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had no right to have money, but Lanny, a rich man, did, so keep it for him until the job was

done and the danger was over. Lanny said: "I am touched by your confidence."

They worked out their arrangements in detail. Neither would ever visit the other's hotel.

When Hugo wanted Lanny he would telephone, and always use the code name of "Boecklin."

They agreed upon a certain spot on a well-frequented street, and whenever they were to meet,

Lanny would stop at that spot and Hugo would step into the car. They would do all their

talking in the car, so there could never be any eavesdropping. All this having been agreed

upon, Lanny drove his fellow conspirator to Dachau and left him near the concentration camp,

so that he might start getting in touch with his friend.

The art expert telephoned the American consul in Munich. He had taken the precaution to

meet that gentleman on his previous visit and to invite him to the Detaze show. Now he took

him to dinner, and over a bottle of good wine they chatted about the affairs of Germany and

the outside world. Lanny contributed an account of the riots in Paris, and the consul said that

this kind of thing proved the need of a strong government, such as Hitler was now furnishing to

the German people. The official was sure that the excesses of the Regierung had no great

significance; National Socialism would soon settle down and get itself on a living basis with the

rest of Europe. Lanny found this a sensible point of view, and his conversation showed no

faintest trace of Pinkness.

Incidentally he mentioned that he was in Munich to arrange for a picture deal with Baron

von Zinszollern. He wondered if the consul knew anything about this gentleman, and his

reputation in the community. The reply was that the baron bore an excellent reputation, but of

course the consul couldn't say as to his financial situation. Lanny smiled and said: "He is selling,

not buying." He knew that the consul would take this inquiry as the purpose for which he had

been invited to dine; it was a proper purpose, it being the duty of consuls to assist their fellow

countrymen with information. They parted friends, and the official was satisfied that Lanny

Budd was in Munich for legitimate reasons, and if later on Lanny should get into any sort of

trouble, the representative of his country would have every reason to assist him and vouch for

him.

Lanny stayed in his room the rest of the evening and read the Münchener Neueste

Nachrichten from page one to the end. He learned a little of what was happening in Germany,

and still more of what the Nazis wanted the Germans to believe was happening. The

Reichsführer was in the Rheinland, attending the wedding of one of his Gauleiter. He was

stopping at the Rhein Hotel in Essen, and had visited the Krupp works and conferred with

several of the steel magnates. That was in accord with what Hugo had said; and so was the fact

that Minister-Präsident General Göring was accompanying him. Flying in the rear cabin in a

plane was the best of occasions for one man to whisper into another man's ear; and what was

Göring telling Adi about plots against him, and the urgent need to disband the S.A. and avert

the "Second Revolution"? Lanny put his imagination to work; for it was a part of his job to

point out these things to Hugo and have Hugo pass them on to discontented members of the

S.A. in Dachau. From the leading editorial in the newspaper Lanny followed the campaign now

going on against those evil persons who were described by the German equivalents of grouches,

knockers, and smart Alecks, soreheads, muckrakers, and wet blankets.

VIII

Late at night Lanny was summoned tothe telephone. There being none in his room, he went

downstairs, and there was the voice of "Boecklin," saying: "Can I see you?" Lanny replied, "Ja,

gewiss" which in American would have been "Sure thing!"

He went to his car and picked up his friend at the place agreed upon. "Well," said Hugo, "I

believe it can be arranged."

"Oh, good!" exclaimed the other.

"I promised not to name any names, and there's no need of your knowing the details, I

suppose."

"None in the world. I just want to know that I can come to a certain place and pick up my

friend."

"There's only one trouble: I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money. You see, it can't be done by a

common guard. Somebody higher up has to consent."

"What do you think it will cost?"

"About twenty thousand marks. I can't be sure what will be demanded; it might be twenty-

five or thirty thousand before we get through."

"That's all right, Hugo; I can afford it. I'll get the cash and give it to you whenever you say."

"The job ought to be put through as soon as it's agreed upon. The longer we wait, the more

chance of somebody's talking."

"Absolutely. I have certain arrangements to make, and it's hard for me to know exactly how

long it will take, but I'm pretty sure I can be ready by Friday night. Would that be all right?"

"So far as I can guess."

"If something went wrong with my plans I might have to put it off till Saturday. Whenever

you are ready for the money, you have to let me know before the bank closes."

All this was assented to; and after dropping his friend on a quiet street Lanny went to one of

the large hotels where he would find a telephone booth, and there put in a call for Jerry

Pendleton, Pension Flavin, Cannes. It takes time to achieve such a feat in Europe, but he

waited patiently, and at last heard his old pal's sleepy voice.

Lanny said: "The Detazes are ready, and I'm waiting in Munich for you. I am buying some

others, and want to close the deal and move them on Friday. Do you think you can get here

then?"

"By heck!" said Jerry. It was Wednesday midnight, and his voice came suddenly awake. "I

can't get visas until morning."

"You can hunt up the consul tonight and pay him extra."

"I'll have to go and make sure about Cyprien first." That was a nephew of Leese, who did

truck-driving for Bienvenu.

"All right, get him or somebody else. Make note of my address, and phone me at noon

tomorrow and again late in the evening, letting me know where you are. Come by way of Verona

and the Brenner, and don't let anything keep you from being here. If you should have a

breakdown, let Cyprien come with the truck, and you take a train, or a plane if you have to. I

have somebody here I want you to meet on Friday."

"O.K." said the ex-tutor and ex-soldier; he sort of sang it, with the accent on the first

syllable, and it was like a signature over the telephone.

IX

Baron von Zinszollern possessed an Anton Mauve, a large and generous work portraying a

shepherd leading home his flock in a pearly gray and green twilight. It seemed to Lanny a fine

example of that painter's poetical and serious feeling, and he had got the price down to thirty

thousand marks. He had telegraphed Zoltan that he was disposed to buy it as a gamble, and

did his friend care to go halves? His friend replied Yes, so he went that morning and bought the

work, paying two thousand marks down and agreeing to pay the balance within a week. This

involved signing papers, which Lanny would have on his person; also, an influential Nazi

sympathizer would have an interest in testifying that he was really an art expert. Incidentally

it gave Lanny a pretext for going to the Munich branch of the Hellstein Bank, and having

them pay him thirty thousand marks in Nazi paper.