June 27, 2023 • 28 mins
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Espionage adventures, Covert operations, Thrilling missions, International intrigue, Spy thriller, Government agents, Undercover work, Secret intelligence, Political espionage, Intriguing conspiracies, High-stakes espionage, Intelligence gathering, Hidden identities, Espionage secrets, Political thrillers, Spy network, Secret missions, Classified operations, Intrigue and suspense, Government secrets
Espionage adventures, Covert operations, Thrilling missions, International intrigue, Spy thriller, Government agents, Undercover work, Secret intelligence, Political espionage, Intriguing conspiracies, High-stakes espionage, Intelligence gathering, Hidden identities, Espionage secrets, Political thrillers, Spy network, Secret missions, Classified operations, Intrigue and suspense, Government secrets
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Chapter one, A Flash in theNight. We were sitting in the lobby
of the Willard, Bill Quinn andI watching the constant stream of politicians,
pretty women, and petty office seekerswho drift constantly through the heart of Washington.
Suddenly, under his breath I heardQuinn mutter hello, and following his
(00:25):
eyes, I saw a trim,dapper, almost effeminate looking chap of about
twenty five, strolling through Peacock Alleyas if he didn't have a care in
the world. What's the matter,I inquired, somebody who oughtn't to be
here, not at all. He'sgot a perfect right to be anywhere he
(00:47):
pleases. But I didn't know hewas home. Last time I heard of
him, he was in Seattle,mixed up with those riots that old Hanson
handled so well. Bolshev hardly,and Quinn smiled, don't you know,
Jimmy Callahan. While it's scarcely theprovince of a secret serviceman to impress his
(01:11):
face upon everyone, the secret wouldn'tlast long. No, Jimmy was working
on the other end of the Seattleaffair, trying to locate the men behind
the move, and I understand hedid it fairly well. Too, But
what else would you expect from theman who solved that submarine tangle in Norfolk?
(01:34):
Quinn must have read the look ofinterest in my face, for he
continued, almost without a pause.Did you ever hear the inside of that
case? One of the most remarkablein the whole history of the Secret Service?
And that's saying a good deal.I don't suppose it would do any
harm to spill it. So let'smove over there in a corner, and
(01:57):
I'll relate a few details of acase where the second hand of a watch
played a leading role. The wholething started back in the spring of nineteen
eighteen, said Quinn, who helddown a soft berth in the Treasury Department
as a reward for a game legobtained during a counterfeiting raid on Long Island.
(02:19):
Along about then, if you remember, the Germans let loose a lot
of boasting statements as to what theywere going to do to American ships,
and American shipping transports were going tobe sunk, commerce crippled, and all
that sort of thing. While nota word of it got into the papers,
there were a bunch of people righthere in Washington who took these threats
(02:44):
seriously, for the Hun's most powerfulweapon appeared to be in his submarines,
and if a fleet of them oncegot going off the coast, we'd lose
a lot of valuable men and timelanding them. Then came the sinking of
the Carolina and those other ships offthe Jersey coast. Altogether it looked like
(03:05):
a warm summer. One afternoon,the Chief sent for Callahan, who'd just
come back from taking care of somejob down on the border, and told
him his troubles. Jimmy said theChief, somebody on this side is giving
those damn Huns a whole lot ofinformation that they haven't any business getting.
(03:27):
You know about those boats they've sunkalready. Of course, they're only small
fry. What they're laying for isa transport another Tuscania that they can stab
in the dark and make their getaway. The point that's worrying us is that
the U boats must be getting theirinformation from someone over here. The sinking
(03:50):
of the Carolina proves that no submarineoperating on general cruising orders could possibly have
known when that ship was or whatcourse she was going to take. Every
precaution was taken at San Juan tokeep her sailing a secret, but of
course you can't hide every detail ofthat kind. She got out some one
(04:15):
saw her, wired the information upthe coast here, and the man we've
got to nab tipped the U boatoff. Of course, we could go
at it from Porto Rico, butthat would mean wasting a whole lot more
time than we can afford. It'snot so much a question of the other
end of the cable as it iswho transmitted the message to the submarine,
(04:39):
and how it's your job to findout before they score a real hit.
Callahan, knowing the way things arehandled in the little suite on the west
side of the Treasury Building, askedfor the file containing the available information and
found it very meager. Indeed,details of the sinking of the Carolina were
(05:02):
included, among them the fact thatthe You thirty seven had been waiting directly
in the path of the steamer,though the latter was using a course entirely
different from the one the New Yorkand Porto Rico s S Company's boats generally
took. The evidence of a numberof passengers was that the submarine didn't appear
(05:24):
a bit surprised at the size ofher prey, but went on about the
whole affair in a business like manner. The meat of the report was contained
in the final paragraph, stating thatone of the German officers had boasted that
they would get a lot more shipsin the same way, adding don't worry,
(05:45):
we'll be notified when they are goingto sail. Of course, Callahan
reasoned this might be simply a pieceof Teutonic bravado, but there was more
than an even chance that it wasthe truth, particularly and taken in conjunction
with the sinking of the Texel andthe Pinar del Rio, and the fact
(06:05):
that the Carolina's course was so accuratelyknown. But how in the name of
Heaven had they gotten their information?Callahan knew that the four principal ports of
embarkation for troops Boston, New York, Norfolk and Charleston were shrouded in a
mantle of secrecy which it was almostimpossible to penetrate. Some months before,
(06:30):
when he had been working on thecase which grew out of the disappearance of
the plans of the battleship Pennsylvania,he had had occasion to make a number
of guarded inquiries in naval circles inNew York, and he recalled that it
had been necessary not only to showhis badge, but to submit to the
most searching scrutiny before he was allowedto see the men he wished to reach.
(06:55):
He therefore felt certain that no outsidercould have dug up the specific information
in the short space of time attheir disposal, but arguing that it had
been obtained, the way in whichit had been passed on to the U
boat also presented a puzzle. Wasthere a secret submarine base on the coast.
(07:16):
Had some German more daring than therest actually come ashore and penetrated into
the very lines of the service.Had he laid a plan whereby he could
repeat this operation as often as necessary? Or did the answer lie in a
concealed wireless operating upon information supplied throughunderground channels. These were only a few
(07:43):
of the questions which raced through Callahan'smind. The submarine base he dismissed as
impracticable. He knew that the Thor, the Unita, the Macedonia, and
nine other vessels had, at thebeginning of the war cleared from American ports
under false papers with the intention ofsupplying German warships with oil, coal,
(08:07):
and food. He also knew thatof the million and a half dollars worth
of supplies, less than one sixthhad ever been transshipped. Therefore, having
failed so signally here, the Germanswould hardly try the same scheme again.
The rumor that German officers had actuallycome into New York, where they were
(08:31):
supposed to have been seen in atheater, was also rather far fetched.
So the wireless theory seemed to bethe most tenable. But even a wireless
cannot concealed its existence from the otherstations indefinitely. Of course, it was
possible that it might be located onsome unfrequented part of the coast, But
(08:54):
then how could the operator obtain theinformation in which he transmitted to the U
boat. Callahan gave it up indespair. For that night. He was
tired, and he felt that eighthours sleep would do him more good than
thrashing around with a problem for whichthere appeared to be no solution, a
(09:16):
problem which after all, he couldn'teven be sure existed. Maybe, he
thought drowsily as he turned off thelights, maybe the German and the U
boat was only boasting after all,Or maybe The first thing Jimmy did the
next morning was to call upon thehead of the recently organized Intelligence Bureau of
(09:39):
the War Department. Not the IntelligenceDivision, which has charge of censorship and
the handling of news, but theBureau, which bears the same relation to
the Army that the Secret Service doesto the Treasury Department. From What ports
are transport sailing with the next coupleof weeks. He inquired of the officer
(10:03):
in charge from Boston, New York, Norfolk and Charleston. Was the reply,
merely confirming Callahan's previous belief. Hehad hoped that the ground would be
more limited because he wanted to havethe honor of solving this problem by himself,
and it was hardly possible for himto cover the entire Atlantic coast.
(10:28):
Where's the biggest chip sailing from?Was his next question. There's one that
clears Norfolk at daylight on Monday morningwith twelve thousand men aboard. Norfolk,
interrupted Callahan. I thought most ofthe big ones left from New York or
Boston, so they do generally,But these men are from Virginia and North
(10:52):
Carolina. Therefore it's easier to shipthem out of Norfolk. Saves time and
congestion of the railroads. As ithappens, the ship they're going on is
one of the largest that will clearfor ten days or more. All of
the other big ones are on theother side. Then cut in, Callaghan.
(11:15):
If the Germans wanted to make aten strike did lay for that boat,
they sure would, And one torpedowell placed would make the Tuscania look
like a Sunday school picnic. Butwhat's the idea? Got a tip that
the huns are going to try tograb her? No, not a tip,
(11:37):
Callaghan called back over his shoulder,for he was already halfway out of
the door. Just a hunch,and I'm going to play it for all
it's worth. The next morning,safely ensconced at the Monticello under the name
of Robert p Oliver of Williamsport,Pennsylvania, Callahan admitted to himself that he
(12:01):
was indeed working on nothing more thana hunch, and not a very well
defined one at that. The onlypoint that appeared actually to back up his
theory that the information was coming fromNorfolk was the fact that the U boat
was known to be operating between NewYork and the Virginia Capes. New York
(12:22):
itself was well guarded, and thesurrounding country was continually patrolled by operatives of
all kinds. It was the logicalpoint to watch, and therefore it would
be much more difficult to obtain andtransmit information there than it would be in
the vicinity of Norfolk, where militaryand naval operations were not conducted on a
(12:46):
large a scale, nor with asgreat an amount of secrecy. Norfolk,
Callahan found, was rather proud ofher new found glory. For years she
had basted in the social prestige ofthe Chamberlain, the annual gathering of the
fleet at Hampton Roads, and themilitary pomp and ceremony attended upon the operations
(13:11):
of Fortress Monroe. But the warhad brought a new thrill. Norfolk was
now one of the principal ports ofembarkation for the men going abroad. Norfolk
had finally taken her rank with NewYork and Boston, the rank to which
her harbor entitled her. Callahan reachedNorfolk on Wednesday morning. The America,
(13:37):
according to the information he had receivedfrom the War Department, would clear at
daybreak Monday, But at noon onSaturday, the Secret Service operative had very
little more knowledge than when he arrived. He had found that there was a
rumor to the effect that two Uboats were waiting off the capes for the
(13:58):
transport, which of course would havethe benefit of the usual convoy. But
as one army officer phrased it,what's the use of a convoy if they
know just where you are. Germanywould willingly lose a sub or two to
get us, and with the seathat's been running for the past ten days,
(14:20):
there'd be no hope of saving morethan half the boys. Spurred by
the rapidity with which time was passingand the fact that he sensed a thrill
of danger an intuition of impending perilaround the America, Callahan spent the better
part of Friday night and all Saturdaymorning running down tips that proved to be
(14:43):
groundless. A man with a Germanname was reported to be working in secret
upon some invention in an isolated houseon Willoughby's Spit. A woman concerning whom
little was known, had been seenfrequently in the company of two lieutenants slated
to sale on the America. Ahouse in Newport News emitted strange clacking sounds
(15:09):
at night, but the alleged Germanproved to be a photographer of unassailable loyalty,
putting in extra hours trying to developa new process of color printing.
The woman came from one of theoldest families in Richmond and had known the
two lieutenants for years. The housein Newport News proved to be the residence
(15:33):
of a young man who hoped someday to sell a photoplay scenario. The
irregular clacking noise being made by atypewriter operated none too steadily. That's what
happens to most of the clues thatpeople hand you Callahan mused as he sat
before his open window on Saturday evening, with less than thirty six hours left
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before the America was scheduled to leave. Some fellows have luck with them,
But I'll be hanged if I everdid. Here, I'm working in the
dark on a case so that I'mnot even positive exists. That infernal submarine
may be laying off Boston at thisminute, waiting for the ship that leaves
(16:18):
there Tuesday. Maybe they don't getany word from shore at all, Maybe
they just but here, he wasbrought up with a sudden jar that concentrated
all his mental faculties along an entirelydifferent road, gazing out over the lights
of the city, scarcely aware thathe saw them, his subconscious mind had
(16:44):
been following for the past three minutes, something apparently usual but in reality entirely
out of the ordinary. By George, he muttered, I wonder, then,
taking his watch from his pocket,his eyes alternated between a point several
(17:04):
blocks distant, a point over theroofs of the houses, and the second
hand of his timepiece. Less thana minute elapsed before he reached for a
pencil and commenced to jot down dotsand dashes on the back of an envelope.
When a quarter of an hour laterhe found that the dashes had become
(17:26):
monotonous, as he expected they would, he reached for the telephone and asked
to be connected with the private wireof the Navy Department in Washington. Let
me speak to mister Thurber at once. He directed operative Callahan S S,
speaking hello that you Thurber. Thisis Callahan. I'm in Norfolk and I
(17:52):
want to know whether you can readthis code. You can figure it out
if anybody can. Dash dash dashdot, dash dash dot. And he
continued until he had repeated the entireseries of symbols that he had plucked out
(18:14):
of the night sounds like a variationof the International morse. Came the comment
from the other end of the wirefrom Thurber, librarian of the Navy Department
and one of the leading American authoritieson code and Cipher's may take a little
time to figure it out, butit doesn't look difficult. Where can I
(18:37):
reach you? I am at theMonticello, name of Robert p Oliver.
Put in a call for me assoon as you see the light on it.
I've got something important to do rightnow. And he hung up without
another word. A quick grab forhis hat, a pat under his arm
(18:59):
to make sure that the holster holdinghis automatic was in place, and Callahan
was on his way downstairs. Oncein the street, he quickened his pace
and was soon gazing skyward at thecorner of two deserted thoroughfares, not many
blocks from the Monticello. A fewminutes consultation with his watch confirmed his impression
(19:23):
that everything was right again, andhe commenced his search for the night watchman,
who he inquired of. That individualhas charge of the operation of that
phonograph sign in the roof don't knowfor certain, sir, but I think
it's operated by a man down thestreet. Apiece, he's got charge of
(19:47):
a bunch of them sort of things. Mighty funny kind of way to earn
a livin. I call it flashingon and off all night long. But
where's he work from? Interrupted Callahan, fearful that the negro's garrulousness might delay
him unduly. Straight down this street, three blocks, sir. Then turn
(20:11):
one block to your left, andyou can't miss the place, Electrical advertising
headquarters. They calls it, Thankyou, sir, and Callahan was gone
almost before the watchman could grasp thefact that he held a five dollar bill
instead of a dollar as he thought. It didn't take the secret service man
(20:33):
long to locate the place he sought, and on the top floor he found
a dark, swarthy individual bending overthe complicated apparatus which operated a number of
the electric signs throughout the city.Before the other knew it, Callahan was
in the room, his back tothe door and his automatic ready for action.
(20:56):
Up with your hands, snapped Callahanhigher. That's better, now,
tell me where you got that information. You flashed out to sea to night
by means of that phonograph. Signup the street quick. I haven't any
time to waste see see, senor, stammered the man who faced him.
(21:18):
But I understand not the English verywell. All right, counted Callahan.
Let's try it in Spanish, andhe repeated his demands in that language volubly.
The Spaniard, or Mexican as helater turned out to be, maintained
that he had received no information,nor had he transmitted any He claimed his
(21:44):
only duty was to watch the drums, which operated the signs mechanically. No
drum in the world could make thatsign flash like it did tonight. Callahan
cut in. For more than fifteenminutes, you sent a variation of the
Morse code seaward. Come on,I'll give you just one minute to tell
(22:06):
me, or I'll bend this gunover your head. Before the minute had
elapsed, the Mexican commenced his confession. He had been paid a hundred dollars
for a week. He claimed toflash a certain series of signals every Saturday
night, precisely at nine o'clock.The message itself a series of dots and
(22:30):
dashes, which he produced from hispocket as evidence of his truthfulness had reached
him on Saturday morning for the twopreceding weeks. He didn't know what it
meant. All he did was todisconnect the drum which operated the sign and
moved the switch himself. Payment foreach week's work, he stated, was
(22:52):
enclosed with the next week's message.Where it came from he didn't know,
but the envelope was postmarked Washington.With his revolver concealed in his coat pocket
but with its muzzle in the smallof the Mexican's back, Callahan marched his
captive back to the hotel and upinto his room. As he opened the
(23:17):
door, the telephone rang out,and ordering the other to stand with his
face to the wall in a cornerand be damned sure not to make a
move. The government agent answered thecall as he expected. It was Thurber.
The codes a cinch, came thevoice over the wire from Washington.
(23:38):
But the message is infernally important.It's in German, and evidently you picked
it up about two sentences from thestart. The part you gave me states
that the Transport America, with twelvethousand men aboard, will leave Norfolk at
daylight Monday. The route the shipwill take is distinctly stated, as is
(24:03):
the personnel of her convoy. Where'dyou get the message flashes in the night?
Answered Callahan. I noticed that anelectric sign wasn't behaving regularly, so
I jotted down at signals and passedthem on to you. The next important
point is whether the message is completeenough for you to reconstruct the code.
(24:27):
Have you got all the letters?Yes, every one of them. Then
take down this message, put itinto that dot and dashcode, and send
it to me by special messenger onone of the Navy torpedo boats tonight.
It's a matter of life and deathto thousands of men. And Callahan dictated
(24:52):
three sentences over the wire. Gotthat, he inquired, Good, get
busy, and hurry it down.I've got to have it in the morning.
Turn around, he directed the Mexicanas he replaced the receiver. Were
you to send these messages only onSaturday night, se Senor, save that
(25:17):
I was told that there might beoccasions when I had to do the same
thing on Sunday night too. Atnine o'clock, SI Senor Callahan smiled,
things were breaking better than he haddared. Hope it meant that the U
boat would be watching for the signal. The following night. Then, with
(25:40):
proper emphasis of the automatic, hegave the Mexican his orders. He was
to return to his office with Callahanand go about his business as usual,
with the certainty that if he triedany foolishness, the revolver could act more
quickly than he. Accompanied by thegovernment agent. He was to come back
(26:03):
to the Monticello and spend the nightin Callahan's room, remaining there until the
next evening, when he would promptly, at nine o'clock, and under the
direction of an expert in telegraphy,send the message which Callahan would hand him.
That's practically all there is to thestory, all, I echoed,
(26:26):
when Quinn paused, what do youmean all? What was the message Callahan
sent? What happened to the Mexicanwho sent the letter and the money from
Washington? Nothing much happened to theMexican, replied my informant with a smile.
They found that he was telling thetruth, so they just sent him
(26:49):
over the border with instructions not toshow himself north of the Rio Grande.
As for the letter, that tookthe Post Office, the Department of Justice,
and the Secret Service the better partof three months to trace, but
They finally located the sender two weeksafter she yes, it was a woman,
(27:11):
and a darned pretty one at thathad made her getaway. I understand
they got her in England and sentencedher to penal servitude for some twenty years
or more. In spite of thewar, the Anglo Saxon race hasn't completely
overcome its prejudice against the death penaltyfor women. But the message Callahan sent,
(27:36):
I persisted that was short and tothe point. As I recall it,
it ran something like this urgent routeof America changed. She clears it
daylight, but takes a course exactlyten miles south of one previously stated.
Be there. The boat was there, all right, But so were four
(28:03):
hydroplanes and half a dozen destroyers,all carrying the stars and stripes. End
of Chapter one,
Chapter one, A Flash in theNight. We were sitting in the lobby
of the Willard, Bill Quinn andI watching the constant stream of politicians,
pretty women, and petty office seekerswho drift constantly through the heart of Washington.
Suddenly, under his breath I heardQuinn mutter hello, and following his
(00:25):
eyes, I saw a trim,dapper, almost effeminate looking chap of about
twenty five, strolling through Peacock Alleyas if he didn't have a care in
the world. What's the matter,I inquired, somebody who oughtn't to be
here, not at all. He'sgot a perfect right to be anywhere he
(00:47):
pleases. But I didn't know hewas home. Last time I heard of
him, he was in Seattle,mixed up with those riots that old Hanson
handled so well. Bolshev hardly,and Quinn smiled, don't you know,
Jimmy Callahan. While it's scarcely theprovince of a secret serviceman to impress his
(01:11):
face upon everyone, the secret wouldn'tlast long. No, Jimmy was working
on the other end of the Seattleaffair, trying to locate the men behind
the move, and I understand hedid it fairly well. Too, But
what else would you expect from theman who solved that submarine tangle in Norfolk?
(01:34):
Quinn must have read the look ofinterest in my face, for he
continued, almost without a pause.Did you ever hear the inside of that
case? One of the most remarkablein the whole history of the Secret Service?
And that's saying a good deal.I don't suppose it would do any
harm to spill it. So let'smove over there in a corner, and
(01:57):
I'll relate a few details of acase where the second hand of a watch
played a leading role. The wholething started back in the spring of nineteen
eighteen, said Quinn, who helddown a soft berth in the Treasury Department
as a reward for a game legobtained during a counterfeiting raid on Long Island.
(02:19):
Along about then, if you remember, the Germans let loose a lot
of boasting statements as to what theywere going to do to American ships,
and American shipping transports were going tobe sunk, commerce crippled, and all
that sort of thing. While nota word of it got into the papers,
there were a bunch of people righthere in Washington who took these threats
(02:44):
seriously, for the Hun's most powerfulweapon appeared to be in his submarines,
and if a fleet of them oncegot going off the coast, we'd lose
a lot of valuable men and timelanding them. Then came the sinking of
the Carolina and those other ships offthe Jersey coast. Altogether it looked like
(03:05):
a warm summer. One afternoon,the Chief sent for Callahan, who'd just
come back from taking care of somejob down on the border, and told
him his troubles. Jimmy said theChief, somebody on this side is giving
those damn Huns a whole lot ofinformation that they haven't any business getting.
(03:27):
You know about those boats they've sunkalready. Of course, they're only small
fry. What they're laying for isa transport another Tuscania that they can stab
in the dark and make their getaway. The point that's worrying us is that
the U boats must be getting theirinformation from someone over here. The sinking
(03:50):
of the Carolina proves that no submarineoperating on general cruising orders could possibly have
known when that ship was or whatcourse she was going to take. Every
precaution was taken at San Juan tokeep her sailing a secret, but of
course you can't hide every detail ofthat kind. She got out some one
(04:15):
saw her, wired the information upthe coast here, and the man we've
got to nab tipped the U boatoff. Of course, we could go
at it from Porto Rico, butthat would mean wasting a whole lot more
time than we can afford. It'snot so much a question of the other
end of the cable as it iswho transmitted the message to the submarine,
(04:39):
and how it's your job to findout before they score a real hit.
Callahan, knowing the way things arehandled in the little suite on the west
side of the Treasury Building, askedfor the file containing the available information and
found it very meager. Indeed,details of the sinking of the Carolina were
(05:02):
included, among them the fact thatthe You thirty seven had been waiting directly
in the path of the steamer,though the latter was using a course entirely
different from the one the New Yorkand Porto Rico s S Company's boats generally
took. The evidence of a numberof passengers was that the submarine didn't appear
(05:24):
a bit surprised at the size ofher prey, but went on about the
whole affair in a business like manner. The meat of the report was contained
in the final paragraph, stating thatone of the German officers had boasted that
they would get a lot more shipsin the same way, adding don't worry,
(05:45):
we'll be notified when they are goingto sail. Of course, Callahan
reasoned this might be simply a pieceof Teutonic bravado, but there was more
than an even chance that it wasthe truth, particularly and taken in conjunction
with the sinking of the Texel andthe Pinar del Rio, and the fact
(06:05):
that the Carolina's course was so accuratelyknown. But how in the name of
Heaven had they gotten their information?Callahan knew that the four principal ports of
embarkation for troops Boston, New York, Norfolk and Charleston were shrouded in a
mantle of secrecy which it was almostimpossible to penetrate. Some months before,
(06:30):
when he had been working on thecase which grew out of the disappearance of
the plans of the battleship Pennsylvania,he had had occasion to make a number
of guarded inquiries in naval circles inNew York, and he recalled that it
had been necessary not only to showhis badge, but to submit to the
most searching scrutiny before he was allowedto see the men he wished to reach.
(06:55):
He therefore felt certain that no outsidercould have dug up the specific information
in the short space of time attheir disposal, but arguing that it had
been obtained, the way in whichit had been passed on to the U
boat also presented a puzzle. Wasthere a secret submarine base on the coast.
(07:16):
Had some German more daring than therest actually come ashore and penetrated into
the very lines of the service.Had he laid a plan whereby he could
repeat this operation as often as necessary? Or did the answer lie in a
concealed wireless operating upon information supplied throughunderground channels. These were only a few
(07:43):
of the questions which raced through Callahan'smind. The submarine base he dismissed as
impracticable. He knew that the Thor, the Unita, the Macedonia, and
nine other vessels had, at thebeginning of the war cleared from American ports
under false papers with the intention ofsupplying German warships with oil, coal,
(08:07):
and food. He also knew thatof the million and a half dollars worth
of supplies, less than one sixthhad ever been transshipped. Therefore, having
failed so signally here, the Germanswould hardly try the same scheme again.
The rumor that German officers had actuallycome into New York, where they were
(08:31):
supposed to have been seen in atheater, was also rather far fetched.
So the wireless theory seemed to bethe most tenable. But even a wireless
cannot concealed its existence from the otherstations indefinitely. Of course, it was
possible that it might be located onsome unfrequented part of the coast, But
(08:54):
then how could the operator obtain theinformation in which he transmitted to the U
boat. Callahan gave it up indespair. For that night. He was
tired, and he felt that eighthours sleep would do him more good than
thrashing around with a problem for whichthere appeared to be no solution, a
(09:16):
problem which after all, he couldn'teven be sure existed. Maybe, he
thought drowsily as he turned off thelights, maybe the German and the U
boat was only boasting after all,Or maybe The first thing Jimmy did the
next morning was to call upon thehead of the recently organized Intelligence Bureau of
(09:39):
the War Department. Not the IntelligenceDivision, which has charge of censorship and
the handling of news, but theBureau, which bears the same relation to
the Army that the Secret Service doesto the Treasury Department. From What ports
are transport sailing with the next coupleof weeks. He inquired of the officer
(10:03):
in charge from Boston, New York, Norfolk and Charleston. Was the reply,
merely confirming Callahan's previous belief. Hehad hoped that the ground would be
more limited because he wanted to havethe honor of solving this problem by himself,
and it was hardly possible for himto cover the entire Atlantic coast.
(10:28):
Where's the biggest chip sailing from?Was his next question. There's one that
clears Norfolk at daylight on Monday morningwith twelve thousand men aboard. Norfolk,
interrupted Callahan. I thought most ofthe big ones left from New York or
Boston, so they do generally,But these men are from Virginia and North
(10:52):
Carolina. Therefore it's easier to shipthem out of Norfolk. Saves time and
congestion of the railroads. As ithappens, the ship they're going on is
one of the largest that will clearfor ten days or more. All of
the other big ones are on theother side. Then cut in, Callaghan.
(11:15):
If the Germans wanted to make aten strike did lay for that boat,
they sure would, And one torpedowell placed would make the Tuscania look
like a Sunday school picnic. Butwhat's the idea? Got a tip that
the huns are going to try tograb her? No, not a tip,
(11:37):
Callaghan called back over his shoulder,for he was already halfway out of
the door. Just a hunch,and I'm going to play it for all
it's worth. The next morning,safely ensconced at the Monticello under the name
of Robert p Oliver of Williamsport,Pennsylvania, Callahan admitted to himself that he
(12:01):
was indeed working on nothing more thana hunch, and not a very well
defined one at that. The onlypoint that appeared actually to back up his
theory that the information was coming fromNorfolk was the fact that the U boat
was known to be operating between NewYork and the Virginia Capes. New York
(12:22):
itself was well guarded, and thesurrounding country was continually patrolled by operatives of
all kinds. It was the logicalpoint to watch, and therefore it would
be much more difficult to obtain andtransmit information there than it would be in
the vicinity of Norfolk, where militaryand naval operations were not conducted on a
(12:46):
large a scale, nor with asgreat an amount of secrecy. Norfolk,
Callahan found, was rather proud ofher new found glory. For years she
had basted in the social prestige ofthe Chamberlain, the annual gathering of the
fleet at Hampton Roads, and themilitary pomp and ceremony attended upon the operations
(13:11):
of Fortress Monroe. But the warhad brought a new thrill. Norfolk was
now one of the principal ports ofembarkation for the men going abroad. Norfolk
had finally taken her rank with NewYork and Boston, the rank to which
her harbor entitled her. Callahan reachedNorfolk on Wednesday morning. The America,
(13:37):
according to the information he had receivedfrom the War Department, would clear at
daybreak Monday, But at noon onSaturday, the Secret Service operative had very
little more knowledge than when he arrived. He had found that there was a
rumor to the effect that two Uboats were waiting off the capes for the
(13:58):
transport, which of course would havethe benefit of the usual convoy. But
as one army officer phrased it,what's the use of a convoy if they
know just where you are. Germanywould willingly lose a sub or two to
get us, and with the seathat's been running for the past ten days,
(14:20):
there'd be no hope of saving morethan half the boys. Spurred by
the rapidity with which time was passingand the fact that he sensed a thrill
of danger an intuition of impending perilaround the America, Callahan spent the better
part of Friday night and all Saturdaymorning running down tips that proved to be
(14:43):
groundless. A man with a Germanname was reported to be working in secret
upon some invention in an isolated houseon Willoughby's Spit. A woman concerning whom
little was known, had been seenfrequently in the company of two lieutenants slated
to sale on the America. Ahouse in Newport News emitted strange clacking sounds
(15:09):
at night, but the alleged Germanproved to be a photographer of unassailable loyalty,
putting in extra hours trying to developa new process of color printing.
The woman came from one of theoldest families in Richmond and had known the
two lieutenants for years. The housein Newport News proved to be the residence
(15:33):
of a young man who hoped someday to sell a photoplay scenario. The
irregular clacking noise being made by atypewriter operated none too steadily. That's what
happens to most of the clues thatpeople hand you Callahan mused as he sat
before his open window on Saturday evening, with less than thirty six hours left
(15:58):
before the America was scheduled to leave. Some fellows have luck with them,
But I'll be hanged if I everdid. Here, I'm working in the
dark on a case so that I'mnot even positive exists. That infernal submarine
may be laying off Boston at thisminute, waiting for the ship that leaves
(16:18):
there Tuesday. Maybe they don't getany word from shore at all, Maybe
they just but here, he wasbrought up with a sudden jar that concentrated
all his mental faculties along an entirelydifferent road, gazing out over the lights
of the city, scarcely aware thathe saw them, his subconscious mind had
(16:44):
been following for the past three minutes, something apparently usual but in reality entirely
out of the ordinary. By George, he muttered, I wonder, then,
taking his watch from his pocket,his eyes alternated between a point several
(17:04):
blocks distant, a point over theroofs of the houses, and the second
hand of his timepiece. Less thana minute elapsed before he reached for a
pencil and commenced to jot down dotsand dashes on the back of an envelope.
When a quarter of an hour laterhe found that the dashes had become
(17:26):
monotonous, as he expected they would, he reached for the telephone and asked
to be connected with the private wireof the Navy Department in Washington. Let
me speak to mister Thurber at once. He directed operative Callahan S S,
speaking hello that you Thurber. Thisis Callahan. I'm in Norfolk and I
(17:52):
want to know whether you can readthis code. You can figure it out
if anybody can. Dash dash dashdot, dash dash dot. And he
continued until he had repeated the entireseries of symbols that he had plucked out
(18:14):
of the night sounds like a variationof the International morse. Came the comment
from the other end of the wirefrom Thurber, librarian of the Navy Department
and one of the leading American authoritieson code and Cipher's may take a little
time to figure it out, butit doesn't look difficult. Where can I
(18:37):
reach you? I am at theMonticello, name of Robert p Oliver.
Put in a call for me assoon as you see the light on it.
I've got something important to do rightnow. And he hung up without
another word. A quick grab forhis hat, a pat under his arm
(18:59):
to make sure that the holster holdinghis automatic was in place, and Callahan
was on his way downstairs. Oncein the street, he quickened his pace
and was soon gazing skyward at thecorner of two deserted thoroughfares, not many
blocks from the Monticello. A fewminutes consultation with his watch confirmed his impression
(19:23):
that everything was right again, andhe commenced his search for the night watchman,
who he inquired of. That individualhas charge of the operation of that
phonograph sign in the roof don't knowfor certain, sir, but I think
it's operated by a man down thestreet. Apiece, he's got charge of
(19:47):
a bunch of them sort of things. Mighty funny kind of way to earn
a livin. I call it flashingon and off all night long. But
where's he work from? Interrupted Callahan, fearful that the negro's garrulousness might delay
him unduly. Straight down this street, three blocks, sir. Then turn
(20:11):
one block to your left, andyou can't miss the place, Electrical advertising
headquarters. They calls it, Thankyou, sir, and Callahan was gone
almost before the watchman could grasp thefact that he held a five dollar bill
instead of a dollar as he thought. It didn't take the secret service man
(20:33):
long to locate the place he sought, and on the top floor he found
a dark, swarthy individual bending overthe complicated apparatus which operated a number of
the electric signs throughout the city.Before the other knew it, Callahan was
in the room, his back tothe door and his automatic ready for action.
(20:56):
Up with your hands, snapped Callahanhigher. That's better, now,
tell me where you got that information. You flashed out to sea to night
by means of that phonograph. Signup the street quick. I haven't any
time to waste see see, senor, stammered the man who faced him.
(21:18):
But I understand not the English verywell. All right, counted Callahan.
Let's try it in Spanish, andhe repeated his demands in that language volubly.
The Spaniard, or Mexican as helater turned out to be, maintained
that he had received no information,nor had he transmitted any He claimed his
(21:44):
only duty was to watch the drums, which operated the signs mechanically. No
drum in the world could make thatsign flash like it did tonight. Callahan
cut in. For more than fifteenminutes, you sent a variation of the
Morse code seaward. Come on,I'll give you just one minute to tell
(22:06):
me, or I'll bend this gunover your head. Before the minute had
elapsed, the Mexican commenced his confession. He had been paid a hundred dollars
for a week. He claimed toflash a certain series of signals every Saturday
night, precisely at nine o'clock.The message itself a series of dots and
(22:30):
dashes, which he produced from hispocket as evidence of his truthfulness had reached
him on Saturday morning for the twopreceding weeks. He didn't know what it
meant. All he did was todisconnect the drum which operated the sign and
moved the switch himself. Payment foreach week's work, he stated, was
(22:52):
enclosed with the next week's message.Where it came from he didn't know,
but the envelope was postmarked Washington.With his revolver concealed in his coat pocket
but with its muzzle in the smallof the Mexican's back, Callahan marched his
captive back to the hotel and upinto his room. As he opened the
(23:17):
door, the telephone rang out,and ordering the other to stand with his
face to the wall in a cornerand be damned sure not to make a
move. The government agent answered thecall as he expected. It was Thurber.
The codes a cinch, came thevoice over the wire from Washington.
(23:38):
But the message is infernally important.It's in German, and evidently you picked
it up about two sentences from thestart. The part you gave me states
that the Transport America, with twelvethousand men aboard, will leave Norfolk at
daylight Monday. The route the shipwill take is distinctly stated, as is
(24:03):
the personnel of her convoy. Where'dyou get the message flashes in the night?
Answered Callahan. I noticed that anelectric sign wasn't behaving regularly, so
I jotted down at signals and passedthem on to you. The next important
point is whether the message is completeenough for you to reconstruct the code.
(24:27):
Have you got all the letters?Yes, every one of them. Then
take down this message, put itinto that dot and dashcode, and send
it to me by special messenger onone of the Navy torpedo boats tonight.
It's a matter of life and deathto thousands of men. And Callahan dictated
(24:52):
three sentences over the wire. Gotthat, he inquired, Good, get
busy, and hurry it down.I've got to have it in the morning.
Turn around, he directed the Mexicanas he replaced the receiver. Were
you to send these messages only onSaturday night, se Senor, save that
(25:17):
I was told that there might beoccasions when I had to do the same
thing on Sunday night too. Atnine o'clock, SI Senor Callahan smiled,
things were breaking better than he haddared. Hope it meant that the U
boat would be watching for the signal. The following night. Then, with
(25:40):
proper emphasis of the automatic, hegave the Mexican his orders. He was
to return to his office with Callahanand go about his business as usual,
with the certainty that if he triedany foolishness, the revolver could act more
quickly than he. Accompanied by thegovernment agent. He was to come back
(26:03):
to the Monticello and spend the nightin Callahan's room, remaining there until the
next evening, when he would promptly, at nine o'clock, and under the
direction of an expert in telegraphy,send the message which Callahan would hand him.
That's practically all there is to thestory, all, I echoed,
(26:26):
when Quinn paused, what do youmean all? What was the message Callahan
sent? What happened to the Mexicanwho sent the letter and the money from
Washington? Nothing much happened to theMexican, replied my informant with a smile.
They found that he was telling thetruth, so they just sent him
(26:49):
over the border with instructions not toshow himself north of the Rio Grande.
As for the letter, that tookthe Post Office, the Department of Justice,
and the Secret Service the better partof three months to trace, but
They finally located the sender two weeksafter she yes, it was a woman,
(27:11):
and a darned pretty one at thathad made her getaway. I understand
they got her in England and sentencedher to penal servitude for some twenty years
or more. In spite of thewar, the Anglo Saxon race hasn't completely
overcome its prejudice against the death penaltyfor women. But the message Callahan sent,
(27:36):
I persisted that was short and tothe point. As I recall it,
it ran something like this urgent routeof America changed. She clears it
daylight, but takes a course exactlyten miles south of one previously stated.
Be there. The boat was there, all right, But so were four
(28:03):
hydroplanes and half a dozen destroyers,all carrying the stars and stripes. End
of Chapter one,
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