in the Olympic Games.
Ruffy accepted both their praise and their beer with modest gratitude;
and when the third American offered to let Ruffy throw him again, he
declined the offer on the grounds that he never threw the same man
twice. All in all, it had been a memorable evening.
Apart from these occasional lapses, Ruffy had a more powerful body and
happier mind than any man Bruce had ever known, and Bruce could not
help liking him. He could not prevent himself smiling as he tried to
reject Ruffy's invitation to play cards.
'We've got work to do now, Ruffy. Some other time.'
'Sit down, boss,' Ruffy repeated, and Bruce grimaced resignedly and took
the chair opposite him.
'How much you going to bet?' Ruffy leaned forward.
Bruce laid a thousand-franc note on the table; 'when that's gone, then
we go.'
'No hurry,' Ruffy soothed him. 'We got all day.' He dealt the three
cards face down. 'The old Christian monarch is in there somewhere; all
you got to do is find him and it's the easiest mille you ever made.'
'in the middle,' whispered the gendarme standing beside Bruce's chair.
'That's him in the middle.'
'Take no notice of that mad Arab - he's lost five mille already this
morning,' Ruffy advised.
Bruce turned over the right-hand card.
'Mis-luck,' crowed Ruffy. 'You got yourself the queen of hearts.'
He picked up the banknote and stuffed it into his breast pocket.
'She'll see you wrong every time, that sweetfaced little bitch.'
Grinning, he turned over the middle card to expose the jack of spades
with his sly eyes and curly little mustache. 'She's been shacked up
there with the jack right under the old king's nose.' He turned the king
face up.
'Look you at that dozy old guy - he's not even facin in the right
direction.' Bruce stared at the three cards and he felt that sickness in
his stomach again. The whole story was there; even the man's name
was right, but the jack should have worn a beard and driven a red Jaguar
and his queen of hearts never had such innocent eyes. Bruce spoke
abruptly. 'That's it, Ruffy. I want you and ten men to come with me.'
'Where we going?'
'Down to Ordinance - we're drawing special supplies.'
Ruffy nodded and buttoned the playing cards into his top pocket while he
selected the gendarmes to accompany them; then he asked Bruce, 'We might
need some oil; what you think, boss?' Bruce hesitated; they had
only two cases of whisky left of the dozen they had looted in August.
The purchasing power of a bottle of genuine Scotch was enormous and
Bruce was loath to use them except in extraordinary circumstances. But
now he realized that his chances of getting the supplies he needed were
remote, unless he took along a substantial bribe for the quartermaster.
'Okay, Ruffy. Bring a case.' Ruffy came up out of the chair and clapped
his steel helmet on his head. The chin straps hung down on each side of
his round black face.
A 'A full case?' He grinned at Bruce. 'You want to buy a battleship?'
