It is well that I should say a word or two in reference to these

assistants of mine, in passing.

O'Malley was an Irishman of the finest type of bluff and honest

manhood. I have known him and tried him through many a difficulty where

his sterling qualities of character, his rugged honesty of purpose, his

unfailing loyalty and devotion to me and his uncanny qualities as an

investigator had endeared him to me both professionally and personally

beyond the expression of mere words to describe it. I knew that I could

rely upon him absolutely in all emergencies and that he was utterly

fearless in the face of any danger that might present itself. By

Advertisement..

opening the café described, patronized by the elite of the Russian

capital he merely followed out a plan long before undertaken in Paris

for a like purpose and through the workings of his waiters and other

employees he possessed sources of information and facilities for

investigation unprecedented in their far reaching possibilities. There

is many a whispered word and undertoned conversation carried on at a

supper table over the coffee or a bottle of wine which finds its way

into the ears of servitors and O'Malley's duties consisted not alone in

piecing together after they were supplied to him these scraps of

conversation, but in having his workers spy upon certain personages

when they appeared at the café and so anticipate secrets which they

might have to unfold. Even he had lesser men in authority under him and

many of those who were almost directly under his employ believed that

they were allied to the regular secret police and did not know of their

employer's official capacity.

Tom Coyle, a huge rough bearded Irishman who in outward appearance

might have passed anywhere for a Russian, was not less efficient or

less loved and trusted by me than O'Malley. As a proprietor of a cab

stand every driver was a minion of his and served him precisely as

O'Malley's waiters did their chief; and it may readily be determined

that the power thus exerted for making reports, for knowing the

distinction and the engagements of certain individuals was far reaching

indeed. Coyle also had served me in the execution of many delicate

missions of the past and I could depend upon him almost as absolutely

as I could upon myself.

The two St. Cyrs, husband and wife, were equally important factors in

my work; indeed they provided the most far reaching assistance I had,

for if you will stop to consider a moment and will realize how

absolutely at the mercy of house servants the ordinary citizen is

compelled to be, you will understand how an employment agency operated

for the purposes of espionage can discover and reveal secrets which

otherwise might never find their way outside the family circle. There

is no written document, no locked bureau drawer, no hidden pocket, no

secret hiding place into which the prying eyes and fingers of maid or

valet, house maid and general servitor cannot penetrate. These people

did their work for the St. Cyrs and reported to them, knowing nothing

whatever of why they made those reports or to whom they ultimately

found their way.




Most Popular