Page 106 - the-thirty-nine-steps

Stone it reads like some wild melodrama. If only I had more
confidence in Scudder’s judgement. The trouble about him
was that he was too romantic. He had the artistic tempera-
ment, and wanted a story to be better than God meant it to
be. He had a lot of odd biases, too. Jews, for example, made
him see red. Jews and the high finance.
‘The Black Stone,’ he repeated. ‘DER SCHWARZE
STEIN. It’s like a penny novelette. And all this stuff about
Karolides. That is the weak part of the tale, for I happen to
know that the virtuous Karolides is likely to outlast us both.
There is no State in Europe that wants him gone. Besides,
he has just been playing up to Berlin and Vienna and giv-
ing my Chief some uneasy moments. No! Scudder has gone
off the track there. Frankly, Hannay, I don’t believe that
part of his story. There’s some nasty business afoot, and he
found out too much and lost his life over it. But I am ready
to take my oath that it is ordinary spy work. A certain great
European Power makes a hobby of her spy system, and her
methods are not too particular. Since she pays by piecework
her blackguards are not likely to stick at a murder or two.
They want our naval dispositions for their collection at the
Marineamt; but they will be pigeon-holed nothing more.’
just then the butler entered the room.
‘There’s a trunk-call from London, Sir Walter. It’s Mr
‘Eath, and he wants to speak to you personally.’
My host went off to the telephone.
He returned in five minutes with a whitish face. ‘I apolo-
gize to the shade of Scudder,’ he said. ‘Karolides was shot
dead this evening at a few minutes after seven.’

106 The Thirty-Nine Steps