It was on December the 9th ten days after they left Helsinki that during the incredibly short morning, when the silent forest was revealed for a little in full daylight, Erika saw through the only remaining glass panes in the window of the house three figures approaching out of the wood with a dog team and a sleigh. She quickly called to the others and Gregory and Freddie snatched up the rifles which had been left by the Finnish father and son who had died defending their home. But the use of weapons proved quite unnecessary.
The dog sleigh drove up before the doorway and on going out they saw three strange little figures confronting them. The newcomers were so muffled in furs that it was impossible to tell their sex, as what little could be seen of their brown, wrinkled faces gave no indication of it. Their speech was incomprehensible but by smiles and gestures they indicated that they wished to come into the house, and as in such desolate countries hospitality is always freely offered to strangers Freddie immediately beckoned them inside.
Unharnessing their dogs they came in and sat down in a row, cross legged on the floor, like three little Chinese mandarins. They did not say anything at all but just sat there waiting. It seemed obvious that they expected to be fed so Erika cooked them a meal. When the food was ready they took some out to their dogs and ate the rest with their fingers, displaying happy, abandoned greed and relish, but they gave no sign of leaving when they had finished. All attempts to converse with them proved quite fruitless and. after sitting there belching cheerfully for a little they moved over to the corner beside the stove and curling up in a complicated ball went to sleep.
"Well, what D’you make of that?" Gregory inquired.
"They're Lapps or Eskimos, I expect," Freddie said. "When they've had their sleep out and another meal they'll probably go off just as they arrived. But how the poor little devils live in, this ghastly wilderness, God only knows."
The Lapps woke late in the afternoon and going outside took their dogs into the stable; they then returned to living room and sat down on the floor in a row again, where they remained until the evening meal was cooked. Having gleefully participated in it, after many appreciative grins and belching they moved over to the corner and once more went to sleep.
"I wonder if they'll go off to morrow morning or if they've decided to stay here for keeps," Freddie remarked.
"Well, if they do stay it doesn't matter," Angela replied. "We've got plenty of food and they're nice, harmless little people. It would be a shame to send them packing into the snow.
When they woke the following morning the Lapps had disappeared, having made off without a sound, but an hour later it transpired that they had not gone for good. They all arrived back in tune for a hearty late breakfast; then one of them, who was slightly taller than the other two, beckoned Freddie out of the house. He went obediently and followed his visitor across the clearing some distance into the woods, where the Lapp halted and pointed at the snow. Freddie saw that there were some heavy tracks in it; the Lapp raised his arms as though he were holding a rifle and about to shoot.
Freddie got the idea at once and returning to the house he and Gregory put on snow shoes, collected the rifles and went back into the forest with their queer little companion. For an hour they followed the tracks, then the Lapp motioned them to halt and went forward himself for about a hundred yards on his hands and knees. After a short interval he beckoned to them to follow and, crawling up, they saw through the trees a fine brown bear.
It seemed a rotten business to shoot that harmless Bruin which was so reminiscent of a large teddy in a children's toyshop, but they had not tasted fresh meat for nearly a fortnight so, sighting their rifles carefully and aiming just behind the bear's left foreleg, they fired almost together. The animal reared up on its hind legs, gave a loud grunt and toppled over, dead.
Instantly the Lapp rushed forward brandishing a long knife and fell upon it screeching with delight. In a few moments with swift, skilful cuts he had skinned the bear and, with uncanny suddenness, his two companions appeared, leading their dogs Leigh. The carcass was loaded on to it and the triumphant hunters retraced their steps to the house, reaching it with their kill just as the short afternoon was done and twilight was falling once more. Erika roasted some of the fresh bear's meat in the oven that evening and after the dried reindeer, to which they had now become accustomed, it tasted delicious; so they all felt that their uninvited guests had more than earned their keep.
As they did not know the Lapps' names Angela christened the taller one Bimbo and the two shorter ones, who followed him about wherever he went and whose job appeared to be to look after the dogs. Mutt and Jeff. The habits of all three were extremely primitive and after their feast of bear's meat the gleeful chuckles and other sounds which issued from their corner, once the light had been put out, made it clear that at least one of them was a woman. The following day Freddie definitely ascertained that Bimbo was the man of the party while Mutt and Jeff were his two wives.
In the days that followed it became clear that the Lapps had decided to winter with them, but far from interfering with the comfort of their hosts they added considerably to it. Bimbo seemed to know instinctively where game was to be found in the trackless forest and he had not been' with them long before he added fresh fish to their table. To their amazement he arrived back from one of his expeditions late one evening carrying a large pike in his arms. It is true that most of the tail end of the fish was missing, but the girls cooked the body and it proved a most welcome change to their meat diet.
As they could not ask him where he had caught it, next morning' Freddie drew in the snow a picture of a fish, demonstrating that they would like to get another. Bimbo remained unresponsive until the early afternoon, then led them nearly three miles through the forest to a large clearing which looked at first sight to be only a great treeless dip in the snow covered ground; but on going down into it they found that it was a frozen lake in which at one spot Bimbo had cleared away the snow and hacked a hole through the ice. As twilight fell he lit a lamp that he had brought with him and lowered it on a string to the bottom of the hole, kneeling above it with a thin barbed spear clutched tightly in his hand.
For twenty minutes they waited. The surface of the water rippled and Bimbo struck. Jerking out his spear he produced a fair sized perch wriggling upon it. His little, black, boot button eyes flashing with eagerness, he tore the fish from the harpoon and, having knocked its head on the ice to stun it, proceed to tear great mouthfuls of the flesh out of its body, gobbling them down with huge enjoyment; upon which his companions realized what had happened to the tail end of the pike.
They remained there for two hours, during which they bagged a trout, another perch and three fish that Freddie thought might be fresh water herrings. It was now night and Freddie was worried that they might not be able to find their way home; but his anxiety was quite needless. Bimbo led them back through the seemingly impenetrable darkness with an unerring sense of direction and they all enjoyed an excellent fish supper.
The news over the wireless contained no events of startling importance. During the first week after the Lapps' arrival
Russia had been formally expelled from the League of Nations and Italy also ceased to be a member, leaving Britain and France as the only Great Powers remaining in it. So it had come openly at last to what, in fact, it had been for a long time past; not a League of Nations at all, but an association of states under the leadership of the Western Powers used as an instrument by them in their losing struggle to maintain by diplomacy alone the Peace of Vengeance which they had dictated after the last Great War.
It was on December the 15th that the exiles first learned of the Battle of the River Plate, although it had taken place two days before. On the face of it the British appeared to have put up an excellent show, but the full significance of the action was not brought home to them until it had been explained to Gregory what sort of ships the Graf Spee and the cruisers Ajax, Achilles and Exeter were when, quite sudden
ly, his memory about naval matters, gun calibres, speeds and weight of shells flooded back.
"But don't you understand:" he cried, his eyes glowing. "It's magnificent An epic fight that will go down to history beside the exploits of Drake and Frobisher, and Sir Richard Grenville taking on the seven great Spanish galleons in the Revenge. Just think of it Those little cruisers, out gunned, out ranged, and infinitely more vulnerable with their much lighter armour, going straight in against the pocket battleship instead of waiting for one of their own big ships to come up. Why, one salvo apiece from theGraf Spee's eleven inch guns might have sunk the lot of them before they could even get into range. It's the real Nelson touch, and it makes one incredibly proud to think one's of the same race as those splendid sailor men."
Freddie and. Angela caught his enthusiasm and they had all momentarily forgotten that Erika was a German, until she said: "Hans Langsdorf, who commands the Graf Spee, is an old friend of mine. He's a fine fellow, I can't bear to think of him sitting there with his crippled ship in Montevideo Harbour. But he'll come out and fight, of course, even if one of your big ships with fifteen inch guns arrives on the scene. When he has completed his repairs he'll show you that German sailors are every bit as brave as the British. I'm going for a walk on my own, I think."
They waited anxiously for further news and two days later learned that at Hitler's orders Captain Langsdorf had scuttled the pride of the German Navy. At first Erika refused to believe it but when she was fully convinced that the news was true she burst into a storm of bitter weeping. "The humiliation of it” she cried. "How dare that swine, Hitler, give such: an order and make us appear cowards before the whole world. If anything could make all decent Germans loathe him more than they do at present, this thing will. It's enough to start a mutiny."
It was all the others could do to comfort her, but as by this time Gregory had got back a few of his memories about the last war he was able to persuade her that Hitler alone would be regarded with contempt as a result of the scuttling; since everybody knew that innumerable gallant actions had been performed by German soldiers and sailors in the past. There was one particular example which he wished to give her but, rack his brain as he would, he could not recall it until he had made Freddie tell him the names of the principal battles in the Great War. When Cambrai was mentioned it unlocked the closed door that he sought and brought back to him a whole series of events.
"That's it " he cried, "Cambrai; the great Tank battle. Previous to that, before each big attack we used to do a seven days' preparatory bombardment. Our Generals had so little imagination that the drill was always just the same and, naturally, the Germans got quite used to it. When the strafing started in earnest they used to say to one another: `There are the British giving us seven days' notice that they mean to attack in this sector', and they all went down to playvingt et un in their dug outs for the next week, until the bombardment was over; then they popped up fresh as daisies to receive our men when at last the assault took place.
"But Cambrai was planned by Fuller. He was only a Major then, and Heaven knows how he got his plan passed by the Generals; but he did, and this was his idea. On the morning of November the 20th, 1917;, at the same moment as the guns opened fire every man in the British Third Army was to move forward, from the Infantry in the front line trenches to the last A.S.C. wagon miles away in the rear. Our tanks, which were then a new weapon and had only been tried out in one or two side shows, advanced with the Infantry, and the chap who commanded them sat on the top of one as it went over, with a miniature flag staff flying thee signal: ' England expects that every man this day will do his damnedest.'
"Directly the balloon went up the Germans all went down into their dug outs anticipating the usual seven days' rest. Before they even had any idea that an attack was in progress our men were bombing them out. The tanks went slap through the front line, second line, and reserve trenches. When they did encounter a few Germans the poor chaps simply ran for their lives at the sight of those iron monsters spitting fire and machine gun bullets; because, you must remember, none of them had even seen a tank before, and there were no such things as anti tank guns or anti tank rifles in those days.
"The tanks began to penetrate the German artillery positions and directly the German gunners saw them approaching they just abandoned their guns and fled as though all the devils in Hell were after them. There was one German field battery outside a village called Flequiers and all the gunners there took to their heels, just like the rest, officers as well as men. but with one exception the Major.
"When his men started to run he ordered and implored them to stay; but as they ignored his pleas and commands he remained there alone. All by himself he loaded, sighted and fired one of his guns at the nearest tank, blowing it to Jericho. Would you believe it, that German Major took nine tanks to his own gun, single handed. and held up our attack in that sector for over two hours, which delayed the whole British advance.
"Eventually our tank people had to throw their hand in. They simply could not get past him. So the attack was called off while a couple of tanks were sent on a long detour to take him in the rear; and only then did he surrender. Nine tanks to his own gun I reckon that's the biggest bag in history, and how's that for a hero?"
"Thank you, darling." Erika placed her hand over his. "It was sweet of you to tell me that, and how wonderfully your memory is improving. You see, I've heard the story before, and you're right in every detail."
He laughed. Oh details don't bother me once I can get the lead to any subject. It's just that there are so many subjects on which I'm still completely blank; but I suppose they'll all come back in time."
But such bursts of coherence were rare, and although he was not mentally apathetic the effort to connect facts tired his brain, so that he was often silent for long periods. His headaches had ceased but his eyes still bothered him a little. In many ways he remained simple, almost like a child, but his affliction did not seem to worry him and from having been incurably lazy, to his friends' surmise, he appeared to enjoy physical exertion. The horses had to be rubbed down three times a day to keep their circulation going, even in the temperate stable, and he was happy at such work if Erika would sit watching him at it. He picked up skiing in a remarkably short time and was the only one among them who, during the first days, did not feel an awful craving for cigarettes; which drove the others nearly crazy.
On December the 10th, Captain Hans Langsdorf shot himself; a sad and futile end to one whom all the prisoners he had taken in the South Atlantic during the early months of war agreed to be a brave and gallant gentleman; and one more death to be laid at Hitler's door, for which he must answer in time to come.
Erika heard the news with mingled feelings; sorrow for the loss of an old friend, but pride that having carried out the orders of the blackguard who ruled Germany, as was his duty; he had by this personal act saved the honour of the German Navy.
In the meantime the news of the Finnish War was excellent. For three weeks of ceaseless battle the Russians had hurled division after division against the Mannerheim Line but had failed to make the least impression upon it; and the attack on the narrow waist line of Middle Finland had ended in a major defeat. The Firms had not only checked it but had surrounded and destroyed two whole Russian divisions numbering 36,000 men.
During all the time they had been in their refuge they had seen movement on the road less than half a dozen tunes. Perhaps that was partly because the winter days were so brief that most of the infrequent traffic upon it passed either before the sun was up in the morning or after sunset in the afternoon. Having taken Petsamo in the first days of the war there were no other strategic points of value to tempt the Russians in the extreme north of Finland; and it was so unbelievably cold up there that, to begin with at all’ events, they probably considered the objectives to be gained in that sector by any major thrust insufficient to justify the difficulties of maintaining an army of any size in such adverse climatic conditi
ons.
Two detachments of Soviet cavalry had passed north westwards along the road, doubtless to support a line of pickets further west which was presumably carrying on a guerrilla warfare with similar bodies of Finnish pickets in that area. They had also seen one column of light tanks, a company of infantry on skis and a civilian driving a sleigh.
Each time they saw anyone passing they immediately concealed themselves and at night they kept the single window of the house heavily curtained so that it should not attract unwelcome callers. For twenty out of each twenty four hours the house was hidden from the road by darkness and as it stood well back among the trees it was not easily noticeable even in daylight. They attributed their escape from unwelcome visitors to passers by either not having noticed the house or being too anxious to get to their destinations to waste time by going a quarter of a mile out of their way to see if the place was occupied.
They had gradually come to regard themselves as reasonably immune from any likelihood of trouble, until they woke on the shortest day of the year to hear sounds of singing. It was eight o'clock in the morning and still dark; since the moon, which was now in its first quarter, had set hours before. While the girls heated the coffee for breakfast Freddie and Gregory went out to investigate. They were now so used to finding their way through the trees in the murky half light when there was neither sun nor moon, but only the faint reflection of the snow, that they had no difficulty in keeping away from the open track and cutting through the woods direct to the road. On reaching a snow bank from which they could overlook it they saw, as they expected, that the plaintive soulful singing came from Russian soldiers on the march towards Petsamo.
Crouching there in the semi darkness the two watchers could vaguely make out the bulk of tanks, numbers of horse drawn wagons and heavy, lumbering guns. They remained there for three quarters of an hour and although the column was still passing when they retired to the house they felt reasonably confident that the whole contingent of troops would have gone by before daylight; so they sat down to breakfast with unusual relish, after their exposure to the keen frosty air.
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