"But what sort of map?" I asked. "A map," he
answered; "which apportions the world between Germany, Italy and Japan." I had heard the same thing that morning from a more authoritative source. I looked at him with surmise.
"It was all planned," he began, "to start the very day after Hitler's speech in the Reichstag. Germany was to invade Holland and Switzerland ; Italy was to invade Egypt, Tunis and the Sudan ; Japan was to seize Yunnan." "Hainan," I corrected, knowing the story well. "Hainan," he admitted.
"But why didn't they?" I asked. Now I expected the usual answer to this question. I expected him to explain about the effect of Schacht's resignation and of the Chamberlain visit ; about the condition of the German rolling stock, the death of the Pope, the messages from President Roosevelt, and the personal preoccupations of the Duce. But not at all. He glanced at the corridor and again he laid his glove upon my knee. "Because of the bomb," he whispered.
"What bomb?" I asked. "The magnesia bomb," he answered. "Belisha?" I asked, hoping against hope that the bomb might belong to us. But not at all: it was a new German bomb ; as yet it has not been produced in sufficient quantity. Once it was ready, then "Boom." His was not a very effective imitation of high-explosive, but he followed it by a lateral movement of his two hands indicating that the bomb would not only pounce but also level. "And when," I asked with growing apprehension, "will this bomb be ready?" "Almost at once," he answered. "What makes you think that?" I pleaded, hoping that nothing made him think that. "Have you not heard," he said, a note of scorn mingling with his triumph, "Have you not heard that Goring is on his way to Italy?" He leant back and surveyed me with contempt. At that very moment the train drew up at the Dutch frontier station of Rosendaal. I pulled down the window and gazed out. At the far end of the platform there was a Dutch boy with a trolley full of newspapers. I beckoned him my way. I bought the final edition of De Tele- graaf. .
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