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her best, poor soul, but not having it in her, since she had been brought up as a lady, and
thought about her own ego more than she could ever think about her job.
There were now twice as many boxes and bags, and twice as much fuss, but carried on in low
tones, because Irma was strict about having the dignity of the family preserved. It was a
conspicuous family, and there were reporters at the station to see them off and to ask about
their proposed trip. Millions of people would read about their doings and get vicarious thrills;
millions would admire them and millions would envy them, but only a small handful would love
them—such appeared to be the way of the world.
VII
Next morning the party emerged on the station platform of the ancient seaport and bathing
resort. They waited while Lanny got busy on the telephone and ascertained that the yacht had
not yet been reported. They were loaded into taxis and taken to the Hotel du Commerce et
Excelsior, where the mountain of luggage was stacked in a room and Feathers set to watch over
it. A glorious spring day, and the family set out to find a point of vantage from which they could
watch the approach of the trim white Bessie Budd. Irma and Lanny had a memory of this
spectacle, never to be forgotten: the day at Ramsgate when they had been trying to get
married in a hurry, and the yacht and its gay-spirited owner had provided them with a way of
escape from the dominion of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Now the yacht was going to transport them to Utopia, or to some tropical isle with an ivory
tower on it—any place in the world where there were no Nazis yelling and parading and
singing songs about Jewish blood spurting from the knife. Oil-burning vessels make no
smudges of smoke on the horizon, so they must look for a dim speck that grew gradually
larger. Many such appeared from the east, but when they got larger they were something else.
So the party went to lunch, fourteen at one long table, and it was quite a job getting them
settled and all their orders taken and correctly distributed. Belonging to the important classes
as they did, neither they nor their servants must do anything to attract attention to themselves
in public, and this was impressed on a member of the family even at the age of three. Hush,
hush, Baby!
They sat on the esplanade and watched all afternoon. Some of them took a swim, some looked
at the sights of the town—the four-hundred-year-old bastion, the citadel, the church of Notre
Dame with a painting by Rubens. They bought postcards and mailed them to various friends.
Every now and then they would inspect the harbor again, but still there was no trim white
Bessie Budd. Again they had tables put together in the restaurant, and the fourteen had
supper; they went out and watched till dark—but still no sign of the yacht.
They were beginning to be worried. Johannes had set a definite hour for leaving Bremerhaven,
and he was a precise man who did everything on time and had his employees do the same. If
anything unforeseen had turned up he would surely have telegraphed or telephoned. He had
specified in his last letter what hotel they should go to, so that he would know where to look
for them. They had sailed so often with him that they knew how many hours it would take to
reach Calais, and it had been planned for the yacht to arrive simultaneously with the train from
Paris. She was now twelve hours overdue.
Something must have happened, and they spent time discussing possibilities. Private yachts
which are properly cared for do not have machinery trouble in calm weather, nor do they butt
into the Frisian islands on the way from Germany to France. They travel as safely by night as
by day; but of course some fisherman's boat or other obstruction might conceivably have got in
the way. "Tire trouble!" said Lanny, the motorist.
VIII
When it was bedtime and still no word, he went to the telephone and put in a call for the
yacht Bessie Budd at Bremerhaven—that being the quickest way to find out if she had taken
her departure. Hansi and Bess sat with him, and after the usual delays he heard a guttural voice
saying in German: "Dieselmotorjacht Bessie Budd."
"Wer spricht?" inquired Lanny.
"Pressmann."
"Wer ist Pressmann?"
"Reichsbetriebszellenabteilung Gruppenführerstelhertreter." The Germans carry such titles
proudly and say them rapidly.
"What are you doing on board the yacht?"
"Auskmift untersagt," replied the voice. Information forbidden!
"But the yacht was supposed to sail yesterday!"
"Auskunft untersagt."
"Aber, bitte—"
"Leider, nicbt erlaubt"—and that was all. "Sorry, not permitted!" The receiver clicked, and
Lanny, aghast, listened on a dead wire.
"My God!" he exclaimed. "Can the Nazis have seized the Bessie Budd?" Hansi went white and
Bess dug her nails into the palms of her hands. "Why would they do that!" she exclaimed.
"I don't know," answered Lanny, "unless one of them wanted a yacht."
"They have arrested Papa!" whispered Hansi. He looked as if he was about to keel over, and
Bess caught him by the shoulders. "Oh, Hansi! Poor Hansi!" It was characteristic that she
thought of him. He was the one who would suffer most!
It was as if a bolt of lightning had fallen from the sky and blasted their plans, turned their
pleasures into a nightmare of suffering. Utter ruin, doom without escape—that was the way it
appeared, and none could think of anything to say to comfort the others. More than thirty-six
hours had passed since the scheduled sailing, and was it conceivable that Johannes would
have delayed that length of time to get word to his friends? If any member of the family was at
liberty, would that person have failed to communicate?
Just one other possibility: they might have been "tipped off" and have made their escape.
They might be on their way out of Germany; or they might be hiding somewhere, not daring to
wire. In the latter case they would use the method which they had already resorted to, of an
unsigned letter. If such a letter was on the way it was to be expected in the morning.
"I'll try Berlin," said Lanny. Anything to break that dreadful spell of inaction! He put in a
call for the Robin palace, and when he got the connection, an unfamiliar voice answered.
Lanny asked if Johannes Robin was there, and the stranger tried to find out who was calling;
when Lanny gave his name, the other started to put him through a questioning as to his reasons
for calling. When Lanny insisted upon knowing to whom he was talking, the speaker abruptly
hung up. And that again could mean only one thing: the Nazis had seized the palace!
"I must go and help Papa!" exclaimed Hansi, and started up as if to run to the station right
away, or perhaps to the airplane field if there was one. Lanny and Bess caught him at the same
moment. "Sit down," commanded the brother-in-law, "and be sensible. There's not a thing
you can do in Germany but get yourself killed."
"I certainly must try, Lanny."
"You certainly must not! There's nobody they would better like to get hold of."
"I will go under another name."
"With false passports? You who have played on so many concert stages? Our enemies have
brains, Hansi, and we have to show that we have some, too."
"He is right," put in Bess. "Whatever is to be done, I'm the one to do it."
Lanny turned upon her. "They know you almost as well as Hansi, and they will be looking
for you."
"They won't dare do anything to an American."
"They've been doing it pretty freely. And besides, you're not an American, you're the wife of a
German citizen, and that makes you one." All four of the Robins had made themselves citizens
of the Weimar Republic, because they believed in it and planned to live their lives there. "So
that's out," declared Lanny. "You both have to give me your word of honor not to enter
Germany, and not to come anywhere near the border, where they might kidnap you. Then
Irma and I will go in and see what we can find out."
"Oh, will you do it, Lanny?" Hansi looked at his brother-in-law with the grateful eyes of a
dog.
"I promise for myself. I'm guessing that Irma will go along, but of course I'll have to ask her."
IX
Irma was in her room resting, and he went to her alone. He couldn't be sure how she
would take this appalling news, and he wanted to give her a chance to make up her mind
before it was revealed to anybody else. Irma was no reformer and no saint; she was a young
woman who had always had her own way and had taken it for granted that the world existed to
give it to her. Now fate was dealing her a nasty blow.
She sat staring at her husband in consternation; she really couldn't bring herself to realize
that such a thing could happen in this comfortable civilized world, created for her and her
kind. "Lanny, they can't do that!"
"They do what they see fit, dear."
"But it ruins our cruise! It leaves us stranded!"
"They probably have our friends in prison somewhere; and they may be beating and abusing
them."
"Lanny, how perfectly unspeakable!"
"Yes, but that won't stop it. We have to figure out some way to save them."
"What can we do?"
"I don't know yet. I'll have to go to Berlin and see what has happened."
"Lanny, you can’t go into that dreadful country!"
"I can't refuse, dear. Don't forget, we have been Johannes's guests; we were going to be his
guests another whole year. How could we throw him down?"
She didn't know what to say; she could only sit staring at him. She had never thought that life
could play such a trick upon her and her chosen playmate. It was outrageous, insane! Lanny
saw her lips trembling; he had never seen her that way before, and perhaps she had never
been that way before.
For that matter, he didn't like it any too well himself. But it was as if fate had got him by
the collar, and he knew he couldn't pull loose. "Get yourself together, darling," he said.
"Remember, Johannes is Hansi's father, and Hansi is my sister's husband. I can't let them see
that I'm yellow."
"But Lanny, what on earth can you do? Those Nazis control everything in Germany."
"We know some influential people there, and I'll ask their advice.
The first thing, of course, is to find out what has happened, and why."
"Lanny, you'll be in frightful danger!"
"Not too great, I think. The high-ups don't want any scandals involving foreigners, I feel
sure."
"What do you expect me to do? Go with you?"
"Well, it's not a holiday. You might prefer to go to Bienvenu with Baby. You could have your
mother come; or you could take Baby and visit her."
"I wouldn't have a moment's peace, thinking you might be in trouble. I haven't the least idea
what I could do, but I think I ought to be with you."
"I have no doubt there'll be ways to help. The fact that you have money impresses the
Germans—and that includes the Nazis."
"Oh, Lanny, it's a horrid nuisance and a disappointment! I thought we were going to have
such fun!"
"Yes, dear, but don't let Hansi or Bess hear you say that. Remember what it means to them."
"They should have thought of this long ago. But they wouldn't let anybody tell them. Now
they see the results of their behavior— and we are expected to pay for it!"
"Dear, there's no reason to suppose that they have been the cause of the trouble."
"There must be some reason why Johannes is picked on, and not other rich Jews. The fact
that one of his sons is a Communist and the other a Socialist certainly must have made him
enemies."
Lanny couldn't deny that this was so; but he said: "Please don't mention it now, while Hansi
and Bess are half beside themselves with grief. Let's go and get their family out, and then we'll
be in position to talk to them straight."
"Yes, but you won't!" said Irma, grimly. She would go with him into the lion's den, but she
wouldn't pretend that she liked it! And when it was over, she would do the talking herself.
X
The adult members of the family had no sleep that night. The six sat in conference, going
over and over what meager data they had, trying to anticipate the future and to plan their
moves. A distressing thing, to have their happiness for a year upset, and to be "stranded" here in
Calais; but they were well-bred persons and concealed their annoyance. Beauty couldn't bear
letting her darling go into danger, and for a while insisted that she must go along and put her
social powers to work. But Lanny argued no—he wasn't in the least worried for himself, and in
a few days the yacht might be freed and their plans resumed. Let the family stay here for a few
days, and serve as a clearing house for communicating with their friends in the outside world.
If the worst proved true, and a long siege was to be expected, Marceline and Frances could be
taken back to Juan, and the Dingles and Hansi Robins could go to Paris—or perhaps Emily
would shelter them at Sept Chênes.
Lanny got Jerry Pendleton on the phone in the middle of the night. Jerry was still in Paris,
having bills to pay and other matters to settle. The plan had been for him to drive his car home,
and the chauffeur to drive the Mercedes, the car of Irma and Lanny. But now Lanny ordered
Jerry to remain in Paris, and the chauffeur to leave at once for Calais; with fast driving he
could arrive before noon, and Lanny and Irma would take the car and set out for Berlin. They
were going alone, since neither the chauffeur, Bub Smith, nor Feathers was any good for
Germany, not knowing the language. "If you were worth your keep you would have learned
it," said Irma to the secretary, taking out her irritation on this unfortunate soul.
Lanny sent cables to his father and to Rick, telling them what had happened. He guessed that
in times such as these a foreign journalist might prove a powerful person, more so than an
