Читать книгу The Fall of a Dictator - Arthur Gask - Страница 5

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BRENDON mounted the bicycle, switched on the light, and, apparently with perfect confidence, started to pedal along the coastal road in the direction opposite to that in which the guard-house lay.

But, certainly, he could not have been really quite so confident as he seemed, for he was well aware that there might be some very awkward moments before him, until he had finally passed through the cordon flung round the far side of the bay.

But he was greatly heartened by certain items of information which, by close questioning, he had extracted from the fisherman.

It was the sergeant's usual custom to make a patrol along the coast about the time it then was, close upon midnight; he always rode with the peak of his cap well down upon his forehead and with his shoulders hunched up. Also, he was taciturn and short of speech with his subordinates, and, when he spoke, generally roared at them as if he were angry.

Another thing, too, was in Brendon's favour. He had learnt that the watch beyond the bay was being entirely carried out by soldiers brought from the garrison at Thole, and, as their camp had been pitched a couple of miles away, it was quite possible they might not know the sergeant, even by sight.

So if he, Brendon, were stopped, a bold front and good bluff would probably be quite successful.

The night was much lighter than the previous one, and objects not far away could be distinguished quite plainly. He pedalled leisurely along.

For a mile or so the road was deserted, and he saw no signs of life, but when almost at the extreme end of the little bay, the rays of his lamp picked up three soldiers standing together by the roadside about a hundred yards before him. Their faces were turned towards him, and, from their attitudes, they were evidently waiting for him to approach.

Instantly then, he realised they must be local men and that, therefore, he could not possibly manage to pass them by without their at once perceiving he was not their sergeant. They were probably expecting him, and, although in the distance their suspicions would not be excited, he was sure any close inspection would be fatal at once.

So, when about twenty paces away, he sprang suddenly from his machine, and wrenching the headlight round, focused it upon a cluster of tall rocks just by the margin of the waves.

For a long minute he stood motionless in the shadows behind his lamp, and then he uttered an excited exclamation and his arm shot out in front of the light.

"Down there among those rocks," he shouted hoarsely. "Quick! I'll swear I saw something moving!"

The three soldiers darted off like lightning and half a minute later their torches could be seen flashing everywhere among the rocks. Brendon chuckled at the alacrity they were displaying.

Presently, however, one of them called out. "There's nobody here, Sergeant. There's not room for a dog to hide."

"All right, then!" shouted back Brendon. "Come up again and keep your eyes open. I'm sure the fellow's somewhere about," and remounting his bicycle he continued pedalling along the road.

He drew a deep breath. "Whew! That was easily done, and they are almost certain to be the last of the lot here!"

He rounded the point of the headland and continued upon his journey as leisurely as before. The road was now turning away from the coast and, from his recollection of the map he had studied in London, he knew he must be heading direct for Thole.

Nothing happened for quite two miles, and he had just taken out and lighted a cigarette, as he was turning a bend in the road, when he caught sight of a stationary motor car about two hundred yards to front. The car was facing him and its lights were dimmed, but he imagined he could see the figures of several men standing round.

His heart beat like a piston. "Now, for it!" he whispered. "It's the men from Thole, of course." He heaved a big sigh. "All or nothing, my boy, but if you get through this you should be able to go anywhere."

He quickened his pace ever so little and, as he approached nearer, crossed diagonally over the wide road so that he should come close up to the car.

Then suddenly the car's lights went up and, dazed by their glare, he at once dismounted from his bicycle and proceeded to walk forward. He threw away his cigarette.

Once out of the glare of the big headlights, he saw there were four men standing by the car, all in uniform and one of them an officer. He saluted promptly.

"Your message, Sergeant?" asked the young lieutenant sharply.

Brendon shook his head. "I have none, sir," he replied. "I am off duty. I am going into Thole."

"At this time of night?" queried the officer, looking very surprised.

"Yes, sir," said Brendon, "my wife has just had a little one and I am going in to see her. It is the only chance I get."

The lieutenant's face at once broke into a smile. "Oh, I see. And how old is it?"

"It was born yesterday, sir," replied Brendon, "and I haven't seen it yet." He drew himself up proudly. "It's a son."

"Splendid!" laughed the officer. "That's what out country wants." His face sobered. "But what about this man we're looking for? Do you really think one landed here?"

Brendon appeared to hesitate. "We-ll, sir," he said slowly, "I was certainly among those who saw most distinctly some man on the run when the search-light flashed upon the road, but if one of my men hadn't been so sure he'd heard a submarine in the bay, and then seen a man upon that jetty, I shouldn't have taken much notice of it. The chap we saw might just have been someone out love-making where he shouldn't have been, and then, of course, he wouldn't have wanted to be seen." He nodded. "Those fishermen never strike me as being a very particular lot with their sweethearts and wives."

They talked on for a few minutes and then Brendon rode off with the lieutenant all smiles and wishing him good luck.

Brendon was in great glee. "But he won't be wishing me that for long," he grinned, "and soon he'll be as sick a young man as you could find anywhere." He puckered up his brows. "Now let me see exactly how I stand. That sergeant may not be missed at all until the morning, and then they'll be fearfully puzzled to guess what's happened to him. Of course, they'll come searching for him along this road, because those three men at the headland will say they last saw him coming this way. Then, sooner or later, this officer and these men I've just passed will come to hear about it, and tell their tale and describe the appearance of the sergeant who came up to their car. Then one part of the mystery will be solved, and at once the whole countryside will be roused to look out for a man in a sergeant's uniform, riding a bicycle."

He nodded. "Yes, and that will happen, at latest, about noon tomorrow, and people will begin asking themselves about every man they last saw upon a bicycle. But they won't necessarily then look for anyone in uniform, for it will be guessed I shall have got rid of my sergeant's clothes."

He thought on. "So what it amounts to is that I have the whole night of perfect safety before me, but directly daylight comes I must, as far as possible, keep away from everyone so that, later, when the broadcast is made, they will have nothing to tell about me." He accelerated quickly. "And I'll go through Thole, because, having told that lieutenant I was going there, that will be the last place where they will be expecting me to go."

So through Thole he went, and when once out in the open country again kept up at a steady ten miles an hour. He neither passed nor met anyone on foot, but a few cars and lorries were about, and whenever he heard them or saw their approaching lights, he lifted his bicycle off the road and lay hidden in the grass until they had passed.

With dawn breaking, he reckoned he had covered between 50 and 60 miles, and finding himself near a big and fairly thick wood of large trees, he wheeled his bicycle in and prepared to pass the day. He was beginning to feel exhausted after his long journey following upon two nights without having once closed his eyes. However, he ate some of the food the girl had given him and then lay down to sleep.

But sleep was a long time coming, and, strangely enough, it was not the thought of the danger he was in that kept him awake, but that of the dark eyes of the fisherman's sister. He smiled here at her being any relation of the fisherman, feeling quite sure she was, every inch of her, an aristocrat.

As the sergeant had said, there must be some mystery about her, for why, in a country like this, where punishment came so quickly and life was held so cheap, should she have run all the danger she had in helping a perfect stranger who was nothing to her?

That she was a Cyranian herself he was quite certain, and then why again had she helped anyone whom she must have been quite aware was an enemy of her country?

He gave it up at last and dropped off into a heavy slumber.

The afternoon was waning when he awoke and for a few seconds he could not remember where he was. Then he sat up with a jerk. He was stiff and sore from his long ride, but otherwise he felt much refreshed, and, best of all, he found himself in quite good spirits.

But he was very thirsty and scouting round the far side of the wood, was delighted to come upon a small stream of running water. Then, having eaten all the food that remained, he proceeded to take stock of his position.

By now, he considered, the chase after him would have begun on all sides and, aware that he was in possession of a bicycle, he was no doubt being looked for many miles away from Thole Bay. He heard a number of cars going by the wood, but was not perturbed about that, as he knew the road was one of the main arterial ones leading to the capital city, Marleck.

But he must get right away from the road upon which he had hitherto been travelling he told himself, and make for country where cars could not come looking for him. He had a good idea of the lie of the land, and knew that about fifty miles of sparsely inhabited moor now lay between him and another arterial road upon which he had several times motored when on his holidays. This road was the main one to Sarron, too, and once he reached it Sarron would be only about two hundred miles away.

His mind made up, he wheeled his bicycle into the deepest part of the plantation and there changed back into his own clothes. The uniform of the sergeant and the bicycle he covered with large sods of earth.

Waiting until the road was quite clear, he crossed over, and at a quick pace started upon his long tramp. All he now carried was the small knapsack which had been provided for him in England, and which contained some spare socks, a shirt, and his shaving materials. In his belt was the small dagger which the fisherman had insisted he should keep.

Two hours' hard walking and night began to fall. The country he was crossing was so hilly and rough that he feared he would make but slow progress during the night, but a couple of hours after sunset a new moon rose and he was able to get along quite well. From time to time he saw the lights of a farm in the distance, but he always kept well away, lest there should be dogs about.

By daylight he was confident he must have come at least twenty miles, and, making himself a comfortable bed of the sweet-smelling heather between two rocks, lay down, intending to rest until late afternoon.

He fell asleep at once and thoroughly tired out by his night of walking, his sleep, as before, was deep and heavy. Hour after hour passed and then suddenly he awoke with a start. An aeroplane was droning overhead and instantly he went cold in terror and amazed surprise. Aeroplanes had never entered into his calculations.

The plane was flying low, but fortunately it was not right above him, and with a stealthy movement he squirmed himself against one of the rocks and pulled some of his heather bedding over him. He could distinctly see someone leaning out and sweeping everything with binoculars.

Two dreadful minutes passed and then the plane gradually drew away and disappeared into the distance.

He jumped quickly to his feet. They might have seen him and the plane had not circled round because they did not want him to know they had! Possibly they had located him but did not want to frighten him away! They were now off to give his exact position so that he could be easily caught!

After a quick glance at his watch, which told him the time was just after noon, he started off at an ambling run. He must put as many miles as he could from where he had been sleeping before any pursuers could have time to reach it.

But commonsense soon made him slow down to a quick walk. There were no roads anywhere near and he had only passed two narrow tracks during the night. So, even if he had been seen, pursuit by car was out of the question, and among these hills and this rock-strewn country it would be only by mounted men that the hunt for him could be carried on. So he need be afraid of no lightning swoop by a powerful car and he would certainly see any mounted men long before they caught sight of him.

Presently, he climbed to the brow of a short range of hills and, when at the crest, he uttered a sharp exclamation of surprise at what he saw just below him, and instantly flung himself upon the ground.

Not a hundred and fifty yards away nestled a small farmhouse, tucked in a hollow half-way down the hill. On one side was a paddock in which some cows were grazing and at the back in a small yard were two horses.

But what so interested him was the sight of a man who was hanging up some clothes upon a line. The man was so close that he could see his face quite plainly and it was rough-looking and bearded. He was evidently not too particular about his job, for once when one of the garments fell on to the dusty ground he just gave it a quick shake and put it back to dry as it was.

"He is living by himself," was Brendon's comment, "or at any rate there is no woman in the house, for there are no women's things upon the line."

The hanging up of the clothes finished, the man harnessed up one of the horses to a small dray and brought it out of the yard. Then he went into the house and returning with a cat in his arms, banged the door to behind him and dropped the animal on to the ground. Then he picked out a big axe and mounting into the dray drove slowly away.

Brendon was feeling very hungry. "There is no one else now in that house," he nodded, "for he put the cat out so that she shouldn't steal anything while he was away. There'll be food there and I might be able to take some without it being noticed." He nodded again. "At any rate I'll go and see. He's sure to be away some time, for taking that axe meant he was going to get some wood, and there are no trees anywhere near."

In a few minutes, turning round a small hill, the man was out of sight, and Brendon lost no time in getting to the house. As a matter of precaution, however, he first knocked loudly on the door, but then, getting no answer he turned the handle and went in.

As he had expected, there was no one inside.

This house consisted of four rooms, and was very untidy. Things were thrown about everywhere, and the one bed in use looked as if it had not been made for months.

There was not much to eat to be found, and all he dared appropriate were a few of the stale crusts at the bottom of the bread-pan and a slice of the big sausage upon the table. He took a good drink, however, from a large basin of milk.

Then he let himself out of the house again and was starting to get away as quickly as he could when, passing the yard, his eyes happened to fall upon the horse standing there. It was a brood-mare and appeared in excellent condition.

He stopped dead in his tracks as an idea seized him suddenly. "Whew!" he whistled, "she'd take me twenty miles and then if I turned her loose she'd come back home." He looked at the gate, which was fastened only with a piece of well-frayed string. "Yes, by Jove, and if I ride her bare-back the man will think she's broken away!"

He approached the mare and found she was quite friendly. She let him mount her and then he rode a few times round the yard. He had had plenty of experience with horses, and was instantly of opinion he would have no trouble with her. But he was not taking too many chances, and had soon improvised a halter out of a piece of rope he found in a shed. He was not minded she should bolt the way the other horse had gone, directly she was out of the yard.

Everything ready, he pushed at the gate and broke the frayed piece of string, and then, until he felt sure of the mare, proceeded to lead her in the direction he intended to go. She was quite quiet and five minutes later he had mounted and was jogging along comfortably.

He rode her steadily for five hours, and his certainty of eventual escape was now only marred by one happening during that time.

Late in the afternoon another aeroplane had appeared, and this time it glided low down and circled twice over him. Fortunately, he heard it long before it appeared over a small hill and was all ready to act as he imagined a moorman would do under the same circumstances. He had jumped off the mare and tightened the halter so that he would have a better grip if the noise of the plane should upset her. Then he had thrust his cap in one of his pockets and his little knapsack up under his coat. Lastly he had turned the mare at right angles so that it would appear he had been going in quite a different direction.

The plane appeared quite half a mile from where he was standing, but, then picking him up, immediately came straight towards him. He waved his arm as if in excited greeting, but when the plane suddenly dropped lower and the mare began to jump and struggle to get away, he contorted his face in anger and shook his head as if furious at the manoeuvres of the pilot.

The plane circled twice round him, and then, when it was at length drawing away, the moment he could spare one hand from the halter he shook his fist menacingly at the observer in the plane, whom he could see was still watching him.

"And that's that," he told himself scowlingly, as he remounted the mare. "It may mean nothing, and yet"—his scowl deepened—"it may mean they had some very good idea as to which way I have come."

The following day about mid-afternoon he stepped off the moorland on to the main Sarron road. He had washed in a little stream, shaved, put on his shirt and collar and, generally, spruced himself up.

He knew he was again staking everything upon a single throw of the dice, but he had convinced himself it was the only thing to do. He was worn out and famished, and to go on any longer as he had been doing would have been only giving up the game.

He must have food, he argued, for what good was his freedom if he had not enough strength to make use of it?

So, well acquainted with the locality where he now was, he was proceeding to make his way to a little village he knew of, about half a mile distant. He carried himself jauntily, and to all appearances there could not have been a happier or more carefree man.

At length reaching the village, he was sure his good fortune was in the ascendant when he saw one of the first houses he came to was a little wine shop with a restaurant adjoining. He went in and ordered a meal and a bottle of wine.

He was kept waiting a few minutes, and then the smiling young woman who attended him apologised for the delay, explaining that her father was away and her mother ill in bed, and all the work was in consequence devolving on her.

Brendon smiled back, and said he was in no hurry, and then, in the intervals between attending to customers in the wine-shop, the girl returned to him and chatted brightly. She was obviously interested in him, and in a roundabout way tried to learn who he was and what he was doing to the village. But he put her off with evasive answers, and then asked for another serving of meat.

"I was very hungry," he remarked, "and this meat is good."

A few moments after she had left the room, his attention was attracted outside. A beautiful car, labouring heavily and missing fire badly, had drawn level with the window of the restaurant, and when about twenty yards further on had stopped altogether. The two occupants had thereupon alighted at once. They were officers and, from his uniform, Brendon saw that one of them was of high rank.

"A general," he exclaimed interestedly, "and from the look of him, a most important person." He stared hard. "By Jove, but surely I've seen a photograph of him somewhere?"

The two officers jerked up the bonnet of the car and their heads bent low over the engine. In a minute or two a woman came by and the General with a frowning face looked up and spoke to her. But, replying to him, the woman shook her head and the General frowned more than ever. Then the two turned to the engine again.

Presently the girl returned with what Brendon had ordered and seeing where his attention was directed, asked him in an awed tone of voice if he recognised who one of the officers was.

"The elderly stout one, of course, you mean?" queried Brendon. He shook his head. "No, his face seems quite familiar, but I can't remember who he is."

"General Lazzarine!" nodded the girl, and then a wave of memory surged through Brendon. General Lazzarine, one of the heads of the Cyranian army and Governor of the Province of Waldon! A soldier of renown and one of the closest intimates of the Dictator General Bratz. No wonder his face had seemed familiar, for it peered out of the pages of every European newspaper whenever there was any mention of the coming of the next great war.

"And his car's broken down badly," went on the girl, "and there's no one about here who knows anything about cars. The nearest place he can get help is Errol, and that's a long way, so I expect he'll soon be coming in to use the telephone. Ours is the only one near."

Brendon knew the town of Erroll quite well, having stayed there once. It was thirty kilometres farther along towards Sarron, nearly twenty miles away.

The girl seemed quite excited. "And a customer has just told me that what they call the distributor has gone wrong and as they don't seem to know much about cars——" but the phone bell buzzed somewhere and with a word of apology she ran off.

The edge of his hunger blunted. Brendon proceeded with his meal very thoughtfully, with his eyes, however, all the time upon the car outside. The officers were apparently making no progress and the red-faced General was now looking as if he would like to shoot somebody.

Subconsciously, Brendon heard the girl still speaking on the phone, but she was too far away for him to hear what she was saying. The talking went on for quite a long time and then suddenly he heard the ring off and a few moments afterwards the girl re-entered the room.

Glancing round idly it struck Brendon instantly that she was looking rather frightened. Her face had paled and her eyes were opened very widely. She came straight up to where he sat and bent down close to him.

"Look here," she whispered, only just above her breath, "are the soldiers after you?"

For the life of him Brendon could not suppress a start and his jaw dropped and his eyes were now as wide as hers. But he just stared at her and said nothing.

She went on—"I've just been speaking to my sister, who has a wine shop like ours in Mond. It's a little village twenty kilometres away, and she says there are some soldiers having refreshment there and they are enquiring for a man who's been hiding on the moorland."

Brendon pulled himself together. "And you think, then, I've come off the moor?" he asked with a sickly smile.

The girl spoke very quietly. "I smelt heather directly you came in," she said, "and your boots are shiny as if you had walked a long way among the heather." She nodded. "I've lived here all my life, and know what heather is."

Brendon made no comment, but turned his eyes outside, where the head of the younger officer was still buried under the bonnet of the car.

"Get away quick," whispered the girl. "My sister said the soldiers are coming up this way, and so they may be here in less than half an hour. You needn't pay for what you've had if you are short of money, and I won't tell anyone you've been in for a meal."

But Brendon was still silent. A startling idea had surged into his mind and his lips were parted and he breathed heavily. In a lightning flash he turned back to the girl. "Yes, it is me they are after," he said hoarsely, "and if they catch me I shall be shot." He rose sharply to his feet. "Now lend me your apron, please, and I'll go and speak to those officers as if I belonged here. Perhaps I can make their car go and then they may give me a lift and I'll get away." His white and anxious face broke into a smile. "Lend me an apron, there's the dear girl I can see you are."

"I'll get father's," she panted. "It'll look better than mine," and so in less than half a minute Brendon was out in the road without any jacket and wearing the big apron of the proprietor of the wine shop.

He walked briskly over to the car and saluted the stout general humbly. "Can I help you, your Excellency?" he asked most deferentially. "I know something about cars."

"And who the devil are you?" glared the general, regarding him as scowlingly as if he were the cause of all the trouble.

Brendon jerked his hand back in the direction of the restaurant. "The proprietor of that wine shop, Your Excellency, but I used to be an electrician and know a lot about cars."

The general's face lost a little of its scowl. "Then see what you can do here," he said sternly. "There can't be much wrong, for the car was going perfectly well up to a minute or two before it stopped. The damnation is we are neither of us car-tinkers ourselves."

Brendon bent under the bonnet and saw instantly what was wrong. The distributor was loose in its housing and a couple of nuts needed tightening. That would account for the trouble without looking for anything else. But he was not minded to put things right straight away, and as his nimble fingers took out this and adjusted that, he was all the time concentrating his mind upon how much margin of time there was before him before the soldiers would be likely to appear.

He reckoned he had at least half an hour, for even if they had started directly after the sister of the girl had telephoned, they had twelve or thirteen miles to cover and would most certainly stop several times upon the way to make enquiries at any house near the roadside.

"Can you see what's the matter?" snapped the General, who had been impatiently watching every movement Brendon had made.

Brendon straightened himself up and saluted respectfully. "Oh, yes, your Excellency," he replied. "The distributor has worked loose and several little things want adjusting as well, but I'll soon have them all right."

Then for a good quarter of an hour he worked energetically and at utmost speed. He screwed down the distributor and took several parts of it out and cleaned them and put them back. Then he examined all the wiring and finally he stood up and saluted most respectfully again.

"It should be all right now your Excellency," he said. "Will you please try it."

The younger officer climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. It purred as smoothly and silently as if it had just come out of the maker.

The General's grim face broke into a smile at last, but before he got in a word of thanks, if indeed he were going to give any, Brendon played his trump card.

Looking very troubled, he said quickly. "But I must warn your Excellency that some of those wires are fraying badly and you ought to get them replaced as soon as possible. Certainly, you may have no trouble for a long time and yet"—he shrugged his shoulders—"you are not absolutely safe for even the next few minutes. You may get a short circuit any moment."

"The devil," snorted the General, looking very worried, "and I must be in Sarron this evening!"

Brendon's heart gave a big jump. Fate was indeed dealing him her best cards!

"In Sarron, Your Excellency!" he exclaimed as if in extraordinary surprise. "Why, I am going there myself tomorrow! I have had a lot of pain in one of my ears and have to see the specialist in the big hospital." He hesitated and looked rather shamefaced. "Now if your Excellency would like to have me with you in case anything should by chance go wrong, I should be——"

"Get in," snapped the General pointing to the car. "I'll take you all the way."

"But just exactly one minute, may it please Your Excellency, for me to put on my coat," and he darted back to the restaurant as if his very life depended upon his quickness.

The girl was standing just inside the door. "What's happened?" she asked breathlessly.

"He's going to give me a lift in the car, and I get right out of danger," panted Brendon. He laid his hand upon her arm. "Oh, I'm so grateful to you. You're saved me from a firing-squad tomorrow."

"But who are you?" asked the girl, looking very scared. "What have you done?"

"I struck one of my officers. That's all," replied Brendon, "and they've been hunting me for four days." He made a grimace. "They never forgive that in the army, you know."

He threw off the apron and jerked on his coat. Then he hurriedly took two notes out of his pocket-book and made to hand them to the girl. "Just to get yourself something to remember me by," he smiled. "I know you'll never tell."

But the girl thrust his hand away vehemently. "I won't take them," she said, pushing him towards the door. "I didn't want to help you for any reward. It way only that I liked your face"—she blushed hotly—"because it reminded me of my sweetheart, who's a soldier, too."

"Well, tell me your name," said Brendon quickly. "I must know that."

"Rita Vone," she smiled, "and a lot of good that'll do you."

"Well, one day, Rita," said Brendon earnestly, "you shall have the nicest present anyone has ever given you," and with a wave of his hand to her, he passed into the road.

"And so twice in these few days," he murmured as he hastened back to the car, "have I been saved by a woman! Really, the Government here doesn't seem to be too popular with the gentle sex! Bless their hearts!"

Now in after years, Brendon always looked back on that ride as one of the most enjoyable of his whole life. He reclined luxuriously in a deeply cushioned seat; all his senses were soothed by the great speed at which they travelled, and he was filled with a beautiful peace and thankfulness, knowing that every yard they covered he was being taken farther and farther away from the misery and perils of the preceding days. His sense of humor, too, was tickled at the thought of whom his saviours now were.

He had the back of the car to himself, and with no difficulty could hear the conversation of the two in front.

It appeared the general was off for a month's holiday on the morrow, and he was going somewhere; where no one knew, and where he could not be bothered by letters, telegrams or calls over the phone. He was going to fish and shoot, and enjoy himself to his heart's content.

For some time Brendon listened without much interest and, closing his eyes, was just dropping into a pleasant doze when he heard the word Thole mentioned. Instantly he was upon the alert, and without opening his eyes, strained his ears for anything he might hear.

The young officer was relating to the general all that had happened, or was supposed to have happened, that night in Thole Bay. There had not been absolute conviction in the minds of everyone on the spot that someone had been landed from a submarine until thirty-six hours later, when it had been known that a stranger, in possession of a sergeant's bicycle, and clothed in his uniform, had been passing himself off as the sergeant himself.

Then the blood ran cold in Brendon's veins when the officer went on to relate how the previous day an observer in an aeroplane had picked up a man lying between two rocks upon the lonely moorland stretching between the great arterial roads, and had taken some photographs of him.

"And they think he must have been the wanted man," went on the young officer, "because between the first and last snaps they got of him through a telescopic lens he had wriggled down closer to the rocks and pulled some heather over his body."

"Then went to look for him, of course?" asked the general.

"Certainly, but they couldn't get there until it was nearly dark, and then they had to wait until the morning before they could beat over the moorland. I understand they've got fifty horsemen there today. Oh, and a piece of great misfortune. Another plane, late yesterday afternoon, sighted a man with a horse, about fifteen miles nearer this road than where the man had been seen lying down. The plane dropped very low to get a photograph of him and made eight exposures, but the devil of it was they didn't find out until they came to develop the plates that the camera had jammed and not a single photo had been taken."

"Most damnable carelessness," commented the general angrily, "and of course the fool will be court-martialled!" An idea seemed to strike him suddenly. "And everything points, you say, to the man making for this road."

"Yes, they're certain of it," nodded the officer, "and now they're enquiring everywhere for any stranger who's been seen about."

The General turned sharply to Brendon. "Hi there, you fellow!" he called out. "What's your name?"

Brendon appeared to awake with a start. "Oh—er—er Nicolas Regnal, Your Excellency!" he replied.

"Well, have you had any strangers in your wine shop today?"

"Yes, Your Excellency," said Brendon promptly. "Two old gentlemen, with a young girl driving them, drew up in a blue car. They bought some pies and two bottles of wine."

"No, no, you fool!" exclaimed the General angrily. "I mean a strange man, probably young, who looked as if he'd been sleeping out in the open for some days, unshaven and unkempt."

Brendon appeared to consider, "No—o, Your Excellency," he stammered, "no one like that."

The General jerked himself round so that his back was again towards Brendon and the latter suppressed a delighted grin. Oh, what escapes he had had and how the stars were fighting for him in their courses!

The car speeded on and on and the miles slipped quickly away. There was no more conversation and it seemed as if all, save the driver, were asleep. Darkness came presently and then when the lights of a good-sized town, about fifty miles from Sarron, came flashing through the windows the General stirred himself and announced that they would stop for some refreshment.

They pulled up before a big hotel, and without a word to Brendon the two alighted and went in. Brendon would have liked to have got out, too, to stretch his legs, but as nearly everyone who passed stopped to look at the car with its big silver arrow on the radiator, he thought it best to avoid scrutiny as much as possible. So he huddled down in his seat and gave himself up to his thoughts, which were not unpleasant ones.

It was quite an hour before the two officers returned, and the General was speaking enthusiastically of some champagne they had had as they stepped back into the car.

"Hullo!" he exclaimed, catching sight of Brendon. "I had forgotten you! You might have had something, too. No matter, you'll have your whack when we get to Sarron."

The wine he had imbibed had evidently had some effect upon the General, for he was now much more amiable and made a few jokes, at which he laughed loudly himself. Then presently he turned to Brendon.

"Here, you," he said, "what's it you say you've got the matter with you? You look a strong, healthy fellow to me!"

"And so I am, Your Excellency," replied Brendon respectfully, "except for my left ear, which gives me a lot of pain when I lie down at night. The doctor in Erroll says he doesn't understand it, and that's why I'm going to the big hospital in Sarron."

"Ah!" frowned the General, "and do you know any of the doctors there?"

"No, Your Excellency, not yet," replied Brendon, "I'm quite a stranger to Sarron."

"Ah!" exclaimed the General again, "what do you say your name is?" and then, taking a card out of his pocket-book, he scribbled some words upon it and handed it to Brendon. "Here, show them this," he said majestically, "and then you'll get the best treatment they can give you. They'll know I'm interested to you."

Brendon took the card, and with heightened color expressed himself as most grateful. The card was one of the General's private ones, and upon it he had written. "Nicolas Regnal, to receive the best attention possible," and below were added the General's initials and the date.

Brendon was dropped in Sarron with another pound added to his little store of money. He put up at the first cheap hotel he saw, and, having no luggage, paid in advance for his night's lodging.

The following day he bought a secondhand suitcase and a few personal things, including some overalls. Then he removed to a boarding house which had been recommended to him by the Intelligence Department in London. The widow who kept it had no knowledge of anyone in the British Secret Service, but as her soldier husband had been shot about a year back for some trifling offence, it was presumed she would not possibly be spying in the interests of the authorities.

On the morrow, with a great beating of his heart, Brendon presented himself at the munition works and applied for work. He was kept waiting half the morning, and then was shown into a room where three officials were seated.

He presented his credentials which were carefully scrutinised and then answered a lot of questions which were put to him, all the time holding his hand to his left ear as if he were a little hard of hearing.

"I have really come to Sarron to have one of my ears attended to," he explained. "I suffer a lot of pain in it sometimes."

A short silence followed and then the one who appeared to be in authority remarked curtly, "Well, we want electricians, but we'll have some enquiries made about you first. Then, if they are satisfactory, we'll let you know at the address you have given us," and he moved his head in the direction of the door to intimate that the interview was over.

Brendon felt a dreadful sinking at his heart, for any enquiries, he knew, would be fatal. Then, not only would he not get taken on in the factory but also, the secret police would be upon his track and he would be a fugitive once again. The situation was critical and everything must be decided at that moment.

He inclined his head respectfully as if the decision were only what he had expected but then, when turning to leave the room, as an after thought, so it seemed, said very quietly, "His Excellency, General Lazzarine will speak for me. He is my patron."

The effect of his words was electrical. "His Excellency!" hastily called out the official who had dismissed him. "You mean he knows you?"

"Oh, yes," replied Brendon choking down the elation that he felt, "my sister was in service in his household until she married." He took the General's card out of his wallet. "He gave me this, the day before yesterday, to show them at the hospital when I go there about my ear," and he passed over the card for inspection.

Instantly then, there was quite a different atmosphere in the room and the card was examined with expressions almost akin to awe upon the faces of the three men.

A few moments of whispering followed and then Brendon was informed in pleasant tones that he would be taken on straight away and could start work on the morrow.

"My word," he ejaculated breathlessly as he was passing out of the closely-guarded yard, "but that was a risky card to play!" He grinned. "Still it seems neck or nothing in this game and the meek ones only inherit the earth when in their coffins."