the other was Vas seen to tobe tobe be inevitable Niklas was in great perplexity per per- Austria Austri had also Invaded Serbia and bombarded Belgrade the capital Montenegro allied to Serbia by blood and treaty had not yet declared herpf herself her- her pf 1 self eIt upon her side as she was shortly 4 to do And the cause of Niklas' Niklas hesitation 4 4 I tion was that Italy as as the third partner part- part alliance expected ex- ex exi expected was f 7 ner of the triple i petted to take sides with her Teu- Teu I i i tonic confederates If she did so the r first fruits of the alliance would be bethe bes beC C s the invasion of Montenegro by Italian troops Of course we all know now how responsibilities responsibilities promptly Italy disavowed her I. I toward her allies on the ground that the triple alliance was for defense and not aggression We know how ardently Italy's decision to reI remain re- re I main maln neutral was greeted in France FranceL Still the unprejudiced L' L and England f person may candidly confess that t Italy's game was a ver very shrewd one and dictated more by fear of the British BritIsh Brit Brit- ish fleet than by qualms of conscience Perhaps Italy might legitimately have stretched stretch d a point in n favor of her partners part- part t ners pers So at least thought Victor Emmanuel III I In those first days of the war Italy's decision was was was' awaited with the most Intense anxiety by all the warring na na- na- na r. r ti ns And it Is an open secret that r King Victor was in n favor of carrying f. f r out at any sacrifice what he considered consid- consid ered Bred to be his bis treaty obligations r f Pic Picture ture then the Quirinal rent by di dissension l on th the Marquis di San Glovanni Giovanni Gio Glo- vanni upon the anxious seat and irresolute irresolute and his Victor demanding war bl r own household in the person of his s gracious consort frantically appealing 1 to him not to engage in a struggle of her herb which must mean the invasion t fathers father's little country Upon this b- b scene cene enters old rugged Prince Niklas of bent upon securing Victors Victor's neutrality I got the story of his exploit from a court court- friend of mine at the Italian one of the Black aristocracy that is isto isto isto claims to say a sponsor of the Papal who with a foot in either camp QuirInal Quire ef e- e Inal anal and Vatican was not averse from fromN f of telling a tale for the confounding N King Bing Victor Pietro Della Delia Campagnas Campagna's clever lever Italian mind was In fact the first to penetrate the mystery of the 9 Montenegrin cipher before the dispatch dis dis' at the Italian Italia minister tic patch from rom Vienna convulsed the Quirina all Quirinal-all all all except except except ex ex- King Victor with Victor with laughter But ButI I had bad better tell the story impersonally ally for ally for the first portion at any rate S You see the spectacle in the Quirinal Quirinal inal Victor pressed on all sides to declare neutrality and obstinately resolved resolved resolved re re- solved to vindicate what he be considered considered consid consid- I ered to be his country's faith by joining joining joining join join- ing Austria and Germany Di San Gior Giovanni Giovanni Gio Gio- r t vanni prophesying revolution should hec he flA comply and the beautiful queen for tor r th the fi first st time in her life at odds oddS' If with her husband Enter then old Niklas who with the suaveness of a father In law father law and the leverage of aF a F ruler fellow fellow ruler demanded audience He got It it two hours after his arrival 1 west in the large audience room in the wing of the Quirinal looking out down the muddy Tiber The Marchese di dl 1 San Giovanni was the third of the and the only witness Yet somehow somehow some some- party how the report of the meeting was y spread abroad with tolerable accuracy afterward Probably the old man babbled babbled babbled bab bab- bled to his cronies in the story one-story palace at Niklas had not been idle during those two hours of waiting He went first of course to find his daughter k tumbling up the stairs and calling her herby herby herby by her childish diminutive Finding her in tears he surmised at once that his missi mission n was going to be a hard one He found a maid of honor In the corridor and grasping her by the wrist dragged her into the queens queen's apartment and stood by his rugged face wrinkled with anxiety while she applied eau de cologne and smelling salts Nothing ever satisfied old Niklas Nik- Nik Niklas Niklas las during his visits to Rome unless ller majesty evidenced signs of fainting fainting fainting faint faint- ing a high bred accomplishment i in inthe inthe the old fellows fellow's opinion unknown in Montenegro and proof positive of gene geni gentle gen gen- tle tie manners I have spoken of the acute Italian mind of Pietro Della Delia Campagna my friend At that time he had an affair with a certain maid of honor the same whom old Niklas had dragged so unceremoniously into his daughters daughter's rooms Whether Wh ther she jilted him or married him I do not know perhaps the affair Is still dragging its slow length along Anyway about ten minutes minutes min min- utes after the application of the smellIng smelling smelling smell smell- ing salts Pietro Ignorant of what is happening inside goes on duty outside her majesty's apartments Then out outcomes outcomes outcomes comes the maid of honor stops considers considers considers con con- siders and In turn drags the valiant bodily inside the queens queen's que ens en's drawing room There he found old Niklas pacing up and down and glancing anxiously atan at atan atan an inner door behind which he understood understood un her majesty was resting This gentleman and I sir are her majesty's most faithful servants said the maid of honor to the prince That doesn't help stormed the old man man- going to make male the king see that hes he's on the wrong track Who's going to stop him from losing his crown If the queen queen cant can't His language was simpler and more elementary than that but I translate it diplomatically Then he sat down and explained the entire situ situation tion to the maid of honor and the young officer Naturally Pietro Pietro Pietro Pie Pie- tro felt proud When a man thinks a good deal of himself ideas flow quick quick- ly It did not take Pietro long before he got the germ which was to prove the undoing of the Germanic When he expounded it Niklas was wasat wasat wasat at first aghast Then he swore and blew his nose and clapped the young fellow on the shoulder houlder and off offered red him him the premiership of Montenegro if his scheme succeeded So the three sat down a are a aa a table and soon three inventive in inventive minds min s were running along alon the same groove Niklas learned from Pi Pietro tro that King Victor was determined to draw the sword in aid of Austria The rhe Ji idea a of the cipher as J I l have ave said was Pie Pie- Pietro's Pietro's tro's but the the maid maid of honor gave it the touches of verisimilitude It was wasa a bold thing and a clever one and Pietro said that it made his head feel like a race mill-race for days afterward However the scheme was practically worked out when a page tapped at the thedoor thedoor thedoor door and announced that his majesty would be pleased to see Prince Niklas as asin in the audience room in the west wing n Prince Niklas snatched up the paper paper paper pa pa- per which had Just been completed and bestowed a kiss the cheek of my friend Pietro Pietro went down on his knee and kissed the princes prince's hand Then after the door had closed upon them he kissed the maid of honor but not on the hand After this had been done since the maid of honor growing was anxious to to attend upon her mistress Pietro resumed his post outside the apartment looking as can be imagined unusually well pleased with himself Meanwhile Niklas Niklas Niklas Nik Nik- las was on his way to the audience room There a stormy scene ensued King Victor conscious that he was being pressed on all sides against his willand will willand and conscience stood as stiff as a poker when Prince Niklas saluted him He took the offensive too like a good and poured hot shot into the arguments which the old man pressed upon him that he should declare deClare declare de de- clare his neutrality My duty lies where my conscience lies Hes declared his majesty I am bound by treaty to support Germany and Austria and if I fail fall now I shall deserve to be called a poltroon as aswell aswell aswell well as faithless Besides he added irritably what the devil do you come cometo cometo cometo to me with arguments about the affairs of Italy for L Because the balance o of power is al at stake answered Prince Niklas It may be doubted whether he knew what that was or whether he did not have in his mind a scale loaded with gold pieces However he had not become a constitutional sovereign during the past few years for nothing The old man floundered along cunningly cunningly cun cun- n giving the impression that he was pleading a weak cause and conscious conscious conscious con con- con con- of it and that he had nothing else in mind His majesty grew more and more angry Prince Niklas was clumsily flicking him on the raw and the tRe Marchese di San Giovanni sat glum and silent at the table He knew hIsm his m master master but st but r-but but then he did not know the driving force behind Niklas' Niklas words At o. o A r. r I least it Is necessary to assume that he did not It seems to me said the king at t last with frank brutality that a ruler who does not scruple to to accept a subsidy sub sub- subsidy sidy from Italy and whose every vis visit t tto to my court of recent years has had for its one object the borrowing of fresh funds should not press me on matters of policy In fact he said concluding It is Impertinent and I resent it In Inthe the strongest possible manner The rough old man controlled his in in- Prince Niklas Niklas- has the saving saving sav say saying ing grace of humor which lends a finishing touch to a rough character My dear son law he answered in the peasant dialect of Italy which he had mastered during a along along along long sojourn in the south at an early and period of his life lire itis itis it itis is the privilege of a law in to remonstrate with a young man who is about to lose his situation and become unable to support his daughter in her proper station of life You are aware Victor he added that Italia ta Is not forgotten among your peo peo- pIe I imagine that all my readers are are acquainted with the meaning of this expression but for the benefit of any who are not I will explain that Italia unredeemed unredeemed med Italy Italy Italy-is is the name given to that portion of the Austrian Austrian Austrian Aus Aus- trian dominations on the north and east shores of the Adriatic which is by Italians and has not yet been regained by the Italian peo peo- It is of course the existence under Austrian rule of this strip of territory that is the cause of all Italy's against the dual monarchy mon mon- archy Now Victor continued the old man grimly If you go too far in support support sup sup- port of Austria and Germany you are going to lose your throne You haven't any Job And how do you expect expect expect ex ex- ex- ex to support my daughter as a connoisseur connoisseur connoisseur con con- of coins This This bantering allusion to the kings king's kingswell well well-known well known hobby of coin cl collecting I I dont don't know how I am going to get home in fact I King Victor reflected Having refused refused refused re re- re- re fused one favor he was naturally in inthe Inthe inthe the mood to bestow another in com com- com om- om His ms ambassador r at t Vienna had telegraphed him that day that Niklas' Niklas account was overdrawn If I Niklas went to war with Austria his I Vienna funds would at once nce be confiscated confiscated confiscated con con- to place a sum of of money to his credit there would insure the crafty old mans man's keeping the peace Prince Niklas saw his irresolution and produced a piece of paper from his waistcoat pocket If you you will send that to the ambassador ambassador ambassador am am- at Vienna he said you will earn my eternal gratitude and I I- assure you you shall hear no more pleas for neutrality on the part of Italy King Victor read the paper as follows follows follows fol fol- fol- fol lows Place In the vaults liras at par Paris our order and we e demand be promptly enter entered d to H. H H. H account and be credited all allow allowance ance ante Di San Giovanni said the king tossing the paper toward the marquis what do you think of this The Marquis shrugged his shoulders hI If your majesty wishes it to be paid it will not seriously affect your revenues revenues revenues rev rev- he answered Then wire it to our ambassador at Vienna said the king and ignoring the old princes prince's protestations of gratitude gratitude gratitude tude he stalked out of the room As soon as he had had gone old Niklas who besides being a poet prides himself himself himself him him- self upon upon his penmanship penmanship- sat downto down to embellish the document with much flourishing of capitals and chirographic chiro- chiro graphic idiosyncrasies Now whether the marchese suspected something whether he was privy to the conspiracy acy or whether he was merely taken in Della Delia Campagna did not Inform me But th the form In which the document went ultimately to the telegraph office was as follows Place in the vaults j L L S j L I H S 1 v Forgive Me Victor He Exclaimed Catching fhe he Kings King's Hand and Raising It to His Lips Do What You Wish So Long as You Pardon Me for My Indiscreet Bluntness of Speech I Was Thinking Only of My Daughters |