derable preparations. All the time in London when I was
yelping at the British Government, I was busy with Sir Walter arranging
things ahead. We used to meet in queer places and at all hours of the
night. I fixed up a lot of connections in this city before I arrived,
and especially a noos service with your Foreign Office by way of
Rumania and Russia. In a day or two I guess our friends will know all
about our discoveries.'

At that I opened my eyes very wide.

'Why, yes. You Britishers haven't any notion how wide-awake your
Intelligence Service is. I reckon it's easy the best of all the
belligerents. You never talked about it in peace time, and you shunned
the theatrical ways of the Teuton. But you had the wires laid good and
sure. I calculate there isn't much that happens in any corner of the
earth that you don't know within twenty-four hours. I don't say your
highbrows use the noos well. I don't take much stock in your political
push. They're a lot of silver-tongues, no doubt, but it ain't oratory
that is wanted in this racket. The William Jennings Bryan stunt
languishes in war-time. Politics is like a chicken-coop, and those
inside get to behave as if their little run were all the world. But if
the politicians make mistakes it isn't from lack of good instruction to
guide their steps. If I had a big proposition to handle and could have
my pick of helpers I'd plump for the Intelligence Department of the
British Admiralty. Yes, Sir, I take off my hat to your Government
sleuths.'

'Did they provide you with ready-made spies here?' I asked in
astonishment.

'Why, no,' he said. 'But they gave me the key, and I could make my own
arrangements. In Germany I buried myself deep in the local atmosphere
and never peeped out. That was my game, for I was looking for
something in Germany itself, and didn't want any foreign
cross-bearings. As you know, I failed where you succeeded. But so soon
as I crossed the Danube I set about opening up my lines of
communication, and I hadn't been two days in this metropolis before I
had got my telephone exchange buzzing. Sometime I'll explain the thing
to you, for it's a pretty little business. I've got the cutest cypher
... No, it ain't my invention. It's your Government's. Any one,
babe, imbecile, or dotard, can carry my messages--you saw some of them
today--but it takes some mind to set the piece, and it takes a lot of
figuring at my end to work out the results.