The Meridian times., August 24, 1917, Image 6

About The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938

Image provided by: Idaho State Historical Society

                
TIMES, MERIDIAN. IDAHO
I lems
STARTLING EXPOSURE OF INNER LIFE OF KAISER AND CROWN
TOLD BY COUNT ERNST VON HELTZENDORFF TO WILLIAM
PRINCE AS
LEQUEUX
KIMTOHIAL NOTH. — William L«*
I
j
Tile Rasllah "Who'll Who" sa vs of
«•Ian "Me haa intima«* kaowiedse of j
«he aoerel service of roallaeatal con»
•Hea sad la roBaldered hr «he sovera
weui «of «treat Britain) an anthorltr on
oaeh matter«." Another anthorltr aayai
"fen people have been more elo«rly aa
•o.-laled with or kann more of the
asloandlna Inner marhlnery of Ger
ny than be."
legaeai probably haa more aourcen
•t aeeret laformatloa at kla command
«baa any coatcmpornry la civil life, and
for the Inat ala years the British Uov
ernmrat has made valuable nae of hin
vast store of secret Information throuah
a specially organised departmeat with
which l.et|acas work« as a voluntary j
amiataai. _ !
louat van lleltseadorir become an la
«lam«« of l eUocuv aevernl year« prior
I« thr *.ut break «f the wart he haa beea
li« lac la retirement la Kroner «luce
Aacual. mid. and It vraa there that l,r
«lara*, who horo rhroaMva for hl«
frt»*«. t'oant Ernst v
Hrltaondorlf.
«hr lattrr's rrvrlatloaa of tho lanrr
»Hr of Ihr Inprrlnl Gorman mart, haa
loan brra rrmaralsrd thrnaahoat Ka
rt»» aa tho posarssor of Its Innermost
•ortet«.
I
a
<!•+«* rfrHifd from ihr crow a prlare*«
!*«r pmwNii »djttean« pthiImIoii to
lie fialtll« Ihrur rrvrlnltuna of the
lan»f nr* -ft be Hohrasalloraa—that t
«Ii# 4#mo«*rarf*» of the world might
«'•>•»# f«> know «hr rral. hat here! «for#
fclddrn. perwonnlltt#« of 111 # two dontl«
arbI wnfmhfrt of «h# nutocrucy they
w nrrnyrd **nl»»ut.
it
to
: ; Another Victim of
the Crown Prince ::
-. ..
i ++++•}•+++++++++++++++++++* ■
. ■
ATE <m the night of November
iS, IP12, 1 was busily at work
in the crown prince's room at
the Marble palace at Potsdam,
t, as Ids imperial highn
adjutant, had been traveling ull day
with him from Cologne to Berlin. We
had done a tour of military Inspec
tions in Westphalia, and. as usual,
"Willie's" conduct had not been exact
ly exemplary.
On the night in question much hnd
happened. The emperor had, a month
before, returned from a visit to Eng
land, where he had been engaged by
speeches and handshakes, public and
private, blowing a narcotic dust lu tho
nostrils of your dear but too confiding
nation.
'•Heltzendorff!" exclaimed the crown
.prim
mom where 1 was busy nttcudiug to a
pile of papers. "Do get through all
those letters and things. Burn them
nil if you can. What do they mut
ter?"
L
in
in
a
of
personal
a* he suddenly entered tho
"Many of them are matters of grave
Importance. Here, for Instance, Is a
- . .. „ .
report of the Chief of military Intel* ,,f
llgeuce in \\ iishlngion. j
"Oh. old Frleseh ! Tear It up! He m
1« but au old fossil at best. And yet,
Heltzendorff, he Is designed to be of
considerable use." he added.
in
i
"Hla
majesty told tue toulght thut after his
visit to England he lias conceived tlie
Idea to establish uu official movement
for the improvement of better rela
tions between Britain and Germany.
The dear British are always ready to
reeelve such movements with open
arum. At Carlton House terrace they
strongly indorse the emperor's ideas,
and be tells me that the movement
should first arise iu commercial uud
ehippiug circles. Herr Uuliin will gen
erate tlie idea iu his offices iu London
nud the various British [torts, while
his majesty lias Von Gessler, the ex
mnbussudor at Washington, In view
as the loan to brlug forth the sugges
tion publicly, indeed, tonight from the
'Wtihelrastriisse there lias been sent a
message to ills schloss on the Mosel
commanding him to consult with his
majesty. Von Bernstorff took his pluee
at Washington a few months ago."
"But Von Gessler is au inveterate
enemy of Britulu," I exclaimed iu sur
prise, still seated at my table.
"The world do
;
j
j
not know that. Thu n
whoie scheme is based upon Britain's 8e
Ignorance of our Intentions. \\ e brlug fly
Von Gessler forward as the dear, good,
Anglophile frteud tv 1th his hand out- j
strotebed from the Wilhelmstrasse.
Oh. Heltzendorff!" he laughed. "It is
really intensely antusing. Is it not?''
I was silent. I knew that the deep
ly laid plot against Great Britain was
proceeding apace.
"Get through all that—tonight if
you can, Heltzendorff," the crown
princess leaves for Treseburg, in the
Harz, tomorrow, and iu the evening we
go to Nice."
"To Nice!" I exclaimed.
"Yes," he said. "I have a friend i
A friend there ! I reflected. I could
only suppose that the attraction in
Nice was of the feminine gender. i
"Then tlie lady is in Nice I" I re
marked, for sometimes I was permit- i
ted, ou account of my long service I
with the emperor, to speak familiarly. ;
"Lady, no!" he retorted. "It Is a
man. And I want to get to Nice at the
earliest moment. So get through those
Infernal documents. Burn them all.
They are better out of the way," he
laughed.
there.
The Trip to Nice.
Juat before eleven o'clock on the
'Hollowing night we left the Marmor
"palace. His Imperial highness trav
eled incognito as he always did when
visiting Franco, assuming the name of
Count von Oninnii. With us was Ills
personal valet, Schuler, the military
secretary, Major Lentze, nod Eckardt,
I he commissioner of secret police for
his highness' personal protection.
After H restleHS night—for there
«ere ninny stoppages*—I spent next
We had been busy nrrnnglng a prO
«nun of official visits in eastern Oer
... , , ,
n,n "y- wh ™ «Uddenly the Crown prlll
cess entered, pale with anger and do
niundcd fiercely llll explanation Of a
•lay wllh the crown prince In long and
tiring discussions on military affairs.
I endeavored to obtain from him some
reason why we were proceeding to
Nice, but to nil my inquiries he wus
smilingly dumb.
Only a fortnight before he had hud
a quarrel with his wife.
«am is a foou'
he had declared
openly to me, after she had left the
room In anger.
certain anonymous letter which she
held In her hand.
"Kindly read that !" she said hnugli
t lly, "and explain what It means."
The crown prince grinned, thnt cold
sinister expression overspreading his
countenance, a look which is such u
marked characteristic of ills.
Then, almost suatchlng the letter
from his young wife's fingers, lie read
it through, and with a sudden move
ment tort> it up and Hung it upon the
carpet, saying :
I refuse to discuss any unsigned
letter. Really, If we were to notice
every letter written by the common
sema we should, Indeed, have sufficient
to do."
His wife's arched brows narrowed,
Her face betrayed fiercest anger.
"1 happen to have Inquired, and 1 ;
now know that those allegations are !
eorreci !" she cried.
sUiger-womna, Irene Speronl, lias oh- ,
talned great success on the variety j
stage in Italy. She is the stur of the
Sala Mnrglierlta in Rome." I
"Well?" he asked In defiance. "And j
what of It, pray?" j
"Thnt letter you have destroyed tells
me the truth. 1 received it a few j
days ago, und sent un agent to Italy
in order to learn the truth. He hus
returned tonight. See !" And sud
denly she produced a crumpled snap
shot photograph of the crown prince
in his polo-playing garb, und with hint
a smartly-dressed young woman,
whose features were in the shadow. *
"Yes," she cried bitterly. "You re
fuse, of course, to look upon this piece
of evidence! I now know why you
went to Wiesbaden. The woman was
"Tilts dark-lmired
singing there, and you gave her a pair
,,f emerald nnd diamond earrings
which you purchased fron» Vollgold
m Unter den Linden. Seel Here is
the bill for them!"
Aud again she produced u slip of
paper.
Tlie seeue ended in the poor woman,
in a .frantic paroxysm of despair, tear
ing off the splendid necklet of dia
monds at her throat—his present to
her on their marriage—aud rusting it
full luto bis face.
Then, realizing that the scene had
become too trugic, I took lier sinull
hand, uud, with a word of sympathy,
led tier out of the room aud along the
corridor.
As 1 left her she burst into a sudden
torrent of tears; yet when 1 returned
ugaiu to the crown prince I found his
manner hud entirely chuuged.
treated his wife's natural resentment
and indignation ns a huge Joke, aud it
wus tbeu thut his Imperial highness
declared to mu :
"OUI is a fool !"
Hu
"Listen, Heltzendorff," his highness
exclaimed suddenly. "In Nice I may
disappear for a day or two. I may bo
missing. But if I am, please don't
raise a fuss about it. I'm incognito,
n nd nobody will know. 1 umy bo ab
8e „t for seven days. If 1 urn not back
fly that time then you may uiuke in
qulry."
-But the Commissary of Police Kck
ardt 1 He will surely know ?" I re
marked iu surprise.
"No. He won't know. I shall evade
him us I've often done before." re
plied his imperial highness. "1 tell
you of my lutuntlous so thut you may
curb the activities of our most esttma
ble friend. Tell him not to worry, uud
he will be paid a thousand murks on
the day Count von Grunau reappears."
I smiled, for I saw the influence of
the eteruul feminine.
"No, Heltzendorff. You are quite
mistaken," he said, rending niy
thoughts. "There is no lady in this
case. I am out here for secret pur
poses of my own. For that reason I
take you into my confidence rather
i than that unnecessary inquiry should
I be made and some of those infernal
; journalists get hold of tlie fact that
the Count von Grunau and the crown
prince are one and the Same person. I
was a fool to take this salon. I ought
to have traveled as au ordinary pas
senger, I know, but," he laughed, "this
is really comfortable and, after all,
what do we care what the world thinks
—eh? Surely we can afford to laugh
at it when all the honors of the game
are already In our hands."
His words mystified me, but I be
I
A LETTER FROM THE CROWN PRINCE'S PERSONAL ADJUTANT
TO WILLIAM LEQUEUX, POSSESSOR OF THE
8ECRET3 OF EUROPE.
Venous Notion,
par Morrt-anr-I.olop,
8r lnr-et-M it rat,
February 10th, 1017,
My dear Lcgaran
1 have fast finished readlnfir the proofs of your articles describing
n, T life aa an tifllelnl at tho Imperial court at Potsdam, and the two or
three ftntall errors you made I have duly corrected.
The lirons „„«adals and wily Intrigues which I have related to you
were mony of them known to yourself, for, as the Intimate friend of
l.ulsa. the ea-erown princess of Saxony, you were, before the war,
elosely associated with many of those at court whose names appear In
thrae articles.
The revelations which I have made, and which you have recorded
here, are but a lithe of the dlselosures which 1 could make, and If the
world desires more, I shall be pleased to furnish you with other and
even more startling details, which you may also put Into print.
My service as personal adjutant to the German crown prince I«, hnp
ptly, at an end, and now. with the treachery of Germany against civili
sation glaringly revealed, I feel, In tny retirement, no compunction In
exposing all I know concerning the secrets of the kaiser and hla non.
With most cordlnl greetings.from
Your sincere friend,
(Signed) 14 UN ST VON HELTZENDORFF.
came even more mystified by his ac
tions a few days inter.
I was in Ignorance that n fortnight
before Hermann Hardt, one of his
highness' couriers, had left Potsdam
and on arrival at Nice hnd rented for
three months the fine Villa Lilas.
We soon settled liiere and on the
am
an
ing
of
so
to
evening of our arrival I accompanied
ty u > crown prince down into the town
y 0 jfl e j t >tee promenade,
We smoked together and chatted, ns
we often did when ills imperial high
ness became bored. I was still tnysti
fled why we had come to the Riviera
so (> arlv In the season,
Yet our coming had, no doubt, been
privately signaled, because within half
; Lilas a short, stout old Frenchman,
! with white, bristly lmir—who I af
, Bnvouzet, the newly appointed prefect
j „f the department of Alpes-Marltimes
—culled, to leave his card, upon the
I Count von Grunnu.
j The imperial Incognito only means
j that the public are to be deluded. Oili
cinldom never is. They know the ruse,
j und support it all the world over. His
j highness the crown prince was pnylng
his unnuul visit to Nice, nnd the presl
dent hnd sent his compliments through
his representative, the bristly-haired
little prefect.
As l departed from the crown prince,
who yawned nnd declared that he was
* tired, he said:
"Ah! Heltzendorff. How good it Is
to get a breath of soft air from the
Mediterranean! We shall have a port
on this pleasant sea one day—If we
live ns long—eh?"
Thut remark showed the trend of
an hour of our arrival at the Villa
terward found out wus Monsieur Paul
It showed how, hand in hand
events.
with the emperor, he was urging prep
arations for war—a war that had for
Its primary object the destruction of
the powers which, when the volcano
erupted, united as allies.
an
to
in
ly
to
hls
ed
The Mysterious Lady.
After we hnd been at the Villa Lilas
about ten days 1 was one afternoon
seated outside the popular Cufe do
l'Opera, in the IMuco Masseun, when n
lady, dressed in deep mourning and
wearing the heavy veil in French style,
passed along the pavement, glanced at
me, nnd then, hesltatlug, site turned,
nnd, coming back, advanced to the lit
tle tnble in the corner whereat I was
sitting.
"May I be permitted to have n word
with you, monsieur?" she usked in
French, In u low, refined voice.
"Certainly," was my reply, und, I
rose nnd drew a chair for lier.
She gluuced round quickly, as
though to satisfy herself that she
would not be overheard. I saw that
she wus about twenty-four, handsome,
dark-haired, with well-cut features.
"I know, monsieur, that I tun a com
plete stranger to you," she exclaimed
with a smile, 'but to me yoii are quite
fumiliur by sight. I have passed you
niauy times iu Berlin and iu Potsdam,
and I know that you are Count von
Heltzendorff, personal adjutant to his
highness the crown prince—or Count
von Grunau, as he is known here in
France."
"You know that!" I exclaimed.
She smiled mysteriously, replying :
"Yes. I—well, I happen to be a
friend of his highness."
I held my breath. So this pretty
young Frenchwoman was one of my
imperial master's friends 1
"The fact is," she went on, "I have
traveled a considerable distance to see
you. I said that I was one of the
crown prince's friends. Please do not
misunderstand me. I know that he
lias a good many friends, but I have
never been Introduced to him, and he
does not know me. I am his friend
because of a certain friendliness to
ward him."
"Really, madame, I don't quite un
derstand," I said.
"Of course not," she answered, and
then, glancing round, she added : "This
place is a little too public. Cannot
we go across the garden yonder?"
I rose and walked with her to a
so
quiet spot in the gardens.
She told me that her name was
, Julie de Rouville, but she would give
! no account of where she lived,
j because I cannot approach the
"I have ventured to approach you,
crown
prince," she said presently. "You prob
ably do not know the true reuson of
Ids visit here to Nice?"
"No," I said,
not. Why is he here?"
"It is a secret of his own. But, I
am awnre of the reason, and that is
why I have sought you. Would It sur
prise you if I told you that In a cer
tain quarter In Frnnce It will, in a few
days, be known thnt the German em
peror is establishing n movement for
an entente between Germany and Brit
ain, and thnt the whole affair is based
upon a fraud? The emperor wants no
entente, but ouly war with Frnnce and
with Britain. The whole plot will be
exposed In n few days!"
"From what source have you de
rived this knowledge?" I asked, look
ing at her In amazement.
But she again smiled mysteriously,
and said:
"I merely tell you this in order to
prove to you thnt I am In possession
of certain facts known to but few peo
ple."
"You evidently are," I said. "But
who intends to betray the truth to
France?"
"I regret, count, that I cannot an
swer your question."
"If you are, as you say, the crown
prince's friend, It would surely be a
friendly act to let us know the truth,
so that steps may be taken, perhaps,
to uvoid the secret of Germany's diplo
macy from leaking out to her ene
mies."
T admit that I do
"All I can tell you, count, is that the
mntter is one of the gravest impor
tance."
"But will you not speak openly, and
give us the actual facts?"
"I will—but to his imperial highness
alone," was her answer.
I
"If hia highness will honor me with
an Interview, then I will reveal all I
know, and, further, will suggest a
means of preventing the truth from
leaking out."
"But you are French," I said.
"I have told you so," she laughed.
"But probably his highness will refuse
to see Julie de Rouville, therefore, I
think it best if you show him this."
From her little gold chain-purse she
produced a small, unmounted photo
graph of herself, and handed it to me.
"When he recognizes who wishes to
see him he will understand," she said,
in a quiet, refined voice. "A letter ad
dressed to Julie de Rouville at the
I'ftst Restante at Marseilles will quick
ly find me. I do not wish the letter
to lie sent to me here. From Mar
seilles I shall duly receive it."
I was silent for a few moments.
"I confess," I exclaimed at last,
confess I do not exactly see the neces
sity for nn interview with his high- j
ness, when whatever you tell me—as
hls personnl adjutant—will be regard
ed as strictly in confidence."
"I have alrendy said. Count von
Heltzendorff, that I am his highness'
friend, and wish to approach him with
motives of friendship."
"You wish for no payment for this
information, eh?" 1 asked suspiciously,
half believing that she might be a se
cret agent of France.
"Payment—of course not!" she an
swered, half Indignantly. "Show that
photograph to the crown prince, und
tell him that I apply for an interview."
Then, rather abruptly, she rose and
walked away, leaving me with her pho
tograph in my hand.
The'crown prince was out motoring,
nnd did not get back to the villa until
after seven o'clock.
As soon as I heard of his return I
went to Ills room and recounted my
strange adventure with the dark
haired young woman in black. He be
came keenly interested, nnd the more
so when I told him of her secret
knowledge of the kaiser's intended es
tablishment of a bogus entente with
Great Britain.
"She wishes to see you," I said.
"And she told me to give you her pho
tograph."
I handed it to him.
At sight of it his face Instantly
changed. He held his breath nnd then
examined the photograph beneath the
light.
Next second, however, he had recov
ered his self-possession and said:
"Yes, of course, I know her. She
| wants me to write to Julie de RouvlUe '
at the Post Restante at Marseilles, eh?
H'm—I'll think It over."
Late In the afternoon, two days la
ter, his highness, who had been walk
lng alone, returned to the villa with
a stranger, a tall, rather thin, fair
haired man, undoubtedly a Oermai),
and the pair were closeted together,
holding counsel evidently for a consld
erable time. Where his highness met
hlm I knew not, but when luter on I
entered the room I saw that the pair |.
were on quite friendly terms .
Ills highness addressed him as Herr
Schafer, and when he had left he told !
me that he wus from the Wilhelm- '
strns.se and hnd been attached to the
embassy at Washington, and after
I wards in London, "for affairs of the
press."
Whatever was in progress was a
strict secret between the pair. The
more I saw of Hans Schafer the more
He had cruel eyes
I disliked him.
and I could see that he was a very
clever and cunning person.
For a full fortnight the crown prince
and the man Schafer were almost in
separable. Was it for the purpose of
meeting Schafer that he had gone to
Nice? Tlie man hnd been back from
London about two months and had, I
learnt, been lately living In Paris.
One evening while strolling along
the tree-lined Promenade des Anglais
I suddenly encountered Julie de Rou
vllle, dressed in mourning, a quiet, pa
thetic figure, Just as we had last met.
I instantly recollected thut since the
evening when I had given her photo
graph to the crown prince he had
never mentioned her.
"All, count!" she cried. "This is
indeed, a welcome meeting ! I have
been looking out for you for the past
two days."
"I've been staying over at Cannes,"
was my reply. "Well?"
1
"I have to thnnlc you for giving my
photograph and message to his high
ness," she said.
"I trust that the crowu prince has
written you—eh?"
"Well, no—" was her rather vague
reply.
"Then how are you aware that I
gave your message?"
She shook her head and smiled.
"I had my own means of discovery.
By certain signs I knew you had car
ried out your promise," she said. "But
as I have heard nothing, I wish you to
deliver another message—a very urgent
one. Tell hlm I must see him, for I
dread daily lest the truth of the
kaiser's real Intentions be known at
the Quai d'Orsay."
"Certainly," was my reply. "I will
deliver your message this evening."
"Tell him that my sole desire is to
act in the Interests of the emperor and
himself," she urged.
' But, forgive me," I said, "I cannot
see why you should interest yourself
iu the crown prince if he declines to
communicate with you. '
I have my reasons, Count von Helt
zeadorff, was her rather haughty re
ply. I lense tell him that the matter
will not brook further delay.
I hnd seen in tire London newspa
pers during the past week how'eagerly
the Engtlsh journalists, with the dust
enst into their eyes, were blindly advo
cating that the British public should
welcome the great German national
movement, headed by Baron von Gess
ler, supported by Ballin, Delbrück
and Von Wedel, with the hearty co-op
eration of the emperor and the imperi
al chancellor—the movement to estab
lish better relations with Great Bri
tain.
j hazards be kept, and that night I told
the crown prince of my second meet
I knew that the secret should at all
ing with the pretty woman in black
nnd her urgent request.
He laughed, but made no remark.
Yet I knew by his tone that he was not
so easy in his mind as he desired me to
believe.
It also seemed strange why, if the
young Frenchwoman was so desirous
of meeting him, she did not call at the
villa.
About a week inter it suddenly oc
curred to me to endeavor to discover
the real Identity of the lady in black,
but as I was not certain whether she
netually lived In Nice it was rather
difficult.
Nevertheless, by invoking
the aid of my friend Belabre, inspector
of the Surete of Nice, and after wait
ing a few days I made an astounding
discovery, namely, that the lady who
called herself De Rouville was an Ita
lian cafe concert singer named Irene
Speronl—the woman who had aroused
the jealousy of the crown princess!
And she knew that important state se
cret of Germany !
The situation was a most serious
one. I felt it my duty to mention my
discovery to his highness, when, to my
surprise, he was not in the least angry.
He merely said:
"It is true, Heltzendorff—true what
the crown princess declared—that I
went to Wiesbaden and thnt I
the woman a pair of emerald earrings
which I ordered from old Vollgold.
But there was no reason for jealousy.
I saw the woman and gave her the !
gave
.....
present in the hope of closing her |
"P®* j
' In a moment I understood. The
pretty variety artiste was endeavoring
to levy blackmail. But how could she.
In her position, have learned the secret
of the emperor's Intentions?
She was, I found, living ns Signorlna
Speronl, with her maid, at the Hotel
Bristol over at Beaulieu. Just across the
blue bay of VUIefranehe, and as the
days went on I realized the imminent
dnnger of exposure, and wondered if
the kaiser knew of It.
|. I made a remark to that effect to his
replied :
! ''Don't disturb yourself, my dear
' Heltzendorff ! I have not overlooked the
matter, for it is one that closely con
cerns both the emperor and myseir.
The woman obtained the secret by
opening the dispatch box of one who
believed her to be his friend, and then
she attempted to use her knowledge In
order to drag me into her net. But I
do not think I am very likely to be
caught—eh?"
At that moment Herr Schafer en
tered the room, therefore further dis
cussion was out of the question.
From inquiries I made later on I
found that the concert singer had sud
denly left the hotel, therefore I went
over to Beaulieu and had an Instruc
tive chat with the hall porter, a Ger
man, of course. From him I learned
that the signorina had been staying
there ever since the date when we had
arrived at Nice and, further, that two
gentlemen had been frequently In the
habit of calling upon her. One was a
smart young Frenchman who came In
a motor car and the other was a Ger
man. From the description of the lat
ter I at once came to the conclusion
that it was none other than Herr Scha
fer.
highness one morning, whereupon he
"The one gentleman did.not know of
the other's visits," said the bearded
porter, with a laugh. "The signorina
always impressed silence upon me, be
cause she thought one would be jeal
ous of the other. The German gentle
man seemed very deeply in love with
her, and she called him Hans. He ac
companied her when she left here for
San Remo."
I reported this to his highness, but
he made no remark. A week later
some fishermen found upon the brown
rocks ueur Capo Verde, beyond San
ltemo, the body of a woman, fully
dressed, afterwards identified as that
of Irene Speronl, the singer so popu
lar iu Rome.
It was proved that on the previous
night she had been seen by two peas
ants walking along the sea road near
1 San Lorenzo, accompanied by a tall,
thin man, who seemed greatly excited,
nud was talking in German. It was
believed by the Italian police that the
unknown German, in a fit of jealousy,
threw her into the sea.
From facts I gathered some months
i a ter I realized that the whole plot
had peon most cunningly conceived,
Schafer, after his return from Ameri
ca, had met the woman Speroni, who
was performing in London, and she
had, unknown to him, opened his dis
patch box and from some secret corre
spondenee had learned the real truth
regarding the proposed entente which
the emperor contemplated.
Schafer, alarmed at the woman's
knowledge, and yet fascinated by her
charms, had gone to the crown prince,
and he, in turn, hnd seen the woman
in Wiesbaden. Finding her so danger
ous to the emperor's plans he first in
troduced her to a young French mar
quis, de Vienne by name, who pestered
her with his attentions, and followed
her to Beaulieu. Having so far suc
ceeded, the crown prince went to Nice
nnd played upon Schafer's love for the
woman, pointing out that she was play
ing a double game and urging him to
watch.
He did so and discovered the truth.
Then there occurred the tragedy of
jealousy, exactly as the police be
lieved.
Herr Schafer bad, however, escaped
to Germany, and the police of San Re.
mo are still in ignorance of his iden
tity.
(Copyright, 1917, William LeQuoux.)
Rotten.
A colored man, working near the
outskirts of the city, went to a nearby
grocery at the noon hour and bought 5
cents worth of crackers for his lunch.
As he started to leave the store he no
ticed some neat looking boxes that
contained samples of axle grease.
"Say, mister," he called to the grocer,
"what's these little boxes of cheese
worth?"
!
"Oh," says the grocer, "those
are just advertising snmples.
yourself to one if you like." Tlie next
day he appeared at the store again
and was asked by tlie grocerymnn how
he liked his lunch of yesterday.
Scratching Ills head dubiously he said :
"Well, mister, your crackers was a-nll
right, but, sa-a-ay, boss, that cheese
was sure
Help
'ransom.' " — Indianapolis
News.
Reversion of Type,
B'igg—How is it he kicks so much
at what his wife says?
Wagg—Maybe it's because she
| gists it -.«aing him ft male—Tow:)
j Topics
per.