He should have been a moving-
picture actor. He reminded me of Anthony Hope's fascinating but
wicked Rupert of Hentzau. He certainly was wicked, and I got to hate
him as I never imagined it possible to hate anybody. He had been
told off to dispose of my case, and he delighted in it. He enjoyed it as
a cat enjoys playing with a mouse. As actors say, he saw himself in
the part. He "ate" it.
"You are an English officer out of uniform," he began. "You have
been taken inside our lines." He pointed his forefinger at my stomach
and wiggled his thumb. "And you know what that means!"
I saw playing the damn fool with him would be waste of time.
"I followed your army," I told him, "because it's my business to follow
armies and because yours is the best-looking army I ever saw." He
made me one of his mocking bows.
"We thank you," he said, grinning. "But you have seen too much."
"I haven't seen anything," I said, "that everybody in Brussels hasn't
seen for three days."
He shook his head reproachfully and with a gesture signified the
group of officers.
"You have seen enough in this road," he said, "to justify us in
shooting you now.
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