mimicked my grave tone). "It will not be found here, young man!"

And she chuckled with all the full-bodied good humour of a fat person.

"You mean?"

"I mean what I mean, young man, and what you mean," she replied. "When
they are in a difficulty, when there are complications, when there is
any unpleasantness.. like _this_ ... they remember die Schratt, 'die
fesche Anna,' as they called me once, and it is 'gnadige Frau' here and
'gnadige Frau' there and a diamond bracelet or a pearl ring, if only I
will do the little conjuring trick that will smooth everything over. But
when all goes well, then I am 'old Schratt,' 'old hag,' 'old woman,' and
I must take my orders and beg nicely and ... bah!"

Her words ended in a gulp, which in any other woman would have been a
sob.

Then she added in her hard harlot's voice:

"You needn't worry your head about _him,_ there! Leave him to me! It's
my trade!"

At those words, which covered God only knows what horrors of midnight
disappearances, of ghoulish rites with packing-case and sack, in the
dark cellars of that evil house, I felt that, could I but draw back from
the enterprise to which I had so rashly committed myself, I would do so
gladly. Only then did I begin to realize something of the utter
ruthlessness, the cold, calculating ferocity, of the most bitter and
most powerful enemy which the British Empire has ever had.