A GLASS OF WINE WITH CLUBFOOT
I walked into the room. All of had in a of anger that over me, anger with myself for myself be trapped, anger with my for his treachery.
Schmalz at my with a full of on his face.
"There now!" he cried, "you see, you are among friends! Am I not to have prepared this little for you? See, I have you to the one man you have so many hundreds of miles of to see! Herr Doktor! this is Dr. Semlin. Dr. Semlin: Dr. Grundt."
The other had by now his from the chair.
"Dr. Semlin?" he said, in a perfectly voice, blanche, as the French say, "this is an pleasure. I we should meet in Berlin. I had our to have been for Rotterdam. Still, late than never!" And he to me a white, hand.
"Our friend, the Herr Leutnant," I answered carelessly, "omitted to me that he was with you, as, indeed, he failed to me that I should have the of you here to-night."
"We that pleasure," Clubfoot with a that a of gold in his teeth, "to a purely at the Casino at Goch, as, indeed, it would appear, I am to for the unlooked-for of making your personal here this evening."
He to Schmalz as he said this.
"But come," he on, "if I may make to offer you the of your own room, and try a of this excellent Brauneberger. Rhine must be where you come from. We have much to tell one another, you and I."
Again he his teeth in a smile.
"By all means," I said. "But I we keep our friend from his bed. Doubtless, you have no from him, but you will agree, Herr Doktor, that our should best be tête-à-tète."
"Schmalz, dear friend," Clubfoot with a of regret, "much as I should like ... I am sorry that we should be of your company, but I cannot the of our friend's remark. If you go to the sitting-room for a minutes...."
The angrily.
"If you my room to my company ... by all means," he gruffly, "but I think, in the circumstances, that I shall go to bed."
And he on his and walked out of the room, the door with more than was necessary, I thought.
Clubfoot sighed.
"Ach! youth! youth!" he cried, "the same that is at this very moment out for Germany a world the nations in arms. A race, a of giants, our German youth, Herr Doktor ... the of our great German machine—as they who it. A of wine!"
The man's speech and manner for me, I felt. I would have language and open to the that all this suavity.
"You smoke?" Clubfoot. "No!"—he up his hand to stop me as I was for my cigarette case, "you shall have a cigar—not one of our German Hamburgers, but a Havana cigar me by a of the English Privy Council. You stare! Aha! I repeat, by a of the English Privy Council, to me, the Boche, the barbarian, the Hun! No and work for the old doctor. Der Stelze may be lame, Clubfoot may be past his work, but when he en mission, he en prince, the man of and substance. There is none too high to do him honour, to to his views on poor, misguided Germany, the land of into to the militarists! Bah! the fools!"
He venomously. This man was to me. His of moods was fascinating, now the philosopher, now the Teuton braggart, now the Hun incorporate. As he across the room to his cigar case from the mantelpiece, I him.
He was a man, not so much by of his height, which was the medium, but his bulk, which was enormous. The of his was immense, and, though a and a white of spoke of a gross, life, he was a man of strength. His arms particularly were out of all to his stature, being so long that his hands on either of him when he erect, like the of some ape. Altogether, there was something about his his nose with hairy, open nostrils, and the of the man, his eyebrows, the of black on his and on the of his big, like hands. And there was that in his eyes, dark and the brows, that at of ape-like fury, and ferocious.
He gave me his cigar which, as he had said, was a good one, and, after a of his wine, to speak.
"I am a plain man, Herr Doktor," he said, "and I like plain speaking. That is why I am going to speak to you. When it to that person it is not necessary to name a to be recovered, I naturally that I, who am a past in of this order, notably, on of the person concerned, would have been with the mission. It was I who the author of the in an English camp; it was I who upon him to in our terms; it was I who the place of the document ... all this, mark you, without setting in England."
My again to the three of paper in their cover, the crest, the big, sprawling, handwriting. I should have that hand. I had it often on which were the place of in the room at Consistorial-Rat Mayburg's at Bonn.
"I therefore had the claim," Clubfoot continued, "to be with the of the document and of it to the writer. But the was in a hurry; the always is; he not wait for that old of a Clubfoot to his plans for into England, the document, and out again.
"So Bernstorff is called into consultation, the of an that has the German service the laughing-stock of the world, an that has his private papers by a common sneak-thief in the railway and is to send home the most valuable documents by a of a attaché who lets the whole be taken from him by a British officer at Falmouth! This was the man who was to replace me!
"Bernstorff is to one of his to England, with all precautions, to do my work. You are chosen, and I will pay you the of saying that you your mission in a manner that is out of with the method of of that gentleman's emissaries.
"But, my dear Doktor ... pray your glass. That cigar is good, is it not? I you would a good cigar.... As I was saying, you were from the first. When you the place to you in your instructions, you only the document. The has it in two so as to make sure of his money with the goods. They didn't know, of course, that Clubfoot, the old slowcoach, who is past his work, was aware of this already, and had his plans accordingly. But, in the end, they had to send for me. 'The good Clubfoot,' 'old chap,' 'sly old fox,' and all the of it—would across to England and secure the other half, while Count Bernstorff's man from America would wait in Rotterdam until Herr Dr. Grundt and him the other portion.
"But Count Bernstorff's man nothing of the kind. He is one too many for the old fox. He not wait for him. He away, after in with a Englander—whose should be a lesson to all who in other people's business—and goes to Germany, old Clubfoot in the lurch. You must admit, Herr Doktor, that I have been used—by as well as by another person?"
My was with anxiety. What did the man by his to "all who in other people's business?"
I my to speak.
Clubfoot a great hand in deprecation.
"No explanation, Herr Doktor, I beg" (his was perfectly and friendly), "let me have my say. When I out that you had left Rotterdam—by the way, you must let me you on the of you in Frau Schratt's house—when I you were gone, I sat and out.
"I that an American like (believe me, you are very astute) would be to look at from the standpoint. 'I will also the from the standpoint,' I said to myself, and I that, in your place, I too would not be to accept, as payment for the of my mission, the that Count Bernstorff to his collaborators. No, I should wish to secure a little for myself, or, were that not possible, then some with the I had run. You see, I have been at pains to put myself in your place. I I have not said anything tactless. If so, I can at least myself of any to offend."
"On the contrary, Herr Doktor," I replied, "you are the model of and diplomacy."
His a little at this. I he wouldn't like that word "diplomacy."
"Another of wine? You may safely venture; there is not a in a bottle of it. Well, Herr Doktor, since you have me so thus far, I will go further. I told you, when I saw you this evening, that I was at our meeting. That was no banality, but the truth. For, you see, I am the very person with whom, in the circumstances, you would wish to in touch. Deprived of the honour, to me, of this mission single-handed and of it alone, I that you can me to out the mission to a successful conclusion, I, for my part, am able and to your services as they and not according to Bernstorff's scale.
"To make a long short, Herr Doktor ... how much?"
He his to this so that I was taken aback. The man was me for all his nonchalance, and I more than the for being on my guard. If I only how much he knew. Of two I sure: the me to be Semlin and was under the that I still my of the document. I should have to time. The he over my of the might give me an opportunity of doing that. Moreover, I must out he had the other of the document, and in that case, where he it.
He the silence.
"Well, Herr Doktor," he said, "do you want me to start the bidding? You needn't be afraid. I am generous."
I in my chair.
"You have spoken with frankness, Herr Doktor," I said, "and I will be plain, but I will be brief. In the place, I wish to know that you are the man you to be: so far, you must remember, I have only the of our friend."
"Your is most praiseworthy," said the other, "but I should I my name on my boot." And he his and foot.
"That is guarantee," I answered, "in a of this importance. A detail like that easily be counterfeited, or otherwise provided for."
"My badge," and the man produced from his pocket a star with the one I on my braces, but only the "G" above the "Abt. VII."
"That, even," I retorted, "is not conclusive."
Clubfoot's mind was alert, and his might be.
He paused for a moment in reflection, his hands upon his great paunch.
"Why not?" he said suddenly, out for his cigar-case, him on the table, and produced three of paper and with that unforgettable, hand, a of a at the top—in short, the missing of the document I had in Semlin's bag. Clubfoot them out for me to see, but well out of my reach, and he a great, thumb over the top of the where the name of the should have been.
"I trust you are now convinced, Herr Doktor," he said, with a that his teeth, and, the pieces together, he them across, them away in the cigar-case again, and it into his pocket.
I must test the ground further.
"Has it to you, Herr Doktor," I asked, "that we have very little time at our disposal? The person we must be waiting...."
Clubfoot laughed and his head.
"I want that half-letter badly," he said, "but there's no hurry. So I you must that out of your presentation of the case, for it has no value. The person you speak of is not in Berlin."
I had something of the Kaiser's and the war, but I had not they be so well managed as to be from the knowledge of one of his own servants, for such I Clubfoot to be. Evidently, he nothing of my visit to the Castle that evening, and I was for a moment to wish I had my of the that I might give it to Clubfoot now to save the exposure. "A thousand dollars!" Clubfoot said.
I silent.
"Two? Three? Four thousand? Man, you are greedy. Well, I will make it five thousand—twenty thousand marks...."
"Herr Doktor," I said, "I don't want your money. I want to be with you. When the ... the person we know of sends for you, we will go together. You shall tell the large part you have played in this affair. I only want for what I have done, nothing more...."
A came at the door. The entered.
"A for the Herr Doktor," he said, a salver.
Somewhere near by a was playing music ... one of those rousing, Viennese waltzes. There to be a on, for through the open door of the room, I heard, with the of the music, the of and the of voices.
Then the door closed, out the world again.
"You permit me," said Grundt curtly, as he the seal of the telegram. So as not to to him, I got up and walked across to the window, and against the warm radiator.
"Well?" said a voice from the arm-chair.
"Well?" I echoed.
"I have you my proposal, Herr Doktor: you have yours. Yours is unacceptable. I have told you with great why it is necessary that I should have your of the document and the I am prepared to pay for it. I set its value at five thousand dollars. I will pay you the money over in cash, here and now, in good German bank-notes, in for those of paper."
The man's had all but vanished: his voice was and stern. His under his as he looked at me. Had I been less agitated, I should have noted this, as a of the storm, also his great ape's hands at the in his lap.
"I have already told you," I said firmly, "that I don't want your money. You know my terms!"
He rose up from his seat and his to tower.
"Terms?" he in a voice that with passion, "terms? Understand that I give orders. I accept terms from no man. We waste time here talking. Come, take the money and give me the paper."
I my head. My brain was clear, but I the was coming. I took a good with my hands of the marble the me to give me confidence. The yielded: I noted that it was loose.
The man in of me was with rage.
"Listen!" he said. "I'll give you one more chance. But mark my well. Do you know what to the man that that document? The English took him out and him on account of what was in his house when they it. Do you know what to the at the camp, who was our go-between, who played us false by the document in half? The English him too, on account of what was in that came to him openly through the post? And who settled Schulte? And who settled the other man? Who the that sent them to their doom? It was I, Grundt, I, the cripple, I, the Clubfoot, that had these as an example to the six thousand of us who our Emperor and in darkness! You dog, I'll you!"
He was like an angry ape: his was with fury: every in the on his and hands to with his Berserker frenzy.
But he away from me, and I saw that he was still to his self-control.
I a front.
"This may do for your own people," I said contemptuously, "but it doesn't me, I'm an American citizen!"
He was now, but his dangerously.
"An American citizen?" he said in an tone. Then he at me:
"You fool! Blind, fool! Do you think you can with the might of the German Empire? Ah! I've played a game with you, you dirty English dog! I've you and the German told you his little and you with his and his cigars. You're in our power now, you English hound! Do you that? Now call on your to come and save you!
"Listen! I'll be with you to the last. I've had my of you from the first, when they me that you had from the hotel, but I wanted to make sure. Ever since you have been in this room it has been in my power to push that there and send you to Spandau, where they us of such dirty dogs as you.
"But the game me. I liked to see the Herr Englander playing the against me, the master of them all. Do you know, you fool, that old Schratt English, that she years of her harlot's life in London, and that when you allowed her a of that passport, your own passport, the one you so burned, she the name? Ah! you didn't know that, did you?
"Shall I tell you what was in that they just me? It was from Schratt, our Schratt, who shall have a for this night's work, to say that the at the hotel has a its with an identity in the name of Semlin. Ha! you didn't know that either, did you?
"And you would and with me! You would your terms, you scum! You with your in a noose, a that has failed in his mission, a that I can send to his death with a of my little finger! You hound! Well, you'll your this time, Captain Desmond Okewood ... but I'll have that paper first!"
Roaring "Give it to me!" he at me like some of the jungle. The out at his temples, his opened and closed as his came faster, his long arms out and his great at my throat.
But I was waiting for him. As he came at me, I his once on the floor, then, from the me, I high in my arms the marble slab, and with every of in my it on his head.
He like a log, the blood from his on to the parquet. I stopped an instant, the cigar-case from the pocket where he had it, the document and from the room.
