An Old Captivity by Nevil Shute Read Free Book Online

thrust his hands deep in his pockets, and stared down at her. “You can put it that way if it pleases you,” he said. “It’s not true but if it pleases you to think like that, it’s O.K. by me. And, anyway, you’ve made my mind up for me.”
    The quick colour mounted in her cheeks; she had very seldom argued with an angry man. “What do you mean by that?”
    He eyed her steadily. “I mean just this, Miss Lockwood. I think your father is as fit as I am. If he wants me to fly him to Greenland, I’ll fly him to Greenland if it snowsink, and neither you nor anybody else is going to stop me.”
    There was a silence after that. They stood for some moments staring hotly at each other on the lawn. Presently Ross relaxed, smiled and said:
    “I’m sorry that we can’t agree, Miss Lockwood. Let’s forget about it. He may decide not to go.”
    She shrugged her shoulders. “For his sake I very much hope he does.”
    They turned and walked towards the house without another word spoken. Lockwood was in the study looking through
The Times;
they went together to the dining-room for breakfast. During the meal the girl hardly spoke at all.
    At the end of it, Lockwood said: “We might go through into the study if you’ve finished, Mr. Ross.”
    In the study, with the door closed, he stood before the window filling his pipe.
    “Well, Mr. Ross,” he said, “I’ve thought about this matter a good deal. I don’t think the difficulties are insuperable, although there seems to be more in it than I had supposed. I’ve decided to go on with it.”
    Ross said: “All right. If you want to give me the job I should be very glad to do it for you.”
    The don smiled. “You must go to Coventry and see my brother. I’ll give you a note to him. If he approves of you, come back here and we’ll start making plans. I realise there’s not much time to lose.”

AN OLD CAPTIVITY
II
    R OSS went down to the station, and took the next train up to Coventry. He got there early in the afternoon, left his bag at the cloak-room, and walked up through the town to the offices if Lockwood Tube and Wire Company. He told his business to the uniformed commissionaire; then he waited for some time in an oak-panelled waiting-room,reading the trade papers on the table. Finally, he was led down a long panelled corridor and shown into an office.
    A thin, middle-aged man, slightly bald, got up to meet him. “My name is Hanson,” he said. “I am Sir David’s secretary. I understand you have a note to Sir David from his brother?”
    Ross showed the note. The secretary took it from him, opened it, and read it through. Then he laid it carefully upon his desk. “Ah, yes … I see. You are Mr. Ross?”
    “Sir David is busy at the moment. I think he may wish to see you in a few minutes. In the meantime, would you give me a few details of your experience in aviation, Mr. Ross?”
    The few details proved to be a comprehensive survey of his life to that date, with cross-references to people who could vouch for him, with their telephone numbers where he knew them. The secretary took this down in shorthand very rapidly. It took about twenty minutes; at the end of that time Mr. Hanson scanned his notes through quickly, and then said:
    “Have you prepared any estimate of the cost of the journey that Mr. Cyril Lockwood proposes?”
    Ross shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I only heard about it for the first time yesterday afternoon. I could give you a few very rough figures now, if you like.”
    Hanson turned to a fresh page of his notebook.
    “Perhaps that would be a good thing. Then I can give the whole picture to Sir David in a very few minutes.”
    Ross sat in silence for a minute. Then he said: “Well, the most expensive single item is the aeroplane, of course. Seaplane, I should say—it’s a job for a float machine. And I don’t think we shall find it possible to get insurance for it.”
    The secretary made a note. “Is that because of the great