"But he
American. "How is it that you say—
"He is getting away with it," chuckled Lanny.
"When can I see you?" demanded the young official.
"Are you busy this evening?"
"Nothing that I can't break."
"Well, come on over. We were just about to order something to eat. We'll wait for you."
Lanny hung up, and Irma said: "Isn't that overdoing it just a little?"
Lanny put his finger to his lips. "Let's dress and dine downstairs," he said. "Your best clothes.
The moral effect will be worth while."
V
There were three of them in the stately dining-room of the most fashionable hotel in Berlin;
the American heiress in the showiest rig she had brought, Lanny in a "smoking," and Heinrich
in the elegant dress uniform he had worn to the Kroll Opera House.
them, and the heart of Heinrich Jung, the forester's son, was bursting with pride—not for
himself, of course, but for his Führer and the wonderful movement he had built. Respect for rank
and station had been bred into the very bones of a lad on the estate of Stubendorf, and this
was the highest he had ever climbed on the social pyramid. This smart American couple had been
guests on two occasions at the Schloss; it might even happen that the General Graf would enter
this room and be introduced to the son of his
had written to Seine Hochgeboren at his Berlin palace.
The orchestra played softly, and the waiters bowed obsequiously. Lanny, most gracious of
hosts, revealed his mastery of the gastronomic arts. Did Heinrich have any preference? No,
Heinrich would leave it to his host, and the host said they should have something
please him greatly, and kept the dark secret that he had never before eaten them. They proved
to be small crayfish served steaming hot on a large silver platter with a much embossed silver
cover. The waiter exhibited the magnificence before he put some on separate plates. Heinrich
had to be shown how to extract the hot pink body from the thin shell, and then dip it into a
dish of hot butter. Yes, they were good!
And what would Heinrich like to drink? Heinrich left that, too, to his host, so he had
Rheinwein, the color of a yellow diamond, and later he had sparkling champagne. Also he had
wild strawberries with
coffee in our suite?" said the heiress; they went upstairs, and on the way were observed by
many, and Heinrich's uniform with its special insignia indicating party rank left no doubt that
Mr. and Mrs. Irma Barnes were all right; the word would go through the hotel, and the
reporters would hear of it, and the social doings of the young couple would be featured in the
controlled press. The Nazis would not love them, of course; the Nazis were not sentimental.
But they were ready to see people climbing onto their bandwagon, and would let them ride so
far as suited the convenience of the bandwagon Führer.
VI
Up in the room they had coffee, also brandy in large but very thin goblets. Heinrich never felt
better in his life, and he talked for a couple of hours about the N.S.D.A.P. and the wonders it
had achieved and was going to achieve. Lanny listened intently, and explained his own position
in a frank way. Twelve years ago, when the forester's son had first made known Adi
Schicklgruber's movement, Lanny hadn't had the faintest idea that it could succeed, or even
attain importance. But he had watched it growing, step by step, and of course couldn't help
being impressed; now he had come to realize that it was what the German people wanted, and of
course they had every right in the world to have it. Lanny couldn't say that he was a convert,
but he was a student of the movement; he was eager to talk with the leaders and question
them, so that he could take back to the outside world a true and honest account of the changes
taking place in the Fatherland. "I know a great many journalists," he said, "and I may be able
to exert a little influence."
"Indeed I am sure you can," responded Heinrich cordially.
Lanny took a deep breath and said a little prayer. "There's just one trouble, Heinrich. You
know, of course, that my sister is married to a Jew."
"Yes. It's too bad!" responded the young official, gravely.
"It happens that he's a fine violinist; the best I know. Have you ever heard him?"
"Never."
"He played the Beethoven concerto in Paris a few weeks ago, and it was considered
extraordinary."
"I don't think I'd care to hear a Jew play Beethoven," replied Heinrich. His enthusiasm had
sustained a sudden chill.
"Here is my position," continued Lanny. "Hansi's father has been my father's business
associate for a long time."
"They tell me he was a
