"What does he get out of the present arrangement?"
"The satisfaction of keeping Robbie out; and, of course, the Wall Street crowd may have paid him. Anyhow, Robbie has his contract, so they can’t fire him."
"I bought all that stock for nothing!" exclaimed the young wife.
"Not for nothing, but for a high price, I fear. You had best cable Uncle Joseph to look into the matter thoroughly and advise you whether to sell it or hold on. Robbie, no doubt, will be writing us the details."
The other communication was very different; a letter addressed to Lanny in his own handwriting, and his heart gave a thump when he saw it, for he had given that envelope to Hugo Behr. It was postmarked Munich and Lanny tore it open quickly, and saw that Hugo had cut six letters out of a newspaper and pasted them onto a sheet of paper—a method of avoiding identification well known to kidnapers and other conspirators. "Jawohl" can be one word or two. With space after the first two letters, as Hugo had pasted them, it told Lanny that Freddi Robin was in Dachau and that he was well.
So the American playboy forgot about his father’s lost hopes and his own lost heritage. A heavy load was lifted from his mind, and he sent two cablegrams, one to Mrs. Dingle in Juan—the arrangement being that the Robins were to open such messages—and the other to Robbie in Newcastle: "Clarinet music excellent," that being the code. To the latter message the dutiful son added: "Sincere sympathy don’t take it too hard we still love you." Robbie would take this with a grin.
Irma and Lanny tore Hugo’s message into small pieces and sent it on its way to the capacious sewers of Berlin. They still had hope of some favor to be gained from the head of the Prussian government. At any moment Leutnant Furtwaengler might show up and announce: "We have found your Yiddisher friend." Until then, Lanny could only wait; for when you are cultivating acquaintances in die grosse Welt, you don’t say to these persons: "I have made certain that you are lying to me, and propose that we now proceed to negotiate upon that basis." No, Lanny couldn’t even say: "I have doubts." For right away the Oberleutnant would look surprised and ask: "What is the basis of them?" Lanny couldn’t even say: "I urge you to try harder"; for important persons must be assumed to have their hands full.
XI
The sum of more than four hundred thousand marks which had been paid for Detaze pictures had been deposited in Berlin banks. It would be up to Lanny and Zoltan to use those marks in purchasing art works for their American clients, who would make their payments in New York; thus the pair would have to ask no favors of the Nazis. Lanny had obtained information from a list of clients in America, and Zoltan had a list which he had been accumulating over a period of many years; so there would be no difficulty in doing a sufficient amount of business. They had agreed to go fifty-fifty on all transactions.
Lanny had suggested taking the show to Munich for-a week, and his friend had approved. Here was a great art-loving public, and sales were certain; moreover, Beauty got fun out of it, and Lanny knew of pictures which might be bought there. Jerry Pendleton, who had been waiting in Berlin to take the unsold Detazes back to France, would see to packing and transporting them to Munich. The Herr Privatdozent assured them that he enjoyed even more influence in the Bavarian city, the cradle of National Socialism. He would be paid another fifteen thousand marks for his services, plus his expenses for two weeks. He was planning to live high;
Hugo Behr returned to Berlin, reporting that he had made contact with an old party acquaintance who was now one of the S.A. guards in the camp of Dachau. To this man Hugo had explained that he had a friend who was owed money by a young Jew, and wondered if the debtor was still alive and if there was any prospect of his coming out. The report had been that Freddi Robin had been in the camp for four or five months; had been pretty roughly treated before he came there, and now was kept by himself, for what reason the S.A. man didn’t know. What he had meant by reporting Freddi as "well" was that he was alive and not being abused, so far as the informant had heard. Nobody was happy in Dachau, and least of all any Jew.
Hugo added: "We might be able to trust that fellow, because I had a long talk with him and he feels about events pretty much as I do. He’s sick of his job, which isn’t at all what he bargained for. He says there are plenty of others who feel the same, though they don’t always talk. You know, Lanny, the Germans aren’t naturally a cruel people, and they don’t like having the most brutal and rowdyish fellows among them picked out and put in charge."
"Did he say that?" inquired Lanny.
"He said even more. He said he’d like to see every Jew put out of Germany, but he didn’t see any sense in locking them up and kicking them around, just for being what they were born. I told him my idea that the party is being led astray and that it’s up to the rank and file to set it straight. He was interested, and maybe we’ll have an organized group in Dachau."
"That’s fine," commented the American; "and I’m ever so much obliged to you. I’m going to Munich pretty soon and perhaps you can come again, and I’ll have some other message for your friend." At the same time he took a little roll of hundred-mark notes out of his pocket and slipped them into his friend’s—a matter of only a few inches as they sat side by side in the car.
XII
To his wife Lanny said: "There might be a possibility of getting Freddi out without waiting forever on the fat General."
"Oh, do be careful!" exclaimed Irma. "That would be a fearful risk to take!"
"Only as a last resort. But I really think Göring has had time enough to peer into all the concentration camps in the Reich."
He made up his mind to call up Oberleutnant Furtwaengler and inquire concerning the promised investigation. But he put it off till the next morning, and before he got round to it the young staff officer was announced and ushered up to the suite. "Herr Budd," he said, "are you free for the next two or three days?"
"I could get free."
"Seine Exzellenz has earned a holiday after the strain of his court appearances." The serious young officer said this without the least trace of a smile, and Lanny assented with the gravest of nods. "Seine Exzellenz is taking a shooting trip to the estate of Prinz von Schwarzerober in the Schorfheide, and would be pleased if you would accompany him."
"That is very kind indeed," replied the American, with a carefully measured amount of cordiality. "I appreciate the honor and will enjoy the opportunity to know the General better."
"Unfortunately," added the other, "this is what you Americans, I believe, call a stag affair."
"A stag affair in two senses of the word," smiled Lanny, who knew about shooting in the German forests. "My wife won’t object to staying here, for she has friends who keep her entertained."
"Very well, then," replied the Oberleutnant. "The car will call for you at fifteen o’clock tomorrow."
Later, the young couple went driving and talked over the situation. "He wants something," declared the husband. "I suppose I’m going to find out about it now."
"Let him do the talking," cautioned Irma. "You saw that he expects it." She was nine years younger than her husband, and had met the General only once, but she knew all about his Prunksucht, his delight in self-display, both physical and mental. "He has to prove that he’s the greatest man in the company, the greatest in the government, perhaps the greatest in the world. He will do anything for you if you convince him you believe that."