ntry without undergoing the
scrutiny of an unobtrusive little old gentleman with tall hat and
umbrella, but the wag of whose finger sent a detective on the heels
of the visitor until his actual business and location were assured and
found to be satisfactory.

For years the correspondence of these gentry has been regularly
opened, noted, and sent on. They were not as a rule worth arresting,
the information sent was not of any urgent importance, and so long
as they went on thinking that they were unnoticed, their superiors
in their own country made no effort to send more astute men in their
place. Thus we knew what the enemy were looking for, and we knew what
information they had received, and this as a rule was not of much
account.

On August 4th, the day before the declaration of war, the twenty
leading spies were formally arrested and over 200 of their minor
agents were also taken in hand, and thus their organisation failed
them at the moment when it was wanted most. Steps were also taken
to prevent any substitutes being appointed in their places. Private
wireless stations were dismantled, and by means of traps those were
discovered which had not been voluntarily reported and registered.

It used to amuse some of us to watch the foreign spies at work on our
ground. One especially interested me, who set himself up ostensibly as
a coal merchant, but never dealt in a single ounce of coal. His daily
reconnaissance of the country, his noting of the roads, and his other
movements entailed in preparing his reports, were all watched and
recorded. His letters were opened in the post, sealed up, and sent on.
His friends were observed and shadowed on arriving--as they did--at
Hull instead of in London. And all the time he was plodding along,
wasting his time, quite innocent of the fact that he was being
watched, and was incidentally giving us a fine amount of information.

Another came only for a few hours, and was away again before we could
collar him; but, knowing his moves, and what photographs he had taken,
I was able to write to him, and tell him that had I known beforehand
that he wished to photograph these places, I could have supplied
him with some ready made, as the forts which they recorded were now
obsolete.

On the other hand, the exceedingly stupid Englishmen who wandered
about foreign countries sketching cathedrals, or catching butterflies,
or fishing for trout, were merely laughed at as harmless lunatics.
Th