The Dark of the Sun - Smith Wilbur - Страница 54

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not so lucky. The end of the truss hit the far side, bounced and slid

sideways.

"It's going! Pull, you bastards, pull!" shouted Ruffy.

The truss toppled slowly sideways an dover the edge. It hit the river

below them with a splash, disappeared under the surface, then bobbed up

and floated away downstream until checked by the ropes.

Both Bruce and Ruffy filmed and swore during the lengthy exasperating

business of dragging it back against the current and manhandling its

awkward bulk back on to the bridge.

Half a dozen times it slipped at the crucial moment and splashed back

into the river.

Despite his other virtues, Ruffy's vocabulary of cursing words was

limited and it added to his frustration that he had to keep repeating

himself. Bruce did much better - he remembered things that he had heard

and he made up a few.

When finally they had the dripping baulk of timber back on the bridge

and were resting, Ruffy turned to Bruce with honest admiration.

"You swear pretty good," he said. "Never heard you before, but no doubt

about it, you're good! What's that one about the cow again?" Bruce

repeated it for him a little self-consciously.

"You make that up yourself?" asked Ruffy.

"Spur of the moment," laughed Bruce.

"That's "bout the dirtiest I ever heard." Ruffy could not conceal his

envy. "Man, you should write a book." "Let's get this bridge finished

first," said Bruce. "Then I'll think about it." Now the truss was almost

servile in its efforts to please.

It dropped neatly across the gap and lay beside its twin.

"You curse something good enough, and it works every time," Ruffy

announced sagely. "I think your one about the cow made all the

difference, boss." With two trusses in position they had broken the back

of the project. They carried the shelter out and set it on the trusses,

straddling the gap. The third and fourth trusses were dragged into

position and secured with ropes and nails before nightfall.

When the shelter waddled wearily back to the laager at dusk, the men

within it were exhausted. Their hands were bleeding and bristled with

wood splinters, but they were also mightily pleased with themselves.

Sergeant Jacque, keep one of your searchlights trained on the bridge all

night. We don't want our friends to come out and set fire to it again."

"There are only a few hours" life left in each of the batteries." Jacque

kept his voice low.

at a time then." Bruce spoke without hesitation.

"We must have that bridge lit up all night.

"You think you could spare a beer for each of the boys that worked

on the bridge today?"

"A whole one each!" Ruffy was shocked. "I only got a Couple cases left."

Bruce fixed him with a stern eye and Ruffy grinned.

"Okay, boss. Guess they've earned it." Bruce transferred his attention

to Wally Hendry who sat on the running-board of one of the trucks

cleaning his nails with the point of his bayonet.

"Everything under control here, Hendry?" he asked coolly.

"Sure, what'd you think would happen? We'd have a visit from the

archbishop? The sky'd fall in? Your French thing'd have twins or

something?" He looked up from his nails at Bruce. "When are you jokers

going to get that bridge finished, instead of wandering around asking

damn-fool questions?"

"You've got the Bruce was too tired to feel annoyed.

night watch, Hendry," he said, "from now until dawn."

"Is that right, hey? And you? What're you going to do all night, or does

that question make you blush?"

"I'm going to sleep, that's what I'm going to do. I haven't been lolling

round camp all day." Hendry pegged the bayonet into the earth between

his feet and snorted.

"Well, give her a little bit of sleep for me too, Bucko." Bruce left him

and crossed to the Ford.

"Hello, Bruce. How did it go today? I missed you," Shermaine greeted

him, and her face lit up as she looked at him. It is a good feeling to

be loved, and some of Bruce's fatigue lifted.

"About half finished, another day's work." Then he smiled back at her. "I

won't lie and say I missed you - I've been too damn busy." "Your hands!"

she said with quick concern and lifted them to examine them. "They're in

a terrible state."

"Not very pretty, are they?"

"Let me get a needle from my case. I'll get the splinters out." From

across the laager Wally Hendry caught Bruce's eye and with one hand made

a

suggestive sign below his waist.

Then, at Bruce's frown of anger, he threw back his head and laughed with

huge delight.

ruce's stomach grumbled with hunger as he stood with Ruffy and

Hendry beside the cooking fire. In the early morning light he could just

make out the dark shape of the bridge at the end of the clearing.

That drum was still beating in the jungle, but they hardly noticed it

now. It was taken for granted like the mosquitoes. "The batteries are

finished," grunted Ruffy. The feeble yellow beam of the searchlight

reached out tiredly towards the bridge.

"Only just lasted the rught," agreed Bruce.

"Christ, I'm hungry," complained Hendry. "What could I do to a couple of

fried eggs and a porterhouse steak." At the mention of food

Bruce's mouth flooded with saliva. He shut his mind against the picture

that Wally's words had evoked in his imagination.

"We won't be able to finish the bridge and get the trucks across

today," he said, and Ruffy agreed.

"There's a full day's work left on her, boss."

"This is what we'll do then," Bruce went on. "I'll take the work party

out to the bridge.

Hendry, you will stay here in the laager and cover us the same as

yesterday. And Ruffy, you take one of the trucks and a dozen of your

boys. Go back ten miles or so to where the forest is open and they won't

be able to creep up on you. Then cut us a mountain of firewood; thick

logs that will burn all night. We will set a ring of watch fires round

the camp tonight."

"That makes sense, , Ruffy nodded. "But what

about the bridge?"

"We'll have to put a guard on it," said Bruce, and the -expressions on

their faces changed as they thought about this.

"More pork chops for the boys in the bushes," growled Hendry.

"You won't catch me sitting out on the bridge anight."

"No one's asking you to," snapped Bruce. "All right, Ruffy.

Go and fetch the wood, and plenty of it." Bruce completed the repairs to

the bridge in the late afternoon. The most anxious period was in the

middle of the day when he and four men had to leave the shelter and

clamber down on to the supports a few feet above the surface of the

river to set the kingposts in place. Here they were exposed at random

range to arrows from the undergrowth along the banks.

But no arrows came and they finished the job and climbed back to safety

again with something of a sense of anticlimax.

They nailed the crossties over the trusses and then roped everything

into a compact mass.

Bruce stood back and surveyed the fruit of two full days" labour.

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