OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

124 MAINLY MAIGRET
forward and fell into the arms of a young journalist, who looked
terribly embarrassed.
" Hurry up! " someone said. " There's no time to spare."
" Oh, I've left my bag! " she gasped.
But there wasn't time to turn back for it. The tenders were
casting off, and the camera-men wanted to be in front of them*
Troubled by the motion of the boat, the woman sat down.
" Do you know who any of them are? " she asked the man
beside her, who was fitting a reel of film into his camera.
" Two or three."
" I wonder if you happened to see a young fellow amongst them
—brown hair he has, and looks like a boy of sixteen, though he's
really much older? "
" What's his name? "
But to that she gave no answer. They were moving past the
tenders and hundreds of convicts were looking down at the motorlaunch
speeding seawards.
" Have their clothes been taken away? "
" Yes—they've only numbers now to distinguish them."
The skipper of the launch whispered in the ear of one of the
pressmen:
" Better keep an eye on her. I expect she's a relation. Take care
she doesn't do anything silly—throw herself overboard, or something
like that. There've been cases of that sort, you know."
Word was passed round, and they took turns at sitting beside
the elderly woman, who, however, showed no particular sign of
emotion. One of them asked her:
" Is it one of the convicts you're interested in? "
She made a movement of her head, which might have been a
nod.
" Perhaps we could help you. Is there anything you particularly
want to know? "
" Do they have a very hard time out'there? Can one send them
comforts? "
The tenders had outpaced the motor-launch, which was now
bobbing in their wake. Sunlight played on the streaming lines of
foam. Some fishing-boats, too, were going out to sea; on the deck
of one of them the crew could be seen having a meal and passing
a bottle of red wine from mouth to mouth.
" Can't we get a bit closer? " the woman asked.
" Nothing doing, I'm afraid. Those tenders have the legs of us.