We were located in a well-filled dancing cafe, and the tragic voice of
the accuser brought a crowd of curious people about our table. Captain
Grauble waved them back. As they pushed forward again, a street guard
elbowed in, brandishing his aluminum club and asking the cause of the
commotion. The bystanders indicated Katrina and the guard, edging up,
gripped her arm and demanded an explanation.
Katrina repeated her accusation.
"Evidently," suggested Grauble, "she has known another man of the same
name, and meeting Herr von Armstadt has recalled some tragic memory."
"Perhaps," said the guard politely, "if the gentleman would show the
young lady his identification folder, she would be convinced of
her error."
For a moment I hesitated, realizing full well what an inquiry might
reveal.
"No," I said, "I do not feel that it is necessary."
"He is afraid to show it," screamed the girl. "I tell you he is trying
to pass for Armstadt but he is some one else. He looks like Karl
Armstadt and at first I thought he was Karl Armstadt, but I know he
is not."
I looked swiftly at the surrounding faces, and saw upon them suspicion
and accusation. "There may be something wrong," said a man in a military
uniform, "otherwise why should the gentleman of the staff hesitate to
show his folder?"
"Very well," I said, pulling out my folder.
The guard glanced at it. "It seems to be all right," he said, addressing
the group about the table; "now will you kindly resume your seats and
not embarrass these gentlemen with your idle curiosity?"
"Let me see the folder!" cried Katrina.
"Pardon," said the guard to me, "but I see no harm," and he handed her
the folder.
She glanced over it with feverish haste.
"Are you satisfied now?" questioned the guard.
"Yes," hissed the black-eyed girl; "I am satisfied that this is Karl
Armstadt's folder. I know every word of it, but I tell you that the man
who carries it now is not the real Karl Armstadt." And then she wheeled
upon me and screamed, "You are not Karl Armstadt, Karl Armstadt is dead,
and you have murdered him!"
In an instant the cafe was in an uproar. Men in a hundred types of
uniform crowded forward; small women, rainbow-garbed, stood on the
chairs and peered over taller heads of ponderous sisters of the labour
caste. Grauble again waved back the crowd and the guard brandished his
club threateningly toward some of the more inquisitive daughters
of labour.
When the crowd had fallen back to a more respectful distance, the guard
recovered my identification folder from Katrina and returned it to me.
"Perhaps," he said, "you have known the young lady and do not again care
to renew the acquaintance? If so, with your permission, I shall take her
where she will not trouble you again this evening."
"That may be best," I replied, wondering how I could explain the affair
to Captain Grauble.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account