Well Al this bird was writeing a letter last night and he didn"t have no envelope and he asked me did I have I and I said no and he wouldn"t of never spoke only to say Gimme but when I told him I didn"t have no envelope he started off somewheres to get 1 and he dropped the last page out of the letter he had been writeing and it was laying right there along side of me and of course I wouldn"t of paid no tension to it only it was face up so as I couldn"t help from seeing it and what I seen wasn"t no words like a man would write in a letter but it was a bunch of marks like a x down at the bottom and they was a whole line of them like this x x x x x x x x x x x

Well that roused up my suspicions and I guess you know I am not the kind that reads other people"s letters even if I don"t get none of my own to read but this here letter I kind of felt like they was something funny about it like he was writeing in ciphers or something so I picked the page up and read it through and sure enough they was parts of it in ciphers and if a man didn"t have the key you couldn"t tell what and the he--ll he was getting at.

Well Al I was still studing the page yet when he come back in and they wasn"t nothing for me to do only set on it so as he wouldn"t see I had it and he come over and begin looking for it and I asked him had he lost something to throw him off the track and he said yes but he didn"t say what it was and that made it all the more suspicious so he finely give up looking and went out again.

Well I have got it put away where he can"t get a hold of it because I showed it to Johnny Alc.o.c.k this A. M. and asked him if it didn"t look like something off color and he said yes it did and if he was me he would turn it over to Capt. Seeley but on 2d thoughts he said I better keep it a wile and at the same time keep a eye on Shaffer and get more evidents vs. him and then when I had him dead to rights I could turn the letter and the rest of the evidents over to Capt. Seeley and then I would be sure to get the credit for showing him up. Well Al I figure this 1 page of his letter is enough or more then enough only of course its best to play safe and keep my eyes pealed and see what comes off and I haven"t got time to copy down the whole page Al and besides they"s a few sentences that sounds O. K. and I suppose he put them in for a blind but you can"t get away from them x marks Al and I will write down a couple other sentences and I bet you will agree that they"s something fishy about them and here is the sentences to which I refer:

"In regards to your question I guess I understand O. K. In reply will say yes I. L. Y. more than Y. L. M. Am I right."

"Have you saw D. Give him a ring and tell the old spinort I am W. C. T. U.

outside of a little Vin Blank."

Can you make heads or tales out of that Al? I guess not and neither could anybody else except they had the key to it and the best part of it is his name is signed down at the bottom and if he can explain that line of talk he is a wonder but he can"t explain it Al and all as he can do is make a clean brest of the whole business and Alc.o.c.k thinks the same way and Alc.o.c.k says he wished he had of been the 1 that got a hold of this evidents because whoever turned it over to Capt. Sceley along with what other facts I can get a hold of will just about get a commission in the intelligents dept. and that"s the men that looks after the pro German spys Al and gets the dope on them and shows them up and I would probably have my head quarters in Paris and get good money besides my expenses and I would half to pa.s.s up the chance to get in the trenchs and fight but they"s more ways of fighting then 1 and in this game Al a man has got to go where they send you and where they figure they would do the most good and if my country needs me to track after spys I will sacrifice my own wishs though I would a whole lot rather stay with my pals and fight along side of them and not snoop round Paris fondleing door n.o.bs like a night watchman. But Alc.o.c.k says he would bet money that is where I will land and he says "You ought to feel right at home in the intelligents dept. like a camel in Lake Erie"

and he says the first chance I get I better try and start up a conversation with Shaffer and try and lead him on and that is the way they trap them is to ask them a whole lot of questions and see what they have got to say and if you keep fireing questions at them they are bound to get balled up and then its good night.

Well I don"t suppose it seems possible to you stay at homes that they could be such a thing like a pro German spy in the U. S. army and how did he get there and why did they leave him in and etc. Well Al you would be supprised to know how many of them has slipped in and Alc.o.c.k says that at first it amounted to about 200% but the intelligents officers has been on their sent all the wile and most of them has been nailed and when they get them they shoot them down like a dog and that"s what Shaffer will get Al and he is out of luck to be so big because all as the fireing squad would half to do would be look at their compa.s.s and see if he was east or west of them and then face their riffle in that direction and let go.

I will write and let you know how things comes along.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, April 14._

FRIEND AL: Well Al I am closeing the net of evidents around Shaffer and I guess I all ready got enough on him to make out a case that he couldn"t never wrinkle out of it but Capt. Seeley is away and I can"t do nothing till he gets back.

I had my man on the grill today Al and I thought he would be a fox and not criminate himself but I guess I went at him so smooth he didn"t never suspect nothing till along towards the finish and then it was to late.

I don"t remember all that was said but it run along these lines like as follows: In the first place I asked him where he lived and he said Milwaukee Ave. in Chi and I don"t know if you know it or not Al but that"s a st. where they have got traffic policemens at the corners to blow their whistles once for the Germans to go north and south and twice for them to go east and west. So then I said was he married and he says no. So then I asked him where he was born and he said "What and the he--ll are you the personal officer?" So I laughed it off and said "No but I thought maybe we come from the same part of the country." So he says something about everybody didn"t half to come from the country but he wouldn"t come out and say where he did come from so then I kind of led around to the war and I made the remark that the German drive up on the north side of France didn"t get very far and he says maybe they wasn"t through. How was that for a fine line of talk Al and he might as well have said he hoped the Germans wouldn"t never be stopped.

Well for a minute I couldn"t hardly help from takeing a crack at him but in these kind of matters Al a man has got to keep a hold of themself or they will loose their quarry so I kind of forced a smile and said "Well I guess they would have kept going if they could of." And then he says "Yes but they half to stop every once in a wile to bring up Van Hindenburg." So I had him traped Al and quick is a flash I said "Who told you their plans?"

And he says "Oh he--ll my mother in law" and walked away from me.

Well Al it was just like sometimes when they are trying a man for murder and he says he couldn"t of did it because he was over to the Elite jazing when it come off and a little wile later the lawyer asks him where did he say he was at when the party was croked and he forgets what he said the 1st. time and says he was out to Lincoln Pk. kidding the bison or something and the lawyer points out to the jury where his storys don"t jib and the next thing you know he is dressed up in a hemp collar a couple sizes to small.

And that"s the same way I triped Shaffer getting him to say he wasn"t married and finely when I have him cornered he busts out about his mother in law. Well Al I don"t know of no way to get a mother in law without marrying into one. So I told Alc.o.c.k tonight what had came off and he says it looked to him like I had a strong case and if he was me he would spill it to Capt. Seeley the minute he gets back. And he said "You lucky stiff you won"t never see the inside of a front line trench." So I asked him what he meant and he repeated over again what he said about them takeing me in the intelligents dept. So it looks like I was about through being a doughboy Al and pretty soon I will probably be writeing to you from Paris but I don"t suppose I will be able to tell you what I am doing because that"s the kind of a job where mum is the word.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, April 16._

FRIEND AL: Well old pal don"t be supprised if I write you the next time from Paris. I have got a date to see Capt. Seeley tomorrow and Lieut.

Mather fixed it up for me to see him but I had to convince the lieut. that it wasn"t no monkey business because they"s always a whole lot of riffs and raffs asking Capt. Seeley can they have a word with him and what they want is to borry his knife to pair their finger nails.

But I guess he won"t be sorry he seen me Al not when I show him the stuff I have got on this bird and he will probably shake me by the hand and say "Well Keefe Uncle Sam is proud of you but you are waisting your time here and I will be sorry to loose you but it looks like you belong in other fields." And he will wire a telegram to the gen. staff reccomending me to go to Paris.

I guess I all ready told you some of the stuff I have got on this bird but I have not told you all because the best one didn"t only happen last night.

Well on acct. of I and Alc.o.c.k being friends he has kind of been keeping a eye pealed on Shaffer to help me out and he found a letter last night that Shaffer had wrote and this time it was the whole letter with the address and everything and who do you suppose it was to? Well Al it was to Van Hindenburg himself and I have got it right here where I can keep a eye on it and believe me it"s worth watching and I wished I could send it to you so you could see for yourself what kind of a bird we are dealing with. But that"s impossible Al but they"s nothing to keep me from copping it off.

Well the letter is wrote in German and to show you what a foxy bird he is he wrote it out in printing so as if it got found by somebody they couldn"t prove he wrote it because when words is wrote out in printing it looks just the same who ever wrote it and you can"t tell. But he wasn"t foxy enough to not sign G. S. down to the bottom of it and that stands for his name George Shaffer and he is the only G. S. in the Co. so it looks like we had him up in a tree. Here is what the letter says:

"Field Marshall Van Hindenburg, c/o Die Vierten Dachshunds, Deutscher Armee, Flanders. 500,000 U. S. Soldaten schon in Frankreich doch. In Lauterbach habe Ich mein Strumpf verloren und ohne Strumpf gehe Ich nicht heim. x.x.xx.x.xx G.S."

Notice them x marks again Al like in the other letter and the other letter was probably to Van Hindenburg to and I only wished I knew what the x marks means but maybe some of the birds that"s all ready in the intelligents dept. can figure it out. But they"s no mystery about the rest of it Al because Alc.o.c.k understands German and he translated it out what the German words means and here is what it means:

500,000 United States soldiers in France all ready yet. Will advise you when to attack on this front.

How is that Al for a fine trader and spy to tell the gen. of the German army how many soldiers we got over here and to not attack till Shaffer says the word and he was probably going to say it wile we was all asleep or something. But thanks to me Al he will be the one that is asleep and it will be some sleep Al and it will make old Rip and Winkle look like they had the colic and when the boys finds out what I done for them I guess they won"t be nothing to good for me. But it will be to late for them to show their appreciations because I won"t be here no more and the boys probably won"t see me again till its all over and we are back in the old U. S.

because Alc.o.c.k was talking to a bird that"s in the int. dept. and he says 1 of their dutys was to keep away from everybody and not leave them know who you are. Because of course if word got out that you was a spy chaser the spys wouldn"t hardly run up and kiss you on the st. but they would duck when they seen you and you would have as much chance to catch them as though you was trolling for wales with a gra.s.s hopper.

And from this bird"s dope that Alc.o.c.k was talking to I will half to leave off my uniform and wear plain close and maybe wear false whiskers and etc.

so as people who see me the 1st. time I will look different to them the next time they see me and maybe I will half to let my mustache grow and grease it so as they will think maybe I am a Dutchman and if they are working for the Kaiser I could maybe pump them.

But they"s 1 thing I don"t like about it Al because Alc.o.c.k says Paris is full of women that isn"t exactly spys but they have been made a fool out of and they are some German"s duke but the Dutchmens tells them a whole lot of things that Uncle Sam would like to know and I would half to find them things out and the only way to do that would be to get them stuck on me and I guess that wouldn"t be no ch.o.r.e but when a gal gets stuck on you they will tell you everything they know and wile with most gals I ever seen they could do that without dropping another nickle still and all it would be different with these gals in Paris that"s been the tools of some Dutchmens because you take a German and he don"t never stop braging till he inhales a bayonet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: When a gal gets stuck on you they will tell you everything they know.]

But it don"t seem fair to make love to them and pertend like I was nuts over them and then when I had learned all they was to know I would half to get rid of them and cast them to 1 side and G.o.d knows how many wounds I will leave behind me but probably as many as though I was a regular soldier or snipper but then I wouldn"t feel so bad about it because it would be men and not girlies but everything goes in war fair as they say Al and if Uncle Sam and Gen. Pershing asks me to do it I will do whatever they ask me and they can"t n.o.body really hold it vs. me because of why I am doing it.

But talking about snippers Al I noticed today that I wasn"t near as good as usual in the riffle practice and it was like as if I was haveing a slump like some of the boys does in baseball when they go along 5 or 6 days without finding out who is umpireing the bases and I am afraid that is how it would be with me in snipping I would be O. K. part of the time and the rest of the time I couldn"t hit Europe and maybe I would fall down when they was depending on me and then I would feel like a rummy so I guess I better not try and show up so good in practice even when I do feel O. K.

because they might make a snipper out of me without knowing my weakness and I figure its something the matter with my eyes. Besides Al it don"t seem like its a fair game to be pecking away at somebody that they can"t see you and aren"t looking for no supprise and its a whole lot different then fighting with a bayonet where its man to man and may the best man win.

Well Al I guess I have told you all the news and things is going along about as usual and they don"t seem to be no prospects of us overtakeing a section up to the front but its just train and train and train and if the ball clubs had a training trip like we been haveing they would be so tired by the 1 of May that they wouldn"t run out a base on b.a.l.l.s. Yesterday we past by a flock of motor Lauras that was takeing wounded back to a base hospital somewheres and Alc.o.c.k was talking to 1 of the drivers and he said that over 100% of the birds that"s getting wounded and killed these days is the snippers and the boshs don"t never rest till they find out where there nests is at and then they get all their best marksmens and aim at where they think the snipper has got his nest and then its good night snipper and he is either killed right out or looses a couple of legs or something. I certainly feel sorry for the boys that"s wounded Al and every time we see a bunch of them all us boys is crazy to get up there to the front and get even for what they done.

Well old pal I will half to get busy now and overlook the dope I have got on Shaffer so as I will have everything in order for Capt. Seeley and I will write and let you know how things comes out.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, April 18._

FRIEND AL: Well Al they"s a whole lot of birds that thinks they are wise and always trying to pull off something on somebody but once in a wile they pick out the wrong bird to pull it on and then the laugh is on the smart Alex themself.

Well Alc.o.c.k and some of them thought they was putting up a game on me and was going to make me look like a monkey but before I get through with them Al they will be the suckers and I will be giveing them the horse laugh but what I ought to do is bust them in the jaw and if I was running this war every bird that tried to pull off some practical joke to put a man in bad, I would give a lead shower in their honor some A. M. before breakfast.

Alc.o.c.k was trying to make me believe that 1 of the boys in the Co. name Geo. Shaffer was a German spy or something and they framed up a letter like as if he wrote it to Van Hindenburg giveing away secrets in German about our army and etc. but they made the mistake of signing his initials to the letter so when I come to think it over I seen it must be a fake because a bird that was a real spy wouldn"t never sign their own name to a letter but they would sign John Smith or something.

But any way I had a hold of this letter and a peace of another letter that Shaffer really did write it and I thought I would show them to Capt. Seeley and play it safe because they might be something in them after all and any way it would give him a good laugh. So yesterday I went and seen him and he says "Well Keefe what can I do for you?" So I said "You can"t do nothing for me sir but this time I can do something for you. What would you think if I told you they was a trader and a German spy in your Co." So he says "I would think you were crazy." So I said "I am afraid you will half to think so then but maybe you won"t think I am so crazy when I show you the goods."

So then Al I pulled that 1st. peace of a letter on him and showed it to him and he read it and when he got through he says "Well it looks suspicious all right. It looks like the man that wrote it was hacking up a big plot to spring a few dependents on his local board the next time they draft him." So I said "The bird that wrote that letter is a Dutchman name Geo.

Shaffer." So Capt. Seeley says "Well I wish him all the luck in the world and a lot of little Shaffers." So I said "Yes but what about them x marks and all them letters without no words to them?" So he said "Didn"t you never correspond with a girl and put some of them xs down to the bottom of your letter?" So I says "I have wrote letters to a whole lot of girls but I never had to write nothing in ciphers because I wasn"t never ashamed of anything I wrote." So he said "Well your lady friends was all cheated then because this is ciphers all right but its the kind of messages they love to read because it means kisses."

Well Al of course I knew it meant something like that but I didn"t think a big truck horse like Shaffer would make such a mushmellow out of himself.

But anyway I said to Capt. Seeley I says "All right but what about them other initials without no words to go with them?" And he says "Well that"s some more ciphers but they"s probably a little gal out in Chi that don"t half to look at no key to figure it out."

So then I pulled the other letter on him the 1 in German and he also smiled when he read this one and finely he says "Some of your pals has been playing a trick on you like when you come over on the ship and the best thing you can do is to tear the letters up and keep it quite and don"t leave n.o.body know you fell for it. And now I have got a whole lot to tend to so good by."