It is necessary for you to have passports. Have
you any reason to fear your previous mission to the Balkans?"
He referred to that incident in 1903, current with the assassination
of King Alexander and Queen Draga of Servia--an incident I don't like
to think of, for it landed me on a blank wall looking into twelve ugly
Mauser tubes, as you will recall from a previous chapter.
I considered that there were only two men in the Balkans who could
have placed me from the 1903 incident. One Colonel Niglitch was dead,
slain at the time of the Alexander assassination; the other was
Stamboul and he was no doubt moving in the circles where my mission
would take me. Were I to meet him it would mean recognition, a
possible knife in the back. No, I was in no way keen to undertake
this mission. My previous experience in the Balkans and all that ilk
had given me a thorough distaste of the people there. There is no
mixture of races so dangerous. Nearly every man is for a small sum a
traitor and potential assassin. I had had a taste of their methods
and I didn't want another. Von Stammer must have noticed my
hesitation, for he grinned and said:
"Nervous about it?"
I frankly was. I told him so.
"Yes, I understand your attitude." [I had been on the go for over
five months solid and I wanted a rest.] "I beg of you to consider
though that you are the only man we have at our disposal who can see
this thing through.
Pages:
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159