THE WOMAN IN GREY

Hokitika Guardian, 13 May 1920, Page 1

THE WOMAN IN GREY

BEAUTIFUL SECRET AGENT.

DENI A, Alicante, Spain, March 10

“See that old castle ruin? Belongs to a good fellow now—. Spaniard. He bought it to stop German signalling to submarines.” <

'NJ'iien the little tinkling railway train wormed its way out towards Nose-o’-Spain an Englishman, met naturally enough in the last place I could hope for one, ticked oil' for me in jabs some dpze.ii stories of the war as seen where Spain jnts out towards the Balearic Isles, where came the mysterious woman in grey, the most .beautiful woman in Spain. The coast is full of half-caught stories of France’s splendid agent. One -is told here and in Barcelona with a chuckle and may serve my turn. “You may remember,” said my ac-. quaintanee, “that the French steamer 'Provins was hit by mine or torpedo, reached Palamos, and sank there in harbour. Well, when they got her into Palamos she was in no such bad shape.; nothing that could not be patched up. They cemented her, I believe. Anyhow, she was afloat when a Spanish port official came aboard and brought with him his ,‘son-in-law’ to look round.

“They went off, but presently the ‘son-in-law’ came back to fetch his stick or glasses. He went below, planted his infernal machine, and a little later the ship had a hole blown outwards as big as a cottage. She sank at her moorings.” Two days later “tile woman in grey” arrived in Palamos. She came from Barcelona, where she was Queen of the Revels. The most attractive woman bn the coast, or In the peninsula either for that matter! Everybody was at her feet; nobody knew for certain whether she was French, English, Polish, or what. Presently she met tlfe' Spanish official who boarded the Provins with his “son-in-law.” He met her again as often as he could. They say he gave her something in writing. Then one morning lie came down to her hotel to call for her and—the nest was cold. In tlie'afternoon there' was a telegram and the Spanish official left his job and the service. Had to. The “son-in-law” was arrested. Blit the grey woman did'not go back to her hotel to fetch her luggage, jewels, clothes, and all the rest of it. 'She must have gone straight to Madrid, seen her Ambassador, and got across 'the frontier. It is said there was a price of -£SOO put bn her head.

“I know she was a rich woman, in the game just for her country’s sake. Maybe a little, too, out of sheer delight in a woman’s weapons. She had ’em all!” She came South, too. for I picked up her traces here in Benia. She stopped an ingenious traffic of golettas (latcensailed boats) from Alicante. They used to lie off “fishing;” and the submarine would come up and lie snug between two of them waiting for prey" while her crew got a welcome dish of Valencian “paella,” which is fish, meat, sausage, rice, and pimiento.