The
treaty, however, was subject to signatures and if it was officially
closed, I cannot tell.
Apparently the conference was at an end. But what had they
accomplished? From the general tenor of their conversation it was
obvious that they all agreed. But what were the terms of their
bargain? Presently I was to know.
"Bamberger," said Kinderlen-Waechter, addressing me by the name I had
taken, "gather up any pieces of paper on the table and consign them to
the fire."
I replied: "Yes sir." Then turning to the others, he continued:
"Gentlemen, select the memoranda you wish to keep. The rest is going
to be destroyed immediately."
While they ran over their papers, saving necessary scraps, I stood
back from the table. It was characteristic of the men that Winston
Churchill should have taken the most voluminous notes, while Heeringen
had not put down a line. I then gathered up every scrap of paper left
on the table--blotters, little note pads, foolscap--used or unused.
Everything was to go into the fire.
I went about this slowly and deliberately, taking care to glance at
everything before I carried it over to the grate. I wanted to make
sure that nothing of value was destroyed. Here and there came a good
chance to read some of the contents. Piece by piece from the
memoranda the different men had made, always being careful not to
confuse individual notes, thus learning one by one their train of
thought, the thing began to piece itself together for me.
Pages:
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147