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III
to himself:
“Quite attractive—a bit schoolmistressy perhaps.”
A cool customer, he should imagine—and one who could hold her own—in love or war.
He’d rather like to take her on….
He frowned. No, cut out all that kind of stuff. This was business. He’d got to keep his mind
on the job.
What exactly was up, he wondered? That little Jew had been damned mysterious.
“Take it or leave it, Captain Lombard.”
He had said thoughtfully:
“A hundred guineas, eh?”
He had said it in a casual way as though a hundred guineas was nothing to him. A hundred
little Jew had not been deceived—that was the damnable part about Jews, you couldn’t deceive
them about money—they knew!
He said in the same casual tone:
“And you can’t give me any further information?”
Mr. Isaac Morris had shaken his little bald head very positively3.
“No, Captain Lombard, the matter rests there. It is understood by my client that your
reputation is that of a good man in a tight place. I am empowered to hand you one hundred
guineas in return for which you will travel to Sticklehaven, Devon. The nearest station is
Oakbridge, you will be met there and motored to Sticklehaven where a motor launch will
convey you to Soldier Island. There you will hold yourself at the disposal of my client.”
“For how long?”
“Not longer than a week at most.”
Fingering his small moustache, Captain Lombard said:
“You understand I can’t undertake anything—illegal?”
faint smile on the thick Semitic lips of Mr. Morris as he answered gravely:
“If anything illegal is proposed, you will, of course, be at perfect liberty to withdraw.”
Lombard’s past actions legality had not always been a sine qua non….
Lombard’s own lips parted in a grin.
By Jove, he’d sailed pretty near the wind once or twice! But he’d always got away with it!
There wasn’t much he drew the line at really….
No, there wasn’t much he’d draw the line at. He fancied that he was going to enjoy himself
at Soldier Island….
3
菲利普·隆巴德的眼珠骨碌一转，往对面瞥了一眼，打量着坐在他面前的女人。
很吸引人，就是女教师的味道重了些。
冷静的猎物——他看得出来，自制力很强——不论是谈恋爱还是上阵打仗。不过他倒
是挺愿意跟这个女人发生些什么……
他皱了皱眉，赶紧打消这些没用的念头。做生意才是正经事，先得集中精力把这笔生
意搞定。
可是，这笔生意到底怎么做，他根本不知道。那个瘦小的犹太人太会故弄玄虚了。
“你干还是不干？隆巴德上校！”
他琢磨了一会儿，回答说：
“一百块金币，嗯？”
他故意表现得满不在乎，把价钱说得很轻松，好像一百块金币在他眼里根本不算什
么。这可是一百块金币啊！实情是，他现在连一顿像样的饭都快吃不上了。他有点儿担
心，这小个子犹太人应该不是受骗了吧——犹太人最该死的就是，在钱的问题上谁也玩不
过他们——他们可精明了！
他仍然满不在乎地问：
“你能不能把话说明白点儿？”
艾萨克·莫里斯先生斩钉截铁地摇了摇他的秃脑袋。
“不行，隆巴德上校，我只能告诉你这么多。我的客户说你是对付这种棘手事件的专
家。我被授权交给你一百块金币，前提是你答应去德文郡的斯蒂克尔黑文跑一趟。离那儿
最近的车站是橡树桥，到了车站，会有人接你，驾车送你去斯蒂克尔黑文，再用摩托艇把
你送上士兵岛。到了士兵岛，你只要听我那位客户的安排就可以了。”
隆巴德立刻问：
“在岛上要待多久？”
“最多不超过一个星期。”
隆巴德捋着小胡子说：
“你知道，我是不干那种事的——我的意思是，犯法的事。”
他说着，眼睛恶狠狠地盯着对方。
莫里斯先生那犹太人特有的厚嘴唇上隐约掠过一丝笑意。他一本正经地说：
“当然，要是我的客户让你干什么犯法的事，你完全可以退出。”
这个狡猾的小畜生真该死，居然还笑！仿佛对隆巴德过去的所作所为了如指掌，知道
对于隆巴德这种人来说，哪儿在乎什么犯法与不犯法。
隆巴德禁不住咧嘴一笑。
天知道，有那么一两次他差点儿就完了！然而最后他总能全身而退。其实，他才不在
乎合法与否……
不，根本不需要冒险做犯法的事。到了士兵岛，他期待的是好好享受一番……
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