The first will do for eavesdropping and the second for ordinary
business.'

'And you?' I asked Blenkiron.

'I was left out at Pentecost,' he said. 'I regret to confess I have
no gift of tongues. But the part I have chosen for myself don't
require the polyglot. Never forget I'm plain John S. Blenkiron, a
citizen of the great American Republic.'

'You haven't told us your own line, Dick,' Sandy said.

'I am going to the Bosporus through Germany, and, not being a
neutral, it won't be a very cushioned journey.'

Sandy looked grave.

'That sounds pretty desperate. Is your German good enough?'

'Pretty fair; quite good enough to pass as a native. But officially I
shall not understand one word. I shall be a Boer from Western
Cape Colony: one of Maritz's old lot who after a bit of trouble has
got through Angola and reached Europe. I shall talk Dutch and
nothing else. And, my hat! I shall be pretty bitter about the British.
There's a powerful lot of good swear-words in the taal. I shall
know all about Africa, and be panting to get another whack at the
_verdommt rooinek_. With luck they may send me to the Uganda show
or to Egypt, and I shall take care to go by Constantinople. If I'm to
deal with the Mohammedan natives they're bound to show me
what hand they hold. At least, that's the way I look at it.'