“An important message has come from the Wilhelmstrasse, which indicates a mission of peculiar importance.” The General paused a moment, his keen eyes searching Captain Wentz with a terrible tensity, but the face of the younger man remained expressionless. He was merely a piece of machinery--excellent machinery. “You may have thought it curious, Herr Hauptmann Wentz, that I should have come from the Wilhelmstrasse to Blaufelden. Is it not so?” “It is not my duty to think, Excellenz, unless ordered to do so,” said the other briefly. The General smiled. The answer pleased him. “I wished to see Herr Hammersley, as you know. That is important, and the Yellow Dove cannot go to Berlin.” He stopped and then went on quickly: “Herr Hauptmann, you have been attached to the Secret Service Department three years?” “Yes, Excellenz.” “You have performed several important duties and have won promotion. I am now about to commit to your care, a----” At a gesture of von Stromberg’s thumb the officer went on tiptoe to the door and opened it quickly. “No one, Excellenz.” “Good. Now sit. First, you speak French without accent.” “That was a part of my qualification for this service.” “Yes. It is in my mind to give you an important mission--one which will require great skill and fortitude.” Wentz listened attentively, but he made no comment. “It is unnecessary of course to warn you to hold what I tell you in the strictest confidence.” “I do not talk, Excellenz.” “This is a matter of grave importance to the Empire, a matter which concerns one of the enemies of the Vaterland. The safe delivery of certain dispatches which I am to receive may mean a readjustment of the European situation--perhaps the end of the war with Germany victorious and England humiliated.” The eyes of Captain Wentz grew a little rounder and sparkled ever so slightly, but he said nothing. “I am telling you this that you may know the importance of the duty I am giving you. It is an honor which I hope you will appreciate, an honor that may lead to greater favors than you have hitherto received.” “I hope I may deserve them, Excellenz.” General von Stromberg took the paper from his breast and glanced over it again. “You will remember,” he continued, “the affair of the Socialist, Gottschalk?” “I knew nothing of the details, Excellenz. That matter came in the duty of Oberleutnant von Weringrade.” “This much then, only, I need tell you. Herr Gottschalk, who lived at Schöndorf near here, came into the possession, in a manner which need not be described, of certain important papers. He kept them for some time, not aware of their importance, and then realizing their value and being a good German, though opposed to the war, two weeks ago communicated with the Government. The result of this correspondence was a summons from Berlin and the delivery of these papers into the hands of the Emperor. Do you follow me?” “Yes, Excellenz.”