“‘Come along,’ said Sir Jones, ‘but I’m afraid you will not be comfortable when our fleet goes into action next week against Heligoland.’ “‘That is a strong fortress, Admiral,’ I said. “‘We have been undermining it for a month,’ said Sir Jones. “Herr Heine, I nearly fainted with excitement. Consider the position. Here was I, a faithful servant of the Fatherland, listening to one of the most important military secrets from an Excellency of the English Navy. I kept my blood cool and went on lathering without a tremble of hand.’ “‘That must have been terribly difficult, Sir Jones,’ I said. “‘Not at all,’ said Sir Jones; ‘we have a new submarine on wheels that creeps along the bed of the ocean and fortunately there are beneath Heligoland several very large caves in which our divers can store explosives. I trust you will regard all I have told you as confidential!’” By the time Shmidt had finished I was on my feet. I knew that there had been a secret vote or appropriation for the British Navy a year before. So this was the reason. “Send Herr von Kahn to me, you will find him in Room 84,” I said; and long before my companion had arrived I was working at my codes. “We must find a way to get this information to Germany,” I said. “The way is simple,” said he; “the _Sven Gustavus_ is in harbour, waiting to clear for Bergen. She has wireless, and outside of the territorial waters she can get into touch with the Bremen wireless station.” The message I sent was a long one, and I have since learnt that it created something like a sensation at the Admiralty. All the warships in the vicinity of Heligoland were ordered away, the Corps of Divers came from Cuxhaven and the foundations of the island were thoroughly explored, although the Admiralty Marine Survey Department was emphatic on the point that no caverns existed under the island. As a matter of fact none were discovered, though a certain suspicious-looking hole was found in one of the rocks.[3] I cannot believe that a High Officer of State who was also a Sir would condescend to a lie or be so frivolous as to invent such a story, and to this day I believe that my promptitude in notifying Berlin in all probability saved the Fatherland from an incalculable disaster. It was after I had sent this message away, together with certain data which I received from London, that I set about the business which had induced me to choose Dundee as the scene of my sojourn.