TEN THOUSAND SHALL FALL

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 975, 19 May 1930, Page 5

TEN THOUSAND SHALL FALL

By

DAVID W. KING

(Copyright 1929 3 by Duffield and Co. Distributed by the King Features Syndicate Inc.)

SYNOPSIS David King, young Harvard student, enlists in the French Foreign Legion in 1914 and immediately is thrown into the front-line trenches. still wearing the scarlet trousers of the Legion costume. After losing the sight of his right eye, he shifts his rifle to his left shoulder. Defending Verdun, hunger and thirst increase the suffering of the Legionaires. Mutilated bodies, minus arms and legs, are carried out in baskets. ‘Phil,** an ex-elephant hunter, and Alan Seeger, the American poet, are King’s buddies in the 57 national varieties forming the Foreign Legion. “Phil’' dies after a brawl between Americans and foreigners in the Legion, and later Seeger is killed in action.” CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Orders came through from G.H.Q. to try and convince the enemy that the American forces were going to attack in Alsace. The Colonel handed Howe and me the job. . . . We met heavily, in the bar of the hotel. A fierce, low-voiced discussion in a corner—business of scribbling, and comparing typewritten notes. There were lists of pertinent questions as to roads, bridges, etc., in Alsace, implying an offensive in that region. By this time the barkeep was all ears, and interest. He even deigned to bring us our drinks, himself. When we left, 1 gathered my papers together and buttoned them into my hip pocket, letting the important one slip out onto the seat behind me. Half an hour later, I rushed into the bar, hunted under the seat, in great agitation. Had I lost anything? Could the bartender help me? No, be hadn’t seen any papers, and no one else had been in the bar. I assured him it wasn’t really important. He smiled a slippery smile as I left, still agitated. One up to us. Our next effort was a faked order—carbon copy, signed true, and everything—a beautiful piece of work. It took us a whole afternoon to make, and when we showed it to the Colonel, he tore around the room twirling bis moustaches. “Ha! ! This means business at last! ) When did this come? Why wasn’t it; brought to me at once?” Once more, we calmed him down,! and explained. We got in touch with a renegade j German, in his own territory, and after giving him a plausible story about

being hard up, passed him the papers to show, and return. He may have suspected, but I heard he sold them for a good price. We got tired of wasting time and energy chasing Allied agents. With the English and Italians, we formed a central office, or clearing house, at Geneva. Marvellous! I grabbed the job of intelligence officer in command and became still more independent Within a week, we found eleven authentic cases of shadowing our own men. Things began to pick up. The second in command at Berne, j let’s call him Bernstein, got in touch with a renegade German—Zero. Then he got the grippe. He had a rendezvous with Zero the next day, but was too ill to go. No one knew Zero, and Zero only knew Bernstein. The connecting link was a postcard, saying he would wait for him in the Station at Lucerne. Fine—at that time Lucerne was practically a German town. The Colonel gave me the postcard and mumbled something about a message to Garcia—and that was that. The station was full of interned Germans, in and out of uniform. N T o use making myself conspicuous hupping tor him here. 1 went straight to the Hotel du Lac—Bernstein was a luxurious bloke—l felt sure he would have put up at the best. Half an hour later, allowing Zero plenty of time to walk back from the station, I sat in the garden along the quay Any number of people were walking up and down. 1 watched to see which ones passed most frequency One little German never seemed to be gone for long. 1 stepped under an arc light and studied the postcard just as be was passing. Next trip, he passed closer, looked sharply at the card, and started whistling Tipperary. That was good enough for me. I followed him till we got to a dark place, then tapped him on the shoulder. “Good evening. Zero?” “Where’s Bernstein?” “He couldn’t come. Grippe.” "How do I know you’re all right?” “You don’t. Y’ou've got to take a chance. I did.” We settled down to work. He talking, and I taking notes. M T e sat in the dark so I had to guide my pencil with a cigarette.

Next day, I shifted to a quiet hotel, slept during the day, and met Zero at night. This went on for several' weeks: l reported at Berne at intervals. Certainly Zero was in the inner ring. We passed his information on to the Swiss police, who, thereupon, arrested Schreck. the head of German espionnage in that region. None of Sehreck’s underlings had a list of his agents, so they could not be warned. As they came to the surface, to Slid out what had gone wrong, the police netted them. The Germans searched furiously for the traitor. Zero and I had to be doubly careful. Outside of Lucerne, there are two roads that run along the railway track —one each side. I met him, once, in the daytime on one of these, about a mile from town. We had hardly spoken when he saw German friends coming down the road toward us. in both directions. For a moment 1 thought we were caught. But luck still held—a long freight train was puffing down the track. Before the agents came near enough to recognise me. I had nipped' across, and. hidden by the passing train, got away on the other road. We kept to our nightly meetings, after that. . . . Geneva was filled with deserters, professional spies, renegades and dope fiends. The cream of the scum of the nations. I had been having diffi culty with a suspect* and the atmosphere was strained. “Nappy,” one of our rough neck agents, took me aside one day. “Look here. You’ve been having quite a lot of trouble with M —. Why BUPERFt,UOL'S HAIR Ueslroyt-d by “RUSMA” (Regd.). Signed, stamped, guaranteed cure. £5 l?s 6d.— Florence Hullen, C.M.IX, 7 Courtenay Place, Wellington. Send stamped addressed envelope for particulars.

bother with him? A hundred francs. . and he goes in the lake tonight.” “No thanks. Nappy. I'm playing my own game, in my own way.” “Well, then, let us beat him up, so he won’t get so fresh. That will cost two hundred, though, 'cause he might squeal, and there would be questions ’ asked.” “Thank you, no!” “All right! Have it your own way,, but just let me tell you, if you don’t, he will!” The armistice, a Bolshevik uprising, and the flu, hit Switzerland at the same time. My official work was just beginning. Our prisoners in* Germany had all been concentrated at Darmstadt. Some congenital idiot, in charge, sent all the officers by the first train; then for seven days the men and non-coms, arrived, a thousand at a time. It was a great game. I climbed aboard the train at Berne, at three in the afternoon, and took it over. That was easy—l simply had the doors locked. But arriving at Geneva about eleven, I had to disentrain them, see that they were fed by the Red Cross, and hold them on the platform till the French train came in, about one or two in the morning. Then I must entrain them, check with the O.C. on the train, and catch the six o’clock back to Berne. The last night, I was met at Geneva with a flock of telegrams from Berne. “Understand French train will not arrive tonight. Have men bivouac in station till further orders. Stop. Hoid you responsible.” etc. Hold, hell! Seven hundred wild Indians just out of prison, and in a big town! I don’t yet know what I would have done, but I got in touch with Bellegarde, and found the train would only ! be three hours late. . • •

January 15. 1111!#. “Orders . detailing the following named officers on temporary duty with the Peace Commission, Paris, France, are confirmed as having been necessary in the Military Service By order of the Secretary of War. PEYTON C. MARCH. General, Chief of Staff.” So we were to try a. hand at Peace! The Crillon was a glorious mixture of the University Club and the Eagle House at Concord with the Stale Legislature sitting, by beck! George left to perch on a heap of coal at Teschen, and I—Oh, I stayed on and helped arrange for bigger and better wars. THE END