The Closed Harbour Read Online Free PDF

business."
    "Quite so, sir. Take the Corsican then. If Marius was wrong on that night then he's not the one to admit it. Such men are liabilities to any company."
    "But you are an asset to mine," cried Follet, and he slapped heartily at Philippe's knee. "I'm enjoying my lunch, Philippe, and I hope you are, too."
    "I am indeed, sir."
    "I'm trying to recall that matter," Follet's brow was furrowing, "there were two survivors, they say."
    "It was this man Royat who first spread the story of Marius having had a row with his mate and with the helmsman, Madeau, on a matter of the correct course, a difference of nearly four degrees. It is interesting to note that he broke with all tradition by surviving."
    "There are no longer traditions," Follet said, "one does not stand at the mast-head like a fool, saluting as his ship goes down. Rumour is like fire," he added, "who believes in gossip, anyhow?" He sat back, waited for his coffee.
    "Black and a brandy, Philippe?"
    "If you please, Monsieur Follet. Thank you."
    "Thank you, Jean," when the coffee came.
    "Ah," exclaimed Follet, after the first sip, he looked at Philippe.
    "It all comes to this," he said, "this man is looking for a berth, and we have no berths, and we are glad there are no berths. Is not that so?"
    Philippe smiled assent.
    And then he returned to his bone.
    "D'you know what I think sir?"
    "What do you think?"
    "I think there's something fishy about the whole thing."
    "Why?"
    "Because Madeau did not survive. And it's plain, too, that it was the end for Marius, he had already suffered a suspension, he'd be bound to lose his ticket, nothing else for it, inescapable, I can see him facing the issue, see any Captain of that ripe age facing it. One does not require much imagination—" continued Philippe, but he was interrupted by Follet, who waved a hand violently in the air.
    "My God, Philippe, how you love sensation," he leaned closer, lowered his voice, "and how the love for it seems to feed on quiet, respectable lives, such as yours Philippe, growing out of your rose garden, even out of your house slippers. Rubbish. I never listen to stories, anyway."
    "A man came to me for a job some three months ago, sir," said Philippe; "he'd been sent along to me by a quartermaster under Manos, he said he'd got it from a stoker that there was a violent row between Gasse the first officer and Marius, and that Madeau who was at the wheel at the time sided with Gasse and angered the other. Consider. If this was so, Marius's end as a skipper was inevitable. He might consider the humiliation, the downfall, he might do anything—"
    "Your imagination does you credit," said Follet.
    Philippe, the bone firmly between his teeth, replied quietly, "I'm serious, sir."
    "No. No. That is Fate giving too hard a knock to a creature," said Follet, his voice full of protest. "Spare me, Philippe. Besides, look at the clock. It is time to get back to business. So you think that Marius, to save his pride might have killed his own nephew. Well well. I would advise you, Philippe, to keep a careful control over the tongue in your head. If this were so, well, there are such things as justice, somebody would do something—"
    "France was in pieces, Monsieur Follet. France was fleeing. The matter of a single ship is a tossed fragment, besides there is a kind of honour—"
    Follet was up, calling loudly for his bill.
    "Enough, Philippe, I've a conference at three o'clock, but perhaps you forget."
    "Labiche says that France has not fallen far enough, she has yet to sink further—"
    Smiling, Follet paid his bill, spoke low into Philippe's ear.
    "And this morning I gave him a rise in salary."
    "The Marius affair is a ripple in the ocean, sir," remarked Philippe as they moved towards the door.
    "Good. That will close the matter. Let it be a ripple in the ocean, and let the ocean alone, Philippe, and let your imagination alone, too. I'm off. I cannot afford to be late with Manos, I haven't seen him for some time