Part 14

A man turned from the open car.

“Yes, Doctor, here I am. It is Pesch.”

“It is 1.45 a.m., and you were due at 1.35.”

“Oh, a matter of ten minutes doesn’t count. I’ve had to wait often enough!” answered the voice in the darkness in a defiant tone.

“If I had a horsewhip here I’d cudgel you soundly. Ten minutes mean fifteen kilometres advance upon a pursuer, you fool! You are earning two thousand marks from me to-night.”

The other answered boldly, “And with my help you are earning twenty thousand!”

“Five hundred thousand more likely, you blockhead,” said Mabuse; “but that’s nothing to do with you. The only question here is who is master and who servant.”

“You are not my master,” said the other.

“I am not? ... you say so, do you?” he thundered. “Very well, you can get along home. I don’t want you any more--never any more!”

He turned to his car and got in; then said hastily in a threatening tone, “If you feel inclined to send any anonymous information to the authorities, you’ll remember that there is a fir-tree growing in the wood, and there’s room for you to hang there like your colleague Haim. Drive on, George!”

The car started off again.

In the neighbourhood of Schachen, where stately houses with upper stories made cars appear less striking, they found a park gate open, and without any difficulty George found his way along the dark drive leading to the villa. The lights were extinguished.

While Mabuse and George were still standing on the doorstep Spoerri arrived.

When Mabuse opened the door and turned on the light, he saw that Spoerri was dressed as a monk.

“It is a mere accident,” said Spoerri. “I had to go to Switzerland in a hurry, and down there in the Rhine valley a cowl is more useful than even a genuine frontier pass. The last pass I had is in St. Gallen, and you know that I had to leave there hastily. But I had left the list of securities with Schaffer, and he brought them to me at Altstetten to-day. It is not safe to send such things by post nowadays.”

When he said this they were sitting in a large, well-furnished dining-room. George served the supper, brought ready prepared from Munich, and warmed up on the electric stove. Still eating, Mabuse said:

“We will liquidate on the lake itself, and thus we shall gain five points more than on land, according to the lists. I have bought five million Italian five-lire pieces. They are coming to the Southern Tyrol, and must be taken to Switzerland by way of the Vorarlberg. You must look after that, Spoerri. The Italian agent is Dalbelli, in Meran. You must go there to-morrow. I give you a month to do it in, and then we shall start a fresh district. Switzerland is now strongly against the importation of silver, and so there is less competition. We shall get enough of the five-lire pieces in Italy, and I have tried to do it with French silver too, but since the Treaty of Versailles there are so many fresh business combines in France, and they give nobody anything because the majority of them have not been in trade before. Have you not noticed that?”

Spoerri nodded, making some inward calculation.

“Stop your calculations till I have done talking,” said Mabuse sharply, and Spoerri looked up in confusion.

Mabuse continued: “My confidential agent in the Government has informed me that meat-control will be abolished in Bavaria next month, but the matter will be kept dark. The difference in the prices prevailing in Bavaria and in Würtemberg is an enormous one, and for the first few weeks of decontrol it will still be very considerable. It would be a good thing to begin buying up now, however, and you can say that I am prepared to lay out ten million marks. Buy as much as you can get hold of; haste is wisdom in this respect. Inquire of Meggers in Stuttgart about the sales, and see that we have enough people for the transport. Everything must be completed within three days of giving the orders. We shall want from a thousand to twelve hundred head of cattle, and look out for beasts of good quality. No sheep or pigs--the risk is too great. Reckon it up for yourself before you do anything further. We get thirty per cent. on our purchase, and therefore we can allow ten per cent. on expenses. You must reckon more correctly than you did about the salvarsan.”

“That time I hadn’t calculated....”

“Exactly, you hadn’t calculated correctly. Pesch is withdrawing; let him be closely watched by the Removal Committee, for he is impulsive, and if he plays the slightest trick he can be strung up beside Haim. By the way, they haven’t found him yet.... How much did you pay for the cerium?”

“It was dearer than....”

“Everything always is dearer than ... the Poles or the Bolsheviks can get it. How much?”

“Fifty marks.”

“Fifty Swiss francs then. They must have it, so don’t yield a stiver!”

He whistled into the speaking-tube under the table.

“George there?” he called out. “Everything in order?... Good. The Rhine is waiting, Spoerri. George, you are to be pilot; don’t forget the securities. That’s all for the present”; and turning again to Spoerri, “You’ll be in no danger in going to Zürich, Spoerri, will you?”