perhaps he also told you of his last orders?â
âYes. They were to remain in Paris, to ignore any armistice which might be entered into with the Germans, and to continue to operate against them until a proper peace was actually signed.â
âThat is so; and a few of us were more lucky than poor Georges, so we are still able to carry on the work for the true France which will yet survive this nightmare.â
âAre you, too, then, a member of the
Deuxième Bureau?
â Kuporovitch asked.
âI was. In one sense I still am, although the
Bureau
itself was evacuated with the rest of the Government, so that it is now in Vichy, and it no longer has any official status in German-occupied France.â
Madeleine was smiling now, and her eyes were bright with a strange elation, as she murmured: âBut youâre carrying on in secret. How I wish that I, too, could do somethingâanythingâto help strike a blow against these blond beasts who are defiling our whole world.â
The little man nodded his silvery head. âI hoped that you would feel that way, and the time will come when the help of a stout-hearted girl like yourself may prove invaluable. But, first, we must build up a proper organisation and we shall need many like you.â
âThere must be thousands,â Madeleine declared with conviction.
âIâm sure there are,â his shrewd dark eyes, set in many wrinkles, bored into hers; âbut the difficulty is to find those thousands whom you can trust among the tens of thousands who are now untrustworthy because they can no longer see clearly. Pro-German propaganda has so distorted the views of the great mass of the people. They are weary of the war and all their sufferings, so they no longer have the ability to look very far into the future. Most of them even hope now that Britain will be speedily defeated, as their wishful thinking leads them to believe that would mean a new settlement which within a few months would enable them to resume their normallives. I am an old man, and for many years it has been my business to probe as far as possible into the future; so I believe that I see clearly. In my view, France can never rise again, or ever know real freedom, until Hitler and all that he stands for are destroyed.â
âYouâre right,â cut in Kuporovitch abruptly. âEven the defeat of Britain wonât materially alter your situation. As long as Hitler is the master the French people remain a race of slaves.â
â
Certainment!
Therefore, it is for those of us who see the truth to preach a secret crusade. Wherever opportunity offers we must do so, among people whom we feel we can trust, but who at present do not realise the truthâor are fainthearted. We must be very, very careful, because we should do no good to our country once we were dead or in a concentration camp; but even in the smallest things we should leave nothing undone which will help to hamper the German war effort. In such ways each one of us can help to bring nearer the day of a British victory, which means our own release from what otherwise will be a lifelong captivity.â
Madeleine thrilled to his softly spoken words. Here at last was the chance for which she had been waiting and longing all these weeks. There was a momentâs silence, then she asked: âHow did you know who I was before you came to our table?â
His small brown face lit up with a sudden smile. âI had often heard Georges speak of you as a girl of character. When I learned how he had been foully done to death in your apartment I put you down in my mind at once as a possible recruit for the organisation which I am forming.â
âWhy, then, did you not get in touch with me before?â
âUnfortunately, many of my old colleagues have gone over to the enemy, so whenever Iâm in Paris there is always the danger that I may be recognised and followed. I have only been in