Number 70, Berlin: A Story of Britain's PerilLe Queux, William
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Number 70, Berlin: A Story of Britain's Peril
Le Queux, William
War stories; World War, 1914-1918 -- Fiction
The paper stated, as all will remember, that the German ships having, by
some extraordinary and unknown means, succeeded in evading the diligent
watch kept upon them in the North Sea, had appeared on the Yorkshire
coast early that morning. A German battleship, together with several
first-class cruisers, had made a raid, and shelled Hartlepool,
Scarborough and Whitby. At the three towns bombarded much damage was
done, hotels, churches and hospitals being struck; and, according to the
casualty list at that moment available, twenty-nine persons had been
killed and forty-six wounded at Hartlepool; two killed and two wounded
at Whitby, and thirteen casualties in Scarborough. The paper added that
the list of casualties was believed to be very much greater, and would,
it was thought, amount to quite two hundred. British patrol boats had
endeavoured to cut off the Germans, whereupon the latter had fled.
Lewin Rodwell, having read the leading article, in which the journal
loudly protested against the bombardment of undefended towns, and the
ruthless slaughter of women and children, cast the paper aside, rose and
again went out.
As he walked in the falling twilight towards Pall Mall, he laughed
lightly, muttering in German, beneath his breath: "That is their first
taste of bombardment! They will have many yet, in the near future.
They laugh at our Zeppelins now. But will they laugh when our new
aircraft bases are ready? No. The idiots, they will not laugh when we
begin to drop bombs upon London!"
And, hailing a taxi, he entered it and drove home to Bruton Street,
where Sir Boyle Huntley was awaiting him.
The man with the bloated, red face and loose lips greeted his friend
warmly as he entered the quiet, cosy study. Then when Franks, Rodwell's
man, had pulled down the blinds and retired, he exclaimed:
"Seen this evening's paper? Isn't it splendid, Lewin! All your doing,
my dear fellow. You'll get a handsome reward for it. Trustram is very
useful to us, after all."
"Yes," was the other's reply. "He's useful--but only up to a certain
point. My only regret is that we haven't a real grip upon him. If we
knew something against him--or if he'd borrowed money from one of our
friends--then we might easily put on the screw, and learn a lot. As it
is, he's careful to give away but little information, and that not
always trustworthy."
"True," was Sir Boyle's reply. "But could we not manage to entice him
into our fold? We've captured others, even more wary than he,
remember."
"Ah! I wish I could see a way," replied Rodwell reflectively, as he
stood before his own fireplace, his hands thrust deep into his trousers
pockets.
"To my mind, Lewin, I foresee a danger," said the stout man, tossing his
cigarette-end into the grate as he rose and stood before his friend.
"How?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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