TWO GERMAN SPIES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 255, 11 December 1914, Page 4 (Supplement)

TWO GERMAN SPIES.

GET SHORT SHRIFT IN FRANCE

SENTRY SHOOTS THEM ON IHE SPOT

A soldier comes out from behind a pine tree with nlie and fixed bayonet. The place w in France, tho time about the middle of October.

" Uu allez-vou'i ?" he says, stepping before me and dropping his bayonet point a little toward me. "Je vuis me promener," I reply, smiling, and anticipate his next demand by pulling out my case and displaying my special permit, also various other papers, and an officially-stamped photograph which proves my identification, as war correspondent of an English paper, with the name upon tho special permit. "Monsieur, permit me." says the soldier suddenly in very fair English. "Monsieur is ze man that writes: 1 I thake you by ze hand with ver' great pieasaire. It is to me an honor! " Wo "shake" with enormous empw-fio-ment, and I compliment him upon his English. We smiles, gratified, ond disclaims with great modesty. Ho beckons me b.ick among the trees.

"Ono comes I" h# says. "Ssh! Ze woods here have been many times Bet ir. flames. Wo have suspect these i>e done with intention."

Why?" I ask, whispering to his whisper. "Ze torts," lie says, softly, staring keenly down the narrow patu among the trees. "Ze trees have act as a mask. We have suspect za.t spies have set ze lights. We watch, mooch . . . One comes ver' near. Hark him! You stay here when I go challenge." "Right!" I whispet. "You see him?" he asks a moment later. "Zere bv ze coulver'. . . . Ssst . *

He ceased his whisper abruptly and we both bent forward together. A hundred yards down the narrow path, among the pines, a man m a workman's 01 ue blouse is standing, looking quietly iu every direction. Suddenly he takes a couple of steps in among the trees, and tor a teV moments 1 cannot too him; but the soldier turns to me and signs foi absolute silence, laying his forefinger on his hps, his eyes shining. He begins to tiptoe down among the trees, keeping a few paces away from the path. I am following. As we go down, a step at a time, noiselessly on the pine needles, there sounds a 6oft whistle below, which is answered immediately from somewhere to the left and further down the slope of the pinecovered hill.

We take a few more steps in utter silen<e, then pause and listen. The soldier makes a queer, excited gesture, throwing up his left hand to make sure that Ido not move. I hear the eound now, a soft and cautious scraping ot earth.

Tho sentry begins to go forward again, and suddenly we open out a vista, long and narrow, among the trees. Seeming far away, perhaps two hundred, perhaps two hundred and fifty yards down hill, a figure is lying on its stomach, its face close to the, earth. Near to the head there is what appears at this distance to be a small Oox.

" Arrre," mutters the soldier under his breath, and slips down onto his face behind a big pine, waring frantically with one hand to his rear for m© to do likewise.

Tin? sound of sonfetljing scraping softly at the, earth continue!-. It is now on oinr right front, nnd. suddenly, I see ths man we hare already sef". Ho is about forty yards away, kneeling down. Ho is lifting something which looks like a narrow slab of stone. He is stooping now into some cavity which lie has just laid open. Ho takes a pair of wire-out'ters from his pocket, and 1 hoar tlie 'snick distinctly as he cuts through something in the cavity. The sound catches the hearing of the soldier, and he glances to his right swiftly. 1 hear the half hissed "arrre!" ngain as he sees the second man. Then suddenly he pushes his rifle forward and there conus a slight snicking sound. 1 thrill with a vague sickness, i'or I know that 1 am going to see a briet glimpse ot tho war horror there anions the hushed sunlight and the shadow oi tiie tret holes.

Far down the hillside, at the end ot the narrow vista anions tno trees, the ..twoiKi man iutts sudaouiy rfcsen. Iso uiter is the silence mat 1 caai hear him plainly Ui> iio coughs. tie b-gins io liuui on some till ug, and 1 reuliou buUdenly the meaning of tlio whole mciuent that 1 aiu watching. liie two men iiavo located the underground private telephone wire going up to the iort. Ihcy have been tapping it for any ne»s they miglit pick up, and now they aro removing a couple of hundred metres oi wire bouily; alter which, no doubt, tli y will i;eplaee tlio slabs winch cover that roof ui the underground channel and smooth back the earth and pine needles over tiie two disturbed places. Ihc n it may be a matter of a week before tii e trouble is located and remedied; and much may happen in a week 1

Ihe soldier is methodical. He takes tho distant man first. Kneeling there behind him, I watch with a growing thrill and tension oi tragedy and sickness his sunburnt cheek cuddle against the stock of the rifle. Then, very slowly, it seems to me, in that, quiet, dreadful moment, his stubby, cigarette stained forefinger crooks back gently, gently on the trigger. It is horrible to kneel tkore behind him and realise that the slow crooking of that cigarette-stained finger is literally the crooking linger of Death to the mau down the long vista ol mes.

"Or-rack!" oomes the sharp, snapping bang of the weapon, and the man down the vista of trees gives a queer little jump, and then turns right around quickly, and looks behind him. And. thus looking, and seemingly unaware that he is the person who has been shot, his heart stops, and lie rolls over quite easily and "ently on his side—a mercifiul enough death, as these violent deaths go. l<or some of them are *o dreadful. And then, as I stare, the rifle goes "or-rack" again, and I jump; for 1 am still looking at the silent figure do" n the vista of trees.

But the soldier has been attending to his business and his snapped off a »i> ond shot (loss well aimed than the tint because of tho Sodden need for haste) at tho nearer man; for the man had started to holt. And because the 6hot hastily aimed tho eecond death is ns cruel as the firet was merciful. 1 cannot go into details; bnt tho soldwr has to us> a third cartridge before th<. end roiiN'S. and the mail lies there (|iii<*i, hi> terrible screaming ended. Thorn is nothing beautiful | n W ar, nothing, is my feeling. But the thing had to be done. Au oxaminatiou of both bodice iliowed

that the men were German spies, in possession of "ciphered" in formation that would, no doubt, prove very helpful to o:ir enemies. They were also armed wn.i .Mauser automaic pistols. "Espionage :< become ver' difficih profession in *r.vi"c\ Monsieur," si} ? iho soldier with .i /, ile as he rolls a cigarette.

I nod, but I find it difficult to say anything just at the moment.