CHAPTER XVII

THE CROUCH OF THE TIGER

Johann Stryj had departed as silently and undemonstratively as he had come. The chief spy was a born master of his craft. The only matter in which Nature had been less kind to him in his fitness for the work he had imposed upon himself was in the slightly furtive restlessness of his eyes. Otherwise the ideal had been achieved. His whole air of simple inoffensiveness left nothing to be desired.

Von Salzinger admitted these things to himself, in spite of the morose venom which the man's report upon Dorby had inspired.

This venomous mood, however, was not directed against his helper. It was inspired by his realization that his own purpose had been made more difficult of achievement. He had discovered that his efforts were not directed against private individuals, but against the British naval authority, an authority he had reason to know had nothing of the inept.i.tude of other departments of the Government.

Thus he sat back in the largest and most comfortable chair in his private sitting-room, with his trunk-like legs supported upon a smaller chair, and divided his savage mood between outlining the report he must now make to Berlin and the devouring of the contents of a large _bier-stein_, which stood on the table within reach.

He had nearly succeeded in achieving his double purpose, and incidentally relieving his unpleasant mood, when a diversion occurred in the form of a telephone summons from the hotel office below.

A visitor for him. Name of Von Berger. Would he see him at once?

Yes, Ludwig von Salzinger would be pleased to see him at once. This is what he 'phoned down. To himself he cursed bitterly in homely Prussian adjectives.

Von Berger was the last person he wanted to see in England until the outcome of his work was a.s.sured. This man's coming suggested all sorts of vague and disquieting thoughts. With Von Berger in England he would no longer be a free agent. He would be forced to yield the conduct of affairs to another--a man whom he felt had neither friendliness nor mercy for any soul on earth. He was more than disquieted. He was awed, and not a little apprehensive.

The latter was displayed in an almost schoolboy action that was pathetically humorous. He quickly removed his _bier-stein_--and concealed it.

The entrance of Von Berger was characteristic of the frigid, unyielding aspect he displayed at all times. No one could have encountered this personality and detected one soft spot in the whole of its make-up. It was almost as if something of the iron of his native Baltic sh.o.r.es had been bred into him through the ages of his ruthless ancestry. No iceberg in the northern reaches of his native inland sea could have gleamed more coldly bright than his hard eyes. No ice-bound crag could have been cut more sharply than the thin compressed lips of his set mouth.

He entered the room with cold a.s.surance. He possessed himself of the chair which had supported Von Salzinger's legs, and occupied it without invitation. He indicated the armchair beside which Von Salzinger was standing, with the certainty of authority. And the lesser man sat in it, obedient to his visitor's lightest command. There was no greeting between them.

Von Berger's keen eyes searched the room. For a moment they rested upon the door which shut off the other's bedroom.

"That door?" he demanded.

"My bedroom, Excellency."

"Ah! Admission that way?"

"I keep the outer door locked."

The cold eyes surveyed the windows. They were closed. Then his regard came back to the heavy square face of his host.

"Von Hertzwohl has--escaped."

There was no emphasis; no heat of any sort. The lips moved, and the p.r.o.nouncement was made. That was all.

Von Salzinger started. Then a half-smile grew in his eyes. In a vague way he realized that the Prince's flight was a triumph and vindication for himself. But his momentary satisfaction was damped by the cold voice of his visitor.

"On receipt of your report that you had discovered the ident.i.ty of the man who visited Borga, vigilance was redoubled. For obvious reasons we had no desire to arrest him until more definite news was received. He had no suspicion that he was--observed. Then, suddenly he disappeared.

We picked up his tracks. He had escaped by sea in his submersible. Our squadron very nearly effected his capture. However, he escaped. He must have received news from--here. He is probably making for--here. Have you any additional report to make?"

Von Salzinger cleared his throat. He sat up. The veins stood out upon his square temples. His momentary satisfaction was completely gone. In its place was a sickening apprehension that his enemy was slipping through his fingers, and in doing so it seemed more than likely he might contrive to make his, Von Salzinger's, position even less favorable with Berlin.

"Yes, Excellency. I was about to write one when I received the telephone message of your arrival."

"Let me have the details quickly and briefly."

"In the yards at Dorby in Yorkshire, owned by Farlow, Son and Farlow--Ruxton Farlow is a partner--certain portions of them have been taken over by the British Admiralty. But these portions are not being used for naval purposes. They are constructing a new type of mercantile submersible from foreign plans, which have only very recently come to England. The submersible portion of these vessels is the principle perfected by Hertzwohl in our naval submarines. The rest of them is an entirely new design. But the complete boat is the design of--one man."

"Hertzwohl."

"That is how I read it."

"The object of naval authority in these yards is----?"

"Security and secrecy."

"Which proves the plans have either been stolen or traitorously acquired, and they fear interference and--reprisal."

Von Salzinger nodded.

"And this information?" Von Berger's enquiry came with even colder incisiveness.

"We have men working in the shops. We have one man in the drawing office. All hands, even the clerical staff of these departments, work under oath of secrecy, and naval discipline." Von Salzinger smiled contemptuously. "This, however, does not impede our flow of information. The man in the drawing office has discovered that the plans are shortly to be photographed by the naval authorities. Further, they are testing a new light which seems to correspond with our new U-rays, which was found to be defective by us, and the vital parts of which Hertzwohl removed on his last visit to Borga. If this light should prove to be identical with the U-rays it suggests a further conspiracy. Hertzwohl contrived its faultiness himself, and seized the opportunity of removing the vital parts of the--_only_--lamp we possessed. It suggests that the whole thing was carefully planned and carried out by--Hertzwohl."

The only sign from Von Berger was a curious flicker of the eyelids. The unyielding expression of his keen face never varied for one moment.

"This man Farlow--Ruxton Farlow?"

Von Salzinger shook his head.

"For the moment he is beyond our reach. He is a Minister in the British Cabinet."

"Yes."

For some moments neither spoke. Von Salzinger watched this man whom he feared more than any man in Berlin. He was wondering at the activity behind those cold eyes. He was speculating as to the direction in which that force would drive. He labored under no delusion. The conduct of this affair was to be removed from his hands. It was an added bitterness, but a certain relief left it not without compensation. If this matter were successfully dealt with, no matter by whom, it must redound to his advantage.

Von Berger did not leave him long in doubt.

"It may be possible to destroy those plans--before they are copied," he said. "If they have already been traced, still it will be a proper step. They may even have neglected to trace them--these English. I must see Stryj at once. You will telephone him. Not now," as Von Salzinger rose with alacrity to obey. "There is another matter to be dealt with first. Hertzwohl has got away. He must be silenced. He must be punished. If he is in England--of which I have no doubt, he would be even less safe elsewhere--he is to be run to earth, and his power for further mischief must be--cut off. You understand."

Von Salzinger's eyes were full of meaning as he nodded, but there was no fraction of change in the other's. Von Berger drew a note-book from his pocket, and turned some odds and ends of papers over. Finally he selected one.

He held it out, and his level eyes forced Von Salzinger's till the latter felt that the remotest secrets could be penetrated by their cold intensity.

"You know that place?" he enquired.

Von Salzinger read--