After lunch was a peaceful time at Sans Souci. Mr. Cayley went to havehis “rest” with the devoted1 Mrs. Cayley in attendance. Mrs. Blenkensopwas conducted by Miss Minton to a depot2 to pack and address parcels forthe Front.
Mr. Meadowes strolled gently out into Leahampton and along the front.
He bought a few cigarettes, stopped at Smith’s to purchase the latest num-ber of Punch, then after a few minutes of apparent irresolution3, heentered a bus bearing the legend, “OLD PIER4.”
The old pier was at the extreme end of the promenade5. That part ofLeahampton was known to house agents as the least desirable end. It wasWest Leahampton and poorly thought of. Tommy paid 2d, and strolled upthe pier. It was a flimsy and weatherworn affair, with a few moribundpenny-in-the-slot machines placed at far distant intervals6. There was noone on it but some children running up and down and screaming in voicesthat matched quite accurately7 the screaming of the gulls8, and one solitaryman sitting on the end fishing.
Mr. Meadowes strolled up to the end and gazed down into the water.
Then he asked gently:
“Caught anything?”
The fisherman shook his head.
“Don’t often get a bite.” Mr. Grant reeled in his line a bit. He saidwithout turning his head:
“What about you, Meadowes?”
Tommy said:
“Nothing much to report as yet, sir. I’m digging myself in.”
“Good. Tell me.”
Tommy sat on an adjacent bollard, so placed that he commanded thelength of the pier. Then he began:
“I’ve gone down quite all right, I think. I gather you’ve already got a listof the people there?” Grant nodded. “There’s nothing to report as yet. I’vestruck up a friendship with Major Bletchley. We played golf this morning.
He seems the ordinary type of retired9 officer. If anything, a shade too typ-ical. Cayley seems a genuine hypochondriacal invalid10. That, again, wouldbe an easy part to act. He has, by his own admission, been a good deal inGermany during the last few years.”
“A point,” said Grant laconically11.
“Then there’s von Deinim.”
“Yes, I don’t need to tell you, Meadowes, that von Deinim’s the one I’mmost interested in.”
“You think he’s N?”
Grant shook his head.
“No, I don’t. As I see it, N couldn’t afford to be a German.”
“Not a refugee from Nazi12 persecution13, even?”
“Not even that. We watch, and they know we watch all the enemy aliensin this country. Moreover—this is in confidence, Beresford—very nearlyall enemy aliens between 16 and 60 will be interned14. Whether our ad-versaries are aware of that fact or not, they can at any rate anticipate thatsuch a thing might happen. They would never risk the head of their organ-isation being interned. N therefore must be either a neutral—or else he is(apparently) an Englishman. The same, of course, applies to M. No, mymeaning about von Deinim is this. He may be a link in the chain. N or Mmay not be at Sans Souci, it may be Carl von Deinim who is there andthrough him we may be led to our objective. That does seem to me highlypossible. The more so as I cannot very well see that any of the other in-mates of Sans Souci are likely to be the person we are seeking.”
“You’ve had them more or less vetted15, I suppose, sir?”
Grant sighed—a sharp, quick sigh of vexation.
“No, that’s just what it’s impossible for me to do. I could have themlooked up by the department easily enough—but I can’t risk it, Beresford.
For, you see, the rot is in the department itself. One hint that I’ve got myeye on Sans Souci for any reason—and the organisation16 may be put wise.
That’s where you come in, the outsider. That’s why you’ve got to work inthe dark, without help from us. It’s our only chance—and I daren’t riskalarming them. There’s only one person I’ve been able to check up on.”
“Who’s that, sir?”
“Carl von Deinim himself. That’s easy enough. Routine. I can have himlooked up — not from the Sans Souci angle, but from the enemy alienangle.”
Tommy asked curiously17:
“And the result?”
A curious smile came over the other’s face.
“Master Carl is exactly what he says he is. His father was indiscreet, wasarrested and died in a concentration camp. Carl’s elder brothers are incamps. His mother died in great distress18 of mind a year ago. He escaped toEngland a month before war broke out. Von Deinim has professed19 himselfanxious to help this country. His work in a chemical research laboratoryhas been excellent and most helpful on the problem of immunising certaingases and in general decontamination experiments.”
Tommy said:
“Then he’s all right?”
“Not necessarily. Our German friends are notorious for their thorough-ness. If von Deinim was sent as an agent to England, special care would betaken that his record should be consistent with his own account of him-self. There are two possibilities. The whole von Deinim family may beparties to the arrangement—not improbable under the painstaking20 Naziregime. Or else this is not really Carl von Deinim but a man playing thepart of Carl von Deinim.”
Tommy said slowly: “I see.” He added inconsequently:
“He seems an awfully21 nice young fellow.”
Sighing, Grant said: “They are—they nearly always are. It’s an odd lifethis service of ours. We respect our adversaries22 and they respect us. Youusually like your opposite number, you know—even when you’re doingyour best to down him.”
There was silence as Tommy thought over the strange anomaly of war.
Grant’s voice broke into his musings.
“But there are those for whom we’ve neither respect nor liking23—andthose are the traitors24 within our own ranks—the men who are willing tobetray their country and accept office and promotion25 from the foreignerwho has conquered it.”
Tommy said with feeling:
“My God, I’m with you, sir. That’s a skunk’s trick.”
“And deserves a skunk’s end.”
Tommy said incredulously:
“And there really are these—these swine?”
“Everywhere. As I told you. In our service. In the fighting forces. On Par-liamentary benches. High up in the Ministries26. We’ve got to comb themout—we’ve got to! And we must do it quickly. It can’t be done from the bot-tom — the small fry, the people who speak in the parks, who sell theirwretched little news-sheets, they don’t know who the big bugs27 are. It’s thebig bugs we want, they’re the people who can do untold28 damage—and willdo it unless we’re in time.”
Tommy said confidently:
“We shall be in time, sir.”
Grant asked:
“What makes you say that?”
Tommy said:
“You’ve just said it—we’ve got to be!”
The man with the fishing line turned and looked full at his subordinatefor a minute or two, taking in anew the quiet resolute29 line of the jaw30. Hehad a new liking and appreciation31 of what he saw. He said quietly:
“Good man.”
He went on:
“What about the women in this place? Anything strike you as suspiciousthere?”
“I think there’s something odd about the woman who runs it.”
“Mrs. Perenna?”
“Yes. You don’t—know anything about her?”
Grant said slowly:
“I might see what I could do about checking her antecedents, but as Itold you, it’s risky32.”
“Yes, better not take any chances. She’s the only one who strikes me assuspicious in any way. There’s a young mother, a fussy33 spinster, the hypo-chondriac’s brainless wife, and a rather fearsome- looking old Irishwo-man. All seem harmless enough on the face of it.”
“That’s the lot, is it?”
“No. There’s a Mrs. Blenkensop—arrived three days ago.”
“Well?”
Tommy said: “Mrs. Blenkensop is my wife.”
“What?”
In the surprise of the announcement Grant’s voice was raised. He spunround, sharp anger in his gaze. “I thought I told you, Beresford, not tobreathe a word to your wife!”
“Quite right, sir, and I didn’t. If you’ll just listen—”
Succinctly34, Tommy narrated35 what had occurred. He did not dare look atthe other. He carefully kept out of his voice the pride that he secretly felt.
There was a silence when he brought the story to an end. Then a queernoise escaped from the other. Grant was laughing. He laughed for someminutes.
He said: “I take my hat off to the woman! She’s one in a thousand!”
“I agree,” said Tommy.
“Easthampton will laugh when I tell him this. He warned me not toleave her out. Said she’d get the better of me if I did. I wouldn’t listen tohim. It shows you, though, how damned careful you’ve got to be. I thoughtI’d taken every precaution against being overheard. I’d satisfied myself be-forehand that you and your wife were alone in the flat. I actually heardthe voice in the telephone asking your wife to come round at once, and so—and so I was tricked by the old simple device of the banged door. Yes,she’s a smart woman, your wife.”
He was silent for a minute, then he said:
“Tell her from me, will you, that I eat dirt?”
“And I suppose, now, she’s in on this?”
Mr. Grant made an expressive36 grimace37.
“She’s in on it whether we like it or not. Tell her the department will es-teem it an honour if she will condescend38 to work with us over the matter.”
“I’ll tell her,” said Tommy with a faint grin.
Grant said seriously:
“You couldn’t persuade her, I suppose, to go home and stay home?”
Tommy shook his head.
“You don’t know Tuppence.”
“I think I am beginning to. I said that because—well, it’s a dangerousbusiness. If they get wise to you or to her—”
He left the sentence unfinished.
Tommy said gravely: “I do understand that, sir.”
“But I suppose even you couldn’t persuade your wife to keep out ofdanger.”
Tommy said slowly:
“I don’t know that I really would want to do that .?.?. Tuppence and I, yousee, aren’t on those terms. We go into things—together!”
In his mind was that phrase, uttered years ago, at the close of an earlierwar. A joint39 venture. .?.?.
That was what his life with Tuppence had been and would always be—aJoint Venture. .?.?.
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收听单词发音
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1
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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2
depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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3
irresolution
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| n.不决断，优柔寡断，犹豫不定 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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5
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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6
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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7
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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8
gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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10
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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11
laconically
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| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
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12
Nazi
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| n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的 | |
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13
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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14
interned
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| v.拘留，关押( intern的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
vetted
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| v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗 | |
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16
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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17
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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18
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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19
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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20
painstaking
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| adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的 | |
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21
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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22
adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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23
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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24
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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25
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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26
ministries
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| （政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期 | |
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27
bugs
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| adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误 | |
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28
untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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29
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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30
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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31
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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32
risky
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| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
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33
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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34
succinctly
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| adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地 | |
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35
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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37
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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38
condescend
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| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
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39
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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