THE AVENGER OF EDITH CAVELI.

Taihape Daily Times, 26 August 1919, Page 3

THE AVENGER OF EDITH CAVELI.

l (By Algernon VV=:'-rren.) ' ' 'l‘ewal'dsA theyclosc of 1918, an Ital[ian tweekl.y_ contained an article en- ; titled “The Avenger of Edith Cavell.” [This certified that Miss Edith Cavell was arrested and condemned to death through her denunciation and betrayal jby a man whom she sought‘ to boneffit. He was a Belgian! His name lwas bandied freely from mouth, to mouth amongst general execration. He called himself-Van der —————. His father is a respectable citizen of the Belgian capital, an old and henoured ofiicer of the army. He cursed his degenerate son when the horrible accusation was proved, and shut him out of his heart for ever. The young dissipated voluptuary, eager for'gain to expend on sensual pursuits, offered his services to the German Spy Directorate. Feigning to be animated by lofty patriotism and profound hatred of the Germans, he -one day presented himself to ‘Miss Edith Cavell, with avview to her aiding him to betake himself secretly to Holland, She consented, and presented _him to M. -Baucq. All three combined for the flight, but on the eve of de,pa’rture, Van der ——-—~—, who ‘had .diSCOVOI‘Cd -all particulars about themréanisation, denounced Miss ‘ Cavell to the German Command. Miss; Cavell, Baucq.(wilo subsequently was shot togetlrferfi with her), an_;fij M’l&C_' Severin wel'e”arl'estecl while the traitor I v.na.s buyingllsome wine for the two ladies in a. cafe. A thrill or horror at the crime went tlrrougll the» World and aroused a fixed feeling" of vengeance in the heart of one Louis-‘Brill. :1. young man :I;_a;ed 25, of fair complexion, "with mild blue eyes, -a delicate exile, but full of‘ energy, He was in Paris at the outh)'{_~{{k of the war, and went to Brussels to offer his services as a volunteer. He ’ had mt been called up. and had to stand by while his country was devastated. lE..s'x'ilplla(l*e schoolmaster friend,

i to whom he one -day showed ‘two loaded Browning Irevolve'rS, saying: “Shots from one Of-T.llC:~‘.(.‘- are for Miss Ca\~‘ell’s idenouncer. I shall have no peace untill I have reckoned with him.” Days Land weeks passed, and the traitor Van der ——~— continued to indulge in dissipation_ But Bril followed him like a shadow, awaiting a favourable moment for striking his blow. The traitor, however, suspectea a vendetta, and always went accompanied by German guards, and kept to main thoroughfares. Bril c-ontinued to dog him. One cold, wet night two police officials stumbled over ‘a prostrate bloodstained corpse. One shot had penetrated the heart, and another the brain. Conveyed to a police station the body was recognised there as that of Miss Cavell’s betrayer. A reward of 1000 marks for ‘the assassin ’s arrest was announced, together with a. death penalty for harbouring him". This had its elfect_ Bril, duly warned, escaped to Volvoorden, and prepared to cross the frontier. Rashly returning: however, to Brussels" to thank the person who had risked all to aid his flight, he fell into an ambuscade, was arrested,‘ and shot two months later. He went to his death with magnificent cour-age.