Here was I alone in this great place with a fellow who could, and would, wring my neck if he wanted.

Berlin and all the rest of it had seemed comparatively open country; I had felt that I could move freely and at the worst make a bolt for it.

But here I was trapped, and I had to tell myself every minute that I was there as a friend and colleague.

The fact is, I was afraid of Stumm, and I don't mind admitting it.

He was a new thing in my experience and I didn't like it.