"All right, Verne." "Did you hear me?" "I said, come out." "Thirty days in solitary won't make him any easier to handle." "Don't try anything, Verne, or you'll go back in there." "Look him over." "He may have a knife." "Yeah." "Maybe one of them rats in there slipped me one." "But I got a couple of hidden weapons at that, here and here." " Nobody can take them away from me." " Come on." "Ninety lashes, 16 months in solitary, seven months in the bear pit and five attempts to escape in three years." " Don't you like it here, Verne?" " No." "Does that answer it?" "You put things so clearly." "Maybe we ought to give you a chance to make some new contacts, outside the walls." " Outside?" " Why not?" "Nature surrounded us with something stronger than walls, the jungle." "You know about that don't you, Verne?" "So it's tough." "You've plugged up every hole I've ever made, but you know I'm going to make another one." "Yeah, I've heard men talk like that before." "Men like Moussenq." "Six times he got away." "Three times we caught him, and three times the jungle got him for us." "You can't win, Verne." "And why try, when you've only got three years left?" "I'd try if I only had three minutes left." "I'm a thief by profession, Grideau, not a convict." "There's nothing won'th stealing around here except freedom, and I'm after some of that." "Verne, I'm going to assign you to the wharf detail outside the walls." "Frankly, it's an experiment." "I've tried everything else with you." "You'll be on your honor." "I haven't got any." "Don't be a sucker." "Yes, well go and clean yourself up." "Report for work at the main gate." "Oh, Verne." "I forgot to tell you, there were three or four men, big men like you, who did make it through the jungle." "Except when they got through, I was waiting for them to bring them back." "28, 30, 32, 34, 36. 36, right?" "36, right." "Looks like you've had enough, Pop." "Twelve years seems like enough." "More than enough." "Get up, Moussenq." "This is no picnic." "Did he call you Moussenq?" "That's my name." "That's all Moussenq is now, a name." "You called me Pop." "How old do you think I am?" "You look about 50." "I'm 36 years old, believe it if you can." "Twelve of them I spent in the bear pit and solitary and under the lash." "You've made enough breaks." "Why didn't you get away?" "No man can get through that jungle." "It tears you and breaks you and makes you old before your time." "There's nothing a man can't get through to be free." "It's been done." "With help from the outside, a boat waiting down the coast, maybe." "Who knows?" "Some way they did it, but not alone." "No, monsieur, it can't be done." "But someday I'll try it again." "Verne." "Drop it and get moving." "Hello, Georges." "You've been such a stranger at the café lately." "Well, you know how it is with a newly married man." " He feels kind of married, you know?" " Well, in a couple of months, then." " May I go aboard?" " What for?" "Let's say I'm a fool for boats, and I only see one every three months." "Well, maybe you expect something from home?" " In care of the captain." " Well, I'll take you to him." "Coming, Julie?" "There might be some mail." "Mail for me?" " Hello, Julie." " Go away, Pig." "Oh, Julie, you don't mean it just like that, do you?" "After all, there is no harm in being friendly." "Men die all the time and pigs live on and on, when you'd think their own smell would kill them." "Look, how many times have I got to tell you?" "You're a pig, a sneak and a dirty stoolpigeon, and I want you to leave me alone." "Watch yourself, baby." "Just act natural like you're alone." " What do you want?" " Guess." "Why, you crummy convict." "Who do you think you're talking to?" "Wait a minute, sweetheart." "Made a nice grab there, didn't I?" "Let go, or I'll yell for the guard." "Be nice, or I'll give it a twist." "And they'll fish you out of the drink." "Don't you know what'll happen if you're caught talking to me?" "Sure." "They'll throw me into solitary." "Can we fix it to be thrown in together?" "You'd like to cut yourself a piece of cake like that, wouldn't you?" "Easy, baby." "Listen, if I'm caught talking to a convict, they'll chase me off the island." "Swell." "We'll meet on the mainland, and hit Paris together." "You're from Paris, ain't you?" "I said, where you from, baby?" " Marseille." " Marseille." "Hot blue nights, the right kind of music, it's a date." "A romantic convict." "What are you in for, stealing doilies?" "All right, I got no time to mess around." "You're one of the girls at the café, ain't you?" " Ain't you?" " Well, what if I am?" "I'll be there tonight." "Keep a light in the window, and a couple more in your eyes." "Tonight you'll be in a cell just where you belong." "And if the walls fall down or something, and you should get out," "I'll turn you over to the guards so quick it'll make you dizzy." "You hate hard, baby, so you love hard." "What's your name?" "Yvonne, Missy, Julie, Fifi?" "Julie." "I'll see you tonight, Julie." "Don't tell me the heat's got you." "I'd swear I saw you talking to yourself." "You werert talking to a convict?" "No." "I know better than that." "I was just trying out some new answers." "I'd like to hear some new ones." "Why don't you drop up some night after you've tucked the convicts in the cells?" "You lock them up, don't you?" "I mean, there's no way they can get out at night, is there?" " No way that they know about." "Why?" " Nothing." "I was just wondering." "30, 32, 34, 35." "Halt." "Louis, there should be 36." "I count 35." "Hurry up there, get up here with the others." "I must have fallen behind." "There was so much to do out there." "Get in line and hurry up about it." "All right, Louis, 36 is right." "Take them away." "March." " I said I'd be here, baby." " Yes, so you did." "And here you are, and you're quite a little man." "Now beat it before you get yourself a lot of grief." "Grief ain't what I came after." "You got class, kid." "Or is it because I haven't seen any women lately?" "Don't try that again." "Because if you do, I'll break a couple of your bones, if you've got any." "Let's see if you have." "Now get smart." "Why don't you get smart?" "You know what they'll do to you." "Sure I do, but I'll take all they've got for a little of this." "I don't know what you'll look like tomorrow, but right now, baby, you're the most beautiful dame in the world." " Does that mean anything to you?" " Not a thing." "No?" "Supposing I wasrt a convict?" "Supposing I was sailing through on my yacht or a guy selling brushes..." "Yeah, and suppose I was Snow White." "But even if I did think you werert the worst-looking guy in the world, supposing even I told you you looked like someone I was once dumb enough to go for, what would it get me?" "If you get caught here, I get sent back to the mainland." "I can think of worse things than that." "Look, this isn't my idea of heaven, either." "Let's get back to supposing." "Supposing I was the guy you were dumb enough to fall for." " Then what?" " Here's what." "There, you see?" "Maybe you wouldn't be so hard to like if you went at things in a nicer way." "It'd be a nice gamble if a guy could win, wouldn't it?" "All right, we'll try things your way." "Where do we begin?" "Well, I've got a number coming up, and a date with one of the prison directors." "And he should be downstairs now." "Yeah, but I'll tell him I've got a headache or something." "Take off your beard, sweetheart." "Okay." "If you want him to find you here, it's no skin off my teeth." "That's right." "So when they start yelling for me to come down and sing my song, I'll..." "You'll stay here and sing it." "Sure, sure, what do we care?" "We'll take what we've got right now." "Who cares about later?" "Let them come and get you." "You're too tough" " and too smart for them all." " I'm not exactly a cluck, baby." "No, you figure here we are, this is the beginning and the end." "Only a cluck would think of tomorrow." "Well, I'm a cluck." "You're no good to me in a cell." "I'm going down to stall them off." "You wait here." "It's nice of you to try things my way." " But, monsieur, I assure you..." " He's here some place." "There must be some mistake." "No prisoner would dare come in here." "He was seen climbing in an upstairs window." "You." "We're looking for..." "If you're looking for a loose convict, come and get him." "All right, Verne, we've got you." "Don't try anything." "So, you outsmarted me, huh?" "That's what happens, they tell me, when smart people get together." "One of them winds up ahead." "And I lose." "Only what happens when I catch up with you?" "And I will catch up with you, baby." "The law here denies convicts the privilege of associating with women." "The same law applies to women." "Women are not allowed to associate with convicts, on the penalty of expulsion from the colony." "Don't tell me I'm going to be kicked out of this paradise of yours." "All right, come on, give me my ticket." "I'll be on my way." "Well, we don't give out tickets." "Oh, what do you expect me to do, ride out of here on a cloud?" "Make it a cloud for two, baby." "We didn't send for you." "You can get out the way you got in." "But, Grideau, it wasrt my fault." "He spoke to me on the dock, and I warned him to keep away from me." "When he didn't, I told him I'd call the guard, and he said if I did, he'd throw me overboard." "How about that, Verne?" "Some women would rather drown than talk to a guy like me." " How did you come to be in her room?" " I told her I'd be there, didn't I?" "Why didn't she turn me in before I made good?" "Because I didn't believe he would." "He broke into my room, and as soon as I could, I called the guards." "They'll tell you." "Go on, tell him." "So, she ran into the boys." "She was in a spot." "She turned me in to save her own hide." "You're a liar." "You're not going to take the word" " of a slimy convict against mine, are you?" " I might." "But the facts speak more convincingly than either of you." "He was found in your room." "I've got to act accordingly." "Okay." "So that's that, and I'm on my way." "But no matter where I go, or no matter how low it is," "I'll know that you're no better than me, Monsieur Grideau, or any of the rats in your zoo." "You said you'd catch up with me someday." "Well, I just hope you do." " And what's going to happen then, baby?" " Here's what." "Take Verne to a dormitory." "I'll deal with him in the morning." "You've got 12 hours to leave the colony." "If you're not gone, you'll be put under arrest." "I got an idea, Grideau." "Give me 12 hours to get out, and put her in the dormitory." "That way everybody's happy." "Let go of me." "You heard what he said." "I'm going out the way I came in." " Send the Pig in." "Yes, sir." "Thank you, monsieur." "But I wonder whether this time instead of paying me the reward, you would grant me a small favor?" "Well, what is it?" "Well, Julie's not a bad girl." "This business was none of her fault." "And will I let her remain in the colony?" "And what makes you think I deal in women, you miserable..." "Take your money and get out of here." "Wouldrt have to rely on vermin like him if you men filled your uniforms." "Have you discovered how Verne managed to remain outside the walls?" "There's no way of explaining it, sir." "36 men were counted through the gate, and 36 men were counted back, and double counted, sir." "Well, if you're sure of that, then, it certainly is odd." "Isn't that the Bible you're reading?" "With the exception of me, this room is filled with men who have forgotten God." "Blasphemers, infidels, atheists." "And God, too, has forgotten them all." "All except me." "I will be forgiven for my sins." "The rest will burn in hell, but I will be forgiven." " So, that's why you read the Bible?" " Why else?" " There might be many other reasons." " And there might be none at all." "Look at this pathetic little worm, lulling the ache of his conscience with spiritual aspirin." "I can't think of anything more practical than removing that particular ache." "I can." "Removing the conscience." "And you have none, Hessler." "How do you know my name?" "I've never seen you before." "That doesn't mean I've never seen you before." "And to look at him is to look at the devil's spawn, señor." "Then pray for me, Telez." "And pray for my father, the devil, too." "You'll burn in hell where you belong." "You'll burn for the evil that you've done, for the lives you've taken." "He has poisoned women for their money." "He deserved the guillotine." "Though I had wretched wives, I had an excellent lawyer." "You were never meant for the scaffold, Hessler, nor for a jail." "Did you hear that, Telez?" "I am to be immortal." "That is, if your friend here knows what he's talking about." "He's not my friend." "Perhaps he's yours." "Perhaps he's the devil." "Poor Telez." "I pity him." "Pity?" "I don't understand you." "Never having received any pity or pitied anyone, let me plead ignorance." " I don't know what it is." " Have you no feelings at all?" "For these men?" "How can one feel kinship with the dead?" "Look at them." "Rotting in their graves." "Waiting for their bodies to die." "Perhaps before that happens, they'll get out of their graves." "Not these." "They've dug them too narrow and too deep." "They can never climb out." " Too weak, perhaps?" " To be weak is to be dead." " Then to be strong is to live." " Hasrt it always been so?" "It seems to me the mighty have fallen from time to time." "We must talk again, monsieur." "You have a brain." "That makes two of us." "Hi, Superman." "How's the poison holding out?" "Always a little left for friends, Verne." "But he can't take that bunk." "Pardon me, but this bunk belongs to someone else." "That so?" "But you don't understand." "This bunk belongs to Moll." "Moll, huh?" "And right here in the same dormitory." "That's going to be cozy." "What does that rat mean by taking my bunk?" "But he's always had this bunk." "Then he might've known I'd be around for it." "Friend of his?" " Why, yes, we're friends." "Why not?" " Yeah, why not?" "Because he's a maggot, see." "Tell him that I said so." "Tell him that Verne says he's a flatheaded maggot." "Go on, tell him." "Moll." "Nice hero for the kid, ain't he?" "A gorilla." "Looks from here as if you couldn't use any part of him." "No, nor any of his friends or monkey ancestors." " Maybe you're a pal of his?" " Maybe." "Well, then stand up and cut loose, and I'll pick it up from there." "And what could either of us win?" "Oh, you're one of those guys that play it safe, huh?" "Safe, or maybe smart." " You been here long?" "Do I know you?" " I've been around." " Maybe we just never made connections." " Maybe that's it." "What's that book you got there?" "Let's see it." "The Bible?" "Forget it, pal, you're wasting your time." "So?" "Maybe you've read it." "Read it?" "I know this book backwards." "Before I came here I laid in solitary for six months at Saint Miguel's." "There was one in my cage." "Well, I didn't have nothing else to do, I had to read it." " Well?" " It don't make sense." "Here, this one will start you talking to yourself." "Listen." ""So God created man in his own image. "" "How do you like that?" "Now take a look at me." "Do I look like a god to you?" "This forsaken place is full of gods, I suppose." "Only they're not working at it right now." "They're gods on a holiday." "Answer that one." "It sounds simple enough." "I think it means that each man has some of the qualities of God inside him, if he wants them, and if he looks for them." "There's a couple here won'th looking for, too." "You remember that one about the Red Sea?" "The waters parted and they crossed on dry land?" "Maybe I'll try it someday on that jungle out there." "I'll just wave my hand, and there'll be a path, and I'll cross over to the mainland." "And if the path ain't there, I'll make one." " You'll make what?" " Hello, Moll." "Get your filthy carcass off my bunk." "Sure, Moll." "Where'll you have it?" "Moll." "We don't want trouble now." " I'll murder the bleeding..." " They'll throw you in solitary, Moll." "Yeah, you're right, kid." "I'll move down to the other end where the air's better." "You can have the bunk, Verne." "You'll need it, kicking off the rest of them years." "That's not like Moll to back down that way." "He's not yellow." " There's something in the wind." " Maybe there is, Verne, but maybe it isn't blowing your way." "Verne." " Hello, Flaubert." " You've got to help me, Verne." "Sure." "What do you want me to do, comb a couple of ghosts out of your hair?" "Here's another one of your gods, pal, only this one's haunted." "He thinks the people he's killed are chasing him, and the ones he hasn't killed are going to kill him." "He gets it coming and going." " Perhaps if he knew he had one friend." " But I haven't, monsieur." "Not one, not one in the world." "Except you, Verne." " I'm not your friend." " But you've got to help me." "Moll is planning to escape." "He's taking six men with him." " Yeah?" " He took my money." "A thousand francs for my share of the expenses, and I know he's going to leave me behind." "I'll get all the blame." "They'll beat me." "They'll put me in solitary." "Please, you've got to get my money back before it's too late." "Then I can tell Grideau that I'm innocent." "You know that he's against me, he's got a grudge against me." "So has Moll." "Why do they pick on me all the time?" "Why do they make me so miserable?" "You're against me, too." "You're all against me." "How about it, Moll?" "You're making a break, am I in?" "You blasted loon." " Give me my money, I'm afraid to go." " Shut up, you weak swine." " Am I in, Moll?" " Sure, you're in nothing." "If you think I've spent three years figuring a way to kick out of this joint for your benefit, think again." "You better start thinking, Moll, or else I'm going to slug you." "And if I do, they'll slap us into solitary together." "And how will you get out then, sweetheart?" " You can't make it, Verne." " Why not?" "You'd have to put up money like the rest of us." "A thousand francs." " I'll get it." " Where?" "There's a lot of men bunking in this room." "Maybe some of them will lend me the money." "I'll lend it to you, Verne." "A thousand for Verne and a thousand for me." "I'll go along, too, if you don't mind." " Who are you?" " My name's Cambreau." "I never heard of you." "You heard of 2,000 francs, didn't you?" "He's got them." "All right, if you're in, listen." "Tomorrow they march us out to work on the road." "When we get there, I put this money in a certain place, and a certain bloke'll come and get it." "It's to pay for a boat that'll be hid along the beach," " about three days through the jungle." " How about maps?" "Give the mining camp a wide berth." "They're always on the lookout and they'll do you dirt." "The Indian village is worse." "They'll turn you in for 10 francs kicking or five francs cold." "They don't like to take a chance so they cash in for five." "That's the cat country." "Keep a fire burning at night and lie up close to it." "From here on, look out for crocs and snakes." "And don't drink no water while you're in the fever belt." " You can't mistake it for the stink of it." " How many maps you got?" "Give me one." "There are only two." "The kid has one and I'm keeping this." "He takes one mob with him and you go along with me." "Look out, the guards." "But I've less than 12 hours." "Just lend me enough to get on the boat." "If I lent money to every girl who was ordered out of the colony, where would I be?" "Out of business, cherie, believe me..." " Please, Renard." "I promise you, I..." " There's nothing to worry about Julie." "It so happens that I'm making a little trip myself to the mainland, and it is as easy to arrange passage for two as for one." "You'd like to buy in that way, wouldn't you, Monsieur Pig." "Julie, if you only knew me better, I'm not such a bad fellow." "Look." "Look, Julie we'll go to the mainland, and then when we get there, and if you still don't think better of me, then you may do as you please." "I'll do as I please right now." "And that doesn't include you." "Can't you get that straight?" "Remember this, Pig." "You're the one man in the world I could never get low enough to touch." " Now get out of here and leave me alone." "Bravo, Julie." "I won't hurry, Julie, because, it looks like you may have to adjust your standards." "Why will she, Monsieur Pig?" "Oh, you have a better proposition, Monsieur Marfeu?" "Julie can return to the mining camp with me, and I'll have a couple of Indians take her up the coast in a small boat." "And she'll owe me nothing." "And you believe that, Julie?" "No, of course not." "Then if you go with him, you're a fool." "And if I go with you, what am I?" " When do we leave, Marfeu?" " In the morning." "You didn't see that, do you hear?" "Unless you want me to give it to you, too." "Only one man can run a thing like this." "This is my show and I'm running it my way." "Anybody know anything about this?" "Of course not." " Take him to the hospital." " Right." "All right, hut." "Watch yourselves." "Come on." "The road gang just made a break." "Moll and a couple of guys got away." "Okay, Moll." "Only one of these days comes the payoff." "Yes, my dear brethren, the day of salvation is at hand." "All right, back to your places." "All right, settle down there." "And no talk." "He'll head for the mainland." "When he gets there, if he does, I'll be waiting for him to bring him back." "We'll go this way, Moll." "Here, when Benet comes back, we'll follow this trail to the beach." "He'll never come back." "They'll kill him." "Moll warned us to keep clear of that Indian village." "What have we got to lose?" "If Benet gets back we eat." "They've got him, I tell you, and they'll get us." " We'll never get out of this alive." " Maybe you won't, but I will." "Why you and not us?" "Because I've prayed and I will be saved." "You might have prayed for me, too." "It's not his god he's counting on, it's the food he has hidden." "And what if I have?" "It's all mine, do you hear?" "It's mine." "Did you pray for that, Telez, or did you steal it?" "It makes no difference." "It's God's will." "Benet." " They got him." " Quick." " Where are you going?" " After food." "Didrt we decide not to take a chance on that mining camp?" "You decided that." "Well, who's running this, me or you?" "Do you want to get caught?" "No, but we'll need food." "Without it, we couldn't all reach the boat alive." "What of it?" "The best of us'll get through, won't they?" "And that's us." "All of us aren't going to get through anyway." "You know that, don't you?" "You picked the men who were to go with you very carefully, Moll." "Sure I did." "Do you know why?" "Because we'll be at least 10 days in that boat, and there are rations enough for six men." "Figure it out for yourself." "I've already figured it out, Moll." "And we'd better be careful with those rations." "I'll be back." "He's asking for trouble." "What with them murdering Indians and jungle animals, he ain't got an earthly." "He'll be back." "I'll bet on it." "Because he said he would." "Because he says something, does that make it so?" "It has so far." "He said we'd reach that mining camp this afternoon, and we did." "According to the map, we should have reached it." "Three times we were lost, and each time he led us back to the trail." "He stumbled on it." "And when our tongues were hanging out from thirst, he stepped off the trail and found a brook." "What was that, Moll?" "So he had a lucky day." " Who is Cambreau?" " How do I know?" "Oh, he's just another prison mug like you and me." "Of course he is." "He's got to be." "This jungle heat does crazy things to your mind." "Rain again." "You're not leaving us, are you, Julie?" "Now, is that nice?" "Havert I been pretty decent about everything?" " Gave you a first class home, didn't I?" " Yeah, you're grand people." "You brought me here as a favor to help me on my way to the mainland." "And it wasrt going to cost me a thing." " Oh, now, Julie." " Let me by." "So you think you're checking out, eh?" "Well, what have I got to say about it?" " Go on, tell me." "What?" " Put that down, you little..." "Julie." "Not that way, Julie." "The voice came from here." "I heard it." "The sack of food's gone." "He paid for it, too, whoever it was." "Five hundred francs would take you to the mainland." "But we can't have any of that, can we?" "Look at him sleep." "He's got his belly full of food." "You're young and quick." "Look." "There'd be only one blow." "He'd never know." " Go on." " I can't." "I don't know how to kill." "Come on, let's get out of here." "Marfeu, maybe I've been a bad loser." "I've fought as hard as I could and it got me nothing." "I don't know what I expected." "Maybe what I got." " Maybe I figured you wrong from the start." " You made a mistake." "We can assume it was not your first." "Look, I've been here now for, well, for a while." "Shouldrt that be enough?" "Give me a chance, Marfeu." "Let me go, will you?" "There should be violins playing when you talk that way, Julie." "You've got the money that was left for the food." "It's enough to get me to the mainland." "I'll pay it back." "I promise, every sou, as soon as I can get it." "I swear." "Yeah?" "And what do I win?" "Why do you think I pulled you out of a mess back there, and brought you here?" "To send you away in a golden carriage?" "You're not going anyplace." "You're staying here until I throw you out." "Can you understand that?" "Don't move, or I'll brain you." "I want grub and I want it quick." "Get over there." "Hello, baby." "Caught up with you like I said, didn't I?" "So we'll pick up where we left off, only first I'll have something to eat." " Get it out here." " Lf you want any food, get it yourself." "Open them cans." "Hug that bed, you." "One funny move and I'll crack your leg." "Dump it in there." "Sit over there where I can watch you." "Garbage." "But good enough for a man when he's starving." " So you'll do, too, baby." " Thanks." "This is no time to be particular." "Funny a man should want something he's got no use for, and I got no use for you." "You know that, don't you?" "And how much do you think I think of you?" "How much?" "So much that if you ever made the mistake of turning your back on me," " I'd..." " You'd run a knife into it?" "You ain't got that kind of stuff, sweetheart." "There they are, but you won't use them." "It takes something to gamble that way, something a cheap dame hasn't got." "And you're cheap." "If you'd have waited back there, and run the scissors into me when I wasrt looking, I'd have loved you for it, but you sneaked out for the law." "That's what a cheap dame would do." "So tomorrow the Indians can have you." "Do I say thanks, baby, or were you just waving at something?" "Don't thank me." "I didn't give you a thing." "All I want is to get out of here and you happened to be going my way, so I played you." "But the minute I find somebody going faster than you, I'll..." "You won't." "Come on." " What are you after?" " Something somebody left for me." "Never mind that." "Come on." ""Behold, thou art fair, my love, behold, thou art fair." ""Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil." ""Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet and thy mouth is comely." ""Thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate, behind thy veil." ""Thou art all fair, my love, and there is no spot in thee. "" "How do you like that, baby?" "Great stuff, huh?" "I guess nobody ever said anything like that to you before, did they?" "Does that put me out in front or not?" "Listen. "Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my bride." ""Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes." ""How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride." ""How much better is thy love than wine," ""and the smell of thine ointments than all manner of spices." ""Thy lips, O my bride, drop as the honeycomb." ""Honey and milk are under thy tongue" ""and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. "" "That's saltwater, Moll." "You can't drink it." "You'll go mad." "Saltwater?" "It's this heat." "Where's the boat?" "There's water in the boat and food." " Where is it?" " Around that point of land." "I'll find it." "You stay here." "We made it." "The swine." "Thought they could lock me up forever." "Moll." " Hello, kid." "How are you?" " Cambreau gave us food and water." " We'll be all right." " Sure you will be." "Where are the others?" "Dunning was shot as we were leaving the island." "At the Indian village, Benet went after food." "They got him." "What about Telez?" "Huh?" "What about Telez?" "He didn't have the strength." "There was nothing we could do." "He just died." "It's true, Moll, we tried to save him." "I swear it." "Who cares?" "So he died." "One less to go in the boat." "Five of us." "And more than enough room for seven." "It's too bad Verne was hurt." "Maybe it's healthier where he is." "Maybe he wouldn't fit in my plans." "Plans often have to be changed, Moll." "You're such a pessimist, Cambreau." "Has nothing ever turned out well for you?" "Quite the contrary, Hessler." "Many things have happened just as I planned them." "Telez!" "I'll kill them." "They stole my crucifix." "A healthy-looking ghost, Monsieur Dufond." "He had food, he wouldn't give us any." "It was our lives or his." "What would you have done, Moll?" "We were starving." "I'd have done the thing up right and finished him." "They took my bread and my cross." "They left me to die." "Easy, you're hurt." "Let's have a look at that leg." "Dufond, tear away the trouser." "He's been bitten by a snake." " Let us help you, Telez." " No, not you." "Don't you touch me." "Don't let him touch me." "He's the devil." "He's the devil, I tell you." "Do you suppose that's the answer, Moll?" "Interesting idea there, anyway." "Cambreau, the devil." "This swelling will have to be lanced, Cambreau." " You seem to know what you're doing." " I was a medical student, a lifetime ago." "Let's have your knife, Flaubert." " I haven't got a knife." " Moll, get his knife." "Moll, I..." "Easy." " It won't drain unless someone..." " Well?" "I can't do it." "My lips are chapped." "I'll get the poison in my system." "Then again, you might not." "The point is, it has to be done." "I hope that'll help you, Telez." "That was a pretty gesture." "But lancing that wound and drawing out the venom won't help." " He'll be dead at dawn." " Could we let him die believing that none of us cared whether he lived or not?" "Why not?" "It's the truth, isn't it?" "Why should he die believing a lie?" "Maybe he won't." "Maybe Telez will know the truth when it's time." "Where are all the others?" "They're getting the sloop." "They won't sail without me." "How little you know men." "How evil they are." "Only God is good." "But the good in man is God, Telez." "Only God is good." "Only God can forgive." "They stole my crucifix, Cambreau." "Without it, I'm lost." "I'm afraid." "A crucifix is a piece of wood, Telez, only a piece of wood." "The miracle is not in the wood, but in the heart." " But I've prayed, I've prayed." " And your prayers were only words." "Like your crucifix, they found no way to your heart." "Telez, the bread stood between them and your heart." "But it wasrt enough." "I had to look out for myself." "And will you look out for yourself, then, through all eternity?" " I know, God has forsaken me." " You have forsaken him." "I'll die in darkness and be cursed." "I'll never find peace or forgiveness." "Cambreau, help me, help me to find God." "Then look for him, Telez." "Search your heart." "You drew the poison from my body into your own." "I had bread and I would not share it." ""Or what man is there of you," ""whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?"" "It's not too late?" "It's never too late." "A moment ago, there was so much darkness." "I was afraid." "It's lighter now." "My fear is gone." "You brought me peace, Cambreau, and rest." "And if, some time, things are said against me, you'll speak for me?" "I'll speak for you, Telez." "What makes you think he'll like it better under a lot of dirt than in the belly of a shark?" "Well, maybe he rates a grave at that." "He paid for it." " Here, here's your end." " I'm afraid I can't use it, Verne." "Oh, so I'm a swine for robbing the dead?" "Maybe if I'd crack through with enough for a boat to take us to the mainland you wouldn't come along." "Here, here's your book of rules." "Maybe you can talk him into a set of wings." "I can try." ""Know ye not that ye are the temple of God," ""and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?" ""If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy" ""for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. "" "That's nice music, only what does it mean?" "You heard what he said, didn't you, about the temple of God?" "You know who he's talking about, don't you?" "About me." "All right, you don't have to believe it if you don't want to, but I'm telling you." "Whenever you want, what's the word, Cambreau, sanctuary." "Whenever you want sanctuary, babe, here's where you'll find it." "Right here in the old temple." "Don't tap your heart, you'll break your finger." "And if you're sanctuary, I'll take whatever else is lying around." "Yeah?" "Well, you better get ready to take it, babe, because here it comes." "So, Verne made it, did he?" "Give me that knife of yours, Flaubert." "And he brought a woman along with him, too." "Now ain't that thoughtful?" "Hello, Verne." "You made it through, huh?" "I'd have been here sooner if a shoe hadrt slipped out of somebody's hand and landed on my head." "You ought to fire your valet for being so careless." "I see you brought a friend along with you, too." "Always room for one more in the boat." "And if there isn't, you can always stay behind." "We'll cut up our rations with you, and our water." "What do you say?" " Big-hearted, ain't you, Moll?" " Why not?" "We're all together, aren't we?" "Everything is share and share alike with us." "With all of us, ain't it, with everything?" "Sure it is, with everything that's yours and not mine." "Do you get that, Moll?" "And do you get it, you mugs?" "Take a good look, because that's all any of you are going to get." "Anybody got any other ideas?" " I have some." " Wait a minute." "Let's have your knife, Flaubert." "Where is it?" "I gave it to Moll." "Nothing like a little edge, huh, sweetheart?" "I don't need any with you, Verne." "I forgot I had it." "Throw him in the boat and let's get out of here." "From now on, I'm in charge." " Looking for something, Moll?" " Yeah, something I lost." " Where'd you lose it?" " On the beach." "Somebody got lucky with a punch." "Well, maybe someday you'll get lucky, too." "When you stop leading with your chin." "How do you like being the only woman in the world, Julie?" "Well, I don't take these shipboard romances seriously." " Still it has its advantages." " And perhaps its disadvantages, too." "We might decide we don't want any women in this particular world." "And you're just the baby to take care of that, aren't you, Hessler?" "But then I figure I'm safe." "You always married your women before you poisoned them, isn't that so?" "And I don't think the captain would marry us." "Or why don't you start reading out of that book, and I'll jump off the boat." "Don't give me any of that "sister, come to salvation" look." "I'm not buying any." "I know the routine." "It starts out with a prayer, and ends up with a Bible in one hand and me in the other." "Hey, baby." "Stop messing around with the crew and get back here." "You belong at the captairs table, don't ever forget that." " What was that for, baby?" " For fun, that's what." "So we're playing games, are we?" "Okay." "What'll we play, sweethearts?" "Why not?" "It's a game we're good at anyway." "Then get one up here fast." "Again." "Again?" "Very pretty." "So sweet, so touching and sickening." "What good can ever come from a man like that?" "Or a woman like that?" "I've heard of it happening before." "Why can't it happen again?" "We ought to make the mainland in a couple of days, kid, if the wind holds out." " And what then?" " That's what I was wondering." "I thought maybe you and me might string along together." "You wouldn't want me around, Moll." "I'd just get in your way." "I'm not a good thief." "Not that I have the conscience, it just is I haven't got what it takes to make a man steal." "Oh, but you wouldn't have to." "You see, I've always dodged around alone, because I figured a guy shaves a percentage against himself if he plays it alone." "But I've gotten to like you quite a bit, kid, you know?" "Like a guy does his kid brother." "How does that strike you?" "Well, why shouldn't I like you, Moll?" "You have everything I haven't got." "Courage, for one thing." "And you've been decent to me." "I'd never have made it alone if it hadrt been for you." "And I'll see you through from here on in." "We'll travel far and we'll travel fast." "Does that make it a deal?" " Who's your pal, kid?" " You are, Moll." "Right." "Let's have some more of that song you were singing, huh?" "Over the far horizon" "Riding the tides of night" "Perhaps we should all sing." "But what have we got to sing about?" "Well, we're alive and the past is behind us." "And there's always a chance of something better up ahead, if the wind holds out." "Dreaming the whole night through" "Hoping you'll shine on some..." "One two, three, four, five." "Five days." "We'll die here." "All of us." "Moll." "I've got to have water." "Now hold onto yourself, kid." "If you drink yours now, you'll be thirsty by night." "The surll dry it out of you just as fast as you pour it in." "But it's so hot, it's so hot." "Why doesn't the wind come?" "Cambreau, why doesn't the wind come?" "The wind should come soon." "But before it comes, some of us may die." "Did you hear what he said, Verne?" "Before the wind comes..." "That's what he says, and I say he's wrong." "I know as much about it as he does." "But he knew when the wind was dying." "He told us to be careful of the water because there'd be days of calm." " He does know, Verne." " All right, he knows." "Any minute now, he'll pull a fast one out of that little book of his and it'll rain milk." "Come on, Cambreau, go into your miracle." "Don't be a fool, Verne." "I'm no more religious than you are, but does this look like a good time for blasphemy?" "That's not what you'd call good politics, my friend." "How do you figure some of us will die, Cambreau?" "Possibly because there's no sign of any wind yet, and if the wind doesn't come, it becomes a matter of endurance, doesn't it?" "And some of us may not have the strength to pull through." "It's simple enough when you reason it out, isn't it?" "I'm sorry to disappoint all you big, strong gorillas, but I feel fine." "You're the second best man in the boat, baby." "I can't stand it any longer." "Moll, I've got to have water." " All right, kid." " No, you can't have it." " Get away from that keg." " You can't give him any." " What about the rest of us?" " He can have my share, can't he?" "Get away from that keg, Flaubert." "Get back where you were, Moll." "Get away from that keg or I'll pitch you out of the boat." "Now." " Let's see you get it now." " You fool." " Well, that's the end of the water." " And the end of hope." "You're thinking it's my fault." "Why don't you say so?" "Shut up." "It's done and that's that." "Well, why doesn't somebody do something about getting it back?" "Sharks." " Arert you going to do anything to me?" " Why should we?" "But I threw away your water and you'll die." "You'll die with us if we do." "We know that's not what you wanted." "No." "I thought they were trying to take something away from me, but they werert, were they?" "All these years, I've been afraid of things that didn't exist." "I looked for enemies where I might have found friends." "I tried to escape a life that I might have been forgiven for." "Flaubert!" "No, let him go, kid." "Moll thinks I'm afraid, but I'm not." "You know I'm not afraid, don't you, Cambreau?" "You're not afraid, Dufond." "Verne." "Come back here." " Come back here." " Let me go." "I didn't mean to hurt you, kid, but it would have been suicide." " You wanted to save him, didn't you, Moll?" " Sure, that's all." " He'll be all right in a jiffy." " I'm afraid not, Moll." " Why?" "What do you mean?" " He's dead." "But he can't be." "Why?" "Why should he be?" "Kid." "That's two dead." "Don't let me be afraid, Verne." "Do you hear?" "Don't let me be afraid." "Why should you be?" "Men die every day." "Hessler, come to life and haul in that keg." "The surs going down, Verne." "What about the water?" "All right, Cambreau, dish out what we got coming to us." "The barrel might have leaked." "There may be saltwater in it." "Well, give it here, then." "I'll take a swig of it." "We'd better draw lots for that, Verne." "If you took one swallow of saltwater, your thirst would increase thousands of times over." "And that would mean..." "Tell him, Hessler." "The tongue swells until it protrudes from the mouth." "Not a very pleasant way to die." "Well, why swallow the water?" "Why not taste it?" "Our palates are in no condition to taste anything, Verne." "You couldn't tell freshwater from salt until it was down." "That makes it one mars game." "How do we draw lots?" "Here, here are four strips." "The one who draws the longest drinks the water." "Why four strips when I count five of us in the boat?" "There are only four men, Julie." "But all five of us drink, don't we?" "I don't want any free rides." "Here, add that to your collection." "Take your choice." "Well, it leaves you and me, huh, baby?" "And one of them is the long one, ain't it?" "You're out of luck, Verne, I always get the short end of the deal." "Here, in case I lose, this will get you to Marseille." "Give my regards to the girls." "So, a mars tongue swells until it chokes him to death." " How does that sound to you, Moll?" " What are you waiting for?" " You aren't afraid, are you?" " Maybe I am." "A man don't like to die." "You don't want to die either, do you baby?" "Take one." " All right, Moll, take the tiller." " Wait a minute sweetheart, sit still." "You don't think we'd ask you to get your own, do you?" "Sit right where you are, I'll fetch it for you." "A little cup of water." "Maybe it's good and maybe it's bad." "Up until now you've been pretty lucky, what with one thing and another." " How lucky do you feel now, Verne?" " Give it here." "What's your hurry?" "Can't wait to feel it running down, huh?" "Maybe it'll be nice and cool, and maybe, if it's salty, it'll sting and burn, and then you'll sit there staring, waiting for the old man with the long whiskers." "You know about the old man with the long whiskers, don't you, Verne?" "He's been right here on this boat with us all the time." "He got Flaubert and he took the kid." "Maybe he could have waited a little while about the kid, though, but I guess it's all right." "He didn't mean much to anybody, except to me." "He didn't have what a man needs in this world, what you've got, Verne." "He wasrt strong like you." "He didn't have your insides." "He didn't have much of anything." "He was just a nice kid, that's all." "And maybe he would have missed me if I went first, like the girl there will miss you when you go." "So why should we let her in for that?" "You won't be needing that anymore." "Cambreau, I don't want something for nothing, but suppose I've been wrong all me life." "Would it do any good, do you think, to admit it now?" "If a man came to you and admitted he was wrong and you felt he was sorry, what would you do?" "That's good enough for me." "I've been the world's biggest sucker, ain't I, up to now?" "How are you coming, Julie?" "Nothing like an ocean trip to put the old kink in your hair." "I'll bet it looks awful." "Cambreau, tell me." "What makes you guess right all the time?" "It's like you got an old crystal ball or something that you look into, and you know about things like the wind and the water and the men." "And you got to every one of them, too, before they went." "I didn't get to them, Julie, they got to themselves." "And now maybe I'm going to die and you're waiting for me to buy in, too, is that it?" "I don't think you're going to die for a long time." "Then why buzz around me if I'm not going to die?" "Well, you asked me to come over." "And you jumped at the chance." "You thought maybe my black heart had turned white overnight, and I wanted forgiveness." "Maybe I'd start telling you about the years I spent kicking myself around till I got good and lost, and then say, "Cambreau, come find me" ""and start me off with a clean sheet of paper. "" "But I'm no sucker." "Can you see me with a job, maybe, and a hall room somewhere, a room of my own?" "Can you picture a man tipping his hat to me because I look like he should?" "I've lived my way, let me die my way." "Maybe if you'd told me all this, Julie, you'd have told me where Verne fits in." "That crystal doesn't miss a thing, does it?" "So maybe I ought to lie to you and say, "Who cares what happens to Verne?"" "But you'd know the truth." "You'd know I could want a lot of things if Verne were around." "But he'd have to want them, too." "I can't speak for him." "Nobody can do anything for that guy except pray, and I don't know how to pray." "Strange you should say that, Julie." "You've been doing nothing else all this time." "Cambreau, why are you doing that?" "Verne." "Verne, he's dropping the sails." "Cambreau, put them sails up." "What are you trying to do?" "We're off the mainland." "They're probably waiting for us." "We'd better heave to and slip in tonight." "What?" "We're off the mainland?" "Hey, hey, baby." "Baby, we made it." "We beat them." "The dogs, we beat them." "All right, turn her adrift." "What about Moll?" "We can't leave him here." "Why not?" "They'll pick up the boat and find him there." "Which is exactly what Verne wants them to do." " Right, Verne?" " Right." " Who is it?" "A friend." "Open the door." "I want some of that." "Here." "Now, easy, kid." "Don't drink it all at once." "There." "There, that's enough for right now." "Hey, where do you think you're going?" " Why?" "I, I thought a..." " Yeah, well, think again." "Get some food on the table." "Did you hear that, babe?" "All the food your little basket can hold." "We got through and we're here alive." "We're here all right, and then it's Marseille, Paris, anywhere you say, babe." "Because I got it all figured out for us." "You cook up a pretty fancy stew." "What else can you do?" "Can you navigate a boat?" "Yes, monsieur, but then I have no boat of my own." "No?" "Hessler." "Where did you put that razor?" "Right over there." "But my boat is a small one, only 60 feet." "This wouldn't be Christmas, would it?" "Food, clothes, a boat and a skipper." "What more could you want?" "We'll pay for the use of your boat and your services." "Nothing like keeping it clean, huh, Cambreau?" "What sort of men are you, monsieur?" "If you are in trouble, I..." "Like the lilies of the field, my friend." "We toil not, neither do we spin." "And this, gentlemen, seems to be as good a time as any for me to be on my way." "Even in this benighted town there must be a lady who awaits me, a lonely lady with money." "Right back to your old tricks, huh, pal?" ""Love the little trade which thou has learned, and be content therewith. "" "That's Marcus Aurelius, Verne, and a wise man, too." "Well, Cambreau, I hope you have better luck with Verne than you had with me." "You know, of course, that your chances to herd me into your little flock were limited, because I'm not exactly sheep-like." "And you deal mostly in sheep, don't you, Cambreau?" "Well, perhaps you and I will meet again." "No, Hessler." "I'm afraid we two will never meet again." "Be grateful, Cambreau." "Without an occasional defeat, your victories would be empty things." "Gentlemen." "No." "Better get that boat ready, gimpy." "We'll be sailing pretty soon." "As you say, monsieur, but you should know there is a storm coming up." "What storm?" "I call it a wind and a good one." " And we're sailing with it." "Now beat it." " Yes, monsieur." " What's the name of your crate?" " The Dolphin." "She rides at anchor in the lower cove." "How do we know he won't turn us in?" " Suppose I follow him." " And who'll follow you?" "I'll be back, Verne." " Come out here baby, I want to talk to you." " I'm busy." "I said, come out here." "Looks like here's where we make up our mind about things, huh, baby?" "Hey, makes a difference, don't it?" " It's divine." " Come here." " Who's a rat, baby?" " You are." "But I'll do just the same, huh?" "Right here." "A woman would be a chump to go on with a guy like me, wouldn't she?" "What could she win?" "It's what you call making it the hard way." "You can't travel that way, can you, baby?" "Maybe that's it." "But you'd do me a favor and drag me along with you anyway, wouldn't you?" " From sewer to sewer." " But on plush cushions." "If there's anything I want all I have to do is ask for it, and you'd steal it for me." "Well, there's nothing I want you could steal." "So that's it?" "Suppose I said, "Listen, honey, as soon as we get to Cuba," ""we're getting married and from there on we're playing it according to the book?"" "Maybe you could use a little of that, huh?" "Not if it came from you, Verne, because you couldn't say it." "But suppose I did?" "Suppose I promoted that little home by the side of the road," " with the kiddies playing in the sunshine?" " You're laughing." "And how I'm laughing." "Where'd you pick up that junk, from Cambreau?" "Maybe I thought it out all by myself." "Well, from now on it's going to be different." "Yeah." "And do you know why?" "Because I've seen men die." "They were thieves like you and as rotten as me, but when their time came, they suddenly got hold of something, something they'd never had, something won'th having." "Well, whatever it is, I don't want to wait that long for mine." "I want it now." "Great stuff, so long as it fits in with what I got in mind." "When we travel, we travel my way." "What makes you think I'm going your way." "Because you're stuck, kid, that's why." "You're a liar." "I hate the sight of you." "I hate everything you stand for." "Even if I didn't, even if I loved you so much it was killing me, and I knew you'd haunt me for the rest of my life," "I still wouldn't have any part of you." "I only hope they take you back to that prison you belong in." "You'll be better off back there than free to do the things you will do." "The whole world will be better off without you." "And that's how it is, babe, and what can we do about it?" " Well, it's hard for me to believe." " It's plain enough." "This cask was full of saltwater, so they must have died of thirst." "And this man, Moll, was the last to go." "I'd have staked anything that Verne would outlive them all." "Unless, monsieur, he went first with a knife in his back?" "Well, it's possible, and it's too bad." "He was the only one of the pack won'th saving." "Well, may as well get back to the colony." " That boat out there, do you belong on it?" " No." "There's nobody coming ashore from her tonight." "Sails for America at dawn." "Would they take a passenger, do you think?" " Well, how do I get out to her?" " In a rising gale?" "Maybe you can hire someone to take you out, but that ain't me." "Good evening, Julie." " What are you doing here?" " I might ask the same thing of you." "Where else should I be?" "I'm on my way to America." "I sail in the morning." " America is so far away." " Far away from what?" "Who knows?" "Perhaps, Julie, if you were to go back to the colony you might be very happy if it could be arranged, and I think it can." "Since we talked, things have happened that might..." "That might increase my influence with certain people." "But no matter how you color it up, you go with the proposition, don't you, Pig?" "You could do worse, say with a man like Verne." "What about Verne?" "He escaped with some others and Grideau and I came to pick him up when he landed here." " And have you got him?" " No." "It seems he died at sea, or that's what Grideau thinks." "But you don't." "Smart man, Verne." "He has something." "Something I'd like to have." "Lovely, aren't they, Julie?" "Yeah, lovely." "You'd look ducky in that black one." "Any way out of this place except this door?" "The alley around the corner." "It's a small world, isn't it, Pig?" "Just what is it you're after?" "We both know what, Julie." "And it's time we talked about facts." "There are worse things, Julie, than stringing with a pig like me." "There is such a thing as watching a man that means something to you hunted down and dragged back on the end of a chain." "All right, so you've hunted him down." "Let's see you drag him back." "Go on." "I am no fool." "There is a better way." "Grideau won't let him get away this time." "But if I go back with you, you won't tell Grideau?" "It's me for Verne, is that it?" "Well, if it is, then take him." "Go tell Grideau." "And as for my going anyplace with you, I still pick my own gutters." "Wait a minute." "Pig, wait a minute." "Just give me five minutes, that's all." "Five minutes to make sure he gets away and after he's gone, I'll go with you." "It would be simpler if we just went away together now." "No, I want to see him go, I want to be sure." "Don't you trust me, Julie?" "After you see him go, come in and get me." "I'll wait for you." "So, you're back, baby." "Nice to see you again." "I've come back to tell you you got to get out." " Grideau's in town." " Grideau, eh?" "Nice fellow." "What'd he have to say for himself?" "Well, I didn't talk to him." "I didn't even see him." "No?" "Then how do you know he's here?" "Or maybe you talked to somebody else." "Don't ask so many questions." "Just get going." "There's a storm coming up and you never can tell." "You're right, kid, you never can tell." " Okay, let's go." " I'm not going with you, Verne." "I told you that once before and I meant what I said." "I thought maybe you'd changed your mind." "There's a freighter pulling out for America in the morning and I'm going to be on it." "Okay, baby if that's what you want." "Yeah." "Yeah, that's what I want." "Only, don't hang around here any longer." "Every minute counts." "Get going." "Yes." "Yes, you're right, kid." "I'd better hustle." "Grideau is a smart fellow." "He won't want to miss out on me again." "I wouldn't be surprised if he'd offered a reward." "A nice fat one." "Juicy enough to buy passage to America on a freighter." "Good thing you can be trusted." "So long, babe." " Verne." " Yeah?" "Plant one here." "It'll hold until we meet up again." "Julie." "I'll buy you a new coat, a nice one in the morning." "Made out of pigskin." "So, Grideau's got himself two pigs now." "I didn't tell him." "I swear I didn't, Verne." "You're a liar." "You brought him here." "You turned me over just like you did back there on the island to keep your own hide out of trouble." "If that's what you want to think, okay." "Only get out of here." "Get out of here before it's too late." "I'm thinking of you, Verne." "Yeah, yeah, very cute." "You always could pour it on, couldn't you?" "You had me winging, I'll say that for you, right smack up to the minute where I saw you through the window, both of you." "I wasrt going to turn you in, Verne." "It's a great spot for a dame to bring a guy up to a point where he can't see anything else in the world except her." "You had me where there was nothing I wouldn't have done for you." "I'd have gone on being a thief or I'd have tried it the other way, if that was what you wanted." "How does that sound?" "It's everything I've wanted to hear." "Only why did you have to wait till now to tell me, now that you've got to get out of here?" "She's right." "And if you go now they'll never catch you." "Come on, Pig, where's Grideau?" "Is he on his way here or is he waiting to pick me up at the cove?" "Verne, I haven't told a soul." "Why should I?" "Verne, he's telling the truth." "He hasn't told anyone you're here." "And if I let him go what do you think he'll do?" "So, you made a mistake, Pig." "This is one time in your life you should've squealed." "If you ran away now, Julie, you could get on that boat to America." " That's just what I'm going to do." " But if you stayed you could save him." " Save the Pig for what?" " Not the Pig, Julie, Verne." "Verne, you fool." "Let him go." "Did you hear me, Verne?" "I said let him go." "Oh, so that's the way it is, huh?" "When a woman picks up a mars fight, she's really on his side, ain't she?" "Give me that." "All of a sudden, things look different, don't they, baby?" "Stand over there with him and let's see what you look like." "Get over there." "All right, there he is, Julie." "Take him." "He's yours." "That's what you're asking for, isn't it?" "Well, is it or isn't it?" "Yeah, that's it." "All right, you've got it." "Now get out of here both of you." "Come on, get moving." " Goodbye, Cambreau." " I'll see you again, Julie." "Of course, the facts are, she's always hated the Pig." "She went to the jungle with Marfeu rather than go with him." "And she'd rather go back with the Pig than go on with me." "What's that look like from where you stand?" "It looks like something a woman in love might think of." "I get it." "You've got it all figured out according to the book." "Julie put on an act with Cochon for my benefit, so I wouldn't throw a slug into him." "Now she's going back to the island to marry him so he won't turn me in to the law, huh?" "Very nice." "Get some music, I'll sing it for you." "It's just that it makes sense to me that way." "And what if you're right?" "What am I supposed to do?" "Turn noble and go back to a dozen bear pits to get her out of hock?" "I've come a long ways to get here." "I'm out and I'm on my way and if you're coming, come on." " All right, get in the dinghy." " But, monsieur, it will be a heavy storm." "Perhaps we should wait until tomorrow morning." "Get in that boat." "Come on, Cambreau." "Get below and start that engine." "Not bad." "Good enough to take a man anywhere he wants to go." "Any place in the world." " Sounds like you're a free man, Verne." " As free as any man alive." "In three or four days, maybe a week, I'll be in Cuba." "I won't have to sneak in the back way neither." "So far as anybody knows, I'm dead." "The Pig knows you're alive, so does Hessler." "Hessler won't talk." "Neither will the Pig." "Julie won't let him." "How do you know?" "It won't be the first time she turned you in." "I know she won't." "She's all right about some things, things like that." " Anyway, I'm not going to worry about it." " But you are." "All your life you're going to worry about it." "Until the day you die, you're going to be sorry you turned her over to the Pig." "Another one of your tinorn prophecies, huh?" "Well, keep them to yourself." "I'm a free man, I tell you, and no dame can cut into that." "I'm on my way to Cuba and nothing can stop me." "You're a strong man, Verne, stronger than Moll was, stronger than the prison you broke from, stronger than the odds that were against you." "What are you getting around to?" "You've got everything you'll ever want, Verne." "You'll do what you want to do, go where you want." "You're sufficient unto yourself." "You don't need a thing." "Certainly you don't need me." "I'm no good here." "And there may be something I can do for someone else, if I stay behind." "You wouldn't do something for yourself, would you, pal?" "Something like talking to Grideau?" "There's nothing I want from Grideau." "And there may be others to talk to, as there was Telez, Flaubert and Dufond." "You sent them on their way with a smile and a prayer." "Do you still think that prayers pay off, Cambreau?" "They may help a little." "Well then, you better start saying them quick." "Lift up your hands, close your eyes and give them all you got." "I don't have to make it any clearer, do I?" "There's only one other man in the world that knows I'm alive and who'll say so outside of you." "I'm depending on a dame to keep his mouth shut," " but who's going to shut yours?" " It looks like you will, Verne." "But what about you, when I'm gone?" "You'll have thrown away everything won'th having, the chance to live like other men, a woman who loves you and your last friend." " What'll you have left?" " What I've always had." "Whatever it is that keeps a man on his own feet without any help from anybody." " What's it called, Verne?" " You name it, I've got it." "It's taking me on my way now." "You can come along, or you can have it the other way." "It'll have to be the other way." "I can't go with you, Verne." "Well, what are you waiting for?" "It shouldn't be hard." "Throw me into the sea and it's all over." " It's simple enough, if you can do it." " Lf I can do it?" " What would I be afraid of?" " Of yourself, perhaps, or what happens to a man after he's killed another man." " You're asking for it, Cambreau." " Then why don't you give it to me?" "Or does it take something to kill me you haven't got?" "Now what do you think I got, Cambreau?" "Remember, you asked for it!" "You asked for it and you got it." "You can't let him drown." "You have to save him." "Why not?" "Get forward and ship that anchor." " Then get on the wheel and head north." "Verne!" "I can't hang on much longer!" "I don't hear you begging me to help you." "Smart stuff, you're saving your breath." "You don't want anything from me." "What have I got to give?" "Verne, the scum of the world." "Up there, that's where you're going to get your help from." "You got nothing to worry about." "Sing out some prayers, relax, and wait for the water to dry up." "Grab hold of a miracle, Cambreau." "No one can save him but you, monsieur." "Did you hear that?" "Did you hear what he said, Cambreau?" "In heaven and on Earth, in all the world there's nobody can save you but me." "So when you say your prayers, say them to me, Cambreau." "I'm the only god you can call on now." "I'm the old temple remember?" "You were right when you said God was in me." "God's in everybody." "Gimpy's God." "I'm God." "You're..." "You're..." "Cambreau!" "Cambreau!" "Cambreau." "Cambreau." "It's no use, he's gone." "He figured it like that." "I can see it now all the way." "Everything he said, everything he did, he had it all worked out to the end." "You're an awful sucker to do things like that for rats like me." "Monsieur." "Verne, are you crazy?" "Grideau's on that boat." "He'll see you." "And if he sees me, he'll take me, won't he, baby?" "I thought you'd be halfway to Cuba by now." "Maybe I didn't like the idea of you going with the Pig." "What do you care?" "We're going to be married, and I expect we'll be very happy." "Yeah, and maybe you won't." "Maybe you'll be taking a lot of punishment for a guy like me." " Cambreau told you." " No, Cambreau doesn't work that way." "But I took a look at the figures and they add up to one thing." " Baby, it's me, ain't it?" " It's always been you." "That's what I figured." "Verne, are you sure?" "Are you sure this is what you want?" " Don't you think it's the best way?" " I know it is." "Well, the best will always be good enough for us." "Hello, Verne." " When do we sail, Grideau?" " Any minute, now that you're here." "So you found something stronger than you, after all." "Yeah, looks like it, don't it?" "Where'd you get that dress?" "Why, I bought it with the money you gave me on the boat." " And what's it to you?" " Okay, okay." "Now that's what you need to keep a guy like me on the island." "Not something easy like a jungle, or an ocean," " but something like her, tough." " But won'th waiting for, maybe?" " As long as it takes." " He wasrt talking to you." "Besides, I'm the one that'll be doing the waiting, not you." " Okay to move around?" " Okay, Verne." "Or am I still a sucker?" "What do you think?" " He won't be sorry?" " No, fisherman, he won't." "And everything will be all right for them someday?" "Everything is all right now." "Goodbye, my friend." "Goodbye, monsieur."