At sight of the Captain the big man lumbered to his feet and made an awkward attempt at a salute. "I came to your quarters, as Herr Gropius said, but you were not there."
"Sorry, Herman," von Mueller replied. "No excuse! But maybe it's better this way."
The big cook looked blank, "You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked.
Von Mueller smiled slightly. "Would I be here now, Herman, if I did not?" he asked. "And now that I am here, Hilde, perhaps it is as well that we are all three together."
"There is trouble, Kapitan? " Herman looked worried.
"War, Herman," replied von Mueller.
"War? And what has this to do with me?"
"Herman, you are the only civilian employed aboard the Emden. You are the only one, apart from the Chinese washermen below, free to leave as you will. Within a few hours we will be sailing—where, I cannot say; to return—when, I don't know. If you would rather not go—"
Herman Schultz's face fell. "You are discharging me, sir," he demanded.
Von Mueller smiled widely for the first time in days. "Not at all, Herman!" he replied. "I am simply saying that you alone, of all the ship's people, may choose."'
"But what about my wife—here? What about our little house.'
"I'm afraid we cannot move the house," replied von Mueller, "but we might be able to arrange to get Hilde to Shanghai."
"I would stay here!" said Hilde Schultz belligerently.
The two men exchanged glances.
"I should be with you, Kapitan," said Schultz. "I am not qualified for any other service. And where would my boys be without me?"
"We'd all be at sea, Herman," yon Mueller grinned. "But you must not feel that you must come."
Herman examined the palms of his hands carefully. "I—I think I should explain, Kapitan," he said at length. "You see this is a time when all of us are called to do what we can If I go to the Army - they will say, 'You have flat feet; you cannot carry a mousetrap two hundred yards!' 'But,' I would say, 'what is that to me? I am a cook.' 'A cook, ha-ha!' they would laugh. We have ten thousand cooks, all of them trained in the coke ovens of the Ruhr!' So they would reject me. Then I would go to the Navy. 'What haye you been doing?' they would say. 'I have been cook of the officers' mess on the Emden' I would tell them. 'Then we may use you in the stokehold,' they would reply. And, Kapitan, I like better where I am. I want to go with you—please!"
"£?'^ ^ ^''""'^ ''^'^ ^^^^ '^o ^^'■' here!" Hilde Schultz put in. "Please, Herr Kapitan, will you think about it?"
Von Mueller turned to her and bowed. "Madame," he replied, "I'm afraid I will have no time to think about it. We must be ready to sail by five o'clock this afternoon. If Herman IS on board, we will all be most happy. If he is not, we will all understand."
Herman looked surprised. "You mean I may have time to decide.'" he cried.
"But of course, Herman!" von Mueller assured him. He nodded again to Hilde. "Please forgive the intrusion, Frau Schultz, I would not have come if I had not missed seeing Herman on board. Whatever you decide, be sure that the best wishes and love of all in the Emden go with you."
He climbed a little wearily back into his car. So long as he had taken the time to see Herman, he thought, he might as well try to see the others. The least he could do would be to carry back some word to those who could not get ashore.
He waited some time outside von Braun's house before the frowzy middle-aged woman in a velvet gown with a pink boa collar opened the door. At the sight of him her face dropped.
"Kapitan von Mueller!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know— Didn't Ludwig—isn't he—didn't he tell you I'm not well?"
Karl von Mueller looked at her coldly. Even without entering the room he could see the three empty brandy bottles by the couch.
"I am sorry, Frau von Braun"—von Mueller kept his thoughts to himself—"but your husband will not be able to come ashore. We are under strict orders, and will be sailing soon. If you feel that you must see him, I suggest that you come to the dockyard about four this afternoon. The yard-master will give you the necessary pass if you mention my name."
He started to back out.
"But he must!" she cried. "He must come to see me! He knows what this sun does to my complexion. If I don't get out of here, what is to become of me?"
Von Mueller grasped the doorknob firmly. "As to that, madame," he said coldly, "I suggest you consult the Governor."
He slammed the door angrily and fled. Poor von Braun! As for the Governor, in his opinion, the man had it coming to him, and he only hoped it did!
But he was trained in a school of thoroughness. He drove next to the Prinz Heinrich Hotel. In the lobby he hesitated amid the sea of reserve uniforms, and then decided that Trudi Voss ranked first, as the wife of one of his officers. Since he knew where the suite was, he did not stop to be announced.
It was scarcely necessary. The door stood open, and as he entered he found the Australian girl doing some sort of an unnamed Maori dance in the flimsiest of negligees before an admiring group of younger officers from the Kaiserin Elizabeth.
No one saw him enter.
"Frau Voss!" he barked.
The Austrian officers fell back before the authority in his voice, but Trudi Voss scarcely hesitated in her undulations.
"Why, Captain Miller!" she exclaimed—she always got his name wrong. "I didn't know the ship was back! How ducky of you to be the first here. Probably you came to warn me!"
Von Mueller gulped, more in fury than embarrassment. "I came," he said to them all, "to warn everyone here that this is no opera bouffe war. Gentlemen—and I use the word only because I must—unless you are all back on board your ship within twenty minutes I, personally, will demand that your commanding officer confine you to quarters and call for a general court-martial!"
One of the Austrians, a Subleutnant, drew himself up defiantly and stared at von Mueller through a monocle. "What!" he exclaimed. "A German giving orders to Austrian officers? "
Von Mueller impaled him with a baleful ice-blue glare. "Exactly, young man! The senior officer present in this port is giving orders to a pack of understrappers who should know better. My name is von Mueller, and I command in these waters until I am out of them. If any of you care to question that, I will be happy to call your own Captain."
The Austrian sniffed, but left the room with the others. Trudi Voss literally flung herself upon the Captain.
"Oh, Von!" she cried. All German officers to her were "Von." "Just to think of you coming up here first to warn me! Come on, let's have a champagne."
"Thank you, Frau Voss," replied von Mueller, disentangling himself with difficulty. "I must get back to the ship. I'm sorry to interrupt your party, but I wondered if you had a message—or if you would like to see your husband before he sails?"
"Sails?" she asked without the least change of expression. "Where's he sailing?"
"I'm afraid that's it, Frau Voss. We came in only this morning. We'll be away as soon as possible—"
"Away? And what's to become of me?" she cried.
"I'm sorry" He tried to smile, but the expression came stiff to his face. "That's hardly for me to say. I have my own hands full—"
"I bet you do, duck!"
"—with the ship," he finished.
"Awr!" she said reprovingly.
"As I say," he went on, ignoring her look, "why not come down this afternoon? We'll be having visitors between two and four. I'll arrange for you to see Rudi then, and you can settle things."
"Ah, him!" she snorted. "He'll be too busy today, and you'll be back."
"Sorry—I must return to the ship," replied von Mueller resignedly. "We'll see you later, I hope." He shut the door firmly behind him.
Downstairs he asked at the desk if Miss Caroline Grey was still there. The clerk, a subaltern of police reserves, gave him an odd look. "Why, yes, sir," he said.