Spies and Secret Service The story of espionage, its main systems and chief exponents
CHAPTER XI
GERMAN SECRET SERVICE—_continued_ 179
Bismarck's Faith in Stieber—Red Eagle for the Sleuth—Stieber's Preparation to _invade_ France—His Requisitions of Female Agents—An Attempted Assassination—Bismarck's Far-sightedness—Stieber precedes the Army of 1870—His Duties in the Field—A Pen Picture of De Gallifet—Stieber's Ferocity and Boastfulness—The Reptile Press—Bismarck and the Sleuth—Shooting a Bridegroom—German Gold wins Friends—Importance of Stieber in Berlin—His Wealth and Social Pretensions—Fears the Theatre and Literature—Meeting with Mommsen—Berlin a new _Urbs Sacra_