‘You have not come here to insult me, I suppose, Colonel? If you are the bearer of instructions from the Kaiser, be good enough to deliver them without comment; if not, I will attend to my other business.’ The German’s face betrayed his astonishment at this rebuke. He hastened to mutter an apology, which I received in silence. ‘His Majesty wishes you to investigate this _Affaire Dreyfus_, on his behalf. There is some secret motive for the notoriety which they are conferring on this unlucky spy’--the Colonel gave me an apprehensive glance as he pronounced this word--‘and the Kaiser is determined to find out what it is. It appears that we are being made a sort of stalking-horse in the business; it is pretended that Dreyfus was an agent of ours, which is utterly untrue.’ The German smiled sardonically as he added: ‘Our information is supplied to us from higher sources than a simple captain of artillery, and we can get as much as we choose to pay for.’ ‘Is it not likely that Dreyfus may be the scapegoat of others--perhaps those higher sources to which you refer?’ The Colonel shook his head. ‘That does not explain the persistence with which they are trying to connect the affair with Germany. I have information that the heads of the French Army are representing that France is in actual danger. The bitterness with which Dreyfus is assailed is due, they pretend, to a sense of the national peril.’ ‘And all that is quite untrue, I understand?’ ‘So untrue that I have reason to know that Wilhelm II. has a particular desire to conciliate the French----’ The Colonel stopped abruptly as if he had been on the point of saying too much. ‘Very good. Then I am to find out for his Majesty as much as I can about this affair, and particularly why it is sought to represent Dreyfus as an agent of Germany?’ Colonel ---- nodded. It was not an easy task to set me; nevertheless, I had some hope of success. It so happened that I had formerly had transactions of a confidential nature with General Garnier, one of the foremost, if not the foremost, figure among the persecutors of Dreyfus. I had the right to approach this General as a friend, and I had reasons for believing that he might be willing to open his mouth for a sufficient consideration. Shortly after Colonel ----’s departure, therefore, I strolled round to the General’s private residence, off the Avenue Clichy. Garnier was not at home, but I left a message with the concierge that the dealer in old coins, who had formerly sold him some Roman specimens, had just obtained others which he was anxious to submit for inspection. As I anticipated, this message had the desired result of bringing General Garnier to see me the same night. He came, not to my public bureau, but to a little apartment in the Quartier Latin which I rent for the purpose of interviews with clients who do not wish their acquaintance with me to be known. It was evident that my summons had annoyed, perhaps frightened, him.