OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University
OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University
3*4 MAINLY MAIGRET He moved restlessly. " I don't remember everything he told me.... For he felt he had to talk about her—with a mixture of passion and hatred. .. . " ' A captain has no right to start a scandal capable of ruining his authority.. ..' " I can still hear those words. It was the first time I'd sailed on a ship, and now I thought of the sea as a monster that would get us all.... " Fallut cited examples. In such and such a year a captain had taken his mistress with him on his ship. There had been such rows on board that three men hadn't come back.... " It was blowing hard. ... Spray kept dashing over us.. .. Sometimes a wave would lick round our feet, which slipped about on the greasy metal deck. ... " No, he wasn't mad!. . . But it wasn't the same Fallut.... " ' We'll get this trip over! . .. Then we'll see. .. / "I didn't understand what he meant. It seemed to me both conventional and fantastic to be so attached to the idea of duty. " ' They mustn't know.... A captain must do no wrong ' " I was ill with nerves. I couldn't think. Thoughts were going round and round in my head, and finally I was living in a real nightmare. " This woman in the cabin, this woman whom a man like the captain couldn't get over ... whose very name made him breathe fast... • " I wrote scores of letters to my fiancee, but we were going to be separated for three months. ... I had had no experience of such transports. • • • " And when he said her flesh ... or her body ... I blushed without knowing why. ..." Maigret questioned him slowly: " No one on board except you two knew the truth about the death of Jean-Marie? " "No one!" "And it was the captain who, in accordance with tradition, recited the prayers for the dead? " "At dawn. The weather had broken. We ran into an icy mist. ..." " The crew said nothing? " " There were some queer looks and whispers. But Fallut was more wilful than ever and his voice had become quite mordant.
THE SAILORS' RENDEZVOUS 325 He didn't permit of the least reply. He got angry merely if a man's expression didn't please him. He spied on the men as if he was trying to guess whether any suspicions could have arisen.. . ." "And you?" Le Clinche did not reply. He stretched out his arm to reach a glass of water which stood on the bedside table, and drank greedily. " You prowled round the cabin more than ever, didn't you? You wanted to see this woman who'd put the captain in such a state? ... Was that on the following night? . .." " Yes ... I met her for a moment. Then the next night... I had noticed that the key to the radio-room and the captain's cabin were the same. . .. The captain was on watch. ... I crept in like a thief. . . ." " You became her lover? . . ." The operator's face hardened. " I swear you won't understand! The whole atmosphere had no connection whatsoever with everyday realities. That kid . . . And the whole business of the previous night. . . . And yet, when I thought of it, it was always the same image that came to my mind: that of a woman different from all other women, a woman whose body, whose flesh could so change a man. ..." " Did she encourage you? " " She was lying on the bed, half-naked. . . ." He blushed violently and turned away his head. " How long did you remain in the cabin? " " Perhaps two hours ... I don't know. When I came out there was a buzzing in my ears and the captain was at the door. He said nothing. ... He watched me go past. I nearly threw myself on my knees and cried out that it wasn't my fault and begged his forgiveness. But his face was frozen. I walked off. . . back to my post. " I was afraid. ... From then on I kept my revolver loaded in my pocket, because I was convinced he was going to kill me. ... " He never spoke a word to me except on matters of routine. What's more, most of the time he sent me written instructions.. •. " I wish I could explain it better ... I just can't. Each day was worse than the last. I had the impression that everyone knew about the tragedy. " The chief engineer began haunting the cabin too, and the captain would spend hours shut up inside. " The men kept giving us anxious, inquiring looks.... They
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3*4 MAINLY MAIGRET<br />
He moved restlessly.<br />
" I don't remember everything he told me.... For he felt he<br />
had to talk about her—with a mixture of passion and hatred. .. .<br />
" ' A captain has no right to start a scandal capable of ruining his<br />
authority.. ..'<br />
" I can still hear those words. It was the first time I'd sailed on<br />
a ship, and now I thought of the sea as a monster that would get<br />
us all....<br />
" Fallut cited examples. In such and such a year a captain had<br />
taken his mistress with him on his ship. There had been such rows<br />
on board that three men hadn't come back....<br />
" It was blowing hard. ... Spray kept dashing over us.. ..<br />
Sometimes a wave would lick round our feet, which slipped about<br />
on the greasy metal deck. ...<br />
" No, he wasn't mad!. . . But it wasn't the same Fallut....<br />
" ' We'll get this trip over! . .. Then we'll see. .. /<br />
"I didn't understand what he meant. It seemed to me both<br />
conventional and fantastic to be so attached to the idea of duty.<br />
" ' They mustn't know.... A captain must do no wrong '<br />
" I was ill with nerves. I couldn't think. Thoughts were going<br />
round and round in my head, and finally I was living in a real<br />
nightmare.<br />
" This woman in the cabin, this woman whom a man like the<br />
captain couldn't get over ... whose very name made him breathe<br />
fast... •<br />
" I wrote scores of letters to my fiancee, but we were going to<br />
be separated for three months. ... I had had no experience of such<br />
transports. • • •<br />
" And when he said her flesh ... or her body ... I blushed without<br />
knowing why. ..."<br />
Maigret questioned him slowly:<br />
" No one on board except you two knew the truth about the<br />
death of Jean-Marie? "<br />
"No one!"<br />
"And it was the captain who, in accordance with tradition,<br />
recited the prayers for the dead? "<br />
"At dawn. The weather had broken. We ran into an icy<br />
mist. ..."<br />
" The crew said nothing? "<br />
" There were some queer looks and whispers. But Fallut was<br />
more wilful than ever and his voice had become quite mordant.
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