“He got away, Excellenz,” said Wentz. “For a moment only I saw him, and followed fast as I could, but my legs are too short.”
“Bah! You are an imbecile, Herr Hauptmann. And the other men, are not their legs longer?”
“Yes, but Herr Hammersley has the legs of a deer. They are following, but it is like hunting for a grain of barley in a coal scuttle. He may have taken to the woods anywhere.”
“Ja—but the Fräulein. She could not have run as fast as he!”
“It is my opinion,” said Wentz with some temerity, “that they had a rendezvous somewhere beyond. He has known these mountains since his boyhood.”
“Esel! But she hasn’t, and how should she find it in the dark?”
“Perhaps, the matter being so important, he would have deserted her.”
“Quatsch! Find me the girl and I will find you Hammersley.”
Hammersley felt Doris’s clasp tighten on his own.
“She cannot have gotten far away. Search for her, schafskopf. Search the woods and rocks until morning. Take the other machine and follow his footsteps until you see them no more. Then follow his trail in the woods. Take the two Försters with you. I will go back to Blaufelden to send for more men and question the guards who permitted his escape. Go!”