For the first time in her life Patricia saw Blute temporarily overcome. His hand trembled. He spilt some of the wine as he set down his glass.
“Who on earth is Gervaise Gunther?” Charles demanded. “Docs he bite?”
Neither of the two men answered him. Both seemed overpowered.
This was no moment for frivolity. Patricia looked at them and her own heart sank.
“Is this what you were afraid of?” she asked Blute.
He shook his head.
“No, I was afraid of a Nazi coup. I thought that they might have sent a special enquiry guard to the frontier. Gervaise—I never thought of him. I have had not a single word of warning from anyone. I thought he was in New York.”
“The same fellow is on the train,” the guard went on, his voice half-choked with fright, “as the last time I saw any of them. It was when they stopped and robbed the Orient Express and got away with a hundred-thousand pounds worth of jewels. I saw this man put on his mask three minutes before the hold-up. There he sits to-day, the same man. He knew that I recognized him and he just winked. They say that Gervaise himself was at a café in Budapest two days after the robbery with his mistress, who was wearing some of the jewellery! No one dared lay a finger upon him. It will be the same again.”
Charles suddenly began to realize the situation.
“Good God!” he exclaimed. “Are these men after our stuff?”
“They are indeed,” Blute groaned. “He is the only man in the underworld I have ever feared. When I first planned this coup, Mildenhall, long before I spoke to you about it, I sent wires to New York, Chicago, Paris, London, Marseilles and I had combed Vienna, as I thought, to the bone for news of this man. Not a single police headquarters, not a single private agent, no one in Vienna had heard of him for years. They all declared that he was not working. I dropped him out of my calculation. Are you sure that he’s not on the train himself, guard?”
“I am sure,” the latter replied. “I am the only man who could recognize him. Last time we met I passed him as a stranger. If I had given him away by so much as a blink I should not have lived another ten seconds.”
“How did you find this out?” Blute asked.
“The little lieutenant, the man I told you I recognized from last time, called me in to him just now. He was rolling a thousand schilling note in his hand. He had the same thin, squeaky voice. It gave me a shiver all through my body when I recognized it. ‘Guard,’ he said, looking me straight in the face, ‘I would like you to stop this train for a few minutes at Alteren.’ He opened his hand and I saw the note. I had to be careful. There was something else bulging in his pocket and his fingers were creeping around the bulge. I’m talking to you now at the risk of my life.”
“Where is Alteren?” Charles asked.
“It is just a signal box. We should be there in half-an-hour’s time. It’s rather a lonely spot with trees on either side of the track.”
“What did you say?”
“I promised I would speak to the engine driver.”
“How many of these fellows do you think there are?” Blute demanded.
“I’ve recognized ten, sir. That’s the number he generally works with.”
“You don’t think Gervaise himself is on the train, then?” Blute persisted.
“I am sure he is not. He has a swagger with him that no one can mistake. He has the voice and manner, too, of a well-bred man.”
“The way he’s worked it out,” Blute speculated, “is probably like this. When we reach Alteren he will probably pick up the gang and the loot in a powerful motor lorry. If he sees it’s all right when the train stops, he’ll just slip into the affair as naturally as possible. If none of his men are in sight he’ll know there’s a hitch and he’ll be off like a flash. He won’t be seen again for a year or two. There’s only one thing for us to do,” he added grimly. “We must get into the van and shoot it out with them.”
Charles’s hesitation was only a matter of seconds.
“Look here,” he proposed, “I have a better scheme.”
“Out with it quick, then,” Blute begged.
Charles dragged out his watch.
“The train is being stopped for me in less than ten minutes from now just opposite my little chateau at Felsen, where I was going to break away. There is a siding there. To start with we three must make our way into the van right away. Just before we get to Felsen, guard, you must loosen the couplings and detach them altogether with the brakes on. We’ll be ready to jump out with the guards and all our luggage before anyone else realizes what we are doing. Meanwhile the train itself won’t stop and it will be out of sight in no time. If this cheerful gang of desperadoes you are talking about tumble to what’s happening and jump the train we shall fight it out with them, but at this speed I don’t think they’ll risk it.”
“It’s a good scheme,” the guard cried feverishly.
“It’s the best chance you’ve got, anyway, and I’m with you.”
“Well, there you are,” Charles concluded. “There will be six of us all armed and we shall have the stuff in the grounds before they can stop the train and get out in the regular way. If we can get as far as the chateau itself there are one or two servants of mine up there who are used to a rough-house.”
They were all on their feet now. Blute laid his hand on Charles’s shoulder.
“There’s only one thing against this scheme, Mr. Mildenhall,” he said gruffly. “You’ll be let down completely. You’ll be marked down as one of a gang of thieves, even if we are only trying to save a man’s property from a greedy State.”
“That be damned!” Charles scoffed. “I’ll take my chance. Miss Grey, of course, must stay in the train.”
“Miss Grey will do nothing of the sort,” Patricia declared passionately. “I am coming down to the van with you now and if anything goes wrong and they try to rush us I shall fight it out with the rest of you. I’ll take the first gun there is to spare from either side. I can shoot pretty straight, I promise you.”
The guard looked out of the window and glanced at the watch he held in his shaking fingers.
“No time to argue, gentlemen,” he insisted.
He snatched Charles’s bags from the rack and led his three passengers along towards the end of the car. They hurried through the kitchen adjoining, through another door and out on to the iron platform.
“Into the van with you!” the guard insisted. “You three must hurry. I must stop to see about the couplings. I shall have to lie down on my stomach to do that job while she’s going. I shall manage it, though. It will be a nasty jerk, mind, when she breaks away. Into the van, please! You will find it difficult to get across that last bit when she begins to sway.”
He stood on one side and they hurried past him.
