o 3b3e7475144cf77c

sorry that he didn't like the Nazis. He had a feeling that Irma would be willing for him to say

yes, and would enjoy helping on such international errands. Doubtless the General had invited

her to lunch in order that he might size her up from that point of view.

"My dear Göring," said Irma's husband, "you are paying me a compliment, and I wish I could

believe that I deserve it. To be sure, I sometimes meet important persons and hear their talk

when they are off their guard; I suppose I could have more such opportunities if I sought them.

Also I find Berlin an agreeable city to visit, and if I should run over now and then to watch your

interesting work, it would be natural for you to ask me questions and for me to tell you what

I had heard. But when you offer to pay me, that is another matter. Then I should feel that I

was under obligations; and I have always been a Taugenichts— even before I happened to acquire

a rich wife I liked to flit from one place to another, look at pictures, listen to good music or play

it not so well, chat with my friends, and amuse myself watching the human spectacle. It happens

that I have made some money, but I have never felt that I was earning it, and I would hate to

feel that I had to."

It was the sort of answer a man would make if he wished to raise his price; and how was a

would-be employer to know? "My dear Budd," said the General, in the same cautious style, "the

last thing in the world I desired was to put you under any sense of obligation, or to interfere

with your enjoyments. It is just because of that way of life that you could be of help to me."

"It would be pleasant indeed, Exzellenz, to discover that my weaknesses have become my

virtues."

The great man smiled, but went on trying to get what he wanted.

"Suppose you were to render me such services as happened to amuse you, and which

required no greater sacrifice on your part than to motor to Berlin two or three times a year; and

suppose that some day, purely out of friendship, I should be moved to present you with a

shooting preserve such as this, a matter of one or two hundred square kilometers—surely that

wouldn't have to be taken as a humiliation or indignity."

"Gott behüte!" exclaimed the playboy. "If I owned such a property, I would have to pay

taxes and upkeep, and right away I should be under moral pressure to get some use out of it."

"Can you think of nothing I might do for you?"

Lanny perceived that he was being handled with masterly diplomacy. The General wasn't

saying: "You know I have a hold on you, and this is the way you might induce me to release

it!" He wasn't compelling Lanny to say: "You know that you are holding out on me and not

keeping your promise!" He was making things easy for both of them; and Lanny was surely not

going to miss his chance! "Yes, Göring," he said, quickly, "there is one thing—to have your

wonderful governmental machine make some special effort and find that young son of

Johannes Robin."

"You are still worried about that Yiddisher?"

"How can I help it? He is a sort of relative—my half-sister is married to his brother, and

naturally the family is distressed. When I started out for Berlin to show my Detaze paintings,

I had to promise to do everything in my power to find him. I have hesitated to trouble you

again, knowing the enormous responsibilities you are carrying—"

"But I have already told you, my dear Budd, that I have tried to find the man without

success."

"Yes, but I know how great the confusion of the past few months has been; I know of cases

where individuals and groups have assumed authority which they did not legally possess. If

you want to do me a favor I shall never forget, have one of your staff make a thorough

investigation, not merely in Berlin but throughout the Reich, and enable me to get this utterly

harmless young fellow off my conscience."

"All right," said the Minister-Prasident; "if that is your heart's desire, I will try to grant it. But

remember, it may be beyond my power. I cannot bring back the dead."

IV

Back in Berlin, Lanny and his wife went for a drive and talked out this new development.

"Either he doesn't trust me," said Lanny, "or else I ought to hear from him very soon."

"He must pretend to make an investigation," put in Irma.

"It needn't take long to discover a blunder. He can say: 'I am embarrassed to discover that my

supposed-to-be-efficient organization has slipped up. Your friend was in Dachau all along and

I have ordered him brought to Berlin.' If he doesn't do that, it's because he's not satisfied with

my promises."

"Maybe he knows too much about you, Lanny."

"That is possible; but he hasn't given any hint of it."

"Would he, unless it suited his convenience? Freddi is his only hold on you, and he knows

that. Probably he thinks you'd go straight out of Germany and spill the story of Johannes."

"That story is pretty old stuff by now. Johannes is a poor down-and-out, and I doubt if

anybody could be got to take much interest in him. The Brown Book is published and he isn't