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back, Georg. I think he's already spoken to Father."
    "Herr Ebenseder, you mean?"
    "Yes, but I'd sooner drown myself. He's already been married twice. His first wife died young - he bullied her into the grave - and the other one ran off. They were both in vaudeville. What does he want with me, the repulsive brute? I'm not an equestrienne - I can't jump through a hoop."
    Vit¬torin had opened his bedding-roll.
    "This is some Chinese writing paper, and here are the envelopes to match. See how prettily painted it is?"
    "It's very pretty - very stylish, really. There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but you mustn't be angry. You'll have to share this room with Oskar for the next few days. Your room - I wrote and told you we'd taken a lodger, didn't I?"
    "I don't remember. No, I don't think so."
    "I'm sure I did. A nice, respectable fellow - we've been really lucky from that point of view, one never sees or hears him during the day. He's paying a hundred and eighty kronen, and that's a very useful contribution to the family budget, believe me. Have you any idea what everything costs these days? Prices have been creeping up all the time. Of course, I told the gentleman he'd have to move out as soon as you were back in Vienna."
    "That won't be necessary," Vit¬torin said. "He's welcome to keep the room. I'm not staying."
    "But Father says the war will soon be over."
    Vit¬torin rose slowly to his feet.
    "When it is, I'm going back to Russia."
    "Back to Russia? Are you serious?"
    "Keep your voice down, the others mustn't know yet. This is just between the two of us. Yes, I have to go back."
    "For long?" asked Lola, staring at him fixedly.
    "I don't know."
    "Did you promise her you'd come back? Why didn't you bring her with you - wasn't it possible?"
    Vit¬torin evaded the question.
    "The cigarettes are for Oskar," he said. "Be a dear and dish out the other things for me. The leather waistcoat is for Father, the Chinese porcelain -"
    "But Georg, what about Franzi? What ever will Franzi say, poor thing? Do you have a photo of her - the other girl, I mean?"
    "The bowl's for your china cabinet - it's supposed to be a very rare old piece. The two vases are for Franzi. You're wrong, by the way. It's nothing to do with a girl."
    Two weeks later, when Vienna was in the throes of revolution, Vit¬torin got news of Chernavyensk from a repatriated ex-prisoner who had spent the last part of his journey from Siberia on the running board of an overcrowded railway carriage. The place had been occupied by Czech legionnaires and Staff Captain Selyukov was camp commandant no longer. He had set off as soon as the Czechs marched in, presumably for Moscow, to offer his services to the Red Army, which was short of experienced officers. The former prisoner had caught a final glimpse of him at a small station on the Siberian border not far from Krasnoyarsk.
    There could be no doubt that Selyukov's flight was a development of far-reaching importance. For the time being, Vit¬torin decided to inform no one but Emperger of this change in the status quo. A two-man steering committee, they would confer in private before taking the others into their confidence. They must await further reports and seek confirmation of the news. A station not far from Krasnoyarsk . . . Everything suggested that Moscow was Selyukov's final destination. This'll make Feuerstein sit up, Vit¬torin told himself. "You mean you're still in touch with Chernavyensk?" - "Of course I am, Feuerstein, what did you think? Naturally I've kept in touch with the camp - I took care of that. I hear everything that goes on there!" Even so, certain preliminary steps would have be taken without delay. It would be best if Feuerstein made some cash available at once. Then there was the matter of the passport and entry permit for Russia.
    The revolution was a worrying feature. Were there any government departments in the present chaotic situation, and which one issued exit visas? He couldn't