Chapter Ten

There are few measures of policy on which any general measure of agreement may be expected of the corps of ambassadors in any national capital, but there is one which instantly draws them together into an articulate unanimity, and that is any threat against their common diplomatic privileges. These privileges are guarded so jealously that any breach is regarded almost as gravely as a violation of territory. Consequently, when it was found that one amiable but indiscreet diplomat had suffered his diplomatic mail-pouch to be used as the means of conveying a treasonable correspondence against the security of the nation to whom he was credited there was much impotent indignation among the French officials. But they had to proceed with the greatest delicacy. It would never do to expose the indiscreet diplomat, because that would alienate the sympathy of others who might feel that they were being submitted to the same undignified suspicion and were having their correspondence examined by spies. While all were not so treated, some were.

Again, these were dark days in France. A Ministerial 152crisis was imminent upon the question of national security; mutiny had broken out in a portion of the army; as a result of the venomous campaign of enemy agents working upon a war-weary and discouraged populace, revolution was threatening to raise its grisly features in the streets of French cities; and, quick to sense this state of internal weakness, some neutral countries whose friendship for the Allies had never been very demonstrative were ready to provoke a quarrel in order to range themselves on the side of the apparently victorious Central Powers, and were only restrained by the wisdom of a few men armed with the power to hold in check those of their countrymen who listened for inspiration to the indefatigable German agents. To precipitate a hostile declaration or even to embitter relations with one of these neutral states might be the turning-point in the war against the Allies. A revival of confidence in the leaders of French opinion and a successful military campaign were alike necessary before the French could openly proclaim the application of a high-handed policy over the abuse of diplomatic privileges.

Therefore, Mata Hari was allowed to retain her freedom and to continue her treacherous activity, secure from molestation by the French authorities 153until she committed some blunder. The only consolation was that, with a little luck, they could continue to learn what military secrets she unearthed by maintaining the supervision of her correspondence.

With her work at Vittel accomplished, Mata Hari was free to enjoy the more congenial atmosphere of the capital, having renounced her intention of surrendering what she admitted was a life of debauchery in order to consecrate herself to the care of her one true lover. It would seem that she was incapable of denying herself any sensual pleasure. Being in Paris with the gratifying feeling of having accomplished safely a piece of difficult and dangerous espionage, she plunged whole-heartedly into the old life with a gusto stimulated by denial. Whatever luxuries could be provided in the capital were procured to replace the substitutes she had been forced to endure in half-starved Vittel. She reappeared on the stage, to the admiration of the officers on leave and the Parisians who sought distraction from the accumulation of troubles that threatened their entire happiness; in a few houses, wealthy old bachelors whose selfish profligacy overcame their fears for the national safety, continued to dispense a furtive hospitality which was incomplete without the central figure of the entrancing 154bayadère, with or without her veils. Vittel must have seemed very remote and poor Captain Marov completely forgotten in the mad whirl of pleasure which so soon engulfed her.

However, her stay in the French capital was of short duration. She departed this time on what seemed a perfectly legitimate journey, for she had a well-advertised dancing engagement to fulfil in the Spanish capital. There was a repetition of her former triumphs in this engagement, for she was so favourably received that her visit was extended. During this stay in Madrid, Mata Hari was lionized by the artistic groups among whom she had already many friends, but the artists did not monopolize her time. Conspicuous among her friends at this time were Lieutenants von Kalle and von Kroon, the naval and military attachés at the German Embassy and known to be the heads of their respective Intelligence departments in that country.

All during the summer of 1915 the agents of France and Britain were reporting to Paris and London that most of Mata Hari’s time was spent in the company of these two officers and that one time she had paid a hasty visit to Barcelona, where she went directly to the headquarters of the German secret service in that city and returned without 155apparently having visited anyone else. They further reported that she was talking of paying a visit to Holland early in the next year.

Before embarking for this visit, however, Mata Hari returned to Paris and resumed her old life, which had been interrupted by the Madrid engagement. She made no public appearances at the Paris music-halls but she continued to frequent the dens of midnight revelry where officers went to pass the feverish hours of liberty granted by a few short days of leave in Paris. The officers of the Second Bureau were anxious to learn what line of investigation she was now following in accordance with the secret instructions hinted at in the first intercepted message from Holland, but her activities were so cleverly conducted that no hint of her purpose escaped the secrecy surrounding her. Then came a ray of hope for the much harassed officials of the Second Bureau. In January of 1916 Mata Hari left France after having announced her intention of returning to her home in Holland. There seemed little doubt in their minds that this was merely an opportunity to consult with her employers, but, on the other hand, there did not appear much likelihood that Mata Hari would attempt to return to the scene of her successful spying, so that Paris would be well rid of an undesirable 156guest. No obstacles were placed in the way of her departure. But her passing was signalled to the British.

Accordingly, when the boat in which Mata Hari was travelling touched at Falmouth, the police ordered her to accompany them to London for examination as a dangerous person. The chief of Scotland Yard at that time was Sir Basil Thomson, who has left an account of the interviews in his book of reminiscences. Thomson admits that he was impressed by the intelligence the spy displayed in her answers to his questions and her quick repartee. He was not impressed, however, by her beauty, which, he says, had begun to fade (she was then forty and had lived through ten dissipated years which must have left their mark on her features), and she was growing plump.

Thomson did not mince matters in the two interviews he had with her. In fact, he quite frankly accused her of carrying on a correspondence with the enemy. This Mata Hari denied as an absurdity, only to be confronted with the names of the various German agents with whom she had spent so much of her time while in Madrid. Instead of being at all disconcerted by this revelation of his knowledge of her actions, Mata Hari merely expressed astonishment, assuring him that she had no idea von 157Kalle and von Kroon were engaged in Intelligence work; she knew them as attachés at the Legation, but not as the chiefs of the German secret service in Spain.

This first interview ended in a stalemate. A painstaking search of the actress’ baggage was no more profitable. There appeared no reason why Mata Hari’s departure for Holland should be further delayed. The cause of the delay and the reason why the interview was resumed lie in a fact upon which Thomson retains a discreet silence.

The President of the Council in Holland had written to the head of Scotland Yard begging him to obtain Mata Hari’s deportation. There was no secret about the Dutch premier’s infatuation for the dancer; that was a piece of scandal which no longer excited surprised comment. But it is uncommon for a statesman to request a friendly nation to deport his lover. There can be little doubt that Van der Linden foresaw her tragic end if she persisted in such dangerous employment, and he feared that the redoubtable Scotland Yard authorities might penetrate her secret unless he could get her home without delay.

Therefore, Sir Basil Thomson decided to have one more attempt to extract some admission from his captive and, if he failed, then to allow her to 158proceed to Holland with a caution, thereby performing a humane action by liberating a known spy and at the same time do a small favor to the Dutch premier, which might be added to the Allies’ credit balance, then at a low ebb in certain quarters in Holland.

The second interview had a curious termination. The examination was even more severe than the first, but, while it failed to extract any of the knowledge of her activities that Thomson wanted, it did at last induce Mata Hari to admit that she was a spy. But not for Germany. She was, she said, employed by the French. This was a piece of sheer stupidity, for the dancer should at least have known that the French had enough difficulty in watching their enemies to have any desire to spy upon their friends. In any event, the risk she ran by lying was great because all Thomson had to do was to ask the French military mission in London to verify this statement.

Of course, we know now that Thomson was under no misapprehension, for he had been forewarned of Mata Hari’s journey by the French. But he had failed to obtain orthodox evidence which would have enabled him to lay the case before a British court with any hope of securing a conviction. He told her, therefore, that as she had done 159no injury to his country he would permit her to depart for Holland. He added a piece of friendly counsel which the dancer would have done well to heed. He advised her not to leave Holland during the war and solemnly warned her against trying to visit either Germany or France. Probably profoundly relieved at the prospect of release from this very embarrassing situation, Mata Hari said:

“Sir, I thank you from my heart. What I have been doing I will do no more. You may trust me implicitly.”

So Mata Hari was allowed to step out of the frying-pan and the fire. But she ignored both Thomson’s warning and her own promise. Apparently she did not know that the British agents in Holland and Germany were warned to be on the lookout for her, and that the chief of the English counter-espionage service was kept informed of her movements.

Almost immediately upon her arrival in Amsterdam, Mata Hari paid a visit to the tobacco shop kept by Max Neuder. This establishment was already under the close surveillance of the Allies’ agents, for it was known to be a “letter-box” for numerous German agents. The postal censors knew that they had a prize each time they intercepted a letter addressed to the innocent-looking tobacco 160shop. Mata Hari’s visits to this place were promptly reported to headquarters in London and in Paris, thus confirming further the existing suspicion against her.

At the time of the dancer’s return to her home, the German authorities had become exasperated by the audacious exploits of an English agent who defied their best efforts at detection. When, finally, they received an awe-inspiring rebuke from the All Highest for a particularly impudent performance by this spy, it was decided to call in the aid of Mata Hari, to whom the man was believed to be known.

In order to appreciate the situation which faced the dancer one must have at least a glimpse of her opponent.

The fame of “Mr. C.” is already known to those American secret agents whose work lay along naval lines. Few people either in his own country or abroad knew that this symbol covered the identity of an English army captain called Reilly, who was the Admiralty’s “ace” in espionage. Reilly had an extraordinary faculty for acquiring a perfect knowledge of languages and for impersonating exactly the type of people whose language he was speaking. To this he added the advantages of his Irish ancestors’ quickness of thought, fertile imagination, 161readiness of tongue, and unbounded courage. He knew several European countries better than he knew his own.

Reilly’s most astounding coup against the Germans reads like a romance. It has rarely been equalled, and only excelled by his own later exploits in Russia.

An order had been sent to German army headquarters to send a responsible officer to receive instructions on naval policy from the Emperor. The man chosen was an unknown junior officer, for the staff had their own ideas concerning responsibility. However, he displayed considerable intelligence and a broad knowledge of naval and military matters during the explanation of the new submarine policy which was laid before him. He requested amplification of indefinite points, clarity in place of some obscurities, and a detailed instruction upon the army’s co-operation to produce the desired political effect. His alertness and zeal so impressed the seniors that they were convinced that their policy would not be misinterpreted at army headquarters, and the Emperor was so struck by the amiable young officer that he invited him to lunch.

The visitor to the Kaiser’s luncheon table was “Mr. C.” the British Admiralty agent.

162Reilly exhibited the signs of a master-craftsman in this performance. He displayed a technique that shows how profoundly he studied the men against whom he was working. It was not so well known then as now, that the German headquarters staff frequently courted disaster in employing young and inexperienced officers upon tasks that are usually delegated to more experienced men. The classic example is that recounted in von Kluck’s memoirs, where a visiting colonel from the staff overrode this army commander’s orders and ignored the general plan for the invasion of Belgium in order to impose his own ideas upon the handling of the situation.

Reilly’s close study of the men he was watching must have acquainted him with this peculiarity of the staff. How he should have known who was entrusted with the mission I do not pretend to know, but it will look less like a miracle when the reader knows that during many months of the war one of Prince Rupprecht’s staff majors was a British agent, and that he contrived to keep his employers well furnished with information in spite of the vigilant observation of other men who were jealous of his influence with their commander and who sought his downfall in order to occupy his place.

How Reilly contrived to waylay or kidnap his 163victim in order to impersonate him remains a mystery, and will probably continue to do so, for the files of the British secret service are well nigh inaccessible.

Nor is it known how long it was before the German authorities realized they had been duped. Their side of the question is no less enshrouded in silence that is likely to remain impenetrable, unless one of the actors should choose to speak. But before dismissing Captain Reilly to make way for Mata Hari, space might be found for mention of another sensational coup.

After the war he was sent to Russia, where he struck up an acquaintance with Trotsky, then Commissioner of War, who introduced him to Lenin. The leader of the revolution speedily recognized that Reilly’s great knowledge of Europe made him a decided acquisition in the Foreign Office. It was while acting as an official in this department that the British agent saw a letter which he judged would be of interest to his employers. This was the famous Zinovief letter which was instrumental in wrecking MacDonald’s first labour government in England.

But the Russian secret police had come to suspect him during an absence from his post in connection with the disposal of this document. The 164G. P. U. have an unenviable reputation as a power for vengeance. When Reilly was travelling back to Russia, their secret agents picked up his trail in Berlin and accompanied the train to the frontier. No sooner was the frontier line passed than these agents took Reilly off the train and, without even the apology of a trial, riddled his body with bullets.

Such, then, was the man whom Mata Hari was called upon to expose. Her choice in the search depended entirely upon her acquaintance with the agent who was supposed to be operating. Her meeting with this agent antedated the war and took place in a Balkan town. Mata Hari had been instructed at that time to scrape up an acquaintance with the man who was believed to be in possession of some exceedingly valuable knowledge much envied by the Germans. Knowing that he was an old Indian army officer, Mata Hari thought that her imaginary Hindu origin might serve as a suitable basis of common interest. She approached the British agent, therefore, and said to him:

“Have we not met before? Ah yes. In India, was it not?”

“More likely in Berlin,” was the uncompromising retort, which should have warned Mata Hari 165that the British were fully aware of her activities long before war broke out.

However, this lesson never seems to have been completely mastered by Mata Hari, and as she was most probably too vain to report these snubs to her employers, they were unable to warn her that they were portents of danger. But her efforts to locate the man who was causing so much uneasiness at Fräulein Lesser’s headquarters proved completely unavailing, and after having employed herself about the usual haunts of Intelligence agents in Amsterdam and Antwerp, the dancer spent some little time in Germany, where she had no professional engagements to fulfil.

It would be an insult to the undoubted intelligence of the chiefs of the German secret service to suppose that they entertained any great hope of success that Mata Hari would have their intended victim surrendered to her by some chance encounter. They were much too wise to be so sanguine of fate’s friendly assistance, and much too subtle to admit a limit to their resources. They planned a coup which was intended to relieve them of much anxiety on the score of Belgian spies.

The information concerning the dropping of enemy agents behind their lines must have been exceedingly welcome to the German Intelligence 166staff, for they were enduring much annoyance from the existence of an efficient and well-organized counter-espionage service in addition to the extending activity of energetic spies. The amount of spying and counter-spying which went on in Belgium must have been phenomenal. The Allies had the assistance of practically every Belgian in the occupied territory who possessed the necessary hardihood and who was capable of responding to the claims of patriotism. This patriotic motive placed the invading army under a severe handicap, since the best minds were thus employed against them, either actively in espionage or passively in the resistance of their own agents.

But the famous Stieber (and Fouché before him) had found that felons and crooks, if poor material for spies, made excellent counter-spies. Thus, while occupying France and Belgium, the Germans organized regular gaol deliveries of every convict who would undertake the malodorous work of treachery in return for his liberty. These hired renegades proved of incalculable value in the famous sweep which resulted in the seizure of the sixty-six French agents. The most notorious of them, Armand Jeannes, boasted that he had betrayed no fewer than one hundred and twenty-six of his fellow countrymen and women.

167Every class of Belgian was engaged in the task of outwitting their invading hosts. Simple peasants did what they could, educated men like the Judge Lacroix accomplished infinitely more because they occupied influential positions, and cultured women like Louise de Bettignies achieved marvels of deception.

Louise de Bettignies deserves special mention because her refinement seemed to render her singularly unfitted for the rough and active work of organizing a corps of spies to operate in British interests. Yet this girl, and others like her, developed a resource, a courage, and a fortitude of which many men could justifiably be proud. One day, while somewhat of an amateur at the business, Louise was trying to cross the frontier into Holland without the necessary papers, when she was overtaken by a patrol. Her message was so ill-concealed that exposure must certainly follow capture, and the prospect of death before a firing party did not appeal to Louise. She preferred to risk another form of calamity. Somehow or other she had to cross a wire fence which was charged with 14,000 volts of electric current. In her flight from the advancing patrol the girl had scrambled to the top of the roof of a stable and, seeing that she had been observed, she took a flying 168leap which barely carried her over the sinister barrier into safety.

Thereafter, Louise de Bettignies resolved to use her brain in order to spare her body. Two of her deceptions are masterly. Her usual disguise was that of a lace-seller, which enabled her to tramp from village to village, organizing her little band of spies, but this did not spare her from periodical searches by the alert women agents of the German police. Her principal tormentor was one woman agent who made a practice of seizing and searching Louise on sight. On one occasion this active counter-espionage agent encountered Louise at a moment when the girl would gladly have been spared a meeting, because she was carrying papers that would certainly involve a terrible punishment were they discovered. It was a stormy, wet day, and Louise was carrying an umbrella which she humanely offered as cover to the police agent who fell into step beside her. For once they chatted more or less amicably, but it is characteristic of the devotion to their duty which distinguishes the good agents, that the German woman did not permit this courtesy to interfere with her duty. As soon as they arrived at the first town Louise was ordered to enter the police station and submit to a very thorough search.

169Although the girl was stripped naked and all her possessions examined with minute care, nothing of interest was revealed. But the search appeared to have frightened the girl; she was abnormally agitated when informed that she might proceed on her way. This agitation was stage play. Louise knew very well that she was under suspicion of being in possession of secret documents, and at all costs she had to draw the attention of the agents from the hiding-place of her treasure. But their attentions were considered sufficient excuse for the girl’s apparent agitation, and the police saw nothing extraordinary in the fact that she should walk out of their station without her umbrella and have to return some minutes later to recover it. That mere act was a fine stroke, for it showed the enemy agents that this article was a trifle which could be easily overlooked when, in point of fact, the papers were concealed in a hollow rib of the umbrella. No ruse could have distracted attention from the hiding-place better than this.

On yet another occasion this same spy was requested by the British to furnish them with information which would enable them to locate enemy gun positions in the neighbourhood of Lille. The task of giving such exceedingly exact information was beyond the capability of any code. 170Nothing but a very accurate map could suffice. Nevertheless, Louise had among her many assistants several who could draw a map with creditable accuracy and also a photographer who was able to apply his art to the reproduction of a minute copy of this work. The precious map was eventually reduced to the size of a large pin head, but even this had to be carefully concealed. At last a lens was removed from the frame of a pair of spectacles, the paper stuck on the edge, and the glass replaced. It went safely over the frontier in this hiding-place and the English were able to undertake one of the most successful counter-battery shoots which marked the war.

Louise de Bettignies was eventually caught. She was then on the verge of nervous breakdown produced by her unremitting labours, and her subsequent examination proved exceedingly valuable to the Germans. The girl and some of her companions, whom she unwillingly involved, were sentenced to death, although the sentence in her case was commuted to one of twenty-seven years imprisonment. Louise died in Cologne shortly before the armistice and was accorded full military honours by the British and French when her body was disinterred for burial at her own home.

In order to overcome this menace of spying in 171Belgium where the enemy agents were giving evidence of increased audacity, the Germans determined to make use of their accomplished instrument, Mata Hari. The dancer was sent back to Paris with instructions to obtain the necessary information which would enable them to break up this nest of spies. After her experience in London it was out of the question to send her back by that route. Had she not promised Sir Basil Thomson to avoid France? Had she not also broken her promise to him to remain away from Germany? She had visited that country and it was not improbable that the chief of Scotland Yard had been informed of the violation of her undertaking. So she went back to France through Switzerland and, thanks to her diplomatic associations, she experienced no difficulties at the carefully-guarded frontier.

Left to herself, Mata Hari seems to have been equal to most occasions, but now that she was only the instrument of a prearranged scheme, the whole affair was sadly bungled. It was conducted in full accordance with a routine that never varied. It lacked the subtle touch of the master-spy. To appreciate the significance of her subsequent actions it is necessary to understand another phase of spy tactics.

172It is impossible to apply the ordinary standards of conduct to the well-trained spy. Not only is his psychology a thing apart, but every action must be studied, nothing can be left to chance if suspicion is to be averted. Thus, what would be a simple, automatic action on the part of an innocent person becomes a tortuously complex proceeding for a spy. The most severe test of all must naturally come when the secret agent finds he is being watched by his opponents. Unless the man has an abnormally strong character he is likely to become panic-stricken when he first learns that the police are observing his movements and he may commit some foolish indiscretion which will lead to his conviction as an enemy agent. To guard against this contingency all the German spies were carefully instructed in their behaviour should this emergency arise. Calculating that a bold action would best divert suspicion, their agents were instructed how to act in the manner best designed to convince the watchers of their loyalty.

The most popular plan was for the spy, who felt he had incurred suspicion, to march boldly into the headquarters of the enemy and volunteer for service in their interests. So completely was this plan worked out that the agents were actually furnished with suitable information for their reports 173should they be engaged. This information was usually of the most terrible nature imaginable. The Germans were able to expose people whom they desired to see punished, some for quite harmless reasons, others for spite, and in not a few cases so that superior agents might be spared the necessity of paying for services which had become unavailable or undesirable.

At first blush it would seem that such an audacious thing as offering to serve as a spy would allay suspicion but, on the contrary, it had the very opposite effect. The German espionage is probably unique in this respect of employing volunteer spies. Not only does it account for the ease by which other nations have “planted” their own agents in that service, but it makes compulsory the employment of a large number of other agents to keep a watchful eye on these volunteers whose loyalty has been submitted to no severe test. No other nation readily recruits its agents in this way. The work is too confidential, demands such unquestioned trust and imposes such heavy responsibilities, that the agents are most often selected with great care from among men whose loyalty and faithfulness are beyond question. In not a few cases a man’s patriotism is the only thing which can be appealed to in order to induce him to overcome a 174natural prejudice for a profession which so often implies the betrayal of people whose trust he has deliberately sought. Thus, when the agent has already been subjected to test before employment and has been found to possess the necessary qualifications, it is not so necessary to subject him to a perpetual supervision as was the case in the German system, where many notorious wrongdoers were employed and where enemy deserters were greedily encouraged. Certainly these types proved easy to discipline because they were in constant fear of exposure by their paymasters should their services become either undesirable or unsatisfactory. On the other hand, the police force necessary to control their doubtful agents had to be elaborate and it proved to be one of the most efficient departments of the service and many of their best agents were so employed. For the most part they were entirely devoid of scruples; they had no compunction in denouncing the men they watched, and denunciation frequently followed some harmless deviation from the strict path of duty.

To volunteer for secret-service work on behalf of a nation that recruits its agents with some degree of care is to incur the immediate suspicion that some ulterior motive inspires the action. In spite of this doctrine, which was so generally accepted 175by the Intelligence services outside of Germany, that the Germans themselves could hardly have been wholly unacquainted with it, they continued to instruct their agents to volunteer for enrollment in the enemy secret service should they ever have reason to believe that they were under suspicion.

Naturally, the agent was placed in a very difficult situation. First, the counter-espionage agent of his own service, charged with supervising him, might imagine that the agent was acting falsely and take drastic measures for disciplining him. Second, the agent had to accept whatever mission was allotted to him by his new employers, and after making pretence of performing it had to present a report which must bear the scrutiny of experts. He was, therefore, running a double risk. The work had one very useful purpose, however, in revealing those points on which the enemy were most interested, and for this reason served its purpose. The agent, having volunteered for service, usually reported this fact immediately to his superior, to whom he also communicated the nature of the information he was required to provide. If the German headquarters approved of his action they supplied the man with the necessary replies to meet his requirements, and thus deceived the enemy. But spies working in two camps are never 176trusted until they have given unmistakable proof of their loyalty and, on the Allied side at least, an offer of enlistment was usually enough to bring a person under grave suspicion of having been sent by the other side. If the volunteer was known to be in the employ of the German service, the action taken greatly depended upon what purpose he could be made to serve.

How terribly dangerous the course of volunteering for this service sometimes proved to be is illustrated by the case of Princess Wisnievsky. Although entitled to the rank of princess, she was not born to the purple; it was an acquisition by marriage. Her beginnings were so humble that she began at the very opposite end of the social ladder, for she was deserted by her unknown parents in the streets of Paris and was educated at public expense until she was in a position to look after herself. Being of an enterprising nature, the future princess came to an early decision that a life of independence was preferable to the irksome restraint of a state orphanage. She took the first opportunity to embark on a career. After many vicissitudes she became a rival to Mata Hari in her profession. At the age of thirty-three she resembled a miniature League of Nations, having taken as lovers an Egyptian, an Argentine, a Serbian, an 177Italian, an Englishman, and a German, before marrying an indisputable Polish prince who was a naturalized Italian. To complete this lady’s amazing international complications, it is worth mentioning that she finally was lost to view in a Spanish prison, charged with the murder of a Canadian.

The German lover was a member of his country’s secret service and, having found that the countess (it was before her marriage and she had elevated herself to the nobility with a title of her own choice) could be of use to him in his work, he induced the feather-brained lady to enroll as a member of the same service. Her romantic mind promptly responded to the lure of adventure and she considered herself particularly fitted for the execution of confidential missions among the diplomats of Europe. But it was not long before the indiscretions in which she indulged brought her under the unfavourable notice of the French secret police. She was at the time editing a magazine which specialized in foreign politics, a labour which was found to cloak her spying under the guise of diplomacy. Her work was done so clumsily that it was felt most advantageous to allow her to continue in spreading misinformation through her review. For some time the princess 178was a joke among the men of the French secret service, until one day one of them frightened her into volunteering for the work of a spy in French interests. She was employed because the French were anxious to learn what the enemy wished them to believe upon certain subjects. They surmised that the lady would apply to her German employers for the correct form of the information she was asked to furnish, and by following her it was hoped to learn who was the head of her group. There was nothing to learn until the lady herself suggested how she should be employed. On being granted permission to act independently, she went direct to San Sebastián, where she was given a very complete report upon the situation in Spain, precisely as the German authorities wished that situation to be understood by France. At that time Spain was in the predicament of not knowing which of the belligerents to support, but the San Sebastián propagandists were giving to the voice of the Spanish people a strong German accent, and it was hoped that the French might be deceived by sending back the double spy with a false account of the situation which pretended to come from some of the diplomats who contributed to the princess’ review. Knowing its origin, the French were able to understand a difficult situation much better 179with the aid of the comments which the princess furnished.

Between Mata Hari and the Princess Wisnievsky there was a vast difference in spite of the few points of similarity in their lives. The titled lady was never dangerous, but Mata Hari was an artist, and that profession demands intelligence of a very high order. Had she been left to obtain information on the spy system in Belgium, it is probable that she would have tried another method than this, employing a greater finesse. Instead, it bears the unmistakable mark of the German secret service and its inability to discard outworn methods.

One morning Mata Hari called at the office of the Second Bureau and asked to interview a responsible officer. It is doubtful whether any visitor ever reached the inner sanctum of this almost impenetrable department with less delay. Not one, but a whole group of responsible officers awaited her pleasure. Each member of the group knew of Mata’s employment as a spy and the deadly measure of her achievement, and all hoped that sooner or later she would commit some indiscretion which would enable them to penetrate the intricate defences she had erected about herself and so grasp the tangible proof of her guilt. But for the moment 180there was only one fear that was common to them all, and that was the fear that some overzealous agent in pressing his enquiries had caused her to suspect that the Second Bureau were interested in what she was doing, and that the visit was merely the spy’s customary method of self-protection, which would be followed by an increase of precaution that would remove from their possession the means of supervising her correspondence. If Mata Hari changed her channel of conveying information, the Second Bureau would have to begin again at the beginning. However, their interest in her arrival was interpreted by the visitor as a tribute to her personal popularity and aroused no suspicion. No woman is proof against her own vanity.

Mata Hari explained that she wished to accept employment in the French secret service and recited her qualifications for the work, mentioning her numerous acquaintances in influential positions in Berlin and other places.

“But,” asked Captain Ledoux, “you will pardon us if we approach this question carefully. What is your motive, madame, in volunteering for this work? You are a Dutch subject. It cannot be patriotism which urges you to undertake the task, and obviously there must be some strong motive 181which inspires you to perform work that might end in your death.”

“There is no question of my patriotism, mon capitaine. Nor is there any question of treachery, for Germany is not my country. My sympathies are with France and I am willing to work for her provided you will pay for my services. I am in desperate need of money.”

This was certainly a strange answer, because Mata Hari had just made some fresh dancing engagements for which she was well paid and she had not spent all the money obtained for the sale of her furniture. Besides, she had other means of restoring her finances that were less hazardous than engaging in the task of spying against Germany.

“Since you suspect that, because I am only a neutral, I may not be animated by motives of loyalty to France,” she continued, “I will give you proofs of my sincere attachment to your country. Yes, I will give you those proofs before asking to be assigned any work in your service.”

After a little questioning the officers found that there was little information they could gather on points which they supposed she might have been instructed to inform them. But they did not know the tremendous extent of her secret knowledge.

182“Do you know, messieurs, how the Moors are being supplied with arms?” she asked when their questions had ceased.

“Yes, we know that.”

“You know that they are being landed from submarines, but do you know where and when? Naturally you do not or you would have stopped it. Then I will tell you if you think that it would be of interest.”

Interest!

Since the beginning of the war the German propagandists had been stirring up trouble in Morocco and Algeria among the native population, who, as recently as 1912, had shown their willingness to revolt by brutally murdering the Europeans as a protest against the French protectorate. In order to encourage them to take further steps of open antagonism which would detain troops for the maintenance of order, the German authorities were providing a supply of modern rifles for the most intransigeant. This was regarded as such a severe threat to the French colony, in view of the fact that every available soldier was to be withdrawn from Morocco for service on the French front, that espionage agents had worked laboriously but unsuccessfully to discover how the weapons were admitted to the country. That Mata 183Hari should offer to furnish this information filled them with blank amazement. However, one of the officers assured her that if she could offer enlightenment on the problem there could be no further reason to doubt her loyalty.

“Then, messieurs, if you will watch the harbour of Mehediya during the early days of March you will be rewarded. Submarines run their cargoes of rifles into that harbour before taking their station at the entrance to the Mediterranean sea.”

“That is exceedingly interesting, madame, if true. Suppose you allow us a little time to ascertain the truth of the statement. If we find that what you say is correct you will be given a mission in our service. Would you also mind telling us how you, living here in Paris, should have come into possession of such very confidential information?”

“I am frequently required to visit the homes of diplomats to provide entertainment to their guests and with some of them I have an intimacy which enables me to hear the conversations at their dinner tables. Those diplomats are not always as discreet as they should be, messieurs. It was at a recent dinner that I heard this conversation about the submarines and I thought it might be of value to you.”

After the lapse of only a few days Mata Hari 184was summoned to appear at the office of the Second Bureau, but this time she was not admitted with quite so much ease as on her first visit. The French were surer of her now. When at last she was admitted to see Captain Ledoux and his colonel, she was informed that the information concerning the German submarines had been proved correct. The previous night two of these craft had been sunk in an attempt to land rifles at Mehediya.

“We have had sufficient proof of your integrity,” said the chief of the Second Bureau, “and if you continue as you have begun you will be of the greatest value to us. All that now remains is to utilize your services to the best advantage. Have you any suggestion to make?”

“Well, mon colonel, I have recently signed a contract to dance in Brussels. You know that as a Dutch subject I am privileged to move about in the territories of the countries at war. It is easy for me to get to Brussels from my own country, especially as I have influential friends who will help me. What could I do in Brussels? Do you have difficulty in conveying instructions to your agents there? One of my diplomat friends told me that it was exceedingly difficult to get the required kind of information from the agents in occupied territory, because it was so hard to tell them what 185was required. I suggest, therefore, mon colonel, that you employ me in carrying instructions to the agents whom you have already there. Being a woman, I might not know just what to look for if I were left to myself, but if there are others to do the work I would gladly get in touch with them to carry out your instructions.”

“That is a good idea. Prepare yourself for the journey then, and when you are ready to depart we will give you a list of our agents in Belgium with whom we wish to communicate, and a copy of the instructions we would like to have conveyed to them.”

In such simple fashion did Mata Hari carry out the instructions of her employers and obtain for them the invaluable documents which meant so much to the weary espionage agents confronted with the growing audacity of the spies whose actions were invariably obscured by the willing help of countless civilians. When the precious list of twelve spies was handed to Mata Hari, the officer of the Second Bureau conducting the business impressed upon her the necessity of guarding it with her life, should such an extreme penalty be exacted in its defence. The value of that piece of paper to the Germans, he said, was incalculable, and if they knew it was in her possession there was 186not the slightest doubt that they would make strenuous efforts to relieve her of it. The instructions were not less valuable because they would convey to the enemy knowledge of those points upon which the French most required information and naturally those particular things would be guarded with redoubled care. The officer then wished her good fortune on her first mission for the French.

Of course Mata Hari did not take any special precautions to conceal those valuable documents about her person. It was simpler and much quicker for the purpose for which they were intended to put them into a letter sent by prearranged channels directly to the espionage leaders in Holland. Her own journey must, of necessity, be delayed because it was inevitable in those war days that she must travel through England, where she would take passage on the Hook of Holland steamer. There was no alternative to that journey when one was in France. The risk of exposing herself to the London police was enormously reduced by the mission she was sent on, because the officer at the Second Bureau had already told her that she would be “signalled” to them, whose duty it would then be to facilitate her passage, but by sending the letter containing the required information 187through her secret and safe private channels it would arrive before she did.

What the English police thought about their visitor has not been said. It is not to be supposed that the presence of a spy in their midst causes any consternation to the police, more especially when that spy’s arrival has been “signalled” by other police. To know that a suspected or known spy is arriving at Victoria gives the long-suffering London “Bobbie” a feeling of joy. It saves him a vast amount of labour in tracking him down when the job is reduced to one of mere watching, an art in which the men of Scotland Yard excel. Once they have located their man they stick to him with the tenacity of the bulldog which is the symbol of their breed, and they miss nothing of the other people whom he meets. They could appreciate the situation in which Mata Hari was placed because they made such good use of the double spy themselves, always, or nearly always, to their own advantage. But Mata Hari was a problem. They did not like her, they knew too much of her history to ever develope any fondness for her and, to be quite frank, they did not believe that her sudden conversion was sincere. However, they were prepared to accommodate their French colleagues.

When Mata Hari arrived in England it is quite 188probable that she made careful note of the war material collected in the harbour at Dover, where she landed. She had an unexpected stroke of good luck in being detained a few days in London, where she was able to observe the effects of the air raids and to note some of the measures taken to combat them. This was information which she had been instructed by the Germans to gather in Paris, so that it must be of equal value if applied to London. Her detention in the English capital was not altogether unavoidable, but since the English police just wanted to make quite certain that there was no one in London to whom she might apply in case of necessity, they got the clerk at the travel bureau to inform her that there were so many applicants for berths on the Hook of Holland steamer that she would have to wait some days before one could be allotted to her. When it was certain that she had nothing to reveal, the London police had no further motive in delaying her, so Mata Hari was informed that another boat was available for her journey and that the police would make the necessary arrangements for her. The obliging men went further; they escorted her to the boat and saw that everything was made comfortable and convenient for her.

This obstacle happily surmounted, Mata Hari 189was able to retire to her berth before the ship pulled out of the Medway under its escort, with the satisfied feeling that she had outwitted her oldest enemies, had completely deceived the French, and had performed another of those surprisingly brilliant feats of espionage which are associated with her name and which read like romances. A safe haven lay ahead. In Holland she would be received gratefully by her employers, there would no longer be the strain of living under constant fear of danger, especially that danger that creeps up from behind. Instead there would be reunion with her lover from whom she had been so long separated and for whom she had worked in exile with unfailing success in a series of the boldest exploits; there were innumerable old friends of that officer class she had learned to adore; and, besides, she was weary of Paris; she needed a change of pleasures and a variety in dissipation. Of course, there could now be no return to Paris until she went in the wake of the victorious German troops to enjoy a truly Roman triumph, with her former French lovers as her trophies. It was a pleasant prospect.

190