“And you, Herr Hammersley. What do you suggest?”
“If the report is true, Excellenz, I quite agree with Herr Rizzio,” he said easily.
Von Stromberg showed his teeth in a wolfish smile.
“And each of you contends that it was the other, nicht wahr?”
Hammersley merely nodded, but Rizzio was by this time in a state which made self-control an impossibility. “Excellenz,” he cried hotly, “is it conceivable that I should have come to Germany if I had been guilty of the crime of which this man accuses me? I have served Germany against——”
“You forget, Herr Rizzio,” said the General blandly, “that Herr Hammersley has also come to Germany.”
“And while he is here Germany is in danger. He is a spy of England, Excellenz.”
Hammersley only laughed.
“If I had been a spy of England, Excellenz, I surely had many chances to serve England’s cause. Why should I have even met Captain Stammer at Beaufort Cove? It would have been quite easy to have informed the artillery officer at Innerwick and blown his destroyer out of the water while she lay at anchor? Herr Rizzio forgets that honesty is always provided with proof. In reply to this accusation, I would ask Herr Rizzio how he managed to pass through the cordon of British destroyers which guard the coast?”
Rizzio hesitated and von Stromberg spoke.