I had been working hard at German and as von Bethmann-Hollweg
does not like to talk English and as some of these persons did not
speak that language we tried to carry on the table conversation
in German, but I know that when I tried to explain, in German,
to Helfferich the various tax systems of America, I swam out
far beyond my linguistic depth.
During our stay here I received cables from the Department of
State which were transmitted from Berlin in cipher, and which
Grew was able to decipher as he had brought a code book with
him. In one of these it was expressly intimated that in any
settlement of the submarine controversy America would make no
distinction between armed and unarmed merchant ships.
We formed for a while quite a happy family. The French owners
of the villa seemed to have had a fondness for mechanical toys.
After dinner every night these toys were set going, much to the
amusement of von Bethmann-Hollweg. One of these toys, about two
feet high, was a Hoochi-Koochi dancer and another successful one
was a clown and a trained pig, both climbing a step ladder and
performing marvellous feats thereon.
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