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uncle, and the campaign contributions of Irma Barnes which had made him a Deputy of France?

Lanny could pose as a Nazi sympathizer before Heinrich Jung—but hardly before the Führer's

head triggerman!

It was all mystifying in the extreme. Lanny thought: "Has Goebbels turned the matter over

to Goring, or has Goring grabbed it away from Goebbels?" Everybody knew that the pair were

the bitterest of rivals; but since they had become Cabinet Ministers their two offices must be

compelled to collaborate on all sorts of matters. Did they have jurisdictional disputes? Would

they come to a fight over the possession of a wealthy Jew and the ransom which might be

extorted from him? Goring gave orders to the Berlin police, while Goebbels, as Gauleiter of

Berlin, commanded the party machinery, and presumably the Brownshirts. Would the cowering

Johannes Robin become a cause of civil war?

And then, still more curious speculations: How had Goring managed to get wind of the

Johannes Robin affair? Did he have a spy in the Goebbels household? Or in the Goebbels

office? Or had Goebbels made the mistake of calling upon one of Goring's many departments for

information? Lanny imagined a spiderweb of intrigue being spun about the Robin case. It

doesn't take long, when the spinning is done with telephone wires.

III

Flunkies bowed the pair in, and a secretary led Lanny up a wide staircase and into a sumptuous

room with a high ceiling. There was the great man, lolling in an overstuffed armchair, with а

рilе of papers on a small table beside him, and another table with drinks on the other side.

Lanny had seen so many pictures of him that he knew what to expect: a mountain of a man,

having a broad sullen face with heavy jowls, pinched-in lips, and bags of fat under the eyes. He

was just forty, but had acquired a great expanse of chest and belly, now covered by a

resplendent blue uniform with white lapels. Suspended around his neck with two white

ribbons was a golden star having four double points.

The ex-aviator's love of power was such that he was assuming offices one after another:

Minister without Portfolio of the Reich, Minister-Prasident of Prussia, Air Minister,

Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force, Chief Forester of the Reich, Reich

Commissioner. For each he would have a new uniform, sky blue, cream, rose-pink. It wouldn't be

long before some Berlin wit would invent the tale of Hitler attending a performance of

Lohengrin, and falling asleep; between the acts comes the tenor in his gorgeous swanboat

costume, wishing to pay his respects to the Führer; Hitler, awakened from his nap, rubs his

eyes and exclaims: "Ach, nein, Hermann! That is too much!"

Next to his chief, Goring was the least unpopular of the Nazis. He had been an ace aviator,

with a record of devil-may-care courage. He had the peculiar German ability to combine

ferocity with Gemütlichkeit. To his cronies he was genial, full of jokes, a roaring tankardman,

able to hold unlimited quantities of beer. In short, he was one of the old-time heroes of

Teutonic legend, those warriors who could slaughter their foes all day and at night drink

wassail with their unwashed bloody hands; if they were slain, the Valkyries would come on their

galloping steeds and carry them off to Valhalla to drink wassail forever after.

IV

Lanny's first thought: "The most repulsive of men!" His second thought, close on its heels: "I

admire all Nazis!" He bowed correctly and said: "Guten Morgen, Exzellenz."

"Guten Morgen, Mr. Buddy" said the Hauptmann, in a rumbling bull voice. "Setzen Sie sich."

He indicated a chair at his side and Lanny obeyed. Having met many of the great ones of the

earth in his thirty-three years, Lanny had learned to treat them respectfully, but without

obsequiousness.

It was the American manner, and so far had been acceptable. He knew that it was up to the

host to state why he had summoned him, and meantime he submitted to an inspection in

silence.

"Mr. Budd," said the great man, at last, "have you seen this morning's Paris and London

newspapers?"

"I do not have the advantage of possessing an air fleet, Exzellenz." Lanny had heard that

Goring possessed a sense of humor.

"Sometimes I learn about them by telephone the night before," explained the other, with a

smile. "They carry a story to the effect that the Jewish moneylender, Johannes Robin, has

disappeared in Germany. We do not care to have the outside world get the impression that we

are adopting American customs, so I had the matter investigated at once, and have just informed

the press that this Schieber has been legally arrested for attempting to carry a large sum of

money out of the country on board his yacht. This, as you may know, is forbidden by our law."

"I am sorry to hear that news, Exzellenz."

"The prisoner is liable to a penalty of ten years at hard labor— and it will be very hard

indeed, I can assure you."

"Naturally, Exzellenz, I cannot say anything about the matter until I have heard Johannes's

side of the story. He has always been a law-abiding citizen, and I am sure that if he broke the

law it was by oversight. He was setting out on a yachting cruise, and one cannot sail to strange

lands without having cash on board to purchase food and fuel."

"It is absolutely requisite to have a permit from the Exchange Control Authority, and our

records show that no such document had been issued. The law has been on the books for more

than a year, and has been well advertised. We cannot afford to have our country drained of

wealth, nor our currency depreciated on the world markets. At the present time, owing to the

scoundrelism of the Marxist-Jews who have ruled Germany, our gold reserve is down to eight and

one-half per cent, and the very life of our state is imperiled by the activities of these

Schieberschweine. I would consider myself justified in proceeding against Johannes Robin for high

treason, and may decide to do so."

"Naturally, Exzellenz, I am distressed to hear all this. Is it your intention to grant me the

privilege of an interview with the prisoner?"

"There is something even more important than the protection of the Reich's currency and

that is the protection of its good name. We are indignant concerning the slanders which have

been broadcast by the enemies of our Regierung, and we intend to take all possible steps

against these devils."

"So far as Johannes is concerned, Exzellenz, I can assure you positively that he has no such

motives. He is an entirely non-political person, and has gone to extremes to keep friendly. He

has always supposed that he had friends inside the N.S.D.A.P."

"I am taking steps to find out who they are," replied the head of the Prussian state. "When I

do, I shall shoot them."

It was, in a way, as if he had shot Lanny. From behind those rolls of fat the American saw

cold blue eyes staring at him, and he realized that this war-eagle was a deadly bird of prey.

"Let us get down to business, Mr. Budd. I am willing to negotiate with you, but I require your

word of honor as a gentleman that whatever information I impart and whatever proposals I

make will be strictly between us, now and for the future. That means exactly what it says, and

the reason I am seeing you is that I have been told that you are a man who will keep his

bargain."

"I do not know who has spoken that good word for me, Exzellenz, but I assure you that I have

no desire in this matter except to help an old friend and connection by marriage out of the

trouble into which he has stumbled. If you will enable me to do this, you may be sure that

neither Johannes nor I will have any interest in making publicity out of the unfortunate

affair."

"It happens that this matter was started by other persons, but now I have taken charge of it.

Whatever you have heard to the contrary you are to disregard. Johannes Robin is my prisoner,

and I am willing to turn him loose on certain terms. They are Nazi terms, and you won't like

them, and certainly he won't. You may take them to him, and advise him to accept them or not.

I put no pressure upon you, and make only the condition I have specified: the matter will be

under the seal of confidence. You will agree never to reveal the facts to anyone, and Johannes

will make the same agreement."

"Suppose that Johannes does not wish to accept your terms, Exzellenz?"

"You will be bound by your pledge whether he accepts or rejects. He will be bound if he

accepts. If he rejects, it won't matter, because he will never speak to anyone again."

"That is clear enough, so far as regards him. But I don't understand why you have brought

me in."

"You are in Berlin, and you know about the case. I am offering you an opportunity to save

your friend from the worst fate which you or he can imagine. A part of the price is your silence

as well as his. If you reject the offer, you will be free to go out to the world and say what you

please, but you will be condemning your Jew to a death which I will make as painful as

possible."

"That is clear enough, Exzellenz. It is obvious that you have me as well as Johannes. I can do

nothing but accept your proposition."

V

Lanny knew that this man of Blut und Eisen was engaged in turning the government of

Germany upside down. He was kicking out officials of all sorts, police chiefs, mayors, even

professors and teachers, and replacing them with fanatical Nazis. This very day, the papers

reported, the lower legislative chamber of the Prussian state was scheduled to meet and tender

its collective resignation, so that Goring might replace them with his party followers. But with

all this on his hands he had time to explain to a young American visitor that he, the head of the

Prussian state, was not to be numbered among the anti-Jewish fanatics; his quarrel with them

was the purely practical one, that they had swarmed upon the helpless body of postwar

Germany to drain her white. They had been speculators in marks who had profited by the

most dreadful national calamity of modern times. "You can look at our school children, Mr.

Budd and have no difficulty in picking out those who were born in the years from 1919 to 1923,

because of their stunted size."

Lanny would have liked to say that he knew many Germans who had sold marks; but it would

have been the worst of blunders to get into an argument. He listened politely while the head of

the Prussian government employed barrack-room phrases, some of which an American

esthete had never heard before.

Suddenly the heavy fat fist of the thunder-god Thor came down with a bang on the table.

"Jawohl! To business! The Jew who has fattened himself upon our blood is going to disgorge.

His yacht shall serve as a means of recreation for deserving party members. His palace shall

become a public museum. I understand that it contains a well-chosen collection of old masters."

"I appreciate the compliment, Exzellenz. Or do you know that I had the pleasure of selecting

them?"

"Ach, so! Shall I call it the Lanning Budd Museum?" The hard blue eyes twinkled between the

heavy layers of fat.