Agitators were to be sent there by the
Spartacans to try to overthrow the local government and take the
reins of power. I heard that proposed myself at a street meeting
of rioters that I witnessed from the windows of my hotel. A man
with a red beard was declaiming at the top of his lungs and
predicting that if the people of Coblenz would rise under the red
flag they could sweep the hated Americans back from the Rhine."
"A man with a red beard, did you say?" asked Frank.
"Why, yes," answered the colonel, a little amused by his
earnestness. "Not that there's anything extraordinary about that,
I should suppose. There are probably thousands of men with red
beards in Berlin. Why do you ask?"
"Because," said Frank, "the man whom we captured in the ruined
castle last night and whom the lieutenant has been examining also
has a red beard. He is an agitator of the worst type, and I know
from what he said in his speech that he comes from Berlin. It may
be only a coincidence, but if so it's a singular one."
"I shouldn't wonder if you were right," said the colonel. "What is
the man's name?"
"Spatler, I think," replied Frank.
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