“That time I hadn’t calculated. …”
“Exactly, you hadn’t calculated correctly. Pesch is withdrawing; let him be closely watched by the Removal Committee, for he is impulsive, and if he plays the slightest trick he can be strung up beside Haim. By the way, they haven’t found him yet. … How much did you pay for the cerium?”
“It was dearer than. …”
“Everything always is dearer than … the Poles or the Bolsheviks can get it. How much?”
“Fifty marks.”
“Fifty Swiss francs then. They must have it, so don’t yield a stiver!”
He whistled into the speaking-tube under the table.
“George there?” he called out. “Everything in order? … Good. The Rhine is waiting, Spoerri. George, you are to be pilot; don’t forget the securities. That’s all for the present”; and turning again to Spoerri, “You’ll be in no danger in going to Zürich, Spoerri, will you?”
“I am all right as soon as I’ve passed the Customs, and then I go on as a priest.”
“If you travel by the Rhine, you’ll avoid the Customs; you can take charge of the securities and put them in the bank, to the account of Salbaz de Marte, mining engineer. Here is the list: a million in German Luxembourg stock, two million German Colonial Loan, five hundred thousand-mark notes. These are to be changed at once into milreis; that gives a better exchange than either dollars or Swiss francs. Inform Dr. Ebenhügel that fresh securities have been deposited, and that I want him to make use of the first favourable opportunity and sell for milreis. … There is one rather difficult matter to settle: the disposal of the people who have been working for me in Constance. If they are unemployed. …”
“Many don’t want to work any longer, in any case,” said Spoerri.
“I know. Those are the folks who have all they want; there’s nothing to fear from them. With my help they have got their own houses and are free of debt. But sometimes I have been obliged to take any workers I could get, and those who don’t own their houses should be carefully watched. The powder magazine is at Constance, for the young fellows live there, and if we suddenly withdraw these high wages from them, there is nothing for them to do but steal, and in a week’s time they’ll find themselves in prison and will be blabbing everything in their rage. Talk to George about this, and see what is to be done. He’s going there tomorrow. The safest thing would be to pack them off into the Foreign Legion. Go and see Magnard as soon as you have finished up in Zürich and Meran. Don’t forget to claim the commission for them. Give it to George, who can divide it among those concerned. … Authorize Böhm to sell the three motorboats that we have on the lake besides the Rhine. That always bears the ensign of the Royal Würtemberg Yacht Club and therefore is unnoticed. Keep the Rhine in this neighbourhood for any emergency. The boat can do sixty kilometres if it is well handled. Let us go.”
George was waiting outside. The three men felt their way through the darkness to the landing-stage, where they could hear the boat’s engines throbbing.
“You have followed out my orders and there’s nothing on board?” said Mabuse.
“Nothing but the cerium.”
“Take it out then. I am not a dealer in scrap-iron!”
George hastened forward. Three men were busy in the gloom. Then Mabuse and Spoerri went on board and the boat started, going cautiously through the night. The engine scarcely throbbed. There was a slight vibration in the cabin where Mabuse sat, wrapped in his fur coat; then he went to the deck aft, and impatiently forward to the engine. After they had travelled for a while, he listened intently. It seemed to him as if through the sounds made by his own boat a noise reached his ears.
“Stop!” he cried suddenly.
George stopped the engine, and the sounds outside ceased. They started again, and immediately the sounds on the water, now on the right and again on the left, were heard once more. Mabuse went on the foredeck, where the noise of the engine was not so distinct. From there he could hear them quite distinctly.
“We are pursued, or at any rate under surveillance,” he thought. “Can it be that lawyer-detective Wenk?” Calmly, yet defiantly, he got his pistols ready. In the darkness he tried to discern what flag the Rhine was carrying, but it was impossible to find out.
“Spoerri,” he called out softly, and Spoerri came out of the cabin. “What are we travelling as? Don’t you hear that we are being followed?”
“No, no,” said Spoerri, “we are a Swiss patrol-boat tonight. I heard that the Germans were about, so I ordered the three other boats to act as convoy. One is travelling behind us, the others on each side. Nobody could reach us; we are already in Swiss waters.”
“How much a year do you earn in my service, that makes you take such care of me?” said Mabuse spitefully.
“Quite enough,” answered Spoerri;
