rising from the beds scattered around in the large dormitory-like room. Suddenly the door opened and there were several audible gasps from different parts of the room. It was Frau Zimmer! She was dressed in an ensemble that on her paunchy body was simply obscene. Dressed in satin bra and briefs, her ponderous body was exposed through the opening of the satin negligee she wore of the same sick- ening orange color as the undergarments. She reeked of perfume. Gloria lay still not moving a muscle. She was sure who the old woman had come for-she lay not moving, but thinking furiously. She had planned what to do, but there was so little available in the way of a weapon. As a last resort, Gloria had taken to wearing the corselet at night, thus in- suring her of the defense of the carefully-sharpened stay. After an eternity, Gloria's exposed shoulder was shaken firmly, but gently by the cold, moist palm of the old woman. "Shh," she was admonished and Frau Zimmer caught the fingers of her left hand in a grip that very nearly was painful and led her out of the darkened room. In the hall- way, with the door safely shut, Gloria struggled for a moment to get into a robe, exclaiming in a furious whisper,"you're hurting my arm!" Frau Zimmer, leaned toward her. "Sorry, Liebchen. Just for a minute, it is necessary. But be a sensible girl and Eva will take care of you." The last words were practically drooled. Gloria couldn't conceal the look of distaste, and Frau Zimmer's little eyes became very hard. "Well, then, that makes it much easier," and with a brutal twist, she wrenched Gloria's arm behind her back and kept a steady pressure on it as they marched down the hall. Although Gloria's first impulse had been to kick her way out of the grip, she didn't know exactly what the old sow wanted. A quick look told her once they were inside the room that was their destination. Herr Zimmer was checking the mech- anism of a very ugly machine-pistol, while on a table rested an equally- efficient looking Luger, which Frau Zimmer steered her prisoner away from until her own fat hand clasped the butt of the pistol in a loving caress. "And now, Puppchen-little doll, we await your boyfriend."
Gloria nearly groaned aloud. The plan was exposed. And she had let slip the only chance to get clear—and warn her fellow agent. Well, there was only one chance now-the one motion left-the sacrifice of her- self at the proper moment to inform her colleague of the trap set for him. But even this was to be denied her, for Frau Zimmer rather awk- wardly plastered a huge piece of sticking plaster across her lips then sat down with the muffled girl in her immense lap, keeping such an unre- lenting pressure on the captive arm that Gloria thought she was going to faint. Perhaps she did a time or two. As the minutes ticked by slowly in the darkened room, Gloria had time to reflect. Except for this
77