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in his flight to Switzerland after the Beerhall Putsch. A second car followed with Furtwaengler

and another staff officer, a secretary, a telephone operator, and a valet.

The party in the "tank" talked about the trial. Lanny wished he might hear what they would

have said if he hadn't been along, but there was no way to arrange that. They talked on the

assumption that the five prisoners were the spawn of Satan, and that the General had

completely annihilated Dimitroff. When they asked Lanny what would be the opinion of the

outside world, he replied that all people were inclined to believe what it was in their interest to

believe, and the outside world was afraid of the Nazis because it suspected that they meant to

rearm Germany. Thus, if one was cautious, it was possible to avoid lying and at the same time

avoid giving offense.

They drove at high speed, with a powerful horn giving notice to all the world to clear the way.

Toward dusk they left the highway and entered a heavy forest; they drove many miles on a

private road before coming to a hunting lodge, well lighted for their reception. A spacious hall,

with bearskins on the floor and trophies on the walls; a glass-cased rack of guns at one end, a

banquet-table at the other, and a great stone fireplace with logs blazing. There was no host—

the place had been turned over to the General. Servants in green foresters' uniforms brought

drinks, and when Seine Exzellenz called for supper there came a procession of men, each

bearing a silver platter: the first containing a huge roasted boar's head, steaming hot, the

second a haunch of venison, the third several capercailzie, a kind of grouse bigger than any

chicken, and the fourth some fricasseed hares. Lanny, dining under the feudal system, could

only laugh and beg for mercy. His host, proud of his prowess as a trencherman, was not

displeased to have others take an attitude of inferiority.

It was the same with the drinking. Hot punch and cold Moselle, burning brandy sauces,

cocktails, beer—there was apparently no ordained sequence; the valiant air commander took

everything that he saw and called for more. The way Lanny saved himself was by music; when

they started singing he took his glass of punch to the piano and played and sang: "Show me

the way to go home, boys," and other "college songs" which he had learned as a boy from his

father. The General was amused, and Lanny kept him entertained with various kinds of

American humor: "Yankee Doodle" and "Down Went McGinty" and "There'll be a Hot Time in

the Old Town Tonight." Whether they all knew the language didn't matter, for pretty soon they

didn't know what they knew. He played "My Old Kentucky Home" and they wept; he played

"The Arkansas Traveler" and "Turkey, in the Straw" and they tried to dance. Lanny cut his

capers on the keyboard, and the head of the Prussian state approved of him so ardently that he

wouldn't let his own valet help him upstairs, but insisted upon having the young American on

one side and a blue-eyed Wendish damsel on the other.

This was another aspect of the feudal system about which Lanny had heard talk and which he

now saw in action. The men servants who had brought in the heavy dishes had disappeared,

and desserts and coffee and various drinks were served by young women in peasant costumes

with flaxen hair in heavy braids down their backs. They were not prostitutes, but daughters of

the servants and retainers; they curtsied to these high-born great gentlemen in uniforms,

danced with them when invited, and were prepared to be honored by their further attentions.

Not much flirtation or cajoling was called for; they obeyed commands. Fortunately for Lanny

there were not enough to go around, and his renunciation was appreciated.

The party arose late next day. There was no hurry, for this kind of shooting proceeds

according to the convenience of the shooters and not of the game. After a "fork breakfast" they

set out to stands in the forests, and beaters drove stags and buffalo and boar out of the thickets

into the open ranges. Lanny had the honor of being posted with the General, and he waited

respectfully while the great man shot, and when he was told that it was his turn he upheld the

reputation of Budd Gunmakers. It was worth while for him to do so, for he guessed it wouldn't

be long before Robbie would be making use of these valuable connections.

II

Having obtained recreation and exercise by pulling the trigger of a rifle, Seine Exzellenz

returned to the hunting lodge and took up the reins of government. Apparently he had had a

private wire run into the estate, and for a couple of hours he listened to reports and gave

orders. He sounded angry most of the time—or was that just his way of governing? It was

almost as if he were trying to communicate with Berlin by the medium of the air instead of by a

copper wire. His bellowing echoed through the house, and Lanny, anxious not to overhear, went

into the billiard room and watched the two junior officers winning small sums from each other.

Now and then, when the tones rose especially loud, they would grin at Lanny and he would grin

back—this being a privilege of subordinates.

The guest would have liked to walk in that lovely deep forest, but had the idea that he should

hold himself at the disposal of his host; and sure enough, after the State of Prussia had received

its marching orders for the morrow, Lanny was summoned to the Presence, and found out why

he had been taken on a shooting trip. Reclining at ease in a sky-blue silk dressing gown with

ermine trimmings, the portly Kommandant of the German Air Force led the conversation into

international channels, and began explaining the difficulties of getting real information as to the

attitude of ruling circles in other European capitals. He had agents aplenty, paid them generous

salaries, and allowed them to pad their expense accounts; but those who were the most loyal

had the fewest connections, while those who really had the connections were just as apt to be

working for the other side.

"Understand me, Budd"—he had got to that stage of intimacy— "I am not so foolish as to

imagine that I could employ you. I know you have a well-paying profession, not to mention a rich

wife. I also had one, and discovered that such a spouse expects attentions and does not leave

one altogether free. But it happens that you go about and gather facts; and no doubt you realize

when they are important."

"I suppose that has happened now and then," said Lanny, showing a coming on disposition,

but not too much.

"What I should like to have is, not an agent, but a friend; a gentleman, whose sense of honor

I could trust, and who would not be indifferent to the importance of our task in putting down

the Red menace in Germany, and perhaps later wiping out the nest where those vipers are

being incubated. Surely one does not have to be a German in order to approve such an aim."

"I agree with you, Exzellenz." "Call me Göring," commanded the great one. "Perhaps you can

understand how tired one gets of dealing with lackeys and flatterers. You are a man who says

what he thinks, and when I box with you I get some competition."

"Thank you, Ex—Göring."

"I am sure you understand that we Nazis are playing for no small stakes. You are one of the

few who possess imagination enough to know that if you become my friend you will be able to

have anything you care to ask for. I am going to become one of the richest men in the world—