Arthur was startled. “When we want them? I thought you said something about independence.”
The Sergeant filled his glass again before he replied. “I have been thinking, Corporal,” he said at last, “and I have a plan. The politicians have used us. Now we will use them.”
He stood up and limped over to his kit bag for the tin box in which he kept his cigars.
Arthur watched him with something that he knew was very like love. He had a profound respect for his friend’s planning ability. Surprising things sometimes emerged from that hard, heavy head.
“How use them?” he said.
“The idea came to me several weeks ago,” said the Sergeant. “I was thinking of that history of the Party which we were once compelled to read. You remember?”
“Sure. I read mine without cutting the pages open.”
The Sergeant smiled grimly. “You missed some important things, Corporal. I will give you my copy to read.” He lighted a cigar luxuriously. “I think that it is quite possible that from being mere soldiers we may soon become soldiers of fortune.”
“It was dead easy,” Arthur said. “The Sarge had got hold of a list of all the secret Party members and sympathizers in the Salonika area, and we sorted out those that worked in banks and in the offices of businesses with big payrolls. Then we approached them and gave them their big chance to serve the Party in its hour of need, just as the book said the old Bolshies had done. We could always say we’d denounce them if they got suspicious, but we haven’t had any trouble of that kind. I tell you, every single job we’ve done, we’ve had a man or woman on the inside, helping us for the honour and glory of the Party.” He laughed contemptuously. “Flies in the Ointment, Unite! They couldn’t wait to ditch the people they were working for. Some of them would torture their own mothers if the Party wanted them to, and be glad to do it. ‘Yes, Comrade. Certainly, Comrade. Glad to be of service, Comrade!’ It’s made me sick sometimes to hear them,” he added self-righteously.
“Still, you did pretty well out of it, didn’t you?”