CHAPTER IX
A PERILOUS CRISIS
My first sensation of returning consciousness was that of cold air beingblown violently in my face as I was penned in between heavy bodies whichcrushed so closely against me that movement was impossible, while thethrobbing noise of rapidly moving machinery sounded in my ears.
All was indistinct. My head was aching as if it had been split, mybrain was dizzy, my senses dazed and chaotic. The ground under meappeared to have come to life and to be racing away from me at lightningspeed.
Strange uncouth lights were flashing hither and thither, producing amedley of glare which was utterly bewildering and almost terrifying.
I was in total darkness, save for the eccentric flashes of light; and myfirst rational thought was the discovery that when I closed my eyes theflashes were still with me. I recognized then that they were caused bysome sort of brain pressure.
Next I discovered that I was not bound in any way. I could not move,because I was hopelessly wedged between the heavy bodies. Moreover, Iappeared to have no power of my own to stir either hand or foot.
Then my wits cleared very slowly, and I began to remember what hadoccurred. I had been drugged, and could do nothing until the effects ofthe drug had worn off.
And at last I realized that I was in the narrow tonneau of a smallmotor-car travelling at a rapid pace through the night. The heavybodies which had so perplexed me were two men between whom I was halfsitting, half lying in the narrow space.
The fearsome sense of terror abated with my understanding of theposition. I lay back, indescribably weary and helpless, with a hazyfeeling that rest would restore my faculties, and a half-awakenedinstinct that my safety might depend upon my appearing to be still underthe influence of the drug.
I think I fell asleep, for my next conscious sensation was the pleasantdiscovery that the racking pain in the head had abated and the lights ofmy delirium ceased to flash in my brain.
The two men between whom I was jammed were bending over me, and I heardone say to the other: "It's all right. He's still dead off." It wasprobably their movement which had awakened me.
I lay as still as a drugged man would, and tried to collect my scatteredwits. We were travelling at a good rate, some thirty miles an hour, Ithought, and the car, a rather crazy vehicle, swayed and bumped andjolted to an extent that threatened a mishap. It was obviously notbuilt for high speed.
Gradually I recalled all that had occurred in its proper sequence. Myvisit to Herr Ziegler's house; my stay there; my leaving; the encounterwith the pretended police official; the scene at the house to which hehad taken me; my futile struggle; and lastly the drugging.
When it had all occurred I could not of course tell. For aught I knew itmight have been no more than an hour or two before I came to myself inthe car, or it might have been as many days or weeks.
From my position between the men I could not see anything, but presentlyone of them put a question to his companion: "What place was that?"
"Glowen, I think," was the reply.
"How far from Wittenberge?"
"About twenty miles. Ask Dragen."
The man addressed leant forward and put a question to the chauffeur, whoturned his head and flung back a reply over his shoulder. I could notcatch what he said, however.
What I had heard told me a great deal. Wittenberge was a small place onthe Elbe between Berlin and Hamburg, about a hundred miles from thecapital. The man had spoken of it as if it were the end of the car'sjourney, and I wondered what could be the possible reason for my beingtaken there.
But the most important information was the mention of the man'sname--Dragen. It sent my thoughts back at once to the time of my visitto von Felsen. Dragen was the man whom I had recognized there, and itwas now clear that he had been brought into the room to be able toidentify me.
Von Felsen was clearly behind my abduction, and it was with bitterself-reproach I saw how easily I had let myself be fooled. He hadevidently had this plan to get rid of me in mind for some time, and myaction in threatening to tell Ziegler the truth about Althea had broughtmatters to a crisis.
Dragen I believed to be a man capable of any villainy: murder at need,if it could be done safely; and I did not doubt that he had chosen asaccomplices in the scheme scoundrels who were as reckless as himself. Ishould be lucky if I got out of the scrape with my life. I was beingwell punished for the blunder I had committed in trying to force on vonFelsen's marriage with the Jew's daughter; and it was the irony of theaffair I had been caught in the toils at the very moment when I wasabout to try and undo that mistake.
But why were we running to Wittenberge? I asked myself the questionover and over again, only to give it up in bewilderment. At the rate wewere travelling I should soon know, of course; but my impatience andanxiety were only heated by that fact.
Presently the men bent down over me again.
"You must have given him a pretty strong dose," said one.
His companion laughed. "Do you suppose I measured it?"
"He's as fast off as ever. Look here." At this he shook me till theteeth all but rattled in my jaws, and then pinched me until I shouldthink his fingers all but met in my flesh. He had a hand of iron.
"All the better. Saves trouble," growled the brute.
"Had we better give him another dose to get him on the boat? We don'twant any noise there. It won't matter when he's once on board."
"If you want me to finish him, I will. Not else."
"Well, it's your look out that part of it, not mine."
"All right then, leave it to me. But I may as well make sure."
There was a pause, and I could tell that the man was feeling in hispockets. I wondered what was coming, and nerved myself for the ordeal.
"This'll touch him up if there's any return of sensibility," he saidwith another laugh. I remember wondering at the use of such a term andjumping to the conclusion that the fellow must have had some sort oftraining as a medical man, and had fallen to his present low position asthe result of dissipation.
I had not more than a few seconds for this speculation, for he seized myhand roughly and plunged a needle into the back. I bore it withoutflinching.
"I told you so," he said. "But we'll have another experiment."
He took my thumb in his strong fingers then, and holding it up tried tothrust the needle down into the quick. Fortunately for me the lurchingof the car interfered with his intention, and the needle entered theflesh some slight distance from the nail.
Again I succeeded in repressing even the slightest quiver at the pain itcaused, although it made me almost sick. He loosened his grip of thethumb with the needle still in it, and I had the presence of mind enoughto let the hand fall limp and flaccid.
He was satisfied with the test. He gripped my hand again and drew outthe needle roughly. "He's good for hours yet, Marlen," he announcedwith an oath.
"You'd better tell Dragen," said the other; and he leant forward andspoke to Dragen, who was apparently the leader in the affair.
I was free once more to think. The mention of the boat had sufficed togive me a slight indication of their plans. I was being taken by car toWittenberge in order to be transferred to a boat of some sort in whichthe journey was to be continued. Probably to Hamburg, I guessed.
That seaport had a very unenviable reputation for deeds of violence. Ifthe intention was to take my life, no better place could have beenchosen for the work than Hamburg. It would be a comparatively easymatter to knock me on the head, dress me in some disguise without a markof any sort which would lead to my identification, and then either dropme into the river or carry me ashore to one of the low quarters of thetown, where violent deaths were matters of no uncommon occurrence.
I am free to admit that I was intensely alarmed at the prospect. I washelplessly in their power. I was unarmed, and I knew enough of Dragen'sreputation for cunning to be quite
sure that he would so arrange mattersthat even if I succeeded in raising an alarm when they were taking mefrom the car to the boat, he would select a spot where no assistancewould be available.
I had only one thing in my favour--their belief in my continuedunconsciousness. How could I turn that to the best account?
For the rest of the time I remained in the car I thought over that pointas strenuously as only a man can think who feels that his life will bethe result of the thinking.
If I raised an alarm at Wittenberge and no help came, I was a doomedman. That was as certain as that the sun would rise on the followingmorning whether I saw it or not.
I could not fool them twice about being insensible. The perspirationstood thick on my forehead as I tried to come to some decision, and Iwas still undecided when the car began to slow down and turned away fromthe main road.
I guessed we were going down to the river, and perceived to myconsternation that the place was absolutely deserted. Then the car cameto a standstill, and I heard the sluggish wash of the water.
Dragen got out and walked away in the darkness.
"Is he going with us on the river trip?" asked the man who had druggedme.
"How the devil do I know?" was the response. "I know I'm going becauseI'll have to manage the launch, and you'll have to go, of course. Wecan't get on without the doctor. And somebody 'll have to take thisrickety old puffer back."
"How are you going to get him on to the _Stettin_?"
"Why, go after her and pretend that we're passengers who have missed herat the landing-stage. He is going on the trip for his health, and weare his valet and medical man looking after him on the voyage. She callsat Southampton for cargo; and you'll dope him a bit, and we shall slipoff and leave him."
"It would be a deal easier to drop him in the river."
"Dragen has orders to do nothing of the sort. He's only wanted to beout of the way for a week or two."
"And then turn up and blow the gaff on the lot of us. I know which I'drather risk," said the doctor.
"And lose half the plunder. The thing's as simple as it can be.Everything has been arranged."
The other man grunted his disapproval, and then they were silent.
I had heard the recital of the programme with infinite relief. VonFelsen had obviously been afraid to proceed to extreme measures, and forthat at any rate I thanked him. If he could get me out of the way for aweek or two, he would have ample time to complete the plans with whichmy presence had interfered, and this time he would gain by securing mypresence on a liner which after it left Southampton would not touch landagain until it reached the other side of the Atlantic.
I decided then not to make any attempt to escape or attract help for thepresent. And it was fortunate that I did so.
When Dragen returned to the car he told the two men that all was inreadiness, and that they were to carry me down to the boat.
On the way I lolled in their arms as limp as a corpse. They handled mepretty roughly, and in getting on to the boat the doctor tripped andflung me on to the little deck in order to save himself from falling.
"Don't be a clumsy fool, doctor," called Dragen sharply, with an oath.
"He can't feel anything," was the growling response. "And you don't needto curse me, Dragen."
"I'll do worse than curse you if you drive me to it," came the sharp,angry retort, the threatening tone of which indicated Dragen's powerover the other.
"This won't help us to get the boat under weigh, will it?" put inMarlen. "Come on, doc, let's put the passenger to bed."
But the other laughed sulkily. "You can finish the job by yourselves,"and he turned back toward the car.
"Come back," called Dragen furiously, "or it'll be the worse for you."
The "doctor" turned on him with a fierce oath. "I've owed you somethinglong enough, and this would be a mighty good place to pay the debt in.I'm a better man than you, and if you use that tone to me again I'llprove it."
"What's the good of spitting at one another like two infernal tomcats?"put in Marlen.
"To hell with your tomcats," was the fierce retort. "Let him do thething without me if he can. A dirty, low, sponging bully speak to melike that!" and, giving, a full rein to his temper, he let loose suchflood of invective upon Dragen that I expected every instant to see thetwo come to blows.
I began to hope that I should find in the quarrel a chance of gettingaway, and I glanced round me stealthily in search of something withwhich I could arm myself for a struggle with the third man, Marlen.
But Dragen, perceiving that a quarrel at that juncture meant the failureof the whole adventure, kept his head and his temper. He let the"doctor" storm and rage without attempting a reply until the man's furyhad spent itself in words.
Then he turned to Marlen and asked quietly: "And what are you going todo? Going through with me or back with the doc? You can have the carto run away in if you like."
"I'm going to see it through," was the reply.
"Then we must chance it and leave the car here. Good-night, doc. That'sabout the toughest speech you ever gave me, but I shan't take any noticeof it. Maybe in the morning you'll see things differently."
He crossed the little landing-stage and came on to the launch.
"Can we do without him?" asked Marlen, rather nervously I thought.
"Of course we can. Oh, by the way, doc, you'd better let me have thedrops," he said casually and went back to him. "I'm sorry I put yourback up so, old man."
"Well, you should keep a better guard on that tongue of yours." Thetone showed that his temper had passed.
"All right, we won't say any more about it. Give me the stuff."
The man laughed. "I'll go on with it if you like," he said halfshamefacedly.
"Of course I'd like"; and thus to my infinite disappointment the quarrelended there and the "doctor" came on to the launch.
"Let's get our passenger to bed," said Marlen. "We've lost time enoughalready, and more than we can spare."
With that they picked me up, carried me forward, and thrust me into asort of forecastle, and closed and bolted the hatch upon me.
I heard the murmur of talk between the three men for a while, but couldnot distinguish what was said; and after a few minutes the launchstarted on her run down the river.
It was a roomy boat, and the place in which I had been thrust was almostlarge enough for me to stand upright in. There was a good deal oflumber stored in it, and my first effort was to hunt all round in thehope of finding some sort of weapon.
I had formed a rough idea of a plan. The hatch by which the place wasentered was not large enough to allow of two persons entering at thesame time, and my crude plan was to wait until one of them entered andthen disable him.
I crawled all over the forecastle, feeling my way and fingeringeverything carefully as I crawled. For a long time I was unsuccessful,but when I had all but given up hope my fingers closed on a heavy brokencog-wheel. I could have shouted for joy at the lucky find. It was justthe thing for the purpose.
I carried it back and lay down close to the hatch, choosing such aposition as would enable me to attack any one who entered.
I knew enough of the plan in regard to me to feel confident that Ishould not be molested for some time. The "doctor" was under theimpression that I should remain insensible for some hours yet, and Iknew that every hour, almost every minute, of additional rest would beinvaluable. I was still heavy and stupid from the effects of the drug,and would gladly have slept. But I was afraid to sleep lest he shouldcome in to see me, and I should be thus unable to put up a fight for myfreedom.
It was a fortunate fear, as it turned out.
I had not been long waiting before the bolt of the hatch was drawn backand the "doctor" thrust in his hand and raised one of mine to make surethat I was still unconscious.
"He's all right," he announced. "We'd better do it now. I'll bring himout."
"Wait a bit. Here's a boat of some sort
ahead."
The "doctor" drew back quickly, but left the hatch open.
"I'm afraid of it, doc, and that's the truth," said Marlen.
"Don't be a fool, man. It's fifty times as safe as trusting our skinson the liner. The ship's doctor will want to know a heap of things.Dragen doesn't know that, but I do. There isn't a single mark ofviolence on him, and it'll look exactly a case of his having droppedinto the river."
"Well, wait till we get past this boat."
A long silence followed.
So they were going to adopt the "doctor's" former suggestion and murderme rather than run the risk of taking me to the liner.
Instead of frightening me this roused all the fight there was in me. Ihad to fight for my life, and I waited as tensely as they until thelaunch should have passed the boat, and settled myself in the bestposition I could choose for the attack when the moment came.
Minutes passed; they seemed like hours to me.
"It's all right now." It was the "doctor's" voice, and the next momentI heard him approach the forecastle. "I'll bring him out," he said; andhis shadow came between me and the dim light glooming through the hatchopening.