including a very respectably dressed old lady, were driven into the side
office and were seen no more.

During all this scene of confusion no one had taken any notice of me. My
guard looked straight in front of him and said never a word. When the
hall was all but cleared, a man came to the office door and made a sign
to my sentinel.

At a table in the office which, despite the sunshine outside, was heated
like a greenhouse, I found the fat official. Something had evidently
upset him, for his brows were clouded with anger and his mastiff-like
cheeks were trembling with irritation. He thrust a hand out as I
entered.

"Your papers!" he grunted.

I handed over my passport.

Directly he had examined it, a red flush spread over his cheeks and
forehead and he brought his hand down on the table with a crash. The
sentry beside me winced perceptibly.

"It's not viséd," the fat official screamed in a voice shrill with
anger. "It's worthless... what good do you think is this to me?"

"Excuse me ..." I said in German.

"I won't excuse you," he roared. "Who are you? What do you want in
Germany? You've been to London, I see by this passport."