smile; resembles the veiled lady at Buckingham,--and I was trying to
make out why she managed to occupy a seat at the next table to mine at
the Admiral's Palace an hour or two later. She seems to know some of
the performers who mingled in the audience, especially the energetic
dark-eyed Circe with the Greek nose, and said to be some sort of
a Baroness, who so often approached my table. I wonder what the
connection is between these two.... There is _certainly_ some
sympathetic tie between those girls! This I know, for when I had
breakfast at the Cafe Bauer, U.d.L., they were BOTH there, slightly
disguised, and occupying _the same_ table!... Who is Syvorotka? Her
lover?... I wonder what the game is.... Come to think about it, the
titled performer of the Métropole looks like a twin sister of Marie
Amelia, Countess of [Cszecheny] Chechany, a perfect composite of
Juno and Venus and Hebe all rolled into one.... These enigmatical
personages crowded everything else out of my mind as I walked into
Colonel Z---- S----'s office....

"... Without any preliminaries he said, 'Come with me!'... We entered
a cab and a few minutes later I entered the Wilhelmstrasse and was in
the presence of that tall, iron-gray, wiry gentleman with eyes like a
searchlight and the manners of a Chesterfield. 'Thank you, Colonel,'
he said. The Colonel sprang to attention, bowed, saluted and backed
away. We were ALONE!... 'In ten minutes,' he said, 'you will be
conducted to another room. When you arrive advance to the middle, make
a right wheel and stand at attention facing the portière.
Maintain perfect silence, answer all question,--make NO
inquiries--understand?'... I was taken downstairs, along a wide
corridor to a solid-oak door guarded by two sentries and an attendant
in the Royal livery. The door was opened by an officer of the Erste
Garde; I entered a large room, advanced to the center and faced the