We Saw The Sea by John Winton Read Free Book Online

inspecting the rivets in the deckhead of my cabin.”
    The Bodger retired to the bar with a strange gleam in his eye and the regulars there became aware that The Bodger had something on his mind.
    The Bodger’s moment came when the ship headed down the Red Sea. A following wind carried the ship’s fumes through her and the cabins were like tiny dark ovens. The passengers’ tempers grew thin. The lounge was like a forest dried in the summer and, ironically, it was Goldilocks himself who struck the spark. The fatal idea came to him while reading the scoffcard.
    “Soup. Poached Cod. Bangers, spuds, mercy me. Chaps! I’ve got an idea! “
    Captain and Mrs Featherday assumed a hunted look. The rest of the table ignored Goldilocks, except Phyllis Featherday, who gazed open-mouthed.
    “We’ll have an Inter-Service Pentathlon!”
    “What do you mean?” Pibroch asked suspiciously. He fingered the black eye which he had got at the children’s sports.
    “Five sports. Teams from the Army, Navy and the Raff. Let me see. How about bridge, tug-of-war, deck-tennis, quoits. . . . We need another sport. . . .”
    “How about Liar-dice?” Michael said innocently.
    “Liar-dice! Exactly! Everyone can have two days to practise.”
    Goldilocks organized it. He persuaded the First Officer and the Purser to be judges and arbitrators of the Astrakhan Olympic Games. The Purser, who had been combating the idiosyncrasies of passengers for over thirty years without meeting anyone like Goldilocks, agreed to lend his presence and, if necessary, equipment.
    The Army in general welcomed the idea of a Pentathlon. The R.A.F. were sceptical but consented to take part. To the Navy, however, the Pentathlon came as the last straw.
    A meeting was held in the bar at midnight and a Hate-Goldilocks League was formed, with The Bodger as its President. The meeting was also attended by the Purser who had somehow come to hear of it.
    The main resolution of the meeting was proposed by The Bodger and unanimously carried. Something horrible must now happen to Goldilocks, and quickly. The Purser offered the League certain articles he had picked up in Shanghai, Yokohama and Mobile, Alabama. His offer was gratefully accepted and the League left The Bodger to work out the details, whereupon a demoniacal smile spread over The Bodger’s face.
    The Games were officially opened by the O.C. Troops. An embarrassed Royal Norfolk Regiment subaltern in shorts and singlet ran twice round the boat deck with the Chief Engineer’s torch. The O.C. Troops made a short speech and announced the first event, the Deck Tennis.
    The Army’s representatives had spent many hours under a broiling sun perfecting their game but the R.A.F. produced two unknown quantities, two Pilot Officers who had played lawn tennis together at Wimbledon. One of them won the singles and together they won the doubles.
    The Bodger, who had watched Paul and Michael play deck tennis for the Navy from his deck chair, roused himself for the next contest, the Contract Bridge.
    “What about prepared hands and tournament points and all that?” he asked Goldilocks.
    ”Oh, that’s too complicated. We’ll treat it as a whist drive, only we’ll be playing bridge.”
    The Bodger sat down to shuffle the first hand, grinning like a tiger.
    The spectators were chiefly interested in the table where The Bodger and Sam Crayshaw opposed Goldilocks and an Army Padre. The Bodger and Goldilocks were competent players who could normally win from their fellow officers, but Sam Crayshaw was a novice. A bid of two spades was to him the same as a bid of two pounds and he conducted his play on the famous first principle of Hoyle--”When in doubt, win the trick.”
    The Army Padre, on the other hand, was a player of a very different calibre, indeed he was thought indecently skilful at cards for a man of his cloth. His bidding was bold and cool. His card-playing was economical and well-judged. He noted the fall of every card,