The Angry Mountain Read Online Free

couple of aspirins to clear my head and went out into the bright spring sunshine. The buds shone fat and sticky on the smoke-black chestnut trees across the road. Birds were singing above the rattle of the trams and girls were wearing summer frocks. I paid three calls during the morning and did some business. When I got back to the hotel I wasrelieved to find that Mari č had rung me. I was to call and see him at three-thirty. I could deliver my message to Tu č ek then.
    At the Tu č ek works I was escorted by one of the factory police to the main office block. Mari č had two of his technical experts with him. We discussed specifications. From a business point of view the meeting was successful. When the conference broke up, I remained seated. Mari č glanced at me through his thick glasses. He got rid of the others very quickly and then, when the door was shut, he turned to me and said in English, “You wish to see me alone, Mr. Farrell?”
    â€œWell—” I hesitated. “I didn’t think I should leave without saying good-bye to Mr. Tu č ek. You see, he and I were together—”
    â€œQuite, quite.” Mari č nodded and sat down at his desk. He took off his glasses and wiped them. Then, when he’d clipped them on to his nose again, he looked across at me.
    â€œBut I do not think you can see him.” His fingers had closed on a sheet of paper and he slowly crumpled it into a ball.”
    â€œIs he in conference?” I asked. “If so I will wait.”
    He seemed about to say something. Then his small blue eyes retreated behind his glasses. “I do not think it will be any good waiting. But perhaps if you care to see his secretary—” His voice sounded vague and uncertain.
    â€œYes,” I said. “I’d like to see his secretary.”
    He nodded and rang for his assistant. The sudden decisiveness of his movements suggested a sense of relief. His assistant came in and he instructed him to take me to Tu č ek’s personal secretary. “Good-bye, Mr. Farrell.” He dropped the crumpled ball of paper into his waste-paper basket and shook my hand. His fingers were soft and damp in my grip.
    His assistant took me down two flights of concrete stairs and along a passage that was full of the noise of typewriters. Then we passed through swing doors marked
Správa závodu
and we were in the administrative block where the sound ofour footsteps was lost in the deep pile of a carpeted corridor. It was the same corridor I’d walked down the previous day. We stopped at the door marked
Ludvik Novák, tajemnik ř editelství
. My guide knocked and I was shown into the office of Tu č ek’s personal secretary. “Come in, Mr. Farrell.” He was the dapper little man with the uneasy smile I’d seen the day before. There was no warmth in his greeting. “You are back again very soon. Was your meeting with
pan
Mari č not satisfactory?”
    â€œPerfectly,” I said.
    â€œThen what can I do for you?”
    â€œI would like to see Mr. Tu č ek before I go.”
    â€œI am sorry. That is not possible.” He gave me a rubber-stamp smile.
    â€œThen I’ll wait until he’s free,” I said.
    â€œIt is not possible for you to see
pan
Tu č ek to-day.” His eyes were quite blank.
    I felt as though I were up against a stone wall. “You mean he’s not here?” I asked.
    â€œI have told you, Mr. Farrell. It is impossible for you to see him.” He crossed to the door and opened it. “I am sorry. We are very busy to-day.”
    I thought of Maxwell’s strange visit the previous night.
It’s urgent, Dick—very, very urgent.
“Whether you are busy or not,” I said, “I wish to see Mr. Tu č ek. Will you please tell him.”
    The man’s eyes stared at me without blinking. “Why are you so anxious to see
pan
Tu č ek?” he asked.
    â€œI