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Page 73
The sadness in my brother's voice increased and the shadows deepened in
his face.
"Then I tried to get out," he continued. "But it was hopeless from the
first. They knew they had one of us left in the net and they closed
every outlet. I made two separate attempts to cross the line back into
Holland, but both failed. The second time I literally had to flee for my
life. I went straight to Berlin, feeling that a big city, as remote from
the frontier as possible, was the only safe hiding-place for me as long
as the hue and cry lasted.
"I was in a desperate bad way, too, for I had had to abandon the last
set of identity papers left to me when I bolted. I landed in Berlin with
the knowledge that no roof could safely shelter me until I got a fresh
lot of papers.
"I knew of Kore--I had heard of him and his shirkers' and deserters'
agency in my travels--and I went straight to him. He sent me to
Haase's ... this was towards the end of June. It was when I was at
Haase's that I sent out that message to van Urutius that fell into your
hands. That happened like this.
"I was rather friendly with a chap that frequented Haase's, a man
employed in the packing department at the Metal Works at Steglitz. He
was telling us one night how short-handed they were and what good money
packers were earning. I was sick of being cooped up in that stinking
cellar, so, more by way of a joke than anything else, I offered to come
and lend a hand in the packing department. I thought I might get a
chance of escape, as I saw none at Haase's. To my surprise, Haase, who
was sitting at the table, rather fancied the idea and said I could go if
I paid him half my wages: I was getting nothing at the beer-cellar.
"So I was taken on at Steglitz, sleeping at Haase's and helping in the
beer-cellar in the evenings. One day a package for old van Urutius came
to me to be made up and suddenly it occurred to me that here was a
chance of sending out a message to the outside world. I hoped that old
van U., if he tumbled to the 'Eichenholz,' would send it to you and that
you would pass it on to my Chief in London."
"Then you expected me to come after you?" I said.
"No," replied Francis promptly, "I did not. But the arrangement was
that, if none of us four men had turned up at Head-quarters by May 15th,
a fifth man should come in and be at a given rendezvous near the
frontier on June 15th. I went to the place on June 15th, but he never
showed up and, though I waited about for a couple of days, I saw no
sign of him. I made my final attempt to get out and it failed, so, when
I fled to Berlin, I knew that I had cut off all means of communication
with home. As a last hope, I dashed off that cipher on the spur of the
moment and tucked it into old van U's invoice."
"But why 'Achilles' with one 'l'?" I asked.
"They knew all about Kore's agency at Head-quarters, but I didn't dare
mention Kore's name for fear the parcel might be opened. So I purposely
spelt 'Achilles' with one 'l' to draw attention to the code word, so
that they should know where news of me was to be found. It was devilish
smart of you to decipher that, Des!"
Francis smiled at me.
"I meant to stay quietly in Berlin, going daily between Haase's and the
factory and wait, for a month or two, in case that message got home. But
Kore began to give trouble. At the beginning of July he came to see me
and hinted that the renewal of my _permis de s�jour_ would cost money. I
paid him, but I realized then that I was absolutely in his power and I
had no intention of being blackmailed. So I made use of his cupidity to
leave a message for the man who, I hoped, would be coming after me,
wrote that line on the wall under the Boonekamp poster in that filthy
hovel where we slept and came up here after a job I had heard of at the
Caf� Regina.
"And now, Des, old man," said my brother, "you know all that I know!"
"And Clubfoot?"
"Ah!" said Francis, shaking his head, "there I think I recognize the
hand that has been against us from the start, though who the man is, and
what his power, I, like you, only know from what he told you himself.
The Germans are clever enough, as we know from their communiqu�s, to
tell the truth when it suits their book. I believe that Clubfoot was
telling you the truth in what he said about his mission that night at
the Esplanade.
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