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"Your father wouldn't have got into this position. Johannes was too trusting. He thought he

could handle matters by diplomacy; but these fellows have knocked over the conference table.

They have the advantage that nobody can realize how bad they are. If you and I were to go to

Paris or London tomorrow and tell this story, the Nazis would call us liars and nine people out

of ten would believe them."

XI

They went back to the hotel, expecting Freddi to call. But he didn't, and in the evening

Colonel Emil Meissner came to dinner. He had read about the Robin case, and it did not occur

to him to doubt his government's word. He said there had been a great deal of graft and

favoritism under the Republic, but now, apparently, the laws were going to be enforced against

rich as well as poor. This tall, severe-looking Prussian officer expressed polite regret that such

misfortune should have fallen upon a relative of Lanny's. The host contented himself with

replying that he had reason to hope matters would soon be straightened out, and that he had

been asked to consider it confidential. Emil accepted this just as Heinrich had; all good

Germans would accept it.

Emil talked freely about the new Regierung. He had despised the Republic, but had obeyed

its orders because that was the duty of an army officer. Now Adolf Hitler had become his

Commander-in-chief, and it was necessary to obey him, however one might privately dislike his

manners. But Emil was sure that the stories of abuse of power had been greatly exaggerated, and

for malicious purposes. There were bound to be excesses in any governmental overturn; the

essential thing was that Germany had been saved from the clutches of the Reds, and every

civilized person owed the new Chancellor a debt of gratitude for that. Lanny indulged in no

Pink arguments, but said that he and his wife had been greatly impressed by what they had

found in the country.

They waited late for a call from Freddi, but none came, and they went to bed speculating

about it. Doubtless he was avoiding risks, and perhaps also afraid of bothering them; but it was

too bad they couldn't give him the news which would so greatly relieve his mind. Lanny was

prepared to state that he had come upon a wonderful Bouguereau!

Morning came, and the papers had editorials about the case of the Jewish Schieber; in

Hitlerland all news stories were editorials, and were full of rancid hatred and venomous

threats. At last the sneaking traitors were feeling the stern hand of the law; at last the vile

Semitic parasites were being shaken from the fair body of Germania! Der Angriff was

especially exultant. Here was proof to all the world that National Socialism meant what it said,

that the stealthy influence of the Jewish plutocracy was no longer to rule the Fatherland!

Lanny translated the words, which really seemed insane in their virulence. "Mr. Mouth doesn't

sound so pleasant in print," he remarked.

Breakfast, and still no call from Freddi. They didn't like to go out until they had heard from

him. Irma had her hair dressed and got a manicure; Lanny read a little, wrote a few notes,

roamed about, and worried. They had a luncheon engagement at the Berlin home of General Graf

Stubendorf, and they had to go. Irma said: "Clarinet can call again; or he can drop us a note."

Driving to the palace, they were free to discuss the various possibilities. Goring might have had

Freddi arrested; or the Brownshirts might have picked him up, without Goring's knowing

anything about it. Freddi was a Jew and a Socialist, and either was enough. Irma suggested:

"Mightn't it be that Goring wants to keep the whole family in his hands until he's ready to put

them out?"

"Anything is possible," said Lanny; "except that I can't imagine Freddi delaying this long to

call us if he is free."

It rather spoiled their lunch. To tell the truth it wasn't an especially good lunch, or very good

company—unless it was enough for you to know that you were the guest of a high-up Junker.

The General Graf's attitude was the same as Emil's; he was a cog in the Reichswehr machine, and

he obeyed orders. His special concern was getting his home district out of the clutches of the

Poles; he knew that Lanny sympathized with this aim, but even so, he could talk about it only

guardedly, for the Chancellor had given the cue by a pacific speech, so it was the duty of good

Germans to let the subject of boundary lines rest and to concentrate on the right of the

Fatherland to equality of armaments. Having expressed regret over the plight of Lanny's

Jewish relative, the General Graf Stubendorf talked about other friends, and about the

condition of his crops and the market for them, and what did Lanny's father think about the

prospects for world recovery?

Lanny answered with one part of his mind, while the other part was thinking: "I wonder if

Freddi is calling now!"

But Freddi wasn't calling.

19

No Peace in Zion

I

WHEN Mr. and Mrs. Irma Barnes had visited Berlin a year previously, they had been the

darlings of the smart set, and all the important people had been glad to entertain them. But

now the social weather had changed; a thunderstorm was raging, and nobody could be sure

where the lightning might strike. The story of Johannes Robin was known to the whole town;

and who could guess what confessions he might have made, or what might have been found in

his papers? Many persons have dealings with moneylenders which they don't care to have

become known. Many have affairs of various sorts which they prefer not to have looked into by

the Secret State Police, and they carefully avoid anyone who might be under surveillance by

that dreaded body.

Moreover, Irma and Lanny were worried, and when you are worried you are not very good

company. Another day passed, and another, and they became certain that something terrible

must have happened to Freddi. Of course he might have been knocked down by a truck, or

slugged and robbed by one of the inmates of an Asyl für Obdachlose who suspected that he

had money. But far more likely was the chance that a Jew and Socialist had fallen into the

clutches of the Brown Terror. Their problem was, did Goring know about it, and if so was it a

breach of faith, or merely a precaution against a breach of faith on their part? Would Goring

be content to keep his hostage until the bargain was completed? Or was Freddi to remain in

durance for a long time?

The more Lanny thought about it, the more complications he discovered. Could it be that

there was a war going on between the two powerful Nazi chiefs? Had Goebbels becomes furious

because Goring had taken the prisoner? Had he grabbed Freddi in order to thwart Goring and

keep him from carrying out his bargain? If so, what was Lanny supposed to do? What part

could a mere man play in a battle of giants—except to get his head cracked by a flying rock or

uprooted tree? Lanny couldn't go to Goebbels and ask, because that would be breaking his

pledge to Goring.

No, if he went to anybody it must be to Goring. But was he privileged to do this? Had it been

a part of the bargain that the Minister-Prasident of Prussia and holder of six or eight other

important posts was to lay aside his multifarious duties and keep track of the misfortunes of a

family of Jewish Schieber? All Goring was obligated to do was to let them alone; and how easy