river could easily outrun any messenger he sent, and once the wall began
to go it would already be too late. It would be a matter of fine
judgement, and he slitted his eyes against another gust of slanting rain
that blew into his face. His instinct was to call them out of the chasm
now - there was already less than twelve inches of free-board at the top
of the wall.
However, he knew that Nicholas would be furious if he was made to
evacuate the workings prematurely, and in so doing aborted all their
efforts. Sapper was fully aware of the extreme risks that Nicholas had
taken and of the crippling expenditure he had made to reach this stage.
Before they had left England, he had hinted to Sapper of the straitened
circumstances in which he found himself.
Although Sapper did not understand the intricacies or the
responsibilities of being a 'Name' at Lloyd's, there had been so much
publicity in the British press that he could not but realize that, if
their venture here failed, the next stop for Nicholas would be the
bankruptcy courts - and Nicholas was his friend.
The squall of. rain blew over, and a bright hot sun burst through the
low cloud banks. The flow of the river seemed undiminished, but at least
the water level on the dam wall was no longer rising, 'I'll give it
another hour,' he grunted, engaging the gears of the tractor and easing
her down the bank to place another gabion in position.
Nicholas worked shoulder to shoulder with Hinsith's gang as they began
to strip the paving slabs from the floor of the lowest level of the
maze. The joints between the slabs were so tight that, even using
crowbars, they had difficulty prising them apart, In order to save time,
Nicholas made the hard choice of going into a destructive search. He put
four of the strongest men in the team to work with home-made
sledgehammers, lumps of ironstone on wooden shafts, to break UP the
slabs so that they could be more readily levered out of the floor. He
felt guilty about the damage they were causing to the site, but the work
went ahead very much faster.
The high spirits and enthusiasm of the men were at last beginning to
wane. They had worked too long in the oppressive confines of the maze,
and every one of them was the head of the fully aware of the rising
level of the river at gorge, and of the mortal threat behind those
waters. Their expressions were surly and there was little laughter' or
banter, But more worrying for Nicholas was the fact that at ported the
first the beginning of this shift Hansith had re duty.
desertions. Sixteen of his men had failed to report for They had quietly
rolled their blankets during the night, picked up whatever items of
value or utility they found lying around the camp, and crept away into
the darkness.
Nicholas knew that it was no use sending anyone after them - they had
too much of a start, and would be halfway up the escarpment already.
This was Africa, and Nicholas was certain that now that the rot had
started it would Spread very quickly.
He joked and jollied them along, not allowing them to sense his true
feelings. He worked shoulder to shoulder in the excavation in an and
sweated along with them made attempt to hold them, But he knew that,
