"Hey, Tony?" "A friendly word?" "What?" "If you´d been more flexible with that lady she´d have kept on hiring this boat at 1 00 bucks a day till next Christmas." "Still not too late, you know." "No." "All I said was "flexible." -l´m not in that line of business." "I have to be cursed with a fastidious partner?" "You´ll keep me a poor man all my life." "If you´re so anxious, why don´t you do something about it yourself." "Don´t think I wouldn´t if I thought it would work, man." "The lady just ain´t interested." "What´s she gonna do with a beat-up old bum like me?" "She´s blond, she´s pretty, comes from a good family and she´s got a rich husband." "She wants only the best." "Tall, blue-eyed, straight-limbed boys with curly hair and pearly teeth." "If you played your cards right, we could have had a new cabin cruiser..." "...by the time she left." "Stop dreaming." "But you´re driving us to a life of crime." "Okay, let´s not waste any time about it." "That lady sure was icy." "Yeah, but just not icy enough, Jimmy Jean." "Not icy enough." "Well, on to crime." "Next time we smuggle anything onto this island, we ought to wear tuxedos." "What will it be?" "Brandy." "Beer." "There´s Miguel." "You have to walk right up to the bar?" "Make yourselves conspicuous like two elephants in a ballroom?" "Do you find it impossible to wear jackets?" "Miguel, be polite to your colleagues." "lt´s all delivered?" "All delivered." "A friend left this note for you." "Our friend didn´t have much to say, did he?" "What do you mean by that?" "l mean, he wasn´t very generous." "There are many expenses, you know that as well as I do." "Palms to be greased and people paid to turn the other way." "Tell our friend if he can´t be more communicative, this is the last trip." "Come on, Tony" "Please take your money." "This drink´s on the house." "My heart is softened." "Listen I can put a little easy money your way." "How easy?" "Without so many questions." "Do you or don´t you want to make some money?" "No." "I´ll talk to you, you´re reasonable." "Your friend is a barbarian." "You´ll sit here and hear your friend called a barbarian?" "Miguel, I forbid you to call this barbarian a barbarian." "You´re a true friend." "Once again, I´ll disregard the jokes." "I´m talking of a small act of kindness." "All you have to do is take a passenger from here to Santa Nada." "The American line runs a good boat." "Tell him to try the American line." "You´re so clever and so rich." "It isn´t a him." "Her." "A woman on a little boat like ours?" "You don´t think she´d find it a trifle restrictive?" "She can´t afford to worry whether it´s restrictive." "Police?" "l know nothing of police." "I´m trying to compose myself." "There´s a rich American patron making inquiries for her and with infinite generosity, I thought of you." "And I´m rewarded with contempt." "Yeah, how rich an American?" "l have not asked to see his tax return." "Let´s get out of here." "I don´t like the smell of this." "Money doesn´t smell." "How much?" "Five hundred dollars." "And for you?" "Me, I merely seek to oblige a friend." "Yeah, but how many dollars do you seek to oblige yourself, 1 000?" "That´s enough." "You demean me." "Leave my bar." "Five hundred has a nice, wholesome ring to it, doesn´t it, 500?" "Yeah, 700 rings even better." "It´s too risky." "A couple of cases of brandy or cigarettes, that´s one thing but an illegal dame.... lf they catch us, they´ll take the boat, lock us up and throw the key away." "They won´t catch us." "I´ve got a hunch." "I don´t feel so lucky." "I feel lucky." "We´ll use my luck." "The market´s rising." "My last offer, 600. I´m disgusted." "Well, be disgusted for 700." "Very well." "Wait here." "Two boys in caps at the end of the bar." "She´s not impressed." "l am." "l don´t like this." "Let´s get out of here." "Wait." "Nobody´s fired a shot yet." "Ask if they´ll have a drink with me." "Sure." "The gentleman invites you to his table for a drink." "is it beyond the limits of possibility to take off your hats?" "You make too many conditions." "I´m changing my mind." "You´re driving me mad, authentically mad." "Now, let him suffer, Felix." "Come on." "Here they are." "Won´t you sit down?" "Have a drink?" "Brandy." "Beer." "Did Miguel explain the situation to you?" "Yeah, a little." "Not enough." "How much do you have to know?" "Everything." "Slipping passengers past lmmigrations is no joke." "Tell them everything they want to know." "Incidentally, how much money was mentioned?" "Twelve hundred dollars." "Well, some days you win, some days you lose." "I think they´re calling for me at the bar." "The lady a relation?" "No." "A friend." "And she has no papers, huh?" "No." "No papers, no passport, nothing." "She´s stateless." "It´s a long, confused story." "I imagine we could spend a number of long, confused months in prison." "Why no papers?" "Irena, maybe you had better-- -l´ll tell you all that´s necessary." "I´m coming from nowhere illegally." "I´m on my way to nowhere equally illegally." "Are you satisfied?" "No." "There´s no need for you to" "Don´t be delicate about my dignity." "Tell him what he wants to know." "Come on over to the bar." "Where did you meet her?" "Here, about a month ago." "I feel sorry for her. I want to help." "Yeah, where´d she come from?" "Havana." "Oh, another rich friend?" "I guess so." "And before that?" "Florida." "Some Army sergeant smuggled her over from Europe in a bomber." "Naturally, they caught up with him." "She moved on." "Speaks awful good English." "She´s been around Americans for 1 0 years." "This stuff is killing me." "Look, this is the picture." "She came originally from Lithuania or Estonia or someplace." "The story changes." "The Germans transported her to Berlin." "During the war, she lost everything:" "mother, father, brothers, the usual." "She got mixed up in the black market." "There was a holdup." "The police say she had a gun." "She swears she didn´t." "It was a frame-up, she says." "And so far, she´s always managed to find somebody to take care of her." "I don´t doubt that." "Look, I want to do all I can for her, but I´ve got to get back to Detroit." "Twelve hundred bucks, take it or leave it, that´s all." "Actually, I don´t" "I don´t like it." "What have we got to lose?" "Now, you know, I do not make immigration officers very happy." "An immigration officer presumes that a woman who looks like me should be kept." "And they prefer citizens of other countries to do the keeping." "You understand, Irena, that this is not the Queen Mary?" "There will be no steward aboard to bring you your morning tea." "I´ve put up with worse." "You´ll be alone on a not very large boat with three men with low, brutish manners." "One man with low, brutish manners." "All right." "Twelve hundred dollars." "A thousand for us, 200 for him." "You know No. 3 Pier by San Antonio?" "l can find it." "Okay." "Be there at sunup." "Come on, let´s go." "I´m sorry, Irena." "Sometimes you wonder what God had in mind when he invented the male sex." "Well hello there." "If I knew you were wearing your Paris clothes I´d have had the bridal suite cleaned up." "Sun lounge is on A-deck." "What happened to your gentleman friend?" "I left him in the hotel." "Any other questions?" "I might think of some from time to time." "Will you do me a favor?" "Occupy yourself with your own business." "I don´t think I´m going to care for your attitude very much." "All right. I don´t think I even care for my attitude very much." "Yeah, well, I´ll show you where you can keep your things." "Well, it´s nothing much..." "...but if there´s anything you want-- -l don´t want anything." "That port engine again." "It´s that port engine again." "Let´s see what we can do with it." "You know, when I get rich, I´m going to buy myself a crowbar and come aboard this boat and beat that port engine to scrap." "I hung around the house for three months after I got back from Korea, doing nothing." "And my father read me the riot act." "He´s a big man in the community, my father." "Said it gave him a bad name, having a son who was turning into a bum." "So I went to New York and met a guy I used to know there went to college with." "He had a 30-foot sloop." "He was looking to take someone to the Caribbean so we had a drink, and I signed on." "Just like that?" "Just like that." "The Caribbean seemed like a nice, long distance from Indiana." "Came down here and I liked it, and my pal went home. I met Felix." "We had some laughs." "He had a little money, I had dough and one night we were drunk, and we bought this boat." "When it runs, it´s a pretty good little boat." "Two and a half years?" "Yep." "Can´t think of a better way to spend two and a half years." "What happens when you tire of this?" "Well, I´ll move on." "I told my father the day I saw the first white hair on my head I´d come back home." "It hasn´t shown yet." "What a country America is." "All the luxuries." "Even rebellion." "l got an idea." "Hey, Felix?" "How much longer we gonna be here?" "Seven years and two months." "Good, we´ve got time for a swim." "How about it?" "Aren´t there any sharks?" "Well, of course." "Why not?" "Everybody works but Father." "That´s right." "That´s the general idea." "Do the guests have everything they want?" "Cocktails?" "Just ring the bell." "No cocktails." "Ask the lady." "No cocktails." "I was glad to see you swim so well." "It´s a pretty sight, you handsome young people cleaving through the warm water with a nice, steady, eight-beat crawl." "Where did you learn?" "Berlin?" "What do they use in those swimming pools, blood?" "Wait a minute." "What is this?" "What´s it for, persecution or fun?" "For fun." "Well, you´re crazy." "Leave her alone." "What´s the matter, you appointed yourself her new protector?" "Go to the end of the line, kid." "It´s a long, long line." "Let up on her." "She doesn´t need protection." "She can take care of herself with any weapon you´d care to mention." "Ask the MP´s name in Berlin." "Ask about the gun they found in her bag." "I don´t know what´s wrong with him." "I´ve never seen him like this before." "Don´t worry. lt will blow over." "No guns allowed on this boat, madam." "We have a naval limitation treaty with the Algonquin Indians." "You´re crazy." "Anything you don´t like, you just throw into the sea!" "I turn the other cheek." "Careful, I´ve only got two cheeks." "Why don´t you stop them." "Not for the time being, ma´am." "Ain´t no quarrel of mine." "I´ll let them work off a little bad blood first." "He´ll kill him!" "Stop it." "Stop it!" "Now you just calm down a little, then we all stop choking our friends and we continue this cruise on a nice, peaceful basis." "All right, Jimmy Jean, you can let go." "The war´s over." "ls that a promise?" "That´s a promise." "See?" "A thousand dollars for carrying you just isn´t enough." "l´m sorry." "You play rough, don´t you?" "For a minute, I thought you were trying to kill me." "Don´t be silly." "All over?" "All over." "We ought to do this more often." "Breaks up the trip, entertainment for the ladies." "Greco-Roman style wrestling, college rules." "Any time we get bored with each other I´ll just remember to throw something of madame´s in the sea." "What´s going on there?" "Carnival time." "Mardi gras." "You ever been to one?" "No." "Well, do you like to dance?" "Sometimes." "Well, how about that." "Do you want to go take a look at it?" "No." "Come on, I´ll take care of you." "You won´t get mixed up in anything you don´t want." "Perhaps some other time." "We don´t guarantee there will be another time, lady." "This is a luxury cruise, but we only furnish one Mardi gras per trip." "Yeah, come on, let´s go." "These things can be fun, you know." "Whatever you say." "You want to go, Felix?" "I have to be in the mood for a Mardi gras." "I´ll see how I feel when we dock." "Irena?" "Irena?" "I can´t stand waifs." "Come on." "You hate me." "Why?" "Drink your rum." "What have women done to you?" "I don´t regard women in the plural." "I regard women one by one." "What have they done to you?" "Some of them have done good, some of them have done bad." "Drink your rum." "Have you ever been married?" "Yes." "For a quick six months." "What happened?" "I deserted her." "Why?" "She was the most desertable woman on the North American continent." "She was pretty." "Beautiful." "Maybe even as beautiful as you." "I had a wonderful time with her." "Six months." "Till I got to know her." "ls that why you came down here?" "That´s one of the reasons, yeah." "Are you wanted by the police?" "Oh, I wouldn´t go so far as to say that." "Put it this way, if I presented myself to the police, they would not reject me." "No, no, none of that." "Let´s not fool ourselves." "Let´s not sit laughing it up like two nice people out on a date on a Saturday night." "We´re not nice people." "And we´re not out on any date." "You´re a tricky bit of cargo that I contracted to carry from one island to another." "A danger to navigation." "Let´s keep the channel clear." "Don´t worry about me." "I´ve had enough trouble as it is." "I´ll bet you have." "I´m not asking for any pity." "I don´t want to bother you." "You´re stuck with me for a little while, and I´m stuck with you." "But we don´t have to make it any worse than it already is." "Tell me what you want me to do, and I´ll do it." "Keep away from Tony, that´s all." "He´s not for the likes of you." "Why not?" "l´ve known women like you." "You´ve had bad luck." "You´re pretty enough to make everybody you touch pay for it." "What makes you think he´d be interested?" "I saw that gay frolic on the beach today." "A siren should have gone off for Tony right then:" ""Enemy approaching, take cover."" "He´s a big boy." "He can take care of himself." "Nobody can take care of themselves, so stay away from him." "Stop probing him with those sad, pitiful, calculating dark eyes and keep those sweet, poisonous hands off him." "You´ve got nothing for him." "He came down here to sow a few wild oats, that´s all." "What about you?" "l sowed my wild oats a long time ago." "Been living off the crop ever since, not very nourishing." "And if you´ve got any ideas about me, forget them." "You stick to the kind of men women like you were made for." "That nervous fella from Detroit back there in San Juan." "The Russian colonels in Berlin, the black-market sergeants." "No, I do you an injustice." "You´re a field-grade operator, black-market generals." "There´s plenty of the usual game for you around here." "Lots of sugar planters with fat bellies, rum factories wives with mustaches bank accounts in Havana, New York, Zurich." "Stick to them." "Leave Tony alone." "I beg your pardon, would the lady like to dance?" "No, the lady would not like to dance." "On the contrary, the lady would like very much to dance." "That was wonderful." "Was it?" "I beg your pardon, would you like a dance?" "Get out of here." "l was talking to the lady." "I was asking her to dance." "It´s a very simple dance." "I´ll show you." "You want to dance, huh?" "Come on, I´ll dance you." "Who´s there?" "It´s me, Felix." "That´s Latin for "happy."" "You should have danced with that fella." "He was a real good dancer." "What is it?" "What are you waiting for?" "I´m waiting for someone to touch me with kindness." "I´m proud." "I don´t make love to the dead." "Oh, you´re beautiful." "Marry me, and we´ll sail the seven seas." "And we´ll see the tombs of the Pharaohs." "And we´ll pull in at Hong Kong and Bangkok and Indianapolis, Indiana." "And I´ll be faithful to you from here to the last distillery." "And I´ll cover you with jewels, and I´ll drown you in champagne." "Our song." "Shall we dance?" "Do you mind if I have a drink?" "You have to go now because your family is calling you but I´ll be waiting." "All right." "Here we are in the Rose Bowl, folks!" "And he´s fading back." "He´s looking for his receiver!" "He´s gonna pass. 1 00,000 people are going wild out there." "Last two minutes of the game." "He´s gonna pass!" "He´s getting ready." "He´s set." "He´s found his receiver." "He´ll pass!" "And there he goes down the field, and he´s getting ready to catch it!" "There it goes, 1 0 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards!" "He caught it!" "Oh, great show." "Irena?" "Irena?" "Yes?" "Everything okay?" "Yes." "Well, can I get you anything?" "No, thank you." "Good night." "Good night." "Well, this is far as we take you." "At the end of the jetty, you´ll see some stairs." "At the very top by a church, you´ll see a taxi." "You go to the American bar on the Rue Joliette." "The barman will tell you where to find the hotel." "If you happen to see any of us around it might be advisable for you to pretend you don´t know us." "We can´t just drop her like this in the middle of this forsaken hole." "Why not?" "That was the bargain, wasn´t it?" "We were to take her to Santa Nada, responsibility ended." "You do have a mean streak, don´t you?" "I said I´d bring her here and I did." "What´s so mean?" "Somebody has to see the girl into the town." "You defeat me." "I don´t know what you´re aiming at!" "You trying to get chosen for the Brute of the Month Club or something?" "Joke." "Push off, Jimmy Jean." "No, hold it." "You´re on your own from now on." "I´ll leave my stuff on the boat." "I´ll pick it up later." "Push off." "It´s not what you might call a happy voyage." "No, sir, I´ve had happier trips." "You´re not satisfied?" "When I´m paid off, I´ll be satisfied." "Any other complaints?" "l might strike some." "You want to quit?" "I do believe I do." "Okay, that´s fine with me." "We could stand some fresh faces around here." "You didn´t have to come with me." "Forget it." "I apologize for Felix." "Nobody has to apologize to me for anything." "I apologize for the whole human race." "Good evening, madam." "Good evening." "Are there any messages?" "The young man called." "The young American." "He´ll be here at 7, he says." "Thank you." "My key, please." "I would not be a friend if I didn´t tell you your presence for the last few days has not gone completely unremarked." "What do you mean?" "lt´s, of course, not surprising." "A woman who looks like you even in a great city Paris even, all eyes would be attracted." "Omit the flowers, who was talking about me?" "In a place like this, there are certain people who owe things to the police." "Who must present the authorities with information of an interesting character." "Now, they see a lady like you arrive, they make a few inquiries." "They find that your arrival did not coincide with the landing of a plane the docking of a steamer." "They discovered that you seem to be settling down for a long stay." "That you have no visible means of support." "That you are friendly with a young American of a rather brash and reckless character." "They begin to see some making of profit in this situation for themselves." "Why are you telling me all this?" "None of this, of course, is crucial." "The right words spoken at a certain place." "A delicate hint that too much curiosity is a bit improper in this case." "A genial reminder that the lady in question is regarded benevolently..." "...by a good friend of the authority." "Yes?" "I don´t like to sound immodest but I, myself, might answer to such a description." "If it were to my interest, perhaps I could be prevailed upon to drop a word in a proper quarter." "If it were to your interest?" "If it were to my interest." "Your key, madam." "Yes?" "Hi." "Hello, Tony." "Got something for you." "Thank you." "Tony" "Well, open it up, open it." "Native blouse, see." "I just thought with your color hair that it might- lt´s very gay, isn´t it?" "Very gay." "Go ahead, try it on." "I wasn´t too sure about the measurements." "But go ahead, try it on." "The lady in the shop says it´s bound to have a stifling effect on a redhead." "Tony?" "Have you seen Felix?" "Only once, in the bar for a minute." "All we said was hello." "He´s conducting a personal experiment." "He´s trying to drink the entire output of rum on this island in a week." "Did he say anything about me?" "He was in no condition to say anything about anybody." "Startling." "Thank you." "You like it?" "I like it very much." "Still it would have been more useful if you´d found something else." "A different kind of cloth." "Do they have anything in the shops that´s guaranteed to make a woman invisible?" "What a waste that would be." "Come on, let´s go out." "We´ll have a great dinner and dance, celebrate." "Celebrate what?" "Celebrate the fact that you´re not invisible." "Not tonight, Tony." "What´s the matter?" "l´ve got to get out of here." "What are you talking about?" "The owner." "It´s the same old thing." "Sometimes it takes only a day." "Sometimes, like now, it takes more than a week." "But it always happens." "What always happens?" "They close in." "A sign goes up: "Keep moving."" "Did that slob tell you you had to get out of here?" "No, they don´t quite say that either." "They always make it clear I could make arrangements and be permitted to stay." "l´m tired of those arrangements." "What did he say to you exactly?" "He said I´m conspicuous." "The authorities have begun to show an interest in me." "Where I came from, what I´m doing here." "And that he could put in a good word for me if I made it worth his while." "l´ll beat his head in." "What good would that do?" "It would only bring the police down that much sooner." "Forget it." "Forget me." "I always get by somehow." "As your friend Felix would say, I´ve become an expert at getting by." "Well you better start teaching me some of the tricks." "What do you mean?" "We´re gonna get by together now." "Advertisement: "Romantic young American anxious to ruin his life." "Will accept any unreasonable offer."" "Will you marry me?" "What good would that do?" "I don´t know about you, it would do me a lot of good." "And then what?" "Think they´ll leave me alone because you married me?" "Well, if they don´t, we´ll move on." "Have you an unlimited island supply?" "You´ll need it." "Not necessarily, we´ll be able to settle somewhere." "Where?" "Well, here, Cuba, Venezuela." "Venezuela´s hopping now." "Or Mexico, finally the States." "Dreams." "They´re not such dreams." "It can be arranged." "There´s papers you can get if you know people." "Nine times out of 1 0 they may not be perfect papers, but they´ll pass." "You just need a little money." "A little money?" "All right, then, a lot of money." "And then what´ll you do?" "Write to your father in Indiana?" "And what´ll you say?" ""Dear Father, please send me $ 1 0,000 airmail." "I want to buy the future of a lady in trouble with the police"?" "I can see him rushing to his bank soon as he gets the letter." "Daddy isn´t the answer." "Who is?" "l´ll find" "Why are you saying this, out of pity?" "If I was going to pity anybody, I´d pity myself if I lost you." "You don´t know me." "Go to Felix." "Ask him to give you his lecture on the subject of women like me." "Then see what you have to say." "l don´t need any lecture from Felix." "I´m no good. I´m all worn-out." "I´ve been passed from hand to hand." "I´ve had to submit to things nice young American boys couldn´t conceive of in their wildest nightmares." "I´ve lived among the ruins." "Armies have marched over me." "Armies." "I´ve been debased." "I look in the mirror and I say, "What a lie."" "At the first glance, the face looks like the face of a human being." "A wonderful face." "Inside a year, you´ll get to hate it." "You´ll look at it, and you´ll remember everything behind it." "No, I´ll look at it, and I´ll think how beautiful it is." "If I remember anything, it´ll be how you looked sitting on the pier, waiting for us." "Brave, quiet, shining, ready to defend yourself." "In a while, you´ll forget everything before that morning." "I guarantee it." "What a wonderful thing it is to be an American." "You believe you can forget everything." "Irena." "Hi." "Welcome." "Hang around." "Next number on the program is the Beethoven Ninth." "Yeah, I want to talk to you." "I´ve got a date to a cockfight in 1 0 minutes." "If you leave your name with the secretary..." "...she might arrange something later." "l have to talk to you, Felix." "Have a drink." "l don´t want anything to drink." "You want to listen to a medical fact?" "In this climate, sobriety kills more people per year than heart trouble, motor accidents or crimes of passion combined." "Stop being so gay. I´m serious." "Gay, me?" "I´m so sad that little dogs howl in despair when they see me." "I have a proposition to make to you, Felix." "To passengers." "To tall, long-legged, dark-eyed passengers." "I want one more trip with you in that boat." "A big one." "Miguel´s got something for us." "No more passengers." "I´ve discovered I´m a freight carrier at heart. I´m gauche." "I don´t know how to mingle with passengers." "Don´t worry, it´s only freight, but they´re in a hurry." "They´re willing to pay." "One more trip and then what?" "Then we´ll sell the boat, and we´ll split the proceeds and go alone." "Alone?" "Not quite alone." "Not quite alone?" "l´m gonna marry her, Felix." "Of course." "She´s no good." "She´ll cheat you, she´ll pull you down." "Everywhere you go, you´ll find men who look at you and laugh and say, "Get a load of what our old friend lrena´s gotten ahold of now."" "She´ll ruin you." "When she gets a better offer, she´ll leave you." "So naturally, you´re gonna marry her." "I made up my mind before I came I wasn´t gonna hit you." "I see she´s got you domesticated already." "In order to start this marriage on the right foot we want to make a little trip, do we?" "Well, you take it yourself." "I´m gonna stay right here and listen to the music." "Go ahead." "You don´t need me." "You know the way." "You get ahold of Jimmy Jean and go sailing off on the calm, blue water." "Go ahead, consider it a gift, a wedding present." "The use of the boat by yourself and all the proceeds." "Consider it a dowry for the bride." "You don´t want to go?" "Nope." "We´ll split it down the middle." "You get your share." "I don´t want it." "I´m gonna stay here and see if I can find a buyer for the boat." "I was getting tired of that boat anyway, that port engine." "Port engine was wearing me down." "When are you leaving?" "Tomorrow night." "Give my best to Miguel." "Yeah, what if something goes wrong?" "Nothing will go wrong." "The usual arrangements." "Be off the point at 1 :00." "Two lights will be showing." "If anything has gone wrong, there won´t be any lights." "Good luck." "Tony." "Tony, we´re ready." "Let me come with you." "Are you crazy?" "After all of the trouble we had getting you out of there?" "l don´t want to be left alone." "lt´s only six days." "Three days out and three days in." "It´s nothing." "l don´t want to be left alone anymore." "Only six days more." "Then I´ll never leave you alone again, I promise." "There they are." "Ahoy!" "Ahoy, there." "Heave to!" "Coast Guard!" "They were laying for us." "Heave to!" "Somebody must have tipped them off." "Heave to!" "What you doing?" "l´m gonna beach her." "Coast Guard coming alongside." "You´ll never make it, Tony." "We want to inspect your cargo and see your papers!" "Ahoy!" "Heave to, or we will fire!" "Tony, I´m waiting on you." "lt´s a long swim in." "It´s a long time in the jug." "Come on, let´s get out of here." "Make that fast." "We´d better separate from now on." "If you get back before I do, you do one thing for me, Jimmy Jean." "You tell Felix I´m coming after him, you got that?" "Here´s a letter for you, Jimmy Jean." "Tony." ""Jimmy Jean, keep this to yourself." "I´m on my way back, just shipped aboard a Greek tug, the Ulysses." "We ought to arrive in about 1 0 days." "I´m going to need your help." "Watch for me." "Tony."" "Dr. Sam, this is François." "Can you hear me, Sam?" "Hello?" "Yes?" "I say, this is François." "There´s been an accident." "There was this collision..." "...between a freighter and a liner." "A collision?" "The freighter was coming into port." "Coming into port?" "I waited until I got all possible details before I called you." "How many hurt?" "They asked me to bring a doctor." "Can you hear me, Sam?" "l´ll be right down." "So during the fog, there was this little collision during the night." "The liner was hardly damaged and didn´t turn back." "But the freighter is limping into port, the S.S. Ulysses." "How many people are hurt?" "The radiogram only mentioned one, a sailor." "He´s jammed up in the bow, and they can´t get him out." "Oh, well, if a man signs up to be a sailor he must expect little inconveniences like that from time to time." "Hello." "Here comes the fog." "Hey, look out!" "At last." "Finally." "l´ll write such a report!" "Where is he?" "In case you´re not familiar with maritime law..." "..." "I shall clearly state in that report" "Yes, you do that, captain." "Where is he?" "Where is who?" "The injured man." "Where would he be?" "Forward, in that hold." "Caught like a weasel in a trap." "Show us how to get to him." "He´s down that hatch, but let me warn you, this is dangerous." "Everything´s loose, liable to come down at any moment." "You´ll have to creep on your belly." "Stop wasting my time." "It´s at your own risk." "I take no responsibility!" "Hey!" "You´ll need this." "Welcome, boys." "This way, Sam." "Can I offer you boys a drink?" "This is the doctor." "Are you hurt?" "l don´t know." "You tell me, doc." "You don´t look so bad." "You ought to see me when I don´t need a shave." "Does anything feel broken?" "No." "Can you move your toes?" "I don´t know." "I can´t feel them anymore." "They wiggle." "There doesn´t seem to be anything broken." "You won´t be able to go to any dances for a little while." "I had no appointments." "What happened?" "l was checking the cargo and all of a sudden the roof fell in." "Iron started raining down like rice at a wedding." "Something conked me in the head, and I passed out." "Came to, here I was, locked up for being a bad boy." "I don´t need a doctor, I need a wrecking crew." "We´ll be in port in two hours." "We´ll get you out in no time." "Don´t make any sudden moves, because the furniture is fragile." "There´s genuine antiques." "What´s your name?" "Tony..." "..." "Hackenhausen." "What´s that, a German name?" "Yeah, I´m the scion of an old Bavarian family." "is there anybody you want us to notify?" "No, nobody." "You´re sure?" "Yeah, I´m sure." "My folks all got wiped out in the war." "The Hundred Years´ War." "is there anything we can do for you now?" "Yeah, tell the boys I´m hungry." "And I´d love a bottle of beer." "Maybe they could rig a light up here." "I´m an only child. I´m afraid of the dark." "Okay, Tony." "l´ll be back." "l´ll be waiting." "You better keep the torch." "Yeah." "Well?" "He´s all right." "Let me use your radio, captain." "I want to have some people standing by with equipment." "We´ll try and get him out as soon as we get into port." "By all means." "And while you´re at it ask the fire department to be there waiting for us too." "What do you mean?" "Take a good deep breath." "Smell anything?" "Something´s burning?" "It´s in the aft hold." "Come with me." "The collision started something." "Sparks." "Spontaneous combustion." "What have you got in there, captain?" "Rubber." "Raw rubber!" "I´d better get that radio off right now." "I´ll be back in a moment, Sam." "What a night." "Six hours out of port, and this had to happen." "Captain, this boy who´s caught up forward he says his name´s Hackenhausen." "If he says his name is Hackenhausen, then his name is Hackenhausen." "He says he´s German." "The world´s full of Germans." "He speaks English like an American." "He has a talent for languages." "The Germans are clever people." "Did you see his papers?" "He said he had lost his papers." "I´d like to see his bunk, if I may, captain." "It´s all the same to me. lt´s right in there, in the far corner on top." "Thanks." "What do you think, François?" "The poor devil." "Will they be able to get him out?" "There´s an American Navy repair ship in port." "I radioed to get hold of them." "And the fire department is standing by." "What do you think, François?" "Will they get him out?" "Maybe." "If anybody can get him out, they will." "Maybe not all in one piece, but they´ll get him out." "How are things, François?" "The American Navy is at work." "What do they say?" "They don´t say anything." "They just whistle through their teeth and call for Coca-Colas." "Are they putting out the fire?" "lt is a fire of raw rubber, monsieur." "One does not put out a fire of raw rubber." "Sometimes with luck, with a great deal of luck one puts such a fire under control." "lnfrequently." "What´s the matter with him?" "He´s an important man, and an unpleasant decision faces him." "Therefore, he must try and make others feel as unpleasant as he does." "What´s the decision?" "The decision." "To keep the fire under control he has to pour ton after ton of water into the hold." "Now, if he pours in enough at a certain moment, the Ulysses will capsize and sink." "When that happens, he will lose his job, and so will I because we permitted the ship to sink alongside a dock." "And we´ll deserve to lose our jobs because it will put the dock out of commission for at least, oh, a year." "To say nothing of the money it will cost to float it again and get it out of the way." "To say nothing of the man in there who will sink with it." "To say nothing." "But if he does not put enough water into the hold to keep the fire under control, the fire will spread." "In the very next hold, we´ve just discovered a charming fact." "There is a load of nitrates." "Eighty tons of nitrates." "If the fire were to reach the 80 tons of nitrates, there goes the Ulysses." "And there goes, perhaps, half the harbor facilities of this port." "To say nothing of the man in the bow." "To say nothing." "Do you wonder that the captain is a little snappish?" "No, but the American Navy must have said something." "Ask the American Navy yourself." "Here it comes." "Lt. Sellers, permit me to introduce our port doctor, Sam Blake." "How do you do, doctor?" "How does it look, lieutenant?" "Great." "We´re putting in some hydraulic jacks." "If they hold, we´ll get him out by tonight." "And if they don´t hold?" "Kindly notify next of kin." "See you later, sir." "Right." "How´s the boy?" "Sitting down there, playing the harmonica." "He plays real nice, that boy." "Lieutenant!" "We´re just about ready to try it now." "Okay, I´ll be right down." "You want to come along?" "Think I´ll be of any use?" "l sure do." "Thanks." "If anything goes wrong, you´re gonna have a lot of customers, doc." "Boatswain, what´s up with the forward hold?" "Get those grapplings undone on the double." "How´s it going, Mac?" "Be ready in a few minutes, lieutenant." "Good." "Hi, lieutenant." "You´re here again?" "What are you doing, bucking for admiral?" "What did you bring the doctor for?" "is somebody sick?" "He likes harmonica music." "How´s the fire doing aft?" "lt´s just about under control." "Lieutenant?" "Slowly going out of control, Tony." "How long do you give it?" "Twelve hours, give or take a few minutes." "You´re an officer and a gentleman." "Always the straight dope, huh?" "Always the straight dope." "Lieutenant, we´re all set here." "Okay, I´ll tell you when to start." "Now, look, I´m gonna start the jacks and the winches going." "All we have to do is raise this girder 3, 4 inches." "If you feel it lifting, try to get your legs out by yourself, got it?" "Will do." "And if things start falling, cover up." "What will you do?" "l´ll sing the "Marine Hymn."" "Okay, let´s go." "All right, start them!" "Hold it!" "Nothing doing, lieutenant." "All right, slack off." "There goes your ball game, lieutenant." "Not yet." "Straight dope?" "The straight dope." "We can´t get you out this way, Tony." "We´ll have to try putting in more jacks with a different rig, but it´ll take time." "My time is your time." "I´m gonna start my boys working from the outside with acetylene torches." "I don´t think we´ll have time enough to reach you, Tony, but we´ll try." "Where does this leave me, sitting here frying?" "Sitting there frying." "Doc, could you perform an operation down here?" "Get out of here, both of you." "I know what you´re thinking." "You´ll get me out, all right." "You´ll get half of me out!" "Leave me alone!" "If you´re gonna get me out, you get me out in one piece." "Otherwise, keep away from me!" "Think about it, Tony." "Peddle your wheelchairs elsewhere!" "Okay, I´ll start the boys with the torches right away." "Doc, you stop sucking around me, and if you come near me with one needle, I´ll brain you, so help me I will." "I won´t touch you." "Tony, isn´t there somebody you want to talk to?" "No!" "Have you seen this picture before?" "Yeah, the lady is my aunt Clara and the man is my Sunday-school teacher and the colored gentleman played second base when I managed the New York Giants." "Ever see that before?" "Yeah, they gave them out as favors at a strawberry festival I once went to." "Now, don´t be so tough, Tony." "We want to help you." "Help me?" "You want to make a half a man out of me." "We want to keep you alive." "l don´t like the terms. lt´s no deal." "You come back when you can make a better offer." "And keep out of my locker from now on!" "l´ll be back to see you again soon." "Don´t hurry on my account." "Boatswain, get more men pitching those acetylene bottles." "How´d you make out?" "l tried to talk him into it but he wouldn´t have it." "It´s the only way you´re gonna get him out of there." "What do you think?" "My job is to get him out of there alive if I can." "That´s all, I think." "My job is to keep as much of the human race as possible alive as long as possible." "What would you do if you were in there?" "Me?" "I´d say, "Cut away, doc."" "I´ve lots to live for, I got a wife and two kids." "Maybe he´s got nobody." "He´s got somebody." "A boy like that´s bound to have somebody." "Well, they better turn up real fast." "Yes." "Hey, boatswain, we haven´t got all day." "Let´s get some more men up here." "is that boy gonna be all right, Dr. Sam?" "Sure." "They gonna get that boy out of there, Dr. Sam?" "What´s your name?" "What difference what´s my name?" "Well, you know mine." "Everybody knows Dr. Sam." "Jimmy Jean." "Do you want to help that boy in there?" "Might be." "Like a drink?" "Might be." "Right." "Chief, clear more room on the pier for drums." "Well, that´s the way it was." "You asked me why that boy might be arriving on this island with a gun in his locker." "I guess you got as much of an answer as you need." "What about Felix, is he here?" "And the girl?" "She´s here too, with him." "You´re coming with me, Jimmy Jean." "Where to, doc?" "Do you know where Felix is?" "Yes, I do, doc." "Right." "Monsieur, it´s no good." "The fire is completely out of control." "This ship of mine is going to blow up." "We have got to take her out of the dock." "Come on, you men." "Get more stages fixed to get those barrels down." "Get those gasoline drums out before the fire reaches them." "Boatswain, push that guy up on the winch." "Lieutenant!" "Lieutenant." "Lieutenant." "Come on, you men." "Don´t act like a bunch of flakes." "Get those drums hove to." "Jones, lend them a hand." "Listen, lieutenant, we can´t give you any more time." "We´ve waited too long as it is." "I want to save the boy as much as anyone does but that ship is likely to blow up any second." "Get your men out of there." "I´m ordering her to be pulled out into the middle of the roadstead where she can explode without blowing up the whole town with her." "You understand my position, lieutenant, don´t you?" "Yes." "Yes, of course." "Look, give me 1 5 more minutes." "What good will 1 5 more minutes do?" "We´re putting in another jack." "Do you think it will work?" "No, but we have to try." "But I´m telling you, it´s likely to go up any second." "Are you willing to go in there and risk it?" "All right, forget about yourself." "I know that´s your privilege." "But are you willing to risk your men?" "lf l pull them out of there now I´ll be marked lousy from one end of the service to the other." "Navies!" "I suppose a man has to be a lunatic in the first place, anyway, to join a navy." "All right, 1 5 minutes. I´m crazy, I say yes." "And not a second more." "And I´m going to stand right here." "If it blows, I want to blow with it." "I don´t want to be around to answer any questions later." "Go!" "Go ahead, man." "Don´t stand there looking at me with that sad, accusing American face of yours. I´m tired of it." "Polaski, bring up more jacks for the forward hold." "Hi, lieutenant." "You´re still bucking for admiral, huh?" "Yeah." "Came in the back door this time." "We opened it up, just in case you want to get out in a hurry." "Yeah, just in case." "Now, listen, we´re gonna make one more try with the jacks." "They might work, but if things begin to tumble around in here and I can´t reach you, that´s the best way out." "Okay." "This is the last try, Tony." "They´re gonna tow this barge out in the middle of the roadstead." "And if she goes up-- -l know." "You haven´t...?" "Haven´t changed your mind about anything?" "No." "We´re all ready, lieutenant." "Say when, sir." "All right." "Start them." "Last one." "Someday I´m gonna give up cigarettes." "Me too." "Well, I guess that´s it." "That´s it." "Now hear this." "Now hear this." "Towing crew, stand by." "All others, abandon ship immediately." "Abandon ship immediately." "Towing crew, stand by." "All others, abandon ship immediately." "Immediately." "I´m sorry, kid." "I seen a lot of guys." "I was in the Battle of Leyte Gulf." "I spent 1 0 hours in the water in the war." "One thing I´d want to have." "Been carrying it for 1 2 years." "Insurance." "Now hear this." "Now hear this." "Cast off all lines." "Just St. George and Navy tug 233 proceed immediately in accordance with instructions." "In accordance with instructions." "We´re going for a little ride, dear." "What´s happening, lieutenant?" "He´s still out there." "We´ve done everything that we can, but it´s just no use." "Then there´s no chance of getting him off?" "None." "He´s still on there." "They couldn´t get him off." "What are they waiting for?" "They´re waiting for it to blow up." "You stay here, miss." "You come with me." "Where?" "Out there." "You and I have got something to say to that boy." "l told you to stay behind." "He might want to see me." "And if he does, I want to be there." "Let the lady come if she wants to." "We better stand off a little." "This ship´s getting awful warm." "What do you think?" "is there anything I can do?" "No, ma´am, everything you could do, you already done." "You hate me, don´t you, Jimmy Jean?" "Yes, ma´am, I do." "Tell him what you told me." "Doc here says he could get you out of here if you´d let him." "Did he tell you how?" "Yeah." "Tell him what you said." "l said you wouldn´t be alone." "I´d take care of you." "We´d take care of you." "Irena and me." "Forever." "Did she say that?" "Yeah, she´s waiting now." "She´s in the launch out here by the bow." "You want me to get her and let her tell you herself?" "Keep her out of here." "Nobody´s gonna have to take care of me." "I told you what he´d say, doc." "I know." "Listen. I´ve done everything I can for you, son." "Now I want you to do something for me." "What?" "l´m a religious man, Tony." "I believe in the word of God and in the power of prayer." "I believe in grace and punishment for sin." "When I read, "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord" I believe that´s exactly what it means." "I know why you came to this island, Tony." "I know what the gun in your locker was for." "I don´t want you to face the moment ahead of you full of hatred and revenge." "I want you to forgive him, Tony." "Oh, he´s no good, I know that." "He´s done you great harm, I know that too." "He´s a betrayer and a blasphemer and a liar." "Wherever he goes, he leaves a path of ruin behind him." "But I want you to forgive him." "Let me tell you something, doc." "If I had a gun in my hand, I´d kill him this minute." "And if I had a son, I´d curse him if he didn´t promise me to spend his life tracking him down and killing him." "If I had a brother, I´d swear I´d never let him rest until he promised me that he´d get him." "And if I had a wife the only way that she could ever prove that she loved me would...." "Okay, doc, you´ve had your chance." "Now let me have mine." "You get out of here." "Tony and I have some things we have to say to each other. ln private." "Tony?" "Go on." "I´m all the things the doc said, kid." "Plus a couple more he neglected to mention." "But I´m not gonna leave you alone now." "I warned you we were doing the wrong thing..." "...that first night we saw her, didn´t l?" "Yeah." "I knew it in my bones." "I´m hunchy." "It´s a funny thing, though." "I never have hunches when something good´s gonna happen to me, only bad." "I´d be a great guy to consult to know who was going to lose a horserace." "Does a man get a drink in this place?" "To the good years." "I was straight with you for a long time, Tony." "l thought so." "l was." "I´m gonna be straight with you now." "You did me a lot of good, and I´m grateful to you." "You picked a great way to show it." "Until you came along, I was a rummy." "Floating around the islands, getting rolled whenever I was drunk." "Getting beat up in bars." "But nobody in the whole world to care whether I lived or died." "Then I saw lrena, and I...." "l knew they were bringing the curtain down on me." "I never wanted anything so bad in my whole life, Tony." "Maybe it was because we were so much alike." "She got hers in Berlin my whole life has been Berlin." "Give me the bottle." "Only, naturally, like all the rest, she went to you." "I thought, "Well, give him a little time." "The game´s always over for him by 4:30." "He plays again next Saturday out of town."" "Then you came to me and told me you were gonna marry her." "That night I tipped off the customs." "I´m ashamed of it. lt´s the dirtiest thing a man could ever do." "And I´d do it again, Tony, if I had to." "And the doctor says forgive!" "But I was wrong." "You want to know why?" "Why?" "Because I didn´t have to." "Because two days later, after it was too late to stop you or call off the customs she came to my hotel room, where l was sitting half-drunk with a three-day beard on my face and she got down on her knees, and she kissed my hand." "She told me she couldn´t go through with it with you." "She´d made a mistake." "She couldn´t marry you." "You were young and gentle and offered her safety." "Only she didn´t want safety, she wanted me." "And she´d go anywhere and do anything I wanted her to." "You´re lying!" "Want me to get her right now..." "...and have her tell it to your face?" "Go get her!" "Tony!" "When I say go, you jump with me." "Listen you might as well know something." "This doesn´t change anything." "And if I pull through this, I´m still coming after you." "Go!" "We must get him to a hospital, quick." "How could he have gotten out?" "I thought you said he couldn´t move for at least another five days." "I know what I said, but he´s a young man, and he recovers fast." "Doctors." "I saw him." "He´s coming here." "He´s picked up a gun." "Don´t you think you´d better get out of here?" "No, not really, doc." "Sit down, Jimmy Jean." "Have a drink." "No, thank you, I´ll have mine at the bar." "Oh, come on, sit down." "l´ll warn this man but I won´t drink with him." "Jimmy Jean has a highly developed moral sense." "Rare in this day and age." "Simone, bring us another glass." "We´re expecting a guest." "We" "Now, Tony" "That´s all right, doc." "We were expecting you." "I want to talk to you outside." "Alone." "I´m ready." "Sit down." "We have nothing to say to each other." "Like the man says, some days you win, some days you lose." "Drinks are on me."