Free The Spy Net by Henry Landau Page B

letter, and the man had given the right password. So Keurvers was called into the back room, and the reports were handed over to him.
    On his way home Lambrecht noticed that he was being followed. Such was his trust in Keurvers and his solicitude for his men that his immediate thoughts were not for his own safety, but for that of the courier, and the precious reports in his possession. By jumping on to a passing tram, he managed to get rid of the man who had been following him.
    Lambrecht knew that he had a chance of finding Keurvers in one of the cafes on the Grand Place, for most visitors in the city gravitated to this centre. As he looked through the large windows of the Café du Marronnier, he saw Keurvers sitting with Landwerlen and Douhard, two of the German Secret Police, whom Lambrecht knew only too well by sight; they had figured in nearly every spy arrest in the city.
    Instantly Lambrecht knew he was trapped, that the Secret Police were following him to discover his associates. He had a chance to get away. He had shaken off the man who had been on his trail. He had a number of friends who would gladly have hidden him until an opportunity presented itself to get across the frontier. But Lambrecht decided to return home to advise his wife, and to get her to warn Leclercq. He thought he could get there before the police.
    It was a fatal step. As Lambrecht walked in at the front door, the Secret Police were waiting for him on the inside – his wife had been arrested shortly after he had left for his rendezvouswith Keurvers. It was known afterwards that the Secret Police had been watching the Leclercq cigar store for several days before Keurvers presented himself there, that they had photographed Afchain’s note, and, of course, had understood its meaning. As usual, their object had been to track down associates, and above all to secure the reports – the evidence to convict.
    Lambrecht knew he could not save himself. He could, however, save the thirty-odd agents who had been working for him. (The Leclercqs did not know their names.) His one care now was not to betray them. Every third degree method familiar to the Germans was employed to break down his resistance, but Lambrecht allowed no name to escape him. He even succeeded in proving to the Secret Police that his wife had no idea he was engaged in espionage activities, and that the Leclercqs did not know the purport of his correspondence with Holland.
    His friends did everything within their power to save him. Brand Whitlock, the Marquis de Villalobar, and van Vollenhoven, the various neutral ministers to Belgium, were all persuaded to intercede with von Bissing, the German governor-general of Belgium. Even the German chaplain of the prison was so moved by the heroic attitude of Lambrecht that he wrote to the German Cardinal von Hartmann, at Cologne, asking him to intervene.
    All these efforts were in vain. Lambrecht was condemned to death.
    Lambrecht faced his death with sublime resignation. The following letter, written to his wife on the eve of his execution, reveals his nobility:
    17 April 1916,
    The citadel of the Chartreuse.
     
    MY WELL-BELOVED JEANNE:
     
    I have just been transferred here from the prison of St Leonard. As I suspected, it was to inform me that the sentence of death, which was passed on the 12th, has been confirmed, and that the various petitions for mercy have been refused.
    God calls me to Him – let His will be done. We can only but incline ourselves before His supreme wisdom.
    Oh! My well beloved, what a terrible blow to you, who had such high hopes! Poor wife! Poor parents! My soul is filled with intense sadness thinking of you all.
    He who dies is quickly rid of his pain. But for you others, how much suffering! Let my resignation be a comfort to you. May God give you the courage, which He has never ceased to grant me, so that your suffering may be less.
    In heaven, I will watch over you, and will pray to God to reserve for you those