Part 30 (1/2)

Such were the principal features of the scene; for details I had tolow, I crept back, quiet as a cat, till I was beneath the , and, as I calculated, directly behind Dollreat caution I raised my head There was only one pair of eyes in the room that I feared in the least, and that was Grimm's, who sat in profile to me, farthest away I instantly put Dollmann's back between Grimm and me, and then made my scrutiny As Ionno of a _bona-fide_ salvage co stock of work done; that was all

Over the door was an old engraving of a two-decker under full sail; pinned on the wall a chart and the plan of a shi+p Relics of the wrecked frigate abounded On a shelf above the stove was a small pyramid of encrusted cannon-balls, and supported on nails at odd places on the walls were corroded old pistols, and what I took to be the remains of a sextant In a corner of the floor sat a hoary little carronade, carriage and all None of these things affected me so much as a pile of lumber on the floor, not firewood but un-oak, still caked in places with the ht of this luarnished with some massive bolts, lay on the table, and was evidently an object of earnest interest The diver had turned and was arguing with gestures over it; von Bruning and Gri another view The diver shook his head frequently, finally shrugged his shoulders, made a salutation, and left the roo rew almost reckless as to whether I was seen or not All the weaknesses of uhtless talk; the ease (comparatively) hich I had reached this spot, not a barrier to cross or a lock to force; the publicity of their passage to Melimpse of business-like routine In a few moments I sank from depth to depth of scepticism Where were my mines, torpedoes, and subold after all at the bottom of this sordid mystery? Dollmann after all a commonplace criminal? The ladder of proof I had mounted tottered and shook beneath me 'Don't be a fool,'

said the faint voice of reason 'There are your four men Wait'

Two more _employes_ caes; one looking like a fire, say There was another discussion with this latter over the balk of wreck-wood, and this ed his shoulders His departure appeared to end the er, and I shrank down on an At the sa, I heardas they went Presently someone walked across the room towards myI sidled away on all fours, rose and flatteneddespondency on me; my intention to slink away south-east as soon as the coast was clear But the sound that came next pricked me like an electric shock; it was the tinkle and scrape of curtain-rings

Quick as thought I was back in my old position, to find my view barred by a cretonne curtain It was in one piece, with no chink fortowards --human shoulders by the shape Dollmann, I concluded, was still in his old place I noas exasperated to find that I could scarcely hear a word that was said, not even by pressing lass It was not that the speakers were of set purpose hushi+ng their voices--they used an ordinary tone for intilass and curtain deadened the actual words

Still, I was soon able to distinguish general characteristics Von Bruning's voice--the only one I had ever heard before--I recognized at once: he was on the left of the table, and Dollmann's I knew fro to the old gentlein to call Herr Bohme It was too old a voice to be Gri at the ht in their entirety

'When was that?' 'They went no farther?' and 'Too long; out of the question' Dollh nearest to ed monotone, and as that odd movement of the curtain at his back? Yes, his hands were behind hi a fold of the cretonne 'You are feeling uncomfortable, my friend,' was my comment Suddenly he threw back his head--I saw the dent of it--and spoke up so that I could not miss a word 'Very well, sir, you shall see theht; I will ask them both'

(You will not be surprised to learn that I instantly looked atto write what I have described--but the ti about the fog, and his chair creaked Ducking pros jar, and: 'Thick as ever'

'Your report, Herr Dollmann,' said Bohme, curtly Dollmann left theand moved his chair up to the table; the other two drew in theirs and settled the a heading It was an easy word to catch, rapped out sharp, and you can iine how it startled me 'That's where you've been for the last month!' I said toover it, while Doll But now my exasperation beca back on my heels, I cast about for expedients Should I steal round and try the door? Too dangerous

Climb to the roof and listen down the stove-pipe? Too noisy, and generally hopeless I tried for a doard purchase on the upper half of the hich was of the si vertically No use; it resisted gentle pressure, would start with a sudden jar if I forced it I pulled out Davies's knife and worked the point of the blade between sash and fraive it play--no result; but the knife was a nautical one, with ablade

Just now the door within opened and shut again, and I heard steps approaching round the corner to ht I had the presence ofthe deep Frisian sand) round the corner of the big parallel building Someone whom I could not see walked past till his boots clattered on tiles, next resounded on boards 'Gri-room,' I inferred The precious ood? I dared not return otherwise Eighteen--he was co out! This time I stole forward boldly when the h the glint of a white paper he was holding

He made his circuit and re-entered the room

Here I felt and conquered a relapse to scepticisuards?' Answer, the only possible one, 'Because they stand alone Their _e The real object of this salvage company (a poor speculation, I opined) is solely to afford a pretext for the conclave' 'Why the curtain, even?' 'Because there are ain at the , but as iainst that even streaive up Fate and the fog had brought me here, the one solitary soul perhaps who by the chain of circumstances had both the will and the opportunity to wrest their secret from these four men

The marlin-spike! Where the lower half of theroove I thrust the point of the spike down into the interstice between sash and fra force, which I could regulate to the fraction of an ounce, on this powerful lever The sash gave, with the faintest possible protest, and by iroove, and the least bit above it, say half an inch in all; but it made an appreciable difference to the sounds within, as when you remove your foot from a piano's soft pedal I could do no more, for there was no further fulcruaain when I placed my cheek on the damp sill, and my ear to the chink Myto papers which I heard rustle Dollmann's 'report' was evidently over, and I rarely heard his voice; Gri's and Bohme's frequently; but, as before, it was the latter only that I could ever count on for an intelligible word For, unfortunately, the villains of the piece plotted without any regard to dramatic fitness or to my interests Immersed in a subject hich they were all familiar, they were allusive, elliptic, and persistently technical

Many of the words I did catch were unknown to me The rest were, for the ures, of depth, distance, and, once or twice, of time The letters of the alphabet recurred often, and seemed, as far as I could make out, to represent the key to the cipher The nu round them were mostly very small, with decimals What maddened me most was the scarcity of plain nouns

To report what I heard to the reader would be impossible; so chaotic was most of it that it left no impression on ments stuck, and what nebulous classification I involved The letters ran from A to G, andrapidly froh the letters, backwards, fro remarks to each; thus: 'Gcompleted' 'Fbad13 (metres?)25 (kilometres?)' 'Ethirty-two12' 'D3 weeks

thirty' 'C' and soon

Another ti each letter hi laconic answers from Grimm--anshich seeether I caught nothing but the scratching of pens and inarticulate s But out of the muck-heap I picked five pearls--four sibilant nouns and a nas); 'Wassertiefe'

(depth of water); 'Eisenbahn' (railway); 'Lotsen' (pilots) The name, also sibilant and thus easier to hear, was 'Esens'

Two or three times I had to stand back and ease my cramped neck, and on each occasion I looked at ainst ti to be asked to supper, and must be back aboard the yacht in ti still brooded heavily and the light, always bad, was groorse Hoould _they_ get back? How had they come from Juist? Could we forestall them? Questions of time, tide, distance--just the odious sort of su my attention when it should have been wholly elsewhere

420--425--noas past 430 when Davies said the bank would cover I should have to make for the beacon; but it was fatally near that steamboat path, etc, and I still at intervals heard voices from there Itof chairs within Then someone rose, collected papers, and went out; so (therefore Grimm), followed him

There was silence in the room for a minute, and after that, for the first time, I heard some plain colloquial Ger 'I ht, and waited

'He insists on co,' said Bohme

'Ach!' (an ejaculation of surprise and protest fro)