‘No, sire.’ I was anxious to save the Director from the Imperial wrath. ‘I persuaded him that I was your Majesty’s confidential agent.’
The Kaiser glared at me, and muttered an exclamation which I need not repeat.
‘How do I know that you are telling the truth to me, any more than you did to him?’ he cried.
‘Your Majesty cannot know it,’ I answered coldly. ‘The Council, of course, will disown me.’
‘You are a cool hand,’ Wilhelm commented, gnawing his moustache. ‘It seems to me that I can do nothing with you, except shoot you.’
‘That will be much the simplest course,’ I replied. I saw that it would be a contest between the Emperor’s curiosity and his vengeance, and already I began to hope.
His Majesty gave the signal, and I was led out into the courtyard, where I found six men under the command of an officer, drawn up in line.
I was placed in front of them, and as I looked down the rifle-barrels already pointed at my heart I felt really nervous for a moment. The scene was illuminated by a solitary lamp fixed over the gateway, and its rays broke against the row of steel tubes which held death.
‘Now,’ said the Kaiser, stepping close to my side, ‘tell me the truth—the real truth, mind—and I will spare your life.’
I tried to think of something which Wilhelm II. would be likely to believe. In the meantime, I congratulated myself on not having disclosed my identity, as in that case, of course, it would not have occurred to his Majesty that I could be induced to betray my employer.