British Secret Service During the Great WarEveritt, Nicholas
History
British Secret Service During the Great War
Everitt, Nicholas
Secret service -- Great Britain; World War, 1914-1918 -- Secret service -- Great Britain
Accordingly I at once made up my mind what to do. I went to the floor
below, to the lodge there, and I asked for Lord Kitchener. There was no
hesitation in answering that inquiry; within a few minutes I had reached
the desired portion of the building, where I asked to see his Lordship's
principal secretary. I have forgotten his name, but I was not kept
waiting for a moment. I was accorded an opportunity to explain my
mission. I showed him the letter I had summoning me to the War Office,
and told him the difficulties I had met with in attempting to locate the
elusive "Go-Between." This officer received me very graciously; he
smiled at the short description I gave him of my wanderings, and said:
"I think I can put you on the right track straight away; please follow
me," and getting up he took me to another room at the far end of the
corridor we were then in, where we interviewed another officer who also
laughed and told us that Captain Kenny had just changed his room and
would now be found in room number ---- which was on the floor above.
Having thanked these officers for their kindly services I ascended once
more, and within ten minutes from abandoning my false scent I ran my
quarry to earth and was tapping on his oak.
I explained the difficulty I had been placed in to Captain Kenny, who
expressed some surprise. Whether he really felt it or not I do not know,
but when I showed him the room number given at the top of his letter he
admitted the recent change and made apologetic amends for the
inadvertence, adding that the attendants in charge of the inquiry bureau
below should certainly have known both his name and room number.
_Quien sabe_, thought I to myself. Anyway, I held my peace and we
proceeded to business.
For about an hour Captain Kenny questioned me regarding my knowledge of
Northern latitudes, their peoples and my linguistic capabilities. Then
he suggested in the most charming and persuasive manner that I should
remain awhile in London, like Wilkins Micawber of old, "in the hope of
something turning up."
I did so. During this period I called at the War Office at various
appointed times and on each occasion was put to further interrogation.
Captain Kenny rather reminded me of Dr. Leyds. He seemed to possess that
same pleasing persuasiveness which made one feel that one was under deep
obligation to him personally for being permitted to relieve him of the
smallest matter in hand--indeed, a valuable asset to the person
possessing such skill. Within a week of my advent in London a letter
came to me from Captain Kenny in which he wrote: "For the moment there
are no vacancies in the Intelligence Service, but if you will exercise a
little patience I really believe I shall be able to do something for
you. I shall see that your name and special qualifications are kept well
in view and I trust that we shall be able to make use of your
exceptional abilities."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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