well abreast of us. On the one side of the road was this high wall. On the other were two semi-detached villas without a sign of life. I was just trying to imagine that I heard the footfalls of a bobby on his beat when the thing happened. The van stopped, enclosing us in a sort of canyon. Higbed gave a horrid yelp. “Don’t be an ass,” I said. “You’re fancying things.” And then the big doors at the back of the van opened and our capture was effected without the slightest fuss. No revolvers, no knocking on the head. We were simply hustled in. The road to Rest-and-be-thankful had passed, you might say, straight through Chicago.’
‘Bless me!’ Meredith looked at Jean with renewed astonishment. ‘I thought I did something uncommonly out-of-the-way when I stepped through that little tobacconist’s trapdoor. But to lay yourself out to be abducted by known assassins–’
‘The return to the womb. I must just have had a neurosis, like Higbed. And there he was – his uterine symbol suddenly materialized, and himself swallowed up in it as surprised as could be. Having myself had a Biblical childhood rather than a scientific one, I felt much more as if it were the whale, and Jonah’s catastrophe had included an unknown compagnon de voyage . Not that the inside of the pantechnicon held anything to reinforce either suggestion. For one thing, it was brightly lit. And for another, it was just like an office in a high-rental area. Everything smart and very compact. Typewriter, filing cabinets, and two clerkly men sitting on each side of a desk. A little form was provided for Higbed and myself; it was meagre and moderately uncomfortable; just the sort of thing you would keep minor clients waiting on if you wanted to make them feel small.’
‘I cannot imagine that any business could be successfully conducted–’
‘You’re behind the times. But that is less disturbing than being behind two stout wood and iron doors painted to look like the back of a furniture van. Higbed was gasping like a fish, and I suppose it was a bit of a shock to realize that he was in his right mind after all – if he did realize it, which I rather doubt. One of the clerkly men was looking at me with a good deal of disfavour. “I don’t think we wanted a woman as well,” he said – rather doubtfully, and fumbling in some sort of card-index the while. His companion was much more decisive. “We certainly don’t want a woman,” he said. “We have absolutely no occasion for one. It’s an extremely awkward thing.”
‘There were two plug-uglies inside the van as well; they had done the greater part of the bustling. It was plain that they resented the second clerkly man’s attitude a good deal. To my mind, they had done a pretty good job, and it was rather tough to blame them for landing their bosses with a slight embarras de richesses . But now the clerkly men were checking up on Higbed from a file. “It’s him, all right,” said the first. “But who would want a fellow like that?” “Who, indeed,” said the second. “Can you see yourself leaving a thousand pounds in notes to get him back again? Blessed if I can.” “It’s nothing like that,” said the first. “Lord knows what it is, but it’s nothing like that. Perhaps he did a little double-crossing – something a bit too nasty to have him just dumped quietly in the Forth for.” And then he looked at me. “As for the girl,” he said, “we’d better dump her there at once.” “Oh, decidedly,” said the second. “Tell them to drive there straight away. And get out a sack.” And, sure enough, one of the plug-uglies gave orders to the driver through a little shutter, and the other fished out a sack from a locker. “Here,” he said – and it was the first word that had been directly addressed to either of us – “get into this.”
‘I didn’t feel too good. Compared with the inside of a sack destined for the bottom of the Firth of Forth, that furniture
‘Bless me!’ Meredith looked at Jean with renewed astonishment. ‘I thought I did something uncommonly out-of-the-way when I stepped through that little tobacconist’s trapdoor. But to lay yourself out to be abducted by known assassins–’
‘The return to the womb. I must just have had a neurosis, like Higbed. And there he was – his uterine symbol suddenly materialized, and himself swallowed up in it as surprised as could be. Having myself had a Biblical childhood rather than a scientific one, I felt much more as if it were the whale, and Jonah’s catastrophe had included an unknown compagnon de voyage . Not that the inside of the pantechnicon held anything to reinforce either suggestion. For one thing, it was brightly lit. And for another, it was just like an office in a high-rental area. Everything smart and very compact. Typewriter, filing cabinets, and two clerkly men sitting on each side of a desk. A little form was provided for Higbed and myself; it was meagre and moderately uncomfortable; just the sort of thing you would keep minor clients waiting on if you wanted to make them feel small.’
‘I cannot imagine that any business could be successfully conducted–’
‘You’re behind the times. But that is less disturbing than being behind two stout wood and iron doors painted to look like the back of a furniture van. Higbed was gasping like a fish, and I suppose it was a bit of a shock to realize that he was in his right mind after all – if he did realize it, which I rather doubt. One of the clerkly men was looking at me with a good deal of disfavour. “I don’t think we wanted a woman as well,” he said – rather doubtfully, and fumbling in some sort of card-index the while. His companion was much more decisive. “We certainly don’t want a woman,” he said. “We have absolutely no occasion for one. It’s an extremely awkward thing.”
‘There were two plug-uglies inside the van as well; they had done the greater part of the bustling. It was plain that they resented the second clerkly man’s attitude a good deal. To my mind, they had done a pretty good job, and it was rather tough to blame them for landing their bosses with a slight embarras de richesses . But now the clerkly men were checking up on Higbed from a file. “It’s him, all right,” said the first. “But who would want a fellow like that?” “Who, indeed,” said the second. “Can you see yourself leaving a thousand pounds in notes to get him back again? Blessed if I can.” “It’s nothing like that,” said the first. “Lord knows what it is, but it’s nothing like that. Perhaps he did a little double-crossing – something a bit too nasty to have him just dumped quietly in the Forth for.” And then he looked at me. “As for the girl,” he said, “we’d better dump her there at once.” “Oh, decidedly,” said the second. “Tell them to drive there straight away. And get out a sack.” And, sure enough, one of the plug-uglies gave orders to the driver through a little shutter, and the other fished out a sack from a locker. “Here,” he said – and it was the first word that had been directly addressed to either of us – “get into this.”
‘I didn’t feel too good. Compared with the inside of a sack destined for the bottom of the Firth of Forth, that furniture
Similar Books
