The Assault: Germany Before the Outbreak and England in War-TimeWile, Frederic William
History
The Assault: Germany Before the Outbreak and England in War-Time
Wile, Frederic William
World War, 1914-1918
Now there was more noise from the lower regions. Whom had they nabbed
this time. Astonished as I was to see Tower marched in, I fairly gasped
when the newest batch of prisoners was shoved into the room, for it was
headed by my young secretary, Schrape, and included Mrs. Hensel, a
gray-haired German-American lady and an old Berlin friend of my family,
and Miles Bouton, of the local staff of the Associated Press. Schrape
and Mrs. Hensel had been denounced at the Adlon as my accomplices in
espionage--Schrape for obvious reasons, and Mrs. Hensel because she had
called to see me at the hotel a few minutes after my arrest,
undoubtedly, of course, to bring me illicit information or receive her
"orders." She had come, as a matter of fact, as countless acquaintances
of mine had been doing throughout the week, to ask for advice or
assistance in the midst of the topsy-turvy conditions into which life in
Berlin had been so suddenly plunged. Schrape was remarkably cool. So
was Bouton, who insisted upon expressing himself with such freedom about
the indignities heaped upon him that I momentarily expected to witness
his decapitation. Mrs. Hensel, poor soul, was frightened speechless and
between her tears could only incoherently make me understand that she
had no sooner asked for my name at the Adlon desk than the clerks handed
her over to the police. Bouton seemed to owe his arrest to the fact
that he was in Tower’s company in the Adlon lobby, attending the meeting
of American war refugees. Tower had been savagely cracked over the head
by an Adlon waiter armed with a tray while being hustled out of the
hotel by the police. Mrs. Bouton, tearfully protesting against her
husband’s arrest, had herself been threatened with arrest or something
worse if she did not instantly "hold her mouth." Just what part the
Adlon staff of clerks, porters, waiters and page-boys played in our
arrest was not made clear to me until the next day; of which more in the
succeeding chapter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account