as the sole existing clue to the disappearance of
Francis."

Nevertheless, I wavered. The risks were awful. I had to get out of that
evil hotel in the guise of Dr. Semlin, with, as the sole safeguard
against exposure, should I fall in with the dead man's employers or
friends, that slight and possibly imaginative resemblance between him
and me: I had to take such measures as would prevent the fraud from
being detected when the body was discovered in the hotel: above all, I
had to ascertain, before I could definitely resolve to push on into
Germany, whether Semlin was already known to the people at the hotel or
whether--as I surmised to be the case--this was also his first visit to
the house in the Vos in't Tuintje.

In any case, I was quite determined in my own mind that the only way to
get out of the place with Semlin's document without considerable
unpleasantness, if not grave danger, would be to transfer his identity
and effects to myself and vice versa. When I saw the way a little
clearer I could decide whether to take the supreme risk and adventure
myself into the enemy's country.

Whatever I was going to do, there were not many hours of the night left
in which to act, and I was determined to be out of that house of ill
omen before day dawned. If I could get clear of the hotel and at the
same time ascertain that Semlin was as much a stranger there as myself,
I could decide on my further course of action in the greater freedom of
the streets of Rotterdam. One thing was certain: the waiter had let the
question of Semlin's papers stand over until the morning, as he had done
in my case, for Semlin still had his passport in his possession.

After all, if Semlin was unknown at the hotel, the waiter had only seen
him for the same brief moment as he had seen me.

Thus I reasoned and argued with myself, but in the meantime I acted. I
had nothing compromising in my suit-case, so that caused no difficulty.
My British passport and permit and anything bearing any relation to my
personality, such as my watch and cigarette case, both of which were
engraved with my initials, I transferred to the dead man's pockets. As I
bent over the stiff, cold figure with its livid face and clutching
fingers, I felt a difficulty which I had hitherto resolutely shirked
forcing itself squarely into the forefront of my mind.

What was I going to do about the body?

At that moment came a low knocking.

With a sudden sinking at the heart I re