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I
sat
down
in
that
chilly
darkness
in
a
very
miserable
frame
of
mind
.
The
old
boy
had
gone
off
in
a
motor
to
collect
the
two
ruffians
who
had
interviewed
me
yesterday
.
Now
,
they
had
seen
me
as
the
roadman
,
and
they
would
remember
me
,
for
I
was
in
the
same
rig
.
What
was
a
roadman
doing
twenty
miles
from
his
beat
,
pursued
by
the
police
?
A
question
or
two
would
put
them
on
the
track
.
Probably
they
had
seen
Mr
Turnbull
,
probably
Marmie
too
;
most
likely
they
could
link
me
up
with
Sir
Harry
,
and
then
the
whole
thing
would
be
crystal
clear
.
What
chance
had
I
in
this
moorland
house
with
three
desperadoes
and
their
armed
servants
?
I
began
to
think
wistfully
of
the
police
,
now
plodding
over
the
hills
after
my
wraith
.
They
at
any
rate
were
fellow-countrymen
and
honest
men
,
and
their
tender
mercies
would
be
kinder
than
these
ghoulish
aliens
.
But
they
would
n't
have
listened
to
me
.
That
old
devil
with
the
eyelids
had
not
taken
long
to
get
rid
of
them
.
I
thought
he
probably
had
some
kind
of
graft
with
the
constabulary
.
Most
likely
he
had
letters
from
Cabinet
Ministers
saying
he
was
to
be
given
every
facility
for
plotting
against
Britain
.
That
's
the
sort
of
owlish
way
we
run
our
politics
in
this
jolly
old
country
.
The
three
would
be
back
for
lunch
,
so
I
had
n't
more
than
a
couple
of
hours
to
wait
.
It
was
simply
waiting
on
destruction
,
for
I
could
see
no
way
out
of
this
mess
.
I
wished
that
I
had
Scudder
's
courage
,
for
I
am
free
to
confess
I
did
n't
feel
any
great
fortitude
.
The
only
thing
that
kept
me
going
was
that
I
was
pretty
furious
.
It
made
me
boil
with
rage
to
think
of
those
three
spies
getting
the
pull
on
me
like
this
.
I
hoped
that
at
any
rate
I
might
be
able
to
twist
one
of
their
necks
before
they
downed
me
.
The
more
I
thought
of
it
the
angrier
I
grew
,
and
I
had
to
get
up
and
move
about
the
room
.
I
tried
the
shutters
,
but
they
were
the
kind
that
lock
with
a
key
,
and
I
could
n't
move
them
.
From
the
outside
came
the
faint
clucking
of
hens
in
the
warm
sun
.
Then
I
groped
among
the
sacks
and
boxes
.
I
could
n't
open
the
latter
,
and
the
sacks
seemed
to
be
full
of
things
like
dog-biscuits
that
smelt
of
cinnamon
.
But
,
as
I
circumnavigated
the
room
,
I
found
a
handle
in
the
wall
which
seemed
worth
investigating
.
It
was
the
door
of
a
wall
cupboard
--
what
they
call
a
"
press
"
in
Scotland
--
and
it
was
locked
.
I
shook
it
,
and
it
seemed
rather
flimsy
.
For
want
of
something
better
to
do
I
put
out
my
strength
on
that
door
,
getting
some
purchase
on
the
handle
by
looping
my
braces
round
it
.
Presently
the
thing
gave
with
a
crash
which
I
thought
would
bring
in
my
warders
to
inquire
.
I
waited
for
a
bit
,
and
then
started
to
explore
the
cupboard
shelves
.
There
was
a
multitude
of
queer
things
there
.
I
found
an
odd
vesta
or
two
in
my
trouser
pockets
and
struck
a
light
.
It
was
out
in
a
second
,
but
it
showed
me
one
thing
.
There
was
a
little
stock
of
electric
torches
on
one
shelf
.
I
picked
up
one
,
and
found
it
was
in
working
order
.
With
the
torch
to
help
me
I
investigated
further
.
There
were
bottles
and
cases
of
queer-smelling
stuffs
,
chemicals
no
doubt
for
experiments
,
and
there
were
coils
of
fine
copper
wire
and
yanks
and
yanks
of
thin
oiled
silk
.
There
was
a
box
of
detonators
,
and
a
lot
of
cord
for
fuses
.
Then
away
at
the
back
of
the
shelf
I
found
a
stout
brown
cardboard
box
,
and
inside
it
a
wooden
case
.
I
managed
to
wrench
it
open
,
and
within
lay
half
a
dozen
little
grey
bricks
,
each
a
couple
of
inches
square
.
I
took
up
one
,
and
found
that
it
crumbled
easily
in
my
hand
.
Then
I
smelt
it
and
put
my
tongue
to
it
.
After
that
I
sat
down
to
think
.
I
had
n't
been
a
mining
engineer
for
nothing
,
and
I
knew
lentonite
when
I
saw
it
.
With
one
of
these
bricks
I
could
blow
the
house
to
smithereens
.
I
had
used
the
stuff
in
Rhodesia
and
knew
its
power
.
But
the
trouble
was
that
my
knowledge
was
n't
exact
.
I
had
forgotten
the
proper
charge
and
the
right
way
of
preparing
it
,
and
I
was
n't
sure
about
the
timing
.
I
had
only
a
vague
notion
,
too
,
as
to
its
power
,
for
though
I
had
used
it
I
had
not
handled
it
with
my
own
fingers
.
