here, they shoot. They find out if he was a criminal afterwards.
Understand?' He looked down on the ground, his shoulders moving in a
sort of convulsion. 'Come on,' I said.
"He followed me like a shadow over the bridge, along the quay and up
the gangway. The watchman saw us come aboard, but otherwise the dock was
deserted. My room was on the starboard side, the second door in the
alleyway. I looked along and down in the engine-room. The Fourth was
down below reading a novel on the bench by the dynamo. All the rest were
still ashore--up at the _Bier Convent_ or the _Apollo_, I suppose. I
opened my door and Frank stepped inside.
"'Now,' I said, shutting the ports, 'you're safe.'
"He sat side-ways on the settee, shading his eyes with his hands. Now
that I saw him in the cold glare of two thirty-two candle-power lamps,
he was awful. I took off my coat and set to work. From a drawer I took
out a suit of underwear, socks, a suit of blue dungarees, a flannel
shirt, an old cap and a pair of bluchers. I rolled these up in a big
bath towel and handed them to Frank. 'Frank,' I said, 'listen.' He
nodded. 'See this key? It fits the bath-room. The bath-room is the last
wooden door in this alleyway. Go down there, open the door, take the key
with you, lock yourself in, switch on the light, have a bath from head
to foot, put these clothes on, roll up those rags in the towel and bring
them back. If you meet anybody take no notice, act as if you belonged.
Here's some soap.'
"I looked up and down the alleyway--no one there. Up and down outside
the watchman slouched on the iron deck. Down below was the drone of the
dynamo and the wheeze and whine of the Weir pumps. 'Go on,' I said.
'Mind, the last wooden door on the right. Don't go round the corner.
Understand?' He looked at me for a moment and then flitted away down the
long iron tunnel. I saw him poke about with his key, his body all
crouched, the white bundle sticking out behind him. And then he
vanished, and the door, heavy teak, slammed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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