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I knew His Majesty's weakness for jokes at the expense of the physical deformities of others, but I had scarcely dared to hope that my subtle reference to Grundt's clubfoot as a hiding-place for compromising papers would have had such a success. For the Kaiser fairly revelled in the idea and laughed loud and long, his sides fairly shaking. "Ach, der Stelze! Excellent! Excellent!" he cried.
"He was here already this morning. He was nervous, oh! very, and expected you to be here. Already two days he is waiting here to go on." "So," I said, "he is going to take ... it on with him, is he?" There was a malicious ring in the woman's voice when she spoke of Stelze. I thought I might profit by this. So I drew her out. "So Stelze called to-day and gave you his orders, did he?"
I stood petrified and reflected on my next move. Twelve o'clock! I had eight hours' grace before Stelze, the man of mystery and might, arrived to unmask me and hand me over to the tender mercies of Madame and of Karl.
Now, there is one thing we learn in the cavalry...." But I had ceased to listen. In his irresponsible chatter the boy used a word that struck a harsh note which went jarring through my brain. He had mentioned "the lame fellow," using a German word "der Stelze."
The one was locked, the other barred. I was fairly trapped. All I had to do now was to wait until my absence was discovered and the broken rope found to show them where I was. Then they would come down to the area, I should be confronted with the man, Stelze, and my goose would be fairly cooked. As quietly as I could I made a complete, thorough, rapid examination of the area.
I repeat, by a member of the English Privy Council, to me, the Boche, the barbarian, the Hun! No hole and corner work for the old doctor. Der Stelze may be lame, Clubfoot may be past his work, but when he travels en mission, he travels en prince, the man of wealth and substance.
"... Orders are orders and you and I must obey!" "But who is Stelze that he should give orders to me?" I cried. "Who is...?" She spoke aghast. "... And you yourself," I continued, "were saying ..." "When an order has been given, what you or I think or say is of no account," the woman said. "It is an order: you and I know whose order. Let that suffice. You stay here! Good night!"
The moment had come to play my last card, I felt: I could not risk being delayed on the frontier lest Stelze and his friends should catch up with me. I was surprised to find that apparently they had not telegraphed to have me stopped. "One moment, Herr Major," I said. "Take him away!" The fat man waved me aside. "I warn you," I continued, "that I am on important business.
If ever a human being licked its chops, that woman did. She wagged her head and repeated to herself: "Ei, ei !" adding, as if to explain her surprise, "he is the first we have had. "You brought him here, eh! But why up here? Or did der Stelze send him?" She fired this string of questions at me without pausing for a reply. She continued: "I was out, but Karl told me.
"I know a little of Clubfoot's record, of innocent lives wrecked, of careers ruined, of sudden disappearances, of violent deaths. When you and your brother put it across der Stelze, Okewood, you settled a long outstanding account we had against him, but you also rendered his fellow-Huns a signal service."
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