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and shoot him. I shall tell him why first, so it will be quite fair.”

Reck was on the point of saying, “Suppose he refuses to go?” when he glanced at

Hambledon’s face and somehow the question seemed foolish, so he omitted it and substituted

another. “What happens after that?”

“After that we leave, as inconspicuously as possible, in a ship bound for England if we

can find one, if not, in a ship bound for anywhere except Germany. Have you ever been a

stowaway, my wandering boy?”

“Never,” said Reck, “and I—”

“Never mind,” said Tommy cheerfully. “You will. We had better go and buy ourselves

some clothes, any slop shop will do, and a couple of cheap suit-cases. We can then walk out of

this hotel in these suits, change in any secluded spot which seems convenient, and proceed on

our way to the docks.”

“It might not be a bad plan,” suggested Reck, “if we went to the docks beforehand and

had a look round. We might be in a hurry when we do leave.”

“Sound idea,” said Hambledon. “We might go this afternoon, I shouldn’t think my flock

would get into serious trouble between 2 and 4 p.m.”

They found the sort of shop they were looking for, and bought clothes of the sort that

seafaring men wear when they spruce up to come ashore. They changed into their new suits in a

place where a desire for privacy is respected, packed their other garments in the suit-cases, and

emerged into the hot sunshine of a Baltic summer’s day. Hambledon, strange to relate, had his

head bandaged, the Chief of the German Police had become fairly well known by sight in

Danzig.

“I can’t imagine,” said Reck, turning his wrists uneasily in his coat sleeves, “why we

think of the poor as thinly clad. These are the thickest garments I ever wore.”

“I know what is meant,” said Tommy, easing his coat collar where it chafed his neck, “by

hard-wearing cloth. It means hard on the wearer. How do I look?”

“Too clean and tidy. How do I look?”

“Too respectable. Couldn’t you look a bit more—I think ‘raffish’ is the word I want?

Leer at the girls.”

“Leer yourself,” said the horrified Reck. “At my age—I tell you what. These clothes want

sleeping in, I remember now. When I was selling papers, a woman gave me quite a decent suit

once, at least, it had been cleaned and pressed, I think it had been fumigated too, but never mind.

I felt quite smart for a day, but I had to sleep in the things that night—it was cold—and next

morning—well, I was myself again, that’s all.”

“I’ll treat these to-night. Do you think it would do as well if I crumpled them up and slept

on them?”

“No,” said Reck unkindly. “Where are we going?”

“To take a room in some dockside tavern. We don’t want to have to wander about

seeking accommodation if we ourselves are being urgently sought, we want to be able to dive in

and stay there. We will make sure the proprietor knows us again, too.”

“I think this’ll do,” said Tommy, a little later. “It looks to be more or less what we want,

and I don’t think I wish to walk any farther this afternoon, anyway. I have exercised the pores of

my skin quite enough, and as for this bandage, phew! The Seven Stars, even if someone crowns

us with a bottle we ought to be able to remember that. Come in.”

“I am still a teetotaller,” said Reck firmly.

“Not here, my lad; at least, not so as anyone would notice it. Perhaps there’s an aspidistra

you can make friends with. Here goes.”

There was no aspidistra, but there were some ferns in pots along the bar in places where

they would not inconvenience customers. Reck took his stand by one of them, and it is to be

hoped that
Pteris cretica
likes schnapps.

After that, they inspected a room which was vacant, approved it, and paid a deposit. More

schnapps and a little light converse with the innkeeper completed their business, and they left the

place, changed back into their ordinary clothes on the way home and returned to Hambledon’s

hotel. One of the police whom he had detailed to follow Schultz and Petzer came in to report.

“The suspects spent the morning quietly in the vicinity of their lodgings,” he said,

referring to a note-book. “They visited various taverns, I have a list of them here.”

“Omit the list,” said Hambledon.

“Very good, sir. At one-fifteen they came to the neighbourhood of this hotel and hung

about, one in front and the other, Petzer, in view of the side entrance. Pursuant upon your

instructions, I concentrated upon Schultz. At two-fifteen precisely, the suspect Petzer came

rapidly round the corner from the side entrance, spoke to the suspect Schultz, and both walked

away at a good pace.”

Hambledon allowed his glance to stray carelessly in the direction of Reck, who gave no

sign of having heard anything interesting. Nevertheless, two-fifteen was the hour at which they

themselves had left the side entrance to the hotel.

“The suspects walked fast at first and then more slowly through several streets towards

the poorer quarter of the town. I have a list of the streets.”

“Omit the list.”

“Very good, sir. They hung about for some time in a small street off the Johannis Gasse,

started again towards the river and again waited just inside the north door of the Johannis Kirche.

Here they stayed about twenty minutes. There seemed to be a certain amount of discussion as to

what they should do next, they were plainly arguing, and as they passed me I heard Petzer say, ‘I

don’t think it is,’ and Schultz answered, ‘I do. I’m sure it is.’ They then proceeded in the

direction of the wharves along the Mottlau and came to another stop in an archway opposite a

tavern called the Seven Stars. The time was then three-forty-eight. They waited here until four-

thirty-two and then returned to the Johannis Kirche where they stayed for only twelve minutes.

They then walked smartly in the direction of this hotel. When it became evident where they were

heading, I rang up Hermann as arranged and he took over from me outside here at the moment

when the suspects went away. That is all I have to report.”

“Very good,” said Hambledon, rose to his feet and took a turn across the room and back.

“I think it probable,” he went on, “that they have now gone home. Find out, and telephone to

me.”

“Very good, sir,” said the man, saluted, and left the room. Hambledon looked at Reck and

laughed.

“So much for our beautiful disguises,” he said. “Schultz and Petzer have been trailing us

all the afternoon.”

“Apparently our disguises were good enough for your police,” said Reck.

“They weren’t looking for us, and anyway, they were busy. Ever tried trailing anybody

through crowded streets without getting near enough for him to see you? It’s a hell of a job, you

don’t notice much else. But you see what’s happened, don’t you? They know where we’re going,

what we’re going to look like, and most serious of all, the fact that we are arranging to get away

—they must have guessed that. They know a lot too much.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Have something to eat, for a start, I can’t do anything till that fellow telephones. I hope

he’ll be quick, because some of the Commission want to go for a stroll round Danzig to-night

and I shall be expected to go with them. I should, anyway, because heaven knows what mischief

they’d get into if they were out on their own.”

“Bear-leading, eh?”

“No. Puppy-walking.”

Half an hour later the telephone rang, Hambledon lifted the receiver and said “Yes” at

intervals. He ended by saying, “Very good. You and Bermann can both go off duty now. Yes,

there is no need to continue the watch to-night. Report here for duty at 10 a.m. to-morrow.” He

put the receiver down. “They have gone in, the police are going off, and I am going out. See you

later.”

“Don’t you want me?” said Reck.

“No. Yes, you can sit in the car, it may save questions, and you might be useful keeping

Schultz in order on the drive. I shall leave the car by the Heilige-Geist Kirche and you will stay

with it. Bring your automatic.”

Hambledon walked along the street behind the Fischmarkt, turned into the entrance of an

apartment house and walked up the stairs without hesitation. It was a shabby building with paint

peeling off the walls, worn stone stairs with an iron handrail leading straight up from the door,

and a fine mixed smell of cookery, oilskins and damp stone floors. There were two doors on each

half landing, Hambledon went up three flights with his right hand in his coat pocket, opened the

first door with his left hand and went swiftly in. In fact, it might be said that he burst in except

that he did it so quietly, but the precaution was wasted, for the room was empty.

There were two rooms in the apartment, a sitting-room first and a bedroom opening out

of it, Hambledon listened intently for any sound in the further room, but there was none, so he

walked through and investigated it. It had two beds, a dressing-table and a washstand, with signs

of masculine occupation in the way of shaving-tackle, spare boots and a coat or two. One of the

coats, hung from a nail on the back of the door, had a pocket which looked heavy. It contained an

automatic.

“Careless, careless,” said Tommy, and thoughtfully unloaded it. “Possibly one of our

friends is unarmed.”

He returned to the sitting-room. There was a table in the middle, with playing-cards lying

in confusion on it, a pipe, a tin half full of tobacco, a packet of cigarettes and some matches.

“Good,” said Hambledon, surveying this. “They won’t be long, they’ve only gone to

fetch the beer.”

The window was wide open to the hot evening, and directly opposite to him, only about

fifteen feet away, was another window, also open. Tommy glanced down, there was a well

between, probably intended by an optimistic architect to supply ventilation to the building all

round it, but it was completely airless and smelt of onions. He drew back again rather too late,

for there was a movement in the room opposite, a girl came to the window and leaned out, her

elbows on the sill, watching him. He turned away, but she only laughed and shouted a remark

across to him. He scowled and withdrew modestly into the bedroom where she could not see him

so long as he stayed near the door, though this room was, of course, equally commanded by the

window opposite to it.

“Trudi!” called the girl to some unseen friend elsewhere in the block. “Just fancy. A new

man opposite, an’ he’s shy!”

A voice below called up a reply which Tommy felt sure was better inaudible. “Confound

the girl,” he said irritably, “if all these windows fill with Delilahs I am sunk. As it is, if she sees

me with a gun in my hand she’ll tell the world.”

However, the window opposite the bedroom remained vacant, Hambledon pushed the

door almost shut, and waited.

Presently the outer door of the apartment opened and two men entered, talking. Objects

were set upon the table with bumps, chairs were drawn up, and there were sounds of settling

down.

“Have a drink,” said one voice.

“Thanks, I don’t care if I do,” said the other.

“You look worried,” said the first voice, to the accompaniment of pouring noises. “Buck

up.”

“I shall be glad when it’s over; didn’t reckon on being mixed up in this sort of game.”

“You don’t ‘ave to do nothin’, on’y come with me an’ help in the getaway. You’ll be

good at that.”

“Did you say it was to-night?”

“To-night, yes. Listen, it’s easy. Some of that high-an’-mighty Commission are goin’ out

to-night on the binge, an’ Lehmann’s goin’ too to keep ’em in some sort of order. Well, you

know what those sort of toffs are when they’re on holiday. ‘Show us somethin’ tough,’ they say,

an’ off they goes an’ all piles into some dockside pub they’d turn their noses up at at home. ‘

‘Ow quaint,’ they say, ‘ ‘ow interesting.’ I’ve ‘eard ’em.”

“Well?”

“Well, I’m havin’ some of the boys keepin’ a look out for ’em. When they goes in

somewhere where the likes of us can go, we all piles in and soon somebody starts a bit of bother

over somethin’. In the ensooin’ uproar, guns are drawn an’ the Chief of Police is unfort’nately

shot dead. After which we all leaves in ‘aste, as is natural, an’ you an’ me comes back ‘ere, picks

up our bits and pieces, and takes the first train for Berlin. See? Simple.”

“Don’t see what you want me around for at all,” objected Petzer.

“Gawd knows a strip of dried cod ‘ud be more generally useful,” said his candid friend,

“but you will at least know the way back ‘ere from wherever we are—”

The bedroom door opened noiselessly, and Hambledon appeared on the threshold, with

his hand in his pocket out of regard for the lady in the room opposite, who was still leaning on

the sill. In the same moment he saw Schultz’s automatic on the table within reach of his hand, no

time for argument here.

“Talking of shooting,” said Tommy conversationally, “do you remember Ginsberg?

That’s for Ginsberg,” he said, and shot Schultz through the head. The man slid to the floor, the

gun he had snatched up spinning from his hand, and immediately pandemonium broke loose. The

girl opposite uttered an ear-splitting shriek and followed it with cries of “Murder! Murder!