"I and my men have no official standing here, of course--would not be tolerated in any co-operation, _officially_. But we have a certain understanding with certain authorities."
"You see? Very well. Then, with delicacy and discretion, we keep in touch with Mr. Skeel.... And with other people.... You see?... He is abed in the large house of Mr. Gerhardt over yonder at Northbrook.... Under surveillance.... He moves? We move--very discreetly. You see?"
"Very well, then. But I am obliged to tell you, also, that the hunting is not done entirely by our side. No! In turn, I and my men, and also your agents, are being hunted by German agents.... It is that which annoys and hampers us, because these German agents continually dog us and give the alarm to these Irishmen. You see?"
"Who are the German agents? Do you know?"
"Very well indeed. Bernstorff is the head; Von Papen and Boy-ed come next. Under them serve certain so-called 'Diplomatic Agents of Class No. 1'--Adolf Gerhardt is one of them; his partners, Otto Klein and Joseph Schwartzmeyer are two others.
"They, in turn, have under them diplomatic agents of the second class--men such as Ferez Bey, Franz Lehr, called _K17_. You see? Then, lower still in the scale, come the spies who actually investigate under orders; men like Dave Sendelbeck, Johnny Klein, Louis Hochstein, Max Freund. And, then, lowest of all in rank are the rank and file--the secret 'shock-troops' who carry out desperate enterprises under some leader. Among the Germans these are the men who sneak about setting fires, lighting the fuses of bombs, scuttling ships, defacing Government placards, poisoning Red Cross bandages to be sent to the Allies--that sort. But among them are no battalions of Death. _Non pas!_ And, for that, you see, they use these Irish. You understand now?"
"Well, then! I trust you absolutely, Barres. And so I came over to ask you--and your clever friends, Mademoiselle Dunois, Miss Soane, Mr. Westmore, to keep their eyes on this man Skeel to-morrow afternoon and also to-morrow evening. Because they will be guests at the Gerhardts'. Is it not so?"
"Well, your Government's agents will be there. They will also be in the neighbourhood, watching roads and railway stations. I have one man in service with the Gerhardts--their head chauffeur. If anything happens--if Skeel tries to slip away--if you miss him--I would be very grateful if you and your friends notify the head chauffeur, Menard."