Captain Brulen arrived in the middle of it, with Freibach close on his heels; and the bully declared I had tried to murder him in order to escape. It was such a palpable absurdity that Freibach turned his face away to smile.
"This man was insulting the lady in my charge and I struck him, Captain Brulen," I explained. "You probably know him well enough to understand it is just what he would do."
"It is a very grave position," he replied. "Very grave indeed."
"You mean because of that telegram? Nonsense. It's a palpable forgery."
The major burst out into raucous laughter. "Forgery! Forgery, is it? Well, forgery or no forgery, you'll answer for that attack on me. Search him, and if he resists knock him on the head," he ordered the two soldiers.
"Is this man the senior officer on the train, Captain Brulen?"
"Hold your insolent tongue; and, Captain Brulen, stay where you are. Do as I told you," he ordered the men.
It would have been madness to resist. There was nothing on me of any consequence; and as Nessa was sitting on the suit case with her dress entirely covering it, nothing of importance was found, except the passports and our tickets. These the bully promptly pocketed.
"Can I speak to you a moment, Major?" said Brulen then.
"No. Mind your own business. This is my affair, not yours."
"Very good, sir," and with that he and Freibach went away. Both looked very disturbed, although for quite different reasons, as I knew.
"Take the man to the other end of the carriage; see that the two prisoners have no chance of speaking to each other; remain between them in the middle until we reach Osnabrück, and if any attempt is made to escape, use your bayonets. You're answerable for them."
"I'm going to sleep," said Nessa as the brute was leaving the carriage; and she put her legs up on the seat with excellently acted unconcern.
"Good idea, so will I," and I threw myself full length on the seat.
"Silence," roared the brute. "If they speak, club them both," and with this amiable command to our guards he left us.
The men would in all probability have obeyed him to the letter, so we prudently gave them no occasion.
Except for the desire to try and reassure Nessa, there was nothing to be said. The disastrous telegram had ruined everything. What did it mean? It didn't seem possible that von Gratzen could have sent such a message. It was too blunt, too crude, and altogether too brutal a thing to fit with all I had seen of him. He was wily enough in all truth, but such a method was so lacking in finesse, so devoid of cunning, that I could not believe it had really come from him.