Four Men and a Prayer Page #7

India again?

You know, I can't understand

why Lynn didn't wait for us this morning.

Typical of the breed.

Women don't give it a thought.

I suppose she was feeling

pretty ill.

- No wonder after last night, poor kid.

- Yes.

- Should we phone her?

- Let's. I know the minute she hears my voice...

her rooms will be bathed

in brilliant sunlight...

and birds will probably

twitter from her ceiling.

Get her on the phone

for me, will you?

Hello? Hello. Operator?

Put me through to

Miss Cherrington, will you?

She's gone?

She's gone!

- Hello, this is Gordon Herk-

- Herkimer Gordon!

Calling. Didn't she leave

a message for me?

But she must've

left a forwarding address.

- Thanks.

- Gone?

Bag and baggage, without a word.

But no note on the dressing table?

I can't understand it.

Hello? It's Wyatt!

We've got on to something, Boson!

That barman's gun was manufactured

by a company called Atlas Arms.

Atlas Arms!

We located the president of Atlas Arms

in Alexandria, Egypt.

All the number-one boys

of the munitions racket are there.

Now look here.

Take the first boat

and meet us there.

What?

Oh, yes, yes!

What was that name again? Quick.

His name is Martin Cherrington.

That's right.

"Cherring-ton."

Now what's the matter?

Lynn's father's president

of Atlas Arms.

What?

- I certainly don't like the look of this.

- What do you mean?

Lynn arrived at Leigh Hall

the day that Drake was shot, right?

Then she arrived out here before you did,

and I met her with Loveland.

It all looks most peculiar to me.

Don't be an ass.

Lynn's just an impulsive girl

who reads too many detective stories.

- I hope you're right.

- I am! Lynn tried to help us, didn't she?

She arranged for us to go

on this trip with Loveland.

Don't you realize that might

all have been a very neat trick?

I wonder.

- It's utterly impossible, but-

- What do we do now?

- We pack for Alexandria at once.

- Oh.

His Highness agrees to the terms...

and would pay partly in gold

and partly in silver.

Okay. Now you tell your friend

the shipment can be made secretly.

Mr. Furnoy, who's in charge

of all operations...

will be here in a couple of days

and settle the details.

The kid's here.

Landed at Imperial Airways

a few minutes ago.

What? Here in Alexandria?

How the dickens did she track me?

Well, tell her I'm busy!

- You tell her.

- Hmm?

Well, all right.

Shoot her in.

If you gentlemen will wait in this room, please,

I won't be a minute.

- As-salaam alaikum.

- As-salaam alaikum.

Okay.

- Hello, Dad.

- Hello, Lynn. What are you doing in Egypt?

- I came to have a little talk with you.

- Well, well. What's up?

Engaged, married or broke?

How's about a daughterly peck?

No, thanks. I'm not very fond

of you at the moment.

Well, well.

What have I done now?

Dad, is it true that you're

president of Atlas Arms?

Where did you get track of that?

Now don't go answering a question

with a question! Are you president of Atlas Arms?

As a matter of fact, I am,

though it's not generally known.

But then I'm mixed up in a dozen companies.

Why pick on Atlas?

Oh, nothing.

That just makes you a murderer, that's all.

Here, here, here, here.

What's this?

I've just come back from South America

where I've seen men, women and kids...

killed with guns

that you made and sold.

It was terrible. People were shot down

on the street without a chance.

What do you think war is like?

A marshmallow roast?

Don't be flippant.

It was horrible.

You came halfway around

the world to tell me that?

Listen, Lynn. I know that war

is agony, filth and horror.

It's mass stupidity

and collective insanity.

You know all that and still

you go on selling arms?

Well, if I don't do it,

somebody else will.

Besides, you know, you're pretty expensive

with your globe-trotting ideas.

- Right now, I hate every penny you ever spent on me.

- Oh, you do, eh?

Okay. I'm making a note

to have your allowance stopped.

Can't you be serious

for two seconds?

I'm more in earnest than I've

ever been in my whole life...

and you treat me as though

I were still in rompers.

- Are you really serious?

- Yes, of course I am.

All right.

War is all you say it is and more.

But I'm not responsible if fools want to cut

each other's throats.

My factories turn out guns,

among other things.

Now if men want to buy them

and make hell on earth...

they might just as well

buy 'em from me.

But if they ever see reason...

I'd be delighted

to shut down my plants.

Now you know where I stand.

Dad, you're talking about men

as if they weren't even people.

I've seen them die,

slaughtered like animals.

That's your fault

for messing around such places.

I don't suppose it makes any difference

to you either, the fact that you've cost me...

the love and respect of the one man

in the world I cared anything about.

I never heard of him either,

so I can't be responsible.

All right, but get this clear.

From now on, I'm on the other side.

I'm fighting you.

Great! I love a good, stiff fight.

- You'll get it.

- In that case, I'll increase your allowance.

- You'll need a war chest.

- You can take your war chest and go to the devil!

Spunky kid, eh?

That's the way I like 'em.

Send in those snake charmers again.

I say! There they are!

- Nosey, Boson!

- By George, it's good to see them!

What have you got on your head?

Come on!

Oh!

Rodney, wha-Whiskers?

- A mustache!

- A beard!

- It comes off.

- But you have one, and Boson said-

It comes off!

Up.

I say.

Nosey! Come on.

Get out of here. Nosey!

- Come on.

- Oh!

Geoffrey!

Chris! Chris, hello. Remember me?

The old popper-upper?

Um, Geoff, darling!

Darling, I'm so glad to see you.

I didn't know where

we'd ever find each other again.

I wasn't even sure that you'd come,

but I watched every steamer.

And, Geoff, remember there was

something I had to explain to you?

Well, I wasn't clear about it

until I got here, but now I am.

- You see-

- I think we're both quite clear.

Why, Geoffrey, what's the matter?

That sounds like a queer

kind of question.

Queer question?

But why? What have I done?

When your father's

president of Atlas Arms-

Oh, well, I wanted to be the first

to tell you that and explain, Geoffrey-

- I don't think explanations are possible.

- Oh, but, Geoffrey...

- surely you can't just-

- Please, Lynn, my brothers are waiting for me.

Uh, Geoffrey-

The guns are identical. The maker's name

has been chiseled off on both in the same way.

We had an acid test made of ours, and

the name Atlas Arms came out plain as day.

- So, at last, we're getting somewhere.

- I'm afraid we're not.

- What do you mean, Beano?

- Well, you see, Loveland is dead.

We have his confession,

but that's only hearsay evidence.

And the rest is purely circumstantial.

No court would accept it for a moment.

Do you mean we haven't

accomplished anything?

What about Cherrington?

He's the man we've got to see.

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