“All of a hundred and fifty squadrons — two hundred, maybe, just take a look at those hangars — it’s impossible to count.”
“Well, now, I’ll tell you,” said Simon, quietly. “I never did believe what they say in Moscow about being frightened of a combined attack by the capitalist countries — they’re out to conquer us — that’s a certainty; I wonder how they feed this lot — the road was empty, and we’ve never been more than a mile from the local railway — yet we haven’t heard a single train go by!”
“Can’t you see?” Rex extended a long arm. “On the far side there, they’ve rail-trucks and engines — that little one-eyed decavil that runs by the river couldn’t supply five per cent of this outfit — they’ve scrapped it, and built a new one direct from Tobolsk through the forest. I’ll say it — ”
They were so interested that they had not noticed the approach of soft footsteps, deadened by the snow. Suddenly a voice behind them said, quietly:
“A dangerous secret for foreigners to know.”
XV — Enter the Princess Marie Lou
The three men swung round; the challenge was so unexpected that De Richleau’s hand jumped to the butt of his automatic — in spite of the fact that the voice was that of a woman; when he saw that she was alone, he relaxed his hold.
She was laughing quietly at their comical air of consternation. Eyes of the deepest blue, an adorable retroussé nose, and a red mouth, which curved deliciously in laughter. Under a sheepskin hat, set at a rakish angle, peeped tight little curls of chestnut-brown. She wore a short coat of squirrel, now almost hairless in places, but in spite of her worn clothes she had a chic and neatness altogether astonishing. She stood no higher than the Duke’s shoulder, but her tiny figure was perfectly proportioned.
Her blue eyes suddenly became grave. “It is not a good place for Englishmen, this,” she said.
De Richleau removed his papenka and bowed with a gesture which would not have ill become him had it been made to a lady of his acquaintance at Ascot or Auteuil. “We are fortunate,” he said, “in being discovered by Mademoiselle — that we should have seen this” — he motioned, with a smile, towards the giant air-park. “It is, by the way, our one wish to be back in England as soon as possible.”