Sixty Days to Live

'Why did you bother?'

'Because you're Sam's wife, of course.'

She smiled a little acidly. 'Thank you. That's quite the nicest compliment I've had for a long time.'

'Oh, come,' he shrugged impatiently. 'I didn't mean it that way, but Sam's been more than any father to me for the last seven years. I'd be selling pea-nuts in the streets of New York, or something of that kind, if it hadn't been for Sam. You're his wife, so it was just up to me to find you and get you down to Stapleton somehow.'

'With a neat label round my neck, I suppose: "In good order and untouched".'

'That's just the way I hope it'll be,' he agreed, refusing to rise to her baiting.

There was very little traffic about and few people; and Hemmingway was anxious to place a good distance between themselves and the East End as soon as possible; so, on entering the broad tree-lined streets of Rushey Green, he let the car rip. In Catford, as he slowed down to enter a narrower turning, sign-posted to the crystal palace, Lavina remarked thoughtfully:

'You're rather an extraordinary person, aren't you, Hemmingway?'

'No. I wouldn't say that,' he smiled. 'My mental attainments are a good bit better than most people's, if that's what you mean; but otherwise I've ordinary feelings and only one head and a couple of legs like everybody else.'

'I wasn't thinking of you mentally or physically, but as a person. It's so unusual to find anyone these days with such unquestioning loyalty.'

'I don't think so. Look at Sam. You couldn't find a more loyal man than Sam anywhere.'

'He's your hero, isn't he?'

'Yes. If you like to put it that way, I suppose he is.'

'And now you've saved his wife from worse than death!' she mocked him. 'It might have come to that, you know. I probably shouldn't have awakened till the evening, and if I'd still been on my own in the East End just after sunset the sight of me might have given lots of unpleasant people funny ideas.'

'Well, let's say that I was lucky enough to get you out of what might have proved a pretty sticky corner.'

'And I saved your life; or, at least, saved you from being beaten unconscious by those thugs.'

'You certainly did.'

'That's lovely. Then, we're all paladins together. But tell me, what sort of effect does the comet have on you?'

'It makes me feel very queer. I was in the house last night waiting for you and Roy and Derek to turn up and . . he hesitated.

'Go on,' she said.

'Well, if you ever get back to St. James's Square you may find out.'

'Don't be a pig! Do tell me?'

'All right. But you must remember that at the time I was completely abnormal. I'm afraid I used up all your scent.'

'My scent! I thought you smelt rather nice.'

'Oh, afterwards 1 naturally did my best to get the damned stuff off me but I suppose some of it's still lingering in my hair. Sorry to have robbed you, and how the idea came to me, God knows. But I just couldn't resist going up to your room, sitting down at your dressing-table and dabbing myself all over till the bottle gave out. Extraordinary, wasn't it?'

'Very,' agreed Lavina, smiling at her toes.

They had run up Perry Hill, entering a poorer district in Lower Sydenham. As they mounted the steeper gradient of West Hill, towards the Palace, they saw that a small crowd had collected about half-way up it where the road narrowed to cross a railway bridge above Sydenham Station.

Hemmingway put on speed again. He did not mean to be held up now that he had at last got away with both Lavina and the car and had every hope of being out in the open country in under half an hour; but a moment later his brows drew together in a frown and he checked the car.

As the group in the roadway parted he saw that they had stretched a number of thick wires across it, between two and six feet from the ground, and were flagging him to pull up.

For a moment he contemplated charging the barrier; but the wires were almost cable size and he knew that even the weight of the Rolls would not be great enough to snap them all. He would only succeed in forcing them back like bow strings and might even turn the car over.

'Lord, help us! It's the police,' was the thought that flashed into his mind. 'They must have telephoned through already and, knowing we'd killed one man, thought we'd take a chance on running others down if only we could get away. They've fixed these wires to make certain of halting us her-.'

But, as he brought the car to a standstill, he saw at once that there was not a single policeman in the crowd. It was another gang of roughs.

'Give me that thing,' he cried to Lavina, snatching the auto-_matic that lay on the seat between them as the ugly-looking mob surged round the car. Yet a second glance at the yelling crowd convinced him of the folly of either threatening them with it or attempting to use it. There were at least fifty men in the mob and their faces showed them to be desperate. He felt certain that if he even produced the gun Lavina and he would be dragged out of the car and kicked to death.

'Come on!' shouted a man in a red tie, who seemed to be the leader of the roughs. 'Out you get! We want that car!'

Hemmingway hesitated, but only for a second.

'Out you get!' repeated the man. 'And no argument, unless you want a beating-up!'

Discretion was unquestionably the better part of valour. For Lavina's sake as well as his own, Hemmingway saw that peaceable surrender was the only policy.

'It's no good,' he said, with a wry grin at her. 'We can't tackle this lot. We'll have to get out.' And, picking up his satchel of papers, he helped her down into the road.

The gang appeared to be organised and, having fixed up their car-catching apparatus, were taking their turns to get away in each private car they could waylay as it came along.

The man in the red tie gave an order. The barrier of wires was lowered. A flashy little Jew climbed into the driver's seat and drove the Rolls over it; after which about eight of the other men, laughing and joking, packed themselves into the car.

Taking Lavina by the arm, Hemmingway led her over to the pavement. As they had given up the car peacefully, nobody attempted to molest them; but with bitterness in their hearts they watched the wire barrier raised again and Mr. Guggen-baum's beautiful Rolls drive smoothly away.

Crazy Day

'Damn!' said Lavina forcibly. 'What the hell do we do now?'

'We can either stay here, join the crowd and try and muscle into one of the cars they pull up, or start walking out of London.' Hemmingway's voice was quite dispassionate.

'We might wait here till doomsday,' she sniffed. 'It's really a sort of general post that's going on. They're simply turning one lot of people out of a car so that another lot can get away.'

'Sure. But there were only two of us in the Rolls and about ten of them packed into it before it drove off. If they manage to hold up a lorry or two, we might quite well get places. I'm game to walk myself but I'm afraid you'd just hate it, so in this case I'm leaving the choice to you.'

The question was unexpectedly settled for them. Three vans came streaking up the road from the direction of Forest Hill-They pulled up just in front of the barrier and a score of policemen tumbled out. Evidently one of the local police had seen what was going on and had succeeded in getting assistance.

Some of the roughs in the crowd began to hurl bricks and bottles. Hemmingway grabbed Lavina's arm and dragged her back into the shelter of the Station doorway. Striking out right and left with their batons the police drove the mob back. In two minutes it was all over: the organisers of the hold-up broke and scattered.

A few men whom the police had collared were bundled into one of the vans; they removed the wire barricade, coiled it up and put it in another; then they drove off again.