City of Endless Night

by Hastings , Milo M. ;

  Marguerite turned on me with a bitter laugh. ‘The free world,’ she cried, ‘your world. You are going back to it and leave me here. You are going back to your own people – you will not save Germany at all – you will never come back for me!’

  ‘You are very wrong,’ I said gently. ‘It is because I have known you and known such men as Dr. Zimmern and Col. Hellar that I do want to carry the message that will forever end this sunless life of your imprisoned race.’

  ‘But,’ cried Marguerite, ‘you do not want to take me; you could find a way if you would – you made the Emperor do your bidding once – you could do it again if you wanted to.’

  ‘I very much want to take you; to go without you would be but a bitter success.’

  ‘But have you no wife, or no girl you love among your own people?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But if I should go with you, the people of your world would welcome you but they would imprison me or kill me as a spy.’

  ‘No,’ and I smiled as I answered, ‘they do not kill women.’

  IV

  During four brief days that remained until Capt. Grauble’s vessel was due to depart my every hour was full of hurried preparations for my survey of the Arctic mines. Clothing for the rigours and rough labor of that fearful region had to be obtained and I had to get together the reports of previous surveys and the instruments for the ore analyses that would be needed. Nor was I altogether faithless in these preparations for at times I felt that my first duty might be thus to aid in the further provisioning of the imprisoned race, for how was I to know that I would be able to end the state of war that had prevailed in spite of the generations of pacifist efforts? At times I even doubted that this break for the outer world would ever be made. I doubted that Capt. Grauble, though he solemnly assured us that he was ready for the venture, was acting in good faith. Could he, I asked, persuade his men to their part of the adventure? Would not our traitorous design be discovered and we both be returned as prisoners to Berlin? Granted even that Grauble could carry out his part and that the submarine proceeded as planned to rise to the surface or attempt to make some port, with the best of intentions of surrendering to the World State authorities, might not we be destroyed before we could make clear our peaceful and friendly intentions? Could I, coming out of Germany with Germans prove my identity? Would my story be believed? Would I have believed such a story before the days of my sojourn among the Germans? Might I not be consigned to languish in prison as a merely clever German spy, or be consigned to an insanity ward?

  At times I doubted even my own desire to escape from Berlin if it meant the desertion of Marguerite, for there could be no joy in escape for me without her. Yet I found small relish in looking forward to life as a member of that futile clan of parasitical royalty. Had Germany been a free society where we might hope to live in peace and freedom perhaps I could have looked forward to a marriage with Marguerite and considered life among the Germans a tolerable thing. But for such a life as we must needs live, albeit the most decent Berlin had to offer, I could find no relish – and the thought of escape and call of duty beyond the bombproof walls and poisoned soil called more strongly than could any thought of love and domesticity within the accursed circle of fraudulent divinity.

  There was also the danger that lurked for me in Holknecht’s knowledge of my identity and the bitterness of his anger born of his insane and stupid jealousy.

  Rather than remain longer in Berlin I would take any chance and risk any danger if only Marguerite were not to be left behind. And yet she must be left behind, for such a thing as getting a woman aboard a submarine or even to the submarine docks had never been heard of. I thought of all the usual tricks of disguising her as a man, of smuggling her as a stowaway amidst the cargo, but Grauble’s insistence upon the impossibility of such plans had made it all too clear that any such wild attempt would lead to the undoing of us all.

  If escape were possible with Marguerite –! But cold reason said that escape was improbable enough for me alone. For a woman of the House of Hohenzollern the prison of Berlin had walls of granite and locks of steel.

  The time of departure drew nearer. I had already been passed down by the stealthy guards and through the numerous locked and barred gates to the subterranean docks where Grauble’s vessel, the Eitel 3, rested on the heavy trucks that would bear her away through the tunnel to the pneumatic lock that would float her into the passage that led to the open sea.

  My supplies and apparatus were stored on board and the crew were making ready to be off. But three hours were left until the time of our departure and these hours I had set aside for my final leave-taking of Marguerite. I hastened back through the guarded gates to the elevator and was quickly lifted to the Royal Level where Marguerite was to be waiting for me.

  With fast-beating and rebellious heart I rang the bell of the Countess’ apartment. I could scarcely believe I heard aright when the servant informed me that the Princess Marguerite had gone out.

  I demanded to see the Countess and was ushered into the reception room and suffered unbearably during the few minutes till she appeared. To my excited question she replied with a teasing smile that Marguerite had gone out a half hour before with Admiral von Kufner. ‘I warned you,’ said the Countess as she saw the tortured expression of my face, ‘but you would not believe me, when I told you the Admiral would prove a dangerous man.’

  ‘But it is impossible,’ I cried. ‘I am leaving for the Arctic mines. I have only a couple of hours; surely you are hiding something. Did you see her go? Did she leave no word? Do you know where they have gone or when they will return?’

  The Countess shook her head. ‘I only know,’ she replied more sympathetically, ‘that Marguerite seemed very excited all morning. She talked with me of your leaving and seemed very wrought up over it, and then but an hour or so ago she rushed into her room and telephoned – it must have been to the Admiral, for he came shortly afterwards. They talked together for a little while and then, without a word to me they went out, seeming to be in a great hurry. Perhaps she felt so upset over your leaving that she thought it kinder not to risk a parting scene. She is so honest, poor child, that she probably did not wish to send you away with any false hopes.’

  ‘But do you mean,’ I cried, ‘that you think she has gone out with von Kufner to avoid seeing me?’

  ‘I am sorry,’ consoled the Countess, ‘but it looks that way. It was cruel of her, for she might have sent you away with hope to live on till your return, even if she felt she could not wait for you.’

  I strove not to show my anger to the Countess, for, considering her ignorance of the true significance of the occasion, I could not expect a full understanding.

  Miserably I waited for two hours as the Countess tried to entertain me with her misplaced efforts at sympathy while I battled to keep my faith in Marguerite alive despite the damaging evidence that she had deserted me at the last hour.

  I telephoned to von Kufner’s office and to his residence but could get no word as to his whereabouts, and Marguerite did not return.

  I dared not wait any longer – asking for envelope and paper, I penned a hasty note to Marguerite: ‘I shall go on to the Arctic and come back to you. The salvation of Berlin must wait till you can go with me. I cannot, will not, lose you.’

  And then I tore myself away and hastened to the elevator and was dropped to a subterranean level and passed again through the locked and guarded gates.

  V

  As I came to the vessel no one was in sight but the regular guards pacing along the loading docks. I mounted the ladder to the deck. The second officer stood by the open trap. ‘They are waiting for you,’ he said. ‘The Admiral himself is below. He came with his lady to see you off.’

  I hastened to descend and saw von Kufner and Marguerite chatting with Captain Grauble.

  ‘Why the delay?’ asked von Kufner. ‘It is nearly the hour of departure, and I have brought the Princess to bid you farewell. We have
been showing her the vessel.’

  ‘It is all very wonderful,’ said Marguerite with a calm voice, but her eyes spoke the feverish excitement of a great adventure.

  ‘The Princess Marguerite,’ said von Kufner, ‘is the only woman who has ever seen a submarine since the open sea traffic was closed. But she has seen it all and now we must take our leave for it is time that you should be off.’

  As he finished speaking the Admiral politely stepped away to give me opportunity for a farewell word with Marguerite. Grauble followed him and, as he passed me, he gave me a look of gloating triumph and then opened the door of his cabin, which the Admiral entered.

  ‘I am going with you,’ whispered Marguerite. ‘Grauble understands.’

  There was the sound of a scuffle and a strangled oath. Grauble’s head appeared at the cabin door. ‘Here, Armstadt; be quick, and keep him quiet.’

  I plunged into the cabin and saw von Kufner crumpled against the bunk; his hands were manacled behind him and his mouth stuffed with a cloth.

  With an exulting joy I threw myself upon the man as he struggled to rise. I easily held him down, and whipping out my own kerchief I bound it tightly across his mouth to more effectively gag him.

  Then rolling him over I planted my knee on his back while I ripped a sheet from the bunk and bound his feet.

  From without I heard Grauble’s voice in command: ‘Close the hatch.’ Then I felt the vessel quiver with machinery in motion and I knew that we were moving along the tunnel toward the sea.

  Grauble appeared again in the door of the cabin. ‘The mate understands,’ he said, ‘and the crew will obey. I told them that the Admiral was going out with us to inspect the lock. But the presence of a woman aboard will puzzle them. I have placed the Princess in the mate’s cabin so no one can molest her. We have other things to keep us occupied.’

  With Grauble’s help I now bound von Kufner to the staunch metal leg of the bunk and we left him alone in the narrow room to ponder on the meaning of what he had heard.

  Outside Grauble led me over to the instrument board where the mate was stationed.

  ‘Any unusual message?’ asked Grauble.

  ‘None,’ said the mate. ‘I think we will go through without interruption at least until we reach the lock; if anything is suspicioned we will be held up there for examination.’

  ‘Do you think the guards at the dock suspected anything?’ questioned Grauble.

  ‘It is not likely,’ replied the mate. ‘They saw him come aboard, but he spoke to none of them. They will presume he is going out to the lock. The presence of a woman will puzzle them; but, as she was with the Admiral, they will not dare interfere or even report the fact.’

  ‘Then what do you think we have to fear?’ asked Grauble.

  ‘Only the chance that the Admiral’s absence may be noted at his office and inquiry be made.’

  ‘Of that the Princess could tell us something,’ said Grauble. ‘We will talk with her.’

  Grauble now led me to the mate’s snug cabin, where we found Marguerite seated on the bunk, looking very pale and anxious.

  ‘Everything is going nicely, so far,’ the Captain assured her. ‘We have only one thing to fear, and that is that inquiry from the Administration Office for the Admiral may be addressed to the Commander of the Lock.’

  ‘But how will they know that he is with us?’ asked Marguerite. ‘Will the guards report it?’

  ‘I do not think so,’ said Grauble, ‘but does anyone at his office know that he came to the docks?’

  ‘I do not see how they could,’ replied Marguerite; ‘he was at his apartment when I called him. He came to me at once, not knowing why I wished to see him. I begged him to take me to see you off. I swore that if he did not I should never speak to him again, and he agreed to do so. He seemed to think himself very generous and talked much of the distinctive privilege he was conferring upon me by acceding to my request. But he told no one where we were going. He communicated with no one from the time he came to me until we arrived at the vessel. The guards and gate-keepers let us pass without question.’

  ‘That is fine,’ cried Grauble; ‘von Kufner often stays away from his office for days at a time. Unless some chance information leaks back from the guards, he will not be missed. Our chance of being passed speedily out the lock is good – there is a vessel due to lock in this very day and we could not be held back to block the tunnel. That is why the Admiral was impatient when Armstadt failed to appear; he knew our departure ought not be delayed.’

  ‘And what,’ I asked, ‘do you propose to do with the Admiral?’

  ‘I suppose we must take him with us as a prisoner,’ replied the Captain. ‘Your World State Government would appreciate a prisoner of the House of Hohenzollern.’

  At this suggestion Marguerite shook her head emphatically. ‘I do not like that,’ she said. ‘Is there not some way to leave him behind?’

  ‘I do not like it either,’ said Grauble, ‘because I fear his presence aboard may make trouble among my men. I do not think they will object to deserting with us to the free world. Their life in this service is hopeless enough and this is my fifth trip; they have a belief that the Captain’s fifth trip is an ill-fated one; not a man aboard but trembles in the dire fear that he will never see Berlin again. They will welcome with joy a proposal to escape with us, but to ask them to make the attempt with the Admiral himself on board as a prisoner is a different thing. These men are cowed by authority and I know not what notions they might have of their fate if they are to kidnap the Admiral.’

  ‘But,’ I questioned, ‘is there no possible way to leave him behind?’

  Grauble sat thinking for a moment. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘there is one way we might do it. We could shave his beard and clip his hair, dress him in a machinist’s garb and smear his hands and face with grease. Then I could drug him and we could carry him off at the lock and put him in a cell. I would report that one of my men had gone raving mad, and I had drugged him to keep him from doing injury to himself and others. It would create no great surprise. Men in this service frequently go mad; and I am provided with a sleep-producing drug for just such emergencies.’

  ‘Then go ahead,’ I said.

  ‘But you will lose the satisfaction of delivering him prisoner to your government,’ smiled Grauble.

  ‘I have no love for the Admiral,’ I replied, ‘but I think his punishment will be more appropriately attended to in Berlin. When our escape is known he will indeed have a rather difficult time explaining to His Majesty.’

  This suggestion of the pompous Admiral’s predicament if thus left behind seemed to amuse Grauble and he at once led the way back to his own cabin.

  Von Kufner was lying very quietly in his bonds and glared up at us with a weak and futile rage. Grauble smiled cynically at his prostrate chief. ‘I had thought to take you along with us,’ he said, ‘but I am afraid the excitement of the voyage would be unpleasant for you so I have decided to leave you at the lock to take our farewell back to His Majesty.’

  Von Kufner, helpless and gagged was given no opportunity to reply, for Grauble, unlocking his medicine case took out a small hypodermic syringe and plunged the needle into the prisoner’s thigh.

  In a few minutes the Admiral was unconscious. The Captain now brought a suit of soiled mechanic’s clothes and a clipper and razor, and in a half hour the prim Admiral in his fancy uniform had been reduced to the likeness of an oiler. His face roughly shaved, but pale and sallow, gave a very good simulation of illness of mind and body.

  ‘He will remain like that for at least twelve hours,’ said Grauble. ‘I gave him a heavy dose.’

  Again we went out, locking the unconscious Admiral in the cabin. ‘You may go and keep the Princess company,’ said Grauble, ‘while I talk with my men and give them an inkling of what we are planning. If there is any trouble at the lock it is better that they comprehend that hope of freedom is in store for them.’

  Amid tears of joy Marguerite
now told me of her belated conception of the desperate plan to induce von Kufner to bring her to the docks to see us depart, and how she had pretended to disbelieve that I was really going and bargained to marry him within sixty days if she could be assured by her own eyes that I had really departed for the Arctic.

  As we waited feverishly for the first nerve-racking part of the journey to be over, we spoke of the hopes and dangers of the great adventure upon which we were finally embarked. And so the hours passed.

  At last we felt the rumble of the motors die and knew that the movement of the vessel had ceased.

  VI

  The voice of the mate spoke at the door: ‘Remain quiet inside,’ he said, and a key turned and clicked the bolt of the lock. The tense minutes passed. Again the key turned in the door and the mate stuck his head inside. ‘Come quick,’ he said to me.

  I followed him into Capt. Grauble’s cabin, but saw Grauble nowhere.

  ‘Remove your clothing,’ said the mate, as he seized a sponge and soap and began washing the blackened oil from the hands and face of the unconscious Admiral. ‘We must dress him in your uniform. The Commander of the Lock has orders to take you off the vessel. We must pass the Admiral off for you. He will never be recognized. The Commander has never seen you.’

  Obeying, without fully comprehending, I helped to quickly dress the unconscious man in my own clothing. We had barely finished when we heard voices outside.

  ‘Quick, under the bunk,’ whispered the mate. As I obediently crawled into the hiding place, the mate kicked in after me the remainder of the oiler’s clothing which I had been trying to put on and pulled the disarranged bedding half off the bunk the better to hide me. Then he opened the door and several men entered.