Britain's Deadly Peril: Are We Told the Truth?Le Queux, William
History
Britain's Deadly Peril: Are We Told the Truth?
Le Queux, William
Secret service -- Germany; Spies; World War, 1914-1918
"But so much for the above. On surmise alone my conclusions regarding
this man might have been entirely wrong, but for the fact that I,
one evening, met with a former employee of his, also a German, in
another barber's shop in the city. This youngster, evidently nursing a
grievance against his late employer for something or other, was quick
to unburden himself to me regarding him, and gave me the following
particulars. He said that his late master was not what he appeared to
be, and that his barbering was all a blind to cover something else; in
fact (and this he hinted pretty broadly) that his presence over here
in this country was for no good. He further said that he was still a
member of the German Army (although in appearance he looks to be long
past military service), and that regularly money was sent to him from
Berlin; that he was an agent for the bringing in to this country of
crowds of young Germans, male and female, who came over here to learn
our language and study our methods; that his shop was the rendezvous
for certain members of his own nationality, who met there periodically
at night for some secret purpose which he had never been able to
fathom; that he was often away from the shop for weeks at a time, no
one knew where, the business in his absence then being looked after
by a brother. In addition to the above, I may say that the walls of
his shop are positively crowded with pictures of such celebrities as
Lord Roberts, Lord Kitchener, General French, etc., etc., the face
of the Kaiser being a noticeable absentee, doubtless on purpose. He
likes you, too, to believe in his affection for this country, which he
openly parades, although I am told that in private he sneers at us, at
our soldiers and people. From the above, I think I have established my
case against this wily Teuton, who, while masquerading as a barber, is
yet all the time here for a totally different purpose, _i.e._ to spy
upon us."
How a German secret agent altered a British military message is told by
another of my correspondents, who says:
"The time of the incident was during the visit of the Kaiser to the
Earl of Lonsdale at Lowther Castle. I was employed at an hotel in
Keswick, and my duties were to look after a billiard-room. Among my
customers was a foreign gentleman, who was always rather inquisitive
if any military matter was under discussion, and our many chats
brought us on very friendly terms. Well, about the last week of the
Emperor's visit, the Earl of Lonsdale arranged a drive for the Emperor
and the house-party for the purpose of letting them see the English
Lake District. The route lay via Patterdale, Windermere, Thirlmere,
then on to Keswick, from there by train to Penrith, and again drive
the three or four miles back to Lowther Castle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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