Mamise had to repeat most of what she had told, point by point:
Nicky was not going to wait till the ships were launched or even finished. He was impatient to strike a resounding blow at the American program. Nicky was going to let Mamise know just when the blow was to be struck, so that she might share in the glory of it when triumphant Germany rewarded her faithful servants in America. Jake Nuddle was to take part in the ship-slaughter for the double privilege of protesting against this capitalistic war and of crippling those cruel capitalists to whom he owed all his poverty––to hear him tell it.
When Mamise had finished this inventory of the situation Davidge pondered aloud:
“Of course, we ought to turn the case over to the Department of Justice and the Military and Naval Intelligence to handle, but––”
“But I’d like to shelter my poor sister if I could,” said Mamise. “Of course, I wouldn’t let any tenderness for Jake Nuddle stand in the way of my patriotic duty, for Heaven knows he’s as much of a traitor to my poor sister as he is to everything else that’s decent, but I’d like to keep him out of it somehow. Something might happen to make it possible, don’t you suppose?”
“I might cripple him and send him to a hospital to save his life,” said Davidge.
“Anything to keep him out of it,” said Mamise. “If I should tell the authorities, though, they’d put him in jail right away, wouldn’t they?”
“Probably. And they’d run your friend Nicky down and intern him. Then I’d lose my chance to lay hands on him as––”
“As he did on you,” was what he started to say, but he stopped in time.