The Legion of the Lost, стр. 32
Palfrey stepped inside the passage, closing the door behind him. Carlson nodded his head towards the cellar door and they followed him. On the way down the wooden steps, he said: ‘Now, I want you to listen carefully. You will go through here and join the others’ – he put a hand on a door which Palfrey had seen before but not used. ‘I will come and tell you where it is wise to go in a few minutes. They will have searched other places before this, Doctor, and you will go to the cellar beneath that house. Even the Germans do not search the same place twice on the same night.’
Stefan and Conroy were in a small passage lighted by a single candle. The ceiling was so low that Stefan had to crouch down, and Brian was forced to keep his shoulders hunched.
‘Carlson will get us through this time, I think,’ said Palfrey. ‘But there are complications.’ He smiled crookedly at Stefan. ‘Do you remember the little red-haired man? He’s outside. Looking for us, I fancy. It can’t be just coincidence.’
None of them spoke. After a while it was time to go through the labyrinth of cellars and passages.
They were wading through the water at the back of the building. They could see nothing but the faintest of glows from the square itself, probably from the headlamps of the car. They walked perhaps for ten minutes in single file, a fat Dane leading the way. Then they left the water and walked up stone and rock, stumbling from time to time although their guide was as sure-footed as a mountain goat.
‘There are caves here where you can hide, if need be for a long time. I will return as soon as I can, just wait here!’ he said.
Footsteps on the rocks. Slow, dragging – perhaps also stealthy – certainly not the confident approach of the little fat man. They went nearer the entrance of the fissure and waited tensely as the sound drew nearer.
Then they heard a woman’s voice, speaking in Danish and in a tone so low that it was difficult to hear the words.
‘They must be here,’ she intoned. ‘They must be here.’
Palfrey stepped forward.
‘What is it you want, madame?’
‘Dear God, I have found you! The doctor! Please, they have taken my father, they will shoot him and torture him. Please, he did this to help you, you must help him!’
Then he recognised the woman from the Ludvig Holberg, there was no doubt now as to what had happened to Carlson.
Suddenly she moaned and collapsed at their feet.
Chapter Sixteen
The Barricade
She wore a dark coat and heavy rubber boots; Palfrey unbuttoned the coat slowly. As he did so the light reflected a patch of red about her chest; blood soaked the whole of the top of her dress. Conroy, also bending over her, said: ‘Any hope, Sap?’
‘None at all,’ said Palfrey slowly. He straightened up and switched off the light. Before any of them spoke they heard another sound, farther away – it was like that of footsteps in the water.
The newcomer was the little fat fisherman and he wheezed heavily as he drew nearer, but he did not stumble as he joined them.
‘It is bad for everyone,’ he said. ‘Very bad. Carlson has been arrested, they are now questioning him. They are looking for his daughter who managed to escape. They thought her dead when they carried her to the street, but she ran away from them and they lost her. She—’
‘She is dead now,’ Palfrey said. ‘She found us.’
‘She—’ the man gasped, was silent, then said slowly: ‘And—they are looking for you, Doctor. And there is another, a name I found it hard to understand.’
Stefan said softly: ‘Andromovitch?’
‘Nothing like that,’ said the fat man a little impatiently.
‘Debenham,’ asked Brian.
‘Deb’nam, that is it!’ The man’s voice grew excited. ‘They believe that you are here, they believe also that they will find Erikson. They will not get him, he is out of their reach—but there remains danger for you. Please to hurry!’
‘Just a moment,’ said Palfrey. He began to coil a few strands of hair about his forefinger. ‘Where are they questioning Carlson?’
‘At the headquarters, of course.’
‘Do you know if a little red-haired man is there?’
‘Oh, yes,’ said their informant quickly. ‘In civilian clothes he is—they call him Baron. There is a name—Lichner, that is it, the Baron von Lichner. The Kommandant has great respect for the Baron, whom I consider a most dangerous man. I have heard him say that he must reach Fredericia in time for the first train, which is five o’clock. Now it is but twelve, but the orders—if Erikson is not found, then a hundred men will be brought to Trenborg and everyone will be questioned, every house searched. You would not be safe in Trenborg, you understand The only thing is for you to get safely away. At Wylen you will find a chemist whose name is Dross. He will give you the help you may require and also safe hiding for two or three days.’
‘Listen,’ said Palfrey quietly. ‘We want to give Carlson a chance to get free. And we want to talk to the Baron von Lichner.’ He smiled a little in the darkness. ‘They will be in the car, almost certainly in just one car. They won’t expect to be held up on the road—’
‘They have given orders for barricades!’
‘Ye-es. We can get behind one if it’s already erected,’ said Palfrey.
The light from the single lamp was not strong enough to spread its glow over a radius of more than three or four yards. Even then it was so faint that the guards were