to know just where she gets her money from, if she has any outside
sources of revenue, other than in Constantinople. I want every scrap
of any kind of information about her."

And Kim would go his way, seek out the servants in that household and
he would generally come back with all this information.

Now I noticed that a certain Mlle. Balniaux was very much in the
company of Abdulla, who was at that time the influential adviser of
the Grand Vizier. It was known in Berlin that the Grand Vizier had
lately become very deaf and antagonistic to German influence. The
Wilhelmstrasse knew that France and Russia were at work, but were in
the dark as to the channels. Therefore I sent Kim to ascertain if
Mlle. Balniaux was visited by Abdulla at her private residence. I
told him to learn the exact hour of arrival in each instance and the
length of the visits. The bare fact that Abdulla might be seen in her
company in public bore no particular significance. These women are
always accompanied by a whole retinue of officers and young Turkish
noblemen. It is part of their work. Their method of procedure is to
bewitch young officers and officials, attach them to their person,
make them spend huge sums of money and then play their card. I
noticed that the money Turkish officers squandered on these women
compared to their pay and income was tremendous. They think nothing
of going ahead blindly and buying the most expensive jewels; I have
seen them even buy motorcars. The result is not difficult to
forecast. The young officer soon finds himself head over heels in
debt. Two courses are open to him. Either he must pay the debt or be
transferred to some dreary interior post, and a Turk who has been in
the gay life of Constantinople would rather commit suicide than go to
any inland garrison. Those women then pay the debts, exacting state