The Wilmington morning star., 1940-11-13
CHAPTER

Listen, you two-either or botf
of you," shouted Trent. You VI
only got to agree to my propose
ton, and you can come right II
and sit down to a meal every oil
as good as this one. Now, be sensl'
ble-what do you say?"
Gun gripped Tommy's arm, ano
whispered:
mot a word. This is my show
He suddenly started to shout:
Get inside, you filthy, torturlng
swine! Get out of my sight, before
I throw something at you, you
dirty, cowardly hound! By God Al
mighty"
His voice lose to a scream; MS
language obscene, blasphemous
and finally incoherent. Then ms
voice cracked and he was silent.
The whole performance sounded
like that of a man on the edge OF
q breakdown. .
Inside the room Trent turned
away from the window with a
complacent smile.
"It's getting that fellow, at any
rate" he observed, in a low tone
"Gunston's cracking, all right.
He'll give in before long, and then
we shall see. Of course, he's only
the assistant, but he knows quite
a lot-and half a loaf is better
than no bread. Besides, once we've
got him, I don't suppose the other
fellow will hang out for long"
Outside Gun was r1opping the
perspiration from his brow, and
whispering to Tommy Hazeldeane:
81 believe that wasn't a bad
effort. It'll make Trent think I'm
weakening all right, and pave the
way for working out my little
scheme"
"All right as far as it goes"
Tommy answered. "But I'm
damned if l see what we're going
to gain by it,"
II came here to get information,
and I'm almost certain to e
something or other"
81 dare say-but what the hell's
the good of all the information
in the world if we're penned up
here until they starve or freeze
US to death?"
Gun shrugged.
Don't be downhearted! While
there's life there's hope!" he re-
torted, rather weakly.
There came a gruff call through
the darkness, and through a sort
of trap in the fence a bundle was
pushed in. It contained their sup
per ration-half a loaf of bread,
wrapped in a couple of old army
blankets. It was supplemented by
a small jug of water, and then
came another bundle-a small,
portable tent, such as mixers use,
and a ground sheet. This a to
be their shelter for the night.
In silence they meticulously d.
vided their meager ration, ate it
ravenously, and then laid down
their ground sheet and erected the
tent. After which they crept in
side with their two thin blankets,
and huddled together for warmth.
On the edge of the marshes,
near the spot known as Chenham
creek, where at high tide there
was enough water above the mud
to float a good-sized boat, stood
a lonely inn.
1t was an ugly, squat building
of brown brick, built f~our-square,
with four windows and a door in
the front, a similar equipment at
the back, and two windows on
each side. 1t looked idiotically like
a house that a small child had
drawn-except that, even in the
%sunniest weather, it looked dull and
drab, and it bore about it, both
within and without an atmosphere
of sinister ~sordidness.
In what passed for the bar par
Tor OF this tavern, which possessed
the queer name of the Soul at
Sea-" CaZeltCn stood, on a certain
morning, making inroads into a
pint of beer.
He used the house regularly,
partly because it attracted him
in some way, and partly because
he always felt that there might be
something of interest to be seer or
heard there, in connection with the
business which kept him in Chen
ham. Also it was the nearest
'house of call' to the lonely farm
Bella LANAN-COURT R