The Fate Of A Spy
:
The Coming Conquest Of England
Colonel Mercier-Milon reported from Brussels that he had arrested
Countess Arselaarts and thought he had made a valuable capture. The
Countess was deeply in debt and lived very extravagantly. A little time
ago she had been assisted financially by an exalted personage, who had
left the country. Since then her resources had become exhausted, and
it was supposed that she had acted as a spy for the English at a high
salary
He added that he was on the point of discovering a widespread
network of espionage in France and Belgium.
Herr van Spranekhuizen and Hinnerk Brodersen of Schleswig had also been
arrested the same morning.
"I wish we had trustworthy information as to the strength of the British
fleet," said the Lieutenant-Colonel, who had communicated the above
report to Heideck. "Sometimes I am really inclined to believe that this
fleet is not so effective as all the world has hitherto assumed. It
is almost impossible for outsiders to get a clear insight into the
condition of the English navy. So far as I can remember, false
reports are systematically published about the fleet--officially,
semi-officially, and privately. From time to time a speaker is put up
in Parliament by the Government to deliver a violent attack on the naval
administration. He is contradicted by a representative of the Admiralty,
and dust is again thrown in the eyes of the world. On one of Queen
Victoria's last birthdays a powerful squadron, as it was called, was
assembled for review off Spithead. But no foreigner was allowed a close
inspection of these imposing fleets, and I am greatly inclined to think
that it was another case of the famous movable villages, which Potemkin
showed the Russian Empress on her journey to the Crimea. Official
statements give the number of English warships as more than four
hundred, not including torpedo-boats, but amongst them is a large number
of obsolete and inefficient vessels."
Heideck nodded.
"If the English fleet were really so efficient as is believed, it would
be difficult to understand why it has not attempted any decisive action
up till now."
"That is also my view. The Copenhagen fleet would have attacked Kiel
harbour long ago. It was said that it was to hold the Russian fleet in
check. But that would be superfluous to start with, as long as the Gulfs
of Bothnia and Finland were blocked with ice and the Russian squadrons
were unable to move. This way of making war reminds me forcibly of the
state of things in the Crimean War, when a powerful English fleet
set out with a great flourish of trumpets against Cronstadt and St.
Petersburg, but did nothing except bombard Bomarsund, a place nobody
cared about. The English Press had great difficulty in excusing the
fiasco of its world-renowned fleet."
Returning to the previous subject of conversation, Heideck said to the
Lieutenant-Colonel: "I don't think we need trouble ourselves any more
about the communications of Countess Arselaarts and Messrs. Amelungen
and Co. The court-martial may settle with them. I attach incomparably
greater importance to skipper Brandelaar, whom I hold in my hand, and
through whom--perhaps with the help of Camille Penurot--I hope to
obtain information about the British fleet and its proposed employment.
Brandelaar's vessel should now be off Ternenzen. I will ask you, Herr
Lieutenant-Colonel, to have the man and his crew arrested to-day."
"But how does that agree with your intention of using him as a spy in
our interest?"
"I forgot to tell you that it is an agreement between Brandelaar and
myself. He himself thought it necessary for his own safety; he was
afraid of the crew. Of course it will only be a sham examination,
and the man must be released as soon as possible, on the ground of
insufficient evidence, so that he can return to England to-morrow."
The Lieutenant-Colonel promised to do as the Major desired.
The same evening Heideck met Penurot by arrangement at a tavern.
"Our business is somewhat complicated," said Heideck. "There must be
some more people working for your father, hitherto unknown to us."
"Why do you think that, Herr major?"
"Your father had some letters from Admiral Hollway, which were not
brought by Brandelaar."
"Yes, yes, I know. I can imagine that."
"Do you know who brought them over?"
"I don't know for certain, but I can guess."
"Can't you get me more certain information?"
"I will try."
"How will you set about it?"
"There are some sailors' taverns here, where I hope to get on the track.
But they are desperate fellows, and it is dangerous to meddle with
them."
"If you will point out the taverns to me, I will have all the customers
arrested to-night."
"For Heaven's sake, don't, Herr major! We should ruin everything by
that. These men would let themselves be cut to pieces rather than betray
anything to you. If anyone can get them to speak, it is myself."
"Wouldn't you be trusting them too much?"
"No, no. I know best how to deal with them, and I know many ways of
making them open their mouths."
"Well, do what you can. The matter is important. I am very anxious to
find someone to obtain trustworthy information about the British fleet,
and you know we don't spare money."
Penurot was ready to attempt his difficult task at once, and took
leave of Heideck, promising to meet him soon after midnight at the same
tavern. Heideck left the restaurant soon after him, and walked along
the quay Van Dyck, to cool his heated brow. In time of war the town
presented a strangely altered appearance. There was a swarm of German
soldiers in the streets; the usual busy traffic at the harbour had
entirely ceased. There had been no trade since the German warships, like
floating citadels, had been lying in the Schelde. And yet it was almost
incomprehensible, how the change had come about so rapidly. Antwerp
was an almost impregnable fortress, if the flooding of the surrounding
country was undertaken in time. But the Belgian Government had not even
made an attempt at defence, when the vanguard of the seventh and
eighth army corps had appeared in the neighbourhood of the town. It had
surrendered the fortress at once, with all its strong outer forts,
to the German military commanders and had withdrawn its own army. The
Imperial Chancellor was certainly right in attaching such importance
to the possession of Antwerp by Germany. The population was almost
exclusively Flemish, and Antwerp was thus in nationality a German town.
From the general political situation Heideck's thoughts returned to
Edith and her letter, and at last he decided to write to her that very
evening.
To carry out his intention, he went back to the restaurant where he
had met Penurot, and called for ink and paper. When he had finished his
letter, he looked over the words he had written, in which, contrary to
his usual practice, he had given utterance to his real feelings:--
"MY DEAR EDITH,--In the exercise of my duty, I accidentally came into
possession of your letter to Frau Amelungen. I was looking for something
quite different at the time, and you can imagine how great was my
surprise at the unexpected discovery.
"From the hour when we were obliged to separate and you, possibly not
without resentment and reproach, held out your hand at parting, I have
felt more and more how indispensable you are to me. I treasure every
word you have said to me, every look you have bestowed upon me, and
your image is before my mind, ever brighter, ever more beautiful. I have
never met a woman whose mind was so beautiful, so refined, so keen as
yours. I must confess that your ideas at first sometimes terrified me.
Your views are often so far removed from the commonplace, so far above
the ordinary, that it needs time to estimate them correctly. If I now
recall to mind what formerly seemed strange to me, it is only with
feelings of admiration. From day to day the impression you made upon
me at our first conversation has sunk deeper into my mind, and the
comforting certainty, that love for you will fill my entire life in the
future, grows more and more unshakable.
"Nevertheless, I may not regret that I had the strength to leave you
at Naples. The beautiful dream of our life together would have been
disturbed too soon by the rude reality. My duty calls me from one place
to another, and as long as this war lasts I am not my own master for an
hour. We must have patience, Edith. Even this campaign cannot last for
ever, and if Heaven has decreed that I shall come out of it alive, we
shall meet again, never more to part.
"You may not be able to answer this letter, for communication with
Frau Amelungen is interrupted. But I know you will answer me if it is
possible, and I am happy to think that, by letting you know I am alive,
I have given you a pleasure, soon, I hope, to be followed by the
still greater happiness of meeting again. Let us wait patiently and
confidently for that hour!"
He sealed the letter and put it in his pocket, in order to hand it over
to Brandelaar on the following day. He then waited for the reappearance
of Penurot, who had promised to be back at midnight. But although he
waited nearly an hour over the time in the tavern, he waited in vain.
The terms in which Herr Amelungen's natural son had spoken of the people
he intended to look for that evening made the Major anxious about his
fate. Before returning to his quarters, he paid a visit to the town
police office, requesting that a search might be made in the less
reputable sailors' taverns near the harbour for M. Camille Penurot, of
whose appearance he gave a careful description.
As there was no news of him on the following morning, Heideck felt
almost certain that the affair had turned out disastrously for Penurot.
However, for the moment, he could not stop to investigate the young
man's whereabouts.
He was informed by the Lieutenant-Colonel that Brandelaar, whose vessel
actually lay off Ternenzen, had been arrested with his crew, examined,
and liberated during the course of the night, as had been agreed between
the two officers.
Heideck now set out for Ternenzen to give Brandelaar the information for
Admiral Hollway that had been collected at his office, together with the
private information that was of such importance to him.
At last, having paid Brandelaar a thousand francs on account, Heideck
also gave him the letter to Edith, with careful instructions as to
its delivery. The skipper, whose zeal for the cause of Germany was now
undoubtedly honourable, repeatedly promised to carry out his orders
conscientiously and to the best of his power.
On returning to Antwerp at noon, Heideck found a communication at his
office from the police to the effect that Camille Penurot's body had
been found in one of the harbour basins, stabbed in several places in
the breast and neck. A search for the assassins had been immediately set
on foot, but up to the present no trace of them had been discovered.