Both in Great Britain and the United States it was realized that an international crisis was imminent. Consols dropped lower than they had ever been known to fall before. The American Pacific Fleet was ordered to pass through the Panama Canal and join the Atlantic Squadron at a rendezvous off Cape Hatteras, and await orders. Simultaneously the British Fleet, that for years past had been placed on a war footing, was unostentatiously mobilized; the Portsmouth, Portland, and Devonport ships being ordered to concentrate at the Nore, while the Third and Fourth Squadrons of the Home Fleet were sent to Cromarty Firth.
For the present nothing more could be done without indirectly challenging Germany to settle the matter by the arbitrament of war. Diplomatic relations were yet to be given one more chance, in the hope of allaying the enmity between the great rivals for sea supremacy.
General Heinrich von Wittelsbach had been once more hurriedly summoned to Berlin. With a heavy heart he set out to meet his imperial master. Fate had indeed treated him badly, though no less than his high-handed actions—done, according to his views, in the interest of the Fatherland—demanded. Not only had he failed to keep one of the alleged spies under lock and key; he was threatened with ignominy. It seemed impossible for him to explain satisfactorily the reason for deceiving the Emperor, who, on his assurances, had imperiously replied to the British and American Ambassadors' Note. There was also the humiliation of having lost one of the latest Zeppelins, which Great Britain was keeping under the pretext that it was unfit to be towed back to Heligoland, but in reality as a hostage.
"General, you have been over-hasty," was the Emperor's greeting, "I might say over-zealous."
"Sire, I regret deeply——"
"One moment, Von Wittelsbach," said his Imperial sovereign. "Before you start offering regrets would it not be better to give us your version of this affair—the true version, mind? What say you, Von Rhule?"
Von Rhule, the Chancellor, who was the only person present at the interview, merely inclined his head. He was a man of few words, but he had a will of which even his master stood in awe. His policy was not only "Germany for the Germans", not merely a desire for "a place in the sun", but a determination to make the German Empire the predominant nation on land and sea. Although his rise to power had been of comparatively recent date, he was beginning to be recognized as a super-Bismarck. If Bismarck were described as a man of blood and iron, Von Rhule's ambition was to be regarded as a man of brains and steel. Needless to say, he was an Anglophobe. One of the few disappointments of his hitherto brief career was the failure of his agents to provoke a quarrel between the United States and Great Britain over Mexican affairs. He placed very little reliance upon the Triple Alliance. His idea was to set Austria against Russia and engineer a war between France and Italy. Germany, standing aloof during the struggle between the two pairs of combatants, could then afford to dictate to the victors of the exhausting war.
Heinrich von Wittelsbach had the acumen to perceive that the Emperor was inclined to treat the Hamerton and Detroit incident in an indulgent way. In a blunt, soldier-like fashion the commandant of the garrison of Heligoland told his story, omitting no important point and offering no excuses.
"Now, General, your motive?" demanded the Emperor.
"Sire, my motive was simply the great desire of my career: to safeguard the output of the Empire against all attempts on the part of foreign powers to steal the results of patience and diligence on the part of the German nation. I have freely admitted that my initial act in hastily placing those men under arrest was an error."