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about anything. But of course, if he didn't have enough evidence, there's
nothing hecould do anyway, is there?"
Simon shrugged.
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"He didn't tell me anything, and I didn't read the story until this morning."
"I'll have to read it myself." She glanced at the clock, and stood up. "Let's
not starve ourselves any longer."
She went to the dining table and rang the silver hand bell that stood in
front of her place; but they had hardly settled themselves when Farrast
stomped up the front steps and shouldered blusterily through the screen door.
"Sorry if I'm late." he said perfunctorily.
He sailed a terai hat into an armchair as he marched through to the table and
sat himself down heavily, his boots scraping the floor. Fe had the kind of
comp'exion on which sunburn never loses all its redness, and it seemed more
inflamed now, perhaps because he was warm. His khaki shirt was already wilted
and clinging.
"Trouble?" Eve Lavis asked.
"Plenty." Farrast said. "And I'm going to make more."
"You'll be able to do it better with a good breakfast under your belt." she
said practically.
It was a good breakfast, staunchly British, with bacon and eggs and sausages
and toast and marmalade and strong tea to wash it down, as was to be expected,
for that is one tradition on which no proper Colonial even in the remotest
outpost of the Empire would make any concession to local cuisine. At other
meals he may without protest eat bird's-nest soup or stewed buffalo hump, and
may even become an addict of semi-incandescent curries: but breakfast under
the British flag is incorruptible from Hampstead to Hong Kong.
After the boy had finished serving and gone out, and they had started eating,
Farrast said: "I went down to the plant. Thekrani was there, but no men. They
were supposed to clean out a couple of the stills. I waited twenty minutes.
Then I loaded him in the jeep and drove out where they were last cutting wood.
The otherkrani was there, with a truck, but no men. I gave it another ten
minutes. Nobody showed up. So you know what I did? I made thekranis pick up a
saw and start cutting wood themselves. I said if they couldn't get their crews
on the job, the only way they could earn their pay was by doing it
themselves."
"Do you think that was wise, Charles?" Mrs. Lavis asked. "You want to keep
them on your side."
"You told me last night to show who was boss," Farrast answered
belligerently. "If thekranis had been tougher themselves, perhaps we'd never
have had this trouble. This ought to teach 'em a lesson. I told 'em not to
come in till they could bring the truck full of wood, which is all we need to
complete a batch that's waiting to be baked. And then I hiked off to the Malay
village."
"By yourself?"
"No, I had a friend with me." He drew his revolver, held it up for a moment,
and thrust it back in the holster. "I was just hoping somebodywould start
something, so I'd be given a chance to use it. But when I got there there
wasn't a grown man in sight. They'd all sneaked off into the bush when they
heard me coming. Except thepenggulu."
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"Poor old man! I hope you didn't hurt him."
"I made him show me thepawang's hut. I threw everything out of it that was
movable, his personal possessions as well as his charms and concoctions broke
everything that was breakable, and trampled the whole shebang into the mud.
Then I told him to see that all the men saw it when they came back, and he
could ask 'em how they thought thepawang's magic could be any good if I could
do that to him. And I told him to give thepawang a message, in front of plenty
of witnesses, that I dared him to show his face anywhere around the estate,
because wherever I found him I'd give him a public thrashing."
Eve Lavis buttered some toast.
"Well, that ought to lead to a showdown," she said. "What do you think,
Simon?"
"I don't see how thepawang can help losing face if he doesn't do something
about it," said the Saint. "On the other hand, if he does something, it's
liable to be something unhealthy for Charles."
"Don't worry about me, Templar," Farrast said. "I'm pretty handy at taking
care of myself."
Mrs. Lavis frowned thoughtfully.
"I can't help wondering if we aren't missing the target," she said. "You said
yourself that thepawang must have gone over to the Reds. Doesn't that mean
there must be a bigger Commie agent somewhere around here who's giving him his
orders. If you could find him, you'd get the trouble out by the root."
"Perhaps Templar can detect him," Farrast said.
"I'll think about it," Simon said amiably. "But with your local knowledge
you'd do it better. I think Eve's got something, though."
"Well," Farrast said grudgingly, "if I catch thatpawang I'll see what I can
beat out of him."
They had finished eating and were smoking cigarettes at the table when one of
the guards came up the verandah steps and knocked on the frame of the screen
door. Farrast got up and went over there, and the guard spoke briefly.
"He says thepawang and a couple of his pals are in the Chinese shop across
from the station," Mrs. Lavis translated to Simon.
Farrast returned to pick up his hat, and also a stout Malacca cane.
"This is what I've been looking forward to," he said grimly.
Simon folded his napkin and stood up.
"Would you like me to come with you?" he asked.
"Suit yourself."
Farrast opened the door and went out. Simon followed him.
The tropical day was getting into its stride, and as they stepped out from
under the shade of the roof the sun hit them through a mugginess that was
almost palpable. Farrast marched down the hill in ominous silence, the set of
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his jaw proclaiming one implacable preoccupation. But at the gate in the fence
that ringed the upper part of the hill he stopped the guard and told him to
wait there."
"Jaga baik-baik, tuan,"the guard said; and Farrast glared at him as if the
man had insulted him by merely urging him to be careful.
They went on down past the plant and the warehouse and across the station
platform, without another word being spoken until they had crossed the tracks.
Then Farrast stopped a few yards from the open entrance of the store and
looked carefully to left and right, as though satisfying himself that he was
not walking into an ambush.
He said: "You can come in with me if you like. But don't interfere unless
you're quite sure that I've had it. I'm the fel-low who's got to go on running
this show. They've got to be afraid of me all by myself, and not thinking they
can start up again as soon as you've left."
"Whatever you say, Boss," murmured the Saint.
Farrast went in, and Simon followed again and stepped off to one side,
keeping his back to the wall.
There were three Malays gathered around an antique pinball machine at the
rear of the shop. Two of them, with bottles in their hands, were watching and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]