Fay wasted no time. He reached the hotel, called for mail which he knew he did not have, then hurried upstairs and entered his room. He emptied the black bag of its contents, placed the surgical tools about his pockets and under his vest so that they would not bulge, then examined the revolver.
It was loaded. It was a perfect weapon of its kind. He thrust it in the side-slit of his overcoat where his hand could reach readily. He rose. It came to him with sudden force that he had burned his bridges, save for the little silver greyhound. It would not do to have this on in case of capture.
His eyes roamed the room. A cake of very thin soap attracted his attention. Taking this, and pressing the insignia deep within the edge, he moved to the window and examined the hiding place. An opening showed, which he smoothed over by washing his hands and softening the soap. He tossed the bar behind the wash-stand where it would never be noticed.
The bag caught his eye as he stepped toward the door. He returned, picked up a few charred sticks and coals from the fireplace and dropped them inside the instrument case. He locked it and tested its weight. A maid or the Maître d’Hôtel would be satisfied with
the substitution providing they did not force the lock.
“All set,� said Fay with American accent. “When I come back to this place, it’ll be with the key to the cipher or handcuffed. The coppers in this burg know where everybody lives.�
He went down the stairs and out into the street. This time he did not glance behind as he hurried toward the center of the city and the railroad station by which a number of trains could be taken out of the Lowland country.
It was his intention to ride some little distance toward the German border, get off the train, and double back on foot so as to throw off any possible pursuit.
He found a map near the booking-office. The station was thronged with Germans and commercial travelers who were expecting the final lifting of the great embargo against the Mittel nations. England and the States were cursed in Low Dutch.
Fay made a note of the train time on his cuff with a tiny lead-pencil. He had over thirty minutes to catch the first train eastward. He passed through the station and stood on the curb whereat decrepit motor cars and thin horses clattered up with passengers.