He watched me at work for most of the time; joined with Vandervelt in praising my skill; repeating with unnecessary frequency something about what extraordinary good luck it was for them that I had come to Lingen, and his hope that I should remain with them a long time.
He didn't mean a word of it, of course, and for a long time left me guessing as to his motive for all this waste of breath. At length, however, it struck me that all this rot was intended to keep me slogging away because he was anxious about the bus and that he wished to have it in good shape before something was to happen which he had up his sleeve.
He had my five hundred marks in his pocket, and, if he broke the contract and refused to let Nessa go at the last minute, he might be getting the thousand for the reward instead of only the balance of five hundred from me. I knocked that little dodge on the head, therefore.
Waiting for a repetition of his oxish praise of my skill, I laughed and said: "You're right, farmer; you've got to know how to handle them. They're difficult enough to repair sometimes, but easy to damage. A blow or two with the hammer in the right spot, and I could make this old bus fit for nothing but the scrap heap;" and I gave him a meaning look and raised the hammer as if going to smash things.
He tumbled to my meaning right enough and grabbed my arm. "Mind what you're doing, man. Do you know what that thing cost?" he cried.
"Oh, yes. A good deal more than a thousand marks. I was only showing you how easy it would be to make it worth about as many pfennigs."
He laughed uneasily and went off, grunting something I didn't catch. But he knew now what it would cost him to earn the police reward.
Half an hour later came the confirmation of my suspicion. The police sergeant from Lingen, Braun, arrived and Glocken took him into the house and then brought him across the fields to us. I was making great play with the hammer when they reached us.
Whether the old beggar had brought him there to arrest me, I couldn't tell of course, but no hint of the sort was dropped; and after a few questions about the bus, the two went off and I saw Braun start on his return to Lingen. Without me, thank goodness.
It was now nearing the time for Vandervelt to start, and I had still to see Nessa and get her final decision. Suspecting treachery, I tested the engine to show Vandervelt that it was all right, and then without his knowledge, manipulated matters, pocketed a small bit of the engine, so that she wouldn't move, and went into the house to Nessa.