Spies of the Kaiser: Plotting the Downfall of EnglandLe Queux, William
History
Spies of the Kaiser: Plotting the Downfall of England
Le Queux, William
Espionage, German -- Fiction; Great Britain -- History -- Invasions -- Fiction; Intelligence service -- Fiction; Spy stories
In a manner which showed him to be fully acquainted with the
construction of submarine vessels, he moved to and fro, examining both
boats. Then, after about half an hour's minute investigation, he seated
himself upon a bench and with his little lamp shaded to throw no
reflection he took out a piece of paper and leisurely made a rough
sketch of England's newest war-craft, both side and horizontal views.
Leaving him thus occupied, I descended to Ray, and finding him secreted
near the water's edge, described what I had discovered.
"Good!" he exclaimed. "So I was not mistaken in that cryptogram after
all! We will allow the fellow to complete his work and then compel him
to disgorge his notes. They will furnish us with very excellent
evidence."
So we waited, keeping our eyes fixed upon the spot where he must
descend, and hardly daring to breathe lest we should prematurely alarm
him.
The Dockyard clock chimed three, but the spy had not emerged. After
another half-hour of watchful silence I saw that Ray began to be
anxious. At last the bell rang out four, and scarcely had the last sound
died away when we were startled by a splash near us, and next moment
discerned a man in white shirtsleeves swimming away.
"Why! That's him!" I gasped. "He's cut a way out of the side of the
shed!"
But next moment a boat shot forth from the darkness pulled by a woman
who had apparently been waiting close by. The woman was Vera!
In a moment we were both down the steps and pulling in the boat towards
the swimming man, who, we saw, was being rapidly approached by a second
boat which had also been in waiting until the chiming of the clock.
The spy was exerting every muscle to reach the boat, but we soon
overtook him.
Ray called upon him in German to surrender, but he refused, and kept on.
Quickly, however, we cut him off from the boat which he was trying to
reach, while the rower, seeing the discovery of his friend, pulled away
into the darkness.
For some time the spy struggled on, but at last, abandoned and
exhausted, he was compelled to obey us and come aboard in order to save
his life.
Half dead and helpless he submitted to our search, when in his belt,
preserved in an oilskin pocket, we discovered the memoranda and the
drawing which I had seen him prepare.
The man, sullen and half drowned, refused to make any statement, though
he could speak English well and write it perfectly, as shown by the note
on his plan of the new boat; therefore we landed him at the Stony Steps
across at Gosport. Before we left him we gave him to understand that if
he did not at once leave the country he would be arrested. Yet so absurd
is our law that I doubt whether we could have given him in charge even
though we had wished!
[Illustration: LEON KARFF'S ROUGH DRAWING OF THE NEW BRITISH SUBMARINE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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