Part 8 (2/2)

There would be noto fascinate ood fellohite entleed to my own totem But the other was an incarnation of all that ether the ordinary Ger hirossness was apparently not in the way of fleshly appetites Cruelty, from all I had heard of him in Gers in hiood, and he had that kind of crazy patriotish coood soldier But probably he was a big man in his own line, whatever it was, for the Under-Secretary fellow had talked sreat a man as Gaudian clearly respected him There must be no lack of brains inside that funny pyra back to think if I had got the slightest clue toso far Stumm had talked of a von Einem woman as interested in his department, perhaps the same woman as the Hilda he had mentioned the day before to the Under-Secretary There was not much in that She was probably soh politics If I could have caught the word Stumm had whispered to Gaudian which made hile of so like 'uhnmantl', which wasn't any German word that I knew

The heat put an drea Where had Blenkiron been posting to in that train, and as he up to at thiswith ambassadors and swells-I wondered if he had found out anything What was Peter doing? I fervently hoped he was behaving himself, for I doubted if Peter had really tumbled to the delicacy of our job Where was Sandy, too? As like as not bucketing in the hold of soht of my battalion so at the Boche, while I was five hundred miles or so inside the Boche frontier

It was a co in vain to find a way of stoking that stove, for it was a cold night, I got up and walked about the room There were portraits of two decent old fellows, probably Gaudian's parents There were enlarged photographs, too, of engineering works, and a good picture of Bismarck And close to the stove there was a case of maps mounted on rollers

I pulled out one at randoical map of Germany, and with some trouble I found out where I was I was an enoroal and o there I o to Bavaria and then into Austria I noticed the Danube flowing eastwards and remembered that that was one way to Constantinople

Then I tried anotherarea, all Europe frouessed that it was h routes fros on it; and, as I looked closer, I saw that there were dates scribbled in blue pencil, as if to denote the stages of a journey The dates began in Europe, and continued right on into Asia Minor and then south to Syria

For a ht I had fallen by accident on the clue I wanted But I never got that ently I let the map roll up and turned away When the door opened I was bending over the stove trying to get a light for my pipe

It was Gaudian, to bid me join him and Stumm in his study

On our way there he put a kindly hand on ht I was bullied by Stumm and wanted to tell e than a pat on the back

The soldier was in his old position with his elbows on the reat jaw stuck out

'Listen to me,' he said 'Herr Gaudian and I are inclined to make use of you You may be a charlatan, in which case you will be in the devil of a ue you will have little scope for roguery We will see to that If you are a fool, you will yourself suffer for it But if you are a good man, you will have a fair chance, and if you succeed ill not forget it Toet your orders'

I made shi+ft to stand at attention and salute

Gaudian spoke in a pleasant voice, as if he wanted to atone for Stumm's imperiousness 'We are men who love our Fatherland, Herr Brandt,' he said 'You are not of that Fatherland, but at least you hate its enemies Therefore we are allies, and trust each other like allies Our victory is ordained by God, and we are none of us more than His instruments'

Stumm translated in a sentence, and his voice was quite soleht hand and so did Gaudian, like a ation

Then I realized soood and bad, cads and gentlemen, but she could put a bit of the fanatic into them all

CHAPTER SIX

The Indiscretions of the Sa in that icy bedroo to bathe in about a quart of water, when Stumm entered He strode up to me and stared in with, and a man does not feel his stoutest when he has no clothes, so he had the pull on me every way

'I have reason to believe that you are a liar,' he growled

I pulled the bed-cover roundwith cold, and the German idea of a towel is a pocket-handkerchief I oas in a pretty blue funk

'A liar!' he repeated 'You and that swine Pienaar'

With my best effort at surliness I asked e had done