Schnurrbart sat down on the ground. ‘Seemed as if you’d been gone a long time and we got to wondering. Krüger thought we ought to take a look around here, so we started out. Just as we reached the house we saw you and Triebig going round the back. That looked funny, so we waited until Triebig left. That’s all.’
‘That’s a lot,’ Steiner said, taking a deep breath. He fought against the impulse to place his hand on Schnurrbart’s shoulder.
‘They’ll be right along,’ Schnurrbart said, fussing with his pipe. Steiner looked at his watch. It was shortly after ten. Suddenly they heard a voice speaking loudly in the street. Schnurrbart jumped to his feet. ‘That’s März,’ he said worriedly. ‘What’s he doing here.’
Hasty footsteps sounded along the path from the street. A moment later five men appeared around the corner of the house. Steiner recognized the foremost as Lieutenant März. ‘What’s going on here?’ März inquired sharply. Behind him came Faber, Maag and Kern, anxious looks on their faces. Krüger stepped up to Schnurrbart and answered his questioning look with a shrug. ‘We ran into him on the way,’ he whispered. ‘When he heard what it was about, he insisted on coming with us.’ He looked at Steiner, who was answering the company commander’s question. He merely repeated the commander’s order.
‘And why was such an order given?’ März asked curtly.
‘I don’t know. We were having a pleasant chat.’
‘By chat you mean-?’
Steiner smiled. ‘A private conversation.’
‘With the commander’s approval?’
Steiner rubbed his chin. His smile broadened as he murmured: ‘I am cautious by nature.’
März considered for a few seconds. Then he ordered Steiner to begin work and turned to the others. ‘You return to your quarters.’ Seeing their disgruntled expressions, he added: ‘If it turns out that the sergeant needs you, you’ll be informed.’
The men grinned significantly at one another. With encouraging nods to Steiner, they straggled off. März stayed long enough to see Steiner jump into the pit and pick up one of the spades. Then he turned away and went out along the garden path to the street.
Back at his headquarters, he telephoned Kiesel at once. The conversation took some time, since Kiesel had to check with Brandt. When März laid down the receiver, he smiled with satisfaction. He waited a little while. Then he picked up the telephone again. Stransky answered sleepily. März apologized for disturbing him at this late hour; he had received a telephone call from Regiment, he said. ‘I hear that Steiner is supposed to be with you now,’ he went on. ‘The lieutenant-colonel wants him sent to regimental headquarters at once.’
He fell silent, raising his eyebrows and listening intently. It was so still at the other end of the line that for a moment he thought Stransky had hung up. Then he heard Stransky again, speaking tensely and with effort: ‘Very well, he will leave immediately.’ März heard several noises he could not interpret. Then the hum in the receiver stopped. The indifferent voice of the operator asked: ‘Are you through?’ März listened, not answering. ‘Are you through?’ the voice asked again. Then, after a short pause: ‘I am disconnecting.’
März turned to the window and looked out across the water. The mountains gleamed as though coated with frost, towering gravely into the star-sown sky. The night upon the mountains wore a sparkling diadem above a dark face, and stooped low over the sea, over the still surface of a curved mirror. As he saw, with a strange, constricted feeling in his breast, how sky and earth held one another in close embrace, he was conscious of a mute melancholy. Never before had he been so painfully aware of the banalities that filled his days to the very brim.
Triebig was startled out of sleep by the persistent shrilling of the telephone. Cursing, he groped his way unsteadily to the table. He came wide awake as soon as he heard Stransky’s voice. ‘Come over here!’ Stransky ordered him. ‘At once.’
Triebig stammered something and began dressing with feverish haste. He was so frightened that he was still trembling when, a few minutes later, he left the house. Before he entered the command post he tiptoed around the corner of the house and made sure that Steiner was still working. Then he went in rapidly. Stransky received him in a state of agitation such as Triebig had never before seen him display. He stood behind his desk, leaning forward with arms braced and shouted in a voice altogether out of control: ‘Where the devil have you been? Didn’t I say to come at once.’
‘I had to dress,’ Triebig replied, shaking.
Stransky’s face flushed. ‘Dress!’ he bellowed. ‘A soldier is always dressed, even when he’s in bed with a woman. Come over here! Where is Steiner?’
‘Working at your bunker, as you ordered,’ Triebig whispered, hesitantly stepping closer to the captain.
‘You are to take him to Regiment at once,’ Stransky said. ‘Regiment wants to see Steiner today, now. At’—he looked at his watch—‘at eleven o’clock. Do you know what that means?’
Triebig moved his lips soundlessly. He was so stunned by the news that he was unable to speak. In one sudden vision he saw disaster descending upon his own head. ‘It must be the report.’
Stransky nodded fiercely. ‘Certainly. Brandt must somehow have got wind of what happened tonight, and I’ll lay ten to one that that damned sneak März is behind it.’
‘You should have expected that,’ Triebig said tonelessly.
Stransky threw him a scornful look. ‘Of course I expected it; do you think I don’t know that I’m spied on every step of the way here?’ He laughed sarcastically. ‘Those gentlemen underestimate me. I’ll show them that a captain is a captain and a sergeant still a sergeant no matter how many times he crawls behind the back of the regimental commander.’ He began pacing the room.
Triebig moistened his lips with his tongue. ‘What do you intend to do?’
‘I need time,’ Stransky replied. ‘No matter what, you must speak to Brandt before Steiner sees him. Tell Brandt that I prefer to forgo the Iron Cross because it is beneath my dignity to have a decoration depend on the signature of a subordinate whose undisciplined conduct has bordered on open mutiny. Tomorrow I intend to send a written report to Regiment on his behaviour. You will also tell the commander that it is asking too much to expect me to seek a favour of a man with a criminal record who has every reason to wish me ill because a single word from me would suffice to put him where he has long deserved to be: up against a wall.’
Triebig gasped. ‘The lieutenant-colonel will..
Stransky cut him off with an angry wave of his hand. ‘The lieutenant-colonel,’ he said loudly, ‘will not be able to ignore the justified complaint of a battalion commander. I am thoroughly sick of being treated like a stupid boy by a sergeant who thinks he’s under the protection of the regimental commander. If my complaint is not accepted, I shall disregard channels and address myself directly to Division. I want you to repeat what I have said to the lieutenant-colonel word for word.’
‘Wouldn’t you prefer to give it to me in writing?’ Triebig asked anxiously.
Stransky sneered. ‘I should think not. They’re quite capable of twisting a noose for me out of anything written. It will be quite enough documentation for me to present my complaint on Steiner in writing tomorrow morning. And now repeat what you are to tell the lieutenant-colonel.’
He sat down at the table and while Triebig, acutely uncomfortable, repeated his words he made brief notes on a sheet of paper. When Triebig finished, he nodded his approval. ‘In general outline that is what we discussed this afternoon in case Steiner refused his signature. Put a bit more strongly, but that does no harm. One must not allow oneself to be intimidated; it’s essential to keep on the offensive. Start at once.’
Triebig left hurriedly. He returned first to his quarters, then went round to Steiner, who was standing up to his chest in the pit. Steiner looked up indifferently when he was spoken to. ‘Come along! You’re to go to Regiment.’
Steiner concealed his surprise, al
though he could not understand what Brandt could possibly want of him at this late hour. Since Triebig did not explain and strode rapidly ahead, he asked no questions. He regretted being weaponless, especially since Triebig was wearing his pistol. But then he smiled scornfully. As long as he did not turn his back on Triebig, the fellow would take care not to reach for his gun.
They had meanwhile passed through a good dozen black tunnels of streets, and he was gradually losing his sense of direction. At rare intervals they encountered a bored sentry who stood in front of a door and regarded them inquisitively. Their way led finally out of the confusion of tenement houses into a dark street lined by trees on both sides. Steiner glanced at his watch and discovered that they had already been walking for more than twenty minutes. At that moment they were hailed sharply. ‘Regimental command post?’ Triebig asked. Steiner saw the dim silhouette of a man who approached and asked for the password. ‘Kuban,’ Triebig returned, adding: ‘The commander is expecting us.’ By now the sentry had apparently recognized the officer’s uniform; he clicked his heels. On the right a wall loomed up out of the darkness; they passed through a gate guarded by another sentry. A short flight of steps led to a front door, and they entered a long hallway. ‘Wait here,’ Triebig said.
Steiner thrust his hands into his pockets. He was quite calm now, and observed with disdain the nervous timidity with which the lieutenant knocked on the door. But no one called to him to come in. Instead, Kiesel suddenly appeared on the threshold. Seeing Triebig, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. Then he caught sight of Steiner. For the fraction of a second a faint smile seemed to pass over his face. But since Steiner was not sure of it, he slowly took his hands from his pockets.
‘Did you want to see me?’ Kiesel asked Triebig.
‘Captain Stransky has sent me,’ Triebig said. ‘I must speak with the commander.’
Kiesel’s expression became reserved. ‘Concerning what? * he asked in a stiff official tone.
‘Concerning...’ Triebig glanced quickly at Steiner and fell silent. Then he gathered up his courage again. ‘I request permission to speak personally with the commander in regard to an official matter.’
‘One moment,’ Kiesel said, and went back into the room, closing the door behind him.
He was unusually long about returning. At last he reappeared and with a silent movement of his head indicated that Triebig was to come in. Before he followed he turned to Steiner. ‘The commander asks you to be patient for a few minutes more.’
‘Gladly,’ Steiner said. Kiesel turned swiftly. But before the door closed behind him, Steiner thought he caught a glimpse of a sardonic grin in his direction. Standing, Steiner looked down at his soiled boots. I should have polished them, he thought. But then he realized that there had been no chance to.
The wait proved long. To break his boredom Steiner wandered along the corridor, which was lit by two candles. At the end of the corridor was a flight of steps covered by a thick runner. He sat down on the lowest step and stretched out his legs. Suddenly he became aware of his weariness, and closed his eyes. The heil with it all and with all of them, Stransky, Triebig, Brandt and all the rest. He began whistling under his breath. Again he noticed his dirty boots. The sight of them troubled him, and he began wiping them off with a corner of the carpet. Then he settled back contentedly and tried to think of nothing at all. It was hard for him to keep his eyes open, and he began blinking. If I close them, he thought, I’ll fall asleep.
Suddenly a loud voice startled him. He stumbled to his feet, straightened up jerkily, and stared blankly about him. Kiesel was standing in front of him. ‘I think you fell asleep,’ he remarked.
‘Seems like it,’ Steiner murmured, rubbing his eyes.
Kiesel looked at him, shaking his head. ‘I wish I had your conscience. Come this way.’
They entered the room, and for a moment Steiner stood stock still in confusion. It was so stuffed with furniture that he did not see where the commander was until he heard his booming voice. Brandt sat behind a huge, clumsy desk piled with all sorts of useless objects, holding a lighted cigarette between his fingers. ‘So there you are,’ he said loudly. ‘Next time you’re wounded, give me a week’s notice that we’re going to lose you, haha. How are you, Steiner?’
‘I can’t complain,’ Steiner murmured weakly, feeling that he was acting the fool. But Brandt did not seem to think so. He stood up and shook hands heartily with Steiner. Then he gestured toward a chair. ‘Make yourself comfortable. I’ve heard that you’ve worked a great deal today.’
‘A man does what he can,’ Steiner muttered, cursing his sleepiness. As he sat down and took a cigarette from the case Brandt extended across the desk, he noticed that Kiesel had also taken a seat on an old-fashioned couch in the back of the room, and was looking on curiously. He suddenly realized that Triebig was not in the room. He lit his cigarette and looked attentively into the commander’s face.
‘How was it in the hospital?’ Brandt began.
Steiner smiled politely. ‘Pretty good,’ he said laconically. Apparently Brandt was in good humour, to judge by his expression. But it seemed unlikely to him that the commander had sent for him so late at night merely to ask how he was. Besides, why had Triebig accompanied him, and where was Triebig now?
The commander spoke again. ‘Tell me about your wound, won’t you? I hear that you were wounded again on your way back to Kanskoye.’
‘That’s right,’ Steiner said, and began to tell the story, keeping it as short as possible. While he spoke, the commander listened gravely. ‘Yes, that was a bad business,’ he sighed, when Steiner had finished. His face darkened at the memory of the several hundred men who had fallen in the unsuccessful counter-attack of the assault regiment.
Steiner puffed at his cigarette. The presence of Kiesel bothered him, for he felt that the captain was staring at him all the time. ‘I was afraid that would happen,’ he said. ‘I was glad not to have to cross over that hill a second time.’
They went on talking and had reached their third cigarette when Brandt suddenly leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and casually asked whether Steiner knew that Captain Stransky had led Second Company’s counter-thrust that night just before the beginning of the big Russian offensive. Steiner looked at him in surprise. He recalled that Schnurrbart and Krüger had also been questioned, and became alert. ‘The counter-thrust was led by Lieutenant Meyer,’ he stated. ‘Captain Stransky was nowhere in sight at any time.’
He caught Brandt exchanging a glance with Kiesel, and Kiesel now asked whether he was sure of that. ‘Absolutely,’ Steiner affirmed. ‘In the first place I would have seen him, and in the second place, directly after the business Lieutenant Meyer had to report to the captain what had been happening in the lines.’
‘How do you know that?’ Kiesel asked.
‘I was there myself when he made his report,’ Steiner replied.
Brandt gave an exclamation. ‘When was that?’ he asked.
Steiner, not understanding the cause of his excitement, looked in puzzlement at his flushed face. ‘Right afterwards,’ he declared, and began sketching in the order of events.
When he finished, Brandt let his head droop and sat thinking. Something in his expression warned Steiner to step cautiously. But whatever the threat was, it apparently was not directed toward him, for when the commander looked up again there was a faint smile around his mouth. He turned to Kiesel. ‘Fetch Triebig,’ he ordered sharply. While Kiesel was out of the room, Brandt remained silent.
Triebig bit his lips when he came into the room with Kiesel and saw Steiner sitting so much at ease beside the desk. It was, he felt, alarmingly quiet in the room.
When Brandt spoke, his voice sounded unusually soft and low. ‘You gave your name, Lieutenant Triebig. Were you present when Captain Stransky led the counter-thrust?’
Triebig hesitated. He seemed to be struggling to come to a decision. Finally he hunched his shoulders and spoke. ‘I accompanied the commander to
the hill and saw him calling several men around him. Then he sent me back to the command post.’
‘Why did he do that?’ Brandt asked.
‘He thought someone ought to be in the command post in case you called, sir.’
‘Then how do you know that Stransky really led the counterattack? You signed a statement to that effect as a witness, Lieutenant Triebig.’
Triebig’s reply came without hesitation this time: ‘I learned of it from wounded men who were returning.’
At this point Kiesel intervened. He turned to the commander. ‘Will you permit me to ask a question, sir?’ When Brandt nodded, he addressed Triebig: ‘Can you give me the name of one of these wounded men?’
‘They weren’t staff men but company men,’ Triebig replied evasively. ‘I knew them only by sight. Besides, it was pitch dark when I spoke with them. I saw no reason to doubt their statements.’ ‘You should have noted their names,’ Kiesel said.
Triebig shrugged. ‘In all that confusion?’ he murmured. ‘I’d practically lost my head myself.’
‘You may yet,’ Brandt said icily. ‘I want you to know, Lieutenant Triebig, that I have been having your statements checked. Captain Kiesel will now inform you of the results of our investigations into this matter.’
Steiner had been listening to the conversation with mounting wonder. He watched as Kiesel took a sheet of paper out of his pocket, studied the contents for a moment, and then raised his head. ‘Our investigation so far,’ he stated placidly, ‘have disclosed that at the moment there are forty-two men in Second Company who took part in the aforementioned counter thrust. They declare unanimously that the attack was led by Lieutenant Meyer. None of them saw Captain Stransky and none of them heard that he was even with the company at the time the attack was launched.’
‘Very well,’ Brandt said. He turned again to Triebig, who looked as if he were standing against a wall watching an execution squad line up in front of him. ‘You are not going to try to tell me that all this is a matter of sheer chance. If it should turn out that Captain Stransky has deliberately sent in a false report, I shall take the matter up with Division. In that case, Lieutenant Triebig, you yourself would have to justify your conduct before a court of honour.’
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