The International Spy Part 28

"In his lifetime he would have said all that, if he had thought I was working in the interest of Russia and against Germany," I remarked in my own defence.

The spirit of the Iron Chancellor was dismissed, and that of Madame Blavatsky recalled.

It was evident that the Czar placed particular confidence in his late subject. Indeed, if the issues at stake had been less serious, I think I should have made an attempt to shake the Emperor's blind faith in the performances of M. Auguste.

But my sole object was to read, if I could, the secret plans and intentions of a very different imperial character, whose agent I believed the spirit to be.

M. Auguste, I quickly discovered, was distracted between fear of offending Nicholas by too much reserve, and dread of enabling me to see his game. In the end the Czar's persistence triumphed, and we obtained something like a revelation.

"Tell us what you can see, that it concerns the Emperor to know," M.

Auguste had adjured his familiar.

"I see"--the reply was rapped out with irritating slowness--I quite longed for a slate--"an English dockyard. The workmen are secretly at work by night, with m.u.f.fled hammers. They are building a torpedo boat. It is to the order of the j.a.panese Government. The English police have received secret instructions from the Minister of the Interior not to interfere."

"Minister of the Interior" was a blunder. With my knowledge of English politics I am able to say that the correct t.i.tle of this personage should be "Secretary of State for the Domestic Department."

But few foreigners except myself have been able to master the intricacies of the British Const.i.tution.

"For what is this torpedo boat designed?" M. Auguste inquired.

"It is for service against the Baltic Fleet. The Russian sailors are the bravest in the world, but they are too honest to be a match for the heathen j.a.panese," the spirit pursued, with some inconsistency.

I could not help reflecting that Madame Blavatsky in her lifetime had professed the Buddhist faith, which is that of the majority in j.a.pan.

"Do you see anything else?"

"I see other dockyards where the same work is being carried on. A whole fleet of warships is being prepared by the perfidious British for use against the fleet of Russia."

"Ask her to cast her eye over the German dockyards," I put in.

"Spirits have no s.e.x," M. Auguste corrected severely. "I will ask it."

A succession of raps conveyed the information that Germany was preserving a perfectly correct course, as usual. Her sole departure from the att.i.tude of strict neutrality was to permit certain pilots, familiar with the North Sea navigation, to offer their services to the Russian fleet.

"Glance into the future," said the Czar. "Tell us what you see about to happen."

"I see the Baltic Fleet setting out. The Admiral has issued the strictest orders to neutral shipping to retire to their harbors and leave the sea clear for the warships of Russia. He has threatened to sink any neutral ship that comes within range of his guns.

"As long as he is in the Baltic these orders are obeyed. The German, Swedish and Danish flags are lowered at his approach, as is right.

"Now he pa.s.ses out into the North Sea. The haughty and hostile English defy his commands. Their merchant ships go forth as usual.

Presuming on their knowledge of international law, they annoy and vex the Russian warships by sailing past them. The blood of the brave Russian officers begins to boil. Ask me no more."

M. Auguste, prompted by the deeply interested Czar, did ask more.

"I see," the obedient seeress resumed, "torpedo boats secretly creeping out from the British ports. They do not openly fly the j.a.panese flag, but lurk among the English ships, with the connivance of the treacherous islanders.

"The Baltic Fleet approaches. The torpedo boats, skulking behind the shelter of their friends, steal closer to the Russian ships. Then the brave Russian Admiral remembers his promise. Just in time to save his fleet from destruction, he signals to the British to retire.

"They obstinately refuse. The Russian fleet opens fire.

"I can see no more."

The spirit of the seeress, it will be observed, broke off its revelations at the most interesting point, with the skill of a practised writer of serials.

But the Czar, fairly carried away by excitement, insisted on knowing more.

"Ask the spirit if there will be any foreign complications," he said.

I had already remarked that our invisible companion showed a good deal of deference to the wishes of Nicholas II., perhaps in his character of Head of the Orthodox Church.

After a little hesitation it rapped out:

"The English are angry, but they are restrained by the fear of Germany. The German Michael casts his shield in front of Russia, and the islanders are cowed. I cannot see all that follows. But in the end I see that the Yellow Peril is averted by the joint action of Russia and Germany."

This answer confirmed to the full my suspicions regarding the source of M. Auguste's inspiration. I believed firmly that there was a spirit present, but it was not the spirit of the deceased theosophist, rather of a monarch who is very much alive.

The medium now professed to feel exhausted, and Madame Blavatsky was permitted to retire.

I rose to accompany M. Auguste as soon as he made a move to retire.

"If you will let me drive you as far as my hotel," I said to him, "I think I can show you something which will repay you for coming with me."

The wizard looked me in the face for the first time, as he said deliberately:

"I shall be very pleased to come."

CHAPTER XX

THE DEVIL'S AUCTION

I said as little as possible during the drive homeward.

My companion was equally silent. No doubt he, like myself, was bracing himself for a duel of wits.

As soon as we were safe in my private room at the hotel, with a bottle of vodka and a box of cigars in front of us, I opened the discussion with my habitual directness.

"I need not tell you, M. Auguste, that I have not invited you here to discuss questions of psychology. I am a politician, and it matters nothing to me whether I am dealing with a ghost or a man, provided I can make myself understood."

M. Auguste bowed.

"For instance, it is quite clear that the interesting revelations we have had to-night would not have been made without your good will. It is to be presumed, therefore, that if I can convince you that it is better to turn the Emperor's mind in another direction, you will refuse to make yourself the medium of further communications of that precise character."

M. Auguste gave me an intelligent glance.