ex-tutor, Jerry spoke for the family.
"But I have to get Freddi out of Germany!" insisted the ex-pupil. "I've been a year making up
my mind to that."
"All right, kid; but go back to your original idea.
"And leave you in the hole?"
"That's not nearly so bad, because I'm not related to the prisoner and I'm not known. I'm a
fellow you hired to get your paintings, and you played a dirty trick on me and left me stuck. I
can put up a howl about it and stick to my story."
"They'd sweat you instead of me, Jerry."
So the two argued back and forth; an "Alphonse and Gaston" scene, but deadly serious.
Meanwhile the precious time was passing in which exit permits and visas had to be got. There
appeared to be a deadlock—until suddenly an inspiration came to the ex- tutor. "Let's both go
out with Freddi, and leave Cyprien to face the music. I'll steal
"That would be a rotten deal, Jerry."
"Not so bad as it seems. Cyprien's a French peasant, who obviously wouldn't have the brains
to think up anything. He'll be in a rage with us, and put on a fine act. I'll get him loaded up
with good Munich beer and he'll be smelling of it when the police come for him. When we get to
France you can telegraph some money to the French consul here and tell him to look after his
own. When Cyprien gets home with his truck you can give him a few thousand francs and he'll
think it was the great adventure of his life."
Lanny didn't like that plan, but his friend settled it with an argument which Lanny hadn't
thought of. "Believe me, Freddi Robin looks a lot more like the name Cyprien Santoze than like
the name Lanning Prescott Budd!" Then, seeing Lanny weakening: "Come on! Let's get going!"
II
Jerry took the truckman to get their exit permits and to have their passports "visaed" for
Switzerland—he thought it better not to trust themselves in Mussolini's land. Lanny went
separately and did the same, while Jerry treated Cyprien to a square meal, in eluding plenty
of good Munich beer. The Frenchman, who hadn't grown up as saintly as his mother had
named him, drank everything that was put before him, and then wanted to go out and inspect
the girls of thirteen years and up who were offering themselves in such numbers on the streets
of Munich. His escort said: "Those girls sometimes pick your pockets, so you'd better give me
your papers to keep." The other accepted this as a reasonable precaution.
Lanny drove his friend out to Dachau to study the lay of the land. He pointed out the spot
where the prisoner was to be delivered, and made certain that Jerry knew the street names
and landmarks. It was the Kansan's intention to "scout around," so he said; he would find a
place from which he could watch the spot and see that everything went off according to
schedule. Hugo would be doing the same thing, and Lanny wasn't at liberty to tell Jerry
about Hugo or Hugo about Jerry. It sufficed to warn his friend that there would be a Nazi officer
watching, and -Jerry said: "I'll watch
One serious difficulty, so far as concerned the ex-tutor, and that was, he knew only a few
words of German. He said: "Tell me, how do you say: 'Hands up!'?"
Lanny answered: "What are you thinking about, idiot? Have you got a gun?"
"Who? Me? Who ever heard of me carrying a gun?" This from one who had been all through
the Meuse-Argonne in the autumn of 1918!
"You mustn't try any rough stuff, Jerry. Remember, murder is an extraditable offense."
"Sure, I know," responded the other. "They extradited a couple of million of us. You
remember, the A.E.F., the American Extraditable Force!" It was the old doughboy spirit.
Lanny knew that Jerry owned a Budd automatic, and it was likely he had brought it along
with him in the truck. But he wouldn't say any more about it; he just wanted to learn to say:
They studied the map. They would drive north out of Dachau, then make a circle and head
south, skirt the city of Munich and streak for the border. When they had got the maps fixed in
mind, they went over the streets of Dachau, noting the landmarks, so as to make no mistake in
the dark. All this done, they drove back to Munich and had a late supper in a quiet tavern, and
then Jerry went to his hotel. There were a few things he didn't want to leave behind, and one
or two letters he wanted to destroy. "I didn't know I was embarking upon a criminal career,"
he said, with a grin.
At the proper hour he met his pal on the street and was motored out to Dachau and dropped
there. It was dark by then, a lovely summer evening, and the people of this workingclass district
were sitting in front of their homes. Lanny said: "You'll have to keep moving so as not to
attract attention. See you later, old scout!" He spoke with assurance, but didn't feel it inside!
III
Back in Munich, the playboy drove past the spot where he was accustomed to meet Hugo, in
front of a tobacco shop on a well-frequented street. Darkness had fallen, but the street was