“My dear fellow," said the latter, and his eyes narrowed, “whether or not I have any authority to act in this case is hardly for you to determine. Apart from which I am acting with the consent of your superior officer."
“Captain Kater hasn't told me of this—neither verbally nor in writing. And until he does so I must act according to my own judgment. Which means that I'm working on this case alone until I receive further instructions—perhaps from Major-General Modersohn himself."
“Then you shall certainly have them, my dear fellow," replied Wirrmann promptly. And his voice now sounded like a rusty scythe being whisked experimentally through the air. “That is, if you insist."
Krafft looked at the wiry little man with a certain amount of apprehension. Not even the threat of Major-General Modersohn, the terror of Wildlingen, seemed to make much impression on him. These court-martial fellows were gluttons for punishment.
“Well what about it?" urged Wirrmann. “Are you going to let me in on your inquiries voluntarily, or do I have to bring the General into it?"
“Bring anyone you like into it!" said Krafft, losing his temper. “The Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht, for all I care."
“Let’s start with the General," said the Judge-Advocate quietly, whipping round suddenly like a weathercock in a powerful gust of wind, and vanishing from the scene.
“I suppose I can pack my bags now," said Lieutenant Krafft to Elfrida Rademacher. “My brief stay at the training school seems to be over."
“Did someone see us?" asked Elfrida anxiously.
“If that were all," said Lieutenant Krafft, " at least it would be something worth being slung out for."
“In any case I could always say I tried to rape you. That seems the latest dodge."
“Too true," said Krafft. “A dodge, what's more, that's going to give the General a nasty shock."
“Nothing’s capable of giving him a nasty shock," declared Elfrida emphatically. “He wouldn't turn a hair whatever happened. On one of his rounds recently he went into a room where a couple was making love. And what did he do? He walked straight through the room without batting an eyelid."
“He didn't say a word?"
“Not a word. It wasn't necessary. He recognized them both at a glance."
“And had them slung out?"
“Made them get married."
“Even worse," said Krafft apprehensively.
“They’re said to be very happy," said Elfrida, looking out of the window with a smile.
By this stage in his career, Lieutenant Krafft himself was incapable of being shaken. Yet his quarrel with the Judge-Advocate could have only one result if it went against him, namely expulsion in the direction of the eastern front, though just at the moment, any direction would be a welcome relief from the circus in which he found himself. The General could roar at him to his heart's content. The Lieutenant had already been roared at quite a bit without suffering anything worse than a slight strain on the eardrums.
After just half an hour, most of which he spent smoking in the lavatory, Krafft received the anticipated summons to the General. Surprisingly enough, Modersohn didn't insist on the Lieutenant reporting to him in the usual way in full dress uniform. The Major-General merely wished to speak to Krafft on the telephone, and it was to be a telephone conversation of bewildering brevity.
“I understand," said Modersohn without further ado,” that you have refused to allow Judge-Advocate Wirrmann to take part in an investigation you're engaged on."
“Yes, General."
“Why?"
“Because I didn't think the Judge-Advocate had the authority to act in this particular case, General."
“Good," said Modersohn. And that was all, for the present at least.
3. GAMES FOR H SECTION
The youthful voices of the cadets rang through the gymnasium, where a powerful smell of male sweat hung in the air. Captain Ratshelm, the officer commanding Number 6 Company, was personally supervising the three sections under his command, as he always did when they were down for sports or games. Dressed in shorts and a sleeveless shirt he cavorted happily about among his cadets, lending them encouragement and, in so far as he could, setting them an example. For he had a slight tendency to corpulence, and the rosy pinkness of his skin stood out in contrast to the brown sinewy torsos of the cadets.
H Section was the one he was particularly interested in. For it had been bereaved by the sudden death of Lieutenant Barkow and was thus temporarily without a section officer. Until the General appointed a successor to the dead man the company commander voluntarily took on the job himself.
Ratshelm was always happy when he could get into slightly closer contact with his young cadets, being particularly fond of a game of handball, in which he would hop around, grabbing the ball for himself and barging one of his young comrades out of the way in order to get a better shot at the goal. With their damp glistening torsos rubbing against him and the sharp animal tang of their sweat in his nostrils, he felt his heart full of strength and joy and a deep sense of comradeship. And this was particularly true whenever his eyes lit upon Cadet Hochbauer.
“A lovely pass!" he shouted across at him. “More like that one!"
“This fellow Hochbauer's in training all right," said Cadet Mösler knowingly. “For a creep up the C.O.'s arse."
Cadet Mösler had a reputation as a wit. The advantage of this was that almost everything he said was taken as a joke, which saved him a good deal of trouble one way and another.
“Hochbauer’ll have to look out, though," said his neighbor Cadet Rednitz thoughtfully. “There’s plenty of competition."
“Yes, you have to make certain sacrifices to become an officer," declared Mösler, not forgetting to grin inanely.
They were standing rather out of the limelight, right at the back of the field. Mösler was a wiry little fellow with darting eyes which spent most of their time on the look-out for anything in skirts, while Rednitz was a medium-sized, slim figure who however moved like a bear and was almost always smiling about something, though hardly ever laughing. He had already learned not to do that.
“Scandalous we don't have women training to be officers," said Mösler. “I’d be only too willing to play games with them!"
“Bad enough with some of us carrying on like women," said Rednitz. “Or do you want to sleep your way into a commission?"
“It depends on whom with," said Mösler, grinning. “I wouldn't mind a comely young major of thirty or so. It wouldn't be the worst sacrifice one could make for one's Fatherland."
“Half time!" cried Captain Ratshelm. “Change sides!"
The two teams changed sides, and Mösler and Rednitz promptly found their way to the rear again. They had no objection to leaving the main part of the field to the keener sportsmen.
Though Mösler and Rednitz were both only twenty-one, they had already acquired a certain amount of military experience, having developed a sixth sense which