British Secret Service During the Great War

gly Impossible Proposition-Seeking One's Colleagues-Solving the Riddle-Preparing the Trap-The Lonely Sentry and the Mys

isable for a Secret Service agent to betake himself to a quiet, secluded place whe

successful. Perhaps luck had unduly favoured me. Anyway, I knew quite enough of the enemy to be only too well assured that he would stop at nothing to get, or to attempt to get, even with me if he possibl

cealed in an inner fjord of the Norwegian coast where I intended to sleep and d

d them to navigate, was unenviable in the extreme. Ice, which accumulated and increased in its envelopment hourly, not only made decks doubly dangerous, but, unless r

long, long winter nights, were enemies more to be feared than the cruel Hun. A few weeks of this work would t

bump and scrape and groan against the piling of the quay at my quiet sleepy little Scandinavian seaport, was a joy not to be expressed in words. To me

ment. It naturally followed that it was s

he morning, varying in time in accordance with latitude. Sleep, the greatest blessing on earth, after such fatigues and endurance would be lon

nformation of my whereabouts, which duty performed, the luxuries an

rds not known in his vocabulary. Anyone envying those in the Service should first contemplate that its units are looked upon as mere chattels of little worth, easily to be replaced should accident or machination cause the

ling along as best I could against the unkind elements, I made three doubles and a walk back to test whether any possible observer took interest in my movements, such a precaution being always advisab

ions are often centred on some four-footed animal. Make a fuss over these and a weakness in the hardest heart is at once touched. My annual chocol

and believed ill of no man. I wished him to continue to hold his good opinions, particularly regarding myself. In murmuring my thanks for the parcel, I hazarded the supposition that i

was not selected by me, owing perhaps-perhaps not-to the possibility of its having already been tested in a stranger's mouth. Be that as it may,

uarters, brought to light a scrap of paper. A pocket glass helped me t

mptive and has been some time in a private villa on the Island of --. He is much too friendly with the wireless

large army reserves and was also much frequented by warships and naval men. Three times I reread the m

the commanded one. I soon began to feel worried. The thought of the seeming impossibility of the carrying out of the order was annoying. I lit cigar after cigar, as I lay on the couch with closed eyes; I smoked, a

ed a message to a colleague, N. P., who was then on the Russian frontier, info

at a frontier town, within a day or so of the receipt of original instructions. When I explained the problem and how the more I

. You speak many tongues. You are a garrison artillery staff officer. What better material could an

s your job, and I would not deprive you o

hink we both appreciate that point; but what I want to debate with you are possibilities, actualities, and probabilities. If either of

d fear n

mean is, wherein would you be mo

N. P. Then he added in a petulant tone, "I want some more

ine of communicat

d ever get hold of m

see it's a danger, it's a we

ng himself at full length on the so

here is no counter-attraction for the sense of sight to divert any stray thought from t

been established some time, as the message says, you are apt to get your finger

that we don't try to touch him at all, but that we make a line

You mean you will send a note to him which you will take good care is intercepted before he gets i

ome in. You, being a garrison expert, will weave the strands and splice the knot o

ted neither of us could tell. It seemed an age. Then Nixie Pixie demanded lights up. He wanted to get on with the business. He was keenly interested. His instincts foretold success, and, wha

lled in necessary details of the plan of campaign; chuckling

and from our respective destinations, whilst the world slept, and no watchman had observed our coming or o

*

o a small, uninviting place on the map, where I had a colleague working, who for many years had l

matter of this kind, where straws had to be grasped at and relied upon, it was essenti

route translated into accurate and perfect High German. I did

eyed away again to a small sleepy hamlet not far removed from the nearest point on the mainland contiguous to the

were simple in themselves: an etching pen, some fine, thin foreign correspondence paper, some oil-silk and a small tin phial. The messa

otected by an outer covering of oil

y of his stronghold, which certain high officials were convinced he was using to co

be implicated, either directly or indirectly, with such a matter, so that my own chances for further activity in the cause

I quickly took my departure to a place many, many miles away from the locality in question, there to await with impatient inter

ys a message was flashed to me. I visua

land overlooking lonely waters. In spite of its uninviting outward appearance this island was

old and hungry, and none too pleased at his job; beside

e, or rather the rocky cliffs of which the shore consisted. When within a few hundred yards of the

ry was i

n it disappeared into a small alcove, formed

hour before the sentry should be relieved. But in that fifteen minu

ining his eyes into the coming night wh

ossible lines of retreat, and a messenger to be despatched for assistance on the water

icated to give a satisfactory account of his movements, but in a parcel concealed

en found in the boat. The cod-fish was ordered to be dissected, when, lo and behold! a small metal tube was extracted from the gullet. Inside this, tightly rolled and wrapped i

generous sum of money. The advisability of remaining in the alcove until dark to prevent the military from holding him up, or prying into his parcel, had been suggested to him by his employer, who was quite a stran

ermen of northern seas are a conf

ying glass to decipher it. It was highly technical in its terms, and was evidently co

u through more open channels but we doubt

u omitted to mark the ranges o

n of the magazine wa

e reliefs? Giv

munition at present stored, with

o cover wireless operator

.............

.............

.............

dorsal fin, as your last message was nearly

t enough, was lectured and frightened half o

nce and for all, with peremptory orders never to set foot in it again. Probably he is wondering to

ion, nor dead fish which had not been split open from head to tail, were permitted t

innocently worded message which was handed in at his office shortly after these stirring events had occurred. It was, how

V. S. has been returned as not up to sample