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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,
school books, advertising, and cultural relations of whatever sort that went on between Germany
and the outside world, including those organizations and publications which were carrying on
Nazi propaganda in several score of nations. This ugly, dark, and pitiful deformity had a budget
of a hundred million dollars a year to sing the praises of the beautiful, blond, and perfect Aryan.
In private life he was genial and witty, resourceful and quick in argument, and completely
cynical about his job; you could chaff him about what he was doing, and he would even chaff
himself. All the world's a stage and all the men and women on it merely players; how did you like
my performance tonight? Like all truly great actors, Herr Reichsminister Doktor Goebbels
worked terrifically hard, driven by an iron determination to get to the top of his pro fession and
stay there in spite of all his rivals. At the beginning of his career he had been a violent
opponent of the N.S.D.A.P., but the party had offered him a higher salary and he had at once
become a convert. Now, besides being Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda, he
was the party's Gauleiter of Berlin and director of Der Angriff, the powerful Nazi newspaper
of the city.
He was pleased to find two rich and influential Americans in his home. One of his duties was to
receive such persons and explain National Socialism to them! He was quick in reading their
characters and in suiting what he told them to their positions and preju dices. For the third
time that evening Lanny told his story, and the Reichsminister Doktor listened attentively.
When he had heard to the end he turned to his wife. "Na, Magda, there you have it!" he said.
"That pothouse brawler, that Saalschlacht hero, Ley! Such a Grobian to represent us to the
outside world and involve us in his gangsterism!"
"Vorsicht, Jockl!" warned Magda.
But masterful Nazis are above heeding the warnings of their wives. Goebbels persisted: "A
drunken rowdy, who wishes to control all German labor but cannot control himself! Have you
seen that great organizer of ours, Mr. Budd?"
"Not that I know of, Herr Reichsminister."
"A pot-bellied, roaring braggart who cannot live without his flagon at his side. He likes to tell
jokes, and he explodes with laughter and a fine spray flies over the surrounding company. You
know that he is building the new Labor Front, and it must be done with melodrama—he
personally must raid the union headquarters here in Berlin. Revolvers and hand grenades are
not enough, he has to have machine guns mounted in front of the doors—for the arresting of
cowardly fat labor parasites who find it difficult to rise out of their swivel-chairs without
assistance! That is the way it goes in our land of Zucht und Ordnung— we are going to turn
Berlin into another Chicago, and have bandits and kidnapers operating freely in our streets! I
hope I do not offend you by the comparison, Mr. Budd."
"Not at all," laughed Lanny. "The home of my forefathers is a thousand miles from Chicago—
and we, too, have sometimes observed the imperfections of human nature manifesting
themselves in our perfect political system."
"Na!" said the Reichsminister Doktor. Then, becoming serious: "I leave the administration of
justice to the proper authorities; but where the matter concerns a person with international
reputation, I surely have a right to be consulted. I promise you that I will look into the matter
the first thing in the morning and will report to you what I find."
"Thank you very much," said Lanny. "That is all I could ask."
The little great man appeared to notice the look of worry on his wife's gentle features; he
added: "You understand, I do not know what crime your Jewish friend may be accused of, nor
do I know that the overzealous Dr. Ley really has anything to do with it. Let us hold our minds
open until we know exactly what has happened."
"What you have said will go no further, I assure you," declared Lanny, promptly. "I am not
here to make gossip but to stop it."
XI
The Reichsminister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda relaxed in his chair and sipped
the wine which his wife poured out for him and for the guests. uNa!" he exclaimed. "Tell me
what you think of our Führer's speech."
Lanny started to repeat what he had said to the forester's son, and the bel canto duet was
sung over again. Juppchen proved an even more romantic tenor than Heinrich; there was no
language too ardent for him to employ in praise of Hitler. Lanny realized the situation; a
deputy was free to criticize his fellow deputies, the Leys and the Strassers, the Hesses and the
Rohms, but the Great One was perfection, and on him the butter of flattery was laid thickly.
Heinrich had informed Lanny that the Goebbels home had become Adi's favorite haunt when
he was in Berlin; here Magda caused to be prepared for him the vegetable plates which he
enjoyed, and afterward he relaxed, listened to music, and played with her two children. Lanny
didn't have to be told that the wily intriguer would use the occasion to fill his Chief's mind
with his own views of the various personalities with whom their lives were involved. So it is
that sovereigns are guided and the destinies of states controlled.
The Reichsminister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda enjoyed every aspect of his job
and worked at it day and night. Here he had two rich and well-dressed Americans, and at least
one of them appeared to be intelligent. He thought just what Heinrich had been thinking for
the past twelve years—to send Lanny Budd out as a missionary to spread the faith in the lands
where he was at home. Said Goebbels: "All that we National Socialists want is to be left alone,
so that we can reorganize our country's industry, solve the problem of unemployment by public
works, and show the world what a model state can be. We have absolutely nothing to gain by
forcing our ideas upon other peoples."
Said Lanny: "Ten years ago Mussolini told me that Fascismo was not for export. But since
then I have seen him export it to Germany."
The Reichsminister Doktor perceived that this was indeed an intelligent young man, in spite of
his well-tailored clothes and rich wife. "We have learned where we could," he admitted.
"Even from Lenin," smiled the other.
"If I answered that, Mr. Budd, it would have to be, as you Americans say, off the record."
"Naturally, Herr Reichsminister. I ought to explain to you that I had the good fortune to be
secretary and translator to one of the experts on the American staff at the Peace Conference. I
learned there how international business is carried on, and to keep my own counsel."
"Are you older than your years, Mr. Budd—or is it that you are older than your looks?"
"I was only nineteen at the time, but I had lived all over Europe, and knew the languages
better than a geographer from what we call a 'fresh-water college' in the Middle West."
"Eine frisch-Wasser-Universität?" translated the Minister of Enlightenment, puzzled; and when
Lanny explained, "Süßwasser," he said: "One thing that I envy you Americans is your amusing
forms of speech."
"Other people laugh at us," responded Lanny; "they fail to realize that we are laughing at
ourselves."
"I perceive that you are a philosopher, Mr. Budd. I, too, had aspirations in that direction, but
the has claimed me.
Tell me honestly, without any evasion, what will Europe and America make of the Führer's
speech?"
"They will be pleased, of course, but surprised by its tone of politeness. The skeptical ones
will say that he wishes to have no trouble until Germany has had time to rearm."
"Let them learn one of his sentences: "that Germany wishes nothing but to preserve her
independence and guard her borders".
"Yes, Herr Reichsminister; but there are sometimes uncertainties as to where borders are or
should be."
The other could not fail to smile. But he insisted: "You will see that all our arming is
defensive. We are completely absorbed in the problems of our own economy. We mean to
make good the Socialism in our name, and show the outside world as well as our own people
