y like the Duke of Cambridge
at his best with a thunderstorm raging.

The army was then commanded by Arch-Dukes, aged men as a rule, and all
intensely nervous as to what the Emperor would think of them when he
came along. One could tell when he was coming by watching the feathers
in their helmets. An Arch-Duke would look very brave in all his war
paint, but if you watched the green feather above him closely you
might notice it trembling with a distinct shiver when the Emperor was
anywhere in the neighbourhood.

Their old-fashioned methods and amateurish leading seem to be paying a
heavy price in the present campaign.

AN INTERESTING TASK.

A new method of illuminating the battlefield at night had been
invented on the Continent.

A chemical substance had been manufactured which enabled the user to
turn on a strong light over a wide space at any moment.

Rumour said that it was as powerful as a searchlight, and yet could be
carried in your pocket. But great secrecy was observed both regarding
its composition and its experimental trials.

In the same army a new kind of observation balloon was said to be on
trial equipped with some very up-to-date apparatus.

Also it was reported that, in addition to these aids to effective
reconnaissance, a new method of swimming rivers by cavalry had been
invented by which every man and horse in a cavalry division could
cross wide rivers without difficulty or delay.

Owing to political strain going on in Europe at the time there was the
possibility that these rumours might have been purposely set on foot,
like many others, with a view to giving some moral prestige to the
army concerned.

It became my duty to investigate as far as possible what amount of
truth lay in them.

ENCOUNTER WITH THE POLICE.

It was a difficult country to work in owing to the very stringent
police arrangements against spies of every kind, and it looked to be a
most unpromising task to elicit what I wanted to know, because one was
sure of being watched at every turn. As I afterwards discovered, it
was through this multiplicity of police arrangements that one was able
to get about with comparative ease, because if one went boldly enough
it immediately argued to the watchful policeman that someone else was
sure to be observing you.

Moreover, spies generally do their work single-handed, and on this
occasion I was accompanied by my brother, and this made it easier
for us to go about as a pair of