N01   1 **[434 TEXT N01**]
N01   2    |^*0Alastair was a bachelor. ^All his life he had been inclined to
N01   3 regard women as something which must necessarily be subordinated to
N01   4 his career. ^Now he realised that he was entrusting not only his own
N01   5 life, but Geoffrey's as well, to a strange girl whom he had never met
N01   6 and on whom after no more than a couple of telephone calls he was
N01   7 prepared to place complete reliance. ^It was a novel experience.
N01   8 ^Alastair was quite unable to explain why he should feel so much
N01   9 confidence in her.
N01  10    |^Once again she checked back her instructions. ^It was obvious
N01  11 that she did not fail to appreciate the faith which he was placing in
N01  12 her and was prepared to accept the responsibility.
N01  13    |^*"Good luck, Air Marshal,**" she said gently. ^*"I'll be waiting
N01  14 for you at the Hotel Roma at six this evening*- and I shall look
N01  15 forward to meeting you both at midnight.**" ^They might have been
N01  16 arranging a supper party. ^Then she rang off. ^Alastair admitted that
N01  17 never in a not altogether uneventful life had he come across a girl
N01  18 who sounded so charming and appeared to be so efficient.
N01  19    |^He looked forward to meeting her.
N01  20 *<*4Chapter Ten*>
N01  21    |^*0It was a perfect moonlight night; there appeared to be no cloud
N01  22 over the whole of Europe. ^From a height of 50,000 feet northern Italy
N01  23 strikingly resembled the great relief map which covers the floor of
N01  24 the southern Europe briefing room at {0*2NATO} *0headquarters.
N01  25    |^Seated beside Alastair, lulled by the uncanny silence of
N01  26 supersonic flight, Geoffrey could imagine himself in one of the upper
N01  27 galleries. ^For some reason the orderlies had forgotten to switch on
N01  28 the lights; there was no colour*- physical features were
N01  29 distinguishable solely by gradations of silvery greyness. ^Even the
N01  30 snow-capped summit of Mont Blanc, seven miles below, was not
N01  31 recognisable among the host of lower peaks.
N01  32    |^The screen of the air-to-air radar glowed. ^Occasionally minute
N01  33 spots flickered across its surface, but there was no permanent image.
N01  34 ^The sky seemed to be deserted.
N01  35    |^Alastair leant across and pressed a switch. ^A tiny red light
N01  36 sprang into life, only to fade as the screen of the second radar
N01  37 scanner came into operation. ^This was the ground definition unit.
N01  38 ^Although Geoffrey had relatively little experience of interpreting
N01  39 radar pictures, he was able to recognise the land beneath him. ^In the
N01  40 exceptional clarity he was even able to make a direct comparison
N01  41 between the radar image and the ground itself. ^Ahead lay the Plain of
N01  42 Lombardy; to the right, Turin; to the left, Milan.
N01  43    |^The directional angle of the scanner could be adjusted to cover
N01  44 any particular area within its range. ^Geoffrey turned the scale
N01  45 slowly to cover the ground immediately ahead. ^He was able to pick out
N01  46 towns, unrecognisable to the naked eye, obscured by the ground haze
N01  47 which even on the clearest night limited angular vision.
N01  48    |^He glanced at the speed recorder. ^It seemed almost incredible
N01  49 that the tiny white figure of 8.5 against which the needle was resting
N01  50 could really mean hundreds of knots. ^They were flying at more than
N01  51 975 miles an hour, or nearly Mach 1.3 to use the modern jargon.
N01  52 ^Thanks to the massive cooling plant there was no suggestion of
N01  53 excessive heat.
N01  54    |^Suddenly the nature of the silence changed. ^During the fifty-odd
N01  55 minutes since they had left Boscombe Down, Geoffrey had become so
N01  56 accustomed to the unbroken note of the great engines that they were no
N01  57 longer audible. ^Now, as Alastair reduced the thrust, the pitch
N01  58 changed as the nose of the aircraft dipped slightly. ^The needle of
N01  59 the speed recorder swung gently through 8.0, 7.0, 6.0 before coming to
N01  60 rest at 5.0.
N01  61    |^*"We're a bit ahead of time,**" said Alastair. ^*"We'll run in on
N01  62 minimum engine power.**"
N01  63    |^Geoffrey smiled. ^Alastair talked of running in when they were
N01  64 still more than four hundred miles from their destination.
N01  65    |^They were nearing Modena. ^Geoffrey focused the radar scanner on
N01  66 the bridge over the Po, barely forty miles to port. ^He was able to
N01  67 trace the course of the river; he thought he could recognise the route
N01  68 of N12, along which he had motored so desperately little more than
N01  69 twenty-four hours earlier. ^Since then he had flown to England,
N01  70 attended the vital conference in Bruce Denton's office, been whisked
N01  71 by special helicopter from the Horse Guards Parade to Boscombe Down,
N01  72 slept for six blessed refreshing hours and had now completed
N01  73 two-thirds of the journey back to the place where every indication
N01  74 pointed to Eve being held.
N01  75    |^Geoffrey set himself to consider the movements of the Bentley.
N01  76 ^It had passed him at the temporary bridge over the Tartaro at a few
N01  77 minutes past ten on the previous night. ^He worked out the distance on
N01  78 the presumption that its route had been through Florence and Rome and
N01  79 then across Italy via Foggia to Barletta. ^It came to just over six
N01  80 hundred miles.
N01  81    |^Provided they did not stop (and with Eve unconscious*- or worse*-
N01  82 they would be anxious to avoid attracting attention), and if they
N01  83 drove as fast as the roads would permit, they could not hope to reach
N01  84 Barletta before midday. ^Magnificent as was the performance of the
N01  85 Bentley, Geoffrey doubted whether on the route they had chosen,
N01  86 involving a double crossing of the Apennines*- once at Raticosa over
N01  87 the Futa Pass and once again near Campobasso*- anyone could maintain
N01  88 the average of forty miles an hour which would be necessary. ^Far more
N01  89 probable that they would travel more leisurely.
N01  90    |^Of course they could have bound and gagged her; and provided no
N01  91 one examined what was hidden under the rug, they might get by. ^But
N01  92 they could hardly leave her in the car while they rested. ^No, he
N01  93 concluded, the probability was that they would drive continuously,
N01  94 only stopping for fuel and perhaps to purchase snacks of food and
N01  95 drink. ^They might not reach Foggia until late at night; it was even
N01  96 conceivable he would arrive before them.
N01  97    |^Geoffrey forced himself to consider another possible alternative.
N01  98 ^Eve might be dead. ^If so, why had they troubled to bring her body
N01  99 all the way from Trento? ^There were a hundred places between Trento
N01 100 and the Po where they could have dumped her body without fear of it
N01 101 being prematurely discovered. ^He had used one of them himself to
N01 102 dispose of Stefano and Pietro. ^He determined to act on the assumption
N01 103 that Eve was alive.
N01 104    |^He tried to imagine what the Italians would do next. ^Their final
N01 105 objective could only be to deliver Eve to Herring's headquarters,
N01 106 which in the light of the information he had gleaned at the morning's
N01 107 conference and of Gloria Falcon's story appeared to be somewhere in
N01 108 the Gargano Massif. ^Of course he was assuming that the man
N01 109 responsible for the aircraft, for Peter Lambert's injuries and for the
N01 110 abduction of Eve was one and the same person*- in fact, Herring.
N01 111    |^Nothing was certain. ^All the deductions on which he was planning
N01 112 might be false. ^The men who had captured Eve might have taken her
N01 113 anywhere but to Barletta, but to speculate on the innumerable
N01 114 alternatives was to invite confusion. ^Far better to adhere to the one
N01 115 course which in the light of his present knowledge seemed most
N01 116 probable, while at the same time keeping keenly alert for any
N01 117 additional information which might prove to be of help.
N01 118    |^Gloria Falcon was the key to the whole operation. ^On what she
N01 119 could report of her conversation with Peter Lambert depended ultimate
N01 120 success. ^Geoffrey had had no contact with her but Alastair seemed to
N01 121 have developed a tremendous admiration for her intelligence.
N01 122    |^During the earlier part of their flight from Boscombe Down he had
N01 123 repeated the gist of his third conversation with her.
N01 124    |^Gloria had been waiting at the Hotel Roma when punctually at 6
N01 125 the call from Alastair came through. ^He found that she had done all
N01 126 and more than he had asked of her. ^She had managed to get hold of a
N01 127 Lancia Rapido*- just the car for the job: fast and at the same time
N01 128 with a first-class performance over rough going. ^She had examined
N01 129 every inch of the runway and found it quite serviceable, although, as
N01 130 Alastair had feared, the whole landing area was obstructed by grazing
N01 131 cattle. ^Gloria had visited the farmer, told him that a high-level
N01 132 inspecting officer from the Italian Ministry of Aviation was proposing
N01 133 to land on the strip during the night and that it was as much as his
N01 134 life was worth to allow his cattle to be the cause of an accident.
N01 135    |^Gloria had laughed when she told him how she had accounted for
N01 136 the impending visit of the official from the Ministry.
N01 137    |^*"I hinted,**" she said, *"that he and I were having an affaire
N01 138 and only by making this desperate landing at night could he avoid the
N01 139 suspicions of his wife. ^Every Italian is a romantic. ^He promised
N01 140 that nothing should be allowed to increase the danger of our
N01 141 meeting.**"
N01 142    |^Gloria emphasised that even a slight mishap would draw attention
N01 143 to him being in the district and would be disastrous not only for her
N01 144 but for his career, and, she added significantly, for those
N01 145 responsible for obstructing the runway.
N01 146    |^Within an hour the strip was completely clear; a horde of the
N01 147 farmer's family and all his workpeople hastened to remove not only the
N01 148 cattle but every trace of their presence. ^Gloria admitted that she
N01 149 had not intended to initiate quite so much activity, but once she had
N01 150 told her story there was no way of going back on it.
N01 151    |^*"I have arranged,**" concluded Alastair, *"for her to have the
N01 152 car at the point where the *=14-kilometre stone track meets the
N01 153 runway. ^It is about a hundred yards from the southern end; so that if
N01 154 all goes well we shall come to a stop quite near her.**"
N01 155    |^Geoffrey was impressed by the efficiency with which Alastair
N01 156 managed to surround himself. ^In his Service he was known to be
N01 157 ruthless to incompetence, but he seldom had any difficulty in
N01 158 recruiting precisely the staff he needed. ^He possessed the strange
N01 159 gift of leadership which enabled him to imbue even an unknown film
N01 160 actress with all the qualities of efficiency and decision which he
N01 161 took as a matter of course among his own officers. ^Geoffrey
N01 162 remembered that a famous field marshal, inclined to pontificate, had
N01 163 once stated that a headquarters staff reflected the quality of its
N01 164 commander. ^It certainly seemed to apply to Alastair.
N01 165    |^Now the {0*2N.F.E.} *067 was losing height more rapidly.
N01 166 ^Alastair had decided to make the final approach to the airstrip at a
N01 167 very low level over the sea. ^He crossed the coast a few miles south
N01 168 of Ancona and almost immediately made a steep turn to starboard. ^Now
N01 169 he was flying at less than a hundred feet, about five miles off the
N01 170 coast.
N01 171    |^*"I bet the radar boys are worried,**" he laughed. ^*"They'll
N01 172 have lost us by now and will be wondering where we've got to.**"
N01 173    |^Geoffrey glanced at his watch; it was eighteen minutes to
N01 174 midnight; just one hundred and seven minutes since they had left
N01 175 Boscombe Down.
N01 176    |^*"We'll land in five minutes,**" Alastair announced. ^*"I'd like
N01 177 you to be as quick as you can. ^Chuck your flying kit into the back of
N01 178 the aircraft and I'll get weaving. ^The sooner I can show up on their
N01 179 radar screens the better. ^This is a very hush-hush job and we don't
N01 180 want to create alarm and despondency by giving them the idea that I've
N01 181 skipped with it to the wrong side of the Curtain. ^If they spotted us
N01 182 flying due east over Ancona, it might give them ideas.**"
N01 183    |^The landing was easier than either of them had dared to hope.
N01 184 ^The old landing strip, perhaps helped by the spring-cleaning which it
N01 185 had undergone during the afternoon, shone like black glass in the
N01 186 moonlight. ^Alastair came in very fast, but within less than half a
N01 187 mile the machine rolled to a halt. ^He cut the engines and flung open
N01 188 the canopy.
N01 189 *# 2000
N02   1 **[435 TEXT N02**]
N02   2 *<*2CHAPTER *=16*>
N02   3    |^DARKNESS *0had descended like a curtain by the time they docked
N02   4 at Belleray. ^And though Guy, made nervous by Beryl's silence, drove
N02   5 at reckless speed to the Villa, it was quickly evident that the party
N02   6 was over.
N02   7    |^Piers came strolling out to meet the Deanes, and as soon as Guy
N02   8 had driven away, invited them casually to come to his flat for a
N02   9 drink.
N02  10    |^To Beryl, at least, this was anti-climax with a vengeance. ^She
N02  11 had expected to be met with violent reproaches*- and here he was bland
N02  12 and smiling.
N02  13    |^But it did not take her long to realise that his mood was less
N02  14 pleasant than appeared on the surface.
N02  15    |^He told her nonchalantly, as he led the way to his own veranda,
N02  16 that he had taken the liberty of asking Jack*- as a representative of
N02  17 the Vallin family*- to come over and make the presentation in her
N02  18 stead.
N02  19    |^*"I caught him just as he was going to the airport to meet
N02  20 Blanche,**" he said. ^*"As a matter of fact I'd asked him last night
N02  21 to deputise for me and fetch her. ^He brought her to the party too.
N02  22 ^They're both here.**"
N02  23    |^*"I didn't know she was coming back from Barbados so soon.**"
N02  24 ^Beryl said the first thing that came into her head.
N02  25    |^*"Oh, she was due!**" ^And then he added in the same casual tone,
N02  26 ^*"She's not returning to her family. ^She's going to live with
N02  27 friends of the bank manager, just this side of Belleray.**" ^\0Mrs.
N02  28 Deane made a suitable comment, but Beryl said nothing. ^She was trying
N02  29 to sort things out in her mind. ^That beneath his unnaturally smooth
N02  30 exterior Piers was simmering with anger against her she had no doubt.
N02  31 ^But hadn't she cause for anger too? ^Had he acted within his rights
N02  32 in inviting Jack Vallin to act on her behalf, in having Blanche
N02  33 there*- not doing the honours, perhaps, but as the only white woman of
N02  34 position?
N02  35    |^Be this as it might, she must on no account show resentment now,
N02  36 and she greeted Jack and Blanche with friendly courtesy, thanking Jack
N02  37 warmly for coming to the rescue, and explaining as best she could how
N02  38 it was that she had been obliged to miss the celebrations.
N02  39    |^Jack and Blanche were quick to sympathise, and to express their
N02  40 disgust at Sir John's abominable treatment of his guests. ^But Piers
N02  41 remained aloof, and when Beryl suggested having a second party, the
N02  42 following week, he poured cold water on the project.
N02  43    |^Everyone, he declared, had had a thoroughly good time, and it
N02  44 would take them nearly to next week to settle down again. ^Meanwhile
N02  45 Hubert would have betaken himself and his well-earned gratuity to his
N02  46 native village at the north of the island. ^It was all over and done
N02  47 with.
N02  48    |
N02  49    |^For the time being Beryl was content to let it go at that, but
N02  50 she resolved to have it out with Piers when a reasonable opportunity
N02  51 presented itself.
N02  52    |^He must learn that he could not treat her with injustice and
N02  53 contempt, ignoring her explanations as though he were a schoolmaster
N02  54 and she a small, ignorant child.
N02  55    |^He gave her no chance of any private conversation that evening,
N02  56 for when Blanche and Jack left, he went with them. ^But next morning
N02  57 she insisted on his taking her out in the jeep*- to find, if possible,
N02  58 Hubert and his relations, and tell them of her great disappointment at
N02  59 being held up in Balicou.
N02  60    |^With an air of resignation he sent Judy, his Boxer, to the back,
N02  61 and made room for her beside him.
N02  62    |^*"Is that all you want to do?**" he asked, letting in the clutch.
N02  63    |^*"No; I want to make you understand just what happened about this
N02  64 Balicou trip,**" she returned coldly. ^*"I'm a little tired of being
N02  65 treated like an ineffective imbecile.**"
N02  66    |^*"And *1I'm *0heartily sick of being constantly called to account
N02  67 for my manners,**" he retorted. ^*"What have I done wrong now? ^I
N02  68 cover up for you the best way I can by getting hold of Jack to make
N02  69 the presentation, I run the damned party to the best of my ability*-
N02  70 saying the sugary things you ought to have been there to say*- and all
N02  71 you can do is to find fault.**"
N02  72    |^*"It's your superior attitude that riles me.**" ^Beryl was
N02  73 scarlet with annoyance. ^*"How I happened to be marooned at Balicou
N02  74 doesn't interest you in the faintest degree. ^You look as though it
N02  75 was only what you expected of me, as though I didn't care a hoot about
N02  76 letting Hubert and his pals down.**"
N02  77    |^*"As your employee it's not my business to understand all the
N02  78 whys and wherefores of your actions,**" he said stiffly. ^*"Still less
N02  79 to criticise you.**"
N02  80    |^*"Oh, drop that nonsense, Piers! ^Be yourself,**" she exclaimed,
N02  81 with mounting exasperation.
N02  82    |^*"Very well!**" ^He brought the jeep to a standstill in a rough
N02  83 path fringed and shaded by citrus trees. ^*"If you want my true
N02  84 opinion I'll give it. ^You made some sort of a protest to Graybury.
N02  85 ^I'll give you credit for that. ^But you didn't press the matter
N02  86 because, very naturally, you were thoroughly enjoying Forrest's
N02  87 company in idyllic surroundings.**"
N02  88    |^*"How dare you say such a thing?**" she blazed.
N02  89    |^*"For goodness' sake show a glimmer of reason,**" was his equally
N02  90 indignant rejoinder. ^*"One minute you order me to behave like your
N02  91 secretary, the next like an uninhibited human being.**" ^And then he
N02  92 added caustically, ^*"I've only to mention Forrest's name to put you
N02  93 in a temper. ^Why not admit that you're in love with the fellow and
N02  94 have done with it?**"
N02  95    |^*"Because I'm not,**" she snapped.
N02  96    |^*"You expect me to believe that?**" ^There was open mockery in
N02  97 his tone. ^*"You'll be telling me next that you spent all those hours
N02  98 together on Balicou without his kissing you.**"
N02  99    |^She caught her breath.
N02 100    |^*"Of all the caddish things to say!**"
N02 101    |^*"Nonsense. ^If I'd been in his place I'd have kissed you
N02 102 myself*- good and hard, as I'm tempted to now.**"
N02 103    |^*"You talk as though we were alone on Balicou!**" ^She avoided
N02 104 his gaze, and tried to ignore that last impertinent remark.
N02 105    |^*"With four other people*-**"
N02 106    |^*"Whom you never once managed to circumvent.**" ^The mockery in
N02 107 his voice had deepened. ^*"With all due deference, Miss Deane*- come
N02 108 off it!**"
N02 109    |^She met his eyes then.
N02 110    |^*"Very well,**" she said coolly. ^*"We were alone together for an
N02 111 hour or two, the first afternoon. ^And he did kiss me. ^But if you
N02 112 think I acquiesced in the delay because I wanted his company*- well,
N02 113 you're misjudging me badly.**"
N02 114    |^*"You mean that!**" ^His expression had changed. ^*"It wasn't on
N02 115 his account at all that you allowed Sir John to get away with this*-
N02 116 this Hitlerish behaviour.**"
N02 117    |^She wavered, and at last said slowly, ^*"If you must drag the
N02 118 truth out of me, I must ask you to regard it as confidential.**"
N02 119    |^*"My dear Beryl, don't tell me anything, if you'd rather not.**"
N02 120 ^He was clearly startled by her words. ^*"But remember, it was you,
N02 121 not I, who started this conversation.**"
N02 122    |^*"I know. ^Absurd as it may seem, I didn't want you to think
N02 123 badly of me.**" ^She turned away from him to fondle Judy, who, sensing
N02 124 something amiss, was nudging her in the endeavour to gain her
N02 125 attention. ^*"The truth is that if I had absolutely insisted on
N02 126 sailing at the time originally arranged, Sir John would have had it in
N02 127 for Guy. ^You see, it was, apparently, through a mistake on Guy's part
N02 128 that we missed seeing the flamingoes our first morning on the
N02 129 island.**"
N02 130    |^*"What harm could possibly have come to Forrest through Sir
N02 131 John's nonsense?**" ^Piers could hardly have spoken with more
N02 132 contempt. ^*"A bully like that respects anyone who dares to stand up
N02 133 to him.**"
N02 134    |^Beryl tried to suppress the thought that this was precisely the
N02 135 remark she had made to Guy. ^She said icily, ^*"As you pride yourself
N02 136 on your knowledge of all the affairs of the island I needn't tell you
N02 137 that Sir John Graybury is one of \0Mr. Hewson's most important
N02 138 customers.**"
N02 139    |^*"So what? ^You're not trying to say that Hewson would victimise
N02 140 Forrest for behaving with ordinary moral courage! ^He's quite capable
N02 141 of telling Sir John to take himself and his business to an
N02 142 unmentionable destination.**"
N02 143    |^*"There's a difference between what a senior and a junior partner
N02 144 can do,**" was her quick reply.
N02 145    |^*"What they can bring off! ^I'll admit that. ^But Forrest might
N02 146 at least have tried. ^He's pretty spineless!**"
N02 147    |^*"You think you could have carried more weight with Sir John?**"
N02 148 she enquired cuttingly. ^*"For all your good opinion of yourself, I
N02 149 doubt it. ^He's about as easy to push around as*- as a grounded
N02 150 whale!**"
N02 151    |^He had to smile at that, but went on airily, ^*"I'd have made an
N02 152 attempt to show my lady-love that I put her interests before my own.
N02 153 ^I wouldn't have cared to risk her thinking me a selfish weakling.**"
N02 154    |^The barb hurt cruelly. ^For in her heart of hearts Beryl had
N02 155 resented Guy's apparent indifference to her dilemma*- had come near,
N02 156 indeed, to despising him.
N02 157    |^But her soreness merely increased her anger with Piers.
N02 158    |^*"Was it studying my interests to bring your girl friend to my
N02 159 party for the labourers?**" she demanded. ^*"To have her act as
N02 160 hostess in my absence?**"
N02 161    |^He looked at her, not wrathfully now, but quizzically.
N02 162    |^*"My girl friend, as you call her, remained as much in the
N02 163 background as even you could wish.**" ^He patted the Boxer's huge
N02 164 head. ^*"Judy, here, was more forthcoming. ^In fact, she trotted
N02 165 round, obviously trying to make everyone feel at home, gazing
N02 166 reproachfully at the few timid ones who bolted.**"
N02 167    |^She was tempted to laugh, but it was as though that barb still
N02 168 stuck in her quivering flesh.
N02 169    |^*"You've an answer*- of sorts*- for everything,**" she said
N02 170 shortly. ^*"Personally I've no more to say, so I suggest we get
N02 171 along.**"
N02 172    |^To her great relief they arrived at the cluster of little houses
N02 173 where Hubert had been living to find the old man stowing in leisurely
N02 174 fashion his few possessions into a ramshackle and incredibly ancient
N02 175 car, surrounded by innumerable friends and relatives. ^Their air of
N02 176 smiling somnolence showed them to have been guests at yesterday's
N02 177 celebrations, and their friendly welcome and warm sympathy, as she
N02 178 explained how she had come to miss the party, made her send a
N02 179 complacent glance in Piers' direction. ^What a fuss-box the man was,
N02 180 she thought impatiently, trying to worry her into the belief that her
N02 181 failure to appear at a function on the estate was a major error: that
N02 182 it was the kind of thing that, with these simple folk, spoiled the
N02 183 master-servant relationship.
N02 184    |^And then she received a jolt.
N02 185    |^Old Hubert, standing beside her, his battered hat in his hand,
N02 186 his toothless mouth stretched in a wide grin, told her in halting
N02 187 \6*1patois *0that *"\3Mistah Piers**" had explained right at the start
N02 188 that *"\3Mis' Beryl**" would be {3*"plenty, plenty sad**"} not to be
N02 189 back at the Villa in time. ^That it wouldn't be her fault at all.
N02 190 ^That she was a lady who, like her Uncle Charles, took the highest
N02 191 pride in keeping her word. ^*"I could see \3anudder \3t'ing,**" he
N02 192 went on in a lower voice, his sunken black eyes twinkling. ^{3*"He
N02 193 powerful anxious, poor Mistah Piers. ^We all know how Balicou Island
N02 194 dangerous to all kin' o' boats, wid d'ose big, big rocks in an' out o'
N02 195 de water. ^He full o' fear you comin' bad harm, Mis Beryl. ^I see it
N02 196 in his eyes, even when he smilin' and larkin' wid us. ^I knowin' him
N02 197 well, Missie. ^He always sayin' he one of us, 'cos he born an' bred in
N02 198 de islands. ^An' he say for true!**"}
N02 199    |^This sidelight on Piers had its effect on Beryl. ^Without taking
N02 200 it too seriously she found herself regretting some of the sharp things
N02 201 she had said to him and when, her goodbyes said, she climbed back into
N02 202 the jeep, preparatory to returning to the Villa, it was with the
N02 203 resolve to make up her quarrel with him*- to achieve, at least, a
N02 204 surface peace.
N02 205 *# 2019
N03   1 **[436 TEXT N03**]
N03   2    |^*"*0You don't say?**"
N03   3    |^*"Yes sir! ^That's Gene all right. ^Say, did he tell you what a
N03   4 rotten deal he's got, and is still gettin' from that Hawley girl he
N03   5 married? ^\0Mr. Goddard, if that woman had treated him half way decent
N03   6 she would've found out she'd got herself one of them perfect husbands.
N03   7 ^But no! ^She \2aint got sense enough to see that, even if she is Dan
N03   8 Hawley's daughter, which personally I think she \2aint.**"
N03   9    |^*"What do you mean by that, Constable?**"
N03  10    |^*"Well, she could be a sort of catch-colt, couldn't she, or some
N03  11 poor baby Hawley and his wife adopted because they couldn't have any
N03  12 kids of their own. ^I tell you, \0Mr. Goddard, I would lay down my
N03  13 life for Gene Pelcher, I admire him that much.**"
N03  14    |^*"Well, I never make it a practice to inquire into a man's
N03  15 personal or marital affairs, Constable, here is where I turn in.**"
N03  16    |^Too dense to recognize this dismissal for what it was, Nick
N03  17 Newell would have continued the almost one-sided conversation if
N03  18 Murdock had not called from the platform in front of his store*-
N03  19    |^*"How you feeling now, Brother Goddard? ^You look like you were a
N03  20 little bunged up, from the way you walk.**"
N03  21    |^*"Well, I will say, Brother Murdock,**" Goddard answered with a
N03  22 sigh, *"that the other day when I was out on that rabbit hunt I
N03  23 overdid myself a little. ^From now on I am going to walk a little
N03  24 among the hills every day, extending the length of my walks slightly
N03  25 each day till I can get myself back in condition among these wonderful
N03  26 mountains.**"
N03  27    |^*"Now there's a man I'd tie to, if he ever give me the chance,**"
N03  28 the constable told himself happily as Goddard went into the hotel.
N03  29 ^*"\2Durned if I don't like him most as much as I like and trust Gene
N03  30 Pelcher, by jingo, I do! ^But havin' an official position, I just got
N03  31 to be close-mouthed in expressin' my opinion of other men.**"
N03  32    |^On Poverty Flat, which was a comparatively level stretch of
N03  33 gravelly ground that had once been part of the lake bed, Orestus
N03  34 Hancock had had erected one of the finest houses in all the mountain
N03  35 county. ^It was large and comfortable and practical, though there were
N03  36 houses in Geneva that were adorned with more *"gingerbread**". ^He had
N03  37 not disturbed nature, except close to the house where there were
N03  38 gravelled walks and a drive turning in to the painted stable and
N03  39 carriage house at the rear.
N03  40    |^The house itself had a shake hip-roof that covered a wide porch
N03  41 that extended on both sides and both ends of the building which
N03  42 contained seven large rooms, in addition to quarters for Willie Kim,
N03  43 the Chinaman the judge and Bill had brought from San Francisco eight
N03  44 years before, to serve as cook and housekeeper and sometimes family
N03  45 consultant and adviser.
N03  46    |^The wide veranda was not only screened all around, it had hinged
N03  47 windows that could be raised or lowered as weather conditions
N03  48 dictated. ^Now as the judge sat in a large easy chair on the front
N03  49 portion of this veranda, he had before him the path that led to the
N03  50 pier which projected about a hundred feet out into the lake. ^The more
N03  51 than a mile of water was violently disturbed today, and across this
N03  52 expanse of uneasy water the ground rose to where it rounded off as a
N03  53 thickly brushed mountain.
N03  54    |^Until a couple of hours before the judge had felt easier in mind
N03  55 than he had felt for a long time. ^Since Bill had had his fight with
N03  56 Goddard in Pinenut he had seemed to have **[SIC**] changed completely.
N03  57    |^The judge could not think of Bill's defeat by Goddard as a thing
N03  58 of much importance except that possibly defeat by a smaller, lighter
N03  59 man had brought Bill back to his senses and made him see the futility
N03  60 of the life he had been leading. ^He had almost entirely settled back
N03  61 into his old ways, even to reading law about two hours each day.
N03  62 ^Though he did not refuse wine, which the judge always had on the
N03  63 table at dinner, he did not act as though he found it necessary except
N03  64 in moderate compliance with his father's habit.
N03  65    |^In one respect the judge was not at peace of mind, and probably
N03  66 never would be. ^Though he never expected to attain the happiness he
N03  67 yearned for in a daughter-in-law and grandchildren, he knew the big
N03  68 house would never really be complete until Kate, as Bill's wife,
N03  69 brought children to it. ^She would be here now, and probably with a
N03  70 little one he might jounce on his knee, if it had not been for the
N03  71 narrow-minded priggishness of Dan Hawley and his wife.
N03  72    |^*"From what I have heard,**" he mused with a sigh that had
N03  73 considerable bitterness in it, *"they would have thought themselves
N03  74 socially besmirched because of poor Bill's deluded mother. ^May God
N03  75 have mercy on her soul! ^And may Lombard burn in hell! ^In his hands
N03  76 she was as putty, and I myself am by no means blameless for not having
N03  77 given more time and attention to her and less to the acquisition of
N03  78 wealth, yes, and the establishment of a high reputation as an attorney
N03  79 at law.**"
N03  80    |^Now the judge was not thinking about what might have been but for
N03  81 Dan Hawley and his wife. ^He was thinking, even worrying about his
N03  82 son. ^Soon after ten o'clock, when the lake had been as smooth as blue
N03  83 water could be, Bill had set off in his sixteen-foot yawl with Bueno
N03  84 Buck, a strapping young Pomo Indian, to row for him. ^Bill had
N03  85 intended to do some trolling for lake trout beyond the rounded
N03  86 promontory around which the shore bent to make the mile-wide cove
N03  87 before it straightened out toward The Narrows above which the main
N03  88 body of the lake lay.
N03  89    |^Now the judge was not worried about the permanence of the change
N03  90 in his son. ^He was alarmed for Bill's safety. ^Rising two hours
N03  91 earlier than was its habit, the northwest wind, prevalent at this
N03  92 season, was marching high, white-capped waves down the lake, breaking
N03  93 them into spray against the point and against the opposite shore, and
N03  94 even sending spray so high it sometimes covered the pier.
N03  95    |^Of course in such a gale Bill and Bueno Buck could tie up in the
N03  96 far end of the mile-wide cove and wait for the wind to blow itself
N03  97 out, which it would probably do along toward sunset. ^But would they
N03  98 do it? ^Bill had said he would be back home not later than one
N03  99 o'clock.
N03 100    |^The judge had decided that Bill and the young Indian had accepted
N03 101 the inevitable and sensibly decided to wait for the gale to blow
N03 102 itself out when he caught and held his breath, then rose hastily.
N03 103 ^Around that rounded rocky promontory where the white spray could be
N03 104 seen flying across the distance of a mile and a half, came the yawl
N03 105 under her full triangular sail, and to the judge's frightened eyes, so
N03 106 close to the rocks that it would be dashed against them with the lift
N03 107 of the next wave.
N03 108    |^*"That boy! ^That damned fool boy! ^What does he mean by trying
N03 109 to come home now, even if he did promise? ^What does time mean when
N03 110 weighed against the life of two human beings?**"
N03 111    |^Not until he was certain that the yawl had rounded the rocky
N03 112 point instead of being flung against the huge boulders did the judge
N03 113 empty his lungs of stifling air and refill them with part of that
N03 114 howling northwest gale. ^But his fright and alarm were not gone, they
N03 115 were merely lessened. ^He could see that a figure, undoubtedly that of
N03 116 his beloved fool son, was now sitting in the stern sheets as the yawl
N03 117 quartered out into the lake, and another figure close against the
N03 118 weather gunwale was apparently bailing fast, with as near frenzy as a
N03 119 young Indian who could swim like a fish could come to frenzy.
N03 120    |^Not until he was certain the yawl had successfully got away from
N03 121 the rocks did the judge begin to stride to and fro on his wide
N03 122 veranda, and then not really realizing what he was doing. ^He was
N03 123 almost like the captain of a rudderless ship pacing his own bridge.
N03 124 ^What control had he over that tiny craft that was lifting to a wave
N03 125 crest, then dropping from sight in a trough? ^When the wind was on a
N03 126 rampage, as it was now, it could kick up a sea-sized commotion where
N03 127 it had a straight blow of eight miles down the lake.
N03 128    |^{3*"Big blow, Judge,**"} remarked Willie Kim as the wind
N03 129 billowed out and sucked in his baggy black blouse and pantaloons.
N03 130 ^{3*"Blow like hell. ^Maybe by and by she blow some more.**"}
N03 131    |^*"Hello, Willie, where did you come from?**" the judge said in
N03 132 mild surprise. ^*"I didn't hear you. ^Do you see that fool boy of mine
N03 133 out there on the lake?**"
N03 134    |^{3*"I see him. ^You don't need worry, Judge. ^Big wind like that
N03 135 can't drown good man. ^Bill is good man, and Bueno Buck is raised on
N03 136 lake. ^He no drown, too. ^Him, his mother throw him into water to make
N03 137 him swim when he is born. ^Maybe so Bill, he can swim that good,
N03 138 too.**"}
N03 139 *<*6CHAPTER 19*>
N03 140    |^*2THE *0yawl, riding the high waves with an air that might have
N03 141 made an ocean liner envious, seemed prepared to make a safe though
N03 142 violent landing when there came a sudden gust of wind from the west.
N03 143    |^*"My God!**" the judge cried out. ^*"The boy is going to try to
N03 144 make a landing on the weather side of that pier! ^He'll wreck!**"
N03 145    |^Willie Kim was speechless, only his slant black eyes showing any
N03 146 emotion.
N03 147    |^With a quick shift of tiller, and at the same time jibbing the
N03 148 boom to which he had the stay rope fastened, Bill made the yawl
N03 149 recover. ^It seemed to the frightened judge as though his son would
N03 150 actually shoot the craft in under the outer end of the wharf. ^But by
N03 151 pressing the tiller hard over and at the same time dropping the small
N03 152 sheet of wet canvas, Bill cleared the corner of the pier by inches,
N03 153 and with the tiller still hard over, brought the yawl up against the
N03 154 waves with sufficient momentum to permit Bueno Buck, now on his feet
N03 155 with a coiled rope in left hand a cowboy loop in right, to toss the
N03 156 loop over one of the piles that projected upward for about three feet,
N03 157 from the lee side of the pier.
N03 158    |^*"Willie,**" the judge said huskily, *"that was as pretty a piece
N03 159 of seamanship as I ever saw. ^That boy of mine seems to know how to do
N03 160 everything, when he wants to.**"
N03 161    |^*"\3Naw,**" disputed Willie. ^{3*"Just play in damn fine luck
N03 162 this time. ^He plenty smart though.**"}
N03 163    |^As they reached the pier, the judge on legs that were a little
N03 164 unsteady, they found Bueno Buck, now on the pier, leading the yawl
N03 165 toward the wave-battered shore.
N03 166    |^*"Hello, Dad!**" Bill called. ^*"I hope you weren't worried.
N03 167 ^We're going to drag the boat ashore and turn her over. ^She has a
N03 168 foot of water in her. ^I wouldn't be surprised if we broke all speed
N03 169 records on the way in. ^Yes sir, I am slightly wet, and Buck would be
N03 170 wetter if he had more clothes on.**"
N03 171    |^With four doing the job and the waves pushing at the stern, the
N03 172 yawl was soon dragged out but before it was turned over Bueno Buck
N03 173 reached into the foot of water, tossed out a string of silvery lake
N03 174 trout and said*-
N03 175    |^{3*"Bill, he's better man at catch 'em than Injun, Judge. ^You
N03 176 look. ^Little one more as fifteen inches. ^Maybe big one four feet,
N03 177 huh?**"}
N03 178    |^*"By George, that is a beautiful string of fish!**" exclaimed the
N03 179 judge. ^*"Toss them on the grass and then we'll all get hold and
N03 180 heave.**"
N03 181    |^A few moments later the yawl was upside down, exposing its
N03 182 shallow keel.
N03 183 *# 2007
N04   1 **[437 TEXT N04**]
N04   2    |^*0Bertram's face was grim. ^*"You think it was the Snort, don't
N04   3 you?**"
N04   4    |^John gave a short laugh. ^*"I did,**" he said; *"but I'd better
N04   5 stop thinking that now. ^*1Pericles *0is fitted with an identically
N04   6 similar one.**"
N04   7    |
N04   8    |^*"So there you are, my dear.**"
N04   9    |^Peggy's eyes filled with tears. ^*"It's so unfair,**" she said.
N04  10 ^*"That little beast Robbie Munyard spent six months ashore while
N04  11 *1Pericles *0was refitting in the dockyard and now that she's ready
N04  12 for sea he goes sick. ^Just because he's an Honourable he can do what
N04  13 he likes. ^Anyway, why pick on you to succeed him?**"
N04  14    |^John didn't answer. ^There was no point in sharing his discomfort
N04  15 with Peggy. ^A submariner's wife needed to be spared as much as
N04  16 possible. ^Anyway the *1Parsifal *0affair was far too fresh in both
N04  17 their minds to be a comfortable subject for discussion. ^*"It's a
N04  18 command,**" he said. ^*"We can do with the extra money. ^It'll just
N04  19 about pay Jacky's school fees.**"
N04  20    |^*"What shall we do about this house?*- and Jill's school?*- and
N04  21 oh! how I hate the Navy! ^If I'd known what it would be like I'd
N04  22 sooner have married a parson.**"
N04  23    |^He kissed her. ^*"Parsons work on Sundays,**" he said. ^*"They're
N04  24 worse off than submariners. ^You ought to have married that fat
N04  25 stockbroker chap and shared him with his three mistresses. ^Anyway it
N04  26 might be much worse. ^*1Pericles *0is a Portsmouth boat. ^She spends
N04  27 longer in harbour than any other submarine. ^Practically a shore job.
N04  28 ^Cheer up.**"
N04  29    |^She wiped her eyes and reached for her address book. ^*"I'll
N04  30 write to those agents and try to get a flat in Alverstoke,**" she
N04  31 said. ^*"But I don't know what Jill will say about leaving her school.
N04  32 ^It's a blessing that Jacky's off to boarding school. ^And all the
N04  33 trouble you've taken with the garden! ^That little beast, Robbie
N04  34 Munyard!**"
N04  35    |^Having said her say Peggy manfully shouldered her burden and
N04  36 prepared to break up yet another home. ^In the ten years of married
N04  37 life this had already happened half a dozen times. ^Such is the life
N04  38 of a naval officer's wife.
N04  39    |
N04  40    |^John's father had been a naval officer of the old school; some of
N04  41 his rigid ideas had been passed on to the second generation. ^One of
N04  42 these was that an officer should join a ship, on taking up a new
N04  43 appointment, at nine {0a.m.} precisely, dressed in the modern
N04  44 equivalent of frock-coat and sword. ^It would have been acceptable to
N04  45 all concerned if John had stepped into Fort Blockhouse clad in
N04  46 plain-clothes on the previous night, but ways instilled by martinet
N04  47 parents have a habit of sticking. ^So he put up for the night at The
N04  48 Admiral's Head, that famous Portsmouth hostelry, second only in
N04  49 historic interest to The George, unhappily destroyed by German bombs
N04  50 during the last war.
N04  51    |^Having deposited his baggage and unpacked his overnight-bag he
N04  52 went in search of a drink. ^The lower bar was empty, save for the lady
N04  53 known by all habitue*?2s as *'Seaweed**', and a youngish, sharp-eyed
N04  54 man who was staring moodily into a gin and tonic.
N04  55    |^Seaweed's memory was prodigious; her manner must have been worth
N04  56 a great deal to the proprietors of the hotel. ^She greeted John,
N04  57 however, with less than her usual cordiality and flashed a warning
N04  58 glance at him. ^Evidently the other occupant of the bar was not
N04  59 {6*1persona grata}. ^*0If her memory was good, so was this
N04  60 stranger's.
N04  61    |^*"You're Commander Winter,**" he said. ^*"Have a gin?**" ^He
N04  62 turned to Seaweed*- ^*"Make it a large one, darling. ^I know the naval
N04  63 habits. ^*'Drink gin and call each other wallahs, what!**'*- as the
N04  64 Guards officer said on his return from a visit to the Royal Navy.
N04  65 ^Submarines, what. ^Youngest {0D.S.C.} in the war, what? ^Crawled
N04  66 inside a submarine casing to defuse a Jerry bomb. ^Should have been a
N04  67 {0V.C.} ^What are you waiting for, darling? ^The officer is
N04  68 obviously thirsty.**"
N04  69    |^John fought back his inherited desire to snub the man. ^If he did
N04  70 he would have to leave the bar and either sit in the lounge or return
N04  71 to his bedroom.
N04  72    |^Seaweed sensed his embarrassment and came to the rescue.
N04  73    |^*"You haven't introduced yourself,**" she said with mock
N04  74 severity. ^*"It's a rule on these premises. ^No treating with
N04  75 strangers*- that's right, John, isn't it?**"
N04  76    |^*"My fault entirely,**" said the stranger. ^*"It's my conceited
N04  77 nature*- I assumed that you both knew who I was. ^I'm Ian Bawley.
N04  78 ^Does that mean anything to you?**"
N04  79    |^It did. ^Ian Bawley's name was printed at the head of most naval
N04  80 articles in the *1Daily Courier.
N04  81    |^*0*"Oh, the Press,**" said Seaweed. ^*"Down here on business,
N04  82 \0Mr. Bawley?**"
N04  83    |^*"A pressman is always on the job.**" ^He held out his hand and
N04  84 John could not do otherwise than take it. ^*"Pleased to meet you,
N04  85 Commander,**" he said. ^*"Now what about that drink?**"
N04  86    |^John nodded*- he could afford to buy one in return and he was
N04  87 lonely.
N04  88    |^*"For the sake of accuracy,**" he said, *"and I know how you
N04  89 newspaper people value that commodity!*- please don't address me as
N04  90 Commander. ^I'm a Lieutenant-Commander. ^Perhaps we could drop the
N04  91 rank*- such a mouthful!**"
N04  92    |^*"You're absolutely right,**" said Bawley, as he pushed over his
N04  93 glass. ^*"Fill it up, darling. ^Accuracy above all else. ^We pride
N04  94 ourselves about accuracy on the *1Courier. ^*0Ever known us bowl a
N04  95 wide about your Service? ^Check and counter-check*- nothing but the
N04  96 truth. ^Somewhat embarrassing, what?**"
N04  97    |^*"How can the truth be embarrassing?**" ^John sipped his double
N04  98 gin with relish. ^It was his favourite brand, he was on the verge of a
N04  99 new chapter in his career, and his companion's attitude was
N04 100 challenging. ^Life at home and in Bath had been a trifle too
N04 101 comfortable and humdrum. ^He'd never before met a pressman and found
N04 102 him curiously stimulating.
N04 103    |^*"You're a bit of a humorist, aren't you?**" said Bawley. ^*"The
N04 104 truth is usually very embarrassing. ^You're in submarines, aren't
N04 105 you?**"
N04 106    |^*"You know a great deal about me,**" said John.
N04 107    |^*"It's my business. ^I'll tell you more. ^You're going to take
N04 108 over command of *1Pericles. ^*0Am I right?**"
N04 109    |^*"Who told you?**"
N04 110    |^*"Little bird. ^Other half?**"
N04 111    |^John nodded. ^*"On me.**"
N04 112    |^Bawley shook his head. ^*"All paid for by His Lordship,**" he
N04 113 said. ^*"Expense account. ^You're a married man with a couple of kids.
N04 114 ^Can't go wasting your substance on a complete stranger. ^Set 'em up,
N04 115 darling!**"
N04 116    |^John flushed. ^*"I'm not in need of charity.**"
N04 117    |^*"Come off it,**" said Bawley. ^*"The proprietor of the *1Daily
N04 118 Courier *0knows what's going on. ^If he doesn't mind, why should
N04 119 you?**"
N04 120    |^*"I see.**" ^John took the refilled glass and looked over the rim
N04 121 at his companion. ^*"You want me to talk, is that it?**"
N04 122    |^*"You misjudge me,**" said Bawley. ^*"You have nothing to tell
N04 123 me, yet. ^But we'll be meeting again, no doubt, and then you will
N04 124 have. ^Regard this as a softening-up process, and have dinner with me?
N04 125 ^On His Lordship, of course.**"
N04 126    |^*"On one condition,**" said John. ^*"Tell me who the little bird
N04 127 was.**"
N04 128    |^*"Can't you guess? ^Whose portrait appears regularly in the shiny
N04 129 papers?**"
N04 130    |^*"You mean Munyard?**"
N04 131    |^*"Sure. ^Very useful contact, is our Robbie; he gives us the gen
N04 132 and we give him the publicity. ^*'The Honourable *"Robbie**" and
N04 133 friend**', what? ^You know the sort of thing.**"
N04 134    |^*"You'll get nothing out of me,**" said John, *"but you can pay
N04 135 for my drinks if you want to, as long as you keep off Service
N04 136 matters.**"
N04 137    |^*"Good-oh! ^One for the grill-room, darling, and tell George to
N04 138 bring in the {6*1carte du jour}.*0**"
N04 139    |^Bawley was a man of his word. ^He kept away from Service matters,
N04 140 was an excellent host and a splendid raconteur. ^The evening passed
N04 141 all too quickly. ^As they parted in the vestibule the two men were
N04 142 well disposed towards each other.
N04 143    |^*"Ever been to Fleet Street?**" asked Bawley. ^*"You should.
N04 144 ^Next time you're in Town give me a ring at this number and I'll take
N04 145 you round the pubs where most of the work is done.**" ^He held out a
N04 146 card. ^John took it and put it in his pocket.
N04 147    |^*"Thanks,**" he said. ^*"If ever my missus lets me off the chain
N04 148 I'll take you up on that. ^Ever been out in a submarine? ^I'll give
N04 149 you a spin round one of these days, if you like. ^You could write it
N04 150 up.**"
N04 151    |^Bawley made a face. ^*"Not in *1Pericles, *0old man.**"
N04 152    |^*"Why not?**"
N04 153    |^*"Better ask Robbie Munyard.**"
N04 154    |^*"What's he been saying?**" ^John was furious. ^The little
N04 155 squirt! ^To go gassing to a newspaper man!
N04 156    |^*"Look!**" he went on earnestly. ^*"You're not going to write up
N04 157 *1Pericles *0in some way or other, are you?**"
N04 158    |^*"What is there to write up?**" said Bawley. ^*"There are
N04 159 forty-three submarines in the Navy*- why should I pick on
N04 160 *1Pericles*0?**"
N04 161    |^John eyed him steadily.
N04 162    |^*"It's the *1Parcifal *0business, isn't it?**" he said quietly.
N04 163    |^*"I don't want it to happen again,**" said Bawley*- *"more so
N04 164 than ever since I met you.**"
N04 165    |^*"What did Munyard say?**"
N04 166    |^*"The Snort*- hull fitting fractured.**"
N04 167    |^*"Supposing I was to tell you that we've had *1Pericles' *0entire
N04 168 Snort equipment removed and X-rayed and that it was as sound as a
N04 169 bell?**" said John.
N04 170    |^*"Munyard didn't tell me that. ^But I must confess I'm relieved.
N04 171 ^But it still doesn't do away with the possibility of faulty
N04 172 design.**"
N04 173    |^He held out his hand.
N04 174    |^*"Maybe I will take a trip with you one of these days,**" he
N04 175 said. ^*"In the meantime I'll tell my editor that the story's a dead
N04 176 bird. ^Glad I met you. ^Don't forget to give me a ring*- any time*-
N04 177 knock twice and ask for Bawley, what?**"
N04 178    |^*"I don't know when that will be,**" said John. ^*"I shall be
N04 179 busy for a while, cleaning up after Master bloody Munyard.**"
N04 180 *<*4*=2*>
N04 181 *<*2CAPTAIN HENRY TURTON, {0D.S.O.}, {0R.N.}*>
N04 182    |^*4T*2HERE *0were six submarines, lying in pairs alongside the
N04 183 jetty at Fort Blockhouse. ^Black and grimly businesslike they both
N04 184 looked and sounded, for all of them were rumbling as they charged
N04 185 their electric batteries. ^A light wind wafted the smoke of diesel
N04 186 exhaust in through the open windows of the Captain's house. ^It
N04 187 pervaded every room but neither Harry nor Madeleine Turton noticed its
N04 188 existence as they sat in silence over a substantial breakfast.
N04 189 ^Although usually a very talkative lady Madeleine respected her
N04 190 husband's silences, for she knew they betokened a worry of some sort.
N04 191 ^There had been many such breakfasts lately since the affair of
N04 192 *1Parsifal. ^*0Harry had lost a good deal of weight. ^His normal
N04 193 placid and steady-going manner remained, but she could see that it no
N04 194 longer came naturally. ^It is the common lot of all Squadron Senior
N04 195 Officers to experience such catastrophes as the loss of a submarine,
N04 196 though in peace time these happenings are few and far between. ^This
N04 197 is the testing time for all. ^The affair blows up into a national
N04 198 disaster and then when it is all over life must continue as before.
N04 199 ^During this period the Captain must present an unruffled appearance
N04 200 and carry on as if nothing unusual has happened. ^Harry Turton had
N04 201 written letters to the bereaved, had visited many in the locality, had
N04 202 been interviewed by the Press, had driven his surviving submarines a
N04 203 good deal harder than usual and in fact had applied all the usual
N04 204 specifics suitable for such occasions. ^The worst was over now, except
N04 205 for the *1Pericles *0affair.
N04 206    |^It had never occurred to Harry Turton that Robbie Munyard,
N04 207 popular as he was, especially with the ladies, son of a famous man and
N04 208 an (apparently) well weathered submariner, should go to pieces as he
N04 209 had done with disastrous effects on the morale of his crew; but he
N04 210 had. ^Quite suddenly he'd walked into the office and declared that his
N04 211 command was not fit to go under water and then he had burst into
N04 212 tears. ^Now he was at the naval hospital. ^Acute neurasthenia, said
N04 213 the Surgeon-Rear-Admiral. ^The affair had been handled quietly and
N04 214 efficiently but rumours of this extraordinary scene in the office had
N04 215 reached to the far corners of the establishment. ^Munyard had left his
N04 216 jitters behind. ^Long conferences had been held between Harry Turton
N04 217 and his Admiral in which various alterations had been debated.
N04 218 *# 2017
N05   1 **[438 TEXT N05**]
N05   2 ^*0Fred was eyeing Hanson with a little tingle passing up and down his
N05   3 spine. ^This police inspector looked genuine enough, but Freeman was
N05   4 taking no chances. ^The fact that the inspector was a total stranger
N05   5 increased his suspicions. ^Fred was well acquainted with most of the
N05   6 police officers who operated in this district....
N05   7    |^*"Sorry, sir,**" he said blandly. ^*"I'd better tell you the
N05   8 truth, I think. ^No need for you to waste your time. ^\0Mr. Conquest
N05   9 went out some time ago.**"
N05  10    |^Hanson's lips tightened. ^He believed this to be a lie. ^Landis
N05  11 had been watching, and he was convinced that the Conquests had not
N05  12 left*- and Landis was a man who had been well trained for work of this
N05  13 kind.
N05  14    |^*"So \0Mr. Conquest went out?**" said Hanson, with ominous calm.
N05  15 ^*"I'd advise you not to lie to me, my man. ^If Conquest gave you
N05  16 orders to say that he was out...**"
N05  17    |^*"No, sir. ^He went out. ^I saw him go.**"
N05  18    |^*"When did he go? ^And where?**"
N05  19    |^*"Didn't say where, sir*- never does say.**"
N05  20    |^*"When do you expect him back?**"
N05  21    |^*"Never expect him back, sir,**" said Fred, in the same bland
N05  22 voice. ^*"He's a very uncertain young gentleman, is \0Mr. Conquest.
N05  23 ^Might be hours. ^Might be days.**"
N05  24    |^*"Was he alone?**"
N05  25    |^*"No, sir. ^His wife was with him.**"
N05  26    |^Hanson was now certain that Freeman was lying. ^Landis could not
N05  27 possibly have missed seeing the small, attractive figure of Joy.
N05  28 ^Hanson was rapidly becoming exasperated, and he showed it in his
N05  29 manner.
N05  30    |^*"Who else is in the flat?**" he snapped.
N05  31    |^*"Nobody, sir.**"
N05  32    |^*"No servants?**"
N05  33    |^*"There's Miss Bliss, the housekeeper, but she left an hour ago.
N05  34 ^And there's Livingstone, who looks after \0Mr. Conquest's car, and
N05  35 does odd jobs. ^He went out, too. ^The flat's empty.**"
N05  36    |^Hanson swore.
N05  37    |^*"Listen to me, my man,**" he said grimly, as he laid a hard hand
N05  38 on Fred's arm. ^*"We in the police are well aware of Conquest and his
N05  39 tricky ways. ^He may live like a gentleman in an expensive penthouse,
N05  40 but he's worse than half the crooks in London. ^You're lying to me*-
N05  41 on his orders. ^Take me up to the penthouse at once.**"
N05  42    |^*"What's the use?**" asked Freeman. ^*"It's empty.**"
N05  43    |^He was inwardly excited. ^He believed this police inspector to be
N05  44 a phony, and he had to decide what to do on the spur of the moment.
N05  45 ^It was the first time he had ever been required to take a really
N05  46 active part in one of his employer's enterprises, and he was thrilled.
N05  47    |^*"That's enough,**" said Hanson curtly. ^*"Take me up
N05  48 immediately.**"
N05  49    |^*"All right, sir.**"
N05  50    |^Freeman led the way to the private lift, and a minute later they
N05  51 were ascending. ^At the top, as soon as the door slid open, Hanson
N05  52 stepped out, and was annoyed to find Freeman following him. ^The
N05  53 lounge was empty.
N05  54    |^*"All right*- you can take the lift down,**" said Hanson curtly
N05  55 ^*"I shan't need you now.**"
N05  56    |^*"No, sir,**" said Fred stubbornly. ^*"I've had the \2guv'nor's
N05  57 orders not to let anybody into the flat, and if you wasn't a policeman
N05  58 I wouldn't have let you in. ^I'm staying until you've finished.**"
N05  59    |^Hanson had not expected this difficulty. ^Even in his role of a
N05  60 police inspector there was a limit to the amount of ordering he could
N05  61 do. ^It would be dangerous to arouse this porter's suspicions. ^Also,
N05  62 the lounge was very empty, and the entire penthouse was silent, with
N05  63 no sign of life.
N05  64    |^*"\0Mr. Conquest!**" shouted Hanson loudly.
N05  65    |^Silence*- except for a discreet cough from Fred.
N05  66    |^*"I told you there wasn't anybody home,**" he said. ^*"No good
N05  67 you shouting, sir.**"
N05  68    |^*"Stay where you are,**" snapped Hanson.
N05  69    |^He was not only puzzled, but alarmed. ^The Conquests were here*-
N05  70 they must be here. ^If they had left, Landis would have seen them.
N05  71 ^Hanson suspected a trick. ^With a hand in the pocket of his uniform
N05  72 jacket*- where he carried the gun*- he made for the nearest door. ^It
N05  73 led through into the kitchen quarters. ^Everything tidy and neat, but
N05  74 no living thing present. ^Hanson quickly explored Aunt Susan's
N05  75 bedroom, which was also in this part of the penthouse.
N05  76    |^Baffled, he returned to the lounge. ^An examination of the
N05  77 bedrooms and bathroom led to the same result. ^Empty. ^He passed
N05  78 through the passage, watched amusedly by Fred, into the garage. ^No
N05  79 sign of life here, either. ^The shiny Merce*?2de*?3s was there, its
N05  80 windows shattered as of the previous night.
N05  81    |^*"Hell!**" muttered Hanson under his breath.
N05  82    |^He inwardly cursed Landis. ^The man had obviously fallen down on
N05  83 his job. ^In some way, every occupant of the penthouse had left the
N05  84 premises*- and Landis had not seen them go. ^It was understandable
N05  85 that Aunt Susan and Livingstone had escaped the watcher's attention;
N05  86 but it was incredible that he could have missed such striking figures
N05  87 as those of Norman and Joy. ^How the devil had he been tricked?
N05  88    |^*"Well, sir?**" asked Freeman patiently, as Hanson re-entered the
N05  89 lounge.
N05  90    |^*"You appear to have been right,**" admitted Hanson savagely.
N05  91 ^*"There's nobody here. ^Take me down.**"
N05  92    |^He made a move towards the lift, and then halted. ^He had caught
N05  93 sight of a card prominently displayed on the cocktail bar. ^He strode
N05  94 across, and examined it*- and a fluttery sensation assailed his
N05  95 stomach. ^The card simply said*- ^*"Back on April the nineteenth.**"
N05  96    |^The implication was obvious. ^The world, in Conquest's opinion,
N05  97 would still be functioning after the expiration of the True Prophet's
N05  98 deadline. ^Hanson inwardly squirmed. ^This young hell-hound was
N05  99 prepared for everything! ^He had even suspected that the opposition
N05 100 would invade the penthouse, and he had left this card for their
N05 101 benefit!
N05 102    |^Hanson's very appearance*- his hard breathing, his frustration,
N05 103 his savage expression*- assured Fred Freeman that he was a fake. ^No
N05 104 genuine police inspector would have reacted in this way. ^And Fred was
N05 105 agog with excitement because he had suddenly decided to make a move
N05 106 which might, or might not, meet with Conquest's approval. ^He was
N05 107 going to act on his own initiative, and his heart began to pump.
N05 108    |^*"I'm sorry, sir,**" he said, striving to keep his voice normal,
N05 109 *"but there's one room you haven't seen. ^At least, I don't think
N05 110 you've seen it. ^I meant to tell you about it. ^It's a sort of private
N05 111 room. ^\0Mr. Conquest might be there.**"
N05 112    |^Hanson swung round, staring.
N05 113    |^*"A private room?**"
N05 114    |^*"Yes, sir. ^You wouldn't have seen it.**"
N05 115    |^*"Take me to it.**"
N05 116    |^Hanson had no suspicion that this ordinary-looking porter was
N05 117 adopting something of his employer's technique. ^He was not surprised,
N05 118 however, to hear that the flat contained a *"private room.**" ^Fedder
N05 119 had told him a great deal about the trickiness of the young man who
N05 120 signed himself *"1066.**" ^It was unfortunate, however, that Fedder
N05 121 had not mentioned the *"private room**"*- which Fedder himself had
N05 122 occupied, to his mortification, at the time when Conquest had been
N05 123 getting to grips with Pierre Dacca, the Paris criminal.
N05 124    |^*"This way, sir.**"
N05 125    |^Fred was quivering with eagerness. ^He led the way into the
N05 126 laboratory, which Hanson had already examined. ^A plain, austere
N05 127 apartment, gleaming with porcelain-tiled walls and glass shelves.
N05 128 ^Fred went straight across to the plain wall opposite the door.
N05 129    |^*"It's here, sir,**" he said, grinning.
N05 130    |^*"What are you trying to do*- make a fool of me?**" shouted
N05 131 Hanson. ^*"There's no doorway in that wall.**"
N05 132    |^Fred reached up, but Hanson did not see what his hand was doing;
N05 133 all he knew was that a portion of the wall silently opened, revealing
N05 134 a void. ^Lights sprang on, and Hanson found himself staring into a
N05 135 comfortable little inner room, where there was a lounge and other
N05 136 articles of furniture. ^He took rapid steps to the doorway, and peered
N05 137 in.
N05 138    |^A fatal move....
N05 139    |^For Hanson had placed himself exactly where Fred Freeman required
N05 140 him. ^A quick shove, and Hanson blundered headlong into the inner
N05 141 room. ^Before he could recover his balance, the wall had closed upon
N05 142 him. ^Fred, on his side, breathed heavily.
N05 143    |^*"\2Blimey, I hope I've done right!**" he muttered, thoroughly
N05 144 scared now that the thing had been accomplished.
N05 145    |^Months ago, Conquest had shown Freeman the secret of the inner
N05 146 room, saying that it might be useful, one day, for Fred to know about
N05 147 it. ^For Conquest trusted the man implicitly, and with good reason.
N05 148 ^Fred was as loyal as Livingstone himself. ^But this was the first
N05 149 time he had ever actively assisted Norman, and the occasion rather
N05 150 overawed him. ^He remembered something else. ^He again turned to the
N05 151 blank wall, and this time a little cubby-hole opened, not far from the
N05 152 door*- much too small to admit the exit of a human body. ^He bent
N05 153 down, and saw Hanson's face staring at him.
N05 154    |^*"How do you like it, mister?**" asked Fred recklessly. ^*"You a
N05 155 police inspector? ^A cop? ^Like my foot! ^When do you think I was
N05 156 born*- yesterday?**"
N05 157    |^*"My God!**" panted Hanson, his brain nearly bursting.
N05 158    |^He had been alarmed to find himself trapped, but to see the
N05 159 gloating face of his trapper peering at him through this hole was more
N05 160 than his nerve could stand.
N05 161    |^*"Conquest put you up to this!**" he snarled. ^*"Let me out of
N05 162 here!**" ^He pulled the gun out of his pocket and thrust it forward,
N05 163 thus certifying himself as a fake*- for no genuine police inspector
N05 164 carries a gun. ^*"Put your hands up!**"
N05 165    |^Fred laughed. ^The threat was so idle that he could afford to
N05 166 laugh. ^All the same, he lost no time in sliding along the wall, out
N05 167 of range. ^There was still the danger that the trapped man would reach
N05 168 as far as possible through the opening, and use the gun, but Fred
N05 169 scotched this by operating the mechanism again, and causing the
N05 170 opening to close itself up. ^Not that he need have worried; for Hanson
N05 171 was no gunman, and in the excitement of the moment he had forgotten to
N05 172 release the safety-catch of the automatic.
N05 173    |^*"I was right,**" whispered Fred to himself, with jubilation.
N05 174 ^*"He's a phony.**"
N05 175    |^The word put an idea into his head, and he hurried through to the
N05 176 lounge and went to the phone. ^He dialled a Streatham number, and in a
N05 177 few moments was gratified to hear Conquest's clear voice.
N05 178    |^*"It's me, sir*- Fred,**" panted the porter. ^*"Something's
N05 179 happened, sir. ^I don't know whether I've done right, but I hope I
N05 180 have.**"
N05 181    |^*"You sound hoarse, Fred. ^Calm down, and tell me exactly what
N05 182 happened,**" came Conquest's voice. ^*"Spare no details, however
N05 183 slight, for I suspect that your singular narrative will be fraught
N05 184 with interest.**"
N05 185    |^*"Come off it, \0Mr. Conquest,**" protested Fred. ^*"This is
N05 186 serious. ^I've got a man locked up in your secret room....**"
N05 187    |^He went into details, describing exactly what had happened....
N05 188    |^*"Did I do right, sir?**" he ended anxiously.
N05 189    |^*"The word *'right**' is totally inadequate, Fred,**" replied
N05 190 Norman, with a chuckle in his voice. ^*"Well done! ^As nice a piece of
N05 191 work as I can remember. ^I thought there might be some kind of enemy
N05 192 activity, although I hardly expected it to explode so soon. ^This
N05 193 blighter has a gun, eh? ^You'd better warn Bill Williams about
N05 194 that.**"
N05 195    |^*"\0Mr. Williams, sir?**"
N05 196    |^*"Yes. ^As soon as we've hung up, get through to Scotland Yard,
N05 197 ask for the superintendent, and tell him what you've got. ^He'll be
N05 198 charmed. ^Another of the ungodly for Bill's collection. ^We're not
N05 199 doing so badly, Fred. ^This bloke of yours seems to be one of the more
N05 200 important specimens.**"
N05 201    |^The porter, who had not the faintest idea of the game which
N05 202 Conquest was playing, asked no questions. ^He was satisfied with
N05 203 Norman's words of praise, and he lost no time in getting in touch with
N05 204 Scotland Yard....
N05 205    |^At Hampstead, Fedder was impatiently awaiting Hanson's return.
N05 206 ^He was not too satisfied with Hanson. ^More than once, since they had
N05 207 parted, he had felt that he should have sent a more determined, more
N05 208 ruthless man on this particular assignment. ^Too late now, of course.
N05 209 ^All he could do was wait.
N05 210    |^The truth was, Fedder had been pitchforked into near-panic action
N05 211 by the fear that Conquest, if any delay took place, would elude him.
N05 212 *# 2006
N06   1 **[439 TEXT N06**]
N06   2    |^*0There were tears in her eyes then and it was a mighty big
N06   3 temptation to back down and tell her to stay which would be just what
N06   4 I would want in my \2goddam selfish way. ^So instead I hardened my
N06   5 heart, and it was real hard work. ^Even Matt Tompkins gave me a dirty
N06   6 look. ^I expect he figured I was a real mean hombre.
N06   7    |^*"I'll be here to see you onto the stage tomorrow morning,**" I
N06   8 said. ^*"Meantime I should stay indoors. ^This town is no health
N06   9 resort.**"
N06  10    |^*"Amen to that,**" said Ma Tompkins unexpectedly.
N06  11    |^*"It's a sink of iniquity, a real Sodom and Gomorrow.**"
N06  12    |^*"Gomorrah,**" I said absent-minded like. ^My Pa never made any
N06  13 mistake over words from the good book. ^*"So-long then till tomorrow,
N06  14 Miss Jeannie, and look after yourself.**"
N06  15    |^And with those weak words I walked on out, avoiding Jeannie
N06  16 Bain's accusing eyes and wishing I had the strength to say a half of
N06  17 all the things I'd have liked to say to her.
N06  18    |^I stood around in the early morning sunlight not knowing quite
N06  19 what to do next and then of course I remembered that I had better go
N06  20 find Dan Maffrey and get him wised up about last night's occurrences.
N06  21 ^I ambled on from Ma Tompkins's house to the livery stable. ^The owner
N06  22 was inside rubbing down a horse. ^I stood around watching him and
N06  23 listening to him hiss through his teeth in the peculiar way hostlers
N06  24 have.
N06  25    |^*"That's a fine horse you've got there, mister,**" I said at
N06  26 last.
N06  27    |^He broke off his hissing for a brief space and took a quick look
N06  28 at me.
N06  29    |^*"Yes,**" he said. ^*"It's a Morgan. ^Belongs to the Town
N06  30 Marshal.**"
N06  31    |^Something in his eyes as he said this, a swift flicker of double
N06  32 knowledge, made me think. ^Here was someone who'd known all about Bill
N06  33 Appleton and someone who'd had enough time to let Pell and his gang
N06  34 know about Appleton's movements and identity too. ^Someone maybe who'd
N06  35 been at the meeting. ^This man had been at the meeting too.
N06  36    |^*"You heard what happened to Appleton after the meeting?**" I
N06  37 said.
N06  38    |^*"Yeah,**" he said. *"I heard.**"
N06  39    |^*"Someone must have arranged that,**" I went on.
N06  40    |^*"\2Mebbe so. ^I \2jest hear things. ^Everyone talks to
N06  41 liverymen.**"
N06  42    |^*"Yes,**" I said. ^*"There's too much pow-wowing going on
N06  43 hereabouts.**"
N06  44    |^He came out from behind the Marshal's horse.
N06  45    |^*"You want your pony, mister?**"
N06  46    |^*"Yes,**" I said, *"I'll take a little pasear around. ^Maybe I'll
N06  47 hear a little more talk along the trail and maybe I'll find out who
N06  48 killed Bill Appleton.**"
N06  49    |^He went off then to get Bessie from an inner stall. ^She came
N06  50 along and whickered when she saw me. ^The liveryman pulled my rig off
N06  51 a nail and slapped it on the mare.
N06  52    |^*"You coming back?**" he said when he'd got the saddle fixed.
N06  53    |^*"I aim to,**" I said, cold as a fish. ^*"This town kind of grows
N06  54 on me.**"
N06  55    |^I climbed up onto Bessie and he watched me with resentment, fear
N06  56 and self-disgust fighting for possession of his face. ^I rode out and
N06  57 away from town at a quiet trot. ^I would circle around and try to find
N06  58 Dan Maffrey on the other side in the hidey-hole he'd ridden off to
N06  59 last night.
N06  60    |^It took me an hour to make my circle of the town. ^I found the
N06  61 trail along which Dan must have come in. ^It was well-worn,
N06  62 wheel-marked and dusty. ^It would be the trail up to Colorado, I
N06  63 figured. ^About four miles along, it swung north-east, twisting and
N06  64 turning through rough country with big rocks sticking out all round.
N06  65 ^A coach, I thought, would have to slow up some on a trail like that.
N06  66 ^I trotted on. ^The perfect spot lay about half a mile further on, on
N06  67 an upgrade that was steep enough to slow any coach to a crawl. ^I
N06  68 reined in and took a look around. ^There were medium-sized rocks and
N06  69 mesquite bushes on both sides at the top, with enough cover for men
N06  70 and horses until the right moment. ^Further over, about four hundred
N06  71 yards west of the trail, the ground rose again to a ridge. ^I was
N06  72 staring at it when I heard a voice.
N06  73    |^*"You got the same idea as me.**" ^It was Dan of course, bellied
N06  74 down on the far side. ^I saw him stand up and then he disappeared for
N06  75 a moment, reappearing seconds later on his cayuse. ^He rode down to
N06  76 where I was waiting. ^I was thinking what a skill he had for reading
N06  77 my mind.
N06  78    |^*"This would be as good a place for a hold-up as any,**" he said,
N06  79 reining in near me.
N06  80    |^*"Yes,**" I said. ^*"It'll be here tomorrow as likely as not.**"
N06  81 ^I paused. ^*"Miss Jeannie'll be on that coach, Dan.**"
N06  82    |^*"Yes,**" he said. ^*"I know.**"
N06  83    |^*"No harm must come to her, Dan.**"
N06  84    |^*"She'll be all right. ^It's the men who'll be after that coach
N06  85 I'm interested in, Johnny.**"
N06  86    |^*"I know. ^But if lead starts flying she might be in danger.**"
N06  87    |^*"That's so. ^But I reckon they'll be too busy shooting at us to
N06  88 bother with the coach and the folks in it.**"
N06  89    |^*"Maybe,**" I said. ^*"But we've got to remember that girl all
N06  90 the time, Dan. ^I feel kind of responsible for her.**"
N06  91    |^*"Of course,**" he said, giving me one of his strange looks.
N06  92 ^Then he turned the conversation. ^*"Let's ride over and have a look
N06  93 at the mining camp. ^After all it's them we're supposed to be working
N06  94 for, as well as the townsfolk and the agency detective.**"
N06  95    |^With something of a start I remembered the man who'd brought us
N06  96 into this business.
N06  97    |^*"Maybe you don't know about Appleton, Dan?**"
N06  98    |^*"Know what?**"
N06  99    |^*"That he's dead,**" I said. ^I watched him because I was always
N06 100 fascinated by the way he looked when you tried to surprise him.
N06 101    |^*"Dead?**" he said.
N06 102    |^*"Yes. ^Dead. ^Shuffled out of the deck. ^Blasted down with a
N06 103 shotgun outside the Palace last night.**"
N06 104    |^*"Fenton or Somers,**" he said.
N06 105    |^*"Or the Town Marshal,**" I added.
N06 106    |^His face was fixed, unreadable as a rock.
N06 107    |^*"Let's get over to the mining camp,**" he said abruptly.
N06 108    |^He wheeled his horse back off the trail and up the slope leading
N06 109 to the ridge. ^I followed. ^From the top you could see something of
N06 110 the wild hill country that lay all round Gilburg Crossing. ^The air
N06 111 was fresh and clear and you could see far over west and north for many
N06 112 miles. ^The real high country of the Rockies lifted up in the distance
N06 113 like a pale water-colour drawing. ^Between us and that lay a vast
N06 114 stretch of hills, canyons, buttes and malpais.
N06 115    |^*"The mine-workings lie north of the town,**" said Dan. ^*"If we
N06 116 head west we ought to cut the trail leading from Gilburg to the
N06 117 north.**"
N06 118    |^So we swung west, making slow going over rough country, sliding
N06 119 on shale, climbing down into draws, circling a big mesa by a four or
N06 120 five mile valley, sandy-floored. ^It got hotter as the day wore on and
N06 121 we rested gratefully by a small creek where we watered the horses and
N06 122 drank enough to cure our thirst. ^An hour's riding brought us to a
N06 123 trail that we figured would lead to the miners' camp. ^We turned north
N06 124 into it and after about four miles it led into a small canyon which
N06 125 opened out into a wide shallow draw. ^Here in a dried-up creek-bed we
N06 126 found the miners at work. ^They were scattered over a fairly wide area
N06 127 working singly or in pairs.
N06 128    |^We didn't approach unchallenged. ^Just short of the diggings
N06 129 there was a roughly-built shack and as we got near someone inside
N06 130 bawled out,
N06 131    |^*"If you come any closer, I'll sure blow your whiskers off.**"
N06 132    |^*"Take it easy, mister,**" I sang out. ^*"We don't aim to come
N06 133 any closer and we've got no whiskers so as you can see. ^Just you go
N06 134 and tell Nick Dowd we've come to talk to him about what happened last
N06 135 night.**"
N06 136    |^*"Oh,**" said the unseen guard. ^He blew a whistle then, loud and
N06 137 shrill. ^The gun barrel peeking out through a hole in the shack never
N06 138 wavered.
N06 139    |^We sat our horses, waiting.
N06 140    |^*"Looks as though they're expecting trouble,**" I said.
N06 141    |^*"Where there's gold and women there's always trouble,**"
N06 142 observed Dan, shifting about in his saddle. ^He was never long on
N06 143 patience.
N06 144    |^I saw several men running down towards the shack. ^They were all
N06 145 armed with rifles. ^As the nearest of them came round the shack, his
N06 146 rifle at the ready, I saw it was Nick Dowd, still wearing his blue
N06 147 check shirt. ^He came up close, eyeing us suspiciously.
N06 148    |^*"We've come \2a-calling,**" I said.
N06 149    |^*"Can't see no reason for calling,**" he said. ^*"Still long as
N06 150 you're here you may as well stay a while. ^'Light an' come on in.**"
N06 151    |^We dismounted and one of the miners who'd come along with Nick
N06 152 Dowd took our horses off to water. ^We followed Nick Dowd into the
N06 153 shack. ^They'd rigged up a stove of sorts and on it a huge blackened
N06 154 coffee-pot steamed. ^Other miners followed in at our heels. ^Nick Dowd
N06 155 found us a couple of boxes to sit on. ^A small man in bib overalls and
N06 156 a battered Derby hat fussed around the stove.
N06 157    |^*"\2Ain't exactly the Ritz Hotel but we've got our little
N06 158 comforts,**" said Dowd. ^He introduced the men who'd come in as Roper
N06 159 Smith, Shorty, Mick Golightly, Swede and the Sodbuster. ^This last was
N06 160 the little hombre in big overalls. ^Very soon he had tin mugs filled
N06 161 with hot black coffee sweetened with molasses for all and for us there
N06 162 were two plates of beans.
N06 163    |^*"They gives you the wind,**" said the Sodbuster handing them to
N06 164 us, *"but it's all we got as of now, apart from a few sacks of gold
N06 165 dust.**" ^He winked at his partners. ^They all watched us as we ate
N06 166 the beans. ^Then when we'd finished and I'd rolled a cigarette the man
N06 167 called Shorty said, ^*"You were saying when you came in that \2somep'n
N06 168 happened last night.**"
N06 169    |^*"Yes,**" I said. ^*"Something happened all right. ^After you'd
N06 170 left the meeting, mister**"*- I looked across at Nick Dowd*- *"someone
N06 171 cut down William Appleton outside the Palace with a shotgun.**"
N06 172    |^I paused and watched my words affect them in their different
N06 173 ways.
N06 174    |^*"That's sure bad news,**" said Dowd, sombrely.
N06 175    |^*"It \2jest about leaves everything wide open for \0Mr. Pell and
N06 176 his bunch,**" observed Shorty. ^The rest of the men there said nothing
N06 177 but you could see they were hard hit. ^They were simple men who knew a
N06 178 lot maybe about digging for gold but were babes in arms when it came
N06 179 to dealing with owlhooters and desperadoes like Pell and Fenton and
N06 180 the rest.
N06 181    |^*"I guess we'd better hold onto the gold right \2hyar, Nick,**"
N06 182 said the Sodbuster.
N06 183    |^*"Yeah,**" said Dowd dubiously. ^*"\2Mebbe we'd better.**"
N06 184    |^Surprisingly Dan Maffrey came in at that point.
N06 185    |^*"If you do,**" he said, *"you'll be sure asking for trouble.
N06 186 ^They'll be on your necks before you can say *'knife**'. ^It wouldn't
N06 187 be the first time they've held up a diggings at gun point either.
N06 188 ^They've done it before and got away with it.**"
N06 189    |^*"You're \2durned tootin', mister,**" said the man called Roper
N06 190 Smith. ^*"We've got five rifles among us and a few six-shooters. ^But
N06 191 most of us \2ain't \2eddicated in shootin'. ^It'd be a \2massacree,
N06 192 \2yessir.**"
N06 193    |^*"If you'll take a chance on getting your gold to the bank, then
N06 194 we'll abide by what we said at the meeting,**" said Dan. ^*"We'll
N06 195 watch the stage out of reach.**"
N06 196    |^I couldn't quite see how all this fitted in with Dan Maffrey's
N06 197 aim to avenge himself on the Fenton bunch but still it was a handsome
N06 198 offer so I chimed in too.
N06 199    |^*"That goes for me, gentlemen,**" I said. ^*"If they do try and
N06 200 hold up the stage, it'll be a couple or three of them, no more. ^I
N06 201 reckon we can deal with them all right.**"
N06 202    |^*"All right,**" said Dowd. ^*"We'll leave it as we planned it
N06 203 last night.
N06 204 **[MIDDLE OF QUOTE**]
N06 205 *# 2007
N07   1 **[440 TEXT N07**]
N07   2 **[BEGIN QUOTE**]
N07   3 ^*0An Apache will give plenty silver for a magazine rifle. ^And
N07   4 somebody is seeing that they get 'em. ^We've been alerted.**"
N07   5    |^Brock said, ^*"Looks like I got here at the right time.**"
N07   6    |^The Major's smile was grim. ^*"May need every man we can get.**"
N07   7    |^*"Count me in. ^I'll keep an eye on Parkhurst*- Slocum, if that's
N07   8 what he wants to be called*- while I look into other things.**"
N07   9    |^*"Like what?**"
N07  10    |^*"Well... Carlyle, for one. ^Just don't like him. ^Look, Pete.
N07  11 ^Didn't it strike you funny, the way he clammed up on the shooting?**"
N07  12    |^Shaking his head, Ahrens said, ^*"No, it didn't. ^I told you he
N07  13 was a cold fish. ^Asked a few questions on the way back yesterday, but
N07  14 nobody opened up. ^Didn't expect them to. ^Reckon we'll just have to
N07  15 let the matter solve itself.**"
N07  16    |^*"I'm not waiting.**"
N07  17    |^*"Now look, \2feller. ^It's none of your business.**"
N07  18    |^*"I'm making it my business.**"
N07  19    |^*"What in blazes got you so*-**" ^His eyes sparked with
N07  20 understanding. ^*"Ahhhh! ^I see, I see!**" ^He slowly nodded his head,
N07  21 smiling. ^*"I told you she was a beauty. ^I told you.**"
N07  22    |^*"You're crazy.**" ^Brock felt a sudden warmth prickle his face.
N07  23 ^*"Go climb your horse. ^Don't know who you're talking about.**"
N07  24    |^*"I'll bet you don't. ^Very well, Sure-shot. ^You're a big boy
N07  25 now. ^Should be able to look after yourself without*-**"
N07  26    |^Brock waved the grinning Ahrens out of the shack. ^*"Go play with
N07  27 your Indians, will you!**"
N07  28    |^*"That's just what I'm going to do. ^Came up this way to look for
N07  29 Indian signs. ^Got patrols cutting the country. ^Our friend Carlyle
N07  30 should be grateful since his wagons will soon be back with supplies.
N07  31 ^Might be he'll need a little Cavalry protection.**"
N07  32    |^*"You're taking those dispatches seriously.**"
N07  33    |^*"Darn right I am. ^Anything about Indians I take seriously. ^And
N07  34 they'd like to get their bloody hands on the beef and whisky and beer
N07  35 and stuff he hauls back.**"
N07  36    |^*"He ships out unbroken ore and brings back supplies?**"
N07  37    |^*"Takes about a month. ^Due back in a few days. ^Goes south
N07  38 someplace. ^Anyway, much as I hate to do him a turn, it's my duty to
N07  39 keep an eye out for him.**"
N07  40    |^The troopers had been joshing with a starry-eyed Toma*?2s. ^They
N07  41 snapped to rigid silence as the Major approached and mounted his roan
N07  42 gelding. ^The boy ran to the gate, scraped it open, and waved the
N07  43 trotting detail on its way.
N07  44    |^*"Mister Brock,**" Toma*?2s asked, watching the riders through
N07  45 the haze of kicked up dust, *"How long before I can be a soldier?**"
N07  46    |^Brock rumpled the boy's hair. ^*"Don't be in a hurry. ^Enjoy what
N07  47 you have around here while you can.**"
N07  48    |^*"Oh, I do, Mister Brock. ^I do a lot of things here that I like.
N07  49 ^And I can ride the mules very well, too.**" ^Pondering, he tipped the
N07  50 curly head to one side. ^*"That is, Juanito I ride well. ^The other
N07  51 one, Diablo, does not like for me to get on the back.**"
N07  52    |^*"Then stay off.**"
N07  53    |^*"Oh yes. ^But not Juanito. ^He is a good mule. ^Sometimes I ride
N07  54 him almost as far as where the Sheriff lived. ^When I am a soldier, I
N07  55 will ride and ride and*-**"
N07  56    |^*"Hold on, now. ^A soldier has to walk too. ^Walk far.**"
N07  57    |^*"Oh, I can walk far, Mister Brock. ^I can walk all the way to
N07  58 the mine.**"
N07  59    |^*"You keep away from the mine. ^No place for boys to play.**"
N07  60    |^The suggestion of a pout puckered the boy's face. ^*"You talk
N07  61 like my mother talks.**"
N07  62    |^*"You listen to your mother.**"
N07  63    |^*"I have to.**"
N07  64    |^Brock said, ^*"A soldier must learn to take orders, do as he is
N07  65 told. ^Your mother is your commander*- like the Major. ^See? ^When she
N07  66 tells you not to go to the mine, that is an order.**"
N07  67    |^The brown eyes rolled slowly upward, searching Brock's serious
N07  68 gaze. ^Softly, the boy said, ^*"It is?**"
N07  69    |^*"It is. ^How about it? ^A good soldier, or a bad boy?**"
N07  70    |^A tough decision to make. ^Half the fun of being a boy was in
N07  71 doing the things you were forbidden to do. ^On the other hand, to be a
N07  72 soldier...! ^The picture of snorting horses and blue uniforms and
N07  73 sheathed sabres was too fresh in his mind.
N07  74    |^*"A soldier, Mister Brock.**"
N07  75    |^*"Promise? ^On the honour of a soldier?**"
N07  76    |^The large eyes lit up. ^*"I can do that? ^I can promise*- like a
N07  77 soldier?**"
N07  78    |^*"You can.**"
N07  79    |^*"I do it, Mister Brock. ^I promise, like a soldier.**"
N07  80    |^*"No more going to the mine, then.**"
N07  81    |^*"No sir, Mister Brock. ^Soldier's promise.**"
N07  82 *<*4Chapter Eight*>
N07  83    |^*0It was late in the afternoon before Magdalena returned the
N07  84 cleaned and mended clothes. ^Saddling Rusty as soon as he was dressed,
N07  85 Brock cut eastward in search of the Stevens' place. ^As long as he
N07  86 felt compelled to look into the shooting of the Sheriff, he might as
N07  87 well visit the victim's late home. ^Maybe Stevens' niece could furnish
N07  88 a clue, he told himself, as the proud chestnut stretched limber legs
N07  89 across the rocky soil. ^His interest was purely in the shooting!
N07  90 ^Nothing else!
N07  91    |^Topping a slight rise, he looked down on a squat white-painted
N07  92 frame cottage*- a square box dumped in the middle of the drab desert
N07  93 with a white slat fence girdling it in uneven lines. ^Two low stringy
N07  94 shrubs afforded the only touch of green within sight.
N07  95    |^A weathered unpainted stable stood about fifty feet behind the
N07  96 cottage, and a man came out of it, carrying a shovel and bucket, and
N07  97 walked unhurriedly around the side. ^A dull orange shirt hung loosely
N07  98 over dust brown pants; a red band circling long black strands of hair
N07  99 clearly identified him as an Indian.
N07 100    |^Touching Rusty, Brock guided the horse down the slope to the
N07 101 white picket gate, dismounting as the cottage door opened.
N07 102    |^She stood framed in the doorway, a formal full-length portrait
N07 103 with hands clasped before her, head high. ^The soft violet eyes*-
N07 104 well, they were neither soft nor violet at the moment.
N07 105    |^*"Just what do you want here, Mister Taylor?**" ^Whatever it was,
N07 106 he was not being invited to find it.
N07 107    |^*"Why....**" ^He hesitated, hat in hand. ^*"Just dropped by to
N07 108 say hello, Miss Stevens. ^We're neighbours, \2y'know.**"
N07 109    |^*"Mister Carlyle told me.**"
N07 110    |^He had been certain the eyes were more violet than grey. ^Could
N07 111 it have been the black dress of mourning that brought out such warm
N07 112 lights last evening? ^Surely, the gown she now wore*- corn-flower
N07 113 blue, waist-tight with full skirt*- should complement tender violet
N07 114 tints instead of accentuating the cold impersonal grey stare that
N07 115 challenged him.
N07 116    |^*"Just thought I'd say hello,**" he repeated awkwardly. ^*"See if
N07 117 there's anything I can do to*-**"
N07 118    |^*"I assure you, sir, there is nothing worth spying on!**"
N07 119    |^*"Spying?**"
N07 120    |^*"Mister Carlyle told me!**"
N07 121    |^*"Told you what, ma'am?**" ^He forced a smile on his lips, even
N07 122 though it had left his voice.
N07 123    |^*"Of your*- profession! ^I was compelled to tolerate Yankee
N07 124 subjugation back home, sir. ^I hoped to be free of it out here. ^At
N07 125 least I could evade them when I saw blue uniforms.**"
N07 126    |^*"Sorry you feel that way, ma'am. ^But I don't see what that has
N07 127 to do with calling me a spy.**"
N07 128    |^*"Please don't try to brazen it out, Mister Taylor*- if that *1is
N07 129 *0your name! ^Your companions have the questionable decency to show
N07 130 their colours, but you...**"
N07 131    |^*"Yes...? ^But me?**"
N07 132    |^She leaned forward, small fists clenched white at her sides.
N07 133 ^Sparking each word with bitter contempt, she accused him with shaking
N07 134 vehemence. ^*"You pose as something you never were! ^Trying to win
N07 135 your way into Mister Carlyle's confidence, just to spy on him for your
N07 136 Yankee masters!**"
N07 137    |^*"Now just a minute, young lady!**" ^His face reddened, darkening
N07 138 the welts and bruises, and emphasizing the purple bulge under the
N07 139 right eye. ^*"I don't like being called a spy!**"
N07 140    |^*"Call it what you will! ^There's a nastier term for it!**" ^She
N07 141 stepped back, slamming the door shut, leaving him fuming as he gripped
N07 142 the white picket fence.
N07 143    |^*1Mister Carlyle told me!
N07 144    |^*0Oh, he did, did he! ^Jamming the hat on his head, Brock leaped
N07 145 to Rusty's back, swung him towards the mine. ^He'd look there first
N07 146 and find out just what in the blazing hell Mister Carlyle *1had *0told
N07 147 her!
N07 148    |
N07 149    |^A thin freckled-faced youth sauntered from around the far side of
N07 150 the loading platform as Brock drew Rusty to a rearing halt at the
N07 151 mine. ^The boy's black hat sat far back on his head; his thumbs were
N07 152 hooked in a wide cartridge belt. ^The hog leg butt of a long pistol
N07 153 stuck out from a holster that was tied to his skinny thigh.
N07 154    |^*"Mister Carlyle around?**" Brock asked.
N07 155    |^*"What you want 'im \2fer?**" ^The boy tried to make the
N07 156 age-changing voice sound hard, and it might have sounded ludicrous had
N07 157 it not been for the reckless chill shimmering in cat-yellow eyes.
N07 158    |^*"Want to see him,**" Brock said. ^*"Know where he is?**"
N07 159    |^*"Maybe. ^Who are you?**"
N07 160    |^*"Neighbour. ^Is Carlyle here?**"
N07 161    |^The boy spat between his teeth*- just like O'Shay*- and pressed
N07 162 his thumbs down on the pistol belt*- just like Clanton. ^He tried to
N07 163 squint his eyes like Beeman when he said, ^*"Don't see 'im, do
N07 164 \2yuh?**"
N07 165    |^Brock looked the boy over from shabby boots to over-sized hat.
N07 166 ^*"What are you trying to do, sonny? ^Play like you're a man?**"
N07 167    |^A freckled hand flashed to the hog leg butt. ^The gawky frame
N07 168 tensed.
N07 169    |^Brock said, ^*"Better be careful who you play with, sonny.**" ^He
N07 170 swung Rusty around and toed him into a run without seeing the
N07 171 black-haired man waiting motionlessly behind the opposite side of the
N07 172 platform.
N07 173    |^Gimpy Beckett limped up to the youth as Brock disappeared down
N07 174 the grade. ^*"See him before?**" he growled.
N07 175    |^The boy shook his head. ^*"I \2shoulda give it to him!**"
N07 176    |^Gimpy glared at the boy. ^*"Listen, Kid. ^Just 'cause you shot
N07 177 one man, don't feel like you can shoot 'em all!**"
N07 178    |^*"You don't need to tell me.**"
N07 179    |^*"I *1am *0tellin' you! ^Get snotty with me, youngster, and I'll
N07 180 take back that hog leg and warm your skinny butts with it. ^Carlyle
N07 181 told me to learn you, and by God I will!**" ^He turned away and limped
N07 182 to the shade of the mine office.
N07 183    |
N07 184    |^Arkie was standing next to the saloon's hitching rail, minding
N07 185 the red-wheeled chaise, when Brock rode up. ^The black stallion reared
N07 186 in the shafts as Rusty drew close, and Arkie had to hang on with both
N07 187 hands.
N07 188    |^*"Heck all!**" ^Arkie scolded Brock over his shoulder, ^*"You
N07 189 know \2better'n to bring a horse that close to Jet! ^Mister Carlyle
N07 190 sure give it to \2yuh, he finds out!**"
N07 191    |^From the saddle, Brock said, ^*"You just tell me where Carlyle is
N07 192 and I'll see that he finds out.**"
N07 193    |^Arkie gaped up at him. ^*"You talkin' 'bout *1Mister
N07 194 *0Carlyle?**"
N07 195    |^*"Where is he?**" ^Brock nodded towards the saloon. ^*"In
N07 196 there?**"
N07 197    |^Stunned, Arkie gasped, ^*"You mean you \2gonna *1tell *0Mister
N07 198 Carlyle?**"
N07 199    |^Dismounting, Brock slip-knotted the reins around the end post of
N07 200 the hitch rail. ^*"Keep that black devil away from Rusty or you'll
N07 201 have a sick horse on your hands,**" he warned, and leaped to the
N07 202 wooden sidewalk.
N07 203    |^About to push open the swinging doors, he stopped as a woman
N07 204 touched his arm. ^A gaunt little creature, her pinched face seemed
N07 205 more eyes than anything else. ^A faded blue sun-bonnet hid most of the
N07 206 face and all of her hair, and she clutched a thin grey shawl as though
N07 207 the sun's rays were streaks of penetrating sleet. ^Her long full
N07 208 skirt, a worn drab plaid, swept the boardwalk in uneven folds. ^*"I
N07 209 must see you, Mister Taylor,**" she whispered, leaning close. ^*"Just
N07 210 for a minute. ^Please.**"
N07 211    |^Brock glanced impatiently inside the saloon. ^*"Yes, ma'am?**"
N07 212    |^*"Over here.**" ^She led him to the second building past the
N07 213 saloon.
N07 214    |^*"Look, ma'am.**" ^He tried to sound patient. ^*"I have business
N07 215 to attend to. ^I'll be glad to listen if*-**"
N07 216    |^*"You don't remember me Mister Taylor?**"
N07 217    |^The interruption caught him by surprise. ^Remember this frail
N07 218 little old woman? ^He'd never seen her before in his life.
N07 219 *# 2002
N08   1 **[441 TEXT N08**]
N08   2    |^*0But there was none. ^Only silence.
N08   3    |^I staggered to my feet, went over to the packing-cases, rummaged
N08   4 among them. ^They had been held together, bound, with galvanized wire.
N08   5 ^I began to twist and turn, feeling the wire heat up between my
N08   6 fingers, begin to burn my flesh, but I ignored it and kept twisting
N08   7 until a piece of about six inches in length came free.
N08   8    |^I limped back to the door, knelt again. ^The lock was massive but
N08   9 ancient and simple. ^There was no key in it. ^I could look straight
N08  10 through into the dimming light in the corridor. ^I probed with the
N08  11 wire, got to the tumbler and lifted. ^But the wire bent. ^I cursed,
N08  12 pulled it clear, straightened it, tried again, but again it bent.
N08  13    |^*'Here,**' Seona's voice from behind me. ^She had a nail in her
N08  14 hand, a long nail, stronger than the wire. ^I snatched it from her,
N08  15 probed again, lifted and this time the tumbler rose a little way
N08  16 before it slipped back into place. ^I paused, wiped sweat from my brow
N08  17 and listened at the door. ^If the guard was still outside he must have
N08  18 heard the attempts at picking the lock. ^But all was still. ^With
N08  19 trembling fingers I thrust with the nail, the tumbler rose the whole
N08  20 way and the lock snapped open.
N08  21    |^My nerves were jangling. ^I stood for a second with my back
N08  22 against the door, breathing heavily, then I turned and slowly,
N08  23 stealthily I eased it open. ^It creaked. ^My heart missed a beat. ^I
N08  24 waited. ^Still no sound from outside. ^I opened the door wide.
N08  25    |^Carefully I looked out into the passageway. ^The chair was empty,
N08  26 cigarette-ends littered the floor beside it and in the gloomy light of
N08  27 evening I could look straight along to the hallway. ^It, too, was
N08  28 empty.
N08  29    |^I grasped Seona's arm, pulled her with me as I went silently
N08  30 along the passage keeping close to the wall. ^My groin was paining: it
N08  31 was swollen but somehow it didn't seem so bad now.
N08  32    |^We came to the hallway. ^Still the silence, an eerie silence. ^I
N08  33 didn't know what to make of it.
N08  34    |^*'Stay here,**' I said to the girl, and then on my toes I went
N08  35 over to the main door, looked out into the courtyard. ^It was empty.
N08  36 ^The truck had gone. ^I beckoned. ^Seona came to join me.
N08  37    |^My lips were against her ear, her hair brushing my face. ^*'You
N08  38 know the road to the coast. ^You know of Farrel. ^Ask for him. ^Go to
N08  39 him or De Sotto.**'
N08  40    |^Her face turned. ^I looked into her eyes. ^*'And you?**'
N08  41    |^*'I will follow,**', I said hastily. ^*'I have to find out if he
N08  42 is still here. ^I will not be far behind you.**'
N08  43    |^*'No,**' she said, her voice little more than a whisper. ^*'We
N08  44 have come this far together. ^I will not leave you now. ^You may need
N08  45 my help. ^Besides, the little man has said that Jeronimo's men are
N08  46 between us and the coast.**'
N08  47    |^*'Do as you're told.**' ^My voice was harsh, impatient.
N08  48    |^*'No. ^We go together.**'
N08  49    |^There wasn't time to argue. ^I took her by the hand, went quickly
N08  50 over to the stairs, began to climb, placing my feet carefully on each
N08  51 step, keeping close in the deep shadow of the balustrade and at the
N08  52 top of the stairs I stopped, bent double and looked each way along the
N08  53 length of the landing, along the dim empty silence of it.
N08  54    |^On to the landing then, padding softly, making for the far end.
N08  55 ^Double doors stood open. ^I looked inside to a bare empty room. ^The
N08  56 evening breeze blew gently in through windows from which most of the
N08  57 glazing had gone. ^On to the next room. ^The doors were shut. ^Slowly
N08  58 I opened them a fraction, looked in. ^It showed signs of recent
N08  59 occupation. ^Papers scattered over the floor. ^Cigarette-ends too. ^A
N08  60 couple of what seemed to be pin-up pictures stuck to one wall.
N08  61    |^Then on to the next room, and the next, working my way along,
N08  62 seeing signs of some of them having been in use until at last I came
N08  63 to the room where I had met Jeronimo. ^I was more careful here. ^I
N08  64 used the keyhole first. ^But it too was deserted, most of the
N08  65 furniture covered by dust sheets, and I stood for a moment or so,
N08  66 frowning, puzzled, not knowing what to make of it.
N08  67    |^Next to it was a bedroom, fully furnished, a great canopied bed
N08  68 occupying most of it. ^The bed was still made up. ^I left it, went on
N08  69 and two doors farther on, and almost at the end of a landing, I turned
N08  70 a handle, went in to a horrible sickening stench.
N08  71    |^I staggered back. ^Behind me Seona retreated hurriedly. ^I went
N08  72 forward again into darkness. ^I still had the matches. ^I struck one
N08  73 and in the light from the tiny flame I saw shuttered windows, saw a
N08  74 low truckle-bed, a small table beside it, and on the bed a form, the
N08  75 form of someone covered by a blanket.
N08  76    |^On the table stood a small oil lamp. ^I held my breath, went over
N08  77 to it, raised the glass, lighted it and the room filled with a warm
N08  78 mellow light.
N08  79    |^Gingerly I raised the edge of the blanket. ^A dead face looked up
N08  80 at me, the eyes closed, dark-ringed, the face waxen and showing still
N08  81 the lines of pain and suffering. ^Hurriedly I ripped away the blanket
N08  82 from the body. ^It was naked, the body of a man, well built and young:
N08  83 one arm was still bandaged, an arm which was swollen to enormous
N08  84 proportions and stinking, gangrenous. ^His other arm lay across his
N08  85 chest, unnaturally, as if placed there deliberately, for a purpose. ^I
N08  86 bent closer, saw the pinprick of the hole made by a hypodermic
N08  87 syringe. ^Someone had been merciful.
N08  88    |^I threw the blanket back on him. ^His clothing lay piled over a
N08  89 chair, trousers, shoes, socks, underclothing, a shirt, but no jacket.
N08  90 ^I picked up the shirt. ^The right sleeve had been ripped open. ^It
N08  91 was heavily bloodstained.
N08  92    |^The right sleeve. ^I went cold. ^It had been that same sleeve of
N08  93 Baker's raincoat which had been torn, ripped open. ^But this wasn't
N08  94 Baker. ^Baker was on the short side, past middle age and sandy-haired,
N08  95 balding. ^The room seemed to whirl around me. ^I couldn't think. ^This
N08  96 was beyond me.
N08  97    |^I went back to the clothing, rummaged through the pockets of the
N08  98 trousers. ^They held nothing. ^I looked around for the jacket. ^There
N08  99 was no sign of it. ^I flung the clothing back on to the chair and as I
N08 100 did so I noticed the shoulder holster. ^It hung by the side of the
N08 101 chair, partly concealed from me. ^I picked it up, drew out the
N08 102 automatic. ^A P.38. ^A full clip in the butt, a spare clip attached to
N08 103 the holster. ^Quickly I slipped off my jacket, hung the holster from
N08 104 my shoulder and shrugged into the jacket again.
N08 105    |^Then I went over to the lamp, bent to blow it out. ^The sooner I
N08 106 made contact now with Farrel the better. ^From behind me in the
N08 107 doorway I heard the slither of footsteps. ^I had forgotten Seona. ^I
N08 108 turned to see what she was doing and I froze. ^Standing in the
N08 109 doorway, her nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell in the room, was
N08 110 the woman Jeronimo had called Elsa. ^Behind her, peering round her,
N08 111 were Ginetti and one of the boys, surprise on their faces, and in her
N08 112 hand pointing straight at me was a long-barrelled Luger.
N08 113 *<*49*>
N08 114    |^*'*0TAKE your hand away from the lamp.**' ^Her voice was high and
N08 115 thin and sharp. ^She stayed in the doorway, perhaps because of the
N08 116 stench from the body, perhaps because even though she had the gun in
N08 117 her hand she felt safer with distance between us. ^Ginetti was by her
N08 118 side and slightly behind her, her shoulder blocking him from the room
N08 119 while the boy peered in between them.
N08 120    |^Slowly I straightened, let my hands drop away from the lamp.
N08 121    |^*'Come away from it.**'
N08 122    |^I moved a couple of steps nearer her.
N08 123    |^*'That's enough.**'
N08 124    |^I stopped, tense, every muscle in my body taut, my mind reeling,
N08 125 trying to find a way to cope with the situation.
N08 126    |^*'How did you get out?**'
N08 127    |^I didn't answer. ^My eyes were fixed on the pistol she held, on
N08 128 the finger which was crooked around the trigger and which showed white
N08 129 with the pressure she was exerting. ^I was close, very close to death.
N08 130    |^*'How did you get out?**'
N08 131    |^Still I was silent. ^Her voice had risen still higher. ^She was
N08 132 nervous, uncertain, and I gauged the distance between us judging
N08 133 whether I could get to her before she could pull the trigger. ^But
N08 134 eight feet or more separated us: and Ginetti too had his pistol in his
N08 135 hand, as always held loosely by his side but nevertheless ready for
N08 136 action. ^Then the boy: it was obvious that he too would be armed.
N08 137    |^*'Answer me.**'
N08 138    |^The voice was a danger signal, a sign of nerves reaching a pitch
N08 139 when anything could happen.
N08 140    |^*'Through the door,**' I mumbled, my mouth dry. ^*'How else?**'
N08 141    |^She seemed to relax a little, but only a little. ^*'And the
N08 142 girl?**'
N08 143    |^*'Gone,**' I said.
N08 144    |^*'Christ!**' Ginetti's voice broke in. ^He looked frightened.
N08 145 ^*'Jeronimo's got to be told. ^And now. ^Don't play with him,
N08 146 Contessa. ^Shoot him. ^Get him out of the way.**'
N08 147    |^Nervously she licked her lips. ^*'Yes,**' she said, and her voice
N08 148 was uncertain. ^But all the same she set herself more firmly on her
N08 149 feet and the barrel of the pistol quivered as an extra pressure was
N08 150 put on the trigger.
N08 151    |^And inside me my nerves seemed to shiver, to jar. ^Now. ^It was
N08 152 coming now. ^And I gathered myself to leap at her, to try and get the
N08 153 pistol before it went off.
N08 154    |^But nothing happened. ^It is no easy matter to kill in cold blood
N08 155 if you haven't the mentality for that sort of thing. ^Very few women
N08 156 have. ^Vicious though she looked the Contessa was no exception.
N08 157    |^*'Get out of my way.**' ^Ginetti's voice had risen. ^He seemed to
N08 158 be panicking a little, to be losing control. ^*'Move. ^Let me do
N08 159 it.**'
N08 160    |^He edged forward, began to shoulder her aside, to get freedom for
N08 161 the arm and the hand which held the pistol. ^The boy had closed in
N08 162 upon the two in front of him so that they were now grouped tightly
N08 163 together in the doorway. ^And then my heart lurched. ^A shadowy figure
N08 164 appeared behind them, a figure who could only be Seona, who moved up
N08 165 to them, into them.
N08 166    |^She must have jumped at them, her arms outstretched, and she
N08 167 caught the Contessa full in the back, sending her staggering in at me
N08 168 and barging Ginetti violently to one side as she did so. ^And at the
N08 169 same time I leaped to one side, the Luger going off almost in my face,
N08 170 the bullet missing me by inches as I swayed back at her and chopped in
N08 171 a blow with the edge of my palm alongside her jaw. ^Her head snapped
N08 172 violently around and sideways, her eyes rolled to show the whites as
N08 173 she slumped to the ground.
N08 174    |^And then Ginetti. ^He hadn't a chance. ^He was down on one knee
N08 175 and I was on to him before he had time to do anything. ^Again that
N08 176 chopping blow, a blow that could kill if aimed at the right spot, but
N08 177 this time on the wrist of the hand which held his pistol, and hard,
N08 178 really hard. ^I heard his gasp of pain, heard too the clatter of the
N08 179 gun hitting the floor as I brought my knee up violently into his face
N08 180 to send him flying backwards on to the landing.
N08 181    |^I staggered with the effort, then gathered myself ready to deal
N08 182 with the boy. ^He had slipped back. ^He had a shotgun, the shortened
N08 183 barrels swinging as he wrestled with Seona: a Seona whose teeth showed
N08 184 in a tigerish fury as she pushed and pulled, the knuckles of her hands
N08 185 white as she gripped on those barrels, fighting to keep them away from
N08 186 me.
N08 187 *# 2038
N09   1 **[442 TEXT N09**]
N09   2    |^*0*"My dear Frank. ^When you hear this, I shall be dead. ^It is
N09   3 now ten o'clock and I am quite alone in the laboratory. ^I have
N09   4 fastened the door and am now seated before the recorder. ^Frank, I
N09   5 have invented a weapon which I call Liquid Glass. ^The atom bomb
N09   6 causes death by fire. ^My invention causes death by freezing. ^Liquid
N09   7 Glass is in the form of small crystals. ^Five of these crystals
N09   8 enclosed within a glass cylinder are sufficient, when dropped from a
N09   9 plane, to reduce the land beneath to a thick crust of ice. ^All people
N09  10 caught within the belt are frozen to death instantly. ^Therefore,
N09  11 should a free nation be threatened by another, they can meet the
N09  12 menace of their enemy's atomic fire with the introduction of a new Ice
N09  13 Age. ^I have placed my formula in a secret cache for greater safety,
N09  14 for I fear, Frank*- I very much fear*- that I am shadowed and that
N09  15 some person may have more than a faint inkling as to what I have
N09  16 brought into being. ^Have you ever heard talk concerning three men who
N09  17 are known as the Terrible Three, who have managed so far to elude
N09  18 capture. ^Their field of operation is world wide, but there is a
N09  19 rumour that they are at present in the States. ^These three men have
N09  20 the reputation of possessing superb nerve and cunning. ^I know many
N09  21 inside stories of the happenings under cover within Europe. ^The
N09  22 merest glimpse of a man's face is sufficient warning to the initiated,
N09  23 but I have no proof. ^Therefore *1be on your guard.
N09  24    |^*0*"Now for your instructions.
N09  25    |^*"Snatch a moment when the house is unoccupied*- but don't send
N09  26 the servants out too obviously*- then go upstairs to the attic. ^In
N09  27 the second room you will find a line of pictures resting against the
N09  28 wall. ^Choose *1Psyche and Pan, *0and take off the back. ^Between this
N09  29 outer covering you will see a sealed packet. ^The words *'Liquid
N09  30 Glass**' are written upon the envelope. ^Take it to Professor Slade,
N09  31 *'Carmel,**' Balfour Crescent, New York. ^Once it is in his possession
N09  32 your task is completed. ^But whilst this operation is in progress I
N09  33 beg you to use the utmost discretion. ^Trust no one; neither a friend
N09  34 nor a beloved one. ^Remember*- you will be holding dynamite.
N09  35    |^*"There remains nothing more for me to say, I think.
N09  36    |^*"Thank you, Frank. ^I know you will do it... well.**"
N09  37    |^The tape ran on soundlessly until Frank, breaking the spell,
N09  38 pressed the fast-wind switch. ^Now he understood the Professor's agony
N09  39 of indecision. ^This was, indeed, the answer to the atomic bomb, but
N09  40 what a fearful answer. ^He felt the mantle of responsibility
N09  41 descending upon his own shoulders.
N09  42    |^Lifting off the tape, he hesitated over what he should do with
N09  43 it. ^He could of course remove the message, but he naturally preferred
N09  44 to carry it with the sealed packet to Slade. ^In the meanwhile where
N09  45 could he keep the tape? ^He dared not leave it about, so he decided to
N09  46 carry it perpetually around with him. ^This point settled, he
N09  47 reflected he wanted to take a shower. ^When he'd tied the belt of his
N09  48 bathrobe he slipped the tape into the pocket. ^Within the shower
N09  49 compartment his brain ran riot, in company with the falling jets of
N09  50 water. ^He ran his fingers through his hair while he figured.
N09  51    |^*"I only need the right opportunity to snatch the packet, then
N09  52 carry it to New York and my part is over.**" ^When he returned to his
N09  53 room he found he was again looking around for the unexpected. ^*"It's
N09  54 too darned easy to let your imagination take the reins,**" he
N09  55 admonished himself. ^He did not really believe Zinnerman's secret was
N09  56 known. ^He didn't credit the Professor's notion that he'd been
N09  57 trailed. ^*"No*- just a sick man weaving fantasies, and you'd better
N09  58 watch out for yourself,**" he warned, *"or you will be starting on the
N09  59 same road, too.**" ^He turned the key softly in the lock for the first
N09  60 time since he'd slept in this house. ^Half an hour later Frank lay on
N09  61 his bed in the inner room. ^He was smoking and flicking over the pages
N09  62 of a book. ^The tape now reposed beneath his pillow. ^It seemed to him
N09  63 that the night was endless. ^Had he the least hope that he'd sleep?
N09  64 ^At length he laid aside his cigarette end in a silver tray and turned
N09  65 out the light. ^In retrospect he saw again Zinnerman's face close to
N09  66 his, and felt the Professor's hands gripping his shoulders. ^He
N09  67 relived the scene in the laboratory, then he drifted into sleep. ^What
N09  68 was that! ^Frank sat up and listened. ^He heard a sharp click-click.
N09  69 ^He switched on the table lamp, swung his feet to the floor and
N09  70 reached for his robe.
N09  71    |^*"Is anyone there?**" he called.
N09  72    |^In the next room he groped for the light button and flooded the
N09  73 apartment with illumination. ^He had to wait a minute to adjust his
N09  74 own vision. ^Then going over to the door he released it. ^The passage
N09  75 was empty.
N09  76    |^*"Is someone there?**" he queried. ^No one replied. ^No sound
N09  77 disturbed the heavy silence which now ruled the house.
N09  78    |^He closed his door. ^His watch registered two o'clock. ^He
N09  79 extinguished the lamp and pulled back the heavy drapes from the
N09  80 window. ^The dark sky was lit by a silver moon boat. ^The trees were
N09  81 scarcely discernible; a serene autumnal scene.
N09  82    |^He wandered back into his bedroom. ^Here, he shook out a
N09  83 Stuyvesant from the packet on the small table and used his lighter.
N09  84 ^Seated on the side of the bed he commenced to evolve plans for the
N09  85 morrow.
N09  86 *<*2CHAPTER TWO*>
N09  87 *<*6FRENZIED WEB*>
N09  88    |^*2THE NEW DAY *0proved a whirlpool of activity. ^Frank had to
N09  89 cope with dozens of letters, attend to callers, and take each phone
N09  90 call which occurred about every fifteen minutes. ^At mid-day Benn
N09  91 entered Frank's study carrying a tray. ^Frank wanted only a sandwich
N09  92 and a glass of milk for luncheon, and as the butler deposited the tray
N09  93 upon the desk he asked if he might slip out for half an hour.
N09  94    |^*"Sure,**" Frank agreed absently. ^Then as the man departed
N09  95 realisation dawned. ^With Benn removed, the house would be virtually
N09  96 empty. ^The other two servants had gone out a while since. ^Johnson
N09  97 was in the laboratory with sufficient work to occupy him for an hour
N09  98 at least. ^He'd been very late the previous night and was trying
N09  99 desperately to make up the time he'd lost. ^He had hinted to Frank
N09 100 that he'd had a lot of fun and consumed quite a number of highballs.
N09 101 ^Possibly he'd been responsible for the noise that had woken him,
N09 102 Frank had decided; and now within a short span of time he would have
N09 103 his chance within his grasp. ^He waited until he heard the front door
N09 104 slam; made a quick check to ascertain that the house really was
N09 105 untenanted, then he swiftly mounted the stairs which led to the next
N09 106 storey.
N09 107    |^He opened a door. ^The first room looked rather eerie in the
N09 108 faint light filtering in from the lowered shades. ^Frank crossed to
N09 109 the second door and turned the handle. ^There were several pieces of
N09 110 furniture stored in here.
N09 111    |^Resting against the opposite wall were a row of pictures, gilded
N09 112 frames turned towards the wall. ^He examined each in turn, then as the
N09 113 fifth picture passed through his hands he knew with quickening pulses
N09 114 that this was the one he sought. ^A lovely study of the kneeling
N09 115 Psyche imploring the aid of Pan who, in his genial way, was apparently
N09 116 giving advice to the stricken girl who had lost her lover through her
N09 117 own imprudence and mistrust.
N09 118    |^Frank produced his penknife and gently attacked the back of the
N09 119 picture. ^He was aware that the task must be delicately done. ^He owed
N09 120 that to Zinnerman. ^At length it was finished and the square piece of
N09 121 plywood fell away.
N09 122    |^There, resting against the canvas was a small sealed packet,
N09 123 measuring not more than six inches by four. ^He lifted it up and read
N09 124 *'Liquid Glass**' inscribed in the Professor's neat script. ^He
N09 125 slipped the package into his pocket, and then commenced the work of
N09 126 restoring the picture in as perfect a condition as before. ^When he
N09 127 was at last satisfied he came away and descended the staircase. ^He
N09 128 strode swiftly into his room*- and stopped*- eyes riveted upon his
N09 129 black jacket lying across a chair. ^Within the right hand pocket
N09 130 reposed the tape. ^How could he have been so careless as to leave it
N09 131 here? ^But it was all right, he reflected the next instant. ^The
N09 132 dwelling was deserted. ^Nevertheless his conscience troubled him as he
N09 133 slid his hand into the pocket to recover it. ^*1The tape was not
N09 134 there. ^*0He explored the left side pocket, and again drew blank.
N09 135 ^*1Where was it? ^*0He was certain beyond a shadow of doubt that he
N09 136 placed it there this morning.
N09 137    |^His gaze flashed around. ^There was a tape on the recorder which
N09 138 he'd left bare last night. ^He bounded over to the machine. ^The tape
N09 139 was a quarter wound off.
N09 140    |^He switched on, fast-wound, and pressed the playback button.
N09 141 ^With an indescribable shock he heard Zinnerman's voice saying the
N09 142 first words of his message.
N09 143    |^Frank stopped the machine and stood taut. ^Someone had been in
N09 144 this room during his absence. ^For a moment he could not move as
N09 145 realisation flooded his brain, then he fled into the corridor.
N09 146    |^*1*"Who is there?**" *0he shouted.
N09 147    |^His voice echoed*- and there was no reply. ^He made a swift
N09 148 search of the first floor rooms and rushed down the stairs to explore
N09 149 the rest. ^He found no one.
N09 150    |^He ran across the lawn to the laboratory and threw the door wide.
N09 151 ^Johnson, who seemed to be terribly busy, glanced up at him in an
N09 152 apparently startled fashion.
N09 153    |^*"Hello, Frank,**" he greeted. ^*"Have you come to give me a
N09 154 hand? ^That sure would be acceptable.**"
N09 155    |^Frank ignored this.
N09 156    |^*"Did you come into the house just now?**" he demanded abruptly.
N09 157    |^Johnson ruffled up his hair.
N09 158    |^*"Who, me?**" he exclaimed. ^*"Good God, no. ^I've far too much
N09 159 to do, but if you were thinking of brewing coffee, I'd love some.
N09 160 ^Better make it black though. ^I went out on the town last night.**"
N09 161    |^Frank stared at him, trying to read within Johnson's eyes whether
N09 162 he was speaking the truth or not. ^Then Frank withdrew, closing the
N09 163 door after him. ^He went swiftly back up to his room and removing the
N09 164 tape, slid it into his pocket. ^He thought wretchedly, ^*"How much
N09 165 harm have I caused already?**" ^It was abundantly clear to him than an
N09 166 intruder had been here, but just how far that person had advanced in
N09 167 knowledge was open to speculation. ^He might only have had time to
N09 168 hear a part of the tape, or*- he was now as wise as Frank was. ^How
N09 169 could he tell? ^There just wasn't time to waste in self-reproach for
N09 170 this criminal carelessness on his part. ^There was only one thing to
N09 171 do*- think fast, and decide just how the situation should be remedied.
N09 172    |^He moved over to the window and looked down upon the garden.
N09 173 ^Johnson, of course, was the most probable candidate for the unknown
N09 174 intruder. ^If only there was some way of checking up on him.
N09 175    |^The tall trees stood sentinel below dressed in their garlands of
N09 176 russet leaves. ^Autumn. ^The loveliest season of the year.
N09 177    |^A figure was crossing the stone courtyard below. ^Benn, returning
N09 178 from his errand no doubt.
N09 179    |^Frank turned away. ^Then a new line of thought arrested him.
N09 180 ^Could this have been the work of a stranger? ^A person Frank had
N09 181 never seen? ^A creature well adapted in the art of a quiet unnoticed
N09 182 entry and a swift melting away afterwards when the task had been
N09 183 completed? ^A saboteur perhaps? ^One of the Terrible Three?
N09 184    |^But let him deal with facts known. ^However much his enemy had
N09 185 learned there was one point he couldn't be aware of, namely that Frank
N09 186 had already secured the packet.
N09 187 *# 2016
N10   1 **[443 TEXT N10**]
N10   2    |^*0Feeling rather diminished by being reduced to such an obvious
N10   3 manoeuvre, Sam swung abruptly round a corner, vaulted, as silently as
N10   4 he could, over a low garden wall, and crouched in the prickly refuge
N10   5 of a bush.
N10   6    |^The following footsteps panicked. ^They were almost running.
N10   7 ^Evidently the trailer was a novice.
N10   8    |^Then Sam saw that the footsteps belonged to the man with a
N10   9 straggly beard, the one who had claimed Han's attention at the party.
N10  10    |^Suddenly Sam felt reckless. ^He wasn't going to wait for danger
N10  11 written in the stars. ^He was going to write his own autobiography.
N10  12 ^Without taking any further precautions, Sam followed the follower.
N10  13    |^The man lost his nerve, and turned to face Sam.
N10  14    |^*'Well?**' Sam demanded.
N10  15    |^The straggly beard trembled.
N10  16    |^*'I was trying to catch up with you, sir.**'
N10  17    |^*'What a coincidence! for it seems,**' Sam pointed out, *'that I
N10  18 have caught up with you.**'
N10  19    |^But the other was recovering his composure.
N10  20    |^*'I was waiting,**' he explained, *'till we passed a bar. ^Then I
N10  21 was going to ask you to have a drink with me. ^I asked Han to tell me
N10  22 about you...**'
N10  23    |^*'We'll talk here,**' Sam answered, *'\0Mr... er...?**'
N10  24    |^*'Singh,**' said the bearded man as if he were conferring a
N10  25 favour. ^*'My name is Singh, but I wanted to talk to you about
N10  26 Foster.**'
N10  27    |^*'So many names!**' said Sam. ^*'Why should you want to talk to
N10  28 me about Foster? ^It happened before I came to this country.**'
N10  29    |^Singh said, ^*'I think there is going to be a storm.**'
N10  30    |^The night, certainly, seemed to be loaded with thunder; and Sam
N10  31 wondered how intolerable the other's social manners could get. ^Were
N10  32 they now going to talk about the weather?
N10  33    |^Sam was conscious of his muscles absorbing the secrets of
N10  34 flexion. ^There was a tremendous synaptic gathering inside him. ^But
N10  35 would it be worth pulling such a silly little beard?
N10  36    |^*'I'm glad you know about Foster,**' Singh said.
N10  37    |^But one would need a genius for letting the world rip by not to
N10  38 know about Foster. ^Newspapers had bellowed headlines about the
N10  39 settler who'd complained that his native gardener was getting too
N10  40 interested in his wife, and who'd slugged the man so hard that he'd
N10  41 pushed him into eternity. ^Foster had always been hitting his native
N10  42 servants, but with the gardener he had gone too far.
N10  43    |^*'It's only right that Foster should hang,**' Singh said curtly.
N10  44 ^*'Yet this New Government may not like to start what they call a New
N10  45 Era with the execution of a white man. ^They may feel that it will
N10  46 bias their relations with other Western Powers. ^So I would like you
N10  47 to sign our petition. ^As a visitor from The States, your signature
N10  48 would mean so much...**'
N10  49    |^But the man had not even troubled to ask Sam whether he believed
N10  50 in capital punishment, whether he thought that vengeance was a dish
N10  51 best eaten cold! ^Of course it was not right that the black men who
N10  52 killed whites should always be punished, while the white men who
N10  53 killed blacks should go free. ^If there was a law, it should be
N10  54 impartial. ^But was capital punishment part of any law that could be
N10  55 justified?
N10  56    |^Singh would say, Sam was sure, that Sam was standing with the
N10  57 white men when he waved away the petition. ^But surely he was doing
N10  58 more than that? ^For Sam ought to be prejudiced. ^Sam was as black as
N10  59 night. ^That was why his mother, not knowing his father, had called
N10  60 him Sam Dark. ^*'My name's trash,**' she'd said, *'but we'll give you
N10  61 a nice one, so that you can be proud of yourself.**'
N10  62    |^Sam said, ^*'\0Mr. Singh, I'm going to return to my hotel. ^In
N10  63 the circumstances, perhaps you'd give me ten minutes' start. ^I do not
N10  64 wish to walk with you, or have you on my heels.**'
N10  65    |^After that, there was no tail of footsteps just out of synchrony;
N10  66 and when Sam passed the first small bar that was open, he took his own
N10  67 solitary footsteps into it. ^The place was utterly undistinguished,
N10  68 but Sam wanted to drink away the taste of Mary Parker and \0Mr. Singh
N10  69 with his wish to see Foster strung up from the rafters. ^And after he
N10  70 had drunk away the rancid taste, Sam wanted to think of Han.
N10  71    |^He did not know how long he spent drinking, and his thoughts
N10  72 reached no conclusions. ^He left the bar finally because the
N10  73 proprietor begged him to go.
N10  74    |
N10  75    |^*4T*2HERE *0was no sign of the night porter or of any of the
N10  76 night staff at the hotel. ^Yet Sam wanted one last cool glass before
N10  77 going to his room and the whirling fans. ^After all, Grandad's Soda
N10  78 Pop was paying enough to justify Sam throwing a little weight around.
N10  79 ^Sam, the consultant on market research in relation to coloured
N10  80 citizens in America, who'd been yanked out of the advertising
N10  81 department and sent off as ambassadorial salesman to the New State.
N10  82 ^Sam, the Soda Pop salesman, who kept his finger jammed on the bell;
N10  83 but the eerie thing was that he felt that nobody would come, that
N10  84 somehow the luxury hotel was adrift and floating away without a crew
N10  85 into the stifling night.
N10  86    |^He looked for another bell, in case the one he had been ringing
N10  87 was at fault. ^When he found it, he jabbed it with a viciousness that
N10  88 surprised him.
N10  89    |^He might have saved his finger; but obstinacy made him sit
N10  90 himself down in a padded chair. ^Surely sooner or later some servant
N10  91 would have to pass through the foyer?
N10  92    |^But it was a long term policy, and Sam began to weary. ^He
N10  93 realised that he might acquire a skull cap of dust before anything
N10  94 happened. ^He decided that the hotel had won the round, and he got up
N10  95 and moved over to the lifts.
N10  96    |^But when Sam flipped on the light inside his room, he was no
N10  97 longer alone: there was someone on his bed, a woman who had made
N10  98 herself at home and had gone to sleep!
N10  99    |^It was Mary Parker, the bogus fortune teller who *"read**" the
N10 100 vibrations accumulated on things people had carried around them, the
N10 101 impetus of fate, psychometry.
N10 102    |^Mary wasn't handsome when she was awake, and asleep she looked
N10 103 ghastly.
N10 104    |^Then Sam realised that Mary was dead.
N10 105    |^He saw the penknife.
N10 106    |^His penknife.
N10 107    |^It was plunged into the old woman's heart.
N10 108    |^Sam staggered into his private bathroom and passed a wet sponge
N10 109 over his face. ^Then he unhooked the shaving mirror and took it back
N10 110 to the bedroom. ^He put the mirror over Mary Parker's mouth. ^Mary was
N10 111 dead all right.
N10 112    |^There wasn't much blood, but Sam knew that if he pulled out the
N10 113 knife there'd be plenty.
N10 114    |^Ought he to pull out the knife? ^It wouldn't help the witch now,
N10 115 and a lot of blood would be awkward if...
N10 116    |^If what?
N10 117    |^If he took the body down to the foyer and left it in a chair in
N10 118 that mausoleum. ^A blood trail would be a confession. ^He could
N10 119 recover his knife in the foyer, and let the corpse bleed comfortably
N10 120 into the cushions...
N10 121    |^Yes, Sam's one obsessive idea was*- to get rid of the body. ^What
N10 122 had happened and how it had happened, these were hideous questions
N10 123 which would have to wait.
N10 124    |^Sam would have liked to have complained to the management! ^What
N10 125 damned right had they to give permission to a caller to wait for a
N10 126 guest in his room? ^Such slipshod security was bound to lead to
N10 127 trouble. ^Even if Mary had given a wink meaning ~*"Sam's expecting
N10 128 me**", they oughtn't to have fallen for that flattering assumption of
N10 129 sophistication. ^This was supposed to be a first-class hotel in the
N10 130 New State, and not a brothel under the Old Regime.
N10 131    |^Jesus!... if Mary's body was found in Sam's room with Sam's knife
N10 132 pinning it down to the dimension of eternity...
N10 133    |^Although Sam wanted to concentrate on getting the body out of the
N10 134 room, he couldn't control his thoughts. ^But he tried to force himself
N10 135 to number off the tasks in hand: 1) Drag the corpse to the door, 2)
N10 136 Look out to see if the coast was clear, 3) Get to the lift before the
N10 137 night porter took to operating the damned thing again, 4) Get back to
N10 138 the bedroom and change clothes in case of bloodstains, 5) Think up a
N10 139 good bluff if some minion came up with a story about showing Mary
N10 140 Parker up to Sam's room.
N10 141    |^But to perdition with trying to think straight. ^What was needed
N10 142 was a little crooked action.
N10 143    |^Sam forced himself back to the bedside, and put out his arms to
N10 144 grab the corpse under the arm pits...
N10 145    |^*'Dear me, \0Mr. Dark, I would have thought that any further
N10 146 violence was quite unnecessary...**'
N10 147    |^Sam spun round.
N10 148    |^A small man, who was pushing out his lips as if he wanted to kiss
N10 149 or be kissed, had come silently into the room.
N10 150    |^*'Oh dear,**' he said, *'I'm the hotel detective.**'
N10 151    |^Sam goggled at him.
N10 152    |^*'Where the devil have you been?**' he said bitterly. ^*'Why
N10 153 can't you prevent this sort of thing happening?**'
N10 154    |^*'Do you think I could have done that, \0Mr. Dark? ^I can't be
N10 155 everywhere at once, you know. ^We've had trouble with an old lady who
N10 156 lost a valuable brooch. ^I've been interviewing all the staff. ^The
N10 157 old lady insisted on it. ^Of course in the end we discovered that
N10 158 she'd used the brooch for pinning a cheque to her laundry list. ^Old
N10 159 ladies are capable of anything. ^You'd never credit what they'll do
N10 160 without a second thought.
N10 161    |^*'They stick a hat pin into a tiresome dog or leave a valuable
N10 162 brooch in a laundry list, and then forget all about it. ^Whereas you
N10 163 and I, we'd have a twinge of conscience, wouldn't we? or else we'd be
N10 164 a bloody sight more careful.**'
N10 165    |^The little man tried to suck in his lips, but there wasn't much
N10 166 he could do about it.
N10 167    |^*'My name is Ralph Chand,**' he said, *'and you ought to be
N10 168 pleased to see me. ^Perhaps I've prevented you from doing something
N10 169 foolish. ^We do get flustered, don't we, in a crisis?**'
N10 170    |^Sam was speechless. ^Do hotel detectives talk like nursery
N10 171 governesses? ^*1We *0must eat up all our bread and butter before *1we
N10 172 *0have any cake, mustn't *1we*0?
N10 173    |^Then Sam tensed. ^Perhaps this imbecile was the murderer who'd
N10 174 come back to gloat and perhaps to do some more damage?
N10 175    |^Chand said conversationally, ^*'Stabbed, isn't she? ^But if you
N10 176 prefer it, she could be poisoned or strangled. ^We must suit your
N10 177 personality. ^But you are a man who carries a knife, aren't you?**'
N10 178    |^Sam felt his eyes swelling like bubbles.
N10 179    |^*'Will you say that again?**' he demanded faintly.
N10 180    |^*'Perhaps, \0Mr. Dark,**' Chand said brusquely, *'you are finding
N10 181 it hard to believe in me? ^Do you think I ought to be holding a gun in
N10 182 one hand and a pair of handcuffs in the other? ^Here is my warrant.
N10 183 ^You will verify, I hope, that it is perfectly in order.**'
N10 184    |^It looked real
N10 185    |^*'And now,**' said the hotel detective, *'I will have to ask you
N10 186 to accompany me.**'
N10 187    |^Sam stepped back.
N10 188    |^*'Oh no,**' he retorted, *'I'll wait here till the real police
N10 189 take charge. ^I don't want to be locked in the kitchen and told I've
N10 190 got to wash dishes for the rest of my life.**'
N10 191    |^The detective succeeded in getting his lower lip under his upper
N10 192 teeth, and then he released it again. ^It sprang back to the bulge as
N10 193 if to attack.
N10 194    |^*'Sir,**' \0Mr. Chand said firmly, *'what you want is a lawyer.
N10 195 ^After this unfortunate incident, he'll be waiting for us. ^The best
N10 196 lawyer in town, \0Mr. Dark; and he's our acting President while
N10 197 Bassanto is in Nyamba. ^I could not take you to a higher authority.**'
N10 198    |^Sam lifted the telephone, and to his amazement it was answered
N10 199 almost immediately. ^Anyone would think the hotel was running to
N10 200 orderly schedule.
N10 201    |^Sam said, ^*'Give me police headquarters.**'
N10 202    |^The girl on the switchboard did not seem to be surprised.
N10 203 *# 2008
N11   1 **[444 TEXT N11**]
N11   2    |^*0I drank off the Scotch.
N11   3    |^*'We'd better find out,**' I said. ^*'Another one, Sergeant?**'
N11   4    |^He grinned.
N11   5    |^*'May as well make a night of it, sir, don't you think?**'
N11   6    |
N11   7    |^We made it quite a session.
N11   8    |^In the next two hours I gathered more information about Sergeant
N11   9 Ellison than I had in all the time I'd known him. ^The bar at the
N11  10 Bloomsbury was a quiet sort of place, and we drank just about enough
N11  11 to loosen our tongues. ^That was all to the good because, apart from a
N11  12 load of irrelevant data, I picked up an odd fact about him that,
N11  13 though it seemed unimportant, came in very handy later on.
N11  14    |^I tried to draw him out on Malaya and the rubber plantations, and
N11  15 after a time he weighed in with some of the problems of Indian labour.
N11  16 ^Strikes, it appeared, had always been blowing up on the flimsiest
N11  17 pretext, and he went on to talk about one that had threatened to
N11  18 paralyse production just before the war.
N11  19    |^*'That,**' he remarked, *'was when I learnt to drive an
N11  20 engine.**'
N11  21    |^*'You mean a railway engine?**'
N11  22    |^*'A small one.**' ^He grinned. ^*'Much smaller than anything
N11  23 you'll see down at Ravi, but the cab lay-out's roughly the same. ^We
N11  24 had a branch line connecting the plantation with the main Singapore
N11  25 track. ^When the strike came we had to keep the wagons on the move,
N11  26 and there was only one way to do it.**'
N11  27    |^I asked him half-jokingly whether he thought he could drive the
N11  28 Calcutta-Peshawar express.
N11  29    |^*'If I had to drive it out of hell into heaven,**' he said, *'I'd
N11  30 at least have a damn good try.**'
N11  31    |^We were neither of us talking in deadly earnest, and I'd no idea
N11  32 then that I'd ever need to ask him to drive a locomotive. ^Yet when
N11  33 the time came that I needed a driver and seconds were precious, the
N11  34 little that I'd learnt about him that evening snapped into mind with a
N11  35 sweetness that made all the difference.
N11  36    |
N11  37    |^Looking back, I learnt quite a lot that was useful in the course
N11  38 of that couple of hours at the Bloomsbury.
N11  39    |^It was close on eleven o'clock when I left, and as I turned the
N11  40 jeep towards the gates, another car came blaring up the road from the
N11  41 station. ^It was an American make, half the size of a tank and
N11  42 unmistakably belonged to Sarwate. ^I'd seen it too often at Dalgoorie
N11  43 to have any doubts about that.
N11  44    |^I caught sight of his face, all flesh, peering through the
N11  45 windscreen, and beside him a woman in a sari.
N11  46    |^I couldn't see her features. ^She was turned away from me, but
N11  47 she seemed to be young.
N11  48    |^It must have been the Scotch, but right at that moment I felt
N11  49 very much alone, a world away from Fay. ^I muttered an entreaty that
N11  50 the next three nights at least would be quiet; then, swinging the jeep
N11  51 on to the tarmac, I followed Sarwate up the hill.
N11  52 *<22. *2A LUSCIOUS LITTLE WINDFALL*>
N11  53    |^*0I slept soundly from midnight to six in the morning, and woke
N11  54 feeling more thoroughly rested than I had for ten days. ^There'd been
N11  55 no hornet-buzz from the bazar and no jangling telephone-bells in the
N11  56 small hours. ^Some distant Hindu deity, possibly Vishnu the Preserver
N11  57 in one of his nine incarnations, had lent an ear to the prayer of an
N11  58 unbeliever and laid a peaceful hand on Kulachi. ^That was one thing to
N11  59 be thankful for at any rate, and to me there was another that was
N11  60 equally if not more important. ^This was Tuesday. ^It was August the
N11  61 eleventh, and Fay was arriving from Delhi.
N11  62    |^I slipped on a pair of sandals, snatched myself a quick, cool
N11  63 shower and a dollop of breakfast, and ran the jeep down to Area
N11  64 Headquarters with the airy feeling that in spite of the heat I was
N11  65 going to remember this day as a pleasanter landmark of monsoon 1942.
N11  66    |^Betty had only just arrived, but she'd called at the Signals
N11  67 Section on the way and picked up what messages there were. ^One of
N11  68 them was sealed in an envelope and labelled *2TOP SECRET*- *0obviously
N11  69 from {0*2G.H.Q.}*- *0and I slit the flap and pulled out the folded
N11  70 slip of paper with all kinds of misgivings. ^Not that I was
N11  71 desperately worried about Fay. ^I'd spoken to her on the phone less
N11  72 than twenty-four hours before, and she hadn't seemed in any way upset;
N11  73 but, from my own narrow shave outside the Kutcherry, I knew just how
N11  74 little was needed to spark off an outbreak of violence, how swiftly a
N11  75 peaceful street could become as dangerous as a valley in the path of a
N11  76 crumbling dam. ^The mere mention of Delhi, on this of all days, was
N11  77 calculated to set all my nerve-ends tingling; and with the Press and
N11  78 radio clamped into virtual silence on the subject, there were only two
N11  79 sources of news: rumour, which was wild and unreliable and reports
N11  80 from {0*2G.H.Q.}, *0which were reliable as far as they went, but
N11  81 which, I suspected, never told more than a quarter of the truth.
N11  82    |^Still, casting an eye down the message, I didn't see anything to
N11  83 cause immediate concern. ^The only mention of Delhi was in the context
N11  84 of student demonstrations, but all hell, it seemed, had been let loose
N11  85 in Bombay. ^A railway station had been raided, a Government grain-shop
N11  86 looted and burnt, telegraph wires cut and stones thrown at trains.
N11  87 ^The police and the military had had to intervene and there'd been a
N11  88 number of casualties, some of them fatal.
N11  89    |^There'd also been some firing in Lucknow and Poona, and more
N11  90 trouble in Ahmedabad; but it was even more disturbing to find no
N11  91 reference at all to what had happened at Kulachi. ^At least half a
N11  92 dozen places were detailed in connection with what were called *'minor
N11  93 disturbances**', but I couldn't spot Kulachi anywhere among them.
N11  94    |^That made me think, not once but three times. ^I knew the \0Brig
N11  95 had sent a wire up to District, and both Rob and Scattergood must have
N11  96 made their own individual reports, and yet what I'd seen down in the
N11  97 Sadar Bazar wasn't even classed as a *'minor disturbance**'. ^I looked
N11  98 down my nose at the message, and wondered what the hell sort of
N11  99 trouble {0*2G.H.Q.} *0meant when they talked about *'a student
N11 100 demonstration**'.
N11 101    |^Then I realized abruptly that it wasn't worth the effort. ^Even
N11 102 if they meant what Rob described as *'wilful bloody murder**', there
N11 103 was nothing I could do to prevent it. ^Delhi was a hundred and fifty
N11 104 miles across the Ganges plain, and that was a damned sight too far.
N11 105 ^In six hours Fay would be sitting in a train, and until it was time
N11 106 to wheel the jeep down to Jagapur to meet her, the best thing I could
N11 107 do was to forget the whole business completely.
N11 108    |^I floated the message-form to Betty and told her to file it.
N11 109    |^*'And give the {0*2D.S.P.} *0a tinkle,**' I added. ^*'See if
N11 110 he'll be down at the Kutcherry in half an hour's time. ^I want to have
N11 111 a word with him about a bungalow at Ravi.**'
N11 112    |^She reached for the phone, but before she could so much as lift
N11 113 the receiver the bell began to ring.
N11 114    |^*'Damn,**' I said. ^*'Find out who it is.**'
N11 115    |^She found out. ^It was Rob, and I took the phone from her.
N11 116    |^*'I was just going to toddle down and see you,**' I told him.
N11 117 ^*'I've a small twist of dope about our friend from Asifabad.**'
N11 118    |^I heard him chuckle down the wire.
N11 119    |^*'I've got more than that. ^I've a packet right here that'll make
N11 120 your eyes pop.**'
N11 121    |^*'Oh? ^What's in it?**'
N11 122    |^*'Another twist of something that's turned up at last.**'
N11 123    |^*'That tells me a hell of a lot, doesn't it?**'
N11 124    |^*'Yes,**' he said, *'it's meant to.**'
N11 125    |^*'D'you want me to guess?**'
N11 126    |^*'Not while we're talking on the blower. ^Just get toddling, old
N11 127 son.**'
N11 128    |^I told him I'd be with him in roughly ten minutes.
N11 129    |^*'Make it five,**' he urged. ^*'This is manna from the skies.
N11 130 ^It's a luscious little windfall if ever there was one.**'
N11 131    |^*'What shall I bring then? ^A spoon or a penknife?**'
N11 132    |^*'Neither,**' he said. ^*'Pack a thinking cap. ^That's all we're
N11 133 going to need.**'
N11 134    |
N11 135    |^I did more than toddle. ^I was down at the Kutcherry in six
N11 136 minutes flat.
N11 137    |^Rob was standing by his desk gazing down at a black metal box on
N11 138 the floor. ^It was the sort of box that anyone could have bought in
N11 139 any of a thousand bazars: a small tin trunk, flat-topped, fitted with
N11 140 a hasp and staple and secured by a padlock. ^There were millions of
N11 141 them in India.
N11 142    |^This one, from the look of it, had seen better days. ^It was
N11 143 scratched and dented, the hasp was broken and some sharp concussion at
N11 144 some time or other had strained at the hinges. ^The paint had long
N11 145 since lost all its gloss, but I could see very faintly the letters
N11 146 *'{0M.F.}**' lacquered in white on the lid.
N11 147    |^*'Some windfall,**' I remarked.
N11 148    |^*'Don't kick it,**' said Rob. ^*'Sit down. ^Have you heard about
N11 149 the bus?**'
N11 150    |^*'What bus?**'
N11 151    |^*'First one down the hill from Dalgoorie this morning. ^Struck a
N11 152 patch of oil on one of the hairpins and nose-dived over the side of
N11 153 the \khud.**'
N11 154    |^I wasn't surprised. ^The buses on the winding road to the hills
N11 155 were the kind I remembered on country routes in England back in the
N11 156 late nineteen-twenties: rattling affairs, sparingly sprung, with
N11 157 bulbous horns and a single door at the rear. ^They were driven with
N11 158 erratic and reckless fury by a team of Sikhs, and on the odd occasions
N11 159 when necessity had forced me to use them I'd suffered a multitude of
N11 160 hideous deaths in the course of an hour's fertile imagination.
N11 161    |^I said as much to Rob, and asked him how far this one had
N11 162 dropped.
N11 163    |^*'Five hundred feet, almost sheer,**' he replied. ^*'Finished up
N11 164 in a stream. ^Little of it left except for the chassis.**'
N11 165    |^*'Any military personnel aboard?**'
N11 166    |^*'No. ^There were only five passengers. ^Six with the driver.
N11 167 ^Devil of a shambles, though. ^Seemed to be bodies here, there and
N11 168 everywhere.**'
N11 169    |^*'Anyone escape?**'
N11 170    |^*'Killed four of them,**' he said. ^*'Simply hadn't a chance.
N11 171 ^But the two on the back seat threw themselves out. ^They're in the
N11 172 {0*2I.M.H.}, *0one with a couple of broken legs. ^The other got away
N11 173 with cuts and a bump on his head like a pigeon's egg. ^He's the
N11 174 luckiest beggar still breathing this morning.**'
N11 175    |^*'Who is he?**' I asked.
N11 176    |^*'A friend from the hills. ^That's a bit of his property.**' ^Rob
N11 177 pointed to the box. ^*'Tossed off the luggage grid the first time the
N11 178 bus turned over. ^Fell in a clump of thorns and lodged there. ^Luckily
N11 179 for us it burst at the seams, and when the sub-inspector from
N11 180 Dalgoorie saw what was in it, he sent down for me.**'
N11 181    |^*'And you impounded it.**'
N11 182    |^*'I borrowed it,**' said Rob, *'and all the other personal
N11 183 belongings I could find scattered on the side of the hill. ^Took them
N11 184 into safe custody till I could discover whose they were.... ^As soon
N11 185 as you've taken a look at that little lot, I'm having the hasp riveted
N11 186 back into place and the box delivered to the {0*2I.M.H.} ^*0It'll be
N11 187 held in store for a certain patient and he won't be any the wiser.
N11 188 ^When I picked it up he was flat on a stretcher, out to the wide, and
N11 189 the sub-inspector's down at his bedside to give him all the flannel he
N11 190 needs as soon as he begins to worry.**'
N11 191    |^I turned the box around and stared at the letters stencilled on
N11 192 the lid.
N11 193    |^*'But who the devil is he?**' I queried.
N11 194    |^*'Goanese,**' said Rob, handing me a clue. ^*'A thin, sallow
N11 195 streak of mixed Dago and Madrassi. ^Waves a stick in front of that
N11 196 lousy set of saxes at the Mayfair.**'
N11 197    |^*'Fernandes?**'
N11 198    |^*'Manuel Fernandes.**'
N11 199    |^I knew him, of course. ^He was the boss of Sarwate's dance band.
N11 200 *# 2006
N12   1 **[445 TEXT N12**]
N12   2 ^*0Sam looked away and Willie thought, he's got you, Sam, you're
N12   3 afraid. ^You're not a Socialist now.
N12   4    |^*'You see,**' Parnell said. ^*'It shows the power of a newspaper
N12   5 which has strong beliefs and acts on them and perseveres.**' ^He waved
N12   6 a sheaf of letters. ^*'Congratulations pouring in.**'
N12   7    |^*'So what?**' Willie said. ^*'You've proved the power of dirty
N12   8 propaganda. ^That's been done before.**'
N12   9    |^Parnell came around the desk and embraced his shoulders.
N12  10 ^*'Willie, when will you realize? ^Every newspaper makes propaganda.
N12  11 ^You know what Beaverbrook told the Royal Commission. ^He owns his
N12  12 newspapers for no other purpose. ^It may be propaganda for the left or
N12  13 right, it may be for the middle way. ^But it's all propaganda and with
N12  14 good reason.**' ^His white hand tightened on Willie's shoulder.
N12  15 ^*'What you'd have is a sheet which tells the truth, the whole truth
N12  16 and nothing but the truth. ^But what is the truth, Willie? ^I don't
N12  17 know. ^I only know what I think is true. ^I act on it and try to show
N12  18 others, like the politician on his platform and the parson in his
N12  19 pulpit. ^You must allow me that, Willie*- the freedom of holding an
N12  20 opinion and expressing it with every force at my command.**'
N12  21    |^Very plausible, Willie thought, except for one thing. ^You hold
N12  22 the opinion, then make others express it. ^You don't allow them the
N12  23 freedom which you claim as a right.
N12  24    |^*'I know you're a Socialist, Willie. ^With your background you
N12  25 have to be. ^You've never got 1926 out of your memory. ^But you
N12  26 mustn't take it so hard. ^You should learn to lose more gracefully.**'
N12  27    |^Willie looked at the white hand, then at Parnell. ^He kept his
N12  28 gaze steady until the hand fell away. ^Then he said: ^*'It's not the
N12  29 victory, it's the means. ^You've done your bit towards making
N12  30 journalism a shameful thing.**'
N12  31    |^He turned slowly and went out. ^Miss Simpson raised a hand to
N12  32 him, slightly and secretively, because he was her favourite. ^As he
N12  33 raised his hand in mild answer, his thoughts said, something happened
N12  34 in there just now. ^We moved another step nearer the inevitable, the
N12  35 show-down. ^Parnell on one side, me on the other, and no compromise in
N12  36 between.
N12  37    |^He went up the stairs to Joe's room. ^The News Editor was
N12  38 cleaning his pipe; pushing the white cleaner in one end and waiting
N12  39 for it to come out brown at the other.
N12  40    |^*'Have you seen the letters?**' Joe said. ^*'All the
N12  41 congratulations?**'
N12  42    |^Willie went to the window, looking out at nothing. ^*'I could
N12  43 puke.**'
N12  44    |^*'You don't want to take it personal, Willie. ^You and me and the
N12  45 rest of us. ^We do what we're told. ^We don't make the policy.**'
N12  46    |^*'That's no answer. ^No excuse.**'
N12  47    |^Joe dropped the cleaner into the waste-basket. ^He replaced the
N12  48 stem in the bowl, twisting it another squeak so that the mouthpiece
N12  49 became comfortable to his teeth. ^He took out his tobacco-pouch and
N12  50 filled the bowl, fingering down a shred which curled over the edge.
N12  51 ^Then he tapped his pockets for matches. ^*'It doesn't matter,
N12  52 Willie,**' he said, finding them. ^*'It isn't worth the trouble.**'
N12  53    |^Willie did not answer. ^He knew that in this room it wasn't worth
N12  54 the trouble; that nothing mattered except Joe's do-nothing,
N12  55 say-nothing, be-nothing. ^He knew that if he stayed long enough, here
N12  56 in this room which this man had made, he would do nothing, say
N12  57 nothing.
N12  58    |^He went out to the corridor and along it to his room. ^In the
N12  59 reporters' room Ritchie's voice was plain: ^*'On some newspapers
N12  60 there'd be champagne to celebrate.**' ^Through the opened door of
N12  61 another room he saw the sub-editors, crouched over their copy like
N12  62 cold hens on a perch.
N12  63    |^Willie opened the door which said *'\0Mr Whittaker**' and slumped
N12  64 into his chair; biting his thumb, his thoughts boiling with anger and
N12  65 disgust and humiliation. ^He reached for the telephone and half a
N12  66 minute later her voice was there.
N12  67    |^*'Helen, will you eat with me, drink with me... somewhere...
N12  68 anywhere?**'
N12  69    |^He imagined her surprise.
N12  70    |^She said: ^*'Why, yes, Willie, of course.**'
N12  71    |^*'We could go out in the country somewhere. ^One of those places
N12  72 where we used to go. ^Before,**' he hesitated and added, *'before the
N12  73 war.**'
N12  74    |^*'That would be nice.**'
N12  75    |^He knew she was perplexed by the peremptory invitation, by his
N12  76 sudden need of her.
N12  77    |^He said: ^*'I want a drink, a good long drink. ^I've a bad taste
N12  78 in my mouth.**'
N12  79    |^That was the beginning.
N12  80 *<*2CHAPTER NINETEEN*>
N12  81    |^*0No, not the beginning, Willie thought. ^Our beginning is years
N12  82 ago, when I thought my tie was a propeller and you were on the
N12  83 outside, always looking in. ^Since then it's been there, like a star
N12  84 in the night.
N12  85    |^They lay in the green shade beneath trees, where the river ran
N12  86 away with the sunshine and the leaves went up and down, like the
N12  87 sleeping breath. ^He told her about Slack Lane and his boots and
N12  88 Blonkin; of the great, wagging head and the yellow teeth and the
N12  89 watchful cruelty. ^But that was not all about Blonkin. ^There was more
N12  90 to him than hooligan boots.
N12  91    |^*'During the war,**' Willie said, *'Blonkin was a prisoner of the
N12  92 Japanese and they thought he knew something, so they filled him with
N12  93 water and held him upside down and hit him with rifle-butts while the
N12  94 water fell out. ^At ten o'clock each day they hit him, and at half
N12  95 past nine each day he was mad with waiting. ^Of course he didn't know
N12  96 what they wanted him to tell, and though he tried to guess what they
N12  97 wanted and told them all of it, his poor mind wasn't clever enough to
N12  98 guess what they wanted, so they clubbed him again for trying to
N12  99 deceive them. ^Now Blonkin is back in Slack Lane, living on medical
N12 100 certificates because of what the Japs did to him, and other men say
N12 101 there he goes, always boozing, living free and doing nothing. ^See
N12 102 what happens when there's a Welfare State.**'
N12 103    |^He told her of Creedy; tall and pale and intense, for ever
N12 104 dependent on his wife who knew about his studs and socks and what he
N12 105 had done with the tickets.
N12 106    |^*'I used to hate Creedy, when I was twelve and he forced me to
N12 107 learn more than I believed I could learn. ^I used to lie awake
N12 108 planning how to kill him, how I would kill him when I was a man and
N12 109 big enough. ^All my love was for his wife. ^She was my first love and
N12 110 when she smiled at him I was jealous, and when he bullied her I
N12 111 changed the gun to a knife because it would last longer. ^But now I
N12 112 see what he tried to do and what it cost him. ^Now I'm grateful for
N12 113 all he tried to do and ashamed of the boy who gave him nothing in
N12 114 return, not even thanks. ^He wrote me long letters during the war,
N12 115 clever letters but excited, too, excited not about the war but about
N12 116 what would happen afterwards. ^In Greece, the Balkans, in Arabia and
N12 117 Egypt and Africa, in India and Burma and Malaya. ^He was always
N12 118 looking ahead to what the war meant to those countries and what
N12 119 freedom would mean to them.**'
N12 120    |^Helen murmured: ^*'Is he a Communist?**' and Willie smiled as he
N12 121 shook his head.
N12 122    |^*'Everybody these days has to be something. ^Conservative,
N12 123 Socialist, Communist, as though you must belong to some party to have
N12 124 any opinion worth calling an opinion. ^But Creedy doesn't belong to
N12 125 any opinion. ^He's an individual. ^He thinks for himself. ^Sometimes
N12 126 he sounds like a Communist. ^Sometimes like \0St Francis. ^Sometimes
N12 127 like a boy lost in the dark. ^But to me he'll always be what he was
N12 128 all those years ago. ^A sincere man, for ever crusading, if not
N12 129 against ignorance, then for a boy from Slack Lane who sat in the back
N12 130 row and made raspberry noises. ^I know now what I didn't realize then,
N12 131 that without Creedy I'd have been in Slack Lane for ever, doing
N12 132 nothing and learning to know that it was nothing. ^Dying by eight-hour
N12 133 stints.**'
N12 134    |^Then he told her of Aunt Nance and the dream; a white cottage in
N12 135 the country with the wood-smoke pottering from the chimney and the
N12 136 delphiniums blue. ^She asked questions about this cottage, probing
N12 137 him, so that he told her about the logs of wood, criss-crossed in the
N12 138 hearth, about the kettle-holder on its hook and the red curtains and
N12 139 the low beam at the bottom of the stairs. ^He could not understand her
N12 140 interest in this cottage, for, of course, there was no such cottage
N12 141 and could never be; it was just the creation of a dream. ^He did not
N12 142 ask why she probed for details. ^It was enough just to talk.
N12 143    |^They began to go everywhere, so that people learned to say:
N12 144 ^*'Hello, Willie, hello, Helen, nice to see you, Helen.**' ^He loved
N12 145 to hear them linking their names in this way. ^The link was a form of
N12 146 marriage. ^At the races they said it. ^Harry Carr said: ^*'Hello,
N12 147 Willie,**' then touched his cap for Helen. ^At the theatre they said
N12 148 it. ^Charlie Chester welcomed them to his dressing-room*- ^*'Only
N12 149 milk,**' Charlie said, *'I'm drinking milk**'*- then pulled up a chair
N12 150 for Helen. ^At the City ground they said it. ^Stanley Matthews said:
N12 151 ^*'Always nice to see you, Willie,**' then gave his shy nod and smile
N12 152 to Helen.
N12 153    |^Willie was grateful to the big names; to Colin Cowdrey and Jack
N12 154 Hawkins and Ted Ray. ^They could see how much it meant to him. ^And
N12 155 when there were parties to celebrate a new play, new book, new
N12 156 hit-song, new exhibition, Helen was there to help him through,
N12 157 although he'd always said he despised parties; you paid too high a
N12 158 price for the free drink.
N12 159    |^He said: ^*'It's all right as long as I look across the room and
N12 160 see you, Helen. ^Never mind the crap talk, the scratch-my-back talk,
N12 161 the men pretending to be women and the women wishing they were men.
N12 162 ^As soon as I see you and know you're still there, then it's all
N12 163 right, Helen.**'
N12 164    |^They never mentioned Parnell, but he seemed to be there; in the
N12 165 back seat, his forearms on their seats, watching with amusement,
N12 166 because the more they shared the more vulnerable they became.
N12 167    |^Once Helen said: ^*'We're not married, not really married,**' and
N12 168 slowly, reluctantly, disjointedly it came out. ^How it had begun by
N12 169 Parnell sleeping in the dressing-room, because he came home so late
N12 170 and did not wish to disturb her. ^Then he had put aside pretence and
N12 171 slept in another room, making it plain to the girl who could not
N12 172 understand. ^*'That was 1939,**' Helen said, *'the year of the war.**'
N12 173    |^His glance was shocked and the car swerved. ^That's a long time,
N12 174 the glance said.
N12 175    |^Helen's smile still showed the hurt. ^*'It took me a long time to
N12 176 realize that he didn't find me attractive any more. ^I made excuses.
N12 177 ^Hundreds of excuses. ^I pretended not to know about the other women.
N12 178 ^Then there was the war and the evacuees, such beautiful children, and
N12 179 my letters to you and yours to me and in the end there was this,
N12 180 Willie, what we have now. ^You and me.**'
N12 181    |^*'You could divorce him.**' ^He knew at once that she would not.
N12 182    |^*'Before she died Mummy wanted me to divorce him. ^She'd learned
N12 183 to hate, she who was always so gentle, she'd learned to hate and cared
N12 184 about nothing except that hate. ^Not the scandal, not the gossip, nor
N12 185 the harm it would do to the newspaper. ^But I can't. ^The *1Herald
N12 186 *0means too much for that.**'
N12 187    |^He drove with sudden anger, glancing at the speedometer, then
N12 188 boosting it higher. ^It flickered around seventy and she glanced in
N12 189 alarm. ^He saw the alarm and let the rage go out of him. ^The needle
N12 190 flickered down to sixty, to fifty, and the old car relaxed like a
N12 191 horse when the race is done.
N12 192    |^*'Careful, Willie, or we'll never get there.**'
N12 193 *# 2006
N13   1 **[446 TEXT N13**]
N13   2    |^*0*'Isn't there something simpler you can do, like taking her
N13   3 dancing. ^There are one or two restaurants out on the islands. ^They
N13   4 look very romantic.**'
N13   5    |^He took my advice. ^That same evening he and Elaine dressed in
N13   6 their best and went out to dinner. ^But oddly it was not the dinner
N13   7 which distracted her from her troubles but what came after. ^They came
N13   8 back from the pension after I had gone to bed and I did not see them.
N13   9 ^But a little after six, I woke to hear a tapping on my door and found
N13  10 Steve in his pyjamas, his shoulders wrapped in a blanket.
N13  11    |^*'What the hell...**' I began, then noticed that his face was
N13  12 grey. ^*'Steve, what's wrong?**'
N13  13    |^*"I don't know. ^I've been in the lavatory since four o'clock and
N13  14 I feel as sick as a dog.**'
N13  15    |^*'It must be something you've eaten.**' ^His teeth were
N13  16 chattering. ^*'Don't stand here: you'll catch a cold. ^Get back into
N13  17 bed.**'
N13  18    |^He walked back meekly to his room and got into bed. ^*'If you've
N13  19 been up since four,**' I said, *'why the devil didn't you call me
N13  20 sooner?**'
N13  21    |^*'I tried to but you were sound asleep.**'
N13  22    |^*'But couldn't you have tried any of the others?**'
N13  23    |^He shrugged. ^*'I suppose I've known you longest.**'
N13  24    |^His teeth were still chattering but his forehead, when I felt it,
N13  25 was hot and clammy.
N13  26    |^He said, ^*'I must have a temperature. ^I've been sitting exams
N13  27 half the night that even Einstein would have flunked.**'
N13  28    |^I went to the wardrobe, found another blanket and spread it on
N13  29 the bed. ^*'Next time you catch the pox,**' I said, *'do it in
N13  30 England. ^It's so much cheaper on the National Health.**'
N13  31    |^*'Next time that's what I'll do.**'
N13  32    |^I tucked in the blanket. ^*'I'll go downstairs now and see if
N13  33 they've something you can take. ^If it's not any better by
N13  34 breakfast-time, we'll get a doctor.**'
N13  35    |^I felt pretty useless, standing and watching but his face was
N13  36 growing paler. ^At any moment he would vomit and I did not want to
N13  37 leave him by himself. ^I went outside, towards the stairs, then
N13  38 tumbled to what I should do. ^I stopped at Elaine's door, tapped on it
N13  39 and went on tapping until it was opened and she stood there, her eyes
N13  40 half open, in nightgown and wrap.
N13  41    |^*'Peter, what is it?**'
N13  42    |^*'It's Steve. ^He's not very well.**'
N13  43    |^*'He's not.**' ^Her eyes opened. ^She seemed concerned. ^I had
N13  44 done right to wake her up. ^*'But what is it? ^What's the matter?**'
N13  45    |^*'I don't know. ^I imagine it's something he has eaten.**' ^She
N13  46 tied the cord of her wrap and stepped into the corridor. ^*'It was my
N13  47 idea to wake you. ^He wouldn't have wanted to disturb you himself.**'
N13  48    |^*'I'm glad you did. ^There's nothing worse than being ill away
N13  49 from home.**'
N13  50    |^She led the way into his room. ^When she laid her hand on his
N13  51 forehead he opened his eyes. ^*'Hey! ^What are you doing here?**'
N13  52    |^*'You should have called me,**' she said. ^*'It wasn't
N13  53 friendly.**'
N13  54    |^He made a sudden gesture towards the wash-basin and understanding
N13  55 quicker than me, she dashed across, lifted the bidet from its stand
N13  56 and held it against his chest just in time. ^*'It must have been the
N13  57 fish,**' she said, *'it's the one thing I didn't have.**'
N13  58    |^From her fear of insects, I would have expected her to be
N13  59 fastidious but not a scrap. ^She took the bidet away, wiped his face
N13  60 with a towel as if she were doing these things every day, and then to
N13  61 my astonishment, laid her cheek gently against his forehead. ^And it
N13  62 wasn't done for effect; she really meant it. ^For she stayed with him,
N13  63 sitting by the bed until he dropped off to sleep and then went out in
N13  64 his car to bring back a doctor before she would think of having
N13  65 breakfast.
N13  66    |^He was ill for three days and for the whole time, she stayed near
N13  67 him in the hotel, either in his room or sitting on the terrace, where
N13  68 she could hear him when he called. ^With dark hair and haggard face,
N13  69 he made an appealing patient. ^But because I thought of her as hard
N13  70 and egotistical, I could not believe that she stayed with him simply
N13  71 from affection. ^It is something I can't be sure of, but I think
N13  72 perhaps after her disappointment she felt unwanted and to have someone
N13  73 dependent on her must have consoled her a lot.
N13  74    |^On the morning of the fifth day, I went into his room as I
N13  75 usually did, soon after I had woken, to see how he was, and found
N13  76 Elaine lying next to him in the bed. ^I don't believe they had been
N13  77 making love*- that, I imagine, did not happen until a day or so later.
N13  78 ^But the fact that I stood there, wishing them good morning without
N13  79 the slightest embarrassment showed how closely in those few days they
N13  80 had come together.
N13  81 *<[4]*>
N13  82    |^It was the same, too, for Alison and me. ^We were English and,
N13  83 without discussing it, had taken separate rooms; and we kept our
N13  84 promise never to snog in front of the others. ^But that, instead of
N13  85 keeping us apart, made us all the more passionate once we were alone.
N13  86    |^We spent our time, sometimes with Max and Jill but more often
N13  87 alone, swimming, or on the steamers, or wandering in Steve's car into
N13  88 the hills. ^In the heat of the day we would come back for lunch and
N13  89 afterwards I would go upstairs, sleep it off in a quick half-hour,
N13  90 then creep along the corridor and tap at Alison's door; and asleep or
N13  91 awake, she would hear the first tap and come to the door to let me in.
N13  92    |^We made love in those few days many times. ^The heat, the wine,
N13  93 Stresa itself*- the beauty of it*- made us both unbelievably amorous.
N13  94 ^Perhaps because we knew each other that much better, or simply
N13  95 because we had privacy and a spring mattress, we enjoyed each other
N13  96 very much more. ^With regular oats and mounds of spaghetti, I put on
N13  97 weight. ^I became bronzed, almost handsome. ^And the same process
N13  98 turned Alison into a raving beauty, so that sometimes when we were
N13  99 making love, I had to close my eyes and keep from looking at her, in
N13 100 case I became too roused and satisfied myself before her. ^Afterwards,
N13 101 while she dozed, I would lie back against the head of the bed, staring
N13 102 into the twilight and feeling wonderfully calm, wonderfully rested. ^I
N13 103 would sit there, my body cool and naked, the sheet for comfort tucked
N13 104 into my crutch, stroking her cheek or her hair and listening to the
N13 105 sounds, the clatter of a train, the spluttering of a scooter, that
N13 106 drifted in through the closed shutters. ^And I'd think how right it
N13 107 was, how much more moral, to live like this than like a hermit.
N13 108    |^I was calm, contented and then for three days making love was not
N13 109 possible and I found out what had happened. ^I still spent the siesta
N13 110 in Alison's room but instead of making love, we would lie side by side
N13 111 and talk. ^We talked a great deal in those days at Stresa, and the
N13 112 more we talked, the more I liked her. ^She was slow sometimes to sense
N13 113 the comic*- her life perhaps had been too easy*- but she never
N13 114 pretended, she never talked for effect. ^I never felt with her as I
N13 115 had felt with others, that I was talking to myself in a padded room.
N13 116 ^In everything she said, was enthusiasm and a sort of passion.
N13 117    |^For three days I went without my oats. ^Then, on the last night
N13 118 we spent in Stresa, I went up to bed a little early while Alison went
N13 119 for a shower. ^Because it was the last night I opened the shutters and
N13 120 looked out through the trees. ^A faint scent came from the flowers on
N13 121 Steve's balcony. ^The sky overhead was a mass of stars. ^I could see
N13 122 the lights of a steamer far away on the lake and right beneath me, in
N13 123 the dark beneath the trees, I could see a firefly winking to and fro
N13 124 in the bushes. ^Then the door behind me was opened, I turned and saw
N13 125 Alison. ^She came over to me and kissed me on the cheek. ^*'Peter,**'
N13 126 she said, *'I thought I should tell you, I'm clean again and
N13 127 decent.**'
N13 128    |^I took her to bed and we made love. ^Because I hadn't expected it
N13 129 and because she had come to me, I was taken unawares. ^In the last
N13 130 moment I opened my eyes and saw her face and there it was, right in my
N13 131 throat, the urge to say that I loved her. ^The words came to me like a
N13 132 pain but I held them back. ^I knew even then that I'd be stupid to say
N13 133 them. ^But afterwards when I was lying quiet, with my head on her
N13 134 shoulder, I did not feel as I had felt before. ^I felt exposed,
N13 135 unprotected, somehow afraid of what might happen.
N13 136    |^When I woke in the morning, it was none too early and Alison had
N13 137 gone already. ^I sat up and gave my head a damned good scratch.
N13 138 ^Through the window, from the terrace underneath, I could hear Max and
N13 139 Elaine and then Alison; so instead of lying back again for another
N13 140 five, I got up and went to the window to open the shutters. ^I had
N13 141 just begun to open the first when I saw Steve on his balcony. ^He was
N13 142 standing quite still and well back from the balustrade so as not to be
N13 143 noticed. ^I could see only his profile and that not very well, yet I
N13 144 knew at once he was looking down at Elaine. ^I left the shutter as it
N13 145 was and went back silently into the room. ^I had some idea now of what
N13 146 was happening to me and I suppose because of it, I knew for certain,
N13 147 without even seeing his face, that he too was on the hook.
N13 148 *<[5]*>
N13 149    |^I went down to breakfast that morning with a sort of
N13 150 pre-examination shakes. ^The hot weather, or the wine at dinner had
N13 151 given me palpitations and I felt suspicious. ^I had seen the world the
N13 152 night before as one gigantic romance. ^Yet, when I joined the others,
N13 153 everything, from the littered table to the look on Alison's face,
N13 154 seemed horribly normal, horribly mundane.
N13 155    |^Max was worrying, as he always did because he liked to. ^*'Venice
N13 156 will be crowded. ^This time of year it always is. ^We ought to 'phone
N13 157 Vittorio and ask him to book us rooms.**'
N13 158    |^*'But why bother him?**' Steve said. ^*'We can manage.**'
N13 159    |^*'We'll have a lot more fun if we can meet up with some of the
N13 160 Venetians.**'
N13 161    |^*'Well, we can easily 'phone him when we get there,**' Steve
N13 162 replied. ^*'There's no need to bother him now.**'
N13 163    |^*'Anyway,**' Jill said, *'we're not quite sure when we'll arrive.
N13 164 ^It sounds from the guide book as if Verona were worth a visit.**'
N13 165    |^And that was how it was left*- that we didn't 'phone. ^But
N13 166 instead of being relieved, I felt a little hurt. ^I should have liked
N13 167 it much better if Alison had spoken up, if she had said for instance
N13 168 that Vittorio was a bore.
N13 169    |^We left Stresa shortly after breakfast and were approaching
N13 170 Verona by the afternoon. ^Verona at first sight seemed dusty and
N13 171 unremarkable. ^I asked Max to stop the car outside a greengrocer's and
N13 172 went in to buy peaches, luscious and as big as melons. ^I took one of
N13 173 the ripest and stood on the pavement, with Alison beside me, holding
N13 174 my head well forward and letting the juice trickle over my chin. ^I
N13 175 was wishing Bowling had been there to turn up his nose, when I noticed
N13 176 Alison, looking down at a poster on the wall.
N13 177    |^*'The opera,**' she said. ^*'I forgot all about it.**'
N13 178    |^*'Opera? ^What opera?**'
N13 179    |^*'They have it here in the open air, in the Roman arena.
N13 180 **[MIDDLE OF QUOTE**]
N13 181 *# 2007
N14   1 **[447 TEXT N14**]
N14   2 *<*2CHAPTER TWO*>
N14   3    |^HE REMEMBERED *0his parents talking of Maine, where they came
N14   4 from, a vague and distant place girded with rocks and bound by hard
N14   5 winters. ^Thinking back sometimes, was pleasant in a painful way, and
N14   6 the sum of recollection inclined him to believe his parents had
N14   7 settled the emerald meadows because they reminded them of Maine.
N14   8 ^Small, rich fields interspersed with fingerlings of forest, along the
N14   9 swift-falling curves and bends of the watershed they had called Roan's
N14  10 Creek.
N14  11    |^It was easy to recall the slab-house under trees that leaned and
N14  12 creaked like antiquated gladiators when winter hurled its fierce
N14  13 assaults. ^And the creek that flowed southward, down towards the flat
N14  14 belly of prairie, and squandered its clear-water strength there. ^And
N14  15 the crooked road wrought by his father with its fringe of shade the
N14  16 full length; a narrow old snake of a road, all shade-mottled and dusty
N14  17 looking, leading up out of the prairie into the blue-shaggy Beyond;
N14  18 into the highland where deer and bear and all manner of game lived;
N14  19 where meadows lay hidden, swollen with stirrup-high grass.
N14  20    |^There was a great fullness to the uplands, where the land swept
N14  21 back from the prairie-desert, broadening out, lifting higher and
N14  22 becoming wilder in its rich fertility until it burst against the sky
N14  23 in a dark and straining way.
N14  24    |^Somehow, Ben thought, and not only because there was beauty up
N14  25 there, that land had a hold on him. ^He'd travelled far and wide, seen
N14  26 tons of country, some full of beauty and a grand solemnity that made a
N14  27 man hurt for looking on it; some harsh and forbidding, some jagged and
N14  28 untamed, or tilted against the flaming sunsets, or flat and docile,
N14  29 but he had never seen a country that reached down inside and gripped
N14  30 him like the uplands he'd known since infancy, held him now.
N14  31    |^He *1belonged *0there. ^Nothing; man, animal, or element, could
N14  32 turn him away. ^Least of all the Marlows. ^He arose and dressed with
N14  33 these thoughts; he ate at the diner with them for company, then he
N14  34 went over and bought a sturdy wagon from the liveryman, to implement
N14  35 them. ^He also bought a team of big bay horses, a good set of harness.
N14  36 ^Then he drove to the Deming Mercantile Company and loaded up kegs of
N14  37 nails, a big grindstone, two axes and two saws, all the impedimenta of
N14  38 building, all the requisites for putting down roots. ^And finally,
N14  39 with his saddlehorse tied to the tailgate, his carbine on the seat
N14  40 beside him, he took his way northward out of Deming.
N14  41    |^Cliff Thompson lingered in the shade of the Oasis Saloon's
N14  42 overhang, smoking a cigarette, and watching. ^When the wagon was lost
N14  43 in the shimmering, heat-scourged distance, he flung the cigarette down
N14  44 and stamped on it. ^It irritated him that Ben Roan would not see that
N14  45 he was heading straight for a killing; his own or someone else's.
N14  46    |^*"Morning, Marshal. ^Wasn't that Ben Roan that drove that wagon
N14  47 out of town?**"
N14  48    |^Thompson bent a hard look at the lawyer. ^*"It was,**" he said
N14  49 shortly. ^*"Why didn't you tell him to wait until there was a hearing
N14  50 over that road before going up there?**"
N14  51    |^*"Someone has to bring action before there's any case,
N14  52 Marshal.**"
N14  53    |^Thompson looked unpleasant. ^*"Yeh,**" he said. ^*"I know. ^There
N14  54 are two sides to the law*- your side and my side. ^I get paid to
N14  55 prevent trouble and you get paid for starting it. ^In fact, you don't
N14  56 get paid unless it *1does *0start.**"
N14  57    |^Charlie Bell squinted northward. ^*"Unless there's a restraining
N14  58 order issued to prevent him from using that road, it's his right to
N14  59 use it. ^He can go up there any time he wants to. ^You know that. ^So
N14  60 far there's only been talk, and talk doesn't mean a thing.**"
N14  61    |^*"Law-book theory,**" Thompson said shortly. ^*"Did you ever try
N14  62 law-book theory against a cocked pistol, Bell?**"
N14  63    |^*"Don't be ridiculous. ^As a matter of fact, you should be riding
N14  64 up there with him. ^That's the only way you can prevent trouble*- stop
N14  65 it before it starts. ^If you can do that, there'll be no need for
N14  66 attorneys.**"
N14  67    |^*"Now who's being ridiculous? ^You know damned well I can't
N14  68 forbid either the Marlows or Ben Roan from fighting one another
N14  69 without a court order, and by the time I get the order, the killing
N14  70 has already begun. ^I wish folks who make laws had to carry law books
N14  71 in their holsters instead of guns.**"
N14  72    |^Bell continued to squint into the distance and Marshal Thompson
N14  73 fell into a deep and disgusted silence. ^A solitary vertical groove of
N14  74 disapproval lay deep between his eyebrows.
N14  75    |^Ben drove steadily and did not look back. ^Deming squatted far
N14  76 back in the quivering heat one moment, and the next moment it blurred
N14  77 into a soiled murk low against the roll of far horizon. ^His thoughts
N14  78 were on other things. ^The Marlows might have money now, good horses
N14  79 and a large herd, but he knew men; that kind didn't change inwardly.
N14  80 ^He knew from a dozen gunfights that it was what lay inside men that
N14  81 counted, not their bankrolls nor their herds, nor the quality of their
N14  82 stock. ^The Marlows had never had it, and all the money in the world
N14  83 wouldn't put it into them.
N14  84    |^They might try scaring him out; probably would. ^Or they might
N14  85 shoot his horses, or even try to bushwhack him, but when it came to
N14  86 stand-up-and-fight, or cut and run, lead bullets or fast horses, he
N14  87 knew which way they'd go.
N14  88    |^He forged steadily ahead towards the blue-shadows where the land
N14  89 swelled upwards with a heavy lift and fullness. ^He kept a sharp watch
N14  90 but made no attempt to conceal his coming by clinging to the
N14  91 creek-willows or the meagre shadows. ^If they were watching, let them
N14  92 watch. ^If they'd found a pinch of guttiness among them, let them show
N14  93 it.
N14  94    |^He was drinking in the beauty of the shade and the uplands' deep
N14  95 silence when movement to his right, a quiver of colour, of red and
N14  96 white, snagged at the corner of his vision. ^Facing swiftly half
N14  97 around, one hand moving in a blur, he saw the horse, head up, tail
N14  98 high and waving, running westward. ^A lemon-yellow sun, burning-huge,
N14  99 cast a haziness over the distance. ^He watched the horse long enough
N14 100 to discern flopping stirrups and broken reins, then he back-traced
N14 101 with his eyes to where the sprawl of colour lay in the dead grass;
N14 102 swung the team, urged them closer and kept staring at the vivid hues
N14 103 until he was close enough to make out arms and legs, then he slowed,
N14 104 set the brake and jumped down.
N14 105    |^He rolled her over with one hand, straightened her limbs and
N14 106 knelt there wondering who she was, where she had come from. ^Her
N14 107 blouse was tight-rising, violent red, and her riding skirt was creamy
N14 108 and expensive looking. ^Her face, even in unconsciousness, was square,
N14 109 full-lipped, and wilful appearing, and a thick riot of auburn hair
N14 110 glistened fiercely in the sunlight. ^He shaded her face with his hat
N14 111 and waited. ^She was uninjured so far as he could see, except for
N14 112 being knocked senseless by the fall. ^He twisted to look after the
N14 113 horse. ^It had disappeared.
N14 114    |^He was smoking and studying the upland shadows when she said,
N14 115 ^*"Oh...!**" ^He punched out the cigarette, lifted her head and
N14 116 smoothed away the hair.
N14 117    |^*"What happened, ma'm?**"
N14 118    |^*"Oh... ^He bucked me off.**"
N14 119    |^He propped her up against his knee, put his hat back on and bent
N14 120 to shield her from the sun. ^*"Nothing's broken that I could find.**"
N14 121    |^The girl felt the back of her head and said, ^*"Ouch!**"
N14 122    |^He watched her a moment, then gripped her by both arms. ^*"Come
N14 123 on; you can stand up. ^I'll drive you home.**"
N14 124    |^She looked into his face for the first time, and her long eyes
N14 125 narrowed. ^*"Who are you?**"
N14 126    |^*"Ben Roan. ^I own some land up in the foothills.**"
N14 127    |^*"Roan...?**" ^She blinked and stared.
N14 128    |^He nodded. ^*"And who are you, ma'm?**"
N14 129    |^*"Sarahlee Marlow.**"
N14 130    |^He stared. ^*"Marlow? ^Kin to old Will and the others?**"
N14 131    |^*"Will is my uncle. ^The boys are my cousins.**"
N14 132    |^*"I don't recollect ever hearing of any other Marlows
N14 133 hereabouts.**"
N14 134    |^*"My people live in Santa Fe. ^I've been up here since last May
N14 135 looking after \2grandpaw. ^He's very old.**"
N14 136    |^*"Well,**" Ben said, helping her to arise. ^*"Come on; I'll drive
N14 137 you on up to the Marlow place.**"
N14 138    |^While he was setting the lines straight with his back to her, she
N14 139 straightened her clothes, brushed herself off, and looked westerly,
N14 140 after the horse, with anger in her eyes, but she said nothing. ^He
N14 141 helped her up, went around and climbed up beside her, and flicked the
N14 142 lines. ^The team leaned, the wagon ground back onto the road, and for
N14 143 a while the only sound was of iron tyres grinding down into the gritty
N14 144 dust.
N14 145    |^Where the green bog lay the ascent began. ^Ben slapped with the
N14 146 lines, the team leaned into their collars, and the trail steepened.
N14 147 ^Not until they were on the level again, moving through tree-shade,
N14 148 did the girl speak.
N14 149    |^*"What you're doing is foolish, \0Mr. Roan.**"
N14 150    |^*"Is it?**" Ben said easily, without looking around at her. ^*"It
N14 151 doesn't seem that way to me.**" ^He let the lines lie slack. ^The team
N14 152 dropped their heads and toed into the next upgrade.
N14 153    |^*"My cousins won't let you do it.**"
N14 154    |^He turned, finally, and gazed at her. ^*"You know, ma'm. I've
N14 155 heard that before. ^I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it
N14 156 now.**"
N14 157    |^*"You have no right-of-way to the old Roan place.**"
N14 158    |^*"Ma'm, my father built this road almost thirty years ago.
N14 159 ^Before the Marlows were in this country.**"
N14 160    |^*"But the road hasn't been used since you left.**"
N14 161    |^*"Maybe not, but whether I've got a right or not is for a
N14 162 law-court to decide*- not your cousins, or your uncle.**" ^Ben
N14 163 shrugged slightly, studied the land ahead, then said, ^*"I can't make
N14 164 old Will like the idea of my being up in here, but he might as well
N14 165 get used to the idea.**"
N14 166    |^She studied his profile for a moment, before she said, ^*"You're
N14 167 going to make a lot of unnecessary trouble, \0Mr. Roan.**"
N14 168    |^*"No; I'm not going to make any trouble. ^All I'm going to do is
N14 169 build a cabin, a barn, some corrals, and try to live in peace. ^If
N14 170 there's trouble it won't be me that starts it.**" ^He was going to say
N14 171 more when movement among the trees ahead caught his attention. ^The
N14 172 lines lay in his left hand; the right hand was curled and moving when
N14 173 a big-framed man moved out into the road in front of the team. ^He was
N14 174 holding a carbine one-handed; it was cocked.
N14 175    |^*"That's far enough, Roan.**"
N14 176    |^Ben recognised Harold Marlow. ^*"Hello, Hal,**" he said quietly.
N14 177    |^*"Sarahlee!**" ^The way Marlow said it, it sounded like
N14 178 *'Sally**'. ^*"What'n \2tarnation you doing up there?**"
N14 179    |^*"That horse El gave me bucked me off.**"
N14 180    |^*"Are you hurt?**"
N14 181    |^*"No; but*-**"
N14 182    |^*"El told you he was green-broke. ^It's a wonder you didn't get
N14 183 hurt bad.**" ^Marlow gestured with the carbine. ^*"Get down \2off'n
N14 184 there.**"
N14 185    |^*"Wait a minute,**" Ben said. ^*"She'll get down when you empty
N14 186 that carbine.**"
N14 187    |^The big man looked hard at Roan. ^*"Empty hell,**" he said.
N14 188 ^*"You're not talking to Guy now. ^You're going to turn that caravan
N14 189 around and head back out of here.**"
N14 190    |^*"Be a shame to see you kill your cousin,**" Ben said. ^*"Be sure
N14 191 you shoot straight, Hal.**"
N14 192    |^*1*"Roan! ^Don't try it!**"
N14 193    |^*0*"Behind two big horses and beside a girl? ^Of course I'm going
N14 194 to try it. ^The odds're in my favour.**"
N14 195    |^One of the team-horses blew its nose and the girl started. ^Her
N14 196 single ~*1*"Don't**" *0was half scream, half sob. ^Neither man looked
N14 197 at her. ^The silence was tight around them all. ^*"Harold, let him
N14 198 go.**"
N14 199    |^*"Can't, Sarahlee; you know that.**"
N14 200    |^*"Then wait until I get down.**"
N14 201    |^Ben caught her right wrist with his left hand. ^He never took his
N14 202 eyes off Hal. ^*"All right,**" he said.
N14 203 *# 2000
N15   1 **[448 TEXT N15**]
N15   2 ^*0He kept trying for the heart when he should have gone for an
N15   3 exposed wrist or arm.
N15   4    |^His tie was flapping loose now; his hat was gone and his shoes
N15   5 were dusty. ^His face was shiny and sweating; so was mine, no doubt.
N15   6 ^He came in again, and as I parried I realized that he was tiring: his
N15   7 point was far out of line. ^There's an old trick whereby you can,
N15   8 theoretically, disarm a man if he'll stand still for it. ^I don't
N15   9 suppose it was ever used in actual combat, any more than any of the
N15  10 old Western gunmen ever used such fancy stunts as the highwayman's
N15  11 roll or the border shift. ^You don't generally do juggling tricks when
N15  12 your life's at stake.
N15  13    |^But still, it was a theoretical possibility, and he was right in
N15  14 position for it, and I had to do something with him that wasn't
N15  15 lethal. ^I made a sharp counter-clockwise circle with the cane*- I've
N15  16 forgotten the technical name of the manoeuvre*- catching that wide
N15  17 point and spinning it around, twisting the weapon in his grasp...
N15  18    |^An alert swordsman, in good condition, would simply have come
N15  19 smoothly around my blade, or cane, and continued his attack; but the
N15  20 little man's reflexes were slowing, his wrist was tired, and the
N15  21 sudden wrench caught him by surprise, took the sword away from him,
N15  22 and sent it flying across the road. ^He stood there for a moment,
N15  23 disarmed and vulnerable, and I couldn't decide what the hell to do
N15  24 with him. ^I guess I was a bit tired, too.
N15  25    |^When I moved, it was a bit too late. ^He gave a kind of sob and
N15  26 ran after his weapon. ^He beat me to it and picked it up and came at
N15  27 me again, but he wasn't fencing any more. ^He had the sword in both
N15  28 hands and he was wielding it like a club, beating at my head and
N15  29 shoulders. ^He was crying with frustration and anger as he whacked
N15  30 away, trying to chop me down like a tree.
N15  31    |^It was all I could do to defend myself against the crazy attack.
N15  32 ^I could kill him, all right*- he was wide open, with his arms above
N15  33 his head like that, and one straight-armed lunge would have driven the
N15  34 brass-tipped cane through the cartilages of his throat*- but I wasn't
N15  35 supposed to kill anybody. ^*1Under no circumstances. ^This is an
N15  36 order. ^This is an order. ^*0Suddenly I had too many weapons. ^My
N15  37 hands were full; I had to get rid of something if I was going to take
N15  38 him alive, although this seemed to have most of the pleasant aspects
N15  39 of getting a living, spitting bobcat out of a tree.
N15  40    |^I parried a two-handed cut with the sword that would have laid my
N15  41 scalp open even if the weapon didn't have a edge **[SIC**] on it. ^I
N15  42 threw my arms about the little man, dropped everything and, clutching
N15  43 him desperately*- if he got free now, he could run me through in an
N15  44 instant*- I gave him the knee just as hard and dirty as I could. ^When
N15  45 he doubled up, I clubbed him on the back of the head, not with the
N15  46 edge of the hand to break his neck, but just with the heel of my fist,
N15  47 like a hammer, to drive him down into the road. ^He went down, and
N15  48 curled up like a baby, hugging himself where it hurt.
N15  49    |^Breathing hard, I retrieved my knife. ^I picked up the sword, and
N15  50 the cane sheath, and fitted them back together. ^It was a beautiful
N15  51 job of workmanship: you couldn't see the joint at all. ^I picked up
N15  52 the Homburg hat and dusted it off, and carried it back to the little
N15  53 guy, who was still lying there. ^My left hand ached, and I didn't feel
N15  54 a bit sorry for him, although I had to admit, in all honesty, that
N15  55 he'd put on a damn good show. ^Whether it was genuine or phony
N15  56 remained to be determined. ^I bent over to hear what he was moaning.
N15  57 ^I caught a name, and leaned closer.
N15  58    |^*"Sara,**" he was whimpering. ^*"I did my best, Sara. ^I am
N15  59 sorry.**" ^Then he looked up at me. ^*"I am ready,**" he said more
N15  60 clearly. ^*"If I were just a little bigger... ^But I am ready now.
N15  61 ^Kill me, murderer, as you did her!**"
N15  62 *<*6CHAPTER THIRTEEN*>
N15  63    |^I*2T TOOK US *0a while to get things straightened out. ^When he'd
N15  64 finally become reconciled to not dying heroically at my hands, the
N15  65 little man told me he was Sara Lundgren's fiance, Raoul Carlsson, of
N15  66 the house of Carlsson and LeClaire, women's clothing, Stockholm,
N15  67 Paris, London, Rome. ^He'd met Sara at her dress shop in the line of
N15  68 business, it seemed, and romance had flowered.
N15  69    |^He'd been worried about his Sara lately, however. ^She'd seemed
N15  70 preoccupied and unhappy, he said. ^Finally, when she stood him up for
N15  71 lunch and then called up later the same day from a certain hotel to
N15  72 cancel their dinner engagement for reasons that didn't ring quite
N15  73 true, he'd taken it upon himself to go there and... well, to tell the
N15  74 truth, he'd spied on her. ^For her own good, of course, not because he
N15  75 was the least bit jealous. ^He merely wanted to know what was
N15  76 troubling her so that he could help.
N15  77    |^Watching her surreptitiously as she waited in the hotel lobby,
N15  78 he'd soon realized that she, in turn, was busy watching for somebody
N15  79 else. ^He'd seen me come through the lobby with Lou Taylor. ^Sara had
N15  80 followed us, and he'd followed Sara. ^After dinner, he'd trailed us
N15  81 all back to the hotel. ^Then Sara had got her car and driven into the
N15  82 park. ^He'd been behind her until she stopped. ^She got away from him
N15  83 briefly while he was looking for a suitable place to leave his own
N15  84 car. ^When he got back to the parking lot on foot, her fancy
N15  85 Volkswagen was standing there empty.
N15  86    |^He'd waited in the bushes for her to return. ^He'd seen her come
N15  87 back to the car with me. ^We'd had a long conversation not as friendly
N15  88 as it might have been, he thought. ^I'd left abruptly, he thought in
N15  89 anger, and disappeared into the darkness. ^Almost immediately, as if
N15  90 dispatched by me, two men had come and dragged Sara out of her car and
N15  91 carried her off in the direction I'd taken. ^While he, Carlsson, was
N15  92 still trying to make his way after her through the trees and darkness,
N15  93 there had been shots. ^He'd come to the edge of the clearing and seen
N15  94 me standing there, looking grim and terrible. ^At my feet was his
N15  95 beloved, his Sara, lying on the ground, brutally beaten and shot to
N15  96 death. ^He'd started forward, but the police had come...
N15  97    |^*"Why didn't you tell them about me?**" I asked, when he stopped.
N15  98    |^He shrugged his shoulders expressively. ^*"They would have put
N15  99 you in prison where I could not reach you. ^I was crazy with grief and
N15 100 anger. ^I was going to punish you myself, not give you to some stupid
N15 101 policeman!**" ^After a moment, he went on: ^*"I slipped away. ^I
N15 102 learned your name at the hotel. ^When you left, in the morning, it was
N15 103 easy to determine your destination. ^I followed.**"
N15 104    |^*"With your little sword-cane,**" I said dryly.
N15 105    |^He shrugged again. ^*"Pistols are not so common here as they are
N15 106 in your country, Herr Helm. ^It was the only weapon I owned. ^I
N15 107 thought it would suffice. ^I did not expect to meet a swordsman with
N15 108 an American passport.**" ^He grimaced. ^*"You are skilful, sir, but
N15 109 that little knife, I do not think that was quite fair.**" ^After a
N15 110 moment, he said, ^*"You cannot tell me this secret business in which,
N15 111 you say, my Sara was engaged, that led to her death? ^You cannot tell
N15 112 me who killed her?**"
N15 113    |^I said, ^*"No, but I can assure you the man will be taken care
N15 114 of.**"
N15 115    |^That was big talk, for someone whose hands were tied by official
N15 116 orders, but I had to say something to get this little firebrand out of
N15 117 my hair. ^The situation was complex enough without being loused up
N15 118 further by vengeful amateurs. ^I finally got him to promise to go back
N15 119 to Stockholm and leave everything to me. ^I took his home address and
N15 120 telephone number, and promised to notify him when I had something to
N15 121 notify him about. ^I watched him get into his big American car and
N15 122 drive away. ^Then I got into my little Volvo, drove back to the hotel,
N15 123 stuck some bandaids on my fingers, and went to bed.
N15 124    |^In the morning, I had my breakfast in a corner of the hotel
N15 125 dining room, which I shared, for the moment, only with a pair of
N15 126 railroad workers and a tourist couple from Norway*- the language
N15 127 sounds like badly garbled Swedish, to a Swede. ^Outside the windows,
N15 128 it was a bright, clear fall day. ^I hoped it would stay that way, for
N15 129 photography's sake. ^I sipped my coffee, and nibbled at the stuff on
N15 130 my plate, and thought about \0Mr. Raoul Carlsson, which was a waste of
N15 131 time. ^If the little man was kidding me, I'd know more about it when
N15 132 Vance made his report, I hoped within the next day or two.
N15 133    |^A shadow fell across the table. ^*"Are you thinking deep
N15 134 thoughts?**" Lou Taylor asked. ^*"If so, I'll go away.**"
N15 135    |^I rose and helped her with her chair. ^She was wearing the same
N15 136 rust-brown skirt and sweater as yesterday, with the same sturdy
N15 137 walking shoes. ^She had a trench coat with her, but she'd dropped it
N15 138 on a chair. ^As far as I'm concerned, a trench coat looks fine on Alan
N15 139 Ladd, and not bad on Marlene Dietrich, but she wasn't either one.
N15 140    |^She smiled at me across the table, and stopped smiling abruptly.
N15 141 ^*"What happened to your hand?**"
N15 142    |^I glanced at my bandaged fingers. ^*"I cut it,**" I said. ^*"I
N15 143 dropped a glass and cut myself picking up the pieces.**"
N15 144    |^She said dryly, ^*"I think you'd better get yourself another
N15 145 girl, Matt.**"
N15 146    |^I frowned. ^*"What does that mean? ^Are you bowing out?**"
N15 147    |^*"Oh, I wasn't referring to myself,**" she said, laughing
N15 148 quickly. ^*"I mean, your night girl, the one who plays so rough. ^A
N15 149 black eye yesterday, two cut fingers today*- or did she bite you?**"
N15 150    |^*"Keep it clean, now.**"
N15 151    |^*"Well, what do you do nights, to get yourself all beat up like
N15 152 that, if it isn't a girl? ^The secret life of Matthew Helm... Helm?**"
N15 153 she said. ^*"Is that a Swedish name?**"
N15 154    |^*"More or less,**" I said. ^*"It used to be fancier, but Dad
N15 155 whittled it down to something even Yankees could pronounce.**"
N15 156    |^*"I thought you must have some Scandinavian blood, or you
N15 157 wouldn't be sitting there eating that stuff so calmly. ^Fish for
N15 158 breakfast, my God!**" ^She glanced at her watch. ^*"Well, we'd better
N15 159 hurry; they'll be here in ten minutes. ^Do you think I could possibly
N15 160 promote a simple cup of black coffee and some toast? ^{*1Rostat
N15 161 bro"d}, *0they call it,**" she said. ^*"That means, literally,
N15 162 roasted bread...**"
N15 163    |^It was hard to figure her. ^If she was on the other team, she was
N15 164 very good indeed. ^She'd have been told I knew Swedish perfectly well,
N15 165 yet here she was calmly instructing me in the language of my
N15 166 ancestors, as she'd taught me their system of measurement the day
N15 167 before. ^Well, it was always nice to deal with people who knew their
N15 168 business.
N15 169    |^When the company car arrived, right on schedule, it turned out to
N15 170 be a long, black, dignified-looking old Chrysler limousine complete
N15 171 with one middle-aged gent in a chauffeur's cap to drive it, and one
N15 172 young guy named Lindstro"m to answer our questions and keep us out of
N15 173 trouble. ^The two men helped me load my paraphernalia aboard; then we
N15 174 drove to the mine entrance, less than a mile from the hotel, and were
N15 175 passed through the gate with some formality. ^We took a road up the
N15 176 side of a mountain named Kirnnavaara*- \*1vaara *0means mountain in
N15 177 Finnish, Lou informed me.
N15 178 *# 2015
N16   1 **[449 TEXT N16**]
N16   2    |^*4The country lane was lonely. ^Terrified, she faced the man who
N16   3 barred her way. ^He gripped her arm... then he suddenly turned and ran
N16   4 as he heard
N16   5 *<*7VOICES IN THE DARK*>
N16   6 *<*4A Short Story by Trevor Allen*>
N16   7    |^*6A*2S *0dusk deepened to darkness in the gloomy beechwood Sheila
N16   8 shivered. ^Shadows on either side of the path scared her. ^She was out
N16   9 of breath, stumbling over roots and ruts, pressing on to reach the
N16  10 road before utter darkness swallowed her.
N16  11    |^If she hadn't taken the wrong path on the common and gone miles
N16  12 out of her way, she would have been home long before sunset.
N16  13    |^Now she felt, with mounting terror, that she might never find the
N16  14 road at all and have to spend the night huddled in the shelter of
N16  15 bushes or a hedge.
N16  16    |^What a fool she'd been to come on this walk alone! ^But she'd set
N16  17 out in a temper. ^She was fed up, desperate to get away from everyone
N16  18 for an hour or two*- especially father. ^He'd been nagging her again.
N16  19 ^Nothing she did ever pleased him.
N16  20    |^He was a builder's foreman and seemed to think he could order her
N16  21 about as he did his men*- as if she was still a child instead of a
N16  22 girl of seventeen earning her own living. ^When she grew her hair
N16  23 beehive style because other girls were doing it, he said:
N16  24    |^*"Why do you have to have your hair like that? ^It's hideous!**"
N16  25    |^When she bought her first stiletto-heeled shoes he grumbled:
N16  26    |^*"How can you walk on those things, wobbling at every step?
N16  27 ^They'll ruin your feet*- and the carpets, too.**"
N16  28    |^He didn't like her wearing jeans. ^He objected to her going to
N16  29 the juke-box cafe*?2 where her friends met regularly.
N16  30 *<*4The last straw*>
N16  31    |^S*2HE'D *0just bought a transistor radio set. ^When he saw it all
N16  32 he could say was:
N16  33    |^*"Why on earth do you want to cart that about with you
N16  34 everywhere? ^You've got the telly at home; isn't that enough?**"
N16  35    |^*"I like it,**" she had retorted, stung by this latest reproof.
N16  36 ^*"And it's my own money. ^I can listen to what I want any time, and
N16  37 it doesn't do any harm.
N16  38    |^*"Why must you always be getting at me, Dad? ^Nothing I ever do
N16  39 is right!**"
N16  40    |^*"It's just a waste of money,**" he had persisted. ^*"You ought
N16  41 to start saving now you're in a good job, as your mother and I did
N16  42 when we were young.**"
N16  43    |^The transistor was the last straw*- over Sunday tea, too. ^She
N16  44 had sulked, then wandered out, past the new housing estate on the
N16  45 outskirts, up the road that climbed to the beechwoods and common, on
N16  46 and on, furious, rebellious, thinking over and over:
N16  47    |^*1If Dad doesn't stop going on at me I'll leave home and get a
N16  48 room somewhere. ^I'd do it now if it wasn't for mother.
N16  49    |^Mother had always tried to smooth things out, saying: ^*"She's
N16  50 young, she'll learn.**"
N16  51    |^But father was obstinate, domineering.
N16  52 *<*4Panic*>
N16  53    |^T*2HAT *0was how, too angry to notice where she was going, she
N16  54 had taken a wrong path back and got lost. ^But at last, with thankful
N16  55 relief, she came out on to the road and saw, through a gap in the
N16  56 hedge, the town lights in the valley.
N16  57    |^It was little more than a lane between high hedges. ^The lights
N16  58 looked a long way off. ^The road seemed to want to imprison her in its
N16  59 funnelled gloom.
N16  60    |^As she set off along it she heard footsteps approaching ahead of
N16  61 her and crossed over to the opposite side. ^*"Good evening!**" said a
N16  62 thick voice in the darkness, as a man came abreast of her.
N16  63    |^Too scared to reply, she hurried on*- then became aware that he
N16  64 had suddenly turned and was following her.
N16  65    |^The footsteps behind terrified her. ^She quickened her pace. ^The
N16  66 man quickened his, too, and was overtaking her.
N16  67    |^Panic seized her. ^She thought of the murders she'd read about*-
N16  68 of girls waylaid on lonely roads like this, girls missing for days,
N16  69 weeks, with search parties scouring the countryside, and then, in some
N16  70 hidden spot...
N16  71    |^*"Oh, God,**" she prayed, *"let me get home safely, let me get
N16  72 home, away from this terror!**"
N16  73    |^She wanted to run, but didn't want to show she was afraid, it
N16  74 might make things worse.
N16  75    |^Her tight new skirt was hampering to the knees, and she wondered
N16  76 if she *1could *0run. ^Terror had taken the strength from her legs.
N16  77    |^She prayed that someone would suddenly come along the lane out of
N16  78 the darkness and save her. ^As the footsteps drew close behind her she
N16  79 crossed to the other side of the road again, still frantically
N16  80 hurrying, panting and palpitating with fright.
N16  81    |^The man came alongside. ^She stopped, with her back to the hedge,
N16  82 facing him.
N16  83    |^*"In a hurry, aren't you?**" he slurred. ^*"Thought you might
N16  84 like company... like...**"
N16  85    |^His breath smelt of drink. ^His tone was bantering, insinuating.
N16  86 ^He towered above her, an evil shadow in the night.
N16  87    |^*1*"Please!**" *0she gasped, her heart pounding. ^*"I don't want
N16  88 company. ^*1Please!**"
N16  89 *<*4*'Someone's coming**'*>
N16  90    |^S*2HE *0made to pass, but he blocked the way.
N16  91    |^*"A nice girl like you,**" he smirked, *"all alone. ^You can be a
N16  92 bit friendly, can't you? ^I'm alone, too. ^Maybe we'd get on all
N16  93 right. ^Maybe...**"
N16  94    |^She tried to sidestep him. ^He caught her arm.
N16  95    |^*"A nice girl like you,**" he repeated.
N16  96    |^The grip numbed her. ^She felt she was going to faint.
N16  97    |^Then... dimly, distantly, voices sounded in the stillness. ^They
N16  98 seemed to come from down the road. ^Two men were talking. ^Now the
N16  99 voices sounded nearer, slightly louder, but still remote. ^Thank
N16 100 heaven, she was no longer alone, at his mercy...
N16 101    |^*"Help me!**" she screamed. ^*1*"Help! ^Help!**" ^*0Then,
N16 102 wrenching her arm away from him: ^*"Now you'll get what you deserve,
N16 103 you beast! ^*1Someone's coming!**"
N16 104    |^*0Startled, the man instantly released his grip and backed away
N16 105 from her. ^She heard him running up the road, the way they had come.
N16 106    |^Relieved, she started running in the opposite direction, towards
N16 107 the lights and the town, lifting her skirt to free her knees.
N16 108    |^Half running half walking, stumbling, she didn't slow down until
N16 109 she was out of breath and the lights of the new housing estate
N16 110 glimmered ahead. ^And now she knew whence the voices came.
N16 111    |^Involuntarily, as the man gripped her right arm, her finger had
N16 112 touched and turned the knob on top of the transistor, held by the
N16 113 strap in her left hand*- this had been just enough to tune in faintly
N16 114 to the two men talking. ^Luckily he had heard them, too.
N16 115 *<*4*'Waste of money!**'*>
N16 116    |^I*2T *0might have been tuned to another station. ^It might have
N16 117 been music instead of a discussion, a play, or whatever it was.
N16 118    |^She might have turned it full on instead of faintly, so that the
N16 119 voices seemed to come from a distance, down the road...
N16 120    |^Then she hurried home to tell her father what the *"waste of
N16 121 money**" had done for her on the lonely road in the dark, with no one
N16 122 near to aid her.
N16 123    |
N16 124    |^*4The menacing gunman was getting impatient as she stalled for
N16 125 time. ^Her position seemed hopeless... then her desperate plan showed
N16 126 him that...
N16 127 *<*6DIAMONDS ARE HARD TO GET*>
N16 128 *<*4A Short Story by *6SHEILA BURNS*>
N16 129    |^C*2HERRY *0backed her car up the drive to the garage, glad to be
N16 130 home. ^She had hated every moment of the television theatre away from
N16 131 her young, adored husband.
N16 132    |^She saw the light in his study and guessed that he was working on
N16 133 a new {0TV} play.
N16 134    |^Closing the garage doors behind her, she was about to turn when
N16 135 she felt the cold muzzle of a gun against her back.
N16 136    |^*"Just a minute,**" said a gruff voice.
N16 137    |^Quickly it flashed through her mind that it was John's
N16 138 anniversary gift the man was after. ^The newspapers had carried a
N16 139 story about it*- a diamond brooch, and her first really expensive
N16 140 gift.
N16 141    |^Perhaps the man thought she had been wearing it at the broadcast.
N16 142 ^But it had been left at home in the tiny safe behind the picture of
N16 143 Mount Everest in the sitting room.
N16 144    |^*"What do you want?**" she asked.
N16 145    |^*"That brooch.**"
N16 146    |^*"I'm not wearing it.**"
N16 147 *<*4*'A muffet**'*>
N16 148    |^*"W*2ALK *0to the house,**" the man commanded, *"and don't look
N16 149 back. ^Go inside and I'll follow. ^Is your husband asleep?**"
N16 150    |^*"He's working late,**" she said.
N16 151    |^*"Go in just as you would if I wasn't with you.**"
N16 152    |^The house was empty, except for John and Bongo, the dog.
N16 153    |^Cherry walked up the side path to the door; her fingers shivered
N16 154 as she put the key in the lock.
N16 155    |^She paused*- and the gun prodded still harder in her back as the
N16 156 man said: ^*"Go on.**"
N16 157    |^From upstairs, John called: ^*"That you, Cherry?**"
N16 158    |^*"Yes, darling, I'm back.**"
N16 159    |^*"Everything {0OK}?**"
N16 160    |^This was the moment. ^She broke into a sweat, then said
N16 161 automatically:
N16 162    |^*"Everything's all right.**"
N16 163    |^She crossed the little hall, the man close up behind her.
N16 164    |^Bongo was whining from the kitchen where he had been put to bed
N16 165 for the night. ^She walked into the little sitting room where she and
N16 166 John spent their happiest hours together.
N16 167    |^Usually she didn't come into this room immediately she returned
N16 168 home, and hoped that John would hear and notice it.
N16 169    |^But nothing happened.
N16 170    |^She had to attract his attention somehow, for she was *"in a
N16 171 muffet.**" ^That was what they had always called getting into a jam.
N16 172 ^As a child John had called a muddle a *"muffet**"*- *"Miss Muffet and
N16 173 the spider**" he had explained and laughed at her.
N16 174    |^*"What are you going to do?**" she asked the gunman.
N16 175 *<*4Playing for time*>
N16 176    |^S*2HE *0turned to face him, agony in her heart and hoping that
N16 177 she would not faint. ^He was smaller than she expected*- a little rat
N16 178 of a man with close-set eyes.
N16 179    |^*"I want a drink,**" he said.
N16 180    |^There was a bottle of beer on the sideboard. ^She fetched it and
N16 181 held it out to him.
N16 182    |^*"Put it on the table, lady,**" he said, still pointing the gun
N16 183 at her, *"and then tell me where the brooch is.**"
N16 184    |^*"It's in the safe.**"
N16 185    |^She spoke the truth, for she thought he might already know that
N16 186 John had got a home-made safe for it. ^A woman's magazine had used the
N16 187 story as an item in the home life of celebrities.
N16 188    |^*"I read about the safe,**" the man said. ^*"Where is it?**"
N16 189    |^She conquered the compelling desire to take a quick glance at the
N16 190 picture of Everest, and with her first flash of spirit, said: ^*"That
N16 191 is my secret.**"
N16 192    |^*"I could make you tell me. ^I'm here to get what I want. ^I live
N16 193 this way.
N16 194    |^*"But the big breaks are too tricky for me. ^I want small pulls,
N16 195 something that fences don't shy at, diamonds without a history behind
N16 196 them, but big enough to bring in the next meal.**"
N16 197    |^He rapped the gun. ^*"Open that bottle for me,**" he said, *"and
N16 198 pour it out. ^With a head on it... that's right. ^Now tell me where,
N16 199 lady.**"
N16 200    |^She was amazed at the courage with which she said: ^*"They're
N16 201 upstairs.**"
N16 202    |^*"You could get 'em for me?**"
N16 203    |^*"Yes.**"
N16 204    |^*"But unless I went along with you, you'd tell your husband, I
N16 205 bet. ^If I did go with you, he'd know, anyway.**"
N16 206    |^*"I wonder.**"
N16 207    |^The man drank the beer, held out the glass for more, and for a
N16 208 second she faltered. ^She had got to think of some way out; the longer
N16 209 she lingered, the easier it could be, for sooner or later John would
N16 210 realize that something was wrong.
N16 211    |^Closely the man eyed her.
N16 212    |^*"If you don't get it for me, lady, maybe I'll go right up and
N16 213 shoot your husband. ^I could.**"
N16 214    |^She winced. ^*"Surely we could settle this between us,**" she
N16 215 said suddenly.
N16 216    |^It would be easier to give the man the brooch, but somehow she
N16 217 still had a hope of not doing that.
N16 218    |^*"You've got to get it for me,**" the man said between his teeth.
N16 219 *<*4Terrified*>
N16 220    |^T*2HEN *0she heard John's sudden footstep overhead and wondered
N16 221 if at last he realized that something was wrong.
N16 222 *# 2011
N17   1 **[450 TEXT N17**]
N17   2 *<*4It Happened On The 6-15*>
N17   3    |^*6JOYCE SEATON *4was quarrelling with Barry West again. ^Barry
N17   4 had brought her more happiness than she had ever known was possible,
N17   5 and in her quieter moments she never had the slightest doubt she loved
N17   6 him.
N17   7    |^But lately they'd been quarrelling far too often. ^She had never
N17   8 quarrelled with anyone more fiercely than she did with Barry and it
N17   9 was always about the same thing*- whether she should give up her job
N17  10 and get married.
N17  11    |^*0*"Why can't you understand?**" she said despairingly. ^*"It's
N17  12 more to me than just a job. ^It's true I've only been a secretary for
N17  13 a few weeks, but it's what I've dreamed and worked for since I started
N17  14 work. ^I'm not just an ordinary typist any more, I'm someone
N17  15 important.**"
N17  16    |^Barry's face set in the obstinate lines she had learned to
N17  17 recognise.
N17  18    |^*"I know. ^At last you've got the chance to order other people
N17  19 about and you get a kick out of it. ^It's making you hard, Joyce. ^If
N17  20 you really meant what you said about loving me and wanting to marry
N17  21 me*-**"
N17  22    |^Seeing the wistful look on his face, Joyce began to regret all
N17  23 she'd said.
N17  24    |^*"I did mean it.**"
N17  25    |^*"Then why don't you agree to be properly engaged?**"
N17  26    |^Joyce drew a deep breath, determined to remain calm and
N17  27 reasonable.
N17  28    |^*"I thought I'd explained how I feel. ^If I go around flashing an
N17  29 engagement ring it'll look as though my mind was on something else
N17  30 instead of my work.
N17  31    |^*"We neither of us go out with anyone else, do we? ^What
N17  32 difference would an engagement make?**"
N17  33    |^Barry was quiet now, quiet and in deadly earnest.
N17  34    |^*"It would mean that you really had made up your mind that your
N17  35 future lay with me. ^We could fix a date for our wedding and I could
N17  36 look forward to having you beside me all the time, instead of seeing
N17  37 you for an hour or less every night.
N17  38    |^*"You wouldn't have to catch this darn train each day, getting
N17  39 home too tired to do anything.**"
N17  40    |^He gazed at her earnestly.
N17  41    |^*"It's putting years on you, travelling to Marbury every day.
N17  42 ^You ought to take a look at yourself. ^You look much more tired since
N17  43 you took on that new job. ^Oh, I suppose you've a bit more money to
N17  44 spend on clothes and make-up, but*-**"
N17  45    |^*"That's enough!**" said Joyce sharply.
N17  46    |^Barry had really touched her on the raw, telling her she looked
N17  47 older. ^She knew in her heart that the responsibility of her new job,
N17  48 the hectic day that never seemed long enough, was telling on her. ^But
N17  49 she wouldn't admit it for worlds.
N17  50    |^Joyce stood up and took down her shopping bag from the rack.
N17  51    |^*"I think I'd better find another compartment,**" she said. ^*"I
N17  52 was quite pleased when you came to Marbury to travel home with me. ^I
N17  53 didn't realise you'd come to give me a lecture about the way I run my
N17  54 life.
N17  55    |^*"Let me tell you, Barry West, that marriage isn't the only thing
N17  56 a girl thinks about these days. ^She can make a career for herself,
N17  57 lead a busy, useful life. ^That's what I'm doing, and I love it. ^In
N17  58 fact, I may never marry.**"
N17  59    |^*"Now look here, Joyce*-**" he said indignantly.
N17  60    |
N17  61    |^*4S*2HE *0brushed past him and, stepping out into the corridor,
N17  62 closed the door behind her with a slam. ^She was always
N17  63 quick-tempered, and now tears of vexation blinded her eyes. ^She
N17  64 hesitated in the corridor, and the chill draught that swept along it
N17  65 calmed her a little.
N17  66    |^Of course she would marry Barry one day, but she was in no hurry
N17  67 to bury herself in a small house in Wilford.
N17  68    |^Barry really knew her, though. ^She loved the importance of her
N17  69 new job, the sense of urgency, having people doing as she asked*-
N17  70 having extra money in her purse for new clothes, even for silly things
N17  71 like bits of costume jewellery or a new lipstick.
N17  72    |^She shivered again. ^She mustn't stand here and catch cold, she
N17  73 told herself.
N17  74    |^Joyce hadn't expected Barry to follow her, for she knew he was as
N17  75 obstinate as herself. ^It would look like a sign of weakness if she
N17  76 turned back and walked past his window.
N17  77    |^There was only one compartment between where she had been sitting
N17  78 with Barry and the end of the coach, so she opened the door and took a
N17  79 corner seat.
N17  80    |^After a second or so, her indignation subsided and she felt calm
N17  81 enough to take stock of her fellow-travellers.
N17  82    |^There was a man sitting opposite her holding a sporting paper in
N17  83 front of his face. ^Joyce didn't like what she saw of him, the long
N17  84 legs in narrow trousers and the shoes with pointed toes.
N17  85    |^The man lowered his paper to look at her and Joyce quickly
N17  86 glanced away, but not before her dislike of the stranger had been
N17  87 confirmed.
N17  88    |^He was older than she expected, about thirty, and his eyes were
N17  89 black and unusually searching. ^The thin mouth had an equally thin
N17  90 moustache above it. ^He might be harmless enough, but Joyce was
N17  91 relieved they were not alone in the compartment.
N17  92    |^There were two men sitting facing each other at the far end of
N17  93 the compartment.
N17  94    |^They'd been chatting together, but as Joyce glanced at them, they
N17  95 both turned their heads and stared back.
N17  96    |^She closed her eyes, suddenly sick and more than a little scared.
N17  97 ^The look in their eyes had been one of pure hate.
N17  98    |^Joyce took another look at the man facing her, but he had raised
N17  99 his paper again. ^She was sure she had just imagined the strange look.
N17 100 ^Tonight, she was even more tired than usual. ^But, despite her
N17 101 assurances, there was still a nagging little fear in her heart.
N17 102    |^I'll move farther up the train, she decided. ^Perhaps I can find
N17 103 an empty compartment.
N17 104    |^She rose, took her bag, and went out. ^She turned the corner and
N17 105 came across the door to the next coach, which the guard was locking.
N17 106 ^He turned towards her, a grey-haired, elderly man with a kindly face.
N17 107    |^*"You can't go through here, miss,**" he said.
N17 108    |^*"Why not?**" said Joyce. ^*"There's plenty of room at the front
N17 109 of the train. ^I thought I might find a compartment where I could put
N17 110 my feet up.**"
N17 111    |^The guard smiled at her but put away his keys.
N17 112    |^*"You can't get through, miss,**" he insisted. ^*"This is the
N17 113 mail-coach and there is only the sorter inside. ^I have to lock this
N17 114 door everytime I pass through myself. ^Come along and I'll find you a
N17 115 seat.**"
N17 116    |^He was polite but firm as he led her away. ^He opened the first
N17 117 door he came to, the compartment with the three men inside. ^There was
N17 118 nothing else for Joyce to do but step inside and sit down in her
N17 119 corner again.
N17 120    |^The man across from her was still holding up his paper, and the
N17 121 other two men were leaning back. ^One of them looked as though he was
N17 122 asleep.
N17 123    |
N17 124    |^*4J*2OYCE *0closed her eyes and tried to sleep herself, but an
N17 125 unusual inner excitement possessed her, and the noise of the train as
N17 126 it pounded through the night seemed louder than usual. ^She gave up
N17 127 the attempt to sleep and watched the empty corridor.
N17 128    |^The guard passed by towards the mail-van again, jingling his
N17 129 keys. ^The man across from Joyce tossed his paper aside and rose,
N17 130 stumbling over her feet.
N17 131    |^He didn't apologise. ^He opened the door with a curious intentness
N17 132 and followed the guard along the corridor and out of sight. ^He won't
N17 133 get far, Joyce thought. ^The guard will turn him back at the mail-van
N17 134 door.
N17 135    |^The man was away longer than she expected, and when he opened the
N17 136 door again, he was breathing quickly. ^He stood in the doorway,
N17 137 looking past Joyce to the other men, although previously there had
N17 138 been no sign that they knew each other.
N17 139    |^*"Right,**" said the man at the door. ^*"Let's get going.**"
N17 140    |^*"Sit down,**" said one of the thickset men quietly. ^He looked
N17 141 at his watch. ^*"We've got another three minutes.**"
N17 142    |^Through her lashes Joyce watched the man with the pointed shoes
N17 143 sit down tensely on the edge of his seat. ^She knew now that something
N17 144 was really wrong. ^She kept very still, her head tilted back as though
N17 145 sleeping.
N17 146    |^Fear had her in its grip, for she knew now that she'd been right
N17 147 the first time. ^Those men had resented her arriving in the carriage
N17 148 and upsetting their plans. ^Three silent men, tense and waiting, and
N17 149 the mail-van directly in front of them.
N17 150    |^What had happened to that kindly guard when the man with the
N17 151 pointed shoes had followed him? ^Why was he anxious for action? ^And
N17 152 why had the other man held him back with a curt command?
N17 153    |^Joyce felt that she knew the reason. ^Later, as the train drew
N17 154 nearer to Wilford, it would slow down for the long climb up Shirley
N17 155 Rise. ^That was where these three men intended to leave it, after they
N17 156 had robbed the mail-van.
N17 157    |^I must tell someone, thought Joyce desperately. ^I must be calm
N17 158 and keep these men from guessing that I suspect anything. ^I'll leave
N17 159 the compartment quietly and unhurriedly and go for help.
N17 160    |^She thought of Barry, sitting unsuspectingly beyond that wall
N17 161 only a few yards from her. ^She felt nervous and shaky, but willed
N17 162 herself to be natural and composed.
N17 163    |^She shook herself, opened her eyes and put up her hand as if to
N17 164 stifle a yawn, when she stood up, took her bag from the rack and
N17 165 turned towards the door.
N17 166    |^The man with the pointed shoes stood with his back to it, his
N17 167 beady, close-set eyes fixed on her.
N17 168    |^*"Not now, sister,**" he said softly.
N17 169    |^For a moment, Joyce felt her mouth go dry, but she answered him
N17 170 indignantly.
N17 171    |^*"What do you mean*- not now?**"
N17 172    |^He held his closed hand up before her, clenching something within
N17 173 his fist. ^His thumb moved, and she heard a sharp click. ^She found
N17 174 herself staring glassily at a knife-blade, only inches away from her
N17 175 face.
N17 176    |^Joyce turned and found that the other two men had risen and
N17 177 closed in on her from behind.
N17 178    |^*"You're coming with us, girlie,**" he said. ^*"We didn't want
N17 179 you, but it seems we've got to take you along.**"
N17 180    |^Joyce opened her mouth to scream, but he was gripping her arm,
N17 181 digging his fingers into her flesh. ^He thrust his face close to her
N17 182 own.
N17 183    |^*"If you make a sound you'll regret it,**" he said menacingly.
N17 184    |^He broke off, and Joyce's gaze shifted fearfully, looking
N17 185 anywhere except into that cruel, fleshy face. ^The man with the knife
N17 186 moved it sideways significantly, as if drawing it across her throat.
N17 187 ^She wilted, and they moved on.
N17 188    |
N17 189    |^*4T*2HE *0man with the knife stepped out first, and Joyce was
N17 190 pushed out behind him. ^She was hustled round to the door of the
N17 191 mail-van.
N17 192    |^Now there was a sense of urgency about the three men. ^Joyce was
N17 193 pushed roughly aside and she saw the man with the knife had the
N17 194 railway guard's keys in his hands.
N17 195    |^He opened the door and at first she saw nothing but fat,
N17 196 disordered mail-sacks, with another closed door beyond where she
N17 197 guessed the sorter was at work.
N17 198    |^One of the men kicked a sack aside as he entered and she saw
N17 199 something else*- a pair of feet jutting out from behind the bags*- the
N17 200 guard.
N17 201    |^*"Where's the registered stuff?**" said one of the men.
N17 202    |^The man with the keys jerked his thumb towards the closed door.
N17 203    |^*"In there, with the sorter.**"
N17 204    |^*"All right. ^Open up.**"
N17 205    |^One man was guarding Joyce closely. ^She kept trying to tell
N17 206 herself that this wasn't really happening. ^That she wasn't involved
N17 207 in violence and robbery.
N17 208    |^The inner door was unlocked and flung open. ^A man in
N17 209 shirt-sleeves, working at a sorting rack, turned to stare.
N17 210    |^*"Look out!**" Joyce cried.
N17 211    |^A hand clamped over her mouth. ^She was jerked backwards so
N17 212 painfully that her spine was jarred.
N17 213 *# 2000
N18   1 **[451 TEXT N18**]
N18   2    |^*6SHE HAD TO DECIDE QUICKLY WHICH MAN TO TRUST*- AND SHE CHOSE
N18   3 THE WRONG ONE!
N18   4 *<*7THE NIGHT SHE CAUGHT THE LAST TRAIN HOME*>
N18   5    |^*6S*2HEILA FARRELL, *0waiting for the last train home, wasn't
N18   6 happy about the way the Teddy boy kept eyeing her. ^After the past
N18   7 hectic hours at her girl friend's twenty-first birthday party, she
N18   8 felt as flat as a deflated balloon. ^She wished that the train would
N18   9 hurry up.
N18  10    |^The Teddy boy glanced at the station clock.
N18  11    |^*"Train's late,**" he said.
N18  12    |^Sheila was about to answer automatically when she realised what
N18  13 she was doing. ^She turned her head away uneasily.
N18  14    |^The stranger wasn't put off. ^He tried again, sliding along the
N18  15 seat towards her.
N18  16    |^*"Going far? ^I'm for Pulfern Green, myself.**"
N18  17    |^He hesitated, then plunged on. ^*"Don't I know you? ^I'm sure
N18  18 I've seen you before. ^Do you get this train often?**"
N18  19    |^What a corny line, Sheila thought, her heart thumping.
N18  20    |^A quick glance round told her that they might as well have been
N18  21 the only two people in the world. ^There wasn't another soul to be
N18  22 seen, not even a porter.
N18  23    |^Would the Teddy boy follow her when she got on the train?
N18  24    |^Sheila gave him a cold stare, rose to her feet and moved along
N18  25 the deserted platform, feeling lonely and afraid.
N18  26    |^Oh, how she wished she could have stayed the night at her
N18  27 friend's!
N18  28    |^If it hadn't been her dad's week for night shift, her mum
N18  29 wouldn't have minded. ^As it was, Mum couldn't stand being alone in
N18  30 the house at night, and Sheila had promised that she'd catch the last
N18  31 train.
N18  32    |^The approaching train made her jump nervously, although it was a
N18  33 relief to hear it.
N18  34    |^It drew noisily to a halt. ^Sheila entered an empty carriage and
N18  35 moved down the aisle towards its far end.
N18  36    |^She settled herself in a dark corner, every nerve strained,
N18  37 listening intently. ^It wasn't until the train pulled out and she felt
N18  38 certain that nobody had entered the carriage, that she relaxed.
N18  39    |^She yawned, slipped off her shoes and, stretching out her legs,
N18  40 lay full-length along the seat.
N18  41    |
N18  42    |^*6B*2Y *0the time the train had pulled into the next station,
N18  43 Sheila was in a half doze.
N18  44    |^She was shocked awake, nerves leaping, at the sound of a carriage
N18  45 door being opened nearby. ^She lay still, waiting, her hands gripping
N18  46 her handbag.
N18  47    |^She could see the emergency chain just above her head and hoped
N18  48 that she wouldn't have to use it. ^When she heard several men's voices
N18  49 she felt relieved, and relaxed again.
N18  50    |^A gruff voice rose from the next compartment.
N18  51    |^*"No, there \2ain't nobody in this carriage. ^I looked as it
N18  52 pulled up. ^You don't get a lot of people travellin' at this time o'
N18  53 night. ^That's why I thought it \2'ud be safer.
N18  54    |^*"We've got to get to the Green tonight or else... ^Them \2rozzers
N18  55 is gettin' too hot for comfort. ^We'll have to lay low, or it's
N18  56 curtains for us, mate!**"
N18  57    |^Sheila shivered. ^Had she jumped out of the frying pan into the
N18  58 fire?
N18  59    |^A different voice, younger and nervous, began:
N18  60    |^*"What if the ticket bloke remembers us? ^'Ow do you know 'e
N18  61 \2ain't ringing the \2rozzers right now? ^We'll likely be met by...**"
N18  62    |^*"Oh, stop your whinin'!**" interrupted the gruff voice. ^*"We'll
N18  63 be met all right. ^Fred's meeting us with 'is car. ^There won't be any
N18  64 trouble unless you lose \2yer 'ead...**"
N18  65    |^The voice dropped menacingly.
N18  66    |^Sheila's hazel eyes widened. ^She drew back into the corner,
N18  67 trying to make herself as small as possible.
N18  68    |^She listened to every movement that the men made, all her nerves
N18  69 alert. ^The slightest sign that they were coming her way and she would
N18  70 have to pretend to be asleep.
N18  71    |^As the train drew into another station, she realised, with
N18  72 thankfulness, that the next one was hers.
N18  73    |^She listened unwillingly, as Gruff Voice continued the
N18  74 conversation.
N18  75    |^*"See what I mean? ^Nobody there, either. ^The train's deserted
N18  76 at this time of night.
N18  77    |^*"Len and Busk got away. ^They're making for the north. ^If they
N18  78 get picked up, they won't grass. ^They know better than that.**"
N18  79    |^*"What about Fred? ^\2D'ye think he's safe?**"
N18  80    |^*"Fred?**" scoffed the gruff voice. ^*"As safe as houses. ^If we
N18  81 make it worth his while, we can stop there for a week or so, then move
N18  82 on down to the coast.
N18  83    |^*"Those blokes at the bank don't know what hit 'em. ^They'll
N18  84 never be able to recognise us. ^What are \2ye \2gonna do with your
N18  85 lolly?**"
N18  86    |^*"Buy a car. ^Get some fun before it runs out. ^I like blondes
N18  87 best. ^Saw a smasher the other day. ^She wouldn't look at the likes of
N18  88 me, though, unless I'd plenty of lolly to spend on her.**"
N18  89    |^*"You and your blondes!**"
N18  90    |^A coarse laugh drowned the other's reply, and sent shivers down
N18  91 Sheila's back.
N18  92    |^Surely they were nearly at her station by now? ^How was she going
N18  93 to get out so that the men wouldn't realise she'd heard them?
N18  94    |^She knew just how dangerous her position was. ^That gruff voice
N18  95 had no mercy in it.
N18  96    |
N18  97    |^*6W*2ITH *0mixed feelings of relief, Sheila saw the lights of her
N18  98 station come into view. ^Very gently she slid out of her seat and
N18  99 round to the carriage door. ^She eased back the catch and held it
N18 100 steady as the train pulled up.
N18 101    |^She got out, and was beginning to close the door when she saw
N18 102 that the next one was opening, and a man's startled face was gazing at
N18 103 her.
N18 104    |^In mounting panic, Sheila turned and fled down the deserted
N18 105 platform. ^Thudding feet started after her.
N18 106    |^She raced for the exit, her mind searching desperately for a way
N18 107 of escape. ^She'd got to get to the police, somehow.
N18 108    |^There was no sign of a porter. ^Instead, a well-dressed,
N18 109 dependable-looking man stood near the exit.
N18 110    |^Sheila made up her mind quickly.
N18 111    |^*"Please, please help me!**" she said urgently. ^*"I've just
N18 112 overheard two crooks on the train, and I must get to the police. ^I'm
N18 113 sure they know I've overheard them, and they're coming after me.**"
N18 114    |^The stranger looked at Sheila oddly for a moment, hesitated as
N18 115 though making up his mind, then propelled her out of the exit towards
N18 116 a waiting car.
N18 117    |^As he did, the two men burst out into the quiet street and
N18 118 pounded up to them. ^The stranger stood quietly, waiting for them.
N18 119    |^Then it dawned on Sheila who he was.
N18 120    |^*"Fred!**" she gasped in horror.
N18 121    |^As Sheila tried to dodge past them, her heel caught in the
N18 122 pavement and she stumbled forward.
N18 123    |^She managed one cry for help before a hand closed over her mouth.
N18 124    |^A voice snarled in her ear, ^*"Keep still, or else...**"
N18 125    |^Sheila was bundled into the car. ^There she sat, squashed between
N18 126 the two men, heart pounding wildly with fear.
N18 127    |^The younger man looked her over admiringly.
N18 128    |^Sheila shivered.
N18 129    |^*"{0OK}, Fred,**" said the burly man. ^*"Take it away.**"
N18 130    |^Sheila stared at the silent man's back. ^She'd picked the wrong
N18 131 man. ^But how could you tell which man to trust and which to avoid?
N18 132    |^She'd gone for the nice face and clothes and she'd been
N18 133 hopelessly wrong. ^First the Teddy boy... the Teddy boy! ^He'd had a
N18 134 nice voice behind all that talk-gimmick. ^But she hadn't given him a
N18 135 chance after the first sight of his clothes.
N18 136    |^Suddenly, there came a gleam of hope. ^He'd said that he was
N18 137 going to Pulfern Green, her station. ^Had he got off here? ^Could he
N18 138 have seen anything? ^Would he act on it if he had?
N18 139    |^Sheila looked back as the car turned out of the street, but saw
N18 140 no one.
N18 141    |^Nobody spoke. ^At last, Sheila could stand it no longer.
N18 142    |^*"Where are you taking me?**" she burst out. ^*"What are you
N18 143 going to do with me? ^Please let me go. ^I won't say a word, I promise
N18 144 you. ^My mother's waiting for me, and she's alone and she'll be so
N18 145 upset. ^Please let me go!**"
N18 146    |^*"Well now, \2ain't that a pity? ^Her mummy's waiting up for
N18 147 her.**"
N18 148    |^Gruff Voice grinned nastily, then his voice altered cruelly.
N18 149    |^*"You got yourself into this*- nobody asked you to listen to our
N18 150 talk. ^You've heard enough to get us put away, so you've got to be put
N18 151 in a safe place. ^See?**"
N18 152    |^With the last word, he took her wrist and gave it a quick twist,
N18 153 making her gasp.
N18 154    |^*"That's just a little taste of what you'll get if you try
N18 155 anything on, see?**"
N18 156    |^Sheila nodded, eyes blinking back the threatening tears, as she
N18 157 nursed her sore wrist.
N18 158    |
N18 159    |^*6T*2HE *0car drew up beside a large, detached house. ^Sheila was
N18 160 bundled out, propelled along a passage, and pushed into a room.
N18 161    |^*"\2Yer stay there till we decide what to do with you!**" Gruff
N18 162 Voice growled. ^*"And make no mistakes*- if I hears a peep out of you,
N18 163 you're for it!**"
N18 164    |^Then the key was turned in the lock and Sheila was alone.
N18 165    |^She gave way to tears of hopelessness.
N18 166    |^As the tears relieved her immediate tension, Sheila realised
N18 167 everything had gone quiet in the house. ^She supposed that they were
N18 168 having a meal*- they certainly weren't bothering about her.
N18 169    |^As she sat there, she was suddenly aware of a tapping at the
N18 170 window. ^She went over.
N18 171    |^*"Who is it?**" she said nervously. ^*"Who*- who's there?**"
N18 172    |^She could only just make out the whispered reply, but it filled
N18 173 her with unbelievable hope.
N18 174    |^The voice said:
N18 175    |^*"Have you been kidnapped?**"
N18 176    |^At her answer the unknown voice went on:
N18 177    |^*"I was the chap who spoke to you at the main-line station, but
N18 178 you wouldn't have anything to do with me, remember? ^I saw you being
N18 179 pushed into that car. ^You didn't look as if you went willingly, so I
N18 180 followed on my motor bike. ^Thought I'd better find out for sure
N18 181 whether you needed help, before I went for the police.
N18 182    |^*"I came round the back of the house wondering which room you
N18 183 were in, when I*- I heard you cry.
N18 184    |^*"I'm going for the cops now,**" the voice went on. ^*"You won't
N18 185 be there much longer, if I can help it. ^Keep your chin up! ^Be seeing
N18 186 you.**"
N18 187    |^Sheila found herself shaking, without really knowing why.
N18 188    |^Rather than lose all control, she turned her thoughts to the
N18 189 young man who was proving such a friend in need.
N18 190    |^What a nice person he must be to help her after the way she had
N18 191 treated him at the station!
N18 192    |
N18 193    |^*6T*2HEN *0at last Sheila heard the sound of a car outside. ^The
N18 194 sudden shrilling of the doorbell made her jump.
N18 195    |^Presently, she heard the footsteps of the men as they clattered
N18 196 downstairs.
N18 197    |^They held a whispered conversation outside her door, then the key
N18 198 turned in the lock and Gruff Voice and his accomplice entered.
N18 199    |^The younger man was plainly scared, and the older man was cursing
N18 200 under his breath.
N18 201    |^Sheila backed away from them and managed one scream before a
N18 202 scarf was thrust round her mouth.
N18 203    |^They heard the front door being opened and Fred's voice asked,
N18 204 ^*"Yes? ^What is it? ^You've got me out of bed!**"
N18 205    |^Sheila's pulses leaped as she recognised the Teddy boy's voice.
N18 206    |^*"Excuse me, but does \0Mr. Smith live here?**"
N18 207    |^What on earth was he playing at? ^Did he think he could rescue
N18 208 her alone?
N18 209    |^Fred's innocently outraged voice began, ^*"No, he doesn't!
N18 210 ^What's the big idea...**"
N18 211    |^Then came a sudden crash as the front door was thrust violently
N18 212 open, and several deeper voices sounded.
N18 213    |^The gripping hands around Sheila tightened until she could barely
N18 214 breathe. ^As the door gave way before a brawny shoulder, she was
N18 215 thrown into a struggling mass of bodies.
N18 216    |^A fist aimed at somebody else caught her a glancing blow on the
N18 217 side of the head, and she fell backwards. ^Another pair of hands
N18 218 caught hold of her and began pulling her away from the fighting men.
N18 219    |^She struggled weakly until a remembered voice spoke urgently to
N18 220 her.
N18 221    |^*"Don't struggle! ^It's all right, now. ^I've brought the police
N18 222 and it will soon be over.**"
N18 223 *# 2001
N19   1 **[452 TEXT N19**]
N19   2 *<*4A Present For General Calinga*>
N19   3    |^*2HE WAS BETRAYED*- BY THE ONE MAN WHOSE LOYALTY HE HAD ALWAYS
N19   4 TAKEN FOR GRANTED
N19   5    |
N19   6    |^*4T*2HE *0President continued holding the telephone to his ear
N19   7 long after he knew beyond all doubt that the line had been cut. ^Then
N19   8 he gave a despairing little sigh, returned the now useless instrument
N19   9 to its cradle and sat staring with unseeing eyes at the wall opposite.
N19  10    |^A sudden outburst of machine-gun fire from outside the Palace
N19  11 caused him to shiver and rise from his chair. ^He began to walk
N19  12 quickly towards the door. ^But as he reached out to turn the handle
N19  13 the door opened and his aide, Major Pillar Juarez, entered.
N19  14    |^Juarez was a young man of the slim athletic type. ^Unlike most of
N19  15 the Air Force pilots his uniform was always immaculate, a fact which
N19  16 had commended itself to the President when he had first considered
N19  17 making him his personal aide.
N19  18    |^But now the major's uniform had lost its immaculate look; it was
N19  19 dusty and his right trouser leg had a large tear in it.
N19  20    |^*"Excellency,**" he said quietly before the President could
N19  21 speak, *"you will have to leave. ^The rebels are closing in and the
N19  22 troops we have here cannot hold out much longer. ^Santos has made the
N19  23 Palace*- and you*- his main objective. ^He is concentrating his forces
N19  24 here because once you are in his power, well, it's all over.**"
N19  25    |^The President swallowed. ^*"Did you know the telephone line is
N19  26 cut? ^Our position is hopeless.**"
N19  27    |^*"That is why you must leave here, Excellency. ^I have the
N19  28 helicopter standing by and I'll take you down to La Plomas. ^General
N19  29 Calinga has the city completely under control. ^We'll fight back from
N19  30 there, Excellency. ^Yes, with General Calinga behind you*-**"
N19  31    |^*"I don't know.**" ^The President's words broke in almost
N19  32 nervously. ^*"About Calinga, I mean.**" ^He shook his head. ^*"No, I'm
N19  33 not at all sure of him.**"
N19  34    |^*"But Calinga is loyal to you, Excellency.**"
N19  35    |^*"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.**" ^The President half closed his
N19  36 eyes, ^*"I've had my fill of bitter disappointments since this
N19  37 uprising, Juarez. ^So many people I'd trusted have turned against
N19  38 me.**" ^He lit himself a cigarette with a jerky movement. ^*"You,
N19  39 Juarez,**" he added, *"are about the only one whose loyalty I can take
N19  40 for granted.**"
N19  41    |^*"You trust me implicitly, Excellency?**" ^The words came
N19  42 quickly, almost sharply.
N19  43    |^*"I do, Juarez.**"
N19  44    |^*"But you are not absolutely certain of Calinga's loyalty?**"
N19  45    |^*"Not quite. ^His loyalty will depend on which way the wind is
N19  46 blowing. ^And at present*-**"
N19  47    |^*"So, should Calinga have decided to throw in his lot with the
N19  48 rebels and I take you to La Plomas, well, I shall in effect be handing
N19  49 you over to Santos?**" ^The major's words were more a statement of
N19  50 fact than a question.
N19  51    |^The President drew heavily on his cigarette. ^He nodded slowly at
N19  52 it.
N19  53    |^*"So therefore you won't come with me?**"
N19  54    |^*"No.**"
N19  55    |^Major Pillar Juarez slowly undid the flap of his holster. ^He
N19  56 withdrew his revolver. ^He pointed it straight at the President.
N19  57    |^*"The helicopter is all ready,**" he said quietly and evenly.
N19  58 ^*"You will fly to La Plomas in it.**"
N19  59    |^The President stared. ^*"Juarez,**" he said huskily, *"you seem
N19  60 particularly anxious to take me to Calinga. ^Suspiciously anxious, I
N19  61 would say.**"
N19  62    |^Juarez tightened his grip on the gun. ^*"You said you trusted
N19  63 me.**"
N19  64    |^The President nodded. ^*"I did. ^And I meant it. ^At the time.**"
N19  65 ^He paused. ^*"Now I'm not so sure. ^I*-**"
N19  66    |^*"All right,**" cut in Juarez sharply, *"my crew-men are already
N19  67 aboard.**" ^He made a little movement with the revolver. ^*"Come,
N19  68 we'll go now.**"
N19  69    |^As Juarez opened the door the President suddenly started biting
N19  70 at his lower lip. ^*"The helicopter,**" continued Juarez, *"is
N19  71 standing in the interior gardens.**" ^The President walked slowly out
N19  72 of the room; his eyes were now blinking spasmodically.
N19  73    |
N19  74    |^*4*"W*2AS *0it necessary to tie me up like this?**" ^The
N19  75 President looked tired and old as he indicated his bound wrists.
N19  76    |^Juarez did not answer. ^He turned to his radio-operator. ^*"I'm
N19  77 dropping to a thousand feet,**" he said. ^*"Try to contact Santos
N19  78 now.**"
N19  79    |^The President's eyes filled with an ocean of contempt. ^*"And to
N19  80 think I once gave you my trust,**" he choked. ^*"Much rather had I
N19  81 stayed at my Palace and*-**" ^He suddenly leaned forward and buried
N19  82 his face in his bound hands. ^He started sobbing silently to himself.
N19  83    |^For a moment Juarez contemplated the broken man beside him. ^He
N19  84 opened his mouth to say something but as he did so his radio-operator
N19  85 announced that he had contacted Santos. ^Juarez nodded. ^He took his
N19  86 microphone and started talking slowly, deliberately.
N19  87    |^After he had finished doing so he dropped the helicopter to five
N19  88 hundred feet. ^He banked slightly. ^When he saw three men leave a hut
N19  89 and walk out towards the middle of the field in front of it he dropped
N19  90 even lower.
N19  91    |^*"That's Santos,**" pointed the radio-operator. ^*"The one in the
N19  92 middle.**"
N19  93    |^*"Yes, I know.**" ^Juarez made towards the group. ^He landed the
N19  94 helicopter about fifty yards away from the three men. ^He kept the
N19  95 rotor blades turning. ^*"Right,**" he said sharply to the President,
N19  96 *"out you get. ^Santos is expecting you!**" ^He removed his gun from
N19  97 its holster.
N19  98    |^The President lifted his head. ^He glanced at the revolver and
N19  99 also at the carbines the radio-operator and Juarez's other crew-men
N19 100 were holding. ^His eyes started blinking again. ^Then slowly he rose
N19 101 from his seat. ^He followed Juarez out of the machine like a man from
N19 102 whose body the last spark of life had all but departed.
N19 103    |
N19 104    |^*4S*2ANTOS *0could not contain himself any longer: when he saw
N19 105 his dejected enemy before him he started running towards the
N19 106 helicopter. ^He was shouting almost incoherently.
N19 107    |^It was then that the carbines opened up catching Santos's two
N19 108 henchmen completely unawares; they died instantly. ^At the same moment
N19 109 Juarez moved forward to the rebel leader. ^He put his gun close to the
N19 110 other's stomach. ^He pulled the trigger five times.
N19 111    |^Now the two crew-men had dropped their carbines. ^They leaped out
N19 112 of the helicopter and unceremoniously tossed the dazed and bewildered
N19 113 President back into it. ^Then, while Juarez climbed frantically for
N19 114 the pilot's seat, they also tossed aboard the dead body of the rebel
N19 115 leader.
N19 116    |^As the helicopter began to rise they regained their carbines and
N19 117 poured a stream of bullets at the shouting groups of men who were now
N19 118 running out towards the field.
N19 119    |^At two thousand feet Juarez set course for La Plomas. ^He smiled
N19 120 tightly as his radio-operator leaned over and cut the bonds on the
N19 121 President's wrists. ^*"Well, Excellency,**" he said, *"it was a long
N19 122 shot but*-**"
N19 123    |^*"It was indeed a long shot,**" interjected the President in a
N19 124 strangled voice. ^*"A very long shot.**" ^He swallowed. ^*"But I am
N19 125 still bewildered. ^Why was it necessary to force me into this
N19 126 helicopter at gunpoint? ^And why the bonds? ^Why*-**"
N19 127    |^*"Excellency,**" said Major Pillar Juarez, ^*"I had to force you
N19 128 into the helicopter because otherwise you would have stayed at your
N19 129 Palace. ^And died. ^Also, with the greatest respect, Excellency, you
N19 130 are a very poor actor; you cannot hide or disguise your emotions. ^So
N19 131 I had to make you actually *1believe *0I was handing you over to
N19 132 Santos.
N19 133    |^*"No, Excellency, you could not have played the part you did; it
N19 134 had to be, as far as you were concerned, only too horribly true.
N19 135 ^Otherwise it could not have succeeded. ^You did believe it*-**"
N19 136    |^*"Yes. ^And I believed that you too had turned against me,
N19 137 Juarez.**" ^The words were uttered as an apology as humble as it was
N19 138 sincere.
N19 139    |^Juarez smiled. ^*"Yes, you had to believe that too,
N19 140 Excellency.**" ^He altered course ten degrees to starboard. ^*"La
N19 141 Plomas ahead,**" he announced. ^*"Now when we land and you show
N19 142 General Calinga the dead body of the rebel Santos, there is no doubt
N19 143 where his loyalty will be, is there?**"
N19 144    |^The President nodded and fell silent. ^About a minute later he
N19 145 said: ^*"Juarez, I can never reward you enough. ^I*-**"
N19 146    |^*"Excellency,**" smiled Major Pillar Juarez, *"I have a wish I
N19 147 hope you will grant.**"
N19 148    |^*"Name it.**"
N19 149    |^The major's smile widened. ^*"A new uniform, Excellency.
N19 150 ^Hand-tailored in English cloth.**" ^He glanced at the tear in his
N19 151 trouser leg. ^*"I think I am almost entitled to that, Excellency.**"
N19 152    |^The President laughed. ^It was the first time he had done so in
N19 153 over three weeks. ^It was a long laugh. ^A slightly hysterical laugh.
N19 154 *<*6THE FRIEND*>
N19 155    |^*2SANTAGO WAS A MAN TO BE TRUSTED... HE COULD USE A SUB-MACHINE
N19 156 GUN
N19 157    |
N19 158    |^*4C*2APTAIN RAMON CORDORA'S *0voice was loud. ^*"Corporal
N19 159 Santago,**" he shouted. ^*"Where's Corporal Santago?**"
N19 160    |^One of the privates looked up briefly from his cards. ^*"Back
N19 161 there somewhere,**" he grunted.
N19 162    |^Cordora opened his mouth again as if he were going to remonstrate
N19 163 with the private for his appalling lack of discipline but, thinking
N19 164 better of it, he moved off in search of Santago.
N19 165    |^He found him behind the hut cleaning his rifle. ^*"Well,
N19 166 Corporal,**" he smiled, *"I'm glad to see someone in your platoon
N19 167 cleans his weapons regularly!**"
N19 168    |^Santago did not answer until he had removed the piece of
N19 169 four-by-two from his pull-through. ^*"I always used to clean my rifle
N19 170 regularly.**" ^His voice was surly. ^*"If you made an inspection now
N19 171 and then, you'd know that I still do.**"
N19 172    |^Cordora continued smiling. ^*"Now, now, can't you take a little
N19 173 joke, my friend?**"
N19 174    |^Santago slowly raised his head. ^*"Don't you call me your
N19 175 friend,**" he said. ^*"The only friend *1you *0have is yourself.**"
N19 176    |^The other's smile remained fixed. ^*"We were friends once upon a
N19 177 time.**"
N19 178    |^*"Yes, but that was long, long ago.**"
N19 179    |^*"Not so long ago.**" ^The Captain paused. ^*"It's only six
N19 180 months since we were serving together under La Cruz.**"
N19 181    |^Santago now began to examine the bolt of his rifle. ^*"Yes,**" he
N19 182 murmured, *"we served together under him. ^As privates. ^Then along
N19 183 came Kassan. ^And with him in power what happened? ^You became
N19 184 sergeant the very next day.**"
N19 185    |^*"Yes,**" broke in Cordora, *"but shortly after that I was able
N19 186 to get you promoted to corporal.**"
N19 187    |^Santago lifted his head. ^*"True. ^But you also got yourself
N19 188 promoted to lieutenant. ^Then a month later you became a captain.**"
N19 189 ^He bent down once again and started cleaning his rifle bolt. ^*"Yes,
N19 190 you were a good friend to yourself. ^But not to me. ^Any friend of
N19 191 mine would have made sure I got a bit higher than this.**"
N19 192    |^His eyes flicked contemptuously to the rank badges on his right
N19 193 sleeve, then back again to his rifle bolt.
N19 194    |^Cordora switched his smile off and managed to look sympathetic.
N19 195 ^*"I know how you must feel,**" he said. ^*"But it's not so easy as
N19 196 you'd think. ^I did my best for you but President Kassan has never
N19 197 forgotten that day over two years ago, when you let him have the butt
N19 198 of your rifle right across his face.**"
N19 199    |^*"I couldn't help it,**" muttered the other. ^*"I was ordered to
N19 200 disperse the crowd and I was only doing my duty. ^How was I to know
N19 201 that one day he'd be President?**"
N19 202    |^Captain Cordora made a little clicking sound with his teeth.
N19 203 ^*"Well, nevertheless, he's never forgotten it. ^And every time I've
N19 204 brought up the subject of your commission, well, he has said no. ^In
N19 205 fact, it took me a great deal of persuading to even get you your
N19 206 corporal's stripes, Santago, if the truth be told.**"
N19 207    |^He paused and lowered his voice. ^*"But now something's come up
N19 208 which, if you do your bit, will maybe enable you to find favour in the
N19 209 President's eyes.
N19 210    |^*"For a start, he has given me authority to promote you to
N19 211 sergeant if all goes well.**"
N19 212    |^Santago stopped cleaning the rifle bolt. ^*"To sergeant?**"
N19 213    |^*"Yes. ^Now, if he's prepared to forgive you enough to agree to
N19 214 your promotion to sergeant, well, who knows? ^Maybe sometime later he
N19 215 will forgive you completely and grant you a commission.**"
N19 216    |^Cordora paused again. ^*"Of course, all that is conjecture. ^You
N19 217 will have to carry out this special little job first and qualify
N19 218 yourself for promotion to sergeant before the officer question could
N19 219 even be considered.**"
N19 220 *# 2014
N20   1 **[453 TEXT N20**]
N20   2 *<*4Destination Danger*>
N20   3 *<By *6ERNEST HAYCOX*>
N20   4 *<*2ILLUSTRATED BY EDWIN PHILLIPS*>
N20   5    |^*4Bill wanted her to be his alone*- despite her past. ^But first
N20   6 he had to settle a grudge
N20   7    |*6T*2HIS *0was one of those years when Apache smoke signals
N20   8 spiralled from the mountain tops, when many a ranch-house lay as a
N20   9 square of blackened ashes and the departure of a stage from Tonto
N20  10 started an adventure that had no certain ending.
N20  11    |^The stage, with its six horses, waited in Tonto's town square.
N20  12 ^On the box was Happy Stewart, the reins between his fingers. ^John
N20  13 Strang rode shotgun guard. ^And an escort of 10 cavalrymen waited
N20  14 behind the coach, half asleep in their saddles.
N20  15    |^In the dawn, this high air was cold. ^A small crowd stood in the
N20  16 square, presenting their final messages to the passengers.
N20  17    |^There was a girl going to marry an infantry officer, a tall, thin
N20  18 Englishman carrying a sporting rifle, a gambler, a cattleman*- and a
N20  19 slim blond man. ^Happy Stuart and the shotgun guard looked at *1him
N20  20 *0with narrow-eyed interest.
N20  21    |^This seemed all until a girl known commonly throughout Arizona
N20  22 Territory as Henriette walked from the crowd. ^She was small, with a
N20  23 touch of paleness in her cheeks. ^The blond man stepped back from the
N20  24 coach door and her eyes lifted at his unexpected courtesy. ^They
N20  25 showed faint surprise.
N20  26    |^Men in the crowd were smiling*- derisively. ^But the blond man
N20  27 turned*- the movement like the swift cut of a knife*- and his
N20  28 sharp-bright attention covered them until the smiling quit.
N20  29    |^He was a lean man, and stamped as a gun-fighter by the Colts
N20  30 slung on his hip.
N20  31    |^But it wasn't the guns alone. ^Something in his face, watchful
N20  32 and smooth, showed his trade, too.
N20  33    |^Happy Stuart kicked off the brakes and yelled: ^*"Hi!**" ^The
N20  34 stage rolled from the town in a cloud of dust, the cavalrymen trotting
N20  35 briskly behind.
N20  36    |^Beyond them stretched the journey no coach had attempted for 45
N20  37 days. ^Out below in the desert's distance stood the relay stations
N20  38 they hoped to reach and pass.
N20  39    |^Between lay a country swept empty by the quick raids of
N20  40 Geronimo's savages.
N20  41    |^The Englishman, the gambler and the blond man sat jammed together
N20  42 in the forward seat. ^The cattleman and the two women shared the rear
N20  43 seat.
N20  44    |
N20  45    |^*6N*2OW *0the cattleman leaned towards Henriette, his knees
N20  46 almost touching her. ^A huge gold nugget slid gently back and forth
N20  47 along the gold watch chain slung across his wide chest. ^His eyes
N20  48 looked into hers, reading something that caused him to smile.
N20  49    |^They were strangers packed closely together with nothing in
N20  50 common save a destination.
N20  51    |^Yet the cattleman's smile and the boldness of his glance was
N20  52 something as audible as speech, noted by everyone except the
N20  53 Englishman, who sat bolt upright in the corner, covered by stony
N20  54 indifference.
N20  55    |^The army girl, tall and demurely pretty, threw a quick
N20  56 side-glance at Henriette, then looked away with a touch of colour.
N20  57    |^Three hours from Tonto the road, making a last round sweep, let
N20  58 them down into the flat desert.
N20  59    |^From now on they would be on their own. ^The cavalrymen wheeled
N20  60 back to town, their sergeant yelling, doubtfully: ^*"Good luck.**"
N20  61    |^The miles fell behind and the smell of alkali dust got thicker.
N20  62 ^Up on the box, Johnny Strang shifted the gun on his lap. ^*"What's
N20  63 Malpais Bill*- the blond one*- riding with us for?**"
N20  64    |^*"I guess I wouldn't ask him,**" Happy Stuart replied,*- and
N20  65 studied the hazy horizon.
N20  66    |^All day they were tormented by a cruel, relentless sun. ^Now as
N20  67 the coach trundled to a stop outside Gap Station, they were red-eyed
N20  68 and aching from the stinging dust.
N20  69    |^A short man with a tremendous stomach shuffled through the dusk.
N20  70 ^He said: ^*"Wasn't sure you'd get through, Happy.**"
N20  71    |^*"Where's the soldiers for tomorrow?**"
N20  72    |^*"Other side of the mountains. ^Everybody's chased out. ^What
N20  73 \2ain't forted up here was sent into Lordsburg.**"
N20  74    |^He looked first at the army girl, then appraised Henriette
N20  75 instantly. ^His eyes slid on to Malpais Bill standing in the
N20  76 background. ^Recognition stirred him then and made his voice careful.
N20  77 ^*"Hello, Bill. ^What brings you this way?**"
N20  78    |^Malpais Bill's cigarette glowed in the gathering dusk and
N20  79 Henriette caught the brief image of his face, serene and watchful.
N20  80 ^Malpais Bill's tone was easy, it was soft. ^*"Just the trip.**"
N20  81    |^They were moving on towards the frame house. ^As the army girl
N20  82 walked into the station's big room, a soldier in a dishevelled uniform
N20  83 stepped forward.
N20  84    |^He said: ^*"Miss Robertson? ^Lieutenant Hauser was to have met
N20  85 you here. ^He is at Lordsburg. ^He was wounded in a brush with the
N20  86 Apaches last night.**"
N20  87    |^The girl stood very still. ^She said: ^*"Badly?**"
N20  88    |^*"Well, yes,**" said the soldier.
N20  89    |^Henriette's dove-coloured dress blended with the background
N20  90 shadows. ^She was watching the other girl's face whiten.
N20  91    |^But there was a strength in the army girl, a fortitude that made
N20  92 her think of the soldier. ^For she said quietly: ^*"You must have had
N20  93 a bad trip.**"
N20  94    |^*"Nothing*- nothing at all,**" said the soldier. ^As the trooper
N20  95 left the room, the gambler turned to the army girl with an odd
N20  96 expression, as though he were remembering painful things.
N20  97    |^After dinner, Malpais Bill lounged, cigarette in hand, in the
N20  98 yard. ^The moonlight was a frozen silver that could not dissolve the
N20  99 desert's incredible blackness.
N20 100    |
N20 101    |^*6A*2S *0Henriette walked towards him from the Tonto road, her
N20 102 face was clear and strange and incurious in the night. ^He said:
N20 103 ^*"Apaches like to crawl down next to a settlement and wait for
N20 104 strays.**"
N20 105    |^She was indifferent, unafraid. ^Her voice was cool, and he could
N20 106 hear the faint loneliness in it, the fatalism that made her words so
N20 107 even. ^*"There's a wind coming up, so soft and good.**"
N20 108    |^He took off his hat, long legs braced and his eyes quick and
N20 109 puzzled in their watchfulness. ^His blond hair glowed in the fugitive
N20 110 light.
N20 111    |^His lips were restless and the sing and rush of strong feeling
N20 112 was like a current of quick wind around him. ^It was that unruly.
N20 113 ^*"You have folks in Lordsburg?**"
N20 114    |
N20 115    |^*6S*2HE *0spoke in a direct patient way as though explaining
N20 116 something he should have known without asking. ^*1*"I run a house in
N20 117 Lordsburg.**"
N20 118    |^*0*"No,**" he said, *"it wasn't what I asked.**"
N20 119    |^*"My folks are dead*- I think. ^There was a massacre in the
N20 120 Superstition Mountains when I was a baby.**"
N20 121    |^He stood with his head bowed. ^There was a hardness and a rawness
N20 122 to this land and little sympathy for the weak. ^She had survived, and
N20 123 had paid for her survival and she looked at him now in a way that
N20 124 offered no explanation or apologies.
N20 125    |^He said: ^*"Over in the Tonto Basin it's fine land. ^I still have
N20 126 a piece of a ranch there*- with a house half built.**"
N20 127    |^*"If that's your country, why are you here?**"
N20 128    |^His lips laughed and the rashness in him glowed hot again and he
N20 129 seemed to grow taller in the moonlight. ^*"A debt to collect.**"
N20 130    |^*"You will never get through collecting those kind of debts.
N20 131 ^Everybody in the Territory knows you.
N20 132    |^*"Once you were just a rancher. ^Then you tried to wipe out a
N20 133 grudge and then there was a bigger one to wipe out*- and the debt kept
N20 134 growing and more men are waiting to kill you. ^Some day a man will.
N20 135 ^Run away from the debts.**"
N20 136    |^His bright smile kept constant, which made her shoulders lift in
N20 137 resignation. ^*"No,**" she murmured. ^*"You won't run.**"
N20 138    |^He said: ^*"We'd better go back,**" and they went across the yard
N20 139 in silence.
N20 140    |^She turned to look at him once more and then passed down the
N20 141 narrow corridor to her own quarters.
N20 142    |^Beyond her window in the yard, a man was murmuring to another
N20 143 man: ^*"Plummer and Shanley are in Lordsburg. ^Malpais Bill knows
N20 144 it.**"
N20 145    |^Through the thin partition of the adjoining room she heard the
N20 146 army girl crying with uncontrollable regularity.
N20 147    |^Henriette stared at the dark wall, her shoulders and head bowed.
N20 148 ^Then she returned to the hall, knocked on the army girl's door and
N20 149 went in.
N20 150    |^It was morning. ^Six fresh horses fidgeted in front of the coach
N20 151 and the fat host of Gap Station came across the yard swinging a
N20 152 lantern against the dead, bitter black. ^All the passengers filed
N20 153 sleep-dulled and miserable from the house.
N20 154    |^The Gap host grumbled: ^*"If they don't jump you before you get
N20 155 to Al's ranch, you'll be all right.**"
N20 156    |^It was noon when Henriette caught the smell of smoke in the
N20 157 windless air. ^Looking through the angled vista of the window panel
N20 158 she saw a clay and rock chimney standing up like a gaunt skeleton
N20 159 against the day's light.
N20 160    |^The house that had been there was a black square on the ground,
N20 161 smoke still rising from pieces that had not been completely burned.
N20 162    |^The stage stopped and all the men were instantly out. ^An iron
N20 163 stove squatted on the earth, with one section of pipe stuck upright to
N20 164 it. ^Fire licked lazily along the collapsed fragments of what had been
N20 165 a trunk.
N20 166    |^Beyond the house lay two nude figures grotesquely bald, with
N20 167 deliberate knife-slashes marking their bodies. ^Happy Stuart walked
N20 168 over and returned quickly. ^*"Al and his wife.**"
N20 169    |^Malpais Bill knew now that they had a battle ahead. ^With Happy
N20 170 and the shotgun guard he clambered on to the coach roof*- ready for
N20 171 the fight.
N20 172    |^Back on the coach, the gambler said to the army girl: ^*"You're
N20 173 pretty safe between two fellows.**" ^He hauled a .44 from a back
N20 174 pocket and laid it on his lap.
N20 175    |^The Englishman pulled the rifle from between his knees and laid
N20 176 it across the sill of the window. ^The cattleman swept back his coat
N20 177 to clear the gun holster.
N20 178    |^Henriette sat with her eyes pinned to the gloved tips of her
N20 179 fingers, remembering the tall shape of Malpais Bill cut against the
N20 180 moonlight of Gap Station.
N20 181    |^He had smiled at her as a man might smile at any desirable woman,
N20 182 with the sweep and swing of laughter in his voice. ^His eyes had been
N20 183 gentle.
N20 184    |^The gambler spoke very quietly and she didn't hear him until his
N20 185 fingers gripped her arm. ^He said again, not raising his voice: ^*"Get
N20 186 down.**"
N20 187    |
N20 188    |^*6H*2ENRIETTE *0dropped to her knees, hearing gunfire blast
N20 189 through the rush and run of the coach. ^Happy Stuart ceased to yell
N20 190 and the army girl's eyes were round and dark, yet showing no fright.
N20 191    |^Looking upward through the window on the gambler's side,
N20 192 Henriette saw the weaving figure of an Apache warrior reel nakedly on
N20 193 a pony and rush by with a rifle raised and pointed in his bony elbows.
N20 194    |^The gambler took a cool aim. ^The stockman fired and aimed again.
N20 195 ^The Englishman's sporting rifle blasted heavy echoes through the
N20 196 coach, hurting her ears, and the smell of powder got rank and bitter.
N20 197    |^The blond man's boots scraped the coach top and round small holes
N20 198 began to dimple the panelling as the Apaches' bullets struck.
N20 199    |^An Indian came boldly abreast the coach and made a target that
N20 200 couldn't be missed. ^The cattleman dropped him with one shot. ^The
N20 201 coach hubs screamed as its wheels slewed around the sharp ruts and the
N20 202 whole heavy superstructure bounced high in the air.
N20 203    |^The gambler said, quietly: ~*"You'd better take this,**" handing
N20 204 Henriette his gun. ^He leaned against the door, with his small hands
N20 205 gripping the sill. ^Pallor loosened the cheeks. ^He said, to the army
N20 206 girl: ^*"Be sure to keep between those gentlemen.**" ^He slumped on to
N20 207 the window sill.
N20 208    |^They were rolling down the mountain without brake. ^Gunfire fell
N20 209 off and the crying of the Indians faded back.
N20 210    |^Coming up from her knees then, she saw the desert's flat surface
N20 211 far below, with the angular pattern of Lordsburg vaguely on the far
N20 212 borders of the heat fog.
N20 213    |
N20 214    |^*6W*2ITH *0a roar, Happy Stuart's voice lifted again and brakes
N20 215 were screaming on the wheels, and going off, and screaming again.
N20 216    |^The Englishman stared out of the window sullenly. ^The army girl
N20 217 seemed in a deep desperate dream. ^The cattleman's face was shining
N20 218 with a strange sweat.
N20 219 *# 2006
N21   1 **[454 TEXT N21**]
N21   2 *<*7AT THAT MAN'S MERCY*>
N21   3    |^*4As Jenny lifted the receiver, an arm suddenly came over her
N21   4 shoulder and a hairy hand gripped her wrist.
N21   5    |
N21   6    |^*7NOTHING WARNED JENNY THAT THE PEACE AND QUIET OF HER LIFE WAS
N21   7 TO BE SHATTERED.
N21   8    |
N21   9    |^*6J*2ENNY *0put the last of the dishes in the cupboard, and then
N21  10 walked back into the living-room.
N21  11    |^She wished Ian were back. ^The house always seemed very still and
N21  12 quiet when he was away and he would not be home until late.
N21  13    |^Tonight Jenny felt uneasy. ^That announcement on the radio about
N21  14 a man who had escaped from the mental institution in a neighbouring
N21  15 town had disturbed her.
N21  16    |^She stood looking out of the wide bay-window on to the garden.
N21  17 ^The great copper beech cast a lacework of moving shadows across the
N21  18 smooth, sunlit lawn, and in its whispering branches two magpies
N21  19 quarrelled noisily.
N21  20    |^As far as the eye could see there was nothing but trees, and, in
N21  21 the distance, the bleak moors, so beautiful, peaceful and isolated.
N21  22 ^That was just what she and Ian liked, but not when there was a maniac
N21  23 at large.
N21  24    |^Jenny sat down on the settee and picked up the paper, trying to
N21  25 keep calm. ^After all, there was no reason why he should come here.
N21  26 ^The road past their house led only to a small secluded bay a mile or
N21  27 two further on.
N21  28    |^The reason for his escaping from the asylum was presumably to get
N21  29 as far away from confinement as possible, in which case he would
N21  30 naturally go in the opposite direction.
N21  31    |^Her fears somewhat lulled, she began to read. ^The radio was on
N21  32 and she could hear the baby upstairs whimper in his sleep.
N21  33    |^The clock was striking six when a loud knock on the door made her
N21  34 start. ^Slowly she lowered the newspaper. ^She wasn't expecting
N21  35 anyone. ^Oh, yes, her young sister, Betty, had said she might call.
N21  36    |^She got up and went to the front door. ^As she opened it, a
N21  37 good-looking man wearing a grey suit, pushed past her into the hall.
N21  38 ^She turned on him indignantly, but before she could protest, he
N21  39 leaned over her shoulder and shut the door.
N21  40    |^Her mouth went dry. ^A large hand gripped her arm and turned her
N21  41 towards the living-room.
N21  42    |^*"Go on,**" the voice said metallically, and the protest died on
N21  43 her lips as she obeyed.
N21  44    |^She walked over to the settee, and then turned and smiled
N21  45 nervously.
N21  46    |^*"Won't you sit down?**" she asked, her throat constricted.
N21  47    |^*"Food, have you any food?**" he growled, and there was a strange
N21  48 glint in his eye as he looked her up and down.
N21  49    |^She swallowed hard, her fingers fumbling nervously with her
N21  50 wedding ring.
N21  51    |^*"I haven't got much*- my husband's supper*-**"
N21  52    |^Her voice trailed away.
N21  53    |^At the mention of Ian, the stranger half-rose, his eyes wary.
N21  54    |^*"Your husband, where is he?**"
N21  55    |^*"He'll be back soon.**"
N21  56    |^*"Give me food.**"
N21  57    |^His eyes were fixed on her, and, try as she might, she could not
N21  58 take her own away. ^There was something almost hypnotic about those
N21  59 eyes, and yet something lonely*- a loneliness of the spirit that was
N21  60 terrifying, as though his mind were far beyond reality.
N21  61    |^Suddenly she remembered the announcer on the radio. ^He had
N21  62 warned anyone who met this man not to provoke him in any way. ^The
N21  63 slightest disagreement could send him into an uncontrollable rage.
N21  64    |^He began to rise slowly from the table.
N21  65    |^*"Yes, yes, I'll get you some food now,**" she said hastily.
N21  66    |^Her hand found the door handle and she slipped out. ^In the small
N21  67 alcove by the kitchen, her eyes fell on the telephone. ^She paused,
N21  68 looking at it longingly, but a sixth sense made her glance over her
N21  69 shoulder.
N21  70    |^He was standing in the doorway. ^Threateningly, he began to walk
N21  71 towards her. ^She stooped to pick up her handkerchief, and went on
N21  72 into the kitchen.
N21  73    |^As she opened the pantry door, he was there behind her. ^She put
N21  74 bread on the table, and took the butter and a cold veal and ham pie
N21  75 from the refrigerator.
N21  76    |^He stood in the middle of the room, watching her every move.
N21  77    |^Putting the food on a tray, she cut a piece of apple tart, and
N21  78 carried it all into the living-room. ^Again, he followed close behind
N21  79 her.
N21  80    |^He sat down at the table and she placed the tray in front of him.
N21  81 ^Ignoring the knife and fork, he picked up the meat pie, and, breaking
N21  82 it in two, began to eat.
N21  83    |^Jenny could feel her hands trembling, and when the man coughed,
N21  84 her hand jerked, and the sauce bottle lay on its side. ^A brown stain
N21  85 slowly spread over the cloth.
N21  86    |^Her hand went out to pick up the fallen bottle*- and froze. ^She
N21  87 saw him stop chewing. ^His eyes were fixed on the spilling sauce.
N21  88 ^Then he raised his head and she shrank back. ^He had the expression
N21  89 of a wild cat that had been disturbed at its meal.
N21  90    |^*"Sorry, that was silly of me,**" she said, forcing a laugh.
N21  91    |^Then she got up and moved towards the door.
N21  92    |^*"Where are you going? ^Come back.**"
N21  93    |^The voice was like a whip-lash.
N21  94    |^She closed her eyes and swayed slightly.
N21  95    |^*"I*- I'm going to make you a cup of tea,**" she explained
N21  96 shakily. ^*"You'd like a drink?**"
N21  97    |^*"Beer.**"
N21  98    |^She left the door half-open, and, walking quietly, reached the
N21  99 alcove. ^If she could only dial 999. ^Jenny glanced over her shoulder.
N21 100 ^The door was still ajar and there was no sound, except when his hand
N21 101 touched the cutlery.
N21 102    |^Reaching out, she took hold of the receiver, and raised her left
N21 103 hand to the dial. ^She was breathing with difficulty, and her legs
N21 104 felt unsteady.
N21 105    |^As she lifted the receiver, an arm came over her shoulder and a
N21 106 hairy hand gripped her wrist. ^Her heart leaped and the blood pounded
N21 107 in her ears. ^For a moment, she was paralysed with fear.
N21 108    |^Then slowly she turned and looked up into his face. ^She hardly
N21 109 recognised it. ^It was very flushed, and seemed to have grown larger.
N21 110 ^The mouth was slightly open, and jerked spasmodically at one corner.
N21 111    |
N21 112    |^*6H*2ER *0breath came in gasps as she ran her tongue over her dry
N21 113 lips. ^Suddenly his grip tightened and, with a gasp of pain, Jenny
N21 114 dropped the receiver.
N21 115    |^He stood, still holding her wrist.
N21 116    |^*"I was just going to ring the doctor to see if he was calling
N21 117 tomorrow. ^The baby isn't too well.**"
N21 118    |^*"You're not ringing any doctor,**" he said thickly.
N21 119    |^*"All right then. ^Come with me, and we'll get that bottle of
N21 120 beer.**"
N21 121    |^She smiled at him hopefully, and he released her wrist.
N21 122    |^Jenny took a few tentative steps forward, and then waited, her
N21 123 heart pounding. ^Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw him
N21 124 following. ^Slowly, she went into the kitchen and took a bottle of
N21 125 beer out of the refrigerator.
N21 126    |^Back in the living-room, he stood by the table as she opened the
N21 127 bottle and poured out the drink. ^She held the glass out to him.
N21 128    |^*"Come on, drink it. ^You'll feel better.**"
N21 129    |^He took the glass, looking suspiciously at it and then at her.
N21 130    |^*"What d'you mean, *'feel better**'?**" he growled. ^*"There's
N21 131 nothing wrong with me.**"
N21 132    |^Jenny smiled placatingly.
N21 133    |^*"No, of course not,**" she soothed, *"but you said you were very
N21 134 thirsty. ^It's a good brand. ^My husband's very fond of it.**"
N21 135    |^He looked at the label.
N21 136    |^*"I know it's good. ^I can see, can't I?**"
N21 137    |^*"Yes, yes, of course. ^I*- I didn't mean to be rude.**"
N21 138    |^*"I didn't say you were rude.**" ^His eyes were beginning to
N21 139 glaze over. ^*"What's the matter? ^You think I'm mad, don't you?**"
N21 140    |^*"No*- no. ^Why should I? ^Look, drink up. ^Have a cigarette.**"
N21 141    |^She offered him the packet. ^He took one and examined it, his
N21 142 thick fingers turning it over and over. ^He sniffed it, his brows
N21 143 drawn together in concentration.
N21 144    |^Jenny lit hers and watched him in amazement. ^Why all this fuss
N21 145 over an ordinary cigarette?
N21 146    |^She flicked her lighter and held it out. ^He took hold of her
N21 147 wrist, bringing the flame to the cigarette. ^As he puffed, his hands
N21 148 gripped her more tightly. ^His eyes met hers through the thin veil of
N21 149 smoke.
N21 150    |^Her heart pounded and she closed her eyes. ^That wild look of
N21 151 animal desire*- and he was mad. ^She felt utterly weary. ^Gently she
N21 152 pulled her arm away.
N21 153    |^*"Oh, God, please help me,**" she prayed inwardly. ^*"I can't
N21 154 stand much more of this.**"
N21 155    |^The baby upstairs began to cry loudly, giving great hiccoughing
N21 156 sobs. ^Then his voice rose to a scream. ^Jenny whipped round and raced
N21 157 for the door, but the man caught her arm.
N21 158    |^*"Where are you going?**" he demanded.
N21 159    |^His face was fierce and ugly.
N21 160    |^*"My baby's ill. ^I must see to him.**" ^She glared at him, fear
N21 161 forgotten because her little son needed her. ^*"Let me go.**"
N21 162    |^*"Come here. ^I want you.**"
N21 163    |^She took one look at his face, now a deep red, the veins bulging
N21 164 on his forehead, his madness plain to see. ^With a desperate effort
N21 165 she wrenched her arm away and dashed into the hall. ^She heard him
N21 166 shout, and start to lumber after her.
N21 167    |^With fear as the spur, she leapt up the stairs, the madman at her
N21 168 heels. ^She paused for a split second, and then seizing a large
N21 169 Chinese vase that stood at the turn of the stairs, she pulled it over
N21 170 and sent it rolling down.
N21 171    |^It caught him across the thighs, and man and vase crashed in a
N21 172 heap at the foot of the stairs. ^Not waiting to see the results, Jenny
N21 173 dived for the bedroom and slammed the door, turning the key. ^Gasping,
N21 174 she leaned back against the door. ^Looking wildly around the room, her
N21 175 eye fell on the chest of drawers. ^It was heavy and made of oak.
N21 176    |^She went across and slowly began to push it over the floor.
N21 177 ^Hearing the noise, the baby stopped crying.
N21 178    |^At last the chest was in position. ^Panting, she pushed her hair
N21 179 off her forehead and went over to the baby's cot. ^She lifted him and
N21 180 laid him on the bed.
N21 181    |^Then, picking up the cot, she carried it into the small ante-room
N21 182 which led off the main bedroom. ^There was no other way in, except
N21 183 through the bedroom. ^She collected the baby and laid him down in the
N21 184 cot. ^Then she drew the curtains, and, going back into the bedroom,
N21 185 closed the door.
N21 186    |
N21 187    |^*6T*2HERE *0was the muffled sound of scrambling on the stairs.
N21 188 ^He was coming up again. ^She eyed the oak chest. ^That should hold
N21 189 him off, at least for a time. ^She went to the extension phone by the
N21 190 bed, and, with trembling hands, dialled 999. ^Soon she was blurting
N21 191 out all the essential details to the police.
N21 192    |^As she replaced the receiver, Jenny noticed the house was
N21 193 completely silent again. ^Where was he now? ^She went as near to the
N21 194 door as she could and listened intently*- not a sound.
N21 195    |^She slipped back to the bed and sat down weakly. ^Taking her
N21 196 cigarettes out of her pocket, she lit one. ^Inhaling deeply, she let
N21 197 her head fall forward.
N21 198    |^Suddenly she jerked upright. ^That was the side door that had
N21 199 creaked. ^He had been outside, but for what? ^Then nightmare visions
N21 200 of things she had read in the papers flooded back to her*- of people
N21 201 being axed to death! ^Only last week, Ian had bought a new axe. ^She
N21 202 could picture its gleaming head now.
N21 203    |^She darted over to the window, and gazed vainly in all
N21 204 directions. ^There was not a sight or sound of anyone*- only the
N21 205 sun-dappled lawn and the whispering trees. ^Peace was everywhere. ^She
N21 206 smiled bitterly.
N21 207    |^Her heart leaped at the sound of an approaching car. ^Running to
N21 208 the window Jenny saw it sweep round the bend and pass straight on,
N21 209 heading for the cove.
N21 210    |^Again there was that awful silence*- silence except for the sound
N21 211 of a man with an axe, who began to stumble up the stairs.
N21 212 *# 2005
N22   1 **[455 TEXT N22**]
N22   2 *<*4Continuing Reveille's exciting serial*>
N22   3 *<*6VICE KING'S SWEETHEART*>
N22   4 *<HIDE-AND-SEEK WITH A KILLER*>
N22   5 *<*4by Douglas Enefer*>
N22   6    |^A glance in the driving mirror told me I was being tailed by
N22   7 another car. ^I knew the man at the wheel. ^His name was Ugo
N22   8 Caramello.
N22   9    |^I had met him a few days earlier*- after I had found lovely Anna
N22  10 Pavone dead in Rome's famous Fountain of Trevi. ^He had been with
N22  11 Anna's sister, Adriana, when I went to tell her the news.
N22  12    |^Adriana had denied that her sister was dead. ^And Ugo had
N22  13 threatened me.
N22  14    |^Events moved rapidly after that. ^I had run across New York
N22  15 vice-boss Frank Delgarra in Rome in the company of a call-girl, Gina
N22  16 Vanoni. ^A few hours later I found Gina murdered*- and Adriana left
N22  17 for New York to collect an oil fortune she should have shared with her
N22  18 sister. ^Helping her to collect would be her fiance, business tycoon
N22  19 Lance Mallory. ^I followed.
N22  20    |^I talked to Adriana in her penthouse suite. ^She told me her
N22  21 sister had died*- in a car crash. ^Her eyes and lips had been
N22  22 inviting. ^But I had snubbed her and stalked out. ^Now watchdog Ugo
N22  23 was following me. ^And he had a gun in his hand.
N22  24    |
N22  25    |^I *2WAS *0still being tailed by Ugo Caramello in his blue Chev
N22  26 when I drove downtown through Columbus-circle. ^He was still keeping
N22  27 the sort of distance he figured necessary for me not to know I was
N22  28 being followed.
N22  29    |^But I had seen him.
N22  30    |^At Times-square I made a sharp left turn and went down
N22  31 Eighth-avenue as fast as the traffic would allow.
N22  32    |^I had not shaken him off, but I was widening the gap. ^Then I
N22  33 slewed into Greenwich-avenue and twisted and turned in the little side
N22  34 streets with their curio shops and outdoor art shows west of
N22  35 Washington-square.
N22  36    |^When I finally ran the car into a narrow alley I knew I had
N22  37 Caramello beat. ^I got out, walked to the mouth of the alley and stood
N22  38 back under a shop awning waiting for him.
N22  39    |^Three minutes later the blue Chev poked its nose into the street.
N22  40    |^Ugo had his dark glasses off now and was peering around. ^His
N22  41 dark Sicilian face was savage with annoyance.
N22  42    |^He killed the car engine, stepped out and dodged into a corner
N22  43 drugstore across the street.
N22  44    |^I waited for a second, then drifted over the street and pushed
N22  45 the drug-store doors open.
N22  46    |^Inside four teenage kids, two boys and two girls, were drinking
N22  47 cokes and chattering.
N22  48    |
N22  49    |^*6T*2HE *0counterman, a hefty lad with the shoulders of a
N22  50 quarter-back, was polishing glasses with quick, deft movements.
N22  51    |^In the middle of the store a middle-aged guy with waxed
N22  52 moustaches was reading as much of a magazine as you can do without
N22  53 buying the thing.
N22  54    |^No sign of Signor Ugo Caramello.
N22  55    |^Then I saw the telephone booth. ^I strolled down to the end of
N22  56 the long counter and pushed my ear against the side without glass. ^I
N22  57 could just hear Ugo's voice. ^It seemed a bit agitated.
N22  58    |^*"Is that Plaza 6-1079, please?**" ^A pause, then: ^*"Who is
N22  59 speaking, please?**" ^Again a pause. ^{3*"This is Caramello. ^I follow
N22  60 him but he disappear in the traffic.**"}
N22  61    |^Another pause. ^*"No, I do not know where he went. ^I*- oh,
N22  62 damn.**"
N22  63    |^I heard the phone slam back on its rest and went fast into the
N22  64 street and across to my car. ^I sat in it until Caramello came out and
N22  65 drove off.
N22  66    |^Then I went back into the drugstore.
N22  67    |^The counterhand eyed me coldly. ^*"You want something, mister?**"
N22  68 ^I bought a pack of cigarettes, shut myself in the telephone booth and
N22  69 dialled Plaza 6-1079.
N22  70    |^*"\0Mr. Lance Mallory's residence,**" said a voice.
N22  71    |^I let the receiver slide down on its cradle and went back to my
N22  72 car with a head full of thoughts*- none of which started to make
N22  73 sense.
N22  74    |^I drove home.
N22  75    |^Lesley, the brown-haired girl who operates the switchboard in my
N22  76 apartment block, looked up pertly as I came in.
N22  77    |^*"Did you have a nice time in Rome, \0Mr. Power?**"
N22  78    |^*"Swell.**"
N22  79    |^*"You've a good tan, but otherwise you don't look like a man
N22  80 fresh back from sunny Italy,**" she said critically. ^*"And why aren't
N22  81 you at the office?**"
N22  82    |^*"I've two more days' leave before I check in,**" I told her.
N22  83    |
N22  84    |^*6G*2OING *0up to the little railing which protects her from the
N22  85 harsh world, I leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
N22  86    |^*"I've been counting the hours to that,**" she said.
N22  87    |^*"Put your face up and I'll do better,**" I said recklessly.
N22  88    |^Her smooth oval face came up directly. ^Her mouth was warm and a
N22  89 little moist and not immobile.
N22  90    |^Finally she moved away from me and said, briskly: ^*"A telephone
N22  91 message came for you while you were out. ^From a Miss Adriana
N22  92 Pavone.**"
N22  93    |^She eyed me mockingly. ^*"So they even follow you from Italy, do
N22  94 they?**"
N22  95    |^*"Oh, sure*- I see them in rotation,**" I said. ^*"What did Miss
N22  96 Pavone want?**"
N22  97    |^Lesley tapped her small teeth with a newly-pointed pencil. ^*"She
N22  98 said she wanted to speak to you rather urgently, but as you weren't in
N22  99 she would send a written message. ^About a half-hour later this
N22 100 came.**"
N22 101    |^She handed me a small, pale-blue envelope.
N22 102    |^*"Thanks, Lesley.**" ^I had started for the elevator when she
N22 103 asked innocently: ^*"Aren't you going to open it, \0Mr. Power?**"
N22 104    |^I grinned. ^*"Yeah*- where you can't watch my emotional
N22 105 reactions.**"
N22 106    |^I went up to my apartment and read the letter. ^I didn't know
N22 107 quite what I had expected*- if I *1had *0expected anything in
N22 108 particular*- but what it said shook me.
N22 109 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
N22 110    |^*1Dear John*- I was very distressed when you left me with those
N22 111 dreadful words. ^I simply do not know what I can do to convince you
N22 112 how wrong you are. ^But I shall never have the opportunity*- because
N22 113 tonight I am flying back to Rome.
N22 114    |^I have been uncertain for some time about my engagement to \0Mr.
N22 115 Mallory and today I decided not to marry. ^I have explained this to
N22 116 him and I think he understands*- better, I am afraid, than you
N22 117 understand me. ^So it is goodbye*- Adriana Pavone.
N22 118 **[END INDENTATION**]
N22 119    |^*0I dropped the letter on my desk and rammed tobacco into the
N22 120 biggest pipe I have. ^The hell with Adriana Pavone!
N22 121    |^If she wanted to skip back to Rome*- let her. ^I didn't give a
N22 122 damn.
N22 123    |
N22 124    |^*6J*2UST *0the same, I found myself picking up the letter and
N22 125 reading it again.
N22 126    |^So she wasn't marrying Mallory. ^Maybe she wanted old man Power?
N22 127    |^Maybe she didn't care about either of us? ^Maybe she didn't care
N22 128 about New York once she had latched on to that five-million-dollar
N22 129 pay-off? ^The thoughts jostled through my mind*- and came to a sudden
N22 130 stop.
N22 131    |^She could not hope to conclude a deal like that in a couple of
N22 132 days, could she?
N22 133    |^She was just stalling.
N22 134    |^*"*1I'm flying back to Rome, my sweet, so you don't any longer
N22 135 need to poke your \2goddam nose into my affairs...**"
N22 136    |^*0That could be it.
N22 137    |^I grabbed the telephone and got through to the air terminal.
N22 138    |^*"Is there a reservation on the night flight to Rome in the name
N22 139 of Signorina Adriana Pavone?**" I asked. ^*"I have to contact her
N22 140 before she checks in.**"
N22 141    |^A girl clerk answered: ^*"Wait a minute, sir. ^I'll find out.**"
N22 142    |^There was a long pause. ^I dragged pipe smoke in coughing clouds.
N22 143    |^Then the line came alive again. ^*"Sorry, sir. ^We have no
N22 144 reservation in that name.**"
N22 145    |^*"The morning flight tomorrow, then?**"
N22 146    |^*"I've looked, sir. ^No one of that name is booked to Rome.**"
N22 147    |^*"Thanks,**" I said thickly.
N22 148    |
N22 149    |^*6F*2IFTEEN *0minutes later I was driving north again. ^The
N22 150 commissionaire wasn't on hand at the plushy hotel where Adriana was
N22 151 staying, so I rode myself straight up to the penthouse suite.
N22 152    |^The door was locked. ^I banged on it three times. ^That made it
N22 153 open about a foot and a face came into slit view*- a thin, faintly
N22 154 yellowed face with eyes like deadly sins and shining crinkly hair.
N22 155    |^He was around twenty-five years old and looked like a Filipino
N22 156 houseboy. ^Before, I had not noticed that she had one.
N22 157    |^*"Miss Adriana Pavone,**" I said. ^*"John Power calling.**"
N22 158    |^He twisted a wide mouthful of teeth into a grin.
N22 159    |^{3*"Miss Pavone not in, sir.**"}
N22 160    |^*"You know where she's gone?**"
N22 161    |^{3*"No sir. ^But no come back.**"} ^The grin had died but the
N22 162 eyes were alert. ^Too alert.
N22 163    |^*"I haven't seen you here before, have I?**"
N22 164    |^I put a foot in the door as I said it. ^He looked down at the
N22 165 foot and smiled a long slow smile.
N22 166    |^{3*"If you are friend of hers, I tell,**" he said. ^*"Miss
N22 167 Pavone left just now with all her baggage. ^She fly back to Rome,
N22 168 sir.**"}
N22 169    |^*"On the night flight?**"
N22 170    |^He started to nod, then checked himself. ^But he was too late.
N22 171    |^*"The night flight doesn't take off until eleven-thirty,**" I
N22 172 said.
N22 173    |^*"She has some shopping to do first, I think.**" ^His eyes were
N22 174 snapping at me now. ^A tiny globule of saliva pooled on the left side
N22 175 of his mouth.
N22 176    |^I swung my shoulder against the door. ^He reeled back, his arms
N22 177 flailing.
N22 178    |^I went in.
N22 179    |^*"You're lying, Flip. ^Where's she gone*- and why?**"
N22 180    |^He backed warily from me, going across the hallway towards the
N22 181 wide lounge. ^Then, without warning, he lunged.
N22 182    |^Something long and blue and shining had slid down his sleeve into
N22 183 his right hand.
N22 184    |^I hit him on the point of the jaw with everything I had. ^For a
N22 185 second he seemed to hang, suspended in mid air. ^Then he zoomed
N22 186 backwards, hit the floor and rolled over.
N22 187    |^But he was not done.
N22 188    |^He came face-upwards on the roll, his wrist angled for a
N22 189 knife-throw.
N22 190    |^I trod savagely on his wrist and ground it until he screamed his
N22 191 agony. ^The flick-knife jumped out of his hand, clattering over the
N22 192 floor.
N22 193    |^I reached down, hooked him up by his collar, and hit him one more
N22 194 time in the mouth. ^I felt a couple of his teeth crack.
N22 195    |
N22 196    |^*6H*2E *0sat sprawled on a large sofa, his mouth full of blood
N22 197 and his eyes full of death. ^I felt inside his jacket and down the
N22 198 outside of his pants. ^He was not wearing artillery.
N22 199    |^*"All right*- talk,**" I barked.
N22 200    |^He dragged a handkerchief from his breast-pocket and dabbed at
N22 201 his mouth. ^I took the gun from under my arm, the big Luger I thought
N22 202 I had not needed in Rome.
N22 203    |^*"You can go into the bathroom and fix your mouth,**" I said.
N22 204    |^He stood up soundlessly and speechlessly and glided across the
N22 205 hallway and through a door. ^I went in after him and watched while he
N22 206 got the dislodged teeth out of his face.
N22 207    |^*"All right,**" I said again, *"tell it.**"
N22 208    |^He smiled wolfishly, but no words came.
N22 209    |^*"I could beat it out of you, Flip,**" I said, *"but I haven't
N22 210 the time and I haven't sadistic instincts.
N22 211    |^*"On the other hand, I could drag you down to police headquarters
N22 212 and the boys could stand you under the lights.**"
N22 213    |^He swayed against the wash-basin, killing me with his eyes.
N22 214    |^I shrugged. ^*"I haven't the time for that, either. ^You stay
N22 215 tied up in the locked bathroom until I get back*- with a gag in your
N22 216 mouth. ^And if it's damned uncomfortable I'm not going to shed
N22 217 tears.**"
N22 218    |^I turned the lock and went into the big lounge. ^I dropped the
N22 219 key on to Adriana's writing desk. ^Something was on it. ^A piece of
N22 220 paper, pale blue, like that she had used to write to me.
N22 221    |^It had writing on it, too:
N22 222 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
N22 223    |^*1Dear John*- I was very distressed when you left me with those
N22 224 dreadful words. ^I simply do not know what I can do to convince you
N22 225 how wrong you are, but I would like*-
N22 226 **[END INDENTATION**]
N22 227    |^*0There was no more. ^Just a letter she had begun and then
N22 228 started again on another sheet.
N22 229    |^Pushed against the back of the desk top was a newspaper, folded
N22 230 down on black headlines which read:
N22 231    |^*6FRANK DELGARRA, BACK FROM ROME, TALKS OF BIG DEAL.
N22 232 *# 2004
N23   1 **[456 TEXT N23**]
N23   2    |^*0Durieux unbuttoned the right breast pocket of his parachute
N23   3 smock, his fingers fumbling with the stiffness of the new canvas.
N23   4    |^*'This is my party card,**' he said, holding it high, that all
N23   5 might see it. ^*'I am more proud of this card than of this badge.**'
N23   6    |^When he said this, Durieux tapped the silver-nickel badge that
N23   7 was pinned to the flap of his right breast pocket. ^The badge
N23   8 consisted of an opened parachute flanked by wings. ^Cynics said the
N23   9 wings had been added to remind the wearer that he might one day have
N23  10 need of them, for parachute-packing is not an exact science, and
N23  11 parachute packers have been known to err. ^The badge meant that
N23  12 Durieux's parachute had six times successfully responded to his pull
N23  13 at the ripcord, with himself dangling from the rigging lines,
N23  14 fluttering to earth like an autumn leaf discarded from the military
N23  15 tree.
N23  16    |^*'Is it a real party card?**' asked Rossi. ^*'It's not like any
N23  17 party card that I ever saw. ^I'll bet it's a forgery.**'
N23  18    |^*'See for yourself,**' shouted Durieux, thrusting the card close
N23  19 to the Corsican's face.
N23  20    |^Rossi spat very deliberately, and very messily, upon Durieux's
N23  21 party card. ^The other paras, who had guessed what was to come,
N23  22 shouted with laughter.
N23  23    |^*'I'm going to make you lick that card clean,**' said Durieux.
N23  24    |^He reached down for the nape of Rossi's neck with his left hand.
N23  25 ^His intention was to force the Corsican's nose into the spittle. ^But
N23  26 Rossi jerked Durieux's heels from beneath him. ^Durieux pitched
N23  27 forward, falling over Rossi. ^Durieux could have clutched at Rossi to
N23  28 save himself, but he still held on to the party card and would not let
N23  29 it go. ^The restraining hands of two paras, one at either side of
N23  30 Rossi, were all that saved Durieux from falling into the fire.
N23  31    |^One of the paras who held Durieux spun him roughly about, so that
N23  32 he stumbled away from the fire. ^His first concern was for the party
N23  33 card. ^It was scorched*- as were the fingers that held it*- and
N23  34 Rossi's spittle was bubbling on the cardboard. ^Durieux wiped the card
N23  35 clean, using great care, with his handkerchief. ^He placed the card
N23  36 back in his breast pocket and buttoned it beneath the parachute badge.
N23  37 ^Only then did he return to Rossi, who was still lying beside the
N23  38 fire.
N23  39    |^*'Now you won't be able to make me lick it off,**' said Rossi.
N23  40    |^*'I'll do better than that,**' promised Durieux. ^*'Get up,
N23  41 Rossi.**'
N23  42    |^*'Enchanted by the invitation, comrade Durieux.**'
N23  43    |^Rossi arose with the muscular tension of a caged leopard at
N23  44 feeding time. ^Durieux almost regretted having issued the invitation.
N23  45 ^Rossi was tall, but he did not tower above Durieux; he was broad, yet
N23  46 not significantly wider than Durieux; but he was unmistakably the more
N23  47 aggressive.
N23  48    |^Looking at Rossi, Durieux could not believe that his opponent
N23  49 possessed the fighting instincts of a mere man: it was as though the
N23  50 Corsican belonged spiritually to another species. ^The leopard-skin
N23  51 pattern upon his parachute smock might have been an outward expression
N23  52 of his character.
N23  53    |^Yet Durieux was no coward, nor was he easily intimidated. ^So he
N23  54 fired his right fist into Rossi's face and caught the Corsican on the
N23  55 mouth. ^His knuckles made a wooden sound against Rossi's teeth. ^Rossi
N23  56 rode the blow, swaying back from the hips upon which his hands still
N23  57 rested, but his lips split like an over-ripe tomato. ^Blood flowed
N23  58 from them and ran down his chin like wine. ^Rossi ran his tongue over
N23  59 the blood: he seemed to savour the taste; he was smiling.
N23  60    |^Then Rossi struck Durieux a terrible blow that landed midway
N23  61 between crutch and waist. ^Durieux had never been hit so hard before,
N23  62 though he had become an amateur boxer in his student days in order to
N23  63 gain popularity and engender self-confidence. ^But he had never even
N23  64 imagined that it was possible to be hit so hard. ^The blow took all
N23  65 pleasure out of anger, out of fighting, out of life itself. ^Durieux's
N23  66 head went down until it was level with his knees. ^He folded up so
N23  67 fast that Rossi's second blow*- a right cross*- landed on his temple.
N23  68 ^Instead of breaking Durieux's jaw, as Rossi had intended it should,
N23  69 the blow split his scalp. ^He was felled to the ground as a bullock is
N23  70 felled by a humane killer. ^His head suddenly became enormous and
N23  71 empty: the echoes of the blow rang through his brain like the angelus
N23  72 bell in a church tower. ^He felt the blood move stickily from his
N23  73 split scalp and trickle down his forehead. ^He felt as though all
N23  74 feelings were at an end.
N23  75    |^Then Durieux realized that he was still capable of having such
N23  76 primitive feeling as pain. ^He could still hear, despite the sounding
N23  77 in his ears, despite the lights behind his eyes, despite the knotted
N23  78 cramp of his intestines. ^And Durieux became intensely relieved that
N23  79 he could still experience these things.
N23  80    |^If he hits me like that again, thought Durieux, he will
N23  81 undoubtedly kill me. ^If by chance he does not kill me I shall be
N23  82 crippled for life. ^Even if he fails to kill or cripple me I shall be
N23  83 permanently disfigured. ^None of these things is going to help
N23  84 propagate Marxist-Leninist doctrines.
N23  85    |^Therefore, Durieux continued when he could hear himself thinking,
N23  86 I must somehow save myself. ^The best thing I can do is lie still and
N23  87 let him think that he has knocked me out. ^If everyone believes that
N23  88 Rossi has knocked me out they will not expect me to get up and fight
N23  89 him again. ^The fight is over. ^Even the best boxers get themselves
N23  90 knocked out, especially by a lucky blow. ^There is no dishonour in
N23  91 that. ^I struck the first blow. ^I have shown them all that I am not
N23  92 afraid of Rossi. ^I was disabled by a foul blow and knocked out by a
N23  93 lucky blow. ^It was almost an accident. ^I have now earned my place by
N23  94 the fire. ^I believe that I really must have been knocked out. ^I am
N23  95 only just coming to my senses. ^That is why I am only now able to
N23  96 think clearly. ^I was knocked out, but I bear Rossi no ill-will. ^The
N23  97 fight is finished.
N23  98    |^*'He's shamming,**' said Rossi.
N23  99    |^*'He's shagged,**' said someone.
N23 100    |^*'Balls,**' said Rossi. ^*'I was playing with him. ^I only used
N23 101 my fists. ^I want to have some fun out of this fight. ^It's a long
N23 102 time since I fought a Viet.**'
N23 103    |^*'He isn't a Viet,**' said someone else. ^*'He's only a
N23 104 commie.**'
N23 105    |^*'Viet or commie,**' said Rossi, *'I'm going to beat the crap out
N23 106 of him. ^I'll teach the depot to send us commies.**'
N23 107    |^*'They probably didn't know he was a commie,**' said someone
N23 108 else. ^*'You know how the bastards infiltrate.**'
N23 109    |^*'They'll know he's a commie when I've finished with him,**' said
N23 110 Rossi.
N23 111    |^Durieux felt a sudden pain in his side; and he was flung over on
N23 112 his back. ^The kick had landed sickeningly just below his ribs.
N23 113 ^Durieux was relieved that Rossi was wearing rubber-soled jumping
N23 114 boots and not the steel-tipped infantry issue.
N23 115    |^*'Don't kick him,**' said a voice, Marechal's voice.
N23 116    |^*'He's a subversive,**' said Rossi. ^*'I could kick him to death
N23 117 and get congratulated for it. ^I caught him encouraging us to read
N23 118 left-wing journals, didn't I? ^Wasn't he about to encourage us lads to
N23 119 desert?**'
N23 120    |^*'That's a load of bull,**' said Marechal. ^*'You needled him
N23 121 until he produced his party card.**'
N23 122    |^*'I knew he was a commie,**' said Rossi. ^*'I can smell the
N23 123 bastards out as surely as I can smell the bogs.**'
N23 124    |^*'Perhaps he's an ex-commie now,**' said someone. ^*'It looks as
N23 125 though you did him in.**'
N23 126    |^*'He's firing at the flank,**' said Rossi.
N23 127    |^*'He's been shamming for a long time then,**' said someone else.
N23 128 ^*'Not everyone has a head as thick as yours, Rossi.**'
N23 129    |^*'I'll hold a light under his mug and see if he moves,**' said
N23 130 Rossi.
N23 131    |^Durieux could smell the brand from the fire as Rossi approached
N23 132 him. ^It was so close that he inhaled the sweet smoke, and felt the
N23 133 heat glow against his eyelids. ^He decided that it was time to groan
N23 134 as a preliminary to feigning a return to consciousness. ^Rossi kicked
N23 135 him again, but mildly this time, an exploratory kick. ^Durieux raised
N23 136 his head slightly, let it loll back, and opened his eyes. ^Rossi threw
N23 137 the blazing brand back into the fire.
N23 138    |^Durieux groaned again. ^He rolled his eyes and raised himself on
N23 139 one elbow. ^The recovery, he decided, must be very gradual; otherwise
N23 140 Rossi might take it as an invitation to renew the fight. ^He groaned
N23 141 and sank back again.
N23 142    |^*'Commies,**' said Rossi. ^*'I could crap a better commie.**'
N23 143    |^Marechal stood up and walked over to where Durieux lay. ^He was
N23 144 carrying his canteen and he offered it to Durieux.
N23 145    |^*'Drink this,**' said Marechal.
N23 146    |^*'He doesn't drink,**' said Rossi in a mincing voice. ^*'And it's
N23 147 quite possible that he doesn't poke either.**'
N23 148    |^*'He'll learn to do both,**' said Marechal. ^*'And to fight.
N23 149 ^He's got a lot to learn.**'
N23 150    |^Durieux took the canteen, not because he wanted to drink, but
N23 151 because to lie there drinking would prolong the period before he must
N23 152 rise. ^So he drank slowly. ^He found that he was drinking neat pastis.
N23 153 ^The liquorice taste was unmistakable even though he had not tasted it
N23 154 before. ^He spluttered and coughed as the liquid ran down his throat
N23 155 and surged into his stomach. ^But he suddenly felt a great deal
N23 156 better.
N23 157    |^This stuff is liquid fire, thought Durieux. ^It's like napalm.
N23 158 ^What do you know of napalm? he asked himself out of journalistic
N23 159 habit. ^Nothing, he admitted, or very little, but I'd like to have
N23 160 some for Rossi, he told himself. ^I'd like to see that bastard burn.
N23 161    |^*'Go easy with that stuff, man, if you aren't used to it,**' he
N23 162 heard Marechal warning him.
N23 163    |^*'It will do him good,**' said Rossi. ^*'It may even put some
N23 164 guts into the miserable little sod.**'
N23 165    |^Accepting this as encouragement, Durieux took another long drink
N23 166 from the canteen before returning it to Marechal. ^Then he looked
N23 167 directly at Rossi. ^Durieux forced himself to be no longer afraid of
N23 168 Rossi.
N23 169    |^*'Shut your dirty trap, Rossi, or I'll shut it for you,**' he
N23 170 announced.
N23 171    |^*'Want some more?**'
N23 172    |^*'I'll smash your mug in,**' said Durieux.
N23 173    |^He lurched to his feet and as suddenly sat down again, for the
N23 174 ground appeared to rise with him. ^He got to his knees and became
N23 175 conscious of pain where Rossi had struck the blow. ^Durieux fell
N23 176 forward and was violently sick in the fire: yellow bile that bubbled
N23 177 and spluttered. ^Everything tasted and stank of aniseed. ^But when he
N23 178 had wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, Durieux felt much
N23 179 better.
N23 180    |^*'Now I'll finish him off,**' said Rossi.
N23 181    |^*'Shut up,**' said Marechal. ^*'He's beaten up already. ^Leave
N23 182 the poor bastard be. ^What's the matter with you, man? ^Can't you find
N23 183 anyone of your own weight to fight?**'
N23 184    |^*'Are you looking for a boy beneath your blanket?**' asked Rossi.
N23 185    |^*'You know me,**' said Marechal.
N23 186    |^*'Why else should anyone want to protect a commie from what's
N23 187 coming to him?**' asked Rossi.
N23 188    |^Durieux had at last succeeded in staying on his feet. ^The stars
N23 189 of the African night were duplicated in his head. ^The pastis had
N23 190 entered his blood stream.
N23 191    |^*'I'm going to have your guts for a tie,**' he told Rossi.
N23 192    |^*'He's as pissed as a Pole,**' said Marechal.
N23 193    |^*'I can lick any man in this stick,**' announced Rossi.
N23 194    |^*'Except me,**' Marechal reminded him.
N23 195    |^*'I can lick you in a stand up and smash down fight,**' shouted
N23 196 Rossi. ^*'Who cares about wrestling?**'
N23 197    |^*'I care, man,**' said Marechal. ^*'I like to wrestle
N23 198 sometimes.**'
N23 199    |^*'I'm going to do you both,**' announced Durieux, approaching
N23 200 them at a stagger. ^*'I'm going to do the whole world.**'
N23 201    |^*'You're too ambitious,**' said Marechal. ^*'Has anyone got some
N23 202 black coffee?**'
N23 203    |^Someone handed over a mug of black coffee and Marechal gave it to
N23 204 Durieux. ^Durieux spilled some of the coffee down the front of his
N23 205 uniform; it mingled with the stains of his blood, now drying out
N23 206 brown, and merged well with the dapple-camouflage pattern.
N23 207 *# 2028
N24   1 **[457 TEXT N24**]
N24   2 *<*4A Night in the Firth*>
N24   3 *<*2BY JOHN MACGILLIVRAY*>
N24   4    |^*6W*2ILLIE MOIR *0is a big-boned, fresh, sandy-haired young man
N24   5 of about twenty-five, with bushy brows and a ready smile. ^He was
N24   6 washing himself at the sink after a day spent working hard in the
N24   7 wood, and his evening meal was all ready hot and steaming on the
N24   8 table.
N24   9    |^His father was sitting there waiting for Willie to join him,
N24  10 whilst his mother, short and tubby, was hovering between the oven and
N24  11 the table, like a broody hen; not quite clucking.
N24  12    |^As he dried himself Willie said: ^*"I came round by the harbour
N24  13 on my way home. ^Jimmy Fraser was there and I think I'll go with him
N24  14 the night. ^Fishing. ^He's going out later on.**"
N24  15    |^*"Fishing?**" his father asked. ^*"I was never fishing in my
N24  16 life.**"
N24  17    |^*"Why \2d'ye not come with us then? ^It'll be a grand night. ^You
N24  18 could come.**"
N24  19    |^*"No' me. ^I don't like boats.**"
N24  20    |^*"Were you ever on one?**"
N24  21    |^*"\2Ay, many a one. ^Troopships, in the war. ^Men and horses all
N24  22 together*- and comin' home when it was done. ^I don't like them at
N24  23 all.**"
N24  24    |^*"\2Ach, be quiet. ^That's different altogether. ^You \2couldna'
N24  25 get a goat on Jimmy's boat, never mind a horse. ^It'll be fine and
N24  26 quiet, \2oot on the firth.**"
N24  27    |^*"\2Ay, maybe quiet. ^It's quiet enough here for me. ^I'm no'
N24  28 going. ^Come and get your tea before it's cold.**"
N24  29    |^*"That's right. ^Sit in, Willie. ^You'll be hungry I'm sure, out
N24  30 all day. ^Sit in,**" said his mother.
N24  31    |^*"I don't \2ken one fish from the other,**" said the father.
N24  32 ^*"Except maybe a salmon and a spelding. ^They're a' the same to me.
N24  33 ^I like fish. ^Or a herring.**"
N24  34    |^*"A spelding's a \2haddie,**" said Willie. ^*"It's smoked.**"
N24  35    |^*"Maybe it is. ^What time are you going wi' Jimmy?**"
N24  36    |^*"\2Aboot ten o'clock. ^It's the tide.**"
N24  37    |^*"H'm. ^An' what time will you be home?**"
N24  38    |^*"In the morning. ^About nine o'clock maybe.**"
N24  39    |^*"And what \2aboot your work?**"
N24  40    |^*"\2Ach, it's Saturday. ^Surely I can take a Saturday morning once
N24  41 in the year. ^It's no' much; only a half holiday.**"
N24  42    |^*"It's a half day just the same. ^It \2wouldna do if we were all
N24  43 taking half days.**"
N24  44    |^*"\2Ach, be \2quate. ^In the \2Sooth they don't work on any
N24  45 Saturdays at all, and they do all right.**"
N24  46    |^*"\2Ay, the kind o' them! ^I'd shoot the half o' them. ^What kind
N24  47 o' an engine has he in the \2boatie?**"
N24  48    |^*"It's a Diesel,**" said Willie. ^*"Very good, he says, when it
N24  49 goes. ^\2Hasna quite got the hang o' it yet.**"
N24  50    |^*"Watch yoursel' then. ^Don't be goin' to America or something.
N24  51 ^You'll maybe be sick, will you? ^Can you swim?**"
N24  52    |^*"All Commandos can swim,**" said Willie. ^*"But I'm no' swimming
N24  53 the night. ^Too cold. ^I'll take a flask o' tea wi' me, Mam, and a few
N24  54 sandwiches.**"
N24  55    |^*"All right, boy, all right. ^I'll make them ready for you at
N24  56 nine o'clock. ^Will that do?**"
N24  57    |^*"\2Ay, fine. ^I'll be in for them then.**"
N24  58    |^Big Charlie, the father, took a turn outside in the calm, long
N24  59 summer evening. ^The hills to the south, and Ben Wyvis to the west,
N24  60 stood clear and near.
N24  61    |^He could occasionally hear the sea washing on the beach, and he
N24  62 remembered those other hot sandy beaches and the warm middle sea, so
N24  63 many years ago.
N24  64    |^Willie collected his food parcel and made for the harbour, going
N24  65 in through the fishertown. ^Here and there people were gossiping at
N24  66 gable corners in twos or threes, mostly short round folk, men and
N24  67 women, the men with layers of jerseys and clean flat caps.
N24  68    |^Jimmy Fraser was a fisherman. ^Fresh, wrinkly-faced,
N24  69 clean-shaven, and good natured, he was working on the deck of his boat
N24  70 *1Magda, *0and called to Willie, ^*"That you, Wull? ^Stop there till I
N24  71 start the Diesel, then bring in the lines and we'll away.**" ^He
N24  72 disappeared down a small hatch and Willie could hear him at the
N24  73 engine.
N24  74    |^Jimmy came up and into the little wheelhouse, waving Willie to
N24  75 come aboard with the mooring lines; then he gently edged the nose of
N24  76 his craft across the still harbour towards the entrance and the firth.
N24  77    |^*"Just the two o' us, Jimmy?**" asked Willie.
N24  78    |^*"\2Ay, \2ay, Wull. ^It's no' much the night, just a few lines, I
N24  79 thought we'd manage fine. ^Mind your feet when we get outside, she'll
N24  80 maybe lift.**"
N24  81    |^As the evening spent the light grew less and the firth turned
N24  82 dark grey. ^The breeze blowing across the tide made a little lop on
N24  83 the surface, so when *1Magda *0left the shelter of the harbour her bow
N24  84 lifted to the lop and she heeled to the push of the breeze. ^Jimmy
N24  85 increased his speed and the exhaust beat hardened, though still not
N24  86 fast.
N24  87    |^They turned to the north-east, heading for the darkening, and the
N24  88 bows set to a rolling lift and fall, slight and regular. ^*"She'll do
N24  89 six or seven knots, dependin',**" said Jimmy. ^*"She's no' just right
N24  90 this last few days. ^But there's no great hurry.**"
N24  91    |^*"Can I no' steer her?**" asked Willie. ^*"I think I'll manage
N24  92 her. ^What way are we going?**"
N24  93    |^*"\2Ay, take her, Wull. ^Here and I'll show you. ^I'll go and
N24  94 make a \2droppie tea. ^\2Gie me a call if you see anything.**"
N24  95    |^He went below and Willie had the night and the boat to himself.
N24  96 ^As *1Magda *0chugged through the dark he constantly glanced at the
N24  97 little tell-tale compass. ^Sky had merged with black sea all ahead,
N24  98 but away to the north-west, on his left hand, it wasn't yet so black
N24  99 dark, and an occasional light blinked or flashed over there. ^*"Tarbat
N24 100 Ness,**" he thought. ^*"Or maybe the Sutors.**" ^He was startled when
N24 101 Jimmy's voice at his shoulder said, ^*"Here \2y'are, Wull. ^Tea. ^I'll
N24 102 take her while you drink it. ^There's a light in the cabin if you want
N24 103 to sit below.**"
N24 104    |^*"I'll have it up here, Jim.**"
N24 105    |^Willie enjoyed the hot sweet tea, standing on the deck in the
N24 106 cool of the night, leaning against the wheelhouse and taking his ease.
N24 107    |^*"It's near twelve o'clock, Jimmy**" he said. ^*"When will we get
N24 108 to your lines?**"
N24 109    |^*"\2Aboot two, boy; near the slack o' the tide. ^We'll get the
N24 110 first o' the light. ^Are you for the wheel again?**"
N24 111    |^*"\2Aye, Jim, I'll take her. ^You get your tea.
N24 112 **[END QUOTE**]
N24 113    |^Willie leant slightly forward over the wheel as he conned the
N24 114 boat, peering into the dark. ^With a lurch he fell forward over the
N24 115 spokes, and one of them drove blunt into the pit of his stomach,
N24 116 stealing his wind, at the same time as he heard *1Magda's *0bow strike
N24 117 with a thump. ^She paused, and the Diesel missed a beat; before it
N24 118 regained its regular chug Jimmy was on deck, running to the bow,
N24 119 stumbling in the dark.
N24 120    |^*"What is it, Wull?**" he shouted. ^*"What ha' we struck?**"
N24 121    |^Willie gasped deep, trying to recover his breath. ^*"Don' know,
N24 122 Jim. ^Never saw a thing. ^What is it?**"
N24 123    |^*"It's a dam' tree. ^\2Gie's a han' to shift it, man. ^Wait you
N24 124 till I put the Diesel \2oot o' gear.**" ^The engine idled easily,
N24 125 relieved of its load, and together they went forward where Jimmy's
N24 126 torch revealed the tree with some branches reaching into the dark,
N24 127 still across the bow, held there by way of the boat, which hadn't
N24 128 quite stopped.
N24 129    |^*"It's \2doon from the hills wi' the storms and the floods,**"
N24 130 said Jimmy. ^*"I'll back her away from it. ^Push wi' this boathook,
N24 131 Wull. ^Take care an' no' lose it.**"
N24 132    |^Willie pushed as best he could, and when the engine ground the
N24 133 boat astern they came free of the tree and Jimmy released the engine
N24 134 again.
N24 135    |^*"What a \2dunt,**" he said. ^*"I wonder has it sprung the
N24 136 stem.**" ^He went below into the hold, shining his torch.
N24 137    |^*"Looks a'right, Wull,**" he said when he came back. ^*"Just a
N24 138 bit o' a weep. ^She'll be a'right if we don't force her.**"
N24 139    |^Before the first gleam had showed in the north-east sky Jimmy had
N24 140 taken the wheel and set *1Magda *0more to the south, easing her along
N24 141 as the dawn came to them. ^His eyes were screwed nearly closed as he
N24 142 searched ahead, to right and to left over the face of the sea, and
N24 143 always he sniffed. ^Then ^*"\2Ay,**" he said. ^*"They're there, boy.
N24 144 ^That's my buoy. ^Bring over that bait, Wull, in the two baskets at
N24 145 the bow.**" ^He had cut the engine to idling speed; the boat was
N24 146 losing way, coming up to the fishing buoy dead slow.
N24 147    |^Jim had explained the job to Willie. ^They were to lift each line
N24 148 and rebait it, taking aboard any catch that might be on the hooks. ^It
N24 149 was to be a busy job because *1Magda *0had to be watched and guided as
N24 150 well, and Jim knew how best to do this. ^*"See and mind your fingers
N24 151 wi' the hooks, Wull,**" he said.
N24 152    |^Most of the lines had bare hooks as they were hauled aboard,
N24 153 where the bait had been taken and the fish had escaped, but there were
N24 154 fishes on some and these flopped and slithered about, trying to get
N24 155 back to sea. ^They had nearly filled their second box of fish when Jim
N24 156 called a halt.
N24 157    |^*"It's near hand six o'clock, boy. ^We'll have some more tea,
N24 158 will we? ^Then we can work on and away home. ^There's wind coming from
N24 159 the south-west. ^We'll need to work fast.**"
N24 160    |^He was edging *1Magda *0across to his further lines whilst they
N24 161 ate their bite in the fresh cold morning air.
N24 162    |^*"She's no' just right, man,**" he said. ^*"Kin' o' grinding a'
N24 163 the time.**" ^And then, ~*"Oh, damn, what's that now?**" as the engine
N24 164 laboured to a standstill.
N24 165    |^*"Something wrong this time, Jimmy. ^Let's have a look.**" ^Jimmy
N24 166 put the engine out of gear and turned it over with the starting
N24 167 handle. ^*"The engine's free enough; wonder is it the shaft? ^Maybe
N24 168 we've caught up my headrope.**"
N24 169    |^*"How can we see, Jim?**"
N24 170    |^*"From the small boat, Wull. ^We'll put her over. ^Make fast that
N24 171 line, so we'll no' lose her.**"
N24 172    |^Together they lifted the small boat overside, near *1Magda's
N24 173 *0stern, and Jimmy crouched down in it, searching through the water,
N24 174 trying to see the propellor.
N24 175    |^*"I \2canna see it, Wull,**" he said.
N24 176    |^*"It's all grey. ^I \2canna see clear at all. ^If I could swim
N24 177 I'd \2doon and have a look at it.**"
N24 178    |^*"I'm no' wanting to wait here, Jim. ^I'll go in and have a look
N24 179 at it. ^It's damn cold, though.**"
N24 180    |^*"Will you manage, boy?**"
N24 181    |^*"Fine that. ^What do I have to do?**"
N24 182    |^*"Just see is there a rope or something holding the propellor,
N24 183 and take it off. ^Cut it.**"
N24 184    |^*"Better get me a sharp knife, then. ^Tie a string to it.**"
N24 185    |^Willie stripped naked and stepped back into the small boat,
N24 186 shivering. ^Jim followed with his opened gully, a long string tied to
N24 187 its handle.
N24 188    |^*"Have a look first, Wull. ^You'll need to work fast. ^The
N24 189 water's cold.**"
N24 190    |^*"I \2ken fine it's cold. ^I can feel it. ^Here goes,**" and
N24 191 Willie eased himself overside into the sea. ^*"Hoo,**" he wheezed,
N24 192 then, holding his nose, he bent over and kicked his way downhill. ^In
N24 193 half a minute he surfaced.
N24 194    |^*"\2Losh, it's cold. ^\2Gie's the knife. ^There's rope tight wound
N24 195 between the propellor and the boat. ^I'll need to cut it.**" ^He dived
N24 196 again and stayed under for about a minute, bobbing up blowing and
N24 197 wheezing.
N24 198    |^*"It's tight and tough,**" he said, teeth chattering, and went
N24 199 back to it. ^Several times he dived. ^Jimmy began to worry because
N24 200 Willy was obviously wearying in the cold north water.
N24 201    |^*"This time, Jim. ^Finish this time.**" ^When next he surfaced he
N24 202 held up an arm, holding to the small boat with the other. ^*"\2Gie's
N24 203 han',**" he panted.
N24 204    |^Jimmy hauled on the arm, then on a leg, and Willie rolled
N24 205 exhausted into the bottom of the boat. ^*"I'm done,**" he gasped,
N24 206 breathing deep and shivering violently.
N24 207    |^*"\2Oot o' here, Wull, man. ^Back aboard and get dry. ^You'll get
N24 208 your death,**" ordered Jim.
N24 209 *# 2002
N25   1 **[458 TEXT N25**]
N25   2 *<*4Vendetta!*>
N25   3 *<by Brian Cleeve*>
N25   4    |^T*0HEY faced each other in the lamplit room, her hands pale
N25   5 against the black of her dress, clasped together, as if she was afraid
N25   6 of what he would say to her, or of what she would answer.
N25   7    |^*"Tell me what really happened,**" he whispered. ^*"How did your
N25   8 father die?**" ^He saw the hands twist, the fingers clench with the
N25   9 effort of holding the words in. ^*"Was he killed?**" he said.
N25  10    |^She lifted one hand, pressed its knuckles against her mouth.
N25  11    |^*"Yes,**" she breathed. ^*"They killed him...**" ^She turned
N25  12 away, towards the deep, narrow window that looked out on the valley,
N25  13 and Mount Tamborene. ^There was no moon yet, and the stars were heavy
N25  14 as gold coins in the South Italian sky.
N25  15    |^*"And your brother? ^Silvio?**"
N25  16    |^*"What do you think?**" she said, trying to keep the bitterness
N25  17 from her voice. ^*"He is carrying on the vendetta. ^Like a hero of the
N25  18 old times.**" ^She leant her forehead against the cool plaster of the
N25  19 wall, beside the window. ^*"He is up there, on the mountain. ^Stealing
N25  20 their sheep. ^Burning their shepherds' huts. While we stay here...**"
N25  21    |^She was crying now, with a quiet despair that was worse than if
N25  22 she had screamed aloud. ^He was afraid to touch her: afraid of many
N25  23 things, perhaps most of all to wake the thing that he had tried to
N25  24 forget after all the years in the North, since he left this house.
N25  25    |^Seven years. ^Seven years ago, stealing out of the house on a
N25  26 night as dark as this. ^Running away, a boy's dream in his mind that
N25  27 one day he would come back with a fortune, to dazzle this family that
N25  28 had taken him in as an orphan, saved his life*- and exacted the
N25  29 fullest price for it that they could.
N25  30    |^He had been seven years old when they found him, a piece of
N25  31 wartime flotsam cast up in a Calabrian valley from God knew where.
N25  32 ^Starving, remembering nothing but his name, Ettore, and a
N25  33 mind-picture of buildings lit by a fantastic glare, tumbling, falling,
N25  34 while a woman screamed.
N25  35    |^And the Feltri, the richest family in the valley, had let him
N25  36 sleep in a corner of their yard, and fed him scraps in return for
N25  37 work; drawing water, minding the goats and chickens, seeing that this
N25  38 girl beside him didn't stray out of the courtyard. ^She had been five
N25  39 then, small and dark and supple as a kitten; running away from him,
N25  40 laughing at him, hiding, while he ran after her in despair, calling
N25  41 ~*"Ginevra, Ginevra,**" terrified that he would be beaten or left
N25  42 without food for not minding her properly.
N25  43    |^There had been Silvio too, almost his own age, but already a
N25  44 young prince, slender and arrogant. ^It had been Silvio who gave him
N25  45 his new name, Orfano. ^Ettore the Orphan. ^He had grown up to carry
N25  46 the name with a kind of sullen pride.
N25  47    |^But for that name he might truly have become one of the family.
N25  48 ^They were kind enough to him, as far as they understood what kindness
N25  49 was. ^After the first year or so, they didn't beat him any more. ^They
N25  50 gave him his place in life against the world, as they gave it to their
N25  51 dogs, their shepherds, the women who worked in the house, the peasants
N25  52 who worked on their olive terraces. ^He belonged to them, to their
N25  53 faction, opposing the other faction in the village, that of the
N25  54 Crespi, bitter enemies of the Feltri for more than a hundred years.
N25  55    |^He might have grown up to be like Silvio's true brother, or
N25  56 cousin, but for that name, Orfano. ^The children in the village
N25  57 shrieked it after him, *"the orphan, the orphan!**" ^Sometimes at
N25  58 night he prayed, ^*"When I wake up tomorrow, let me remember my real
N25  59 name.**" ^But he never did. ^Only the buildings falling, burning, the
N25  60 woman screaming.
N25  61    |^The only person that he was really close to was Ginevra;
N25  62 protecting her from her brother; bringing her new-born chicks in his
N25  63 cap for an Easter gift. ^He pretended to himself that both she and he
N25  64 were orphans; that they were the brother and sister, not she and
N25  65 Silvio. ^He gave her all the love that he would have given his whole
N25  66 family, if he had had one...
N25  67    |^Until quite suddenly, between one day and the next, he realised
N25  68 that it had become a different kind of love. ^For a week he had held
N25  69 the knowledge inside himself, half ecstasy, half terror, like a
N25  70 pleasure so unbearable that it becomes agony. ^Then, one evening, when
N25  71 both of them were drawing water by the well, he had told her what he
N25  72 felt; had taken her hands, held them against his heart, drawn her
N25  73 close to him, so close that he could feel the warmth of her breath
N25  74 against his mouth...
N25  75    |^*"Ettore?**" she had breathed, afraid of what she saw in his
N25  76 face, what she felt stirring in herself. ^*"Ettore...**" ^And he had
N25  77 kissed her; not wanting to, holding himself back as if it was a
N25  78 sacrilege, and yet drawn down to her. ^And then they had really
N25  79 kissed, and it was like drunkenness, like falling, like fire in the
N25  80 mouth, and they both leaned against the well, sick and dizzy, hardly
N25  81 able to see one another.
N25  82    |^But her father had seen. ^He came out from the house, shouting
N25  83 curses. ^He knocked Ettore to the ground and beat him with a harness
N25  84 strap until he was barely conscious.
N25  85    |^That night Ettore ran away. ^He had known that there was no
N25  86 chance of his being allowed even to speak to Ginevra again. ^He ran
N25  87 away, to make his fortune. ^In a year he would be back, with a motor
N25  88 car and a sack of gold, and he would pour the gold on the great
N25  89 kitchen table in front of all of them. ^When he told them that he had
N25  90 come back to marry Ginevra, they would go down on their knees to him
N25  91 in gratitude.
N25  92    |^But that dream had faded very soon, as he begged his way north,
N25  93 picking up what work he could in Rome, in Bologna, in Milan, Turin.
N25  94 ^Until eventually in Turin the police picked him up as a vagabond,
N25  95 found that he was due for his military service, and shipped him off to
N25  96 the barracks instead of the gaol.
N25  97    |^He thrived as a soldier. ^He was drafted into the engineers,
N25  98 showed promise and intelligence, and was trained as a road surveyor.
N25  99 ^When he finished his service, one of his officers found him a job
N25 100 with a road construction company, and for two years he was working in
N25 101 the Alps. ^Calabria, the Feltri*- even Ginevra*- seemed to belong to
N25 102 another world.
N25 103    |^He felt that it was better like that. ^It would do him no good to
N25 104 carry useless regret through life. ^He tried never to think of her...
N25 105    |^And then the construction company was granted a contract in
N25 106 Calabria. ^Ettore Orfano was assigned to it because he knew the
N25 107 dialect, and would get on with the local workmen. ^And suddenly he
N25 108 found himself within twenty miles of Tamborene, and the house which
N25 109 for ten years of his life had been his home.
N25 110    |
N25 111    |^*6F*0OR a month he debated in his mind whether to go back, then
N25 112 whether to write first, or simply to arrive. ^Finally he compromised.
N25 113 ^A week's leave was due to him, and he simply wrote that he was
N25 114 coming, and followed his letter so closely that there would be no time
N25 115 for a reply.
N25 116    |^He spent the hour-long journey in the bus trying over a dozen
N25 117 different speeches for his arrival, wondering how they would receive
N25 118 him, nursing the little pile of gifts in his lap: a pipe for Giovanni
N25 119 Feltri; silk scarves for the women; a box of cheroots for Silvio. ^He
N25 120 was half-eager to walk into the great kitchen with its smoke-blackened
N25 121 timbers, its huge table, its massive chairs and cavernous hearth; to
N25 122 show himself to them in his suit from Milan, his town shoes; to show
N25 123 them what he had become; a man on the rungs of a skilled professional
N25 124 career, educated, self-assured. ^And yet also half-afraid. ^Of what?
N25 125 ^Nothing. ^He could imagine the clamour of welcome. ^Even old Giovanni
N25 126 would welcome him, the cuffs, the beatings, the brutalities and the
N25 127 last quarrel forgotten.
N25 128    |^Ginevra would surely be married now. ^Perhaps she would have
N25 129 children. ^Would she have called one of them Ettore? ^Whom would she
N25 130 have married? ^One of the Crespi? ^Not very likely. ^And yet who else
N25 131 had there been for her to marry? ^Perhaps she had healed the
N25 132 century-old vendetta between the families. ^He tried to be pleased at
N25 133 the idea.
N25 134    |^The bus hammered to a stop. ^He was the only passenger to get
N25 135 down. ^A few men were sitting in the cafe*?2 opposite, but it was
N25 136 already half-dark and no one recognized him. ^He walked very quickly
N25 137 up the street, into the familiar lane, to the wide, double doors set
N25 138 in the fortress-thickness of the courtyard wall. ^He found that his
N25 139 heart was beating fast, and his mouth was dry.
N25 140    |^Then he heard old footsteps shuffling across the courtyard, an
N25 141 old voice grumbling, the leaf of the great door swinging open with a
N25 142 whine of hinges. ^He recognized one of the servants who had been there
N25 143 in his time: Franca, who had been old then, and seemed no older now,
N25 144 as thin as a stick in her widow's black that she had worn for forty
N25 145 years.
N25 146    |^She stared at him.
N25 147    |^*"Franca,**" he said. ^*"It's me. ^Ettore Orfano. ^Don't you
N25 148 remember?**"
N25 149    |^*"{Madonna mia},**" *0she whispered. ^*"Ettore...**" ^Suddenly
N25 150 she ran back towards the house as if possessed, shrieking at the top
N25 151 of her voice, ^*"Ettore Orfano, little Ettore; he has come back!
N25 152 ^Ginevra, Signora Angela... Maria!**"
N25 153    |^He followed her, laughing, and at the same time scarcely able to
N25 154 breathe for the thudding of his heart, the tightness in his throat.
N25 155 ^And then she was in the doorway, looking at him, grown very tall and
N25 156 slender, her face ivory pale, her dark eyebrows frowning a little,
N25 157 looking at him among the shadows of the courtyard. ^Until suddenly her
N25 158 hand went out to him, her eyes lighting, her remembered voice saying,
N25 159 ^*"Ettore! ^Welcome! ^Welcome! ^Welcome home!**"
N25 160    |^He took her hands, and looked at her from head to foot, while his
N25 161 fingers felt to see what rings she wore. ^No wedding ring. ^And he was
N25 162 absurdly glad, and then angry with himself.
N25 163    |^He noticed that she was wearing black.
N25 164    |^*"You are in mourning?**" he said. ^She was already drawing him
N25 165 into the kitchen.
N25 166    |^*"For my father**", Ginevra said. ^*"He died a month ago. A fall
N25 167 on the mountain.**"
N25 168    |^*"May God rest his soul,**" Ettore said. ^*"I am very sorry. ^I
N25 169 would not have come*- **"
N25 170    |^From inside the kitchen, Ginevra's mother caught the last words,
N25 171 grasped his arms and shook her head at him in rebuke.
N25 172    |^*"Would not have come?**" she exclaimed. ^*"You have kept us
N25 173 waiting too long as it is. ^How long will you stay? ^Where have you...
N25 174 oh, how fine you have grown, how tall! ^Eh, Ginevra*- eh, Maria?**"
N25 175    |^She seemed not to remember how he had left; only to be glad to
N25 176 see him again. ^She had changed, Ettore saw. ^In the old days she had
N25 177 been harsh and stiff; afraid of her husband and yet arrogantly proud
N25 178 that she had a husband strong and fierce enough to make her afraid.
N25 179 ^Now all that seemed gone. ^She seemed to have shrunk, and to have
N25 180 lost all the certainties that once held her upright.
N25 181    |^*"And Silvio?**" Ettore asked, looking round for him.
N25 182    |^A silence fell on the kitchen. ^Ginevra looked down, avoiding his
N25 183 eyes. ^*"He is... he is away,**" she said, and immediately began a
N25 184 great bustle of laying a place for Ettore, of giving orders to Maria
N25 185 the cook, of fetching wine.
N25 186    |^No one mentioned Silvio again all through the meal. ^And when
N25 187 Ettore asked exactly how old Giovanni had died, the same silence fell,
N25 188 as if there were things about the death that they were unwilling to
N25 189 discuss, or that made them afraid.
N25 190 *# 2017
N26   1 **[459 TEXT N26**]
N26   2 *<*4He Got What She Wanted*>
N26   3 *<*5by *7NIGEL MORLAND*>
N26   4    |^*1He was haunted by an Income-Tax man*- and She by Desire.
N26   5    |^*4T*2HE *0years have passed at times like beads told by ancient
N26   6 fumbling fingers; in other moods I have seen those years race, tearing
N26   7 out of my uncertain grasp, leaving me with a sense of time laughing at
N26   8 me.
N26   9    |^But Time in its flight has no pity, nor have the skies mercy. ^I
N26  10 have tried to flee my twin devils only to see them running at my side,
N26  11 pacing me with nonchalant disinterest, neither mocking nor savage,
N26  12 just there. ^They stay, impalpable, inflexible, constant, yet beyond
N26  13 reach as a man's shadow.
N26  14    |^And when did it actually start? ^The first frail tendons of
N26  15 misery wrapped round me unseen tentacles as tenuous as the first
N26  16 shoots of a malignant tumour which remains unknown... and triumphant
N26  17 on the day the surgeon's knife finds it and is defeated by it. ^It
N26  18 grew round me like that, sheltering in my sense of shame, overwhelming
N26  19 me until I could do nothing, bringing with it a resurgent second
N26  20 devil, one I thought I had lost. ^A monstrous towering pair, the
N26  21 hunger and the thirst, the unfilled, the unslaked...
N26  22    |^But autobiography is apt to run amok with a writer's sense of
N26  23 drama, for I am, indeed, a writer by trade: were I on my death-bed, as
N26  24 well I might be, my pen would record the moments as the
N26  25 self-experimental researcher notes his symptoms. ^Writing is surely
N26  26 nothing but the tape recorder of its creator. ^He might hide, with
N26  27 thin furtiveness, behind the hedge of fiction, yet, nevertheless, all
N26  28 writing is merely the writer playing to the audience of himself,
N26  29 abject before the rowdy despot of the subconscious mind.
N26  30    |^I write because I must, write as \0Dr. Jekyll might have written
N26  31 when \0Mr. Hyde was absent. ^But I have no doubts of my closeness to
N26  32 my \0Mr. Hyde. ^I am both a human being and the devil's cherished,
N26  33 indissolvably one in an unending oneness.
N26  34    |^When I look round and see my friends, such as they are, and when
N26  35 I think on **[SIC**] them I am lost in a sense of wonder. ^They see me
N26  36 as I see myself now in the mirror on the far side of this table at
N26  37 which I am writing.
N26  38    |^Ordinary? ^Indeed so. ^A slightly built man of medium height;
N26  39 slim, rather feminine hands, small feet and good bones. ^My face is
N26  40 simply that, the epitome of John Doe: quiet blue eyes, dark hair and
N26  41 what the nice-minded call pleasing features. ^A man, a passable,
N26  42 civilised, modest man of perhaps forty. ^Obviously cleanly; obviously
N26  43 of good parentage and of good education. ^Those who attend to my wants
N26  44 call me *'sir**' and I treat them fairly; head waiters are polite to
N26  45 me.
N26  46    |^My friends see all that in me, too. ^*"Frank Damon?**" so they
N26  47 would answer an enquiry, *"old Frank? ^Lord, yes, a nice chap. ^Quiet,
N26  48 you know. ^Good company over a drink and a useful man at bridge and
N26  49 tennis. ^Writes, you know**"*- here that inevitable apologetic English
N26  50 chuckle*- *"and good at political stuff. ^Thrillers as well.**" ^Here
N26  51 the amused smiles. ^*"Never read the things myself, of course! ^But
N26  52 they must be good. ^He makes money.**"
N26  53    |^Old Frank, and I look in the mirror at old Frank, one invisible
N26  54 devil on each shoulder.
N26  55    |^I always did like political science, but thrillers pay, not that
N26  56 I really need it. ^I use a pseudonym, John Laker Considine (carefully
N26  57 chosen, that*- Carr, Chandler, Charteris, Cheyney, Christie; and
N26  58 Considine fits neatly in the middle on the shelves, picking up some
N26  59 reflected glory). ^You know my characters? ^\0Dr. Malobo? ^The Red
N26  60 Aces of Justice? ^Rafferty of Scotland Yard? ^Colourful stuff, wild,
N26  61 and perhaps melodramatic, but impervious to my devils.
N26  62    |^John Laker Considine and his bright jackets. ^Poor old shadow!
N26  63 ^Piling up wilderness of escapism for those who would flee themselves.
N26  64 ^And behind this veritable escapist stands his {6*1alter ego}, *0the
N26  65 substantial presence of Frank Damon, old Frank, the nice chap who
N26  66 would give everything in his world, unto the clothes he wears, to
N26  67 become John Laker Considine who dwells in his one-dimensioned
N26  68 pseudonymous world.
N26  69    |^Out of the windows of my gracious study I can look across my
N26  70 small garden, backing on this house my family left me, and becoming
N26  71 Hyde Park. ^On the other side, the front of the house, is the rear of
N26  72 Knightsbridge. ^A noble and valuable house, big for a solitary man,
N26  73 and one that I love.
N26  74    |^However, I digress. ^With my ballpoint in my hand and my thoughts
N26  75 arrayed, my greater morbidities shrink back though they do not leave
N26  76 me entirely, even with the spring brightness of Hyde Park to delight
N26  77 my eyes.
N26  78    |^Brightness in Nature in no way detracts from my devils. ^The one,
N26  79 the older one, I endured and continue to endure though its
N26  80 continuation shocked me; the second devil came on me a year after
N26  81 Dunkirk, over a decade ago; it was the more awful of the pair.
N26  82 ^Fortunately it was in London in the chaos of war with bombs turning
N26  83 civic life to ruin. ^I was able to disappear, for money I had and I
N26  84 was able to buy oblivion and secrecy.
N26  85    |^That second devil came on me so stealthily that I did not believe
N26  86 it at first; then I shrank back affrighted, crushed, nauseated. ^I had
N26  87 to bear it alone*- and it is only now, thinking on it all, that I
N26  88 understand how the leper must feel.
N26  89    |^My mother and father died before the Second World War broke out;
N26  90 they left me this house in which I have returned to live again, and
N26  91 they left me money. ^Writing I took up as a release from myself, and
N26  92 as a means to power without visibility*- a purely morbid passion!
N26  93    |^Yet I always require anonymity. ^That is easily found in London.
N26  94 ^The world and the people I knew before Dunkirk went with those same
N26  95 tides of war which washed smooth the sands of my acquaintance,
N26  96 enabling me to start again.
N26  97    |^So, too, went Mary Damon. ^The world had no need to recall her at
N26  98 all, for those same tides had washed her away as well. ^But this
N26  99 little man must come enquiring. ^A troublesome little man, seemingly
N26 100 as harmless as a fly on the wall: brownish*- hair, skin, eyes*- and
N26 101 slight. ^Not young, and sadly dressed, with fraying cuff edges and a
N26 102 dusty old hat, a man you could see with a cake and a glass of milk in
N26 103 a cheap restaurant, a man no one would ever notice, wholly a human
N26 104 zero except, perhaps, in his name*- Arthur George Zink.
N26 105    |^He was here last week, enquiring so mildly, blinking at me from
N26 106 behind his thick spectacles, affable, self-effacing, desiring not to
N26 107 trouble me, enquiring for Mary Damon, apologising for bothering me,
N26 108 gentle, kindly Arthur George Zink*- as weakly persistent as a dripping
N26 109 tap, so *1damnably, politely, endlessly persistent!
N26 110    |^*0I see the tremendous juggernauts of bureaucracy hauled by
N26 111 regiments of Arthur George Zinks, little men and even little women at
N26 112 their eternal writing, making their entries, adding their sums,
N26 113 putting one and one together, until a total must emerge. ^And asking
N26 114 questions, unavoidable questions, persistently, persistently...
N26 115    |
N26 116    |^The inspector's glare was ferocious.
N26 117    |^*"You think that, sir?**" ^He put both hands on the desk, leaning
N26 118 forward to tower over the plump amiability of Superintendent Leeds.
N26 119 ^*"It's the fifth one*- don't forget it.**"
N26 120    |^Leeds beamed at Detective-Inspector Chater. ^Because they had
N26 121 become friends when they met as uniformed probationers on their two
N26 122 basic years, they usually forgot rank when alone.
N26 123    |^*"You're letting the thing infuriate you, Tom*-**"
N26 124    |^Chater threw up his arms and sat down, placated by the use of his
N26 125 Christian name.
N26 126    |^*"Naturally I'm a trifle distrait.**" ^He glared. ^*"Five
N26 127 kidnappings and five kids returned without a hair of their dear little
N26 128 heads being harmed, without a single mother screaming blue murder
N26 129 after the first knowledge of the thing*-**" ^Chater jerked a thumb to
N26 130 indicate all New Scotland Yard. ^*"The pundits must be delighted.**"
N26 131    |^*"They are indeed.**" ^Leeds flapped his hands at the lean black
N26 132 Highland fury of his friend. ^*"But I'm your super, old boy. ^Won't
N26 133 the mothers say a thing? ^You can tell me.**"
N26 134    |^*"Tush! ^Compounding, \2dammit! ^And do they care?**" ^Chater
N26 135 sniffed. ^*"\2Ach! ^And how can I move? ^I can't even prove they've paid
N26 136 or how much or where. ^Women!**"
N26 137    |^*"Kids all right, I s'pose?**"
N26 138    |^*"I've got my methods in finding out. ^\2Aye, they're \2bonny.
N26 139 ^Clean, well-fed, cared for, happy as Larry. ^I've known a few
N26 140 kidnappings but none like this.**"
N26 141    |^*"And why won't the mothers talk? ^What's behind it? ^Can't you
N26 142 get one of the Yanks to come across and help us? ^They're used to the
N26 143 snatch racket.**"
N26 144    |^Leeds grimaced.
N26 145    |^*"Now, Tom. ^We're in a cleft stick, you know it. ^Nobody's
N26 146 complained, at least the complaints've been withdrawn as soon as made.
N26 147 ^We can't prove anything, or even how the money passed*-**"
N26 148    |^*"There's such a thing as compounding*-**"
N26 149    |^*"Be quiet, Tom. ^It'd be a hellish charge to get across in
N26 150 court. ^Can you see the Attorney-General's face if he was asked to
N26 151 support a charge against a mother for compounding when her child has
N26 152 been kidnapped and she wanted it back?**" ^Leeds leaned forward.
N26 153 ^*"Tom, get the bastard, will you? ^Apart from everything else, it's a
N26 154 dirty business.**"
N26 155    |^Chater snorted irately.
N26 156    |
N26 157    |^But this is not work. ^I have the newest adventure of \0Dr.
N26 158 Malobar to finish, a matter of ten thousand words, yet I find essays
N26 159 at autobiography so fascinating, the ancient principle of confession
N26 160 being good for the soul!
N26 161    |^It may be. ^It is also a minor antidote to devils. ^I am feeling
N26 162 clearer in mind, more comfortable. ^There is the Malobar manuscript to
N26 163 fetch. ^I am old-fashioned in that I write in longhand, for my mind
N26 164 constructs and perfects the next sentence while I am still writing.
N26 165 ^The folder of manuscript lives in the built-in cupboard in the
N26 166 bedroom, for no sensible reason.
N26 167    |^When I opened the door and bent to pick up the folder, a wave of
N26 168 nostalgia swept over me. ^Not for months had it happened. ^Perhaps the
N26 169 spring air intensified the deep scent of gardenia, that
N26 170 well-remembered scent.
N26 171    |^All carefully preserved, hanging there, the outer world of Mary
N26 172 Damon... there was the coral taffeta with the full skirt, the brown
N26 173 check suit*- a costly article*- bought in Bond Street, and the ivory
N26 174 satin cloak that had gone to all the best theatres in London. ^There
N26 175 was the fur coat*- Persian lamb, a most expensive thing, costly, too,
N26 176 but I saw it as hateful, for only the other day I read of what happens
N26 177 to those small lambs... ^I touched garment after garment, each
N26 178 fashioned article had a memory a decade old, a story, an appeal, and
N26 179 each reached out to me, disturbing me, hurting*- me, a man, a writer
N26 180 of bloodthirsty tales, John Laker Considine, no less!
N26 181    |^But the requested *1Danegeld *0was paid in the coinage of uneasy
N26 182 recollection which memory demanded. ^I was a fool, a thrice damned
N26 183 fool to keep these things here, a stupid danger in their way, yet I
N26 184 could do nothing, could not get rid of them any more than could a
N26 185 mother throw away the relics of a dead child.
N26 186 *<*5Five children kidnapped*- and no clue to the guilty*>
N26 187    |^*0Then it began worrying me again, that probing little man, that
N26 188 subtle and insinuating Zink. ^A wholly absurd name which comes
N26 189 dangerously close to Mary... ^God forbid that he can disinter her, yet
N26 190 in a most shocking sense he can do that if he comes too close, and
N26 191 then?
N26 192    |^These morbid thoughts did not help me. ^I thrust the pen at the
N26 193 paper, back again at my table, and thought of \0Dr. Malobar, ^*'The
N26 194 tall man with the dramatic green eyes seemed to tower over the whole
N26 195 room, a growing domination of terror.**' ^There it stopped, a hiatus
N26 196 which remained.
N26 197    |^It was no use trying; I could not write. ^That brownish little
N26 198 man of the frayed cuffs and the dusty hat would not leave my mind.
N26 199 *# 2012
N27   1 **[460 TEXT N27**]
N27   2 *<*6LARSEN'S LAST HAUL*>
N27   3    |^*5*"Lucky**" Larsen, the ruthless skipper of the Arctic trawler
N27   4 *"Volsung**", did not believe in Hell hereafter. ^He only believed in
N27   5 the immediate hell of his savage way of life... by George
N27   6 Goldsmith-Carter
N27   7    |^*6T*2HE ARCTIC TRAWLER *1Volsung *0laboured heavily at her trawl
N27   8 in the looping ground-swell to the west nor' west of Andenes
N27   9 lighthouse, flashing feebly against the sleet-blurred, rocky backdrop
N27  10 of the coast of North West Norway.
N27  11    |^Above the tiny vessel the Northern Lights rippled in green,
N27  12 barbaric radiance across a sable, freezing sky. ^Beneath her restless
N27  13 keel rolled water which, glacial blue in the few hours of half light
N27  14 yet to come, was now black and bitter as death.
N27  15    |^The massive bulk of *"*2LUCKY**" LARSEN, *0skipper of the
N27  16 *1Volsung, *0loomed in the open window of the wheelhouse, from whence
N27  17 he stood watching, heedless of the gathering rime of frost which
N27  18 glittered on the red stubble of his heavy jaw. ^He looked across the
N27  19 dark sea to where the tip of the new moon was thrusting like a silver
N27  20 dagger from behind the shark-toothed peaks of Andoy, then his wolfish
N27  21 eyes shifted to the fish-pounds in the fore-deck beneath him.
N27  22 ^Illuminated by the glare of the deck lights a dozen men were toiling,
N27  23 their oilskinned backs hunched against the bite of the searing wind
N27  24 which glazed the ship with ice. ^Those men had been on their feet for
N27  25 seventy hours now, labouring without a break, and, half blind and
N27  26 savage with exhaustion, they were reduced almost to the level of
N27  27 beasts. ^Men driven beyond endurance by the silent menace of the
N27  28 watcher above to shoot and haul the giant net, to gut and pack the
N27  29 torrent of bronze-backed haddock which shimmered endlessly inboard,
N27  30 and curse the cooks if the mugs of strong and scalding tea were not
N27  31 forthcoming.
N27  32    |^Larsen's *"Luck**" lay in his inherited ability to find the
N27  33 roving fish shoals when others could not and having found them, harry
N27  34 his crew without mercy until the fish holds were full. ^Yet in spite
N27  35 of his reputation men still joined his ship to share the wealth he
N27  36 found, knowing that in the finding he would break their bodies and
N27  37 their spirits, driving them with flaying tongue and fist until the
N27  38 voyage was made. ^Then when at last the hatches were battened down,
N27  39 they would reel below to drop exhausted in their reeking clothes,
N27  40 lying like corpses where they fell.
N27  41    |^The crew of the *1Volsung *0had almost reached that point now,
N27  42 for their bloodshot eyes were glazed with exhaustion and the blank
N27  43 look of sleep walkers was on their scale and slime masked faces as
N27  44 they toiled unceasingly amid the slaughter of the fish-pounds.
N27  45    |^There was comprehension but no pity on Larsen's face as he
N27  46 bleakly watched his crew, for he knew that there was no room for pity
N27  47 in this way of life. ^A few hours back a young deck-hand on his first
N27  48 trip had stumbled up to him, his frost-ravaged, bleeding hands held
N27  49 out in supplication. ^*"For the love of God, skipper, I just can't
N27  50 carry on!**" he had cried. ^With bitter and contemptuous words Larsen
N27  51 had ordered him below to help the cook, telling him that thereafter he
N27  52 would receive no pay.
N27  53    |^Larsen's restless gaze swept to the fish-gutters, their inflamed
N27  54 and toil-swollen wrists swathed in old rags to ease the abrasion of
N27  55 the sand spilling from the bellies of the fish which they were ripping
N27  56 open. ^The gutting knives flashed ceaselessly, in at the vent, out at
N27  57 the gills. ^Like automatons the men worked, flinging the livers into
N27  58 baskets for rendering into fish-oil, tossing the entrails overboard in
N27  59 an endless stream.
N27  60    |^Larsen's frost-blackened lips curved cynically as he watched the
N27  61 screaming horde of sea-fowl swooping avidly at the offal which
N27  62 encircled his ship. ^All about him gleamed the fishing lights of many
N27  63 nationalities. ^He knew that each trawler, like his own, was emptying
N27  64 the sea of fish, destroying unborn life and fouling the sea with an
N27  65 endless torrent of filth. ^With savage irony men had called this
N27  66 mighty gathering of fishing craft *"The League of Nations**", for the
N27  67 trawlers fished in bitter rivalry, the larger vessels ruthlessly
N27  68 thrusting the smaller ones from where the haddock shoaled the
N27  69 thickest. ^One thing alone Larsen knew these raiders had in common*- a
N27  70 blind rapacity which chose to disregard the barren future of the seas.
N27  71 ^Yet this heedless rapine meant nothing to him, for in his
N27  72 grandfather's day men had thus plundered the North Sea. ^*"The
N27  73 Gamecocks**", *"The Short Blues**" and other great fleets of rival
N27  74 sailing trawlers had swept bare the Dogger Bank, denuded the fabulous
N27  75 *"Silver Pits**", looted the fishy gold of the California Grounds.
N27  76 ^Then with the North Sea almost barren they had turned to the west,
N27  77 scouring away the Lemon soles of Cornwall's Klondyke Ground.
N27  78    |^In his own time the Spanish trawlers had pillaged, almost
N27  79 overnight, the silver hake of southern Irish waters, ruining Milford
N27  80 Haven, once the chief hake port of the world. ^Then with home waters a
N27  81 desolation, a new type of trawler had appeared. ^The powerful *"High
N27  82 Altitude**" trawlers which now ravaged the bitter waters of Bear
N27  83 Island and Nova Zembla; the plaice abounding shallows of the White
N27  84 Sea; the cod-rich Icelandic Banks*- and these haddock-teeming
N27  85 Norwegian Deeps.
N27  86    |^*"The Wall of Death**" some called the place, a grim spot where
N27  87 the Continental Shelf swooped steeply from the surf smashed rocks of
N27  88 the shore, ending in a submerged precipice which plunged twelve
N27  89 thousand feet into the Oceanic depths beneath. ^Against this
N27  90 deep-drowned cliff the gale-driven surges of the Arctic Ocean beat in
N27  91 elemental malice, creating a maelstrom which was death to ships and
N27  92 men.
N27  93    |^Yet Larsen knew no pity for the dead whose bones lay far beneath
N27  94 him, he knew only the law of the Northern Trawl, ^*"The weak perish
N27  95 but the strong survive.**" ^Nor did he heed the fools who believed
N27  96 these water **[SIC**] haunted by ghost ships with the earth-bound
N27  97 spirits of their crews doomed forever to endure the torment of their
N27  98 earthly memories and re-enact in endless ghostly parody the last
N27  99 moments of their lives. ^He smiled sardonically to himself, for he
N27 100 knew that there was no hell hereafter. ^Reason told him that nothing
N27 101 but oblivion, blacker and deeper than the depths beneath him, lay
N27 102 beyond this hell that men called *"life**".
N27 103    |^Leaving the wheelhouse, Larsen glanced astern to where the wire
N27 104 trawl-warps twanged and quivered away into the heaving night. ^*"Get
N27 105 some weight on that after warp, bos'un!**" he bellowed. ^Going back
N27 106 into the wheelhouse he scanned the echometer, ^*"Watch your steering,
N27 107 blast you!**" he growled at the weary helmsman ^*"You're wandering
N27 108 over the edge.**"
N27 109    |^Tonight the haddock were shoaling massively in three hundred
N27 110 fathoms, along the very edge of *"The Wall of Death**". ^A little to
N27 111 the westward of this sounding lay an abyss of eighteen hundred
N27 112 fathoms, beyond the reach of any trawl and the haunt of alien species.
N27 113 ^Here swam the snake-like Cyclothones, the rat-tailed Chimerae, the
N27 114 swag-bellied Oceanic Angler fishes, useless monstrosities, armoured
N27 115 against the cold depths with incredible slime and carrying their own
N27 116 weird luminosity to light their mindless gropings in awful pressure
N27 117 and a blackness beyond night. ^Larsen was not interested in marine
N27 118 biology, only in profit.
N27 119    |^The mate came into the wheelhouse. ^He was a young man whose eyes
N27 120 were black holes of fatigue burned into his thin, dirty face. ^The
N27 121 scarred and broken nailed fingers of his left hand were locked in the
N27 122 handles of two grime-streaked mugs of tea, whilst his right hand
N27 123 steadied him against the uneasy lurching of the ship.
N27 124    |^*"Have a mug o' lotion, skipper,**" he said hoarsely. ^Larsen
N27 125 gulped the lye-strong, scalding fluid then rasped ^*"How are the
N27 126 men?**"
N27 127    |^The mate shrugged, knowing well that Larsen's concern was not
N27 128 with the crew's welfare, merely with their ability to continue
N27 129 working. ^*"They say that they're spragged, skipper, and that whether
N27 130 you like it or not, they're stopping for a kip.**"
N27 131    |^Larsen leaned out from the wheelhouse window, his out-thrust face
N27 132 like that of a gargoyle ^*"Which of you... is stopping for a sleep?**"
N27 133 ^His voice was hardly raised but it seemed to bite into the very
N27 134 ice-bound fabric of the plunging ship. ^The men beneath him raised
N27 135 their haggard faces and though dull hatred glimmered in their clouded
N27 136 eyes, none spoke.
N27 137    |^*"Come on my lads**" he chided softly, a thick vein hammering in
N27 138 his corded throat ^*"Who wants to sleep?... don't be afraid. ^Speak
N27 139 up.**"
N27 140    |^When nobody answered him he nodded as if satisfied ^*"Good. ^Any
N27 141 more of that talk and I'll be down amongst you...**" his voice cracked
N27 142 suddenly like a whip ^*"Now get back to work you \5...s!**"
N27 143    |^For a moment he watched them go, trying to flog the life back
N27 144 into their frozen limbs. ^Then he spoke to the mate. ^*"How does the
N27 145 fish tally stand?**"
N27 146    |^*"Fifty thousand stone of haddock, skipper. ^The holds are
N27 147 full... a record catch.**"
N27 148    |^Larsen's bitter face showed no jubilation ^*"This next haul will
N27 149 be our last. ^That's all.**"
N27 150    |^When the mate had gone Larsen went back to the open window, where
N27 151 oblivious to the slashing, needle-pointed sleet, he stood with his
N27 152 powerful legs braced against the motion of the ship. ^For an eternity,
N27 153 it seemed he'd been at strife with the elements and at strife with
N27 154 men. ^With axes and steam horses he had fought the creeping Black
N27 155 Frosts which had tried to burden his ship with their deadly weight of
N27 156 ice. ^With brain and furious strength he had fought the giant seas
N27 157 which had licked men away like flies and threatened to engulf him.
N27 158 ^With cruel fists and crueller words he had cowed crews made mutinous
N27 159 by wicked overwork.
N27 160    |^But memories he could not cow. ^They crept into his mind at
N27 161 unguarded moments. ^He remembered the day on the Rockall Bank when he
N27 162 had heaved down on the winch to free the trawl which was fast to some
N27 163 obstruction two hundred fathoms down. ^The net had not come free and
N27 164 he had heaved down like a madman, in spite of the lurching ship and
N27 165 frightened glances of his men. ^He had heaved until the water lapped
N27 166 the rail. ^Heaved until a massive iron bollard had exploded like a
N27 167 bomb and the trawl-warp flailing clear of its captivity, had scythed
N27 168 away a man's head. ^He remembered how the decapitated body had taken
N27 169 three dreadful steps before it fell.
N27 170    |^He remembered, too, the night off North Cape when only he had
N27 171 dared fish whilst other craft lay hove-to for their lives in the
N27 172 hurricane wind and giant seas. ^The ton-weight otter board of the net
N27 173 had ripped free of its dog-chain and swinging inboard from the
N27 174 fore-gallows, had crushed the boatswain to a pulp. ^Yet men called him
N27 175 *"Lucky**"*- a man whose wife, overwhelmed by loneliness, had left
N27 176 him. ^A father whose grown children had long since become as strangers
N27 177 to him.
N27 178    |^In the tiny radio cabin behind the wheelhouse the radio operator
N27 179 had switched on the receiver and a babel of voices and tongues broke
N27 180 in on Larsen's thoughts. ^The skippers of many nations were asking for
N27 181 instructions from their company offices; some were rejoicing in their
N27 182 run of luck; others blasphemously cursing it. ^One voice was drowning
N27 183 all the others with its ire. ^*"Lost all my nets but one and that's
N27 184 ripped to doll rags... all for the sake of a lousy two hundred boxes
N27 185 of fish. ^Won't clear my expenses! ^Over and out. ^Gone me...**"
N27 186    |^A look of contemptuous amusement came to Larsen's face. ^He knew
N27 187 the owner of that rancorous voice, it belonged to the skipper of the
N27 188 trawler *1Valkyrie... *2DAN SCARDEN, *0a man known for his bitter
N27 189 complaints.
N27 190    |^Going into the radio cabin Larsen switched on the transmitter and
N27 191 called *"*1Volsung *0to *1Valkyrie, Volsung *0to *1Valkyrie. ^*0\2D'ye
N27 192 hear me Dan?... over.**"
N27 193    |^He waited for an answer but none came.
N27 194    |^Tapping the speaker in his hand Larsen called ^*"*1Volsung *0to
N27 195 *1Valkyrie, Volsung *0to *1Valkyrie. ^*0Need a hearing aid, Dan? ^For
N27 196 god's sake stop chafing and start fishing...**" he grinned maliciously
N27 197 *"you can have a couple of my spare nets.
N27 198 **[MIDDLE OF QUOTE**]
N27 199 *# 2013
N28   1 **[461 TEXT N28**]
N28   2 *<*4Begins today: dramatic story of a Scots girl sold as a slave*>
N28   3 *<*6A GIFT FOR THE SULTAN*>
N28   4    |^THAT *4Scottish autumn of 1767 was a cold one. ^Ice rarely melted
N28   5 in the rutted country lanes, and the fields and hills were permanently
N28   6 blanketed in thick, white frost. ^Winter would come early and stay
N28   7 long, and in a country poverty-stricken since the disastrous uprising,
N28   8 the prospect was grim indeed.
N28   9    |^With strange English landlords usurping their chieftains' seats,
N28  10 the scattered clansmen were gradually deprived of home and hope.
N28  11 ^Sheep were a paying proposition, men were not, so the new
N28  12 *"lairds**" wanted land. ^By paying starvation prices for their
N28  13 tenants' crops, and cruelly raising the cost of food and fuel and
N28  14 rents, they got it.
N28  15    |^Faced with eviction and worse, men despairing of their children's
N28  16 future turned in their thousands to the bright New World that beckoned
N28  17 from across the sea. ^It was heartbreaking to go, but worse to stay,
N28  18 and soon every district had its share of deserted cottages and crofts.
N28  19    |^Even in the tiny Aberdeenshire village of Mill o' Steps there
N28  20 were smokeless chimneys and blank, unlighted doorways. ^But the
N28  21 windows of the blacksmith's cottage on that cold September night
N28  22 glowed warm and welcoming. ^In the living-room a blazing peat fire lit
N28  23 up the red-gold hair of a young girl who stirred an iron soup-kettle
N28  24 at the enormous hearth.
N28  25    |^She was listening with more amusement than respect to the old
N28  26 woman who sat hunched beside her, staring into the flames.
N28  27    |^*"You can laugh, my girl,**" the other reproved her. ^*"But the
N28  28 day will come when you'll remember what I tell you now. ^You'll stand
N28  29 where eagles fly*-**"
N28  30    |^From the scullery there came a sudden angry snort, and an
N28  31 irritable voice called: ^*"Will you stop this nonsense at once, Morag
N28  32 Paterson?**"
N28  33    |^But the woman at the fire ignored her, and pressed *0on
N28  34 unperturbed in her droning sing-song voice.
N28  35    |^*"You'll stand where no woman ever stood*- and be in mortal
N28  36 danger for it. ^And all about you there'll be cruelty undreamed of,
N28  37 and those who would kill you if they could. ^But there's love
N28  38 undreamed of for you, too, and some who'll live to serve you and die
N28  39 to prove it. ^You'll walk with a man beside you that men bow down
N28  40 to*-**"
N28  41    |^*"Mistress Paterson!**" the girl protested laughingly.
N28  42    |^But the other nodded her head solemnly. ^*"\2Aye, it's the truth.
N28  43 ^And you'll be so high and mighty*-**"
N28  44    |^*"She's that already!**" ^The exasperated speaker appeared in the
N28  45 doorway. ^*"Will you stop filling her head with such blether?**" she
N28  46 demanded.
N28  47    |^*"Blether, is it, Jessie Gloag?**" retorted the other, stung.
N28  48 ^*"And who was it sent for me to come and say what lies ahead?
N28  49 ^Blether, indeed!**"
N28  50    |^She turned to stare into the fire again.
N28  51    |^Quietly she said: ^*"Nay, but it's true. ^She'll wear silks and
N28  52 laces and ride where others will walk, and we that hear of it will
N28  53 marvel at what comes to pass.**"
N28  54    |
N28  55    |^*4T*2HE *0girl beside her laughed again, her green eyes dancing
N28  56 in the firelight.
N28  57    |^*"\2Och, Mistress Paterson*- you should be telling fortunes at a
N28  58 fair!**" she teased. ^*"It's rich you'd soon be, with such fine fates
N28  59 for the asking!**"
N28  60    |^Old Morag shrugged, but before she could say more the woman she
N28  61 called Jessie turned on the younger one.
N28  62    |^*"What ails you, girl?**" she snapped. ^*"Himself will be in this
N28  63 instant and never a drop of hot water to be had. ^Will you fetch the
N28  64 bucket at once!**"
N28  65    |^With a toss of her head, the girl flounced past her.
N28  66    |^*"Say *'if you please**' and I'll maybe send you a jewel from my
N28  67 crown,**" she mocked and went, slamming the door behind her.
N28  68    |^Jessie's face darkened and the older woman eyed her shrewdly.
N28  69    |^*"Don't be so hard on the lass, Jessie. ^It's envy that ails
N28  70 you*- envy that your man had a child by the wife before you. ^But
N28  71 there'll be sons for you*- \2aye, and happiness, too*- when Helen's gone
N28  72 from your sight.**" ^She sighed and turned back to the fire. ^*"And
N28  73 that will be much sooner than you're thinking.**"
N28  74    |^*"It'll not come soon enough for me,**" retorted the other
N28  75 ungraciously, and turned as Helen entered to berate her for leaving
N28  76 the outside door ajar.
N28  77    |^*"I left it for himself,**" the girl replied, her manner suddenly
N28  78 oddly subdued. ^*"He and Uncle Donald are just coming.**"
N28  79    |^She had moved the soup-kettle to one side and now began to fill
N28  80 the cauldron on the hob. ^But at the sound of footsteps on the path
N28  81 outside she half turned to the doorway, slopping the water badly as
N28  82 she did so.
N28  83    |^*"Land sakes, will you look what you're about!**" her irate
N28  84 stepmother exploded, as Andrew Gloag entered the room.
N28  85    |^*"\2Och, hold your \2whisht, woman,**" he said irritably. ^*"We'll
N28  86 have none of you scowls and scolds on my brother's last night with his
N28  87 family.**"
N28  88    |^Flushing, she turned on him. ^But before she could retort, she
N28  89 saw him slump heavily into a chair, and there was something in his
N28  90 attitude that silenced her.
N28  91    |^Watching him from the fireside, Helen was suddenly wildly elated.
N28  92 ^Forcing herself to be calm, she set the bucket down carefully and
N28  93 then stood to face him, her hands pressed together to still their
N28  94 trembling.
N28  95    |^For a long moment he sat silent and she glanced nervously at the
N28  96 young man who had followed him in. ^Reassured by his nod, she waited
N28  97 to meet her father's gaze, steeling herself against the remorse she
N28  98 knew she would feel at hurting him.
N28  99    |
N28 100    |^*4A*2T *0last, with a shake of his head, Andrew raised his eyes
N28 101 to hers.
N28 102    |^*"It's really what you want, lass?**" he said quietly. ^And,
N28 103 seeing the answer so clearly in her face, added in the same tone:
N28 104 ^*"Then that will be the way of it.**"
N28 105    |^*"America!**" she breathed, and for a moment could not make
N28 106 herself consider how her delight must wound him, compunction killed by
N28 107 the realisation of a thousand dreams.
N28 108    |^*"You're sure you know what you're about, lass?**" he said,
N28 109 eyeing her searchingly. ^*"Turning your back on all you've ever
N28 110 known*- have you thought you'll likely never see your family or
N28 111 friends again?**"
N28 112    |^*"I know it all, father. ^But I must go*- I *1must *0go!**"
N28 113    |^He sighed heavily. ^*"And you will leave with Donald in the
N28 114 morning?**"
N28 115    |^*"If you will let me.**"
N28 116    |
N28 117    |^*4F*2OR *0Jessie, this sudden turn of events seemed too good to
N28 118 be true. ^But as she saw the dispirited sag of her husband's shoulders
N28 119 she forced herself to speak to Helen.
N28 120    |^*"You've no call to be leaving home,**" she said, and flushed as
N28 121 she added, *"if it's \2ought that I've said or done*-**"
N28 122    |^But old Morag cut across her words.
N28 123    |^*"The kitchen's not been built that will hold two women*- it's
N28 124 not your fault or the lass's. ^And don't you glare at me, Andrew
N28 125 Gloag! ^Your girl is seventeen and she'd be away from home soon
N28 126 enough, one way or the other.**"
N28 127    |^Donald spoke for the first time. ^*"She'll take no harm with me,
N28 128 Andrew. ^I'm sure you know it.**"
N28 129    |^*"\2Och, man, don't speak of it,**" his brother answered.
N28 130    |^With an effort he smiled, and it broke the tension. ^Helen
N28 131 crossed to him and, in a rare show of affection, bent to kiss his
N28 132 cheek.
N28 133    |^*"Uncle Donald must have someone to cook and clean and keep house
N28 134 for him,**" she said eagerly. ^*"And maybe he'll make a fine fortune
N28 135 and marry*- and then he can buy me a passage to come back to see
N28 136 you.**"
N28 137    |^She glanced hopefully at Morag, expecting support. ^But the old
N28 138 woman turned again to stare into the fire.
N28 139    |^*"All that's as maybe,**" she said flatly. ^*"But you'll not
N28 140 change what's to come, though you talk till you drop. ^You'll follow
N28 141 the path that's been laid for you*- \2aye, and Donald will follow
N28 142 his.**"
N28 143    |^Sleep was a long time coming to Helen that night. ^There had been
N28 144 so much to talk about, so much to plan. ^It was only when she was
N28 145 alone at last in the curtained comfort of her wall cot that she could
N28 146 think at all clearly.
N28 147    |^She had grown up in the knowledge that a large part of her
N28 148 father's fondness for her was on account of her remarkable likeness to
N28 149 the mother she had hardly known. ^Now she suddenly saw that her
N28 150 absence might well be the best thing for them all.
N28 151    |^She had been touched and troubled by Jessie's obvious effort at
N28 152 conciliation, and knew it for what it was*- a gesture of
N28 153 self-sacrifice for the man she loved. ^The evening's excitement seemed
N28 154 somehow to have brought a sharper awareness of her own thoughts and
N28 155 emotions, and now, ashamed, she realised that she had never before
N28 156 given a moment's consideration to Jessie's.
N28 157    |^It could not have been easy to try to take the place of an adored
N28 158 memory. ^And with a spoiled child to contend with as well, it must
N28 159 have seemed an almost hopeless task. ^She flushed suddenly in the
N28 160 darkness, remembering the times without number when she had
N28 161 deliberately scored off the young stepmother, childishly flaunting her
N28 162 ability to wheedle all she wanted from her doting father.
N28 163    |^She could see again Jessie's odd, strained expression at such
N28 164 times*- and suddenly she recalled another face, another expression,
N28 165 and her cheeks grew even hotter. ^Uncle Donald.
N28 166    |
N28 167    |^*4S*2EVERAL *0times in recent weeks she had caught his
N28 168 thoughtful, measuring gaze on her after some sharp exchange between
N28 169 herself and Jessie, and now she suddenly knew without any doubt that
N28 170 this was his reason for taking her away. ^Not because he needed her or
N28 171 particularly wanted her company, but because he thought the situation
N28 172 unfair to Jessie.
N28 173    |^It was Jessie who awakened her in the morning*- a strangely
N28 174 different, quieter Jessie.
N28 175    |^For the moment, they were alone: the two men were over at the
N28 176 smithy and old Morag was washing at the pump in the yard.
N28 177    |^In the light of her new understanding, Helen would have dearly
N28 178 liked to take advantage of the moment and wipe out all past trouble
N28 179 between them. ^But in her inexperience she found it difficult even to
N28 180 act at all naturally.
N28 181    |^Then Jessie placed a bowl of porridge on the table and pushed
N28 182 Helen's own horn spoon towards it, and this small courtesy undid them
N28 183 both.
N28 184    |^After mumbling her thanks, the younger woman sat red-faced and
N28 185 unmoving until the other suddenly said in a tired voice: ^*"I've not
N28 186 been much of a mother to you, Helen. ^You'd not be wanting to go away
N28 187 from your home if I had.**"
N28 188    |^*"It's not that,**" Helen said lamely, then tried again: ^*"I've
N28 189 not been much of a daughter to you, come to that.**"
N28 190    |
N28 191    |^*4J*2ESSIE *0appeared not to have heard.
N28 192    |^*"I meant to be, dear knows. ^There were plenty to say I'd rue
N28 193 the day, but I wouldn't listen. ^So certain sure I was that God had
N28 194 put me here on earth to care for Andrew Gloag and his child that
N28 195 nobody could tell me different. ^And now just look what it's come
N28 196 to!**"
N28 197    |^She sat down suddenly and faced Helen across the table.
N28 198    |^*"You'll break his heart if you go, you know that?**"
N28 199    |^Helen shook her head, all uncertainty amazingly gone.
N28 200    |^*"No. ^I thought about it, last night. ^I think it's best for
N28 201 everybody.**"
N28 202    |^As Jessie looked at her oddly, she hurried on: ^*"I realised a
N28 203 lot of things, last night. ^Things I should have thought of sooner.**"
N28 204    |^Embarrassed, she said: ^*"I was thinking, you couldn't have been
N28 205 much above my age when*- when you*-**"
N28 206    |^She broke off. ^She could not have said *"married my father**"
N28 207 for the life of her. ^She knew what marriage entailed, and only now
N28 208 did it occur to her that there could have been little of true marriage
N28 209 between Andrew Gloag and his second wife.
N28 210    |^*"I was sixteen,**" said Jessie, quietly.
N28 211    |^*"Sixteen!**" Helen repeated, startled.
N28 212    |^From the doorway, old Morag said: ^*"\2Aye, but she'll not be
N28 213 twice that before she's bouncing her first-born on her knee.**"
N28 214    |^*"Don't talk so daft, woman!**" Jessie said, with a return of her
N28 215 old spirit.
N28 216 *# 2000
N29   1 **[462 TEXT N29**]
N29   2 *<*6THE GUN*>
N29   3 *<BY HARRY RICHMAN*>
N29   4 *<*1A very short story that is not what it seems*>
N29   5    |^*4G*2INO *0stopped pacing the floor and walked over to the
N29   6 sideboard. ^Gently, he pulled open the middle drawer and stared at the
N29   7 huge black Luger that was once his father's, lying serenely in the
N29   8 farthest corner. ^Still without a sound, he closed his huge brown hand
N29   9 over the cold steel, and hastily transferred it to his jacket pocket.
N29  10 ^A few seconds later his wife walked into the room.
N29  11    |^*'Gino, what are you doing?**'
N29  12    |^*'Nothing!*- ^Thinking.**' ^He walked away from the drawer and
N29  13 put his hands in his pockets to stop them from trembling.
N29  14    |^*'{3Why you no think about getting the work?}**' ^She wiped her
N29  15 hands on a dirty apron. ^*'{3Thinking*- walking up*- down... ^No food
N29  16 in the house, what you think about that, huh? ^You gotta any plans
N29  17 about that? ^We'd be better if we stay in Viareggio.}**' ^She wiped
N29  18 an imaginary tear from her rosy cheek.
N29  19    |^*'{3You wanna go back to Viareggio*- go! ^I no stop you. ^I stay
N29  20 here. ^Go back if you wanna go. ^You think I no try and get the work,
N29  21 huh? ^What you think*- you think I no try?}**'
N29  22    |^Gino turned and stalked out of the house. ^A hard, loud slam of
N29  23 the door stopped his wife's voluble Italian adjectives from following
N29  24 him out.
N29  25    |
N29  26    |^Ever since he'd lost his job two weeks ago, they'd done nothing
N29  27 but squabble. ^He pulled out a cigarette packet and stared
N29  28 disconsolately at the last Woodbine. ^He placed it carefully between
N29  29 his lips and lit it. ^He winced as the empty packet landed in the
N29  30 gutter. ^Food he could manage without for a few days, but
N29  31 cigarettes... ^He inhaled deeply and kept the smoke inside of him for
N29  32 as long as he could.
N29  33    |^He walked all morning. ^In the afternoon it began to drizzle.
N29  34 ^Gino pulled his jacket collar up high and for the umpteenth time
N29  35 placed his hand on the Luger. ^He felt nervous and undecided. ^He
N29  36 glanced up at a clock hanging over a jeweller's shop. ^It was four
N29  37 o'clock*- he had time. ^He decided to wait in a doorway for the rain
N29  38 to stop. ^He wanted to think.
N29  39    |^He wouldn't go back to Viareggio. ^If she wanted to go, let her.
N29  40 ^He dug into his pocket for a cigarette, and was irritated when only a
N29  41 box of matches came out. ^His irritation made him think about his
N29  42 wife's mother: ^*'{3I don't let you to take my daughter to London. ^A
N29  43 daughter's place is by her mother*- you no right*- you no right to
N29  44 take my bambino away.}**' ^She'd gone on and on, even when the train
N29  45 moved off she was still shouting.
N29  46    |^He wouldn't go back, no matter what. ^He ran his hand over the
N29  47 gun and the anger he felt subsided slightly. ^He'd show her. ^He'd
N29  48 show everybody.
N29  49    |^Gino moved out of the doorway into the drizzle, that showed no
N29  50 signs of stopping. ^It was four-thirty and plans had better be made.
N29  51 ^His face was covered with thoughtful wrinkles as he walked steadily
N29  52 forward.
N29  53    |
N29  54    |^From time to time his deep concentration was floored by the aroma
N29  55 of hot coffee from the many cafe*?2s. ^The smells of fresh bread and
N29  56 fried chicken caused his stomach to scream in anguish. ^Cigarette
N29  57 smoke seemed to find his nose from all of a hundred different brands.
N29  58 ^He dug his nails deeper into the palms of his hands, as his head
N29  59 began to reel. ^Frantically he swallowed huge gulps of air and then
N29  60 closed his eyes to help stop the buildings from going round and round.
N29  61    |^In desperation, he branched off into an alley-way, and there,
N29  62 breathing heavily, and by now almost wet through, he waited for peace
N29  63 to return.
N29  64    |^It was now five. ^Gino wiped his face and head with an old
N29  65 handkerchief. ^It had stopped drizzling, and he was annoyed at having
N29  66 allowed himself to be soaked. ^He squeezed the water from his
N29  67 handkerchief and strode forward. ^His mind was made up.
N29  68    |^He walked straight toward a little shop he had once seen in one
N29  69 of the many side streets that ran like arteries off Soho's more public
N29  70 thoroughfares. ^There were only a few people about. ^Some fifty yards
N29  71 from the shop, he put his hand on the Luger and made it feel
N29  72 comfortable.
N29  73    |^An old woman stopped to look into the shop's windows. ^Gino
N29  74 hesitated. ^The gun was heavy in his pocket. ^The whole left side of
N29  75 his body seemed to feel the weight. ^The old lady went away.
N29  76    |^Gino moistened his lips. ^He'd never done anything like this
N29  77 before. ^He uttered a swift, silent prayer, finishing with *'dear
N29  78 Father and Mother, please forgive me.**' ^His forehead was covered in
N29  79 perspiration. ^He arrived at the door and stopped.
N29  80    |^He couldn't go through with it. ^He was from a good family. ^The
N29  81 name Farrari was known all over Italy. ^If the news ever got back
N29  82 home*- he shuddered.
N29  83    |^He moved to the corner of the quiet little street and watched a
N29  84 light come on in the small shop. ^*'Dear God,**' whispered Gino,
N29  85 *'what shall I do?**' ^The gun was beginning to feel heavier and
N29  86 heavier.
N29  87    |
N29  88    |^Suddenly, he knew what he must do. ^His face grim, his demeanour
N29  89 calm, he again walked forward. ^What did he care what anybody thought
N29  90 or said! ^No one worried about him. ^Nobody cared. ^He stalked into
N29  91 the shop and stopped three yards from the counter.
N29  92    |^There were two men inside. ^The older one was putting something
N29  93 away on a shelf. ^Gino put his hand on the gun and walked toward the
N29  94 fat one, who was reading the evening paper.
N29  95    |^With a short, jerky movement, he drew the Luger from his pocket.
N29  96 ^His hand shook, and he felt sick with shame.
N29  97    |^*'How...,**' he put the gun on the counter, *'{3how much you
N29  98 give me for this, please?}**'
N29  99 *<*6COMMUNICATION*>
N29 100    |^*4Terror roared at his family out of the lonely night. ^But no
N29 101 one could help him, in his agonising struggle to save them*- and prove
N29 102 himself.
N29 103 *<*6BY {0A. E.} TREPPASS*>
N29 104 *<*4Illustration by Bernard Blatch*>
N29 105 **[ILLUSTRATION**]
N29 106    |^T*2HE *0large illuminated sign at the road side etched its
N29 107 message sharply in the cool darkness:
N29 108    |^*2STOP*- ONE HUNDRED YARDS AHEAD*- FOR THE LAST CUP OF TEA FOR
N29 109 MILES.
N29 110    |^*0Charles Corran smiled and remembered the red brick cafe*?2 with
N29 111 its rose garden and gravel car park. ^They had been tempted to stop
N29 112 there at the beginning of their holiday. ^Now, late, on the way home,
N29 113 he was more than tempted. ^Besides, just beyond the cafe*?2 lay the
N29 114 twenty-mile long, lonely road across Rannet Moors; a wearisome
N29 115 journey, particularly so late at night when all he wanted to do was
N29 116 doze over the steering column.
N29 117    |^He slowed the car and turned to Meg, his wife. ^In the half light
N29 118 she looked tired and a little sad. ^It had been a good holiday and
N29 119 they had all been reluctant to leave the sea and the sun.
N29 120    |^*'Shall we?**' he asked.
N29 121    |^She nodded lazily and stirred in her seat, enough to glance at
N29 122 the two children who were snuggled sleepily in the back.
N29 123    |^Tony, who was five and precocious, opened his eyes and murmured:
N29 124    |^*'Shall we what, Daddy?**'
N29 125    |^*'Have a cup of tea,**' Meg replied.
N29 126    |^*'I want orange,**' Belle informed them, with all the authority
N29 127 of her eleven years.
N29 128    |^*'With a straw,**' Tony added.
N29 129    |^*'Good.**' ^Charles signalled that he was turning left, and, at
N29 130 the very moment he nosed into the cafe*?2 car park, there was a noise
N29 131 beside them like an aero engine and two unsilenced motor cycles
N29 132 carrying black, helmeted figures roared right across his path,
N29 133 spraying gravel over his bonnet.
N29 134    |^He braked instantly and the steering wheel hit his chest and he
N29 135 gasped. ^Meg cried out as her head bumped the windscreen and Tony
N29 136 began to sob on the floor.
N29 137    |^*'The devils! ^The fiendish devils!**' Meg snapped as she leant
N29 138 over the back seat to help Belle gather Tony into her arms.
N29 139    |^Charles said nothing. ^He realized he had heard the motorcycles
N29 140 approaching and he knew they had had time to see his signal. ^He
N29 141 waited until his family were settled, then he accelerated into the car
N29 142 park. ^He caught the motorcycles and the riders in the full glare of
N29 143 his headlights, braked and slipped purposefully out of the car.
N29 144    |^*'Don't!**' Meg pleaded, but he ignored her.
N29 145    |^He had the acrid taste of fear in his mouth and his chest ached.
N29 146 ^His legs were rubbery but he was angry. ^He pulled his tired body off
N29 147 the rack of the long, weary drive from Dorset and clenched his fists.
N29 148    |^The riders were standing beside their motorcycles waiting for
N29 149 him. ^They were dressed from head to foot in black; black leggings,
N29 150 boots, zipper jacket, goggles. ^Their manner was as insolent as the
N29 151 startling white skull and crossbones on each black crash helmet.
N29 152    |^They were young and Charles wanted to lash out at them.
N29 153    |^*'You maniacs!**' he snapped, and they stared at him.
N29 154    |^*'Turn the light out, Mister,**' the slighter one drawled. ^*'It
N29 155 hurts my eyes.**'
N29 156    |
N29 157    |^*4H*2E *0stood a yard away from them and tried to feel he was
N29 158 towering over them, but they were as tall, or even taller than he.
N29 159    |^He tried to control his fury and his hammering heart by taking a
N29 160 deep, slow breath.
N29 161    |^*'You crazy lunatics,**' he said, and his voice sounded strange
N29 162 and weak. ^*'You'll kill someone someday **[SIC**].**'
N29 163    |^One of them laughed; a sharp, hysterical sound. ^The other spat.
N29 164    |^*'So what? ^As long as it isn't you why should you worry?**'
N29 165    |^Charles stepped forward, incensed beyond reason. ^Instantly the
N29 166 taller thrust his body forward and warned viciously:
N29 167    |^*'You touch me, mate and I'll call the cops.**'
N29 168    |^Amazed, Charles hesitated, and the taller one sensed his
N29 169 advantage. ^He flipped Charles' tie out, turned and caught his
N29 170 companion's arm.
N29 171    |^*'\2C'mon, boy. ^Let's blow! ^Man, this \2fella's a drag!**'
N29 172    |^Charles watched them strut into the doorway of the cafe*?2 and
N29 173 realized his inadequacy. ^There was no way in which he could
N29 174 communicate with them. ^They were in their own, arrogant, teenage
N29 175 world; a world of curt questions and harsh answers, of sudden
N29 176 irrational impulses; a world that had changed radically in the twenty
N29 177 years since he had left it.
N29 178    |^At the car he was faced with the silence of his family. ^He
N29 179 sensed their fear, saw Meg's sharp, shadowed profile, saw Belle
N29 180 sitting tense, wide awake, her arm round Tony.
N29 181    |^It was Tony who spoke first.
N29 182    |^*'What did the man do, Daddy?**'
N29 183    |^*'Hush!**' ^Meg silenced him quickly, but he would have felt
N29 184 better if she had said nothing. ^He wanted no protection from someone
N29 185 weaker than himself.
N29 186    |^*'Nothing,**' he said and tucked the tie back inside his jacket.
N29 187    |^Meg watched him, then held the car door for him and his anger
N29 188 switched to her. ^He was not an invalid. ^But he checked himself, held
N29 189 the anger back, and slid into the driving seat.
N29 190    |^*'Shall we go on?**' she asked and it was really a request, not a
N29 191 question.
N29 192    |^He nodded. ^Twenty miles across Rannet Moor, through Bisset and
N29 193 Scowlea, then home. ^He could wait an hour for a cup of tea.
N29 194    |^*'I want some orange,**' Tony begged, and Meg soothed him.
N29 195    |^*'Hush, darling. ^When we get home. ^There isn't any here.**'
N29 196    |^*'But daddy didn't ask,**' the boy insisted.
N29 197    |^*'He did,**' Meg replied easily as Charles switched on the
N29 198 engine.
N29 199    |^He drove the first five miles along the black ribbon of the moor
N29 200 road carefully, in silence. ^He was ashamed and he felt that all his
N29 201 family, even Tony, were ashamed of him. ^Slowly his body calmed and
N29 202 his brain cooled, but he wanted home; the touch and sight and smell of
N29 203 familiar things.
N29 204    |^He tried to tell himself that the car was an extension of home
N29 205 and that while he was in it nothing more could go wrong. ^But the
N29 206 moors were a cold, uneasy waste where every bush and shadow and dark
N29 207 rise hid watching eyes and alien fingers.
N29 208    |^Suddenly Meg nudged him gently and he glanced in the rear view
N29 209 mirror.
N29 210 *# 2006
        **[END**]