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the essential facts, which were how much money Irma had and how many guns Lanny's father

had made; also that they had visited at Schloss Stubendorf and that Lanny had once had tea

with the Führer. Now they had a matter of importance to the party about which they wished

Magda's counsel. "We are at the Adlon," said Heinrich. "Ja, so schnell wie moglich. Auf

wiedersehen " .

Lanny called for his car, and while he drove to the Reichstagplatz, Heinrich told them about

the beauty, the charm, the warmth of heart of the lady they were soon to meet. One point

which should be in their favor, she had been the adopted child of a Jewish family. She had been

married to Herr Quandt, one of the richest men in Germany, much older than herself; she had

divorced him and now had a comfortable alimony—while the man who paid it stayed in a

concentration camp! She had become a convert to National Socialism and had gone to work

for the party; a short time ago she had become the bride of Dr. Goebbels, with Hitler as best

man, a great event in the Nazi world. Now she was "Frau Reichsminister," and ran a sort of

salon—for it appeared that men cannot get along without feminine influence, even while they

preach the doctrine of Küche, Kinder, Kirche to the masses.

"People accuse Magda of being ambitious," explained the young official. "But she has brains and

ability, and naturally she likes to use them for the good of the cause."

"She will have a chance to do it tonight," replied Lanny.

They were escorted to the fashionable apartment where the lovely Frau Quandt had once

lived with the elderly manufacturer. The "Frau Reichsminister" appeared in a cerise evening

gown and a double string of pearls that matched Irma's; both strings were genuine, but each

lady would have been interested to bite the other's to make sure. Magda had wavy fair hair, a

sweet, almost childish face, and rather melancholy eyes with the beginning of dark rings about

them. Lanny knew that she was married to one of the ugliest men in Germany; he could believe

that she had needed the spur of ambition, and wondered if she was getting the satisfaction she

craved.

It was growing late, and the visitors came to the point quickly. Knowing that the Minister of

Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda was a bitter anti-Semite, Lanny said: "Whatever one's

ideas may be, it is a fact that Hansi Robin is a musician of the first rank. The concert which he

gave with the Paris Symphony this spring brought him a tremendous ovation. He has given

similar concerts in London and in all the great cities of the United States, and that means that

thousands of people will be ready to come to his defense. And the same thing is true about the

business men who know his father. From the purely practical point of view, Frau Reichsminister,

that is bad for your Regierung. I cannot see what you can possibly gain from the incarceration

of Johannes Robin that can equal the loss of prestige you will suffer in foreign lands."

"I agree with you," said the woman, promptly. "It is one of those irrational things which

happen. You must admit, Mr. Budd, that our revolution has been accomplished with less

violence than any in previous history; but there have been cases of needless hardship which

my husband has learned about, and he has used his influence to correct them. He is, of course, a

very hard-pressed man just now, and it is my duty as a wife to shield him from cares rather

than to press new ones upon him. But this is a special case, as you say, and I will bring it to his

attention. What did you say was the name of the party organization which is responsible?"

"Die Reichsbetriebszellenabteilung."

"I believe that has been taken into Dr. Ley's Arbeitsfront. Do you know Robert Ley?"

"I have not the honor."

"He is one of the men who came into our party from the air service. Many of our most

capable leaders are former airmen: Gregor Strasser—"

"I have met him," said Lanny.

"Hermann Goring, Rudolph Hess—quite a long list. Airmen learn to act, and not to have

feelings. Dr. Ley, like my husband, is a Rheinlander, and I don't know if you realize how it is in

the steel country—"

"My father is a steel man, Frau Reichsminister."

"Ach, so! Then you can realize what labor is in the Ruhr. The Reds held it as their domain; it

was no longer a part of Germany, but of Russia. Robert Ley got his training by raiding their

meetings and throwing the speaker off the platform. Many a time he would have the shirt torn

off his back, but he would make the speech. After ten years of that sort of fighting he is not

always a polite person."

"I have heard stories about him."

"Now he is head of our Arbeitsfront, and has broken the Marxist unions and jailed the leaders

who have been exploiting our German workers and tearing the Fatherland to pieces with class

war. That is a great personal triumph for Dr. Ley, and perhaps he is a little too exultant over it

—he has what you Americans call a swelled head.'" The Frau Reichsminister smiled, and Lanny

smiled in return.

"I suppose he saw a rich Jew getting out of the country in a private yacht, obtained by

methods which have made the Jews so hated in our country; and perhaps it occurred to him

that he would like to have that yacht for the hospitalization of National Socialist party workers

who have been beaten and shot by Communist gangsters."

"Na also, Frau Reichsminister!" said Lanny, laughing. "Heinrich assured me that if I came to

you I would get the truth about the situation. Let the Arbeitsfront take the yacht and give me my

brother-in-law's father, and we will call it a deal. Wir werden es als ein gutes Geschaft

betrachten."

X

There was the sound of a door closing, and Magda Goebbels said: "I think that is the

Reichsminister now." She rose, and Heinrich rose, and Irma and Lanny followed suit; for when

you are in Berlin you must do as Berliners do, especially when you are suing for favors from a

Cabinet Minister who is more than royalty in these modern days.

"Juppchen" Goebbels appeared in the doorway of the drawing-room. He was small indeed,

but not so small as he had seemed when Lanny had seen him standing on the platform at one

of those colossal meetings. He had a clubfoot and walked with a limp which could not be

concealed. He had a thin face built to a point in a sharp nose. He had a wide, tightly-drawn

mouth which became like a Greek comic mask when he opened it for a speech. He had

prominent eyes, black hair combed back from a receding forehead, and rather wide ears slightly

hanging over at the top.

Also he had a brain and a tongue. The brain was superficial, but possessed of everything that

was needed to delight a hundred thousand German Kleinburger packed into a swastika-bedecked

stadium. The tongue was as sharp as a snake's, and unlike a snake's it exuded venom. The

Goebbels mind was packed with discreditable facts concerning every person and group and

nation which offered opposition to National Socialism, and his eager imagination could make

up as many new facts as any poet or novelist who had ever lived. The difference between fiction

and fact no longer existed for Dr. Juppchen. Inside the German realm this grotesque little man

had complete and unquestioned charge of newspapers, films, and radio, the stage, literature,

and the arts, all exhibitions and celebrations, parades and meetings, lectures on whatever subject,