OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

308 MAINLY MAIGRET
9. Two Men on the Bridge
THERE was a tinny note from the direction of the cliff: the clock of
the Benedictine abbey striking one.
Maigret walked towards the Hotel de la Plage, his hands behind
his back, but, as he got nearer, his steps became slower and finally
stopped altogether, right in the middle of the quay.
Before him was the hotel, his room, his bed, everything that was
peaceful and reassuring.
Behind ... He turned. He looked back at the funnel of the
trawler from which smoke was coming gently, for die furnaces had
been lit. Fecamp was asleep. There was a great pool of moonlight
in the middle of the dock. A breeze had arisen from the water,
almost icy, like the breath of the sea.
Maigret turned, heavily, regretfully. He again strode over the
hawsers coiled round the bollards and found himself at the edge
of the quay with his eyes fixed on the Ocian.
His eyes were narrowed, his mouth threatening, his fists in the
depths of his pockets.
This was the solitary, discontented Maigret, sunk within himself,
doggedly persistent, caring nothing for ridicule.
The tide was low. The deck of the trawler far below the level of
the dock. But a plank had been thrown from the quay to the bridge.
A thin, narrow plank.
The sound of the surf was becoming more distinct. The tide must
have turned, and die foamy water was gradually encroaching on
the beach.
Maigret went on to the plank, which curved in the middle under
his weight. His steps grated on the iron bridge. But he did not go
any farther. He let himself down on the quarter-deck opposite the
steering-wheel, where Captain Fallut's huge sea-mittens dangled
from the compass.
In the same way dogs ensconce themselves, surly and obstinate,
in a place where they have smelt out something.
The letter from Jorissen, his liking for Le Clinche, Marie
Leonnec's importunity, were no longer his concern. This was a
purely personal matter.
Maigret had reconstructed for himself the figure of Captain
Fallut. He had made the acquaintance of the operator, of Adele
and the cliief engineer. He had done his best to get the feel of the
general life on board the trawler.