The Four Feathers Page #5

Then -

I don't understand, Doctor.

He left England for one purpose only.

If he succeeded, he said

that you would learn by means...

that would need no explanation.

If he failed,

then he asked me to let you know...

that at least he'd done his best.

I see.

He promised to write to me now and then

just to show that he was still alive.

If I heard nothing for a year...

then his silence would show

that he was dead.

My dear.

So that's the end.

You think I behaved brutally to him,

Doctor.

No.

I did behave brutally.

I behaved like the worst kind of coward.

I failed to help him

when he was so terribly in need of help.

Nothing that you could have done

would have made him alter his decision.

I could have helped him.

If you'd gone on your knees,

you could have done nothing.

His mind was made up.

You must always remember that, Ethne...

for the sake of his memory

and for your own happiness.

Oh. Ethne!

What are you two mooching about

outside for?

Just having a dose

of your country air, General.

It'll be a dose of bronchitis

if you don't take care.

Come on in, Ethne.

Give us some sherry.

Look, there's an Arab!

He's got an officer.

- Blimey! He's trying to rob him.

- Come on. Let's get him.

Abdul, ask him what he has to say.

It is useless, Your Excellency.

He's one of the Sangali tribe.

He cannot speak.

Put him with those two horse thieves

we got yesterday...

and send him to Abu Hamid

to mend the roads.

- March him out, Sergeant.

- Sir.

The doctor, sir.

- Well, Doctor, how's Durrance?

- He'll pull through.

Splendid. He's a fine officer.

The regiment can't spare

a man like that.

He's blind.

Blind?

Sunstroke-

exposure of the eyes to the sun.

I've seen it before, Colonel.

A man alone bowled over suddenly

lies there exposed.

But with rest and care, he'll get better?

With immediate attention,

there might have been a chance in a hundred.

Now there's none.

The nerves are completely destroyed.

Up!

- Good work, boy. Good work. Good work.

- Bravo!

Ha-ha! You'll have me riding to hounds

in a couple of weeks.

- Up another six inches, Joe.

- No more today.

Just one more.

Just a tiny little bit more.

Tomorrow, John.

It's time to dress for dinner.

Dress? I can dress in 10 minutes now.

Knocked two minutes off my record this morning.

There's your shaving lesson

before dinner too, sir.

Aha! Yes, my shaving lesson.

Also my lesson in making bow ties.

Lots of fun in going back

to school again, Ethne.

Joe's a great teacher.

Ought to be a professor.

Easy with a good pupil, sir.

And no more of those infernal

chopped-up meals.

I'm feeling like a lesson

in carving roast chicken tonight.

I'll see you at dinner.

Come on, Joe.

Thank you.

Brave man.

I hope I can make him very happy.

All right, Joe.

You do it for me, will you?

Look here, Ethne. I -

I've been wanting to say something to you

for a long time.

Beastly difficult to know how to put it.

Of course, it's no business of mine...

but are you sure you're right

in what you're doing?

Quite sure.

You know, a man becomes a soldier with

all the knowledge of the risks ahead of him.

If misfortune comes,

it's all part of the game.

He doesn't ask

for any pity or sympathy.

But you've got your whole life before you.

I know it's a noble, unselfish impulse...

but for 30 or 40 years -

maybe 50 years -

Father, please don't talk

about being noble.

There's nothing like that about it.

It's just -

Well, it's just that

I've made up my mind.

Yes. The Arab is a strange,

unexpected creature.

Yes, yes. Wait a minute.

You haven't heard the end yet.

Here's a solitary Arab. Heaven knows

where he comes from or how he's alive.

He packs my map,

slings my water bottle round my neck...

and never says a word

from beginning to end.

- That must have been uncanny.

- Uncanny?

It nearly drove me mad.

Yet I knew all the time

he was trying to save me.

How many days we traveled

I shall never know.

I was crazy with fever.

Must have been the best part of a week.

He gets me in a boat,

floats me down the Nile...

till he comes within sight of the camp,

and then -

Now, here's the extraordinary part.

Having done enough to win

the Victoria Cross...

he lays me down outside the camp

and calmly begins to rob me.

Nothing strange in that.

Just Eastern business mentality.

He'd done a job of work

and was taking payment.

Poor devil got less than he bargained for.

I carried no papers on active service

and no money.

Huh. He got nothing then.

He nearly got one thing -

the only thing I was carrying.

- Remember this?

- It's my letter.

Your letter.

There's a funny thing in this letter.

Ethne, read -

read the postscript you wrote.

It's still got some sand in it.

- You can keep the sand as a souvenir.

- Thank you -

- Go on. Read the postscript.

- Let me read it.

"PS:
Take care not to get sunstroke. "

You always said I knew too much

to take advice.

Ethne, darling, I'm sorry.

You're trembling.

You mustn't take it like that.

It's all over now.

It might have been a lot worse.

I'd have been dead six months ago

if it hadn't been for my little Arab friend.

And what happened

to your little Arab friend?

I wish I knew.

They sent the poor devil to a convict gang.

When I came to my senses,

it was too late to find him.

He'd escaped.

I was never able to trace him.

Now for a turn in the garden.

Stay here.

I'll get my coat and fetch yours, Ethne.

Oh. My letter.

Thank you.

So Harry's alive...

or was when he paid that debt.

Oi, Peter.

Good of them to entertain us for nothing.

If I had my hands free, I'd applaud.

If I had my hands free for 10 seconds...

I'd strangle that filthy little blighter

with the monkey.

Get out, you -

Willoughby. Do I still look sane?

No. Do I?

"Don't despair. "

Peter.

Perhaps our message got through.

Perhaps Durrance did get away

and sent this fellow...

to give us some hope of escape

from this hell.

Escape? I wonder.

I wonder what his plan is.

Karaga.

Karaga Pasha.

Tell me, which do you think would give

the better chance of escape -

the desert or the river?

How should I know?

Nobody has ever escaped from here.

But surely some attempts

must have been made to free you.

Yes, years and years ago...

but they all failed.

How long have you been here?

- Since Gordon was killed.

- Thirteen years.

Swim.

- Swim?

- Yes?

See island.

Tomorrow. Boat waiting.

So, the mad musician of Omdurman

was a British spy.

What message did you give

to your British friends?

The Khalifa will reward and spare you

if you will do his bidding.

What do you know of Kitchener's army?

If you won't answer,

we'll flog you until you do.

Answer!

- There you are.

- Thank heavens for that.

Well, that's the end of that.

No pork for dinner.

Poor devil. They've flogged him.

I wonder who he is.

Looks like an Arab.

Probably paid by our people to help us.

I wonder if he's got any papers on him.

Spies don't usually carry papers about.

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