efore
the Germans could offer any opposition. Some minutes later, on time at
the rendezvous agreed upon, the French cruisers came into the harbor
and immediately disembarked their contingent of Alpine Chasseurs.
Before daybreak the principal vantage points as well as the most
important positions on the island were occupied. Suspected persons
were seized in their beds, a doubtful post of T. S. F. was seized
also. Corfu, which went to sleep half German, woke up entirely French
to the tune of the martial music that was to inform the inhabitants of
the little change that had taken place over night.

The question remained of _Achilleion_, the property of William of
Germany, which was about nine miles from the city. If _Achilleion_ had
been a French property and German soldiers had paid a visit, what
pillage, what defilement, what orgies there would have been!

But _Achilleion_ was a German property, and the French have a method
of procedure that is peculiarly their own. This is what happened,
according to the narrative of a young naval officer who was on the
spot:

At four o'clock in the morning an automobile set out from
the dock, carrying a squad of twelve marine fusilliers under
the command of one of the ship's lieutenants. A half hour
later he presented himself at the gate of the palace and
demanded that he be admitted. There was no response. He was
insistent. Finally a door opened and an angry voice cried out
in the darkness: "This isn't the time for visitors." For the
owner, who found that there are no such things as small
profits, permitted a visit for the sum of two francs per
person. Surprised, the occupant of the palace submitted, and
our detachment entered _Achilleion_, whose occupants it
assembled--the watchman and two red-haired chambermaids--_en
deshabille_, also a mechanic and an entomologist who wore
spectacles. Pale with fear, the latter threw himself on his
knees before the officer. "If I must die, I ask that it may
be here," said he. He was left in peace. A company of the
Chasseurs arrived and the marines, with their lanterns in
their hands, went back to the ships. The Tricolor floated
over the Kaiser's villa, which was to become a hospital for
the Serbs.

* * * * *

At eleven o'clock in the morning it was all over, and the French
cruisers put out to sea on the return trip to Bizerta.

B