August lo, 191b 
LAJNU & WATER 
Greenmantle 
By John Buchan 
A Sequel to " The Thirty-Nine Steps" 
39 
Synopsis : Richard Haiinay, tvhoohlcfincd a commission' 
til. the new army and jtas woundedHit^Loos is asked by 
Sir Walter Bidiivant of the Foreign Office, to undertalic 
a mission to unearth a secret connected with Tiirkcv and 
Germany. The only cine is a scrap of paper b'earinsi 
the words, Kasredin — cancer — v. I. This was handed 
to the British headquarters in Mesopotamia by an 
officer — Sir Walter's son — wounded to ddath in obtaining it. 
Hannay undertakes the mission, his friend Sandy {the Hon. 
L. G. Arbuthnoi) agrees to help him. Sir Wcdtcr intro- 
duces him to an American genllcman, John S. Blcnkiron. 
a strong pro- Ally, ivho also joins them On November lyth 
the three dine together at a London flat-, and agree to meet 
in a cafe in a back street of Constantinople two months 
later- — on January lyth. Sandy decides to go to Constanti- 
nople, disguised as a Turk, by way of Cairo. John S. 
Blenkiron drops into Germany as his own self by way of 
Scandinavia. Hannay, who has lived in South Africa 
as a mining engineer, and can speak Dutch perfectly, 
enters Germany through Holland as a Boer from Western 
Cape Colony. Hannay sails for Lisbo7i ivhere he finds 
a steamer just arrived from Angola ; boarding it he meets 
his old Rhodesian friend, Peter Pienaar, to ivhom he un- 
folds his plans. Peter agrees to be his companion. Thev 
go on to Germany and find their way to Berlin. Here 
they have an interview with two Government high officials ; 
one, Colonel von Siumm, had been in German South West 
Africa, fighting the Hercos. The Colonel is a huge man 
" as hideous as a hippopotamus." Stumm takes them in 
charge, interested by Hannay's plans for an uprising in 
Africa. He leaves Pienaar in Berlin, but brings Hannay 
by rail'way and motor car to a big house in the country, 
where he is introduced to Herr Gaudian, " one of the biggest 
railway engineers in the world." Gaudian, "a white man, 
and a gentleman," closely cross-examines Hannay on Ms 
plans and appears satisfied. Stumm takes him on to his 
castle, in Bavaria. On the way Hannay has an inter- 
view with the Kaiser. Stumm's castle seems deserted by 
all except one old servant. In the evening Stumm takes 
Hannay to his study and grossly insults him. They fight. 
Hannay knocks the German out and makes a bolt for it. 
CHAPTER VII 
Chrisimastide 
EVERYTHING depended on whether the servant 
was in the hall. I had put Stumm to sleep for a 
bit, but I couldn't flatter myself he would long be 
quiet, and when he caine to he would kick the locked 
door to matchwood. I must get out of the house without 
1 minute's delay, and if the door was shut and the old man 
5one to bed I was done. 
I met him at the foot of the stairs! ca/rying a candle. 
" Your master wants me to send off ao'Hmportant telegram. 
Where is the nearest office ? There's or»e in the village isn't 
there? " I spoke in my best German, the first tim,e I h^d 
used the tongue since I crossed the frontier. . ,■ ■ 
" The village is five minutes off at the foot of th'eaVenue," 
he said. " Will you be long, sir ? " 
" I'll be back in a quarter of an hour," I said. " Don't 
lock up till I get in." 
I put on my ulster and walked out into a clear starry 
night. My bag I left lying on a settle in the hall. There 
was nothing in it to compromise me, but I wished I could 
have got a toothbrush and some tobacco out of it. 
So began one of the craziest escapades you can well imagirie. 
I couldn't stop to think of the future yet, but must take one 
step at a time. So I ran down the avenue, my feet crackling 
on the hard snow, planning hard my programme for the next 
hour. " . .r 
1 found the village— half a dozen houses with one biggish 
place that looked like an inn. The moon was rising and as I 
approached I saw that it was some kind of a store. A funny 
little two-seated car was' purring before the- door, and I 
guessed this was also the telegraph office. 
I marched in and told my story to a;_stout woman with 
spectacles on her nose who was talking to.a vormg man. 
■' It is too late." she shook her head. " Tlu- Herr Burgrav-e 
knows, that well. There is^ no connection vfrom here after- 'y 
eight 1 o'clock. If the matTer is urgent you must go. to ■ 
Schwandorf. " . " ' 
"How far is that ? " I asked, looking for some excuse to 
get decently out of the shop. 
" Seven miles,'.' she said, " but here is l-'ranz and the post- 
wjgon. Franz, you will be glad to give the gentleman a 
seat besiide you." 
The sheepish-looking youth muttered something which I 
took to be assent, and finished oft a glass of beer. From his 
eyes and manner he looked as if he were half drunk. 
I thanked the woman, and went out to the car, for I was 
in a fever to take advantage of this unexpected bit of luck. 
I could hear the postmistress enjoining Franz not to keep 
the gentleman waiting, and jiresently he came out and flopped 
into the driver's seat. We started in a series of volu])tuous 
curves, till his eyes got accustomed to the darkness. 
At first we made good going along the straight broad 
highway lined with wo(jds on one side and on the other snowy 
fields melting into haze. Then he began to talk and as he . 
talked, he slowed down. This by no means suited my book, 
and I seriously wondered whether I should pitch him out 
and take charge of the thing. He was obviously a weakling, 
left behind in the conscription, and I could have done it with 
one hand. But by a fortunate chance I left him alone. 
" That is a fine hat of yours, mein Herr," he said. He took 
off his own blue peaked cap, the uniform, I suppose, of the 
driver of the post-wagon, and laid it on his knee. The night 
air rufiHled a shock of tow-coloured hair. 
Then he calmly took my hat and clapped it on his head. 
" With this thing I should be a gentleman," he said. 
1 said nothing, but put on his cap and waited. 
" This is a noble overcoat, mein Herr," he went on. " It 
goes well with the hat. It is the kind of garment I have 
always desired to own. In two days it will be the holy Christ- 
mas, when gifts are given. Would that the good God sent 
me such a coat as yours ! " 
" You can try it on and see how it looks," I said gpod- 
humouredly. 
He stopped the car with a jerk, and pulled off his blue coat. 
The exchange was soon effected. He was about my height, 
and my ulster fitted not so badly. I put on his overcoat, 
which had a big collar that buttoned round the neck. 
The idiot preened himself like a girl. Drink and vanity 
had primed him for any folly. He drove so carelessly for a 
bit that he nearly put us into a ditch. We passed several 
cottages and at the last he slowed down. 
" A friend of mine lives here," he announced. " Gertrud 
would like to see me in the fine clothes which the most amiable 
Herr has given me.- Wait for me, I will not be long." And 
he scrambled out of the car and lurched into the little garden. 
I took his place and moved ^very slowly forward. I heard 
the door open and the,, sound of' laughing and loud voices. 
Then it shut, and looking back I saw that my idiot had been 
absorbed into the dwelling of his Gertrud. 1 waited no longer 
but sent the car forward at its best speed. 
Five minutes later the infernal thing began to give trouble — • 
a nut loose in the antiquated steering-gear. I unhooked a 
lamp, examined- it- and -put the mischief right, but I -was a 
quarter of an hour- cloing it. The highway ran now in a 
thick forest, and' T noticed^ branches going off every now and 
then to the right. I'was.just thinking of turning up one 
of them, for I had.no anxiety to visit Schwandorf,' when I 
heard behind me the sound .of a.gVeat car driven furiously. 
I drew ia, to the right side""— thank gj^odness I remembered 
the i;ule ofj the road^^ahd' proct^eded .-iecbrously, wondering 
what was going to happen. I Could hear the brakes being 
clapped on and the car slowing down. Suddenly a big grey 
bonm»t slipped past me and as I turned my head I heard a 
familiar voice. 
It was Stumm, looking like something that has been run 
over. He had his jaw in a sling, so that I wondered if I had 
broken it, and his eyes were beautifully bunged up. It was 
that that saved me, that and his raging temper. The collar 
of the postman's coat was round my chin, hiding my beard, and 
1 had his cap pulled well down on my brow. I remembered 
what Blenkiron had said- that the only way to deal with 
the Germans was naked bluff. Mine was naked enough, 
and it was all that was left to me. 
{Continued on page 41) 
