"Who has told, then—who has given information to the police, to what is called your Secret Investigation Department—if it is not you?"
Paul was silent. He now understood Mr. Moncrief's letter. It must have been Mr. Weevil who had given information to Mr. Moncrief, it must have been he who had kept him informed of Zuker's doings. Mr. Weevil was not a traitor to his country, after all. Nay, it seemed as though he had striven, in his peculiar way, to defend it against traitors.
"Silent, eh? I can see what you've told me is false. You have worked against me from the first. It was you who outwitted me once before. It was you who got that packet through to the man who has always stood between me and my plans, the Admiralty man, Moncrief. All would have been over; I should have got all through had it not been for that. Ach Himmel, you will not have the chance of blabbing any more secrets! I have you now—tight in the Fox's Hole—and you will not leave it alive. Let me see what your school is good for. I will give you five minutes to get ready for sterblichkeit. Ach, it is a long word! Do you know what it means?"
Paul knew what it meant. It was the German word for mortality.
"Thank you," answered Paul simply. "That is longer than my father had when he was called upon to die, and it should be enough for me."
Zuker's hand trembled as it fingered the weapon concealed in his breast. Paul closed his eyes, and repeated in a low, yet clear voice:
"'Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us——"
"Halt! Stop!" cried Zuker hoarsely. "You spoke of your father just now—how he died. Tell me quickly how it was."
"He was drowned, in saving the life of a man who had robbed him."
"Ach! And do you know who that man was?"