Пользователь - o 3b3e7475144cf77c
were back in the car, safe from prying ears, he said: "You know, Hugo, you're so irritated with
the Jews, and yet, when I hear you talk about the ideals of National Socialism, it sounds exactly
like the talk of my friend Freddi Robin whom I've told you about."
"I don't deny that there are good Jews; many of them, no doubt; and certainly they have
plenty of brains."
"Freddi is one of the finest characters I have ever known. He is sensitive, delicate, considerate,
and I'm sure he never had a vice. He was giving all his time and thought to the cause of social
justice, exactly as you believe in it and have explained it today."
"Is he still in Dachau?"
"I want to talk to you about him, Hugo. It's so important to me; I can't have any peace of
mind while the situation stands as it is, and neither can anybody who knows Freddi. I'd like to
take you into my confidence, and have your word that you won't mention it to anybody else,
except by agreement with me."
"I don't think it'll be possible to get me to take an interest in the affairs of any Jew, Lanny. I
don't even care to know about him, unless I can have your word that you won't tell anybody
that you have told me."
"You certainly can have that, Hugo. I have never mentioned your name to anyone except my
wife, and this time I didn't even tell her that I was planning to meet you. I've told everybody I
was coming for the purpose of buying some pictures from Baron von Zinszollern."
On that basis the young Aryan athlete consented to risk having his mind sullied, and Lanny
told him he had positive information that Freddi was being tortured in Dachau. Lanny
intimated that this news had come to him from high Nazi sources; Hugo accepted this,
knowing well that the rich American had such contacts. Lanny drew a horrifying picture, using
the details which Göring had furnished him; Hugo, a fundamentally decent fellow, said it was
a shame, and what did they expect to accomplish by such proceedings? Lanny answered that
some of the big Nazis had learned that Lanny's wife had a great deal of money, and were
hoping to get a chunk of it—money they could hide in New York, and have in case they ever
had to take a plane and get out of Germany. Irma had been on the verge of paying; but Lanny's
English friend, Rick, had said No, those men were betraying the Socialist movement of the
world, and nobody should furnish them with funds. It had occurred to Lanny that he would
rather pay money to some of the honest men in the movement, those who took seriously the
second half of the party's name, and would really try to promote the interests of the common
man.
In short, if Hugo Behr would spend his vacation helping to get Freddi out of Dachau, Lanny
would pay him five thousand marks at the outset, and if he succeeded would pay him another
five thousand, in any form and any manner he might desire. Hugo might use the money for
the movement he was building, and thus his conscience would be clear. Lanny would be glad
to put up whatever additional sums Hugo might find it necessary to expend in order to interest
some of the proletarian S.A. men in Dachau in bringing about the escape of a comrade who had
the misfortune to have been born a Jew. They, too, might use the money to save National
Socialism.
"Oh, Lanny!" exclaimed the young sports director. "That's an awfully serious thing to be
trying!"
"I know that well. I've been hesitating and figuring it for a year. But this news about the
torturing decided me—I just can't stand it, and I'm willing to run whatever risk I have to. It's
something that ought to be stopped, Hugo, and every decent Nazi ought to help me, for the
good name of the party. Is that guard you told me about still there?"
"I'd have to make sure."
"I don't ask you to tell me anything you're doing, or thinking of doing. I have complete
confidence in your judgment. It'll be up to you to make some friends in the camp and decide
who are the right ones to trust. Don't mention me to them, and I won't mention you to anybody,
now or later. We'll carry this secret to our graves."
"There'll be the question of getting your man over the border."
"You don't have to bother about that part of it. All I ask is for you to deliver Freddi to me on
some dark night at a place agreed upon, and without anybody to stop me or follow me. I don't
want to rush you into it—take your time, think it over, and ask me all the questions you want
to. Let's have a complete understanding, so that you'll know exactly what you're getting in
for, and each of us will know exactly what we're promising."
VII
Hugo did his thinking right there in the car. He said it was a deal; but when Lanny asked him
how he wanted his first payment, he was afraid to take the money. He said he wouldn't dare
to carry such a sum on his person, and he had no place to hide it; he was a poor man, and
had no right to have money, but Lanny, a rich man, did, so keep it for him until the job was
done and the danger was over. Lanny said: "I am touched by your confidence."
They worked out their arrangements in detail. Neither would ever visit the other's hotel.
When Hugo wanted Lanny he would telephone, and always use the code name of "Boecklin."
They agreed upon a certain spot on a well-frequented street, and whenever they were to meet,
Lanny would stop at that spot and Hugo would step into the car. They would do all their
talking in the car, so there could never be any eavesdropping. All this having been agreed
upon, Lanny drove his fellow conspirator to Dachau and left him near the concentration camp,
so that he might start getting in touch with his friend.
The art expert telephoned the American consul in Munich. He had taken the precaution to
meet that gentleman on his previous visit and to invite him to the Detaze show. Now he took
him to dinner, and over a bottle of good wine they chatted about the affairs of Germany and
the outside world. Lanny contributed an account of the riots in Paris, and the consul said that
this kind of thing proved the need of a strong government, such as Hitler was now furnishing to
the German people. The official was sure that the excesses of the Regierung had no great
significance; National Socialism would soon settle down and get itself on a living basis with the
rest of Europe. Lanny found this a sensible point of view, and his conversation showed no
faintest trace of Pinkness.
Incidentally he mentioned that he was in Munich to arrange for a picture deal with Baron
von Zinszollern. He wondered if the consul knew anything about this gentleman, and his
reputation in the community. The reply was that the baron bore an excellent reputation, but of
course the consul couldn't say as to his financial situation. Lanny smiled and said: "He is selling,
not buying." He knew that the consul would take this inquiry as the purpose for which he had
been invited to dine; it was a proper purpose, it being the duty of consuls to assist their fellow
countrymen with information. They parted friends, and the official was satisfied that Lanny
Budd was in Munich for legitimate reasons, and if later on Lanny should get into any sort of
trouble, the representative of his country would have every reason to assist him and vouch for
him.
Lanny stayed in his room the rest of the evening and read the Münchener Neueste
Nachrichten from page one to the end. He learned a little of what was happening in Germany,
and still more of what the Nazis wanted the Germans to believe was happening. The
Reichsführer was in the Rheinland, attending the wedding of one of his Gauleiter. He was
stopping at the Rhein Hotel in Essen, and had visited the Krupp works and conferred with
several of the steel magnates. That was in accord with what Hugo had said; and so was the fact
that Minister-Präsident General Göring was accompanying him. Flying in the rear cabin in a
plane was the best of occasions for one man to whisper into another man's ear; and what was
Göring telling Adi about plots against him, and the urgent need to disband the S.A. and avert
the "Second Revolution"? Lanny put his imagination to work; for it was a part of his job to
point out these things to Hugo and have Hugo pass them on to discontented members of the
S.A. in Dachau. From the leading editorial in the newspaper Lanny followed the campaign now
going on against those evil persons who were described by the German equivalents of grouches,
knockers, and smart Alecks, soreheads, muckrakers, and wet blankets.
VIII
Late at night Lanny was summoned tothe telephone. There being none in his room, he went
downstairs, and there was the voice of "Boecklin," saying: "Can I see you?" Lanny replied, "Ja,
gewiss" which in American would have been "Sure thing!"
He went to his car and picked up his friend at the place agreed upon. "Well," said Hugo, "I
believe it can be arranged."
"Oh, good!" exclaimed the other.
"I promised not to name any names, and there's no need of your knowing the details, I
suppose."
"None in the world. I just want to know that I can come to a certain place and pick up my
friend."
"There's only one trouble: I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money. You see, it can't be done by a
common guard. Somebody higher up has to consent."
"What do you think it will cost?"
"About twenty thousand marks. I can't be sure what will be demanded; it might be twenty-
five or thirty thousand before we get through."
"That's all right, Hugo; I can afford it. I'll get the cash and give it to you whenever you say."
"The job ought to be put through as soon as it's agreed upon. The longer we wait, the more
chance of somebody's talking."
"Absolutely. I have certain arrangements to make, and it's hard for me to know exactly how
long it will take, but I'm pretty sure I can be ready by Friday night. Would that be all right?"
"So far as I can guess."
"If something went wrong with my plans I might have to put it off till Saturday. Whenever
you are ready for the money, you have to let me know before the bank closes."
All this was assented to; and after dropping his friend on a quiet street Lanny went to one of
the large hotels where he would find a telephone booth, and there put in a call for Jerry
Pendleton, Pension Flavin, Cannes. It takes time to achieve such a feat in Europe, but he
waited patiently, and at last heard his old pal's sleepy voice.
Lanny said: "The Detazes are ready, and I'm waiting in Munich for you. I am buying some
others, and want to close the deal and move them on Friday. Do you think you can get here
then?"
"By heck!" said Jerry. It was Wednesday midnight, and his voice came suddenly awake. "I
can't get visas until morning."
"You can hunt up the consul tonight and pay him extra."
"I'll have to go and make sure about Cyprien first." That was a nephew of Leese, who did
truck-driving for Bienvenu.
"All right, get him or somebody else. Make note of my address, and phone me at noon
tomorrow and again late in the evening, letting me know where you are. Come by way of Verona
and the Brenner, and don't let anything keep you from being here. If you should have a
breakdown, let Cyprien come with the truck, and you take a train, or a plane if you have to. I
have somebody here I want you to meet on Friday."
"O.K." said the ex-tutor and ex-soldier; he sort of sang it, with the accent on the first
syllable, and it was like a signature over the telephone.
IX
Baron von Zinszollern possessed an Anton Mauve, a large and generous work portraying a
shepherd leading home his flock in a pearly gray and green twilight. It seemed to Lanny a fine
example of that painter's poetical and serious feeling, and he had got the price down to thirty
thousand marks. He had telegraphed Zoltan that he was disposed to buy it as a gamble, and
did his friend care to go halves? His friend replied Yes, so he went that morning and bought the
work, paying two thousand marks down and agreeing to pay the balance within a week. This
involved signing papers, which Lanny would have on his person; also, an influential Nazi
sympathizer would have an interest in testifying that he was really an art expert. Incidentally
it gave Lanny a pretext for going to the Munich branch of the Hellstein Bank, and having
them pay him thirty thousand marks in Nazi paper.
At noon the dependable Jerry telephoned. He and Cyprien and the camion were past
Genoa. They would eat and sleep on board, and keep moving. Lanny told him to
telephone about ten in the evening wherever they were. Jerry sang: "O.K."
A little later came a call from "Boecklin," and Lanny took him for a drive. He said: "It's all
fixed. You're to pay twenty-three thousand marks, and your man will be delivered to you
anywhere in Dachau at twenty-two o'clock tomorrow evening. Will you be ready?"
"I'm pretty sure to. Here's your money." Lanny took out his wallet, and handed it to his
friend beside him. "Help yourself."
It was improbable that Hugo Behr, son of a shipping clerk, had ever had so much money in his
hands before. The hands trembled slightly as he took out the bundle of crisp new banknotes,
each for one thousand marks; he counted out twenty-three of them, while Lanny went on
driving and didn't seem to be especially interested. Hugo counted them a second time, both
times out loud.
"You'd better take your own, also," suggested the lordly one. "You know I might get into
some trouble."
"If you do, I'd rather be able to say you hadn't paid me anything. I'm doing it purely for
friendship's sake, and because you're a friend of Heinrich and Kurt."
"Lay all the emphasis you can on them!" chuckled Lanny. "Mention that Heinrich told you
how he had taken Kurt and me to visit the Führer last winter; and also that I told you
about taking a hunting trip with Göring. So you were sure I must be all right."
Hugo had got some news about Freddi which the other heard gladly. Apparently Lanny had
been right in what he had said about the Jewish prisoner; he had won the respect even of those
