till with an obvious sense that he was not on
particularly dangerous ground. But at the mention of Von Buelow's name
a look of actual fear spread over his face.

"On that day," I continued, "you and the Count went directly to the
Captain's cabin where you handed over your reports--"

"What are you getting at?" Schwinn demanded sharply.

"I'm getting at the Count. What do you know about him?"

"Nothing. I know nothing about him. I've met him, that's all."

"Have you ever visited his home at Point Loma,[15] San Diego?"

Schwinn stared at me without answering.

"Have you ever been there?" I repeated.

"Yes," he said slowly.

"Did you ever observe how, through his study windows, you could see
almost everything going on at the American naval base--"

"I have nothing to say," Schwinn interrupted excitedly.

Among the men sent here directly by Rudolf Hess, Hitler's right-hand
man, is a former German-American businessman named Meyerhofer. This
Nazi came here with special instructions from Hess, a personal friend
of his, to reorganize the Nazi machine in the United States. He
arrived early in 1935 posing as a businessman. After consultations
with Nazi leaders in New York, including the Nazi Consul General, he
went to Detroit to confer with Fritz Kuhn,[16] national head of the
German-American Bund. From Detroit he went to Chicago where he held
more conferences with Nazi agents and then went directly to Los
Angeles for conferences with Schwinn, Von Buelow and other secret
agents operating in the United States. Meyerhofer's mission was not
only to reorganize the propaganda machine but to try to place it on a
self-supporting basis so that in the event of war when funds from
Germany would be cut off, an efficient Nazi machine could continue
functioning.

It was with this knowledge in mind that I asked Schwinn what he knew
about Meyerhofer. At the mention of his name the Nazi leader for the
West Coast again showed a flash of fear. He hesitated a little longer
than usual and then said in a low voice, "He is a member of our
organization. He came from Germany about thirty or forty years ago."
Suddenly he added, "He's an American citizen."

"I know he's an American citizen. But are you sure he didn't come from
Germany--on his latest trip--in January of last year?"

Schwinn smiled a little wryly. "He might have," he said in the same
low tone.

"He's a personal friend of Rudolf Hess--"

"Listen!" Schwinn exclaimed. "You'