Part 33 (2/2)
Rasputin was silent.
”It will certainly be far more dangerous than cholera or plague--dangerous to ourselves, I mean,” he remarked.
”Of course the epidemic must not be allowed to break out in Petrograd or in any of the army centres--at least, not at present. We must first watch the effect in Vologda and Nijni.”
”Well,” said the monk, ”what do you wish me to do?”
”You are returning by way of Stockholm,” replied the baron. ”His Majesty wishes the professor to accompany you, and in the warehouse of the firm I have named you will see the canned goods and bottles. The professor will show you that the tins have been repainted and are labelled with the mark of a well-known firm, so that there can be no suspicion of them. Only the paint is a much brighter blue than that usually employed. The reason of this is that they can easily be identified by any in the secret, and prevented from being opened in any area save those two towns I have named.”
”When do you leave?” asked the deep-voiced demon in human form.
”On Friday next. I have still a number of persons to see.”
”Then I shall be ready to travel with you, Father,” declared the professor; and then, after taking some brandy and soda-water, the conference ended.
The devilish ingenuity of the whole scheme appalled me. The sowing of cholera germs by means of infected fruit had happily failed, but now Germany intended to strike a blow at the civil population of Russia upon a scale more gigantic than I had ever imagined.
Next day, a man who gave the name of Emil Dollen brought Rasputin a letter, which I opened.
It was, I found, a code message which had been received at the great German wireless station at Nauen, having been dispatched from Petrograd, ostensibly to the wars.h.i.+p _Petropavlovsk_ in the Baltic, as Rasputin had arranged before he left Russia.
When I decoded it, I found it to be from the Minister Protopopoff, containing certain further instructions, as well as a message from the Tsaritza--which necessitated the monk having a second audience with the Kaiser.
In reply--while the secret messenger Dollen retired for an hour--I sat down and wrote, at the monk's dictation, a long dispatch, in which he made brief allusion as to the proposed dissemination of disease, and stating his intention to remain some days in Stockholm.
”All is well,” he dictated. ”The Emperor William sends his best greetings and acknowledgments of your dispatch of the 3rd inst.
It has been found necessary to recall the troops who have been held ready at Hamburg and Bremen for the invasion of Britain. The German General Staff have, after due consideration, decided that an invasion before Russia is crushed might meet with disaster, hence they are turning their attention to submarine and aerial attacks upon Britain in order to crush her. I have learnt from a conversation with the Kaiser that London is to be destroyed by a succession of fleets of super-aeroplanes launching newly devised explosive and poison-gas bombs of a terribly destructive character. Urge S. [Sturmer] to disclaim at once all knowledge of the Rickert contracts. The action taken against General S. is again ordered to be dropped. See the Emperor and persuade him.
Blessings upon you.
”GREGORY.”
Then I proceeded to put it into the special code which Rasputin and Protopopoff alone used, and when Dollen called it was ready for transmission from Nauen back to the Russian battles.h.i.+p, to which I had addressed it, to be ”picked up” by the wireless station in Petrograd.
The ”holy Father” greatly enjoyed himself in a quiet way in Berlin.
Indeed, he purchased a ready-made suit of clothes, and, attired in them, he went out on two occasions and did not return till dawn, and then half intoxicated. On the second occasion the baron called and remonstrated with him, pointing out that he was running great risk.
”We have been watching you in order to avoid any unwelcome inquiries by the police. But if you continue we can accept no further responsibility,”
he said. ”You see, you pose as Dutch without being able to speak a word of the language!”
After that Rasputin became more discreet, but I was nevertheless glad when one night we met Professor Hoheisel at the station and left for Hamburg, duly arriving at Stockholm two days later, where we lost no time in visiting the premises of Juel and Ehrensvard.
Indeed, Mr. Juel, the head of the Hun firm which was doing a large export business between Sweden and Germany, called upon us at the Grand Hotel within an hour of our arrival, and together we all went to a narrow street off the Fjellgatan, not far from the Saltsjobanans station, where we found a great warehouse filled to overflowing with tins of corned beef and cases containing bottles of beef extract, which had come from America, destined for Germany, but which had been held up to be diverted to Russia after being treated with disease germs.
We were shown stacks upon stacks of tins of one pound, two pounds and six pounds of beef, all bearing a well-known label, but all painted a peculiar blue for identification purposes. In the store we were met by four German laboratory a.s.sistants of the fat professor, ready to commence work upon the tins.
”I will show you what we shall do,” said Hoheisel. ”The manipulation of the tins is quite easy.”
He conducted us to a small room on the top floor, which I at once saw was fitted as a laboratory, and which contained microscopes, incubators, stands of test-tubes, and all the other apparatus appertaining to the bacteriologist.
<script>