towards the rim of the sun:
‘Thank you, Sir Henry Morgan. Your treasure will be well spent. Give us a 爱杭州龙凤419论坛 fair wind.’
The negro guards showed the whites of their eyes.
‘The Undertaker’s Wind it is,’ said Bond.
The Big Man looked at him.
‘All down?’ he asked the guards.
‘Yassuh, Boss,’ answered one of them.
‘Take them along,’ said The Big Man.
They went to the edge of the cliff and down the steep steps, one guard in front, one behind. Mr. Big followed.
The engines of the long graceful yacht were turning over quietly, the exhaust bubbling glutinously, a thread of blue vapour rising astern.
There were two men on the jetty at the guide ropes. There were only three men on deck besides the Captain and the navigator on the grey streamlined bridge. There was no room for more. All the available deckspace, save for a fishing chair rigged right aft, was covered with fish-tanks. The Red Ensign had been struck and only the Stars and Stripes hung motionless 杭州足浴店按摩暗语 at the stern.
A few yards clear of the ship the red torpedo-shaped paravane, about six foot long, lay quietly on the water, now aquamarine in the early dawn. It was attached to a thick pile of wire cable, coiled up on the deck aft. To Bond there looked to be a good fifty yards of it. The water was crystal clear and there were no fish about.
The Undertaker’s Wind was almost dead. Soon the Doctor’s Wind would start to breathe in from the sea. How soon? wondered Bond. Was it an omen?
Away beyond the
ship he could see the roof of Beau Desert among the trees, but the jetty and the ship and the cliff path were still in deep shadow. Bond wondered if night-glasses would be able to pick them out. And if they could, what Strangways would be thinking.
Mr. Big stood on the jetty and supervised the process of binding them together.
‘Strip her,’ 杭州桑拿网vip账号密码 he said to Solitaire’s guard.
Bond flinched. He stole a glance at Mr. Big’s wrist watch. It said ten minutes to six. Bond kept silence. There must not be even a minute’s delay.
‘Throw the clothes on board,’ said Mr. Big. ‘Tie some strips round his shoulder. I don’t want any blood in the water, yet.’
Solitaire’s clothes were cut off her with a knife. She stood pale and naked. She hung her head and the heavy black hair fell forward over her face. Bond’s shoulder was roughly bound with strips of her linen skirt.
‘You bastard,’ said Bond through his 杭州小丫头足浴正规吗 teeth.
Under Mr. Big’s direction, their hands were freed. Their bodies were pressed together, face to face, and their arms held round each other’s waists and then bound tightly again.
Bond felt Solitaire’s soft breasts pressed against him. She leant her chin on his right shoulder.
‘I didn’t 杭州龙凤论坛西湖阁 want it to be like this,’ she whispered tremulously.
Bond didn’t answer. He hardly felt her body. He was counting seconds.
On the jetty there was a pile of rope to the paravane. It hung down off the jetty and Bond could see it lying along the sand until it rose to meet the belly of the red torpedo.
The free end was tied under their armpits and knotted tightly between them in the space between their necks. It was all very carefully done. There was