"This is the Nazareth Hospital in Rotterdam. You were brought in by the fishermen who found you in the sea when the Burgen went down."
I did not ask any more questions then, as I wanted to think matters over; and during the day I succeeded in getting it all clear. The only point that bothered me was why I should be mistaken for Lassen; but I got that at last. I remembered the card he had given me and how I had shoved it in my pocket.
But why hadn't my pocket-book with my passport and papers and all the rest of it been found? It had been in my jacket pocket. It looked as if it must have been lost. That set me thinking and no mistake. How was I to get on to Berlin without the passport? It looked as if I must either give up the search for Nessa, when every minute might be invaluable, or go back to England for fresh papers. That wouldn't do, as too much of my leave would be used up.
It was the dickens of a mess, and then an idea occurred to me. Lassen must have gone down with the steamer, for they wouldn't take me for him if he had been saved. And then I soon had a plan—to drop the Jimmy Lamb character and continue to be Lassen as long as necessary. I might get across the frontier in that way, and must trust to my wits for the rest. There might be a bit of risk in it, but that needn't stop me; and then a very pretty little development suggested itself which offered a promise of safety even if I was found out.
Why shouldn't the "shock" of which the nurse had spoken have destroyed my memory? The more I considered it the more promising it looked. It was the easiest of parts to play; I had done a lot of amateur theatricals; and any one could look a fool and act one.
I had a first rehearsal of this stunt—as Jimmy would have called it—with the nurse; and the result quite came up to expectations. I reckoned that she would tell the doctor, and it was clear she had done so when he came to me next morning.
He was tremendously interested in the case now, and, after telling me how much better I was, began to question me about the loss of the Burgen.
I looked as vacant and worried as I thought necessary.
"You remember being on her, don't you?"
"The nurse told me so. Was I?"