"
A moment later the expected happened. A window of the palace overlooking
the great Schlossplatz opened and the Emperor stepped out into the
narrow balcony. His uniform was caked with dust and mud and his face was
drawn with a mortal fatigue; but as he stood there scowling haughtily
down upon that upturned sea of woman's faces, the most singular vision
that ever had greeted imperial eyes, he was an imposing figure enough
to those who knew that he was the Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and
Alsace-Lorraine, and Emperor in Germany.
It was evident that he had no intention of speaking, but expected this
grotesque mob to be overwhelmed by the imperial presence and dissolve.
Frau Kathie Meyers, with the figure of an Amazon and the voice of a
megaphone, stepped forth from the ranks and lifted her placid red face
to the balcony.
"You will abdicate, William Hohenzollern," she announced in tones that
rolled down toward the Brandenburg gate like the overtones of a Death
Symphony at the Front. "Germany is a Republic. And the palace is mined.
If your soldiers fire one shot from the windows the palace goes up to
meet the ghosts of every arsenal and every ammunition factory in what
two days ago was the Empire of Germany. Your armies are helpless. You
will remain a prisoner within your palace until we have decided whether
to deliver you to Great Britain, incarcerate you in a fortress, or
permit you to live in exile.
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