14 Biggles Goes To War (18 page)

He surveyed the ground carefully before leaving the heavy shadow of the trees. In the light of the moon, which had now risen, from the point where he stood he saw that the drive ran as straight as a ruled line across an open field, or park, of considerable extent, this being bounded on three sides by the forest. At the far end lay the house, or hunting-box, its exact position made clear by two lighted windows, and towards this he now started to make his way, taking care to keep in shadow. It was as well that he took this precaution, for at the next aspect, presented by a curve in the edge of the wood, he saw something that excited his curiosity.

Some fifty or sixty yards from the edge of the forest -that is to say, in the open meadow -

a man was standing near a small dark object which lay on the grass. So still did he stand that he might have been a statue, and as he

continued to creep along the fringe of the forest Ginger often stopped to stare wonderingly. Had the fellow carried a rifle he might have been a sentry, he thought, but even so, it was an odd place to take up a position, and most sentries marched to and fro on a regular beat - at least, so he had always understood.

The mystery was still unsolved when he reached a shrubbery that formed a boundary to the gardens round the house, and through this he attempted to force a path; but in the dense shadow of the evergreens it was inky black, and after nearly losing an eye on the stump of a branch, he desisted, and decided to find a way round. It was nervy work, for it was impossible to move without making some slight noise, and every moment he expected to hear a challenge ring out. Nothing of the sort happened, however, and he reached the badly kept flower beds inside the shrubbery without incident, apart from nearly falling into a lily-pond, the dark water of which he mistook for a shadow.

He was now standing within a dozen paces of the front of the house, a fairly large modern brick building with a good deal of ornate decoration. A creeper-covered porch protruded from the centre and hid the actual doorway from view. There were several windows on either side of it and behind two of these lights were burning, one at either end of the house. So bright were these lights that he stared at them for some time trying to make out what was unusual about them apart from the blinds not being drawn, which in itself struck him as strange. Creeping towards the larger of the two, which was the one on the left-hand side of the porch, suddenly he understood. A powerful lamp had been so placed just inside the room that its beams were directed through the window, and threw an orange path of light across the overgrown lawn.

This discovery only mystified him still more, and he was just thinking of going nearer when, without warning, the front door was thrown open and two men stepped outside.

Ginger, with his heart in his mouth, as the saying is, shrank back into the shrubbery, but he did not take his eyes from the two men. One he recognized at once. It was General Bethstein. The other, a short, rather fat, middle-aged man with a large nose and no hair on the front of his head, was a stranger, and he wondered whom he could be until he caught the word 'Klein' at the termination of something the general had said. Then he knew that he was looking at the banker of whom Ludwig had spoken when they had had the discussion at the hotel. Of what they were talking about he did not know, for the conversation was conducted in a language unknown to him, although he assumed that it was Maltovian.

For a few minutes the men stood on the step, looking up at the sky as though they were discussing the weather. Then Bethstein looked at his watch, and said something in an undertone, after which they both went back into the house.

Ginger breathed again, not knowing whether to be pleased or angry that they had gone.

His first impulse had been to draw his pistol and rush out, demanding of the general the whereabouts of his friends, but something made him shrink from this course. Or perhaps it would be better to say that the odd circumstance of the lighted windows suggested to him that if he remained quiet he might make an important discovery.

Within a very few minutes he knew that his decision had been the right one, and the first intimation of it came when an unmistakable sound reached his ears. It was the faraway drone of an aero engine. It persisted only for a short time and then died away abruptly, so abruptly that

he knew that the throttle had been retarded. In a flash he understood everything, the meaning of the lighted windows and the interest of Bethstein and Klein in the sky. And when, a moment later, three lights glowed in different corners of the park, the mystery of the solitary man was explained. He had been waiting to signal to the aircraft.

Ginger was now trembling with excitement. He remembered Biggles's casual remark about the marked area on the map, and its connection with the leakage of information.

He knew now that he had been right, and that aeroplanes were going to and fro between the general's retreat and Lovitzna. No wonder the traitor was in close touch with the enemy, thought Ginger bitterly. He now had to decide what was the best course of action, and it involved some weighty consideration, but in the end he decided to wait and see what happened before moving. Listening intently, he soon heard the faint hum of the gliding aeroplane, and shortly afterwards the peculiar noise made by shock absorbers when the wheels of an aeroplane are running over rough ground. The front door was thrown open again, and Bethstein and Klein reappeared, evidently to meet their visitor.

He was not long arriving, and so close did he pass to Ginger's hiding-place that he covered his face with his arms, fearing that he might be seen. But as soon as the man had gone past he looked up, and the light from the illuminated window shone on the face of the new arrival. He drew in his breath sharply as he recognized Zarovitch.

A word of greeting, and the three men disappeared into the house. The door closed quietly and a chain rattled inside it. A few moments later the powerful lamps inside the two windows were switched out, and the house was wrapped in comparative darkness, comparative because a faint yellow glow persisted in the room on the left hand side of the door, suggesting that an ordinary lamp was still burning there.

Ginger darted towards it, taking care to keep below the level of the sill, but if he hoped to watch what went on inside the room - and that was, of course, his object - he was doomed to disappointment. He just had time to see Zarovitch take a sheaf of documents from a portfolio he carried when, with a loud swish, a heavy curtain was drawn across the window completely cutting out his view. For a moment he lingered, torn by indecision. The situation was, he decided, too important and too critical for him to handle alone. He could not afford to risk failure. Turning, he crept back to the shrubbery, and then, after a swift but intense study of the field, he darted to the edge of the forest.

Reaching it, he paused for a moment to listen, and then sped back towards the place where he had left Ludwig. He did not relax his vigilance, however, but scouted every turning before he took it. Nor did he forget the prearranged signal. An answering whistle from Ludwig, and he ran forward. During his journey he had been thinking hard, so he had his plan ready.

`Ludwig,' he whispered in a voice of suppressed excitement, 'we have got Bethstein cold. Listen! He is in the house with Klein, the banker, and Zarovitch, the Lovitznian Foreign Minister. Zarovitch has just arrived by air and he has brought a packet of documents with him - for Bethstein to sign, I think. I saw him take the papers out of a case. If he will only stay there long enough we can catch the plotters red-handed, but we can't do it alone. Have you got any troops, or police, whom you can trust implicitly?'

`My own regiment would follow me anywhere, so would the princess's guards.'

`Then go and get them. To be on the safe side, to surround the house and make sure that no one escapes, we need at least twenty men.

Grab some cars and bring them along. Allowing for an hour each way, and a quarter of an hour at the other end, you should be back in just over a couple of hours - say, by half-past two.'

Ginger's eager enthusiasm communicated itself to Ludwig. 'Suppose Zarovitch leaves?'

he asked tensely.

Ì'll see to it he doesn't get away. If necessary I'll plug the swine and grab the documents.

In any case, it is more than likely that Bethstein will have some incriminating evidence about the house. Will you go?'

Òf course.' Ludwig sprang into the driving seat of his car.

'When you come back I should unload the men and park the cars here,' Ginger told him. '

Make a detour round the gate in case any one is on guard. Go straight down the edge of the forest until you come to a shrubbery. If no one has left the house I will be waiting for you there. Speed is the great thing now, but for heaven's sake don't have an accident.'

'I'll do my best,' promised Ludwig, and the car bumped on to the road. An instant later it was racing towards Janovica.

Ginger waited until it was out of earshot, and then, praying that Zarovitch was still there, he made his way swiftly back towards the house.

Chapter 19

Ginger Gets a Prisoner - and

a Shock

As he crept down the side of the silent forest he knew that the Lovitznian had not left, for he saw the moonlight glistening on the wings of an aeroplane on the far side of the field.

He reached the shrubbery without trouble or alarm, where, finding, as he had expected, that the blinds were still drawn, he made his way along until he came to a spot, some distance from the house - but from where he could watch it - which he thought Zarovitch would have to pass when he returned to the machine. There, in the pitch black shadow of a low-hanging yew, he settled down to wait.

The time passed slowly, so slowly that he lost all count of it. He did not mind. Indeed, it suited him, for he was praying that Zarovitch would remain inside the building until reinforcements arrived. He knew that if the plan had not miscarried it could not now be long before Ludwig returned, and when that time came he would have to go back to the shrubbery to meet him as arranged.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and he was just thinking of moving when he heard the door of the house open and saw a beam of light fall across the lawn. 'Confound it!' he thought. 'He might have stayed a little longer.' Then he crept back still farther into the shadow as he saw a figure walking briskly towards him, and knew from the gait and the portfolio that it was Zarovitch. The door of the house had closed behind the departing conspirator and utter silence reigned.

Ginger's heart began to beat a little faster as he took out his pistol and held it ready. The critical moment had come. He waited until the plotter was within ten yards, then he stepped out in front of him, pistol thrust forward. `Stand quite still, Zarovitch,' he said quietly. 'The thing in my hand is a pistol. It is loaded. If you so much as make one yelp, or take one step in the wrong direction, I swear on my oath I'll shoot you dead.' There was a ring of sincerity in his voice that could not be mistaken.

Zarovitch did not answer. He stood quite still. Indeed, there was nothing he could do.

Ginger took a pace nearer. 'Turn round and walk,' he ordered. And remember as you walk that the muzzle of my pistol is only six inches from your back. Watch your step.

You have only to stumble and it will go off.'

'One moment,' said Zarovitch, speaking with an effort as though he was suffering from shock, which no doubt he was. 'What will you take to withdraw and forget this incident?'

`Nothing,' replied Ginger bluntly. Ì don't bargain with crooks. Keep your mouth shut and walk - and don't look back.'

`But—'

`Don't argue. I'm tired, and I'd sooner shoot than talk.' 'Where do we go?'

`You'll see. Get going.'

The Lovitznian turned and began walking, with Ginger following close behind. 'Make for the edge of the forest opposite,' he ordered. And now turn to the right,' he continued when they reached it, and in this way they progressed until they reached the road. Down the road

they marched, Ginger still covering his prisoner. Inwardly, he was getting more than a little anxious, for he had fully expected to meet Ludwig before this. The time allowed for his return had elapsed, and he began to wonder what he would do with Zarovitch if Ludwig did not return. They reached the clearing in the trees, where Ginger gave the order to halt.

`For what are we waiting here?' asked the Lovitznian.

`You'll see,' Ginger told him, with more confidence than he felt. He was, in fact, becoming thoroughly alarmed by Ludwig's non-appearance, and he began to visualize all sorts of dire calamities.

Shortly afterwards, however, his heart gave a jump when a distant hum of a motor-car engine reached his ears, but he did not really relax until Ludwig's car ran smoothly to a standstill and he saw Ludwig himself step out. Three more cars were following close behind, none of them carrying lights. Ginger stared when Count Stanhauser himself, in general's uniform, got out. `Here I am, sir, over here,' he said quietly.

`Why - what - good heavens! What is this?' exclaimed the Count, as he saw Ginger and his prisoner standing in the shadow.

`Zarovitch was departing, sir, so I thought I had better detain him,' explained Ginger. '

May I suggest that you examine the contents of his portfolio? I fancy you will find something very interesting in it. And if you will detail two men to take charge of the prisoner, I should be very glad.'

It was Ludwig who ordered an escort for the Lovitznian, for the Count was busy with the contents of the portfolio, which he was already examining with the assistance of a pocket-torch. Zarovitch, silent and glowering, was placed in one of the cars under the muzzles of four rifles, and, thus relieved, Ginger turned to Ludwig.

`You've been a long time,' he said. 'I was afraid something had gone wrong.'

'It took longer than we thought to organize the party,' Ludwig told him. 'The Count had gone home, and cars had to be found. Nerves in the city are very jumpy. Martial law has been proclaimed, and my uncle has taken over control of both the police and military forces. That is why he is in uniform.'