condensed master

The Reluctant Agent
A Compelling Story of Espionage
into the fire" situation, but there was no comparison with his previous predicament.
One of the policemen moved behind him and the other motioned Will to stand.
The man behind him then proceeded to search for weapons, then pulling his arms
backwards he felt the handcuffs snap over his wrists. All three walked slowly back
to what Will now knew to be the police wagon. Throughout the whole period,
since escaping from the house, he had seen no one other than these police. The
area seemed to be deserted.
Throwing him unceremoniously into the back of the vehicle, and locking the
steel door behind him, they proceeded to drive down the hill. Looking out of the
window, it seemed only a few minutes before the entrance to the Queen of Sheba's
Wells appeared. What confounded bad luck thought Will. If I'd had the grace of
another fifteen minutes I would have made it!
Because of the rough ride, and not having the use of his arms to steady himself,
Will found it necessary to sit on the floor and wrap his legs around one of the seat
supports to prevent being buffeted from one side of the wagon to the other.
Through the small meshed open window to the driver's compartment over the
noise of the engine, he could hear the rapid chatter of the policemen's voices,
interposed occasionally with laughter, and once again he experienced that same
feeling of relief that he had on the rocky outcrop some fifteen minutes earlier.
In complete contradiction to his predicament, he actually felt safe enclosed
within the walls of his mobile prison. More laughter emanated from the front and
Will felt himself breaking into a nervous smile. Within minutes the wagon pulled
up, and he assumed that they had probably arrived at a police station on the
outskirts of Aden.
The building was typical of a government structure in that part of the world.
Arches everywhere, opening into cloistered yards, surrounded with rooms.
Will was pushed every few paces to keep him on the move. He had partially
torn the sole from his right shoe, making it awkward to walk, the sharp stones had
penetrated, cutting his toes. Glancing down to make sure that he lifted his foot by
just the right amount to prevent tripping, he noticed that his clothes were torn,
especially around the legs, blood had oozed out in patches around the tears, and
also on to the sole of his shoe.
Opening one of the doors he was given a final push, and he found himself in
a small bare room, lit by a single electric light bulb hanging from the ceiling. A long
39