"I could do with a hefty drink,'' said Causton He looked at Wyatt "That your car

outside? A copper was looking at it when I

came in''
"It's quite safe;'' said Wyatt "What have you been up to?''
"Doing my job,'' said Causton matter-of-factly "All hell's breaking loose out there
Ah, thank you,'' he said gratefully, as
Papegaikos handed him a drink He sank half of it in a gulp, then said to Wyatt,
"You know this island Supposing you
were a rebel in the mountains and you had a large consignment of arms coming in a
ship--quite a big ship You'd want a
nice quiet place to land it, wouldn't you? With easy transport to the mountains,
too Where would such as spot be?''
Wyatt pondered "Somewhere on the north coast, certainly; it's pretty wild country
over there I'd go for the Compo de las
Perlas--somewhere round there''
"Give the man a coconut,'' said Causton "At least one shipload of arms was landed
there within the last month--maybe
more Serrurier's intelligence slipped up on that one--or maybe they were too late
Oh, and Favel is alive, after all'' He
patted his pockets helplessly "Anyone got a cigarette?''
Julie offered her packet "How did you get that blood on your face?''
Causton put his hand to his cheek, then looked with surprise at the blood on his
fingertips "I was trying to get in to see
Serrurier,'' he said "The guards were a bit rough--one of them didn't take his rinf
off, or maybe it was a knuckleduster''
"I saw Serrurier,'' said Wyatt quietly
"Did you' by God'' exclaimed Causton "I wish I'd known, I could have come with you
There are a few questions I'd like to
ask him''
Wyatt Laughed mirthlessly "Serrurier isn't the kind of man you question He's a
raving maniac I think this little Lot has
finally driven him round the bend''
"What did you want with him?''
"I wanted to tell him that a hurricane is going to hit this island in two days time
He threw us out and banished the
hurricane by decree''
"Christ!'' said Causton "As though we don't have enough to put up with Are you
serious about this?''
"I am''
Mrs Warmington gave a shrill squeak "We should get to the Base,'' she said angrily
"We'll be safe on the Base''
Wyatt Looked at her for a moment, then said to Causton in a low voice, "I'd like to
talk to you for a minute''
Causton took one Look at Wyatt's serious face, then finished his drink "I have to
go up to my room for the tapes, you'd better
come with me''
He got up frome the chair stiffly, and Wyatt said to Julie, "I'll be back in a
minute,'' then followed him into the foyer
Causton produced a flashlight and they climed the stairs to the first floor Wyatt
said, "I'm pretty worried about things''
"This hurricane?''
"That's right,'' said Wyatt, and told Causton about it in a few swift sentences,
not detailing his qualms, but treating the
hurricane as a foregone conclusion He said, "Somehow I feel a responsibility for
the people downstairs I think Julie won't
crack, but I'm not too sure about the other women She's older and she's nervous''
"She'll run you ragged if you let her,'' said Causton "She looks the bossy kind to
me''
"And then there's Eumenides--he's an unknown quantity but I don't know that I'd
like to depend on him Dawson is
different of course''
Causton's flashlight flickered about his room "Is he? Put not your faith in brother
Dawson--that's a word to the wise''
"Oh,'' said Wyatt "Anyway, I'm in a hell of a jam I'll have to shepherd this lot to
safety somehow, and that means leaving
town''
A cane chair creaked as Causton sat down "Now let me get this straight You say
we're going to be hit by a hurricane
When?''
"Two days,'' said Wyatt "Say half a day either way''
"And when it comes, the Base is going to be destroyed''
"For all practical purposes--yes''
"And so is St Pierre''
"That's right''
"So you want to take off for the hills, herding along these people downstairs
That's heading smack into trouble, you know''
"It needn't be,'' said Wyatt "We need to get about a hundred feet above sea-level
and on the northern side of ridge--a
place like that shouldn't be too difficult to find outside St Pierre Perhaps up the
Negrito From the sound of those guns he's
already in the upper reaches of the valley''
"How do we know those are Pavel's guns?'' said Wyatt suddenly "Serrurier has plenty
of artillery of his own''
Causton sounded pained "I've done my homework Serrurier was caught flat-footed The
main part of his artillery was
causing a devil of a traffic jam just north of the town not two hours ago If Favel
hurries up he'll capture the lot Listen to
it--he's certainly pouring it on''
"That shipment of arms you were talking about must have been a big one''
"Maybe--but my guess is that he's staking everything on one stroke If he doesn't
come right through and capture St Pierre
he's lost his chips''
"If he does, he'll lose his arme,'' said Wyatt forcibly
"God, I hadn't thought of that'' Causton looked thoughtful "This is going to be
damned intresting Do you suppose he
knows about this hurricane?''
"I shouldn't think so,'' said Wyatt"Look, Causton, we're wasting time I've got to
get these people to safety Will you help? You
seem to know more of what's going on out there than anybody''
"Of course I will, old boy But, remember, I've got my own job to do I'll back you
up in anything you say, and I'll come with
you and see them settled out of harm's way But after that I'll have to push off and
go about my master's buisness--my
editor would never forgive me if I wasn't in the right place at the right time'' He
chuckled "I dare say I'll get a good story
out of big Jim Dawson, so it will be worth it''
They went back to the bar and Causton called out, "Wyatt's got something very
important to tell you all, so gather round
Where's Dawson?''
"He was here not long ago,'' said Julie "He must have gone out''