United States or Burundi ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
He poured out a glassful and drank, and the thought came apart from his listening to Framtree if only other agonies could be eased with the swift directness of his thirst-torture that moment. "I wanted you to go back on the Hatteras, Mr. Framtree," he said. "The Henlopen won't sail for a week. We won't lose sight of each other, so there is time. As for our talk, we must be alone."
It wouldn't be best.... Just go back to New York, ask to see her, and try again. She'll be glad " "You're sure of that?" "Well, I shouldn't be sure. It's her province.... I want her to have the chance." "...You ought to know how I feel about all this, Bedient," Framtree said unsteadily, "since you know her." Bedient liked that.
"Looks that way," Framtree replied. "Miss Mallory has steered " "Miss Mallory has steered Equatoria off a revolutionary shoal," Bedient finished. "You mean the Señora ?" Miss Mallory intervened. "No." "I'm very tired and stupid; please tell me in little words," she pleaded. "You changed the ship's course?" "I didn't. It changed itself.
It was clear that the Chinese had not carried the message to Framtree, but had consulted the Spaniard instead. Had Bedient told Rey that he had come to The Pleiad to find Jenkins, or Jones, or Judd, he would doubtless have been permitted to see Framtree at once. None of the matters made the impression upon his mind as that one glimpse of Jim Framtree at the far-end of the hall.
Bedient caught it with an incredibly quick movement, and took the gun from the Señor's pocket. "Just to reduce tension to a minimum, Señor," he said. The third Chinese opened the door from the galley, but a look and gesture from Bedient sent him back, and the lock was turned upon him. Bedient now placed the gun upon the table, and directed his attention to Framtree.
At the far end of the hall, fully seventy yards away, stood Jim Framtree talking with a woman. A Chinese servant hurried forward to Bedient, as if risen from the floor.... Framtree and the woman separated. Bedient took a gold coin from his pocket, and thrust it hastily into the hand of the servant, saying: "Ask that gentleman to come here for a moment."
"Bright past any idea you can have. Framtree is doing greatly indispensable and loves the life. Miss Mallory still unfolds. She's a Caribbean of buried treasure " "And they?" Cairns asked. "Are friends." ...Vina met them in her studio. The three stood for a moment in silence among the panels. It was not yet four in the afternoon, but the dusk was thickening.... Vina put on her hat.
Bedient chaffed him for having become incoherent, and left shortly for his own room, where he pressed out two of the thinnest possible sheets of paper, closely written on both sides, and made them his own to the least detail: DEAR MR. BEDIENT: I hardly know how to begin, I am so excited and have so much to say. Framtree and myself are sailing to-night on the Savonarola.
"You proved so hard to reach in these days of preparation," Bedient replied, "that I feared I might fail altogether in case of eventualities. And we had reason to think that to-night marked the end of Equatorian peace." Rey moistened his lips, watching Framtree, but did not speak. "It must be damned important," Framtree said.
Each felt that the other wanted to be square, but Bedient saw that it would be useless to impress upon Framtree how little hampered he was by Jaffier.... At daybreak the next morning, the fruity old Henlopen pointed out toward the reefs, and presently was nudging her way through the coral passage, as confidently as if the trick of getting to sea from Coral City was part of the weathered consciousness of her boilers and plates.
Word Of The Day