the confidence of success which nessa had so frankly expressed, she had certainly imparted to me. the fact that she had already hit on the idea of playing a boy's part in the attempt to escape, had obtained everything necessary for it, and had actually spent some time in rehearsing it, was a stroke of such luck, that i was more than half inclined to throw the other plans over and adopt that one at once.
if by any means the necessary identification card could be got, the hope of success was strong and full of promise. nessa could speak german quite as well as i could, and her accent, when she had put that question to me about the fag and her wonderful change of expression, had been done to the life.
she had always been a clever character actress, and there was no doubt that she could keep it up in any sort of emergency. that she liked the idea, there was no question; and as for myself—the thought of such a companionship with her in such a venture pulled like a 200 h.p. engine.
her instinct was right, too, in chiming with her inclination. it was our best chance—failing old von gratzen's, of course. ever so much better than risking any trouble for rosa by using her passport. feldmann must be made to see that, for it might induce him to get the card for me.
that night i went most carefully into all the details of the plan, trying to foresee all that might happen; and then i remembered the story which gunter, my pal in the flying corps, had told me of his escape when engine trouble had brought him down inside the german lines.
"it's only a matter of bluff, jack," he said, "when one can jabber the lingo as we can, and a few simple precautions. here's one of 'em. i never go up without it."
"what the dickens is it?" i asked as he handed me what looked like a red flannel pad for his tummy.
"looks innocent, doesn't it? my 'tummy pad,' i call it. just a protection against chills, eh? that's what they thought when they searched me. but inside the flannel there's a coil of silk cord long enough and strong enough to tie up a man's arms, and his legs too at need. it's my own notion; and since my little trip, i've added something more. sewn up in the flannel there's enough put-you-to-by-by stuff to keep a man or two quiet for as long as necessary. if i'd had that, i shouldn't have had to risk knocking my guard on the head and choking the breath out of him."
"tell me, dick."
"well, my chance came almost as soon as they'd got me. of course i burnt the old bus and shoved my hands up, and after they'd made sure i wasn't armed, they just put one chap in charge of me with orders to take me somewhere. it was quite dark then and, pretending that i was beastly uncomfortable after the search, i fiddled about with my clothes and managed to get my cord handy. then i picked a suitable spot, asked him some fool question or other, and went for him. he was only a fat landsturmer and hadn't more than a few wriggles in him; but i had to bash him over the head to make sure—that's where i wanted the dope, of course. then i changed togs with him, trussed him up with my cord and started off on my own. bluff did the rest, all right."
"but what did you do, old dear?"
he laughed and lit another cigarette. "i marched into the first cottage i came to, scared the folk out of their lives, and in the name of kaiser bill commandeered clothes for a wounded prisoner. they parted like a lamb, and five minutes afterwards i was transformed into a workman."
"but you'd no identification card?"
this brought another quiet laugh. "i worked that all right. there are no asses in the world too bad to bluff if you go the right way about it. my way was to go to the police. i pitched a yarn that i was an aero mechanic and had been sent for to go hotfoot to ellendorff, a little place close to the dutch frontier where i knew there was a factory, and that i'd been waylaid and robbed on the road. it sounds thin as i tell it; but i had mucked myself up to look the part, and, above all, i had gone to the police, mind you; itself the best proof that i wasn't a wrong 'un: and i chose the middle of the night, when only one sleepy owl was on duty. he swallowed it all right, except that he thought i was drunk and at first wanted to keep me till the morning; but when i kicked up a fuss, told him he'd get into a devil of a row, and said he'd better call his boss, he thought better of it, gave me what i wanted and was thankful to see my back and go to sleep again. i had no more trouble; was stopped once or twice, but the card got me through; and i reached the frontier easily enough. luck favoured me there. i ran across a couple of deserters, palled up with them, and—well, that's all."
gunter's story had made a big impression on me at the time, and in my old student days at göttingen i had had quite enough experiences of the power of a good bluff on the average german official to know that it was quite feasible, so i resolved to profit by it now.
i had plenty of time the next day to complete all the necessary preparations and added a few of my own devising. these were some "iron rations," in case of difficulties about our food supply; two or three tools, including a heavy spanner which would serve as a weapon at need; and a shabby suit case to hold everything.
i packed everything into this, lifted a board under the lino in my bathroom, and hid it there, lest any one in my absence might take a fancy to go through my luggage.
with a road map and a railway guide the route to be taken was soon decided. the dutch frontier was to be the goal. it was much nearer than the swiss; and as westphalia was the region of factories, it was much more plausible that a couple of mechanics would travel that way, than in any other direction.
gunter's mention of the one at ellendorff, a village near lingen, and close to the frontier, suggested a good objective; and the rough idea was to make the journey in stages, so as to put people off the scent should suspicion be roused. it was safer than risking a trip in one of the through expresses, and also much easier to book from small towns than right through from berlin.
all this took up a lot of time, especially as it was interrupted by several spells of speculation about the result of nessa's interview with von gratzen. this was very important, as it would probably determine the method of our departure; and when my preparations were completed and i was carefully reconsidering them over a cigarette, some one knocked at the door of my flat.
it was a stranger; a well-dressed, sharp-featured man and unmistakably a jew. "herr lassen?" he asked. i nodded. "my name is rudolff."
"what is it?"
"it would be better for me to tell you my business privately," he replied, with a gesture toward a couple of people passing on the stairs.
i took him into my sitting-room with an extremely uncomfortable notion that he was from the police.
"i am in a position to do you a considerable service, herr lassen," he said, squinting curiously round the room.
"who sent you to me and how did you know where to find me?"
"your arrival in the city is scarcely a secret, and i obtained your address from your friends in the karlstrasse. no one sent me to you, sir."
he wasn't from the police. that was a relief, and nothing else mattered. "and the service you spoke of?"
"you will not be surprised to hear that a number of people wish to find you?"
"as it's been easy for you, would it be difficult for them?"
"not so difficult as you might desire, perhaps. i say that because you appear somewhat to resent my visit. if that is really the case, of course i will go."
"i don't care whether you go or stop; but if you've anything that you think worth telling, tell it. i'll listen. i presume you haven't come out of mere philanthropy, by the way."
"i have not. i make no pretence of the sort. if the warning i can give you is worth anything, i am not so rich as to throw money away."
"out with it then." it was not only curiosity which prompted me to listen. it was probable that he was going to tell me some lurid incident of lassen's past, and it was just as well to hear it. it was also quite possible that after all he might come from von gratzen with the object of catching me tripping. his question suggested that.
"it was at göttingen, i believe, that you made the acquaintance of adolf gossen?"
"i dare say, but i don't remember anything about it,"
"ah, of course. you are the man without a memory. i have heard of your misfortune," he said, with a sly suggestive glance.
"and doubt it, eh? well, suppose you get on with the story?"
he took the hint, and it turned out to be about the same pretty affair von erstein had made so much of. it seemed, according to my visitor, that some one was in prison because of it; that his friends, whose names he gave, were furious; that they were looking high and low for me; and that if i remained in berlin they would find me and wreak their vengeance in any way that came handy. he declared he knew where to find them and they were prepared to pay for the information of my whereabouts.
the thing was either a palpable plant or this fellow had come from von erstein to try and frighten me out of the city.
"of course you mean that if i don't pay you, you will go to them?"
"not at all, sir," he cried, with a fine show of indignation. "i know these people to be scoundrels; they have treated me villainously; i have merely come to warn you. you can act upon it or not, of course. that is entirely a matter for you;" and to my surprise he got up without asking a mark for his news. "i have done all that i can do by coming."
"i don't know anything about the affair, as i told you, but i'm very much obliged to you;" and i took out my pocket-book as a hint.
"pardon me, sir," he exclaimed, flourishing his hands as if the sight of banknotes was an abomination, and shaking his head vigorously. "i could not think of accepting any money after what you have said. good afternoon;" and he was still gesturing at the shock of the idea when he left the flat.
this was so extremely unnatural for a german jew that it prompted suspicion. he had probably meant this pecuniary shyness as a startling proof of his honesty of purpose and general integrity.
that wasn't the effect it produced, however. it rather served to confirm the previous thought that von erstein had sent him to scare me. that the brute would do almost anything to see my back was a certainty, of course; and then an odd notion flitted across my thoughts.
whether it would be worth while to appear to tumble into the trap; go to him in the very dickens of a funk; make him believe my one object was to fly the country, in disguise, to holland preferably; and get him to procure the necessary permit, etc. the possibility of hoisting him with his own petard looked good; and the thought of his chagrin when he discovered that he had helped me to take nessa out of his clutches made the scheme positively alluring.
that it could be done, there was little doubt, and equally none that he could get the necessary papers; but the price to pay for them was too stiff. to have anything to do with such a mongrel was unthinkable so long as any other course was open; so i abandoned it until every other means had been tried.
the pressing question now was the result of nessa's interview with von gratzen, and i set off for the karlstrasse to hear about it. this time the door was opened by the girl marie; so i concluded that gretchen had either bolted or been sent about her business as the result of the previous day's affair. marie told me no one was at home and that rosa had gone with nessa and lottchen to the thiergarten.
i soon found them; and rosa played the part of the good fairy and kept the child with her while nessa told me the news.
"first let me tell you the good news," she said.
"do you mean that the other's bad then?"
"do have a little patience. the main thing is that rosa has induced herr feldmann to say where we can get the things you want. isn't that splendid?"
"yes, if you are able to get away with me; and that may depend on what passed to-day. is it all right?"
"you might as well ask me a riddle in russian. frankly i don't know what to make of it. of course it was to see baron von gratzen that i had to go to the amtstrasse. he seemed all right, but——" and she shrugged her shoulders and frowned.
"that's just the impression he always leaves on me."
"he was awfully kind in his manner; but it was lucky you warned me to be careful, for he kept popping in some question about you just when i wasn't expecting it, and whether i gave you away i can't say. i don't think i did; but then i'm not at all sure he didn't see that i was fencing."
"what did he talk about?"
"oh, he told me first that some one had declared i was really a spy; asked why i had stopped so long here? didn't i want to go home? and so on. of course that was all easy enough; but i think he was only trying to let me get over my nervousness; for, of course, i was awfully nervous; and at last he said he believed my story entirely, in fact that he knew it was the truth; that i wasn't to worry; that i need only report myself once a week; that it was the merest formality; and that probably i should never have to do it all, as he was pretty sure i should be sent home before the first day for reporting arrived."
"and was that all?"
"rather not; only the preface; and, mind you, he hadn't said a word about you up to then, not even mentioned your name."
"what came next then?"
"he asked me to talk about england and the english, saying that he had been there a lot and knew heaps of people; and then you came into the picture."
"did he ask about me, do you mean?"
"are you telling the story or am i?" and she rallied me with a smile which was good to see. she was much more like the nessa of old times, was in good spirits, and had thrown off much of the worrying load of depression. "i don't know whether you've done it, but to-day somehow i can't take things seriously."
"that's as it should be; but how did he bring me in?"
"well, he was either acting better than i could or he was perfectly sincere. what he did was to talk about people, mentioning a lot of names and asking me whether i knew any of them, and in the most casual tone in the world out popped yours."
"lassen?"
"of course not; your own, lancaster."
"phew! that's a caution, if you like. what did you say?"
she laughed softly. "i think i was one too many for him then. you see he'd prepared the ground in a way by mentioning people i'd never heard of, so i just shook my head, then pretended to think and said i wasn't sure that my mother had not known some lancasters. he'd been so decent, that that seemed easier than just lying outright. he was eager for more and asked me to try and remember, as he had a very particular reason for being interested in them; but that looked dangerous, so i thought it best not to remember anything else lancastrian."
"well?"
"don't rush me. i could tell that i was over that bridge all right; but it was only the first. after a bit he brought up jimmy lamb's name, and i laughed and clapped my hands and said he was my brother-in-law. why, what's the matter? was that wrong?" she cried, noticing my frown.
"perhaps not, but it was jimmy's passport i was to use, and he's supposed to have gone down in the burgen. it won't matter, probably."
"i'd forgotten all about that. no wonder he was interested and poured a volley of questions into me about him. but that was all safe enough, because i haven't heard a word about jimmy since i've been here, and naturally couldn't tell him anything. one of them was whether jimmy knew the lancasters, by the by. and i can see why he asked it."
unpleasantly ominous, this; since it was clear he was trying to establish the connection between me and jimmy. "and after that?"
"butter wouldn't have melted in his mouth. he asked me about you as lassen; safe ground again: and wound up by thanking me for having answered his questions so frankly; declared he was quite satisfied, and then, as i told you, said he would use his influence to see that i went home."
"anything about our going together?"
"yes. he said it might not be well for me to travel alone and asked if there was any one who could see me to the frontier."
"you didn't suggest me?" i broke in.
"really, herr lassen! do you think every english girl is a fool? i suggested herr feldmann. he shook his head, murmuring something about his being unable to get away; and then came the only thing that really scared me. 'of course you could go in the care of some of our people, but it would be better not, perhaps; so difficult to spare our folks just now;'—all that in a sort of meditative tone, and then with a change which in some way altered his very features, he fixed me with a look which seemed to pierce like red-hot gimlets into my very brain and read every thought in it, and asked me to suggest some one else. i positively shrivelled up inside, if you know what i mean; felt like a fish on the end of a fork thrust suddenly into a blazing fire. i don't know what i said or did. it must have mesmerized me, i suppose. i think i shook my head and stammered out that i didn't know of any one else; but i can't be certain. all i clearly remember is a feeling of intense relief when his eyes left mine, and i heard him say something about seeing to the matter. i never felt anything like it in my life before; and if i gave you away, it was then."
"i've had a look from him like that and can understand how it made you feel. that's why i can't place the man. hullo, look! there come his wife and daughter with the countess. we'd better join up. won't do to let them think we're too thick;" and we quickened up to rosa as the others reached the spot, and all stood chatting. presently lottchen drew me aside from the rest, declaring that she never saw anything of me now, and after a moment, nita, attracted by the child's loveliness, joined us.
i said something or other which made them both laugh, and just as the others turned round and looked at us, i had the surprise of my life.
a good-looking woman was passing, holding a tot of a kid by the hand; she glanced at me, stopped dead with a look of profound astonishment, paused to stare, hands clenched and pressed to her bosom, eyes wide, mouth agape, and every feature set as rigid as stone.
"johann!" little more than a whisper at first, and then loudly, "johann!" and without more ado she rushed up, flung her arms round my neck, and burst into a flood of passionate sobs mingled with equally passionate terms of affection.
