Through the cleanly kept streets of the Unterland the two comrades were hurried, then up the zigzag path communicating with the plateau known as the Oberland, where the larger portion of the residential buildings was situated. Hamerton recognized the old and the new lighthouses and the Bull Beacon from sketches on the Admiralty chart; but he was somewhat surprised to find that even in the short journey between the Unterland and the Government House there were no less than ten large guns in armoured casemates, searchlights galore, and a network of ammunition lines, on which ran trucks actuated by electric power.
In front of the Government House stood a lofty flagpole, from which fluttered the German national ensign. One thing he remarked was that every passer-by saluted the emblem of the Mailed Fist.
"Guess I'll bet you a dollar we're free in less than twenty minutes," said Detroit to his comrade, as they were marched up the stone path towards the commandant's dwelling.
Before Hamerton could make any remark, one of the hitherto silent and stolid marines turned his brass-helmeted head and added: "I don't tink!"
CHAPTER VI
Von Wittelsbach's Plan
General Heinrich von Wittelsbach, the commandant of the garrison of Heligoland, was a man of fifty-five years of age, of medium height, corpulent and choleric. His iron-grey hair, growing low on his forehead, literally bristled; the ends of his bushy eyebrows well-nigh touched the tips of his upturned moustache, which as the result of years of training outvied those of his Imperial master.
Von Wittelsbach was a pronounced Anglophobe, and on that account was a great favourite with the German Crown Prince. On the other hand, his hot-headed outbursts against everything British were discountenanced by the Kaiser, who took a more level view of things. The time was not yet ripe for Germany to measure steel with the nation that in the Teutonic mind formed the sole barrier to colonial expansion, and for the present it was considered advisable to remove Von Wittelsbach to a more remote sphere, where his activities could be prosecuted in secret and with an energy that suited the old veteran's ideas to a nicety. So the general was placed in command of the important military and naval station of Heligoland.
Like most German officers Von Wittelsbach was badly attacked by the espionage mania. In his eyes every man not in German uniform was a spy. In one or two instances he had burned his fingers rather badly, for, having caused supposed spies to be arrested and sent to the Supreme Court at Leipzig for trial, he failed to make good his case. A section of the German Press, loath to miss a chance of revenge upon the autocratic Von Wittelsbach, held him up to ridicule. The general vowed that the next time there would be no mistake, and took the precaution of obtaining authority to try supposed spies summarily, instead of sending them to the Saxon town.
Still attended by their armed guards, Hamerton and Detroit found themselves in the room where the preliminary examination was to be held. It was to be a trial behind closed doors, for in addition to the prisoners and the file of stolid marines the only persons present were General Heinrich von Wittelsbach, Major Karl von Schloss, Naval-Lieutenant Schwalbe—the officer who had effected the arrest—and a military secretary.