THE BLACK EAGLE'S CLAW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17145, 26 April 1919, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE BLACK EAGLE'S CLAW.

(STOBir Oil TUB SBOBET SBBVICB.} . «0»BY JOHN SUMNER. COPYRIGHT. CHAPTER I. On the evening of October 8, 1914, Major Keller and I were in attendance upon General Von Plessen, who was enraged in the Naval Bureau at Charlev.llo, then as now, Headquarters of the German stall on the Western front. All the world knows that Von Plessen waa aide-de-camp to his Imperial Majesty Wilhelm, King of Prussia and German Emperor; at that moment the general himself was actually in attendance upon the Kaiser. Keller, a garrulous soul, wight to pass , the .weary hours of waiting in an anteroom by gossip, and woud not be discouraged By the monosyllabic replies of myself his captain, known on Von VtoaBen's staff as Silent Bonn tag. - I'll bet you ten marks, Sonntag, he Was saying, "that I can tell you what a wing on in there. They all arrived this morning: Tirpita, Von Scheer, Capelle, and who else do you think! Why, little Ballin himself, all the way from Hamburg." „ T J " So," I answered. " So," he repeated mockingly. Ana what, I ask you, are the lords of tho navy and the ruler of the merchant fleet—what there is left of it—discussing for hours on end?" , I grunted and wagged my head. m "Are you not even interested, man! he demanded with a flash of irritation.' • Think of it. Remember that Majesty spends an hour a day in telling all and sundry how soon and how horribly he intends to punish England, and then try and guess what may be the meaning, of this gathering." I shrugged my shoulders. Keller came and stood over me, ha lips dose to toy ears. _ , " They are planning an invasion ot England," he hissed. , . " So," I answered as apathetically as 1 could. . „ , "You m where Ballin comes m, he urged, goaded to a justification of his (mess. "He supplies the transport*. He has no connection with naval strategy outside that. You must see that his presence at a, long naval conference implies something out of the ordinary. Come, old fellow, admit as much." „ . "I should never have thought it, i mumble J. _ * I believe yon," grumbled Heller, eardonically. " I often wonder if you think of anything. If you do, you keep it to yourself." . He spoke loudly, and with some anger, but his voice was soioud that my trained ears failed to catch a soft footfall in the thickly carpeted passage outside. I felt, rather than saw, that Von Plessen was standing at the door, and had heard Keller's last injudicious speech. > "I trust I do my duty, Major Keller, I said. ~ __ . " Captain Sonntag!" said a silky voice from the doorway. , I swung round and clicked again. Keller with flushed face also sprang to the salute. . , " Herein," commanded the general; and I followed him along the passage, halting only outside the inner room of the bureau which he opened and closed behind him. A moment later a harsh voice shouted " Come," and the door was open for my entry. Well I knew that voice. As etiquette commanded, my eyes met those of the Kaiser himself as 1 once more stiffened to the salute; and like every other courtier soldier, I at once dropped them, as though unable to sustain the niereing regard he turned upon me. " But I took in the room in that second. The little table covered with plans and papers, round which sat the men whom Keller had mentioned Tirpitz with his -orrugated brows and absurd beard; Scheer, looking the exact counterpart of a fine British seaman; Capelle, with more of the council chamber and less of the quarter-deck in his make up; and Ballin, 1 a little insignificant figure, correctly tailored and very much at his ease. _ " This is the man?" said the Kaiser, addressing Von Plessen. A bow from the aide-de-camp. The Emperor looked interrogatively at Ballin, whose appraising dark eyes were turned upon me. -~.... " You speak English? " asked the snip Ding king, in that language. , ' " I can if it is necessary," I replied u the same tongue, " but not otherwise." "Good!" grunted one of the nava! men; and I swear that the face of th< All-Highest lightened at the retort. " When necessary you speak with a verj perfect accent," drily commented Ballin. " That is why I ventured to recommenc Captain Sonntag," interposed Von Plessen " We are fully aware of the manner u Tshich he learned .to speak English sc well, and fully approve.' " General Von Plessen will give yon instructions," said the Emperor, and anothei click and a step backwards carried me on! of the room. , In a moment Von Plessen followed me. " You we free, Major Keller," he said in a tone which made me sorry for the man. , „ , , " You," he said to me, when Keller had rone, " will be in attendance upon Hen Ballin, who is returning to Hamburg as swiftly as possible. You will take two cars, and make the best of your way to Osnaburgh, where a special train is waiting for him. At Hamburg you will remain at his disposal until otherwise instructed by me." I saluted and was about to withdraw; but Von Plessen had something still to nay. -* " You Till continue to treasure yota thoughts, Captain Sonntag," he coininanaed, " even though much greater men than Major Keller complain of it." I had a wild desire to grin in his face, Who, I wondered would have complained more bitterly of my reticence than General Von Plessen himself, had he but known that the thoughts I treasured wen those of an agent of the British, secret service! While my servant packed a few thing! for me I supervised the preparation of the two cars; and although the wholo business occupied but a few minutes, Ballin was ready sooner than I. Ho was conducted by Von Plessen tc one of the car*-- second one—and ] made to enter the first, when he called t»> me. "Captain Sonn'ag!" I came to his call. " Have you such a passion for your owr company that you are disinclined to ride with me? " " I shall b? delighted," I answered, uu- . demanding at the time the significant of Von I'lessen's final words. * " Then tell them if you please, to lost e no time; and then hop in with me." !■ I instructed the drivers as he wished r and took my place besids him. 9 The night was black and stormy, ant a J our road, which led through the Duchy o: s i Luxemburg, was not suited to headionj 0 travelling at any tine. It carried mill 1 t.-iry traffic of all kin.'.?, from *he whi& e zing motor cycles of military despatel riders to big guns, attached to heavy trac tion engines. Motoring on such a road at fifty miles an hair, under such circumstances, was ; e supreme test of the nerves. My eompan il : ion wrapped in a big fur coat, eat un r - moved by our experiences, and chatter. i-1 affably. n | He'talked of everything, slipping in hen s and there a natural .juesUwU, and appar i. j entlv ignM-ir: my brusqueness of my non ei' -m'mittal answers. My stock of the« i-1 was becoming very much over-workec .1 iv 1 en a terrific crash ahead of us cut acros; :hj intolerable stream of his talk. The driver shut down the brakes, anc we pulled up in time to avoir. the fate of the empty car, whicl » had pioneered us by a hundred yards o: '. i so. This had crashed into a groat waggoi t' which had been thrown, without an; a,; lights, 'across the road ait a sharp turning" 6 Already the wreckage was in flames a which gave sufficient light for us to dis r cover the unfortunate driver of ourtnrj .. 'car crushed among the debris, and already '• ' dead The wage was matchwood, am i there was no sign of anybody belonginj i-, fo it. i. ] "We can do nothing for him," I sai< '~ promptly, having made sure our man wa e Head. ' "We must leave him hero, an< [ drive on."

There was just room by the Bido of the road for us to- pass, and ordering our own driver to proceed with more caution, I reentered the car. Ballin was silent as we pushed forward once more into the darkness. I occupied myself with speculations as to the cause of"the mishap. Apparently my companions thoughts were upon the same topic, for presently he said :— "Somebody placed that waggon there to catch us!" 'It would seem so," I replied. Ballin seemed in no way shaken by the occurrence, but continued to ponder deeply upon the position in which we fojud ourselves. When he next spoke his words proved that he was no 1 , thinking of him- ' self, and the danger in which he might be placed, but of the business Ikat had made this dangerous journey necessary. "You are a man of descretion. Captain Sonntag," he said formally. "I am about j to give you an instruction which must be I carried out aft all hazards, should the I emergency against which it provides by any chance arrive." "At your orders, sir." I replied with equal formality. "Should another accident occur, and should I be the victim while ycu escape— and that might well be the outcome—you must leave me as unconcernedly as we left that poor devil behind there. Yon must find some way of poshing on to Hamburg without loss of time.' "I understand." "In the inner pocket of my great coat is a package of papers and plans. Yon must take those and make the best of your way to the Kaiserhof Hotel, at Hamburg. As soon as you arrive there, ask for Colonel Puckler, and deliver them into his own hands. Nothing is to deter you from carrying out these orders. "I understand," I replied once more, and then we fell to cilence again. Wild schemes surged up in my brain. I remember forming a plan to take tne place of the driver. If I wrecked the car, I stood an equal chance with Ballin of coming out of the affair best; an even money chance, as it were. But I reflected that if I were! killed the valuable knowledge I had gained, knowledge of his pos- '. Bession of plans which, I now believed, were for an invasion of England, would bs i entirely lost. 1 I considered tho possibility of shooting 1 both Ballin and the driver with my auto- ' matic, but rejected that as more imprao 1 ticable still. No, I concluded, my best course was to carry on, and watch for an opportunity of some kind. I could afford to take no risks with such important information already in my possession. Grey daivn| came, and to my astonish- ' ment I found Ballin fast asleep by my ' side. I could not but admire the pluck ' of this little Jew, who, after seriously providing for a fatal accident to himself, : could dismiss the personal risk, and fall 1 asleep under such hazardous conditions. 1 An hour later we were leaving Osnv 1 burgh in our special train, and at mid--1 day) I was installed in a suite of rooms ' at the Kaiserhof, next to the large private , suite permanently reserved at. that gorgeous establishment for Herr Ballin, Hamburgh's uncrowned king. ' A bath and a change Left me with an scute realisation that I was extremely hungry, and I ventured to employ tho ' telephone wh!4h communicated with. Ballin , to inform him tlwt I proposed to go down to the restaurant for lunch. ' "You start," he said, with his custom--1 ary air of good nature. *}. may he able , to join you later, but don't let me detain you." An obsequious -waiter conducted me to a little reserved table at the near end of the great diningroom, and I took a scat 3 with my back to the wall and facing the I restaurant, now crowded with grey-clad officers, fashionable women, and stout 8 Hamburgers enjoying their copious mittagessen. Deliberately I iooked over the j hill of fare and gave my orders; and before I had completed this task my in--111 stinct told me that recognising eyes were a turned upon me. That is a contingeD_r for which I have always been prepared, a and I 6*eeled myself for the long, deliber- • ate glance around the room which I must 8 presently take, and for the unruffled I greeting I must give to t.io acquaintance whom chance had brought face to face , with mo, ' I covered my tunic) wi&h my serviette, German fashion, and then calmly lifted . my eyes to a scrutiny of the room. My glance roved from table to table, and stopped at ft table on my right, where it became riveted on a beautiful girl, who ' was seated with an older woman gnd a • lean, grey-haired man. In he? dark lustrous eyes I saw rocogni' j tion, and something more besides. Yes, her beauJiful lip curled with contempt when my eyes met hers, and she turned „ coldly to her friends, when she saw that the recognition was mutual j I continued my inspection of the room, reflecting that Clarice Forbes had better . ' reason than I for surprise at encountering me under such circumotances. Our acquaintance had been a brief but a very pleasant one, We had met at Ascot in ' the preceding Jane—Heavens, how long i ago it seemed!— became fast friends after a few informal dances and a river trip or two. j I knew that the brilliant, beautiful American girl was going to Germany to study music at Leipsic; but how could j she have expected to see the dobonair, T care-free Johnny Sumner, whose) idleness a was the cause of open reproach from his well-meaning friends, clad in a German 0 uniform in a Hamburg hotel, when tba i war was already three months old? n From the circnmstanM that she had art j me dead, I argued that her sympathies were on th< side of the Allies— always . tho case with Americans at that stage of ' the war—and I imagined her already denouncing me to her obviously American _ friendiL No doubt when I next looked in their direction I should have to encounter looks of frigid horror. I ventured the experiment, but met no answering look Tho girl, looking very \1 white, it seemed to) me, was chatting in an animated fashion, and both her com- , panions were laughing quietly at her talk. , 8 She had decided not to give me away it then. I was glad of that aid puzzled as well At the worst any denunciation of me by f° Her would have caused .no only a tempor- ■ ary i'icon ience; for 1 was not the only officer in tli-s German army who, a month be/oro tho war, was living in En dish society on easy terms with all about-him. t Yet, I wi.s' glad, for the same reason 3 that I had fell unreasonably hurt at her natural disdain, when first her eyes encountered mine. I realised how often she had been in my thoughts since we parted last June, and when I had carelessly II undertaken to 'look her up" soma time in le Leipsic. I bad hop"d then dm she had formed some re~nrd for me, similar to my a ~ own sentiment to her. And now my heart * beat quicker as I wondorod what other reason could have prevented he- calling 36 the attention of her friends to my strange , metamorphosis. *> Reflecting after this fashion, I philosophically devoured the plentiful meal iefc •d ] before me, and to my grea'/ satisfaction olj presently discovered a mirror in which I >g ; could watch Clarice Forbes and her friends i- without appearing to look at them. I ''-'noted she appeared, if anything, more 'h beautiful :han ever. c- j But she was an ernancipated woman, j with nothing of the cloister about her, a es I girl who could - vim, and run. and rido ai as well as any English hoyden I ever ii- j met. a- | I watched her shamelessly, devouring d i every deluil of her daintiness. I And as I watched I saw a strange thing re i happen. About her table ho\ered a r- I waiter, who drew my attention to the n- ' very commonplace of his appearance. s© Most of the waiters in that room were » obvious Germans from the north, but 53 j this man was as void of any mark of [ nationality as could well he. He was 'd '■ just a waiter, except that at he walked id he turned his rijrht tee inwa:d, a defect 'h | which had probably obtained hie freedom (ir j from military service. 311 This fellow prowled about the table 'J after the fashion of his tribe ; one could g- ' see he was a most attentive man. I s,! thought he was Irving to overhear the s- ' conversation, and placed him as one of st j the hundreds of police agents with which I)" | every German city is infested. id i Then, m I say, I saw a strange thing >g. happen. As he passed behind Clarice to render some small service, I swear I saw id • their hands touch, and in the brief conas tact something passed from her hand to id his. I do be continued oa Wednesday B«U