creaking of the hanging lamps and metal signs outside the houses.
Lost in his thoughts, Hiram heard his name called over the noise of the lobby and looked up from his beer to see Wallace Reck threading his way through the tables. Reck was the Prague correspondent for the Sentinel, a thin, preoccupied man who worked eighteen hours a day in a messy hotel room littered with newspapers and reports, and who was eternally telephoning. He had been far too busy to do more than acknowledge Hiram's presence civilly. Hiram had understood and had stayed away from him.
He waved a hand and said: 'Hi! How you getting on ? Sorry I haven't been able to be around with you more. There's been some sort of a row on the Hungarian border. I had a wire from Beauheld. Said he'd think up something for you to do shortly. Pretty soft.'
Hiram grinned and waved to a chair.' Got time for a beer ?'
'One,' said Reck, and slid into the seat. 'I've got to meet a guy in ten minutes. What do you think of our little town ?'
'Dead,' said Hiram. 'Up here, I mean. Or here,' and pointed first to his head and then to his heart. 'A guy came into our office once. He had been in the death-house up the river for six weeks and then been pardoned. The other guy confessed. He was alive, but he was still dead, if you know what I mean.
The eyes ... and his gait. He wasn't walking free yet. It's like that.'
'Mrnrnmm. Yeah, and a lot worse,' Reck said. 'It's as though the day after the guy was freed they grabbed him again and gave him a life sentence. The people, many of 'em don't realize it yet, but the worst is yet to come. The Gestapo has moved in already. All the under-cover guys are coming up out of their holes. See that guy over there?' He indicated a slight, wispy-looking man sitting at a table with two others. 'He was around here with us before Munich. Working for some Belgian paper. He seemed like a nice guy and used to join us at the Stammtisch at midnight when we'd gather to have some beer. He disappeared while the row was on. We just thought he'd got scared and beat it. He's back now with the other two. They're all Nazis and Gestapo men. You never know who is who in this town any more, so you just don't trust anyone.'
Hiram thought suddenly of the Man with the False Beard, and it was on the tip of his tongue to tell Reck about it, but he checked the impulse because he was shy. Instead he said: 'I never felt so much ... so much despair in a city....'
Reck grunted. 'Despair ...' he repeated. 'These people were resigned to die for their freedom and they wouldn't even let them do that. Now they're in for it. Not immediately, but it's coming, the beatings and the kidnappings and blackmailing, and the concentration camps and the persecutions, and worst of all the loss of their liberty. Their pals, France and England, abandoned them to that.'
Hiram's nostrils expanded.... 'God,' he said. 'To have seen that happen. To get it on paper....'
Reck moved irritably. 'You don't see it happen, you feel it happen. And you can't write what you don't see. The tunnelling and spying was bad enough before Munich, it's ten times worse now because they've got a free hand. Hitler's going to move in and take over sure as you're sitting there. There's a lot of damned good Czech patriots still, but what can they do ? They're all on the list. The nation and the Government is still intact, but they know what's coming, what's in store for them. They go on as before, but their heart s are dead. Like your pardoned guy
' He looked at his watch suddenly.
'Oh, nuts. When I start to talk shop I lose track of time. Got to beat it. Thanks for the beer. See you later, maybe.'
He arose and left, but at the door paused suddenly and came back. 'Say,' he said, 'just thought of it. Would you like to come to a party a little later ? Be a hell of a good gang there. You know, diplomats, Government officials. . . . I've got to talk to a guy who's going to be there.'
Hiram said: 'Thanks, Reck.... I
Lost in his thoughts, Hiram heard his name called over the noise of the lobby and looked up from his beer to see Wallace Reck threading his way through the tables. Reck was the Prague correspondent for the Sentinel, a thin, preoccupied man who worked eighteen hours a day in a messy hotel room littered with newspapers and reports, and who was eternally telephoning. He had been far too busy to do more than acknowledge Hiram's presence civilly. Hiram had understood and had stayed away from him.
He waved a hand and said: 'Hi! How you getting on ? Sorry I haven't been able to be around with you more. There's been some sort of a row on the Hungarian border. I had a wire from Beauheld. Said he'd think up something for you to do shortly. Pretty soft.'
Hiram grinned and waved to a chair.' Got time for a beer ?'
'One,' said Reck, and slid into the seat. 'I've got to meet a guy in ten minutes. What do you think of our little town ?'
'Dead,' said Hiram. 'Up here, I mean. Or here,' and pointed first to his head and then to his heart. 'A guy came into our office once. He had been in the death-house up the river for six weeks and then been pardoned. The other guy confessed. He was alive, but he was still dead, if you know what I mean.
The eyes ... and his gait. He wasn't walking free yet. It's like that.'
'Mrnrnmm. Yeah, and a lot worse,' Reck said. 'It's as though the day after the guy was freed they grabbed him again and gave him a life sentence. The people, many of 'em don't realize it yet, but the worst is yet to come. The Gestapo has moved in already. All the under-cover guys are coming up out of their holes. See that guy over there?' He indicated a slight, wispy-looking man sitting at a table with two others. 'He was around here with us before Munich. Working for some Belgian paper. He seemed like a nice guy and used to join us at the Stammtisch at midnight when we'd gather to have some beer. He disappeared while the row was on. We just thought he'd got scared and beat it. He's back now with the other two. They're all Nazis and Gestapo men. You never know who is who in this town any more, so you just don't trust anyone.'
Hiram thought suddenly of the Man with the False Beard, and it was on the tip of his tongue to tell Reck about it, but he checked the impulse because he was shy. Instead he said: 'I never felt so much ... so much despair in a city....'
Reck grunted. 'Despair ...' he repeated. 'These people were resigned to die for their freedom and they wouldn't even let them do that. Now they're in for it. Not immediately, but it's coming, the beatings and the kidnappings and blackmailing, and the concentration camps and the persecutions, and worst of all the loss of their liberty. Their pals, France and England, abandoned them to that.'
Hiram's nostrils expanded.... 'God,' he said. 'To have seen that happen. To get it on paper....'
Reck moved irritably. 'You don't see it happen, you feel it happen. And you can't write what you don't see. The tunnelling and spying was bad enough before Munich, it's ten times worse now because they've got a free hand. Hitler's going to move in and take over sure as you're sitting there. There's a lot of damned good Czech patriots still, but what can they do ? They're all on the list. The nation and the Government is still intact, but they know what's coming, what's in store for them. They go on as before, but their heart s are dead. Like your pardoned guy
' He looked at his watch suddenly.
'Oh, nuts. When I start to talk shop I lose track of time. Got to beat it. Thanks for the beer. See you later, maybe.'
He arose and left, but at the door paused suddenly and came back. 'Say,' he said, 'just thought of it. Would you like to come to a party a little later ? Be a hell of a good gang there. You know, diplomats, Government officials. . . . I've got to talk to a guy who's going to be there.'
Hiram said: 'Thanks, Reck.... I
Similar Books
![Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)](https://fs.ageofbook.com/186821/thumbs/152x264/vampires-among-us-vampires-among-us-1-siren-publishing-classic.png)
