“At sea it is universally admitted that by virtue of our great preponderance of available power, we must take command,” said Evans. “But in the matter of intelligence service there is none on earth that can touch the British, and I believe we had better play that game under their lead. Their organization is marvelous, and the best we can do is to fit our machinery to theirs.
“You know, I think there’s something in the temperament of a certain type of Englishman that fits him extraordinarily well for the hazardous game of secret service in enemy country. It’s his faculty of keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself, his impenetrable exterior, together with his coolness in danger.”
“Haven’t we plenty of men with those same faculties?” Mortimer asked.
“It’s rare to find them so well developed in an American. Then, too, there’s a thoroughness in the education of the British scholar that helps him grasp new and difficult problems. What I’m driving at is this:—there ought to be some one in Constantinople who is not only a damn clever spy, but who also understands what you can do with radio.”
“You’re trying to combine too much in one man,” said Mortimer. “You don’t want to have your secret agent for intelligence bother his head with technical stuff like radio; he should rely on others for that.”
“Of course he should, as far as handling the apparatus is concerned. But he must grasp the basic principles, so that he’ll understand the kind of thing modern apparatus will do for him.
“Both in regard to secret service and to coördination in general, we must get together with the British communication experts and come to an understanding about codes and apparatus. Science has given us such a wealth of new methods in radio engineering that much depends on a clear understanding of what your apparatus will do. The British have developed it along their lines, and we along ours. There should be consultation to determine the best way of standardizing procedure in the fleet, and still more important at the moment is to consult with them as to how recent developments in both countries may be made to help the business of communicating with our spies.”
“I wonder if it wouldn’t be a good plan for you to go with the commission we are sending to England, and confer with their radio men on the matter of apparatus and communication methods in general,” said Mortimer.
“I believe it would,” answered Evans. “I should like to discuss those points with them, and I should like particularly to see some man in their intelligence service who understands radio methods, or at least their possibilities, and who could get into Constantinople; together we could work out codes and ciphers and other matters of procedure that would facilitate the transmission of intelligence to us from that interesting spot.”
“All right; I’ll send you along with the bunch,” said Mortimer. “I think the party will be ready to go in four or five days.”