July 20, 19.16 
LAND & WATER 
Greenmantle 
By John Buchan 
A Sequel to " The Thirty-Nine Steps " 
19 
Synopsis : Richard Hannay, who obtained a commission 
in the new Army was wounded at Loos. With his jriend 
Sandy, the Hon. L. G. Arb:ithnot. he is convalescing in 
Hampshire, when a telegram, from Sir Walter Bullivant 
of the Foreign Office, summons him to London. Sir Walter 
asks him to undertake a mission to unearth a secret connected 
with Turkey and Germany. It is a secret that, in his 
opinion, mav possibly lead to a big uprising throughout 
Asia and Africa. The only clue is a scrap of paper bearing 
th2 words, Kasrcdin — cancer — v.I. This paper xi>as 
handed to the British headquarters in Mesopotamia bv an 
officer — Sir Walter's son — wounded to death in obtaining 
it, " who died ivithoitt speaking. Hannay undertakes the 
mission, provided Sandy, who has a liking for work in 
dangerous places of the earth, joins him. Sandy consents. ■ 
Sir Walter introduces him by letter to a wealthy American 
gentleman, John S. Blenkiron, a large fat man suffering 
from indigestion, with a weakness for Patience, strongly 
pro-.Ally and delighting in adventure. On November jyth, 
the three dine together at a London flat, and agree to meet 
in a disreputable cafe in a back street of Constantinople 
two months later — on January lyth. Sandy decides to go 
io Constantinople disguised as a Turk ; John S. Blenkiron 
is io drop into Germany as his own^self by way of Scandina- 
via : Hannay, who has lived in South Africa as a mining 
engineer and can speak Dutch perfectly, is to enter Germany 
■through Holland as a Boer from Western Cape Colony. 
So they part. Sandy leaves for Cairo. Blenkiron having 
made himself notorious in London by his assumed pro- 
German views, departs from Newcastle. Hannay sails 
for Lisbon where he finds a steamer just arrived from Angola ; 
boarding it he meets his old Rhodesian friend, Peter Pienaar. ' 
" the best scout I ever knew." To him he unfolds his 
plans and Peter agrees to be his companion. They attract 
notice to themselves in a Lisbon cafe by loud talk against 
England. Presently a little German introduces himself 
and offers to arrange their passage to Rotterdam. They 
accept, and sail. 
CHAPTER IV 
Adventures of two Dutchmen on the Loose 
THE Germans, as Peter said, are a careful people. A 
man met us on the quay at Rotterdam. I was a bit 
afraid that something might have turned up in 
Lisbon to discredit us, and that our little friend might 
liave warned his pals by telegram. But apparently all was 
■serene. 
Peter and I had made our plans pretty carefully on the 
voyage. We had talked nothing but Dutch, and had kept up 
between ourselves the role of Maritz's men, which Peter said 
was the only way to play a part well. Upon my soul, before 
we got to Holland 1 was not very clear in my own mind what 
my past had been. Indeed, the danger was that the other 
■side of my mind which should be busy with the great problem 
would get atrophied, and that I should soon be mentally on a 
par with the ordinary backveld desperado. We had agreed 
t!iat it would be best to get into Germany at once, and when 
the agent on the quay told us of a train at mid-day we decided 
to take it. 
I had another fit of cold feet before we got over the frontier. 
-At the station there was a King's messenger, whom I had 
■seen in France, and a war correspondent who had been trotting 
Tound our part of the front before Loos. I heard a woman 
speaking pretty clean-cut English, which amid the hoarse 
Dutch jabber sounded like a lark among crows. There were 
copies of the English papers for sale, and English cheap 
editions. I felt pretty bad about the whole business, and 
wondered if I should ever see these homely sights again. 
But the mood passed when the train started. It was a 
clear blowing day and as we crawled through the flat pastures 
of Holland mv time was taken up answering Peter's questions. 
He had never been in Europe before, and formed a high 
opinion of the farming. He said he reckoned that such land 
would carry four sheep a morgen. We were thick in talk 
when we reached the frontier station and jolted over a canal 
bridge into Germany. 
I had expected a big barricade with barbed wire and en- 
trenchments. But there was nothing to see on the German 
side but half a dozen sentries in the field-grey I had hunted at 
Loos. An under-officcr with the black and gold buttons of 
the Landsturm hoicked us out of the train, and we were all 
shepherded in a big bare waiting-room where a large stove 
burned. They took us two at a time into an inner room for 
examination. I had explained to Peter all about this for- 
mality, but I was glad we went in together, for they made us 
strip to the skin and I had to cur.se him pretty seriously to 
make him keep quiet. The men who did the job were fairly 
civil, but they were mighty thorough. They' took down a 
list of all we had in our pockets and bags, and all the details 
from the passports the Rotterdam agents had given us. 
We were dressing when a man in a lieutenant's uniform 
came in with a paper in his hand. He was a fresh-faced lad 
of about twenty with short-sighted spectacled eyes. 
" Herr Brandt ? " he called out. 
I nodded. 
" And this is Herr Pienaar ? " he asked in Dutch. 
He saluted. " Gentlemen, I apologise. I am late because 
of the slowness of the Herr Commandant's motor car. Had 
I been in time you would not have been required to go th ough 
this ceremony. We have been advised of your coming, and 
I am instructed to attend you on your journey. The train 
for Berlin leaves in half an hour. Pray do me the honour to 
join me in a bock." 
With a feeling of distinction we stalked out of -the ordinary 
ruck of passengers and followed the Lieutenant to the station 
restaurant. He plunged at once into conversation, talking 
the Dutch of Holland, which Peter, who had forgotten his 
schooldays, found a bit hard to follow. He was unfit for 
active service, because of his eyes and a weak heart, but he 
was a desperate fire-eater in that stuffy restaurant. By his 
way of it Germany could gobble up the French and the 
Russians whenever she cared, but she was aiming at getting 
all the Middle East in her hands first, so that she could come 
out conqueror with the practical control of half the world. 
" Your friends the English," he said grinning, " will come 
last. When we have starved them and destroyed their 
■ commerce with our under-sea boats we will show them what 
our navy can do. For a year they have been. wasting their 
time in brag and politics, and we have been building great 
ships — O, so many ! My cousin at Kiel • " and he looked 
over his shoulder. 
But we never heard about that cousin at i\iel. A short 
sunburnt man came in and our friend sprang up and saluted, 
clicking his heels like a pair of tongs. 
" These are the South African Dutch, Herr Captain," he 
said. 
The new comer looked us over with bright intelligent eyes, 
and started questioning Peter in the taal. It was well that 
we had taken some pains with our story, for this man had 
been years in German South West, and knew every mile of 
the borders. Zorn was his name, and both Peter and I 
thought we remembered hearing him spoken of. 
I am thankful to say that we both showed up pretty well. 
Peter told his story to perfection, not pitching it too high, 
and asking me now and then for a name or to verify some 
detail. Captain Zorn looked satisfied. 
" You seem the right sort of fellows," he said. " But 
remember " — and he bent his brows on us — " we do not 
understand slimness in this land. If you are honest you will 
be rewarded, but if you dare to play a double game you will 
be shot like dogs. Your race has produced over many 
traitors for my taste." 
" I ask no reward," I said grufily ; " we are not Germans 
or Germany's slaves. But so long as she fights against Eng- 
land we will fight for her." 
" Bold words," he said, " but you must bow your stiff 
necks to discipline first. Discipline has been the weak point 
of you Boers and you have suffered for it. You are no more 
a nation. In Germany we put discipline first and last, and 
therefore we will conquer the world. Off with you now. 
Your train starts in three minutes. We will see what Stumm 
will make of you." 
That fellow gave me the best " feel " of any German I had 
yet met. He was a white man and I could have worked with 
him. I liked his stiff chin and steady blue eyes. 
My chief recollection of our journey to Berlin was its 
