Learn English through story ★ The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan

chapter one the man who died my name is richard hannah and i'm 37 years old i was born in scotland but in 1883 my family moved to rhodesia i grew up in africa and worked hard for 20 years then in march 1914 i returned to britain that was five months before the first world war began i brought a lot of money with me and i wanted to have a good time britain was the center of all my dreams and plans and i hope to stay there for the rest of my life in may i was living in a flat in london one evening i was alone there reading the newspaper i was interested in a story about caroline's the greek prime minister he's a good man i thought to myself and he's honest too he's probably the strongest prime minister in europe and the germans hate him the sound of the doorbell interrupted my reading i put down the newspaper and opened the door a man was standing outside he was a thin man with a brown beard and small blue eyes i did not know his name but he had a flat on the top floor of the building can i speak to you he asked may i come in for a minute i invited him in and shut the door he seemed very nervous i'm very sorry he said but i'm in trouble will you help me well i'll listen to you i said but i can't promise more than that i mixed a strong drink for him and he drank it quickly when he put down the glass he broke it sorry he said i'm rather nervous tonight and there's a good reason for that now you seem honest sir you look like a man who is not easily frightened well i'm in great trouble and i need a good friend tell me about it i said and then i'll give you my answer i'm an american he said a few years ago i came to europe to work for an american newspaper i learned several languages and discovered quite a lot about european politics i also found out about the german plans for war and i know a group of german spies well these spies are looking for me now and that's my problem if you know anything about politics sir you'll know this europe is very near to war and there's only one man who can stop it who is he i asked carol heidi's the greek prime minister oh i've just read something about him i said there's a story in the evening paper yes well the germans want to kill him he said they will kill me too if they can carralides is going to come to london next month and he is going to visit the foreign office on the 15th of june they've chosen that date to kill him i'm the only man who can save him and how can i help you mr scudder he said franklin p scudder i've just told you sir that these spies want to kill me i thought that i was quite safe from my enemies in london but yesterday evening i found a card in my letterbox and there was a man's name on it it was the name of one of the spies my worst enemy you should tell the foreign office i said they'll help you and perhaps they can save carol ids too there's no time for that my enemies know that i'm in this building they're probably waiting outside do you think that i can hide in your flat sir well i want to check your story first i said i'll go outside and look around if i see anything unusual i'll agree to help you is that all right i left the flat and went out into the street a man was standing outside the building he lifted his hand when he saw me i looked around quickly and saw a face at a window across the street the man's sign was answered and the face moved away from the window i bought another newspaper at the corner of the street and then went back to the flat all right mr scudder i said you can stay here tonight i've checked your story there's a man outside who is acting rather strangely i think that your enemies are staying in the house across the street scudder stayed quietly in my flat for several days when i went out he was very nervous there was always someone standing outside the building i saw the face at the window opposite mine a few times but nobody came to the flat scudder red and smoked he filled a little black book with notes and counted the days to the 15th of june one day he said time is passing quickly honey while they're watching the house i won't be able to get away if they catch me will you continue the fight i liked scudder's adventures and his story was exciting but i had no interest in politics he continued to talk and i listened to some of it he told me about a woman by the name of julia cece who was one of the spies she's a terrible enemy hannah he said but the old man is worse this old man was scudder's chief enemy and he described him very clearly it's strange he said but he has the voice of a young man and his eyes honey when you see his eyes you never forget them they're small and often half shut like the eyes of a bird he talked for a long time that day i cannot remember everything that he said but i knew that he was more nervous than usual in the evening i went out to dinner with a friend it was half past 10 when i returned i opened the door of the flat and went in the lights were not lit and this seemed rather strange i put them on and looked around there was nobody there so i thought that scudder was already in bed i walked into the next room and saw something in the corner for a moment i could not see what it was then i suddenly felt very cold and weak i wanted to open my mouth and cry out but i could not move or say anything scudder was lying on his back with a knife through his heart chapter 2 the milkman i sat down and felt very sick i sat there for perhaps five minutes and then fear brought me to my feet again scudder's white face was too much for me i covered the body with a tablecloth i found a drink and sat down again to think scudder was dead and his body proved his story his enemies killed him because he knew their plans they'll kill me next i thought they know that he lived on the top floor they know that he was staying in my flat and they'll guess that he told me their plans what could i do well i could go to the police and tell them the story but there was the problem of scudder's death the police will think that i killed him i thought i thought about it for a long time and then i formed a plan i did not know scada very well but i liked him i enjoyed an adventure too and i wanted to continue his work i could write to the prime minister i thought or to the foreign office but perhaps that won't be necessary i'll go away for a few weeks then i'll come back to london and go to the police i went over to scudder's body and took off the cloth i searched his pockets for his book of notes but the book was not there he had no other papers i opened my desk and took out a map of britain i thought that scotland was the best place for my plan i was born there and i spoke like a scotsman i spoke german very well too and i thought about going to germany but perhaps scotland was a better idea i chose galloway which was an empty part of the country there were few big towns there and it was not too far i knew that there was a train to scotland in the morning it left london at ten minutes past seven but how could i get out of the flat scudder's enemies were probably outside the building so i had to leave secretly then suddenly i had a great idea every morning at half past six the milkman brought my milk he was a young man and we were the same size he wore a white hat and coat my idea was to borrow his clothes and the can of milk then i could get away from the building dressed as the milkman i went to bed and slept for a few hours in the morning i counted my money and put 50 pounds in my pocket while i was getting ready i remembered my tobacco i put my fingers into the large tobacco box and felt something hard under the tobacco it was scudder's little black book and i put it in my pocket it was a good sign i thought scudder hid it there and his enemies did not find it it was 20 minutes to seven now and the milkman was late but suddenly i heard the noise of the milk can on the stairs and i opened the door come in please i said i want to speak to you he came into the flat and i shut the door listen i said you're a good man and i want you to help me i took a pound out of my pocket and added if you agree i'll give you this when he saw the pound his eyes opened wide what do you want me to do he asked i want to borrow your clothes and your milk can for a few minutes i said he laughed what do you want them for he asked i can't explain now let me borrow the things and i'll be back in ten minutes i put the pound into his hand all right he said i like a bit of fun too i put on his clothes and we went out of the flat i shut the door behind me don't follow me i said i'll soon be back i went down the stairs and into the street i made a noise with the milk can and began to sing a man who was standing outside looked at me he did not say anything i looked at the house across the street and saw the face of the window again i turned into another street and began to run then i took off the milkman's clothes and threw them and the milk can over a wall when i arrived at the railway station it was ten minutes past seven the train was moving slowly out of the station and i had no time to buy a ticket i ran towards it and caught the handle of a door i opened it with difficulty and climbed into the train the ticket collector soon came along he was angry with me and i had to give him some excuse but he accepted it and wrote a ticket to newton stewart in galloway chapter 3 the innkeeper all that day i traveled the train stopped at leeds station where i bought some food and the morning newspapers another ticket collector told me that i had to change trains at dumfries i read the papers but of course there was nothing in them about scudder's death it was too early for that then i took out scudder's little book it was full of numbers but there were also a few strange names the words hof guard lunaville avocado and pavia were written there pavia was there several times it was clearly some kind of code and i am very interested in codes i thought about this one i could see that there were numbers in place of letters but what did the names mean i knew that some of them were towns but what code was used for people's names there is usually a key word in codes like this and i tried to guess it off guard was clearly not the key word because it did not fit the rest of the code i tried the other words too but none of them fitted i slept for an hour or two and then the ticket collector's voice woke me up be quick sir you have to change here i looked out of the window we were at dumfries station i got out and walked across to the galway train the train was quite full and i had an interesting conversation with a farmer he thought that i was a farmer too we talked about animals and the price of milk and flour people got out at different stations but i continued at five o'clock the train stopped at a small place and i liked the look of it i cannot remember its name but it was quiet and it was a long way from london i left the train and the railwayman's child took my ticket it was a fine evening and i felt quite happy i followed the road for about a kilometer and then took a path by a river it was not long before i reached a small house there was a woman at the door of the house and i spoke to her may i stay here tonight i asked you're welcome she replied please come in very soon she placed a fine meal in front of me and i drank several glasses of thick sweet milk when it grew dark her husband came home he was a big man with thick black hair we talked for an hour or more and smoked some of my tobacco they did not ask me any questions perhaps they also thought that i was a farmer in the morning i enjoyed a large breakfast but when i offered a pound to the woman she refused to take it it was a warm day so she gave me a small can of milk to take with me it was nine o'clock when i left the house i walked a few kilometers to the south because i wanted to return to the railway but of course i could not go back to the same little station the railway men and the child knew my face i did not want them to remember me so i went towards the next station and on my way there i formed a plan the safest way was to return to dumfries if the police were searching for me i was safer in a big town when i reached the station i bought a ticket to dumfries i did not have long to wait until a train came in i got in with an old man and his dog and the man soon went to sleep i borrowed his morning paper which lay on the seat next to him the story of the murder was on the first page in big letters murder in a london flat the milkman the paper said waited for me for half an hour then he called the police they arrived at my flat and found scudder's body the milkman was arrested and taken to prison i felt very sorry for the poor man the story continued on the back page and the latest news was that the milkman was out of prison the police were now looking for a man named richard hannah they believed that he was on his way by train to scotland was happy that the milkman was free he knew nothing about the murder and he only got a pound for his trouble the train stopped at a station which i already knew it was the place where i got out the night before three men were talking to the railway men and the child i watched them the child was showing them the road that i took the train started again while it was moving out of the station i covered my face with the newspaper it traveled about a kilometer and it suddenly stopped again we were not at a station the train was near a bridge over a river this was my chance and i changed my plan i opened the door and jumped out but the old man's dog tried to follow me the old man woke up and ran to the door help help he cried i ran down to the riverbank and hid in some long grass there the ticket collector and a number of other people were standing at the open door a lucky chance saved me i could now see that the dog was tied to the man suddenly the dog jumped out of the train and pulled the old man out too they fell down the bank and everybody forgot me for a moment they picked up the old man and in the excitement the dog bit somebody i took my chance and ran away through the long grass when i looked back the excitement was over people were climbing into the train again and soon it began to move i walked along the riverbank and thought about my problem i was safe but i was also frightened i do not mean that i was afraid of the police i was thinking about scudder's enemies and their plans i felt sure that they wanted to kill me perhaps they wanted to see me in prison they were a real danger to me and i felt very frightened my troubles were not over yet i climbed up from the river and i reached the top of a hill there were other hills around me and i could see clearly for several miles there was the railway station and one or two houses a road ran from the station towards the east then i looked up into the blue sky and my heart almost stopped beating a small plane was flying towards me and i knew that scudder's enemies were in that plane the british police never used planes to look for people i hid behind a rock and watched the plane flew up and down the riverbank it was so low that i could see a man inside but i was sure that he did not see me then it climbed and turned it flew over the river again and went back to the south i decided to leave those hills there was no place for me to hide and i had no chance against a plane at six o'clock i reached the road i followed it for a few kilometers it was beginning to get dark when i came to a house standing alone next to a bridge a young man was on the bridge reading good evening he said it's a fine evening isn't it yes it is i replied is this house an inn yes sir and i'm the innkeeper would you like to stay here tonight you're a very young innkeeper aren't you well my father died last year and left me this in i'm living here with my mother but i don't like the work at all i prefer to write stories but what can i write about i don't meet many interesting people i suddenly had the idea that this young man could help me i'll tell you a story i said and it's true too i need a friend and i'll tell you this story if you help me i'll give you permission to write it down but don't do anything before the 15th of june that's a very important date then i sat on the bridge and told him a story he listened and his eyes shone with excitement i'm a farmer from rhodesia i said and i came to britain a few weeks ago i traveled by ship from german west africa the germans there thought that i was a spy they followed me all the way to britain they've already killed my best friend and now they're trying to kill me have you read the newspaper today yes well then you know about the murder of franklin scudder the young man's eyes opened wide he was my best friend and he was killed in my own flat i told him that scudder was working for the foreign office before his death and i explained that he told me some of the german secrets it was quite a long story and i made it very exciting at the end i said you're looking for adventure aren't you well you found it now these german spies may come here and i want to hide from them he took my arm and pulled me towards the inn you'll be safe here sir he said tell me your adventures again and i'll write them down all right but i have some work to do first scudder gave me a long message in code and i have to find out what it means while we were going into the inn i heard the plane again it was flying low towards the bridge i had a quiet room at the back of the house the innkeepers mother brought me my meals this place suited me very well the next morning i took out scudder's notebook and began to work the code was a difficult one and i had to try many possible key words by midday i knew where the spaces between the words were i did not yet know the letters after dinner i tried again and worked hard until three o'clock then suddenly i had an idea i was lying back in my chair when a woman's name came into my head it was julia ceciny one of scudder's worst enemies perhaps her name was the key word i tried it quickly on the code and it was right julia has five letters and these letters were used in place of a e i o and u j is the tenth letter in english and so he used the number 10 to mean a the letter e was the u of julia and u is the 21st letter so scudder wrote the number 21 for e the name che chenni gave me nine other numbers and i could soon read scudder's notes i sat in my room working quietly all afternoon the facts in scudder's little book were terrible by the time the woman brought my tea i was a very nervous man my face looked pale and i did not want to eat anything are you all right sir she asked you look ill oh it's nothing i said please put the things on the table there was a sudden noise outside the inn and the woman left my room i heard a car stopping and then there were voices downstairs a few minutes later the innkeeper ran into my room two men have just arrived he said and they're looking for you they described you very well what did you tell them i told them that you stayed here last night but left early this morning can you describe them one is a thin man with dark eyes and the other is rather fat do they talk like englishmen oh yes i think so i picked up a bit of paper and wrote quickly in german black stone scudder knew about this but he could not act until the 15th of june caroline's is unsure of his plans and i probably cannot help but i will try if mr t thinks i should then i tore the sides of the paper it looked like part of a private letter give this to them i said tell them that you found it in my room three minutes later the men drove away in the car the innkeeper came back in great excitement your paper gave them a surprise he said the dark one turned pale and the fat one looked very ugly they paid for their drinks and left now i want you to do something for me i said get on your bicycle and go to the police at newton stewart describe the two men and talk about the london murder you can make something up you can say that you heard a conversation between them one man told the other that he was just out of prison and say that you also heard scudder's name it isn't finished yet those two men will come back tomorrow morning and the police have to be here to arrest them he ran for his bicycle and i continued my work on scudder's notes it was six o'clock when he returned it's all right he said the police will be here at eight o'clock in the morning we had a meal together and i had to tell him my adventures again he made notes about them during the meal i could not sleep that night i finished scudder's book and then sat up in my chair until morning i was thinking about scudder's terrible story at eight o'clock three policemen arrived at the inn the innkeeper met them and showed them the garage they left their car there and then came into the inn twenty minutes later another car stopped a little way from the inn i was watching from a window above the front door the car was driven under some trees and left there two men got out of it and walked towards the inn my plan was not a very good one i wanted the police to arrest the men then i was safe but now i had a better idea i wrote a note to the innkeeper and left it in my room then i opened my window and dropped quietly into the garden i ran across the grass and along the side of a field a few minutes later i reached the trees the car was standing there and i got in i started it and drove away the wind carried the sound of angry voices to my ears but soon i was traveling along that road at 80 kilometers an hour chapter 4 the adventure with sir harry it was a beautiful morning but i was not thinking about the fine weather or the views around me my thoughts were all of scudder and his notes i knew now that scudder lied to me in my flat he told me a lot about caroline's and part of it was true but he did not tell me his really important secrets perhaps he was afraid to tell anyone of course carolinedes was in danger but the danger to europe itself was greater that was the real secret which scudder kept in his little book the words 39 steps were there several times in his notes in one place he wrote 39 steps i counted them high tide 10 17 pm what did it mean the 39 steps were somewhere on the coast the word tide proved that but why were these steps important scudder's notes said that there was definitely going to be a war nobody could stop it the germans had their plans ready years before in february nineteen twelve they planned to kill caroline's and to use his death as the excuse for war the germans will talk about calm in europe he wrote but they're ready for war they're going to attack us suddenly scatter also wrote about the visit of a french officer to london he was the head of the french army and was coming on the 15th of june this officer will learn about the british plans and will then return to france scudder added that the black stone the group of german spies were also going to be in london on that same day they hoped to learn about the plans too and to send them to germany when he died scudder was trying to stop them i drove on through the pretty villages of galloway it was a beautiful part of scotland but i could not enjoy the calm that was all around me i had to get away from my enemies and stop them killing me i had to find a way to continue scudder's work but it was going to be very difficult the police and the black stone were after me and i had no friends in scotland at midday i came to a large village i was very hungry and i decided to stop there then i saw a policeman he was standing outside the post office reading a telegram when he saw my car he lifted his hand at the same time he ran into the middle of the road stop stop he shouted i suddenly knew that the telegram was about me after their conversation at the inn perhaps the police accepted the spy story the spies probably described me and the car and the police then sent telegrams to offices in all the villages i did not stop the policeman put out his hand and ran along at the side of the car he caught my arm through the window which was open i hit him very hard and he fell back into the road i drove into the country again i drove up and down several hills i was tired and hungry i began to look for a quiet inn where i could rest but suddenly there was a noise above me and i looked up the plane was a few kilometers away flying towards me i drove fast down a hill between the trees a car drove out from a side road and i could not stop i pulled the wheel hard to the right and shut my eyes my car ran through the trees and started to fall i saw a river 15 meters below me i jumped out of the car and fell into the grass there was a terrible noise as the car turned over several times then it lay like a pile of old metal on the riverbank someone took my hand and pulled me out of the grass a kind voice said are you hurt a tall young man was standing there i'm very sorry about this he said i saw your car but neither of us could stop in time i hope that you're all right but you look quite pale i was rather pleased about the accident the police were looking for that car so i could not travel far in it now i was the one who was driving badly sir i said i was going too fast on these narrow roads well i can't drive that car again this is the end of my scottish holiday but at least i'm not dead i'm very sorry he said again he looked at his watch and continued there's time to go to my house you can change your clothes and have something to eat there where's your case is it down there in the car no all my things are at an in 60 kilometers away what could i tell him about myself i did not want to say that i was rhodesian my name was in all the newspapers the police knew that i was from rhodesia so i decided to be an australian i knew a lot about australia then he could not discover who i was i'm australian i continued and i never carry a lot of clothes with me an australian he cried well i'm the luckiest man in scotland you are against protection of course i am i answered quickly but i had no idea what he meant that's fine the free movement of goods is the best thing for britain well now you'll be able to help me this evening he took my arm and pulled me towards his car a few minutes later we reached the house he took out three or four of his suits and put them on the bed i chose a dark blue suit and put it on i also borrowed one of his shirts then he took me to the kitchen there was some food on the table if we don't hurry we'll be late he said eat something now and take some food in your pocket when we get back tonight we'll have a good meal we have to be in brattleburn by seven o'clock i had a cup of coffee and some cold meat the young man stood by the fire and talked you've come just at the right time mister oh excuse me you haven't told me your name twisdon i said ah twisdon well i'm in trouble mr twisten and i'd like you to help me there's a meeting tonight at brattleburn and i have to make a political speech i'm standing for parliament for this part of galloway and brattleburn is my chief town well i had everything ready for the meeting and crumpleton you know the last prime minister was going to make the main speech but i had a telegram from him this afternoon he's very ill and he can't come that means that i have to make the speech myself well if you want people to vote for you i said you should be able to make a speech oh i can make a short speech all right but ten minutes is quite long enough for me now be a good man twistin and help me you can tell the meeting all about the free movement of goods and australia i did not know anything about this but i needed help too perhaps this was a chance all right i said i'm not a very good speaker but i'll talk to your friends about australia we left the house then and drove towards brattleburn on the way the young man told me a few things about himself and one of these facts was very interesting his father and mother were dead so he usually lived with his uncle who was the chief secretary at the foreign office this was exciting news because the chief secretary was an important man i wanted to meet him i hoped that this young man could do something for me we drove through a little town where two police officers stopped the car they shone the lights on our faces and i felt very nervous i was afraid that they were going to arrest me i'm sorry sir harry one of the officers said we're looking for a stolen car oh that's all right sir harry laughed my car is too old for anyone to steal he said and we drove on it was five minutes to seven when we reached brattleburn sir harry stopped the car outside the town hall and we went in there were about five hundred people in the hall a man stood up and made a short speech he explained that mr crumpleton was ill and could not come but we're very lucky in brattleburn this evening he continued a famous speaker from australia is here first though we shall listen to the man who is going to receive every vote in brattleburn sir harry then began his speech he had about 50 pages of note in his hand and he started to read them it was a terrible speech and i felt very sorry for him sometimes he looked up from the papers and then he lost his place once or twice he completely forgot where he was he remembered a few sentences from a book and he repeated them proudly like a schoolboy his ideas were quite wrong too he said that the government was making terrible mistakes there was no danger from germany i almost laughed out loud there's no danger from germany at all he said the government has imagined it the germans just want to be friends and so we don't need a big army we're throwing away money on arms and warships i thought about scudder's little black book the german's plans were ready they were not interested in being friendly i spoke after sir harry and talked about australia i described the country's politics and its plans and the work of the government there people listened very politely and sometimes showed their agreement but i forgot all about the free movement of goods the speakers were thanked at the end of the meeting sir harry and i got into the car again and drove out of brattleburn that was a fine speech twisdon he said and they enjoyed it now we'll go home and you can have a good meal i want you to stay at my house tonight after dinner that night we sat by the fire and talked listen sir harry i said i want to tell you something and it's very important you're a good man so i won't hide anything from you you're quite wrong he looked very surprised you mean in my speech he asked do you mean about the danger from germany do you think they'll attack us they will probably attack us next month i said now listen to this story a few days ago a german spy killed a friend of mine in london i remember the light from the fire in sahara's room i lay back in a big chair and told him everything i repeated all scudder's notes and i even remembered about the 39 steps and the tide i described my adventures with the milkman and the police at the inn then i said the police are trying to arrest me for the murder but i can prove that i didn't kill scudder the fact is that i'm afraid of these german spies they're much cleverer than the police if the police arrest me there will be an accident and i'll get a knife in my heart like scudder sir harry was looking at me thoughtfully are you a nervous man mr hani he asked i did not answer him in words i took down a heavy knife from the wall i threw the knife up in the air and caught it in my mouth i learned to do that many years ago in rhodesia i said but a nervous man couldn't do it he smiled all right honey you needn't prove it i don't know much about politics but i know an honest man i believe what you've said tell me what i can do to help you well your uncle is the chief secretary at the foreign office and he'll be able to do something i want you to write a letter to him ask him if i can meet him before the 15th of june what name shall i say twisdom it's safer to forget the name hannah sir harry sat down at a table and wrote this letter dear uncle i have given your address to a man named twisden who wants to meet you he hopes to see you before the 15th of june be kind to him please and believe his story when he comes he'll say the words black stone and he'll sing a few lines of annie laurie well that looks alright so harry said my uncle's name is sir walter bulevant and his house is near artenswell on the river kenneth now what's the next thing can you give me an old suit of clothes i said and show me a map of galloway if the police come here to look for me you can show them the car but don't tell them anything and if the spies come what shall i say to them say that i've gone to london sir harry brought the clothes and a map of galloway i looked at the map and found the railway to the south that's the emptiest part of the country sir harry said showing me an area not far away go up the road here and then turn to the right you will be in the hills before breakfast you'll be quite safe up there but you'll have to travel south on the 12th or the 13th of june he gave me an old bicycle and at two o'clock in the morning i left his house at five o'clock the sun came up and i was about thirty kilometers away green hills rose around me on every side chapter five the roadman who wore glasses i rested for a time on the top of a hill the road ran across a flat space in front of me and then down to a river a small house stood in the fields below but there were no other signs of life i was very tired so i lay down and closed my eyes it was seven o'clock when a sound woke me it was the plane again i did not move it flew low over the hills it turned towards me and i could see the two men in it both men were looking at me i felt sure that they knew me then the machine climbed quickly and flew away to the east i had to get away from that place before they returned they probably saw my bicycle so i had to throw it away i left the road and pushed the bicycle into some trees then i saw a small pool and threw the bicycle into it the day was warm and clear and i could see the road to the east and the west there was nothing on it but i was sure that my enemies were on their way down that road so i turned across the hills to the north after a time i looked back my eyes are very good and i saw a line of men walking side by side there was a space of about nine meters between one man and the next they were all coming towards the high ground i ran but did not get very far there were more men in front i can't get away from here i thought if i move they'll see me so i have to stay on the high ground and hide somewhere i ran along the top of the hill and reached the road again i turned a corner of the road and there i found the roadman he was preparing for work but he was moving very slowly he looked up as i came near this is a terrible job he said and i can't do it today i'm too ill to work and that's a fact he was a strange-looking man and he wore a pair of large glasses his eyes looked very red what's the matter i asked but i knew the answer you do this job every day don't you why can't you do it today i do he replied but my daughter doesn't come home from london every day she came home yesterday and we had a party last night he took off his glasses and then continued i got very drunk last night and my head feels terrible i'm sorry i said bed is clearly the best place for you ah but it's not easy my new boss is coming today to see me and my work if i go home to bed he won't find me here and then i'll lose my job suddenly i had a good idea listen i said perhaps i can help you does the new boss know you very well no i don't know him but i know about him he travels around in a little car where's your house i asked he showed me a small house in the fields below good you go back to bed then and get some sleep i'll do your job if the boss doesn't know you he won't know me either he looked at me and then laughed well you're a very nice man it'll be quite easy too and you needn't do much work he showed me a pile of stones i broke up those stones yesterday he said and you needn't do any more of that go down the road until you come to a pile of rocks bring them up here i'll break them up tomorrow my name is alexander turnbull but my friends call me specky that's because i wear these glasses when the boss comes you'll have to talk politely and call him sir he'll be quite happy then perhaps the boss knows that you wear glasses i said let me borrow them for today he laughed again this is fun he gave me his glasses and his dirty old hat i took off my coat and gave it to him take this home with you i said and keep it for me then he left me ten minutes later i looked like a roadman myself i had put dirt on my trousers and shoes turnbull's trousers were tied below the knee so i tied mine in the same way spies look at everything and i was worried about my hands they looked clean and rather soft so i made them dirty turnbull's food and an old newspaper lay on the side of the road it was eight o'clock now and i was feeling quite hungry so i stole some of his bread and cheese and had a quick meal then i began my new job and carried the rocks up the road while i was working i remembered an old friend in rhodesia he was a policeman when i knew him his life was strange and difficult when he was in danger he often dressed as another person he told me but clothes alone aren't enough hannah you have to try to be another person and you have to believe it yourself if you can't do that you will fail so now i believed that i was the roadman and i thought about my life and my job i lived in the little house below my daughter came home yesterday and we had a party i got drunk and was feeling sick but the new boss wanted to see me today and i had to wait for him i worked for an hour or more and got quite dirty it was a very dirty job suddenly a voice spoke from the road and i looked up a young man was talking to me from a small car are you alexander turnbull he asked i'm your new boss and my office is in the town hall at newton stuart the road looks all right here turnbull there is a soft part about a kilometer away and you should clean the sides of the road i'll be around here again next week good morning he drove away and i felt very happy my acting was quite good enough for him at about 11 o'clock a farmer drove some sheep down the road when he saw me he stopped where's spiky he asked he's ill i replied i'm doing his job for a few days at about midday a big car came down the road it went past me and stopped about a hundred meters away three men got out of the car and walked slowly back towards me i knew two of them they were the men who visited the galloway inn one of them was thin and dark and the other was rather fat but i did not know the third man who was older than the others good morning the third man said you have a nice easy job here i took my time i put down a large rock and stood up slowly they were watching me and their eyes missed nothing there are worse jobs than this i said but there are probably better ones too i'd like to have yours and sit all day in that big car the elder man was now looking at turnbull's newspaper do you get the papers every day he asked yes i get them but they're three or four days late he picked up the paper and looked at the date on it then he put it down again the thin one was looking at my shoes and spoke a few words in german then the older man said you have a fine pair of shoes did you buy them here i did not i said these shoes came from london i got them from the gentleman who was shooting here last year now what was his name and i tried to remember the name the fat man now spoke in german let's go he said this man is all right they asked me one more question did anyone go past here early this morning perhaps he was riding a bicycle i thought about this question for a moment then i said well i was a bit late this morning my daughter came home from london yesterday and we had a party last night i left the hoos at about seven o'clock and there was nobody on the road then the three men said goodbye to me and went back to their car three minutes later they drove away i felt very happy but i continued to work it was good that i did too the car soon returned the three men looked at me again as they went past i finished turnbull's bread and cheese and by five o'clock the work was completed but i was not sure about the next step i felt sure that my enemies were staying in the area i decided to go down to turnbull's house i could take his things back to him and get my coat i could stay there until it was dark and then i hoped to get away across the hills but suddenly another car came down the road and stopped there was one man in it and he called to me have you got a light i looked at him and knew him this was a very lucky chance his name was mama duke jopli and i saw him once or twice in london before the murder i hated the man he was a friend of rich young men and old ladies who often invited him to their homes well joplie was too weak to hurt me i decided to act quickly hello chopley i said i'm surprised to see you here his face grew pale who are you he asked in a nervous voice hannah i said from rhodesia don't you remember me hannah the murderer he cried that's right now listen to me if you don't do this quickly i'll be jopli's murderer too give me your coat and hat he was very frightened he did what i told him to i put on his new coat over my dirty clothes and put his hat on my head then i gave him turnbull's glasses and dirty old hat wear them for a few minutes i said nobody will know you which way now joplie was driving from the east and i decided to go back that way i got in the car and ordered jopli into the passenger seat then i drove off now joplin i said if you're no trouble i won't hurt you but don't try anything and don't talk remember that i'm a murderer if you make any trouble i'll kill you we drove 13 kilometers along the road several men were standing on the corners while we drove past they looked at the car but did not try to stop us at about seven o'clock i turned into a narrow road and drove up into the hills the villages and houses were soon behind us at last i stopped the car in a quiet place i gave joplie his coat and hat and took back turnbull's glasses and the old hat thank you i said now you can go and find the police i watched the red light of his car as he drove over the hill chapter 6 the man with the strange eyes it was a cold night and i was very hungry turnbull had my coat and my watch and scudders notebook were in one of its pockets my money was in the pocket of my trousers i lay down in some long grass but could not sleep i thought about all the people who were helping me and i decided that i was a very lucky man food was my main problem i closed my eyes and saw thick pieces of meat on a white plate i remembered all my past meals in london there i often refused fruit after dinner now an apple was just a dream towards morning i slept a little but i woke again at about six o'clock i sat up and looked down the hill then i lay back down again in great surprise men were searching the long grass below me and they were not far away i moved a few feet and hid behind a rock then i climbed up behind the rock to the top of the hill when i reached the top i looked back again my enemies were a long way below i ran over the hilltop to the other side nobody could see me there so i ran for half a kilometer then i climbed to the top again and looked down the men saw me and moved towards me i ran back over the hilltop and returned to my first hiding place my enemies were now going the wrong way and i felt safer my best plan was to go to the north and i chose a good path soon there was a river between me and my enemies but when they discovered their mistake they turned back quickly i saw them suddenly above the hilltop and they began to shout at me i saw then that they were not my real enemies two of them were policemen jopli has reported me i thought and now they're looking for the murderer two men ran down and began to climb my hill the policemen ran across the hilltops to the north i felt frightened now because these men knew the country i had strong legs but did not know the best paths i left my hilltop and ran down towards a different river there was a road along the side of it and there was a gate at the side of the road i jumped over the gate and ran across a field the path led through a group of trees i stopped in the trees and looked back the police were half a kilometer behind me i climbed over a low wall where the trees came to an end i found myself in a farm yard the farmhouse was about 30 meters away there was a glass building at the side of the house and an old man was sitting at a desk inside he looked up at me when i walked towards the building the room was full of books and cases which contained old pieces of stone and broken pots i saw several glass cases of old money books and papers covered the old man's desk he was a kind looking old man with a round face and not much hair when i entered he did not move or speak i could not say a word either i looked at him and saw his eyes they were small and clear and very intelligent the skin on his head was smooth and shone like a glass bottle then he said slowly you are in a hurry my friend his eyes followed mine across the farmyard and the field some people were climbing over the gate at the road ah they're policemen he said and you're running away from them well we can talk about it later i don't want the police to come in here if you go into the next room you'll see two doors go through the doorway on the left and shut it behind you you'll be quite safe in there then he picked up a pen and went on with his work i did what he said i went into the next room and through the left-hand doorway it was very dark inside there was only one window which was high up in the wall i was safe from the police in that room but i was not very happy everything seemed too easy and i began to think to myself why did that old man help me he doesn't know me and he didn't ask me any questions while i was waiting i thought about food again i made plans for my breakfast and it was very exciting i wanted eggs the old man could not refuse to give me some i was ready for about ten of them i was thinking about this meal when the door opened a man who was standing outside made a sign to me i followed him to the old gentleman's room have the police gone i asked yes they asked me if you were here but i didn't tell them anything important this is a lucky morning for you mr hannah he spoke quietly and with the voice of a young man i was watching him all the time he closed his eyes but they were only half shut like the eyes of a bird and i suddenly remembered scudder's words if you see his eyes hannah you'll never forget them was this man scudder's worst enemy and was i now in the enemy's house was it time to kill him he guessed my plan and smiled then his eyes moved to the door behind me i turned two large men were standing there for his protection he knew my name but he did not know my face and this was my only chance what are you talking about i asked my name isn't richard hannah it's ainsley is it but of course you have other names we won't fight about a name he continued to smile at me i thought of another plan quickly i had no coat and my clothes were very dirty so i began to tell him a story why did you save me from the police i asked i didn't want to steal that money it has given me a lot of trouble you can have it and i took four pounds from my pocket and threw them on the old man's desk take it i said and let me go oh no mr hannah i won't let you go you know too much you're acting very well but not well enough i couldn't tell if he was sure about me i'm not acting i said why don't you believe me i stole that money because i was hungry the two men left the car and went away after the accident i climbed down the bank and found the money on the floor of the car the police are looking for me and i'm very tired the old man was clearly not sure now tell me your adventures he said tell me about yesterday i can't i'm really hungry give me a meal first and then i'll tell you everything he made a sign to one of the men who brought me some cold meat and a glass of milk suddenly while i was eating the old man spoke to me in german i did not look up or answer him when i finished eating i began my story again i was on my way from leith to visit my brother in wig town i was not traveling by train because i did not have much money on my way i saw an accident a car ran off the road a man jumped out of the car before it fell and then another man came they talked for a few moments and then went away together i climbed down to the car it was completely destroyed but i found the four pounds on the floor i put the money in my pocket and ran away i went into a shop in the nearest village and tried to buy some food i offered a pound to the shopkeeper she did not like the look of me and called the police i got away but the policeman tore my coat off well i cried they can have the money back a poor man hasn't got a chance that's a good story hannah the old man said but i don't believe it then he sat back in his chair and began to play with his right ear it's true i shouted my name is ainsley not hannah those policemen knew me and was shouting my name from the hilltop i looked at the clear eyes and the shining head in front of me he was not at all sure he did not know my face it was different from my photographs and my clothes were very old and dirty you'll have to stay here he said at last if you aren't richard hannah you'll be quite safe but if you are i'll kill you myself he pushed a bell and another man came in bring the car he said there'll be three for dinner he looked at me again and there was something quite terrible in his eyes they were cold and hard and very dangerous i could not look away from them they made me weak like a child and i wanted to go to him he was scudder's worst enemy but for a moment i needed to join him he spoke in german to one of the men and when i heard his words my strange thoughts left me carl put him in the back room and don't let him get away remember that he said the room was very dark but the two men did not come inside with me they sat down outside where i could hear them talking i felt around the walls of the room and touched several boxes then i sat down on one of the boxes to think about my problems the old man's friends did know my face they knew me as the roadman and i was wearing turnbull's clothes i could imagine their questions why were the police looking for a road man why was he found 30 kilometers away from his job they probably remembered marmaduke jopli too i thought and sir harry i could not continue to lie to these foreign enemies and i did not want to be alone with them here my chances of getting away were not very great suddenly i grew angry and hated these german spies in britain i could not sit in this dark place and do nothing i had to attack them or try to get away i got up and walked around the room again the boxes were too strong for me to open but then i found a cupboard in the wall it was probably locked because i could not open it but there was a hole in the door i pushed my fingers into the hole and then pulled hard the door of the cupboard broke open there were some strange things inside there were bottles and small boxes and some old yellow bags i found a box of detonators i took out the detonators and placed them on the floor at the back of the cupboard i found a strong box at first i thought that it was locked but it opened quite easily and it was full of sticks of dynamite i could destroy the house with this dynamite i often used it in rhodesia and i knew it well it could very easily destroy me too this was clearly a chance to get away and it was probably my only chance so i decided to take it i found a hole in the floor near the doorway i pushed a stick of dynamite into the hole and tied a detonator and a long piece of cotton to it then i moved one of the boxes until it stood over the hole i sat down near the cupboard and lit the piece of cotton i watched the fire as it moved along the cotton the two men were talking quietly outside the door suddenly there was a terrible noise and great heat and light came up from the floor they hung for a moment in the air and then clouds of dirt took their place thick yellow smoke filled the room and at first i could not see anything but there was light in the room now from a great hole in the wall i ran towards it the air outside was also full of smoke and i could hear the sound of voices i climbed through the hole and ran i was in the farm yard at the back of the house about 30 meters away there was a tall stone bird house the building had no doors or windows but there were a lot of small holes for the birds and the roof seemed flat it looked a good place to hide i ran through the smoke to the back of the birdhouse then i began to climb it was hard work and i went up very slowly but at last i reached the top and lay down behind a low wall i felt sick from the smoke and very tired but i was safe up there and soon i fell asleep i probably slept for several hours when i woke up the afternoon sun was very strong i could hear men's voices again and the sound of a car i lifted my head a little and looked over the wall four or five men were walking across the farmyard to the house the old man was with them and he was clearly very angry he shouted something in german to the other men the thin dark one was there and the fat one too i lay on the roof of the birdhouse all afternoon i was very thirsty there was a little river next to the farm and i could hear the sound of water i felt the money in my pocket almost no price was too high for a glass of water at that moment two men drove away in the car a little later another man rode toward the east on a horse the search was beginning but they were all going the wrong way i sat up on the roof and looked around at first i saw nothing very interesting but then my eyes fell on a large area of trees these trees were half a kilometer from the house and they stood around a flat green field that looks like an airfield i thought it's a good place for a secret airfield you could not see the field from the ground and a small plane could land there between the trees then i saw a thin blue line far away to the south it was the sea so our enemies had this secret airfield in scotland and they could watch our ships every day the thought made me very angry it made me nervous too someone in a plane could easily see me below them but i could do nothing until it was dark i lay and waited on the roof of the birdhouse at about six o'clock a man came out through the hole in my prison he walked slowly towards the birdhouse and i felt quite frightened for a moment but then we both heard the plane at the same time the man turned and went back inside the plane did not fly over the house and i was happy about that it flew around the trees once and then landed some light shone for a moment or two and ten minutes later i heard voices after that everything was quiet and it began to grow dark i waited until about nine o'clock then i climbed down from the roof and reached the ground safely i moved away from the birdhouse on my hands and knees i went first to the little river i lay there and drank the cold water then i began to run i wanted to get as far away as possible from that terrible house chapter 7 the fisherman i was free now but i felt rather sick i could smell the smoke of the dynamite and an hour later i had to rest it was about 11 o'clock when i reached the road safely i wanted to go back to mr turnbull's cottage my coat was there with scudders notebook in the pocket and i had to have that book my plan then was to find the railway and travel to the south after that i hoped to go straight to artis well to meet sir walter bullivant it was a beautiful night i knew that turnbull's cottage was about 30 kilometers away it was too far for me to walk before morning so i decided to hide during the day and travel only at night when the sun rose i was near a river i washed in the clean cold water because i was very dirty my shirt and trousers were torn and i was afraid to meet anyone in that state but just the other side of the river i came to a cottage and i was so hungry that i had to stop there the man was not at home and at first his wife did not like the look of me she picked up a stick and seemed ready to attack me i've had a bad fall in the hills i said and i'm feeling ill will you help me she did not ask any questions but invited me into the house she gave me a glass of milk and some bread and cheese then i sat by the fire in her kitchen and we talked i offered her money for her trouble but she refused it at first if it isn't your money i don't want it she said i grew quite angry but it is my money do you think that i stole it she accepted it then and unlocked a cupboard in the wall she gave me a warm piece of scottish cloth to put over my shoulder and one of her husband's hats when i left her cottage i was like a real scotsman i walked for two or three hours then the weather changed and it began to rain but i kept warm and dry under the cloth a little later i came to a large rock which hung over some low ground the grass under the rock was quite dry so i lay down and slept there all day when i woke up it was almost dark the weather was the same wet and cold and i was not sure of the way twice i took the wrong path and probably walked more than 30 kilometers but at six o'clock in the morning i reached mr turnbull's cottage mr turnbull opened the door himself but he did not know me who are you he asked why are you coming here on a sunday morning i'm just getting ready to go to church i knew nothing about the days of the week every day seemed the same to me i felt too ill to answer him but then he remembered me have you got my glasses he asked i took them out of my pocket and gave them to him of course you've come back for your coat he said come in man you look terrible wait i'll get you a chair when i was in rhodesia i was off nil and one of these african illnesses returned time after time i knew the signs very well soon mr turnbull was taking off my clothes and leading me to a bed i stayed with him for ten days and he looked after me very well the illness lasted about six days then my body returned to its usual temperature and i got up he went out to work every morning and returned in the evening i rested all day he had a cow which gave us milk and there was always some food in the house one evening i said there's a small airfield about 24 kilometers away do you know it a little plane lands there sometimes who owns the place i don't know he said i've seen the plane of course but i don't know anything about it he brought me several newspapers while i was staying with him i read them with interest but i saw nothing about the murder in london turnbull did not ask me any questions not even my name i was surprised about this and one day i said has anyone asked you about me there was a man in a car he said he stopped one day and asked me about the other roadman that was you of course he seemed a very strange man so i didn't tell him anything when i left the cottage i gave turnbull five pounds he did not want to take the money at all his face grew red and he was quite rude to me i don't want money he said when i was ill you helped me then you were ill and i helped you i can't take such a lot of money but he took it in the end the weather was beautiful that morning but i was beginning to feel nervous it was the 12th of june and i had to finish scudder's business before the 15th i had dinner at a quiet inn in moffat and then went to the railway station it was seven o'clock in the evening what time does the train go to london i asked ten minutes to twelve the railway railwayman said it was a long time to wait so i left the station i found a quiet place near a hilltop and lay down there to sleep i was so tired that i slept until 20 minutes to 12. then i ran down to the station where the train was waiting i decided not to go to london i got out of the train at crew and waited there for two hours the next train took me to birmingham and i reached reading at six o'clock in the evening two hours later i was looking for so walter bolivants cottage at artinswell the river kenneth ran along next to the road the english air was sweet and warm quite different from scottish air i stood for a few minutes on a bridge which went across the river and i began to sing annie laurie in a low voice a fisherman came up from the bank of the river as he walked towards me he began to sing annie laurie too the fisherman was a great big man he was wearing an old pair of gray trousers and a large hat he looked at me and smiled and i thought that he had a good and honest face then he looked down with me at the water it's clean and clear isn't it he said the kenneth's a fine river look at that big fish down there but the sun is gone now if you try all night you won't catch him where i said i can't see him look down there a meter from those water plants oh yes i can see him now he's like a big black stone isn't he ah he said and sang a few more words of andy laurie he continued to look down at the water your name is twisdom i believe he said no i said then i remembered my other names and added quickly oh yes that's right he laughed a good spy always knows his own name he said some men were walking across the bridge behind us and so walter spoke more loudly no i won't he said you're strong enough to work aren't you you can get a meal from my kitchen but i won't give you any money the men went past and the fishermen moved away from me he showed me to a white gate a hundred meters away and said that's my house wait here for five minutes and then go around to the back door when i reached his cottage the back door was open so walters butler was waiting to welcome me come this way sir he said and he led me up the stairs he took me into one of the bedrooms there were clothes on the bed i saw a dinner suit and a clean white shirt but there were other clothes too and several pairs of shoes i hope that these things will fit you sir the butler said your bath is ready in the next room you will hear the bell for dinner at nine o'clock sir when he left i sat down i thought that i was dreaming at this time the day before i was asleep on a scottish hilltop now i was in this beautiful house and so walter did not even know my name i had a bath and then put on the white shirt and the dinner suit everything fitted me very well the bell went for dinner and i hurried down to meet sir walter you're very kind sir i said but it is time to tell you about my situation i haven't done anything wrong but the police are looking for me at this moment he smiled that's all right we can talk about these things after dinner i'm pleased that you got here safely i enjoyed that meal and the wine was good too so walter was an interesting man who had traveled in many foreign countries i talked about rhodesia and the fish in the zambezi river and he told me some of his adventures after dinner we went into his library and the butler brought his coffee it was a very nice room with books and fine pictures around the walls i decided to buy a house like that after i finished skutter's work so walter lay back in his chair i followed harry's orders he said and now i'm ready to listen mr haney you've got some news i believe i was surprised to hear my real name but i began my story and i told him everything i described my meeting with scudder and his fears about carol ids i told him about the murder and my adventure with the milkman where did you go then he asked i went to galloway i soon discovered the secret of scudder's code and then i could read his notes have you got them with you yes then i described my meeting with sir harry and how i helped him at brattleburn so walter laughed harry can't make a speech he said he's a good man but his ideas are very strange please go on with your story mr haney i told him about turnbull then and my job as a roadman he was very interested in that can you describe those men in the car he asked well one of them was thin and dark i saw him before at the inn with the fat one but i didn't know the third man who was older than the others and what did you do after that i met mama duke jopli next and had a bit of fun with him so walter laughed again when i described that part of the story but he did not laugh at the old man in the farmhouse how did you get away from the place he asked i found dynamite and detonators in a cupboard i replied and i almost destroyed the building there's a small airfield there where the plane lands after that i was ill for a week turnbull looked after me very well then i traveled south by train and here i am so walter stood up slowly and looked down at me you needn't be afraid of the police hannah he said they aren't looking for you now i was surprised to hear this why i cried have they found the murderer no not yet but the police know that you didn't kill scudder how do they know that because i received a letter from scudder he did several jobs for me and i knew him quite well he was a good spy but he had one problem what was that he always wanted to work alone and he failed for that reason the best spies always work with others but scatter couldn't do that i was very sorry about it because he was a fine man i had a letter from him on the 31st of may but he was dead then he was killed on the 23rd of may wasn't he yeah and he wrote the letter on the 23rd he sent the letter to spain first and then it came back to england what did he write about he told me that britain was in great danger he also said that he was staying with a good friend and i believe that the good friend was you annie he promised to write again soon what did you do then i went to the police they knew your name and we sent a telegram to rhodesia the answer was all right so we were not worried about you i guessed why you left london you wanted to continue scudder's work didn't you then i got harry's letter and i guessed that twisdon was richard hannah i was very pleased to hear all this my country's enemies were my enemies but the police were now my friends and i was a free man again he said i took out the little book and began to explain the code to him he was very quick and he knew what the names meant we worked hard for an hour or more scudder was right about one thing he said a french officer is coming to london on the 15th of june and that's the day after tomorrow i thought that it was all secret of course we know that there are a few german spies in england we've got some of our men in germany too but how did they all discover the secret of this frenchman's visit i don't believe scudder's story about war and the black stone he always had some strange ideas so walter stood up again and walked about the room the black stone he repeated der schwarzenstein it's like something out of a cheap story isn't it i don't believe the part about caroline's either he's an important man but nobody wants to kill him perhaps scudder heard about some danger but it isn't very important it's the usual spy business which the germans enjoy very much sometimes they kill a man in the way that they killed scada and the german government pays them for it the butler came into the room it's the telephone sir he said your office in london mr heath wants to speak to you so walter left the library when he returned a few minutes later he looked quite pale scudder was right he said and i was wrong carol ideas is dead he was shot about three hours ago chapter 8 the black stone in the morning the butler took away the dinner suit and gave me some other clothes i went down to breakfast and found sir walter at the table there was a telegram in his hand i was busy last night he said i spoke to the foreign secretary and to the secretary for war they telephoned the first lord of the admiralty and they're bringing the frenchman to london today not tomorrow his name's and he'll be here at five o'clock this evening this telegram is from the first lord of the admiralty he offered me the hot food on the table and i began to eat it was a very good breakfast i don't think that this change is going to help us he continued our enemies discovered the first date so they'll probably discover the new one too there has to be a german spy in the foreign office or in the war office only five men knew that ryan was coming that's what we believed at least but someone told scudder and the germans can't you change your plans for war i asked well we can but we don't want to we've thought a lot about these plans and they're the best possible ones but if it's necessary you will change them perhaps it's a difficult problem hannah our enemies aren't children they're not going to steal any papers from why a they want to know our plans but they want to get them in secret then rye will go back to france and say here are the british plans for war and they're completely secret the germans don't know anything about them then you'll have to give the frenchman special protection i said someone who will stay by his side all the time roy is having dinner with the foreign secretary tonight then he's coming to my house where he'll meet four people they are sir arthur drew general win stanley mr whitaker and me the first lord isn't well so whitaker is coming in his place and he's bringing the plans from the first lord's office of the admiralty we'll take them to wyey who will then leave for portsmouth or warship is waiting there to take him to france he'll have special protection all the time after breakfast we left for london by car so walter said i'm taking you to scotland yard honey i want you to meet the chief of police it was half past 11 when we reached scotland yard we walked into the great dark building and i met the chief of police his name was mcgillivray i've brought you the murderer so walter said the chief smiled i'll be very happy when you bring me the real murderer bullet good morning mr haney you interest us greatly and he's going to tell you some interesting things so walter said but not today you have to wait for 24 hours i'm afraid mr haney is a free man now isn't he yes of course the chief of police said then he turned to me do you want to go back to your old flat it's ready for you but perhaps you'd like to move to a different home i was thinking about scudder and could not reply well so walter said i have to go now perhaps we'll need some of your men mcgillivray tonight or tomorrow there will probably be some trouble when we were leaving so walter took my hand you're all right now honey he said you'll be quite safe in london come and see me tomorrow but don't talk about these spies will you it's best to stay in your flat today he laughed suddenly if these black stone people see you they'll kill you when sir walter had left i felt quite alone i was a free man and everything was all right but i was very nervous i went to the savoy hotel in ordered a fine meal but i did not enjoy it people were looking at me and i thought do they know me did they see my photograph in the newspapers i soon left the hotel in the afternoon i got a taxi and drove several kilometers to north london i paid the taxi driver and then began to walk back i walked for hours and at last came to the center of london again i was feeling very unhappy it was six o'clock and important things were taking place in london rye was already there so walter was busy at the foreign office or making plans for the meeting the black stone spies were watching and waiting quietly but what was i doing i was walking around the center of london suddenly a strange thought came into my head i believed that there was great danger in london that day and i was suddenly sure that only i could fight against it but what could i do so walter did not need me i could not walk into a meeting of important officers and ministers i could look for the german spies of course i was quite sure of one thing my country needed me in this time of trouble i had to destroy their plans the german spies must not win but is that true hannah i said to myself can't so walter and his friends easily look after britain doesn't the first lord of the admiralty know his business better than you do can a few german spies do anything against all of them i was not sure there was a little voice in my ear which repeated again and again do something annie get up and do something now if you don't you'll never sleep well again at half past nine i was walking along german street and i decided what to do i decided to go to sir walters house i knew the address and i could easily find it he did not want to see me but i had to do something i came to duke street and walked past a group of young men they were wearing dinner suits and were leaving a hotel one of the young men was mr marmaduke jopli he saw me look he cried it's the murderer hold him hold him that's hannah the murderer jopli caught my arm and the others hurried to help him a policeman ran across the street i hit joplie hard with my left hand and saw him fall but then the crowd held me and i could not move what's the matter here the policeman said that's hannah the murderer joplin shouted oh be quiet i said i'm not a murderer listen officer don't arrest me the chief of police knows all about me i was at scotland yard this morning now young man come along with me the policeman said i saw you begin this fight he looked at joplin who was lying on the ground that man didn't do anything to you but i saw you hit him now come along quietly to the police station i was very angry i heard the little voice in my ear again you have to get away it said don't spend another minute here suddenly i felt very strong i turned quickly and threw the policeman to the ground i pushed the other men away and ran along duke street i can run very fast when i want to and that evening i almost flew in a few minutes i reached power mile and turned towards james's park i ran between the taxis in the mail and across the bridge there were very few people in the park and nobody stopped me so walter's house was at queen anne's gate and there i began to walk three or four cars were standing in the street outside the house i walked up to the door and pushed the bell the butler opened the door i could hear cries far away but the street was empty i have to see so walter i said my business is very important coming sir he said i'm afraid you can't see him now but you can wait in the hall until the meeting finishes it was an old house with a large square hall doors led into several rooms on each side an officer who was dressed in plain clothes stood outside one of the doors i sat down in a corner near the telephone i made a sign to the butler i'm in trouble again i said but i'm working for sir walter and he knows all about it the police and a crowd of people are following me if they come here please don't let them come in and don't tell them that i'm here all right sir he replied a minute or two later i heard voices outside then came the sound of the doorbell and the butler went to answer it someone spoke to him from outside and he suddenly stood up very straight i am sorry he said this is so walter buldevant's house and so walter is chief secretary at the foreign office i'm afraid that i don't know anything about a murderer now please go away or i shall call the police myself then he shut the door and walked back through the hall two minutes later i heard the bell again and a man came in while he was taking off his coat i saw his face it was a famous face and i knew it from his photographs in the newspapers the man was lord allah the first lord of the admiralty he was a big man with a large nose and sharp blue eyes he walked past me and the plane clothes officer opened the door of the room for him i waited in the hall for 20 minutes and during this time the little voice continued to speak in my ear don't go away it said they'll soon need you a little bell went at the back of the house and the butler came into the hall the first lord left the meeting room and the butler gave him his coat i looked at the man for a moment and he looked straight at me it was all very fast my heart jumped suddenly because i saw a light in his eyes i did not know the first lord and he did not know me but i was quite sure about that sudden light in his eyes it meant that he knew my face he looked away and walked to the door the butler opened it for him and closed it behind him i picked up the telephone book and quickly found lord allah's number his butler answered is the first lord at home i asked yes sir the voice said but um he's not very well he's in bed can i give him a message sir no thank you i said and i put the telephone down i walked quickly across the hall and entered the meeting room five surprised faces looked up from a round table so walter was there and drew the war minister sir arthur drew's photograph was often in the papers i already knew general wynn stanley an older man who was probably whittaker stood next to him the fifth man was short and fat so walter looked quite angry this is mr haney he said i've already told you something about him but why have you come here hannah you know that we're very busy your enemies are busy too sir i said and one of them has just left this room so walter's face grew red as he said but that was lord allah it was not i cried lord allah is at home in bed i have just spoken to his butler on the telephone the man who was here knew my face and lord allah doesn't know me then who who someone asked the black stone i cried i looked around the table and saw fear in five pairs of eyes josh died hours before i finished fishing he continued and the lion was watching me all the time he was a brown shape near the tree i saw the shape and color but i did not really look at him that was my mistake gentlemen and we have made the same mistake tonight so walter agreed this black stone man the general said is he a german spy or something nobody could keep all these facts in his head it doesn't seem very important to me oh yes he could the frenchman replied a good spy can remember everything his eyes are like a camera do you remember that he didn't speak at all he read the paper several times but didn't say anything you can be sure that he has all the facts now when i was young i could do the same thing well we'll have to change the plans so walter said mr whitaker looked surprised did you say that to lord allah he asked no of course we can't decide it now but i'm almost sure about this if we change the plans we'll have to change the coast of england too and there's another problem roy said i've told you some of the french plans and that german spy hurt them now we can't possibly change our plans but we can do this gentlemen we can catch them before they leave the country but how i cried we don't know anything about them and there's the post whitaker said they can easily send the facts to germany by post perhaps they're on their way there now we can't possibly search the post no the frenchman said you don't know how a good spy works he carries the secrets himself the germans will pay the man who brings the plans so we have a chance the man has to get across the sea to reach germany and we'll have to search all ships believe me gentlemen this matter is very important for both france and britain wye was clearly an intelligent man and he had the right ideas but where could we find these german spies the problem was a very difficult one then i remembered scudder's book so walter i cried did you bring scudder's notebook from the cottage i've just remembered something in it he went to a cupboard and a few moments later i found the page 39 steps i read 39 steps i counted them high tide is at 10 17 pm whitaker was looking at me what does all that mean he asked scudder knew these spies i said and he knew the place where they lived they're probably leaving the country tomorrow and i believe that we'll find them near the sea there are steps at this place and it has a high tide at 17 minutes past 10 but they will probably leave tonight someone said they won't wait until tomorrow i don't think so they have their own secret way and they're not going to hurry they're germans aren't they and germans always like to follow a plan now where can we find a book of tides well it's a chance whitaker said and it's probably our only chance to catch them isn't there a book of tides at the admiralty sir walter asked yes of course whitaker replied let's go there now we went out into the hall and the butler gave the gentleman their coats we got into two of the cars but sir walter did not come with us i'm going to scotland yard he said we'll probably need some of mcgillivray's men we reached the admiralty unfollowed whitaker through several empty rooms to the map room there he found a book of tides and gave it to me i sat down at a desk and the others stood around me but the job was too difficult for any of us there were hundreds of names in the book and high tide was at 17 minutes past 10 in 40 or 50 places i put down the book and began to think about the steps we are looking for a place i said which probably has several staircases but the important one has 39 steps and the tide is important too why i said so that means that it's probably a small part these people won't try to get away in a big boat they may have a small sailing boat or a fishing boat that's quite possible i said the place may not be a port at all these spies were in london and now they want to go to germany so they'll probably leave from a place on the east coast i picked up a piece of paper and wrote down our ideas one the place has several staircases the important one has thirty nine steps two high tide is at seventeen minutes past ten high tide is necessary for the boat to leave three the place is a small port or perhaps a piece of open coast four the germans may use a sailing boat or a fishing boat then i made three guesses and wrote them down one the place is a piece of open coast two the boat is probably small and foreign three the place is on the east coast between chroma and dover so walter came into the room with mcgillivray behind him the police are watching the ports and railway stations mcgillivray said but it's not going to be easy for them they're looking for a fat man a thin man and an old man i showed my paper to so walter and said these are our ideas but we'll need someone to help us i turned to whitaker and said is there a chief coast guard on the east coast i don't know but i know one in london he lives in clapham and he knows the east coast very well can you bring him here tonight i asked yes i think so i'll go to his house it was very late when whitaker returned with the coast guard he was a fine old man and very polite to the officers sir arthur drew spoke to him first we're looking for a place on the east coast he said where there are several staircases the steps probably lead down to a beach do you know any place like that well sir i don't know there's brattlesham in norfolk of course there are steps there but only the fishermen use them that isn't the place i said then there are a lot of holiday places they usually have a few steps no this is probably a very quiet place then i'm sorry gentlemen i don't know there's only the rough watch that i asked it's a bit of high ground on the kent coast near bradgate there are some fine houses on the top and some of them have steps down to the beach they're private beaches of course what do you mean by that well the people who own the houses also own the beaches sir when you buy a house there you get a piece of private beach as well i picked up the book of tides and found brad gate high tide there was a 27 minutes past 10 on the 15th of june how can i find the time of high tide at the rough i asked the coast guard oh i know that sir i stayed there once in june it's ten minutes before high tide at brad get i shut the book and looked around so walter i said can i borrow your car and a map of the roads in kent i'd like to have some of your men too mcgillivray perhaps we can surprise these germans tomorrow morning they did not answer me for a moment i did not work for the foreign office or the admiralty or the general but i was young and strong and i already knew these spies it was why a who spoke first i'm quite happy he said to leave this matter in mr haney's so walter said i think so too and mcgillivray agreed half an hour later i was driving quickly through the villages of kent mcgillivray's best officer was sitting next to me in the car it was half past three in the morning chapter 10 the house by the sea we stayed at the griffin hotel in bradgate at seven o'clock in the morning i was looking out of a window there it was a beautiful day a man was fishing down at the port and i remembered why a story about the lion a small warship was lying south of the port i called mcgillivray's man officer i said do you know that ship perhaps whitaker sent her here i don't think so he said she's usually along this part of the coast and he told me her name and the name of her captain i went to the telephone and sent a telegram to so walter about them after breakfast scafe mcgillivray's officer and i walked along the beach we went towards the steps on the rough but stopped less than half a kilometer from them i won't come all the way with you i said these people know me very well i'll wait here you go on and count all the steps i sat down behind a rock and waited there was nobody on the beach it was ten o'clock when scafe came back there are six lots of steps he said and they lead to six different houses he took a piece of paper from his pocket and read 34 35 39 42 47 and 21. i felt so pleased that i almost got up and shouted we hurried back to brad yet and sent a telegram to mcgillivray i wanted six good men and they had to stay at different hotels in the town now go back to the 39 steps i said to scafe and have a look at the house then go to the post office find out who lives there he brought back some strange but interesting facts the house was called trafalgar lodge and it belonged to an old man named appleton mr appleton often stayed there in the summer he was at the house now nobody knew a lot about him but he seemed kind and quiet scafe made some excuse to visit the house and met three women there they look after the place he said and they can't possibly be germans they talk too much for that did you look at the houses on each side of trafalgar lodge i asked yes the house on the right is empty they're building the place on the left before dinner i walked along the rough myself i found a quiet place away from the houses and sat down there i could see the house quite well it was a red stone building with large windows there was a garden all around the house and the british flag was flying from a tall post while i was watching a man left the house to walk along the hilltop he was an old man wearing white trousers and a blue coat he had a newspaper under his arm he walked quite a long way and then sat down on a seat to read the paper a few minutes later he put down the paper and looked out to see at the warship he looked at it for a long time i watched him for half an hour and then he got up to return to the house i went back to my hotel i was not very happy about that old man he did not look like a spy but perhaps he was the old man from that scottish farm in the afternoon we had some excitement a sailing boat came up from the south and stopped near the rough she was flying the british flag scafe and i went down to the port and spoke to the coast guard there we said that we wanted to go fishing so the coast guard got a boat for us and we sailed out of the port we caught a lot of fish that afternoon and at about four o'clock we sailed quite close to the sailing boat she looked like a beautiful white bird on the water she's a fast boat skafe said if anyone wants to get away quickly they'll go in a ship like this her name was the ariadne we spoke to a few men on her and they were clearly englishmen then an officer joined them and the men stopped talking the officer was a young man and he spoke english very well but we were quite sure that he was not an englishman his hair was cut very short and his clothes looked quite foreign in the evening i met the captain of the warship at the hotel we'll probably need your ship tonight or tomorrow i said has anyone spoken to you about that yes sir i've had a message from the admiralty i'll come in close when it's dark i know what to do about an hour later i walked back along the hilltop towards trafalgar lodge the old man and a young man were playing tennis in the garden while i was watching them a woman brought out bottles and glasses the young man who was rather fat took the things from her those people seem all right i said to myself they're quite different from those terrible men in scotland i've probably made a mistake then another man arrived at the house on a bicycle he was thin dark and quite young they finished the game of tennis and they all went into the house i walked slowly back to the hotel was i wrong about those men were they acting while i was watching them they did not know that anyone was watching them and they were acting like any other englishman but there were three men in that house the old man the fat one and the thin dark man the house fitted scudder's description a sailing boat was lying less than a kilometer away and she had a foreign officer i thought about caroline's and the danger of war and i remembered the fear in sir arthur drew's face i knew what i had to do i had to go to that house and arrest those men if i was wrong it was my problem but i did not like the job at all suddenly i remembered my friend peter pinar in rhodesia peter was a criminal before he became a policeman in fact the police accepted him for that reason he knew all the worst criminals in the country peter told me that he once got away from the police very easily he put on a black coat and went to church and he chose to sit next to a police officer they sang together and used the same book and the policeman did not know who peter was i asked him why and peter replied because the place and my clothes were different he knew me in my usual clothes in a street or at a hotel but he could not imagine me in church or wearing a long black coat these thoughts made me feel more comfortable our german enemies were as clever as peter they lived in an english house and the british flag was flying in the garden they used english names and played english games their private life was completely english and so nobody thought twice about them it was now eight o'clock in the evening i met skafe at the hotel and gave him his orders put two men in the garden i said and hide three others close to the windows when i want you i'll call i was not hungry so i went for a walk i saw the lights on the ariadne and on the warship i sat down on a seat and waited for more than an hour at half past nine i went to trafalgar lodge scafe's men were in their places by now but i did not see anyone there were lights in the house and the windows were open i pushed the doorbell one of the women opened the door may i speak to mr appleton i asked yes sir please come in she said i had a plan i hoped to walk straight into the house and to watch those three german faces but when i was inside i felt less sure of myself i saw their hats and coats and walking sticks in the hall there was a large clock in one corner english pictures were hanging on the walls and the place was like thousands of other english homes your name sir the woman asked hannah richard hannah she went into a room and called my name i followed just behind her but i was too late the three men had a moment to hide their surprise the old man was standing up and he and the fat one were wearing dinner suits the other man was in a suit of blue cloth mr haney the old man said you want to speak to me i believe come into the next room please i pulled a chair towards me and sat down on it you know me i said and you know my business the light was not very good in the room but i saw that they all looked surprised perhaps we do know you the old man said but i can't remember i'm sorry that i don't know your business will you please tell me i thought about peter pinar and said this is the end i've come to arrest you all arrest us the old man said but why i'm arresting you for the murder of franklin scudder in london on the 23rd of may i don't know that name the old man said and his voice seemed very weak the fat man spoke then i read about that in the papers but this is terrible we don't know anything about the murder sir where do you come from scotland yard i said there was a silence when they heard that the old man looked down at his feet and seemed very nervous then the fat man said this is surely a mistake uncle we can easily prove our stories i wasn't even in england on the 23rd of may and you were ill weren't you bob you were in london uncle i know but you can explain your business there that's right percy now what did i do on the 23rd of may oh i remember i came up in the morning from woking and had dinner with charlie simons i was at grantham house in the afternoon wasn't i yes that's right and i stayed there all evening the fat man looked at me i'm afraid you've made a mistake sir we'll help you if we can of course but sometimes scotland yard is wrong yes of course the old man said we'll do anything to help you sir but this is clearly a mistake won't nearly laugh when she hears about this one of them said oh she will i can't wait to tell charlie about it too now mr haney i'm not angry with you but you've come to the wrong place surely they weren't acting what they said was all true it was my mistake and i wanted to say i'm sorry and leave the house but the old man had very little hair the fat man was there too and the third man was dark and thin i looked at them and i looked around the room everything was all right and in its place and i did not know their faces don't you agree sir the old man asked me haven't you come to the wrong house no this is the right house well we have other things to do with our time the thin man said are you going to take us to the police station you're only doing your job i know but it's very difficult i did not answer him i thought oh peter pena help me the fat man stood up perhaps mr haney needs more time he said it isn't an easy problem for him let's play cards for half an hour shall we do you play sir yes i've got a lot of time and i like a game of cards we went into the next room and i looked around books and newspapers were lying around the tennis things were in an open cupboard in the corner we sat around a cart table in the middle of the room and the dark man brought me a drink i played with him against the others it was like a dream the windows were open and i could see the moonlight on the sea the three men were not afraid at all they were talking and laughing together but my heart was beating very quickly i did not play very well that night my thoughts were too ugly for me to follow the cards i was not sure about these men and they knew it of course i looked at their faces again and again but did not know them they did not only seem different i felt sure that they were different oh peter i thought once more then suddenly i saw something the old man put down his cards to drink some wine and he did not pick them up for a moment he sat back in his chair and began to play with his right ear i remembered that scottish farm i was standing in front of him again after telling him my story and there in scotland he sat back and played with his ear it was only a little thing but i remembered it well the clouds lifted from my eyes and everything was clear again the faces of the three men changed suddenly and i knew all their secrets it was the dark man who killed scudder i was playing cards with him but his eyes looked cold and hard now the fat man was different too he did not have one face but a hundred faces and he was probably the lord allah of the night before but the old man was clearly the chief criminal he was as hard as rock and quite without fear i remembered scudder's words if you see his eyes hannah you'll never forget them and it was true we continued to play but my heart was full of hate when the dark man spoke to me i could not answer him bob look at the clock the old man said you'll miss your train if we don't hurry he turned to me bob has to go back to london tonight the voice was now as completely false as their faces i'm sorry i said but he isn't going tonight why not the young man asked i have to go i'll give you my address no you have to stay here that probably made them nervous they knew that i knew them they had only one chance now and the old man took it well arrest me mr haney and let the others go will that be all right i shouted scafe the lights went out strong arms held me and i could not move schnell france a voice cried some boots i looked out of the window two police officers were running across the garden the dark man jumped through the window and was running towards the steps suddenly the room filled with people and i was free i caught the old man and held him scafe and another policeman fell on the fat one the lights came on we looked out of the window again franz reached the steps before the policeman he opened the gate which locked itself behind him and the policeman could not follow we waited for a few minutes suddenly the old man was free again he hurried to the wall of the room and pushed something a great noise rose up from below the house the steps flew into the air dynamite i cried they've destroyed the stairs the old man was looking at me and laughing a terrible light burned in his eyes he is safe he shouted you cannot follow him he has gone he has won the schwarzenstein east india two police officers caught the old man by the arms and i said my last words to him franz hasn't won anything he'll reach the ariadne quite safely i'm sure but she was in our hands an hour ago everyone knows that the war began early in august 1914 that was about six weeks after i helped to catch those three german spies i was an officer during those unhappy war years but perhaps my best work was done before it started you

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Length: 154min 39sec (9279 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 18 2021