"Well, after I came to Germany, although I discovered that I did dislike and distrust the German people, yet I could not make up my mind not to feel affection for the little German kinder, who after all were in no way responsible for the war. I always nursed children before I joined the Red Cross and have a special fondness for them. The little French Louisa and I, who are always together except when I am at work, made friends with a number of the German children. Among them were two little girls, whom Major Hersey will tell you are especially attractive. But if I seemed to single out these two children and especially the older one, Freia, it was not because she so greatly attracted me. Early in our acquaintance the little girl told me an anecdote which struck me as extraordinary and almost immediately aroused my suspicion. Please don't think I found out at once what I am trying to tell you, I at first had to piece things together.
"Freia told me that her brother, Captain Ludwig Liedermann, who had been wounded, had recovered, but would not leave his room and did not wish any one to know he was well. Freia received the impression that he did not wish to be seen by any of the American officers or soldiers in Coblenz. He once told little Freia that he hated to meet the men who had defeated their Emperor and driven him into exile."
The Colonel nodded.
"Yes, well, that strikes me as if alone it might be a sufficient reason. I would not be surprised if there were other German officers and soldiers hiding from us with this same excuse. However, we shall remain on duty in Germany until both the military and the civilians find it wiser not to seek cover in order to escape the consequences of their past."
"Yes, I know, but this did not seem to me all there was in Freia's story," Nora continued. "So I confess I made friends with the little girl largely in order to gain her further confidence. She afterwards told me other things that were puzzling. I knew that the Germans in Coblenz were not allowed to hold secret meetings, but Freia insisted that officers who had been old friends of her brother's came constantly to their house and that her sister Hedwig opened a side door for them, so they would not disturb Major Hersey. Then they talked together a long time and no one else was allowed to enter her brother's room, save her father. She also spoke of her sister Hedwig's hatred of the Americans. It seems that Fraulein Liedermann and I have at least one experience in common. The German captain to whom she was engaged was also killed in the war. Hedwig was angry because her little German half-sisters were willing to make friends with Major Hersey and me. But I must not take so long to come to my point. I also made friends with Frau Liedermann. Often I went to her house, although always I was afraid that the fact would be reported. If I was found to be fraternizing with the Germans I would have been forced to end my acquaintance with the Liedermanns, as you know.
"I can't tell you near all the details, but the important fact I discovered is this: Captain Liedermann, the colonel his father, and a number of other German officers have for weeks been making a secret effort to have the Kaiser spirited away from Holland. Their plan is to conceal him in some spot where the Allies will be unable to discover him. Then, when the resentment against him dies down the Kaiser will be rescued and brought back to Germany. Captain Liedermann has been trying for a long time to get out of Coblenz. But I cannot tell you anything more than this bare outline of the German plan."
Breathless and shaking a little from fatigue and excitement, Nora Jamison now paused.
"You mean to tell me that you have made this extraordinary discovery during your occasional visits to the Liedermann home, when I who have been billeted there for months have learned nothing?" Major Hersey demanded, coloring in his habitual fashion, but this time partly from admiration of the girl beside him and partly from annoyance with himself.
"Yes, but our positions have been entirely different, Major Hersey," Nora explained. "Every precaution was taken to see that you found out nothing. Indeed you were apparently welcomed into the Liedermann household so that your presence there might be a blind. What I found out was owing to my intimacy with the two little girls and later with Frau Liedermann. I hope for her sake it may never be discovered just how much she did confide to me. I sometimes think she almost wanted me to report what I knew, she is so weary of war and intrigue and deception, and is almost as much of a child as her two little girls. I think this is all I have to tell at present. If our Intelligence Department should wish to ask me questions later, why I may be able to answer them."
Colonel Winfield rose and walked over to Nora.