CHAPTER X--BROKEN THREADS
On returning to his headquarters, some eight miles west of the town,Pariset asked permission of his commandant to convey Kenneth to Ostend.He met with a peremptory refusal; he could not be spared.
"You'll have to go by train," he said to Kenneth. "It will take you along time, the railway is so congested with troops and refugees. Mustyou go?"
"What else can I do?"
"Well, we're short of men. I'd like to keep you. If I get you a sortof appointment, will you stay?"
"Rather! It might be months before I got a job at home."
"Then I'll see the commandant again and try to arrange it."
When he returned half-an-hour later, Kenneth knew by his expression thathe had been successful.
"It was easier than I expected," he said. "He was good enough to saythat you're just the man we want. He told me, too, that we have alreadyaccepted the services of two English airmen who have volunteered, soeverything is quite in order. We'll go into Liege and get you a suit ofoveralls. I am delighted."
After the necessary purchases had been made, they went into the Hotel del'Europe for dinner. The dining-room was crowded, and Kenneth, as heentered, glanced somewhat confusedly around the tables. Suddenly heheard his name, uttered in a low tone, and turning round in surprise,saw Granger beckoning him to a small table at which he sat alone.
"There's room here for you both, at a squeeze," he said. "I'm glad tosee you again."
"It's all right, then?" asked Kenneth as they sat down.
"Oh yes! They got a reassuring telegram from my chief this morning.What's more, I am to stay in Liege for the present; I am lent to theBelgians."
"That's capital. I have lent myself."
"'Loan oft loses both itself and friend.' I hope it won't be so in ourcase! Well, what have you been doing?"
Kenneth plunged into an account of the affair at the mill. Grangerinterrupted him when the waiter came for orders, and again when the manreturned with the dishes. At the conclusion of the story, which Kennethgave only in outline, Granger said:
"Hellwig is in Liege. My own stay here is not unconnected with him. Heis one of the most resourceful, ingenious and dangerous of the thousandsof spies in the German service.... They were all County Kerry men, andwhen they stood at attention you might have heard a pin drop."
His companions stared at him in amazement. His last sentence,apparently unconnected with what had gone before, had been spokenwithout change of voice or expression, and he imperturbably sucked hislemon squash through a straw before he went on:
"He has a marvellous command of languages; is Protean in his disguises;and in nimbleness of wit outdoes any other German I have ever comeacross.... They mixed the salad with engine oil, and when Lady Barbaratook a mouthful of it, she swallowed it without blinking, and remarkedto me, 'The chef is a perfect marvel in inventing new flavours.' ...Waiter!"
"Monsieur?" said the waiter, smiling and bowing.
"Another lemon squash."
When the waiter had gone, Granger said:
"I must have that fellow arrested."
"What on earth for?" asked Pariset.
"And what are you driving at, with your County Kerries and your LadyBarbaras?" said Kenneth.
"The waiter has been hovering round a little more closely than the mostofficious garcon need do. You didn't notice him, perhaps? He speakspretty good French, with a strong Belgian accent. Did you see whathappened when I called him?"
"What was it?" asked Kenneth.
"I put something of the parade ground tone into my voice, and the fellowbrought his heels together in the correct German style. One couldalmost hear the click. Well greased as his hair is, you can see ittrying to rise _en brosse_, and I caught him just now twirling aninvisible moustache."
"A spy?"
"Unless my instinct and my judgment are equally at fault. But here hecomes; don't be surprised if I break off into irrelevancies; answer inkind."
The waiter placed the glass on the table, and withdrew, to attend to aman at the next table.
"As I was saying," Granger went on, "Hellwig is here, in what shape Idon't know, but I hope to catch him yet. Your friend Finkelstein, bythe way, has been arrested in Cologne and thrown into prison."
"Good heavens! Not through me, I hope," said Kenneth.
"On a charge of espionage, at any rate. I have no doubt he owes that to... Yes, it was a very dark night, and he didn't recognise me until Iwas as near to him as I am to you. Then ... he owes it to Hellwig."
"But what can his motive be? He's his cousin."
"The nearer the bone ... Finkelstein has a daughter, I believe?"
"Yes."
"Well, what more natural than that Hellwig should be appointed trusteeto his cousin's daughter and manager of the business?"
"I did suspect that he wants to marry Frieda."
"Ah! Motive enough! ... Waiter!"
The others watched the man. His manner was a strange compound of twoservilities--the waiter's and the German private's.
"Monsieur?"
"Bring coffee."
The waiter departed.
"I must certainly have him arrested," said Granger. "So you see, mydear fellow, that if I manage to lay Hellwig by the heels I shallperhaps be able to make you some return for what I owe you."
"But that won't release Max Finkelstein."
"I confess I was at that moment thinking of the daughter," said Grangerwith a whimsical look at Kenneth. Pariset glanced at his friend andsmiled.
"The idea of her marrying that cur!" said Kenneth.
"It won't bear thinking of, will it?" said Granger. "That fellow israther long with the coffee."
They waited, discussing the probable course of the war. After a whileGranger summoned the head waiter.
"Our waiter has been over long fetching our coffee," he said. "Will youstir him up?"
In a minute or two the head waiter returned, carrying the coffeehimself.
"Pardon, messieurs," he said. "Gustave was suddenly taken sick, and isnot able to serve at present."
"I have lost this trick," said Granger ruefully, when they were againalone. "While I had my eye on the German, he evidently had his eye onme. And for once the German was the quicker to act. Well, we all haveour ups and downs--I might have said our exits and our entrances: exitspy, enter staff-officer, who is looking for you, Monsieur Pariset, if Iam not mistaken."
A Belgian captain was threading his way across the room, looking quicklyfrom table to table, here and there acknowledging or returning agreeting, but briefly, in the manner of one preoccupied. His glancesuddenly falling on Pariset, he smiled, and came directly towards him.
"I heard that you were here," he said. "Have you finished?"
"Yes."
"Then give me a minute privately."
His eyes rested for a moment on Kenneth and Granger, whom he did notknow.
"Certainly," said Pariset. "Let me introduce my friends."
The introduction made, the officer's manner changed.
"Let us all go into the smoking-room together," he said. "The matterI've to speak about need be no secret among us four."
"You'll excuse me," said Granger, whose tact never failed. "I have oneor two things to attend to; I hope I may have the pleasure some othertime."
He left the others, and they made their way to the smoking-room.