Frau Krupp slipped from the chair, and on her knees implored her terrifying visitor to show mercy.
"The King of Prussia never pardons traitors."
The word awakened Frau Krupp's self-respect. "Traitor!" she cried; "I would be a traitor to humanity if I continued making faggots to set the world afire."
The War Lord broke into wild laughter. "So that's the melody," he shouted, "echoes of the gutter Press in London, Paris, Petersburg, Tokyo! It's well you mentioned it, Frau Krupp; I know now exactly how we stand, you and I, the benefactor and the unworthy object of my magnanimity."
Bertha lay on the silken rug sobbing her heart out, but for Wilhelm the quivering form of the girl for whom he professed a father's love was mere air.
Sitting down at the great desk, he shouted: "I command" into the speaking-tube sacred to his All Highest person, and, Adjutant Baron Dommes responding, he ordered: "Prepare for a confidential message to the Chancellor by secret code. Have the line cleared. You will attend to the wire in person."
He grabbed a block of paper and began to write, tearing off sheet after sheet with partially finished sentences, rejecting his own words as fast as he wrote them, and talking to himself in tones considerably above a stage whisper.
"Would suit the Austrian Baroness to turn Krupps into an ironmongery for household and farm goods," he sneered savagely, "but the mollycoddles shall know presently that they haven't got a silly girl to deal with." He paused, giving a furtive look to the prostrate Bertha; then began scribbling again and reading his hasty scrawl to himself:
"Bethmann-Hollweg shall consult with Kuentzel and Harnier about condemnation proceedings against—— Never mind, I will give names by 'phone after receipt of message is acknowledged. Must be kept a profound State secret. Anyone mentioning it even in the presence of his secretary will be dismissed cum infamia. Remember, the best legal talent only." (The persons named were high officials in the Ministry of Justice.)
Excitement would not let Wilhelm be seated long, and he began pacing the floor, dragging his sword.