me out of their sight till they saw me in Holland,
and, once there, there would be no possibility of getting back. When I
left this house I would have no chance of giving them the slip. And
yet I was well on my way to the East, the Danube could not be fifty
miles off, and that way ran the road to Constantinople. It was a
fairly desperate position. If I tried to get away Stumm would prevent
me, and the odds were that I would go to join Peter in some infernal
prison-camp.

Those moments were some of the worst I ever spent. I was absolutely
and utterly baffled, like a rat in a trap. There seemed nothing for it
but to go back to London and tell Sir Walter the game was up. And that
was about as bitter as death.

He saw my face and laughed. 'Does your heart fail you, my little
Dutchman? You funk the English? I will tell you one thing for your
comfort. There is nothing in the world to be feared except me. Fail,
and you have cause to shiver. Play me false and you had far better
never have been born.'

His ugly sneering face was close above mine. Then he put out his hands
and gripped my shoulders as he had done the first afternoon.

I forget if I mentioned that part of the damage I got at Loos was a
shrapnel bullet low down at the back of my neck. The wound had healed
well enough, but I had pains there on a cold day. His fingers found
the place and it hurt like hell.

There is a very narrow line between despair and black rage. I had
about given up the game, but the sudden ache of my shoulders gave me
purpose again. He must have seen the rage in my eyes, for his own
became cruel.

'The weasel would like to bite,' he cried. 'But the poor weasel has
found its master. Stand still, vermin. Smile, look pleasant, or I
will make pulp of you. Do you dare to frown at me?'

I shut my teeth and said never a word. I was choking in my throat and
could not have uttered a syllable if I had tried.

Then he let me go, grinning like an ape.

I stepped back a pace and gave him my left between the eyes.

For a second he did not realize what had happened, for I don't suppose
anyone had dared to lift a hand to him since he was a child. He
blinked at me mildly. Then his face grew as red as fire.

'God in heaven,' he said quietly. 'I am going to kill you,' and he
flung himself on me like a mountain.

I was expecting him and dodged the attack. I was quite calm now, but
pretty helpless. The man had a gorilla's rea