It is a popular jibe that a woman cannot keep a secret. Never was a popular opinion worse founded. To the spy no quality is more essential than the ability to hold his tongue—a casual word may be enough to betray him under circumstances in which he might think himself absolutely safe. And if some women, at any rate, could not be trusted to set a very rigid seal on their lips, the Kaiser and other spy-masters would be robbed of some of their most able and desperate agents.
History has shown us that the woman-spy is, if anything, far more dangerous than the man, once she gives herself heart and soul to the business. And the reason is obvious: she brings to bear subtle influences—especially if she is of the half-world—which are far beyond the capacity of the male spy. More often than not, she simply works on a man's passions, and there are endless cases of men who have given away important secrets not for mere sordid motives, but through the wiles of a pretty little woman by whom they have been temporarily enslaved. The woman-spy, as a rule, must be possessed of great personal charm of manner, and more than a share of good looks—often they are minor actresses or ladies of no profession. They are, indeed, the aristocrats of the spy profession, for they can work with good prospects of success in cases where the ordinary lure of money would be rejected with scorn, and, probably, personal violence if it were proffered.
Now, it is absolutely foreign to the British character to take any steps against women of whatever class unless there are very clear grounds upon which to act. We may be quite sure that this fact is fully recognised by the authorities at Potsdam. There are to-day, in London—many around Piccadilly Circus, and practically uncontrolled—hundreds of German women, clever and capable, who are an unmistakable danger to our country. What to do with them is, admittedly, not a problem easy of solution. We, as Britons, do not want to inflict on women the unavoidable hardships of the concentration camps if it can be avoided, but we certainly do want to protect ourselves. The suggestion has been made that these women should be compulsorily repatriated, and it seems as good a way of dealing with the difficulty as any.
One of the most notorious of the German woman agents is believed to have come over to this country immediately after the fall of Brussels. She is said to be an exceedingly accomplished woman, very good-looking, and widely travelled, and speaking seven languages. The Confidential Department are to-day keeping her under observation. A woman of this kind is especially dangerous owing to her ability to pass in any class of society, and it is to be hoped that the Department has been able to curtail her opportunities for mischief.
As I have, over and over again, stated in the course of these past few years of Britain's slumber, the tremendous extent of the German spy system cannot be over-estimated, nor can it be too strongly impressed upon the public. Nothing is too large, or too small, for the net of German espionage; no agent can be too highly, or too lowly, placed. From the few chiefs who really control the dastardly work, designed for our undoing, radiate channels which stretch into every department of life, pouring in a constant stream of facts of greater or less importance, but all having their proper place when correlated and arranged by the keen brains in Berlin devoted to the work.
Never let it be forgotten that an apparently trivial incident may be the key for which the spy is patiently seeking, and that even a seemingly baseless rumour transmitted by the humble German, as the result of eavesdropping during his employment, may set the master-brain at work upon some matter of overwhelming importance.