The Purple Plain Page #5

Well, l think Carrington

should be consulted about this.

Carrington has no option.

lt's his only chance.

Well, it's entirely your responsibility.

Responsibility, hell.

We're going to walk out of here

and try to reach the river--at night.

lt'll be quite simple--

we'll march for half an hour,

then rest for half an hour.

We're going to make

a stretcher and carry you.

- lt's hopeless.

- Blore thinks it's hopeless.

What do you think?

You'll have to navigate.

l don't know.

You can't just carry a bloke

on a stretcher as easily as all that.

lt's a piece of cake.

Blore and l are the champion

bloke-carriers of all Burma.

lsn't that right, Blore?

All you have to do is try

to get some sleep until it's dark.

Come on, Blore.

You ready?

All set.

Just sing out

if you feel yourself slipping.

Okay.

- How about you, Blore?

- No, now just a minute.

All right.

Ready? Lift.

All right, put him down.

lt's hopeless.

We'll never get a stretcher down there.

Will you stop saying it's hopeless?

We'll lower him feet first.

You swing this end around.

- Absolute madness, the whole thing.

- Shut up.

Lift.

All right, lower away.

Hold it!

All right, lower him.

Slowly.

That's it.

Take him over there.

We'll rest for a bit.

All right, pick him up.

Keep going.

How much longer?

lt'll be dawn soon.

We'll stop then and rest all day.

Supposing you slip on the rock

and break your ankle--

then where shall we be?

You tell him, Carrington.

- Up the creek.

- That's right.

And you'll have to

carry us both, Blore, old boy.

Should have stayed where we were.

l said so all along.

Yes, you did.

All right.

Let's get going.

Lift.

What's the matter?

There's a sheer drop.

We'll never get by it.

Yes, we will.

Just go carefully.

- You want me to go in front?

- Why, don't you think l'm competent?

Sure l do,

but let's keep going.

All right, all right.

You're the officer in charge, aren't you?

You're the person responsible.

All right, then you give the orders.

''Theirs not to reason why--''

Are you still with it?

Blore!

Blore?

Are you badly hurt?

''Badly'' is a comparative term, isn't it?

So l hardly like to--

Easy.

The water.

The thermos--where is it?

Right over here.

Everything's here.

There's nothing lost.

Let's have a look at you.

There's something wrong here.

Looks like you broke

your collarbone.

lt's a pretty badly scraped face.

You got some antiseptic in your pack?

l'll get the webbing off first.

lt'll be light soon.

We'll be able to see what we're doing.

l'm sorry. Hurt you?

No.

Just thinking

of something funny, that's all.

Well, that's good.

l was thinking,

fancy worrying about the water.

You had me worried

about it there for a minute.

- As if it matters.

- As if what matters?

Well, the water.

l mean, it isn't as if it's gonna be

any use to us now, is it?

lsn't it?

Better lie back.

Not for me and Carrington, anyway.

As far as l can see,

we might just as well shoot

ourselves now and have done with it.

Here.

- Any news yet, sir?

- Hello, Doc. Yes.

We've heard from the army.

The nearest patrol they've got

is about 20 miles

from Forrester's last estimated position.

They've got a signal through

to the officer commanding there,

told him to do what he can,

but l don't suppose that'll be very much.

You mean we can't expect the army

to go charging off 20 miles

into Jap territory

on the chance of finding three corpses

and a burnt-out plane.

That's about the size of it, yes.

So it looks like

a complete write-off.

Yes.

Well, thank you, sir.

Hello, Anna.

Tell me, please.

l've told you all there is to know.

Please.

They were on their way to Meiktila--

Forrester, the navigator,

and a passenger.

One of the engines caught fire.

We didn't have time to locate

their exact position,

but we know they were

over a Jap area.

We don't know

if they landed safely.

lt's bad country, though.

Did he know it would

be dangerous when he went?

No. lt was practically

a routine flight.

He just had bad luck.

Was the bad luck

because of something he had failed in?

No.

No, it wasn't his fault.

Then perhaps he will come back.

Aye, perhaps he will.

lf it's humanly possible.

He said he would come back.

Forrester.

- What's the matter?

- A plane.

There it is!

That plane was looking for us.

So was the other one.

We should have had more sense than

to leave our position until they found us.

Now when they do see the wreckage,

there'll be nobody to signal to them.

They'll think there were no survivors

and give up the search.

That plane was on the same course

we were on--to Meiktila.

That's the way back home for us,

the way we're going.

Now will you stop teasing that shoulder

of yours and try to get some rest?

- Rest!

- Sure, you may need it.

As soon as it's dark, one of us

will have to go on to the river alone,

try to get help for the others.

And who will that be?

You, l suppose. You're the uninjured one.

And leave us to rot.

No, l was thinking

that you might like to go.

You can still walk all right.

l'll stay here

and take care of Carrington.

lt doesn't make much difference to me.

You think it over.

You never liked me,

did you, Forrester?

Not now, Blore.

There's a good fellow.

l know why.

lt's because l had something to live for,

a life to go back to.

l did some thinking last night.

lt's my having a wife

and family that you hated.

You need some sleep.

Somebody said once that in a crisis,

you could always depend on a man

of action to lose his head first.

l never thought l'd

see that proved up to the hilt.

Let's talk it over later.

l'm making a last appeal

to you, Forrester, for us all.

Carrington's wounded. He can't

think straight any more than you can.

We should never have left

the plane in the first place.

We've used up our strength uselessly.

As for going onward,

it's sheer madness.

The only sane course now is to get back

to the plane as quickly as we can

and sweat it out

until the rescue party arrives.

Well?

Forrester?

Forrester.

Blore!

Blore!

What's the matter?

- Blore's gone.

- What do you mean?

Blore's gone.

Back to where we crashed,

l guess.

He's left some water in this

and walked off while we were asleep.

Maybe he's right, huh?

He's a clot and you know it.

Well, l'm gonna bring him back.

l'll make it as quick as l can.

You try to get some more sleep.

There's water if you need it.

Try not to.

l'll be back as soon as l can.

Blore!

Where's old Blore?

Decided not to come.

He's dead, isn't he?

Did he shoot himself?

Poor old Blore.

What do you know about it?

l only said poor old Blore.

Yeah.

Poor old Blore.

He could have been right, though,

don't you think?

No!

We're gonna get

out of here if we can--alive.

- You mean you are, don't you?

- l mean both of us.

l'm afraid it's no use,

my trying to walk.

Nobody's asking you to.

l'm gonna carry you.

How can you?

You'll never be able to do it.

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