Page:War's dark frame (IA warsdarkframe00camp).pdf/263

Rh trained lot. They burst into his room at all hours, retiring with the apology that they had not known he was there. I didn't tell him that the refuse of his waste basket and the litter of his writing desk had probably furnished an interesting puzzle for some intelligence officer. Hotel espionage in England and France, however, is a knife that cuts both ways.

It may be indiscreet to call attention to a perfectly obvious fact. The Swiss are a problem for the entente allies. Except for such natives as have been retained through disability for the army the male hotel service is largely in the hands of the Swiss. The sons of this neutral nation must have the privileges, the courtesy, and the protection that other neutrals receive, and because of the nature of their employment and its permanence it is difficult to keep tabs on them. The natives of northern Switzerland often have German names, speak the German language, subscribe, perhaps, to the German idea. It would take unlimited confidence to pronounce one man a northern Swiss and another a southern German. So while the entente gets much valuable intelligence from the hotels, it is safe to guess that the Teutons have found the servants useful too.

I was told that early in the war the top floor of one of London's large hotels had been closed be-