Moonfleet Page #4

You're wrong, Ann!

There's Jeremy Fox!

Don't let him get away!

Surrender, Fox,

or I'll shoot you down.

Let me do it, sir.

I'm quite good at that.

No!

And stop looking at me

with those spaniel eyes!

Since you appeared,

I've had nothing but trouble!

You saved my life, sir.

That doesn't mean you

should follow me like a lost dog!

Will nothing teach you once and

for all that I will not be bound

by responsibilities and debts

and ties and obligations?

I wish to heaven your mother

had never sent you to me!

Now, there's the road.

You go that way, back to Moonfleet.

They're looking for a man with a boy.

You'd be my death warrant.

- Here, sir. Take this.

- What is it?

The money you gave me

on the beach. You'll be needing it.

- You keep it.

- Don't worry about me, sir.

I'll sell the locket

from Redbeard's coffin.

It's silver.

I was hoping to find

the diamond in it.

- You didn't, huh?

- No.

Just a paper with Bible verses.

And all of them numbered wrong.

At least

that's what Master Ratsey said.

Bible verses?

In Redbeard's coffin?

Let me look at that!

You say all these numbers are wrong?

That's what Master Ratsey said.

Jeremiah 51:
10...

One, two, three, four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, ten: "Treasure"!

- The tenth word is treasure!

- Treasure?

"Lo, I am this day

fourscore and five years old." Six.

One, two, three, four, five, six:

"Fourscore".

I does mean something,

doesn't it, sir?

It's a cipher!

Fourscore...

feet...

deep.

"Well".

In a well!

Hollisbrooke is

the deepest well in England!

And your Redbeard,

Master John Mohune,

was governor

of Hollisbrooke Castle!

Then that's where the diamond is!

If there is a diamond.

Oh, there is, sir! I know it!

It's in that well!

Fourscore deep...

Sir, is there a way

to get down that far?

Yes, there's a way.

You're late, my lord.

If your messenger hadn't been so...

persuasive,

I shouldn't have come at all.

Hauling me out of bed

at three o'clock in the morning!

How kind, calling me a gentleman.

A drink?

I don't drink with hunted felons.

- Not drink to our partnership?

- We have no partnership.

You're mistaken, Ashwood.

Ive decided to accept your offer.

My dear Fox,

well, to put it bluntly,

you no longer have

the necessary qualifications.

In your own words:

brains, courage...

- And the capital.

- And capital.

Im about to come into

an unexpected inheritance.

Congratulations!

But aren't you selling the bear's

skin before the bear is killed?

Give me time to kill him.

Sorry, but we leave for Rotterdam

tomorrow night.

Till tomorrow night then.

Ten o'clock.

Stop your coach at the bend

on the North Cove Road.

If I satisfy you

that Im a partner worth having,

then you'll take me with you.

And if you fail to satisfy?

Well, there's a hundred guineas

consolation.

Very well.

You're not thinking of taking

that boy along, are you?

I may be able to save you

from the gallows,

but not with that brat

hanging onto your coattails!

- You knowthat, don't you?

- Yes.

- You'll have to get rid of him.

- Yes!

Shall I convey your respects

to lady Ashwood?

Tell her that Im looking forward

to our partnership.

Come off it, major.

You go on duty at eight!

Hey, hey, Hennishaw,

where are you going?

That's not the way

to Hollisbrooke!

Blasted Hollisbrooke! Blasted army!

Must go. Duty at eight.

Of course, major, of course.

But there's always time

for a little nap, isn't there, major?

Time? Of course there's time.

Hennishaw'll have

a head in the morning.

Is the candle all ready?

The cord measured out?

Sir!

Now you look here,

this isn't a game,

so let's understand each other.

If anything goes wrong,

it'll be each for himself.

If I have to abandon you,

Ill do so without hesitation.

I don't think

you'd do that, sir.

You're very much mistaken.

If you'd been my son...

Yes, sir?

Id have taught you to trust no one!

But you are my friend!

I am your partner.

In a dangerous venture! Clear?

The exercise will be beneficial.

Hey, coachman!

Wait for me over there.

Hey, boy! Come here!

Me, sir?

- You want to earn a copper?

- Yes, sir.

Well, you carry these

and follow me.

Major!

What? A sentry leaving his post!

The countersign...

Is this one of His Majesty's

military prisons or a country fair?

- But my orders are...

- Your orders are to stay on guard.

And what's that bird's nest

you've got on your back... a uniform?

- Who's your officer?

- Lt Upjohn, sir.

My compliments to him.

If ever I have occasion to inspect

his guard, I shall hope to see

British soldiers that look like

British soldiers! Dismissed!

Sir!

You ready?

Yes, sir.

Come on, in you get.

Anything wrong here, major?

Who are you?

The well-tender.

The well-tender, eh?

And you ask me

if there's anything wrong!

Haven't you been selling water

to the prisoners?

Why, sir, it's not so. I...

Selling them water and

hiding your takings in this well?

May I be struck dead, sir,

if Id do a thing like that!

Yes, if I were you,

I would not tempt Providence.

Mr. Fox! Mr. Fox!

Who's that?

Well, what's he doing down there?

Proving your innocence...

if you are innocent! Boy!

Yes, major?

Proceed with the search.

Yes, sir.

All right, lower away.

Stop!

Stop it!

- Ive found it, sir!

- Found what?

Raise it.

Got a memento of the wars,

I see there, major.

Well, no more than anyone else

who served in France.

I don't know where you got that one,

friend, but it weren't in the wars.

The 10th Light Infantry

is a garrison regiment.

It's stationed at Hollisbrooke

these six years.

Let go of that brake.

- That's an order!

- That game's played out!

Now, come on! Give us

what you found, or down you go!

Let's have it!

Quick! You go on ahead.

Lt Upjohn, sir. I have the honour

to present the guard for inspection.

Loose.

Give the countersign!

Countersign be hanged!

Im major Hennishaw, you idiot!

Well, my compliments, lieutenant.

Stop that man!

Stop him, I say!

He's a thief and an impostor!

That boy!

They were together! Stop him!

Stop him! Stop him!

I thought you'd gone.

Gone where?

To the beach. To look at the boat.

It's still there.

Yes. It's still there.

This time tomorrow, we'll be across

the channel and safe, won't we?

I knew you wouldn't do it.

Do what?

You said you'd leave me.

But you didn't.

Go back to sleep.

My mother worried

that Id always be poor.

Now we're rich.

I think she'd have liked us

to live together in the manor,

don't you?

Yes.

Now we'll never go back there.

You may... I shan't.

Then I shan't either.

In the colonies,

when we sell the diamond...

we could have a house

like my mother's, couldn't we?

With stables for a hundred horses,

and fountains...

Delighted to see you, my dear Fox.

- My lady.

- Clarissa.

He must call me that,

mustn't he, Jamie?

Nowthat we're partners.

The question is, are we partners?

You won't think me unmannerly

if I ask to see

some evidence of your good fortune?

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