adopted were in the handles of umbrellas, or concealed in a carriage lamp, or in the handle of a bag, or in one of the whalebones of a corset, or in the pleats of a skirt. 66 But it became increasingly difficult to find such hidingplaces as the Germans became more experienced. Accordingly after a time Alice adopted the plan of carrying any report or map written in minute characters on the thinnest of ricepaper in her glove, tied to a piece of black thread. Then in case of an alarm or a search she threw it on to the ground, or under a piece of furniture, holding in her hand the other end of the thread, so that when the danger passed by, she could easily find the precious roll of paper again. If she was searched, she then dropped the thread on to the floor, where, as it was black, it was invisible. Above all, she largely depended upon keeping her head and her mother-wit in escaping the many perils that confronted her. One friend with whom she often stayed during her journeys tells how on her arrival after a fatiguing journey across Belgium, she used to go up to her room, and then come down in evening-dress with her hair carefully arranged. She was evidently delighted for a few hours to have a break from her life of adventure, and to become again a woman of the world. Again and again she escaped by her charming effrontery. For example, one day she was suddenly taken on her way to Holland, and led to a police station in order to be searched by one of the women police. She carried certain papers in her vanity bag which if discovered would certainly have meant her execution. She threw the bag nonchalantly on the table. But the searcher, instead of opening it, pounced upon a red sausage which she was carrying with her for her lunch. This was sliced up in the expectation that some secret document was concealed within, but, of course, nothing was discovered. She then picked up her vanity bag and walked away. Afterwards she remarked, talking of this incident How stupid those Germans are! As long as you shove papers well under their noses, you can always get through!"” In the same way she quickly passed many a patrol by joking about a photograph on her identity card. For it was necessary in order to travel at that time to have two documents with personal photographs, the one an identity card, and the other a passport. "Alice" had a number of these cards, used for various purposes, and, in order to cause confusion, often made a face when her photograph was taken. Several times she chatted with the German officer about the photograph being so hideous, coquettishly suggesting that the original was prettier than the photograph! In this way, by indulging in a harmless flirtation, she frequently The Prince stopped and chatted for a time, for he remembered her when she was a guest at the same house in Bohemia. He then gallantly declared that he was at her service, whereupon she pointed to the sentries. avoided protracted examina- was playing with you at bridge tion on more serious questions. five years ago." Some of her friends became exceedingly skilled in the manufacture of these identity cards. One doctor, who was carrying an important message through to Holland, received just before his departure an identity card, a passport, and other necessary documents, all stamped, signed, and certified by the necessary German officials, but in truth all had been forged at a house at Mouscron. "Alice Dubois " inevitably had many narrow escapes. On one occasion the secret report had been inserted between the pages of a dress catalogue, and this was accidentally dropped on the railway station at Tournai. A German picked it up, ran after her, and graciously handed it back! On another occasion at Antwerp she was seized by a German military policeman when she had various incriminating documents unhidden. Feeling certain that she was lost, in despair she offered the man a tip of twenty francs to let her go. While he hesitated she begged him to spare her, and either out of pity or cupidity he took the money and released her. On another occasion she was trying to pass by some sentries who were refusing to give her permission, when Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria walked along accompanied by certain officers. She boldly went up to him, and said "Your Highness, I don't believe you recognise me; I "These soldiers are making all kinds of trouble, and won't let me go by. You might very kindly tell them that I am rather pressed for time on my journey." She smiled at him gaily, and he immediately waved to the sentries to let her go by, little knowing that she carried with her the plan of some of his own battery positions! Although she had many such difficulties on the road to Lille from Ghent or Brussels, the chief risks occurred at the frontier between Belgium and Holland. For a long time she went by the route passing by St Nicholas and La Clinge, as this was insecurely guarded by men of the older German troops, who were always willing to accept five francs and look the other way. Some days as many as a hundred persons, including escaped prisoners of war, thus found their way into Holland, and the guards found that they profited considerably. "Alice," however, always feared that one day so popular a route over the frontier would be discovered, and decided to go by a more difficult route that was not so crowded. At one point of the line the man and a woman with sacks wards Holland. She decided to keep near them, but not to show herself. Suddenly there was a great burst of flame and explosion, and she was thrown on the ground by the rush of hot air, for the unfortunate couple whom she was following had walked over a mine and were blown to pieces. She had to keep on her way, and with trembling limbs passed the remains of the tragedy. ground was very level, and, in order to save man-power, in their hands trudging tothe Germans installed searchlights, which constantly swept the frontier. A soldier, with his rifle at the ready, watched the ground as it was lighted up, and fired without mercy if any person was revealed by the glare. Often in the morning bodies of escaping civilians, including women and children, were gathered up. Alice on her first visit to this point came to the conclusion that it was possible to slip through without discovery by crawling close to the lamps and keeping away out of the glare, for she rightly appreciated the fact that it was really the shadows thrown on the ground of those trying to escape that drew attention to the victims, and that the farther you kept away from the searchlights, the larger was the shadow. But it must have needed some cool courage to have crawled underneath the big beam of light. Another way out of Belgium on the frontier that she favoured was through some woods to the east of Turnout. As there was no field of fire for the sentries, the Germans filled the woods with explosive mines, and installed wires loaded with strong electric currents. "Alice" used to walk through the mysterious woods at nighttime all alone, and taking care not to break a twig or knock a stone that might be heard by one of the sentries. One day at daybreak she saw two hundred yards in front of her a Another route was by Beersse, by crossing a canal to the north of the village. On the banks of the canal, living in a little cottage, was a Belgian named Alphonse Verstapen, who was prepared at a price to ferry persons across. Thus during the night, across this dank canal with sentries constantly on the watch, "Alice" found yet another route into Holland -a rough and dangerous journey, but she dared all for her mission. By this and other routes at least forty times she travelled to and fro across the frontier. She was in Folkestone on four or five occasions, but never in London. Every day and night, as the German military power tightened its grasp, the perils of the spy became more incessant, and it is said that during the war no less than 229 French or Belgians acting for the British Intelligence were discovered and shot. In the month of August 1915, "Uncle Edward," whose real name is said to be Major Cam eron, asked Alice to extend her organisation to the south-east of Lille. She agreed, and went one day to Valenciennes, where she began to set up a similar system to that which was so successful around Lille and Tourcoing. The work, however, was telling upon her, and her natural gaiety and high spirits were failing. She needed a rest, and in September 1915 she returned from Folkestone to Portel, near to Boulogne, and paid a short visit to her sister, the Countess of Argouves. She also stayed with her mother at Paris-Plage, and her last words were, as she bade farewell— "I wanted to see you all for the last time, for I feel somehow that my end is not far off, and that they are going to shoot me." In spite of these premonitions of her approaching fate, she returned to Lille, and took up once more her war work. Alice" had just received fresh instructions from the British Intelligence officers that made it essential for her to take further risks, and as far as possible to trust to no one. This meant that she had to increase her own personal efforts, and that in the future she would have to take the reports herself across Belgium by a new route. She expected, too, that before long the German precautions would become so rigid that it would be imposWhen Madame Louise de sible to enter Holland, and Bettignies arrived back at therefore she arranged that Lille, journeying, of course, carrier pigeons should be through Holland, from her short dropped from English aeroholiday in Picardy, she learnt planes so as to establish yet the tragic news that her most another line of communication. valuable lieutenant, Mlle. Marie- She discovered a secluded piece Léonie Vanhoutte, had been of land not far from Mouscron, arrested, and was in prison at which seemed to her to be suitBrussels. But she was unaware able as a place for pigeons to that suspicion had also fallen descend. She took photographs upon herself. Indeed, during in order to show the general cross-examination Mlle. Van- appearance of the site, with a houtte had suddenly been shown a photograph by the German officer conducting the case, and she was asked "Do you recognise this person?" brick kiln on one side and a large factory chimney a little farther off. These photographs were sent with map references to "Uncle Edward," and in time news arrived that the first pigeon would be dropped on the following Sunday. On that day clothes were spread out on the grass, ostensibly to dry, but actually to mark the spot for the British aviator above. In the evening about sunset an aluminium cage, attached to a parachute and containing a carrier pigeon, came down from an aeroplane. Unfortunately a local doctor was passing by in his carriage and saw the cage fall. He thought that, though it was none of his business, it would be as well to take it to the German authorities, who were naturally warned by the incident, and redoubled their precautions. A few days later Alice had to go to a town in Belgium in order to convey a report carried by one of her agents, Ernest Lamote. He had this hidden in his cap, and drove along a road with a horse and cart, until at a fixed spot "Alice" was waiting. She was pretending to be a dressmaker, who wanted a "lift " to the next town. In the cart she took the report, and held it in her hand. Unfortunately in the short time. available it was only possible to obtain one passport for the two, but "Alice" insisted on going in spite of the risks, for the report contained information that was needed by the British with the least possible delay in view of the military situation. It was raining hard as they travelled from Mouscron to Tournai, where they were stopped at a German barricade placed right across the main road to mark the frontier between France and Belgium. Their passports were demanded, and "Alice" replied "You have already seen them." As she carried and showed other documents, there would have probably been no further trouble with the soldiers on guard, but two civilians, actually secret police in mufti, who were waiting in the room and were closely watching the examination, walked up, and one said "All the same, we should like to see the passports." Then she lost her head, and snapped out "Who are you? One of the civilians held out his police authority, and said sternly "If you have the two passports, I must see them." They tried to gain time by searching in their packs, but the detective by this time had his suspicions, and gave orders that they should be kept in the guardroom while he telephoned to Tournai. The two waited in the dirty room of the inn looking out upon the courtyard where the soldiers were waiting. After a time the Chief of the Police from Tournai, whose name was Rotselaer, arrived, together with the female searcher. She immediately told "Alice" |
