CHAPTER XX
TRAGIC SECRETS
THE stealthy watchfulness that makes such hauls possible is continually with one in Europe these days. Intelligence has very special phases for the French and for the British in France. In the beginning spies actually moved through the ranks of both armies. The siege war of the trenches has made that game impractical. Under these conditions the problem of getting information through is increasingly difficult. Code letter-writing through neutral countries, while comparatively sure, is a very slow expedient. Often intelligence is demanded in a hurry, must be had at any cost. For a time carrier pigeons were used with success. They cried, however, their own warning. There aren't many carrier pigeons in the conquered provinces now. To be found with one on your property amounts to a condemnation to death. I was surprised to learn that Germany and France both experiment with them still. I was told that an airman not long before had come across the lines at night and dropped a basket full of pigeons in
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