The Riddle of the Sands Part 33

'At a railway station! I don't know where. They seemed to take it for granted. But it must be somewhere on the sea, because Bohme said, "the tide serves."'

'It may be anywhere from Emden to Hamburg.' _[See Map B]_

'No, there's a limit; it's probably somewhere near. Grimm was to come, and he's at Memmert.'

'Here's the map... Emden and Norddeich are the only coast stations till you get to Wilhelmshaven--no, to Carolinensiel; but those are a long way east.'

'And Emden's a long way south. Say Norddeich then; but according to this there's no train there after _6.15_ p.m.; that's hardly "night".

When's high tide on the 25th?'

'Let's see--8.30 here to-night--Norddeich'll be the same. Somewhere between 10.30 and 11 on the 25th.'

'There's a train at Emden at 9.22 from Leer and the south, and one at 10.50 from the north.'

'Are you counting on another fog?' said Davies, mockingly.

'No; but I want to know what our plans are.'

'Can't we wait till this cursed inspection's over?'

'No, we can't; we should come to grief.' This was no barren truism, for I was ready with a plan of my own, though reluctant to broach it to Davies.

Meanwhile, ready or not, we had to start. The cabin we left as it was, changing nothing and hiding nothing; the safest course to take, we thought, in spite of the risk of further search. But, as usual, I transferred my diary to my breast-pocket, and made sure that the two official letters from England were safe in a compartment of it.

'What do you propose?' I asked, when we were in the dinghy again.

'It's a case of "as you were",' said Davies. 'To-day's trip was a chance we shall never get again. We must go back to last night's decision--tell them that we're going to stay on here for a bit.

Shooting, I suppose we shall have to say.'

'And courting?' I suggested.

'Well, they know all about that. And then we must watch for a chance of tackling Dollmann privately. Not to-night, because we want time to consider those clues of yours.'

'"Consider"?' I said: 'that's putting it mildly.'

We were at the ladder, and what a languid stiffness oppressed me I did not know till I touched its freezing rungs, each one of which seared my sore palms like red-hot iron.

The overdue steamer was just arriving as we set foot on the quay.

'And yet, by Jove! why not to-night?' pursued Davies, beginning to stride up the pier at a pace I could not imitate.

'Steady on,' I protested; 'and, look here, I disagree altogether. I believe to-day has doubled our chances, but unless we alter our tactics it has doubled our risks. We've involved ourselves in too tangled a web. I don't like this inspection, and I fear that foxy old Bohme who prompted it. The mere fact of their inviting us shows that we stand badly; for it runs in the teeth of Bruning's warning at Bensersiel, and smells uncommonly like arrest. There's a rift between Dollmann and the others, but it's a ticklish matter to drive our wedge in; as to _to-night,_ hopeless; they're on the watch, and won't give us a chance. And after all, do we know enough? We don't know why he fled from England and turned German. It may have been an extraditable crime, but it may not. Supposing he defies us? There's the girl, you see--she ties our hands, and if he once gets wind of that, and trades on our weakness, the game's up.'

'What are you driving at?'

'We want to detach him from Germany, but he'll probably go to any lengths rather than abandon his position here. His attempt on you is the measure of his interest in it. Now, is to-day to be wasted?' We were pa.s.sing through the public gardens, and I dropped on to a seat for a moment's rest, crackling dead leaves under me. Davies remained standing, and pecked at the gravel with his toe.

'We have got two valuable clues,' I went on; 'that rendezvous on the 25th is one, and the name Esens is the other. We may consider them to eternity; I vote we act on them.'

'How?' said Davies. 'We're under a searchlight here; and if we're caught--'

'Your plan--ugh!--it's as risky as mine, and more so,' I replied, rising with a jerk, for a spasm of cramp took me. 'We must separate,'

I added, as we walked on. 'We want, at one stroke, to prove to them that we're harmless, and to get a fresh start. I go back to London.'

'To London!' said Davies. We were pa.s.sing under an arc lamp, and, for the dismay his face showed, I might have said Kamchatka.

'Well, after all, it's where I ought to be at this moment,' I observed.

'Yes, I forgot. And me?'

'You can't get on without me, so you lay up the yacht here--taking your time.'

'While you?'

'After making inquiries about Dollmann's past I double back as somebody else, and follow up the clues.'

'You'll have to be quick,' said Davies, abstractedly.

'I can just do it in time for the 25th.'

'When you say "making inquiries",' he continued, looking straight before him, 'I hope you don't mean setting other people on his track?'

'He's fair game!' I could not help saying; for there were moments when I chafed under this scrupulous fidelity to our self-denying ordinance.

'He's our game, or n.o.body's,' said Davies, sharply.

'Oh, I'll keep the secret,' I rejoined.

'Let's stick together,' he broke out. 'I shall make a muck of it without you. And how are we to communicate--meet?'

'Somehow--that can wait. I know it's a leap in the dark, but there's safety in darkness.'

'Carruthers! what are we talking about? If they have the ghost of a notion where we have been to-day, you give us away by packing off to London. They'll think we know their secret and are clearing out to make use of it. _That_ means arrest, if you like!'

'Pessimist! Haven't I written proof of good faith in my pocket--official letters of recall, received to-day? It's one deception the less, you see; for those letters _may_ have been opened; skilfully done it's impossible to detect. When in doubt, tell the truth!'

'It's a rum thing how often it pays in this spying business,' said Davies, thoughtfully.

We had been tramping through deserted streets under the glare of electricity, I with my leaden shuffle, he with the purposeful forward stoop and swinging arms that always marked his gait ash.o.r.e.

'Well, what's it to be?' I said. 'Here's the Schwannallee.'

'I don't like it,' said he; 'but I trust your judgement.'

We turned slowly down, running over a few last points where prior agreement was essential. As we stood at the very gate of the villa: 'Don't commit yourself to dates,' I said; 'say nothing that will prevent you from being here at least a week hence with the yacht still afloat.' And my final word, as we waited at the door for the bell to be answered, was: 'Don't mind what _I_ say. If things look queer we may have to lighten the s.h.i.+p.'

'Lighten?' whispered Davies; 'oh, I hope I shan't bosh it.'

'I hope I shan't get cramp,' I muttered between my teeth.