"May I suggest that, as I know the details of the case, you allow me to ask the questions a" in the first instance, anyhow?"
"As you wish," agreed the Colonel stiffly. He turned to the adjutant: "Where is Ross now?"
"He should be on the square, sir."
"Send for him."
"Yes, sir." The adjutant pressed his bell and pa.s.sed the order to the sergeant.
Five minutes later the man concerned was marched in. "You needn"t wait,"
the Colonel told his escort.
The young Guardsman, a tall, fair, good-looking lad, who looked even younger than his years, stood rigid. His face was slightly pale. "Stand at ease," rapped out the Colonel.
The soldier complied. His blue eyes stared straight ahead.
"Now, Ross, I have here an officer from Scotland Yard. He wants to ask you a few questions," said the Colonel sternly. "The matter is serious and you would be well advised to speak the truth and the whole truth." He made a sign for Biggles to begin.
The soldier did not move, except to moisten his lips nervously. Biggles"
eyes were on his face. "Would you mind looking at me while I am talking to you?" he requested.
The eyes switched. Biggles caught them with his own and held them. "Thank you," he said softly, and continued. "You are in the habit of visiting a caf in this town called the "
Stand Easy." Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"You have met there a civilian who speaks with a slight foreign accent.
He wears a monocle and smokes his cigarettes in a long holder. He stood you a cup of coffee yesterday. You know the man I mean?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you know anything about him?"
Not much, sir."
"A little?"
"Yes, sir. Only what he told me."
"Did he tell you his nationality?"
"Yes, sir."
"What did he say it was?"
"He told me he was a Czech, sir. Said he fought in the war."
"He didn"t tell you which side he fought on, I imagine?" said Biggles dryly.
"No, sir."
"Yesterday was not the first time you have spoken, I fancy?" "No, sir."
"How many times have you spoken to him? Or put it the other way. How many times has he got into conversation with you?" "Yesterday was the third time, sir."
"What did you talk about?"
A pink stain crept into the soldier"s cheeks. "We talked about the army, sir."
"I see. You talked about the army?"
"Yes, sir."
"What had this man to say about the army?"
"He said soldiering was a fine life, sir."
"And you agreed?"
"Yes, sir."
"What was this man"s interest in the army? Did he tell you that?"
The pulses between the soldier"s ears and eyes could be seen beating. The tip of his nose was chalk white. These signs were not lost on Biggles.
"Remember what the Colonel told you at the beginning,"
he said quietly. "You would be foolish, Ross, to try to hide anything.
The truth will come out, if not from you."
The man told me he was recruiting for another army, sir. A better one than ours, he said.
The pay was twice as much as we get here, with plenty of leave, and sport, and so on. He said the regiment was a sort of International Brigade, like the French Foreign Legion."
Biggles drew a deep breath. "I see," he said softly. "Did this man happen to mention where this unit was based?"
"He said it was in Czechoslovakia, sir."
"Did you believe this fairy tale?"
"No, sir. Well, not altogether, sir."
"But you were interested?"
"Well, I a" era"" The man faltered.
"You were interested, even knowing that this man was deliberately trying to induce you to join a foreign army, which would have meant breaking your Oath of Allegiance?"
"There was a guarantee we should never have to fight against Britisha""
"We? Who do you mean by we?"
"Me and the others."
What others?"
"Those who have already gone, sir. That was the only reason why I was interested, sir.
That"s G.o.d"s truth, sir. You see, sir, my chum, Hugh Macdonald, he went."
h," breathed Biggles. "Did this man know Macdonald was a friend of yours?"
"Yes, sir. He used to see us together in the "Stand Easy." It was because Macdonald went, I think, that he picked on me. He said he had a message for me from Macdonald to say he was having the time of his life, and if I had any sense I"d go over right away. I told him I didn"t believe it.
Then he said he would tell Hugh to write to me. He must have done that because, soon afterwards, I had a letter from Hugh."
Biggles looked surprised. "You had a letter from him?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where is it?"
"I"ve got it here, sir." The soldier took out his wallet and selected a letter from several. He pa.s.sed it to Biggles.
Biggles examined the stamp and the postmark before taking out the contents. He glanced at the letter, replaced it in the envelope, and handed it back to the Guardsman. "If ever I saw a piece of forgery, that"s it," he said. He went on. "Did you seriously consider joining Macdonald?"
"No, sir. If my father heard I"d been posted as a deserter he"d kill me stone dead."
"Then why did you continue to a.s.sociate with a man whom you knew to be an enemy of your country?"
The soldier was now perspiring, and it was clear that he was on the point of breaking down. "Take your time," Biggles told him.
"I was hoping to find out where Macdonald had gone, to persuade him to come home."
Biggles sat back. "You knew Macdonald pretty well? Why did he decide to accept this man"s invitation?"
"Well, sir, he was a bit fed up. He"d got an idea in his head that the sergeant-major had got it in for him, and he was afraid he"d never make a good soldier."
"Did you know that Macdonald had actually decided to go?"
"No, but I was afraid of it, sir. He went sort of quiet. I told him not to be a fool."
"He didn"t by any chance tell you, before he left, how he was going to get out of the country a" or where he was going?
"No, sir. He went on week-end leave. When he didn"t come back I guessed he"d gone. Afterwards the man at the caf told me so. He offered me twenty pounds to go, too, but I didn"t take it. He said it was just pocket-money, and there was plenty more where that came from."
"What else did he tell you?"
"He said he would make all arrangements. There wouldn"t be any difficulty. I"d be hundreds of miles away before I was missed." "What did you say to that?"
"I said I"d think it over, sir." The soldier added, hastily: "But that was only to keep in touch with the man so I could find out about Macdonald."
"Didn"t it occur to you that your proper course would be to report a matter as serious as this to your Commanding Officer?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why didn"t you?"
"I didn"t want to make it too black for Macdonald. I know his parents.
They"d never get over it. I was frightened about the whole thing, and that"s a fact, sir. I couldn"t sleep at nights for worrying about it."
"You seem to think a lot of your friend Macdonald?"
"We played at soldiers when we were kids together, sir. I did my level best to persuade him not to go; but he said he"d joined up to fight, not be ticked off all the time by a sergeant-major, who was always on to him about something or other."
"Have any other men been caught in this trap?" asked Biggles.
"I can answer that," broke in the Colonel, speaking through his teeth.
"In the last three months we"ve had to post seven men absent without leave."
Biggles looked startled. There was an uncomfortable silence. The Colonel glared at the Guardsman. The soldier stared at the wall with gla.s.sy eyes.
The adjutant made meaningless marks on his blotting-pad. Biggles considered them all in turn. When he spoke it was to the Colonel. "
Well, sir, at least a mystery has been solved for you. I"d like to speak to you alone, if I may, before you take action on the situation. I suggest that Ross waits outside. We may need him again."
"Very well."
Biggles spoke again to the soldier. Not a word of this to a soul. If you speak, I won"t be responsible for your life. You"re in deeper water than you know."
"I understand, sir."
The soldier was marched out.
As soon as the officers were alone Biggles drew a long breath. "This is worse than I feared," he told the Colonel, who seemed to be in some danger of having a fit.
"I"ll have this infernal Czech arrested forthwith!" grated the Colonel.
"He isn"t a Czech. He"s a German, although the last time I heard of him he was hiding behind the Iron Curtain," said Biggles quietly. "I don"t care who the devil he is," raged the Colonel.
"By arresting him you will defeat your object a" that is, if you have any hope of getting your men back? By this time, no doubt, they are bitterly regretting their folly. The picture is now pretty clear. A foreign power, we can guess which one, is apparently forming a unit composed of troops of other nationalities. That isn"t a new idea. Hitler did it. Such men would be useful in many ways in the event of hostilities. A force of that sort could instruct others in the drill, tactics and equipment, of every other country in Western Europe. They would also be helpful as interpreters, and so on. We"ve got to get these men back, if only to save them from the consequences of their folly."