AN ARCTIC RESIDENCE 275 



about German spies as most people. Until Decem- 

 ber 1916 there were some fifteen regular German 

 agents resident in Bergen who did nothing but 

 report the arrival and departure of ships from this 

 port, and send messages by wireless to the sub- 

 marines waiting outside. The Norwegian Govern- 

 ment were in terror of the Central Powers, and, 

 fearful of taking strong measures, had allowed 

 these pests to destroy their own shipping to a 

 great extent, but at last, in the face of public 

 opinion, backed by pressure from the Allied 

 Governments, they took measures, and informed 

 these gentry that their presence was no longer 

 welcome in Norway. Consequently the docks were 

 not so closely watched as heretofore, though one 

 or two spies still existed there in close disguise. 

 My friend the harbour master knew all these men. 

 and I got him to signal to me from the ship (to 

 which I had already sent my luggage) that the 

 coast was clear, and then, well wrapped up to escape 

 recognition, I strolled down to the landing-stage. 



The whole place seemed deserted, except for one 

 poor woman accompanied by two small children, 

 who was sitting on a box crying bitterly. She 

 looked like an Englishwoman, so I addressed her 

 and asked if I could be of any assistance, when 

 she answered me in pleasant broad Scotch. It 

 appeared that she was the wife of a prominent 

 Roumanian minister, and had recently fled from 

 Bucharest, when it seemed the Germans were 

 about to enter and capture the whole country. 

 She had been a whole month on the journey, via 

 Petrograd and Haparanda in Lapland, and often 

 half starved and ill-treated on the way. Now at 



