Free The Great Game by Michael Kurland

changing hats and manner of walking every few blocks so that Paul would not notice he was being followed.
     
    -
     
                  Number One gathered the remaining league members around him and said, " you will all leave here shortly, but one will stay behind. One of you will undertake an important action for us, one that has been planned for some time. One simple act which will prove our seriousness, and strike a blow for our cause. Since I'm sure you would all be eager to volunteer, just gather around the table and we'll draw straws."
     
                  They gathered and each of them pulled a straw from the bunch in Number One's fist. Member Number Five drew the short straw. The Ferret had arranged that Member Number Five would draw the short straw, but he was clever with his hands and nobody had noticed. The others congratulated Number Five and filed out of the damp cellar until only he and Number One were left.
     
                  Number Five was Carl Webel, a twenty-two-year-old art student, who felt that there was something drastically wrong with society; a feeling not uncommon to twenty-two-year-old art students. He had been led to believe that the poor needed to be shaken out of their complacency in order to rise up and establish a classless society, and that only random acts of violence on their behalf could do the shaking. He wanted desperately to be one of the shakers.
     
                  Number One went to a cupboard in a corner of the cellar and removed the heavy padlock. Inside were two packages, a bulky one wrapped in layers of oilcloth, and a small, rectangular one wrapped in brown paper. He removed them both and returned to the table. With the air of a man disclosing a religious artifact, he unwrapped the oilcloth, revealing an aging Shugard Seuss revolver. "Here it is, Number Five," he said, passing the heavy weapon across the table. "You think, perhaps, you can handle it?"
     
                  Webel took a deep breath and hefted the revolver, willing his hand not to shake. "I just point and pull the trigger, right?" he asked, assuming the sort of bravado he thought was required of him. "I can do that, Number One."
     
                  "You open the weapon like this," the Ferret said, demonstrating, "and you put the bullets in thusly. And then you snap it closed like this. You see?"
     
                  "Simple," Webel assured him.
     
                  "Even so, practice it."
     
                  "Of course."
     
                  "Very good. You keep it concealed until the last second. You pull back the hammer thusly as you draw the weapon from your pocket. The Shugard Seuss is double action, but it has a very heavy trigger pull, which is liable to throw off your aim, unless it is cocked first. When it has been cocked, a feather touch is sufficient to fire it. You'd better practice shooting it with no bullets in it."
     
                  "I shall."
     
                  "Take the time to aim carefully. At a distance of no more than five meters you cannot miss. Any further than that, and it becomes problematical. Then you casually walk away, escaping in the confusion. Everything will be arranged for your escape. Make sure your pockets are empty, and destroy anything you have at home that might connect you with us in case anything goes wrong."
     
                  "I intend to be much closer than five meters!" the art student said fiercely. "For the Cause! For Freedom and Social Justice! For the Dignity of Man!"
     
                  The Ferret smiled, displaying two rows of crooked, yellowed teeth and repeated the litany. "For the Cause! For Freedom and Social Justice! For the Dignity of Man!" He slapped Webel on the back. "There remains some more preparation to be done. I will meet you at noon tomorrow at your rooms with final instructions." Webel