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Show j Tdogram Which g gjl i mmmmm Thfl initials under which 1 writ' these confopalons are not those of my Cel name, which I could not disclose without exposing mysolf to the revenge f,f formidable for-midable enemies. As It Is. 1 tun a very great risk In making rex elnt Ions which affect somo of the most powerful psr-sonagres psr-sonagres now living; and It I? only by the exorcise of tho utmost discretion that 1 Lo.oo to avoid giving offense- In quarters in which the slightest disrespect it; ;tpt to have serious consequences. If T should he found to err " the side of frankness, I can only plead In excuse that I have never vet betrayed He- cpn-fldence cpn-fldence placed In me by the various fjdv-ernmonts fjdv-ernmonts and illustrious families which havo employed me from time to time ine late Prince Bismarck once honored ma hv saying: "To tall seen I - to Mon Ii ui V "is like puttinr them into a strong nr,v. with the certainty thai I r will noTj come out again until one want them 10 In tho remlul.s i.r. s It b mv object to recount some of the services I have rendered to civilisation m the course or mv c-ircer. while artalnlnp as Tar as possible from compromising exalted Individuals In-dividuals or embittering International relations-. . . That I am not a man who opens nls mouth rashly may be gathered from the fact that although at any 1 i in .luring the lorn; struggle betweei Briton and Boer for the masters in South rli i, I mlsrht have completely changed the situation situ-ation with a word, that word was not tittered while a single Boer remained under un-der arms. . . . . . In order to explain how I came 10 tie concerned In this affair. I had better be-Kln be-Kln hv Rlvlnc: a few particulars about myself and the almost unique position which I hold amonp the searet service bureaus bu-reaus of Europe and America. Personal and Explanatory. Bv birth I am a citizen of the United States of .merica, being the son of a Polish father, exiled on account of nia political opinions, and a French mother. From mv childhood l Showed an extraor-dlnarv extraor-dlnarv aptitude for languages, so that there" Is now scarcely a chilled country outside Portugal and Scandinavia In which I am not able to converse with the natives In their own tongue. At the amo time. I was possessed, evo sin. .- I can remember with a passion for Intrigue In-trigue and mvsterv. The romances or Oaborlau were the favorite reading or my boyhood, and It was my ambition to become a famous detective the vidocq of America. Fired bv these visions, I ran away trom the Insurance office In which m parents had placed me. when I was little mors; than sixteen md applied for admission to the ranks of the famous Plnkerton police Although my youth was against me. my phenomenal command i languages lan-guages turned the scale in my favor, and was given trial. Very soon I had opportunities or distinguishing dis-tinguishing myself In more than one mission mis-sion to Europe, on the track o( abscond ing criminals, and In this way I earned the favorable notice of the he.nds of the detective police In London. Paris. Berlin, and other capitals. Sets Up fev Himself. At length finding that I possessed unique qualifications for the work ol an International secret agent i decided to quit the Plnkerton service, and set up for mvseir, making mv headquarters In Paris " Prom that day to this l have had no cause to repent of mv audacity. 1 have been emploved at one time or another an-other bv nearlv every Government In the world, and mv clients have Included nearlv near-lv every crowned head, from the late Queen Victoria to the Dowager Empress of China I have been sent for on the f,m da h the Embassadors or two hostile powers, each of which desired to employ me against the other. On one occasion 1 acted on behalf or a famous German Chancellor against his then master, and or, another on behalf of the Emperor against his Chancellor; and neither had cause to complain of my II- deiitv I have been instrumental In freeing free-ing a queen renowned for her beauty set on b a foreign court, and I have more than once detected and defeated the plots ,f anarchists for the assassination of their rulers. In this way it has come about that 1 enjoy the friendship and confidence of many Illustrious personages whose names would excite envy were I at liberty to mention them In these pages; and that few events of any magnitude hap a In any part of the globe without my being In some measure tnn ei ned in them Often when some great affair has been proceeding. 1 have felt myself as occupying occu-pying the position Of the stage manager, who looks on from the wings, directing the entrance and exits of the gorgeously dressed performers who engross the attention at-tention and applause of the ignorant spectators on the other side of the footlights. foot-lights. The Story of the Telegram. The irue story of the famous telegram which ma be said. to have rendered the South African war Inevitable Is one which strlklnglv Illustrates the extent to Which the public may be d. celved about the most Important transactions of contemporary con-temporary history, Every one is familiar with the situation situa-tion created b) that celebrated dispatch ' For some time previously all England, and, in fact, all Europe had been agitated agi-tated by the Intelligence that Johannesburg Johannes-burg was on the eve of Insurrection, that the Boers were drawing their forces together to-gether about the doomed u and that Mr Jameson had dashed across the frontier fron-tier with 600 followers In a mad attempt to come to the aid of the threatened Out-landci-s. and that his action had been formally for-mally disavowed by the British Government Govern-ment Close on the heels ,,f these tidings came the memorable day oi which f ndon was cast into gloom by long Btreams of i i i-cards i-cards Issuing from the newspaper offices hearing the dismal legend, "Jami on Beaten and a Prlsonerl The Fateful Telegram. While the populace were yet reeling under un-der the blow divided between distress at this humiliation for the British dag, and Indignation at Ihe criminal io kk?--ness which had staked the cotlntry's honor on a gambler's throw. Her'- came th portentous news that the head or the great German Empire; the grandson ol Quei n Victoria, had sent a public mes-sage mes-sage of congratulation to the Bom- l'r-Ident. l'r-Ident. rejoicing with him In the face ol Englishman f It as a national dtS&Sti r That hour registered the doom Of the Pretorlan Government. Jameson was scornfully forgotten The British peoplt as proud as it Is generous, made up Its mind that the forbearance so lone extended ex-tended to a vassal of Its own. could no longer be shown with honor to the protege pro-tege of a mightv European powei On the very day on which this cele-brs cele-brs ted dispatch appeared as 1 hs chief Item of news In all the nswapapi ra i i the world, I received an urgent cipher message from the Director of the imperial im-perial Secret Service, Herr PtnkelStaln, demanding m presence In Berlin Ready for Business. My headquarters. as I have said, rir-Paris, rir-Paris, and fortunately I was disengaged when the summons arrived, f hail men -ly to dictate a few dozen wires to my Staff, while my alct was strapping l,,. the portmanteau which always Stands ready packed In my dressing-room, and to look out my German passport for I haw- a separate one for every Important nationality and In nn hour or two I was seated In tho Berlin express, speeding towards to-wards the frontlet I'lnm the bunch of papers which my attentive secretary had thrust Into tho (Miniage. I learned something of the effect ef-fect which tho German Emperor's Interference Inter-ference In tho affalnj of South Africa had produced on the publlo mind In England. T Have Sent for You in Two Words, to Find Out for Me the Authorship of This Telegram, the Kaiser Said." It was evident that the Islanders were Strongly mused, end were prepar ng to pick lip the gag of battle which ha been thrown down. No sooner had I reached German territory 'ban I rnunn evidences of an even greater excitement The whole nation seemed to have raiii'd round the Kaiser, and to he ready lo back up his words with martial deeds By this time l had mile doubt that 1 had" been sept for In connection with the outbreak of hostile feeling between the two powers. BUI It was Impossible for me to anticipate the actual nature of the task which awaited me. Meets an Emissary. On reaching Berlin I was met hy a private emissary of Flnkelste n s. who hurried me off to the Director s private house. The first words with which he vr. ted me convinced me that the business busi-ness I had come about was no ordinary kind. . , . , "Do not sit down, he said to me as I was about to drop Into a chair. Biter shaking hands wilh him 1 must BSK vou to con,- t.. mv dressing-room at once, "where vou will transform yourself as qulcklv'as sslble Into an ofllc. r of the Berlin' police. The moment that Is done, I am to conduct you to the palace, where HIS Majesty will see you nlone.' s I followed the Director Into the dressing-room, where I found a uniform suit laid out ready for my wearing. I naturally nat-urally asked "Cm you tell me what this Is about'." Plnkelsteln shook his head with a mysterious mys-terious air. . , ... "The Kaiser has told me nothing. But he warned me very strictly not to let a -mule creature In Berlin know of your arrival and from that fact I have, naturally nat-urally drawn certain conclusions." I rased at Plnkelsteln with some suspicion. sus-picion. We were good friends, having worked together on more than one occasion occa-sion and 1 knew he would have no wish to keep me In the dark n the other hand If he had been Instructed to do so, I knew he would not hesitate to lie to me. The secret service has lis code of honor like other professions, and fidelity to one's employer comes before frlend- Ixeeplng my ee fixed on him, I ob- served candecsh - "You will tell me just as much or as little us nu think lit. my dear Flnk-d-stein On mv part I shall, of course, exercise a similar discretion after Ills Imperial Mai sty has given me my Instructions." In-structions." . . As I expected, the bait took Curiosity Is the besetting weakness of a secret ser-vice ser-vice officer, and 'he Berlin Director was no exception to the rule. Putting on his most confidential manner, he at once replied re-plied . . . "My dear V , If you and I do not trust each other, whom can we trust? Bfsi assured i h 1 1 my confidence In .. i has no reserves. I have spoki n lh- bare truth In saying thai the Kaiser has given giv-en me no indication of his object In S' mi-Ing mi-Ing for you. But the fact that he has ordered me to take these precautions to conceal the fact or your arrival In Berlin Ber-lin tells me plainly that there Is u person per-son whom he wishes to keep In Ignorant Ignor-ant ; and that person can onl be " The Chancellor '" 1 threw In. as my i ompanlon h sltated Plnkelsteln nodded "S'ou consider, perhaps, that It Is against the Chancellor that 1 am to be employed?" I went on. "It looks like It." was the cautious an-sw an-sw r "And the reason why this task Is not placed In your hands?" "lb because I am a native of Hanover, and the Kaiser regards me rather as a public official than as a personal servar.l r his own dynasty " said Finkelsti in. "In other words, lie regards you a a creature of tho Chancellor's. ' 1 cumin cum-in nted bluntly. The Director made a pleasing and ln-gbnlous ln-gbnlous attempt to blush. "I can only ufllrm to you. on my sacred sac-red word of honor, that Ills Majestv has no cause to trust me any less than If 1 were a Prussian." he declared. "And I shall take It as a personal kindness If you will endeavor to convlneo the Kaiser of my loyalty " "1 will tako caro that he knows your sentiments. " I answered, with an ambiguity am-biguity which FinkelStAln fortunately did not remark Bv this time i bad completed my transformation. trans-formation. A glance at the cheval glass showed me a stiff, well-set-up Prussian olficlal. exhaling the very atmosphere of Junkerdom and sauerkraut I gave the signal to depart and we were quickly driving up the Enter den Linden on our wav to the impei I II palace "Announce to Ills Majesty the Herr Director Plnkelsteln and the Herr Inspector In-spector Vehm." my companion said to the doorkeeper. The servant who had evidently received re-ceived special Instructions, stopped for-wa for-wa rd ' The Herr Inspector Is to be taken to His Majesty al once." in aa!d firmly. Plnkelsteln bit his Up as ho unwillingly unwilling-ly turned to re-enter his carriage. I followed fol-lowed the bukey Into the private cabl-nel cabl-nel of the monarch who had Just found himself the center of an international c clone. WUhelm 11 received me cordially, it was not the lirst time we had met About the time of his ascending the throne I had been the means or Inflicting on him a defeat which a smaller man would have found It hard to forgive Fortunately, Fortu-nately, the German Kaiser was of metal sterling enough to recognise merit oven In an enemy, and to realize that my fidelity fi-delity to my then employer was the bit guarantee that i should be equally faithful faith-ful to himself, ir it ten to my lot to serve 1. 1 III What has Elnkrlsteln told yon"' WSS the Emperor's first question, after he had graciously Invited me to sit down. "Only that he was able to tell me nothing sire ' The Emporor gave me a suspicious glance. "He appeared lo regret thnt your Majesty Maj-esty had not given him your confidence." 1 added, choosing my words warily "He assured mo that you might rely on his entire devotion, as nvich so as If tie were a native of your hereditary Stales." "And what do you say as to that?" demanded de-manded the Kaiser with a piercing look "I think that your Majesty can not be too careful whom vou trust. WUhelm II allowed himself to smile gra N el v "I see. Monsieur V , that yon are a prudent man. If Herr Flhkelsteln wlshcfl to conlnce me or his loynltj to the Hohenzollerns, he ran not begin het-ter het-ter than by renouncing the pension which lio continues to draw secretly from the Duke of ." His Majesty pronounced the name by which a weli-known dls-poss.sseil dls-poss.sseil soercign goes In Ms exile. Familiar as 1 long have been with instances in-stances of perfidy In others I could not restrain an exclamation r astonishment at this revelation of Plnkelsteln's double dealing The Knlscr continued "After tpat 'oii will not be surprised "My God! Ho Cried Out.' "Who Has Done This? I Shall 3e Ruined " If I caution you particularly against M-tliiK M-tliiK Herr Plnkelsteln know anything of tin object of the Inquiry l wish you to undertake." I bowed respectfully, and ' waited Willi sonio Impale in c to learn Ihe true nature of my mission. "I could not receive you here Without taking ome one into tho secret of our employment.' the Kalsei went on to x-plain, x-plain, "and 1 chose Flnkelntein In order to give the affair us much as possible the aspect of a private and qomostli matter, in rialilv the tusk 1 have to set you It one of the most grave In which you have ever been engaged " Showing the Telegram. The Kaiser took one of the Berlin pa-ptrs pa-ptrs Of the dS before, which was lying on the dook in front of him and pointed to. a column In which was set out In conspicuous con-spicuous type tho, telegram which had convulsed Eutope and Africa, and had already caused ioni Salisbury to issue orders for the mobilisation Of his Flying Squadron "I have sent for you. In two words, to flnd out for me the authorship r this tei gram. ' the KaiSI r said Notwithstanding my long training In the most tortuous paths or secret Intrigue, I was fairly taken aback by this announcement. announce-ment. "That telegram!'1 I could only exclaim. The one which your Majesty addressed to I'n sid -nt Kruger "' "I never sent n. Wllntlm II. declared gravel) "It Is a forgery pure und simple sim-ple ' For n moment T sat still in my chair, al-mOSt al-mOSt unable to think. But what'.' But who- " I B rtl ulated, struggling with mv bewilderment, That Is what you have got to find nut for me,' wis Ihe answer "IM me tell vou .ail i know. The first intimation 1 had Of the existence of such a thing was the sight of It In the Press I sent In- stantly for ihe Chancellor, who , nme here wearing a reproachful expression. a?id eV-ld eV-ld ntlv prepared to complain bitterly of mv h iving taken such a step without nri -ViOUSly Informing him. When I told him that the whole thing was all Impudent fabrication, he could -car.. 1 believe bis ears In fad for some time i bolleve he was inclined to consider my repudiation of It as a mere official denial " I ventured to raise my eyes to his MaJ- ipiv's as l observed: "S"eur SXajesty has taken no steps t make your repuoJallon public?" The Kaiser gave an angry frown "That Is the serious part of the nffnlr.' he answered. "Kruger. In his eagerness to proomlm to the world that i was on his ride, had sent coiiler of this Infamous pro-duct'lon pro-duct'lon to -V T new "paper In the two hemispheres before It reached my cyeu. Al the moment when r first saw It It bad abeadv be-i: a I and .omtncnUi uoi. all round the gione i ,ie unusn nowapo-pen nowapo-pen were already threatening war, and my own people had been excited to a pitch of entnuslasm such as no other act of mine has ever called forth You S the position I WSS placed In. If I S i' row to disavow this forgery, my dlsar vows) would be received everywhere with the same scepticism as was felt even by my own Chancellor The British would triumph over me and mv own subjects would never forgive me for what they would regard as a surrender lo British threats." A Difficult Position. I sat sllenr I realized the full difficulty of th, K deer's position. He was committed commit-ted In spite ,,r himself tO the act of some impostor whose real motives were yet to be discovered, but who had already succeeded suc-ceeded In bringing the two greatest powei pow-ei s or Europe to the veig. of war "Before I can undo the mischief which has been done. " the Emperor proceeded, "I must first of all ascertain from what quart) r this forgerv emanated. When I h.- obtained thai information, lacked by clear and convincing proofs, It may be possible for me to satisfy the British Gov-emment Gov-emment that they and I have been the victims of a conspiracy If yon can suc-c, suc-c, cd In furnishing me with those proof It shall be the best day s work you ever did In your life." i listened carefully to 'hese words, scrutinising scru-tinising th. m for any trace of double meaning. It was Impossible for me to dlS-miy dlS-miy entirely from mv mind that suspicion suspi-cion which the story told by WUhelm II. was naturally calculated to CXcltSi I asked mvself whether the Kaiser was really in earnest, or whether he wsa nol Inviting me. In a delicate fashion, to r-troate r-troate him from Ihe , onsequences Of bis own rashness b potting together some Hi tit ions account of the origin or the telegram, tele-gram, which might Impose on Lord Salisbury. Salis-bury. It was clearly necessary, however, for me to appear to be convinced "May 1 ask if your Majesty's suspicions point In any particular direction''" I asked. Irving to feed my way cautiously. "The President of the Boers is perhaps" Tin Kaiser Interrupted me. "1 do not think Kruger would dare to provoke me bv such a trick. He would ln.. thai he would be the first to sufTer when It was found out. No. I am con-lnc con-lnc d that we must look nearer home tor the traitor. " Something In the Emperor's tone struck me as significant. "If you could give me any Indication of th. ,e rson " I ventured to throw out. Ilis Majesty looked at me fixedly as he answered . "E'oes It not occur to you. Monsieur V. that there is in pi umpire B powerful family the heads of which seem at one time to have cherished the notion that the Hohensollerm could nol reign without them, a family which aspired to play Ihe same part in modern Germany which was played i the Mayors of the palace in the Empire Of the Merovingians?" Vou allude, sire, without doubt, to the Blsmarcks?" "My grandfather was forced Into war with the French by a forged telegram There would b-- nothing surprising in an at ten: (l from tin- same quarter to force me into a war with England." 1 had no answer to rr.ake to such rea-set.lng. rea-set.lng. Daring as such a maneuver might appear, It was absurd In the face of historical facts, to pronounce It lm-. lm-. robabls. After a minute spi nt In considering the situation I turned i" the question nt how the fraud might have bei n carried out. It was quite clear to me that such a message could not have gone over the ordinary wires The dispatches Of Em-perOW Em-perOW are not, as a rule, handed In over tin counter or a postoillce. like a telegram tele-gram from a husband announcing that tie prevented from dining at home. 1 asked the Kaiser to explain to me the system pursued with regard to Imperial messages. "That Is a matter about which yon will be ible to learn more from the Chancellor than from me," was the answer "Eor-eign "Eor-eign dispatches go through the chancellery, chancel-lery, and there Is a staff of telegraphists there to cl-.i 1 with them. The wire goes 111 i-i t to the Ocn.ral I'dt graph office, 1 believe, from which It would, of course, find Its way to tho cable company ' Tlun this fabrh at Inn murit have been s. nt rrom the Chancellery In the first Instance?" In-stance?" 1 Inquired. "It could not have b en received at the Central office from an outside sources?" impossible. They would not dare lo transmit a message In my name which had not reached them tl.rough one of the authorised channels." This was the reply I had expected. But I did not fall to mark Ihe admission that tin re was more than one channel through which the forgery might have come I w as quick tO ask : "Is there not some other source from which this telegram may have reached them besides the ChanCSller ? Your Maj-..-t, no doubt, has a private wire from the palace." The Kaiser looked a little put out. "That !s so, of course," he conceded. But thai wire Is used only for my per-Sonal per-Sonal messages, and those of the Imperial family." "Still, a message received over this wire, and couched In your name, would be accepted ac-cepted at the Central office, would it in t "" i persisted I . .I..,, I Hi Kin Ihi- I,:, I,,,.,, iiin.r ilnr a plan who works under the eye or my s. i rotary, W0U1 1 not dare lo play me such a trick, which; he would be aware, must be detected Immediately Take my ad- lo-. Monsieur V . w aste n time over side paths, but go direct to the I'll I- lor. and commence your perquisitions n g hU staff " Was It Genuine' I bowed respectfully, as though accepting accept-ing this plan of campaign But. us I withdrew from the Emperor's cabinet, tin-doubt tin-doubt pressed more strongly than ever upon my mind whether i was nol being asked to play a part. I half expected to find 1 vi rythlng prepared for nn- at ihe ' iiatici'llerv, pi'earraiigi-d clues leading lo the detection of a culprit who woul I recite a confession whh h had been put Into his mouth beforehand I was perfectly willing to perform my pari In the comedy in a manic r satlsfai lory to mi employer, but all the same i meant to keep m eyes open, and not lei myself be the victim of a deception Intended In-tended for Sngllsh consumption in this mood i presented myself before lh, Chancellor s soon as the Imp rial autograph Introducing me had met his ye, bis Excellency threw aside, or pre-tended pre-tended to throw asldi all reserve "I am delighted to find the Emperor has placed this business in your hands Monsieur V .' ho said obligingly. "Your reputation Is wi n known lo me, and I am convinced that you will bti per fectly discreet The emperor Is. of course thoroughly taken a WW J , ,ults Of his unfortunate , l. lOUlSS an I Irishes to relieve himself of the r sspon slblltty he has Incurred In that i am quite willing to help hlm; butfnot at m o" ii exo. nsc vim understand If his Matestv wants a victim he ougm o be content- with one of Ms own Stiff. 1 rr-ruse to allow the Impel Inl ynen-caUery ynen-caUery to be discredited in the eyes of Europe." , May Bo Serious. This reeeplon. so unlike what I had anticipated an-ticipated made me begin to th ink ..that my inquln would have to be stfrlods. a W? a little further conversation With the chance.,,,,, i decided to go to work rfegd-uirlj rfegd-uirlj beginning bj ti acing th- imperial lele'gram back from the central OfflM: ThJ . Chancellor readily f"7:,s,1,7 ,,ro me with th" becessary authority to pro-Sfce pro-Sfce tothe dl? ?tor of th. w oPfi vice to whom I had rnereh t. 'r11'" that I had been Instructed to verlf he exact wording of the now famous dls- pniV 'is unnecessary for me to detal! my in er vies With this functionary. Whose share In the business was purely fQi!mtl. "A Glance at the Cheval Glass Showed Me a Stiff, Well Set-Up Prussian Official Suffice it that within a quarter Of an hour after entering his office. I came out with the all-Important Information thai the congratulation to Mr Kruger .had cm. dir. ot from the Impi rial Palace over the Kaiser's private wire. Bv this time It wa clear to me thai either wiiheim ii. was playing a very complicated gam.- Indeed with m. or ne reallv wa, the victim of one of the most audacious coups In history. My interest In the Investigation was strongly rousea, as I made my way to the palace for th-second th-second time that day hem upon a meeting meet-ing with the telegraphist by w . so agency, it now appeared the war-mtkKing dispatch had come over the wires. My recent audience In the Imperial Cabinet had Invested me with authority In the eves of the household, and I had no difficulty In getting a footman to con-du con-du i me to the operator's room which was situated at the far end of the corridor corri-dor which I had previously passed through on mv way to th. Kaiser The room being empty on my arrlai. 1 dismissed the footman In search of the operator who, he Informed me. would most probably be found with the private secretary to the Emperor. Another Bogus One. The moment I found myself alone I ( stepped up to the apparatus I am an expert telegraphist and the machine speedily clicked off the, following dispatch dis-patch . TO the (ierman Embassador. Iondon . See Irl Salisbury privately at once, and inform him British Government entirely en-tirely deceived as to my sentiments Proofs will be sent to you shortly. "WIEHEEM, Kaiser." I had hardly taken mv fingers off the Instrument when the door opened and th operator walked In. Herr Zeiss I he-aid this name at the central office appeared to ine to be a Blmple-mlnded man, more lokelv to be tho Icilm of a conspiracy than himself a conspirator I thought it my best plan tr, assume an ulr of omnlscence .at the olltS" 1 'How is this, elr! ' I demanded with some sternness. "Do your Instructions permit you to leave this Instrument unguarded un-guarded foi inj person who pleases to send his own messages over the Emperor's Em-peror's wire?" The telegraphist stared at me with a mixture or surprise and alarm. "I don't know who has authorized you, Herr Inspector " he began when I out him short. 'Am I tO go In his Majesty, and ask him If you have permission 'to leave this room when you please without taking (At) pi cautions against the unauthorized use of the wire?" Herr Zeiss quickly changed his tone "That Is not a thing of which I am v. r guilty." he protested 'Vou have been guilty of It Just now." 1 retorted "1 have not been away two minutes No on could have taken advantage of m absence 1 "Nevertheless, advantage has been taken tak-en of jour absence." i don t believe it'" "Ask the central office to repeat the message on have just sent them, then." Casting a frightened look at me. the man compiled l have seldom seen an expression of deeper astonishment and terror on a man's face than that which marked the unfortunate operator's as mv dispatch .am.- back to him. woul after wail, .miing with the Imperial signature "My (,.!' he cried out. Who has done- this" i shall bo ruined'" Whether you are ruined or not depend de-pend entirely on yourself," i said sharply. sharp-ly. "It Ii! In my power to save vou, but only upon one condition Herr Zeiss turned on me a gaze of mute appeal. "Vou must tell me the - sac) truth." 1 proceeded, 'and you must tell me everything. every-thing. How orti !. have vou I, ft this loom without taking precautions against the mlsuei of the wife in .our absence during dur-ing the last two days? ' Zeiss considered for a moment Then hit faci brightened up. "Not once, 1 can ;ussuro you positively eif that, Herr inspector." i bis answer, given so confidently, came as a severe check to me. I looked at the man sternly, as i responded, with assumed as-sumed confidence "And I am positive thai v,,u are mistaken mis-taken An unauthorized use ,lts h.e'n made of this wire, and 1 a in determined to know b w horn " The opei ttor't face f.ii once more. He appeared to m to be honestly at a loss "Com " 1 lut "V "think again Begin b recalling any occasions on which you have been called away hurrledlv and havo perhaps omitted to lock the" door." ' But there has been no such occasion v,o 1 have not e,nce left oSSti -p.. Precau-tlotls Precau-tlotls ." .', , touch of heslta- 00 vou mean PWed, or else-" T'V'. tn'wa, palpable :5f J8? m charr of n ,rnst" worthy person ' f , , on who was -And that MMCWOTtlp psi m n IlU 1 , i round It hani i qucsUon. WtfifflSi portly be ""'' .V'perhn'r's'thls gentleman is an om-pSli'ftS om-pSli'ftS Apartment as your- t a tache , In ,n ...,T, hv, n fact, ),. knows nothing ofte legr i ,;.)n3 on , hM -on,. .tlfflei i ask ec m i me If:;; Bte$iiS faJy&A 19 SfflSft" Ana the name of this fOOlish person If ou please Herr Beverlnskl. : ft Pll,kusVanC)SHe wai exiled to si-(Co, si-(Co, a Russian, ;u,,-a, opinions. C"1H5w"dld he come to be left In charge o f ins foomj " "He called here the day before yesterday, yester-day, in the evening, to speak to me about Iks mart lag v.ilh my slst-r They have lyen engaged for some time, you must know While he was Ivr l recelvi I a note from my sister herself, pressing me to com.- and sp.-ak to her at once outside ihe pala. t w.-nt. leaving my brother-ln-law to wait here during my absence My sister. 1 fpuhd merelv wlslvd to urgfc me i ,.( to nUject to any proposal made by her betrothed. On my return I found Sev-erlnskl Sev-erlnskl vawnlng and apparently bored 10 death lp my absence i asked him. and he assured me im ene had com near the room while I was away " The Plot Was Plain. I could scarcely resist smiling as Ihe whole. Intrigue so simple, and yet so consummately con-summately successful, ia pared to my percept inn Mv w hole anxiety now was to keep the worthy but stupid Zeiss Ik nbrant Of the transaction In which he had been an unwitting accomplice. I brought him away from the palace with m.- so as to leave him no opportunity opportu-nity of warning Severlnskl, and we pro-Cl pro-Cl sded together to the Russian s quarters quar-ters I ilatter myself that the professor of the military college was not a ntti disconcerted when he saw his dupe followed. fol-lowed. Into the room b an Inspector of the Berlin police I explained my position in such a manner man-ner as to i i Severlnskl see that I knew everything without enlightening the oilier ma:i The day before yesterday Herr els left vou lion.- in his room In the palace You took the opportunity to send a tele-cram, tele-cram, the t.-rms of which ar.- known to me over the Erriperor'e private win For this offense ou and he arc liable tO severe se-vere punishment What i now have to propose to von Is to make .i confession which will have the effect of exonerating every one except yourself if you do this. I think I can promise you thai o y shall BUffer no penalty beond. of course, ih lo.-y or your post In the military col-U col-U se.' Boverlnski gave me a glance of Intelligence. Intelli-gence. "You do not require m.- to denounce anybody eis. ."' he Inquired significantly 1 do not require you to confess what is obvious to every one " I returned with qual siniiic tnce Poor Zeiss followed this ex. hange with r.n air of bewilderment. It was evident that the discover) or the other's i;uiit had caused a shock to his confiding nature, nat-ure, and he was -.tin trying to reconcile tho Russian's prompt surrender to me with his previous stupidity on questions r electrical science, Wh6n i summarily dismissed him from further share in the Interview As soon as we were bv ourselves Sere- ilnskl spoke out boldly enough "I am quite willing to give you a statement state-ment that I "sent the telegram Bui I am not going to tell on anything more Vmi must know thai I am an Anarchist." I waved my hand scornfully Ii 1 consent to your suppressing the truth. Prof. Severlnskl. it does nol follow that l am wiiiinv: to listen to absurd Actions. Ac-tions. Be good enough to write out and sign a circumstantial ad ount of your own part In this ClUblS) plot, and will undertake un-dertake that ..mi. shall not pass tonight In ;rlson." The Act Confessed. The Russian had the sens.- to do what he was toi l without further parley, i from him more than l expected H con sented to put in wilting that it was after his betrothal to Fraulein Zeiss thai had been Solicited to make use of his connection con-nection with the Kaiser's private teh graphist, and he stated the amount of the bribe, a very heavy one, paid him for his services In 3endlng the Imperial congratulations congrat-ulations lo the President ,,f tho I ,m aal We became mi li-icndl OVCF the discussion that Severnski who was burst-iok burst-iok with vanlt) over his success, wanted me at last to let him tell me too mu6h. 1 was obliged to order him to be silent. "If you tell me that you are an agent f a certain great power, I must repeal what you say to the Kaiser. Then one of two things will happen. Either your aiveriimenl will avow your action, In which case you will be hanged as a spy, or It will disavow you. In which case you v ill pass the rest of your life In prison as a criminal lunatic " This menace had all the e-rre,-i which l could have desired, and I was satisfl d that the Russian would now hold his tongue Bidding him a cordial farewell for I confess th.- fellow's audacity had inspired me wilh some admiration i hastened back i the palace, to lay the results of m investigations before WUhelm n "Your Majesty has been victimized bv a secret agent whose emploM-rs are Interested In-terested in bringing about a feeling of t.ermany and Or"ftft?l HwMs? H' v rlnskl, anri1.!! usslan - Wllhelrn ,,1?2Bf lrlln military rolil1' uSjf ' this i-orrldor irlved that the. ftSB ' V'"'1 HWay 'lurlnr hfTtltttH a. Ivan tap- or thuC inessnKe Wnch ).-, K trouble-" -iB The KalP.- madr. tn-ilhhr.l I'.-vJbie ivi0 nV.rt him ng lht Vtvfijmp "And you dl.l not Mfc ,w, Mut Malcsly slvln- JM: 1 ,M1 not km-. gM "S'OU wre rijrv. I right" excising thf as they are ln do-ibt ,T,BlB they who have pKWR have. U,e. odvantag. v. r.i k. n Fiie.r-. v igjm( He p,lls.fl in ncd- tw is7Mj hi" time I m,m uTtjUm T. !l rne Mot, r vr-fRtK ly known to l,orj aa;jB ';l have that honor, .ljB "EnouEit' Ther , ll lose ,, wl .av JS.jM) train and proeec-d wr.hSfj sadcr , t ons, ,n ""i room e 'V, tu's- IHl if.' i .'o.r!S off. re,1 rae, --uniauJB time that the exrlTlS? my ITS i and tnovpd trvK I v t0 the i'-rtH pe-l you,' callc! tfSj! "How?" JH i also prj,i '.Ivk mlis-t-Sl room f H. rr Zeis, It wr ,rh borTHr this celebrated epltodj WgB left no m'tins untri" uK British people of his thesm 1 1 ward? them It Is u tB Imperii! Majesty, thouth tM !tv fiorn h!r.-, that I , JS the veil from the mem J ret Ion In the annals otmM diplomaci' |