Five Past Midnight - James Thayer [9]
When the American returned to the table, Burke placed a soup bowl in front of him. As they reached for their spoons, the door opened and the senior allied officer entered the ward, followed by the ranking American officer.
The American and Burke dropped their utensils and quickly rose to attention.
"At ease," the SAO said. "May we have a few words with you, John?"
Group Captain Ian Hornsby had lost his Handley Page Halifax and three fingers of his left hand over occupied France, and had been caught attempting to walk out of Stalag Luft I at Barth dressed as a chimney sweep. Hornsby had seemingly taken all of Colditz's privations onto himself. He had lost sixty pounds, and his body had become spindly. He had a mulish mouth and a wisp of a mustache. Hornsby shook his head at Reginald Burke's offer of coffee.
"We thought perhaps you could tell us what's going on," said Harry Bell, the senior American POW. Bell liked to complain that his position as senior American officer didn't amount to anything because there were only five Americans at Colditx. Major Bell's bomber and fifty-one other B-17s—one-fifth of the attacking force—had been shot down during the Regensburg raid, August 17-18,1943. Bell's face had been pinched by his months in captivity, and deep lines were around his mouth. His eyes were surrounded by a network of wrinkles.
The SAO said, "We've gone along with your determination to remain anonymous, believing that you faced a firing squad or service in a slave labor gang if the Jerries found out who you were. You told only me and Bell here, and we've told no one. Except London, when you first arrived here."
The American might have nodded. His face lost its usual trace of merriment. He was wearing a wool sweater under a duffel coat and a black watch cap. His angled face, harsh in good times, had become bony. The skin had sunk around his cheekbones and jaw. He had not lost teeth like many of the POWs, and they were even and white. He asked, "A message on your radio?"
The POWs knew a radio was in the camp somewhere because BBC war news was known almost immediately after a broadcast, spread by Hornsby's runners, who would memorize ten sentences of newt>, then repeat it verbatim to gatherings of POWs For security reasons, only Hornsby and two others knew that the radio was hidden in a table leg, or that half a year ago Hornsby had devised a wireless code, a multiple substitution with frequent changes When a Geneva Red Cross official visited Colditz, Hornsby had asked him to take a message for his wife, and cable it to her from Geneva. It had contained the code, which England accepted. Hornsby had been receiving coded instruction since then.
Working his mouth silently and frowning, Bell had been staring at Jack Cray. Finally he spoke, clipping his words for emphasis "Captain Cray, we've been ordered to get you out of here."
The corners of the American's mouth lifted. "My friends call me Jack."
"You've told us nothing about yourself," Bell said angrily. "All we know about you is that you are a crazy escaper."
The last had been a particularly crazy attempt. When an electrician's truck was entering the yard through the main gate, the American took off, madly running past the guardhouse and over the moat bridge. Three Rottweilers